29 Sep 2024, 03:59
Fuse, Powder, Spark
𝓕 I N N E G A Nx𝓒 O N N O R
３ＲＤ ＹＥＡＲＧＲＹＦＦＩＮＤＯＲFuse, Powder, Spark 19th of October 2024
Reducio
Reducio
June,
I didn't think I'd ever ask this again, but...
Will you come to the ball with me?
I need your help.
George is too busy and probably would try to stop me from going.
There's no one in third year I can trust with this.
I'm still at war with Elsian.
Rebecca (Ravenclaw, second year, beater) is no use. She can throw rocks and swing bats very well, but I reckon she's worse at charms than me.
I've learned some things since the Spring ball in April. Worrying things. Things that don't make sense. But I know this: something bad will happen. It always does.
You're the most capable and reliable person I know.
Please meet me in the Small Hall on the evening of the 19th. Make sure you blend in. Bring your wand, and be ready for anything.
-Finnegan.
The other explanation he could think of were far less benign. She had received it, but chosen not to respond. Could he really blame her? He'd been chasing her like a lost puppy for two years now, she had probably tired of him. In truth, his feelings had waned too. He hadn't thought much about June all summer, and when he had returned to Hogwarts for the new year, he'd felt confident that June Selwyn was something of the past. An old flame, now petered out. He'd matured, he'd moved on, he'd even learned that he could like girls other than June just fine. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe, in due time, he could learn to be just friends with her.
The thought stung more than he cared to admit.
There's a chance she's not there, he warned himself. He had to be prepared for that scenario, had to make the decision now that if she had chosen to ignore him, the mission would still be on.
At the foot of the long, winding staircase leading up to Gryffindor tower, he checked the bag he'd brought once more. Slug-repellant, gloves, a can of deodorant and a lighter, a heap of garlic, a silvery knife nicked from the last night's dinner table... It was all there. Next, he checked under his dress shirt for the small, silvery necklace his grandma had given him, the one with the cross he'd been too embarassed to wear until now. It's all there.
There was only one item he wished he still had. @Evelynn Decipio's journal would make explaining things to June a heck of a lot easier. Instead he had given it to
@Rebecca Lark for research over the summer, though he had claimed not to know who it belonged to.
Perhaps it was best he no longer had it. If anyone found out he had stolen it from Evelynn, would make him look like a thief and a creep. He couldn't think of any faster way to blow up his chances with June than to let her know that he had stolen another girl's journal and read it cover to cover. Not without reason, he reminded himself. Never without reason. After the attack during the Spring Ball, he had been kept in the dark by everyone, especially Eve. She'd left him no choice but to go searching for the truth himself. I haven't done anything wrong... No one needs to know.
Besides, it wasn't as if his trust in the people he called his friends hadn't suffered. First and foremost was Evelynn, who'd pretended to look after him, pretended to care. Meanwhile, she had been stalking at least half the student body, taking notes on everyone, even keeping track of who had been kissing who. Not to mention her crazed writings, the jumbled, half-finished sentences.
What sane person had the words "NOW YOU'RE GOING TO DIE" written in all capitals in their private journal?
But the second betrayal had come from an unexpected corner. It was one thing for his extra-curricular Charms lessons from June to have ended, it was quite another to be laying in the hospital wing after an attempt had been made on his life, wondering if she might bother to come visit him. Not an hour after the event, half the school knew what had happened, she couldn't possibly have missed it.
She could have been busy, you know how obsessive she can get about her studies. She won't let herself get anything less than an 'E', if that...
The likelier scenario was that she had heard, but had not seen the need to drop by. Contrary to boys, girls didn't always say what they meant, they expected you to 'take the hint'. So maybe her absence had been exactly that. A hint. A not so subtle hint that she didn't care about him at all. However, he had also learned that sometimes the hint was the inverse of what was meant. Maybe she wanted him to think she didn't care, but she actually did.
It made no bloody sense.
At long last he arrived on the ground floor. A throng of students forced him to slow his pace. Despite the incidents at neearly every ball ever hosted at Hogwarts, the students still came out in droves to dance and eat and drink and feast. Idiots. They had no idea, not the faintest clue that they were part of a huge web, stretching back many years. Who among them remembered the Halloween Ball of 2019?
Students attacked by part-giants. Dan Palmer killed a hag.
The Blossom Ball of 2019?
Attempted kidnapping. Mentions of a stolen magical glove and mask. Potter and VanCleaf partnered to investigate.
The Masquerade Ball of 2019?
Someone named Galton was poisoned.
He eyed the keen, first and second years who had come to the ball. None of them had any idea that there had been a hag coven, right here at Hogwarts. And not just in the castle, but in the Forbidden Forest too.
That didn't even cover the dissapearance of Headmaster Lear, the murder of Umbridge, or the repeated mentions of Athanatos, whether it be Vladimir, Thaddeus, or even young Gideon.
