&& fool me once, vinegar on you [Calli]

[LILY MAKENNA MARTELL]

There was something indescribably magical and comforting about the Hufflepuff Common room to Makenna. The bright, earthy atmosphere warmed her right to her toes even on the coldest and bitterest of days. Of course, that might have something to do with its prime location. Residing almost right next to the kitchen, it was perfect for any hungry Hufflepuff to get a midnight snack. Naturally, throughout the years, Makenna has abused her ability to do so. It made her wonder just what she did prior to having such a convenient way to get food at any hour one could possibly want. The elves were fantastically hospitable at any and all hours, eager to please and cook up what she wanted even if it was something as simple as a cookie. Yes, Makenna has gotten up and out of bed and wandered off into the kitchen in search of exactly one cookie. What could she say? The stomach wants what a stomach wants.

And so Makenna was just finishing up a similar excursion to the kitchen. Although she had not just gotten out of bed. After having finished a quick Quidditch workout to keep her skills entact, it was only natural that one was hungry. Even if she did not value her Chaser skills as much as her Beater skills, Makenna was determined to prove to Lyra that she could take whatever she dished out at her, although she would be very resentful all the while.

The portrait to the kitchens had barely closed behind her when she heard a great commotion. There was a great clamour of outrage followed by the surge of rushing liquid. The sour taste of vinegar lit the air, which could only mean one thing... The barrels only reacted in such a manner to an intruder, and a poor intruder at that to have been doused in vinegar. Makenna rather thought this aspect of Hufflepuff security was rather genius, not to mention hilarious. Now the perpetrator would have to shuffle back to their own common room to the bath with the stench of the unforgiving liquid preceding them, announcing their failure.

Even though she had not yet identified the would-be intruder of the Hufflepuff Common Room, Makenna started laughing hysterically at their terrible luck to have so miserably failed at this endeavour. For her, it hardly mattered who it was. There was no person it could have possibly been for the mere sight to not be funny.

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[CALLISTA CAIN NOTT]

She thought she had it all worked out. She had spent several endless nights these past few weeks trying to decipher the mystery behind the security to the hufflepuff common room. It was only just a few hours ago that Callista thought she had finally cracked the code.

With a distinctly boastful air, the slytherin walked briskly down the kitchen corridor, steely eyes set on those barrels. She hadn't the slightest idea of what she was going to do once she got inside, but Calli knew that, upon figuring out which room was Josceline's, she would do something very evil inside. Maybe summon a bunch of frogs on her bed, or set her homework on fire or something. Her long bout of insomnia had left her just a tad lethargic of that sort of thing, only ready to taste the sweetness of being able to break into where her sister felt safest. She had heard rumors that through the history of hogwarts, no one had ever managed to break into the place. Now, while she had doubts such a simple and unsophisticated house would hold such a status, Calli certainly wouldn't mind claiming the title of 'first' once she exacted her yet-clear plans on her favorite hufflepuff.

Maybe it was the insomnia that had caused the slip-up. For whatever reason, Calli wasn't really thinking about it too much once she had finally reached the barrel. She was already celebrating her victory over the system before her attempt to actually break the system. If she had been concentrating, Calli would've noticed right away how she had placed her hand on the opposite barrel of the actually correct one, and that she had added three extra syllables to the password as she tapped on it, absent-mindedly humming a small tune. All she knew that one moment she was cackling at her evil, and the next, she was being blinded by vinegar.

With a startled yelp, Callista staggered back from the blast, before slipping on the formed puddle. She quickly careened to the floor on her ass, startled and absolutely enraged. Her anger was provided outlet when she heard laughter, noticing the blonde hufflepuff that was taking amusement in her botched attempt. ”Are you laughing at me?!” the slytherin yelled incredulously, ”How dare a filthy hufflepuff like you laugh at me! I'll have you know...” The sixth year began to try and get up, only to slip on the floor once again halfway. Oh, she would not look like a fool in front of this lesser being! ”... That I will have revenge on all of you! ALLL OFFF YOOOOOU!”

