I don't want you to get hurt

Nakoma Rydell Seventh Year Hufflepuff

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma’s Choice

Nakoma couldn’t believe how well her life seemed to be going.  The battle was won, and both she and Poca had not only gotten out alive, but gotten out together. After years of secretly pining over her best friend, she found out her feeling were returned. She smiled to herself, but froze when she turned and saw an unfamiliar woman staring at her.

“Who are you?” Nakoma asked cautiously.

“Don’t worry about it.,” the woman said, waving a hand at her dismissively.

“Wh --”

“Let’s make this quick, shall we?” The woman interrupted her with a smirk. “I haven’t got all day.”

She waved a hand and memories flooded Nakoma’s brain -- running through the woods with Poca, in a canoe with Poca, watching Poca fall in love with a man.

“So here’s the deal,” the woman continued, gesturing to a set of doors. “You have three choices. Choice one: the door on the left. You can go back to the life you had before, with no memories of this one. Choice two: the door on the right. You can stay and live out your life here, with no memories of this conversation. Or choice three: the middle door. You can keep both sets of memories and go wherever I send you.”

Nakoma didn’t even hesitate. She had finally gotten everything she wanted, and there was no way she was going to give it up for a life she hadn’t even remembered having until a few seconds ago. “I’ll stay.”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Thinking for a moment she knew the next step would probably be to date, officially. “Um… I guess we start dating? I mean, if you want too.” Poca didn’t want to force the girl into anything she didn’t want. It would be a lie though if she said she wasn’t hoping for a yes. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma didn’t even hesitate. “I’d like that.” She felt like her smile might literally split her face open, but she didn’t care. She had always worried that if they somehow made it to this point, it wouldn’t feel right, but no, this felt as natural as anything. This felt right. “Yes.”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Poca chuckled a bit, the two had exchanged those words thousands of times before, but this time they had a different meaning to her. “I’m telling you now because I really mean it… I love you, like, romantically.” She could feel her cheeks start to get red, never had she been so embarrassed to say words. If there was one thing Poca was bad at though, it was keeping a secret from her best friend, especially one of this magnitude. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma froze. “Oh.” If it were someone else, she might have thought they had somehow found out and were making fun of her or something, but, looking at her best friend, she could tell that she meant it. She grinned. “Um. Me, too. For a while.” She hesitated. “So, what do we do now?”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Thankfully they both made it too the infirmary in one piece. Seeing that there were plenty of other people who needed immediate care Poca just found an empty bed and sat down on it, just wanting to take the weight off her feet. Sitting in silence, she thought about all the possible outcomes that could come. There was one thing they all had in common though, all of them involved her. “I love you.”

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma sat down next to Poca on the bed, trying to come up with something to say. Idly, she wondered how long it had been since she had needed to think about what to say to her, but she didn’t have to wonder for long, when Poca spoke first. “I -- what? I mean, I love you too, you know I do, but why are you telling me now?” She knew Poca loved her; that much was obvious. But she couldn’t mean -- No, it was just a heat-of-battle reminder thing, nothing more. Except -- there was the kiss. She had been hoping for this for years, but she never thought it would ever actually happen. There was no possible way Nakoma could be that lucky.

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Poca shaked her head, “I’m ok.” After taking a few shaky steps though she finally decided to give in, knowing Nakoma would just force her to go to the infirmary soon anyway. “Actually, can you take me to the infirmary?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer. Slowly turning her head, she made eye contact with the girl. Seeing the uneasiness in her eyes Poca knew there were probably a thousand things running through her mind. Trying to give her a reassuring smile, she decided that she would use the infirmary as her chance to talk with the girl. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma nodded. “There you go. I can definitely do that.” She was glad Poca was making this easy. She didn’t like having to force her to do things, even if it was the smart thing to do. She still would, of course, if she had to, but she preferred when Poca made the choice to do things on her own. “Come on,” she said, leading her in the directions of the infirmary, careful to keep an eye out for any danger. 

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Taking her friends hand Poca nodded her head slowly, still somewhat dizzy. “Yeah, I’m fine… We should keep going, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who need help.” She took a few unsteady steps forward, still holding her friends hand. Looking forward, she was afraid to look at Nakoma’s face. Boys had never worried her, she knew exactly where she stood with them. Nakoma was a completely different situation though, but the fact that both of them may not make it out was enough inspiration for her to put her fears aside.

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma nodded. “Yeah, come on.” She started walking, slowly so that Poca would be able to keep up. “You’re sure you’re okay?” she asked, seeing how unsteadily she was walking. “Because we can stay here a little longer if you need to.” She kept glancing over at Poca, but the other girl had yet to make eye contact. Should she bring up the kiss? Obviously they would need to talk about it, but she couldn’t bring herself to mention it, especially not in the middle of a battle. She didn’t think she would be able to concentrate if she did. They would have time later, she told herself. There had to be.

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Her eyes fluttering open after a few moments Poca woke up with confusion and pain. “What happened?” She asked, looking up at her friend. Finally her brain processed what had happened and she was glad she hadn’t been killed in the few moments she blacked out. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma sighed in relief when Poca opened her eyes. “Oh, thank god. You just...collapsed. Your head hit the ground really hard -- are you okay?” She held out her hand to help Poca stand up so they could find somewhere safer until she knew for sure she was okay.