The trouble was in connecting the pieces. He had not been witness to anything Evelynn described in her journal. She'd put down all the headlines, but he lacked the context. The only way to discover the truth was to seek it out and thrust himself knowingly into danger. This Ball was his best bet, his best chance to be near to the danger when inevitable, something would go horribly wrong tonight.
But this time he would come prepared.
Taking a deep breath, he made his way through the crowd and cut across the grand entrance to enter the Small Hall.
"Hey."
For all his preparation, all the sleepless nights spent thinking on a strategy for tonight, he'd quite forgotten to think of what to say to June if she did show up.
So he did what he did best and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his dark, woolen coat. Aside from wearing a white dress shirt and suspenders, he'd not made too much effort to dress for the theme. Enough to blend in, but every choice had been weighed against potential loss of mobility, so he'd kept it simple.
Thankfully, for the time being, he'd guessed right that most students would go straight to the ball, so they had the Small Hall to themselves.
"Tonight is going to be dangerous, June. I know you value your grades alot," was there a hint of accusation there? "This might hurt them. You might wind up in detention, you might lose a hand or a limb, end up cursed, lose all sleep or end up dead. If that's not acceptable to you, this is your chance to leave. I won't hold it against you." He stepped aside from the door then and cracked ot open a little further.
"I have a lot to tell you, but if I do, you must promise that you won't tell anyone else, and I mean anyone else about it." He reached deep into his pocket then and offered her a ring with a red ruby on it. "This is a ring of promise. Are you familiar with them?"
OOC information:
@Maggie Hawkins - this is not yet your cue to partypoop.
@June Selwyn - I hope you have health insurance. The ring of promise is in my inventory and will be gifted if June accepts.
@Gideon Athanatos - Tagged because of a mention. Vladimir and Thaddeus are also mentioned but since Gideon is the most relevant to Finn's story, I figured I'd just keep it to this one tag instead of tagging all three. I will not tag you again in this thread (unless something crazy happens). This tag is mostly meant as a paper trail to show Finn is investigating the incidents that keep occurring at the balls at Hogwarts.
Last edited by Finnegan Connor on 2 Oct 2024, 04:24, edited 2 times in total.
"He's a dweeby chocolate bar lip smacking nerd" - Evelynn Decipio
29 Sep 2024, 05:46
Fuse, Powder, Spark
JUNE SELWYN
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Date: October 19, 2024 | @Finnegan Connor | Dialogue: X
────────────────────────────────
[quote]There was no set hour in the letter. Damn these people who only gave vague meeting times and locations. That alone was enough to worry June, so she was a bit of a nervous wreck considering everything else that was enclosed in that letter.
June could hit herself she was so mad. Two years of friendship almost flushed down the drain for, what, a fear of sharing her feelings? Or lack thereof, to be more precise? June Selwyn wasn't supposed to be afraid of anything. Perhaps her amygdala was inside-out, or backward, or upside down, or something that would give an answer as to why June wouldn't fear facing a Swooping Evil, but the idea of a slightly awkward social interaction sent her spiralling for days. Perhaps it comes with the territory of being a teenager. That was likely it.
The now fourth-year had stopped attending balls for some time now. Her first-year self had the right mind, staying away from them. After getting trapped in a maze in her second year, she determined that a calm night in an empty common room was much better than getting your head turned into a pumpkin or getting stuck in a never-ending dance or, or...
Or getting stabbed.
The guilt came crashing down once more. But it was okay, now June would be able to apologize, and clearly her distance wasn't enough to kill the friendship entirely. She was too caught up in her own search for answers that she forgot the relationships that were in front of her. No, she could do both, she was certain of it.
This was her atonement. One she was happy to make for her friend.
The library had little information on "film-noir horror", but from what June could tell, it was dark. She wore an elegant but simple black jumpsuit, a small pair of heels, and a cross-body purse with fabric that moved as if it were the night sky, charmed to be ever so slightly on the interior. She paced up and down the small hall, waiting for Finn, checking the contents of her bag one more time. Wand, a revive potion, a copy of the latest Headliner (damn that writer), and a small notebook. What terrible irony this ball's theme seemed to be.
"Hey."
June's heart leapt to her throat. Her head snapped up. She saw her friend. He looked tired, but... determined.
"Tonight is going to be dangerous, June. I know you value your grades alot," surprisingly less so now than years prior, but yes, they held weight. "This might hurt them. You might wind up in detention, you might lose a hand or a limb, end up cursed, lose all sleep or end up dead. If that's not acceptable to you, this is your chance to leave. I won't hold it against you."
June shook her head. No, she wouldn't leave him. Wait, wind up dead? What exactly had Finn pulled her into?
"This is a ring of promise. Are you familiar with them?" June began to nod, and then her words finally caught up to her brain.
