She blinked, that wistful smile returning to her face when the boy asked her her name. Ah, Finn-Stella. The name which, in her opinion, made no sense at all but suited her just fine. She leant a little closer to him, as if about to tell him a secret, her voice just louder than a whisper. "I'm Finn-Stella." She leant back on her heels, a proud grin on her face. Her legs were beginning to hurt so she clumsily switched her position; shifting until she knelt (instead of crouched) oppisite him, her hands resting on her thighs.

The tears that sprung in his eyes instantly caught her attention. She let out a small gasp, her grin instantly falling back into an expression of curious worry. Finn wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away, but held back - she didn't particularly want to scare this poor boy off with her rather perculiar ways. "It hurts." she said, almost like a statement. She didn't want this unnamed boy to hurt. Hurting was bad. Hurting was a no-no.

Bradin somehow managed a tiny smile. He was still in pain so the smile disappeared instantly. "Bradin Westerly" he replied. Ow! This was really bad. He'd never felt the pain this bad before. Justin must have been close to dying by now. "Hurts is an understatement" he said as one single tear hit the floor. Then he moved his arm away from his stomach. Blood! When Justin's dad said all pain he meant all pain. Even cuts. "If you're wondering whats going on, Justin Hendricks, a student that used to come here, and I were attacked when we were younger by his dad and his dad cursed me so everything Justin goes through, I go through it too. His dad's attacked him again, hence the blood coming from me" he explained.

Bradin Westerly. She nodded slightly and smiled again, a small smile, for now really wasn't the time for proper smiles. That itching worry had began to penetrate her stomach, a feat which never normally occured. Today was supposed to be a good day, a good day. She looked at Bradin. Perhaps today was not as good as she'd hoped.

Her mouth dropped at the blood, and her fixated, wondering gaze flickered back and forth between his face and the gaping wound at his stomach. She listened silently to his story, a huge rush of hate towards Justin's father corsing through her veins as she did so. A fiery look crossed her stare, like flames leaping erratically inside her head.

She reached for her bag, "It hurts..." she repeated, "...a lot." She shot him a small, reassuring smile, slipping her bag off her shoulder and delving inside it. "There you are." she said, a flash of recognition flashing on her features. She hasitly pulled out a scarlet scarf, before slowly leaning forward and gently pressing it against the gash on his stomach. She'd always hated this scarf; might as well put it to good use, like saving this boy's life for instance. Hopefully, the thick, woolly fabric would help clot the blood. "You can make the hurt stop." she said, looking back up at him, as she held the scarf to his gutt, being careful not to increase the pain he was in.

Kevin wandered up to the first floor corridor and sighed why was finding a date to the ball so hard and he couldnt really dance that well he should have attended the dance lessons that were available a while back

Bradin looked at Finn-Stella. His eyes were fixed on her. He hated the sight of blood which was why he was looking at Finn-Stella, not his wound. Then she pressed something against the wound. "Thanks Finn-Stella" he said to her. He looked down at his injury, hoping the bleeding had stopped. It had but there was still a lot of blood there. Then he heard her say he could stop the pain. His eyes shot straight to her with hope in his eyes. "How?" he asked sounding very hopeful at that moment. It had to be enough to stop Justin's pain too.

Cam really needed to pay more attention to her surroudings. She'danaged to trip down the stairs and was still sporting that graze on her cheek from yesterdays beautiful entrance. Siiiiigh.
Caught up in her own thoughts, Cam realised she'd been standing, staying
into thin air infront of a little boy for a good
five minutes. Ow.

"Err.. Hiiii" How embarassing

Kevin was just minding his own business when he saw a girl who looked older than him and said "Hi you ok"

Er.. okay? Was she?

"Erm.. mentally or physically?" She asked him, quite seriously.

Kevin looked at the girl and said "Well physically" Kevin was really worrying about this ball

Er... "I think I'm okay.." She hadn't tripped this time.. so she was pretty sure she was okay.

