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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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May 23, 2017 19:13:08 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2017 19:13:08 GMT -7
It was Valentine's Day, and that had nothing to do with the fact that Cecelia was waiting for Grey to come down to breakfast. Expecting her friend to be up early was probably a tad wishful, but maybe if he hadn't ever gone to bed the night before, she had a chance at catching him awake at an early hour. Officially, Cecelia's reason for waiting for him was so that she wouldn't have to face all of the couples alone, but to anyone who was able to look into Cece's mind, it was obviously more than that. She was still working on untangling her emotions for Grey Slater, but affection - not love yet, because love was still a concept Cece didn't want to touch - was definitely one of them. She liked him, and was it wrong to want to spend Valentine's Day with the person that she liked? Cecelia didn't think so, especially since she wasn't going to tell Grey anything about a reason for waiting for him, so she wouldn't have to lie to him. Cece felt a little ridiculous lounging in an armchair the Gryffindor common room, even though she belonged there and it was likely that no one else realized that she was waiting for someone. That was probably good, because if they did realize she was waiting for someone, there would be a plethora of uncomfortable questions to answer. Cecelia really wasn't ready to talk to any of her housemates about her feelings for Grey. Talking to Zita had been intimidating enough, and Cecelia thought it was safe to say she had a better relationship with the Hufflepuff than with any of her housemates. Her co-captain didn't know Grey, either, which made things even less complicated. Cecelia took another deep breath in through her nose, glancing once again towards the entrance to the boy's dormitory. She vowed to herself that if Grey didn't come down in the next five minutes, she would leave. She didn't want to be the girl who wasted her day waiting for a boy who would never come.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 25, 2017 12:28:52 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 25, 2017 12:28:52 GMT -7
@cecelia Just another Wednesday. Middle of the week. Hump day. A boring day. He hadn’t really slept, so there was nothing new there. At some point in the early morning he had enough of laying on his bed staring at the top of the banister. Getting fully set for the day, Grey had scooched his way out of the Gryffindor tower as early as humanly possible. A change of places usually helped him sleep a little better. The library wasn’t open that early, but there were plenty of empty classrooms that he could force his way into and sleep on the desks. He quickly realized that someone had locked all the doors to the rooms he wanted to sleep in from the top of the castle to the bottom. There were others he could wander into, but at this point it was better to go back up the common room and crash on the couch. Nobody would bother him if he was sleeping on the couch.
These were the same days that he wished he could activate the Room of Requirement on his own. Then he could get that small apartment room that he and Cecelia had managed to find themselves in. That had been the perfect size for him. Too bad he hadn’t had time to test out the bed. Surely the room could create the most comfortable bed possible. It was magical after all. Thinking this over as he dragged his tired body back up the seven flights of stairs, Grey kept replaying that day over and over in his head. There had been other instances where he had caught himself in this same loop; he had used the thought of his recent friendship with Cecelia as his new Patronus ignition. Then there was the thing with Lily last week. He never would have imagined that she of all people would push him along. She had said it was obvious. Was it? Grey wasn’t sure. He didn’t have the ability to watch his own actions from the sidelines, as much as he wished he could. Having Lily equating it to her and Adrian was a little silly, because that was overtly obvious for years. Grey had only really been friends with Cecelia for the last few months. Just friends. That was it. But he knew that wasn’t what his brain was telling him. It was all really confusing.
Pushing the portrait open and stepping back up into the common room, Grey yawned as he moved his way towards the couch. Thankfully it was empty. That was another thing Lily had been hogging lately, and he was starting to get slightly tired of it. Seniority meant it was his, right? As he went to sit down, his eyes fell over one of the armchairs. Cecelia was sitting in it. Grey stopped mid-sit and stood up straight again. “You’re up early,” he awkwardly pointed out. He couldn’t help but think that made it sound like he knew her schedule or something. He was pretty sure he didn’t. Nobody was ever up this early as far as he was aware, especially on a week day. Sure, breakfast started soon, but classes weren’t for a little while after that, and only really ambitious, brainiac first years jumped out of bed at dawn. Or was it later than that? He had spent a good part of the morning wandering around aimlessly. It was easy to lose track of time. He had forgotten his watch on his nightstand too, so that didn’t really help his case. “I swear I wasn’t out there all night. Just going for a walk,” he added.
