Pompous, Pureblood, and a side of Parties PV Dylan Astor

Graci almost felt bad for mentioning Wales, but it was interesting to hear about other people's lives.

"First summer back in Wales and your mom is making you go to a PARTY? Outrageous. You should get to spend time with your cousin, not trying to not vomit every time someone starts talking about blood purity." Graci was aghast. If she hadn't seen her grandparents for that many years and then got dragged to a party she would be staging a coup.

I wonder why they left in the first place. But it isn't my place to ask. Wondering if is, I suppose.

"Well, Greece is Greece. What you expect when you see pictures, but ... Livelier. It’s not really about Spetses—the island—it’s the people that make it magic. Oftentimes my aunt Katerina is there, which is always fun, but it's my grandparents that make it all worth it. I mean, the beaches are nice too, but it's family that makes it home." Graci was lost in the memory of her grandparents and the beaches, warm sand underfoot and a breeze in her hair.

"They're actually limiting my time with them each summer to 2-3 weeks instead of the whole summer. But, I mean, it's better than not being able to see them for years." Graci started walking towards the rose gardens on the edge of the hedge maze.

"Giagiá always insists she’s not spoiling me when she bakes four kinds of koulourakia in one morning, but I remain unconvinced. Anyhow, these are the rose gardens, would you like me to show you the herb garden? Strat is surprisingly invested in his plants. And pestos, but that's besides the point."

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OOC notes:

coded by Eugenia Karageorgiadi & Banner By Andronica Evans

Interacting with: @Graci Laren Mentioning: N/A Date: Summer

Word Count: 213

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"I agree, but my mother claims that we have to keep up appearances for the Astor family because my dad is still in America for another couple of weeks." Dylan sighed. Dylan smiled as he listened to the girl, Graci, talk about Greece. He had always wanted to go there. It seemed like such a peaceful place where he could finally take a break from his life. Though, the language barrier would be quite interesting to deal with. That would probably be the worst part. "Greece sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to visit there someday, but I can only speak Welsh and English, so that would be a very ineresting experience." Dylan said with a laugh. Now that he was finally out of the stifling ballroom, he felt his easygoing nature start to finally come out of its hiding place. "I'm actually up for seeing anything you want to show here. Lead the way!" Dylan said with a smile as he followed the girl throughout the garden. There were so many flowers. Many in which he had never actually seen before that moment. He made a mental note to look out for some flowers more since he would love get some for his mother. She loved flowers and herbs.

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Graci set off toward the 'herb garden' which was essentially just a bunch of potted herbs arranged nicely. She had re-arranged them earlier into a pyramid because she was bored. Then she re-did it an hour later.

Graci thought she had far too much free time now that she was out of school. "Well, if you had someone who knew Greek with you it wouldn't be too bad. I mean, I don't speak Welsh, yet here I am." Graci chuckled, old ladies had been talking about her in Welsh all night. Strat had been kind enough to directly translate, which turned out to be quite hilarious.

"Herbs it is. Don't be fooled, just because it's called an herb garden doesn't mean it's an actual garden. It's just a bunch of pots. Basically a tower of leafy green stuff that you put on rich people food."

Graci led him past an obscene amount of fountains and urns full of random flowers. And stopped in front of a row of plants arranged in height order in a cylindrical pattern.

"It seems that someone already re-arranged the herbs. I had scattered them through the garden for Strat to pick up. You see, he feels very strongly against having house elves so he does everything himself. And I mean, good for him, thanks for making my job of tormenting you so much easier, Uncle Strat."

Graci bent down to the wilting basil, Stupid Strat, you over watered it and it doesn't have drainage holes. I'll talk to him about better care for his plants later.

