Build-A-Candle ERRAND pv | eris fawley

would you light my candle?

Sure. The chocolate frogs were for eating. Sure, you were supposed to take them and stuff them into your mouth. Sure, the herbs were for the smell of the candles. But, only old and daft people would want a candle that smelt like lavender when they could have the pinnacle of scented candles. Why had nobody thought of it yet? Amateurs. During long class periods, when all you wanted to do was eat candy? All you had to do was smell the candle that Eris would painstakingly make. She would be a hero! Even though technically she was already a hero for having fought the masked figure her first year..but that was just a technicality! People didn't know about that, anyways. She needed another claim to fame.

Chocolate scented candles. Fools! When would they learn just how amazing the scent of chocolate could be, even in candle form? Eris laughed to herself, snagging two chocolate frogs and a few of the strings. Just to seem as if she was actually making a candle that an adult would think smelt alright, Eris snatched some of the lavender and sweetgrass, inhaling their herbal scents before scowling. They smelt like the Fawley Manor, and she didn't want any reminders of the artificial magical smells of herbs that always echoed in the hallways of her family home.

Just two days away from her grandfather had transformed Eris back into her rambunctious self, all the rules from the summer fading away in favor of her endless excitement over being back in school. Although she still feared seeing Adam and Rosie, that fear had been shoved away to the back of her mind, as Eris skipped towards the herbs and chocolate frogs. She had watched a youtube video on how to make candles once, only because her mum had somehow got it in her head that candles would be a good way for Eris to get rid of her energy. Eris was now sure that her mum had just done it to distract Eris from anything interesting so that her magic wouldn't rear its ugly head.

Eris held up her supplies, searching for one of the cauldrons filled with wax. Wax was such a strange smell, really. A strange word too, wax. Who had named it wax? And why, really? It just sounded so funny, just like the smell. Funny and strange. Eris giggled, before spotting a girl sitting alone at her own table, looking to the world like the most depressed candle maker in the world, Eris angled herself and her supplies towards that table.

Dropping all that she needed on the table, looking at the girl, Eris raised an eyebrow to find the unhappy candle maker to be her cousin, Rhea. Apparently, both of them had been named after figures in Greek mythology, which seemed to be a trait that ran in the family. It was weird. But, the similarities in their names apparently weren't where the similarities ended! They had both came to the Ancient Runes classroom.

Pureblood, check. Friend, check! Eris carefully inspected the wax, setting aside her herbs to look at the wax and then at her chocolate. "I want chocolate scented candles. Not the bullpoop flower-y ones. There's gonna be enough of those." Eris didn't want to say an actual curse word in a new teacher's classroom. "Are you down? We'd need to melt the chocolate into the wax and then dip our weird stringy things into it. I like, am a total master on candle dipping. I watched one video when I was 7, which means I'm practically a saint." Eris joked, grinning at Rhea, trying to ease whatever sadness she felt.

Eris chose not to talk about the fact that Rhea had spent half the year living in her home, considering both of them had not spoken much, what with lessons and being confined to the two different bedroom towers of the Fawley Manor. The manner in which had lead to Rhea staying with her was a deeply unpleasant one, and Eris' stomach clenched to even think about it. Wordlessly, she peered down into the abyss of wax. Not wanting to risk the integrity of her wand to poke it into the wax, Eris simply peered down into it.

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there is a candle in every soul some brightly burning,  some dark and cold

The permanent expression of sadness on Rhea's face seemed to fade once she saw her dearest cousin. She'd missed the redhead, even if they had been living in the same manor for... the entirety of the summer. But they'd been unable to see each other, and isolated from literally everyone, Rhea had grown lonely. And bored. Which was why she'd read the family records, and why she'd spent almost the entire summer studying. If she didn't do well in her class now, she would riot... But she preferred not to focus on that, instead turning her attention to the task at hand: making candles. 

