A Meeting PV

This was long overdue in Evelynn's opinion. She had called a number of students together a little over a year prior with what had been called a meeting of the Liberation Club. Little seemed to have come of that, really. Far less than she might have liked. Nonetheless, it had oiled the gears for the machinations of several students. Since then, she had been largely independent in her pursuits of knowledge. Professors couldn't necessarily be trusted. Those in whom she had placed trust seemed to go missing. The others...they seemed to be too busy to be sufficiently available. There had been a few in whom Evelynn had confided about the various going-ons about the castle, but many of her plans to reach out to other individuals had fallen through.

Chief among those had been Mister Dralt. He had been one of those present at that meeting so long ago, and one of the ones who seemed to hold himself with a level of competence rare among their peers. Although the two had never been properly and personally introduced, nor had they truly interacted outside of the possible occasional greeting or request to pass this or that in class, he was one she'd maintained on her radar for some time. Today she hoped to finally be able to reach out to him specifically as she had intended to do towards the end of the year prior, and then the beginning of this one. Time had a way of escaping, though, when timetables were so filled.

Accompanied by Vanes, Evelynn made her way to the meeting place with a sense of renewed hope. Not only would this mark the first occasion that she would be able to properly meet her prefect peers, it would be the first organized gathering to specifically discuss the matters plaguing the school. While she considered herself relatively well-informed, there was only so much that she could do. Only so many places she could be simultaneously. And there was just no replacing the experience of those who had been in attendance at the school for so many years longer than she. Granted, she couldn't deny holding to a healthy dose of suspicion about this endeavour.

Part of her reticence of reaching out to others related to the knowledge that some of the students were working for the hags. Who, she didn't know. But at least one of the prefects would mark themselves among that number and Evelynn's last shared encounter with that individual had ended on rather ambiguous terms. Who was to say what was shared here today would be kept in confidence? Who was to say it would be distributed out to those that would seek to use it to do them harm or to feed them false information going forward? Who was to say they weren't placing targets upon their backs by expressing just how much or little they knew? But then again...perhaps the best thing really was to even the ground and ensure they all shared the same level of knowledge.

That is...if the others even decided to share the extent of what they knew. The likely scenario was that those who knew as much or more than she did likely felt very similarly, wishing to hold their cards close to their chests. There was something powerful about holding to information to which others were ignorant. It could be useful. A bargaining chip. It could make one's existence meaningful in a way. Once someone knew the extent of another's knowledge, it wasn't necessarily a requirement to maintain relationships with them any longer. Not unless they could prove to be useful again in future with a continuous stream of uncovered tidbits.

A question by Edelhardt's familiarly chipper voice inquiring about interest in tea met Evelynn's entrance into the room. "An Earl Grey would be lovely I think," she smiled in response. Fresh from afternoon classes and like many of the others present, the second-year ginger was still garbed in her school robes, polished Quidditch Co-Captain and Prefect badges pinned carefully upon them. Upon her shoulder slung her book bag, grey to match her eyes, and upon her palms she carried a tray of mixed mince and pumpkin pasties that looked suspiciously reminiscent of those sold at Honeydukes.

"The letter mentioned we could bring some things," she explained to nobody in particular as she slid them forward. She knew not because she had read it, but because she had given her input to help write it. Although light and citrus was more her speed, she did prefer savoury to sweet, herself. "Help yourselves."

At her own offer, she would take one of the pumpkin pasties herself before retreating. It only took her a moment to prep her tea (milk, no sugar), before she drifted around the table to find a seat. A quick headcount revealed that with her and Vanes' arrival, nearly three quarters of their numbers were now present. Something that stood out to her was that Hufflepuff seemed to be under-represented. No matter, there was still time. To those that looked her way or acknowledged her presence, she offered a smile, a nod of greeting, a "Good afternoon". Most of those present were familiar to her in some fashion.

