Core Finished

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On the twenty-fourth, Dealla had awoken in the hospital wing to find her duelling partner also occupying a bed. While she had still been blinking at the ceiling, getting her bearings, Pericles had started apologising, babbling about how it had been his fault that Dee's spell had backfired or some nonsense like that, and Dee had burnt through her thin string of patience fast. She'd bluntly told him to shut it, her head was still hurting, and don't he dare stop bantering, or she might have to petition for a new partner (which, of course, she never would). Honestly, the comment, as ill-timed as it had been, had opened another side of Pericles to her, set him into a new light. Full of sharp-tongued comments as she was, proving that he was capable of returning her sass had even gained him some more respect, in a way. Plus, Dee saw clearly. Her spell backfiring had been her failure, not any mistake on his part, and so was the duel lost, especially if it had been as close as he described. If she hadn't backfired - twice - they would have won, simple as that.

The knowledge had created a pit in her stomach, almost as bad as after their first duel, which had gone much the same. Two backfired spells, Dee essentially taking herself out of the equation. She'd thought she had worked past this after their second duel had gone almost without a hitch, had come to an understanding with her wand if not a true partnership, but apparently, this wasn't true. Thus, when Pericles had thrown himself back into training, Dee had been right by his side, as determined as ever.

It wasn't rare that Dee was among the last left from their team practice, everyone else having wandered off, alone or in pairs, and Dee was feeling oddly relaxed. Practice had been exhausting, of course, but in a good way, one that left her feeling satisfied rather than drained, full and heavy instead of hollow and brittle. Team practices were better than her solo visits to the duelling facilities, especially so for someone like Dee who drew strength from company, and she'd grown fond of her team through the year.

Most of all of the boy who was now rambling behind her, going on about things she knew (duelling) and things she didn't (fencing), while Dee was sitting on the side of the stage, her feet loosely swaying while she stretched her arms, loosening the muscles in her shoulders. The atmosphere had grown more muted with every person leaving, quiet but comfortable.

She supposed it was an automatic thing, something that almost couldn't be helped, that Pericles had become a trusted presence by now, someone she felt safe relying on. Although duels weren't actually dangerous, rules in place and healers on standby, the pain of being hit by a spell was real, and so was the adrenaline, rushing through her veins in every duel, the danger of being knocked out. It would have been odd if being next to each other in a situation like that, over and over again, did not breed into a sort of special trust.

She had lost track of his thoughts when Pericles sat down next to her, wand in his hands. Her own wand was lying on the stage next to her, waiting for a quick polish after practice, as she'd grown used to doing. Although she looked up at the jump in topic towards wands and their personalities, Dee just nodded, not terribly surprised. "I've always described my wand as stubborn," she replied, nudging it with her pinky finger, which sent it rolling for a bit, turning once, twice. "It feels stubborn, you know? Like it's doing me a favour when it cooperates, I guess." A quick nod at the mention of her wand core, although it hadn't been a question. She hadn't known the headmaster had a phoenix wand, too, but didn't question the addition. Phoenix feathers made powerful wands, everyone knew that, so it made sense.

What he wanted to imply was lost on her, not familiar enough with the trails his thoughts walked, not intuitive enough to guess, but she frowned at the mention of the Fall Ball, what had happened at the costume party. She hadn't been there, had kept an eye on the group going off on their scavenger hunt at the time, but had heard what happened, later on. To some it might be comforting, she supposed, that even their headmaster was dealing with the same risks, that even his wand chose to revolt against him sometimes, but Dealla didn't see much comfort in it. Notwithstanding that his mysterious absence for several months last year did not exactly inspire confidence, if someone who was supposed to be powerful and reliable couldn't escape those effects, how could she? "I heard," she replied, finally. It had been one of the bigger mishaps at their ball, after all. Still, she wasn't sure what he was getting at.

