It Could Be Worse! PV: Gabriele Ricci-Armani

Date. 15/09/2025 | Dialogue. #1E361C | Tag. @Nova Astron
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If there was one thing Gabi never got used to, it was British food. After a summer back in italy, this is what the bratty italian imagined prison to feel like. What he would do for some italian food in here. Fuck! Like, what the fuck was this? He poked the plate with his fork like he actually planned on eating, but immediately slammed the cutlery down in resignation.

Gabriele had no clue what was actually on the plate in front of him — some kind of roast something with gloppy peas and whatever else the house-elves decided kids liked. He hadn’t tasted it yet. Wasn’t planning to either. He was far too busy eyeballing the Gryffindor table where his favorite brother sat with a couple of older students, laughing at something like he was the hottest shit on the planet. To be fair, he kind of was, but that didn’t mean he deserved peace. Antonio laughed at something the other boy said, and Gabi felt a familiar urge bubble up. The urge to ruin it all. And jealousy to - yet again - not be included, most likely.

Without even thinking, Gabriele stood up from the Hufflepuff bench (not that he was properly on it to begin with — he’d been half-sitting, legs out, swinging one foot like a five-year-old). With all the grace of a boy who had never been told to sit still in his life, he grabbed a roll off the bread basket and strolled casually past the Ravenclaws, then behind the Gryffindor bench — all the while plotting up the next best insult. Not that it was that difficult to come up with something, considering what happened just the other day.

He stopped behind Antonio like a shadow. “Hey, Antonio! How’s your tongue doing?” he asked, voice syrupy. “Still sore from shoving it down that Ravenclaws throat yesterday?” As he recalled it - it had looked absolutely disgusting. "I must say, considering how much you've been slutting it up lately, I'm surprised you're not doing better than that." Instead of answering him, Antonio rolled his eyes. Even with his back partially turned to Gabi, he could see it from this angle. Gabriele smirked devilish. Every tension in his face was like clockwork: Predictable, and proof that it was working.

His brother looking around at his Gryffindor mates like, Can you believe this feral gremlin is related to me? Then Antonio slowly turned, glancing at him with a fed up expression as he spoke. Loud enough for a few heads nearby to turn. “Still obsessed with what I do with my own tongue, huh?” he said in almost pity. Having verbal fights with his siblings was nothing new, but it was then Gabi started to fear he was going to eat it up this time. Unfortunately in front of the whole fucking school, and Antonios gryffindor buddies.

His brother's beautiful face tilted a bit. Mocking. “What’s wrong, Gabi — jealous because no one’s ever let you use yours?”There was a pause when Gabriele froze, feeling the embarrassment heating up his body. Antonio smirked, eyes sliding back to his food like he hadn’t just dragged his brother into the core of the Earth. “Don’t worry. Maybe if you stopped acting like a little a pathetic little shit, someone’ll let you kiss them before you turn sixteen.”

At the sounds of cracking laughter and 'ooof's, Gabriele’s ears flushed instantly. “Fuck off,” he muttered, a little too fast, a little too defensive — and that was how Antonio knew he hit the nerve. He didn't even look back as Gabi stormed off back to the Hufflepuff table, one hand raised over his shoulder flipping him off.

The italian felt haunted by that public humiliation when he slammed down in his seat again, eyes staring down at his plate. The food on his plate did - if possible - even less appetizing. Then, to make matters even worse, Gabi's gaze darted up and reached for the nearest goblet of whatever-juice. Who the fuck knew. He grabbed it and swiped it anyway, ignoring any old reminder from his dads to not drink unattended drinks. It wasn't like anyone here would fucking drug him or anything.

"Fuck-" he instantly gagged, slamming the goblet down on the table as if it had betrayed him. The taste was weirdly tangy, forcing him to cough up whatever was left in his throat. But maybe poison him. Grimacing with an open mouth, he glanced around the table for whoever he could accuse. Not that he believed it was done to him specifically - it couldn't have been - but he'd still been the idiot drinking this shit! "What the fuck is this shit? Since when did Hogwarts start serving shampoo for dinner?!" Traumatizing, to say the least.

Nova sat comfortably at the Hufflepuff table, unaware her victim was already next to her. She spread some jam over her toast, hiding her excitement and awaiting the moment where it all blew over. People had passed by, and even reached right next to the goblet she had used, but no one actually picked it up.

