sweet dreams (ashley)

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timing: November Hogsmeade Weekend

The wind rushed bitterly through Brígh's cloak as she struggled to protect herself from the cold. It was a freezing day, and not all together pleasant. Students didn't mill about the streets of Hogsmeade, instead tucking their noses into their scarves and hurrying from shop to shop. Bri wasn't having a very good time, as she had unfortunately discovered a small tear in the fabric of her cloak. She dashed, head down against the wind, into Gladrags to pick out a new one. She considered leaving Hogsmeade then and there, but as she was walking down the high street she paused outside Honeydukes.

It was nearly impossible to resist the brigh colours and tantalising sweets in the windows of the shop. Relenting, Brígh pushed the door open, shutting it behind her as quickly as she could. She adjusted her package, holding it loosely by her side. The shop was still half full, regardless of the few students that had ventured out into the cold. Bri silently perused the shop, wondering what sweets, if any, she should get for Bran. He had only written her once this term. She knew he was busy with his dragons and such, but she wanted to make sure that he wasn't being burned alive or anything.

When Bri finally decided to get him a half a kilo of Droobles, she found that she did recognise someone already there. "Ashley?" asked Bri, completely nonplussed. She hadn't been all that kind to the Slytherin the last time they had spoken. In fact, she had made it quite plain that she didn't want to be speaking with her. And since that moment, Bri had felt relentlessly guilty. So, Eli seemed to be rubbing off on her after all.

tag: @ashley

[Deleted]

All in all, Ashley Fontaine was having a pretty enjoyable day in Hogsmeade. She met a new person and had a bit of fun getting to know him, despite the awkwardness that followed. Still, it was interesting being in a new school and running into so many new people. Ashley hadn't quite decided what she thought about it. She knew several of her friends were annoyed because the people here weren't intimidated by them, but that was actually one of the things Ashley liked. If she wanted, no one had to know how she'd been before. Granted, she hadn't abandoned her friends entirely, so she still was pretty respected. It was just different here in Hogwarts. She probably wouldn't tell anyone, but she liked it. 

However, at the moment it was really cold outside, so she ducked into a shop, surprised when she looked around to see that it was a sweets shop. Immediately her thoughts turned to her brother, who happened to love cooking. Hmmm ... how much could she annoy him by sending him treats that she knew he wouldn't want to eat? She'd do it anonymously, but he'd know it was her. Still, it would be worth it. She was trying to decide which sweets would annoy him the most when she heard a voice saying her name. 

Turning around, Ashley couldn't help but blink in surprise. "Brigh?" she asked. The girl was trying to talk to her now, after the awkwardness of their last conversation the other week? A moment later she smiled hesitantly. "Hi. How are you doing?" What the heck was Ashley supposed to say to her? Was the girl going to get all awkward again? Once again, Ashley couldn't help but wonder if Eli told her all about Ash. It would explain the red-head's reluctance to talk with Ash. Ugh, she had no idea.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[Deleted]

As dreadful as the weather was, Brígh couldn't resist ducking into Honeydukes to heed to her sweet tooth. She'd also thought about getting something for Bran, even though he hadn't written her in ages. She had just decided on a large bag of Droobles for him and a big slab of Honeydukes chocolate for herself when she spotted Ashley. Immediately, her stomach seemed to drop out from her body. That would be the guilt. In the weeks that had passed since their last meeting, Bri had been thinking over her treatment, or rather mistreatment, of Ashley. Just because she was a Slytherin didn't mean she was a horrible person. It's not like she hung around that awful Kowalski girl twenty four seven. And perhaps Ilvermorny sorted differently. Perhaps she had loads of qualities that could have made her a Gryffindor even.

