Trying To Call Home (Joe)

[Deleted]

Ashley couldn't remember the last time she felt so confused. Just the other day she ran into Eli while helping to clean up after the Halloween event and they talked. They talked and he told her he wanted to be friends. The next day he told her that he forgave her for what she'd done and that he wasn't upset with her anymore, but she struggled to accept that. How could he forgive her for that? How could he just forget all about it and want to be friends again? She couldn't. As much as she missed their easy friendship and spending time with him, Ashley was too scared that if she became his friend again, she'd do something worse and lose him forever. It was better to have him not angry at her and not be friends than to have him hate her, wasn't it?

She tried to focus on her studies and on schoolwork in the days that followed, but for the first time in her life Ashley Fontaine struggled to focus on her schoolwork, which was why the next Saturday morning she found herself leaving the castle quite early to think. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do, but she needed to find some distraction. The problem was, she had no idea what kind of distraction would work.

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

Joseph Fontaine sauntered across the Hogwarts lawn with his broom lazily strapped over his shoulder. He was in pursuit of the Quidditch Pitch for fresh air because he couldn't take spending another minute of being cooped up in that stupid, ancient castle. Everywhere he turned, there were crowds of people bumping into each other, stupid paintings trying to socialize with him, and ghosts flying through walls, and people. It was as if there weren't enough bodies being sardined into the castle, they had dead ones crowding the place, too. Great. Joseph hated Hogwarts with every fiber of his being, his seventh year had been dragging by painfully slow.

As the snake made his way to the path leading to the pitch, he saw a figure who he would notice from a mile away. His little (and only) sister, Ashley. Long hair, slender frame, sad look on her face. What the hell was wrong with her lately? She was so mopey as of late, she could make orphan Annie cry. Joseph blamed it on having to uproot their lives to a new foreign school, believing she had every reason to be pissed off. Just like him. Joe wasn't sure if she had spotted him yet, so like any older brother, he knew the best way to get her attention.

Joe cupped his hands to his mouth to obnoxiously amplify his voice with a shit eating grin. "HEY! HEY BLONDIE!!" he yelled attempting to get her attention, and not caring who else may see the encounter. "HEY YOU!" Joseph yelled even louder, trying to embarrass her, maybe annoy her a bit, but it was all out of sibling fun. This was his brotherly duty after all.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

The one thing Ashley was not expecting as she made her way across the Hogwarts lawn, was for someone to start shouting. It took her half a second to recognize that voice, and just a fraction of a second longer to realize that he must be shouting at her. She spun to face him, cupping her own hands around her mouth, "SORRY! I'M NOT MUCH IN THE MOOD TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHO'S YELLING AT ME!" She countered, knowing that Joe wouldn't let her get away with it.

Without waiting, Ashley turned and started walking ... towards the Lake. Yes, she saw that Joe was carrying his broom with him, which meant she was going in the opposite direction JUST to annoy him. Which, strange as it was, helped to lift her spirits a little. Then again, just spending time with Joe was normally enough to make her feel happier so she shouldn't technically be trying to avoid him, but did it count as avoiding if she was almost certain he'd follow her? Either way, she was not heading straight to the Quidditch Pitch. If Joe was going to shout at her, he was going to have to give her something in return. Didn't mean she was going to make it easy for him though.

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

The lack of reaction coming from his sister only made him react more. He trailed lazily behind her, about ten yards, keeping up the show. "PLEEASE ASH, WAIT!! MOM AND DAD SAID YOU HAVE TO HANG OUT WITH ME, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME LIKE THAT YOU'RE HURTING MY FEELINGS. I'M TELLING MOM!" he wailed and whined, trying not the laugh the entire time. Joe wasn't easily embarrassed, he quite enjoyed being the center of attention. A couple of students watched from afar, snickering at the display.

Ashley blowing him off didn't phase him one bit, he was already chasing after her, broom bobbing behind him as he caught up with her. If she didn't want to be bothered, he really didn't care regardless, she was his sister after all. It was one of the only perks of having siblings. No matter how much they annoyed you sometimes, you'd have to put up with their shit. You didn't get to pick family.

Joe stopped beside her, puffing out a couple of breaths, "Well! Excuuuuuuse YOU, 'Miss Thang'." he did a couple of finger snaps, cocking his head overdramatically sassily at her, smiling smugly.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

Ashley knew exactly what her brother was trying to do as she heard him continue to shout at her. Since he was behind her, she allowed herself the opportunity to laugh softly at how ridiculous he was being. She assumed there were probably people watching, but like her brother, she didn't care. She was used to him creating scenes. It was- after all- one of Joe's favorite past times. He was not one to sit idly by while other people had bunches of fun. As he spoke, she lifted her right arm and waved it in the air in a circle like she'd seen a queen do in a muggle movie once. As if to say "go on Joe, do whatever you want. You're not phasing me one bit." Whether or not he'd understand what it meant, well that remained to be seen.