[LILY MAKENNA MARTELL]

Although she had yet to witness many attempts at breaking into the Hufflepuff Room, Makenna had to admit that it was bloody hilarious. In fact, she could hardly breathe with how hard she was laughing. The only thing she was regretting about laughing was the fact that laughing required taking large amounts of the vinegar-filled air. At the outraged call, Makenna finally looked up from her laughing to find one Callista Nott. And if it was at all possible, Makenna started laughing even harder when she saw who the would-be intruder was. The Hufflepuff had never really cared for the Slytherin Nott. Her dislike of the girl stemmed primarily from the Slytherin's utter dislike for all that was Hufflepuff. As a very proud Slytherin, Makenna could never stand for things such as this.

Makenna breathed in deeply to calm down her laughing in an attempt to prevent hyperventilating in the very near future. Unfortunately, her attempts were limitedly successful. The Hufflepuff thought of it as not being her fault since the Slytherin just kept doing things that were simply hilarious... like being wholeheartedly rejected from the Hufflepuff Common Room. “I am definitely laughing at you, snake. We're the only two people around,” she replied with a derisive scoff. However, her radar came up when Nott called Hufflepuffs filthy with her bright blue eyes flashing with anger. But before she could do or say anything of the sort, the Slytherin slipped in the puddle of vinegar as if exacting Hufflepuff retribution. In way, Makenna was happy with that. The stupid snake had managed to land herself in there in the first place, called Hufflepuffs filthy and then slipped into the vinegar puddle again. That was what she called karmic justice.

“Ooooh, I'm so scared. The big bad Slytherin is going to exact revenge,” she said drolly as she rolled her eyes, clearly not at all impressed with the girl's threat. “What are you going to do? Slip there all day?” she said, chuckling at her own suggestion. While it may be inconvenient for the rest of the house both in terms of the smell and the obstructed entrance, the sight of Nott slipping in the vinegar puddle was quite entertaining. Now, Makenna was sure that there were more kind-hearted individuals who wouldn't think so. Unfortunately for Nott, Makenna was not one of them. She was more than happy to stick around to be further entertained by the spectacle.

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[CALLISTA CAIN NOTT]

To embarrass herself in front of a filthy hufflepuff was like the ultimate blow. She stared at Makenna with a fierce scowl, still on the floor and dripping with the vinegar. Callista could taste the abhorrent liquid in her mouth, and only served to fuel her desire for revenge even more. Oh Martell was going to get something nasty once she finally reached inside the Hufflepuff common room. Maybe even more frogs! She could litter the entire common room with the disgusting little creatures. It would be fitting to place them with the rest of the zoo that was Hogwarts. She couldn't help but laugh a little at the mental image. It was almost too perfect!

”Mark my words, badger!” the sixth year announced almost valiantly. ”You will rue the day that you laughed at me! RUE IT!!” She needed something personal to attack Makenna with, but truthfully, she didn't know very much about her rival. How much did she really need to know about some stupid hufflepuff anyway? They were all just a bunch of little vermin that were going to be crushed by her in the end of it all anyway. No matter how Martell felt, she would attack them where they felt most secure, and crush the annoying house at its very roots. Taking care of Makenna though came first. This girl needed to know the seriousness of this threat. Unfortunately, this couldn't be done while sitting on the floor.

”I can get up when I want to, mudblood,” Calli pouted with hot cheeks, ”I slipped on purpose!” With that said, she stumbled to her feet, nearly slipping a second time halfway there. Now they were on more even ground, but really, the hufflepuff should be on her knees, worshipping her-- begging her for mercy. The thought easily made her smile. ”You're the one who should be on the ground, but you never quite understand where your place is! But not to worry! I've reserved a special hell for you!” She just needed to work it out, yes. Either way, surely Martell would regret it. It was simply a given.

