Maybe We'll Be Alright - Marauder Era

[[Angel Kratos]]

I ʀ ɑ__Ϩ ɑ ʙ ʀ є

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The last thing Ira found herself ever wanting to do was to walk into the Great Hall during a meal time. It meant trying to look normal by eating and praying not to be sick later on. Not the kind of thing she took enjoyment out of. So, she wasted time away up in the dormitory in the name of homework. It was a common excuse she used for her dorm mates and by now they used to her absences from meals. Which was all well and good, but they usually brought her back some kind of food if none of them saw her at least come in and sit down during the time period food was served.

So she couldn't stay cooped up in the dormitory all afternoon. That was a reality that the fifth year would simply have to face, and the sooner it happened the better. Sighing softly, she marked her place in her Charms text and closed the book before sliding off her bed. It was still fairly early in the dinner hour, so maybe she could get away with sneaking in and back out fairly quickly. She'd wrapped up something and take it out to the lake. The Giant Squid would probably appreciate the extra treat.

It was with this plan in mind that she headed down to the Great Hall. Hesitating outside the doors for a moment, she repeated it over in her head and decided that it would be too odd for her to be in and out in a flash. She could sit at the end of the Gryffindor table for a space and people-watch over a cup of tea. Maybe she could pick up something new, or at least find some kind of amusement in the antics of her peers.

"Not that this year is lacking in excitement..." It was hard to claim that it was when they were in the middle of a war. Especially when children from the school, a couple whom Ira typically called friends, had been kidnapped just that month. She couldn't begin to imagine the kind of criticism the headmaster was receiving for that incident, which seemed ot have left some kind of emotional--if not physical--scar on the students in question.

Removing the subject from her mind as she entered the Great Hall, Ira paused and let her eyes scan the room. It was seemed to be slowly filling up, other students entering the hall in the time that she spent taking in those present. She walked past the Slytherin table, uninterested in anyone who might be present there, and tried to get a good look at anyone at the Hufflepuff table in case Marlene happened to be around. She wasn't. A brief glance at the Ravenclaw table in passing just to be sure that her friend wasn't somehow visiting one of them (she could only hope something normal as that would happen) and Ira finally turned her gaze in resignment toward her own House table. She spotted Lily with two of the Marauders and immediately decided not to try interaction there for a number of reasons. Instead, she found herself a secluded spot toward the end of the table where she could keep an eye out for anyone she might want to see and proceeded to help herself to the cup of tea she really only wanted. The food on the table was largely ignored for the time being; she didn't need anything on her plate if she was going to be hanging around for a bit.

~ooc; >>; Just to get her out in the open, too.~


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[[_azalea_]]

Meow.

If cats could talk, Belenus would've done it by the way he had been vying for his owner's attention for the past fifteen minutes. He stretched and stared at Theresa curiously as if she were about to look back at him or at least acknowledge his presence.

One, two, and then three seconds later-

Nope.

Meeeeoooooowwwww....

He later jumped from the nightstand onto the floor and nestled himself on her feet to see if she was going to respond. For the first few seconds there was no reaction whatsoever; her feet were warm enough for him to stay put and be lulled to sleep. Theresa, on the other hand, began to notice the weight shift atop her feet that she unconsciously twiddled her toes and slightly raised her them to remind her feline companion that he could only sleep on the foot of her bed or his very own comfy little bed adjacent to it. And that was it, really. She merely reloaded her quill with ink and went back to writing after that.

Needless to say, Belenus had all the rights to give up at that point. He walked farther back to get a better view of Theresa's face but she was too focused on her apparently - and unusually, perhaps - cathartic diary-writing. No matter how neglected he was at the time, he couldn't help but try to break her concentration. It hasn't been this bad until recently....

Hm.

The feline looked at her again and no more than half a minute later did his ears flicker when he heard her sigh and finally put the quill down. Theresa stretched her arms upwards before closing her diary and making eye contact with Belenus, who was already staring at her.

Meeeeooooow...?

He almost sounded like he was questioning her then.

"I was just thinking about some things, Bel. I'm sorry," the Hufflepuff said as she bent down from the chair she was sitting on to extend a hand at her now indignant-looking cat. He eyed her hand for a couple of seconds before he placed his right paw on the palm of her hand, then he instantly dropped to his side and rolled on his back. Well, now... his belly wasn't going to pat or rub itself.

Theresa's smiled broadened then, relieved that her feline companion was contented and won over. "Oh, you and your belly rubs! Who's the most adorable cat at Hogwarts? That's you!" She reached out and rubbed the cat's very soft belly and heard his satisfied purr. That was how forgiving he was. That was how he could never be truly angry at her for not paying attention to him from time to time.

Olivia aside, Theresa had been friends with Belenus for a long time, too. She had first spotted him as a kitten in a pet shop in Diagon Alley and she had known then that the idea of raising an owl or a toad or a rat was out of the question. Besides, out of the four pets available, she had viewed that owning a cat was one of her connections back to the Muggle world; her neighbors owned cats, her primary school classmates owned cats, Hell, even a couple of her relatives owned cats. She supposed she could adopt a puppy, too, but puppies were not permitted on school grounds, damn it.

"All right. I have to eat dinner now," she said, standing up and grabbing her History of Magic textbook from her bed. She made a mental note earlier to ask for someone else's notes about the subject. That done, she placed her diary on the very bottom of her trunk. "Behave while I'm gone, okay?"

Belenus yawned widely and meowed once more.

"Good boy."

On her way to the Great Hall for dinner, she stopped roughly halfway through to the side and opened her History textbook to the chapter they went over earlier today. She frowned at the parchment sandwiched between the pages of the book and more so the very minimal amount of notes that she had. Instead of having written legitimate notes, she saw random lines and scribbles caused by how many times she had fallen asleep, a habit she now employed since the beginning of the month. The irony was that she always wanted to know more about magic and how it came about ever since First Year, and yet Professor Binns and his hypnotic voice had their particular ways of making students fall asleep every lecture.

Theresa, of course, was no exception to that. If one was seated close to her or paid enough attention to her, really, her head bobbing up, down, and sideways simply couldn't go unnoticed. She was yet to hit her head on her desk, but hopefully it wouldn't come down to that.

She resumed her walk down the halls, though her attention was still fixed on the scribbles and the random notes. "Ah, I don't even remember writing these..." she muttered to herself, then tilted her head to mentally make the indecipherable decipherable. She sighed and gave up three seconds later.

"Maybe I'm the only person around here who sleepwrites."

Her amused laugh echoed down the hall she was currently in.


________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Kokuryuu]

Mondays.

Mondays were the absolute worst.

It had been particularly difficult to wake up this morning, as he had gone to bed particularly late last night (an owl had arrived in the dead of it to deliver the appraisal report done on the property - his property - in East Germany). Then it had been a sleuth of classes, which, with the new term taking off now, were gearing up for the NEWTs that would arrive in only a few months' time.

Callum Hawthorne wanted to sleep.

Instead, he was following his brother down to the Great Hall, half-listening to Nikolai chatter about this or that, and half doing some quick calculations in his head. Niko had cornered him after classes this evening indignantly, waving a letter from (surprisingly) Emil. (Their eldest brother had the most leniency and tolerance for the youngest, when it came to his siblings, and actually bothered to write Niko back every now and then.)

Niko's little face had been red as he sputtered, gesturing wildly with the hand holding the parchment, and it was only after Declan told him flatly to calm down and speak intelligently that Niko had managed to get out what had worked him up so much.

The Swedish annual broom race.

Father was taking Mother, Emil, and Neil with him, having gotten box seats after a hefty donation this past autumn.

