Locked TABLE 2 | Sweethearts Tea Party Event

Interacting With: |

Outfit: ꕤ | ꕤ | ꕤ |

Mentioning: @Mathias Pride | @Cain Corvus @Aurora Ranvier | @Levi Drakos @Marshal Mozor | @Santario Martin

Date: February 14th, 2022

February was a bittersweet month, oft too short and gone in a blink of an eye. It was a month filled with longing, particularly as Valentine's Day approached. The excitement and the anxiety that often accompanied first love should have left Winnie Harper in a daze, but in the wake of the disappearance of her boyfriend, she felt... less than whimsical. She had not even received an owl from Mathias during the morning mail. She had hoped he would contact her considering the day, but once again her dreams proved to be fiction.

Despite her disappointment at the start of the day, she pulled herself out of her depression and began dressing for the event. With twisted tresses pinned with pink flower pins, she pulled half of her hip-length red hair up, letting the rest fall down her back. The day prior, she had set aside a white belted-waist puff-sleeve dress, which featured a charming pink pattern that displayed a small country town. She slung a leather purse over her shoulder, the main part of the bag looking almost like a book with the words 'Forget-Me-Not' on it. The outfit was completed with pink kitten heels, a pearl necklace, and a pair of tiny pearl earrings.

She and Aurora quickly learned that they would be seated at the same table, and although a Galentine's Day would at least be a fun experience for her, she would not impede her friend from bonding with Nicholas, especially knowing how important he was to her. She could only hope she was also matched with a few other friends.

Winnie arrived earlier than expected, as she was the first at her table. Taking a seat and looking at the place setting cards next to her, she carefully flattened out her dress. Her lips curled into a small smile when she saw Marshal's name; more pleasant company. As soon as she saw the name on the left, all signs of her happiness disappeared. Levi Drakos. She paled, her heart hammering against her chest. Why? Why was it always him? He might be able to trick her again or fluster her without Mathias by her side She quickly stood up to check the other cards. Santario. Aurora. Cain. Three people she knew and loved. After telling herself that it would be okay, she returned to her seat and sat quietly, trying to calm herself before someone else joined her.

A shaking hand went to reach for one of the letters piled next to her name when suddenly a pair of owls made an appearance. She gasped in surprise when one dropped a red envelope directly in front of her. Her upbringing in a muggle environment had never introduced her to howlers, so the letter looked like a completely normal letter to her. Her gaze flickered to the letter that had fallen onto Levi's place setting and then back to her own. Who would be sending the two of them a letter? Unless... Her breath hitched as she turned the letter over to break the seal. She almost fell out of her chair when the damn thing sprang to life. "WHAT THE HELL--"

She quickly recovered from her panic when she realized the letter seemed to be speaking in Matt's voice. "Mattie...?" She asked, as if the letter actually had the power to conduct a conversation. Move. He had moved away, but where...? A death, his cousin. She had heard rumours a student had died. Vladimir, an upperclassman in the same house as her. The news had saddened her, but it was not unexpected considering the state he was in last summer. She had not known he was Matt's cousin, however.

Safer, he was safe... Good. The next sentence made her freeze in place. Realize that what we had was fantastic but fleeting. What? Was he saying he realized it or that she needed to? Was this a break-up letter? No... No, it couldn't be--. The letter announced she would be seeing him soon before falling lifelessly onto the table. "No, that can't be it!" She grabbed the letter and begin to shake it. "C-Continue! Turn back on! Talk again!" She had to hear his voice again, to understand what he had meant. Tears sprung to her eyes as she whacked the damn letter against the table. Whenever the next person arrived she would desperately push the letter towards them, "MAKE IT TALK AGAIN!" Whether or not they heard what the letter had said was to be determined.