Vanes, of course, was her closest acquaintance there, as would be evidenced by their mutual arrival. He'd been there to offer her comfort after last year's fiasco of a Blossom Ball. He also held the position of first-string chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. In fact, that was how she knew of many of those present. Healy, Dralt, Indarys Wyllt, Dewlight, Lestrange, Shymane, Edelhardt, and Riddle... they were—or had been in the case of Dralt—all quidditch players. Of those gathered, Alptraum alone was left from that number. But she was Silmataurea's friend, and a House-mate. There was also the matter of the Headliner. Dralt, Healy, Riddle, and Lestrange shared with her the pride of contributing to the school newspaper. Evelynn had also recently come to learn at the Great Hall demonstration earlier that year that both Shymane and Dewlight were dhampir. Of those that had congregated in defiance of the article labeled as hate-speech, they were the two that had stood out to Evelynn as the most dignified. All in all, although new to her role as prefect, these were hardly the faces of strangers.

When finally she sat down, Evelynn sat immediately across from Lestrange. A couple amongst those present had noted a significance of sorts of across whom one might sit. A tendency to defensiveness. A drawbridge to invite the passage of information. Was there something to be said in this particular pairing? Perhaps. Of everyone here, it was of he that she was most suspicious. She would seek his gaze, study his expression, if even there was one. He'd been rather careful to hold himself in reservation during their last encounter of significance. Was he here for intel? Or to genuinely participate? Would she be defensive? Perhaps. He? More likely than the former. But it wasn't intentionally hostile, although it was more than likely to be taken as such in a passive-aggressive way. In a way, this could be her own draw bridge. An offer to collaborate peaceably. Or this could be a siege. Holding her sights upon him, she lowered herself into her seat and raised the tea to her lips for a sip.

Unless Lestrange were to engage her directly, however, she would break her attention to make note of a piece of paper making its way around the table. She cast it a curious glance, wondering what it was—from here, she couldn't make out that it was a list of names. It also wasn't the only paper on the table. Wyllt had pulled out parchment as though this were the middle of class, prepped for note-taking. In that moment, she felt a sense of kindred energy, and after a few moments to enjoy her tea in relative quiet just a little longer, she too reached into her pack to pull from it her own parchment and pen. Pen, not quill. Perhaps they might be required in class to use the latter, but for her own personal notes, she had to agree with Silmataurea's article in the Headliner so many issues past. The muggle implement was far more convenient and tidy. Aside from that, however, she also pulled free her journal. A journal that was filled with page upon page of notes regarding the various happenings.

02.19.21 → ic date

♡ fancy prefect meeting ooo ♡

Interacting @Annie Morgan, @Quinn Healy, @Nico Shymane, @Sylvain Wyllt, & @Griseldis Edlehardt
Mentions Everyone

When she had seen the note left in the prefect's room calling for a meeting, Frost had been a little surprised. She wasn't quite the best at serious business stuff like this, admittedly. The best she could do was try her hardest to seem useful to the others, things like this are where the girl often felt out of place.

Even so, Frost would attend the meeting with her fellow female Hufflepuff prefect, Annie- a girl which she hoped to grow closer with soon. On her way with the other girl, Frost held a tray of snacks she baked, of course. What else was to be expected? Mention anything about a gathering with snacks and Frost was already done putting something in the oven. This time, she made treats that she felt were able to suit many people's tastes, chocolate-filled croissants, almond croissants, and cookies with jam in the center (that I forgot the name of). She prayed that hopefully, nobody was allergic to anything in her baked goods.

"You can sit next to me if there's an open space," Frost spoke to the younger Hufflepuff. She knew that lots of people felt uncomfortable sitting to people they didn't know, so hopefully, she could make herself a cushion between people for Annie. The redhead didn't have any sort of problem with that, so she could put her friendly nature to use.

Upon arrival, Frost led Annie to a seat close to hers, letting her sit next to Quinn, her friend, and fellow prefect, while Frost sat next to a girl she knew as Gris, who had a very nice energy about her. "I made these," Frost spoke to the other prefects. "Feel free to take as many as you want." After she placed the tray onto the center area of the table, Frost smiled at everyone, as usual.

