the ice is getting thinner | nessa

[evelyn rhea oliveira]

the seasons have changed

and so have we

March 31, 2027
nessa abigael byrne

Evy enjoyed the later hours for many reasons. It was quieter. The annoying seventh-year girls that walked around like they came as a set because someone had stuck them together with a permanent sticky charm were nowhere in sight. But mainly she enjoyed it because she didn’t have to wear that god-awful school uniform. Instead, she wore a sweatshirt and pajama pants, which she always wore, while the Beauxbaton girls wore their fancy silk pajamas that made them look even more like bowtruckles with nice hair. Calliso had given her the lecture to end all lectures after her little stunt the previous September and Evy has begrudgingly obeyed the rules of her new school. Most of them, anyway. It was nearing midnight, and Evy scribbled in her notebook, trying to force herself to write like she used to back at Hogwarts, but nothing seemed to fill her brain except air.

It had been her problem all year, but even more so after that very disastrous dinner in February. It had taken Evy some time to stop checking her phone every time the screen lit up since she was hardly speaking to Luna. Simon wouldn’t dare message her, and Nate worked all hours. Now that it was nearing the end of March, the finish line was just over the horizon. Freedom to go back home and not be stuck here where she could count all her friends on one hand. Evy angrily scribbled out the last few words she’d written, ”Bloody…stupid…thing.” And she closed her notebook with a frustrated exhale. Why did she even bother?

Sometimes one of the girls would walk down and tell her that she was being too loud, even though, for the most part, Evy sat here quietly and read a book or wrote—maybe the scratching of a quill against parchment was too much for their delicate ears. An incredulous glare typically sent them away quickly. And hearing footsteps, Evy assumed it was just that—but thankfully, it was an ally instead.

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Only a few more months. That seemed to be a sentiment that all Hogwarts students stuck at Beauxbatons shared now. Their French classmates knew that they didn’t have to be as nice anymore and their annoyance showed. Nessa was fine feeling like an outsider mainly because she always felt like one. Yet this was on a different level. They actively did not want the Hogwarts students there any longer. She had played nice all year long and refrained from punching any of them, so she turned to the French girl that had been at Hogwarts the past two years and forced it out of her. While she was clearly not liked anymore either, probably because she was obnoxious and talked too much, she was still viewed by her Beauxbatons classmates as higher than the Hogwarts students. Apparently this was all a holdover from what had happened during the Triwizard Tournament a few years back. That they were still angry that the Ministry had allowed their seventh years to die while leaving. The annoying girl said it was preposterous that they could ever truly know what it felt like, but Nessa left the conversation before she could actually get into it. She really didn’t care what anyone at this school had to say or offer to her anymore. In a few months she was done with school forever and could move onto better things.

The problem with how the Beauxbatons students were acting though was that Nessa didn’t like going to sleep until all of them were first. It wasn’t that she thought they had the balls to attempt anything on her, just that if they did she would beat them to it. To combat this, she’d been spending more time in their dorm lounge, or whatever they called it in French, until it was basically lights out. Tonight she wandered down in a pair of fluffy niffler shaped slippers she’d gotten her sponsor to buy her in Place Cachée prior to the start of the term. The woman had been incredibly generous to her, and that made Nessa unbelievably uncomfortable. She’d been hesitant all year to reach out about anything, though had fielded a few letters from Jimbo Blishwick. Somehow, in her head at least, she treated the two adults differently. Whether it was the absolute sincerity that Xiulan Zhou gave her that confused her or the fact that Blishwick making pizza made him immediately trustworthy, she hadn’t figured it out yet. If it was even a problem that needed to be solved.

Entering the lounge area, she spotted Evy sitting there. Could have been a lot worse. “I’m ready for this to be done,” Nessa commented as she slid herself over the arm of a chair sat next to the fireplace. “I’m so close to hexing some of them into next week,” she said with a quiet hiss. If she wasn’t careful, they would interpret that as a threat and it would hurt their fragile fucking feelings.

evelyn rhea oliveira ● 498 ● What I Like About You by The Romantics

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[evelyn rhea oliveira]

the seasons have changed

and so have we

March 31, 2027
nessa abigael byrne

Evelyn wondered if this school was enchanted, so time moved slower than when she was at Hogwarts. But the sad part was that Evy didn’t even really want to go home. She just didn’t want to be here. Home was awkward and weird. She felt out of place. Beauxbatons was weird, and she felt out of place. During Charms, Evy had daydreamed and wondered if this was how the American students had felt when they arrived at Hogwarts. Surely they had been far more inviting? Right? Probably not. Evy had never been known for being warm or welcoming, preferring only to offer judgy looks from the corner of the Common Room with Luna.

