there you are | florence

[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Unwillingly, Rhys had stumbled upon some peace and quiet. And while he’d rather have been in the library, Rhys was in the Astronomy tower. While dusk passed and the stars began to creep out, Rhys made the appropriate marks on his star chart. Naturally, the previous week’s fight and detention had put him behind in the class. Merlin knew the professors would not likely grant much leeway to sixth-year students. Nell did not have Astronomy in her schedule and was not very happy with Rhys. Eventually, he’d had to tell her they would no longer partner in Potions. Juniper didn’t have Astronomy either, not that it stopped her badgering him about Potions assignments when they had no Potions assignments to complete.

Few bothered with a NEWT-level course in Astronomy, but at least he’d befriended Flossie in Transfiguration during his first year. By that point, he’d met Nell already since she’d sat by him after the sorting ceremony, and Rhys wouldn’t befriend Sarah until that first full moon. Since she had also stuck around in Astronomy, they often studied together. She’d already finished her assignment, however. Rhys had asked her the previous day. And since he wasn’t interested in studying after a full moon on the weekend, he opted to work on it while the night was still young. Besides, nobody had the patience to walk up all these steps when not required, almost ensuring nobody would bother Rhys.

He supposed the full moon the following day didn’t help his mood. He almost felt bad for the first year who bumped into him in the library earlier as Rhys delivered the particular glare he was known for this time of the month. The young Hufflepuff should have watched where he was going. It's not like you couldn’t miss Rhys anymore. Finally, he didn’t feel so small next to his peers, but Rhys also couldn’t hide so easily from Bagman and the little gnomes who followed him around—his friends. Putting his quill down, Rhys squinted into the eyepiece again while adjusting the knobs on the telescope to clear up his view.

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A shot in the dark. That was what this was. While she had already finished the current assignment in her Astronomy class, she knew of someone that hadn’t yet, and she sort of kind of wanted to inject herself into his orbit. Flossie had spent literal years fawning over Rhys Greyback. Never pursuing him because she personally felt silly about such things, but also because it never seemed like he would reciprocate. So she spent all of her waking moments that weren’t studying or thinking about ice cream, thinking about him. He was also the only reason she had continued taking NEWT-level Astronomy. No sane person that wasn’t interested in the field as a profession was still in the class, except for her. She had never asked, but she was sure Rhys was only taking it because it meant less people around and because he was a werewolf. Which worked perfectly for her because she was slow to try and get what she wanted.

So had she watched him head up to the Astronomy Tower from a distance like some sort of creepy Hidebehind stalking its target? Yes. Was there a group of second year students that had stared at her the entire time, loudly whispering about how weird it was that she was peeking around a corner at him? Also yes. But this was important to her. It was all in the name of helping him out. Studying together for this many years in a row had to work eventually. Either she’d finally get the courage to ask him out for something other than a study session, or he’d figure it out on his own. Maybe. He had never given any hints that he was interested, but she supposed she hadn’t done that either.

Allowing some time to pass by sitting halfway up the stairs to the tower, Flossie eventually got bored of giving him time and headed up as well. If he was struggling, she could play the savior. And just the two of them alone at twilight in the Astronomy Tower? Supreme mood setting. Muggle romance novels couldn’t even write them that well. Obviously if nothing happened, nothing happened. She knew she would probably chicken out before doing anything more than help him with his homework, but it was the thought that counted.

”How far along are you?” she asked after gently clearing her throat, so as not to scare him while he had his face up to the telescope eyepiece. Winning him a black eye wouldn’t get her any brownie points. She’d made a mental note the week prior about him missing Potions, the same day McGonagall got the cauldron spilled on her by Nell. Something about a fight. But she hadn’t pushed it because she hadn’t really talked to him since then aside from this assignment. What she really wanted to know was why he was now paired with McGonagall during Potions. Because that definitely made her jealous.

rhys alexander greyback ● 493 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

As a boy, Rhys had enjoyed looking at the night sky. It was just a small boy’s curiosity at the lights that decorated the dark backdrop. Not that he ever noticed how his mother would shudder at the sight of a nearly full moon. But the tower was always peaceful, and many hardly ventured up here with all the steps as he pulled back slightly from the scope. He scribbled a few more notes. Chances were that he’d rewrite this all before their next class period. Their professor was particular about ink smudges and the like.