After sitting in her seat, she eyed Quinn- and Irene of course- and raised her eyebrows in curiosity. There was something she hadn't seen before, Quinn acting very close with a prefect girl named Nico. As his friend, obviously she wanted to congratulate him on getting a girl as pretty as Nico. Frost had hoped that she was as nice as she hoped her to be. "Hi Quinn, hello... Nico, was it?" After speaking that last part, Frost gave a sneaky grin to Quinn ("Dang, you go bro!"), silently communicating with him, and then smiling warmly at Nico.

Squirming around in the chair until she found a comfortable position- which just so happened to be 'criss crossed'- Frost found herself looking at Syl across the table. He seemed to be focused on some sort of paper, notes maybe? Was she supposed to be taking notes on the meeting too? Well, it was too late now. Should she distract him from his focus on the notes and Syl looked up into her gaze, Frost would wave gently and smile, as well as softly gesture to the treats she made. He seemed to be a fan of her baking, and well, a fan of something (or someone hehe) other than that as well.

✿

Food. Food was a good excuse right now to not make much of a conversation. However, it seemed she didn't realise that barely any of the other students had served themselves with any sweets. And because she had gotten oblivious to that, due to the stress she was feeling ever so slightly, it kind of blinded her to not stop with occasionally taking another cookie from the many refreshments in front of them.

Many Prefects walked in with faces she'd seen before. Would be pretty strange if she hadn't. Some were, of course, more familiar as she had any interaction with them before. Koko, her colleague. River, Nico was sure she had seen her few times in the castle prior to the events of the T.Ruth situation. But it was nice to sort of connect during that whole fiasco as they were both dhampir and Prefect. They both had similar personal ingredients to being watched in a certain way by their fellow peers, as far as the Slytherin could tell. Gris, she once saw in the Great Hall at some point. They have barely interacted at all but that's what you get for being in a different House. When she offered tea, Nico barely responded, slightly looking at anything infront of her.

She was so absored into staring off into a dreamy distance, that she hadn't noticed the tree of a boy called Quinn walk in, together with his sweet cat Irene. A big hand that could easily crush her, gently rested on her head, ruffling her hair into dissarray. Obviously taken by surpise, the young dhampir let out a surprised yelp, kicking her knee against the downside of the table. BONK 'GEH!' Both incredibly embarrassed, surprised and in pain, Nico mustered everything she could, to hold back a loud groan of pain. Her hands started to rub on her knee, hoping to subside the pain. That was going to leave a mark. A temporary one, but a mark nonetheless.

Quinn sat down beside her and soon, Irene took notice of the redhead Slytherin, plopping down onto the dhampirs lap, as if to say sorry in his stead. Finally being able to breathe, Nico eyed at the feline and smiled softly, petting her head as she felt comfortable on her lap real fast. Relaxing ever so slightly by the felines presense, Nico suddenly realised something. Slowely, she'd look up at the rest of the Prefects. Surely this interaction hadn't gone unnoticed and it was only then that she realised that only a handfull of people knew about her and Quinn.

A Hufflepuff Prefect who unsurprisingly seemed close with Quinn, definitely took notice of the interaction between the dhampir and Half-Giant. 'I-... Yes. I'm Nico. Pleasure.. to meet you.' In any other situation, this would've gone way smoother but right now... Not sure how to react or what to say, her head red like a beet, she decided to play dumb and focus back on Irene. Her pale hands rubbing the cat, hoping for it's relaxing effect to return to her.

Alan would glance at Evelynn as the two of them arrived at the meeting and Alan was delighted to see that so many had responded to their letter by showing their presence at this meeting. He had no real plan of how exactly this would go, but he was sure it would somehow work itself out and if not, Evelynn was smart enough to figure something out on the get by, right? He gave a nod to the familiar faces, showing a light smile as he found a seat next to Pericles who he had grown to like. An interesting boy, like most of them were. Seeing all of them in a room, he was blandly reminded of how different all of them were in personality which was oddly refreshing and an interesting realization. Tiger had been trailing after him and would prowl around below the table, greeting those familiar to him by bumping his head against their leg, before he ended up at Alan's spot again and jumped on top of the Gryffindor's lap with a graceful leap. Alan couldn't help but chuckle lightly, before he reached out to fill his cup with hot water from the kettle and adding a earl grey tea bag into the slightly steaming water.