[LILY MAKENNA MARTELL]

Despite Nott's very fierce scowl, Makenna was not at all frightened. Then again, Makenna never did like admitting to being afraid of anything. She scoffed at the sad sight the girl made, the girl who was still cowering on the floor and dripping in vinegar. It certainly did not make for a very frightening picture. However, it was quite hysterical. What made the whole thing even more funny to her was the snake's declaration of war. “Oh, am I?” she repeated mockingly. She rolled her eyes at the very idea. Slytherin Nott knew very little of anything in her opinion, a closed-minded snake who couldn't manage to accomplish much even if she tried; as an example, the occurrence of this little mishap. Staring down at the Nott girl as she leaned casually against the wall made her feel very big and powerful indeed.

Hearing the snake call her a Mudblood, the Hufflepuff straightened up from the wall as her eyes narrowed dangerously. In most cases, Makenna wouldn't allow such a terrible word to be used, much less against her, especially since it hardly described her at all. Her blood may not be pure, but that may more likely be at the fault of her great-grandmother's Veela blood. There were some halfbloods strewn throughout her ancestry, but it was hardly a good enough reason to call her a name reserved for Muggleborns. At her assertion that she had intentionally slipped, Makenna let out a bark of laughter although her amusement in the situation was no longer quite there due to being called a Mudblood. The Hufflepuff hardly believed that the Slytherin on the floor believed what she was saying herself. Nobody wanted to voluntarily be a sitting duck on the floor where they could grow to smell more and more like the puddle of vinegar. “At the very least, know who you call a Mudblood. And if you knew anything, you would know that I am not one,” she spat out venomously.

Now that the girl was no longer on the floor, Makenna felt that they were on equal ground. After all, fair is fair. As a Hufflepuff, she could hardly hit someone while they were literally down. On thing was certain, this girl needed to be taught a lesson. And Makenna was just itching to hit something...

One thing that Makenna had never liked was being told what to do. She liked to think of herself as a free spirit, free to go wherever she wants. She came and went as she pleased, thank you very much. She was a girl who never did like being restricted to anything by anybody, not much less by a tiny whit of a girl who thought she was better than everybody else. So upon hearing that snake trying to dictate where she should be, she saw her vision go red with anger. Makenna rushed to tackle the Slytherin girl into the ground with the intention of pummeling her into the ground and make her become one with the vinegar so to speak.

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[CALLISTA CAIN NOTT]

In a way, Calli was well aware of the fact that Makenna was mocking her, and that in itself drove the slytherin crazy in a mouth-frothing rage. The badger should be too fearful of her to laugh, and should be well aware of her capabilities. Her anger only increased as she caught the roll of the eyes in response to her very serious threat (it totally was a serious threat, even if somewhere in her brain the slytherin was logically realizing that this wasn’t going to end well for her).

”Don’t you dare mock me, badger!” Calli sneered, trying to seem as threatening as possible while still being sopping wet from the vinegar. Really, what she should be focusing on is getting a nice bath in and forgetting this entire fiasco, but that would mean letting some meager hufflepuff win. She wouldn’t dare accept such a thing happening—never. She would never allow Makenna to have the delusion that she was somehow better than the brunette was. It was, quite simply, unacceptable.

She was about to clarify on just how, no, Makenna was a mudblood in her eyes just being in such a lesser house in the first place, but that thought quickly ended when Makenna began to charge her. With a startled scream, she quickly snapped to the ground with the hufflepuff’s tackled, slamming hard against the corridor floor. Calli blubbered with a choking noise, spending a moment flailing about messily in the vinegar puddle. ”UNHAND ME THIS MOMENT YOU STUPID LESSER OR I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR LIFE WILL BE IN CONSTANT MISERY AND SORROW!” the slytherin choked out as dramatically as possible while still flailing rather pathetically.