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

“Stupify!” Poca hoped that the battle would be over easily. Of course she was wrong though. Spells and curses flew back and forth, she barley knew what she was casting anymore. Nothing could have ever prepared her for a battle like this. There was probably around five other grown wizards attacking them. Somehow after what seemed like an hour the spells stopped. “We did it…” Poca breathed heavily, smiling at Nakoma. 

Trying to ignore the black spots beginning to cloud her vision she took a few steps forward. Not being able to hold out though she dropped to the ground, her head hitting the ground hard.

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma cast spell after spell, focusing only on the battle and nothing else. When the battle finally ended, she turned to grin back at Poca. “Yeah,” she said, about to continue until she looked at her friend more closely. She rushed to catch her friend when she collapsed, but wasn’t quick enough. She dropped down next to her.

“Poca?” she said, leaning in to look at her. “Oh god, are you okay? Come on, Poca.” She tried not to panic, but it was difficult after hearing the sound of her best friend’s head hitting the floor so hard.

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Nodding her head she quickly grabbed her friends hand to run off and help with the battle. About to turn the corner she could here the sound of other wizards from the rat’s side approaching so she stopped. “Are you ready?” She said, looking into the girls chocolate brown eyes praying that they’ll make it out alright. Gripping her wand she knew they only had a few moments before they’d be thrown into battle. Pocahontas decided it was time, and there was no turning back. 

Leaning forward she closed the distance between them let her lips graze the girls. It was only for a moment but she felt as if the heaviness that was left n her heart after her mother passed was finally lifted. Not even waiting to see Nakoma’s response she turned she went ahead into the battle. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.” She knew that they had to go now, but with Pocahontas looking at her like that, she didn’t think she could move.  And then suddenly her lips were on hers and she couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, because, oh my god, what was happening? The kiss was over quickly, and then Pocahontas was already heading into the fight like it hadn’t even happened. Nakoma almost wondered if she had imagined it, but no, it had definitely happened.

Nakoma stared after her for a moment, before she shook herself. They were in the middle of a battle, she reminded herself. There was no time to stand here overthinking whatever it was that had just happened.  They could talk about it later (or not; Nakoma wasn’t really sure which option she preferred), but right now she needed to focus. She followed Pocahontas into the battle.

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Stunning the wizard she then ran over to the girl. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun!” She said, closing the distance and wrapping her arms around her. They had only been a part for a few days but it felt like years to her. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” She whispered into Nakoma’s ear. It felt as if the world had melted away and all that was left was them. That quickly came to an end though as the  sound of her her fellow classmates fighting bounced off the falling walls. It was difficult to imagine that only a few weeks ago everyone was imagining  life after graduation. No one could have imagined this outcome. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma stiffened for half a second when her friend hugged her (after all, was the middle of a battle really the best place to do this), but, feeling her arms around her, she couldn’t resist hugging her back. “Safe’s not exactly the word I would use, but I’m glad you’re okay. I just wish you had stayed away, where it’s safe.” Hearing a shout somewhere further along, Nakoma suddenly remembered where they were. “But you’re here now, so come on. We should go help.”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

Without You I’ll be Miserable at Best || Canoe

After sneaking back into the castle Poca immediately knew where she needed to be, and that was by Nakoma’s side. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel like Nakoma could protect herself, she knew she could, she just wanted to be there in case something happened.  She was hoping that nothing would though, she didn’t know what she would do without her. It didn’t take long to find her, it was like she had this magnetic pull that just led her to the girl. “Nakoma!” She yelled when she spotted the girl from afar. 

It was at that moment of course that a wizard she had never even seen before appeared before her. “Expelliarmus!” She yelled, her wand already out and ready for attack. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

Nakoma hadn’t exactly been planning to fight, but once the battle started, she knew there was no way she could abandon her classmates. Rattigan had to be stopped, and she was willing to fight to see that that happened. She stuck mostly to defensive spells, as she had never been very good at offensive ones, and she really didn’t want to hurt someone on her side by accident. Still, she felt she was doing a pretty good job of holding her own.

She turned when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. It wasn’t the smartest thing she had ever done, but that voice wasn’t supposed to be here. “Poca!” she shouted, already making her way over to her friend as best as she could. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

“Rattigan found out about flight club.”

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

“And he expelled you? Did he expel everyone involved? That’s got to be half the school.”

[thanks-for-noticingme]

Yeah I g-guess it is. 

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

What brought that up anyway?

[colorsofthewind-poca]

“Ok then I’ll tell you the bad news, I got expelled…”

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

“You what? Why?”

[colorsofthewind-poca]

“… Do you want the bad news or the good news first?”

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

“Oh god, what happened?”

[thanks-for-noticingme]

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

That’s a really morbid way to look at it.

[beautifulhaunting-butcold]

It is the only way.

[gettingalittleoldforthesegames]

I mean, there’s also harsh. Intense. Personally, I’ve been using strict, but hellish has been pretty popular too.