BREAKFAST TIME [ELODIE]

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Alice was late. There was no other way to describe it. She had woken up late, got dressed late, and even couldn't find her wand (it ended up being under her pillow.) Alice was normally a morning person, oddly enough. Many people would find that hard to believe, but she loved waking up most mornings and going to class to see her friends. Particularly her best friend, James Potter. However, she would never let on about that being the highlight of her day. She had not told anyone. Not a soul. Well, except her father. He usually knew that to say in times like these. But aside from her dad, Alice had not mentioned her feelings for James to anyone. Not even her best girl friend, Elodie. Elodie, too, was one of James' good friends, and Alice was unsure of how she would take it. Alice knows about she and James' past, and their tendencies to flirt and be extra friendly with one another, but other than that she wasn't sure how Elodie felt about James either. Perhaps it was something they soon needed to discuss. Now if only Alice could pluck of the courage to do so.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Alice found it was mostly empty. Breakfast was basically over, except for a few pastries now. Alice wasn't feeling all that hungry anyway, so with a sigh she made her way to her regular spot. At breakfast, hardly anyone followed the "house" table rule. It was like free range in the mornings, so Alice usually sat with her Gryffindor friends. It was funny how Alice had so badly wanted to be a Ravenclaw all her life but ended up in Hufflepuff, because aside from Carcer, none of her friends were Hufflepuffs. They were all Gryffindors. Sometimes Alice figured she was only sorted into Hufflepuff because of her mother, who was also a Hufflepuff. She knew the Sorting Hat sometimes took that into account. Alice looked around the hall, not seeing any of her friends. Perhaps they had all already eaten, but then again the Gryffindors were late risers.

Alice sat herself down away from anyone else, at the middle of one of the large tables. She felt a wriggle from within her robe pocket and smiled to herself. Fizzio. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Care of Magical Creatures assignment: a custard colored Pygmy Puff, whom she had named Fizzio. She had fallen in love with Fizzio over the last couple of days. He was quiet and peaceful, so Alice carried him everywhere she went. After all, she kind of had to if she wanted to protect him from the cats of Hogwarts, particularly her own, Oscar, who had shown quite an interest in trying to play with Fizzio in a not so friendly manner. She set the Pygmy Puff down on the table in front of her and she grabbed a cinnamon scone. Alice ripped off a tiny corner piece and gently held it out to the puff, who made a purring sound before accepting the food.

Fizzio nuzzled against Alice's hand and she smiled again. Alice loved animals more than anything, and she was truly falling in love with this little puff. She was actually highly considering asking Professor Bates if she could perhaps keep Fizzio, instead of turning him back in when the assignment was over. Professor Bates should have known that Alice Longbottom would get attached to the poor thing so quickly. Alice pet the puff gently as she began to munch upon the scone herself, taking tiny pieces between every bite and handing one to Fizzio so he could eat as well.

