Errand Folded Beasts and How to Make Them PV

Alan looked to her for an answer, obviously wondering if she wanted to join him and Jake in the great hall to fold paper. Well, there were some house points in it for them, so why not. She gave an apathetic shrug followed by a casual “Sure. And proceeded to follow the boys to the great hall. Once they arrived, San arched a brow as it looked like a craft store vomited origami papers onto the tables. She followed the boys to whatever space they choose before sitting herself down with them.

Santario would grab one of the books and look through it, trying to decide on which animal to choose. She was disappointed that there was no fox, one of her favorite animals. Instead, she would lay the book open on the raven. Like foxes, ravens were scavengers known for their penchant in collecting shiny objects and remembering the faces of people who did them wrong. It seemed easy enough, and she thought she was good enough with her hands to pull it off.

“Anything new or interesting in your lives?” Someone might as well attempt to start an actual conversation; otherwise, they would probably just sit there and fold their paper in a very odd silence. As she awaited their answers, Santario would look over the stacks of folding paper before deciding to use a blue that was so dark at first glance it could be considered black.

Word Count|239/800

@Alan Vanes @Santario Martin

"Hey Jake, what's this?"

"Hm?"

Jake looked up and blinked at the boy who had spoken to him. It took a moment for glassy eyes to register Alan. He looked at him for a moment, and then looked back at the flyer quietly. It had caught his eye and he supposed he'd been studying it for kind of a while. He wasn't sure exactly how long.

"You w-want to make these?" Alan asked him.

Jake wasn't sure how to answer. He hadn't really thought of it that way. Did he want to make them? He'd been looking at them, because they were interesting - because they looked like things he didn't know how to make. He knew how to make an origami swan, but he'd never even seen an origami lion. The boy gave a small nod, even though he wasn't really sure. It sounded like the kind of thing he was supposed to want to do, and he didn't not want to...Anyway, he must have been looking at it for some reason.

He gave a small wave of greeting to Santario and then followed the others towards the Great Hall. He stood close to Alan, to make sure that he wouldn't get separated or left behind.

When they got to the Great Hall, Jake looked around at all of the supplies that adorned the tables. The colored paper was home to Jake. It was crafts projects and messy kitchen tables, and he felt a bittersweet pang when he looked at it. Santario and Alan both sat down on a bench, and the young badger squeezed himself between them, wiggling himself through and plopping himself down in the middle - even though there hadn't actually been much of a middle to aim for. He felt them pressing on either side of him and decided he liked it that way.

Santario asked if there was anything interesting in their lives, and Jake shook his head. It wasn't true...not really...but there wasn't anything that he wanted to talk about. He gathered papers of blue, yellow, green to sit in front of him, and stared down at that for a while. He suddenly felt very tired. Maybe he should have said no, and not come after all.

But even if he didn't want anything, maybe his friends would...maybe they might like that.

"Do you see anything in there about how to make bulls, or bears?" Jake asked quietly, looking up at Santario and her book.

412 Words

Was there anything new in his life? He glanced over at Santario, before he remembered that there actually was something new. "Yeah," he muttered with the hint of a smile curling the corners of his lip upwards. It was not that big of a deal, at least usually it was not. However for Alan it was a steady step forward in a battle against his own fears. "I f-finally found s-someone who offered t-to t-teach me how t-to fly," he spoke up again, explaining what exactly was new. It was Rafael, the new captain of his house's quidditch team and Alan was looking forward to that. The younger Gryffindor seemed like a nice guy and Alan enjoyed to spend some time with him.

It did not seem like Jake had anything to add to this topic, so Alan would offer the tiny badger a reassuring smile. He did not mind that Jake had sat down between Santario and himself either and the third year merely reacted by shuffling to the side a little so that everyone would have enough space to work on their paper figures; origami or something like that, wasn't it?

