echo | raphael

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

To nobody’s surprise, Addy was the only one that hadn’t forgotten the extra day in February this year. She had to admit it was a little amusing watching it click for everybody one by one that Cheese’s birthday was on a Wednesday and not a Tuesday as previously thought. He was turning twenty as Brigh had that previous December. Eggy wasn’t until April, which left Addy as the youngest before Dicky. It felt sort of important they were teenagers anymore, and they would also take that next step in their careers. Addy’s internship was due to end that summer, as was Brigh’s training.

But, every day, Addy waited for that accomplished and settled feeling allegedly at that first finish line. And it never appeared. She did enjoy her work, it was a challenge most days, and it felt good to see her work succeed. But something was still missing. At least there were coping mechanisms, none of which solved her problem. Even Addy had to admit that. Quidditch helped, as did wine. Occasionally she drank whiskey, but really only when meeting up with Grey. She’d even had a chance to meet Luna’s teammates on the Harpies. It was an unlikely friendship, but playing on the House team had created mutual respect.

And, of course, Addy finally had given Cheese his favorite sweater back now that she could look him in the eye without feeling upside down. A year ago, it was work to get through a conversation, but now it was far easier. The topic at hand? The party he wanted for his birthday, and of course, Brigh insisted they host it at their shared flat. But there was time before that. Addy moved her arm, focusing on the movement in her shoulder. Magic could heal many things but not really the soreness. A mid-air collision with another Chaser (their fault) had left her sore.

”I still don’t think it was an ‘accident’.” Addy spoke as she dropped onto the couch. Her almost empty wine glass was on the side table. ”I’d put galleons on it.” Addy was so sure it was intentional. Some attempt to change the odds in their game. As much as she wanted to bring up that it wasn’t an actual match, she also took it very seriously. Plus, in Addy’s mind, it was the most apparent instance of blatching she’d ever seen.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

25 February 2028

To nobody’s surprise, Cheese was playing with the filters on his photos. It was the only thing he used his laptop for these days, since the Prophet had all the equipment he needed for any professional photography assignments. The shiny new feeling of having a real job and being out of school had gone away a long time ago, and Cheese sometimes found himself being pulled into the vortex of the real world without noticing how fast time was going these days. He’d look up sometimes while struggling to do his laundry or cook something edible and suddenly notice – hey, I’m out of Hogwarts. Hey, I’m supposed to be a real-life functioning adult now.

And it didn’t really feel that way, but he was trying to pretend. The boy had always found it easy to go with the flow, since fighting the current usually didn’t accomplish anything but a deep-seated feeling of unfulfillment. And Cheese – well, he was determined to find the happiness in where he was instead of wishing for other things he couldn’t have. Speaking of. His gaze wandered up from his laptop as Addy flopped onto the couch near him and sunk into the cushions. She looked grumpy, but it wasn’t an unusual expression on her face when she insisted on doing detailed match replays after a Quidditch friendly to analyze everything she did and they did and what could have gone better. It was one of the few things that had carried over from Hogwarts.

Which he was glad about, because he missed having normal conversations with Addy without stumbling over his words or blushing. It had taken a lot of time and work and deep conversations with Yas for him to realize that dwelling on the past was causing a lot of hurt in the present. And if there was one thing he was sure about – it was that he never wanted to hurt Addy. He stopped messing with the contrast on a picture of the London Eye to shoot her a questioning look. “And when you elbowed her in the face to steal the Quaffle later, was that an accident too?” Slytherin habits died hard, of course, and Cheese had known Addy for enough years to know her flailing elbow hadn’t just been poor technique.

