standing on the edge of great.

While he was still nervous around him, Scorpius was happy to have his father around, and he would be lying if he didn’t imagine some adventures they could get into now that they were around the same age. Although, he was being careful, easing into their relationship. “It’s no problem!” He replied, giving a small smile. Scorpius looked back at the party, his head nodding slowly after a moment. “It definitely different from the parties back home. I kind of like it though. The simplicity is a nice change.” 

               Draco  nodded,  his  lips  turning  slightly  upward  as  he  surveyed  the  dance  floor  in  front  of  him.  “  I  agree.  There’s...  a  lot  less  pressure  at  something  like  this  than  the  parties  back  home.  ”  After  all,  he  didn’t  have  to  monitor  his  behavior  because  his  father  was  breathing  down  his  neck.  His  reputation  was  still  important  to  him,  of  course,  but  he  felt  as  though  he  could  breathe  a  little  easier  here  in  Ivywood.  It  was...  nice,  for  lack  of  a  better  word.

Hermione smiled when he noticed her and she couldn’t help but feel like maybe this was for the best. Maybe Scorpius knowing was going to be a good thing. She was happy with Draco, why shouldn’t they share it? Still, she didn’t want to stress him out too much. “Sort of.” Hermione said, closing the door and going to move over to his couch. “Hugo found out about us.” She would start there. “I mean, apparently he’s known for awhile. Been able to hear us through…well, you know.” she said and looked at the walls before looking back at him with a grimace. 

               Draco’s  eyes  went  slightly  wide.  He’d  wanted  to  be  able  to  tell  their  children  in  their  own  time,  but  it  was  clear  now  that  they  didn’t  have  that  opportunity.  If  Hugo  knew,  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  before  the  rest  found  out.  It  already  felt out  of  their  hands.  “  Merlin,  I  can’t  believe  I  didn’t  think  of  that...  ”  He  shook  his  head.  He  knew  how  thin  the  walls  were,  and  yet  he  never  even  considered  that  their...  activities  might  be  heard  through  them.  “  I’m...  I  apologize.  ”

Lily couldn’t imagine anyone else in the room with her honestly, other than James of course. They were missing Remus but at least she had Sirius. Never in her days did she imagine sitting in a hospital bed, completely naked but covered in a blanket next to her husband’s best friend while he held their child. But here they were. It seemed that they were going through things that were bringing them closer and Lily was grateful for it. Sirius and Remus had been her friends too but now they really felt like family. “Why wouldn’t I? You, Padfoot, helped me realize I even was pregnant. And you helped me through everything. And you’re helping me now. I…” she paused as she looked down at the baby. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this alone. But I don’t really have to worry, do I?”

               Merlin,  of  all  the  times  for  Prongs  to  be  late  to  something,  he  sure  picked  a  rotten  one  this  time.  Granted,  he  didn’t  have  much  control  over  when  he  came  back  from  the  dead,  but  still,  he  could  tell  that  Lily  would’ve  felt  a  lot  better  if  James  were  there  with  them.  Regardless  though,  he  was  happy  that  he  could  at  least  be  there  for  her.  “  You’re  not  alone,  Lils.  You  know  that.  ”  He  smiled  softly.  “  Hell,  between  me  and  Moony,  I’d  say  you’ve  got  some  pretty  good  help.  ”

“Sounds like you had an amazing day compared to mine.” River said, putting the food down on the table and then going into the wine cabinet to grab a full bottle of white. He needed it for sure. “Everything coming up roses over there though? Sounds like this album has been pretty low maintenance for you with the barrier coming up and everything like that.” While sometimes he just wanted to be alone, it wasn’t as if he didn’t care. He tried to pay attention as much as possible. “Any idea when you can get out of here yet?”

               “  Yeah,  I’d  say  I  did.  ”  Ruby  nodded,  moving  toward  the  cabinet  to  grab  some  plates.  Did  it  sound  insensitive?  A  bit,  but  she  didn’t  mean  for  it  to.  Sometimes  she  just  said  stuff  before  she  thought  about  how  it  might  come  across.  “  I  wouldn’t  say  low  maintenance.  Sure,  everyone’s  taking  their  sweet  time,  but  it’s  the  same  workload  as  it’s  always  been.  I  mean,  minus  sitting  at  merch  stands,  of  course.  ”  She  shrugged.  If  anything,  being  trapped  has  made  her  want  to  work  even  harder  on  stuff.  “  As  soon  as  possible,  hopefully.  Everyone’s  itching  to  get  back  on  the  road.  ”

Hiring Ruby alongside Noel had been a godsend. Elliot loved his sister but Ruby had set their sails above and beyond and he was so happy with everything she was putting out. He wouldn’t trade her for the world, which is why when she asked about the designs he jumped at the chance to see them. “Hell yeah I do.” he said and leaned forward. “You are honestly the best, Ruby. Thank you for getting these done, makes me even more stoked to get this shit out, you know?”