"Yes, I am. Hold on, Finn, before you say anything else," June held her friend's hands, looking down at them. "I've been a terrible friend. And I don't know if you've moved on or what, Merlin for your sake I hope you have, because I like being friends with you, Finn. Just that. And I'm sorry that I let a couple of moments stop me from reaching out to you when," she met his gaze, "when it seemed like you really needed a friend."
She'd let him respond however he deemed fit, but it felt like all was returning to the 'good old days'. Well, with a Finnegan who seemed much more sure of himself. After he spoke, or simply after a moment passed if she was only met with understanding (she'd even hug the poor guy after all he'd been through), she'd let go of his hands and readjust herself.
"Besides, you're right you know, about things always going wrong at these. It's why I stayed away at first, until you asked me to go with you those years ago. And you're not the only one who's been doing investigating. There's a very troubling pattern of things going wrong and people getting hurt met by no investigation. I'm all for doing a little myself, detentions be damned."
The torrent of thoughts had finally ended, and June felt she could think clearly once more. "I promise, Finn, I won't tell anyone else about it. Dumbledore himself could raise me from the dead and I still wouldn't tell him."
29 Sep 2024, 23:54
Fuse, Powder, Spark
𝓕 I N N E G A Nx𝓒 O N N O R
３ＲＤ ＹＥＡＲＧＲＹＦＦＩＮＤＯＲFuse, Powder, Spark 19th of October 2024
Professional, he thought to himself. That was the word for it. That was the way she seemed to him. Capable, but impersonal, and not a kid, definitely not a kid anymore.
Maybe she was just doing her best to go with the theme, to blend in like he'd asked her to. It reminded him of that time he had accompanied her to one of those dreadful, exclusive parties. How stiff and akward and cloistered he'd felt and god, oh god, the flashcards on etiquette. He still had nightmares about those.
He looked down at her hands, her fingers wrapped around his own. A year ago he would've killed for such a simple gesture, but now he just felt hollow. He couldn't remember the last time he'd shared a carefree moment with her, even their New Year's dive had been tainted by an awkard moment in the freezing water when he had almost, almost-
He dragged his eyes up to meet hers. She was still lovely as ever, her voice laced with sincerity, but he could not shake the feeling that something had been lost along the way. Moments like those spent in the attic of the owlery, or that time in Hogsmeade he'd tried to explain Pokemon to her, or that time she'd helped him practice his charms; those days weren't coming back. She'd said it herself, hadn't she?
Maybe he was being greedy, imposing himself on her, demanding her attention and affection. But half a year filled with distractions could only abate his innermost feelings for so long. Did he still love her? He wasn't sure anymore, he only knew he once had, but maybe that June didn't exist anymore, the one whose mere presence had made him feel lighter, whose infectious laughter could brighten a rough day."It may not seem like it when you see my father now, but we come from very different families, Finn. That's not a bad thing, it's just... It's not just me I have to think about, I think that's what I'm trying to say."
"I like being friends with you, Finn. Just that."
Just that.
Just friends.
She'd tried to hide it, tried to weasel it in between her apologies and platitudes, but he'd picked up on it. He'd shed a little naivety too somewhere along the way.
At some point he'd have to tell her that she asked the impossible. To be just friends was the cruelest thing she could ask of him. He would have to spend every moment near her, pretending, keeping up a lie that he had 'gotten over' his feelings for her. And what of the day someone else would enter the stage and sweep her away, what then? How could he be a friend then? A day would come, sooner rather than later, that she would have to understand that it was all or nothing, he would not be left in a swamp of uncertainty by her again.
He pulled his hands away before she could do so. He wasn't going to let her take control and toy with his feelings, not even if she did so inadvertenly, not even if she intended no harm. She moved on, glossing over what she had said just moments before.
It was all very professional to get down to business like that. He gave a curt, approving nod in response to her promise of secrecy. In that regard at least, he could not lay any accusation at her feet. She'd had answered his letter and he didn't question her intention to keep her word.
"Don't worry about reaching out. It's alright," he started. It was not alright. "I wasn't lonely. I have plenty friends," He took a step back and squinted at her, and for a second his eyes looked over her shoulder, behind her, as though searching for someone or something there. "Do you?"
"You once told me I was much braver than you. Coureageous, I think you said. You said you had a lot to learn from me. I thought you were joking then, I never felt brave and I know I'm not smart, you're far cleverer than me..." He placed a hand on her shoulder and forced himself to look her straight in the eyes. "But I think I understand now, and I feel sorry for you June. Sorry that you feel so afraid of others, sorry that you're so afraid of letting people come close to you. I wish you'd tell me why."
He held her gaze for a short moment, gave her shoulder a little squeeze, then stepped back again, folding his hands behind back. Though it hardly showed on his face, it took the utmost effort to refocus his mind back to the task at hand. He cleared his throat. "I suggest we start by walking around the perimeter, map out every entrance and exit, we might need to make for them after all."
