Star-crossed Conjectures PV Dorion Closed

✦ Interacting ✦
@George Henry

Ever since their talk with Professor Rosalind Kibitzer (Rest in Peace, not dead but definitely not at Hogwarts anymore) it wasn't a question that Dorion would select Divination as one of their electives. It was already something that they were interested in with their muggle witchcraft and the fact that it had wizardly components was just as exciting as it was first finding out about it. It actually surprised Dori that George would take divination, he seemed too... closed minded to that sort of stuff. But it seemed that he proved them wrong in that assumption. They got together every now and again to study it together and it just so happened that this week they were talking about zodiacs, something that Dori was already pretty familiar with especially since they had learned about it in 2nd year astronomy.

What Dori had never done was hand charted their birth chart, figuring it out for themselves. Though they had an unfair advantage in already having it memorized. They hummed as they scanned the page looking for Aries, missing that it was right at the top. "I mean- that makes sense for you. You left the Headliner soooo..." They glanced up and stuck their tongue out at him. "Maybe it wasn't your time. I can't believe this is the last issue I wrote for." They shook off the sadness of another position that they had dropped and remembered it was for the best in maintaining grades and being a good captain for Hufflepuff duelling.

"I'm an Aries so... I'm supposed to... ew." Dori's face screwed up in disgust. "Ugh, I'm supposed to be letting people in and helping me or whatever." They rolled their eyes. Surely at this point they didn't need that much help. When they needed it was last year. Oh well. "Do you have any sage advice for me, my capricorn friend?" Truly they did trust George, he was never someone that Dori would call a best friend but it seemed that every year that was getting closer and closer to the reality.

At the mention of them dating Dori held back a snort. "I think Jack would die if we ever did date. But Capricorn and Aries are actually kind of good together. It's earth and fire, so the earth can help ground the fiery nature and the fire can help bring out a bit of passion from the Capricorn... I think. So- we wouldn't be bad together." Huh. That was... an interesting idea. It's not like Dori had any romantic prospects. They tried to get a sneaky look at George. No, no. He was gay and while Dori wasn't a girl they still weren't a boy.

"Oh! Alan and I have the same birthday. Isn't that crazy? In my... 1st year? I think? We had a birthday party together. It was fun but a bit chaotic. But yeah, it definitely matters what year it was. But the basis of like- compatibility and stuff doesn't change. What you have to look at is what your Pisces is in. Whatever your Pisces is in that's what determines your like- romantic tendencies I think." They weren't going that far in homework but it was knowledge that they had that they wanted to impart any way. "I need your birthplace and birth time to do all of that stuff. I could send it to my mom and she could like- put it into a calculator because I don't want to do all that."

George blushed and turned his head away slightly as Dorion called him out for leaving the headliner. It was a while ago, and he had adopted other responsibilities now, but the call of journalism was something he missed. It was good there was still a dedicated team carrying the torch, especially now that the Daily Prophet had shifted their focus from real journalism to basically printing loo roll with moving pictures on it. "I don't have a lot of ideas for articles anymore, mainly because I haven't got to write them. I get all my thoughts out at the breakfast table where they can be ignored before they start to fester."

He wasn't quite sure anyone listened to him when he was on the Headliner, either, but at least he could pretend when he saw people carrying the paper. Jack made his indifference known, and Jake didn't really follow the news as much, which was probably a good thing. George liked to imagine knowing made him more prepared, but really, it only made him more scared. Maybe that's why he enjoyed divination, these days. At least the teacup will tell you something good might happen when the news won't.

"I saw your article... gel pens. I hate muggle item of the month... I'm sure the pure-bloods find it fascinating, though. Alec would probably go insane if you gave him a gel pen. It's just weird to see people ooh-ing and aah-ing over... a gel pen," George grumbled. He'd always been averse to the discussion of muggle artefacts, at least outside of muggle studies. He looked up from his parchment to Dorion. "No offense."

When asked for advice, George leaned in on the table and rested his elbows at the edge, lowering his chin onto his hands. His eyes passed over Dorion, from their hair down to their edge of the table, judging all that he could see. Really, he could find very little to pick on. He shrugged helplessly. "We could pluck the unibrow," he suggested earnestly, holding a serious expression for a few moments until it broke into a grin.

