#fmajorstarter

@faux-propriety​

There was a certain amount of joy in knowing he would leave Hogwarts behind for good in a few months. The place had brought Gwyn nothing but headaches from the neverending buzz of voices around him, deep annoyance towards the adults in charge of his education, and renewed distaste for mudbloods. More and more they thought they were entitled to certain things like their strange devices and modified uniforms and new dorms for whenever they were feeling quirky. No, Gwyn would certainly not miss that place one bit.

But he would, he thought as he was walking towards the Quidditch pitch, mis playing under Karis’ command. She was an excellent captain and a good friend, in spite of her frankly liberal ways. But she told him no and benched him and argued with him at times, and there weren’t many people willing to do all that who meant much to the boy. Which explained the smile currently on his face, he thought as he tried to fight it, keep any hint of happiness under wraps. Too many enemies around to risk presenting them with an angle of attack.

“I’ve been training harder than usual,” was all the greetings he gave the blonde. His hurried walk and familiar speech spoke better on how glad he was to see her. “There’s no way we’re leaving this place without the Quidditch cup in our hands. I will burn the whole castle down otherwise.”

@crybbmalfoy​

The chair supporting Gwyn’s weight was slowly driving him mad. The creaking he could try to block out, but the thin wood the seat was made of sanded his backside if he dared move an inch. His mother better believe in her son’s dedication when she received her birthday gift – which better be flawless and not cost too much, either. Gwyn’s finances were still monitored and he only had so much he was willing to spend on something as useless as a painting, after all. It wasn’t like he loved his mother that much.

How long had he been waiting there? He had asked for validation five times now that the student he had been recommended was aware of his presence on school grounds, and that he was on his way to meet him. Gwyn’s knobbly knees were no good for writing essays on and he had ten more inches to write on the impact of the second wizarding war on the community’s economy. Not his favourite subject, especially when he had been warned off stating his negative appreciation of the war’s outcome.

Finally and after twenty minutes that had felt like days Gwyn heard a steady footfall and wasted no time standing up. He even had the time to pull a face at the pain in his rear before schooling his features into a pleasant expression before the mysterious art student turned the corner a few feet away from the teen. Time slowed down, Gwyn froze, and the words came out before he could replace them with a more coherent thought: “ew, it’s you? I mean– Malfoy. You are the person I was told about? Or are you just an emissary for the talented artist I am here to see?” Please let him be an emissary, please let him be an emissary. There was no way Gwyn could work with that blood traitor Malfoy without doing something that would cost him his freedom. “Didn’t even know you go here.”

@wickedgrinspaintedlips​

School your face, Angharad used to say, repeating orders she had once been on the receiving end of. Unless it’s disdain. Disdain you can always show. And oh how it showed, curled lips, squinted eyes, scrunched up eyebrows like the foulest smell had just hit his delicate nose. The stench of rot and distilled blood, made impure by all that clung to it. Jacen Wood. Suffice to say Gwyn’s luck was such that on the one day he had to head to a specific shop he would cross paths with the worst of the worst.

“If you lose any more weight you’ll be the first wizard in history to turn fully invisible.” It could have sounded like concern from anybody else’s mouth, in a different tone perhaps. But from Gwyn it invited a challenge, like the accomplishment would be worth it. All he wanted was for the wix to turn the other way and disappear, go as far away from the Slytherin as possible. There was something boiling inside of him, besides the hatred, besides the rage, something only the Wood twins could make him feel and it grew larger with every meeting, every new hair colour, every too-feminine laugh or not-feminine-enough clothes and it had his fists trembling just a bit. “I’m trying to move in that direction here. Skinny as you are, you’re still in my way.”

Lily: HELLO!!! HI!! ARE YOU AT YOUR APARTMENT??!!!?

Lily: HELLO

Lily: HELLLLOOOOOO

Lily: I'm coming over tonight. Three days off.

@thesocialbadger​

He had found her entirely on accident, social media algorithms getting him to jump from one page to the next until the smiling face of one Tallulah French was looking up at him from the screen of his phone. In that moment something had taken over Nikolai, he didn’t know what, but he had sent her a message. Ridiculous when one knew he couldn’t stand the girl from the day he had met her; she was always smiling and helping and treating him like a fragile little thing. He had very much been fragile in the beginning, and had resented her terribly for reminding him of the fact day in and day out.