Listening to Eris's idea, Rhea couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Chocolate scented candles?" she repeated, thinking out loud. "That does sound cool, and if you've watched a single video it means you're a pro. I totally trust you," Rhea nodded, grabbing one of Eris's chocolate frogs and beginning to unwrap it. She understood what Eris was trying to do, and was eternally grateful. Having spent the entire summer moping and grieving about her situation, but coming to Hogwarts was a new start! Being sad was lame, and a waste of time, and right now Rhea had chocolate to melt and candles to make. This was no time to mope.

"Okay, so, we have to melt the chocolate, right?" Rhea spoke as she held the frog in her grip, taking out the frog and looking at the card. "Oh!" she beamed, looking at the card, then remembered, "Nevermind, I already have this one." Looking between the frog and the cauldron, Rhea shrugged and held the frog by its leg, watching the chocolate melt and drip into the wax. "I'm really hoping this is how you melt this, because otherwise... we just wasted an entire chocolate frog," Rhea scrunched up her nose as she held the frog over the cauldron fire. Then accidentally dropped it in. "Bullocks!" she exclaimed, before shrugging. "Well. What's done is done." She smiled sheepishly at Eris, worries forgotten already. The chocolate was melting into the wax, but they'd likely need more chocolate for the candle to become to spell like the sweet. Returning to her desk, Rhea grabbed her thread and began to dip it into the wax. "I think I'm giving you a run for your money, I just might be the pro."

A small smile here, a grin there. Rhea was starting to feel better already, forgetting about her current situation and simply focusing on the candle and the wax. Which was hot. She withdrew her thread and looked at Eris. "Your turn," she stated simply, sitting down at the table. 

we could light a candle..

Eris flicked a speck of dust at Rhea and scowled, even if it was obviously just a teasing expression of scorn. Just cool? No, she was a genius. Ideas as ingenious as chocolate scented candles did not come around every day. No, ideas that brilliant took the pure talent and dedication of Eris Fawley. This was the brilliance that the world needed! Not her good grades. No. It was chocolate scented candles that the world would remember her for. Even when she was an adult, the chocolate candles of Hogwarts would outlive Eris forever.

Eris gasped loudly, the sound echoing and fake enough that it made Eris giggle. "Just cool? That is incorrect. My idea, dear cousin, is absolutely and utterly subpar in every way, shape, and form. Brains like these, " A pause to tap at her head of frizzy curls, grin still on her face. "Do not come every day!" Eris laughed, knowing that both Eris and Rhea were well aware that Eris was not smart in the slightest, but just extremely rambunctious. It had taken half the summer to get Eris to stop whispering through vents in the wall to try and communicate with Rhea, and a few nasty falls to get her to stop from climbing up the tower to visit her cousin and her saddened mother.

As if to let anyone eavesdropping in on the secret, Eris kept the grin on her face, as she kept talking. Once she started talking, it was like an endless torrent of words. She couldn't stop speaking, couldn't stop the joy that built up in her throat whenever she was able to just speak. It was such a blessing to be able to speak freely, after a summer spent pretending to be a quiet and well-mannered girl-- which Eris really, really, was not. "Just kidding. I'm the most stupid person in this room, probably. I'm dreading homework, but oh well. Also, why is homework called homework? Shouldn't it be called dorm work? It's not like we're doing any of our homework at home. Right? Right."

Eris leaned back in her seat, short legs still not even coming close to touching the ground, as she then leaned forward again to peer at the chocolate frog Rhea was unwrapping. Eris had every..single.... chocolate frog card. She had all of them and a lot of copies of Professor Lear? She had no idea why so many chocolate card frogs had the scary man's face on them. And why the cards didn't say firestarter or murderer of children on the back of them. But, oh well. Who was she complaining?

Eris stared at the squirming frog, as it writhed and tried to escape Rhea's grasp. Her face went pale at the sight of the creature melting, as Eris slammed into the table from the sudden force of rising to stand up. Wordlessly, she turned around to escape the image of someone trying to escape being melted. She shut her eyes tightly, as the memory of flames licking at her face and body imprinted in Eris' head.

