paper bags and plastic hearts [zita]

[Deleted]

The worst part about this time of the year was that everyone was boring. After five months cooped up in the castle with the same people, Theodosia had run out of people to pester. She was bored, and she was cranky. The best thing that had happened to her was that Longbottom had fallen ill. At first, Theodosia had assumed that it was Elaine’s handiwork, but after seeing who her replacement had been – Minerva McGonagall, famous for being both an expert at Transfiguration and a hero in both Wizarding Wars – that idea had quickly been wiped from Theodosia’s head. She still needed to discuss her findings about the fear potion Elaine had given to her. The Slytherin hadn’t been able to hear much about what happened to Maria, but what she had been able to tell was that the girl had burned another Durmstrang student, and had stayed in a hallucinatory period for nearly a full three days, with periods of sanity interspersed. She didn’t know how much of that was the design of the potion and how much needed to be report, so Theo was drafting up what to say – mentally, of course, because being caught with a paper like that could be damning. The Slytherin was pacing through the dungeons, murmuring to herself underneath her breath, totally unaware that there was fresh meat coming towards her.

@zita

[Deleted]

Zita had just finished her last class of the day and wanted to get in some time to relax before she began her homework. She didn't have too much going on these days actually; GSA was a pretty easy task because she had fun with it and liked the people that were in the club and there wasn't too much going on with Quidditch because of the Triwizard Tournament. With it being February, love was in the air, though not for her and she was perfectly okay with that. Seeing everyone with their own significant others was nice but she as perfectly okay with being on her own. Plus, there didn't really seem to be anyone that she wanted to date. Sure there were cute girls everywhere; seriously most of the girls her age or older at Hogwarts were way cute but they were straight, had strange morals, or were just not her type personality wise. Or she hadn't met them yet. She really needed to get out of that thought process. She wasn't actively looking for anything. With a girlfriend, she wouldn't be able to do exactly what she was going to go do now, nap time. The stairs finally let her off down in the cold dungeons and she began her walk back to the common room when she noticed someone pacing the length of the hallway. It was a familiar face, a younger Slytherin who was in GSA. She could hear her making noises under her breath, must have been working something out for herself, so she was content with walking by and not saying anything to the girl. She could always say hi some other time. Or see her in GSA. So she kept walking in the direction of her own common room.

Tag; @theodosia

SOTD; HERE

[Deleted]

Theodosia had decided that she was out of her mind. She was cranky and she was bored and she didn’t know what she was going to say to the Dark Lady, and all of that was causing her to go just the slightest bit insane. She felt like a snake – more like a snake than she usually felt, that was – and one that was ready to strike, at that. She just needed something, or someone, to let her frustrations out on. Luckily enough for the Slytherin, she was greeted with a Hufflepuff student walking down the hallway towards her. Theodosia recognized the girl, both from GSA meetings and from her time on the Quidditch pitch, though Theo exclusively rooted against Keepers from the other teams, since it was them who Zaire was up against. In any case, the girl was wearing a ridiculous pair of shoes in an attempt to seem taller than her pathetically meager height. Theodosia was shorter than the other girl, obviously, but at least she accepted that she wasn’t meant to be tall and wasn’t trying to fool anyone with high heels. When the girl got within striking distance, Theodosia took one long, smooth step to the side, standing in the middle of the corridor and thereby blocking the path that the other girl was taking. Theo smiled up at the other girl, honey and vinegar practically dripping from her lips before she even spoke. “Must be so nice to feel so insecure about your height that you have to wear those ridiculous shoes.” Theodosia said. Without warning, she flicked one of her feet out to kick the heel of the other girl’s shoes, hoping to snap the heel and leave the girl with an awkward, lopsided walk until she could get back to her common room.

@zita

[Deleted]

She'd expected something to happen, of course. Having the Hufflepuff common room in the same area of the castle as the Slytherin one was a recipe for trouble, and given their seemingly house wide diskile of Hufflepuffs, trouble was an endless cycle. She'd been snickered at, sneered at, called out of her name, and a countles number of things more when walking through the dungeons corridors to get to her common room. She was mostly unbothered by them at this point; you had to grow a tough skin because of it. So when she came upon the girl she wasn't surprised when the girl stepped into her path.
She'd honestly thought she'd been a bit nicer because it seemed everyone in GSA was nicer to those they recognized. She made her comment, about her super cute heels actually. Zita looked down at her shoes as she spoke, her foot turning to the side as she admired her shoes. She went to make a comment, snarky of course when she did something Zita hadn't been expecting. The girl decided to kick at the heel of one of the shoes. It was just hard enough to break the right heel too. Her very first instinct, quick like lightning, was to hex her. It took a lot to stamp down that instict too because her quidditch reflexes almost kicked in automatically. "What is your problem, you idiot!?!" She snatched her wand out of her robe and quickly transfigured her shoes into something wihout a heel she could break again. She left the broken heel on the floor next to her and, placing her wand back into her robe, she glared at the girl, fists clenching. She was going to hit her. She was going to do it and she didn't have any control over it. "What the hell is your--who does something like that!" She was incredulous and full of anger. She definitely wasn't nice. Venomous. Shame she expected something different.