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Her hair is dark brown

Banner made by Winnie Harper

Mentioning @Mathias Pride @Nicholas McCowan

Interacting with @Winnie Harper

Tea party, the day when tea wasn’t important because there’d be a better sight to see. Aurora knew in a heartbeat that he would wear a flannel, so she did the same thing. A thin flannel covered the beige sweater underneath, completed by denim trousers and a mute red sneakers. A very casual outfit for the girl who tends to go over the top with her colourful style. Her usual multicoloured hair styled in half space buns whilst the remaining brunette hairs were let loose, followed the trails that she went through. How disappointed she was when her dream guy was sitting with the group across from her. But things wouldn’t go wrong, they could definitely communicate through interpretative dance, or maybe passing notes in secrecy.

Her roommate, however, was screeching like a maniac. Mathias Pride, he had ghosted the poor redhead, making her drenched her pillow. As much as Aurora hated the boy, she felt sorry for the loss of his cousin. The Calvin Klein model cousin, or the pecs guy in the forest. Such a shame he went away too soon, he would be able to make it big in the muggle world. Sudden disappearances are most likely to be a more serious situation. The golden time to find a person who without warning vanished from the face of the earth is seventy two hours, longer than that, perhaps we should expect the worst case scenario. His letter—or wizarding voicemail was rather alarming. It sounded vague, as if he was trying to hide. But the last couple of words were better though not very convincing. They will meet again, he said. The real question was where. In the afterlife or in this mortal world? The last time she saw him, death was upon him. If resurrection were a thing, which it was, the mental image of Mathias according to the smartest eagle ever existed was a minecraft zombie. “W-winnie—” No, she wouldn’t say her theory out loud. The chaser had shed too many tears because she couldn’t get the guy. “It’s going to be alright! He said you will see him soon, right? It will be alright!”

As she sat down whilst trying to calm Winnie in the process, the curiosity of what Nicholas might get her was peaking. She skipped through the first three letters, until her eyes stopped at the word ‘captain’. The smile on her face, the hopeful one. But the ink upon the parchment was the reality she had to face. Each word turned her excitement into rage as her eyes caressed the stroke of the quill. Keywords, captain, ravenclaw girls, and common room. The constant worries that somehow her fears would come true, she was not the one, she never was. Della, on the other hand, was the one he wanted to see on that bleacher. Deal with the Ravenclaw girls. A nuisance, a trouble, a bother. Turned out they were closer than she had anticipated. So this was it, the harsh reality being slapped right on her cheek. And then it felt hollow, as if she became a shell, stared blankly at the paper like a broken machine. “N-nicholas, wh-why did y–” What once her favourite name, now it left a bitter aftertaste on the back of her tongue. She had learned about pain more than she ever wanted. Looking up to where he sat, all of her pent up emotion bled through her eyes. She kept quiet, and didn't even make a scene. That’s when you know that it was beyond her ability to handle.

Sta - 5 | Eva - 9 | Str - 5 Wis - 8 | Arc - 4 | Acc - 10 Terrible Presence Evasive Maneuvers

Outfit Reducio

Banner by Winnie Harper

@Winnie Harper
@Mathias Pride

February 14th. For 364 days, you could stick a siphon to your heart and empty it into your collection of top-shelves, as long as there was the assurance that on that given day, you’d swallow it all in a quick swig and let your partner pick a bouquet from the verdure that sprouted from beneath your flesh. Ride that wave until the garden was barren, a month at most, then live in the torrid valley until it came back around. It was beautiful. A romanticized excuse to damn romance, to pamper the world for sixteen hours in puffy sleeves and douse it in rose petals, and that made up for a year of suits, back-to-back restful nights, and silent dinners. It was the holiday of fools, of those stricken by the needs of naivety, and Levi thoroughly adored it.

Waking up and reveling in the mood shift was the best part, perhaps. There was a mere hint of spring in the winter air, completely psychosomatic as the temperature would still be tempted to dip, but the agog minds of children were able to see a blooming planet in a lone blade of grass, colored marginally more green than usual. Select dormmates were scrambling to throw together last-minute grand gestures for their partners. Others were making their inconsolable loneliness everyone else’s problem. The two clashed and cried, and Levi watched with a suppressed smile; the line between love and hate was unbearably thin, and heated arguments were as close as they’d get to the former for many years.