Last edited by Finnegan Connor on 2 Oct 2024, 04:24, edited 1 time in total.
"He's a dweeby chocolate bar lip smacking nerd" - Evelynn Decipio
30 Sep 2024, 04:19
Fuse, Powder, Spark
JUNE SELWYN
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Date: October 19, 2024 | @Finnegan Connor | Dialogue: X
────────────────────────────────
[quote]In every scenario June imagined of how Finn would react, this was not one of them. Hell, she had come to peace with being left altogether, or shouted at, but this was worse. Guilt sucker punched her stomach again.
This is what she did to him on his birthday.
She stood frozen for a moment as Finn gave her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, not even realizing he had given instruction to her. Perhaps it was the stress of the interaction, or the weight and judgement she'd felt from her housemates for months now, or even just the weight of hearing a supposed friend dig at her dignity after a moment of vulnerability. But June began to speak, her eyes filled with a calm but steadily burning equal parts anger and hurt.
"Fear is irrational, Finnegan Connor. Do you think I enjoy knowing that I lack courage? I'm acutely aware of it. I'm not proud of the fact that I had no friends for mostly my entire first year because I was afraid of what they would think of me, I'm not proud I'm mortified of that, Finn. And even if I didn't do it naturally, I have to think about these things. Because when I stop, even for a brief moment, people," she pulled out her copy of the Headliner, shaking it for emphasis, "run around spouting nonsense that I curse people," she shoved it back into her bag, "or they threaten me with violence, or they up and leave whatever friendship we'd built over the years. People leave me, Finn. There is a worrying pattern of people getting to know me, me doing what I think friends would do, things that would help them feel appreciated and happy, and then they leave. Poof. Out of nowhere. Am I the issue?" She wouldn't say it aloud, but Finn himself did that to her. Poof. Have fun guessing what you did wrong.
"So yes, I sometimes get scared when letting people in. But you've been 'in' for a while now. I thought you knew that. Bloody hell, Finn, you've seen me at my absolute lowest moments, multiple times, and comforted me. Forgive me for thinking that was allowing someone in, letting them see me open up."
She didn't know when she started crying, but June suddenly became aware of the warm tears streaming down her face. She didn't brush them away. "I'm not going to pretend to be perfect, Finn. I messed up. I don't know what you expect of me. I tell you I don't know what to say or do, and you snub me. And then when I can see that I did wrong, you... you... I don't even know what to call this. I'm not afraid of people, Finn, I'm afraid of- no, aggravated by this. Unspoken rules and expectations that I always seem to break. I know you hated the Rhindlander auction, but there I know what is right and wrong for me to do. There's no guessing. And then I come here and meet people who I feel I can learn from and that make me question if shallow but safe is better than profound but dangerous. Is it? I don't fucking know," she spat out the expletive, "but I know that I've been hurt and I don't like it. I hate the guessing game and I hate not knowing how to get back up when I seem to fail and guess wrong."
"I'm upset, Finn. Is that what you wanted to hear? I want to be friends again, I don't want to start off every bloody school year with a fight with you. It's terrible. I miss the time spent with you where all I thought of was how kind you were and how lucky I was to have such a creative, bright person around me."
"I don't have plenty of friends," June finally wiped her tears, her heartbeat slowing down. "People seem to misread or misunderstand me, or put expectations on me that a friend simply can not live up to, but a captain or an upright daughter or a student can. But I'm proud of the friends I choose. And I hope that includes you, Finn. I'd like it to. Because I'm glad you weren't lonely," she stood upright, pulling her inner strength, "but I am."
30 Sep 2024, 19:36
Fuse, Powder, Spark
──────────────────────────────────────────────────10.19.2024─────Summer was a nightmare wearing an awful convincing, horribly attractive skin. The predictable June gloom crept up behind Maggie with sickly-sweet promises of a memorable warm season, fingers sticky with melted ice lolly and expectation. And, while the summers past had boasted sandy beaches and rolling good times, the summer of '24 would go down in infamy as one of the worst in recent memory. For Maggie, at least.
For one, June hadn't been there. June hadn't been anywhere, really, for the last year. It was like Liana all over again, a complete absence in the space occupied and saved for someone who really should've been there. There had been no sleepovers with late night whispers, no sporadic trips to Muggle fast food establishments. Instead, Maggie's summer had been traded for one spent at the Hawkins' homestead, a cavernous thing with enchanted signs that read 'DO NOT TOUCH' on just about every item of interest. They hadn't been there on her account, no, Theresa was still the witch of the hour in that regard--at the very least, it had afforded Maggie extra time to roam the endless hallways. Maggie, for all intents and purposes, had spent her summer alone.
