With the capture of Verandi Farley and several high-ranking Trossach members, the British wizarding world has finally caught a break. The rate of rogue werewolf attacks have started dropping at a steady rate and, hopefully, things will stay that way. The Ministry is starting to loosen some restrictions, like not arresting werewolves standing on the street for loitering, however there’s still an obvious power imbalance between wizardfolk and werewolves.
The Cotswolds pack are continuing to advocate for the rights of werewolves and petitioning to change the legislation that has been set in motion by the current Minister for Magic, whilst the remaining Trossachs members are trying to stay out of the spotlight and keep a low profile… for now.
Whilst the British wizarding world seems to have calmed down, the same cannot be said for over in Northern Europe where a rebellion of magical creatures has risen. The state of things has gotten so bad that the European Ministry has enacted protocols to protect those under eighteen whilst their adult witches and wizards fight to keep control of their countries.
Students from Durmstrang have been sent to Hogwarts to keep them safe and those not old enough to attend school have been sent to live with relatives or designated British Ministry officials outside of Europe for the time being.
Will the low rates of werewolf attacks in Britain continue? How long will Durmstrang students stay at Hogwarts? Will the creatures usurp the wizardfolk in Northern Europe? Only time will tell.
SEPTEMBER 2019 It's been a very long, eventful summer in the wizarding world. A baby was stolen, several high ranking Trossach members were imprisoned, and werewolf attacks have drastically dropped as a result. What will happen now school has returned?
MAY 2019 An attempt to capture the beta of the Trossachs has been launched. Were the Aurors successful in their mission? Go read more here!
"Grace! What's up?" Zoë's rough voice echoed through the north wing study room as if she had cast sonorus on herself, or at least as if she didn't care that the cozy hall was being used by students to do their homework, which--was probably true. She was not the kind of person to reject the entire concept of homework, although she often found it boring, but she also wasn't the kind of person to be quiet just because someone told her to be.
It had taken her some time to locate Grace Longbottom, because while the Hufflepuff girl was her own best friend's friend, she didn't always hang out in the same places Zoë did. Rodrik had managed to get himself that sweet prefect job, but Zoë as a prefect? Not a snowball's chance in hell. She'd have to turn herself in for detention at least once a week (which, she thought, was the best benefit of having your friend be prefect, so he'd let everything slide). So Grace remained a friend of a friend, who Zoë didn't mind chatting with in class but was mostly just an acquaintance.
That being said, Zoë was bored, and needed someone to hang out with (and maybe flirt with since Ryker Young was sadly off the market), so hanging out in the study hall area was just how it was going to be tonight. She found herself an open seat next to Grace, and immediately set about leaning on the back two legs of the chair.
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Oct 5, 2019 7:16:32 GMT
Twisting the strands of the bottom of her long blonde braid absent-mindedly, Grace tried to soak in the information from the History of Magic textbook in front of her. She had to learn this, or else when it came time for end of year exams, she'd be in trouble. But the thing was... Grace had been at it for hours and the tiny writing crammed into the one page was all starting to blur together, hurting her eyes. Just as she was making the decision to possibly pack it in for the afternoon, a voice shouting her name had Grace's head lifting.
Zoë' Valeria. A girl that absolutely scared the knickers off her half the time with the way she approached things. Grace didn't dislike her, but she was intimidated by her and the times they had chatted, she worried that she was going to meet the end of Zoë's abrasive tone if she said the wrong thing... then there was also the fact that through her letters with Rodrik, she'd learned more about the girl than she possibly needed to know. Like the fact that Zoë' took girls into broom closets for more than just dates, the mere thought of which made Grace's cheeks tinge pink. "Hi, um... just... you know... erm, studying for History of Magic, in case... well, you know, exams and things."