Rhys caught the sound of a few light footsteps before hearing the characteristic sound of someone clearing their throat. He never really let on how aware he typically was of his surroundings. His peers already had a list of reasons to find him odd. But the voice was welcome. Half looking over his shoulder, the corner of his mouth upturned slightly into a small smile. Even in the fading daylight of dusk, her red hair was very distinctive. Rhys glanced down at his last note. ‘Sagittarius’. Fitting considering who now joined him. But Rhys hadn’t expected her since Flossie had told him her assignment was already complete.

”Not much left.” He placed his quill down, turning fully. ”I can finish the rest in an hour or two.” That was the other thing with Astronomy. Timing. Everything constantly in motion made it easy to miss a star cluster or a constellation. So, for the rest of his assignment, Rhys just had to wait for all the stars to appear and hope the clouds didn’t invade. Already, the temperature was beginning to drop as fast as the sun, but there were charms for that. ”Get lost on your way to Gryffindor Tower?” Rhys crossed his arms loosely, leaning on the railing. Actually, Rhys was glad she was here. Of all his friends, she nagged him the least about one thing or another or did anything he avoided this close to a full moon.

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Now that she was up here and trying to inject herself into Rhys’s work, Flossie realized that she could have come up with a good reason to do so. Despite having told him just yesterday that she’d finished the assignment, a small lie about wanting to do a correction would have given her an in instead of this. She found it hard to explain out loud why she wanted to be in his presence, because that was sort of embarrassing still. Not even her closest friends had heard her say it out loud, only ever given her looks to try and push her into asking. It always failed.

Rhys responded by saying he only had an hour or two left to go, which was the perfect amount of time to kill by sitting around waiting for him to finish. If he had only just started, then it would probably be weird, and she’d need to justify being there. Which before she knew it, he was asking about whether or not she’d gotten lost on the way back to her common room. She hadn’t come up with her excuse yet, and was caught with her mouth hanging open slightly as she tried to string words together.

”I-well-I guess? I saw it was a nice night out so I figured I’d, you know, come up and look at the stars.” As if she didn’t already know he would be up here doing his work. ”I do that occasionally.” Especially when she had pretext to stick around. The stars were nice and all, but she’d rather stare at Rhys all night. That required an immense amount of action that she knew she wouldn’t dare take, especially right now. It would ruin their friendship, because there was a tiny little voice in her head that told her he’d never reciprocate in the way that she wanted him too: that they were only friends and study buddies, and that was it.

Crossing over the tower to lean over the railing and look down at the grounds below, Flossie felt a bit uneasy and pulled back, hands still clasped around the rail. That was far too fast of an approach for her liking, the small burst of adrenaline reminding her that it was a long and torturous fall down. Supposedly there were safety measures in place, but she didn’t want to accidentally test that theory.

”So…” she started, looking over towards him. ”Can’t trust Nell anymore in Potions or something? It wasn’t the worst accident in the world, really. It barely splashed McGonagall on the leg. And I doubt she’d make the same mistake again.” And why couldn’t he have switched partners to be with her? They worked so well together in Astronomy, it made sense.

rhys alexander greyback ● 460 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Rhys nodded in response. It was not unusual to see his classmates head toward the staircase for the tower. Although he doubted Flossie got lost, something in the Castle’s magic forced one’s feet to just know the way to one’s Common Room. Even in his most dazed and distracted state, Rhys never had an issue finding his way to the Slytherin dungeons. The question was whether the moving staircases would cooperate on that front. Rhys once heard a muggle-born classmate describe it as ‘hitting every red light’. The confusion cleared up quickly; there wasn’t much from the muggle world that was unknown to them. At least, Rhys assumed.

Satisfied with the current progress of his assignment, Rhys moved his textbook on top of the parchment so it wouldn’t be taken by a breeze. He noted her distaste for the tower’s height. It amused him a little how often people compulsively looked down. But the amusement left him when she brought up Potions. Rhys looked ahead a moment, arms tightening across his chest a bit. ”It’s not like that…” Rhys trailed off, eyes searching the sky for words. ”You know Sarah, she does things her own way, and I wasn’t there.” Every time Rhys thought of that conversation in the Hospital Wing, he felt more and more ridiculous for agreeing to it.