He didn’t wait for her immediate denial to turn back to his laptop, and his eyebrows creased in concentration as he clicked open a new file. He’d gone on a photo tour of London the other day – trying to fight the endless monotony, of course – and it’d been a spur-of-the-moment decision to invite Mallory. It’d been strange to do something like that without Brígh or Addy, but he couldn’t say he minded the change. And, he had to acknowledge, she was amazing to photograph. He never had to give her directions. Cheese’s mind wandered to his birthday party while he kept messing with the photo, and he wondered out-loud, “You think Brígh would veto a Quidditch theme?” He'd floated the idea before to Addy but he was a little scared of seeing the fire in the redhead's eyes when she heard the idea.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

Cobbing had always been a controversial call during matches. With such a close-contact sport, accidents were bound to happen. Addy deliberately looked at Cheese, letting her eyes linger after his comment before looking away. ”Her flying into my elbow is not my fault.” Addy declared. From her recollection, they'd also barely avoided another collision that time. But that was neither here nor there at this point. Mindlessly, she pulled out her phone and scrolled—a new habit these days to pass the time and occupy her brain. Numb, it to a point. She now understood much more about muggles and their relationship with technology through her work.

Addy stopped and looked up when Cheese spoke again after a brief silence. That was still a common occurrence. While the conversations flowed much better these days, those lapses still persisted. She thought for a moment. "Yes." Addy answered honestly. "But it's not her birthday." She reminded Cheese. Brígh was as loyal a friend as one expected from a Gryffindor. Addy could already picture the slight eye twitch at the thought of a Quidditch-themed party when the sport was the one topic where Brígh didn't see eye to eye with the pair. But now Addy was intrigued as she left her phone in her lap, forgotten for the moment. ”What do you have in mind?” Cheese had been intently focused on his laptop screen, though Addy couldn’t see what he worked on from this angle.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Cheese could feel Addy’s eyes on him as the vehement denial came exactly on time, and he rolled his eyes at the Slytherin-style narrative. Still, he didn’t bother trying to correct her because at some point he’d given up on trying to move the mountain. The mountain was going to stay exactly where she wanted to and think what she wanted to think, despite his gentle encouragement to minimize physical violence. The familiarity of the situation made him smile, because Quidditch really was amazing like that. He and Addy had literal years of history, and once upon a time they couldn’t even be in the same room as each other after their break-up. But the T’s had given them a chance to rework the dynamic and unite them in something they both loved. She even looked slightly less put-out about life since she’d started flying again.

It shouldn’t, and didn’t, surprise him to hear that Brígh would probably throw a fit once she heard the party theme. But Cheese took a second to chew on the thought that it was his party, which meant he could choose his own theme, and he had to acknowledge that Addy was right. She was always right, of course, but this time he agreed with her on what was right. The thought cheered him up and he glanced back up to see Addy looking thoughtful. That was a good sign – it was the same look that usually led to her helping with (and doing a good chunk of) his homework. He straightened, but then his eyes glanced back towards his laptop screen and he couldn’t help the light blush that spread across his cheeks.

So he shut the screen to remove the distraction. “I thought everyone could come in jerseys. Their favorite player, right?” Cheese said earnestly, voicing one of the many thoughts he’d been having about his birthday since Addy had reminded him that it was coming up soon. “And, y’know, Mum used to do these little cupcakes with broomsticks on ‘em for me. Pen’s got the recipe!” It had always been their go-to at Hogwarts whenever they’d tried to apply a little Hufflepuff charm to any potential problems. It hadn’t gotten them any extra practice time on the Pitch, but it’d made some professors very happy. But Cheese bit at his lip and asked worriedly, “Unless, er, people wouldn’t like that. I want everyone to have a good time…”

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

There was that hesitation Addy had grown used to seeing from Cheese. Those same questions about any occasion because of the risk of any conflict. This was his birthday, as Addy quickly pointed out to her ex-boyfriend. It had not changed in years, and not that it bothered Addy at that moment. She recalled those days when a question like that might annoy her to the point of snapping. With these last few months of better memories, Addy no longer tried to linger on those past ones. Still, they snuck through now and then. Just another reminder that no matter their proximity or easy conversation, nothing was the same.

