curiouser and curiouser [susan]

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Lysander was exhausted. The first two weeks of school had been a flurry of prefect duties and back-to-school nonsense and drama surrounding the Goblet of Fire, and Sander was ready to sleep forever. But before he could sleep, he had to talk to Susan - they had barely been able to talk for longer than a minute or so at a time since the term had started. One of them was always being pulled away by prefect duties, it felt like. Now that the first years knew their way around the school, more or less, the two of the were in lesser demand, and Sander was taking advantage of that. He was sitting in the common room, waiting for Susan to make an appearance. There was so much for him to tell her, not the least of which was the conversation he had had with her little brother. Despite how tired he was, though, Lysander couldn't seem to calm himself down - he was jittery to the extreme, and barely able to focus on the Care of Magical Creatures text that was laying across his lap. At least he knew he'd be able to tell the moment Susan spoke; whenever he was riled up like this, lost at sea, her voice was like a beacon, calling him back to the shore and back to calm. He just had to wait for Susan to speak, and he would hear her, and everything would be alright.

@susanvictoria

||MAZE DIRECTION:RIGHT TURN#1||

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Susan was walking down the hallways back to the Ravenclaw Common Room, a letter clutched in her hand. The letter was in code so no unsuspecting person could understand what was written, but Susan knew exactly who and where it came from; Braelynn Rousseau. Bay was still confirmed “dead” to the Wizarding World; only herself, Andy and Zander knew the truth, plus Zander’s uncle Carson and his family. Zander must have told her about the Triwizard Tournament, as that was what the letter had contained; a plea from Bay asking her to not enter the Tournament. Susan had been on the fence to begin with; it was rather dangerous and though she thought herself to be a skilled witch, she was unsure of how she’d fare against the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students she’d met so far. Some of them seemed to be quite intimidating and determined - far more than Susan was. This note however sealed her decision. She would not go against the wishes of one of her dearest friends; not after the hell she had been through this past year.

After answering the riddle, Susan stepped into the Common Room, feeling exhausted. Her spirits however brightened considerably when she saw who else was in there; Lysander Scamander. Excitement grew in Susan; she had barely gotten a chance to talk to her dear friend since term started. She skipped over to him and collapsed into the chair next to him. “Lysander my dear Prefect, how are you? I haven’t been able to talk to you since term started - I miss you!” she exclaimed, a big smile brightening her face. “I hope they stick us on Prefect duty together soon; I’ve been with Gabriella Krum and Ranger Lloyd so far - they’re fine, but they’re no you,” she added. She had not been put with Cece Rousseau yet; she wouldn’t mind doing Prefect duties with her, but after getting Bay’s letter she’d be a little antsy around her.

@lysander

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Sander’s patience had paid off, and after only a few minutes of waiting, he saw Susan step into the common room. More importantly, he saw her sit next to him, and her cotton voice began to fill the air. Ah. This was what everything was supposed to feel like – totally relaxed and easy, as natural as breathing. Lysander didn’t have many friends, but Susan…she got him, the way most people didn’t seem to get him. Sander liked to think that he got her, too, but he wasn’t sure – even though he’d seen little of Susan, she seemed to be behaving somewhat strangely, and the fact that the piece of paper she had been holding in her hand when she entered the common room appeared to be nothing more than random symbols didn’t help Sander’s worry over his best friend. Still, he put on a happy face when she asked him how he was, because he was happy. “I’m good.” He said with a smile. “Better now that you’re here, actually. I’ve missed speaking with you.” They had gone through quite a dry spell between his trip to the Americas and her working, and Lysander was looking forward to ending it soon. “I’m pretty sure that I can convince Rose Weasley to let us have a shift or two together.” Sander said with a smile. His mother and Rose’s parents had been friends back in their heyday, and the fact that Rose was in their house also made it slightly easier to contact her to beg favors of her and her position as Head Girl.

“I’ve patrolled with Cecelia Rousseau and Kyle Williams a lot.” Sander answered. “Guess that leaves the two Slytherins patrolling together pretty often, huh?” They had accounted for all of the prefects from the other houses between her patrolling with the Hufflepuff female and Gryffindor male, and him patrolling with the Hufflepuff male and Gryffindor female - the two of them, of course, being the two Ravenclaw prefects. “I would have to agree with the assessment that they’re no you.” Sander said with a sad nod. “Did I tell you I met your brother in Diagon Alley? The older one, William. He seems very nice.” Of course, Lysander had gone into that conversation with high hopes after learning of his relationship to Susan, but that was no matter. He would've liked Will even without his relationship to Susan.