Here, it was judgmental looks all around followed by sneers and snarky comments in French that Evy barely understood. The new school had been a huge adjustment, followed by the shift in her social circle. Sometimes friendships are created by proximity or convenience. Maybe that’s why she’d found herself talking to Nessa more, but Evy had to admit that Nessa wasn’t quite what people said she was at Hogwarts. And it was nice to have an ally who hated this place equally. There were a few other familiar faces that Evy would talk to, all with a shared sense of being out of place.

”I’m counting the days.” Evy responded dryly. Actually, if she focused on how many days they still had, it all seemed to go by slower. Hexing their classmates would definitely land them in trouble. She thought about what Mina might do, or even Sarah—their responses would have been vastly different.
”No point in getting expelled when we’re this close to the end.” It was tempting, though Evy never had such a temper, to respond in such a way typically. She let out a heavy sigh and leaned her head on her fist. There was a momentary pause where it was silent except for the fire. ”What’ll you do after?” Evy was still patiently awaiting a response from The Prophet. The thought made her stomach flip with anxiety, among the other things on her mind.

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If Nessa had wanted to avoid graduating, she would have simply played hooky for the first six days of September. Hiding out wherever Nate had been shacked up at the time would have been the easiest way to disappear for a little bit. And then she would have been too old to force. Obviously that hadn’t happened and here she was, only a few months left until it was all done. Finally. She managed to get full replacements of clothes and school supplies, and then some, and she could sort of deal with the Beauxbatons students. Her scowling was more honed than they had anticipated. Evy was right though; getting expelled now would be beyond stupid. Slugging someone in the face here, like she had with Ollivander the previous year, wouldn’t fly at all. “Yeah…you’re right,” she responded begrudgingly. “And if I try to do it right after we graduate, they’d probably arrest me or something.” The pretentious French students ultimately weren’t worth it. She was never going to see any of them again after this, and if she did, it would be because she was working some dead-end service industry job. Because right now, she had zero aspirations.

“No idea.” She let her head fall back over the arm of the chair as she slid into it deeper, legs kicked up over the other side. Thankfully the cushions here were really fancy and ergonomic or something. Basically they kept her from getting a stiff neck even if she fell asleep in them in a horrid position. Like right now. “Probably beg Blishwick for a job at his restaurant like Nate did. If he hasn’t outsourced to a house elf union by then.” Knowing Jimbo though, he enjoyed talking to people and having engaging conversations. She had nothing against house elves, but they would just work themselves to death instead of being well-rounded employees. “What about you?” Nessa returned the question.

evelyn rhea oliveira ● 321 ● Wake Me Up by Fickle Friends

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[evelyn rhea oliveira]

the seasons have changed

and so have we

March 31, 2027
nessa abigael byrne

Evelyn didn’t want to deal with the dramatics of an expulsion. Wasn’t one in the family enough? Plus, Merlin knew that Callisto had been on edge since Christmas and was slowly competing with their mother on who could consume the most wine and stay conscious. Callisto nagging Evy about something was annoying enough, but drunk was intolerable at best. Nessa agreed with Evy, though they were almost equally disgruntled at their obligation to stay. ”Unsophisticated trolls.” Evy repeated the words from a conversation early in the school year. ”That’s all we are to them. I imagine they’d call the Beast Division before the Aurors.” Those Ministry personnel would be easy to outrun. At least from what Sarah had told her about employees in other departments of the Ministry.

Trying to imagine such a scene was a bit funny. Perhaps it would make a good short story, but then her ears picked up on the mention of Nate. And then she berated herself internally for doing such a thing. Evy shrugged in response. ”The Prophet always takes interns.” She began to explain. ”And I like to write.” Nothing else particularly appealed to her, and the thought of sitting behind a desk in a row of desks in the Ministry wasn’t appealing. Though neither was working in a pizza restaurant. Though perhaps charming balls of dough to target the back of Nate’s head like a rogue bludger when he was acting particularly rude sounded amusing. But she nodded at the earlier suggestion that Blishwick would switch to house elves.

”I don’t think he’d make the switch. Where are his nieces and nephews supposed to work if he does.” Evy didn’t find that particularly troublesome, but it was undoubtedly convenient for the extended Blishwick family. Not that she could imagine Jimmie tossing pizza dough. The thought was funny. ”Imagine Jimmie making pizzas.” What a sight that was to imagine. ”I’d drop by just to see that.” Evy mused aloud. The girl had bullied her into participating in the former school newspaper. While had enjoyed the writing, she had not enjoyed the constant micromanaging.