Rhys let out a defeated sigh, relaxing his body. Somewhere in that short explanation, he’d tensed up. ”McGonagall seems to think it's my fault Nell spilled the potion on her.” Rhys rolled his eyes as he spoke. ”So, now I have to work with her in Potions this year.” He was grateful for the fading light, if only to hide the very light blush he felt on his face. Again, he sighed but turned to lean on the railing to look out to the grounds. ”I must have had a concussion or something. I don’t know what she was going on about half the time. Bagman and his goons had roughed me up pretty good.” In hindsight, that felt like the only reasonable explanation. Also explained how he’d misheard her so terribly in the first place. ”Can you believe she thought I was dating Nell?” Rhys scoffed laughed. Merlin forbid a guy, and a girl hang out as friends.

”Anyway, I already have that troll and his gnomes to deal with. I didn’t need her making my life more difficult by refusing.” At least she knew what she was doing in Potions. Rhys paused momentarily, contemplating how his entire year had suddenly taken such a turn. ”Could be worse—imagine I got stuck with Dolohov for the year?” That was another one where the fire was lit, but the cauldron was clearly empty. He glanced at Flossie before looking ahead, absentmindedly picking at his thumbnail. The fidgeting was always worse in these moods.

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Listening was about all she could do. Clearly, she hadn’t had the full picture of what had happened and had tried to inject herself into it without that knowledge. Flossie didn’t believe she had angered him, but the topic was obviously touchy still. There were tons of moving parts involved, from him getting sent to the hospital wing, to what had happened in Potions, to now. The occasional nod of her head and hum of agreement to show that she heard all of it worked for her though. She sort of enjoyed watching him talk. ”I mean, I used to think the same thing until about third year. And McGonagall doesn’t really talk much with other people so I could see how she’d mistake the two of you for that.” Though she would have preferred if McGonagall had thought she was the one dating Rhys. Having other people entertaining the idea would definitely be one way of making it a reality.

She frowned sympathetically at the mention of Bagman’s group and then the inclusion of Dolohov, as if being partnered with her was a bad thing. Flossie had heard the rumors of her classmate. She didn’t believe half of them, and definitely believed it was a case of kids being cruel by fueling the fire. ”She’s not a bad girl, Rhys…” But maybe he did have a point on the potion making end. If there was a ranking of best to worst in the class, Dolohov would be near the bottom.

”How about this? If McGonagall drives you up a wall by end of term, I’ll ask to see if we can switch? She’s probably trying to punish Nell more than you anyways.” Flossie had seen the Ollivander girl a few times over the past week and it looked like she had barely slept. She was blowing the accident out of proportion, and no amount of trying to calm her down seemed to be working. There had even been a detention for it apparently, though Flossie hadn’t spoken to her since then. Now that it was over, she was sure things would start to go back to the way they were.

rhys alexander greyback ● 361 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Rhys blinked a few times. Merlin, did everyone think Rhys and Nell were some item? Or had been? He couldn’t see how. Nothing in their conversations was remotely like what he overheard or saw of couples acting. ”You too?” Rhys might have teased her more had he been in a better mood. Lightly, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Staring through a telescope while exhausted was a nice way to trigger a light headache. The ones that began behind your eyes. ”What convinced you otherwise?” Rhys asked flatly, now just mildly curious. At this point, it didn’t matter what people thought—at least, he told himself that while letting his temper get the best of him during inopportune times.

”I’ve been stuck with her in potions before—no, thanks.” Rhys remembered doing all the work while Dolohov made snide comments and gossiped with Rosier at the next station. Although, he had to admit she’d behaved differently toward him since this school year. Rhys shook his head. ”I dunno, she hasn’t gone out of her way to mock me so far…” He’d noted this immediately. Walking past her several times during Potions and not one snide remark or a taunt. Odd, but who was he to question it?