While Jake would address Santario, Alan would attempt to study the instructions for the DRAGON which was his final choice of creation. He glanced at the many steps and visuals on how to fold the paper before looking at the option of colors before finally opting for a forest green. He would need a special paper for the wings and decided to choose a matching color, if not a little lighter in shade. He sprawled the two pieces of paper out in front of him, looking at them until he finally nodded in satisfaction. This will do. He would glance at his company to see whether they had chosen yet and was curious what they decided on, if that were the case.

Jake squeezed himself between her and Alan, seeming to settle in the tight space between them. Maybe he felt more comfortable, more protected. Although Santario was also, only a first-year like Jake, she knew he seemed to look up to her almost like she was an older sister. A role she would happily play if that is what he wanted. Not that she really knew how to be a sister. She was an only child, and she didn’t even see her French cousins all that often considering her mother and her siblings had a falling out. Even now that she lived with her French grandmother, she still didn’t see them often, and when she did, it was tense to put it best. They did not like her because she was an outcast in their eyes. Worst of all, she was the outcast that was being groomed as the sole heir.

“Bulls or bears? Hm, let’s look.” She closed the book on the Raven that she had settled on doing and opened it back at the beginning, slowly flipping through the pages with Jake. “Looks like we have a lion, snake, raven, badger…” It was sad that the book had only three of the house animals. Too bad, Ravenclaws wouldn’t be able to make an eagle to show off their house pride like everyone else. Alan then mentioned that he had found someone to teach him. When did Alan develop a stutter? It hadn’t been this bad before, if at all. She wondered if something had happened to him. “That’s great, Alan, who did you find?” Bringing up him learning how to fly only brought up some bad memories for her. Ones she would rather forget. Slowly, but surely it was getting to a point where she didn’t think about the hurt that was caused. Though she would never be able to forgive what had happened to Jake, especially since part of her still felt responsible.

After asking the questions, she continued to flip through the book with Jake, still actively listening to Alan. “We also have the dragon, which I think Alan is starting, a unicorn and a giraffe. I think I’ll do the Raven. Sorry that there aren’t any bulls or bears here, though. Did you see something you liked?” She would slowly start flipping back through the book with him and wait for him to stop her on a page of one of the ones that he liked.

@Jake Morris @Alan Vanes
Word Count| 649/800

@Alan Vanes @Santario Martin

Santario slowly paged through the book, and Jake watched, leaning against her just a little. Animal by animal went by, one by one. Lions, Snakes, Ravens, Badgers...the boy watched in silence. Santario spoke to Alan as she turned the pages. The two of them talked a little about something, but Jake didn't really hear it. It faded into the background noise. He didn't mind though. Hearing their voices kept him grounded. It didn't really matter what they were saying. It was a reminder that they were there. In fact, Jake could have sat there for a while - just looking at the origami pictures while listening to San and Alan talk about nothing.

But then the book reached its back cover, and Jake's heart sank a little. No bulls. No bears. He had wanted to give them to George and Jack as gifts, but that wasn't going to happen. What was he going to do now? Unicorns and giraffes were two of the coolest animals in the book, and he might have picked one of those if it was his choice - or maybe even a lion like Simba. But he mostly wanted something that would represent his friends. And if he couldn't have their favorite animals, then it would have to be something else.

Jake watched and waited as Santario flicked through the book a second time. Finally, the boy reached out and pointed. "I wanna make the badgers," he told her. That would be good for any Hufflepuff.

It would have to be the Yellow paper then. Hufflepuff colors. He looked down at his hands a few moments later, and was surprised to see the blue paper that was being folded by them - had been for a while, apparently. It seemed instinct had taken over - his hands occupying themselves as he sat and thought. How many times had he sat and made origami swans with his Mum? He could do it now without even looking - he guessed he already had. He stared down blankly and watched his own hands work, before beginning to fold what was going to soon be the head.

