ꜰɪᴅᴇʟɪᴜꜱꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ

melinda had been going through the motions since she heard the news. first it felt like a lie, a sick joke that someone was playing but then her father never came home. after that, she was trying her best to remove herself from her body because all she knew was she needed to be there for her mother, be strong. it was only now that she was alone, in one of her family's apothecaries that she started to feel it all. her mother decided to temporarily close the apothecaries for the holidays and they had just said their final good-byes. it was just her and her mother as they didn't want to risk any kind of attention. in this moment it all felt so very real. just as she felt her first of many tears run down her cheeks, her knees gave and she was sliding down the side of the table and crumbling onto the ground.

the small town of hogsmeade is bustling with shoppers as they move from shop to shop, buying their last-minute christmas presents. neville longbotttom attempts to move through the crowd, getting pushed around by surrounding wix who are frantically haggling with shopkeepers. he takes a deep breath as he finds a somewhat empty side of the street between two carts. his christmas shopping was done a few weeks ago, but when his grandmother informed him that his uncle would be joining them for the day, he had to have something for uncle algie on sight as his real present would be sent to his home. "why is shopping so complicated?" neville ponders aloud. he has not found a gift yet.

There's a slight tremor in Neville's hands as he reads the daily prophet. The looping of her maniacal face has him clutching the paper. It was so long ago. He doesn't remember what happened to his parents, only that he was there. He sees the aftermath every time he visits his parents at Mungo's. It makes his blood boil that his parents' abuser has escaped. She should be suffering in Azkaban, like she deserves. Neville hears a cough that disrupts his reading. "What?" he says angrily as he pulls the paper down from his eyes. Neville sighs, pinching his nose. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. What did you need?"

The celebrations were loud, as CJ was hooting and hollering over his team's victory. It was such a short game, but to see the crestfallen looks on the Slytherins' faces was so very sweet. A large smile is on his face. Surely, this game must be a record, and to think, he can say he was on the Ravenclaw quidditch team during this time. It would be quite a memory. And this memory could get better at the Ravenclaw afterparty. "Hey!" he calls out to a straggler still in the stands, "After-party at Ravenclaw. you coming?"

"ravenclaw's kicking ass this year." dae noted as he watched the students make their way back to the castle. he was sure that had to have been the shortest game he had ever seen and he couldn't help but be impressed by the ravenclaw seeker for pulling that off. "tell ya what though, i feel a lot better about our loss to ravenclaw now." he truly did not play for the win, it was just fun to play for dae but the hufflepuffs at least were able to put some points up and that caused him to be happy and proud for his team in this moment.

Where: tomes and scrolls

there was something familiar and intimate about a book, even if you had never read it before. alice had skipped out on all other festivities, in favor of the familiar bookshelves of tomes & scrolls. it was a little busier than usual due to the festival, but it was comforting none the less. unsure how long she had had company, alice turned around to find someone lurking behind her. "oh, i'm sorry." she said, a look of surprise washing over her features. "was i in your way?"

as pansy took a step into the brightly colored candy shop, the bell chimed. the intense fragrance of sweets hitting her like a brick to her senses. it appeared that honeydukes being her first stop was not as original as she had thought, the building was packed with students. the snake slid through the crowd, heading straight to her usual sweet of choice. "you can wait. or i can hex you, pick now or i'll pick for you." she snapped as someone stepped in front of her outstretched hand that had been reaching for a sugar quill.

"don't look, it's not finish yet!" melinda exclaimed to the person next to her as she tried her best to shield her tree using her arms, only to give up, chuckling as she went back to decorating her tree. "ok, you can look, but you've got to trust the process." with just a quick glance in their direction, she tried her best to give a serious look before then directing her attention back to the array of decorations in front of her.

adrian sat himself as far from the stage as he could. it wasn't like he hated the open mic aspect of the festival, in fact there had been quite a few talented people to grace the stage, but with every talented witch or wizard, there were twice the amount of untalented. the current person on mic at the moment had his skin crawling. "i knew should have gone to the hog's head." he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

"do you like books... or reading?" astoria turned to the person who was sitting directly next to her, she wasn't going to let them answer as words continued to spew out, "specifically, muggle books are quite enchanting!" she rattled on with excitement, waving her hands around as she spoke. "i brought a few with me from home. they're really scarce in the library." she sighed heavily at the outrageous supply of muggle books in the library; astoria was such an unfortunate pureblood in these dire times! the library maybe had four, dependent on how observant she was. "would you like to borrow one? little women is really good."

"pause right there!" romilda commanded, those warm eyes of hers cast sharply upon one of her fellow students. "i need your opinion. like, time is dire." her lower lip had already started to push out, a pout setting into place, yearning to captivate the audience before her. and while that attention was held, romilda seized the opportunity to snag the two books at her side and hold them up for display: both romances, one a vampiric tale, the other a werewolf. "which one?"

ron stares wistfully at the passing first years, eagerly going to their classes as they laugh and giggle. a sharp pain hits his chest as he sees a little red haired boy, surprisingly unknown to him and could not possibly be related to him, and a black haired boy with messy hair talking animatedly to each other. ron could imagine the two of them becoming best friends but would they share a fate similar to his own? he shivers. ron leans against the pillar. “do you ever wish you could go back?” he says aloud, still staring at the first years.

giving it was her seventh year, mel had a lot hand in different pots. she had a lot to do before she left school and entered the world, her parents were already preparing her spot in the family apothecaries. she was happy to follow in her parent's footsteps even if it wasn't exactly her passion to go into the apothecary business, but she knew she could dabble in other practices outside. all of that meant she had a lot of projects going on outside of her classes, which is why she was currently in greenhouse three observing the alihotsy she has just finished nursing. "bloody hell. where did i put them?" she muttered as she looked around, unable to find her gloves.

all graham had been hearing about the last few days was just how great the spellbound were. their mere return to the stage had drawn a gaggle of students closer, rabid for a closer look. graham seemed to have the opposite reaction, given when the first song started to play, his boots led him step by step further from the stage "what a fucking headache," he'd mumbled as he met the buffet. of anything that might remedy his foul mood, food was the most accessible and so a pumpkin pasty found itself in his hand, then his mouth rather quickly.

gia held her goblet loosely in her hand as her eyes trailed over the many costumed students at the masquerade. she sighed. the latest gossip rag had her worried that anyone could be outed, and she especially had a few things she'd rather keep hidden. gia wanted to hide, but then again, she did enchant the snakes on her mask to move. narcissium is such a pain. "be careful if you stare at me too long. you know what the rumors say." gia remarks with a smirk to another starer. she did not enchant the snakes or herself to turn someone to stone. however, the full body-bind curse was at her disposal if the need arose. "or if you'd prefer to not be in control for the evening, i can make it happen. i don't kinkshame." she giggles, taking a drink from the spiked wine.