Reunion PV

Hanako often showed things for others to react to. It was one of the things that defined his main personality. Say what you want about Hanako, but he could hardly be called bland. Showing things however, shouldn't be mistaken for presenting hearts on one's sleves. That was different. Enough so that unless you hounded the boy, his actions and dialogs don't always match up with his thoughts and feelings. And that's what Althea Valeden often did. Hounding him.

He groaned internally as the remnants of their time together occationally float through his mind. Half embarssed by the 11 year old version of himself and what he thought was a good idea. Long before he was this charismatic, handsome, suave, talented duelist ( all self proclaimed claims with no citations ), he was this mess of a child who thrived on certain attention. A lot more selective with how long he allowed people to interact with him. And the result of what happens when he decided he liked you too much was…. well, Valeden was possibly the first to get the full force of what Hanako would do.

Unfortunately for him at the time, Valeden had a force of her own too. A mighty one that often landed a critical hit on 11 year old Hanako Tone. Specificaly one that involved a charms book at the back of his head. Among many other things really. But circling back to the earlier internal monologue often found on this site, hounding was effective.

Who said Hufflepuffs couldn't be sneaky? The girl eventually with her relentless persistence, often tried to get closer to him despite the many obstacles he tried to put in between them. He didn't know when it happened but eventually those obstacles kept getting…evaded by Valeden. To the point where at some point in time, Hanako might have considered her …. someone he didn't mind to be around.

That period was slow. A predicament that he used to be grateful about for so long. What with her growing distance and sudden disappearance entirely from Hogwarts. But like he mentioned, he was not one to show his heart on his sleeves. So he kept on performing the popular play called ' Hanako pretends not to care by pretending not to remember'.

A mouthful to say. Shortened to just HPNTCBPNTR. He'll work on the name later.

So when he heard little rumours of her coming back, he didn't pay much mind to it. Until he managed to catch fleeting glimpses of her. Whatever he could of course before he instinctively looked away like a man at his own crime scene. At first he thought he had gone too long kissing anyone and started hallucinating. He didn't' see her in class anymore afterall. But eventually, it was evident it wasn't a mere ghost of the past.

She was here. Again. No longer in the same year. The years changed her of course. But Hanako didn't forget a face, often. Especially not one like Althea Valeden.

After getting tired of 'what ifs' and 'maybes' or 'perhaps', he bluntly told his roommate he planned to go out to see her. The last thing he needed was Jack to assume Valeden was one of Hanako's short lived flings of the past. Please. She resided in his memory a lot more than most flings before.

It was surprisingly easy to find her. He glared at what he assumed was her. Was it a coincidence? Or had she purposely chosen this place to stay today? He wasn't getting answers from all the way here, won't he? So instead of mulling over it, he stalked closer to her. The tinge of desserts tickling his nose. Carrying with it, a flash of nostalgia.

It was effective.

" Those pair better with tea" His tone came out a lot more gentler than he intended. He wondered if her voice was different than before. His was, for sure. The awkward squeaky overtly egotistical tone now morphed to a deeper, more honeyed tone. Much like the mild sweetness that emitted from the perfume he regularly wears. " That's a crime you know." he leaned against the tree, not particularly looking at her. Instead focused on the grass under his shoes. " Thought I taught you enough for you to know how to make good tea? Tell me, was it an ignorant issue, or skill issue - that caused you to come here without tea?"

If this ended up being some random girl, then well - Hanako could flirt to play it off couldn't he?

@Althea Valeden

(Banner by Leo Noxley)

Growing up has changed Althea. Time has ripped away the anxious jitteriness that permeated her social interactions in her earlier childhood and first years at Hogwarts, filling that gap with a strange sort of numbing detachment to everything that came her way —perhaps a defense mechanism employed by her psyche to suppress that all-consuming paranoia and fear that overtook her in fourth year. However, if there was one quality that was enshrined and engraved itself deep in her personality over the years of being at Hogwarts, it would be being terrible at responding to Hanako Tone.

From the beginning, Hanako Tone was a challenge for Althea. He was not sharp and aggressive in his witty quips like Leonard Oaksworth had been, or a force of an unfamiliar friendliness like Kara Capricorn, who would sink foreign warmth into her skin in their interactions. No, Hanako was quite different. Under the syrup of saccharine sweetness that coated nearly every word and action resided a barbed tongue and the clever ability to formulate insults that would strike Althea deep into a state of speechlessness. Hanako was unpredictable in his seemingly perpetual state of amused ease, even more so than her chaotic childhood friend, Alex. Back then, it was likely the reason why Althea was obsessed with safeguarding their fragile friendship. The excitement and thrill of a friend that she couldn't practice and prepare interactions for used to drive her nuts.