[/justify]

[LILY MAKENNA MARTELL]

One of the things that Makenna enjoyed the most was doing the exact opposite of what people wanted. It wasn’t exactly a secret between her tendency to veer towards controversial topics and her need to stand out from among the crowd. There was no easier way to be known than as the person who was a little too outspoken. She simply wasn’t a typical Hufflepuff, and it was something that she prided herself on. In fact, Makenna would even argue that there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Hufflepuff. As the Sorting Hat had deemed them, they were the house that ‘took all the rest’. Makenna loved and hated that description in equal measure. On the other hand, it encouraged the idea that Hufflepuffs were akin to trash, like this stupid Slytherin thought. But on the other hand, it also meant that Hufflepuffs were a group of entirely diverse individuals. They were not necessarily brought together by a mutual arbitrary trait. And as such, Hufflepuffs were so much more interesting.

So unfortunately for Calli, she had unknowingly made her own situation far more difficult than necessary by telling her that she shouldn’t mock the Slytherin. “Oh no,” she cried out dramatically and mockingly. “For the record, I’m mocking you just in case you couldn’t tell,” she said with a smirk, blatantly provoking her and deliberately insulting her intelligence for good measure. “What are you going to do now?” Slytherins could be so very ineffectual at the best of times. True, their house did have some of her good friends, but there were narrow-minded and snivelling idiots such as Nott who were not in her good books.

Years of experience had taught her well. Soon after tackling the Slytherin, Makenna moved quickly to straddle the girl for each of movement and access. Makenna never did manage to control her outrageous temper very well. With a fierce ruthless violence that she was known for, the Hufflepuff made to punch the haughty brat right in the face. She paid no mind as some vinegar splashed onto her clothing. It was a small price to pay to ensure that this Slytherin never told her what to do. Clearly this Slytherin inherently needed this lesson, and badly too. After all, fair is fair. The Slytherin had the audacity to tell her where her place was. Not even her parents had been able to do that, what made this over-privileged brat think that she could? The Slytherin’s entirely meaningless threat had very little of the intended effect on her. In fact, it greatly amused Makenna. The combination of Nott’s threat and her sopping wet appearance did not work together well at all, at least not in the Slytherin’s favour. Makenna laughed at the very idea. In fact, the threat meant so little to her that she proceeded to ignore it altogether. “Now repeat after me: Hufflepuffs are better than me.”

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[CALLISTA CAIN NOTT]

As bad as the timing was, Calli's brain had chosen now, pinned underneath the psychotic hufflepuff, that she was absolutely terrible at fighting. The slytherin could talk all she wanted, but when it actually got down to throwing punches, the pureblood was wholly inadequate. Hand-to-hand fighting was the muggle's way, and she wouldn't dare degrade herself in such a manner. Though she was vaguely aware of how those skills now might have been useful in removing herself from this uncomfortable position, she was happy to have maintained her pride for so long. After all, why would she want to touch some... some filthy hufflepuff?

Not like this wasn't degrading already. The brunette choked on the vinegar that she was no doubt soaked in at this point, and tried to struggle against Makenna's grip. ”YOU WILL KNOW PAIN PUFF!” the sixth year screeched hoarsely, ”YOU WILL NEVER NOT KNOW PAIN AGAIN! REVENGE I SAY! REVE--” She had much more, but the punch that landed on her face silenced her, slamming her head back to the stone floor. Through the stinging pain from the hit, she stared wildly at the hufflepuff, somewhere between aghast horror and pure rage. How dare she hit her?! Did this girl truly have such little grasp of her place as to hit her?!

Calli leered as Makenna's demand finally reached her ears, disbelieving of it. She would rather be in her grave than ever admit a hufflepuff was better than her, much less the entirety of the house. The laughter that exuded from the girl above her only made things worse. There was no way Makenna would coax such a thing out of her, and unfortunately, that likely meant for a long day with this ridiculous hufflepuff. Her pride wouldn't dare let this continue for long though. ”Never!” she cried out defiantly before stretching as far as she could to one of Makenna's arms, jaws open and trying to bite. The taste would be horrible, but she would have to get the hufflepuff off of her one way or another.