Things could be different now, he supposed. He had matured a lot since he’d left school, and people like Talli could be useful to have around. Free babysitting was not a service Nikolai would ever refuse. Of course before asking for favours of any type he had to make sure he didn’t feel like bashing her head against the nearest surface anymore, something he would verify in a set up of his own choosing.

The café wasn’t bad at all. Much better than the place Griffin and Nik called their own, but that went without saying. This one held more light and space, nicer smells too. The level of concentration needed to notice Tallulah’s familiar smell before catching sight of her would be almost impossible that far from the full moon, but Nikolai tried anyway. Better that than get bored to death. Why had he come a whole half hour early, again? He was about to let his current reading swallow him whole why long brown hair stepped inside the café, and he sat up straighter. Eyes meet eyes, he thought as he didn’t even blink, waiting for the witch to look his way.

Snow White, Karis & the poor unfortunate soul that joins in

Once upon a time Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a wonderful and safe place for youngsters to learn about magic. But the happy days of floating pumpkins and corn mazes had apparently long past, because the staff (who were out of their fro-yo minds) decided to turn that haven upside down. One would have thought that the events from the previous term that left students more mixed up than mashed potatoes would have inspired a mellower celebration, but nooo.

Instead Tallulah was inching down new corridors (that had not been there the night before) on quaking knees. Right when she thought she knew where she was going, things changed. What the actual fluff?

Talli wanted to curse at the world.

...or write it a strongly worded letter.

Heavy mist engulfed her ankles so perfectly that, had she not seen them only seconds before, she might have thought her feet had vanished. This was the sort of stuff that muggles put into horror movies. And it was happening in a place she considered home. And considered fun? She didn't do well with the muggle stuff, so, needless to say, Talli was on the verge of tears.

Right around when the doxies started harassing her, knotting her hair and pulling at her costume (like those mean branches in the real snow white) she started swinging, because who the fluff kept doxiecide on their person anyway?

Tallulah & Griffin

There were a number of things that kept Talli upbeat during the school year; coffee, cocoa, well constructed study schedules, a properly made bed, super melty butter on fresh toast... you get the idea. The thing that never failed to bring her out of a slump of any size was her trusty iPod. Most days she could be found humming along to Miranda Lambert or two stepping her way down the corridor, but other days, the exceptionally stressful ones, called for more desperate measures.

Like the Cha-Cha Slide in the greenhouses.

Broom in hand (of the non-flying variety) Talli slid to the left, and then to the right, singing into the broom handle as she swept. The other greenhouses were surely finished up by that point. That was the magic of cleaning with...well, magic. But those other guys didn’t know the glory of DJ Casper.

Everything was going smooth up until she needed to reverse. The narrow walkway littered with terra cotta pots and top soil was proving to be a more questionable stage than she had originally thought. Just like that, with the wrong twist of the foot Talli was stumbling, grabbing desperately at the air to keep from falling. She failed, of course, as soon as she stomped her stupid foot into one of the undoubtably diabolical pots, landing her teaparty straight onto the ground. (Which hurt even more than the first time she did it.)

James & Ram

James got up from his spot in Charms class and let his neighbour know he would be back after break. It was possible that he would be late coming back, but if that was the case he would bring in a signed excuse from Professor Atterberry. The first month of classes was usually just review anyways. He was positive he would not be missing much and if he did, he would make up every minute of it. There was no room for failure, he knew that, and he wouldn’t allow it. However, he really needed to go visit with the Ancient Runes professor and see if he could still be considered for his advanced classes.

Usually, he would try to get into the class at the beginning of the year, but he wasn’t in the best place at the start of the year and then he just couldn’t tell if he would be able to handle the extra work load. But, Ancient Runes was important and even though he had taken it in previous years, it would be good to have the proper training in place for his N.E.W.T.S., not to mention for his choice in career after school. Everyone knew that, despite his odd teaching and people skills, Professor Atterberry was one of the best in the field of Ancient Runes. It would be an honour to be further taught by him.