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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May 27, 2017 18:55:24 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 18:55:24 GMT -7
Evidently, Cecelia had been looking at the wrong place for Grey’s entrance, because when he did come into the common room, it wasn’t from the boy’s dormitory, but from the portrait hole entrance. Grey commented that she was up early, and Cecelia shrugged. She didn’t think it was that early, but she and Grey also had different ideas of what constituted early, probably due to their drastically different sleeping habits. The Gryffindor looked at her friend, and her eyes narrowed slightly. Grey looked… rough. Cece would say that he looked like death warmed over, but that seemed a little harsh, and a little voice in her head berated her for being harsh to Grey. Even when he looked rough, he still looked good. Ugh, that was the weirdest thing Cecelia thought she had ever thought about anyone, ever. She liked Grey, a lot, but it was still weird for her to start thinking about how attractive he was. Maybe with time it would get a little easier. Or, even better, maybe figuring out whether or not the feelings were reciprocated would make things better, because it was a lot easier to think of someone as attractive when you knew they thought you were attractive, too. “I needed to avoid the mess of the dormitory while people got prepared for their special Valentine’s Day plans.” Cecelia informed Grey. She knew at least one of her roommates had a significant other, and she didn’t really want to hear anyone gushing about how romantic the day was. It was just another day, right? Maybe it was just her being bitter about being single… Or, more accurately, being bitter about her own lack of courage to confess her feelings to the one person in the world who made her heart skipping a beat feel like a good thing.
Grey insisted that he hadn’t been outside all night, and Cecelia chuckled. “I think we’re long past the point where I can get mad at you for sneaking around after-hours, if that’s what you had been doing.” Since Cecelia had asked Grey to sneak around the school with her after curfew, with the intention of getting a detention, lecturing him about roaming around the school would be hypocritical at best. Besides, Cecelia believed Grey when he said that he had only been out there that morning. “So, have you completed my dare yet?” Cecelia asked, referencing the dare she had given Grey in the Room of Requirement about obviously flirting with his crush. “Today would be a perfect day, you know. All the hormones in the air and everything.” If said crush didn’t reciprocate the feelings, then Grey could just brush it off as a Valentine’s Day thing and not a real thing. The thought of encouraging Grey to flirt with someone else made Cecelia’s stomach tighten, but she was trying not to be obvious about her feelings for her friend, so telling him to get out into the dating scene, with someone else, was the best she could do.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 3, 2017 22:07:58 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jun 3, 2017 22:07:58 GMT -7
@cecelia He tried to stifle back a yawn as Cecelia explained why she was in the common room this early. Because of Valentine’s Day stuff. Valentine’s Day…that was today? Grey stared at the other Gryffindor for a few moments, processing it. Today was Valentine’s Day. There, it was cemented in his head now. That would explain why there was nobody wandering around super early. They all wanted to look their best, or whatever. He probably looked awful right now, considering he probably had gotten four hours of sleep at most in the last two days. Deadlines and things were keeping him up. Now there was this. He still hadn’t sat down yet, but had shifted his attention to the fireplace for a few seconds. Why did he care about what he looked like? That wasn’t like him. The normal comments about his inordinate facial scruff, bags under his eyes, and every other possible tidbit that could be pointed out had never bothered him before. And it wasn’t like it mattered right now either. Unless it did. He wasn’t even sure of that either. “Guess some people do that stuff, don’t they?” Grey pointed out, finally sitting down on the couch.
It was nice to hear that he wasn’t going to get in trouble for being out late at night. All he ever really had to do was get a pass from the adult in charge of the newspaper, then this ‘coming back late’ thing wouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. But it had gone on long enough that he had simply embraced the write-ups and other punishments. If anything, that was free time to sleep or get work done without any distractions. Plus lately it seemed to throw him into interesting conversations with Cecelia. “If that’s a free pass from now, thanks,” he teased. That would have been the best thing to happen to him all day.
She brought up the dare, the one from the other day in the room of requirement, and Grey felt the same haze that had happened last time, come over him again. He was still hung up on that, considering he didn’t even know if he had a crush in the first place. The dare seemed rather primary school to him, but at the same time there was that nagging feeling that he knew exactly what he wanted to do about it. It was simply getting around to actually doing it that was causing him issues. To top it off, Cecelia added that today was the perfect day for it too. That was like kicking him while he was already down; adding more to his plate than he could actually handle. “Honestly,” he started, looking back at Cecelia. “I have no idea if I have or not. Suppose it depends on what she thinks about it?” How could he possibly give an answer that vague while staring straight at her? He knew that the problem was because he didn’t even know what he was feeling in the first place. Vagueness and trying to scurry around the scary questions wasn’t going to answer any of his own, and certainly wouldn’t help clear anything up. “What about you? Any plans for today?” Grey found himself asking, without any context or reasoning for why he did so. A little voice inside him wanted to know if she was waiting for one of those people that was getting ready.