Fake, fake, fake. This was fake. It was just a frog. It wasn't her. Eris felt a roaring in her head, in her body, and knew if she reached up to touch her face, the scars on her face would be visible once again, even if she had done such a great job at keeping them hidden with her magic. As Rhea cursed, Eris turned her head around again and let out a sharp noise of relief. There was no frog fighting to survive, instead of a brown stain in the pit of wax.

She took a seat again, knuckles white against the table. Mixing the chocolate into the wax, not even the smell of chocolate could soothe Eris' pounding heart. Closing her eyes, remembering her grandfather's words about faking it, about acting like she was okay, Eris swallowed down her fear. She was a Gryffindor. She would not be afraid.

She was Eris Fawley and she was not afraid. Eris willed a grin onto her face and her usual lazy ease, even if it was hard to manage. "I'm the pro. Always and forever." Even as she tried to muster up gusto, there was an edge to Eris' voice, as she dipped the thread into the wax.

She lost herself in dipping the string into the wax over and over again until the heat began to burn her hands. Eris threw the forming candle away, shoving her hands under the table, even though she knew she was not burnt. This time, she was unable to hide the panic in her voice. "Give me a second- thought I could handle this- just candles." Eris hissed, shutting her eyes tightly at the memories that played throughout her head.

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total word count of thread: 2657

blow out all the candles, baby

Being around her cousin, after so long apart, threw Rhea for a spin. She didn't know how to act, to be frank. Would they just ignore the events that had transpired over the summer? Simply glaze over it, as if nothing had happened? Quite frankly, that's what Rhea hoped would happen. She was in no way ready to talk about what had happened, not even ready to think about it. From her point of view, it was better to pretend that nothing had happened.

Being stuck in the manor all summer had convinced Rhea's brain that this was the end. There was no way out. This was how she was going to spend the rest of her life. Then Eris had tried to break into her side of the manor, and Rhea had regained some of that spark. She aided the rambunctious redhead in attempting to find a workaround their situation, but eventually they were stopped and separated. At that point, all the spark that Rhea had regained immediately left her. What little hope she'd recouped over half the summer had immediately left her once more. It was unusual, though, given how positive Rhea usually found herself. Prior to that winter, there was never a time where Rhea felt absolutely pessimistic. Yet clearly, the manor brought out a side to her, a hopeless side, that Rhea simply didn't have the energy to combat it. She was tired. Since her mother had pulled her out of school after winter break, Rhea had nothing to do but think. In the beginning, she'd tried to maintain a positive attitude. It progressively got harder, until eventually the reality of her situation set in and all the childish giddiness evaporated. Rhea was left matured, having grown up faster than she should've - even as a pureblood.

Now, the maturity popped out. But along with the maturity came a sense of rebellion. The manor had suppressed her every desire - she couldn't do anything without being yelled at, or called back by her grieving mother - and now was her chance. Hogwarts, in just one week, had incited back the feeling of aliveness. She needed to make up for lost time.

But she was still sad. Yet did it matter? If she just didn't think about it, it's as if nothing happened! Until her eventual breakdown, but she had time till then. Deciding to pretend like she hadn't disappeared for half the year, and then most of the summer, Rhea pushed everything away and rubbed her little hands together.

"Damn, Eris, you didn't need to show off your brains like that," Rhea chuckled, sarcasm evident in her tone. She cocked her head and raised her eyebrow as her cousin pointed at her head. "You're right, they don't. I don't think anyone can match your insane habits," Rhea stuck out her tongue, obviously kidding. The more Eris spoke, the more Rhea felt herself going back to normal. She was given an opportunity to feel like herself again, and she was going to take it.

"You sound like you've done drugs, Eris," Rhea snorted, before widening her eyes dramatically. "Have you? I won't tell anyone... if you give me some," she dropped her voice to a whisper, ending the statement with a wink. In truth, Rhea was glad for Eris's boisterous personality. It helped her feel ordinary again, not to mention it was just entertaining to be around. "C'mon, homework can't be that bad. Just don't procrastinate, like you usually do - like we usually do. This year? We're both going to try, and I'll be damned if we don't get an O in all our classes!" Rhea clapped her hands, looking down at the melted frog. She inhaled, the scent of chocolate making its way to her nostrils. Chocolate hadn't always been her favourite sweet, but after being surrounded by Chocolate Frogs all summer long - the Fawleys loved their chocolate - Rhea had garnered a liking for them.

