* / GROW UP !

delaney sat next to daphne almost immediately. many minutes ago, her companion lost himself into the cheering crowd and there was literally no one to help delaney to look for the former gryffindor ! and, sure, the ravenclaw witch has always been a social butterfly since day one, a friend to anyone who stood lonely in a crowded room in need of some company, but this time… this time she was a little overwhelmed. merlin-—- she didn’t even got to enjoy the rally as much as she wanted to ! she smiled, greeted and talked with the students and professors that stopped her from walking further into the stands, asking her questions about her well being and her life outside of hogwarts, but she still stood rather… awkwardly. either it wasn’t the greatest day for her to root for her former house, or the bludger of life had just reminded her that she was no longer a student at hogwarts but a young adult in the wizarding world.  the pretty sound of daphne’s voice was like an angel calling a mortal into it arms, gentle hands smoothing down the fabric of her short pleated skirt as she sat down. “ fancy seein’ ye’ here too. ” she said with a tender smile, giving her bronze and blue scarf a little fix. “ i came here with robert. you know, fellow trainee darcy ? he called it a date for him to leave me at the end. ” rosy lips pouted adorably, lips twitching until she was giggling. “ such a gryffindor thing to do, right ? ” delaney snorted, looking out to the quidditch pitch with sparkling eyes. “ he said he was goin’ to bet for gryffindor with this one guy or something. it’s sad because we all know ravenclaw got this. ” or at least she hoped.  「 ✨  delaney attended a match. 」 「 ✨  delaney watched the rally. 」 「 ✨  delaney spectated from the stands. 」 「 ✨  delaney has used a wizarding idiom. 」 「 ✨  delaney has brought up a magical subject. x3 」 「 ✨  delaney has mentioned a canon magical object. x3 」  「 ✨  delaney has mentioned something from hogwarts: a history. x5 」

she caught the eye of another individual in the stands and waved back before focusing her attention on delaney.  she usually didn’t see much of the former ravenclaw unless it was healer training or the occasional night out a the sozzled goblet.

daphne adjusted her scarf so that it sat more comfortably.  “  robert  . . .  ”  she hummed,  trying to put a face to the name.  “  oh  !  ”  the realization dawned on her.  “  that’s unfortunate to here.  you’re welcome to join me here while robert goes off  galavanting  and what not.  ”

she let out a delicate laugh.  “  oh merlin.  with gryffindor’s  track  record,  it wouldn’t be a smart move to bet on  gryffindor  of all teams.  reckon he’s gonna lose a couple  galleons  or two.  ”

she may have only entered hogwarts during her fourth year,  but based on the quidditch record,  she could say that it was either ravenclaw or slytherin that took the cup home.  so she was confident that ravenclaw would win the match.

“  i just hope for merlin’s sake the commentators do a good job of keeping up with the match.  ”

「 ✨  daphne spectated from the stands 」

despite the drizzle,  it was a rather nice day to spectate the quidditch match.  it was a spontaneous decision for daphne to attend the ravenclaw and gryffindor match.  she had very high hopes for her former house.  while she never played quidditch since her transfer from mahoutokoro,  she was very  knowledgeable  in the sport.

daphne glanced around from her seat and focused her attention on the rally.  the pep rally was enough to generate cheers from both houses.  of course, given gryffindor’s record,  she was partial to her own house and hoped that ravenclaw would come out victorious. 

she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.  “  go  RAVENCLAW  !!  ”

“  hey  !  ”  she waved at a familiar face.  “  fancy seeing you here.  ”  she scooted over from her seat on the bench to make some more room.

「 ✨  daphne watched the rally 」 「 ✨  daphne attended a match 」 「 ✨  daphne cheered for a team 」

“𝓐nnouncing Daphne Hoang,” a tiny little house elf said, bowing over and motioning their hand so many times that they created a wind draft.