He wondered what Nell would say if he swapped partners but still left her with Sarah. The thought was mildly amusing, except for the part where Nell would probably complain endlessly about it. Staring out at the grounds, Rhys nodded lightly. He also hadn’t considered that perspective—Rhys wasn’t the actual target. Nell was. It made sense, he supposed. ”Alright.” The end of term felt very far away and a very long time to deal with her. Though Rhys had to admit, she wasn’t quite the total know-it-all he remembered in his mind. McGonagall definitely still was, but maybe his memory had just changed over time.

The light had almost completely gone by now. ”Did everyone really wait till late for the last part of the assignment?” Rhys was convinced a few students only took the NEWT level astronomy course to have a free pass to leave their dorms at midnight. Granted, it was a limited pass with its own end time. Otherwise, students were not permitted out past curfew. Not that it ever stopped Rhys. Nell wasn’t one to break the rules, whereas Sarah could care less. Rhys talked Flossie into it after she mentioned learning how to get into the kitchens from another student years before. But he felt tired and skipping out on sleep tended to bring out his pricklier side sometimes.

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What convinced her that Rhys and Nell weren't dating was that she had outright asked the Ollivander girl a few summers ago. And she laughed at the question. Nell, who was constantly riddled with anxiety over the smallest things and a nervous mess constantly, laughed. That was enough of an answer for her. "It was sort of obvious that you weren't," she easily lied. "But at that age, you think anyone that's close like that has to be. Because why else would they be friends?" Flossie had always wished those rumors had been about her though. Wasn't she around him a lot and considered a friend too?

So the Dolohov issue was more class related than personality. She had never thought Rhys was the type to fall prey to those kinds of whispers, but confirmation of it was nice. Personally, she wouldn't have wanted to be partnered with Dolohov either. There was just enough absentmindedness there that Flossie didn't want to be the only one doing the assignments. Plus, Rosier would never relinquish that pairing.

She would never understand what brought others to talk down to Rhys. Yes, he was a werewolf. So what? There were steps in place to keep everyone safe during the full moon. No accidents had ever happened at Hogwarts with lycanthrope students. The fear that parents and other students had for him was ridiculous. He was a perfectly normal teenager, just like the rest of them. "I'm glad there are others that see you the right way," she stated, staring back out at the grounds again.

There seemed to be a deal made about Potions though, and she tried to push down the excitement. This wasn't done yet, and obviously it hinged on McGonagall being a total ghoul all term. She was going to be watching them so closely too...

The thought was immediately pushed to the side when Rhys brought up the Astronomy assignment again. "Yeah, sort of. I only finished it Tuesday night and had to take turns because half the class was here." Which obviously extended the time she had to be up here. It was an extremely cool week for September, and thinking about it made her shiver slightly. "But it's not the hardest work in the world. More time consuming than anything."

rhys alexander greyback ● 382 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Merlin, if Rhys had a galleon for every time someone thought he was dating Nell or Sarah…Maybe living in an orphanage gave him a different perspective on friendships between men and women. Still, Rhys couldn’t see it. Sure, he had a bit of a crush on Sarah and Nell for about five minutes each, but they were his closest friends. And among the first he made at the school as well. Flossie was also a great friend. Although their separate Houses were always a bit of a small barrier, she always brought him back something small from the Hogsmeade whenever Rhys had detention over a weekend they all visited—which was often.

Plus, Flossie was less blunt than Sarah and Nell and far less worried than whatever was the latest thing frazzling Nell. ”Right, I forgot. Boys and girls can’t be just friends.” Rhys spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes. ”Or maybe that’s just Dolohov’s rule.” The girl had built a reputation quite early, and as a housemate to Rhys, it was some of the rare gossip that spread through the boy’s dorms. Though Rhys wondered what spread faster, the gossip or Dolohov through the dorms. While helping Claire with Ancient Runes in the library, someone had loudly whispered about how Dolohov had visited every common room. And then Claire shooed them away for being too loud.

Rhys didn’t respond immediately. Such a statement would have gotten his hopes up once, but he knew better. ”Doubt it…” He mumbled, refocusing on his hands again. Five years of competing for top marks in his class only to have the reputation of his temper and lineage. Somedays, it was exhausting—well, most days, it was. ”You get used to it.” Rhys shrugged it off like he always did. He couldn’t remember when he’d sort of given up trying to convince people of anything different.