Of course, Declan and Niko would not be able to go.

The Swedish annual broom race took place in March.

There were no holidays in March for them.

Nikolai, naturally, had been upset.

And it was up to Declan to keep his little brother happy.

So after about twenty minutes of condoling, and reminders that the World Cup was a much bigger event, and coming next year, and Niko could go to that (But that's next year, Declan!!"), and then a promise to ask Miles for a shipment of chocolate oranges, he had his brother somewhat back to his normal self.

The subject now took a turn to what subjects Niko should consider for next year, and what he should focus on more this year so that he was prepped not just for Fifth year, but Sixth year as well.

Oh and, they were on their way down to dinner. Purely because food never failed to cheer Niko up.

They were on the last leg of their journey to supper, and Niko had finally reached the electives in their conversation. There were also more people in the hallways now, making their way to the Great Hall as well, and they had weave around pockets of students to get to their destination quickly.

Ah. There were the doors.

A small laughter came from somewhere behind him, and he thought he could hear someone mumble "Sleepwriting" close by. Nikolai chattered away, even as they reached the doors of the Great Hall, a pale hand reaching out to rest on one of the worn handles.

"So I think, maybe next year I'll keep just Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. I don't much like Divination anyway, it's not like we do much of any- AHK!!!"

Something slammed into him from behind, with enough momentum to push him forward right into Nikolai. Unfortunately for the younger Hawthorne, this meant that he was squashed between his tower of an elder brother and a massive door to the Great Hall, and he emitted a short scream to signify his shock and discomfort.

Bewildered himself, Declan looked behind himself (his brother would be find, he was durable enough to take a slam into a wooden door and then spring back), only to see a no-longer laughing, very frazzled Hufflepuff tumbling away. A piece of parchment fluttered lazily down between them, and he snatched it out of mid-air. It was positively illegible.

So she had been the one "sleepwriting."

"And perhaps sleepwalk, as well," he said with an arch of the brow, handing the vellum back to Theresa. A couple Slytherins his year stared, for they knew who - or what - Finley was. And they certainly knew who he was.

He flicked a look back at them that conveyed, with minimal expression, to turn their heads back around right now. He had no time for their idiocy, and if they even thought to make an inane comment about blood status, on a Monday evening after NEWTs classes, Nikolai would not be the only one being shoved against these doors.

Said brother was merely looking back and forth between the two Seventh Years. Rarely venturing outside his very small circle of his friends, Niko had few connections with those outside his own House; even then, it was mostly limited to those Ravenclaws close to his brother, who saw him coming and going once in a while. He hardly knew Finley, Callum knew. He himself had become acquainted with Theresa only through Rhineheart.

"Where's Rhineheart?" he asked, merely to fill in the void between them rather than watch her silently fret and look this way and that, quietly stamping her feet (it was a spectacle, really), while also backing away to give his brother room to pry the huge doors open. Niko gripped both handles, throwing his weight back to yank open the tall wooden slabs - and suddenly the chatter of the Great Hall washed over them, just as it did any evening before tonight.

H'n. Not as many people had come down just yet though. Well. It was only five'o'clock.

Niko held the door open for them, and he noiselessly slipped inside. Theresa was halfway in, too, when Niko suddenly released the door - "Reg!!" - and Declan stuck a toe out to keep it from slamming shut in Finley's face.

He was holding the stock section of the Prophet in one hand, after all. And a his eagle quill in the other.

Niko seemed not to have noticed, running right over to where the smallest of Blacks sat hunched at the Slytherin table and joyously clinging to Regulus' shoulders (or strangling him. He could not see, at this angle), pulling him up and back.

"Reg, father's going to buy tickets to the Swedish annual broom race this year." In contrast to the eagerness with which he was hanging off of the young Black's robes, Niko's voice was full of despair.

Leaving Niko to his devices and friend, Callum pulled back the foot holding the door open,moving instead in the direction of the Ravenclaw - and by proximity, Hufflepuff - table stood. He had seen his dormmates sitting there, the familiar back of Miles' head with its short, dark-gold hair, and the unfamiliar shock of Elliot's newly short, light blond hair.

(Winter seemed to be full of haircuts for upperclassmen in this school, this year.)

"-one galleon at a time."

"Hello. Talking about me are we?" he asked, coming up behind Miles. The Ravenclaw in question hardly flinched, reaching instead for a roll to put on his empty plate.

"Yes. Speaking the absolute worst of you, as a matter of fact," Miles retorted, tone dry. He craned his head back slightly, to look up at him ("Oh, hello, Theresa."). Callum noted his eyes were harder than his banter might admit. A flick of a gaze down the table explained why, immediately.

H'n.

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x

[[Angel Kratos]]

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AldenAlden

Regulus couldn't stop himself from grinning when he looked up from his food just in time to spot his brother crossing the hall, receiving a smile from the older boy. He was quick to turn his attention back to his food, knowing it would raise a lot of questions he didn't want to answer if someone caught him grinning at his blood traitor of a brother. Especially if there was nothing wrong with Sirius for him to be enjoying so much. So, instead, he had directed his happiness towards the treats on his plate and took a rather large bite out of a pasty. For all the negativity and stress that his year had started out with thanks to events over the summer, the youngest Black could safely say that he was doing much better than he had been. Him and Sirius were talking now, and maybe they still had a lot of things that they needed to work out but he didn't care. His brother cared still. It wasn't fake, or some cruel way to hurt him. Sirius didn't hate him, and just that knowledge on it's own had boosted his overall mood throughout the semester.

Even if things at home and in the Commons were starting to become more stressful. Expectations and what-not that Regulus wasn't sure he wanted to fulfill anymore. It was easy, after all, to say screw it and just follow the path his parents tried to lay out for him when those involved in that path were the only family he had. Betrayal was a great motivator when it came down to it, and Regulus knew that many of his relatives knew that as well. If they didn't, there wouldn't be constant reminders of Sirius' betrayal floating around at home when he was there. They would have erased him from their lives without a thought if they didn't think there was still something to be salvaged from the event--and Regulus was almost certain that something was his own loyalty.

"Why would they think there's anything to worry about with me, though..." The eternal question, it seemed, for Regulus. If his parents were right, then there was nothing to worry about in regards to him being 'tainted' by his brother. "But if they're not right... If Siri is right... Or if they think I'll decide Siri is more right than they are..."

"Reg!!" The shout from a voice he recognized as his best friend's was really the most warning Regulus had to get out of his thoughts and brace before Niko collided with him. As Niko's arms wrapped around him and pulled him up and back from his position leaning against the table, he caught the edge of the bench to make sure the excitement didn't cause him to fall over completely.

"'lo, Niko." Regulus managed, laughing at his friend's antics. He sobered up, of course, as the other continued on in more distressed tone that contrasted sharply with the current actions.

"Reg, father's going to buy tickets to the Swedish annual broom race this year."

"Oh." Niko's despair was justified, Regulus decided. After all, that particular event was in March. The only holiday anywhere near that time was Easter, and it didn't fall where it would need to in order to make a difference. The Easter holiday would do them no good and, even though a thousand different ideas flew through his mind on how they could get around this roadblock, Regulus knew it was hopeless.

"Wellll... We'll just have to do something better than the annual races." Regulus declared after a pause, with as much confidence as he could muster. He didn't know what they would do, but they would do it. He and Niko would come up with some genius idea to make up for the loss this year. "And besides, the World Cup is next year. It's even bigger and better than that." The first step was to convince themselves that it really wasn't as big a deal as it was to miss out on the event. They couldn't spend all their time being gloomy, right?

