Icicles [Layla]

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December 13, 2025 - Saturday

Lance didn’t think of himself as a bad gift giver, but he sort of was at the same time. Being in the orphanage throughout his time at Hogwarts had made him forget what the importance of Christmas meant to some, and while Pupillus Domum had never skimped on going all out, it still lacked a certain something. He had always known that the second he graduated and could get his own place, he was going to do his best to make it his and go all out for the holidays. His sister had been skeptical at first, which was fine considering Lance had no clue what he was doing, and yet he had managed to get a tree fully decorated by December 1st and with only a few scratches on his arms from the spiny branches of the fir tree. Georgie had been more impressed that he hadn’t immediately gone wild the first of November upon hearing about it. Thankfully Lance knew some restraint, and had everything set for when she returned for the winter break.

Then he ran into a bit of an issue: he had no idea what to get his sister for Christmas this year. Everything in the past had been with what little pocket money he could scrounge up, and was usually miniscule in size. Now he had money from Barbara (who he still refused to send letters to, because she was no mother of his anymore and postage to the US was insane), and some of his own from both bands. The original plan was to let Georgie pick something out herself, since she could be particular about things occasionally and he didn’t want to jump in the middle of that. But letting her know of everything also ruined the surprise, in his opinion. So what did he do?

Asked Layla to help him shop, because he was at a loss for what teenage girls liked these days. They were at a no-maj market that was mainly Christmas themed, so he figured he could get his sister a few winter related things there. That would at least supplement whatever Georgie picked out once she was back. “What about these mittens? She’s always complainin’ about bein’ cold in class, and these have the fingers cut off,” he held the fingerless mittens out in front of Layla for her to look at. The only problem was that they were a violent shade of orange, and that wasn’t really a Georgie color. “Figure I could, y’know, change the look up a tad if she’s not in love with the color…”

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starry, starry night

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December 13, 2025
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Layla had been happy when Lance asked her to help with some Christmas shopping. It combined two of her favorite hobbies plus a chance to hang out. The holidays were a favorite time of year for her, it reminded her of family and good times. Plus, she’d seen the expression in his face when he explained that it was a gift for his sister who was in her teens and she wasn’t surprised. From her experience with friends at school and such most brothers hadn’t the slightest idea what to get their sisters as a gift on any occasion. She was happy to help regardless. Lance picked out some mittens but with the fingers cut off and she looked at them curiously. Of course, if she was cold then fingerless mittens might not be the best bet but they did look cool. ”That is a very interesting shade of orange.” She observed, very unique. She might have bought them for herself if it didn’t clash with her currently blonde hair. Maybe if she ever died it red again.

”What if you have it match her house colors?” She suggested. Lance hadn’t mentioned what house she was in but some cool red mittens would have gone well with her own Gryffindor scarf as a student. Layla looked at the rest of the stand. There were beanies, scarves and other gloves and mittens there. Her eyes scanned until they stopped. ”What about a beanie?” Layla walked over and grabbed a beanie that was like your typical beanie except it had fabric that served as earflaps and a ball on top. It wasn’t just a plain color, however, and had a simple pattern across the middle. ”Beanies were always nice when it snowed at the Castle.”

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Despite Hogwarts being a school of magic, throughout his seven years there, Lance had always been perplexed by the castle’s draftiness. He knew of a multitude of temperature changing and weather charms that would be perfect for making the classrooms more habitable. The dungeons were the worst, and how the school administration believed it was fine to send students into the chill of the dungeons for class (and for the Slytherins, to live) in the middle of the winter was completely beyond his comprehension. There was no reason that students should be forced to wear winter clothing during class time. It was especially difficult for his sister, who had seemingly failed to adjust to the dampness of the UK since they were forced to move here. He knew she longed for the American South as well, and it would only be a matter of time before they could make it back. For the time being, a pair of mittens for Christmas would have to do.

“That’s a great idea,” Lance agreed, already thinking of a pattern that would match the Hufflepuff colors, but also not make it look like she was wearing bumblebees on her hands. He was about to wave down the stall owner so he could buy the mittens, when Layla added that a beanie would be good too. He squinted at it as he thought about it. Georgie wasn’t exactly the type to outside in the snow, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t either. Plus there was the fact that she would have to stuff her mass of hair into the beanie, and he could already hear the complaints from a mile away. “Do you see anything bigger? She’s got a lot of-” he motioned around his head to mimic his sister’s mane of hair. “Y’know? Or maybe earmuffs would work better.”