Now, the aforementioned quality has landed her in yet another situation where she was rendered grasping for a coherent response by the one and only Hanako Tone — and in the middle of her thought of wanting to smack him with her old Charms textbook, a crumbly tart to her mouth at that! Incidentally, the scent of light flower-sweetened perfume reached her before his words did. It was a strange feeling, feeling her mind slowly connect the scent to memories of a distant school year spent with now-vanished friends.

"It probably does," Althea felt her voice form words without a second thought, the sound of them probably a jarring contrast to her previously high-pitched and strictly polite voice. "Both of us wouldn't know, though. I distinctly remember someone avoiding my tea time offer when I last made these back in our second year. I thought you just hated lemon tarts, but perhaps I should've just offered some tea all along..." As she trailed off on the first form of sarcasm she used this year, she subtly registered that this was the first time Hanako had sought her out of his own volition. A foreign warmth enveloped what remnants of the desperate eleven-year-old girl that still dwelled in her heart.

Almost instantly, that cozy fuzzy feeling was intercepted and crushed by a scathing comment about her tea-brewing abilities from the teenager standing above her. A genuine bout of laughter burst out of her. It was sharp and brought cool air into her lungs, so different from the warm sensation of overtly sweet and flirty giggling. It has been far too long since she was questioned and teased so directly. Having gained a reputation for being the "tormented beauty who was held back 3 years because of a family tragedy" upon her return, nobody has dared do more than whisper behind her back and stare from a distance, so she played the part and tried to ignore how that facade drove her crazy. All of this was so refreshing.

Althea placed down her tart to avoid shaking the lemon zest creme onto her robes, still chuckling, "As the most devoted tea connoisseur ever, surely you understand that the bigger crime is my brewing technique itself. Consider it a mercy that I spared any poor, unfortunate soul from having to witness the murky leaf water I brew. Awareness is a rare skill, no?" As the final traces of that laugh fizzled out, her lowered gaze hit her with a sudden realisation: She hadn't looked up at Hanako once since he started speaking.

Frankly, the thought of making the effort to glance up felt strangely anxiety-inducing. Just simply hearing how Hanako's voice had matured into a low, velvet tone made her mind writhe from how it clashed with the memories of their earlier interactions. It would mean confronting what she had left behind that year, and how much time had passed and changed everyone. She had avoided all of her old friends because of exactly that.

Steeling her resolve, Althea flicked her gaze upwards and bent down just right to meet where Hanako's gaze where it had locked onto the grass beneath them. She supposed that Hanako had put in the effort, so the least she could do was to meet him head-on. Just as she had always done.

Though remembering how their last serious conversation went at the Great Lake, she took extra care to keep her tone light and words teasing, "You can't properly lecture me about how bad my brewing technique is from up there, can you? Your trousers are black, so you can tell me how civilised people enjoy these desserts without getting a leaf stain."

@Hanako Tone

Just the mere sound of her voice makes his grin falter into a dangerous gentle - almost longing- smile. Which he was ever so thankful for her to not see just yet. Perfect. Right enough time to cover it up in a careless smirk. On occation Hanako had wondered what she would sound like by now, after her total dissapearance. Even if the other hand't confirmed who she was, nor did she look at him yet to show her face, it was there. That sinking, intrinstic understanding in his gut that this was exactly who he intended to see today. Such a different voice, and yet - he knew. They knew too , evidently. Perhaps they are both sharing the same experience together. Years apart, and the nostalgic wave in each choosen word truthfully.. made his heart clench uncomfortably.

"I'm picky with most things, birdy. That's how to reel in the more quality stuff. Thrifting, connections, lemon tarts - all the same to me". He lied a teeny bit about the connections part, but she didn't have to know that. Not yet at least. Not until Hanako coulf figure out what brought her here again, like a ghost of a past coming to haunt him. " Aha- well, tea would've helped in your past bribery for sure" he agreed.

His smiled faltered for a moment at her laugh. Staying still as if moving would unfreze time and he would need to remember again how rare it was to hear it. New, in the lull of her now grown teenager voice, still just as rare. At least.. thats what he thought. Who knew, perhaps she was more of a laugher now. " Oh I see~" he lightly laughed along, " What such pretty use of language just to confirm that it indeed, a skill issue" he grinned, shaking his head as he himself calmed down from his own chortles.

It was then that his gaze met with Althea's that he couldn't properly hide the way his eyes widened a little.

Well… this definitely could've been dangerous if he hadn't recognised her. As he liked to say, never let a beauty forget they were one. But this beauty in particular did once threw a charms textbook at him. So he had to reel himself in, remembering that among the many pretty faces in Hogwarts, Althea was a little more different than the rest. Due to her… history with him.