It wasn't for lack of trying. She'd attempted to reach out to June (well, she'd considered it) on multiple occasions. Among other hurdles was the very simple fact that she hadn't memorized the girl's address, rendering any attempts to communicate entirely useless. A mobile phone would've done some good.
She didn't so much do school balls anymore. More friend groups had fallen apart than she cared to admit, and they just seemed less worth the hassle that was put behind them anyway. Besides, she didn't have anyone to go with. Going stag seemed cool for some, but behind the guise of "I'm going alone because I want to, I promise", Maggie knew there was a thinly veiled "nobody likes me and I'm destined for nothing at all". Something like that.
For all intents and purposes, though, she was alone. On ball night. Which was why she found herself loitering outside the hall, desperately straining for just one peek into the night's festivities. She wasn't dressed in any fancy garb, nothing to suggest her own attendance, hair hanging loose in coils around her face, old nightgown's hem fluttering around her calves.
It was then that she caught sight of it. June and Finn. It had been the source of heartache something awful the past year. Maggie had to say, Finn seemed a horribly poor replacement for her, though she supposed she couldn't blame June too much for it. After all, with all her high-class pureblood balls, maybe she required someone more palatable to wear on her arm like a purse.
What surprised her wasn't them standing beside each other, no. Maggie had been detached from the happenings of June's mind for months now, and any falling outs between the two were unbeknownst to her. What came as a shock was the tearfulness of what June was saying. Maggie couldn't make out specific words, only the pitched voice and the slick shine of tears on her face as the dim lighting caught it.
June may be a (semi) traitorous bitch, but the crying wouldn't do.
It was likely a laughable site, the way her pin curls bounced against her head and her nightgown, silky pink against the muted earth tones of the hall around her, flitted like a butterfly around her legs, but then, most people thought Maggie was laughable no matter what she did. Making a fool of herself outside the October ball didn't seem so far a stretch.
"Connor, what's the deal, man?" She quipped, palms spread wide. She hadn't been invited to the conversation, whatever, there was little use for such pleasantries. "Picked up a new hobby over summer holiday, did you? Making girls cry?"
Her allegiance wasn't to any house, to any team. She waited with bated breath, teeth bared, snapping and biting at everything that moved, for any word of reciprocity she was afforded. June's loyal lap dog, ready to spring to action with drawn wand and crooked claws. "If you like, I can take a spin on my broom and see how you feel 'bout a rematch. How does getting knocked off your broom mid-game feel?"
Hopelessly devoted to you, indeed.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@June Selwyn & @Finnegan Connor.
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
30 Sep 2024, 21:58
Fuse, Powder, Spark
𝓕 I N N E G A Nx𝓒 O N N O R
３ＲＤ ＹＥＡＲＧＲＹＦＦＩＮＤＯＲFuse, Powder, Spark, 19th of October 2024xxxx ◣JP◥
He'd seen her unsure before, he'd seen her hurt before, he'd seen her cry before. But all three of those, in quick succession? That was new.
The anger was new too, the heat and strain in her voice that never tipped over into screaming. It was terrifying, watching her stand completely still like a rumbling volcano; he knew there'd be a big bang at some point. June Selwyn was a very capable witch and in his infinite wisdom, he'd specifically instructed her to bring her wand, to be ready for anything tonight. So while she got worse and worse, his eyes flicked momentarily to her wand hand, wondering how quick she'd be to the draw.
While she waved the Hogwarts Headliner about, he retreated a pace. If she was going to jinx him by the end of this, he rather it happened from a feet away, where he still had a chance to evade.
It would be better if she screamed, he thought. That would've made it a lot easier to dismiss the things she was saying.
"...or they threaten me with violence-"
Who?
"...or they up and leave whatever friendship we'd built over the years-"
What?
"... and then they leave. Poof. Out of nowhere. Am I the issue?"
I don't know! You never told me about this.
"Bloody hell, Finn (...) forgive me for thinking that was allowing someone in, letting them see me open up"
That's not what I meant! Letting me see? That's rich! Why couldn't she understand? He only wanted her to give him a chance, to stop trying to think every problem had rational solution. How could someone be so smart and yet so wildly out of touch? Could she not see the walls she'd thrown up around herself? She only let him 'in' when she was low and needed a Finn-shaped tissue to blow her nose. As if that's what he wanted more of. More snot and tear stained clothes, more apologies, more uncertainty, more nonsense about how she didn't know how she felt about him. More, I Understand Your Sentiment bollocks. Then, once he'd served his purpose, she'd move on again, burying herself in her books and studies, always chasing the perfect grade at the expense of everything and everyone else.
"I'm upset, Finn. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. That's the last thing I want to hear. She had to know that right? Now she was just trying to get back at him for some perceived slight. Still, she wasn't done unloading, there was yet more she had bottled up over these past few months. He retreated another pace. It was becoming ever more tempting to just walk out the door before she genuinely exploded.