Tag; @theodosia

SOTD; HERE

[Deleted]

Theodosia could barely stop a gleeful giggle from bubbling out of her when the heel of one of the shoes snapped clean in two, just as she had planned. Excellent, excellent! She was starting to feel better already, the tension that had been curled up inside of her unwinding itself with abandon now that Theo had a target. Someone to toy with. Even better, this girl wasn’t one of the ones that just slunk away as soon as someone started playing a little rough with them – and she wasn’t one who started sniveling, either! Theo had to suppress the urge to clap her hands together in happiness. She felt like she was a kid on Christmas morning, having just been given exactly what she wanted, and then a little more. “It’s not my problem if you’re too clumsy to keep your heels from getting stuck in the cracks in the flagstones.” Theodosia said, blinking up at the other girl, her face the picture of innocence. There was no proof that Theo had done anything to the heel, other than the other girl’s word, and really, was it so unbelievable that someone like the Hufflepuff in front of her would be uncoordinated enough to trip and break her own heel? Maybe the Quidditch would put a mark in her favor, but since she was just a Keeper for Hufflepuff, Theodosia wasn’t even going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Other than the Krum brats, there wasn’t even a decent Quidditch player among them, and even the children of the famous Quidditch player were abysmal, given all of the advantages that they must have had as children. It would have been a shame, if it wasn’t exactly the caliber of performance that the Hufflepuff house deserved. When the other girl asked who did something like that, Theodosia just grinned at her. “Something like what?” It was always so delightful to see how people responded to her playing dumb. Hopefully it would only ignite the anger even more. Theodosia loved a chance to play the victim, and if spells started flying, she certainly wouldn’t be the first one to cast one.

@zita

[Deleted]

The urge to shove her into a wall was strong. And no one would see because this was the Dungeons and it was so cold down here that most people walked as fast as possible to return to the warmth of their respective common rooms. This was one of those small windows where there wasn't anyone in close range; if she looked down the hallway she could see a few of her house mates getting closer to their common room and the moving stairs had moved once again so there wasn't anyone coming down. She could do it. She clenched her fists and let out a heavy breath from her nose though her eyes stayed focused completely on the girl. Couldn't trust those snakes, she knew better now. "Your insults are boring and forgettable so stop while you're behind," It hadn't been the insult that'd made her mad. It was the fact that she'd had the gall to kick at her. Who the hell puts their limbs on people without their expressed consent? And she'd really liked those shoes too. She'd gotten a lot of compliments on them today. They hadn't been hard to transfigure but they'd gone perfectly with her outfit today. Who knew she'd find someone that would actually break them on purpose? How naively Hufflepuff could she be? As the girl grinned at her, playing dumb... or maybe she actually was stupid? How unfortunate. Zita put her hand on her chin, putting on a clearly thoughtful look and looking past the girl. "Oh yeah. I forgot you Slytherin lose any ounce of attractiveness and barely there intelligence when posed with questions you don't have answers to. Though I guess you had neither to worry about in the first place, huh? Nasty house trait you got stuck with there... uh... what was your name again..? Your lot is pretty carbon copy too so you all run together," Two could play at this dumb thing. Though she actually couldn't recall the girl's name at the moment. She'd been to a few GSA meetings but for the most part she'd been quiet. She'd wondered why that was; GSA was always open for people to discuss their own personal experiences whether they were straight or LGBTQ+. The girl had barely said anything, which was fine too. She'd be glad now if the girl never came back.

Tag; @theodosia

SOTD; HERE

[Deleted]

