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 Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:45 pm
Behind the Curtains
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – This was one of the few times where Cecilia had to consciously think about not fidgeting. She looked so conspicuous though! All she hoped was that no one, besides Jasper, would end up seeing her! The two of them had decided that the bench behind the curtain would be the quietest, most secure place for two people of different houses to talk but it was a constant den for snogging! Cecilia blushed at the thought--why, she wouldn't be caught dead snogging in public! It was something her parents had forbid her to do--with anyone, really! And she doubted that the rule would be removed anytime soon either, not that she'd ever dare want it gone! Seeing people doing such deeds in public always made Cecilia uncomfortable, her stomach doing a strange flip-flop. Such things shouldn't be made public! Being affectionate with a loved one was something that Cecilia found deeply personal!
But anyway, Cecilia sat still on the bench, her hands resting in her lap. She could hear the occasional shuffle beyond the curtain, but besides for that, there didn't seem to be many kids wandering the halls at this time. Turning around softly, she faced the window, which gazed down into the courtyard. Unlike the hallways, that place was bustling! Gasp! She could even see kids doing magic! That was against the rules!
Oh no, she thought, watching her housemates below her. From her bird's eye view, Cecilia could see a professor approaching--one of the stricter ones too! Unable to watch the confrontation, Cecilia adverted her eyes and moved them back onto the curtains. Jasper should be arriving soon--Cecilia had just gotten there ten minutes early to be punctual. They both agreed they wanted to talk about their parent's... agreement for them and it was making Cecilia rather nervous! If Jasper somehow wanted to call off the engagement, which Cecilia could see happening, her parents would be horrified with her! "Why didn't you try harder to be lovable, Cecilia?" She could already hear her mother demanding....
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 9:56 pm
If Cecilia liked to be punctually early, then Jasper liked to be fashionably late! There was something about making others wait just a hair longer than they would have liked that made the Slytherin smile. They would worry and fret, possibly even curse your name, but when you arrived, they would greet you with relief. They thought that you wouldn't show! They thought that they might have done something to upset you! Oh, how pleased they were that you considered them worthy of your presence...
But now was not the time for being fashionably late. This was a serious matter, and there would be another time and place for fanciful daydreams of grandeur!
Jasper arrived at their arranged meeting place five minutes before they were due- perfectly on time, in his opinion- and swiftly hid himself behind the curtains. He was not surprised to find Cecilia already waiting there for him. She was always the polite, correctly-behaved young lady.
The Dove boy approved.
"Hello, Cecilia~" Jasper purred at her with a pleasant smile, sidling up to sit beside her. "Are you well?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:41 am
As Cecilia sat, the curtain began rustle. Swallowing loudly, she hoped that it was only Jasper! Not some hormonal couple! What an awkward stare down that would be! But to her great relief, it was him and she welcomed him with a polite smile as he entered. "Good evening, Jasper." She looked up at him with her blue eyes. "I am well, thank you for asking," Cecilia replied, her eyes gazing steadily on him. "Are you well as well?"
In truth, Cecilia had only met Jasper once before and that was under their parents watchful gaze. But she had heard stories about him from her mother that he was a fine young lad--pureblood too. The Dove family, as she heard, was also quite respectable and the Asters' would be delighted with the union of their families. However, no matter what that said about him, Cecilia didn't quite know him well... at all, really. She felt rather insecure about this whole arrangement--thinking of all the horrible match-ups made in ancient Greece! Almost none of the love stories there ended happily--Orpheus and Eurydice, Pyramus and Thisbe, Ceyx and Alcyone... In fact, Cecilia was almost certain that the only one that ended with them alive (and not in tree-form) was Cupid and Psyche! From what her books had taught her, love always ended in disaster!
But then again, it wasn't perhaps love they were talking about. It was an arranged marriage and at the moment, Cecilia felt no more love towards Jasper than she did a friend. "Excuse me, if I'm too blunt, but what are your thoughts on the engagement?" She inquired straightforwardly, her eyes watching his reaction thoughtfully. "I apologize if you find this deeply personal--but I am curious."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:56 am
Jasper found himself giggling softly at Cecilia's greeting. It was not right to laugh, and he concealed his mouth with the back of his hand. Speaking properly could be awfully redundant at times... Are you well as well? He was sure that, if he were to ask such a thing of any other student, they would laugh too. He could not fault Cecilia for it, though- it was a correct greeting and only polite to ask in return. Jasper nodded shortly in response; there was no time to dwell on the peculiarities of grammar!
"My thoughts... Do you mean to ask if I am pleased with the engagement? I have no reason to be displeased, as I do not know you well enough for that- but I am not completely at ease with the decision, either..." Jasper answered honestly, expression growing serious. "Though it does not seem ours to make, hm?"
From what little he knew of Cecilia, Jasper liked her well enough. Her mother was friends with his mother, though this wasn't uncommon within pureblood circles. Ladies especially always seemed to know one another; they were such gossips at parties, where their husbands would usually make idle conversation on the side. In any case, it wasn't the concept of an arranged marriage that bothered him- "One day, when you are older, your father and I will find a nice young lady your age for you to marry~" his mother would always say- but he had not expected it so soon!
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:02 am
Cecilia gazed quietly at Jasper as he spoke, watching his facial expressions just as much as his words. He looked, for the most part, truthful--and Cecilia gave a soft smile when he was done. Since she joined Hufflepuff, she had been hearing all sorts of bad rumors about Slytherins--her mother was one of them, as well, which made the rumors more believable... Jasper was a Slytherin--however, he didn't seem manipulative like her mother, nor judgmental. All of these were a relief to Cecilia--she could only handle so much of it at home!
"Indeed," She pursed her lips--this engagement had nothing to do with their say in it. "But I would prefer if it would not be something that spurs resentment between us," She spoke honestly, "I did not think that my parents would set something up so soon, and I'm... apprehensive of it." Her eyes traveled up to Jasper's face, and then she frowned, "Not that I mean that you're something to be apprehensive of--you seem pleasant," Cecilia quickly explained, blushing slightly. It almost appeared like she said something quite rude! The last thing Cecilia wanted to do was offend Jasper!
Trying to divert from her little blunder, Cecilia continued, "Either way--I'm glad we have this chance to speak to each other. I would enjoy getting to know you better," She nodded, smiling at him. Then the smile faded from her face, "This is entirely up to you, Jasper," she began, "I understand if you do not want this engagement public here at school," Cecilia glanced at him. They were only eleven, and for a girl to be engaged felt like something else than a boy. With boys, or so explained her mother, they were much crueler, and the last thing Cecilia would ever want was for Jasper to be harassed because of her. That would be absolutely miserable! And they were only eleven! "There's several years ahead of us," she explained, "It is not something that needs to immediate care." After all, they were due to be wed sometime after graduation--that was, at minimum, seven years from now.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:47 pm
Jasper did not take offense to what Cecilia said. He always tried to be honest (where it did not serve to harm him) and appreciated that she did the same. If anything, it only endeared her to him more. Jasper smiled at Cecilia slightly, casually averting his gaze politely when she flattered him.
"It is a long time away..."
Seven years or more! It seemed so strange, to have only just arrived at Hogwarts, yet already thinking about graduating. Jasper would have liked a family some day- the idea had been instilled in him since he was very small. Of course, this was not something that he would ever tell other boys his age. Marriage and babies were supposed to be the last two things on his mind. You weren't even supposed to have any female friends, but Jasper could hardly follow that rule; raised only by his mother and nannies, the boy had little to do with his own gender. Plus, it was easier to attract the friendship of girls...
"I don't think it would be wise that we ignore it totally..." Jasper said thoughtfully. "We should be social- but you are right... It would probably be best if we did not tell anyone else that we're to be married... We're eleven. They would think it strange~" he decided finally with a sheepish laugh.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:21 pm
Cecilia nodded when Jasper agreed that their marriage was quite far away--seven years... That was just a few years shy of how old Cecilia was now! Looking back at the numerous things that occurred during those years... What would Jasper be like in seven years? Ceci had to suppress a blush--she wondered if he would eventually get both ears pierced? That shiny orb was so lovely... A bit memorizing though, Ceci was having a hard time keeping her eyes on Jasper's instead of on the swingy blue ball. "Ah!" Ceci broke out of the trace--why was that thing so much like a pendulum!?--and quickly focused back on what Jasper was saying.