With these random thoughts brewing, Bri found herself making her way over to Ashley, saying her name aloud to get her attention. She felt nervous, after having been a proper witch to her previously. Bri wanted to assuage the guilt, mainly. "Hey, er I'm not bad. How are you?" asked Bri tentatively. It seems the tables had been turned, and now Ashley was the one questioning Bri's motives. Bri fought the urge to bid her goodbye and make her way quickly back to the castle. She was meant to be brave. "Er, look, Ashley. I'm sorry for being a bit of a prat last time we spoke. I just wasn't really... well, all in all it was uncalled for." Now that she had gotten the apology out, she didn't know what else to say. She hoped Ashley would at least not push her. She didn't seem like that. Bri glanced down at the selection she had gotten. "For you or someone special?" she asked, gesturing towards the sweets awkwardly.

tag: @ashley

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Honestly, Brigh was the last person that Ashley expected to approach her in the sweets store. She wasn't even paying attention to anyone around as she chose the treats she knew would annoy her brother the most. So hearing the girl approach her surprised her more than she cared to admit. Ashley offered an easygoing smile once Brigh said she wasn't bad and asked about Ashley. "I'm good, enjoying your little village here." Honestly, she'd enjoyed her visit here a lot more than she expected to this morning. Brigh seemed nervous to be talking to her though and Ashley couldn't help but wonder why the girl approached her when she was so anxious about it. She wasn't going to push her away though. Not a friend of Eli's, despite the fact that Ashley found herself getting more and more jealous of the girl and how much time she got to spend with Eli. 

Her eyes widened as the other girl started apologizing and Ashley started shaking her head almost immediately. "No, no. You don't have to apologize. It's fine, really. I'm not upset." Sure, it made things awkward whenever Ash saw her since that day, but she wasn't going to come out and say that. "Really, no worries. You're fine." She didn't want the other girl to be worrying about that. At her next question, Ashley couldn't help but smile mischievously. "For my brother. He likes to cook, so he's kind of a snob when it comes to treats. I'm going to send some of these to him anonymously just to mess with him. Any idea for any good ones?" Ashley was ridiculously excited to tease her brother. It was one of her favorite things to do, but she honestly couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he got a package with one of these sweets in it. He'd know it was her almost right away, but it would still be worth it.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

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"Well, it's your village now too," said Brígh. Odd as it was for the transfers to come to Hogwarts of all places, Brígh had to say that she was glad for the fact. It had brought her together with Eli, and most of the other transfers were nice as well. She half wished that he could see her now, though she didn't know if he would care much as Ashley was more of an acquaintance than anything. Brígh was trying though, at least. She managed an awkward apology, to which Ashley responded equally as awkward. Brígh couldn't help but giggle at the predicament they'd gotten themselves into.

So, Ashley was getting sweets for her brother as well? "Funnily enough, me too," said Brígh. "Well... how much do you like your brother? That will help decide what sort of sweets are best. But if he's a bit of a prick, I'd say maybe cockroach clusters. Pass them off as chocolate covered peanuts," said Brígh thoughtfully. "There's some really weird stuff around here. Makes you wonder who buys them. Wouldn't they discontinue if they weren't big sellers?"

tag: @ashley

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Ashley smiled and nodded when Brigh told her that the village was hers too now. "Yeah, I guess it is. Maybe I'll feel that way once I know my way around it more," she said with a small chuckle. For Ash, at least, it was hard to consider something as hers if she didn't know her way around. At least the village was pretty small. That would make it easier to get to know in one day, if she could pull herself out of this sweets shop.

She quirked her head to the side when the red head said that she was getting things for her brother too. "Twins!" Ashley answered with a laugh, shaking her head slightly at herself. She might be overdoing the friendly thing, but she was trying to be sincere and make Brigh feel more comfortable around her. She shrugged at the other girl's question. "I like Joe well enough, but he's a snob when it comes to eating sweets, so I'm mostly getting things for him so I can annoy him with them, but those cockroach clusters sound fabulous!" Ashley reached for a package, giggling as she thought about the look that would probably be on her brother's face when he opened the package. He'd glare at her, probably try to retaliate some, but she didn't care. It would totally be worth it. She nodded, "Yeah ... I guess it just goes to show that there are people that want weird candies ..." Ashley trailed off for a second as another sweet caught her eye. Then she looked back over to Brigh, "So are you getting sweets for your brother to be nice or to tease him?" That would help her get to know the girl a bit better.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