@elodiewood

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elodie’s anthem of the morning had been, ”five more minutes”. a couple minutes sleep in was virtually harmless, she had told herself. however, an accumulation of these minutes became something closer to an hour, and when the young gryffindor girl finally convinced herself to get out of bed, she realised that she was, once again, late. internally screaming as she got dressed in ripping speed in the empty dormitory, she reflected that she really needed one of those proper alarm clocks that yelled at her until she was up and out. maybe she could enchant her current alarm to do that? that was one perk of being a witch. perhaps if she wasn’t late to charms class all of the time, she would actually learn how to do it. once dressed, she slung her prepacked backpack over her shoulder, tucked her wand in her sock, slipped spook the pygmy puff into her pocket, and hurriedly rushed out of the common room and down the stairs, making her way to the great hall. she didn’t look particularly healthy – no time for her usual make up routine, her skin was drained of colour from lack of sleep, and her hair was an absolute wreck as she pulled it into a high side ponytail, nearly tripping down the stairs in the process. however, as she tied a red ribbon in her hair, she noted that she could have looked worse. she could look like elaine dupree. she snorted at herself. it was her routine to compare herself to her slytherin rival, which didn’t always work out in her favour, particularly in firsthand spellwork. no matter how late she was, she was not going to miss breakfast. besides, she had fifteen minutes, approximately. plenty of time to shovel down some toast. and some baked beans. maybe some sausages – oh, the breakfast muffins were always good. topped with bacon. yes, plenty of time. she entered the hall, groaning at how empty it was, a sure sign of her lack of timing, but spotted someone that should definitely not be there. the early bird, alice longbottom, generally the opposite of elodie’s lazy sleep in tendencies. alice also happened to be elodie’s best friend. she slid into the seat next to her friend, grinning as she drew the plate that had appeared in front of her and started poking her fork into as many sausages that could fit on it. ”so, what’s my ‘sorry, i’m late’ excuse for today?” she asked alice, then noticed her custard coloured pygmy puff on the table, and beamed. she gingerly dug her hand into her robe pocket and withdrew the orange spook, placing him gently next to alice’s puff. ”and they say the art of matchmaking is dead.” she joked, then promptly began to stuff food into her mouth as quickly as she could, chewing violently and swallowing, so at least there was something in her stomach for when she went to class, knowing she would probably talk to alice the entire time rather than actually have the breakfast that she had come to the great hall for. tagged: alice!words: 517 outfit: (link) notes: (n/a)

made by remi of i'm so curious

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Alice sighed as she watched her custard colored puff. He looked happily around the table and began to slowly walk around between the plates of other food, eyeing each of them. Alice raised an eyebrow at the puff and reached for him, placing him back directly in front of her. "I don't think so, little guy," she waved her index finger in front of him. Alice had always been one to speak to animals, no matter how "weird" other people thought that it was. Alice believed that speaking to and with them strengthened the bond between humans and animals. And Alice was all for strengthening animal bonds.

For a moment, Alice admired her new puff as he rolled over onto his back and wiggled around on the table top. She was so wrapped up in watching Fizzio that she had not noticed Elodie approach her until she had sat down next to Alice and began poking her fork into sausages. Fizzio immediately rolled back over onto his back and scurred behind Alice's arm. ”So, what’s my ‘sorry, I’m late’ excuse for today?” Elodie asked, and Alice smiled sheepishly at her Gryffindor friend, shrugging. "I just woke up late," she admitted. It was unusual for Alice not to be up with the crack of dawn, for she was a morning person... after she got the right amount of sleep. Last night must have just been lacking in the sleep department.

When Elodie gently set her orange colored Pygmy Puff down onto the table next to Fizzio, she lifted her arm so that Fizz could not hide behind her again. The silly thing needed to interact with creatures his side. Alice was finding that he was rather timid, but it took him no time to start sniffing Spook and nuzzling his little noggin up against Spook's. Alice nearly melted at the sight. "They look so good together," she cooed at the two of them. She looked up at Elodie and pouted her lip out, which was something Alice normally did when she thought something was seriously cute.

@elodiewood

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the two pygmy puffs were truly adorable together. as they nuzzled up against each other, even their different coloured furs complimented one another. elodie cocked her head to the side, mirroring alice’s own look of ‘how cute’. then, noticing that they were getting pretty cozy, she quickly snapped upright. ”god, alice, yours is a boy, right?” she nodded towards the two puffs. ”i mean, fair go if they’re into each other, i just don’t want a pygmy puff pandemic on our hands if they accidentally breed.” she side eyed her friend, then laughed. after another few mouthfuls of food, elodie leant back, mock examining her friend as she always did when posing the same question. ”so, what’s new with you, m’dear?” she asked affectionately. alice was elodie’s best girl friend, and although elodie was probably a bit more of a gossip than the hufflepuff, together they were always up to date on all the latest hogwarts happenings. so far, the two had somehow magically avoiding talking about the incident on the hogwarts express earlier that year, which was fair. it made elodie uncomfortable, and although she wanted to express how scared she was, she never knew who it was safe to talk about it to. she was meant to be a gryffindor, after all, known for her ‘brave of heart’. but lately, the girl hadn’t felt brave at all. it was a feeling in her heart, a foreboding feeling that something bad was going to happen, continual bad things were going to happen. it was an uncured anxiety. but the matter had been talked and talked about by just about everyone else, so that it had nearly dried up as a subject for gossip. elodie’s face darkened. she didn’t consider that incident to be ‘gossip’. gossip was a lot shallower than that, and she preferred it that was. calling a murder ‘gossip’ was just insulting. tagged: alice!words: 315 outfit: (link) notes: (n/a)