Grace watched as Zoë decided to sit in the chair right beside her, rocking back on the two hind-legs. A move that had Grace immediately worrying her lip because, "You might fall and crack your head open. I mean, I don't want to tell you what to do, but it'd be rather disastrous if you did and then I'd have to mend you and by Merlin, what if I messed it up? Then you wouldn't be alive, and all... but I'm sure you know that. Um." Quietening down with realisation that Zoë was old enough to decide whether she wanted to lean back dangerously on a chair, Grace tried to move the subject along with, "You... did you want to talk to me about something, or... because I didn't ask Rodrik to get you to tell me about all the girls you take into broom closets, because that's none of my business and I really don't want to pry and he brought up that people don't go on dates in the closets because you've told him that you have - um. Do... things... in there, instead."
"I'm not gonna fall, I do this every day--wait, what?" Zoë almost did fall off her chair at how forward Grace was, instead leaning forward and slamming the legs down with a loud bang! That totally wasn't what she'd expected to hear from the prefect's mouth, but hey, she wasn't going to complain--just do a spit-take. At least it was a topic she was much more familiar with than History of Magic, which she'd dropped after deciding it was way too much like hearing her mother ramble on and on. She wasn't going to be any help with studying, but with broom closets...
"Dear Merlin. It's Rodrik's fault. I'm gonna tell him he's the worst wingman ever. Um," she said. "Did you, like, not know what people do in broom closets?" Or in abandoned classrooms, or for a few of the luckier couples, in their dorm beds? Zoë had grown up in an environment she'd thought was being incredibly sheltered, barely ever allowed to even make friends, but the second she'd gotten to Hogwarts, she'd wasted no time figuring this kind of thing out. Not that she dragged girls into closets at the age of eleven--but blasting herself out of the closet at the age of twelve, yeah, she'd done that.
And then she had a thought that made her want to slam her head on the table just as hard as her chair. "And if you tell me he was trying to get you in there, I'm gonna slap him." Rodrik was her best friend, but if he had somehow decided to leap straight from "pining virgin" to "screwing my shyest friend in the worst possible place," he would deserve it.
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Oct 7, 2019 4:59:33 GMT
'I'm not gonna fall' was exactly what little kids said right before they did fall, and a moment later, Zoë almost did just that, her chair slamming down. Grace let out a small shriek at the sound the chair made as it clattered against the floor before she could stop herself, jumping in her seat. Loud noises always spooked her, especially when they were all of a sudden.
"Wingman? What... is... that's when people, er... who were you trying to get Rodrik to wingman? Why do they call it that anyway? Wingman. It's not like the person has wings or anything, they're not a bird," Grace said, nose scrunching up in thought. She really had been reading for too long and apparently, it had turned her batty. But then Zoë was asking if she didn't know what happened in closets and Grace's cheeks turned an impressive shade of red. "I always heard people saying they were meeting up for dates in there, and... and hooking up, so I just thought that - I still don't really understand... it's so cramped in there. Like, absolutely teeny tiny. I don't really get how you can do more than... than... talk." She didn't want to know either, or... well, she didn't want to admit she wanted to know aloud. Ever since she found out what people actually did in the broom closet, she'd wondered how they made it work because the activities they were doing in there were meant for beds. Lying down. In bed.
Grace nearly choked on her own tongue as Zoë asked if Rodrik was trying to get her in the closet and quickly spluttered out a, "No, he was just asking me for date ideas, and I suggested that. He wouldn't... I'm not... I don't... I think he's lovely and he is very pretty, but I don't... he likes someone else, I'm pretty sure." Not only that, but... Grace didn't fancy him. She could admit that he was handsome and a good friend, but she didn't like him in that way.
Oh, thank Merlin. Rodrik wasn't going after Grace, he was just being his usual hopeless romantic self. At least that was normal. "I dunno," Zoë said, shrugging, in response to Grace's question. She had never thought it was important to figure out what "wingman" really meant, only that Rodrik was a terrible one, no matter how nice of a person he was. She'd do better for him when he finally decided to ask out that one friend of his, she was sure. If he ever did--but she'd poke him to do it. "It's not important what it means. Just that they help you get into the broom closet." Ah, Grace, so innocent. So cute, even if she was totally almost a head taller than Zoë. Which so wasn't fair, but the short girl was used to it.