Kevin smiled at the girl and said "That is good then, i am Kevin" Kevin held his hand out for the girl to shake

Aww he was being nice even despite her obvious insanity. Cam smiled perhaps a little too brightly and took the handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Kevin. I'm Cam."

This whole being nice thing wasn't too bad.

Kevin smiled and said "Nice to meet you Cam, so what brings you here today?"

She smiled. "You're welcome." It was a proper smile, a smile she hoped would make him feel just a little better, despite the pain he was so blatantly in. She gently dabbed the scarf against his stomach, being careful not to press too hard, keeping her eyes fixed on the now clotting gash at his skin. Blood. She watched it curl delicately off her fingers, swamping her scarf; the smell of metal and sweat clinging to her nose.

Finn's gaze didn't waver at Bradin's rather urgent "How?" She paused for a moment, as if waiting for her brain to click into place. "It's hard." she said finally. And it was hard. Very hard. Like an igloo. An igloo was hard, because it was made out of ice. And ice was cold. And cold was bad. "You have to use your mind." she said, pulling the scarf back and inspecting the wound. "And trust in something." She flicked her unfailing stare back to his face, that wistful smile clinging to her lips... "Really trust in something." ...that same look of lostness and wonder clouding her features. "And then you use that to break it. Stop it." A laugh escaped her throat, a brilliant tinkly laugh, like wind chimes quaking in a summer breeze. "And make the hurt go away."

Bradin managed another smile. The pain was still there but thankfully the blood had started to clot. Thank the lord for that. The lord alone knows what he would've done if it hadn't. "Thanks again" he said. Then he thought about what she said next. His mind only had one person he could trust in mind. Ginny. "Ok so how do I use it to stop the hurting and would it be strong enough to stop someone else's hurting too?" he asked. He hoped Finn-Stella's answer was yes to it stopping other's from hurting. When Bradin was in pain so was Justin and vice versa so surely it would spread that far. Only Finn-Stella could assure him of that.

Bradin closed his eyes and his mind filled with happy thoughts. Tiliting his head back he pulled his knees up to his chest. He just wanted the happy thoughts to drag him away from everything else. No such luck there.

Finn leant back on her heels, letting the scarf drop to the floor by her knees. She tilted her head to the side slightly, as if in deep thought. But true to form, the only thing that was swarming her mind at that precise moment was not whether it would be strong enough to stop someone elses hurting, but whether she would ever be able to bring a koala bear to school. Hmm... Yes. That would be interesting.

Blinking, she let her gaze wander back to Bradin's face. "It depends..." she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully, that distant smile sitting lazily on her features, "...whether you're strong enough." She blinked again and watched as he leant back, his eyes closed. This boy fascinated her, as did everyone she met, but this Slytherin knew so much pain... She'd touched his blood; it sat dried and cracked on her palms.

She leant forward, silently moving closer to his face; studying him as the silence prolonged about them, her nose five inches away from his - a normal distance when you're dealing with someone as odd as Finn-Stella.

Bradin's eyes shot open. He wasn't that strong but he had been through a lot over then past 13 years of his life. From his mom dying to Justin and himself nearly dying. "Ok so lets say for arguments sake I'm not that strong, how could I make myself that strong. I need this to work for me and Justin" he replied with a rather distinct thoughtful look on his features. He looked down at the blood spatters on the floor and and the blood which was on the scarf. He gagged and immediately looked away. Horrible! The smell of blood just made him want to run.

The redhead started. "Justin?" Finn's large eyes went wider still. Justin. She knew a Justin. She'd eaten a Justin's ice cream. Justin had found her odd - but perhaps in a good way. She'd only ever really spoken to him twice, but she considered him a friend.

She frowned, and looked down at the floor. Bradin felt Justin's pain... This was wrong. Very wrong. "Why did Justin's father make you feel his pain?" she asked, ignoring his question, flicking her blazing eyes back to the Slythie's face.