Fortunately, he closed his laptop. Whatever Cheese had been working on had taken almost his full attention. Addy might have closed it herself, especially since they were trying to discuss his birthday. Sometimes she still felt something at how he lit up, but his careful balancing of excitement and doubt was a skill in itself. ”I think people would like that.” And really, they could find some kind of jersey to wear. ”Don’t worry about Brígh. I’ll make her wear my Slytherin jersey and keep quiet.” It was not news that Brígh would probably rather risk insulting a Hippogriff than watch a match, but she was also their most loyal friend who wanted them happy.

And Brígh knew only a few Quidditch players, Addy and Cheese, might only participate in their little neighborhood league, but it was something. ”I wonder if Luna could get a Harpie’s jersey for me…” Addy thought aloud, leaning into her corner of the couch and staring off for a moment. Brígh and Cheese were the first people Addy told about Luna introducing her to the team, and there were further developments—but Addy hadn’t relayed those to Cheese yet. She would, but she didn’t want to get off topic yet. Plus, the thought made her nervous—Addy couldn’t pinpoint why. ”What else you have in mind?” Addy’s head buzzed with ideas, but she looked at Cheese to let him speak before she began mentally organizing it all.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Birthday parties were usually a group effort, and everybody chipped in to split up the responsibilities and get everything done. Addy was usually the brains of the group, keeping everything organized and ensuring that everybody (well, him) had done what they were supposed to do. It made the actual party itself that much better, knowing that you could see Penelope’s personal touches to the food or Brígh’s creativity in the banner. Still, managing Brígh and keeping her quiet if the party was to be Quidditch-themed…yeah, that was a full-time job. Only Addy could manage something like that, and Cheese winced at the inevitable debate that would happen. He didn't like the thought of fighting with his friends, even if he'd been getting used to the idea that it had to happen sometimes. Leaving Hogwarts, starting their lives and watching how they naturally separated and you had to fight to keep everyone together...yeah, conflict was inevitable. Trying to avoid it sometimes made things worse, too.

That fact hadn't stopped Cheese from debating the particulars of his birthday party for a long time though, and following Mallory’s advice he’d finally made a pros and cons list about whether to go with Quidditch or not. It still hadn’t helped him decide and he’d spent a long time staring at the cons and wondering if he should do what he wanted or choose a theme that everybody would like. But Addy being on-board cemented the idea in his mind and he began to imagine what the place would look like with fairy lights shaped like snitches and all the guests wearing jerseys. The thought cheered him up and he was actually able to digest the idea of Brígh wearing a Slytherin jersey without making a face. Sometimes he needed a little prodding to do something, like Mickey dragging him to the tattoo parlor for the first time, but it usually ended up being the right choice.

There was something in Addy’s tone of voice as she mentioned the Harpies that pulled Cheese away from his thoughts so he could stare at her for a moment. He wasn’t like Brígh, who could sniff out a secret within seconds, but he knew his best friends and how their tones of voice changed when they were preoccupied or trying to be sneaky. She looked deep in thought, and he debated whether he should ask her if anything had happened since the Quidditch match they’d gone to. Because Luna was a lot of things, but he wouldn’t quite have described her as generous, or nice just for the sake of it. But he didn’t really know if there was anything to talk about, so instead his brain decided to say something awkward and probably dumb. “Oh er, actually, do y’know if I left my jersey here? I can’t find it at Puff Palace and I promised it to…someone.” He chickened out at the last minute and decided not to finish the sentence, but he felt his face turn red. It felt odd to reference the fact that they'd gone back to the kind of relationship they'd had before getting together, even in passing, and especially because Cheese seemed to have started missing those messages more often until the following morning when it was too late. So he quickly went on to try and bury the damage. “But it might just be hidden somewhere. I dunno. I’ll probably visit Quality Quidditch Supplies soon anyway, see if they’ve got anything interesting for the party. Maybe some pennants I can pin up or something.”

