Let Them Stare

~Just outside~

She stood tall, her back straight, facing the open door from the side. She would be invisible to any inside, the right side of her face closest to the hall. She stayed completely still as not to fidget or let any outward emotion show on her face. Inside, however, the girl was in complete and turmoil, with sharp spikes of panic spiraling around her unease.

What if they-

They are going to stare. They did it even before.

Perhaps we can just... go. To the kitchens. Eat there.

And face their ridecule? They'd know why.

but I-

We are strong. So what if the humans wish to stare? Let them stare!

Karma's eyes went to the doorway, her spine straightening, chin lifting, a time honed smirk spreading across her lips as she forced herself into motion. One boot in front of the other. She knew she looked good - if not for the scar, she'd be perfect, uniform skirt that hung off her hips and stopped mid-thigh, pristine white button up shirt, house tie, and hair just mussed enough to seem almost indecent. It was her usual look. She'd blow their minds. Even without the scar.

Stepping into the light, she stopped just beyond the threshold, placing her hands on her hips and surveying them all like they were beneath her. Whispers swept the hall, but that always happened when she entered. Even without the scar.

Now, she just needed to know where to sit.

"You going to sit or continue to haughtily observe the hapless masses?" Damian drawled from his seat. "Your Karma friggin' Black. You're rich, attractive, and bad-ass. We know. Sit." The boy gestured pointedly to the seat across from him.

"Unless you've better people to sit with. I'm only the headmaster's apprentice and one of the top students in my year, after all." The boy gave an indifferent shrug, blue eyes glinting impishly. He took a slow bite of food, chewing thoughtfully. "If you didn't show up, I was gonna come and drag you from the kitchens somehow, you know," he remarked seriously.

Her smirk transformed into a grin, and she slid into the seat across from her favorite yellow badger super evil genius... not that she knew that many... but still. "Someone has to remind the hapless masses of their place." She teased, chin raising more before she was back to just grinning at him. "Unless you're including yourself in the hapless masses, that is. Doesn't seem too healthy, doing that all the time." She palmed an apple, taking a bite of it quickly and chewing thoughtfully.

"Only all that? Surely there's some first year Gryffindor with better credentials." She teased, rolling her eyes.

"Were you? How exactly were you thinking of achieving that?" She leaned forward, almost eagerly, quite intrigued.

Damian gave a faint snort. "As if," he said, rolling his eyes. He took another bite of food, swallowing before remarking again. "You're sitting at the wrong table, then. First year Gryffs are that way. Brody Milner ought to be a fine example. I hear he eats his own bogeys. Also has a crush on you, if rumor's true."

The boy quirked an eyebrow at her. As a hunter-in-training, part of said training involved learning how to take down and capture vampires and other creatures. He was nowhere near Asric's level, of course, but he was quickly getting there.

He shrugged.

"I would have lured you out with my irresistible charm, of course," Damian replied aloud, tone serious. He gave a boyish grin, as though subconsciously trying to prove his point.

"Of course he does." She murmured, taking another bite of the apple. "Having a crush on me is a Hogwarts right of passage. Even for the girls." Waggling her eyebrows, the girl grinned, brown eyes sweeping the table for more treats.

She glanced up at him, a smirk spreading across her mouth. "Of course. Not even I could resist that. The all powerful Damian Gray charm." She winked, returning her attention to the table, and picking another apple rather than food of any kind.

Behind her, she could hear the sound of clicking high heels, the laughter of the popular set of female Slytherin seventh years, even as they settled at her house table.

"The beast has come out of hiding ladies"

"Look at that scar, it's positively monstrous-"

"Let's hope she gets some cover up potion, girls, or the boys may start flooding our way instead..."

The girl's grin twitched down to nothing, and she took another bite of her apple, pretending to be lost in thought as she gazed down at the fruit, though she began to shiver, albet subtly. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea after all. Her honey brown eyes flicked from the apple to the door, as if waiting for someone, though, in reality, she was trying to formulate a way to excuse herself without Dame being... Dame.