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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Jun 9, 2017 10:01:36 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2017 10:01:36 GMT -7
Cecelia observed Grey curiously after she made her off-handed comment about Valentine’s Day. He was looking into the fire as if it was going to give him some sort of answer about what he ought to be thinking or feeling about what some would dub the most important day of the year. (Personally, Cecelia would never be able to call a holiday about romantic love the most important day of the year. If it was a celebration of love in general, including familial and platonic love, then maybe she would have been able to get behind it, but that was beside the point.) Grey said that some people did do things for Valentine’s Day, and Cecelia rolled her eyes at him. “I’m surprised the paper isn’t running a special article about it, to be honest. Everyone’s…” Cecelia didn’t finish the sentence. Not everyone was focused on doing something for their romantic interest, and even if they were, Cece wasn’t sure she had the right word to describe the funk that had fallen over the castle while people waited for the hour of their date to come around.
At the mention of a free pass, Cecelia just raised one eyebrow. “I wouldn’t take it that far – and legally, I’m obligated to tell you I will enforce every instance of rule breaking I come across – but if you happen to come in a few minutes late when I’m the only one in the common room…” She shrugged. Basically, as long as nobody else saw Grey, Cecelia was willing to pretend that she didn’t see him, either. Perks of being one of the only people that Cecelia actually liked. “Don’t abuse my friendship, Grey Slater.” She added. Cece didn’t think that Grey would let things get too out of hand, but he had surprised her before, and this would be a bad thing to be surprised about, to say the least.
Cecelia was used to being around people who equivocated with their answers. It was kind of a Purifiers specialty, to be able to talk without saying anything at all. What she got out of Grey’s message was that he had tried to flirt with the girl, but she didn’t realize that he was flirting. Which was confusing as hell, and still might not have been what he was trying to say. Since Grey was dodging the question so beautifully, Cecelia thought that it would be pointless to try to tease a better answer out of him, which meant that she was just going to have to wait for Grey to slip and give her more information. Like who this girl was that he had maybe flirted with. When Grey asked if she had any plans, Cecelia shook her head. “I was waiting for you, actually. So that I wouldn’t have to be surrounded by couples alone.” It was just now occurring to Cecelia that walking down to breakfast with a boy on Valentine’s Day might have seemed, to some, like walking down as a part of a couple herself. “Unless you’re planning on finally telling that girl how you feel, in which case, I will gladly get out of your hair.” She added. Just because she wasn’t going to do anything about her feelings on Valentine’s Day didn’t mean that she had to stand in Grey’s way, too. At least one of them deserved to be happy.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 19, 2017 21:21:47 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jun 19, 2017 21:21:47 GMT -7
@cecelia “You happen to see the advice column after the Yule Ball?” He asked, shifting his attention back and forth between looking at the fireplace and Cecelia. “We won’t run stories because we’re not the Gossip Witch, but our secret advice columnist takes letters from students and tries to answer them to the best of their ability.” Grey made sure to choose his words carefully. It was a secret that Lyla was the advice columnist. Some would say it didn’t matter who did it, but when asked by the school to add the new section, he was told that the identity of the person taking the questions and giving answers needed to stay hidden. So far everything had run smoothly with it, and it had almost been going for a year already. The Yule Ball had generated quite a few questions about relationships (hundreds actually) and how to take them to the next step from simply being a date to a dance or a lost soul looking for another. From what he could tell, Valentine’s Day was going to be the sequel to the Yule Ball this year, and the next slew of questions for Lyla was going to be appearing within the next week. What a joy that was, reading about someone’s love life. If anything, it had told him what not to do in certain situations. Which was why he was now in this strange predicament. Because he knew what was right and wrong, but not how to approach it, or if he even should in the first place. The one thing he had learned from sorting through all those obnoxious letters was that every situation had to be treated differently, even if they all looked like they were the same. Two different people meant varying results.
She was legally obligated to enforce the rules? Lately it hadn’t seemed like that. That free pass he had just joked about felt like it had been enacted months ago. At first he thought he was just good at wiggling out of trouble when she was in a position where that was easy, but not the last few times, and definitely not from that last statement she made. “Don’t worry,” Grey said matter-of-factly, “I don’t do that anymore.” He had once, and that had led to quite a few years of Irina giving him the cold shoulder. All over asking questions about her father. Like he would understand those boundaries at fourteen years old and as a budding journalist.
He still had no idea if his answer to the dare made sense. Because it didn’t to him, and it most certainly looked like Cecelia had no idea what he was talking about. Unless she was just letting the whole thing go. Which was nice, but also wouldn’t really help him figure out what his feelings were in the long run. He kind of wanted her to just ask who the girl was. That way he could give some semblance of an answer. Or one where he bumbled enough over his words that it would be obvious. Didn’t really help that the added pressure of knowing it was Valentine’s Day was now added on top of it all. Searching through more empty classrooms to find somewhere to sleep was starting to sound like it would have been a better idea right about now. Cecelia broke this thought process though, as she stated that she was actually waiting for him. For him. “That makes sense,” he reasoned. Did it though? Wouldn’t that just make them look like a couple too? Lily had said so herself only a few nights earlier. If Potter noticed them hanging out a lot more, than someone else surely had. But they were just friends, even if he was thinking it could be more than that. Maybe. “I can get to that eventually,” Grey said, quieter than he had been so far. “Not really pressed for time. She isn’t going anywhere.” Literally. She was sitting right in front of him.