She felt a bit giddy with the impatience she felt, the adrenaline from finally doing a prank to someone unsuspecting eating her alive. Her gaze flickered up as there was a small commotion at one of the other houses tables, eyes landing on a boy she recognized.

She remembered him from the Truth or Dare game she had attended, but they hadn't interacted too much at the time. She couldn't hear the exchange that was made, but the reactions of the people around had amused her enough.

She flinched a bit when the same boy practically dropped onto a seat close to her, the action startling her. It was rather unusual for someone to be in a mood so early in the morning. At least, that's what was true for Nova. Most of her family were early risers, and they never seemed like the world had a personal vendetta against them.

Her heart races as he suddenly reached for the goblet, chugging it before immediately starting to cough and curse. Nova couldn't hold back a snicker, lowering her head in hopes he wouldn't notice. As he continued to curse, Nova peeked up to see if it had worked. Sure enough, his brown curls had started to change, turning his hair a shade of magenta as the small vial worked it's magic.

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Gabriele's speech - #7B3F00

NOTES

@Gabriele Ricci-Armani

WORD COUNT: 277/200 words

Forward dated to September 15, 2025

Date. 15/09/2025 | Dialogue. #1E361C | Tag. @Nova Astron
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Gabriele didn’t notice the effects of he shampoo-drink immediately. He’d just begun trying to eat some of the shit on his plate when it started; first the wide-eyed glanced his way, then the snickers. At that point the Italian began to catch on to something, still not sure what. Eyes narrowed, he shot questioning glares at the people around him at the Hufflepuff table.

Beside him was a girl he vaguely recognized from Aleks’s truth or dare party in the viaduct a few days ago. They didn’t know each other well enough that he even knew her by name, but she looked nice and timid enough. Trusting she’d tell him the truth if he was aggressive enough, he barked at her in an accusing tone, “What?” Clearly something was up, judging by the sudden amount of attention the young troublemaker attracted. “What is so fucking funny?”

First he assumed it was Antonio’s roast about him being un-kissed that everyone giggling. Fucking Antonio. When the eye-catching, hot pink color reached the tips of his unruly curls hanging in his forehead, Gabi glanced up at his hair that was suddenly way more colorful than usual. Grabbing a piece of curl, he pulled the lock straight down towards his eyes so he could get a better look. Ma che cazzo? Gabi groaned, annoyed that he'd fell for a prank that would have been so easy to avoid. Now he looked like a double idiot. Well, at least that explained it. “Ha. Ha. Very clever,” he said with an unamused glare. Not. “You got me, I guess. Okay, who was it? You owe me a Monster.” Why settle for juice?

If it weren’t for the choice of color - were they stuck in 2010 (he wasn’t even born then) or what? - Gabriele didn’t really mind more dramatic hair colors. His dads wouldn’t have let him color his own hair to something tacky and unnatural, obviously. But he would be lying if he said green hair had it’s appeal. Not pink, though! At least now he knew what made that juice taste like shit.

Nova had hardly even flinched at the boy’s yelling, her eyes fixed on his hair. It was hilarious, the colour spreading from the roots down to the ends excruciatingly slowly as he looked around in confusion. She bit the inside of her cheek as he finally figured it out, realization dawning on his scowling face.

She was quiet for about two seconds before bursting into snickers, hand covering her mouth to muffle the sound. She hadn’t even expected it to be so quick. Maybe a while until they somehow looked in a mirror and yelled at their reflection. Either way, it meant only one thing—her first prank was successful.

When he muttered, “Ha. Ha. Very clever.” and demanded to know who had done it, Nova slowly lifted her head, wondering if anyone else would take the blame. Assuming she had been discreet enough and no one had seen her messing with the goblet, she was in the clear.

“…Okay, fine,” she said, voice a little higher than usual, almost sheepish. “It was me.” She wasn’t sure why she’d admitted it—maybe the thrill of getting away with it, or just the satisfaction of a prank well played. Honestly, it didn’t look half-bad on him. The pink suited him, if you asked her. She raised an eyebrow at his comment about wanting a monster. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she asked, “Why do you want a monster?”