"Homework's kind of an idiotic concept, if you think about it," Rhea nodded, turning her attention to her cousin briefly. "The name's stupid, sure, but I don't like the whole concept. If it's a material you're confident in, then doing the homework is simply a waste of time. Though I understand why the professors assign it, I don't LIKE it - mostly cause I'm just lazy. I want to sleep, homework cuts into my sleeping time." Done with her little rant, Rhea offered a small smile and stared at the melting frog.

So caught up in her thoughts, Rhea didn't notice her cousin freaking out. Looking over, she noticed Eris looking a bit off - her voice even seemed off, a bit on edge, which had never happened to Eris as long as she'd known her. "Eris...?" she frowned, walking closer to her cousin. Wordlessly, she enveloped the redhead into a hug. "It's okay, you're alright. Nothing can hurt you."

“No-I know- I know.” Eris replied hastily, going silent for a moment longer. To think, to even speak, was to dredge up those awful memories and regalling herself in the reminders of what had been a repulsively tragic event that marred an otherwises semi-idealistic year, or as wonderful as a year in the life of an eleven year old could be with the depressing cloud of uncontrollable situations and demonic people, such as Ben, who wafted through the halls like shadow creatures, impervious to harm and impossible to see until they had baited you into their trap.

Trap. It had been a trap, the adults would whisper later, over the clean sheets of the hospital wing. A careless prank, just first years and their magic acting up, fighting in the hallways. It was Eris Fawley who was injured, which already aided in the loss of credibility of her story. Who would believe the girl who already committed multiple offenses against the other students of the school about a plausible attack on her already defaced image? It didn’t help that besides rumours about her own violent tendencies, there were even more rumours starting to spiral out of control, most of them pertaining to her own family history. How was anyone to trust a girl who was the daughter of two purebloods who had been fragments of myth for so long? They had vanished for 11 years and now this small redhead who looked nothing like the typical pureblood child of yonder days claimed to be their daughter, filling the newspapers up with endless headlines and articles, just because she was breathing.

That had been a vehement time, filled with trials and tribulations that seemed so whimsical and strange to one so young. Of course, all the struggles of that time had dissipated, when the fire struck her body. Eris didn’t know how long she had been in that hospital bed, even the faintest visage of time having slipped away when the unconsciousness took her away after that first night. When she woke up, bruises all over her legs and back from when Dorian had dragged her across the floor, Eris had woken up and felt the pressure of bandages covering her face and arms. After that, she had shut her eyes again and found herself lapsing in and out of sleep for the days to come.

It seemed simple enough to forget, to ignore the twang of fear that always echoed in her brain at the sight of fire. But, the memories that resurfaced of being alone in the infirmary, of the lingering promise that still woke her up in the middle of the night, spoken in a voice she could no longer even remember. Was his tone muffled by the mask, or was it the sweet voice of Ben that had promised to find her; alluding to finishing off the task that had lead to Eris burning? She did not know. Her eventual demise, naturally, was something Eris remembered. She could never forget that threat. Not as long as she lived.

So, as Eris stood in the classroom, trying to ground herself, hot rage filled her mind. Was she truly cowardly enough to sit here, reminiscing over the past and the strife encountered two years ago? Two years ago. Much could happen in the span of two years, so why was she afraid? The heat from the flame had already escaped her fingers, leaving nothing but the regular humidity of a Hogwarts Classroom. However, Eris directed her gaze back towards the heated cauldron, letting go of Rhea. She was supposed to be a Gryffindor. If she couldn’t act like a Gryffindor, what was she? She could hardly be a pureblood, so Eris would be damned if she couldn’t be brave enough.

Staring at the cauldron, she once again lowered the nearly formed candle into the contents of the pot, still standing as she did so. Refusing to even so much as balch at the heat that chased at the corners of her fingertips, a constant reminder that she could be burnt or injured, Eris instead finished dipping the candle. Hands trembling ever so slightly, the girl then vowed to turn that weakness into strength, not to fear the flame anymore. There were happy moments contained in fire, in heat.