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Jun 21, 2017 18:02:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 18:02:17 GMT -7
Cecelia shook her head when Grey asked if she had seen the advice column after the Yule Ball. “Personally, I think if you need to write into a paper to solve your problems, maybe the problem you’re writing about isn’t the worst one in your life.” Even Cece’s pathetic excuse for a support system could help her untangle the most complicated of situations – namely, her feelings for Grey. That seemed like the kind of thing that the advice columnist would handle. Again, since Cece hadn’t read it, she could only guess was to what it was actually about, but the title of the column seemed self-explanatory. There was still a problem with it, though – if people didn’t comfortable going to their friends for help and advice, then what sort of life were they living? Sure, there were some things that people wanted to keep from their friends, but Cecelia would sooner make another Unbreakable Vow than believe that there was another person in the Purifiers who was struggling with their position in the group and was sending the advice columnist letters about it. At least the advice column wasn’t the Gossip Witch, though – if Grey had sanctioned that sort of column in the school paper, then Cecelia would have had to seriously rethink her attraction to him. But he hadn’t and she wasn’t, so Cecelia moved on from that thought, choosing to look at Grey instead. He seemed to be pondering something, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the column they were talking about, or if he had just gotten lost in thought. It wasn’t hard to do that, especially on days like this, when the mind could drift to that special someone. That was, after all, why Cecelia was spending so much time thinking about what Grey was thinking, and she felt rather ridiculous when she realized that was what she was doing.
Grey told her not to worry, presumably about running a special article about Valentine’s Day, and Cecelia just nodded. She didn’t really see it as an invasion of privacy if couples wanted to flaunt their relationship and the paper just happened to observe it. Outing couples who would rather keep their relationship private was a different story, but Cecelia trusted Grey’s moral compass enough to believe that he wouldn’t do such a thing. He wasn’t the kind of journalist who would do anything for a juicy story – he was the kind who would find a story that was juicy enough without shoving other people’s personal business into the spotlight. At least, that was how Cecelia saw him, and she really hoped that after all the time they had spent together, how she saw him was accurate. Then again, love could force people to wear rose colored glasses sometimes…
Cecelia was relieved that Grey had accepted her reasoning for waiting for him. Otherwise the conversation could have gone a very different direction. Now she just had to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid while they were walking down to breakfast, like reach to grab his hand the way she had when they had been in the Room of Requirement. Cecelia swallowed around the lump in her throat when Grey said that he was going to get to admitting his feelings for the girl eventually. He said that she wasn’t going anywhere, which didn’t really make sense to Cece. How did he know that she wouldn’t find someone else? He wouldn’t like it if that happened. Cecelia knew, because that was exactly what she was experiencing – watching the person she had a crush on say that he was chasing someone different. “How do you know?” Cece said, her words echoing her thoughts. She took a deep breath, still acutely aware of the lump that was sitting halfway between her mouth and her lungs. “I mean, if you care for her, why wait?” Cecelia knew better than anyone that tomorrow wasn’t promised to them, and even if it would pain her to watch Grey be happy with someone else, it would be better than watching him be sad because the person he cared for had slipped away.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 22, 2017 19:22:47 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jun 22, 2017 19:22:47 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey let out a chuckle as Cecelia brought up the fact that writing one’s problems in a paper probably meant a lot more was at hand with some people. She could say that again. Some of the questions he read through with Lyla when determining what would work for each issue were revolting. Didn’t these kids have subscriptions to Teen Witch or whatever it was called? Surely those would answer some of the more intricate and serious questions better than he or Lyla ever could. The Slytherin girl did the best she could when it came to taking one of the tougher questions on. “You would think so,” he shrugged his shoulders before leaning back into the couch a little more. “But we control almost everything in the school as far as news, so they look to us for advice.” There were complaints about it from time to time, but nothing too serious yet. Grey preferred to err on the side of caution when it came to the paper and the advice column. Both were a luxury they were allowed through the club. Screwing that up and having the club disassembled would only serve to ruin a number of students’ dreams to be journalists and reflect poorly on him. He didn’t want either of those things happening on his watch. “Personally, I think a decent number of the students would find more comfort in seeing the school counselor over asking questions in a public paper.” Maybe that was just him though.