As she heard him growing closer to her, chasing her as she knew he would, Ashley schooled her expression so she was no longer grinning at his antics. No need to encourage him further. He'd already be ridiculous without her encouragement, which was one of the things she loved about him. Not that she'd ever, ever tell him that. 

He reached her, huffing and puffing exaggeratedly at her and Ash lifted an eyebrow skeptically, smirking as he started snapping at her. "Miss Thang? I'm sorry, but I have noooo idea what you're talking about." She glanced around at all the people still watching them and shrugged, "Nice job putting on a show, though I do feel like you held back a little" she commented softly, teasing him as always. Whaaat? It was too much fun. Besides, he wouldn't hold back. Why should she?

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

They had somehow made it almost all the way to the lake, which was the complete opposite direction in the quidditch pitch. "Okay, fine...more like 'Miss I'm Too Cool For My Bro'!" he gaped teasingly, he was obviously joking, he was just being over dramatic because she made him chase her down. Rolling his eye balls to the back of his skull, he followed by giving Ash a hurt look. "You too cool to hang out with your brother who is leaving you in less than 7 months?!" he exclaimed, threatening to boil over again. Only for the watching eyes. But he wouldn't go screaming again unless if she started walking away from him.

He grinned at her sarcastic comment about him 'holding back', waggling an eye brow in her direction with a curt nod, "You know entrances and exits have always been my specialty." Joseph commented, pulling Ashley into him for a rough hug, surely giving her an annoying noogie in the process, sending blond locks flying in all directions. "What are you doing right now? Come fly with me." he proposed, his tone more a demand than anything, before following with, "You look like you need to let off some steam." He scrunched his nose into a slightly concerned expression.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

Ashley smirked as Joe changed his point, teasing her dramatically. Ha! It was only too easy to come up with comebacks to this and she was thoroughly enjoying every second. She shrugged and made a faux-sympathetic face. "Sorry, when you've got it, you've got it and when you don't ... well ...." she looked him up and down and shrugged again before turning away. She didn't move away, Ash was just going for dramatic effect. When he mentioned leaving, she turned back around and held back a smile when she saw the look on his face. She had to keep her expression innocent here. "Oh, you were asking me to hang out with you? I thought you were just yelling at me for the fun of it. So hard to tell the difference." All right, fine she was smirking now. She couldn't help it. The people nearby were still watching the two of them closely. Ash wasn't sure if they were near enough to tell what was being said, but she didn't care. She loved bantering with Joe.

Ash finally let herself laugh when he started talking about entrances and exits. He was definitely right there. Then he was hugging her, which she returned ... until he started giving her a noogie. "JOE! STOP IT!" She started squirming, but he held her tight and wouldn't let her escape until he was done. Once he'd released her, she glared at him. He told her to fly with him and she reached up to her hair, finger-combing it until it was semi-decent, ignoring his comment of her needing to let off steam. Then she looked back to him. She could see the concern hidden in his expression. No one else would be able to see it, but it was there. She gave a curt nod. "Fine. Let me get my broom," she lifted her wand and summoned it, smiling when she heard students screeching as it left the entrance hall of the school, makings its way to her on the ground. She caught it easily, glancing at her brother just a second before she started walking. Ash wasn't entirely sure if he was going to start questioning her or not, but she also wasn't sure what she'd tell him if he did. At least their spectators were gone now. 

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

Joe was glad that Ashley wasn't going to make him beg her to fly or hang out with him, because he wasn't a beggar in the slightest sense. He'd rather shovel out his own two eyes with a spoon rather than beg for something from anyone. Even his little sis. It was a pride thing. Joe watched with a smirk as Ashleys broom floated over to where they were standing, random people were staring at them still, which made him send a very unwelcome 'what are you lookin' at?' kind of expression, but dirtier. They turned the other way immediately, and he chuckled.

"Woooow. What's that?" he peered over his sisters head with an odd expression, looking into the sky dramatically as his eyebrows met at the center of his forehead. Joe, being the typical annoying big brother he was, pushed Ashley and her broom jokingly into a tree, "Race you there, LOSER." he chimed with a shit eating grin, before taking off towards the pitch at a full speed sprint, his broom bouncing behind him as his feet hit the each step hard on the grass. Sure, distracting someone and knocking them into a tree wasn't the best sportsmanship practices, but Joe didn't really care about that, because usually the looks on peoples faces were too hilarious to resist. It only added more fuel to the fire, he loved it.