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OOC notes: Tell me if there's any grammar mistakes!

coded by Eugenia Karageorgiadi & Banner By Andronica Evans

Interacting with: @Graci Laren Mentioning: N/A Date: Summer

Word Count: 240

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Dylan laughed at her comment about herbs being what rich people put on their food. He had never thought of herbs like that, and probably wouldn't look at them the same again. "That's probably the funniest and most true way I've heard herbs talked about." Dylan commented as he tried to stop his laugh. Dylan smiled as she talked about her uncle. He was glad to know that at least one other pureblood family besides his own didn't believe in using house elves as servants. "My family's the same way. We usually do everything ourselves instead of using house elves." He commented again. Dylan noticed a plant near where Graci was checking on a wilted herb. He walked over to it to try and figure it out. It looked like a basil plant, but it wasn't. Dylan carefully stooped down enough to sniff the plant and was surprised to find it also smelled just like basil. Confused, he finally found a note that said what the plant was. "Lemon basil? That's new." He muttered to himself as he continued to observe the plant. Even though "herb garden" wasn't a great name for the herbs planted in pots and set around the area, it was still mesmerizing for someone who enjoyed plants. Dylan had always had an interest for plants that ended right up to the point where they became wilted or even died. Then he didn't know what to do.

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Graci was glad he thought her rich people herb quip.

"I mean, I hardly know anyone who actually uses herbs on a daily basis. I know people do, especially if they live more rural-ly, but I grew up in London where not a lot of people did that." Graci shrugged, for all she knew his family could be herb fanatics who put parsley in everything.

Upon further inspection— AKA more than a glance— Graci realized it was Lemon Basil, not just normal Basil. Should've known. they look and smell different.

Graci knew it was kinda weird that she held herself to such high standards, even about herbs of all things. Couldn't she just be like 'huh, that's cool' and move on with her life?

"Have you ever gotten lost in a hedge maze?"

She was pretty sure that he hadn't, but it never hurt to ask, even if just to inadvertently tell him that she wanted to figure out the hedge maze. Because, in all truth, she wanted to figure it out, just not alone. It wasn't quite dark, and she didn't want to get lost there alone.

Graci stood up and turned to him. "I have it mapped out in my brain. We won't get lost. Probably. If Zoe was here we wouldn't, she has a photographic memory and could get in and out in a snap."

Graci knew it was a mistake to start thinking about Zoe, but she really missed her. A lot. You'll see her again, Graci. Hopefully. And if not, it's no biggie.

Obviously, it wasn't 'no biggie', but Graci was comfortable in her denial.

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OOC notes:

coded by Eugenia Karageorgiadi & Banner By Andronica Evans

Interacting with: @Graci Laren Mentioning: N/A Date: Summer

Word Count: 244

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"I don't think I've ever been in a hedge maze, but it sounds like fun. Lead the way!" Dylan said with a smile. Dylan followed the girl at a leisurely pace towards the hedge maze. It loomed ominously above them, but that didn't faze Dylan. He was used to the tall buildings and gray skies of New York City looming over him, so a bunch of tall bushes was nothing. Dylan sensed something was off when Graci talked about a girl she called Zoe. Something must have happened to her or something like that. He didn't push, though. Dylan knew all too well what it was like to hold in secrets. Especially about your family. He had done it for far too long and on far too many occasions. "Have you ever gotten lost in a hedge maze before?" Dylan questioned out of curiosity. From what he had heard when listening to her, she must have at least gone into one hedge maze. But she must have never been in this one before since she wanted to figure it out. With him. That was an honor Dylan didn't know if he was worth enough for. Whoever this Zoe girl was should be doing it with her. She seemed way better than him. "It's an honor that you're taking me through the maze. I'm probably not going to be the best help unless it comes to something nature-related or some magical creatures." Dylan laughed lightly.

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Graci started off towards the edge of the hedge maze, glad that she had decided to wear tennis shoes. Imagine walking around in heels all night. Torture is what I'd call it.

"I mean, I haven't gotten lost in one... yet. I explored a little earlier, but it's kinda confusing. I heard that Strat uses it for sport, a way to utilize what is pretty much useless."

She was contemplating which way to go in, and how they'd make it back out again. She really didn't wanna get lost, no matter what it seemed.

"It's fine, I'm not very good with mazes either, so we might just get lost and leave a trail of leaves where we've been. Magical creatures, eh? You're probably excited for third year then. Well, if you can do Care of Magical Creatures in 3rd year at Ilvermorny."