"Hey," he would greet the group, looking up from the feline to take in who exactly had joined them already, wondering if the rest would show up late or if they were to join them at all. He would glance over at Evelynn, wondering whether they should start the meeting already, tilting his head ever so slightly hoping she would get the message from the way the question was written on his face. He noticed someone's absence so he slightly leaned twisted in his seat to face Peri, "Did Athena not join us?" he asked, referring to the other boy's cat, curiosity in his voice. Tiger might have enjoyed Athena's company though he was not sure what exactly their dynamic was as they have only met each other once to Alan's knowledge; when Pericles and Alan had been busy catching some troublemaker.

Mentions: @Quinn Healy, @Frost Cira @Alan Vanes (for Calming Presence)

Open to Interactions

@Evelynn Decipio @Nico Shymane @Frost Cira @Sylvain Wyllt @Alan Vanes @Annie Morgan @Jack Warren

Sylvain was the very person Quinn had adressed after He had been sipping his mint tea and reveling in the refreshing perkiness it brought to his mind. Gently setting the cup down, nearly tipping it with his clumsy and large fingers as he let go of it. His other hand continued to ruffle Nico's hair, and stroke her head almost like he was petting Irene. It was clear from the hand motions and gentleness that Quinn had been very practiced in this and was taking extra care to be as gentle as his large frame would allow. To be honest Quinn didn't care who knew about his relationship with Nico. Not anymore at least.

Returning his attention back to Sylvain. "Sleep? Nahpe, I fahrsook dat durin wenter break ploehs 'ow can I sleep wit everythin dat's been goin ahn. Bad enooehgh wit dat recent artecle. 'ave it 'ard enooehgh as is naht bein labeled a menace to sahciety. But whot daes me opinion matter anyway? Jest an untrustworthy Half-Giant afterall. Why shaeld ah be trusted?" He scoffed eyes going to every face with in his field of view. Scanning them then returning immediately back to Sylvain with a sigh. He lifted up the tea carefully again nearly spilling it once more as he took a sip and placed it back down. "Sahrry abooeht dat. Joehst recent events 'ave me ahn edge and to be 'ahnest a meetin like dis shooehld 'ave been 'eld a lahng time ago. Anyway I'm doin well enooehgh. cooehld be better boeht i'm used to takin care o' myself." He apologized for his small snap.

He rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes rested on to Evelynn for a moment. She was realtively new when it came to being a prefect but he knew her from the paper. Like many she seemed reserved and like she had something to hide. Not that he could really judge or complain about that. "Ay gaed to see yeh Eve. An if ah may saey te all ye 'ere. Why don't we lay all infermation on 'e table to bare huh? No since in haelding much back if we want to try and do something about this mess right?"

Quinn figured it was better to get things started now that most were here. No sense in mincing his words or hiding how he really felt. He was sick of that to be honest. When Frost had come with her usual baked goods. He took one of the closest ones to him, and ate it seeming to cheer up slightly. When Frost shot him a knowing smirk he simply winked to her. Also taking note of Annie who smirked at his voice taking on a momentary jovialness from its previous annoyance. "Ay little badger. Glad ye caeuld make et. Looks like lazy boyo is still not here." He chuckled referring to one Jack Warren.

Quinn would turn to Nico removing his hand from her head and letting the backs of his fingers brushing against her blushing cheeks as a sign of affection a warm and brief smile coming to his face for a moment before he laughed gently and folded his arms leaning back in his chair again to look back at everyone. He nodded to Gris thanking her once again for his tea.

Throughout all of this, the feline, Irene had been purring rather loudly. Letting it be known that she was most pleased with her current companion Nico. Having now sprawled out on her lap and continued to rub her head against the Dhamphir which for all who knew the feline. Also knew it was both a strange and rare sight for her.

Back to the somewhat fiery Half-Giant. He would wait for the others to respond and wondered what all would be laid out on the table. It piqued his curiosity to no end and as a result without even realizing a large smirk came to his face that he could not stop.He was excited for what would happen in this meeting. Good, bad, or otherwise. Oh how fun!

Open to interactions | Mentioning pretty much everyone

Speak of the devil.

Sauntering into the room with a jingle beneath her breath, Phaedra arrived almost fashionably late from the look of things. She carried light today in preparation of what was sure to be a long gathering. But despite her outwards feigning of preparedness, internally she was damning the fact that this meeting was even necessary in the first place. It peeved her something serious that teenagers had to take matters into their own hands, and that with all the avoiding of school events she'd done over the past year, she and the other prefects were still dragged kicking and screaming to pick up the pieces. To be expected. It was in the job description. But still. It shouldn't be.

With Phaedra's attendance, Ravenclaw was now the second house to be fully represented. Typical. Ravenclaw loved things like this. Some houses just weren't there yet. There were a few empty chairs left and no arranged seating that she could tell. Noticing the spot next to Gryffindor's Evelynn Decipio, Phaedra pulled the chair out and plopped into it. “Good afternoon,” she said, a sweeping acknowledgement to anyone listening.

There were quite a few familiar faces already—none that she would describe as knowing on a personal level, mind you—but still faces she'd mostly grown to trust in mutual camaraderie. Most notably were the rest of the Headliner members, Riddle, Lestrange, Healy, and Dralt, which, in Alexx's absence, made her the most senior member. Though considering the demands of being a reporter, Phaedra expected they'd have a lot more information to share. “Terribly sorry if I'm interrupting. We haven't started yet, have we?”

She pulled her bag's straps off of her shoulder to peer inside, before noting the swish of a tail in her peripherals. Aw. How sweet. Some of the other prefects decided to bring their cats. Good thing they all seemed well-behaved so far, because a distraction, no matter how cute, was the last thing the prefects needed. Phaedra made a mental note to ask for their names and possibly a few pets later. Her own little diva, Cleo, would certainly enjoy more friends and she had lots of treats to go around.

Clipboard, quill, and ink found their way onto the table so that she could be prepared to take notes when the time came. It was the least that she could do alongside listening. But first, pastry time.

Koko kept her gaze lowered as she pulled out a few pieces of parchment. They were rolled up into small sticks, almost reminiscent of cinnamon, and she set them on the table. From another sewn-in pocket in her robes, she took out a fountain pen, silently thanking her aunt for her ingenuity. Koko had never thought pockets would be a good idea, but at least she could carry her belongings around without always needing her bag on her.

Jax nuzzled her arm as she quietly watched other prefects enter the room. She fully expected her cat to leap on the table or say hi to other students, but he was surprisingly well-behaved. He curled into a small ball and let his eyes droop, and Koko had to hold back a fond chuckle. She was honoured to be trusted by such a tiny creature, even after having known him for a year.

Shooting a glance at the biscuits, Koko pulled out a paper bag from what was supposed to be a pocket for Jax. He didn't like to be carried around, so Koko used the pocket for other things - like a bag of teabags of Earl Grey tea.

"I brought these," Koko said softly. Her voice was no longer quite that confident or loud, if it ever had been. She doubted she would be heard, but keeping one teabag for herself, she slid the rest towards the centre of the table.

What the Ravenclaw prefect - Sylvain Wyllt - did with his paper was quite smart. Although Koko thought some of the prefects might recognise her (after all, she did recognise most of them), she tore one of her papers in half and wrote her name on it before folding it. At least someone who knew her would know her, and anyone who didn't would have a name.

Koko noticed Nico sitting next to Quinn, and she shot the other Slytherin prefect a small smile. She hoped Nico noticed it was aimed at her - Koko wasn't going to say, 'Hey, Nico, I'm smiling at you!'