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

The gears in her mind were already spinning. And most of the tasks were already neatly organized into a plan before anyone could think twice. And it was such a normal thing that the thought was almost comforting. Still, Addy remembered moments while they dated when she felt the opposite—like this obligation to step up and take charge only filled her with dread. A small wave of guilt passed over her, but Addy brushed it off with another sip of wine. There was probably something deep down that pushed Addy to make up for the mess of Cheese’s birthday the previous year.

As Addy pondered this new situation with the Harpies and whether it meant anything, she immediately picked up on Cheese’s voice. The tone, hesitation, and inflection on certain words appeared on Addy’s radar without spotting the way his face turned red. Addy gave her ex-boyfriend a curious look before clearing her throat. ”I think it's upstairs.” She declared casually. Her acquisition rate of said ex-boyfriend’s articles of clothing had decreased over the past few months. Addy had noted that on its own without the late responses to text messages.

”Will you force Eggy or Dicky to wear it?” She wondered. Of the five, only Addy and Cheese played the sport. And Addy couldn’t imagine Dicky without both feet firmly planted on the ground at all times, and she could already see his face at the thought of wearing a Hufflepuff jersey over Ravenclaw. Since Addy and Cheese had mastered the art of not talking things through, she assumed the blush came from their chronic and unintentional encounters, so Addy decided not to push it.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Cheese spent so much time being red in the face that he sometimes wondered if it’d been a mistake not to get sorted into Gryffindor. But it only took a brief reminder of the escape room Brígh had dragged him to once to remember that the Sorting Hat had done its job well. Besides, he didn’t really have anything to be embarrassed about, and he told himself this sternly. Because he was a responsible adult (well, an adult anyhow), and he could make choices for himself. One of those choices could even be to give his jersey to someone else, if he felt like it. Brígh would have asked more questions, so he was thankful that Addy only paused briefly before announcing that it was probably upstairs.

Her next question posed such an outlandish scenario that it distracted Cheese completely as he considered it. It actually wasn’t such a far stretch of the imagination to picture Penelope in a jersey, at least, since she was also a proud Hufflepuff and would go along with the theme without complaining. But Rafe remembered that she had several older siblings who’d played Quidditch, so she’d probably just take one from Dustin or one of her sisters. As for Dicky…like Brígh, he’d probably complain loads at having to wear one. Unlike Brígh, he’d immediately start planning the murder of whoever suggested it and as a Ravenclaw…he’d probably get away with it.

“The only way I’d force Dicky to wear it is if someone’s got their wand on me first,” Rafe said with a shiver. He shook his head at that, then shrugged as he set his laptop to the side. “Nah, it’s for Mallory. She thought it’d be fun to switch jerseys, but I’ll probably have to charm hers to get it on. But she said she’d also let me use her Captain pin. That’s cool, right?” They’d both been Seekers at Hogwarts, but Cheese had been quite happy to be a team player while Mal had been more ambitious about it. Still, it’d be cool to pretend for a day – especially since the chance of borrowing Mickey’s was about as high as the Bats’ chance of winning the League this year. That thought made Cheese glad that his brother wasn’t a Legilimens.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

Addy laughed at the thought. Dicky would have rather let the Fiendfyre get him than wear a Quidditch Jersey. While Addy was close to all her friends, there was a different connection with Dicky. Perhaps it was their shared love and respect for Academia or their taking their tasks very seriously. The Slytherin and Ravenclaw always connected easily. Though one could say, the houses were two sides of the same coin. Either way, having that sort of ally in the five was nice. ”You might be able to bribe him with some rare book or something.”

Addy still hadn’t looked at that rare first edition Charms book he held on tightly to. It was likely under his pillow when he slept. But Merlin, if her entire attention didn’t immediately switch with Cheese’s next statement. ”Oh—from the T’s ?” Addy questioned, trying her damndest to keep a neutral expression. She couldn’t remember the last time he brought up another girl’s name that wasn’t Brígh, Penelope, or his mother. ”Uh—yea—yes.” She cleared her throat. Merlin, she needed to gather herself. ”You’d both need to charm the jerseys. She’s a bit taller than me, and your jersey is large on me.”