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starry, starry night

this is how I wanna be

December 13, 2025
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Layla had always found Lance’s accent interesting, though she found she ran into many Americans these days. Between the migration of students to Hogwarts and the presence of their Law Enforcement, it didn’t seem like such a rarity anymore. Still, she knew he had also gone to Hogwarts though that was probably as much as she knew about him and those years—she wasn’t one to pry, however. Layla had learned quickly as she had gotten older that not everyone would be as open as she was about things. She thought of her own house, Gryffindor, and the various items of red and gold she had owned over the years. Lance gave her an unconvinced look at her suggestion of the beanie. He described she had a lot of hair and so a beanie might not have sufficed. Layla nodded in understanding, and her facial expression furrowed into one of concentration at what else would make a good gift.

She tilted her head a bit to the side as she looked at the display of earmuffs in various color combinations. There were solid colors with a trim of a different color and some that were striped as well. ”In that case, yes!” Layla walked a few steps toward the display. ”What are her house colors?” She asked so she could narrow down a choice. But as she was scanning the second row, she paused on a pair of red ones. Well, not quite red, but more of a crimson, and she grabbed them excitedly. ”These would have been wonderful when I was in school.” She mused out loud, but she had plenty of winter apparel to last her for some time, plus she still loved to use her Gryffindor scarf from time to time. ”What house were you in Lance?” With their age gap, she couldn’t recall having ever run into him at school.

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He was almost positive that Georgie purposely let her hair get the way it was. With little adult supervision at school and even less at the orphanage, it always got out of control. Even he was feeling like that lately, having let his own hair grow out more than it ever had before. Now he was starting to see the same problems of knotting and having to actually manage it, which his sister clearly omitted from her routine. Whatever worked for her though. There were certain things he allowed Georgie to get away with, since it wasn’t worth the argument. That was one of them. So finding solutions to dealing with the hair was important. Substituting a winter beanie for ear muffs was one of those.

“Yellow. Hufflepuff like me,” he stated, though lowered his volume when mentioning the house name. There were still no-majs around, and he didn’t want to be the one to let it slip. Being considered a magical adult and allowed wherever he wanted to go was still a new concept for him, as the previous band he was in had kept to the same circles during their brief tour. And then there was the orphanage, which he sometimes likened to being in jail. Or what he assumed jail was like. With some of the personalities he had grown up with their, it sort of made sense. There were a couple younger Slytherins that he recalled, who had always been a nuisance: Nate and Nessa. Causing a ridiculous amount of trouble and typically not getting harsh punishments for the things they did. It made him feel like a saint at times, and they certainly disliked that about him and Georgie.

When Layla mentioned that the ear muffs would have been great for school, Lance nodded his head and picked up a pair as well. They were sturdy, and would have done great for both outdoor classes and running through the colder corridors of the castle. “These would’ve been easier than carryin’ my dad’s old hunting cap between classes. It’s like y’all have never seen one before or something,” he teased, though he probably wasn’t far off the mark. There were always questions about it from the other students, and he didn’t always have the answers they wanted. He didn’t really know why his dad had one either, since it had never gotten that cold in South Carolina from what he remembered. But not wearing it and leaving it back home also seemed wrong, considering everything that happened.

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starry, starry night

this is how I wanna be

December 13, 2025
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Layla also looked around and made a sort of apologetic face. She sometimes forgot the volume of her own voice when she was excited about something. It had certainly been a consistent problem since she’d been young. ”Hufflepuff…” She repeated softly but with a thoughtful expression, so something yellow and bright. There were a few with that particular color combination for Hufflepuff house, but it was really just up to preference. ”Would she prefer more yellow or black?” Layla knew which ones she would choose, more yellow, but not everybody shared her tendency to be a bit flamboyant. While pondering the decision between on pair of earmuffs that was yellow with a black band, one that was black with a yellow band and one that was more of a patterned look, she spoke again. ”I was in Gryffindor but had a lot of friends in Hufflepuff.”