Unfortunately they could only talk about the paper for so long before the conversation would eventually slip back into the statement he had just made. Grey knew that he had piqued Cecelia’s interest with it, because now she was asking him more questions. Normally he wouldn’t even be able to articulate answers to the things she was asking, because he would have no idea how to even process any of it. Those kinds of things simply didn’t click in his head at the drop of a hat like they did with some. This time though, he wasn’t immediately responding because he was afraid of what he was going to say. How did he know? “I just do I guess?” Great. Another vague answer that was actually a question. His uncertainty was confusing even to himself, he could only imagine how frustrating that would be for Cecelia. The real answer was, again, because she was sitting right in front of him. Obviously there was the chance that some other person could swoop in and run off with her, though he hadn’t seen any sign of that over the last few months, and for once in his life he was confident about his position. The real test would be when he broke it all down and actually declared his feelings. Then there was the chance that she would laugh at him and walk away, or try to keep it just as friends. None of these things had really occurred to him before now, but here they were. Apparently he was just another teenager at school. He had always thought he was better than that.
Grey took a deep inhale as she asked him why he should wait. Because he was terrified. Because he didn’t know how these things worked. Because everything. And because he didn’t know what happened after that. She was right though. Why wait? He had nothing to lose, other than a smidge of pride if things went south, and after that? School was over in a few months anyways. If he could avoid the majority of his housemates for seven years, a soured relationship with Cecelia wouldn’t be all that difficult. He hoped it would never come to that, but there was no way of telling that now. “After breakfast,” he finally said. “I will after breakfast.” That gave him more of a chance to come up with a game plan, especially because he hadn’t expected to have to spring the question at this point in time. If anything, he had anticipated that he was going to sit on the feelings until school was over, and then regret never acting on them. Not today though. “Hungry?” Grey asked as he stood up, heading towards the portrait to leave the common room. It would be terribly awkward if she didn’t go with him, and then he had to return to the common room later just to blurt out his feelings. Why wasn’t this stuff easier?
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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Jun 26, 2017 18:20:54 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2017 18:20:54 GMT -7
Grey, as always, seemed unwilling to judge others, namely the people who wrote into the paper for advice. It made sense, considering that the advice column was a reason that people would pick up the paper. Hopefully they would read it because they wanted to be up to date with the news in Hogwarts, but Cecelia had learned a long time ago that expecting the best of people was a great way to be disappointed. Grey also pointed out that the paper controlled a lot of what students did or didn’t see… So they were kind of like an overbearing parent in that way. Or maybe the mafia – controlling the flow of information and keeping people from getting the “wrong idea”. At the idea of Grey as a mafia lord caused Cecelia to smile, and she hoped that Grey didn’t think that she was insane for smiling over something as simple as Grey’s factual statement about the paper. When Grey made the comment over the counsellor, Cecelia made a soft scoffing noise. “No offense to Madam Macmillan, but she wasn’t all that helpful.” When she had been having problems with Ranger, Madam Macmillan hadn’t really done anything about it, which was worrying, considering Cecelia’s problems were a mélange of personal and professional issues and the counselor hadn’t helped with either of them. Cece wondered if there was too much going on in the counselor’s own life for her to be helpful to the students. Or maybe it had just been Cecelia that had failed at seeking solace in Madam Macmillan’s office. Since she hadn’t been able to be totally honest with the counselor, maybe it was her own fault? Lies of omission weren’t that bad, though, were they? Nope, Cecelia was not going to spend her Valentine’s Day thinking about the same things she had been obsessing over for the past however many days, weeks, or months. She just wanted one day that Braelynn and Desirae couldn’t touch.
The answer to her question was not satisfactory, at all. ‘I just do’ gave her absolutely nothing. Even if he had given a throwaway reason about why he knew the girl wouldn’t be taken by someone else, Cece might have been able to figure out more about who it was. Was she a Gryffindor? Actually, hadn’t he mentioned something about meeting with girls from the newspaper? Was it one of them? Or… had he said something about them just being friends? Ugh. Cecelia was way overanalyzing this, and her strange nerves were making her memory horrible, and she just wanted this conversation to be done with. Served her right for asking a question where she would only be satisfied with one answer.