Then her voice changed, the eruption never came and instead all heat and vigor seemed to flow away.
"But I'm proud of the friends I choose. And I hope that includes you, Finn. I'd like it to. Because I'm glad you weren't lonely,"
Her voice was low now, low and quiet, but no less determined.
"but I am."
He forced himself to look up at her, to meet her tear-stricken face instead of averting his gaze to the floor. Only now did he notice he'd balled his fists in the pockets of his coat all this time, his wand ready and close in his left hand. A heat had risen to his cheeks and when he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes.
"June..." his voice caught in his throat, thick with emotion. He knew how this was going to go. He'd mumble something, she'd mumble back. He'd say sorry, she'd say sorry back. Then things would get better for a short while, maybe they'd even have fun for a day again. Then something would force them apart and they wouldn't talk for ages, and then they'd have fight again. Over and over, like rats stuck on a wheel.
"Connor, what's the deal, man?"
He whipped his head around so fast that he nearly lost his balance. He knew exactly who that voice belonged to before he even managed to glower at her.
Maggie Hawkins. As if he could ever forget the gleeful, sadistic look plastered on her face when she had kicked him off his broom.
"Picked up a new hobby over summer holiday, did you? Making girls cry?"
His face turned very red, very fast. "Shut up..."
"If you like, I can take a spin on my broom and see how you feel 'bout a rematch."
Any day except today. Any time, except now. Couldn't that stupid cow see he was in the middle of something?
"How does getting knocked off your broom mid-game feel?"
"I said SHUT UP!" His wand was out in a flash. First June had to dump all her emotional baggage on him and now Maggie had to sneer at him too? There was only so much patience he could muster.
"Mimblewimble!"
A flash of blue light shot from his wand and hit her.
OOC information:
Mimblewimble DC: 9
Finn Wisdom Check: 16
Finn Accuracy: 20
Maggie Evasion: 14
Proof of rolls below:
Reducio
Last edited by Finnegan Connor on 1 Oct 2024, 19:52, edited 1 time in total.
"He's a dweeby chocolate bar lip smacking nerd" - Evelynn Decipio
1 Oct 2024, 03:22
Fuse, Powder, Spark
JUNE SELWYN
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Date: October 19, 2024 | @Finnegan Connor & @Maggie Hawkins | Dialogue: X
────────────────────────────────
This was terrible. Ter. Ri. Ble. June hadn't noticed that Finn backed away until he looked her in the eye. To be feared for your strength and ability was one thing, but for your emotions was another. She was ready to apologize again, to listen, to do a bloody jig if that's what Finn wanted her to do. Ready to hear what Finn had to say-
And then Maggie walked in, as she was so apt to do.
Maggie Hawkins, yet another person June had a distance within the last while. This gap was much longer, June hadn't had much time with Maggie in almost a year. And here she was, sticking up for June. Kind of. Why couldn't Finn be like that, having enough faith in the relationship to withstand things? Because Finn wasn't Maggie, obviously. June had always sensed some sort of tension between the two, but they seemed quite similar to her in many ways (Oh, it's deeper than you think, June. Prefect bathroom solo, anyone?).
June stood frozen as her two closest friends (at least, her two closest friends in her second year, she wasn't so sure about now) sneered and bickered at each other. No no no. She'd come here to make things right and instead they were shouting. Their voices echoed off of the smooth stone floors, seeming to grow in volume with each passing second.
"Mimblewimble!"
And then there were no voices at all.
Well, it seemed Finn did just fine with spellwork when stakes were high.
June looked at Finn, heart heavy. She was in the wrong for quite a bit, she knew that. "I'm sorry, that wasn't the right time for that. I'm- I thought... I was really excited to talk to you again, and I. You asked me here to help with something and I commandeered it." Not quite, he had provoked her, but it was close enough to the truth to keep the peace for the moment. And she meant it, she was sorry for the things she did.
"I don't know how to fix this, Finn. But I want to. I don't," she gave a pleading glance to Maggie, "want to get back at you, and I don't want to throw our friendship out because of mistakes I make. What I do want is to help you." She wiped a final tear from her eye. "I deserved that, I did. I do." June walked over to Maggie, pulling her wand out and offering a smile that was equal parts 'I'm sorry to you, too', 'I missed you', and 'Please for the love of all things good do not further escalate this moment'. "Finite Incantatem." Whatever strain Maggie felt as her tongue was quite literally tied would disappear as all went back to normal.
The murmur of voices from the ball began to grow as the crowd of students steadily gathered. June closed her eyes and took a breath. She still didn't even know why she was here, what Finn needed her for. But she trusted him. June hoped he could tell. "You're right, Finn. Checking the perimeter and looking at entrances and exits is probably best." June was so focused on diffusing the tension that she hadn't even considered the fact that even though she was purposely being vague, of course Maggie would pester the two on what they were doing. The girl seemingly gained life from drama, gossip, and things that were definitely not her business.