Theodosia wasn’t normally concerned with the body language of her victims – cowering in fear wasn’t really worth noting – but this girl seemed to be different. There had been people who had gotten angry at her, but clenched fists and flaring nostrils? Maybe this badger was going to put up more of a fight than Theo had anticipated. It was fun to watch Hufflepuffs get angry, because they always seemed to regret it when the feeling had passed, and inspiring self-loathing was Theodosia’s modus operandi. “You seem awfully upset for someone who’s been insulting in a boring and forgettable manner.” She said casually. The fact that someone was insulting her insults didn’t bother Theodosia – she was still getting a rise out of the other girl, so did it really matter whether or not her target thought that her insults were quality? Theodosia raised her eyebrows, amused, when the Hufflepuff affected a thoughtful gaze, before trying to rip Theodosia a new one. Thankfully for the Slytherin, the other girl wasn’t much good at insults. What was the wording she had used earlier? Boring and forgettable, that about summed it up. But there was one thing in particular that Theodosia had heard, and was curious about. “Do you really think I’m attractive?” She said, fluttering her eyelashes again. Though she would deny it with just about every fiber of her being, Theodosia was attracted to girls, so one calling her pretty? Not shabby, especially considering that the aim had been to insult, not to compliment. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way…But it was too late to switch strategies now. Theodosia was going to commit. “Why on earth would I tell you my name?” The Slytherin asked with a snort. That was asking for an incident report to be filed. If she really wanted to, Theodosia was sure that she could pretend to be one of the Mudblood or halfblood brats in her house – if they really all looked the same to the Hufflepuff (and Theodosia was doubtful of the veracity of that claim), then it wasn’t like the other girl would be able to tell she was lying. “Talk about barely-there intelligence.” Theodosia mumbled beneath her breath. She could play dumb with the best of them, but where it really counted, she was always thinking three or four steps ahead. She wouldn’t become Elaine’s new right hand with anything less.

@zita

[Deleted]

She took another incredibly deep breath, opening her fists to stop her nails from digging into her palms. She was trying to calm down. Her anger was still seething just underneath the top layer of her skin and she could feel head pounding and just demanding that she hit the younger girl. Really, she couldn't be much younger than her. Violence wasn't the answer and all that, though she desperately wished that it was just to knock the smug look off of her face. She didn't even need her wand. "And you're awfully underwhelming for a bully," she said giving the girl another once over, before looking down the hall past her in a bored fashion. Really, so many other things she could be doing, such a great nap she could be taking. But she had to run into this girl. "Wow. Unattractive and hard of hearing. I'm impressed. Maybe you are fitting the bully image after all," she tsked at the girl, pursing her lips and shaking her head in pity. In reality, she'd thought the girl quite attractive when she'd first seen her at a GSA meeting. To the point that she'd actually asked Cecelia, her captain, if she'd known anything about her. Specifically if she'd swung in her direction. She didn't need to know that and, even if she hadn't found out the girl had been engaged or betrothed or whatever archaic language they used, she was completely out of the question now. Any attraction she'd felt before had left completely just after this interaction.  "Aren't you like owned or something anyway? Shouldn't you go run off and sit under your master?" She snorted when the Slytherin said she wouldn't reveal her name. She still couldn't recall it either. Bummer. She was so much better with faces. She couldn't say that she was upset that she'd forgotten at this point anyway. She didn't want to remember it. "You're right, you're irrelevant so it doesn't matter. Better things to do. Adios, pendeja," she took on her bored tone again before walking around the girl and starting to stroll down the hallway. As she walked away she heard the girl mumble something under her breath but she ignored it. She really didn't want to walk away, but what was the point in engaging someone so dimwitted and delusional?

Tag; @theodosia
SOTD; HERE

[Deleted]

Awfully underwhelming for a bully. That was an interesting way to put things. “I never said I was a bully, so for you to say I’m an underwhelming one means absolutely nothing to me.” In fact, Theodosia tried to avoid the label of bully if at all possible. That was the sort of thing that got her into trouble with the higher ups. Theodosia labelled herself more as a nuisance – the sort of person who said things to annoy you and aggravate you, but didn’t ever really do anything to you. She had tried to be a real bully with Addilyn Slater, but the halfblood dolt and her hard-headed brother couldn’t do anything right, not even follow simple directions like to stay away from each other. It was too much work to be a real bully – sowing the little seeds of discomfort and doubt was so much easier, and just as effective. Unless she had one of her toys from Elaine, Theodosia was going to try to avoid the whole physical confrontation thing. It left too much evidence. Theodosia snorted when the other girl tried to backtrack and say that the Slytherin wasn’t attractive. She knew what she had heard, and there had definitely not been an ‘un’ in front of the word attractive. That was some interesting information, information that Theo knew that she could do some damage with. She was sure that she would find some way to use it…but not now, when the other girl was already on her guard. Theodosia normally liked to toy with her prey, but since the new strategy she wanted to try was such an abrupt change, she thought it would almost be better if she just let the Hufflepuff go. She had to deal with a comment about being owned (which was frankly, just stupid, since there was no way Zita knew of Theodosia’s true allegiances) but directly after that, the Hufflepuff girl said that she had other things to do, and began to walk away. That suited the Slytherin’s purposes just fine, but Theodosia couldn’t help but wolf whistle as she watched the other girl walk down the corridor. That would be a good foundation for their next meeting, and Theodosia was already planning how she could make that happen… There was nothing quite as enjoyable as fresh meat.

@zita