Not that the house would have mattered to Layla, but she found more kindred spirits within her own house and within the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. She was typically too energetic for most Slytherins she found. Layla gave Lance an amused look. ”A hunting cap? Are those common in America?” Her curiosity was piqued as she genuinely asked. And really, Lance wasn’t too far off which his statement—it wasn’t terribly often to see around here, at least in her experience. ”I always preferred beanies, and I’d learned how to change the colors in fifth year. So whenever I got bored, I would switch around the color.” It also helped the urge to buy more beanies whenever she had gone into Hogsmeade. Pausing a moment, she picked up the mostly yellow earmuffs. ”I think the yellow ones.”

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Now that was actually a question he didn’t know. More yellow, or more black? Did it actually matter in the end? The color-changing charm he was already going to use on it was one that was easy enough to change if she wanted more of one than the other. In other words, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did it one way and she wanted it reversed at some point. Personally he liked the way gifts came when they were given, but he knew that not everyone was like that. He scrunched his nose up as he thought about which color Georgie might like more, and then replaced the earlier pair he had picked up with a set that had a black band and yellow ear pads. That seemed more natural to him, because why would you want to have a yellow band with black ear pieces? “I think this is a good start,” he stated, mostly to affirm with himself that he’d made the right choice.

He was positive that he knew Layla had been in Gryffindor, but there was no way that they would have known each other in school at all. There was too much of an age gap there. Which now didn’t really seem like much at all. “Yeah we’ve always got some good folks in Hufflepuff. I couldn’t’ve asked for a better house for school. For Georgie too.” Gryffindor would have been a nice as well, but he wasn’t really sure about the other two houses. He could see Georgie fitting in with the Slytherins fairly well, but at the end of the day they were meant to be in Hufflepuff. That was their home.

Lance laughed at the idea of hunting caps being commonplace. They definitely were in some parts of the country, but probably not wide-spread. “I guess? It’s been a little while since I was last there.” Something close to eight years now. Georgie had been back once, but he didn’t really feel the need to. Everything he wanted was in England now, as weird as that sounded. And he preferred not having Barbara following him around the country if he decided to go back.

Layla explained how she was more into beanies, since it was easy to change the color whenever she wanted, and then grabbed an all yellow set of earmuffs. Lance looked between them and the black and yellow one he had, and then put his down. “That goes better with the ties, doesn’t it?”

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starry, starry night

this is how I wanna be

December 13, 2025
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Lance pondered her question, and in the meantime, she looked at her surroundings. It was a nice place to shop and even just walk around. They had been so busy in the studio that she enjoyed the time to get fresh air and enjoy the scenery, and her favorite part was looking at all the holiday decorations, of course. He picked up the one with the yellow ear pads, and she grinned. It was nice and very Hufflepuff-like. ”Good choice! I think she’ll love them.” Ever the beacon of positivity, she also hoped that his sister would appreciate her brother's effort. Layla didn’t have siblings herself, but she’d had close friends that felt as such in her school days and always enjoyed receiving gifts herself. Unsurprisingly her friends had spanned all of the Hogwarts houses, she had heard stories when she had gotten much older of Slytherin’s reputation and how it was much worse in the past—it had surprised her though not many of her friends had been

”Did you like it at Hogwarts?” She’d always been curious about the American school and even the other ones such as Durmstrang. She knew Lance was American but didn’t know much about his background. It wasn’t for her to pry. She’d learned early on that people valued their privacy, but certain personalities were more forthcoming than others. Then again, she’d met other students who were born here that hadn’t liked it there for whatever reason. Layla had her good and bad experiences there, she supposed as anyone would. Hufflepuffs, she remembered, had always been well-liked and in good-natured people.

Hunting caps were a fascinating thing, maybe since she didn’t see them hardly anywhere. Maybe she would look for one in her favorite Gryffindor colors and make it one of her concert outfits. That was another one of the parts she liked. Matching her outfit to whatever color guitar and guitar strap she had that day, it was like a game sometimes. ”They both do. The tie is mostly yellow, right? The black could balance it out unless she doesn’t like too many bright colors.” She focused on the all yellow earmuffs but then looked back at the ones Lance was holding and then back to the all yellow. ”Is she very girly?”