Before anything more could be said, though, Regulus felt his grip on the bench fail. Niko was probably close to sitting down beside him, but the young black still had the sensation of falling backwards off the bench hit him and flailed. Tried to grasp onto something to stop the entire process. "Ack!"

[anacondavises]

JamesProngsPotterPotterPotter

Once he had gotten everything sorted out and put away, James walked to the Great Hall, his eyes scanning for Remus once he had gotten there. Deep down inside, there was a part of James that wished that he had been able to get adjusted longer than the amount of time that he had. He was especially concerned about people, such as his best friends, and Lily. After what had happened, he wanted more so to make sure that they were okay. He would get things sorted out for himself after a certain point. But all he could do was put on the facade of his usual expressions and have the usual sense of humor. Other people couldn't do it. One could tell how someone in the Order was dealing with things at times. Not James though.

Another thought to James came to mind. He suddenly realized that the full moon was coming up sooner than he realized. He would have to keep in mind to get things set up for Remus so that he wouldn't get caught or get in trouble with the shifting. It was nothing new, of course. Yet at the same time, he hated forgetting about the full moon phases each month. The last thing he wanted to do was lose Remus, one of his best friends. And then James realized how much more pessimistic he had become over time, even with his sense of humor and usual arrogant and cocky facade that he always had.

He saw Remus and Sirius both talking to Lily, and smiled to himself. The only person currently missing was Peter. Peter was a strange person at times to James, but nonetheless, at the same time, he appreciated Peter's friendship just as much as the other two. "Ah, you three. Talking, as I can see," James joked, glancing over at Lily. He almost immediately could tell how much Lily had changed after what had happened. Not just with the time of adjustment that she hadn't been able to have. "So what have I missed since you started talking? Anything good?"

(OOC: If I need to change anything or add anything else, then please let me know!)

[MoroiiAngel]

talk color=#8BB168 think color=#547087

GIDEONxxxxxxxxx

d a r k n e s s i s a h a r s h t e r m d o n t y o u t h i n k

When Jane appeared for dinner, Gideon's attention immediately swiveled towards her. He watched as she settled herself. Hi Jane, he thought towards her. Gideon and Jane had seen each other over the last little while, but certainly not very much. Not enough. And he was not the only person seeing Jane infrequently. Gideon's head turned back towards his new seat partner. Miles was a study of calm. Far too calm; the "normal" was layered on thick like paste. Gid furrowed his eyebrows at Craven. He was alarmingly good at hiding hs emotions, but they had shared a few stressful situations in the recent months. Gid knew there was something stirring under that egg-shell exterior.

Before either of them could acknowledge it, however, Elliot jumped in with a comment towards Miles. "Lils!" came from just beside them. Remus Lupin had come calling. The conversation that Remus struck up with Lily didn't seem to include him, but it was short lived. With the customary fast pace of the Great Hall, along came yet another student.

"Sirius?" Gideon responded to his cousin's appearance with confusion. It had been off enough that Remus appeared at the Ravenclaw table, but he and Lily were prefects together and Gideon knew they were fairly good friends. Sirius Black, however, was not exactly notorious for being friends with Lily, or really any of the Ravenclaws. He and Sirius had been to many a family gathering together as cousins, but they had never moved in similar social circles at school. Gid was not a fan of Potter's attitude, which made them distant at the off-set.

“Sadly, I need to ask to borrow her. And Remus too, important house business.”

Understanding flooded into Gideon's head. Lily hadn't seemed terribly anxious, but he had noticed her jump when Miles approached unannounced. And if the other three were anything to go by, Lily was putting a brave face on things. Sirius had come to save her from things getting harder to deal with. When Lily readily agreed, Gideon gave her a small smile.

“Gideon, feel free to come over if you want.” That took Gideon by surprise, but he shook his head.

"Thanks, but you guys go on without me." He gestured back to the Gryffindor table with his head. "I reckon it'll be easier to discuss your top-secret Gyffindor plans without me. I'll talk to you later?" He said this last to Lily directly. Gid wanted to do some silly little demonstrative thing towards her, like squeeze her hand. But the events in November still managed to echo around in his head whenever he considered things like that, so he settled for a smile.

He watched the Gryffindor trio away for a moment, considering. It was impressive how the two of them were acting natural, yet protective. A pit of guilt opened up in Gideon's gut. He should be helping out in the same way. And there was someone who really needed his help.

Gideon slid out from his seat on the Ravenclaw bench just as Callum slid up to the table. Gathering up the notebooks that Miles delivered, he used a free hand to clap Craven on the shoulder. "Thank you again," he told his upper-year friend. Gideon knew how rare it was for Miles to share notes. He'd long been a tutor to Jane, but what no one else at the table knew was that Miles had agreed to share his notes with Gideon too. He gestured towards the free spot for Callum, offering it up as a spot so he could chat with his two best friends, Miles and Elliot. And then Gideon moved towards Jane.

"Hey Janie," he gave her a smile, but couldn't completely hide his own considerable worry. None of his friends had told him very much of what had happened, but Jane was the only one of them who had returned with visible scarring that Gideon had noticed. If he ever found the person who had done it, he would break their neck without a blink. He had a momentary flash of the anger he had experienced during the mission two weeks ago. It had threatened to overtake him then and it still made his vision go red now. Suddenly, he felt he could understand exactly why Cinna and Marlene were avoiding the Great Hall. He was feeling volatile, as though if someone came along and gave him the wrong sort of look they would be done for.

"What d'you say we get out of here?" He asked Jane. He was willing to bet, due to the distance she'd put between herself and the group of boys who were some of her closest friends in the world, that she had little interest in the people in the Great Hall. Likely she'd come for a bite to eat and was planning on getting out of here soon. Well, it was about time that Gideon spent some time with her. Lily had been receiving most of his attention thus far, but that was because she was alright with being around other people. That was hardly fair to the others.

Whatever Jane wanted to do, or wherever she wanted to go, Gideon would be happy to accompany her.

xxxxxxxxxa n d y e t i t d o m i n a t e s t h e t h i n g s i v e s e e n
PREWETT

[MoroiiAngel]

talk color=chocolate thought color=605D18

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Peter fumbled into the Great Hall just behind James, and followed him towards the Gryffindor table. It had been a long day, but in the life of Peter Pettigrew things were fairly normal. There was so much turmoil in the air, especially with the sixth year students. When three of your number get kidnapped, it tends to affect the rest. And Peter certainly had cared. After all, he and Lily Evans had had a thing. Sort of. Well, they had gone to a dance together. And when she got kidnapped, he had been beside himself. Of course, no one knew they'd been kidnapped right away, but her absence was palpable in the Gryffindor common room. Or at least, it had been for Peter and the rest of the marauders.

And then had come the mission to retrieve her (and, Peter had to own, the other three victims). Now, it was true that Peter was deeply troubled by Lily being taken. Thought it was all awful, the whole bit. But frankly, the last few missions Peter had been on had not exactly been pleasant (read: bits of small children and their parents plastered around a house). He was not gung-ho to jump in feet first. But when the Order's student members rallied, Peter decided to go. How could he not, if he wanted anyone to ever believe he cared ever again?

He knew he was not really equipped with any skill set that would be very helpful. Remus had gone with Alec to set up an ambush, but that was terrifying - Peter was rubbish at combat. James had gone inside to get Lily, but that was even worse. There was no magic in there, and if sneakiness was called for Peter needed to be Wormtail to really pull it off. So, he had stayed with Sirius and attempted to help him with the exceedingly complicated magic of disabling the barricade that the Death Eaters had set up. All in all it had been an awful experience and Peter had felt completely useless the entire time. But at least the mission was successful.