Then another jump, towards their duel against Slytherin, and the corner of Dee's mouth quirked up. "Which time?" she asked, teasing slightly. Astrea's attempts had gone wrong more than once - one of her split spells veering off towards Henry, another time backfiring towards herself. But yes, that did make the pattern clear. Miscasts and backfires happened, Dee knew this. She just couldn't accept them happening to her.

But their enthusiasm towards learning incredible feats with their magic, that was something they shared. "Galton did that, too," she said, her eyes lighting up at the memory. It had truly been impressive. "You know him, Meenauh's partner? And he did it properly, like Phaedra. Their duel was over like this," she snapped her fingers. "I asked him about it after, but he told me some nonsense." She shook her head, indignant.

Amusement spread over her face at his gesture, the raised fist, but then her smile faded slightly at his words. Yes, training harder, trying to work with her wand until they were a true team, that was what she thought she'd been doing. She was going to keep at it, too, too stubborn to back down, but their recent duel had felt like another setback. It had been just as bad as their first one, so had she really grown at all?

"I'm sorry," she said abruptly, the words bursting out, too forceful to be anything but sincere. She'd never said them, really, had kept them inside where they'd eaten at her instead. "For, you know. This duel, and the first one." There was more she wanted to say, but those words weren't coming, not yet.

@Pericles Dralt

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@Dealla Prince

Had Pericles been on the other end of such bluntness around the start of his Hogwarts career, he may have well and truly shut it after Dealla's response. He was less literal than he had been then, more understanding, though he would quickly fall quiet all the same. It was the threat to not stop bantering which dispelled the last of his doubt, allowing understanding to settle in its place. She would hear only a mellow "Alright, Dee," and would not see the accompanying smile. It would be clear that he hadn't mistakenly taken this to heart come practice, what with the relaxed, comfortable way he subjected her to an especially enthusiastic elucidation.

Pericles wasn't a particularly talkative person on the best of days, much less so during training. He was often too wrapped up in his own thoughts for extensive interaction, and devoted his utmost concentration to practice. Today however, as their company dwindled and the actual application came to a close, he opened up readily. Drawing comparisons between duelling and fencing- two of the only sports which he was passionate about- fed his fixation in a satisfying way. Or, at least, that would have been his excuse if asked. Truth be told, Dealla was simply easy to talk to. He was also meandering down a convoluted path towards a particular purpose, rather than outright insisting she was an ideal partner. Fencing and foils. Duelling and wands. Wands and their wielders. Wielders and backfires. Backfires, and the hope that they could one day be overcome altogether. Dealla called her wand stubborn, to which her co-captain gave a sad smile and knowing nod. The implication may not have met its mark straight away, but Pericles sensed that they were still on the right path... twisting though it may be.

Which time, she'd asked of their opponent's miscasts. The lad laughed lightly, a breath of air he couldn't help. Some would call it snark, though he saw her straightforward nature more as a sort of edged frankness; Dee could be candid as the sharp end of a sword. Slow, encouraging nods answered talk of both Galton and Phaedra's shared capacity for spell-splitting, as he seemed to see they were walking two parallel paths of conversation, which would eventually coincide. Then they met at last, and although the subliminal subject was breached, it wasn't at all how he expected. Dealla apologized. Pericles paused, perplexed, then the smiles and subtleties melted away. The pretense was not dropped per say. Posturing was not merely a method of duplicity, rather, he preferred to wield it as a matter of politeness. His roundabout approach was an attempt at tenderness, though the destination had been reached, and it was no longer fit to ellude at what he meant with references to the past nor intentions for the future. Dealla was direct, it was his turn to be the same. Pericles placed himself wholly in the present. His focus became fixed, tone unflinchingly certain, no hesitation preceding the next line.
"I wish you weren't. I'm glad you're my partner." He stilled, hands folded over knees.

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It was clear proof of how soft and relaxed the atmosphere was at that moment that Dee stayed open and chatty instead of shutting down when talk came of her mistakes. As frank and blunt as she usually was, her own failures and shortcomings usually made her turn and run; switching topics if not literally leaving, guilt swallowed down and turned into determination to do better, but rarely shared.