[Deleted]

2c3b2d /

"It's quite interesting here, there's a lot of wizarding history," said Brígh at once. She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "It's the only fully wizarding community in Britain, did you know?" she added after a moment. "It's really cool that we get to come here on weekends, did you have a wizarding village near your school?" asked Bri, more out of politeness than wanting to know the answer. Bri had visited the village many times, yet the charm had not yet worn off. She never tired of a pint of butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, getting herself sick with too much sugar at Honeydukes and stuffing her pockets with tricks at Zonko's.

At Ashley's declaration, Brígh felt herself lightening up a bit. Ashley wanted to be every bit as friendly as she did. It was obvious to her that they had gotten off on the wrong foot, and both regretted it. "Yeah!" she agree enthusiastically, matching Ashley's giggles. "You know, I haven't really met many of the Ilvermorny students, which is rather a shame. Just you, this boy in my house Jace and Eli. Oh and this rather horrible girl who likes maths, but I like to forget about her if I can," said Bri slyly. "It's so strange, having met so few Americans in my life then schools flooded with you lot. It's refreshing to not have the strangest accent," she added with another laugh.

"My brother is a complete wanker in all honestly, but I miss him so maybe I'll soften him up with sweets." Bran had been horrible to her as of late, but she missed the closeness of their relationship from years ago. "Joe... why do I feel like I know that name? I suppose it's because you lot have got such a posh last name. Maybe even get him some blood flavoured lollies, that would be a laugh," she said.

tag: @ashley

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"I didn't know that," Ashley answered with interest when Brígh started giving her facts about the place. "Do they have any books on the village or anything?" she asked curiously. It could be worth it to read the history of a place like this, if Ashley was really in the mood. She wrinkled her nose, grimacing slightly at Brígh's next question. "No, we didn't have anywhere nearby to visit. We mostly just stayed on the grounds." Unless you could find a way to sneak off, but she wasn't going to come out and say that. 

Ashley didn't know what it was, but after a short while, Brígh seemed to be less nervous. Her smile grew a little bit and she didn't look as tense. That was probably a good thing, Ash decided, but at the same time she wasn't entirely sure. She honestly wasn't sure how to read this girl, who one day basically blew Ashley off and a few weeks later approached Ashley out of the blue. It was just strange, but not necessarily bad. Ashley shrugged, "I haven't really met a lot of you Hogwarts people either," she admitted, trying to squelch the jealousy that twisted in her stomach when Brígh mentioned Eli's name. He was allowed to have friends! Even if she wasn't sure if he was more than friends with them or not. "My lab partner Toby is British, and a ... Lusie Windsor?" Ash's eyes narrowed as she tried to think a moment. "Oh! I also know Sav Macmillan." There. Those were the people she knew more than others. Most of the rest were from her own school, people like Joe and Eli and Delilah, Katherine and Bianca. She laughed a little, "You guys are the ones with the weird accents!" She paused a moment before adding, "And I don't mean you specifically, I mean everyone over here." She didn't want to offend Brígh when they finally seemed to be getting along.

Brígh started talking a little about her own brother and Ashley laughed. "I think it's basically a brother's job to be annoying. They don't know what to do with themselves otherwise," she told the other girl. Honestly, she loved Joe, but that didn't mean that he didn't get on her nerves sometimes. Ashley's head tilted to the side a little. "Have you met him? He's tall, a Slytherin seventh year. Generally a bit grumpy," she explained. Honestly, Joe wasn't really grumpy, he just liked to come off that way. "Oooh that's a good idea! Any other suggestions?" she asked, an excited grin covering her face. She loved messing with Joe. 

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH