&. honey and gunpowder.

leda spared a sweet smile for her friend; it was sweet of her to try, even if it would come to nothing. wizarding ink was notoriously hard to remove, it stained pretty permanently, and her shoes were too delicate to risk an abrasive cleaning spell, “afraid not, al.” she took her shoes off, conjuring a pair of simple flats that would last her at least til she could get back to her dorm and change. “but this does give us an excuse to go shopping next hogsmeade weekend, right?”

     Alice couldn’t help but frown, but Leda did manage to turn it into something positive, and she wouldn’t bother her friend with pointless worrying, “OO, you’re right, even more justification for going shopping, I might even ask for an advance advance from Alex. I blew a lot of the money I wasn’t supposed to spend YET on music things for the new school year, but, this is almost an emergency.”

Wolfgang shook his head softly. “I dont need anything but you look like you could use some company. Someone to talk to perhaps.” He could see that she seemed upset and he motioned for her to come and sit with him. He knew that this attack hurt a lot of people and not all physically either. He had seen some students that seemed to be in shock, denial that something like this could happen, and really he didnt blame them. 

     “Thank you, but, you know, honestly?? I just need someone to take care of right now, or something to distract myself. My brother’s hurt but he’s getting healed up right now, so I just, I need a distraction,” it was true, she needed someone to talk to but as kind as his offer was, she wasn’t going to confide him. Alice didn’t know him well enough, and she sure didn’t trust him with her feelings. “What’s your favorite color??”

val’s lips quirked downward, figuring alice has just fallen prey to the anxiety that was sweeping through the hall. “c’mon, alice,” val said, her tone uncharacteristically gentle, “we’re all here—-everything will look better in the morning. here, the house elves brought these earlier,” she gestured to the stash of brownies she’d taken, “have one. —-by the way, where’s your brother? i haven’t seen him, which means he hasn’t seen me.”

     Val didn’t know & immediately she hated to be the person to tell her. “Alex is getting healed up. We were just .... catching up, you know how good of a brother he is, always checking up on me, and then everything went black. It was so scary, Val,” Alice wanted to cry now, because she knew she was stronger than this, she was more composed than this -- she wasn’t all emotion and worry but this, this was Alex. “He SHIELDED me.”

Jia scowled at the girl. Why was everyone so worried about this? She really needed to find someone that she could complain to properly without them getting onto her. Although, maybe arguing with someone would help her forget about her worries, “You guys need to get over yourselves. It’s not that big of a deal. You Hufflepuffs are such cowards.”

     “EXCUSE ME??” It was rare, that Alice blew up at people like this, usually she would’ve just tried to let it go -- but she’d been hurt by the explosion, she had been there. The last bit of energy she had, the actual flaming anger she had about this situation was there and HELL, she was emotional. But she was no coward. Nether were her Hufflepuffs. 

     “First of all, IT IS A BIG DEAL. I don’t know how you can equate that an explosion in a castle full of CHILDREN, that sent our Headmistress to bloody St. Mungos as not being a big deal.  Second, I was in that explosion. My brother was in that explosion. People got hurt. Thirdly, we are NOT cowards. I wouldn’t call a single person in my house a coward. Just because I give a rat’s arse, just because I’m scared doesn’t make me COWARD. I’m actually just using logic here, when you think about it. Especially when there was a damn DARK MARK  in the area.”

It was hard to believe that something like this could happen. Well not that it could but that it did. There was no warning, nothing that really signaled that something like this would happen. But it did and honestly Wolfgang was worried. He didn’t really believe in the death eater values and honestly thought that it was ridiculous that they would attack a school. There were young witches and wizards that could have easily gotten hurt. He worried a bit less about some of the older students since most should know how to protect themselves, at least a little, from something like this. But the younger ones, first through third year most likely didn’t know all that much.

He had been lost in thought staring up at the ceiling when he heard someone come closer to him. He sat up to see who it was. “Is everything alright? Do you need something?” He asked so that he could at least try to help if needed. even if the other just needed someone to talk to.

     Alice knew it was naive to believe Hogwarts was an entirely safe institution -- the past had taught her otherwise. Still, she couldn’t help but feeling like the walls of the castle made a home for her, made a place where she could learn and be around people she cared for. History was here, history that linked her and everyone around her to the past whether they had family who went there or not. The explosion had injured her, but it had hurt her brother more and after coming back from the infirmary, the usual smile that adorned her face turned into a frown. Alice was worried and Alice was scared, scared that it would happen again, scared that this was it. This was WAR. 

    “Oh, Wolfgang, thank you,” she gave him a weak smile, “I’m fine, I just got back from the infirmary. All healed up, you know, good as new, basically. Are you okay? Do you need anything??”

“This is dumb. Why can’t we go back to our dorms?” Jia asked, eyes narrowed at the nearest person around her. It was rare for her to seek out conversation with another individual, especially one that she didn’t know all too well, but the event had her shaken up more than she would let anyone know, “It’s not like there’s going to be another attack so soon.”

the summer before first term had started, jaxon had spent a lot of his time watching all kinds of muggle films. one film in particular had caught his attention and made him laugh so much, he watched it over and over until the movie lines were permanently stuck in his brain. as he came up to a closed door, a grin extended across his lips. lines from that movie he watched multiple times creeping into his mind. he grabbed the handle, turned it, and opened the door. peering inside, he asked with a wide smile on his face, “can i get you guys anything? some snacks? a condom? let me know!” the person inside would mostly likely be very confused by his odd questions, but he didn’t care. 

“okay, so, i know it’s all serious business and everything but—-no one’s dead, and when’s the last time i got a slumber party with all of my sisters and friends? plus my pajamas are super cute, don’t you think? though these sleeping bags could be a lot more comfortable…”

     Alice wasn’t going to cry, she was going to keep herself together and be a leader, be a monument for the younger years who were allowed to be far more scared than she was. Even if she had reason then, after all, she’d gotten way less hurt than she could’ve from the explosion and been healed rapidly, Alex had shielded her. Alex had SAVED her from further damage & she was lucky -- but she was worried. “Right, you have really cute PJs, Val.”

“Okay - I definitely did not expect anyone to be in here. Shit. Sorry.”

“oh god, oh no—-” leda took in a deep breath, “i’m going to close my eyes—-close them and pretend you did NOT just spill ink—-black, squidy, never-comes-out ink—-on my pumps. they’re miu miu!”

     “Oh, Helga!!” Even though it wasn’t Alice who had done the deed, it was now her own issue as it was her dorm mate -- her friend -- Leda’s issue. “We can fix it right?? Nothing a little magic can’t fix, right Leda??”

“You do know it’s rude to stare, right?”

     “Nope, don’t think my parents EVER taught me that one,” Alice blushed, “I just really like how you’ve done your hair today, is all.”

           “Please, please, please sign my petition to start a cheerleading team. If I can show there’s enough interest there might be a chance we can start one. I’ll do anything. I’ll owe you a favour. I’ll love you forever?? Treat you to some ice cream?? Please.”

     “If you sign, we’ll give you a hug,” Alice smiled, trying to convince the person in front of them to join. “I also know where to get the absolutely BEST ice cream, Penny can confirm that, so please??”

it’s jules again, taking up another character i don’t NEED but here’s an intro. for those of you who don’t know me i also play wendy weasley & artemis carrow. i saw karen gillan once and tried to make contact but failed. IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE THOUGH.