He glanced over to Alan and his green paper. Looked at San to see what color she had chosen. Then took a deep breath and got ready to make his own. He would finish his swan first - carefully, quickly - before placing the paper bird gently down upon the table, picking up his yellow paper, and looking closely at the book of instructions. Badger time. Jake blinked a couple times at some of the more complicated images and folds. His mind didn't seem to want to focus. But he had to...Crafts was one of the things he was best at. If he couldn't do this then...what did that mean? He ran his hand over the paper and took in all of its familiarity. He took a closer look at the pictures, and began his first cautious fold...

Word Count: 412 + 490 = 902

Santario responded while he was moving around the sheets of folding paper to help himself visualize the finished origami, only to realize that t was no help and that he just could not envision how the instruction would end up in the third dimension. He was sure those were muggle instruction books because non of the pictures seemed to move. He would look up from the two colors and tilt his head into Santario's direction while moving his body slightly forward so that he could look past Jake who was seated between the two. "N-Not sure if you know him, b-but his name is Rafael; he's th-the new Captain or s-something," he explained to her, before he took a piece of paper from the two he chose and began to follow the first step as instructed.

He hummed and nodded his approval when he heard San mutter something about him choosing to make the dragon, because she was correct in her assumption. When Jake chose to opt for the badger, he would look up again and gave the little badger a reassuring smile. Th-Thats a good idea, you could p-put it on the window sill of your d-dormitory," he proposed, hoping it would give the kid some more motivation. He then shook his head to focus on what he had to do. He would have to work on his two dragons, because he could not just make one. His dragon needed a friend after all.

It turned out that the folding was more difficult and time consuming than he had anticipated, but he was glad that with a bit of patience he was able to start with the two dragons and folded them. He lost focus a few times and had to re-check the instructions with every little fold he made, but slowly he would make progress with baby steps.

Alan mentioned the name Rafael while she flipped through the pages with Jake and something about him being the new captain. So the rumors were true; the first captain stepped down. Santario hadn’t been to a quidditch game since she stepped off the team except for the most recent Hufflepuff game for pictures of that one girl she went to the birthday party. That was when Jake stopped her on the badger page, proclaiming that he wanted to make them. “That’s great, Alan, and okay Jake here.” She propped the book for him so that he could easily see the badger pattern.

Santario watched as Jake set his swan aside. “That’s cute, you’re pretty good at this, huh?” She asked him as she grabbed her midnight blue paper and another book, opening it to the raven. She would attempt to make a few folds before realizing that she had screwed it up and abandoned that piece of paper that had too many wrong folds in it for a fresh piece. Conversating was more challenging than she thought it would be, and it’s not like the boys were precisely helping right now. Silence would no doubt start to fall between the three besides the folding and creasing of the paper. What to say… What to say…? The only thing San ever had continually running through her mind lately was what had happened over winter break, and the fact that she felt like most of her friends had better things to do than help her through it. It was selfish of her, though. Then again, how could you not feel abandoned when the only two people you told both went off to do their own thing?

“Any cool plans over the summer?” She asked, trying to fill the silence. Santario’s only plans were trying to avoid any cotillion her grandmother no doubt had planned and all the pureblood male suitors she would want her to dance with. Santario had to repress a grimace just thinking about it.

@Jake Morris @Alan Vanes
Word count| 984/800

@Alan Vanes @Santario Martin

Alan said that Jake could put his badger on the window sill of his dormitory. That sounded kinda like a nice idea... "I was gonna give one to George, and one to Jack," Jake said softly. He liked to give them little things sometimes, so they knew he cared about them. He didn't know if it would help at all. Everybody had been different lately, and he had no idea if it would make them feel better. But the thought it might helped him a little. It was a kind of purpose... something to think about to take his mind off of his own feelings and his own fear. It made him feel like he could keep going. "Maybe I can make one more for the sill after that."