Graci decided to just wing it and enter wherever, occasionally picking a leaf off the hedges and dropping it to mark where they'd been. Getting lost would've been bad, and the darkness was descending faster than anticipated, but she didn't worry. She had a plan. That plan was to have fun and not get so lost that she started getting nervous.

And piss off Strat when he has to pick up all these leaves. Am I a menace? Probably. Hopefully. Though maybe I should be less of a trouble maker for Strat. He's only an old man after all.

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OOC notes: So late

coded by Eugenia Karageorgiadi & Banner By Andronica Evans

Reducio

Interacting with: @Graci Laren Mentioning: N/A Date: Summer

Word Count: 203

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Dylan nodded and smiled as he listened to her. He didn't understand why some people caused others to feel helpless just for sport. It didn't sound right at all. He kept his mouth shu, though. He had learned the hard way that sometimes you just have to keep your thoughts to yourself. Dylan smiled at the mention of dropping leaves along the path so they wouldn't get lost in the approaching darkness. He recalled a muggle story his mother had told him when he was young. What was it called? Hansel and Gretel? Yes. That was it. Dylan remembered that the people 'Hansel and Gretel' used breadcrumbs to find their way. Even though leaves were far from breadcrumbs, it still caused Dylan to almost laugh at the similarity. Who would have thought that something in a muggle child's book would come in handy someday. "Yeah. I guess I'm excited for a creatures class once I'm a third year. Though, I don't think it's called 'Care of Magical Creatures'. I believe its something along the lines of "Creature Care." Dylan laughed a little at the name. "Care of Magical Creatures" sounded a lot better and way more European. More like something he would say.

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Graci noticed the look on his face when she had mentioned that Strat used it for sport and felt she should further explain. "I mean, it's not 'for sport', people enjoy doing it. He puts it on for some of his friends and their kids. Some of the nearby muggles even participate. It doesn't allow magic, but he puts on some obstacles to make it fun. He told me about it this afternoon, a long with a whole vestige of other things."

They came to a four way cross road with a fountain in the middle. "Sheesh, how many fountains does a guy need?" Graci mumbled.

"I suppose 'Care of Magical Creatures' does sound quite European, but 'Creature Care' isn't very specific. For all you know it could be a class on how to take care of house pets. I'm most infatuated with Charms, though that seems pretty basic. I'm not super stoked for any of the new 3rd year classes, though muggle studies will probably be an easy 'O'."

Graci kept walking, choosing a random path that seemed like it was going towards the middle, wondering if she talked too much. I hope not. That would be embarrassing. usually I got told off for being too quiet. Though, that was before Zoe left....

Left, right, straight, dead end. Hm, I wonder if we'll actually get out. Hopefully.

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OOC notes: It's kinda late, sorry. And it's kinda short too x-x

coded by Eugenia Karageorgiadi & Banner By Andronica Evans

Interacting with: @Graci Laren Mentioning: N/A Date: Summer

Word Count: 232

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Dylan let out a sigh of relief when Graci elaborated on how her uncle actually used the maze. He was glad that it wasn't what he had thought. Doing it for family and friends sounded much more fun and exciting than taking pleasure in watching people lose their minds and not know where to go. Dylan laughed and smiled when Graci mentioned the amount of fountains her uncle had. Dylan hadn't paid them much mind at first, but now he realized how many there really were. He hadn't seen so many in one place before. Actually, he had rarely seen fountains. They were usually just a casual thing in the middle of a park, so that's why he didn't pay them much mind. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's just about house pets. I have a feeling that will probably be one of the lessons." Dylan said with a smile. He was still laughing about her comment on the fountains, so the creature comment just made him want to laugh more. Wow. It felt good to laugh. It was as if he was feeling free again. There were so many twists and turns that Dylan had lost track of where they had started. The amount of dead ends they had already faced was steadily increasing to the point that Dylan wasn't sure when or if they would ever figure the maze out.

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