He’d dressed accordingly. Misanthropy was only a side-gig, the brunet was much fonder of embracing and exploiting the weaknesses he was so willing to point out. Today’s tacky outfit was baby pink, rich red hearts splattered in an overeager design across the long-sleeve button-up. This was a uniform theme throughout his clothes: pants the same shade of light pink, dress shoes, his hair combed back down his neck and an assortment of silver rings over five of his ten fingers. Some plain, one with an emerald in the middle, another with an engraved heart. When tempted to rub his knuckles, his index and thumb would rather go to twirling the rings around the digits of the opposite hand.

The Gryffindor had not participated in the accompanying errand, a social experiment he’d be unlikely to explain. See, he was under the consistent impression that we live in a Levi-centric universe: all that conspires good and all that conspires evil looks to him as a test subject. He needn’t take part in the intricacies of life to reap what others sewed. In a world so obsessed, so flawlessly engineered, he’d have consequences for just existing, and the result of this event would either prove or disprove his hypothesis. Perhaps, somewhere beneath the smothering narcissism, this was a desperate attempt to explain his bad luck (Winnie, Percematt, Nina, Santario, the list dragged on), but he’d never admit that.

Having reached the castle’s ballroom, there were a few minutes of blank staring into the accumulating mass of lovebirds. This was what they believed love was: vehement shades of scarlet and salmon, petals fluttering through the air just to evaporate should they dare hit the cold ballroom floor. Identical vases of identical flowers, white-clothed tables and baked goods, notes scribbled in scratchy writing of those mawkish things you couldn’t say aloud. Like any twelve-year-old, he could do without the suffocation. But even moreso, this was not the astral concept he had come to admire, to crave in the way only the inexperienced could. It was a youthful definition of love, one without the dirty compromise, one without being the knife they twists within themselves. It was this catering, this propaganda, that made it such a myth. The continuous tries to grasp at veils gave a reputation of reluctance, of cruelty and deafness; it was not absent, it was simply not being summoned by the right name.

It was a short walk to his table, his own name was always the first to draw his hazel eyes. Alongside his place card were several others: Winnie, Aurora, Marshal (Lord help me if he tries something), Cain, and Santario (Lord help me if she tries something). The first two were the only to have already seated themselves. Levi slid in beside Winnie and ran his eyes along her outfit, offering her a fleeting grin before redirecting his attention toward the platter before him. There was a distinct glow in his gaze, a shimmer against the array of cupcakes he’d been provided, routine to his brethren who also often dawdled in the sugary feeling of being right. Strawberries topped two cupcakes, chocolate buttercream and vanilla strawberry. Beside that was a wide variety, ranging from whipped carrot to chocolate peppermint. His fingertips had just barely grazed the charred letters when a sudden interruption jerked his arm back to his side.

A pair of small, dark colored owls whirled through the large open windows of the castle, both deploying parcels at Table Two. One tumbled onto his plate, which clanged from the sudden pressure before stilling itself again. A curious look was shot toward his fellow recipient, Winnie Harper, and he’d allow her to be the first to undo the dark ribbon, allowing the letter to, miraculously, become animate. The boy flinched, but Winnie spoke his mind for him, an all-too-familiar voice ringing through their table.

He did not care for their romance, for obvious reasons. The almost-sweet nostalgia of the speaking letter startled him, a dash of regret creeping into the words only to be muted by the infamy it was bred from. It gushed faux apologies the same way water surged from the mouth of a drowning man, a marker of change, of death, a view of what banished him in the first place. His poetic property, the rhapsodic girl who engulfed the world in her endeavors on this very day, fell apart before his eyes. Begging, pleading, surrendering herself to nothingness all over a boy who had fooled her from the start. To be so devastated and to have so little understanding of why was the sour opposite of blissful ignorance, and to watch her pearly eyes fracture into frantic tears was to watch a million writers tear apart their greatest manuscripts.