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Gabriele's speech - #7B3F00

NOTES

@Gabriele Ricci-Armani

WORD COUNT: 237/200 words

Forward dated to September 15, 2025

Date. 15/09/2025 | Dialogue. #1E361C | Tag. @Nova Astron
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A hand raised beside him, drawing Gabi's gaze towards the curly haired brunette with the deceivingly sweet face. Out of all people that he expected to prank him, his brother being the most likely, he hadn't expected the timid looking Hufflepuff girl to have the balls. To prank him out of all people, took some nerve.

Gabriele blinked at her like she’d just asked why people breathe. “Because you ruined my drink,” he said, as if that should’ve been obvious. Well, the drink he drank from. Gabriele didn't know who's goblet it had been, or would have been if he hadn't stolen it off the table. “Do you think this hair dye grows on trees? No. I just drank half a bottle of Pantene or whatever, and you think I’m not entitled to at least a Monster out of it?” He gave her a flat look, still holding a pink curl between his fingers like it was physical proof of the crime. The taste of the drink was honestly not even that good, it just looked dope to be holding one of those Monster cans.

“Also, you’re clearly enjoying this.” His lips curled into a smirk. The pink hair, while definitely not his color, was kind of cool. Green would have been better, at least more edgy, but it was a pretty good prank at the end of the day. The trickster himself was a little bit too impressed by one of the 'good girls' for pulling it off to be offended. Game on. “So, I hope you didn’t get attached to your pillow. Or your toothbrush. Or your peace of mind. Because I’m getting you back.” It was not a threat as it simply was a challenge of cat and mouse. A bit of fun to see who had the best prank, if you will. Gabriele was confident enough that he would win, another outcome wasn't even on the map.

Nova’s smile widened when the boy held up a bright pink curl like it was evidence against her. The fact he looked so offended about it too just made it even better. She couldn’t hide another snicker as she furrowed her brows at his answer. “You’re the one who took someone else’s drink,” she pointed out, arms crossing. “Doesn’t that make it your own fault?”

She returned his flat look with an amused smile, eyes widening as he threatened her toothbrush. She understood the other two, but the image of him doing something to her soft blue toothbrush was a hilarious thought. Nova gave him an offended look, scoffing at him. “Leave my amenities alone, they didn’t have any part in this!” Her protest was half-hearted, a spark of glee in her eyes.

Her eyes flickered to his hair again, the bright pink easily noticeable. Amused whispers reached her ears as some people giggled and pointed, mostly from the table they were sitting at. She took a bite of her toast, rolling her eyes. “You’ll be fine, it’s just a little dye.” For someone who threatened her pillow, he wasn’t all that scary for a guy with pink hair.

She popped the last of her toast into her mouth, leaning back on the bench as she chewed thoughtfully. “Maybe you could say it was a statement,” she suggested jokingly, nearly choking on her toast. He seemed like the kind of person to do so frequently. Whether it was on purpose on not was the real question.

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Gabriele's speech - #7B3F00

NOTES

@Gabriele Ricci-Armani

WORD COUNT: 256/200 words

Forward dated to September 15, 2025

Date. 15/09/2025 | Dialogue. #1E361C | Tag. @Nova Astron
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One thing was clear when it came to Gabriele Ricci-Armani, whatever shit he did, however much trouble he caused - or whatever invaluables he broke beyond repair, it was never his fault. The sooner these bitches could realize, the better for everyone. That was his attitude to everything, this hair color incident included. Far from the worst that had happened to him, of course. It would most likely disappear in the shower anyway. Besides, the prank was actually kind of funny... for a Hufflepuff girl. And as much as he hated pink, he was rocking it.

Gabriele tilted his head, eyes narrowing playfully at Nova. “Oh, so now it’s my fault for taking the nearest goblet, on this magical table providing various amounts of food, and that was - for the record - totally unattended.” He rolled his eyes, hoping she realized how her logic failed, blowing a pink curl out of his face. “Sure, blame the victim, why not. Who just leaves their drink on the table, anyway?” He picked up his fork and started picking at his food, still looking the same amount of unappetizing, but he was getting hungry. He took an experimenting bite. Not as bad as it looked, he thought and shoved another spoonful of mashed... something, into his mouth.

Chewing on some foreign texture among what he expected to be smooth, Gabriele freaked out, held up his spoon of the suspicious mix of mush and other shit between him and the other girl with his face scrunched in disgust. "Euuw... what is this? What does it take to get some pizza at his place?!" Scratch that, it was worse than he imagined. Suddenly, he wasn't as hungry anymore, he dropped the cutlery back on the table.. Preparing for his leave, unless something interesting happened within the next seconds, he turned on the bench towards Nova.

“But don’t worry, your toothbrush is safe… for now. But next time, prank someone in another house. House pride or whatever. Plenty of people to pick from in Slytherin,” nodding in the direction of the table of snakes. Gabriele could name a few he thought deserved it. Archer Duncan for example, that fucking asshole. Or Avis Greymond, just because it was funny to see her pissed off. What was the point of being housemates if you couldn't trust your own fucking dorm mates?

Nova hid a snort, barely stifling her laughter as the boy's face scrunched up in disgust as he took a bite of something—possibly from somebody else's plate again—and stood up abruptly like the flavor had personally offended him. Nova raised an eyebrow at his rather dramatic exit, grinning amusedly at his instructions to prank someone else, preferably Slytherin.

As he started to walk off, Nova blinked before deciding that it wouldn't be all bad to follow and grabbed an apple, quickly jogging to catch up. "I don't think I'd be able to prank someone from Slytherin, one of my best friends is one." She said jokingly. "He'd act like I betrayed him instead of switching all his quills to sugar quills." 

Nova couldn't disagree with the fact it would be very, very amusing to her if she actually decided to go through with her random idea. Caspian's face was plastered in her mind, replaying how she thought he'd react when he found out his world had practically been shattered into pieces along with his dignity. Shaking her head, Nova followed the boy with a cheeky grin. "I never got your name, y'know. I'm Nova." 

Taking a bite of the apple, she watched as the boy's curls bounced with each step he took. The pink wouldn't take too much to wash out. Nova would probably spend that time thinking of when the boy's supposed revenge would strike. Frankly, she looked forward to it. Other than the rather loud mouth he had that Nova noticed, the boy seemed funny enough to hang out with. Taking another bite of her apple, she asked him dryly. "Do you always act like that around food? It's not that bad."

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Gabriele's speech - #7B3F00

NOTES

@Gabriele Ricci-Armani

WORD COUNT: 284/200 words

Forward dated to September 15, 2025

Date. 15/09/2025 | Dialogue. #1E361C | Tag. @Nova Astron
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Deciding it was time to bounce with nothing but shit-mush left to eat, Gabriele stood up and headed towards the exit. His hair was still magenta pink, catching the eyes of several students as he strode down the aisle of tables. Gabriele ignored them like he tended to do with everything else. The pink looked kind of cool, after all. Just a few steps towards the exit, the Hufflepuff girl had seemingly decided to follow him. He threw her an off-handed questioning glance, why was she following him? But let her walk with him, regardless. Jogging to catch up with him, she continued on the same trail of conversation, asked for his name, and questioned his picky food habits.

He addressed the last question first, since the answer was simple. "Only if the food is shit." In this case, it was far from the Italian cuisine he could get back home. The Hogwarts food wasn't always bad, he was just a food snob. It ran in the family. "Try authentic Italian food and you'll know what I'm talking about."

Nova had told him her best friend was Slytherin, meaning she apparently couldn't prank them. The Hufflepuff troublemaker grimaced at her questionable tastes. Of course, he might just be jealous because he had no best friend at all. Barely had friends in general, to be honest. Neither did he see why that mattered. Gabriele would prank any damn Gryffindor he wanted to, even if his brother was one. Then again, that was probably even more reason to prank Gryffindors. Having a Slytherin friend was not revolutionary news in itself, though he thought he remembered her hanging around some guy at Aleks’s party a week ago.

“I’m Gabriele. Just Gabi works,” he answered, unbothered, until he reflected more on what she’d told him. Gabriele slowed his walk. “Wait, is it that dude from the truth or dare party?” He asked, an image of a blonde guy with korean heritage or something popping into mind. Since there had been several Slytherin boys there, or at least two, he added: “Blonde, kind of an asshole?” The one Gabriele had thought had shitty attitude. Sure, Gabi was a bitch, but even he knew there was a time and place for everything. Sometimes… If they were speaking about the same guy, he was surprised to find out they were best friends. Maybe she was a fixer.