After breakfast? Well, it had been surprisingly easy to get Grey to agree to tell his feelings to his girl. And since she was going to spend breakfast with him, it meant that she was going to be able to see who he approached afterwards. And then Cecelia would likely spend some time glancing forlornly in their direction like some bad romance movie… And then, unlike a romance movie, she would move on. The thought of moving on seemed impossible right now, but Cecelia had done a lot of impossible things in the past year. She took a deep, shaky breath, already preparing herself for the inevitable letdown. But she still had some time. Cece had one last meal where Grey was hers, and she could entertain the possibility that she would be able to tell him how she felt, because he told her first. After breakfast, everything would change. Cecelia rolled her eyes internally. She was being much too melodramatic about this whole thing. Everything would change, but change did not mean end. Grey asked if she was hungry, and Cecelia bobbed her head in a nod. She followed Grey to the portrait hole, exiting after him. “I wonder if there’s going to be themed foods…” There were some days the house elves really went above and beyond, and she wondered if Valentine’s Day was one of them.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jul 9, 2017 21:42:22 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jul 9, 2017 21:42:22 GMT -7
@cecelia He had been somewhat joking about having Madam Macmillan take back her responsibilities as the official Hogwarts counselor, but by Cecelia’s statement, it sounded like there was a reason the students were going to his people over her. The school counselor not being able to help her students explained a lot, especially in Cecelia’s case. Grey couldn’t be positive about what his friend went there for, but there were a couple good guesses. One they had talked to death about, and the other was something he hadn’t exactly been willing to touch, considering his own sister was involved with it. Or maybe there were other things – ones that were more personal that she wasn’t willing to share with him. At least not yet. The mere thought of her sharing more than what they had talked about already gave his stomach an excited lurch. Grey had initially thought that the advice he had given her, about dealing with Ranger and the likes, was all because he had wanted some kind of personal gratification for helping another person. But now it had switched from feeling like he was obligated to continuously help her to wanting to help because he cared about her. He just didn’t know how to put that into words yet. And of course that led him to his stupid ‘I just do’ statement. He wasn’t wrong, but he also couldn’t have been any vaguer about the whole thing. Eventually he’d get around to it…
A little part of him had wished that he hadn’t set a time frame for all of this. It was absolutely amplified after finding out it was also Valentine’s Day, and now he felt like it was a personal responsibility to follow through with all of it. Now or never, he supposed. There was plenty of time to still back out if he got cold feet, though that wouldn’t be very Gryffindor of him. He also had to come up with a place to bring it up, how to say it, and how to react when she said no. So much to think about with so little time left. If he hadn’t already asked her to breakfast, his dorm room would have been calling right about now. Stepping out of the portrait sealed the deal though, and Grey took a deep breath before Cecelia followed him out. The minutes were ticking down.
She brought up the possibility of themed foods in the Great Hall as they started walking. Grey rolled his eyes at the thought of it. “Hopefully not,” he answered honestly. Not only was that a horrible way for the school to celebrate Singles Awareness Day, but he could do without all the hearts, frills, flowers, and pink. Definitely the pink. He held a certain disdain for the color pink, especially after an upperclassman though it would be hilarious to change his hair color to it after finding out what his first name was. That was the day first-year Gryffindor, Grey Slater, perfected the color-changing charm in a matter of five hours, just so he could have his old hair color back. “If I wanted to see that, I’d go to Madame Puddifoot’s.” The tea shop had enough of that disgusting stuff, and an equally awful smell on top of it.
They continued walking, and Grey wasn’t exactly liking his own silence. Talking seemed to break up his thoughts so far, and keep him from remembering the inevitable. It got the best of him though. “Would you know?” he asked. “You know, like how I do?” That was easily the stupidest sounding thing that had ever come out of his mouth. Absolutely terrible. He wouldn’t even feel bad if Cecelia laughed and walked away from him at this point. That would all be on him. He was an idiot, and he was definitely going to screw this up before he even got the chance to ask her.
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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Jul 10, 2017 12:22:00 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2017 12:22:00 GMT -7
Grey seemed thoroughly against the idea of themed foods, which Cecelia would have expected, if she had spent any time considering things other than how her own feelings for Grey fit into the mess of his feelings and the mystery girl’s and everyone else’s in this entire castle. Cecelia was beyond glad that she couldn’t look into other people’s heads; if she was a Legilimens, she’d have even more things to worry about, because then she wouldn’t be able to ignore how other people felt in favor of her own emotions. Well, she still could, but she wouldn’t be able to plea ignorance if she did. Cece had already spent so much of her life in ignorance, so voluntarily spending more of it that was not in the cards for her. She laughed a little at Grey’s comment at going to Madame Puddifoot’s if he wanted Valentine’s Day themed food. It was true that the tea shop constantly looked like Cupid had vomited on it, and imagining Grey anywhere near that much pink was just strange. The Gay-Straight Alliance meeting had been more than enough pink overload for Cecelia. If, or when, she got into a romantic relationship, Cecelia was not going to touch the tea shop with a ten-foot pole. It reeked of desperation and relationships that weren’t meant to last, in her opinion. The only worse place to try to create a relationship was a club, so at least she had that going for her.