Yet, Peri's long and winding path to this specific topic made sure she didn't feel attacked, leaving her feeling oddly calm and rather curious instead of triggering her usual fight or flight instincts. He made her feel at ease, a familiar, pleasant presence.

Still, his response to her confession surprised her. Confused her, really. Dee tended to be a lot less forgiving, with others' flaws just the same as her own. Of course, she didn't hold the mistakes he'd made during their second duel against him, but then, they had won that one. They hadn't been of consequence, hadn't changed the inevitable outcome of the match. Dee's had.

So his words gave her a pause, left her sitting still for a moment, head cocked to one side. Although she'd never admit so out loud, she really hadn't been a great partner during their duels. A good captain, perhaps, but as a duellist? She'd felt more like a weight, dragging him down where she should be lifting him up. Was he just trying to make her feel better, then?

Pericles sounded so certain, though, no trace of doubt in his voice, a direct bluntness that she usually didn't associate with him; it was more in her nature than his. She didn't understand, so what was there left to do but ask? "Why?" she wanted to know. Not self-deprecatingly, her voice lilted upwards in a tone of genuine curiosity. After all her failures, why was he glad to be partnered with her?

@Pericles Dralt

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@Dealla Prince

Pericles had never been an "all work and no play" sort, but he did have a habit of approaching certain things- such as duel practice- with formality. He did not often chatter when there were spells to be slung, jinxes to dodge, stances to improve upon. Banter from his housemates was often met with a shy awkward smile or airy laughter. It was only just occurring to him how little of Dee's personal life he knew about, despite considering her a friend. Well, he would have to fix that. So he set out on that meandering dialogue, somehow managing to carry on both cordially and informally, weaving their way towards that obscure obstacle: guilt. It was true that Dee took pride in her performance, which wasn't a terrible trait at all. But when it prevented her from seeing how much good she had done along the way....

Her teammate attempted to gently yet firmly shut down an apology, asserting he was happy to fight alongside her. Peri's smile was not somber when she asked why; that she hadn't brushed off the comment as a baseless nicety was encouragement enough. "Because...." As usual, whenever he had something genuine to say, the boy took his time. This wasn't something to be rushed, but a precious opportunity in which reason and language met ideas and empathy. It was quite clear the thing he wanted to say, wanted to be said, but it was important to him. He would first take a moment to construct it in a sensible way. When he spoke, it was with bright eyes and a calm cadence, no fluff or far reaching. For Pericles, this was a matter of both feelings and facts.

"I didn't sign up for the captain position when the team first opened, because I thought, what if dueling didn't last? Or, what if I didn't understand it as well as I'd hoped to? I decided to sit back and watch others take up the mantle first, to learn from watching them. But you're a pioneer. You leapt at the opportunity, and that's fantastically brave. You've always been firm but fair with our team, with a real knack for strategy, too. So I'm glad to call you 'captain', and proud to be your partner. There's nothing you need to be sorry for." Peri sealed his words with a renewed smile and a short nod, seeming satisfied as he confirmed his own observation, then considered the wand in his hands. Turning it between the tips of his fingers, he let his words stew for a time, then glanced up again suddenly."Oh- I mentioned your name when I was telling my father about our team, and he was wondering, d'you happen to have a 'John' in your family?"

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There was a reason Dealla set such high standards for herself, one that she was, in some ways, very open about and in others kept extremely close to her heart. Her goal of excelling, of being outstanding and achieving things that were worthy of being talked about on the pages of history books were primarily fueled by one thing: Her grandparents. It was not a secret. The story of how her parents had moved across the country to escape from her grandparents due to their disapproval of her mother's blood status was one she told freely. That they had never even acknowledged her existence, and that this was the reason she wanted to make herself impossible to ignore, to pay them back for how they had treated both her mother and herself, she was willing to share with anyone who asked. They were goals, convictions that she'd grown up with, firmly rooted below her ambition.