”We should make it mandatory.” Addy announced as if she’d just had a thought. The idea was to switch topics. ”So Dicky, will either have to find a jersey or perhaps a referee?” She forced her focus onto other aspects of the party. There was much to plan.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Well, at least it was nice that Addy could laugh about it. Cheese was a little intimidated by his friend group (except for Penelope who was easygoing about everything) whenever they got intense about things they liked. And Cheese had always figured that standing between Dicky and his books, or teasing Brígh about her crushes, or telling Addy to chill about studying, was practically a death sentence. Like, he could try, but it would be faster to just gaze into a basilisk’s eyes. Less painful too, probably. Addy’s suggestion to bribe him with a book was almost not worth dignifying with a response, but he did need her help and ignoring Addy had always been incredibly difficult for him. So he gave a noncommittal shrug. “I could stop by the Oraculum again. But a book almost got my fingers last time!” It was only his Seeker instincts that’d saved him from an embarrassing trip to St. Mungo’s.

If there was a shift in the dynamic of the conversation once he brought up Mallory, then Cheese didn’t notice it. His mind had sorta stalled on the idea of dangerous libraries, and it took him a moment to shake off the idea of books chasing after him while he tried to bribe Dicky into showing some party spirit. He’d never figured that a conversation with Addy would become fodder for his nightmares, but oh well. “Yeah, I can pretend to be a Ravenclaw for the party. Color coordinate the snacks, bring a thousand-piece puzzle for fun, and say interesting things about art and politics.” That was the sort of thing Mallory did, the few times she'd invited him over to things. He imagined getting into character would just be about acting like Addy with a teensy bit less elbowing people in the face.

Addy was starting to speak more like a drill sergeant – y’know, short and focused no-nonsense sentences – but that did seem like her in party-planning mode. So Cheese nodded and snorted at her suggestion. “That’s brilliant, Dicky’ll love thinking he can boss other people around.” It actually sounded like a plausible solution to the problem, and Cheese leaned back on the couch as he tried to think about things the way Addy would. “I bet my roommates wouldn’t mind coming a bit early to set things up. Y’know, to make things go faster.” That was one of the advantages of rooming with other former Puffs – nobody turned down a request for help, as long as the price was right. Pizza and butterbeer.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

your movements echo

that i've seen the real thing

February 25, 2028
Raphael Caelan McLaggen

Addy thought about The Oraculum and its selection, but dangerous books were usually labeled quite clearly. ”Erm—I can pick something out if we need to.” She didn’t bother to correct herself when saying ‘we’, or perhaps she didn’t notice it this time. A year later, it still slipped in even when ‘we’ ceased to exist. Just another habit that lingered. Plus, Addy knew Dicky well enough that should he not like the book, his opinion would be heard immediately. He said what was on his mind almost as often as Brígh did. Addy almost blushed at the memory of some get-together hosted by Brígh at the house when Dicky caught Addy and Cheese attempting to recover after both trying to reach for the same item, and Dicky asked (quote loudly) if he was going to catch them snogging again.

Fortunately, nobody paid the three of them much attention or heard that. And it was a quick way to clear the awkwardness and let Addy and Cheese walk to their respective sides of the room. Not that they didn’t bump into one another much later. But maybe that lack of awareness was just typical among boys. Addy’s comment on the length of his jersey seemed to fly over his head, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. They’d always been great friends, so Addy obviously would never stop caring about Cheese, but she couldn’t describe this feeling in her stomach. ”Right…” She commented. Half distracted and half in disbelief that his attention span would let him organize anything once it was set on the counter.

”I’m sure Brígh wouldn’t mind the help.” Addy knew Cheese’s roommates or at least whoever was there when they dated, and the few times she’d snuck over. ”How many are you again?”

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