Groaning slightly, Rhys ran a hand over his face into his hair. This assignment was going to literally take him all night. Given the chance, he probably would have gone to sleep just after dinner into the following day around noon in time for his last dose of wolfsbane before the evening. But that was not to be. ”Why isn’t there a shortcut to the kitchens?” Rhys wondered out loud. Now that he thought about it, he was hungry again. No surprise there since he was always hungry despite eating a perfectly good dinner. ”You up for a walk?” It wasn’t their first rodeo in that regard, and since he had to wait for the night to progress.

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She couldn't figure out what Rhys had against Dolohov, especially after he'd just come off of saying that she'd always treated him well. But the rumors unfortunately preceded her, so what was done was done. She didn't really know what went on in Slytherin after hours but it sounded like it was completely different from Gryffindor's common room. Probably from all that living underground. That had to be unhealthy for growing children...

All she could do was frown at both of his comments. Not that she disagreed, because right now she considered the two of them friends. Obviously, she wanted more out of it but she felt fairly content with the way things were too. Something her friends disagreed with immensely. What did they know though? They were all single too. "Well...I've said it before, but you being a werewolf doesn't bother me in the slightest. I think others will see it that way too eventually." Hopefully. From her viewpoint, things seemed to be getting better, especially in Diagon.

Flossie almost laughed at his kitchen comment. Even if there was a shortcut, taking it from all the way up here wouldn't make it short at all. From the sound of it, he wanted to head down there. "Sure!" she responded almost too quickly. Walking through the entire school right before curfew alone with Rhys? Of course she'd do that! It was like a dream come true. Sure, she'd have to walk all the way back up to the common room at the end, but he was going to have to come back up here for his assignment anyways. "So the kitchens then? Are you coming back up here after?" she asked, now excitedly rocking on her heels. This was the best. McGonagall could move aside with her Potions partner grab. Who else was lucky enough to spend all this time with him?

rhys alexander greyback ● 312 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Rhys could never figure out why his male peers drooled over Dolohov. She wasn’t bad-looking, Rhys wasn’t blind, but he supposed all the mistreatment over the years left a bad taste in his mouth, so to speak. Dolohov even said ‘please’ when asking Rhys for something in Potions the other day, leaving him very uneasy. He couldn’t explain it, but it didn’t sit right. His expression softened. Sure, Flossie was just being supportive, but Rhys also knew she spoke genuinely. If only it were that simple. ”Right…” He paused. It was never just the werewolf thing.

In hindsight, perhaps less of a target would exist on his back had he opted to use his mother’s name. But what had he known at such a young age about all this? It didn't always make sense when he thought of the other werewolves like Sarah and her older brother Dakoda and how differently each was treated. Dakoda was a decent guy, and others seemed to think so, while Rhys and Sarah hardly ever received such a reaction. Rhys wanted to scoff. Who needed them? He’d made it this far without the popularity of most. The further he drilled into his thoughts, the surlier he felt.

At least those forced to ask him for help in certain classes realized he wasn’t so bad. Many only knew of his temper, which he supposed was warranted. Which reminded him of how quickly hanger crept up on him. He nodded. ”Have to finish this assignment before the weekend.” After most full moons, Trying to do anything more than writing his own name felt impossible. Even if he wasn’t dangerous with Wolfsbane, it still took a lot of energy out of them. Satisfied that his school things wouldn’t fall off the tower, Rhys gave Flossie a light nod before heading toward the staircase. The house elves in the kitchens seemed to enjoy visitors and had their favorite students. Rhys wondered if he could convince Tinsey to make those cookies she only seemed to bake over the winter break.

”Do you know who’s patrolling?” The Prefects rotated, and as long as it wasn’t one of the Prefects who took themselves far too seriously, the trip to Kitchens would not require much sneaking around. They were also Astronomy students, which gave them a sort of an excuse. It had always worked for the pair over the years.