So when he came upon his three best friends and Lily, in a normal and safe setting of the Great Hall all grouped together almost as though it hadn't happened, it didn't really matter how the rest of his day had gone. All was good now.

"Alright?" Peter asked the group at large, finding himself a seat at the table and making a dive for the nearest platter of food. While he snatched things up, he listened to the others chatting, and let his eyes wander over to Lily. She seemed bright and cheery enough, which pleased the pants off of Peter. He was almost ready to take bets to see how long it would take before James started in on her, but even tactless little Peter knew that would not be such a great idea so soon after her ordeal. Better to give her her space. (Peter burned to know what had happened there, though. Surely it would be useful to know the sort of tactics the enemy used?)



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place ;; Great Hall ---
status ;; pretty content and musing
earworm ;; bad moon rising - creedence clearwater revival
xx⇨ (dinner time is the best time)

/ / / /

[Sinnistarr]

Jane Sydney Athens
Sixth year.Beater.Metamorphmagus.

This was a bad idea.

A terrible, very bad, idea. The minute Jane sat down, she felt incredibly uncomfortable and uneasy. No one waved back, no one said hello, or really acknowledged her much at all. Aside from a few incredibly awkward stares, one being from Miles , who she had barely spoken to since returning back to school. And he didn't seem to have much interest in conversation with her either.
Was this all too weird for them?
Was she too weird for them to be around?
This was a terrible idea.

Jane slowly sank into her seat, laying her bag next to her. She felt so alienated and lost amongst those who used to be so close to her. Without another word, she started to gather a small bit of food onto her plate, and wasted no time in eating. Her body needed food, and she was smart enough to know that. She need not gorge herself, just enough to keep herself going until lunch or dinner the next day. Fruits, vegetables, bread, whatever sustained her she would take.

In mid bite she saw something sit itself next to her, and Jane stopped to look over. A.....dragon? She blinked twice, merely staring before opening it slowly, and seeing a small doodle of a dragon. It looked a little awkward, and not quite accurate, but it gave her a smallest of smiles. She looked up to see who it had been from. She assumed Gideon perhaps, but no, it had been from Lily.
Really?
Of all people? Lily Evans? Aside from them being in the same Hell together, they never got along, but despite all that, Jane was willing to put it behind her to get along better. Despite her being Gideon's new best friend.
Of the four of them, Lily was adapting to being back at school much better than the others could have ever dreamed of. And Gideon clung to it, and the two of them seemed so much closer. Janie felt pushed away, Lily was in her usual spot with him, and it seemed fitting. He had his own troubles, he didn't need her sort of stress and bullshit on his shoulders. So she distanced herself from him even further. But at the same rate, it'd be hard for her to say it wasn't hard to watch.

Letting out a small sigh, she slowly forced another fork full of food into her mouth before noticing another random gift, a rose. And she didn't even have to guess that one, she knew it was El. She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. She let her finger tips gently stroke the flower's petals. They were soft against her finger tips. She carefully tucked both generous gifts into her bag, before finishing up her meal (stuffing a few apples into her bag for later, of course. She had a late night ahead of her})
She just needed to get out of here.

And that was when she heard someone move themselves closer to her, acknowledging her presence.
Slowly, she turned to see a freckled face looking right at her. Immediately she scooted a spot over. He was too close. "Hey Gideon.." she mumbled slowly gathering her bag from next to her.
"I was...uhm..just about to do that I guess..you can come if you want to. But you seemed to be having a good time with the rest of the Ravenclaws here....and Lily..." she said not really looking at him, before carefully getting out of her seat.

Jane quickly made an exit, she didn't say farewell to anyone. She just left. This was a bad idea, just as she knew it was from the start.
And as soon as the two of them made it out of the Great Hall, Janie turned to her former best friend and looked at him sternly, "Why are you here? What do you want? Why aren't you with your friends? With Lily? Since she's your new best mate afterall." Janie said in a completely neutral tone. She didn't even want to care, want to be jealous. It was all so trivial. She just didn't want pity from someone who didn't even care that much anymore.

"I don't need anyone doing me favors, or having pity on me. I can get through this all by myself." she said, using every bit of strength she had to not break down infront of the one person she loved and trusted completely. Her bottom lip quivered slightly, on the verge of tears, she bit onto it, forcing it to stop. She needed to get ahold of herself. She was better than this.,



When the sun shines again, I'll pull back the curtains and blinds to let it all in.

[[_azalea_]]

Her laughing immediately stopped as she bumped into someone, who, in turn, bumped into someone else.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Theresa exclaimed apologetically, looking up wide-eyed and bewildered to realize that she came across the Hawthorne brothers (whom she was quite familiar with - more about the elder Hawthorne, though - through Olivia). Many a story had been shared since their First Year and, given that she naturally was an easygoing individual, she really did not have any pressing issues with Callum. And even though she was not part of his study group, she was at best on neutral, if not friendly, terms with him.

Alternatively, if she bumped into two Slytherins who were also supremacists, the scene would have certainly produced a different result: a shove against the wall, a shove back, a shove to the floor or ground, maybe a jinx or two, the same quip about blood status over and over again, or a verbal assault. That was why she was hesitant to walk in the corridors by herself sometimes, because these things still happened - and would still happen, she was sure of that - during her final school year. If she needed to defend herself by magical means (in exchange for detention or something worse, like a reduction of House points) then she was absolutely certain she was going to. She was not going to allow herself to be treated that way.

Also resulting from the collision was her textbook almost dropping onto the floor. She only managed to properly hold onto it after straightening herself up and holding it closer. Unfortunately, it was the parchment that was shot outwards and was zigzagging its way down. Theresa was about to reach out and get it, but in order to prevent yet another momentous collision, she merely let Callum take it instead with a mix of pained and defeated and ashamed look on her face.

"And perhaps sleepwalk, as well."

Don't look-

Too late.

Retaining that same, mixed look, she was quick to grab it from him before she unevenly folded and tucked it into the book. "...I'm really sorry," she said again, frantic now, and her feet literally shuffling since she did not know what else to do (...but panic). It would be silly for her to ask if Caden was all right seeing as he obviously just hit the door, but he appeared to be in his normal state again after a while. Thank Merlin's beard for that.

Nearby them was a small group of, lo and behold, Slytherins who looked their way and, true to her nature, she discreetly reached for her wand in her uniform pocket just in case they would start anything... stupid. As it turned out, though, Callum effortlessly took care of the situation and she let out a small, inaudible sigh of relief. (Well, that was easy enough.)

"Where's Rhineheart?"

Theresa blinked and furrowed her eyebrows. "Hm? Oh, I was going to ask you the same thing. I thought maybe she was studying with you and Miles..."

...Apparently not.

Having said that, she subsequently followed the brothers as they entered the Great Hall and absentmindedly walked behind Callum, slipping in a "thank you" as he made his way down the neighboring Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables; she was concurrently craning her neck sideways and back in search for the missing Rhineheart to no avail. Once they reached their stop, however, she smiled and waved hello at another familiar Seventh Year Ravenclaw. "How are you doing, Miles?"

Eventually she lightly tapped on Callum's shoulder and gestured at the incoming figures of Olivia and her younger brother, Reed, with her chin. "Olivia's finally here," she told him, and placed her textbook on the Ravenclaw table. The siblings seemed to be in a deep and serious conversation, one that the older Gryffindor evidently was privy to since school resumed ("For the first time ever, I hated the winter Holidays," was the only explanation she provided thus far that was coupled with an exasperated sigh), while making their way straight to their House table. Usually Olivia would've table-hopped already, but as of late she was becoming either too focused or too distant, nothing in between, with whatever she was doing academics-wise, even their bi-weekly Flying lessons were of no exception.