"Why the closet? 'Cause that's, like, the whole point. You get all up close and you're already touching, so it's very convenient." She grinned, raising her eyebrows playfully. "I could give a demonstration, you know," she added with an exaggerated wink. Grace didn't seem the type for it, but Zoë wasn't going to complain about this direction in the conversation.
"Nah, you're right, he totally does like someone else. I wondered why he was going after you." Which was good, honestly--it meant Zoë could flirt with no regrets. For all that she made fun of Rodrik for his pining, and teased him that she would take his crushes, she wasn't going to ruin his chances. No, she was a good wingman.
Even if she was doing it for her own self! "You also happen to be very pretty," she said, "so I'm sure someone would be willing to show you a good time, closet or no."
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Oct 19, 2019 4:29:17 GMT
Had Grace ever helped one of her friends go into the closet with someone they were interested in? She wasn't sure, and now she couldn't help but think... had her advice to Rodrik helped him get that girl he was interested in into the closet? She hadn't heard any updates but maybe they got their happily ever after and... and more. "I, um... and are you a wingman for... for people as well then? If Rodrik's your wingman?"
You get all up close and you're already touching. Dear Merlin, it sounded like a scenario in one of those romantic books Grace liked to read, the ones she kept firmly hidden beneath her bed. It reminded her of that particular chapter with the pirate and the fair maiden when they'd been tied together with rope against a pole after being captured... even thinking of that particular event made Grace's cheeks go pink, a blush that ended up growing much, much deeper as Zoë said something that made her choke on mid-air. "I... I've never... there's a, um... I... so, the thing is that..." she was stumbling over her words and painfully aware of it too. Closing her eyes, Grace took a deep breath, "I mean, it's not that I don't like girls. I think they're pretty and they have soft, um... soft hair and nice eyes and bott - I mean, and all of that, but... but I just... I've never..." She'd never admitted that she liked girls more than just friends aloud, but she'd also never kissed a single soul and the thought of going into a closet with someone was daunting.
The next thing she knew, Zoë was complimenting her, calling her pretty and Grace was immediately shaking her head. "Oh, no. You don't have to say that. I mean, there's a lot of... of other girls in Hogwarts who... I'm not really... you're pretty," she ended up saying, glancing down at her hands afterwards. She'd never been good at taking a compliment, mostly because she didn't actually believe the words leaving the other person's mouth. Pretty? She was average, at best. There was nothing remarkable about her. "I... I don't think I'd... until I was dating someone, or... I think that for me, se... um, inter... er, getting together with someone is... I want my first time to be... to be special." It sounded so silly, she knew that, and her gaze remained on her hands.
"Well, yeah, I'm a wingman, sure. Not for Rodrik, though, he's too busy making moony eyes at the veela girl to let me talk to her for him." Zoë pondered, her mouth twisting to the side in consideration. "You need one? Who're you after?" She'd heard the rumors about Grace and the Ravenclaw prefect, but if those were true, then she didn't need anyone's help. Though, with the girl stuttering more than even Rodrik, Zoë had her doubts on the veracity of all that. She couldn't say just what all the prefects got down to on their patrols alone together at night, but knowing their personalities, she doubted they did any more than braid each other's hair or something.
It was a shame, because she'd meant her compliment: Grace was pretty. If she had been the type to party along with Zoë, she'd have taken her into the broom closet long ago. As it was, the blonde was insistent on having her first time be special--which Zoë supposed she could understand even if she didn't share the same sentiment. For her, it had been an older girl in that very closet, with her just wanting to get it over with so that she wouldn't have to be a virgin anymore. Whether that had been the right decision, Zoë didn't really consider.