"I agree completely--marriage is the last thing on our minds--we have much to focus on, like classes." Cecilia responded with a relieved smile--thankful that he agreed with her and thankful that she managed to catch the last bit of what he was saying. Darn that earring for being so distracting! Cecilia thought to herself, already feeling an embarrassed blush heating her cheeks. "We still have a large expanse of time..." She murmured, "But I am glad we decided to talk about this, Jasper. It really makes me feel more comfortable about this, thank you." Cecilia looked into his eyes and gave a genuine smile. "I was very nervous about this--not that... I would, ah, doubt my mother's choice in partners..." Ceci muttered, frowning a bit. Oh, mother.... She thought painfully.
"Either way!" Cecilia started again, another smile on her face. "It was nice to meet outside of our parent's watchful gazes! Now that we have that out of the way, is there anything you would like to ask about? Or comment?" Cecilia inquired, looking up at Jasper with innocent eyes.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:56 pm
Cecilia certainly was talkative. Then again, Jasper found that many girls were rather wordy, though his perspective might have been a bit unbalanced. While his mother was always at home and consistently available for silly nonsense, his father was a much rarer sight, and most conversation with him was of a more serious nature. Jasper himself had been taught to remain disciplined and it took some work to get him talking at length. Not that he minded taking a back seat in the conversation. Making others feel important was a vital part in winning their favour!
Jasper wasn't sure why, but he felt compelled to touch his earring...
"Actually..." Jasper began, a small smile creeping to his lips as he played with the hook of his earring. "I was curious as to what prompted you to suggest this as a meeting location." He stood and moved closer to the window, looking down upon the crowded courtyard below. "I didn't want to say anything before, but place like this don't have a particularly good reputation, you know. Not that I mean anything... sinister by that, no! But it's a bit of an odd spot, don't you think? Do you sit here often?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:13 pm
Oh, if only Cecilia knew what her innocent question would bring--she wouldn't have spoken a word. When Jasper started talking--his finger on that beautiful earring...--Cecilia tilted her head to the side a little. While she was with Jasper, she had forgotten how scandalous this area truly was! As he continued, Cecilia could feel a blush burning on her cheeks. "N-no!" Cecilia quickly objected--horrified of what this spot could insinuate about her.
She shot up from her sitting place too--suddenly incredibly self conscience that she was even sitting down AND that Jasper had taken a step closer to her (and implied that it was a common snogging spot--he wasn't going to kiss her, right!? They were only eleven! Cecilia took a deep breath to calm herself--"I thought that you might not want to be seen--and I couldn't think of a spot that is private--at least for us both, considering we are in different houses..."
"I must apologize--I didn't mean to imply anything!" Cecilia backed up, her back hitting the curtains. "We can leave... if you want," She said, shyly looking away from Jasper.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:40 pm
Jasper's eyes widened and he backed away from Cecilia. As he did so, he pursed his lips and tried not to giggle. He'd only been teasing her as a bit of fun. He hadn't been anticipating such a strong reaction! It was definitely rude to be so amused by Cecilia's embarrassment, but he didn't mean any harm by it!
Though Jasper was the sort of person who occasionally enjoyed watching others squirm a little, he felt bad for making Cecilia uncomfortable. They were supposed to be married at some point, after all! His mother would be so disappointed with him if she found out.
"It's okay, Cecilia," he said with a shaky laugh. "I was only curious, you know. I hope I haven't offended you." Jasper offered her a hand. "Would you have a walk with me?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:02 pm
"A-ah, yes. Let us do that," Cecilia tried to recover, peeking her face out of the curtains--they were in a scandalous area, after all--making sure the coast was clear before opening the curtains, holding an opening open for Jasper to step through. When he was out, Ceci let the curtains fall back to normal and glanced shyly up at Jasper--hoping he wasn't thinking of her too badly for her horrible reaction earlier. "I-I am sorry, for being so flustered." She apologized, bowing her head slightly from shame. "The idea of k-kissing makes me uncomfortable," she said earnestly, fighting the temptation of crossing her arms to hug herself.
"But anyway! Let's not linger--how has your year been so far, Jasper? Congratulations on being sorted into Slytherin--I'm a bit envious. My mother was ecstatic when she heard about you," Cecilia smiled, trying not to think about her mother's disappointment when Ceci reported that she was in Hufflepuff. Though I can't see myself in Slytherin safely, Cecilia thought to herself--she wasn't that assertive.
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