Mouth slightly agape, Levi turned toward his own letter, roughly breaking the seal as the envelope forced itself from his hands. Like what was delivered to his red-headed muse, Percematt's taunting voice echoed from its folds, with much less to say than the teasing affections that defined his character. The lion's eyebrows furrowed, visage contorting into annoyed disgust but inwardly celebrating that the statement was all it had to offer.

A quiet sigh of relief.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, Percematt provided a callback to the couple's first and final kiss. A very vivid, animated callback. His Howler went a step further than a mere peck: its ribbon tongue protruded from the inside of the envelope and made a repulsive and unfortunately successful effort to breach Levi's mouth. An uncomfortably intimate make-out-sesh that was destined to end with a painfully placed paper-cut. The brunet was flailing his hands, squirming in his chair and screaming against the pages for the entire duration, but by the time he had the sense about him to yank it from his face, it had collapsed lifeless on the table. He wished its sender would do the same.

Percematt, ever the sentimentalist.

Mentioning: @Winnie Harper @Levi Drakos @Aurora Ranvier@Mathias Pride

It was Valentine's Day, a day that was soaked with romance and love and then covered in chocolate. Cain mostly used this day to make cards for his parents or school mates and pass candy around. It was a great day for acquiring sweets, but the romance side of it was fairly lost on him. He got a fair few pits of chocolate when he'd made his bark for his teachers and that had been fun to do, so he'd signed up for this tea party as well. Of course now that he was walking in wearing a plain dark grey sweater and dark jeans with his messy ankle boots he felt under-dressed and ill prepared for the romantic setting. To his relief the tables weren't set up in pairs, but in groups. He looked around and stole a red rose from the wall and pinned it to his sweater by his heart using his prefect badge to remedy his lack of themed clothes and made his way to his table. It was located in the closest right corner, right near the entrance which Cain's mind noted as a good place since it was close to an escape route. The doilies on the table reminded him of grandmothers, all of them, it was a staple grandmother decoration. Like especially delicate tea sets in glass cabinets or crocheted pillows. His name was right between Levi- whom he met once in the library, and Aurora who hadn't met yet. Both were at the table already along with Winnie Harper, his fellow frog card collector. No sooner had he set his hand on his chair to pull it out for himself, anything he was going to say like "Hello" or "It's nice to see you here" fell away completely when two vibrantly red letters came to life with an unfamiliar voice. Howlers. At a Valentine's Day tea party?

"Mattie...?"
Winnie had spoken to him about her boyfriend before, she'd seemed very loyal and dedicated. To hear the mysterious boy break up with her on a day like today felt very awkward. He wasn't sure if the day after or before would be worse and he wanted to avert his eyes in some kind of polite gesture, but after that letter finished another one opened up with the same voice.
"Missed you babe."
Then the letter was making out with the princely boy. It was very confusing to witness and Cain looked toward the tempting entrance. He could leave now, escape this, but... what sort of friend and example would he be? When the going got tough, Cain got going? No way. Despite Levi's scream of torment and Winnie's begging the letter to tell her more, he pulled his chair back and sat down in it before scooting up to the table. As he sat quietly, to his relief the Aurora girl was dressed just as casually- though maybe more put together and he felt a bit better about the way he came in here. He watched her attempt to comfort Winnie before her own letter caused the rainbow haired girl some amount of anger and distress. Maybe he'd regret not having left when he could.

Cain looked down at his own two letters with some gnawing worry, carefully picking one up and opening it. One might as well rip off the bandaid now. It was just a nice letter from Winnie actually, except for that weird part at the end. He'd ask her about it later. This letter was folded and was tucked into his back pocket before he opened up the next. He tilted his head in confusion with the words, reading them over and over. "Do I sparkle?" Oh of course, it must have been that Dee girl he'd met during Yule, she'd gotten glitter all over him then. He couldn't think of anyone else it would be, his roommate Draven might've wrote something along the lines of chess. He still had to play against him until he beat him. This letter too was tucked away into his back pocket, his attention returning to his table mates. Perhaps tragic news was reserved for older students, he shuddered to think of what might happen to him next year. Perhaps it was best to avoid getting into a relationship altogether.