The instructions were sort of hard to follow though, even for Jake who was an artist and used to making at least some origami before. But these pictures were different. These pictures had too much going on in them with not enough description and they just didn't seem to make sense. He felt a frustrating pang as he looked down at his folds and wasn't sure what to do next. He didn't want to ask for help, because he was supposed to know. It was the one thing he was good at. And as if reading his mind Santario mentioned his swan.

"I guess so.... " Jake said. He had thought he was good... when he had got to school he had been shown very clearly how little he knew about so many things. How all the kids felt like they were bigger than him. There was so much he couldn't do or thought he was good at only to find out he was bad. The one thing that wasn't like that was drawing. It was the one thing he could do better than his friends. It was the one special thing that made him feel like he could do stuff. If he lost that, then there was nothing. "I know how to make swans... not badgers though."

The conversation turned to the summer and Jake looked up. The thought of the summer was one that filled him with longing. Homesickness had been striking again, a need for his parents. But San had reminded him of something... and for the first time he joined in the conversation without being asked directly.

"Well... I'm gonna turn twelve..." Jake said. He looked up for a moment from his paper. "M-... My mum and dad said I could have my friends over for a birthday party... if you guys want to come... " he said shyly. "You're both invited," he mumbled, as he looked back down at his paper. He was a little scared of asking, because of the thought that maybe everybody would just say no. He didn't tell them it was his first time ever inviting friends to celebrate with him on such a day.

He looked down at his paper again and folded, what seemed like it might be the head - but it just felt wrong. Whether it was or wasn't didn't matter - it felt wrong. Give him a pencil and he'd draw a beautiful badger perfectly. Sometimes just seeing it in his head was enough. But origami didn't work that way - not for him at least. He needed to do it once until he could see the animal inside. Once you did that then it all made sense. You saw where all the parts came from - the animal within. The first time was hard, but he had never tackled it alone. His Mum had helped and they had watched Youtube tutorials and then Jake had seen it. This time he had the book and he was by himself, and he wasn't feeling very well, and he couldn't concentrate, and he suddenly felt a frustrating swell in his chest.

"I don't wanna make badgers anymore, I wanna make swans," the boy declared, putting his feet up onto the bench and hugging his knees to his chest, looking miserably at the instruction book. "It's too hard.... "

He rested his head there, looking at the evil badger. He could hear how his tone sounded but didn't care. Well, he did a little... but he couldn't do it and it was hard work and he was tired. He was just going to fail. It wasn't like him to give up on crafts, but Jake barely felt like himself anymore. Alan wasn't authority but he was fourteen and that made him the closest thing. So Jake turned to Alan. "Alan, can't I just make swans?"

But when he looked at Alan's face, Jake's own face softened and showed the true guilt embedded in the request. To give up wasn't just to give up for him, and he suddenly wasn't so sure that he actually wanted Alan to say yes.

"Oh, really?", he was a bit surprised that he received an invite by Jake as he had assumed the kid to be busy otherwise or having too many people to invite. For Jake wanting to invite him specifically... it was a bit odd but in a good way so the third year sent the young Hufflepuff a smile and nodded. "I would love t-to come," he told him honestly even though he had not expected this, he liked this turn of events. To San he would say "I guess I will be going t-to Jake's! And you?"

When Jake began to complain about not wanting to fold anymore because making the badgers seemed too hard for him, Alan frowned slightly as he peeked over to Jake from his own origami attempts. "But looks like you got so far with th-that badger already!", he mentioned as he motioned to the folded badger on the table that Jake had abandoned temporarily. "I'm sure th-that you can do it, just keep t-trying-", he tried to convince Jake to continue and then showed him his own attempt to make a dragon which was far from perfect but still recognizable as Alan had done his best to follow the instructions exactly. "See? You just got t-to keep going!"

After that he continued to stare at the instructions on the paper as he turned and twisted them as if that would make them have more sense but it kept being a riddle. But Alan really wanted to see if this would work out and continued to fold the dragon little by little while also keeping an eye on Jake occasionally to check if he had picked up the badger again.