It was only recently that those beliefs had started being challenged, that it wasn't so easy anymore to paint her grandparents as simply the villains, that she wasn't so sure anymore about what was true; and these were the things that she found herself unable to talk about. The doubts planted in her heart, the letters that had started coming irregularly. That her convictions were shaking.

Still, her expectations for herself had stayed the same. Success was the standard, not an achievement; failure something she had difficulty accepting. This was why the duels weighed on her so heavily, why she was now waiting for Pericles' reply with genuine curiosity in her eyes. She'd failed him, too, so why did he not mind?

Her partner's words came slow and sincere, set with care and precision. It was funny, Dee's most sincere statements usually came in a rush of words she was unable to hold back, stumbling over each other too abruptly to be anything but honest. Pericles was quite the opposite, but not any less open, not any less genuine, and Dee found herself, oddly, at a loss for words.

Usually, Dealla took compliments in stride. About her skills, details of her appearance, her knowledge and talents, they were accepted with a grin and a cheeky response. After all, she was pretty amazing, and she knew it, too. Yet, something about finding out how highly Pericles thought of her, about hearing him call her a pioneer, striking so close to her vague goals of greatness, left her with her mouth open as if to reply, yet no words ready on her tongue. Pressing her lips together instead, Dee could feel her face warming, pink spreading high on her cheeks and up to her ears, and was glad that Peri had directed his attention down to his wand, giving her a moment to chew on his words, to turn them over in her mind and stow them away. She still had no witty comeback, no response ready. Yes, Dee was flustered.

Hence, she eagerly clung to the next question he asked, not pausing to wonder about the switch in topic, the jump his mind had made, keen to switch to an easier topic. "Yes!" she confirmed, a little too abruptly. "Uh, I mean, yes, I do. My dad's name is Jonathan, but a lot of people call him John! Most do, honestly, except for my mother, but she is also the only person who insists on calling me Dealla." She paused, finally slowing down. "Why?"

@Pericles Dralt

@Dealla Prince

When Pericles was compelled to compliment someone, he did so from heart and head in equal measure. The result? Oftentimes excessive, but at the very least, utterly honest. He had witnessed Dee's efforts firsthand, and he wasn't afraid to shine a spotlight on them. Her lack of response was hardly a deterrent. The pink on her cheeks spoke legions more than her usual reflexive, cheeky retorts, and Pericles' expression warmed as a result. Thankfully, he offered a deliberate switch in subject to avoid an awkward silence, casually questioning her father's name.

It had come about organically enough. Pericles was enthusing about the Duel Team to his father, and mentioned his partner and captain, Dealla Prince. The name rang familiar, he'd said, and asked whether or not her father as a "Johnathan". Peri of course lacked an answer, but asked after the inquiry, to which his father replied simply, making a meager mention of talking to the fellow's father and mother. Brief, though this vagueness would very easily open the reference to misinterpretation. Blissfully unawares of how serious this subject was to Dee, he continued with cheerful nonchalance. "I think they went to school together! He told me he knew a Johnathan Prince- no, wait. It was a different name. With a 'C'... Creek?" An innocent, ignorant smile, wand rolled idly between his hands. "He knew his parents, too."

This old connection between their fathers was news to Dee, and it took her a moment to tuck the new information into the right corner. They probably hadn't been close; her father talked (bragged) frequently about his exploits in school, so the names of his close friends were familiar, and she would have likely recalled if one of them had been called Dralt.

Still, it made sense that their parents would have gone to school together, right? They the same age, it was not absurd that their parents would be of similar age as well. "Jonathan Creek, yeah," she nodded, not thinking much of it but still glad for the change in topic. It was still her father's name, although Dee and Alexandra were called Prince, as the two had never married. Neither of her parents had wanted Dealla to be connected any closer to the Creek family than she already was.

The next mention, however, had Dee's fingers tightening around her wand, a little tension tightening up her shoulders, barely noticeably unless someone was watching her closely. Having grown up as far from pureblood society and the accompanying politics as her parents had been able to manage, Dealla had little knowledge of how that world worked, didn't guess any possible connections.