                Ruby  was,  in  many  ways,  a  workaholic.  It  wasn’t  like  she  tried  to  be,  but  when  she  got  an  idea  for  a  design,  she  had  to  sketch  it  out  before  it  disappeared  from  her  memory.  There  have  been  several  occasions  when  she’d  been  out  with  River  and  interrupted  a  conversation  to  sketch  something  out  on  a  napkin,  but  that  was  just  how  she  operated.  “  Hey,  it’s  what  you  pay  me  for,  isn’t  it?  ”  She  smiled,  sliding  her  tablet  across  the  table.  “  Let  me  know  what  you  think.  ”

Bobby had come over to just check in, see where things were going. He couldn’t be alone right now and while Reggie’s company was always amazing, he really did need his other friends too. So he’d take another stab at the whole redemption thing. “Nothing man, just….coming by because I missed your ugly mug.” He said and smiled over at him, his attempt at a joke. He walked in more and motioned to the door. “Sorry to barge right in but it was open so I thought…I didn’t mean to pry.” he said and chewed on his lip a moment, figuring out what to say. “You okay, man? If this is a bad time I can bounce but…I can stay and talk if you need someone?”

               “  Nah...  Nah,  you’re  good.  ”  He  hadn’t  realized  up  until  this  point  that  Unsaid  Emily  was  still  playing,  and  he  scrambled  to  grab  his  phone  and  turn  it  off.  He  so  didn’t  need  his  friends  to  know  he’d  been  listening  to  it  non-stop.  If  you’d  asked  him  a  few  weeks  ago  if  he  would  be  happy  that  Bobby  had  barged  into  his  place,  he  would’ve  laughed  in  your  face,  but...  Something  about  having  the  one  friend  he  wasn’t  stuck  with  in  the  afterlife  back  comforted  him.  It  made  him  feel  like  something  was  normal  still.  “  You  can  stay,  it’s  cool.  ”

“Guess you have a point.” Alex replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly. He had never been good at taking compliments, something that didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. He knew their whole group was talented, and they were even more talented together. Alex let his head nod a little as Luke spoke. “Yeah, it’s kind of a lot to get through…” Everything they had found out seemed to be bigger than any of them realized. Pausing for a moment, he was thought about what to say next before speaking. “Want to do something to take our minds off of things? Could go to the arcade? The studio? Get something to eat?” 

               “  Yeah...  Man,  now  I  know  how  Reggie’s  been  feeling  this  whole  time.  ”  And  it  wasn’t  a  good  feeling.  He’d  never  realized  how  difficult  it  was  to  realize  that  your  whole  life  was  essentially  a  lie,  and  he  kind  of  felt  like  an  asshole  for  trying  to  push  Reggie  to  remember.  Still,  he  knew  that  his  friends  would  always  be  there  for  him,  just  like  he’d  be  there  for  them.  Smiling  weakly,  he  nodded.  “  You  read  my  mind,  bro.  ”

marinette wasn’t sure what had brought her into this town, such like anyone else. waking up without tikki was a major set back, though. she wasn’t sure where the small kwami had gone. part of her felt like tikki knew what she was doing if she had snuck out in the night. marinette was just about to go looking for her when she heard a knock at her door. furrowing her eyebrows, she went and opened the door to see who it was. “tikki?! is that you?”

                Tikki  was  hoping  that  this  was  some  kind  of  bad  dream,  and  she  would  wake  up  and  everything  would  be  alright.  Marinette’s  reaction,  however,  squashed  whatever  hope  she  had  of  this  being  a  dream.  “  I’m  afraid  so.  ”  She  nodded.  “  I  don’t  know  what  happened!  I  went  to  sleep  in  here  last  night,  and  then  I  woke  up  in  another  room  in  that  motel,  and  I  looked  like...  this!  ”

“it’s happened to me before, so it’s okay. my family and i went on vacay to france one year and i met a few lila’s. it was so weird. apparently it used to be a popular name over there, so there was just an abundance. i’ve even done the same thing before,” lila made up some kind of story to make the other feel better. sometimes she was good at making up stories in order to gain a liking or trust to a person. “what did you order?”