Bradin's eyes met with the blood again. He gagged. "His father made me feel his pain because he can't physically hurt me. Justin's father is a dark wizard. The dark side turned him against his family, and he abused Justin physically and mentally. He attacked me with magic and physically. He cursed me because we're 100 miles apart so when he's attacking Justin, I feel it too" he explained still looking at the blood. It wasn't Bradin's blood. It was Justin's blood. The blood of an innocent 15 year old who never askedfor this to happen. He hated it. Bradin wished he could stop it but it was out of his power, out of his reach. There was no hope for the two wizards.

Finn pondered. She liked that word: pondered. It sounded like "pond" and "ered" put together - it was pwetty. Unlike the blood which lay stained on the corridoor floor. The redhead fumbled about her pocket for her wand; Bradin's constant gagging at the sight of it was beginning to get to her - the boy literally had no backbone. Then again, she couldn't blame him; the sheer pain that he portrayed through his aching gaze told her more than enough.

She swallowed as he told her his story, biting back an angry yelp as the fated words rolled off his tongue. So what Bradin was feeling now was actually Justin's pain. She scowled for the first time in a very long time, her hazel eyes flashing with unstabled fury. It was all internal though; her feelings never really got past that wistful smile and unblinking gaze.

"But why you?" she asked quietly, letting her wand sweep elegantly over the blood-puddle, the tip leaving a trail of cleanliness behind it. "Why do you feel Justin's pain? Why not someone else?"

Bradin shrugged. He really had no idea. Only that it was the only way to shut him up, if he was in pain too. Besides, he and Justin were very close so it made sense that he would stick up for his best mate, making himself eligible for attacking. "Me and Justin always stuck together. We always helped each other out, even in times like this. His dad got so annoyed with it, he ended up deciding to torture me too. He cursed me and here I am suffering from Justin's pain inflicted by his dad" he explained. He hated having to tell the story but it had to be told if he was going to get any help from anyone.

"You're bestfriend..." She smiled; his best friend. Best friend. She'd never had a bestfriend before; Bradin was lucky. Well...Not really. His bestfriend obviously had an evil father who'd cursed the both of them, and was the reason why she was kneeling in front of him with a blood-soaked scarf and a scarlet-tipped wand. Despite that, though, knowing there was someone out there who you could always count on must be a nice feeling. That was why she was smiling - because at least she knew Bradin was not alone, not really.

She slipped her wand back into her pocket, and sat up, leaning forward again to study his face. "Are you gonna be ok?" She sniffed; the smell of bloodand sweat still hung in the air. "For now, anyway?"

Bradin looked down at his blood covered hand. He still had his black/green wand in his hand. He flicked the tip near the scarf and the blood stains disappeared. "Yeah. I'll be fine. I'm gonna figure out what the curse is then figure out a counter curse for it" he replied. That meant a little trip to the restricted section in the library.

Finn grinned, that usual lightness having returned to her demeanour. He would be fine! Yay! HAPPY DAYS! She did a little inner happy-dance, an accidental laugh escaping her lips, before she looked down at her now-clean scarf. "Thank you!" she said, her grin widening as she enveloped him in a quick hug. She placed the long woolly thing back into her bag before getting clumsily to her feet. "You need some help figuring out stuffs?" She held her hand out to him, offering to help him to his feet. "I'm a good figurer-outer." She frowned slightly. "Well, more like an odd figurer-outer..." She shook her head, and laughed, the many bracelets at her wrists jingling melodically at her side.

Bradin jumped to his feet again. "Welcome. Its the least I can do" he replied. Then he smiled as Finn-Stella offered to help him figure this whole mess out. "If you don't mind going in the restricted section of the library and helping me find books on curses" he replied. He'd love help in finding it. But whether Finn-Stella was up to the challenge of not getting caught was a different story.