And at that precise moment, Olivia appeared to be taking care of an urgent matter.

Or two.

Or three.

Who knew how many, really. Unpretentious as she was, she did not bother to hide her stress, either. Reed responded by nodding or shaking his head and suggesting something else.

So Theresa kept looking at them, kept seeking her friend's gaze so she could wave hello or tell her to come over and join them for dinner, but the older Gryffindor had not yet made eye contact with her or glanced at the Hufflepuff table to even take notice of her. Theresa knew better than to ask her questions right off the bat or approach her when her gut feeling had an inclination to leave her be, but if whatever she had been going through involved her family, then she simply had to give her the space she needed.

Then again, her friend had always been there for her whenever she was stressed in varying degrees.

Without uttering a single word, Theresa temporarily left the Ravenclaw table and made her way to the Gryffindor table, albeit with caution. Olivia was about to put some food on her plate when her younger brother nudged her so she could stop talking about family matters for a moment and acknowledge Theresa for the first time. In hours.

"Hi, Olivia!" she said with her usual enthusiasm. She took note of how tired she was, but still smiled as if to not antagonize her in any way, shape, or form.

"Oh, hello," Olivia answered with a small smile and gestured to the space next to her. Theresa did not sit down; instead, she conveyed the silent message that there was going to be dragging involved.

Literally.

"Callum was looking for you, by the way," she muttered. It was the first thing that popped into her mind from her conversation with the Ravenclaw earlier.

The Gryffindor paused mid-sip and blinked at her. "...I'm sorry?"

"Callum was looking for you," she repeated, nodding her head.

"Well. Did he mention why?"

Theresa shook her head this time. "He did not. Might you join us, though?"

I hope you will before I drag you over there myself....

Olivia glanced at the Ravenclaw table but did not feel like socializing with other people. The moment that she didn't make a point to stand up and accept the offer, however, Theresa grabbed her wrist and indeed literally dragged her to the neighboring table. After all, both tables weren't even that far apart; Olivia ironically didn't protest as she looked at her younger brother in confusion, careful not to drop the glass of water in her hand. (Reed held up a hand that translated to 'It's okay, you can join them. We can talk later.')

"Back! That wasn't so bad," Theresa quipped as she took a seat across, but not directly, from Callum and Miles and gestured to her friend to take a seat next to her.

The Gryffindor merely looked at her fellow Seventh Year classmates and nodded briefly at them as her form of 'hello' for the night and took another sip of water, followed by her sitting down to said spot and placing the glass in front of her.

Good, good Heavens.

People.


________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Phiso]

Lily raised her eyebrows in mild interest when Sirius showed up at the Ravenclaw table. As far as she knew, he wasn't exactly the best of friends with anyone in the house, so she assumed he had come for Remus, and her heart sank a little. Gideon was getting distracted, so she had been relieved when Remus had shown up; he would have given her some familiar company. What was she going to do when he left? But surprisingly, Sirius included her in his invitation to the Gryffindor table, and Lily, seeing the chance to escape the table full of people she didn't feel entirely at ease with, jumped at the opportunity.

Sirius's invitation also extended to Gideon, which she found an even bigger surprise as they were never really on the best of terms, but Gideon declined in a tone that suggested that they were friendlier than they were (or at least friendlier than Lily thought they were). Nodding at Gideon's question, she gave him the best reassuring smile she could before turning away and following the other boys, letting out a sigh of relief as they left the table behind them. Lily knew that her need to be around people would always come with the price of having to pretend she was doing better than she felt at times, but at least at the Gryffindor table they would all be friendly faces. Even though the Marauders had also seen her at her worst, at least that wasn't all they had ever seen of her. As much as she disliked James Potter and Sirius Black at times, she knew they were good at heart, and that they would never assume that the girl that night was the only person she would ever be. It felt like they were sure she was made of stronger stuff (though they weren't insensitive about it), and it gave her the courage to live up to these expectations.

When Sirius pointed at Lily's headband, her hand instinctively moved up to touch the side and her face turned pink. Oh dear, she forgot that bad moods as well as good moods would appear, and while most people wouldn't make the connection between the state of the headband and her mood, it still made her a little anxious knowing that there were some people who would be able to read it clearly. Still, she thought, it had saved her from an otherwise unpleasant dinner, so maybe it was all right that certain people could read it.

"I'm fine," Lily replied automatically as they took their seats, Lily sitting across the table from Sirius. "Well," she amended, knowing her headband had already given her away, "Craven surprised me when he arrived, and I've never known Xavier well..." A part of her really wanted to be able to say whatever she wanted, just blurt out all her thoughts, but she hadn't gotten to that point yet. She was still afraid of what people might think and of trusting the wrong people, but even worse she was still too used to having to cover her tracks. Her care with words was what had saved her while imprisoned, so even though she was out of that environment, the habit was hard to kill.

James showed up a second later, giving them a smile and a joke but sending Lily a glance that was not lost on her. James had been the one who had seen her locked in that disgusting cage and the one to carry her out of there, and it made her feel even stranger than usual around him. It was odd enough knowing that they were all on first name terms now, but now sometimes when she was scared or anxious she would remember how it felt to be carried out of there in his arms, how she had listened to his heart pound as he ran, and that was even weirder. A part of her that she usually tried to ignore wondered if he would stop chasing her after that, if suddenly she would lose value in his eyes after being seen that way, and that small part of her cringed at the thought and hoped it wasn't so. A big part of her wished she could just tell them all what had happened, just in case they did see her as weak. She knew she had done well under pressure, and that she was doing very well now, all in all. She just wasn't sure if other people thought the same.

Not knowing what to say to James's question, she let the other boys answer as she pulled up a plate and considered her food options. Peter showed up soon after that, serving himself a hearty meal, and Lily couldn't help but smile again, her headband clearing up again. It felt normal, sitting at the Gryffindor table with them, and she served herself a little more than she had the day before.

((Sorry she's not chatty! She just doesn't know what to say. Bring up a topic and I'm sure she'll talk more :3 ))

[Plunderous Ecstasy]