               “  Really?  That’s  pretty  cool.  My  dad  used  to  travel  all  over  for  work,  but  I’ve  never  left  the  states.  ”  She’d  dreamed  of  travelling,  and  even  looked  into  studying  abroad  when  she  was  in  college,  but  it  never  worked  out.  She  was  about  to  tell  the  other  brunette  her  order,  when  as  if  on  cue,  the  barista  yelled,  ‘  Caramel  macchiato  for  Lila?  ’  Trying  to  hide  her  clear  embarrassment,  she  pursed  her  lips.  “  That  would  be  mine.  ”

Amelia had fun with the tattoo guy, and he was very sweet, but with everything she was dealing with, she decided it was best to let that rest, or at least that’s what she was telling herself. “Absolutely!” Amelia replied with a laugh as she nodded her head. “Happy Birthday by the way! You guys look amazing, as always.” She continued. “And the party looks great.” She knew that she wasn’t going to plan their birthday, but it was mostly because she tried not to mix business with her personal life. “Are you having fun?” 

             “  Thanks,  so  do  you.  Hell,  I’m  almost  tempted  to  say  you  look  better  than  me.  Almost.  "  Anyone  looking  better  than  Ivy  on  her  birthday  was  literally  unacceptable,  and  Amelia  was  almost  there.  Thank  God  Ivy’s  dress  was  stellar.  “   We  put  a  lot  of  work  into  it,  it  had  better  look  good.  ”  She  chuckled  softly.  For  not  being  professional  party  planners,  she  felt  like  she  and  Lennox  did  a  pretty  good  job.  “  A  stellar  party,  and  the  barrier  opening?  Yeah,  I’m  having  the  time  of  my  life.  ”

Lilac knew better then to mess around with what she and the others did without protection. If their was anything she remembered from her mother she remembered always to surround herself with a jar of good things, it would be what kept her safe should something happen and well something happened. “So far things are going fine but if you keep messing with things you don’t understand things will not go fine. I care about your brother and because he cares about you I want to make sure you’re looked out for as well. Just think of it as a nice candle to light. It’s got flowers and oils so it’ll smell pretty.”

               “  And  that’s  why  we’ve  got  you  around.  And  if  you  can’t  help,  we’ve  got  a  ton  of  other  witches  in  town.  What’s  that  redhead  from  Buffy’s  name?  Willa?  Pretty  sure  she’s  running  around  here  somewhere,  not  to  mention  all  the  Harry  Potter  people.  We’ll  be  fine.  ”  Could  Ivy  say  that  with  100%  certainty?  No,  of  course  not,  but  she  would  also  never  admit  that  anything  she  did  was  wrong,  unless  forced  to.  So  far  so  good,  right?  What  was  the  big  deal?  “  Fine,  fine.  Pretty  smells,  got  it.  ”

Nova was, as most had described it to her, a workaholic. She had given up an opportunity to work with the best in New York, just to prove herself. That meant she needed to work extra hard in order to prove that she could make it, and she wasn’t doing bad. She had a lot of work ahead of her, but even she needed a break from time to time. “Hm, I see.” She smiled back, pushing some hair out of her face. “A cuba libre please.” Nova replied, waiting a moment before going to introduce herself. “Nova Castillo. Thanks for the drink.” She commented, keeping that smile on her lips and holding her hand out towards him. 

               Tim  fully  had  the  capability  to  relax  when  it  came  to  work,  but  something  deep  inside  his  mind  told  him  that  he  shouldn’t.  He  was  an  editor,  and  while  occasionally  he  edited  the  occasional  fluff  piece,  he  mostly  focused  on  editing  books  that  chronicled  true  crime  and  supposed  accounts  of  the  paranormal.  It  was  like  he  was  looking  for  something,  but  he  didn’t  know  what.  “  ‘Course.  What  kind  of  proper  Englishman  would  I  be  if  I  didn’t  offer  to  buy  someone  a  drink?  ”  He  smiled,  taking  a  small  sip  of  his  own.  “  Tim  Stoker.  ”

Alexandra really didn’t want to come to the party. Abby was having a sleepover and Alex didn’t feel like sulking around the house. Ever since Abby found Neal and insisted he was her father Alex could not get her to stop talking about it. She couldn’t remember who Abby’s father was, it was heartbreaking but was it really Neal? Her thoughts were interrupted by the very man in her head. “Hi. Umm, yeah. Sort of. Nice to be out of the house. Are you?