Perhaps she would just run. There then not.

It was simple enough.

Taking another bite of the apple, she chewed slowly, careful to keep her gaze from the boy across from her and on the table, as though she hadn't lost her appetite.

Damian's head had inclined so minutely that most people wouldn't have noticed the movement. His expression had gone carefully blank, gaze shrewd. Finished a bite of food, he wiped his mouth on a napkin and rose to his feet.

"Excuse me a moment," he told Karma, then added authoritatively, "Don't go anywhere."

Moving around the end of the Hufflepuff table, he proceeded casually to the one designated for Slytherin. He settled near to the gossips, a knee on the bench and chin resting in one palm.

"Ladies." His smile was easy-going, his voice conveying charm. Any who knew the boy would have heard the trace of sarcasm lacing his tone. He leaned closer to one of them, blue eyes widening in surprise as he studied her intently.

"Merlin's beard - it is true!" Damian exclained in awe. "Your nose really is horribly off-center!" The boy turned to his next victim, expression and tone far from matching his harsh words.

"Your eyes... they're very uneven and far apart. Can you even see properly like that? Doesn't it effect your depth-perception?" His gaze went to the third girl and he shook his head. "And you're just ugly. How many vanity charms are you using? Perhaps you should use a few more. Or just get a face transplant. Might be easier."

Damian stood to his feet again, arms folding across his chest as he peered down at the three older students. It was only then that his disgust was fully evident.

"Karma Black is my friend," he declared loudly, "and scar or no scar, she's prettier than any of you could ever hope to be. If I hear any of you ugly-arse hags insulting Karma or Iva or any other girl that's my friend again, it's gonna be more than your vanity I attack."

Not giving them a chance to respond, Damian turned and walked away. Returning to his seat across from Karma, he took up his fork like nothing had happened. "What were we talking about, again?"

He was leaving her here.

Biting her tongue to keep from saying anything, the girl shrugged one shoulder, taking another bite of her apple as an excuse not to talk. She was slowly contemplating disobeying, debating just vanishing from the spot - surely none of them had heard it, right? - but the ever present defiance and pride that came with her other ha- that came with being Karma Black, wouldn't let her. Instead, she straightened her spine and scoffed, rolling her eyes. As if she didn't care.

Her attention to Dame hadn't wavered, her hearing having tracked him around the table, and over to...

A small bit of panic fluttered in her chest as he stopped before the girls, her eyes flicking to the Head Table and back to her apple. Surely the Hufflepuff wouldn't pick a fight directly in front of his mentor. Besides, he would demolish them. She would probably have to step in before he was charted off to Azkaban. Or help him break out. That couldn't be that difficult.

A grin was tugging on her lips as she recognized his tone, knowing for a fact that nothing follows a tone like that except trouble. Her grin grew at his words, a small flush of pleasure flitting over her cheeks as she unconsciously brushed a lock of hair behind her ear from the right side of her face. Taking another bite of her apple, she raised an eyebrow at the Hufflepuff Seventh year boy staring at her - who gulped and decided his plate was suddenly very interesting - and that's where her eyes remained until her huffle came back, and she was looking at him instead.

"Your charm?" She asked innocently, a grin tugging at her lips despite her wish to seem aloof. "Or some such nonsense. Really, Ian, I can't keep track of all your awesome." She winked at him, before pulling a plate toward her, taking some food and piling it onto her plate. "I, personally, am starving." Without another word she dug in, suddenly the hungriest person in the world.

Dame gave a cheeky grin. "It'd be too much for anyone to keep track of," he quipped. Satisfied that he had succeeded in returning the smile to his friend's face, the boy turned his attention back to eating.

Around the hall, people had recommenced their conversations. This time, there was a common theme woven throughout many: the mandate of Damian Gray. Even though it had been spoken to just three girls, the general populace was smart enough to realize it was meant for all. For those who were acquainted with the boy, it was more than adequate warning. For others... well, they would have to learn the hard way.