Consequences -- [[Cal]]

[Scarlet McElroy]

{This isn't, in fact, inside the Lioano common room, as Scarlet's an Intermise. She's in the corridor outside, but I put it in this board as we don't have a 'corridor outside' one. xD}

Oh, good God, the world was spinning right about then for Scarlet McElroy. It felt like when she was a little girl and she was out with Roxie in the fields, and they used to spin around and around. The world would flash past in a whirl of pretty, bright colours and noise and they'd spin and spin and spin until they fell right over, feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous. This felt just like that.

Except that there weren't any pretty colours. Instead, everything was dull and grey. But she had the same dizzy feeling in her head and an awful, almost painful sickness in her stomach that made her feel like she was about to keel over and vomit out anything that was still in her stomach; which she had already done two or three times that morning. God, she felt awful.

And, deep down, she'd know exactly what it was that was causing her body such havoc. Still, she'd needed to find out properly. It wasn't something that she'd be able to directly approach the Head Healer and ask; that would be horrible. Perhaps she'd even risk being expelled. She didn't know, and she didn't want to find out. But it just so happened to be her lucky day, because Emilia was out. There was a note on the locked Hospital Room office saying so.

Obviously, Emilia hadn't expected anyone to want to break into her office, so she'd only locked it simply. Scarlet was able to easily open the lock and slide inside, searching around for books. She found a couple that she was interesting in; one stating symptoms for certain illnesses and their cures, and one labeled 'Magical Pregnancies' and something or other. She found out how to test if you were pregnant or not, and it was simple: an incantation and a wave of the wand.

"Pink for positive, blue for negative. Pink for positive, blue for negative..." The girl repeated the words over and over in her head and aloud as she did what needed to be done with the spell. Her wand glowed pink. "Son of a bitch!" The gasp left her lips involuntarily. She was pregnant after all. Oh, sweet lord. She even knew who the father was.

See, it was the right timing. There had been a slight gap in the guys before Cal. Well, not so much the guys... but she hadn't actually done the deed, as such, with them all. Cal had been the first proper one in, hm. A week or two? Like I said, she'd been with guys... just not gone all the way with everyone. And she hadn't been with anyone after him. She'd just... not felt like it. Heck, it all added up. She just knew it was Cal's- she even vaguely remembered him not doing the spell at all.

There was no way in hell she was keeping this baby, but Cal still had the right to know. Which was why she was in the corridor outside the Lioano common room at ten in the morning, banging on the entrance with her fist and just hoping to Merlin that Cal hadn't got up early and gone for a walk or something. "Caliban Leandros!"

[Caliban Leandros]

It had been a rollercoaster ride for Cal lately. He had found out that this girl that he was basically in love with had found someone else, someone better than him... Someone who was his friend, and who deserved to be happy after all of the shit that had happened to him. What could he say to that? He couldn't. And so, instead, he had avoided it. He knew he couldn't handle it just yet, so he had found any way possible of avoiding it. Yet, he hadn't touched alcohol since the Valentine's Day dance. Why? Because of what he had done. He had slept with someone, with a girl he didn't even know, and he couldn't even remember why. He had been upset and had gotten drunk, but why had he slept with her? Even he couldn't answer that one.

He had forced himself to push that thought away, though this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he had made a huge mistake. Told him that he might have forgotten something really important: a protection spell. But he honestly could not remember if he had used one or not, which worried him. But hey, not everyone ended up pregnant after doing the deed, right? Right. So it might not even be something for him to worry about. Besides, he had a job now working at Shaded Nights for Adam. He'd needed something to do more than he'd needed the money, honestly. He hated sitting around uselessly all the time. He had to have something to occupy his time, and Adam had a slot open.

Besides, his friend was usually there anyways. When he wasn't in class, he was almost always at the bar either working or with Naomi. And, as Cal had found out, he was Naomi's "uncle". That little girl could always get a smile or a laugh out of him. She had such a kind, bubbly spirit; it made him wonder how she kept it up through all the crap she'd been through already. But somehow, she did, and he admired her for that more than anything. It almost made him want kids of his own, but he knew he was in no position to think about children or anything. He needed to be settled down and out of school, have a steady income and all that stuff. And he would need to have a great girl, have a relationship where they were deeply in love. Kids deserved that much.

He'd been up for a few hours now, but he'd just been sitting in his room with Niko. It hadn't taken long before he'd discovered that sleep didn't come as easily as it used to. For anyone. Most of his friends didn't sleep well, and he knew it was because of all of the attacks and deaths. People were scared, uneasy. Would they wake up to more screams? More pain and death? It was a question that lingered on everyone's minds. Who could blame them? It was nerve-wracking, living this way. He wasn't sure how long they could all cope, but the entire wizarding world was affected by it. They weren't alone, they were just isolated. It would seem that the Ministry refused to help. That in itself made things seems a whole lot worse...

As he finally left his room in a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt, he heard someone banging on the door to the common room. Then he heard his name being screamed through the barrier, and he blinked a few times. Who would be yelling for him? Especially someone who didn't know the password to get in... Curious, he walked over to the door, glad the common room was empty. Everyone else had left or was asleep. Once he reached the door, he opened it, and was met with a face he vaguely remembered. It was as though an invisible slammed into him, filtering through his body. Scarlet. Oh boy. Unsure of why she was here, and dreading what she had to say, he finally spoke up. "You, uh... called?"