Jay didn’t answer. His face was as pale as a Hogwarts Ghost as he grabbed Daphne’s hand, pulling her into the room closest to them and slamming the large door behind him. He was breathing heavy, and he could smell dust and something expensive. Ironically, dusty and expensive were probably adjectives in the handbook for the worst kind of Purebloods.

Which apparently, he was now.

Because apparently, when you wish to never be called the m-word ever again, the only thing a shooting star can think to do is make you what does the calling.

His brown eyes were screaming exclamation points, but each time he opened his mouth, nothing came out. 

Jay tugged on his expensive wizard rags, his face stricken. Where were his vans! His jean jackets with the silly patches! His skateboard! His snapback collection! He made a hand motion like he was about to say all of the above, but still, nothing came out.

He put his hands on Daphne’s shoulders, his heart slamming in his chest and his palms sweaty. “Daphne,” he said, his voice cracking. “… everyone’s losing their minds. They think I’m a Slytherin.” 

—And pureblood. But Slytherin? Like, did anyone in this alternate universe know him at all?

Jay looked around at the gigantic library they stood in. There were people in his dorm room at U of L, people living at his family’s real place in Knightsbridge. His rents had sent servants to bring him “home.” Frickin servants! And they had brought him here. He was freaking out, man! Not as much as the muggles he had to confunded into thinking he was a ghost in both cases, but he would worry about that later. Or never. Did Purebloods ever worry about anything, or did they pay people galleons to worry for them? It didn’t seem like the people who had snatched his parents bodies were the types that did much worrying.

“Tell me you don’t believe this slander. ‘Cause that’s what this is. Totally lame and, oh yeah, slander.” 

「 😭 jay used a moaning myrtle boost. 」

「 ✨ jay made a wish. 」 「 ✨ jay saw his wish came true. 」 「 ✨ jay regretted his wish. 」

「 ✨ jay has mentioned a canon object x12. 」 「 ✨ jay has brought up a magical subject x3. 」 「 ✨ jay has referenced something from hogwarts: a history x7. 」

arriving at mendina mansion was nothing out of the  ORDINARY.  or at least that’s what daphne thought.  after speaking with the house elf,  they announced her arrival.  she wasn’t the least bit fazed by any of it. 

no sooner had she arrived,  she was whisked away by jay.  she noted the panic in his eyes.  her own internal panicking subsided for the time being as she tried to address her best friend’s problems.

as soon as jay explained what was happening,  she furrowed her brows in confusion.  what does he mean that everyone thinks he’s a slytherin  ?  of course he’s a  slytherin  !  for merlin’s sake what was he saying  ?  it didn’t mean that their friendship was any different.

“  jay  ...  ”  she started.  “  you’re not making any sense.  you were sorted into slytherin upon your arrival at hogwarts,  or at least  ––  that’s what was on your hogwarts uniform when i first met you  ...  ”  she felt the need to burst into tears as she tried to explain to her best friend that this  is  his normal life.  then again,  it could also do with the fact that she is also now PANICKING  over the current state her brother was in.

“  i don’t think this is   slander.  don’t get me wrong,  i’m here panicking too,  but of something else.  i think i fucked up.  ”  

despite moving to england during her fourth year,  daphne missed her brother dearly.  dominic’s career was solely focused on quidditch,  meaning when the family made the move,  he stayed behind due to his position in the japanese national quidditch team.  she’d try to visit him during the holidays,  but it just wasn’t the  same.

and even though she was currently still at st. mungos,  she was still able to view the shooting stars.  she’s always held such a fascination with astronomy.  her musings were often lost among conversations,  hardly revisited.  but it didn’t mean that she didn’t want to make a wish upon seeing the cosmic event.  even the founders made wishes  !

she shut her eyes and took a deep breath.  i wish dominic was around more.

the next morning,  daphne woke up with a start.  she could hardly remember getting home,  and gave herself a right  FRIGHT  once seeing the owl perched by her window.  letting it in,  she quickly read the contents of the letter.  