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Despite the assignment being due the following week in class, Flossie had forgotten one key factor in it all: Rhys was a werewolf. And even though she had just brought it up, the actual process of the monthly turn never really registered for her unless he or one of the others brought it up. Sort of made her feel bad, because with all of her endless staring at him, that part always seemed to slip by her. She made a mental note then and there to be exceptionally nice to him on Monday. From what she had read, the transformation wasn't the easiest with the Wolfsbane doses. It was something she always wanted to ask Rhys about, but also didn't want to bring up a topic that could be sensitive without really knowing his thoughts on all of it. Whatever the case was, it sounded like he was losing his entire weekend because of it.

Down the staircase they went, and Flossie wondered if this whole thing could have been expedited a bit if she hadn't lounged at the bottom earlier while giving Rhys time to work. On one hand, she never wanted to interfere. On the other...she couldn't resist being around him, even if he didn't know the reason yet.

"Err no, sorry," she responded. Night patrols weren't exactly the sort of thing she thought about often, as usually she was comfortably in bed by the time most students tried to sneak out of their common rooms. What they were doing right now could hardly be considered breaking the rules either. If they made it to the kitchens without a problem, then they could simply say they were heading up to the Astronomy tower at that point for their work. Gryffindor was right there too, so her excuse was valid. Lying to a Prefect sounded exciting. She'd never done that before. "They wouldn't really care because we're doing work, right? I've never run into before because they never start at the top of the castle..."

rhys alexander greyback ● 336 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

Rhys learned during his earlier years that procrastinating his assignments around a full moon would ensure they would never get done. Truthfully, it wasn’t until maybe the latter half of his second year that Rhys really found his rhythm with academics. Learning was never the issue but the routine of it all. This meant many late nights in the astronomy tower or the Slytherin Common Room. As if sleep wasn’t already difficult enough for him. Rhys’ close friends knew he didn’t sleep well, and each offered their own advice on the topic. And Rhys learned to nod his head despite knowing it would not work.

But Sarah was the only person who knew why he didn’t sleep some nights. And no teenage boy in their right mind would ever admit that they still had nightmares. But nobody would ever really understand. Especially not anyone who had not also come face to face with Fenrir Greyback. Glancing at his companion for the evening, Rhys felt he could probably tell Flossie something like this, and she would have something kind or supportive to say. That was the thing with Slytherin House. Rhys didn’t know many housemates who defaulted to such kind words.

Unfortunately, since Rhys had waited this long to make it up to the tower, he had not observed who patrolled the previous evenings. ”Maybe we’ll get lucky—Sarah’s brother doesn’t usually take points.” Still, Rhys didn’t know Dakoda that well, even after years of consistent visits to the Hospital Wing for their Wolfsbane potions. ”Her sister, on the other hand…” Rhys still wondered how the girls were related. Nothing about Sarah said ‘top of her class’ or ‘prefect’, yet this sister existed to balance Sarah’s presence in the world. He shrugged nonchalantly, ”She’s never taken points from me.” But he had seen her take points from even her house plenty of times. ”But she strikes me as the type who’d deduct House Points from her mother.” Or so the saying went. The sticklers for the rules, where even Professors rolled their eyes.

But Flossie brought up a good point. Rhys considered it, looking down at the stairs before them out of habit. The last thing anyone wanted to do was trip all the way to the bottom. ”Probably not—but it's not like they have a list of Astronomy students.” It didn’t take a genius to see how the class could be used as a convenient excuse. Rhys even had seen Bagman try to say he was out after curfew for Astronomy, much to the annoyance and amusement of the Head Girl at the time. Pausing again, Rhys considered the prefects and all the times he faced consequences. ”Erm—I don’t want you to get detention because of me if you’re worried.” Really, what was he thinking? Merlin knew he’d already earned two detentions, and the term was not even three weeks in. He could always see the look in the Professor’s eyes when others were involved, as if Rhys was somehow bringing them down to his level of disappointment.

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So two of their options were Oliveira siblings? That wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It seemed like the oldest, she was pretty sure his name was Dakoda, was the most normal of them all. And then there was Sarah, who honestly scared her more than anything else. It had nothing to do with her being a werewolf – she just had that sort of vibe going. Emitting the energy that she could snap your neck at any given moment if you happened to look at her the wrong way. Flossie had always tried to be as cordial with her as possible, but sometimes it was too much effort even for her. Keeping it to neutral expressions and words seemed to work for now. That didn’t mean she wasn’t terrified of her classmate though.