As they walked down, Grey asked a question if she would know. It took Cecelia a moment to realize that he was talking about liking someone, and whether or not she would be able to admit to herself that she had feelings for someone. If only he knew. Cecelia pondered a moment how to respond to that question without being totally obvious. “I already know who I care for.” She swallowed. “In every sense of the word.” She knew who her family was, and who her friends were, and who she could see herself loving. Caring was not an easy thing for Cecelia, after how caring for Braelynn had ended, but she knew she cared for Grey. She stopped about halfway down one of the flights of stairs. “But it can be hard to say so.” Cecelia said, unsure why that had warranted stopping at all. Grey knew that it was hard to say that you cared about someone – that was presumably why he was hesitating to tell his girl how he felt about her. Still, if he ever looked back on this conversation one day, maybe he would put the pieces together, and realize that this was the closest Cecelia would ever get to saying that she cared for him. She wouldn’t ever be able to say those exact words to his face, so this was the next best thing. That was what she tried to tell herself, at least. Cecelia began to move again, unable to look at Grey. It was an admission of her feelings in most ways, but in others, it was also a goodbye. She was making peace with the fact that Grey would be with someone else on their last walk together. Things were going to change, and, as always, she was going to need to be okay with that.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jul 18, 2017 21:15:32 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jul 18, 2017 21:15:32 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey wasn’t sure he even wanted to know how she would respond to that question. It was strange, awkward sounding, and really, really elementary. They were almost done with school. Almost graduated. Sounding like a primary school child asking if a girl had a crush on someone was not exactly how he had envisioned his seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to go, nor did he think anyone could foresee that coming from his mouth. If he had known he was going to be asking silly, emotionally charged questions like that back when he was sorted, he would have asked the bloody sorting hat to put him in Hufflepuff where those people belonged. Or maybe that was the trick. His pride was starting to get the better of him after the fact. No matter, it was said and done, and now Cecelia was answering. His worries of how idiotic the question sounded were only eclipsed by the fact that she already knew who she cared for. That was a stomach flipper for sure. There was the possibility that he was reading too much into that, or that it was exactly like it sounded. Cecelia was relatively straight shooting, if it was him, and that was a big if, then she would have said it already, right? Something wasn’t right in his head if he had to reason with himself like this over a simple answer to a dumb question.
Cecelia stopped walking while they were in the middle of one of the staircases, Grey coming to a halt a few stairs below her. What did she mean by that? “You mean admitting it? Like to the other person or to yourself?” Grey knew that answer already. It was both. The more he thought about it, the more it sounded like it was a loaded question. “I think if someone didn’t struggle with that, then they didn’t really care in the first place,” he frowned slightly as he finished the sentence. “Maybe that’s just me though,” Grey took a deep breath before letting it out. “Merlin, why is this difficult?” The love-potion wasn’t even this complicated, and that was what was starting to scare him the most. All that did was leave him googly-eyed and tongue tied, not sure how to approach Ondina in any way, shape, or form. Cecelia though…he had no problem conversing or being around her. And that didn’t make any sense to him at all.
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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Aug 1, 2017 13:28:59 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 13:28:59 GMT -7
Grey stopped walking at about the same time that Cecelia did, but he positioned himself a few steps below her. Cecelia felt something strange surging through her. She hadn’t ever been taller than Grey before, and looking down at the top of his head made her feel strangely vulnerable, even though she had no reason to feel bad because she was standing above him. Cecelia glanced over her shoulder when Grey asked if it was hard to admit something to the person she loved, or to herself. This felt like a conversation they should have had in the privacy of the Gryffindor common room, not on the staircase, where anyone who was passing could hear them. “Both.” Cecelia answered Grey’s question. It had been hard enough to admit to herself that what she felt for Grey was more than just friendship, and to admit it to him seemed like an insurmountable task, which was part of the reason why Cecelia had no plans to do so. Grey commented that if someone didn’t struggle with their emotions when it came to caring for someone, they didn’t care that much in the first place. Cecelia huffed out a quiet laugh at that comment. If grappling with your feelings for someone more meant that you cared for them more, then Cecelia thought she must love Grey more than anyone had loved anyone else before, because she felt like she spent most of her waking hours worrying either about the Purifiers and her unfortunate position in their ranks, or about Grey. She didn’t say as much, though. Of course she wasn’t going to say that! “It’s not just you.” Cecelia assured Grey when he said that maybe it was just him who held that sentiment. She figured that that comment, paired with her earlier half-laughter, would be enough for Grey to figure out that she was the same way when it came to struggling with her feelings. Grey asked why this was difficult, and Cecelia just gave him a sad smile, descending a few steps so she was close enough to rest her hand on his shoulder. “The human heart is a dangerous thing, Grey. It has to be difficult so we don’t go getting ourselves into too much trouble.” She informed him. If emotions were easy, then people wouldn’t think enough about them, and then they’d throw themselves into situations that they would be better off escaping. Even with the complicated web of caring, Cecelia found herself in hard places that no doubt would be even more difficult without people she loved surrounding her.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
696 posts
played by Colin
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last online May 4, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Aug 3, 2017 22:05:35 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Aug 3, 2017 22:05:35 GMT -7
@cecelia He simply nodded his head to her answer. There was something comforting about knowing that she was thinking about it the same way he was. This kind of thing was difficult, especially when not really understanding it at all. Grey knew that he could go on and on about having an idea of what feeling in love was like, due to the love potion, but he also knew that a potion would never be able to replicate the real thing. At least he hoped it wouldn’t be able to. The disgusting feeling of wanting and needing Ondina had taken forever to get out of his system, even weeks after he had been supposedly cured of it. The constant dosage of it for a month straight had really done a number on him, even though he knew the thoughts he was having afterwards were fake. This thing that he was feeling now? This wasn’t even close to the lust filled ideas that had floated around in his head while under the potion’s command. Well, it kind of was, and that was the confusing part. To put it simply, he was positive that it wasn’t as dangerous as the love potion was.