made by remi of i'm so curious

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Alice, too, realized that she and Elodie's puff were getting a little two friendly with one another she same time her Gryffindor friend did. "Uhh... I think he's a boy?" She said, uncertainly. "It's kind of hard to tell, so I just assumed," she smiled sheepishly. The thought of having a bunch of yellow and orange colored Pygmy Puffs running around excited Alice and terrified her at the same time. It would be fun to breed them and take care of them, but at school? She would probably get really overwhelmed... and quite possibly in trouble with the school.

"So, what’s new with you, m’dear?” Alice smiled at her friend, finishing off her scone. She shrugged. A lot had happened in the last few days, and she didn't know where to start. She sighed. "It's been an eventful first week, that's for sure," she finally said, her eyes rolling slightly. Alice's mind played back to the last events in class over the last couple of days. She and Elodie had both performed their first patroni this week, and that was a great thing to experience together. However, they had also not been able to perform it again if only because they were a little saddened by James' performance.

James. If there was one thing Alice believed she and Elodie could agree, James was one of their best friends. He had been acting quite weird this week, and Alice was beginning to wonder if she was the only one that was taking notice. So, she finally opened up to Elodie.

"Do you think... James is acting a bit... weird lately?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow at Elodie. She hoped that this wasn't completely out of nowhere, hoping that Elodie, too, had noticed. The boy had just been so out of it lately, Alice figured it had to be obvious to everyone.


@elodiewood

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elodie remembered what professor bates had told her, about how pygmy puff gender is fluid. she just hoped that both of them chose to be boys, to avoid too many mini-spooks rolling around hogwarts, or else she might find one in her soup one day. plus, the marriage laws in britain allowed the two to express their love together anyway. no harm! the gryffindor girl nodded solemnly as alice addressed the frantic first week. early morning classes, quidditch trials, newt level homework – oh, and of course, the murder. it was their last year at hogwarts, and it was certainly going to be one to remember, and for all the wrong reasons. then, alice mentioned james. elodie cocked her head to the side, considering responding with you can’t mean his head’s gotten bigger than usual, but then remembered that alice had a point. it was easy to forget that james had found the dead student on the train when he walked around so easily. but it was moments, like in defence against the dark arts, which reminded elodie that he had undergone serious trauma. she faced alice, trying to hide a worried expression. ”definitely,” she said quietly. her gaze fell to her lap, wondering whether to elaborate. then, another thought struck her. james had been acting weird, indeed, in that he had been distracted by one girl more than the usual time. ”do you think this has something to do with that strange girl?” she said bitterly, then grimaced. ”sorry, lestrange girl.” this put elodie in a downright sour mood. ”i mean, he always sits with her now, and since when has james ditched us for some bird?” she sighed haughtily. perhaps this was not what alice had meant by her question, but once elodie was sidetracked, it was hard to pull her from her train of thought. tagged: alice!words: 307 outfit: (link) notes: (n/a)

made by remi of i'm so curious

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Alice mentally let out a sigh of relief as Elodie agreed. She was glad that she was not the only one to notice. She and James had been so close most of their lives, it was definitely evident how strange he was acting. Alice felt almost alone in the fact that she thought that, for no one else had voiced this concern. But with Elodie, Alice knew she could talk about anything with her and she was thankful she could express such thoughts with her without being judged.

Until Elodie mentioned it, Alice had forgotten all about one of the reason's for James' distracted attitude.

"Lestrange girl." Alice felt her fists clench up at this, and her teeth gritted behind her closed lips. She exhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. Something about that Ravenclaw girl really rubbed her the wrong way. The Hufflepuff opened her eyes at looked at her friend. "I've noticed," she said a little harshly. Truth be told, Alice hated the fact that James had skipped sitting with his friends for that girl. "Why though? Why on Earth is he suddenly taken with her?" Alice spat, looking down at the table now, glaring at nothing in particular.