Grace's words did give her a way to keep the compliments going, though, and she smirked. "Pretty, sure," she said, even though she wasn't sure she'd describe herself in that way, "but is my hair soft? Is my bottom nice? 'Cause I can let you touch, if you want."
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Oct 30, 2019 9:00:13 GMT
Grace hadn't actually known who Rodrik was interested in and her mouth fell open just a tad upon hearing Zoë's declaration that it was the 'veela girl.' There were a few in Hogwarts, but one in particular crossed Grace's mind. "Nadya? Oh, she's lovely. She gave me advice about Russian treats once and we made healing paste together," she murmured before falling silent at Zoë's question. Did she need a wingman? "I don't... I don't think so, I... I mean, I haven't really - I think I'd not even be in the league of anyone you try to, um... to wingman me with." She didn't say Aiden's name, but his ocean eyes definitely played in her mind as she thought about somebody Zoë could wingman her for. "Do... you? I can - well, I don't think I can but I could always try to be your wingman."
If Grace thought she had been red before, she felt like a gosh darn tomato now, one that was ready to explode all over the place due to the temperature soaring inside of her. Zoë' had just invited her to touch her bottom and so casually too... like... like she'd offered her a goblet of pumpkin juice instead of a chance to grope one of her most private body parts. Utterly flustered and unsure on what to say, Grace granted herself a few seconds to compose herself before opening her mouth. Those few seconds proved to have been useless, however, as the words, "I've never touched anyone's bottom before," came flying out and into the air between them. Merlin's beard. "Not that... I mean, we'd have to do stuff before bottom touching." Nope, she was making this worse. "Not! I... not... I don't think I could do that before going on a date and... and holding someone's hand. It just wouldn't be polite."
Nadya? Oh, man, if Rodrik had liked her, Zoë thought she might have had to slap him upside the head a lot sooner. While Zoë didn't hate all Slytherins--Kaylie was one, after all, and they were friends--she regarded the snakes with a little more suspicion than the rest of the school. Too much arrogant pureblood bullshit packed into one dungeon, if you asked her. And Nadya, while not being pureblood, certainly seemed to hit all the checkboxes for arrogant--which was why it surprised Zoë to hear that Grace thought she was so nice. Maybe there were some sort of depths to the veela girl that didn't show in class.
But that was beside the point. It was Lyuba that Rodrik liked, and Grace that Zoë was grinning at now, amused by all the talk of bottom touching. "Nah, it's her sister. The Gryffindor one. Apparently she cuddles him in the common room--apparently I'm not cuddly enough! I was so wounded to hear!" She put a hand to her heart in mock misery. "I'd go for her, but I won't step on his toes, so you can save your wingman skills for later."
Grace was definitely blushing now, and Zoë knew she shouldn't push, but it was so much fun. "Oh? Stuff before bottom touching? I enjoy that too, don't worry. And all the things after, too," she added with a wink. "The offer's open." Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to have something like Grace was actually talking about, a real relationship with hand holding and dates that didn't involve being intoxicated in abandoned areas in the castle, but having that seemed to be a lot harder than it was supposed to be. Flirting was easier.
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Nov 8, 2019 9:35:02 GMT
Cuddles in the common room. Merlin's beard, did anyone do that in the Hufflepuff common room? Was Grace just wildly oblivious to it if it did happen? "Once... once I sat on Adrian Anderson in the common room," Grace blurted out spontaneously before blinking. Oh, that sounded strange, now didn't it? "It was an accident though. I didn't see him. I wouldn't... wouldn't sit on him on purpose. I'd crush his legs, I think, same with... with anyone's legs. Um. I didn't stay there long though." She was rambling and Grace's fingers flew up to her mouth, chewing nervously on her thumbnail. But then Zoë confessed that she'd go for Lyuba, which sent her back into the original conversation. "She's nice too, I think? I haven't really spoken to her... is there anyone else you'd... er... go fo - wait, no, that's too personal. Nevermind. Just ignore me."