In the moments/minutes to follow (meaning before my next post), in a moment when she was sure Maggie wasn't looking, June scribbled on a small piece of paper, and would wait for a moment to discreetly hand it to Finn.
'Let's finish this conversation later. Please. I'm sorry. Help me make it right.'
Finite Incantatem DC: 9
Wisdom Check: 11
The Pudding (where the proof is):
Reducio
1 Oct 2024, 19:47
Fuse, Powder, Spark
──────────────────────────────────────────────────10.19.2024─────The voice was an instrument, played by greater wizards with precision and grace. Whether operatic or powerful, it was a strength few could harness. Maggie wouldn't say she was one of the greats, using her loud and ever-present voice for good, but she'd sure argue that it was her most prevalent asset, for better or for worse.
Every pore leaked sound, it seemed. When Maggie walked down the castle hallways, her shoes clacked against the hardened floor and her earrings jangled. Her wand, even, seemed to thrum with a nervous energy, insistent upon filling the space with sound to avoid the uncomfortable silence Maggie despised so much.
"Mimblewimble!"
Maggie had always been cat-like in her ability to avoid things, miraculously slipping behind castle columns when sneaking around at midnight or pulling off quick-fix maneuvers in the midst of Quidditch games, but her reflexes seemed awful rusty as of late. The spell hit her in a flash of light that bathed the corridor in blue.
Having a tongue tie, quite literally, felt strange. Maggie's mouth felt sore, almost, a vague discomfort pressing against the top of her tongue. She attempted to speak, to tell Finnegan to eat his shorts, but no sound came out. For the last fourteen years, Maggie hadn't been silent once. She thought three things in very quick succession. One, Finnegan Connor was the biggest jerk this side of King's Cross. Two, June Selwyn maybe hadn't been in as close contact with him as Maggie had previously thought. And three, she really, really hated being quiet.
Maybe she felt a little bad about jumping to conclusions. Just a little.
"I don't want to get back at you," Maggie didn't miss the look in June's eye when she said it. More for Maggie than it was for Finn. She shrunk under the other girl's scrutiny, turning her face to the floor. For all her insistence upon being seen as bigger and badder than those around her, the promise of potential disappointment turned her into a little kid again, desperate to please.
As June undid the spell, Maggie couldn't bear a smile back. Message received. Things would be fine, probably. The tie gone, pressure in her mouth alleviated, Maggie chanced a word. "Was just trying to help, by the way."
Perhaps it hadn't been in the best manner possible. Storming into situations you hadn't been invited to generally wasn't socially acceptable, swinging immediately with the hope of making contact. In her defense, it had looked like Finn was making June cry.
The thrum of music underfoot coming from the ball was rhythmic, coursing through Maggie's body in time with her own anger. She knew when she wasn't wanted, honest, and she could tell her crashing the party hadn't been appreciated. It was more embarrassing to tuck her tail between her legs and leave, though, admitting defeat and unintentionally signaling to Finn that he'd won. Instead, with her arms crossed over her chest and her fists clenched so hard her painted nails wore small crescent-shaped dents in her palms, she nodded towards the throng of students flocking into the gala. "Found entrance number one. Ta-da," she muttered, voice uneven and shaky with nerves.
It all wasn't her business. Maggie hadn't the faintest idea of what, exactly, June and Finn could be doing outside the ball, crying and shouting. But she'd never been great at minding her own, and, as they say, three's company, ain't it?
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@June Selwyn & @Finnegan Connor.
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
2 Oct 2024, 04:17
Fuse, Powder, Spark
𝓕 I N N E G A Nx𝓒 O N N O R
３ＲＤ ＹＥＡＲＧＲＹＦＦＩＮＤＯＲFuse, Powder, Spark, 19th of October 2024xxxx ◣JP◥
Yet they didn't learn. They never learned. How many more times did he have to kick Slytherin ass until they got it through their thick skulls that he would hurt them back if they gave him cause?
Slytherin was full of obnoxious, arrogant people who thought they could get away with everything. @Avery Leveret, @Colin McCoire, @Ulysses Drake, @Astra Norrick, @Maggie Hawkins. The list just went on and on. Cowards, the lot of them because each time he hit back, they changed their tune. Leveret had sworn revenge yet still cowered in the corner of every class, burying his pasty face in some dull book. McCoire had challenged him to a duel, only to never show up. Drake, the smartest of the bunch, had learned to shut his mouth and hadn't tried anything funny ever again. The only Slytherin he had actually ever liked was right there, stammering apologies.
Too little, too late.
This was what June always did. Take all the blame upon herself, apologising endlessly even for things that weren't her fault. It was maddening. It had seemed an admirable quality at first, but now he saw things more clearly. This was her usual playbook. Take the blame, pacify him, defuse any point he might make before he could even make it. Why couldn't she just be honest? Why couldn't she just tell him to his face that she didn't care about him, that he was just a prop to her, someone she could occasionally drag around to pretend she had friends.