XXXXXAfter wrapping up her last course of the day Lottie had tossed her textbooks into her bag and bolted from the room. Mainly to avoid having the professor once again stop her to lecture her on giggling during class. She couldn't help it really. The girl had grown up living with, dating, and in general screwing around with muggles. She knew exactly how their lives worked and in all honesty was only taking the class for kicks. Hearing someone try to explain why a group of people, especially a group as special as muggles, do this or that was just brilliantly entertaining. She knew most didn't share her opinion on the matter and she often got dirty looks from those classmates who were diligently taking notes but did she care? Not in the slightest. Sources of laughter were few and far between these days so she was going to take them wherever she could get them no matter how much it annoyed her classmates. Lottie made it half way down the hallway before pausing, she hadn't really thought of what she wanted to do with her free time. She had patrol later tonight and had no intention of working on classwork in the meantime. So instead she decided to mull over her options as she started to wander down the hall once again. Lottie knew what she really wanted to do, but that was both ill advised and not mention he was already keeping a close eye on her after the first time she tried to slip out. Due to recent events Lottie had gotten a taste for vengeance and she wanted more. She wanted to be out there tracking down DE's and making them pay. Whether or not they actually had something to do with what had happened earlier that month didn't matter. But she was torn, being out there meant that she couldn't be here for her friends....for Cinna. Not that she really got to be there for him, another reason she disliked being here. Sure she got to see her 'adopted' little brother briefly but she couldn't spend hours with him like she used to. She couldn't spend her nights talking with him, bonding, listening to him talk about anything and everything. At least if she were out there she wouldn't have to pass by his dorm every night and force herself to walk away. As you can imagine considering how passionate and fierce she is, self control isn't a strong point of hers. Which made being so close to Cinna complete and utter hell. She wanted to be the one to protect him, cuddle him for hours so he wouldn't feel alone, to let him know he'd be alright. But she couldn't because he needed something different or so it seemed. Something calm and understanding from someone who knew, and Lottie could give him that. It was something that killed her to admit.
XXXXXThankfully Lucas had been giving her work to do to keep her busy and distracted. He seemed to be doing that for a lot of people lately, as well as playing the role of therapist. Though with Lottie his role was different, more of a tamer. He was working to direct her passions into work that would help her later on when he couldn't be there to reel her in when she went to far. She was a lot like him in that regard, getting easily lost in whatever was consuming them at the time. As she wandered along she mulled over everything they'd discussed thus far until she found herself in front of his office. Lottie turned to face the door slowly and grabbed the handle. She half expected it to be locked but was pleasantly surprised when the knob turned freely allowing her to push the door open. She stuck her head in and peeked over at Lucas' desk. "There you are!" She blurted out in her usual loud tone after spotting him in the corner cleaning one of his pistols. Lottie shut the door behind her and made her way towards his desk, all the while eying the weapon for a moment. She really wished Lucas would give in to her request to be given shooting lessons. Lucas caught her gaze, "Before you ask the answer is still no. Last thing I need is you storming off to shoot people. You do remember that chat we had don't you? I know very well what you'd do, you want to learn where to shoot to inflict the most pain but not kill at least not right away." Lottie scowled and crossed her arms, "Oh come now, like you don't wish to do the same! Merda! Can you blame me?" Lucas sighed as he put the pistol away and turned to look at her, "No, but you are still a student so for the time being I'm still responsible for you and I will not let you go off and get yourself killed in an attempt to get revenge Charlotte...." Lottie groaned...he always used her real name when trying to have a serious moment. "Just let me finish teaching you alright? Finish out the term and then you can join the others. At least then I'll be able to worry a little less because I know you'll be ready. You aren't ready yet. And what about the others! They need you here." He paused, hoping for any sign that he was getting through. "You say the same damned thing every time! I don't want to be here waiting for them to try and make another move. I want to be out there destroying them. I want them to suffer and curse the day they ever meet Charlotte Rose DeLuca!" The name quickly rolled off her tongue, that Italian accent of hers thicker than usual. "And as for the others, it's not like I've been much help in getting them back into the grove of things. They've all gone to others for help...." Lottie looked off to the side, she was rather ashamed about feeling jealous over the matter but admittedly it hurt. Of course she was glad they were opening up to anyone and she was thankful that she got to see any of them at all, but when it came to Cinna it was just killing her. She was supposed to be the big sister he came to. Lucas eyebrows rose up in response, "That's never stopped you before! You helped bring them back home. You help them feel more normal and safe. What about Cinna, could you really leave him here? You wouldn't be able to watch over him...protect him." Lottie looked back over at him, "Of course I don't WANT to leave him and for all I know I probably really couldn't. It's just so damn hard, watching and having brief interactions but then having to let him go. Never getting to really be there for him or any of the others. I am not good at just sitting back and watching. You know this. I am a woman of action!" He couldn't help but chuckle at the last part. Though a glare from Lottie made him cut the chuckle short. Lucas turned to wander over to his bookshelf due to an idea popping into his head. He started to search for the book he wanted to lend her while responding, "Alright, how about this? You've got patrol tonight, ask Cinna to go with you. Mar to. I imagine they both need to get out of that dorm room. The halls will be empty and didn't you say that's how you first bonded with Cinna? Giving him tours of the school. It'll let him think about happier things and you'll get to spend some time with him. How does that sound? AH HA! Found it!" Lucas quickly turned around to show Lottie the book only to find that she had vanished. "That one is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she leaves here..." he muttered softly before letting out a chuckle and settling down into his chair to read.
XXXXXLottie wasn't usually one for ditching someone in the middle of a chat but when she'd heard Lucas' rather brilliant idea well she just couldn't wait. She wanted to go ask Cinna post haste! Before he curled up in bed for the night or something. She barreled down the various hallways, occasionally yelling at people to move. She wasn't stopping for anyone. Understandably anyone who knew a thing about Lottie knew to quickly get out of her way preferably before she had to actually tell you to do so. She reached the hufflepuff common room in record time. In all the excitement Lottie managed to forget how hungry she was and not even the delicious smells escaping the nearby kitchen were enough to remind/distract her from her current goal. Once inside she nodded to a few people that were hanging out in the common room though for the most part it was empty...no doubt they were all off at dinner. She decided to go off to her room first to put her books away. Now lottie's method is much less tidy than most, she simply yanked them out of her bag and flung them in the direction of her bed. In fact she was already heading back to the common room before they ever hit the ground. She paused for a moment, now was not the time to just be barreling into his room like she used to. Last thing she needed was to startle the boy. Excitement somewhat contained for the moment, Lottie made her way to Cinna's dorm room. She popped her head in first just to see if he was there, though she knew that the likelihood of him not being there was slim to say the least, and grinned when she spotted him on his bed with Mar. "Ciao you two!!!" Lottie blurted out a little louder than planned. She then entered the room completely, welcomed or not she was coming in. She paused for a moment to just look over Cinna, Lottie bit her lower lip and fought the very strong urge to just scoop him up and hug the hell out of him. Mainly she was just afraid she'd hurt him and two because a part of her doubted she'd be able to let go. The feeling contained, or so she thought, Lottie made her way over to the pair. "So a brilliant idea fell into my lap, I'd love to take the credit for it but alas I cannot. Anyways, I have patrol tonight and I was wondering if you two would like to join me? The halls are nearly empty by then and I thought it could be like old times...." Her gaze which had been going back and forth between the two trying to gauge responses got a bit stuck on Cinna at the end. "It's dreadfully boring going alone and I'd love the company. And I've missed you more than I've ever missed another person in my whole bloody life!" ....that last part was not supposed to come out, MERDA! Lottie bit her lip again, well she never really was one for all this 'behaving' and 'control' crap. At this point she was about a foot away, perfectly within pouncing distance. She still fought the urge and tore her gaze from Cinna to look over at Mar, "I know you both prefer to just be in here together but I just thought perhaps you could join me. Get out some and relax a bit outside of this cramped space." She looked back and forth between the two rather wide eyed as she waited for a response. Her roaring stomach managed to break the brief silence, "Whoops, you two eat ye-...." she cut the question short when she spotted the food, "Ah, well how about desert? Not a proper meal if you don't down a few sweets as well." She winked at the pair, suddenly feeling like the weird older aunt that tried to bond with her nieces and nephews by trying to act cool and talk about things they like. This was most certainly not ok. Lottie disliked anything that made her not only feel old but awkward. This was supposed to be exciting!
XXXXXNeedless to say, when the unnatural seems to be failing you just do what feels natural. That being said, without warning Lottie wrapped her arms around both of them and hugged them as gently as she could muster considering how excited she was. After a moment or ten she let go and took a step back. "Sorry...no...I'm not sorry. I have missed the hell out of you both and I have wanted so badly to just hug you and just..." One of her eyebrows arched up, "Cinna that scruff makes you look very bad a**..." It was the most random segue in the history of the world but that was Lottie for you. She squeezed his cheek gently, playfully like she would have done before those bastards decided to ruin their lives. Lottie let got after a second or two and sighed, "Right....in all honesty really not taking no for an answer on the patrol thing. I think it would be go for you both and well DeLuca's know best as my grandmothers would say." She gave them a 'and that's final' look before putting her hands on her hips. This was probably not what Lucas had had in mind but well if he was looking for quiet and calm he shouldn't have suggested it in the first place. At least she had tried it his way? That was something right? Whatever the case, in all honesty she knew from the get go she wasn't going to control her impulse and really she didn't want to. That's all she'd been doing since they got back and thus far it seemed to help nothing and was slowly driving her mad. Continuing her impulse madness she quickly and gently brushed a few loose strands of hair to behind Mar's ear so she could see her pretty face. This was one of those motherly moments that Lottie liked to claim she didn't experience. She smiled down at the girl and abruptly hugged her again and then without warning hooked a arm around Cinna and pulled him into the hug as well. Once they were thoroughly suffocated with love she made herself let go and sighed, "Sorry just had to get that out of my system...." she wasn't really sorry but eh at this point she figured she might as well apologize for something. She'd already no doubt rattled them and probably made them nervous as hell but she couldn't help it.

