Putting the Pieces Together PV Ellie and Mikey

Interacting with: @Avery Gray & @Mikey Forville Word Count: 247 OOC Note: Speaking: #8e0b65 Others: #6c0679 Ellie Randensmith

Mikey had barely reached for a roast potato when a voice caused his head to rise. Avery was coming over to the Ravenclaw table, hair slightly wind blown from the match and eyes shining despite tiredness present. He smiled straight away, putting his fork down.

“Hey Avery, I'm glad you made it trough another one.” When Avery sat beside him he felt an amazing magic come over him, where whenever she was close, he felt like he could do anything. Maybe it was just because he liked being close to his girlfriend but it felt like magic. "I feel like my legs were going to go numb from sitting on the bench," he joked. Before Avery could respond, she turned and called, “Hey, Ellie! Over here!”

Mikey turned just in time to catch sight of Ellie pushing through the crowd of hungry students. He beckoned her over with a wide grin, shoving a bit to the side to accommodate. "Ellie! Right on time," he declared, waving a sweeping arm in the direction of the open space opposite them. "We were just starting to ponder very serious things. Such as what dessert has the best chance of sending us into a sugar coma." As she slid into the seat, Mikey leaned back a little, grinning between the two girls. For the first time all day, he actually felt relaxed. “You’d think sitting on the bench all game would be easy, right? ” he said, shaking his head with exaggerated disbelief. "Turns out it's a stamina and endurance sport."

He released an extra dramatic sigh, tossing a hand across his chest. "The sacrifices we make for our teams, heroic, really." His grin eased as he gazed at them once more. He propped himself on his elbows and took a slow drink before he spoke. "So," he said, a smile of real curiosity flashing in his eyes, "what about you two? Anything new or exciting happened while I was learning how to sit still? Any great adventures, hair-raising moments, or cryptic Gryffindor or Hufflepuff secrets that you're not afraid to share?"

Interacting with: @Ellie Randensmith and @Mikey Forville Mentioning: N/A Date: 10/19/25

Word Count: 409

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Avery nodded her head. “Of course you can sit with us!” A smile played across her face. She was glad that Ellie was willing to sit with her and Mikey. It was always fun to have more people. That meant there would be more conversation. “I’m glad you made it too.” Avery commented to him. She couldn’t believe they were both Quidditch players now. That meant they had to eventually compete against each other. Not great, but it was what it was. She just couldn’t bear it if something bad happened. She couldn’t lose her relationship with Mikey. It would destroy her. Avery thought for a moment. “Anything new? Well, not exactly.” Avery laughed a little. She was now probably known as the world’s most boring girl. Though she was glad for the boring moments in her life. It made the crazy parts easier. Then the announcement happened. The headmaster was a commanding man. He caught the attention of the room easily as everyone listened intently to what he had to say. Avery herself listened carefully. She had to know why dinner had been interrupted so abruptly. That meant either an announcement was happening or something much more important. The latter was the case. Avery listened carefully as the headmaster spoke. Her eyes widening in shock at what he said. All of the heads of house were resigning as well as the deputy headmistress. Why? What was going on? Of course Avery’s mind flew to the worst case scenario. It was just too strange. One month in and the leaders were resigning their positions. That in itself was dangerous. Bad. Who would take their positions? Would they be qualified to lead the castle if things went down quickly? Avery glanced at Mikey and Ellie. By habit, she grabbed Mikey’s hand. Gripping it firmly. The warmth of familiarity calming her nerves. Though she was far from completely calm. Something was happening and Avery had the feeling it could end badly. Especially if something bigger was in the picture. Something she couldn’t quite see yet. Avery stared at her plate of food. She had lost her appetite upon hearing the news and was unsure of what to do. What could be said? She barely even noticed the low murmur that had come back upon the room after the announcement. She guessed that she wasn’t the only one wanting to know why this was happening and what the bigger picture would be.

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When‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ Avery took his hand, Mikey stiffened, but only for a second. After that, he grabbed her hand, getting support from the heat and recognition of it. The Great Hall was filled with whispers and the sound of people shuffling about. Though he made an effort to keep calm, his eyes continuously went to the staff table with that keen, and slightly puzzled, look a Ravenclaw might have. "Oh," he said under his breath, and then raised an eyebrow. "That's not the kind of news you expect to be dropped over mashed potatoes."

He looked long and hard at the ceiling and then between Avery and Ellie a bit uneasy. His face, however, didn't give it away, not when both girls were looking at him to get some kind of interpretation of the situation.. "I am not sure," he confessed, voice lowering, "but if that is the case, I don’t think it’s dangerous at all right now. If there was a threat, they would be sending us out of here or calling Aurors…” he tried to lighten the mood with his smile even though the Hall was still noisy and unsettled.

Once more, he held Avery’s hand tightly and then their fingers laid intertwined and relaxed on the bench between them. "It's quite a shock, the Heads of House deciding to quit all together like that," he acknowledged. "But by now, I can think of a hundred dull reasons. Promotions. Transfers. Retirement. The Ministry is demanding everyone to take part in some new initiative. A huge paperwork scandal." He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they're all overly fond of knitting and that became their schedule conflict," he suggested as a joke.

The crowd murmured again, someone was dramatically gasping at the rumor, another loudly stating they heard that someone eloped with a dragon trainer and Mikey was shaking his head. "No matter what is going on, it will eventually be made public. It always does. Hogwarts lives for gossip," he said. He gently touched Avery's shoulder with his own. "And until then? We have each other. So we can face it together. ‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌Deal?"

Interacting with: @Avery Gray & @Mikey Forville Word Count: 247 OOC Note: Speaking: #8e0b65 Others: #6c0679 Ellie Randensmith

Interacting with: @Ellie Randensmith and @Mikey Forville Mentioning: N/A Date: 10/19/25

Word Count: 336

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A small smile crept across Avery’s face at Mikey’s comment. He had a way of lightening a mood with his jokes and Avery appreciated it. His jokes helped distract her from the worst parts of the world. That was why she was grateful for the familiar warmth of his hand in hers and his calm demeanor in a sea of uncertainty. Avery nodded at his explanation as to what was happening. Though something deep down within her said something was wrong. “You’re probably right, but I just have this bad feeling. I’m probably just overreacting though.” Avery brushed off the feeling. Though it never really went away. “What if. What if it has something to do with the wedding? The attack was obviously planned and all the people and house elves that died. . .” Avery shivered. That night was a night she didn’t like to reflect on. It was torture to watch Dylan die slowly before her eyes as she was helpless. She didn’t know healing spells. Not yet anyway. That meant she could do nothing to save him. Avery nodded when he said they could solve it together. Together was better than being alone by far. Being alone felt dangerous. Especially right now. As Avery waited, she thought back to the past year. She had heard rumors of what had happened in Hogsmeade at the beginning of her first year, but none of those rumors were confirmed. Then there was the spring ball. Part of the grounds in the garden had gone up in flames for no apparent reason. As far as Avery knew, no one had a clue who started the fire. Then there was the wedding. The reception was rigged for disaster. Avery could still hear the screams of the injured and ones stuck in the gaping hole in the floor. Avery had the feeling that this was only the start to the nightmares that were coming to attack Hogwarts. She just hoped she would be strong enough to help fight back.

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Mikey‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ was fully listening, his fork almost halfway between his plate and his mouth while Avery was talking. The reference to the wedding caused Mikey to remember the smoke, the screaming, and the feeling of him being too small and too late to change anything, and his chest went into a twisted knot. He dropped his fork and moved onto the bench in front of her, still holding her hand with his fingers. His thumb was brushing over her knuckles, slow and casual, as if he were tracing the words that he didn’t quite know how to say aloud.

He told her softly, “Hey, just so you know, if anyone is entitled to feel bad about this, it would be you. You are not exaggerating. You were there. You even saw more than most of us.” His voice became calmer and comforting. “I also think about that night”, he confessed, “it seems like each term comes with some new, scary 'extra feature' that no one asked for.”

He gave a short, humorless laugh and then attempted to get the mood back from that bottom of the metaphoric pit they were all looking at, by saying, “So, yes. Four Heads of House all deciding to step down at the same time? Extremely normal, very casual, definitely not riddled with suspicion at all,” in a sarcastic tone. He looked at Ellie, with a little smile. “Ellie, you’re also right. It feels like there’s something bigger that’s coming from behind the scenes. I just…” He turned back to the staff table, then to his friends. “I just don’t want us to be the ones who instantly think of ‘Dark Wizard 2.0’ when we don’t actually have any clues. If there is some kind of trouble, there will be signs. And when there are, we will handle them then.

He held Avery’s hand tighter than before and went on, “Here’s what I am sure of. We are not left on our own. There are still professors who are on our side. There are Aurors whose only job is ‘to fight the villains so that kids can worry about their homework and not evil plots And all that Besides, we have each other.”

His eyes were moving from one girl to another. “You two. Ellie’s Hufflepuff ‘we can do this together’ spirit. Your Gryffindor spine of steel. My…” He stopped for a moment and smiled. “My Ravenclaw talent for coming up with extremely detailed worst-case scenarios.” He gave a slight shrug with one of his shoulders. “If there really is something coming, I would much rather be with us than by myself to face it.” After that, he was silent for a while, the noise from the Hall sounding louder in his ears.

Interacting with: @Avery Gray & @Mikey Forville Word Count: 233 OOC Note: I am so so so so so sorry about the wait!! I got really busy with life. Take your time replying Speaking: #8e0b65 Others: #6c0679 Ellie Randensmith

Interacting with: @Ellie Randensmith and @Mikey Forville Mentioning: N/A Date: 10/19/25

Word Count: 317

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Avery swallowed thickly. Mikey's hand was warm as it entwined tighter with her own. He kept her grounded. He made her feel safe. Though deep down she knew that they were never safe. Even when surrounded by adults there was still the unknown of what they were facing. Then Ellie asked about the ball. Avery took a deep breath. Ellie deserved to know the truth about what had happened. Maybe it would become easier to bear if the truth came out. The full truth. "It didn't start out bad. The wedding was honestly fine considering it was full of people who thought they were better than the people sitting around them. It was the reception that ruined the night. There was an attack. Some strange group of people came in. Then the floor caved beneath our feet. There was constant screaming as explosions happened around us. Glass shattered, and Dylan. . . well, he nearly died. He was hit by the brunt of the attack. . . Though he was fortunate while so many others I saw weren't so lucky." Avery let out a breath. There was more to say about the night, but Avery couldn't. Then she looked at Mikey. She hoped he saw the pain in her eyes. She wanted him to add what he had seen. The two of them had been separated for a short time that night. It had been the worst separation she had from him. She could still hear the cries of pain and sorrow as family members begged their loved ones to come back and the cries of people begging for someone to help them. Then there was the chasm on the floor. It had been the most destructive, but Avery didn't dare speak who had done it. She could still see the fire in his eyes. The glint of danger. Avery squeezed Mikey's hand again. The feeling alone calmed her racing heart.

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