@elodiewood

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elodie’s eyes glimmered at alice’s reaction to her comments on aurora lestrange. when you hated someone, it was always nice to have someone to hate with. and from the look of her hufflepuff friend’s clenched fists, she had found just the one. elodie laughed, almost like a cackle, as alice questioned why their friend even liked the lestrange girl. it was adding wood to the fire, and it was certainly enough to get the ball rolling on elodie’s list of things to complain about. ”i have no idea!” she said, smiling, but her voice had an exasperated tone. ”she’s not even pretty! not that it even matters, al, but you are way hotter than her, and i don’t see james fawning over you!” or me, she thought, rolling her eyes. of course, she was lying to herself a little bit by under exaggerating aurora’s appearance. she was pretty, but elodie was completely unwilling to admit this to herself. she had even come up with a list of flaws, so she could back up her argument. ”her lips are way too thin, and her eyes are so… squinty! plus, she’s so stuck up. sitting in class by herself, because she’s better than the rest of us? at least we aren’t the spawn of death eaters…” then, elodie trailed off. thoughts were beginning to connect with each other in her mind, and the web of a theory was forming. her smile had faded, and she looked alice in the eye, suddenly, and unmistakeably, fearful. ”alice, listen,” she said in a low voice, not breaking eye contact with her friend. ”she’s a loner, and doesn’t hang out with others, and her parents are death eaters, and she’s suddenly interested in james.” elodie bit her lip. she was about to make a serious accusation, and she hoped her friend wouldn’t think badly of her for it. ”i mean, there’s no concrete evidence, but… you don’t think she could be… the murderer?” the last word came in a barely audible whisper. tagged: @alice words: 336 outfit: (link) notes: **** JUST GOT REAL.

made by remi of i'm so curious

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Alice was glad she had a friend like Elodie. They often saw on to eye on many things, and thankfully it seemed that they felt the same about the Lestrange girl as well. "She's not even pretty!" Elodie said, and at this Alice raised her eyebrows in agreement, nodding a little. It was good to hear that, and when Elodie said that Alice was way "hotter" than Lestrange, Alice rolled her eyes but a small smile made a little appearance. Alice didn't want to admit it, but she thought that Aurora was very pretty. Perhaps that was why she felt so threatened. That, and of course her house. James knew Alice didn't really like Ravenclaws, but at the same time he had never really cared about. James didn't judge people based on their house, and that was a reason Alice loved him.

Alice couldn't help but get more angry at Aurora as Elodie pointed out potential flaws. Her lips, her eyes, her attitude. Alice had taken notice of them all. While a part of her agreed with Elodie because she strongly disliked Aurora, another part of Alice disagreed. While she wanted to think these were all flaws, they were also Aurora's prettiest assets. As Alice sat there in thought about how much he disliked Aurora for her beauty, one word that Elodie said caught Alice's attention and caused her to snap her head in Elodie's direction.

Death Eaters. That was right. Alice had completely forgotten about the Lestrange family's history. Almot all of them had been Death Eaters, strong and loyal followers of Voldemort in his prime. Alice looked at her friend, her eyes wide as if she, too, had made a fearful realization. As Elodie spoke, Alice began to connect the dots. James. Suddenly she was scared for her best friend, too. "...Uou don’t think she could be… the murderer?” It was barely audible out of Elodie's mouth but Alice heard it all right.

The Hufflepuff bit her lip, looking back down at the table at the puffs, who had stopped their playing to look up at both of their mothers, as if they had also sensed the sudden change of mood. "I..." Alice was at a loss for words. "I don't know..." she breathed, looking back at Elodie. Her eyebrows were creased in worry. "I... never even thought about all that." She said quietly, looking back at her friend. "But... I mean, considering her family's... past..." she trailed off in a word, nearly choking out the last word with difficulty. Alice had been too wrapped up in her distraction for James's infatuation with Aurora, but everything was making sense now...

@elodiewood