Jax stretched his paw out in Koko's lap and she scratched his head, still glancing just barely up. Koko watched Alan and Evelynn - the Gryffindor Quidditch Co-Captain, right? - walk in, and her nerves began to ease just a bit. She nodded to them before taking a biscuit.

It was just as delicious as she'd thought. Koko really had missed snacking - now, she mostly ate at meals, with the exception of the occasional bag of crisps or bar of chocolate her brother owled her.

She heard Phaedra's voice ring out, and her gaze snapped to rest on the Secretary. "We've not really started yet. Hi." Koko gave a small wave, allowing herself to relax just a bit.

She reached out for a cup and the kettle, dropping a mint teabag in the cup before pouring water in and waiting. "Feel free to have a snack," she said to Phaedra.

Interacting with Phae, Nico, Alan and Evelynn, mentioning Quinn & Sylvain.

Hexcode= #507091

Soon enough, the rest of the prefects had started to trickle in. One or two here and there sometimes with another in tow, sometimes on their lonesome. Pericles had taken a seat next to Sylvain, and the boy would smile half-heartedly as his dorm mate sat offering him a frog silently, politely putting it back down if Pericles declined in even the slightest manner. The two had been through the harrowing event in The Dark and Perilous Wood and then another encounter with dark misfits during The Halloween Costume Party. If it weren't for Pericles, Sylvain likely wouldn't have understood the opposition they had faced. He was grateful to be forgiven for the accident in the woods, but twice as grateful when Pericles chose to sit next to him. Birds of a feather and all that.

Frost entering also caught his eye, her gentle wave and warm smile calming his nerves better than the fresh mint tea ever could have. For a brief moment the butterflies in his stomach would dance before he began sampling her sweets. A decision which took no brain power and only a few short seconds to make. After all, she had offered them to him who was he to refuse? He would close his eyes and smile at her before he washed them down with more tea. Merlin's beard! She was both a talented and beautiful soul. He wondered if she wanted to go to the next ball with him. Maybe a poem, or some flowers delivered by Minerva would catch her interest again, but that would have to wait until they were "off the clock." His diligence kicking in, Sylvain would then make sure everyone who had arrived so far provided a signature for his sign up sheet. Names and records were important to him.

As Quinn came back around to answering Sylvain's question, the half-giant's attention seemed divided by the arrival of their peers. Listening keenly, Sylvain thought it was as though there were a clear and intolerable amount pain behind the kindness of Quinn's rumbling voice. All of the sweets seemed a lot less appetizing when the Huffle prefect admitted to being the victim of prejudice and persecution. That someone's fearful biases had harmed someone he was supposed to work with was upsetting to the highest degree. That this prejudice had made Quinn so unhappy that he was harming himself was downright infuriating. The Eagle's face would twist with disapproval as Quinn's sentiments turned harshly inwards, beating himself up for the disgraceful words of other people's ignorance. Just as quickly, that disapproval would fade from Sylvain's face as Quinn apologized, catching himself from snapping while Sylvain's face transfigured into a look of profound sadness that he now felt for Healy. "Quinn... I'm so sorry, how can we help?" Though he didn't know Quinn all too well, the shame Quinn felt for being himself was evident in the way he spoke. It didn't take a genius to figure out that nobody should have that power over another, but it seemed ignorance was the prevailing notion and Sylvain would stand to fight against it in whatever way he could.

As Xailah described her thoughts on the article, muttering to herself quietly enough for Syl to miss them, Sylvain jotted down the first of his notes. "Headliner Retraction." A bullet point they could push for as a team if they wanted to, or on his lonesome if necessary. The second and third of his points would be made later when others spoke up to air grievances and recall trauma. With a start like this, they were no doubt headed for darker discussions. Still, there was time to enjoy themselves and make small talk while they waited for the last prefect to arrive. Who was missing anyways? Jack Warren was it?

@Frost Cira @Quinn Healy @Xailah Alptraum @Jack Warren