“  oh dear merlin.  ”

her brother faced a serious injury and they weren’t sure about the chances of recovery  ?  merlin’s pants  !  this couldn’t have been her doing,  could it  ?  it was quidditch,  witches and wizards get hurt all the time.  but was it really coincidence that she made the wish last night and now her brother is injured  ?  she couldn’t ignore the unsettling feeling.

“  i need to talk to someone,  ”  she muttered to herself.  the one person that automatically came to mind was jay.  her best friend.  he would understand.  in a matter of minutes,  the former ravenclaw was dressed in her casual attire and ready to leave.  grabbing her wand,  she apparated onto the property of mendina mansion. 

「 ✨  daphne made a wish 」 「 ✨  daphne saw her wish come true 」 「 ✨  daphne regretted her wish come true 」

𝓙ay smiled, jokingly acting scuffing his shoe against the pavement as he fluttered his lashes. “Oh my god, stop flirting with me.” On the inside, his heart swelled. Daphne was one of the most important people in his life, and he hoped she always would be. 

Soon, they were walking up on Purge and Dowse, Ltd, the secret hideout of St. Mungos. Jay stared at the seemingly but not quite inanimate dummy inside the window. It creeped him out. He was sticking his tongue out at it in his mind. 

Jay hopped back on his skateboard, steering it around to face Daphne. “Time for you go save the world and stuff.” 

He put his hand to his face, mimicking a phone to show he would call her. 

「 ✨ jay has mentioned a canon object x2. 」

daphne let out a laugh.  “  i’m only doing this out of  LOVE.  ”  she jokingly blew a kiss at her best friend.

as they approached the entrance to st. mungos,  she finished off the last of her coffee.  oh another day’s work is ahead of her.  the healer trainee life was EXHAUSTING.  but no matter,  before she knew it,  she’d be a healer herself.  her parents will be so proud.

“  i can only try my best to save lives.  ”  she waved before entering the hospital. FIN.

“no problem, daph.” aurora knew that was something to be proud of, as she understood that it was difficult as she had read up on the topic of wandless magic and how difficult it was. so of course she was happy to see that her best friend had done it. although, she had never personally tried.. someday maybe she’d give it a go and see what would happen. “i can see why you’d want to learn! it would be very handy. and the hat just knows.  where to put you and where you belong.” and she couldn’t really argue, or protest that the sorting hat knew what it was doing. “i’m sorry about that! it is weird i guess we’ve both just been so busy, i’m super glad we have time to catch up now, though.” there’s a nod of her head, a bright smile across her features. “just working really. nothing exciting honestly, it’s been quiet lately.”

「 ✨  rory has mentioned a canon object x4 」

she really didn’t think that wandless magic was achievable to most witches and wizards.  but it was nice to know and  confirm  that it was possible for them to learn.  for simple spells like stirring a spoon or something of the sort.  of course,  to use wandless magic for  complex  spells was  ENTIRELY  different.

“  it is quite handle for the simpler things in life.  but the learning and practicing process feels  draining.  merlin’s pants,  i know it was going to be difficult,  but still.  i’m just glad that i have a wand.  ”  her eyes shifted to focus on her wand.  made of cherry wood with a dragon heartstring core.  she knew wands made of cherry wood were held with the highest prestige in mahoutokoro.  she remembered talking to a wandmaker when she first got her wand.  they knew that cherry wood paired with a dragon heartstring core would mean she would grow to be a witch with exceptional self-control and strength of mind.

“  it’s okay  !  i totally get it.  healer training is rather time consuming.  but i’m enjoying it.  and besides,  i’ll be a healer soon.  so hopefully i’ll have more time.  and i’ll actually be  home  more often.  ”

𝓒hristian walked through the Mediwizard entrance in the emergency waiting room area, both enchanted doors swinging open. On the outside, it looked like he had stepped through a window behind the condemned building St. Mungos was hidden inside.

“You didn’t get home in time either?” 

Christian stuck his quill into his pocket, tucked his leather bound journal under his arm, and stared up at the moon. Damn. That emergency had taken hours to resolve. He had been a fool to think he would get to watch the shooting stars from the comfort of his own flat. 