"Is that so? You offering? free?" it came out as a question but he was already sitting down next to her. Proping up one of his legs so his arm could you it as an arm rest. Casually confident- that's what he was going for. As if this little meeting hasn't made him panic about what to say before.

@Althea Valeden

(Banner by Leo Noxley)

Memories are often hazy and out-of-reach these days. Althea had willed it to be so, preferring to close away and dilute the vividity if it meant being better able to “live in the present”, as her mind healer had encouraged. In particular, anything even remotely related to Hogwarts and her friends that may trigger an emotion she was only willing to acknowledge as ‘FOMO’.

However, hearing Hanako’s voice that was still so jarring compared to his previously higher, posher voice, speaking with that same sarcasm and quips interwoven with that light sweet tone, and catching that long-lost nickname — “Birdy”. Hearing how he dismissively tried to brush off her snide remark about her previous bribe of lemon tarts, similar to how he always did when the truth and conclusion were too troublesome, Althea felt tension in her strangely melt away. In that moment, she could almost hear the first time she had heard that nickname from him on the Hogwarts Express during their first year, calling her “little bird” as they bantered and formed the bet that started it all. Though now, she supposed that she was no longer “little”. Neither of them was, she registered faintly. Even as they shared a light bout of laughter — something which she did not recall happening much back then — with their same style of banter, things have changed. Yet, she only found a surprisingly amount of fond acceptance, which she tried to file away before it complicated itself.

Although she had initiated the act, Althea barely kept her shoulders from shooting up in a jarring startle when her eyes were met with Hanako’s honey-brown eyes. She felt her eyes widen when she saw Hanako’s own eyes do the same. She barely caught it though. He had never been one for dramatic expressions, despite his nature to be... What he is.

Admittedly, in her childhood, she had not been fond of eye contact. Nobody would catch her eyes beyond a few seconds at a time, but now, she mildly mourned that as she stared at a gaze that had mellowed like warmed butter since the last time she had briefly chanced upon them. Though, there was something she couldn't pinpoint, that made that warmer depth unsettling.

Something's changed, she thought, something that time could not explain away. Would curiosity keep that change a secret between them forever?

.... Well, she didn't quite dare chance it.

She found herself mildly amused when that gaze fixed itself on her for a moment too long, recognising a glimpse of a familiar expression that she had grown familiar with, with how she spent most of her free time these days.

Almost instinctively, a hand reached up to curl a loose lock of chestnut brown hair framing her face, before awareness crashed down like a tidal wave, and that hand slammed down to her satchel with her boxed desserts. Althea Valeden would not be caught dead acting like that, by the Great Lake, at this specific tree, at Hanako Tone, instinct or not. Besides, she would not be the girl to fawn over someone who shoved her into a cold lake and made her chase him like a stubborn house rat across Hogwarts.

Althea busied herself with reaching to grab a container of desserts with her spare hand as Hanako settled into a suave and casual position beside her on the grass, with a shocking lack of resistance and an amusing effort to keep the mood light with confidence. That makes both of them, she internally mused. Her hand settled on the container with vanilla tea cakes, following a random wisp of memory whispering that Hanako quite fancied vanilla ice cream. She wondered where that was from. Off-handed comment? An admirer? Regardless, her gut knew for some odd reason that it was true.

“Oh, no, what kind of business woman would I be if I did not charge the one and only Hanako Tone?” Althea huffed, her lips curling as she peeled off the baking parchment layer above the cakes. She placed the container at a comfortable distance between them, going back to finishing the lemon tart beginning to precariously crumble in her other hand.

“For you having these desserts dry without tea, I'll compensate with a little game.” The words left her before she could think. She pressed forward. “One story or fact about ourselves, and we'll take turns, and the embers of our legendary bet will rekindle itself. Most impressive wins.”

Althea glanced nervously at Hanako, only once, wondering if mentioning their poorly-aged bet would be a tipping point. A small part of her was afraid, that this would really be the final stage of their bet. She hadn't declared a deadline back then, but it's been almost 3 years. Hanako must quite detest how she had strung him along and kept him bound to a bet made carelessly when they were children.

She took another bite of citrusy, sweet pastry. She swallowed quietly.

Her tone was kept delicately casual, “I’ll go first. Some people think that I’ve been replaced by some magical creature now, and that I am vying to lull hot schoolmates our age to their demise. That would’ve been flattering, if the truth wasn’t how I just came back with a more shallow purse. More human than I used to be too. How silly is that?” Althea tried not to look to her side as she waited for a reply, for her attempt to solidify the fragile connection that they’ve established today.

@Hanako Tone