He bit into a piece of the dark and white chocolate bark on his plate, eyeing each of them carefully. Chocolate would make them all feel better, surely. Maybe.
He had no idea what to say to any of them. Happy Valentine's Day was not going to come out of his mouth at this moment in time. In fact, maybe it was better to just make sure his mouth was too busy to talk. He grabbed his tea cup and took the slowest, most silent sip in the entire wizarding world. " . . . "

Wearing : Cable-knit gray sweater, dark jeans, black boots, rose hastily pinned over heart.

Interacting With: @Aurora Ranvier | @Levi Drakos | @Cain Corvus

Outfit: ꕤ | ꕤ | ꕤ |

Mentioning: @Mathias Pride |

Date: February 14th, 2022

Levi's entrance had not been unnoticed by Winnie. How could it? To ignore him seemed like a cardinal sin, given how time seemed to slow in his very presence. He was annoyingly handsome, and he probably knew it too. His ability to render her into a trancelike flustered state was also dangerous. If Winnie didn't know any better (which she oft didn't), she might have assumed he was part Veela. She was thankful that Aurora had arrived as well, or she would have very well fallen victim to his charms.

Cain made an entrance not too long after as the disaster itself struck, he walked into the situation at perhaps the worst possible time. As Cain sipped his invisible tea, it was evident the Slytherin was in a quandary. His only string of luck seemed to be that Winnie was too preoccupied to notice the lack of liquid in his floral printed teacup, otherwise, she might have queried his odd behaviour.

Matt had once called their love a spark, but to Winnie it felt like a roaring fire. Now the flames had burned out, leaving nothing behind but the embers that served as a memory of their time together, and ash that would soon be swept away by the wind, tainting the pink petals that danced through the air with charcoal hues. She was left with nothing to do but prod at the embers and pray that spark would reignite and reunite them.

Cain's luck ran out as the Ravenclaw suddenly threw the howler at the poor, unsuspecting boy. A steady stream of tears streaked across her flushed cheeks as she looked at him expectantly "Y-You! You're... You're a pureblood, s-so you know how to make it work again!" Her voice hitched at the request, and Merlin might have pity on his soul if he refused the emotionally charged redhead, but Winnie wouldn't.

Being the pastel sweetheart she was, Aurora attempted to calm her friend, trying to break through the fog that surrounded Winnie to tell her it was going to be okay. It was likely for the best that she had not mentioned her zombie theory. Had Aurora really though the boy was dead? It was possible given how long he had taken to respond to Winnie. "Soon... He... I think he just broke up with me..." When her gaze trailed up to meet Aurora's, she paused. Wait, was she... Was she crying? "Aurora...?" Why was she crying?

It was then the floating letter decided Levi's tongue was in need of an inspection. She watched in horror as the crimson ribbon unravelled itself to... Erm, claim its prize. His flailing was comparable to the animals who fell prey to a predator on those nature shows. Did all of the floaty/possessed letters do that? If not... Why the HELL didn't Matt send HER a kiss? Not that she wanted a ribbon shoved down her throat, but she could not fathom why he would send it to Levi instead. Unless...

She stood so abruptly from her chair that the piece of wooden furniture tumbled to the floor with a bang. "Babe...? Did he just call you 'babe'?" The Gryffindor might have assumed she was getting ready to punch him when she suddenly leaned over to place her hands on his shoulders and stare directly down at those entrancing hazel eyes, but it was difficult for her to keep the remaining embers ablaze as her as the torrent of tears extinguished their light. "... Are the two of you dating again?"

Poor Levi was going to have a tough day.