He played with his glasses then looked over at Daphne. 

He had sent his apprentices to take notes on his patients on the fourth floor when he got hit with the emergency. He wasn’t trying to be unfair and keep them working extra hours. He was surprised to see one of them still here, but Daphne had proven herself to be very proficient since day one. the second week of january she would be done with her training, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of the work he had done with her.  ( &. @httpdaphnc​ )

「 ✨ christian has mentioned a canon object x7. 」 「 ✨ christian has brought up a magical subject. 」

while getting home in time was something daphne intended to do,  she didn’t mind staying a bit longer to help out christian with the emergency.  what kind of a hospital would st. mungo’s be if the  healers  themselves aren’t always around.  since being hit with the emergency,  she immediately went down to the fourth floor to take notes,  just like her mentor said.

it was a bit  hectic  but it was to be expected.  daphne’s long flowing hair was now tied in a high bun to keep it from falling over her face.  she clipped her muggle pen against the penholder on her notebook.

“  no,  i didn’t.  but it’s okay.  i don’t mind.  what’s a career without a little sacrifice  ?  ”

the idea of watching the shooting stars in the comfort of her own flat was appealing,  but nowadays she was really only there to get sleep.  nonetheless,  she was going to become a healer soon.  those six months really went by.

“  besides,  at least we’ll be able to watch it here.  we won’t be too occupied.  ”

“ ’m delaney. ” due to having her eyes closed and not actually paying the greatest attention, delaney grunted softly when daphne called out for the former ravenclaw, the name she has uttered completely blurred out from her very tipsy brain. “ who is christian ? ” she shout whispered to her fellow healer trainee, the porcelain of her face screwed up just the slightest because, oh merlin, tipsy-but-on-the-verge-of-getting-drunk-off-her-own-red-currant-rum delaney really couldn’t put a face on a wizard named christian ! it was until she turned her head when her eyes floated upon the visage of christian himself, her hazy nature making her gasp as if she had just seen someone like celestina warbeck. has the witch ever came to the sozzled goblet, before ? “ oh. christian. that christian ! that’s christian ! ” delaney exclaimed with a gasp, waving her hand so he could see the pair. “ i love christian ! christian has a dog. ”              @ofprodigals 「 ✨  delaney mentioned a wizarding idiom. 」  「 ✨  delaney brought up a magical canon subject x2. 」 「 ✨  delaney brought up a magical subject. 」  「 ✨  delaney mentioned a canon object. 」 「 ✨  delaney mentioned a canon magical object x2. 」

𝓒hristian! Christian!

Well, shit.

Christian made his way towards the two witches. The closer he got, the more apparent it was that Daphne and Delaney were ironically sozzled.

“I do. I do have a dog,” Christian laughed under his breath.

“Hi girls,” he said as he pulled off his robes, sending it off to be hung up with a wave of his wand. He sat down on the empty seat between them and ordered a simple mead when a barmaid showed.

“Cheers.” Christian clinked his drink against theirs. 

“So, are you celebrating the win today as well Daphne?” He wasn’t like some of the Healers who didn’t keep his apprentices close by, learning under them at all times. He actually liked to have them help when possible. If he was buzzing from saving a life when it had looked hopeless, he could imagine the same could be said for her. It was an amazing feeling.

「 🍵 christian used a veritaserum boost. 」

“And Delaney, who are you training under?” ( &. @httpdaphnc· )

「 👩🏼 christian used a rita skeeter boost. 」

「 ✨  christian has mentioned a canon object x7. 」 「 ✨  christian has cast a spell. 」

daphne let out another giggle.  this red-currant rum really is doing it for her.  however,  her poor wallet was most likely crying for how much it took to get her  this  intoxicated.  but it was every galleon,  knut,  and sickle well spent.

she clinked her glass against christian and delaney’s drinks.  it was like a ravenclaw reunion here  !  she took a big gulp of her drink before answering.  “  well,  as a matter of fact  . . .  yes.  i didn’t plan on drinking this much to be honest.  it was  only  supposed  to be a celebratory drink.  ”  she answered truthfully.  