Joe was cackling with laughter while running, making it hard to concentrate on his breathing, but it was well worth it. He wasn't going to dare to look behind his shoulder to see if his little sister was behind him. "Last one to the pitch has to snog a bowtruckle!" he yelled behind his shoulder, more to piss her off. Well...it was more likely Joseph being okay with his sister snogging a bowtruckle - instead of any of the dudes at this stupid school - that was for damn sure.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

Almost as soon as she got her broom, Joe was looking past her at something and asking what it was. Rolling her eyes, Ash turned to see what he was looking at, only to find herself falling over and into a tree. Growling, she stood up straight again and took off after her brother. "Joe! You're going to regret that," she called after him, though she doubted he'd be worried. Joe didn't really mind threats from her, but one of these days he would. Somehow, Ashley was going to make sure of it

At least Ashley wasn't far behind him. In fact, she was starting to gain on him, which caused another smirk to cross her face. Thanks Eli, she thought, though the Hufflepuff boy had no idea she started running for him. She was a lot faster than she used to be, a fact she tried to conceal from her brother even when he ran with her in the summer. She preferred to surprise him when she got the chance. "Snog?!" Ashley called back, only a few steps behind him now. "Did you seriously just say snog?! What kind of a self-respecting American are you? I think you need to snog with the bowtruckle, just for saying that." With how much Joe hated Hogwarts and going to school in England, he seemed to be taking in more of there jargon than he realized. What was wrong with good old making out?

They were close to the pitch now and Ashley started pushing herself harder. She didn't really care if Joe beat her there, but she wanted to be faster than he thought she was. She wanted to make him work for it. She raced forward as fast as she could, not even paying attention to her brother anymore. All she was looking at was the Quidditch Pitch.

@joseph
(hehe you can choose who wins the race)

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

Joe was running and laughing his ass off until Ashley made a very good point. When the fuck did 'snog' become a part of his every day vocabulary? For someone who claimed living in the UK was the worst thing that had ever happened to him, he was sure conforming to their slang freakishly easily. He stopped sprinting, practically to a dead stop, not realizing how much Ashley had caught up to him; she was right on his tail. And she had really thrown him off by critiquing his choice of words. "Ew. You're right. What is wrong with me?" he outwardly cringed, as a streak of blond ran past him. It caught him completely off guard, he was stuck with a stupid look on his face as she reached the final steps of the quidditch pitch. Sometimes he underestimated his little sister too much.

He ran to catch up with her again and stopped in front of her with a surprised look. "What the hell was that? Since when have you been a track super star? Are you going to kick my ass at quidditch now too, because I can't go easy on you with that. If anyone catches wind of you hitting a bludger harder than me I don't think I can live it down." Joe joked, he couldn't hide that he was impressed by his sisters hidden athleticism. They ran and did sporty things together all the time, but it wasn't often that they actually raced each other. Maybe they'd have to start pushing themselves to doing that. He was always down for any reason to hang out with his sister, especially when it involved sports. Which wasn't always the case for the relationship. He was surprisingly taking the loss very well. If it were anyone else other than his sister leaving him in the dust, he'd probably make up some stupid reason why he lost, or have a shitty attitude about it.

But Ashley got noogie-pushed into a tree and still kicked his ass, so hats off to her.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

The last thing Ashley expected when she made fun of her brother for his word choice was for him to even acknowledge it, so she was stunned when he actually stopped running, standing there for a moment as he registered what she said. It was perfect! She continued running, not slowing down just in case he stopped just to trick her into doing the same. She laughed when he spoke, admitting that she was right. "I know I am," she answered back, almost having reached him now. "Apparently the Brits are getting to you ... I just didn't expect you to let them." Ashley laughed as she passed him, glad that he hadn't seen it coming. She knew Joe would never actually let her win a race if he could help it. They were both too competitive to every let the other win if they could help it. 

Once she reached the Quidditch Pitch, Ash's run turned into a skip and she turned around to face her brother, skipping over to him, a mad grin on her face. "I won!" She giggled when he demanded how she did it. Ashley shrugged, coming to a stop in front of him. "Don't be a sore loser," she teased, poking his side just a little. "You know I started running this summer. It's not my fault if you didn't realize how much I ran and how fast I got." Honestly, Ashley was quite proud with her new running abilities. She still didn't think she'd be able to compete with someone like Eli, but then again ... she did beat Joe. Maybe she could. She rolled her eyes when he brought it around to Quidditch. "Oh, you've got nothing to worry about there, Joe. Quidditch is so not my thing. Hardly anyone knows that I can play it at all and that's the way I like it." After all, she did tell her date over the summer that she couldn't fly and swing a bat or hold a ball at the same time ... yes, she under-exaggerated her abilities, but hopefully he'd never know that. Then again, Sav was the kind of person who would tease her about something like that, which could make it fun. Huh. "So ... are we going to stay down here talking or do you want to play?" Ash asked innocently, teasing him.

