For The Better

After

Raven walked her sister back to her dorm room. 

"I'll see you Saturday, ok?"

Skie smiled, still sniffling a little. "See you then Ray." She paused and gave her sister another big hug.

Raven ran her fingers through the smaller girl's hair gently. "I love you Ky."

"Love you too." Skie slowly pulled away. "I guess I'd better pack."

Raven smirked. "I'll leave you to it."

Skie pushed open the door and was immediately tackled by Hannah and Danielle. "Oof, geez!"

"Are you ok? How awful was it?" Hannah asked breathlessly.

"Geez Hannah, take a breath." Danielle rolled her eyes and shared a knowing look with Skie.

"I haven't stopped breathing yet Dani, and you were just as concerned."

"Ok, don't call me Dani."

Skie giggled at her friends' antics. "I'm ok guys, really. Well, except my butt of course."

Danielle turned back to Skie. "What happened? If you don't mind saying." She added quickly.

Skie didn't necessarily want to explain everything, so instead, she tugged her underwear down in back, turned around, and slowly lifted her skirt, smirking at the twin gasps.

"Oh my god! That must have hurt so much." Danielle whispered in awe.

Skie nodded and dropped her skirt. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Hazel actually used the cane on you?" Hannah's eyes filled with tears. "Oh Skie, I'm so sorry."

Skie gave a sheepish smile. "Well, it was deserved. And I'll be ok."

Her two friends looked at each other, then threw themselves at her again for another hug. 

Skie hugged them back, but then flinched as the fabric of her skirt bounced against her bottom. As soon at they stopped fussing over her, she slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water as cold as it would go. She wet a washcloth and prepared to put it against her bottom when she saw it in the mirror and gasped. Damn, Hazel sure isn't someone to mess with. Her entire bottom was a solid hot red, with six large dark red welts across it. Skie gingerly ran a finger along one of the welts, wincing as sparks of pain shot out. She gently pressed the cold cloth to her bottom and sighed as it brought some relief. Geez.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raven silently slipped into her room, which had the lights off. She had taken her own sweet time walking back there, stopping to get water, chatting with Daisy (who knew what had happened and was a bit worried as well as Lilian), and stopping in a bathroom to fix her hair. Her stalling had paid off. Hazel lay under the covers of the bed, sobbing her heart out into her pillow. By the state of the blazer and shoes flung onto the floor, she had kept it together only long enough to deliver her report to the Headmistress. 

Raven made her way to the bed, sitting on the end of it, alerting Hazel to her presence. The head girl didn't look up, but after a few minutes, a hand reached out from under the covers. Raven took this as her cue and slipped up behind Hazel, gently nestling her body around her friend's and, reaching up, began running her fingers through Hazel's hair.

Hazel's shoulders eventually stopped shaking with sobs and she rolled over so she was face to face with Raven, kicking off her blanket as she did.

"Rave, I..." Hazel trailed off as more tears poured down her cheeks. 

Raven pulled her friend into a hug. "Shh, I know. I know."

Hazel mumbled something into Raven's chest.

"Hmm?"

The head girl pulled back. "Skie's gonna hate me now."

Raven resisted rolling her eyes as she felt bad for her friend. "Hazel, how often do you say someone's going to hate you." 

"Every time." Hazel mumbled, looking down.

"And how often do they actually hate you?"

"Never."

"Then why is Skie going to hate you?"

Hazel cuddled up to Raven again. "Stop making sense."

Raven smirked. "Sorry."

Hazel sighed and Raven pulled her closer. "Skie won't hate you. I know she won't. You did what you had to do."

"I know, it's just, I feel bad."

"I know."

Hazel sighed. "I really hope she'll be ok."

Raven opened her mouth, then froze, stiffened slightly, and shut it again.

"She will be."

Hazel quirked an eyebrow but as the lights were still off, Raven didn't notice. Instead, she pushed herself up so she was sitting on the bed next to Raven, who was still lying down on her side. A thought occurred to her.

"Raven."

Raven looked at her. "What?"

In a flash, Hazel pushed the girl onto her stomach, pulled up her skirt, and smacked her bottom 6 times, hard.

"Ok, never mind."

Raven rubbed her bottom. "Oww, what did I do?"

Hazel smirked. "I certainly hope you didn't forget about me warning you to watch your language earlier."

"Wha- Oh." Raven grinned sheepishly. "I was hoping you would forget."

"Unlikely." Hazel grinned.

"You never do." Raven rolled her eyes and mumbled, then rolled away as Hazel raised her hand again. "What, I was agreeing!"

Hazel continued grinning and got up, pulling Raven into a hug when she slid off the bed. 

"You're incorrigible." 

"Thank you."

AN: And the fluff returns! I know I've said that Haven is not accurate to the canon, so take that how you will. 

Meanwhile, this story is very nearly done! Thank you for your patience as I was taking a much needed break as well as moving these past months. I appreciate your support.

As always, feel free to drop any requests or suggestions in the comments!