[ Woot!
XD You two let me know if I need to change anything!! o.O I wasn't really sure where to end it/if the hugs would be a bad idea. And well...neither of you are up cause it's 6 in the morning and only we insane folk are still up at this hour. So just let me know! ^^ I'll delete/edit if need be, last thing Lottie wants to do is make things worse after all.
Just kinda based the 'scruff' part off his main pic tech but i can delete that if he's all clean shaven and what not. XDDD just thought it might be a bit of a light hearted break from the fretting and what not ]

[[Angel Kratos]]

X_x_x_X



❝ This isn't just about protecting loved ones...

X_x_x_X_x_x_X_x_x_X_x_x_X_x_x_X_x_x_X_x_xIt never has been. ❞

The quick exit of seemingly everyone at the table would have put Elliot off if he weren't more aware of things with those involved than usual. It wasn't as if it were a group of close friends or Ravenclaws that had been present, anyway. He had half-expected Remus and Lily to whisk off back to their table soon after the boy had shown up, so Sirius' presence and quick hello-goodbye act of stealing them away didn't catch him so off guard. He waved half-heartedly, watched them for a second as they left, and then turned the majority of his attention back to Miles' response on his question.

Of course, the other slice of his attention was on Janie. He had always hated not knowing what to do for people, especially the people he loved, so it was painful to only really keep a casual eye on her without an idea of what would be a good course of action past his rose. She had smiled, alibet weakly, towards him with it but Elliot still felt as though he could have done more to greet her. More to make her feel... Normal? Welcome? Loved? Not awkward or like she had to stay so far away? He didn't know.

"Hello. Talking about me are we?" Just as Miles had finished with his response to Elliot's initial question, of course, the object of their discussion showed up with the brief company of a Hufflepuff who Elliot vaguely knew from classes, but was better able to recognize from Miles' own greeting to her. Theresa Finley, right. The blonde smiled and waved a hello to her, though didn't offer any verbal greeting or his usual silliness. After waving goodbye to Gideon, he focused on the exchange between Cal and Nils before smirking briefly and shrugging the former.

"Nice of you to join our humble party. What better way to pass the time than to talk about the actions of a future, if not current, economical tyrant?" Elliot asked, idly pushing the food on his plate around with his fork. He felt his resolve to actually eat a decent meal tonight crumbling right out from underneath him, and he couldn't really bring himself to care about it. If he was hungry he would eat, if he wasn't then he would leave things untouched if mixed up together.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the redhead approached their lonesome friend, who had started the process of leaving all too soon, it seemed, after she had arrived. Damn. His eyes flicked repeatedly over to the two as Janie led Gideon out of the Hall, before focusing on his dinner once more. He was sure there had to have been more said between his friends, but he wasn't paying quite so much attention anymore. Elliot was certain that the two were more than capable of entertaining themselves without his input, so he settled for retreating into his own thoughts. He was in full belief that if Miles or Callum wanted a response or his attention, they were all too capable of bringing him back out of his head and into the present reality.






xXxxXx

[MoroiiAngel]

talk color=#8BB168 think color=#547087

GIDEONxxxxxxxxx

d a r k n e s s i s a h a r s h t e r m d o n t y o u t h i n k

"What d'you say we get out of here?"

"I was...uhm..just about to do that I guess..you can come if you want to. But you seemed to be having a good time with the rest of the Ravenclaws here....and Lily..."

Gideon wasn't quite sure what that meant. Brows furrowed, he followed Jane's sudden fast exit from the hall. She had moved so quickly Gideon wasn't entirely sure she had meant him to follow her. He had just enough time to begin to wonder, have I done something wrong? before it became clear that he had.

"Why are you here? What do you want? Why aren't you with your friends? With Lily? Since she's your new best mate after all." They had stopped in the entrance hall, but for all Gideon knew they had launched off to Mars. What was all this? It was such a shock to him that she would say such a thing that he was incapable of doing anything but standing there, looking at her. Looking like he'd been slapped. Her tone of voice, however, spurred his thoughts forward. He knew that tone. It was, in Gideon's experience, about the worst tone she could foist on someone.

His jaw began to work, but before he could respond Jane had one final thing to say. "I don't need anyone doing me favors, or having pity on me. I can get through this all by myself." And then he knew. She was upset with him over Lily, perhaps (of course they had never been friends). But far more than that, she was struggling to recover. It had been Gideon's job to make sure she was okay. He wasn't her keeper, but he was her best friend. He should have known that distance wasn't what Jane really needed, even though it was what she had been silently asking for.

"I - How..." Gideon made a false start, sighed at himself and then began again. "Jane. I'm here because you are my friend. You are my best mate." For a brief second the entire situation struck him as comical. How could she second guess a fact that had been true for so long? But he sobered himself with the thought that, obviously, he had simply grown so comfortable he hadn't seen the details. "Lily is important to me too, but you know that you are my best mate." The temptation to punctuate that comment with a friendly teasing poke was strong, but they were a bit too far apart for that sort of thing, and lord knew how she'd take such a familiar gesture right now. And neither was it the time to inquire whether Jane and Lily made any sort of connection over this. For all he knew, they had grown to hate each other more. He hadn't asked either party, trying to give them space, trying to help them by letting them ease back into things. Trying not to pry, for fear of tearing off scabs and finding unhealed wounds beneath.

"I don't pity you, Jane. I know you're strong. I know you can do it by yourself. And that's why I had reckoned giving you space was the right thing to do. But I am here for you. I will always be here for you." Seeing her standing in the entrance hall, doing everything in her power to be strong, it made a sink hole open up in Gideon's gut. He had not missed her lip trembling with the effort of not crying. It was something he simply could not allow to happen unless the tears would be healing. She couldn't cry if he was the cause. Gideon Prewett had done too much damage to his friends recently to allow it to happen again. He took a step forward, and when she did not immediately bolt, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

Jane baulked at his touch, but didn't pull away. He loosened his grip, but didn't let go. If she let him, he'd hold her for the remainder of the evening, stood in the entrance hall with other students filtering by at random. After a moment, he rearranged himself so that he could look her in the eye. "You won't have a go at me for paying too much attention to a certain Hufflepuff? I'd deserve that as well." Gideon's eyes crinkled with a half-smile. It was a peace offering of sorts. They had not talked very much about Gideon's love interest even before this had all happened. Jane knew how hard it was for him to talk about. And maybe, if he showed her he was willing to talk about his difficult subjects, it would help her to understand that she could talk to him about hers.

xxxxxxxxxa n d y e t i t d o m i n a t e s t h e t h i n g s i v e s e e n
PREWETT

[Tech no logy]

god bless
the broken road
that led me here

currently with: Marlene
@: huffle dorms
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Cinna had leaned away, a frown on his face, when Mar warned him of getting paint on her. He knew she was joking but there was something in her voice that raised a red flag. There could be a million reasons for it and whichever it was he didn’t want to be a reason for discomfort, instead of pulling away though he just moved to sit next to her. He wanted to make sure she knew for certain that he was there and always would be, even if sometimes she needed her space.