His eyes reduced to mere slits while he watched June undo his handiwork. Brilliant way to help me, June, he thought bitterly. She simply couldn't do anything right anymore in his eyes
Then it hit him.
Oh.
Oh.
Why hadn't he seen it before? It was obvious. June had told Maggie about their meeting, there was no doubt about it. He'd learned a long time ago that the two were in the same dormitory, so June must have read it to Maggie. Girls gossiped an awful lot and who else did June have to gossip with? No one.
Finn scowled at the two of them. Did Hawkins have any idea how ridiculous she looked wearing that garish pink nightgown? Maybe June had brought her along as backup at the last minute. That would explain the gown and the pin up curls. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that June's promises were hollow. She could swear on Dumbledore's grave all day long, but that didn't change the fact she'd brought that bitch Hawkins along.
June didn't trust him. It hurt, but it was the only explanation. She probably thought something was wrong with him, that he was dim-witted and incompetent, not worth her time. Perhaps she even thought he might force himself upon her, maybe that was why she had brought Maggie along.
He was starting to see red. The note June slipped him was read once before he crumpled it up and dropped it to the floor. More begging, more pleading, more empty apologies. Once again he found himself wishing she'd screamed at him and stomped her feet and called him a jerk so he had a reason to yell back. She didn't like him, she never had. Why didn't she just say so? He just wanted her to admit it.
"Was just trying to help, by the way."
Like hell she was.
"Found entrance number one. Ta-da."
Did she really think that this moronic display of theatrics was going to convince him? Somehow make him believe that she had strolled in on accident? That she actually wanted to help? How stupid did she- did they think he was? He scowled at June and wanted nothing more than to break things.
"I can't believe you brought her along." He motioned vaguely toward Maggie with his wand, his arm still raised, ready to do some more damage if the circumstances demanded it. "Don't even say anything, if you say sorry one more time I'm going to really blow you away." He gestured with his wand at that, letting the implication hang in the air.
He strode over to the exit, almost wishing either of them would give him a reason, the tiniest of reasons to hurt them.
The door slammed shut behind him with a resounding thud.
Girls were awful.
Finnegan Connor has left the thread. He considers his friendship with June to be ended and will avoid and ignore her for the foreseeable future.OOC Information:
Phew, this was hard to write! Probably the most difficult post I've ever attempted in all the time I've been on this site. At first, I tried writing a "middle way" post where he begrudingly moved things along, but it felt totally wrong. As much as I disagree with Finn's actions OOC, I had to stay true to the character. The boy was on the war path, and there was no coming back from it.
I don't think I've ever written a scene where a character of mine is this petty, jealous, selfish, angry and unreasonable all at once. OOC, I feel horrible for June who actually showed up at her friend's request only to have her dorm buddy get cursed and her best attempts at calming things down left completely ignored. Poor June will likely blame herself for what has happened hereHopefully Maggie can be the friend that Finn can't be and offer her the support she deserves.
Teenagers ya'll. What a mess.
To end on a more uplifting note: Maggie should totally take June back to McDonalds for a McFlurry so they can complain about boys being assholes. And who knows, perhaps in time, a redemption arc for one angry, hormonal boy who shall not be named will also be started. Thanks for the thread!
"He's a dweeby chocolate bar lip smacking nerd" - Evelynn Decipio
2 Oct 2024, 21:13
Fuse, Powder, Spark
JUNE SELWYN
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Date: October 19, 2024 | @Finnegan Connor & @Maggie Hawkins | Dialogue: X
────────────────────────────────
[quote]I can't believe you brought her along." Wh- What? A visible look of confusion broke out on June's face.
"Wh-"
"Don't even say anything, if you say sorry one more time I'm going to really blow you away." Finn waved his wand. June was shocked. A threat? She almost scoffed, he was well aware of June's casting prowess. Go ahead, Finn. I'm very good at Petrificus Totalus. Her hand gripped her wand as Finn left, knowing she wouldn't use it, but ready for anything, holding strong until the door slammed shut.
"Fuck!"
Her lip quivered, the tears came back anew, she clenched her jaw tight. "He said he needed my help." Heavy tears dropped to the ground. "He said I was the most capable and reliable person he knew. He was worried that something bad would happen at this ball and he needed me to help investigate."
She couldn't see clearly anymore. "Is he really going to give up on this because of... What the hell just happened?" June turned toward the vaguely Maggie-shaped blob she saw in her vision.
June Selwyn, the girl with the plan, the one who could pick apart the logic (or lack thereof) in a situation and somehow find a way through, was at a loss. A feeling too large to fit in The Box had forced its way into her mind and trashed the place. An ugly feeling.
Betrayal.