That they would suddenly come up in this conversation took her off-guard. She'd never talked about them with anyone who knew them except for her parents; and they tended to be very tight-lipped about this topic. Her father especially. What she had told other people about them in the past had usually been grand proclamations about how she would prove their opinions about her mother wrong; how she would make them regret ignoring her. When the letters had started arriving a year ago, even that had ceased. These days, she simply didn't talk about them. "My grandparents?" she asked, attempting to keep her voice even. She wasn't very good at it, though. "Why would he know them?"

@Pericles Dralt

@Dealla Prince

Pericles was a canny kid, often adept at noticing changes in expression or inflexion. Yet at the end of an exhausting practice session, with hunger setting in as dinnertime drew nearer, his attentiveness waned. He had let down his guard with Dee around, totally unaware of the unease she tried to hide. "I can't say," he went on nonchalantly. Peri had sat on the edge of the piste, crossing his ankles and holding his wand by either end. He gave a shrug of the shoulders before scooting off the edge to stand. With a thud of boots striking the stone floor, he folded his arms overhead, stretching to the left and right. The bird suffered a few sore spots from Flipendos, but that was nothing they weren't used to.

"When I mentioned you as my partner, my father asked about yours, saying they had both been sorted into Slytherin- though they were in different years. He said something about 'not seeing John since school, save hearing from his parents'. I didn't think to ask about them...." Then the boy turned, with a sleepy smile to match his gentle tone, clearly clueless about the sordid story behind the Creeks and Alexandra Prince. "...but I could. I'll owl him tomorrow."

A moment ago, the late afternoon sunlight filtering in through the windows had seemed warm and lazy, comforting even. Dee had felt as relaxed as she ever did, smiling and chatting and safe. The sudden turn of the conversation seemed to slightly tilt the entire picture, leaving it precariously twisted, and Dee rigid and off-balance. The lighting seemed to lose its golden shine as she blinked, the scene turning sallow and unwelcoming. What would Peri's father have to do with her grandparents? She'd always suspected that they had ways to keep eyes on her while she'd been here at school, evidenced by all the things they knew about her life without her ever telling them, but... it couldn't be through her friends. Could it?

"My father..." She swallowed against the strain in her voice, but couldn't quite help it. "He and my mum moved to a Muggle town ages ago. I don't think he kept in touch with any of his school friends." Cutting ties with most of the London wizard society had been a decision made to keep Alexandra - and later, Dee - clear of their influence. "Why..." Her attempt at sounding casual failed miserably. "Why would they contact your father?" She hated the flare of suspicion in her chest that was likely also visible in her eyes. It was probably nothing, she told herself. Even if her grandparents had asked after her, Peri didn't know anything of their messy relationship. There was no reason to feel betrayed over vague speculations. But it didn't help the miserable, sick feeling in her stomach.

He'd owl his father to ask, Peri offered with his next breath, and Dee was on her feet before she had the chance to make a conscious decision about it. "No!" she protested, an edge of panic lining her voice. Not the rational response she would have wanted to have, but it was out there now. Wand in hand, her fingers curled into fists at her side. Lips pressing into a thin line, emotions were boiling up in her chest faster than she could deal with them. "They shouldn't have... It's none of your business." The words came out harsher than she'd meant them, but that, too, was out there now. Muscles tense, Dee's eyes darted from Pericles to the door and back. This conversation had come out of nowhere, hit her with the force of a dozen knockback jinxes and absolutely fractured her composure. She didn't want to talk about this, didn't want to be here. Didn't want to feel as out of control as she did right now, pulse racing.

It was the most she could manage to force out a tense "I gotta go," before she stalked off, just a breath away from breaking into a run. She barely remembered to snatch her bag on the way out, and the guilt for how she'd treated her friend over an innocent question would only settle in later that night.

@Pericles Dralt
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