"That might be a nice change of pace," George said, though it was not clear whether he meant dating Dorion or Jack being dead. He suppressed his smile and looked down, putting some minor corrections in place on his birth chart. Determining the alignments of planets required a good deal of memorization and mathematics, so a few mistakes were to be expected. At the idea that they would not have been bad together, George snuck a sneaky look back. No, no. He had way too much on his mind to consider that.

"Oh, wow, that's crazy! Yeah, I remember!" George said, his face brightening up into a broad smile, though his jaw seemed unnaturally tense. He furrowed his brow as he looked at them, trying to hide the feeling of genuine hurt that bubbled up with the memory. "I was there, jerk. Not that you invited me. Alan did. And only because I bumped into him in the owlery. But, you know... I'm not holding a grudge."

And Dorion was meant to be the fiery one? For some reason, George suspected it would end up being the other way around. Besides, Dorion was definitely earthy. They knew all about plants and stuff, and crystals, and whatever. George wasn't sure why he surrounded himself with people so into bugs, animals, and plants, when he would just as soon see the forest paved over to make room for tea shops and candy stores.

"Alan asked me to the ball," George said with a sigh, looking through his textbook at the qualities that Aries were supposed to have. This didn't seem much like Alan, nor Dorion, in all honesty. Fiery, passionate, confident... no. Really, George thought those traits were much more fitting to him. Sucks to be a winter baby, he supposed. He was earthy and boring, like a pet rock. "As a friend. Last time we went together we got attacked by mosps and I didn't even get to dance, so... fingers crossed for a fairy tale ending, this time. And not the bad kind where we get eaten by ugly hags. I think he might have a crush on me... it's a bit awkward..."

✦ Interacting ✦
@George Henry

Dori's mind was an ever revolving door of ideas and mindless commentary that was barely held back at all times. With people they were comfortable with, and lets be honest, with anyone really word vomit was only moments away. The key constantly turned in sealed lips, only to be removed for those that they absolutely couldn't trust. "That's the last thing we need, a George Henry with festering ideas. Might seal us all up again or something." What had been nightmare fuel had turned into a distant memory of bonding and- burning. Maybe it was a little traumatizing still. "Seriously though, it would've been fun working with each other. But I guess this is close enough." They gestured to the notes and books in front of them. Studying was much easier with someone else.

Over time the workload had gotten easier to manage. First year was a brutal adjustment, learning how to get assignments done on time while balancing their own interests. When one fell to the wayside it was always marked by a bad time for Dori mentally. "None taken. You hate muggle item of the month just because it's normal for you. That's why I'm not taking muggle studies. I don't need to learn about my own life." They leaned a little closer, moving the Headliner to the page with the article about the other schools being dangerous. "I also wrote this one, but don't tell anybody."

As their last hurrah they wanted to get their paranoia out into the world, or Hogwarts at the least. Ever since Headmaster Plott ended up in their Common Room before the explosion incident something felt off. With the growing dissent about the half-breeds at the school, especially with Howard as their champion (go Hufflepuff), there was a pit in Dori's stomach about the events that would occur over the next year.

They shoved George's shoulder at the unibrow comment. "Hey! I take very good care of my eyebrows you jerk. You could use some of my help honestly. You don't look as youthful as you used to." They shook their head, pretending to read some of their notes and doodling on the edges of their chart. "Which one? Because I think both would ensue chaos and uproar. We're too cute to be together, all of our suitors would be in pieces." Truthfully, Dori didn't exactly have any romantic prospects. There was still a part of them recovering from their breakup with Astrea. Sure, they initiated it. But it was a painful decision. They just didn't think they could be a good partner to Astrea while they were falling apart inside, breaking down at every moment possible. She deserved better. There was a part of them that hoped maybe they could be together in the future, but they weren't holding on to that.

"We didn't even- we barely knew each other then. You ended up there anyway, so I don't see why it matters now." They pouted, sticking their bottom lip out a bit at George, feigning offense at his offense of them not inviting him. They hadn't really had a birthday party since. It was too much work and distraction. If people remembered it was nice. But it was never something that they were expecting.

All pretense of studying was dropped when George mentioned the ball date. They were still a teenager after all, this was much more interesting than birth charts. "Ooooooh! Alan asked you on a date." Their shoulders wiggled excited for this prospect. "Yeah, must be so awkward when someone likes you right. Because you definitely don't like him, right?" Dori didn't exactly believe that George wasn't interested in Alan even a little bit. "I don't think I've ever had like- a real dance. No wait- I did once with Flash at the last one the Samhain one or whatever last year. I've only had one dance at those. It is really hard to actually dance, they always end up with almost death. I don't think I'm going to end up going to this one." Dori needed a break from balls, especially since they didn't really have anyone to go with. "But did you say yes?? Have you not given him an answer yet, or...?"

George narrowed his eyes, shooting an icy glare at Dorion. It was so long ago, but it still was hardly a joking matter. While it wasn't really a constant nightmare these days, it still crept up on him sometimes, sneaking into other dreams when his anxiety was high. Dancing with a boy and the floor falls away... fires breaking out during examinations... it was a wonder he got any sleep at all with how his brain seemed to amuse itself by combining all his fears into one event. "I'll seal your mouth up, do us all a favor," grumbled George. When Dorion said it would have been fun to work together, George looked up, considering if it would be. "Yeah, I think so. But I don't know... I think we would have been competing for the front page too often."

He had several opposing ideas about the workload. First year was easy. He was interested in learning everything he could about magic, so he absorbed all of the information like a sponge, doing his homework and extra studies without hesitation. But then he'd made friends, added on too many electives, and started captaining a sport. There was too much on his plate to feel relaxed about anything, and that was before you considered the actual life threatening monsters traipsing about the school. "You know - Muggle Studies is a lot harder than you'd think," George said, wrinkling his nose. Perhaps as someone without a working knowledge of the internet he was not well-versed in non-magical studies as one would expect from a muggleborn. "Oh, I liked that article more."

Professor Horne had made him reconsider the idea that anyone from abroad might be an agent of a foreign power, but the foreign professors and ministries were literally foreign agents. For all he knew, the students were just their little henchmen. Except Gideon and Kolya, of course, those two were little gentlemen.

"It's a very beautiful brow. Singular, even," George offered as he ignored the shoulder nudge to the best of his ability. A perceptive Dorion could still catch a little smirk growing on his face, however. The comment about his youth caught his attention, the young boy blinking in disbelief. "I am fourteen!" he whined, reaching up to pull the edges of his face back to hide any non-existent wrinkles that might have appeared over the summer.

He giggled at the idea of being with Dorion - the reactions would be priceless. Especially Jack's... although, it might set him off, like everything else seemed to these days. George felt an itch at the back of his neck and shivered as he considered what could be wrong with the boy... if only anyone would ever listen to him about going to the nurse.

"My birthday is in January. You can come. Maybe," he said, with an easy wave of his hand. Of course, that ancient drama was stale, and was quickly discarded in favor of discussing George's extremely chaotic and turbulent love life - which consisted of him getting into his head about signs so small he could've been making them up in his head.

Dorion's enthusiastic reaction wasn't exactly what George had hoped for when he casually dropped that little hook into talking about his potential suitor. Alan and Dorion must've been friends, they had the same birthday - they had to know what he thought of George. Right? The boy could hardly speak, sputtering as Dorion hit him with the oooo-oooh that signaled the presence of juicy gossip. It was less fun when he was the subject.

"He's fine," George said, with a calculated shrug. He'd spent hours contemplating all the pros and cons of Alan to come to that casual determination. For a moment, he debated lying to them and saying he hadn't accepted... but he already had the whole outfit planned, so it wasn't like Dorion wouldn't see. "I said yes... what else would I have said? He's my friend. I was going to ask the other Jack to mess with him. Or like... Hugh or someone... but I don't think he likes dancing. And I'd like to actually get to dance for once before... I don't know, a dementor pops out of the punch bowl and sucks my soul out through my mouth. I suppose at least then I would've gotten a kiss."

Trying to distract from his obvious discomfort surrounding the subject of Alan, he sent out a few other flashy hooks to pursue- Jack B? Hugh? Goodness, his list of potential prospects was endless. The only boy his age who seemed to evade his notice was Alec, who had set up a perimeter in the friend-zone and refused to be moved. Also, his lips were turning black, which was gross. "You're not going? Lame. I'd go with you if you were. Well, if I didn't already have my date, obviously."