“  but you know,  things happen  ?  sometimes,  you just need to take the wins as they come.  you know what they say,  there are times where you’ll lose a knut and find a galleon.  ”   (  @dlaneys·  )

        “ it’s a real mess, if ye ask me. “  esther couldn’t help but grumble, waving her wand a bit more aggressively than necessary as she worked on applying bandages to one of her patients.  the wix frowned but stayed mum.  given their injuries, they had no grounds to argue.  “ me brother keeps talking about getting the nimbus vega 1988 .  i’ve told him about the injuries but artie’s so STUBBORN — and the broom’s he’s got now’s been giving him hell, too. “  she sighed.  “ bloody dangerous, the whole lot of them.  brooms.  if ye ask me, we’re meant to have our feet planted firmly on the ground. “

「 ✨ esther has mentioned a canon magical object x4 」

daphne shook her head.  of course,  being a healer trainee definitely has its ups and downs.  despite seeing and treating injuries caused by magical creatures first hand,  there were things as simple as broom-related injuries that she needed to know how to treat as well.

“  well you know what happens when they’re told they can’t have anything.  they just want it even more.  there must be some sort of problem with the broom if there’s been such a spike in broom-related injuries.  and i doubt all of them are  QUIDDITCH  related.  ”

aurora was taking the time to relax or de-stress one could even say. to her; reading was one of those things always was able to do that. and any kind of reading was SOMETHING she enjoyed. fully focused now on what daphne was saying. the words earning what she deemed a well deserved clap of her  hands. “oh! congratulations that’s so amazing!” it earns a genuine big smile. of course being completely and entirely happy for her best friend. “you’ll be able to do really do it with more practice. but hush! it’s still just as amazing. you know, not a lot are able to do wandless magic.” came her response, as she reaches for her wand that was within distance to her– the issue had been reading moves to where she had it prior to, and the pitcher of lemonade refills her glass. now that she realizes it had been nearly empty. all not requiring her to lift a finger, expect for her wand– although, she didn’t like having to use magic for smaller things. but she also thought that this one of the few times where she would let it slide and be okay with it. especially after what she deemed to now be a lazy day.

now that the issue no longer laid on her chest, her tuxedo cat had somehow knew and seen it wasn’t there and came from one of his many spots and leaped up onto the same spot where it had been; taking it as his cue and wanting attention. not that she minded at all. she considered herself lucky enough, to have not one but two familiars. both of which were cats and she was a cat person. “have you wanted to learn before now. i think it could be rather handy depending on what you’d want to learn. all variations of magic are just so fascinating.”

「 ✨  rory has cast a spell x2. 」

「 ✨  rory has mentioned a canon object x3. 」

“  thanks  !  ”  daphne grinned.  wandless magic was a difficult concept to grasp and she knew not many people were able to perform it.  to be able to use it for simple tasks would be a  miracle  in her book.  “  i know,  i didn’t really think i’d be able to do it.  but with the time i spent attempting to do it  . . .  i think this is definitely a start.  ”  thank merlin that some of her work paid off.  she expected it to take longer,  or even for it to not happen at all.

with that being said, the task of practicing was rather draining. there was more focus put into that than gaining a hippogriff’s respect  !  she grabbed her wand from the counter and cast a quick spell for the spoon to continue stirring in her tea.  after that,  she magically cleaned the spoon and set it back in its place.

“  i mean,  yeah.  of course,  i’ve always wanted to learn.  i guess that’s why the hat placed me in ravenclaw for a reason.  but it was more of something i would attempt to teach myself and practice because i had the time.  ”  the healer trainee gingerly sips her tea.  “  enough about me,  what have you been up to  ?  we live together and it’s so weird that we hardly see each other.  even when we’re both at st.  mungos.  ”

   “sick!” jay grinned. he raked a hand through his curls, tucked his board under his arm, and grabbed his own cup of coffee from the holder. “i’ve been called a lot of things, but lifesaver had yet to make the list. till now. papito lindo keeps on winning.” the next time he looked at daphne, he bursted into a fit of childish chuckles. he always felt like he could be himself, say whatever he wanted to, and not worry about judgement with her. good thing, ‘cause he said a lot of dumb shit.