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

Joe rolled his eyes as his sister commented about being surprised how fast the Brits had influenced him already. "If I start drinking tea and saying the word 'bloody', I give you permission to hit me with my bat." he stated in jest, giving her a humorous challenging look. Maybe he should watch what he said because she'd hold him to that.

Joe dropped his broom to the ground and stretched his arms lazily,"We could race...or chase a snitch around...uh, something." Joe pitched with a shrug of the shoulders. There was no one around, which was surprising, but he was glad because it meant that he could hang out with his sister and not feel the need to showboat for watching eyes. "Since I don't care, I will let you choose, lil sis." he said, before smirking and teasing her back. "Or, you know, we could go to the Library if you want..."

@ashley

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[Deleted]

Ashley started laughing when her brother started talking about drinking tea and starting to use other British vernacular. "Oooh, done! I will so hit you with your bat if you start turning into one of them. Sorry, but I need my brother to stay American. Being the first American to turn British would be embarrassing. Might have to disown you," she shrugged, making a semi-serious face at him. She wouldn't ever actually do that, of course. For one thing, Joe wouldn't let her. For another, she had too much fun with him to actually disown him. 

She lifted an eyebrow as he started giving ideas. "No, I don't want to chase a snitch around. We could play with the Quaffle, or race?" Ashley hesitated to mention the Bludgers, knowing that her brother would have way too much fun if she let him get one of those out. She sat her broom on the ground as well while they tried to decide what they should do. She grinned when he said she could choose. "How about we race first, then play something with the Quaffle?" Ash suggested. She liked racing. It was one thing she was pretty good at on a broom. Being so small and lightweight, she could move faster than quite a few people. When Joe started to tease her, Ashley widened her eyes and grinned. "Really? The Library! Okay, let's do that! It'd be way more fun than flying on brooms anyway. Glad you've finally seen the light, big bro." There. That's what he got for teasing her about going to the Library.

@joseph

[Deleted]

BROTHERLY LOVE

"I will definitely regret that request later.." Joe deadpanned, giving his sister a comically confident nod to seal the deal. He should have known Ashley would oblige to using his own weapon against him - he probably deserved it for something, even if it was something in the near future.

Joe would have mentioned the bludgers first, but he knew that if she got hurt under his watch, his father would have some great things to say to him. So he would resist that urge. Even though it would be funny to see her to try get away from the bludgers path for a few minutes - he'd save that for another day when she was least expecting it. He was game for racing and throwing a quaffle around, he didn't really care what they were doing as long as they weren't fighting. "Sounds good to me." Joe agreed to her game plan.

Ashley bantered back with the Library joke, and he nodded approvingly at her quick wit, playing along a little longer, "Yeah, I can see the light, but it doesn't mean I'm pursuing it..." Joe commented in jest as he stepped over his broom, mounted, and kicked off the ground with ease, shooting into the sky. He floated in place, adjacent to the emerald Slytherin tower. "Get up, Loser." Joe yelled, he was ready to discuss the course and leave his little sister dust this time.

@ashley

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[Deleted]

Ashley actually laughed when Joe said he was going to regret his request. Then she arched an eyebrow at him. "Only if you start turning more into a Brit. Are you really planning on letting them in that far?" she asked, kind of curious about what his answer would be. Obviously he was being impacted by the way they spoke, but was he really planning on just letting that happen?

Ashley wasn't super surprised when Joe said he was game to race. Sounded like it would be fun, since he was doing what she thought of. That wasn't always the way these things worked. Joe could be quite determined when he wanted to be. 

She dropped her jaw as she looked at him. "Wait ... you can see the light? You went to the library? When?!" she couldn't help but tease Joe, knowing that he would do the same thing back if he got the chance. It was just the way they treated one another. He jumped onto his broom, telling her to get up and she rolled her eyes, taking her sweet time getting on her broom. Mostly just to annoy Joe. Because she knew it would. Eventually though she got up and took off, zipping after her brother, letting the wind fly through her hair. "I'm ready whenever you are Joey!" She called, laughing and waiting for him to retaliate.

@joseph