@susanvictoria

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Susan’s smile froze in place for a moment when Sander mentioned he had patrolled with Cecelia Rousseau. Sander did not know anything about the situation between the Rousseau sisters, and Susan had not thought to clue him in; it was so complicated and twisted, and so many secrets involved. It would be too much for Susan to go through explaining, even though she so desperately wanted him to know everything, to share this secret. She would never betray Braelynn’s trust though; their friendship meant too much to her. “I think Rose would be happy to let the Ravenclaws patrol together, Gaius too. They’re probably just saving it for a special occasion where we have to be on duty for longer than usual so we’d be happy,” she reasoned. Rose and Gaius were fair people; Rose had even understood why Susan had asked her to not patrol with Cece until school had gotten into full swing, and she had obliged. “They’ll probably throw one of us with the Slytherins soon though; I wonder how that’s going. Scorpius and Ondina used to date but didn’t you hear about the blowout breakup at the end of last year?” she asked him. She hadn’t been in the Hall, but the rumors concerning it spread like wildfire.

Susan looked surprised when Sander mentioned meeting William in Diagon Alley. “Really? Oh how exciting; he didn’t say anything to me yet about it,” she said happily. Will had been very busy with his life, from going to cursebreaking to taking a more involved hand in royal life, she’d gotten only one owl from him so far, just confirming he was alive. “He is, I think he’s a bit stressed out at the moment though. He has a lot of decisions coming his way and I think it might be overwhelming,” she told Sander.

@lysander

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Yup, something was definitely wrong with Susan. As soon as Cecelia Rousseau’s name had left his mouth, Sander saw Susan freeze a little. He combed through his memory, and then finally, finally found something that explained it. Cecelia’s sister had been one of Susan’s friends, before the latter had met her untimely end. That explained the strange smile, but not the even stranger letter. Unless…no, that was a silly, far-fetched idea. Lysander brushed away the notion before it even could form fully in his mind. Illogical notions couldn’t be considered, even if they did have to do with Susan and why she was being so strange. Instead of spending his time worrying over something silly, Sander decided to listen to Susan and what she was saying. It made sense that they were waiting to have the two of them patrol together for when it was required for a longer period of time – he was unfamiliar with most of the prefects, but Susan, as he was so fond of saying, was his best friend. If someone told him he had to patrol for twenty four hours straight, he would do it if his partner was Susan.

“I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff.” Lysander replied when Susan asked if he had heard about a big, blowout breakup. “Must be really awkward for both of them. Maybe Rose and Gaius are putting them together to make them work through their problems.” Or maybe it was revenge for being annoying, or something to that effect. Sander blinked once when Susan said that Will hadn’t mentioned their Diagon Alley meeting – they had both been clear about their relationship to Susan, and Will seemed to have realized their closeness. It was curious that he hadn’t mentioned anything. This whole meeting was just getting curiouser and curiouser. “Decisions about whether or not he wants to be king?” Sander asked bluntly. Susan was from a royal family, and with her father dead, it seemed only natural that his firstborn son would soon inherit the throne.

@susanvictoria

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Susan couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at the idea of Rose Weasley putting Scorpius Malfoy with Ondina purposely to work out their problems. “Sorry, but from what I’ve been hearing Scorpius has no interest in getting back together with Ondina, and Rose would be the last person to order that,” she said, still chuckling to herself. It was all rumor of course, but there had been some accusations insinuated by the Slytherin girl at the end of last term. If they were true….well, she didn’t think it was Rose’s idea to put Scorpius and Ondina on duty together.

She reached out and patted his arm. “Don’t take it personally Sander; he had to talk with us about his decision to leave the wizarding world full time and immerse himself in royal duties. I had to work right after we talked because it took far longer than we expected - there just wasn’t enough time. I’m sure he’ll tell me when he writes next,” she said brightly. Will had only written once asking for an update and to say how busy he had been. Susan understood; she’d been keeping up with the news by getting her mothers’ copy of a Muggle magazine delivered to her after she had received it, so she saw how much Will was out and about. No Isla sightings yet though - she had to remember to ask after her when she wrote him next.

@lysander

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Sander looked blearily at Susan when she dissected his theory about why Scorpius and Ondina had been put on prefect rounds together. “I didn’t say that they needed to get back together.” He asserted calmly. “Just that it’s not necessarily good for there to be hostility between the two of them, especially if they’re going to be acting as co-prefects.” Sharing responsibility with someone you disliked was markedly harder than sharing responsibility with someone you tolerated. One could argue that it was even harder when you liked your co-chair of sorts, but Sander wasn’t looking for an argument.

The Ravenclaw shrugged when his friend said that he shouldn’t take her brother’s negligence personally. He didn’t, really. Lysander was used to being overlooked in favor of Lorcan, so being overlooked in favor of royal duties wasn’t that much different. It was subjectively better, considering that royal duties were important no matter who you asked, whereas Lorcan was just…Lorcan. “It’s fine if he doesn’t.” Sander replied resolutely, keeping the slight tremble that he felt inside out of his voice. “Maybe he’ll remember me if I get picked as the Triwizard Tournament.” Lysander had meant to consult Susan about entering, but he hadn’t seen her enough to make that possible, and really, there was little she could say to change his mind. He didn’t like his life the way it was, in Lorcan’s shadow, and the only way he could do anything about it was to make himself better than Lorcan. Come hell or high water, Lysander was going to find a way to shine.

@susanvictoria

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Susan understood wanting to change the subject; relationships of their fellow school mates were far less interesting to Sander than they were to her. “I suppose you’re right,” she said, allowing the subject to meander over to the Triwizard Tournament. She had not entered, and had not planned to. When Braelynn had found out about the Tournament, she had begged Susan to not enter for her own safety. She would have warned Cecelia too, but how would you warn your friends’ sister who thinks she’s dead that said sister didn’t want her entering? Besides, she had heard that Cece had already entered, so there was nothing more to do there.

“Your brother doesn’t know what he’s missing, Sander,” she said, reaching out and giving him a hug. She didn’t know Lorcan all that well, just that the twins weren’t all that close. Lorcan also seemed to have enjoyed growing his hair out, while Sander’s was short; she preferred Sander’s way. “I didn’t enter; my mum found out about told me she’d pull me out of Hogwarts if I entered the Tournament,” she admitted with a chuckle. To be fair, her mother would have probably done that if she cared to mention the Tournament, so it wasn’t a complete lie.

@lysander

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Sander sighed. He missed the days when he and Lorcan were close. In hindsight, it was probably just because they were the only two children around, and their parents were always so busy with work. It was either play together, or not play at all, and they had picked the obvious answer. “You sound like Alice.” Lysander informed Susan softly. “She says I’m her favorite Scamander.” The Ravenclaw didn’t know why that came out sounding so boastful, considering his competition, and once the words were out of his mouth, Lysander began to kick himself mentally. He didn’t want Susan to think that she was any less of a good friend because she didn’t explicitly tell him that he was better than Lorcan. Comparing friendships was hard, especially since two friends was more than Sander had ever had at any one time. “Well, I’m glad you haven’t been pulled from school.” Sander smiled. “Classes would be awfully boring without you.” There was Rose Weasley, of course, but Lysander thought the two of them had more of a working relationship than anything, and that was fine by him. “What are you most excited for in class this year?” There were so many things left to learn before they left school forever, and Sander figured that was a safe topic for two Ravenclaws to discuss.

@susanvictoria

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“Well, then you know of at least two people who think you are their favorite Scamander,” Susan declared, squeezing her friends shoulder. She understood that sometimes there was just natural competition between siblings, and sometimes it was just really nice to hear positive things about yourself. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to compete with a sibling. Will and I are always competitive; well, less so now because we’re going in two very different career paths, but still. It’s not easy,” she said sympathetically. She thought for a moment after Sanders’ question, frowning slightly. “I always love Care of Magical Creatures,” she said, giving her friend a small smile; it was after all his favorite class. “But after that? Probably Transfiguration. I’d love to be an Animagus and I think this year we’ll hopefully be learning about them,” she told him. Of course, she had already started the process of learning to be an Animagus, but the only person she had shared that with was Braelynn.

@lysander

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Lysander smiled wanly at Susan when she said that there were two people that considered him their favorite Scamander. Two people versus the entirety of Gryffindor house wasn’t much, but it was a start, and Sander would rather have two people who loved him unconditionally than an entire house that tolerated him because they had to. “I don’t know, my mum’s pretty great. Maybe she’s your favorite.” Sander teased, though his delivery was more deadpan than he had been going for. “Competing with a sibling and competing with a twin are a little different.” Sander said with a shrug when Susan said she knew what it was like to compete. “There’s bound to be crossover between who you know and who you like, at some point.” Most of his friends in first year had been Lorcan’s friends, but then Sander had drifted off into his own space and Lorcan had gotten to keep their friends.

“Care of Magical Creatures will forever be the best class.” Sander answered with a sage nod. He was surprised the professor hadn’t gotten sick of him yet, considering all of the theoretical knowledge that the Ravenclaw tended to bring up in classes. It was far beyond the level of most of his peers, but that was what Sander got for having magizoologist parents. “I don’t think I’d be able to stop talking for a month.” Lysander mused, referring to a part of the Animagus process where one had to keep a Mandrake leaf in their mouth for an entire month. “Apparently I’ve got an intrinsic skill anyways, so why learn one?” Well, there were plenty of reasons to learn one, but the appeal of being an Animagus had never really struck Sander.

@susanvictoria

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Susan chuckled. “Your mum is a lovely woman Sander, but you’re very much like her, in your own way. So perhaps that’s why you edge her out,” she teased right back, though she felt sad for her friend. She didn’t try to argue any more with competition of siblings; it wouldn’t end with either of them backing down, though Susan did feel they were more alike than Sander would admit. She also declined to comment on the Animagus comments; nobody except Braelynn knew that Susan had been studying to become an Animagus and was planning on doing the Mandrake leaf part in the month of November. “I’m sure you can talk a little with the Mandrake leaf; won’t it just mold to the shape of your tongue after a few days?” she suggested nonchalantly.

Yawning widely, Susan looked over at her watch and jumped. “Oh goodness, I have to be up early in the morning; they’ve added pre-Breakfast Prefect duties so now I have to be up at five in the morning.” Rubbing her eyes, she stood up and gave her friend a hug. “Cheer up San, we have Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow anyway, so tomorrow will be a good day,” she said positively, and headed up to her dormitory to catch some much-needed sleep.

@lysander