“do you remember the first time we talked?” he began to walk backwards, looking down at the witch from their near two foot height difference. “i’ve always thought that you know your people on sight.” jay could still see himself plopping down at ravenclaw table in the great hall, after the sorting ceremony had taken place. albeit, not in front of damon, which confused many of its inhabitants. he hadn’t had the growth spurt that would label him as the class giant yet, but he was still the tallest wizard in his year. the fourth year gryffindor wizard had grinned toothily at daphne, curls falling in his warm eyes, in desperate needs of a cut as he said: “i like your style.” that’d been that. it’d only taken five minutes to find out how similar they were. they’d become best mates before the end of the year.

「 ✨  jay has mentioned a canon object x9. 」

she chuckled and took another sip of her coffee.  it was nice to have jay as her best friend.  he  understood  her in ways that might make people question her.  then again,  it came a surprise that she was put into ravenclaw when she first transferred from mahoutokoro.  but nonetheless,  she was just glad she was able to find such a connection with the one and only jay mendina.

“  oh yeah  . . .  ”  she nodded and let out an almost  wistful  sigh.  daphne still clearly remembers her first day at hogwarts.  she was nervous,  but she didn’t want that to show.  so she spent a good majority of the time on the hogwarts express trying to get to know people.  by the time she entered the great hall and mcgonagall put the sorting hat on her head,  she thought she would find the people she’d be friends with in ravenclaw.  oh how  WRONG  fourth year daphne was.  she remembered seeing jay plopping down at her house table.  a gryffindor sitting in the ravenclaw table.  was that allowed  ?  it was until he uttered those four words that they became the best of mates.  “  you know,  when you first sat down in front of me,  i thought you were lost or something.  judging by your uniform and all.  but i’m glad you did decide to come up and talk to me.  ”

open– to one or two character replies.

baby pink nails flipped through an issue of witch weekly. as her thumb holds open a page. it only taking short exposure to the articles for her brain to memorize. much as it always did. and her ocean hues scanned the page; as she then proceeds to flip to the next, a few mere seconds later. to anyone else they probably would have wondered if she was even reading at all, had anyone seen her or been watching. but aurora was a quick reader to begin with. the other hand swirls around the straw in her lemonade. anyone that knew her; most likely knew it was hard when she was reading, or busy even to catch her attention. especially as her mind was always preoccupied to begin with, what only anyone could imagine what was going on inside her mind– most likely a lot. but that wouldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary. something draws away her attention, and she blinks; turning her head away from her page. “..huh, what was that?” unsure if someone had been talking to her, or if she’d just heard something.

「 ✨  rory has mentioned a canon object x2. 」

nimble fingers tap against the kitchen counter.  she’s preparing a cup of tea.  a task that would’ve taken more than five minutes of her time,  reduced to a mere couple of seconds with the aid of magic.  casting another spell,  she added the amount of appropriate cream and sugar.  daphne focused her attention on the spoon in the cup.  almost willing it to move.  she’d been attempting to practice her wandless magic abilities.  and while she knew that she would never be advanced,  it was still worth the try.  perhaps today will be the day.  the subject of it was fascinating.  it was like learning about elemental magic.  then again,  any type of magic was deemed fascinating by the ravenclaw.  

with an outstretched hand,  she set about concentrating on her cup of tea.  for what seemed like an  eternity,  she spotted movement from the spoon.  the spoon stirred once before it stopped as her attention focused elsewhere.  it was a start.      “      oh sweet merlin  ...      ”      daphne turned to aurora.      “      rory,  i think i did it  !  okay,  i kind of did it.  but i’m still taking it as a win.      ”