Grey wasn’t sure how to take Cecelia’s laugh to his comment about struggling meaning he cared more at first. Her follow up made more sense though. Of course everyone felt like that. The last thing anyone wanted to do was hurt the ones they cared about. That was one of the things that he felt like he still struggled with when it came to his family. Some of what he said to both of his sisters was rather abrasive, and probably wouldn’t be a normal conversation between siblings that were considered ‘close’ like they were. Even that. He didn’t like that descriptor that people placed on them, because they all knew it wasn’t true. Despite that though, he tried not to hurt them with his actions as much as possible. He had already learned about that the hard way, and suffered the consequences with the love potion. It was an ugly little circle.
Cecelia stepped down a few stairs, moving closer to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. She continued on, still uninterrupted by him, about the fact that it was difficult because it was to keep them out of trouble. That was definitely true. It also sounded like a test to him. One that was hard to pass up. He was going to jump down this rabbit hole anyways, possibly even later in the day. The reaction and answer wouldn’t change between now and then. That was impossible. So if he was going to challenge himself and get into trouble, it was either here, on a staircase in an empty corridor, or somewhere in the Great Hall where dozens of other students were bound to see it. Either way, it was going to be scary as hell. “I…I was wondering-” Grey started, but cut himself off. That didn’t sound right. There was too much hesitation in it. After a few seconds, he tried again. “What are you doing this weekend?”
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last online May 5, 2024 18:12:09 GMT -7
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Aug 4, 2017 8:27:57 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2017 8:27:57 GMT -7
Grey was quiet for a long while, and Cecelia wondered what on earth could be occupying his thoughts. She knew what she thought about when she was silent for so long, but she knew for a fact that Grey wasn’t a member of the Purifiers, nor did he have a sister in hiding or another sister buried. Of course, that didn’t mean that he didn’t have plenty of things to think about… just that Cece couldn’t fathom what those things were. When he finally did speak, Grey stuttered over his first word, before his voice faded away into nothingness. Cece didn’t think she’d ever seen Grey cut himself off like that before, even when they had been talking about the love potion situation, which obviously hadn’t been pleasant for him to discuss. Despite her normal lack of patience, Cecelia was willing to wait for what he had to say. It felt… important, somehow. Apparently, her estimation had been wrong, though, because all he did was ask what she was doing that weekend. There wasn’t really much to do at Hogwarts over the weekend, was there? Unless she was going to Hogsmeade or wandering the grounds, the only things Cecelia could do were do her homework or hang out with her friends. She knew that some of the people with significant others used the weekends to plan dates, but –
Wait.
“Grey?” Cecelia asked, her voice sounding small even to her own ears. Maybe she was reading into this too much, and maybe it was her own biases that were making her think what she was thinking, but… she had to ask, didn’t she? Cece had continued to tell herself that she wasn’t going to tell Grey her feelings because she didn’t want to ruin his chances with the girl that he liked, nor did she want to ruin their friendship, but why on earth was he asking her what she was doing that weekend when there was someone he liked better? Unless there wasn’t someone he liked better, which was the conclusion that her mind had immediately jumped to upon figuring out the dizzying spiral of her thoughts. Cecelia suddenly became very aware of her hand resting on Grey’s shoulder, and she lifted it off, putting it down beside her instead. The Gryffindor took a deep breath, looking her friend in the eyes. “What do you mean?” She asked. This was their chance – their chance to figure everything out. Cecelia knew she was being a bit of a coward, making Grey say what he was thinking first, but she had made a promise to herself, and it wasn’t a promise that she was going to break lightly, not with so much at stake. So Cecelia stood there, waiting for Grey to destroy the awkward silence that was now hanging between them.
grey xavier slater
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