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Interacting| @Levi Drakos | @Winnie Harper | @Aurora Ranvier | @Cain Corvus Mentioning| @Percival Gray | @Marshal Mozor

Outfit Reducio

Interacting : @Winnie Harper @Santario Martin Puppeteering : @Mathias Pride Mentioning : @Levi Drakos

"Y-You! You're... You're a pureblood, s-so you know how to make it work again!"
He nearly dropped his quite empty tea-cup when Winnie addressed him suddenly. "I- ah, how'd you know?" Seeing Winnie like this was horribly new and he took up the rumpled letter and smoothed it out. "I'll give it a shot." This could go well or it could go horribly, sometimes he just wasn't sure what someone's reaction might be but he set to work. His small hands smoothing out and folding the once enchanted letter into something akin to the mouth shape it held before with some minor alterations. While Winnie was busy about to interrogate Levi next after Aurora, he put it on his hand like a puppet and reached over to have paper-Matt confront Winnie in front of Levi's face. Oh boy, please work.
"Hi Winnie! It's me, Mattie! I'm sorry that I'm just such a big, dumb, mean dork that I couldn't tell you in person that you're too good for me. When you see me again, feel free to give me a biiiig punch! Right in the kisser!"

He retracted his hand after a moment, giving the teary-faced girl some time to register his words. He did his best impression of the voice he heard, but it may have come out a little bit sillier than he meant. "Mattie" was still on his hand when Santario Martin joined the table and he flushed a bit when he remembered he was in public and supposed to be a proper prefect. He noted her attire was just as casual as his and felt a small sense of relief. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Martin." The fresh-faced first year had no idea the danger he was even remotely in, though the way she eyed him up made him feel like Hansel inside a gingerbread house. "I'm sorry we haven't met sooner." Awkwardly he was glad she hadn't offered her hand since his was still in his 'puppet'.

Wearing : Cable-knit gray sweater, dark jeans, black boots, rose hastily pinned over heart.

Her hair is dark brown

Banner made by Winnie Harper

Mentioning @Erin Ryan @Nicholas McCowan

Interacting with @Winnie Harper

He was enjoying his own thing, sitting with the girls, not even giving a single glance towards the broken hearted Aurora. It felt like her appreciation and adoration was being tolerated and taken for granted. True, stubborn, loud, a tad aggravating, was in her blood. Some don't value highly too much affections, maybe one of them was Nicholas. And now the most uncomfortable sight was playing like a movie, yet, she didn’t move. So it wasn’t just that Della Barftopia, he had many flings behind her back. It was shocking to see that the scary Slytherin beater would be his probably long list of side chicks. This wasn’t the destination she had expected to arrive at, as painful as walking with doc martens jadon max covered your feet and you forgot to put on your socks. The appearance of the three other people were overlooked. She was already at the bottom of the pit, drowning in the emotional pain. Let it sink in, she said. Long enough until it gains a new perspective. But the only thing that came approaching was the still image of him being hugged by—whoever her name was. Wrinkly letter on her hands became a crumpled piece of paper in merely a second as she clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. The anger was nothing but a shield of pain, trapped in a confusion she carried. Was this real or just a scenario inside her head? As if she were in the alley surrounded on all sides, scared and desperate. Though the shield was not as strong as she expected, hence the neverending tears, exposed for anyone to see. But he didn’t care. He never cared.

Once again, her emotions were turning into barbed wires. Now that she fully realised that nothing lasts forever, everything was hers when it finally wasn’t, why have bonds when you will lose it in the end? Are they worth the drive? Are they worth the pain? At least when death pulled them apart, it wasn’t because they wanted to. It is just how life works, once you get born, then you will be buried. But this was his choice to leave, to cause immense misery, to stab her right on the chest. Did the knife cut both ways? She didn’t know. When Winnie spoke her name, she just passed the crumpled up note towards her direction. She couldn’t bear to look at his table anymore, and instead, looked down to her shaky hands, and didn't know what to do next. But the rainbow would spring from the wildest thunderstorm. Like what she already knew, nothing lasts forever. So does the agony she felt. It would go away someday as the wind blows. Surely not today.

Sta - 5 | Eva - 9 | Str - 5 Wis - 8 | Arc - 4 | Acc - 10 Terrible Presence Evasive Maneuvers

Outfit Reducio