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“I did,” he answered in response to Hogwarts. “It was the only real constant we had after coming over here, so having a place to belong was kind of nice.” The orphanage was the orphanage. He and Georgie were lucky that they had each other, but there were a lot of kids that never got adopted, like them, that were really broken. They lacked trust in everything, and he didn’t blame them a bit for that. Keeping positive while a lot of kids got adopted or fostered was beyond difficult. And then having to see some of them at school after the fact? It was like getting salt rubbed into the wounds even more. But that was done with now, so dwelling on it wouldn’t really do much. “It was weird seeing all of the Ilvermorny students last year…only because they would have been my classmates if I had ever gone there. I think they were more shocked to learn of me than I was of them though,” Lance laughed. There were a few transfers that had come over prior to that, but he definitely felt the defacto liaison for a lot of them. He sort of knew their culture, and he knew Hogwarts well. It all fell into place, in a way.

Layla had a good point: there was a lot of yellow in the tie. But that came back around to the fact that if his sister disliked the color, charming it something else was easy as pie. One flick of a wand and it could be whatever color Georgie wanted it to be. Felt yellow one day? Black another? Easy. He had never done that with any of his clothes, only because he didn’t really think that way – but he was sure that there were some students that were more fashion oriented. Georgie wasn’t really one of them, at least not from what he would consider it. “Err…not really. She’s more of the frigid type. Can’t really blame her considering,” he explained as he started to pull his wallet out to hand money over to the attendant nearby. “But I think the yellow ones fit her better. She’ll change it if she doesn’t like them, I’m sure.”

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starry, starry night

this is how I wanna be

December 13, 2025
lancelot ray linley

Lance’s response was something she had heard before, and even if with their different backgrounds, it was something Layla could understand. When you were at Hogwarts, there was the feeling like you were at home and then the same feeling with whatever house you ended up sorted in. It had factored into red being one of Layla’s favorite colors. She was proud Gryffindor, after all. When the American students had transferred to Hogwarts, Layla had been curious. She’d already graduated, of course, and was almost sad that she hadn’t gotten that experience interacting with them. Many had decided to stay in the UK after they’d graduated, while many were still in school. Layla nodded. She hadn’t thought about that. ”They probably thought you were a transfer as well!” Typically students went to the schools closest to them. But even at Hogwarts, they received students from all over the world when their parents decided not to send them to Durmstrang or any other established schools.

He seemed to ponder her comment on the color—Layla wasn’t surprised. Some boys didn’t think about such details, but then again, neither did some girls either. It was all up to preference. Though Layla knew that if she’d been a Hufflepuff, she’d have proudly worn everything yellow. ”I think she’ll be happy her big brother was thinking of her.” She commented with a grin. As an only child, she hadn’t experienced much sibling-type interaction. But she’d seen it from afar. It was a special relationship between an older and younger sibling despite what words were exchanged, or arguments ensued. And as far as presents went, it was the thought that mattered. ”Ready to go?”

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Lance had thought long and hard about the what-ifs of how his life would have been if his parents hadn’t up and disappeared in the manner that they had. Barbara, as much as he disliked her, sort of meant well somewhere deep down in all of that. Except for the part where she allowed her children to think she was dead for six years and then tried to make up for it in the matter of a week by targeting Georgie’s soft spot for attachment. That was the part he really disliked and rubbed him the wrong way. But in that alternate reality where the two of them stayed in South Carolina and attended Ilvermorny, it seemed pretty alright. If he found a time-turner someday, he would definitely interfere with whatever it was that his parents were running away from. He didn’t care if there was a time police or if it broke the fabric of reality right then and there. They deserved a normal upbringing with their parents there. That was what he had thought about a lot at first, and still on occasion. It only came up when introducing himself to people, though it was becoming less strange to the locals the longer the Ilvermorny kids were at Hogwarts.

“There were a few transfers before they all came over,” he stated, knowing of at least one in Gryffindor that had been a fairly quiet guy. Lance couldn’t even remember his name, but he knew what it felt like to suddenly be thrust into a different school in a completely other country. It wasn’t easy at first. All the Americans probably understood that by now.

Georgie was probably going to be happier about the fact that she wouldn’t have to spend Christmas at Hogwarts again, since he had his own Barbara-funded apartment for her to go back to. The orphanage was only a minor player in their lives now, and she was going to be free of it all after spring term anyways. “I’ve got the rest of the month if I think of anything else too,” he mused. The hat would be a good start though, that much he agreed with Layla on. “Yeah I think I’m all set. Startin’ to get cold out,” he shivered as he handed his money over to the person running the stand. Maybe one day he’d get used to the weather here.

[End?]

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