Hot chocolate by the common room fire. Secretly sneaking out with Dorian. Happy moments intermingled with the bad, and even if Eris was frightened, she promised to seek out those happy moments whenever that pathetic fear crept into her voice and heart, and made her seem weak like she had once been. Weak, like her grandfather had often shouted at her. Smoothing her robes out, inspecting the candle once with a quirked brow, Eris plastered a grin onto her face, a clear inclination she would like to change the subject at hand, and perhaps act as if the last few minutes had never transpired.

“Uh, I guess we’re done. Do we get the prof or do you wanna leave?” Eris cleared her throat. Everything was fine. Totally.

may the candle of your future  burn bright, forever

Rhea stood by carefully, not wanting to make a wrong move. She had never faced a situation like this before; in the face of emotional pain, Rhea always faltered. It was one of her many, many flaws, but this by far was the one she hated most about herself. She had no idea how to help her friends, even when she saw just how much they were hurting. So she did the best thing she knew how to do: Rhea stepped back, gave Eris her space. She looked down at her feet, intertwining her fingers together, before looking back at the cauldron.

Yes, good, a distraction.

Rhea leaned close to the cauldron, sniffed it to make sure the wax smelled like chocolate. And it did. Sighing contently, Rhea reached in with the string and began to dip it in and out, waiting for the wax to form around it. She repeated the action multiple times, until she'd made enough candles for both her and Eris. She figured that if she was the one that made the candles, Eris would be spared from the experience. It was clearly fire that caused Eris' strong self to falter, and Rhea wanted to do her best to prevent that.

For once, Rhea reflected on how lucky she was. Fortunately for her, she'd been spared from the whole Masked Man experience. Her friends hadn't been so lucky, and some, like Eris, were left with horrible nightmares that constantly reminded them of the experience. Despite the many traumas that Rhea herself had gone through, she was glad this wasn't one of them. But now, she was left unknowing how to handle the situation.

Stepping away from the cauldron, Rhea laid out all the candles she'd attempted to make on a tray. They were all sloppy, but give her some credit - it was but her first time, and hey! They smelled like chocolate. That deserved some bonus points, did it not? Rhea thought it did, so obviously it must.

But anyways, she was rambling internally. Though, since it was internal, did it really count as rambling? Rhea began to thoughtfully stroke her chin, having an inner quarrel with herself again. Since her time spent as Rapunzel, Rhea had learned that she was her own best company. There was no one better to spend time with, what with her mother being basically a vegetable, consumed with sadness - and her and Eris being separated every time they tried to reconvene. And her other friends, well. There was no way she could get to visiting them, unless she flew a broom all the way to their houses. And Rhea was much too afraid to do that. So, she was stuck at home. Reading, thinking, drawing, studying, practicing with her broom in the small area of the courtyard she could get to through her window. Sleeping, eating. And repeat. A boring routine, but at least it had given Rhea the opportunity to improve herself. She was almost fourteen now. The time had come for her to grow up and put effort into... well, everything. Her appearance, her behaviour, but mostly importantly... yeah, her appearance. Almost everyday, Rhea would spent 2 or 3 hours outside, just practicing on her broom and climbing up and down the tree. It served for good exercise, and had allowed her to become much stronger over the summer. For good reason, too, because she planned to try out for Quidditch next time tryouts came around.

But now was not the time to focus on how flawed she was. Rhea looked at the candles, then frowned when she saw how crooked they were. She couldn't even make candles... realizing what she was thinking, Rhea shook her head and sniffed them. They smelled like chocolate, so that automatically made them cooler. No matter how bad or stupid they looked. Alright? Alright.

"I suppose we get the professor now, right?" Rhea looked around, squinting her eyes as she tried to find the adult in charge. Upon spotting her, Rhea waved. "Excuse me, professor? We're done, is there anything we need to do now?"

A short conversation later, and off the two went to continue the rest of their day.