Today was the day that Grace ceased existing. She was sure of it. Her hands flew up to her cheeks, pressing her cold hands against them to try and will away the heat that was only continuing to build. "I... oh. Like... like... kissing and... I mean, hand holding too, and talking... and... but... and then after, there's - but you know what comes after with... with girls. I don't know if you know about with... with guys. I mean, in practice, not... not... in theory." Now she was making assumptions that Zoë had never been with a guy. This wasn't good. Trying her best to redirect the conversation out of that territory, Grace scrambled her brain before deciding to ask quietly, "What's, um... kissing. What's it like? Is it really like in... in the books, or...?"
Zoë really wanted to wink and make a joke about sitting on someone on purpose, but Grace's next words hit her like an icy glass of cold water poured over her head. Anyone she'd go for--besides Lyubov, of course, and Grace herself? There were, and she couldn't. Even the girls she'd hooked up with in the past all seemed to be taken now. Wonder Woman Ryker was with the one Slytherin girl, and crazy yet hot redhead Mavican was with some other Quidditch player (and of course, Zoë hadn't made the team again this year, so that had probably ruined her chances).
"Ah, but what if I was going to tell you it was you?" she asked, trying to make her eyes sparkle again. Grace was pretty and Grace was single and it was okay. "I can't tell you if it's true, though. You said ignore, so..." She made a zipper motion against her lips, smirking.
"But yeah, kissing. I've only ever kissed girls before, but that's 'cause I'm gay. I guess it's like in the books? I don't know, I don't really read books like that." Romance novels had never appealed to Zoë, the whole concept of the damsel in distress or whatever it was called making her want to vomit. "But it's nice. Real nice. You never kissed anyone before?"
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Nov 28, 2019 0:37:18 GMT
Grace's thumbnail that she was determinedly chewing on didn't leave her mouth as Zoë said, 'What if I was going to tell you it was you?' Rarely did Grace sound confident when she spoke, but as she said the words, "It wouldn't be," they were full of gusto. She'd learned earlier in the year that nobody truly wanted her, that oftentimes flirting was... a means to an end.
The image that danced in her head of Zoë's lips pressed up against another girl's was enough to have heat coiling in Grace's stomach especially when she imagined it being her. She wasn't gay, she didn't think, but the thought of kissing another girl? It was... it was intriguing, and Grace wasn't opposed. Maybe one day... "Really? They're so romantic though. I mean, I've got one that I'm reading at the moment where.... where there's a... I don't know. It sounds like it's nice. Kissing, that is," she admitted softly, ducking her head.
Zoë's question immediately had Grace shaking her head and suddenly, she found the small watermark on the table very interesting. It felt... embarrassing to say no, she hadn't, but she wasn't about to lie. It just wasn't something she was comfortable with. "No, I - I've never really had the chance to, or... I mean, I want to one day, but I've... I don't think people like me that... that way. I don't know. Somebody told me not too long ago that I was naive, and maybe that's why. Nobody wants to kiss someone who hasn't got a clue what they're doing," Grace said, lips twisting into a half-frown. "How... I mean, I gather you've kissed people before. How old were you the first time?"
It wouldn't be? Those words almost stunned Zoë. Did Grace not ever look in a mirror or something? She was adorable. Maybe not smoking hot in the way Ryker was (sigh) but certainly pretty. And if there was ever one to judge pretty girls, Zoë felt like it should be her. She drummed her fingers on the table, trying to figure out what the best thing to say was. What did you tell someone when you were trying to flirt with them and they just felt bad?
"I mean--don't put yourself down? You are pretty, I did tell you that, right?" This comfort thing did not come naturally. "And I'm not just saying that. It's true, else why would I bother?" Zoë shrugged.