She recovered from whatever it was fast, but he couldn’t tell if that was good or bad, and looked down at his pants. He studied her as discreetly as possible as she spoke about the mess of colour he’d painted on them but whatever darkness had covered her briefly seemed to have gone. Deciding to latch onto whatever would keep her bright he grinned and pulled his palette toward them when she perked up at the idea of painting. “Oh I was trying to get the colour of a wine I had once.” He replied as he loaded his brush with a few other colours. “I figured out yours though.” Running the brush on a fresh patch of white Cinna smiled at her as it left behind a shimmery brown edged with white. Just like the colour her voice used to make. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever told her the colour of her voice, he couldn’t remember anymore (something that scared him a lot actually as he was used to having a fantastic memory), nor was he sure which one of them was responsible for it’s disappearance.

Just as he was about to continue the conversation though, and maybe show her some of the other colours he’d worked out, he was startled by Lotties loud entrance. He was so surprised by her being there that all he could do was stare, he didn’t even notice the slight awkwardness of her trying not to freak them out, only that as he listened to her, the familiar cadence of her accent and voice (still coloured he was happy to see, albeit tinged with something that might mean worry) spiked a sense of longing inside him. He’d seen Lottie of course, talked with her and things, but he hadn’t been able to take her high energy and fast paced conversation at first. Now he felt himself missing it, finding a comfort in it. Whatever had changed made it more tolerable and he could almost cry at the relief of that.

He’d held her gaze when she looked at him but he knew not to talk yet, Lottie always talked up a storm and he was happy to let her finish before replying. The smile that took over his face when she brought up dessert almost hurt his face it was so wide, a moment ago they’d decided against it but a glance at Mar told him that Lottie was having a positive effect on the both of them. Then she had her arms around them, without warning, and Cinna was amazed at how gentle it was. That fact that she was restraining herself so much on their behalf tightened his heart and he started to reach up to return the hug. But the weeks away from human contact and the short time of recuperation had obviously slowed his reactions, before he could catch her in his arms she’d backed up.

By the time Lottie had pulled the two of them back into a hug Cinna was laughing, mainly at her comment about his unshaven face but also simply because of his relief at having her back. He was sure he’d still need some moments away from her but they’d be far more brief than they had been recently. He moved faster the second time around, managed to grip her tightly and bury his face into her shoulder. “I’ve missed you too Lottie.” He mumbled into her shirt before letting her pull away. “And I’m sorry that it’s taking me so long to readjust.” Standing he made his way to his trunk and pulled the first pair of clean pants his hand touched out and immediately changed into them. “I think I will get out for a bit with you, Mar?”

She looked like she wanted to go but he certainly didn’t want to force it on her, not that Lottie was giving them a choice anyway. After pulling on a sweater and shoes he glanced in a mirror hanging on the wall and scratched at the scruff on his face. “Hmm… I’m glad you're of the opinion that this looks badass, cause I really can’t be bothered to shave.” His hair was a mess of soft curls as well, it was it’s natural way and something that most people didn’t know since he wore it pushed back so often, a style his parents thought to be much more respectful. Cinna shrugged, no one would fault him for being lazy with himself for once and if Lottie and Mar didn’t mind looking at him that was good enough.

Turning back his face took on a more serious expression, “You have to promise though, Lottie, that you’ll bring me back if I wanna come. If either of us do. Even if you don't think we should.” Obviously his anxiety had ebbed, but it was most probably only toward Lottie. It possibly extended to other people he was familiar with but definitely not strangers. And there were a lot of strangers in this castle. It was almost like his first day all over again, except this time he couldn’t force it away and act polite. This time he’d just fall into a panic attack or run away. And who knew what hit Marlene or when.

He dropped his box of matches into his back pocket just in case and pulled out a thick sweater, which he proffered at Marlene. “Joining the adventure?”



[[whoa this is all over the place woah! xD blame all my distractions hurpderp <33 It's nowhere near dessert in the great hall though lol so not sure what to do about that.]]

[Zemalia]

`R E M U S • J O H N • L U P I N´

at xoxox•xoxox your xoxox•xoxox service xoxox•xoxoxis xoxox•xoxox mister xoxox•xoxox moony
{Ask} a question?
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Remus allowed himself a smile, glad that Lily enjoyed his gift. He had never been good at gift giving but from what he knew all girls liked chocolate so there was no where he could go wrong. And who didn’t like chocolate? Death Eaters, that’s who. Any bloke who refused chocolate couldn’t be trusted, that was certain.

There wasn’t much time for chit chat at the Ravenclaw table though. Sirius seemed to find his way over to the Gryffindor prefects with ease, and maybe a bit of swagger in his step. Remus tried hard not to roll his eyes as he approached Lily’s other side so the two boys were surrounding her. There were days where he wanted to charm that stupid grin off of his face. The smile would let him get away with nearly anything, with both the professors and the girls. Must be nice to have your problems wash away with a smile. It was true that Remus envied his friend, but that didn’t change their relationship. If he was going to be completely honest, Remus envied anyone who wasn’t him. No one else at Hogwarts would be dreading the full moon, not being able to control their own actions. But that was no reason to hate them. Keep your head up, there’s still a couple of days before the moon anyways. Gloom wasn’t going to help Lily cheer up and that was part of the reason he came over to see her.

Sirius didn’t give him much time to respond to his arrival before they were swept off back off to the Gryffindor table. “Oi, what’s with the rush-” Remus asked before he was cut off by Sirius talking to Lily. Oh. OH. Her headband... how had been so completely dense as to have forgotten. Sirius was right of course, she had looked a little tense back there. Good on him for moving the group from the Ravenclaw table as soon as possible. Remus wasn’t one to be be thoroughly involved with the social cliques and nuances, unlike Sirius who liked to know everyone’s business. Most of what Remus did know came second hand from him. Perhaps there was someone specifically causing the tension? He couldn’t be bothered to try and figure that out. He had a hard enough time trying to understand the relationship between James and Lily, never mind everyone else she had interactions with.

Before he knew it, the conversation bounced briefly back to him. “Had to take care of some ruffians-in-training in the hallway,” Remus explained as he sat down. “Nothing out of the ordinary, just regular prefect duties.” He stuck his tongue out when Lily wasn’t looking in Sirius’ direction as if to say ‘you’re one to talk’. He considered bringing up that he caught him nearly drifting off during class, but Lily might make a fuss. There was always time to bother Sirius about it later. He let Lily settle in and began making a plate for himself. The roast beef looked good tonight, though he could feel his cravings for it to be a little less cooked through. He bit his tongue, restraining the motion to dive head first into the table and eat all the meat he could possibly consume.

James and Peter arrived just as his plate was appropriately full for a teenage boy. “Nothing exciting James, I promise. Would we start a party without you?” Remus let the sarcasm drip from his voice. Maybe he’d get the hint and watch the topic while Lily was around. In between his next bite he nodded acknowledgement at Peter who was also starting to fill up a plate. Desperate to close the silence, he turned slightly towards Lily and asked, “So, how is your potions essay coming along?” That was a terrible question. What made him think that was a good question?

☇ ◐ x x x or are you at a loss for words?

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