               Neal  knew  that,  if  he  had  forgotten  about  his  family,  it  wouldn’t  have  been  his  fault.  This  town  did  something  to  people  that  made  them  forget  who  they  were,  but  he  still  felt  a  pang  of  guilt  about  the  whole  thing.  “  Uh,  yeah,  it’s  a  nice  party.  ”  Admittedly,  he  felt  more  at  home  at  this  kind  of  thing  than  he  would’ve  thought.  “  But...  I’m  sure  you  know  what  I  mean  when  I  say  that  there’s  something  else  on  my  mind.  ”

Estella knew that some might think that running a con might seem like cliché, but she really didn’t care. It’s how their little family had lived on for so many years, and she was going to stick with what she knew. With who she knew. When news of the party came to light, she knew this was going to be the best chance to score big. Everyone was going to be distracted during the outside portion, so why not use it to their advantage? Hearing Jasper’s question, Estella sipped on her drink before responding. “Same as it always is. We take enough not to be noticed, which honestly I don’t think will be hard. Want to start on the top floor? I’ll make my way around the first floor?” She suggested. “Part of me wants to steal a few of their presents too, I feel like there has to be something good hiding in some of those boxes and bags…” Estella paused for a moment. “Think they would notice?” 

               Jasper  missed  this.  Estella  treating  him  as  an  equal,  asking  for  his  input  as  opposed  to  calling  him  an  imbecile  and  telling  him  what  to  do,  giving  him  no  say.  He  almost  didn’t  believe  it  was  really  happening,  but  he  wasn’t  about  to  do  anything  to  wake  himself  up  from  this  dream.  “  Works  for  me.  ”  He  nodded,  about  to  head  for  the  staircase  when  he  paused  to  look  at  the  stack  of  gifts  that  took  up  a  sizeable  amount  of  floor  space  in  the  corner  of  the  room.  “  Notice  a  few  boxes  missing  from  their  mountain  of  gifts?  Nah,  I  think  we’re  fine.  Just  make  sure  it’s  small,  easy  to  conceal.  ”

Theodosia wanted to be mayor of this town one day, and then use that to eventually move on to bigger and better dreams. However, if she really wanted to get there, she needed to be among the people. Standing among the crowd, watching as everyone was out in the lake hanging out when she heard someone speak. “It’s news worthy.” She commented with a small laugh. “Although, that’s not surprising for the Emerson’s. Add in the fact that the barrier opened up during their party as well, I don’t people will ever stop talking about it.” Theodosia continued. “Are you enjoying yourself?” 

               “  So  they  do  this  kind  of  thing  often?  ”  Nina  raised  an  eyebrow.  She  wasn’t  one  to  judge  anyone  for  how  they  wanted  to  live  their  lives,  as  long  as  they  weren’t  harming  anyone  else  in  the  process,  but  she  couldn’t  imagine  this  kind  of  thing  being  a  regular  occurrence.  “  Yeah,  it’s  just...  a  lot.  We  don’t  really  have  anything  like  this  back  home.  ”  Going  to  the  clubs  were  great,  don’t  get  her  wrong,  but  it  was  a  completely  different  experience  than  the  elegance  she  saw  here.  “  What  about  you?  ”

Frankie had been trapped in this town like everyone else, but one thing that was different is she didn’t live here. Her and Alec only came her to check on her grandmother’s house, and got trapped. It took some convincing, but she was able to get Alec to agree to come to the party, only for them to find out that the barrier was gone. A topic that seemed to be of discussion with most. “Indeed it is. I’m sure a lot of people are looking forward to getting out of here.” She commented with a smile. “Are you from around here?” 

               If  Luke  knew  the  details  of  his  past  life,  he  would’ve  reacted  a  lot  more  to  the  barrier  going  up.  Still,  even  without  knowing  of  his  godly  heritage,  he  hated  the  feeling  of  being  trapped,  and  longed  to  break  through  the  barrier  by  any  means  necessary.  Knowing  it  was  down  made  him  feel  like  he  could  breathe  again.  “  I  know  I  am.  ”  He  nodded,  crossing  his  arms  over  his  chest.  “  Uh,  yeah.  I  moved  here  a  few  years  ago.  You?  ”