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Nessa weirdly enjoyed her conversations throughout this school year with Evy. It made it a little above tolerable, which was just a step below having Nate around. But if they were talking about treatment by their French compatriots and being reported to the Beast Division, there was only one of them that could be suspected and it certainly wasn't going to be her. She knew Evy wasn't a werewolf, but there were members of her family that were. Nessa read the newspapers. Ignorant people didn't need much to jump from controlling actual werewolves to their innocent, normal families as well, as disgusting as that was. She was unsure if there was an element of that in the Beauxbatons venomous looks, or if it was as simple as them being from a different school. They prided themselves on their sophistication, but all she saw were a lot of really big sticks up backsides and personalities that made her look like a goddamn Disney princess at times. The orphanage director would never chastise her again for anything if they saw what went on here.

"I'd like to never have to write another thing again," she commented. Working for the Prophet seemed...gloomy? Being inundated with the news of the world every single waking hour had to make one's head hurt. Just keeping up with and processing all of that information alone had to be worth several people's jobs. Then again, Evy only said intern, in which case Nessa automatically assumed meant doing coffee runs and making copies of papers for whatever the journalists needed. "Think they'll let an intern write articles? Nessa added. All she was good for was a part-time minimum wage job at one of the shops in Diagon or to run off and become a cursebreaker. Throwing her life away doing that wasn't growing on her as much as it used to though, so she was still trying to figure out the actual value it held.

Evy brought up an excellent point about the Blishwick family children, which made Nessa think for a moment. "Whatever his next business venture is? Listen, he would go on hours long rants when Nate and I lived at his place about all of his ideas for shops and whatever...he's a bit mad you know..." And filthy rich because of it. She assumed that part of it came with the weird power he supposedly had. Jimbo tried to explain it to them once, but all she gathered was that he could take people's interests and the. randomly find them the perfect partner. Like a vending machine of love, or something like that.

"She'd spend more time complaining about getting flour on her spit shined shoes than it would take her to actually make it?" Nessa rolled her eyes. The mere thought of Jimmie doing such a task was certainly funny, yet horrifying too. Anything that went wrong would turn her into a flowering fiend, followed by her father kowtowing. She didn't necessarily view Jimbo as pathetic, though he definitely voted for his daughter's attention. A lot. It was a dynamic that she knew she'd never truly understand because she lacked the experiences that could ever lead to such a thing. Whatever it was, it didn't seem like a malicious manipulation on Jimmie's part, more so her father overcompensating tenfold. "Could sell tickets for a galleon a head," Nessa mused.

evelyn rhea oliveira ● 564 ● Song by Artist

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[evelyn rhea oliveira]

the seasons have changed

and so have we

March 31, 2027
nessa abigael byrne

This past year had gone slowly. Like watching the hands of a clock move, and the longer you stared, the slower they went. And moving from Hogwarts had caused her list of allies to dwindle to almost nothing. Either they’d graduated, left school early, or attended the American school instead. And not all familiar faces were allies. Thankfully, she’d been familiar with Nessa. Same house, same dorm, the same year, plus over the years, Evy had slowly spent more and more time around Nate. They both disliked everything about this place, making Evy feel a little less crazy about feeling so out of place.

The writing Evy did for fun was nothing like the writing they were forced to do in their classes. So structured and boring. Marks were taken off for embellishing too much or spending too much time describing potions ingredients using flowery language. But writing to tell a story was far different to convey and explain, and each time the topic was different. It was exciting. If there was ever one thing Evy could thank Jimmy Blishwick for, it was how she’d forced her to join the school newspaper after reading her writing over her shoulder one breakfast. Otherwise, Evy would have been at a total loss for what to do after graduation. Nothing else really piqued her interest.

”Of course not.” She was not so naïve or idealistic. ”I’ll probably fetch coffee or something for a while before they even let me hold a scroll.” It was likely but hopefully not. ”I can’t imagine what else he has in mind…” Well, Evy could think of a few, but the man’s ideas were off the wall at times. Or so she was told, Nate would share a little story or two from his time at the pizzeria. She shook her head slightly. The family was a band of interesting characters. All they shared was a name. ”I’d send back a pizza on purpose just so she could remake it.” Instantly, the image of Jimmie’s face, those eyes boring into whoever dared request such a thing but ‘the customer was always right’. What an entertaining thought. ”I’ve never really spoken to him but based on what Nate and everyone says, I don’t understand why Jimmie is so…serious.” Evy thought of her own parents. Was she like one of them more than the other. Maybe one of her sisters? Callisto was turning into their mother one wine bottle at a time, but the rest were different.

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