She was relieved when the conversation slid past some of the awkwardness. "I think actually kissing someone is better than reading about it, honestly. Plus, there really aren't a lot of books about two girls together. At least not in bookstores that I've seen." She put her chin in her hand, frowning. "It's not that hard, really. People say it is but that's only because they want to feel--like they have some secret knowledge, I guess? All you do is put your lips together and move them. And maybe your tongue if you want. It just sort of happens naturally." The own story of her first kiss rose to her mind, a memory that she was never sure what to feel about. She herself had just wanted to feel grown up, to kiss a girl just to know what it was like. "I was thirteen, but the girl I was kissing was a lot older. Here at school. And it wasn't that good, because I was thirteen. But everything turned out alright!"
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Dec 7, 2019 0:54:25 GMT
Don't put yourself down. Grace had heard those words a thousand times and yet... she hadn't taken them on board ever. She just felt like when compared to others, she wasn't good enough. Why would she be? She was just... meh. She wasn't anything special. "I - I don't know. Maybe you're just... it doesn't matter. I don't... I'm sorry," she murmured, finally pulling her thumbnail from her mouth. It was red and inflamed, looking a second away from bleeding. Shoot. She hadn't realised she had been biting it that hard.
Trying to shake off this weird, awkward feeling that encompassed her because she didn't like feeling so bizarre, Grace paid attention to what Zoë was saying. "I don't think I've ever really read a book with two girls together - I mean, as the two main characters. It's not because I wouldn't want to - I mean, I probably... would... um, but just because I haven't seen many on the shelves and..." She was flushing pink again, and then Zoë kept going with a description of kissing. It sounded nice, and not too overwhelming when it was put like that. Kind of like it was something that one day, Grace could manage. "That sounds... lovely. Pleasant. I don't - I have this really bizarre thought sometimes that I'll end up accidentally biting someone else's lip or tongue or something or like... headbutting them and that would be really awful, wouldn't it? Headbutting someone in the middle of kissing them. That's not se - um, fun."
Thirteen... it was such a young age to do something like kissing, or at least in Grace's opinion. She hadn't even debated kissing anyone at that age, even if she thought they were cute and hand-holding would be nice. "Do... do you wish sometimes that you were older or that things happened differently? Maybe that you kissed someone in our year for the first time instead?" she asked, before blanching. It seemed like she was interrogating Zoë when that really wasn't the way she meant to come across. She was just curious more than anything. "Sorry, did that sound... I just mean, like, it's - I mean, you said everything turned out alright, so I'm sure that it was fine."
Never read a book with two girls together. See, that was the problem! Zoë didn't feel like she could say she liked romances when they weren't something she could relate to. "There should be some. If I could write, I'd write one." But the most creative writing she ever did was coming up with increasingly weird predictions in Divination class, and that didn't seem like it lent itself very well to romance. "And biting their lip is what you're supposed to do. Didn't the books ever teach you that?" she asked, smirking. "Probably not headbutting, though. Just stick to biting. That's the fun part."
She played idly with the zipper on her jacket to give herself time to think of a response about the next question. Did she regret it? "I guess--I don't really know," she admitted. She'd always told herself she wasn't going to let herself regret it, so she didn't. Everyone did dumb things when they were thirteen, and besides, she'd gotten what she wanted, right? To kiss a girl so she wouldn't have to worry about being a loser who never kissed anyone? Zoë bit her lip, realizing that her thirteen-year-old self would've thought Grace was a loser now. That was a weird thought that made her have to pause. She hadn't thought it back then--but then Grace had also been thirteen, and Zoë hadn't cared about the status of the Hufflepuff's snogging history. Maybe it was that everyone older always seemed like they were supposed to be more grown-up?
It seemed important not to think about it too much, or else she would start overthinking and feeling uncomfortable. "Sure, it's not what I would pick now, but at the time I thought it was alright. And hey, I kissed people in our year later, so I didn't miss out!"