”Callisto?” Flossie filled in the blanks, assuming it was that sister and not the younger one who also seemed to be somewhat adverse to education. She had gone for a walk by the Black Lake only a week earlier and seen the girl smoking something. As far as she knew, this one was only a second year. A second year! Smoking! Baffled, Flossie didn’t even dare report it to the professors. Mostly out of fear from Sarah, but also because it absolutely was not her business. That just seemed so unhealthy to her. ”I think I saw her doing just that to her younger sister the other day,” she added on. But if the younger one was smoking instead of studying, who could blame her?

It was strange to hear Rhys go through all of the potential options that they may or may not get in trouble for this. Technically they were allowed to be out right now, and it would hopefully be too much work for the Prefects to write up or deduct points from Astronomy students that had permission to be where they were. Going down to the kitchens wasn’t part of that, so she sort of assumed as long as they were caught after that, then there was no harm in it. ”I’m fine with it. If I didn’t want to deal with the risks, I wouldn’t have come.” And if they did happen to get in trouble, wouldn’t being together like this give them a shared memory? She could only think of that being a positive. Because for all the thinking she did all day about Rhys and how she could cross paths with him throughout the day, she wanted the same to happen with him. Getting a detention and imprinting the memory of being with her while doing Astronomy work and going to sneak food out of the kitchens was a dream come true to her. Literally. ”And its sort of exciting, isn’t it?”

rhys alexander greyback ● 463 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

whispers in the background

behind closed doors

September 15, 2016
florence violet fortescue

”I think so.” Rhys had met Sarah’s siblings and vaguely recalled the mention of one far younger than the rest. But if he was honest, remembering his friends' siblings was difficult. Maybe because he had none of his own, it was easier to think of the individuals as just that. Well, except for Nell’s younger brother. That boy contained the energy of at least five people, so he was a bit difficult to forget. And he was always with Sarah’s sister, the younger one. Rhys was often with Nell, so those were familiar faces, he figured.

”I haven’t really spoken with her. The other one is always with Nell’s brother—and he’s always coming by to talk to her.” Or just tell her something random. Rhys didn’t really get it. It wasn’t like Nell and her brother were having full-on conversations or anything. The last time he bounced over to the Slytherin table during lunch, he spoke a hundred words about magical birds in about fifteen seconds. Nell seemed to catch it all, but Rhys had a headache afterward. There were a few kids like that at the orphanage, but they were all too young to attend Hogwarts just yet. Rhys had never been like that, preferring to keep to himself except for a few people.

Rhys shook his head. What a character. Not that Rhys ever imagined himself a prefect, but deducting house points from his friends was not an action worthy of his house. ”Sarah has the theory she’s adopted.” Rhys shared. A joke, of course. Well, Rhys could tell when Sarah was joking most of the time, unlike others. But they’d been close in their own way since first year. Much went unsaid but a look went a long way. And random conversations when they got stuck cleaning the school awards again for detention late into the evening. And his other friends were happy to do most of the talking with Rhys, and he sometimes preferred that. And at least Flossie wasn’t as stressed over the rules as Nell might have been concerning curfew.

Exciting? Rhys wasn’t sure he’d call it that. Not that it wasn’t pleasant. On nights like these, when he hadn’t slept well in days and right before a moon, it took all his energy to tread water. It took even more to keep his head above water, especially had he remained alone. ”What? Being out at—“ Rhys glanced at his watch. ”—Ten fifteen?” He teased, finally letting a slight smirk appear after a moment. The stairs felt far longer at night without the groups of students constantly traveling them. But the quiet was soothing, plus the occasional comment from a portrait or loud snore. ”Its nice to walk around without worrying about Bagman or others.” Rhys admitted after remaining quiet for a minute. ”I’m sure he needs his beauty sleep.” He added flatly. Honestly, he looked like a troll on a good day.

The kitchens were almost directly across the castle, however. And Rhys was certain many Hufflepuffs had no idea how lucky they were. Not that the Slytherin dungeons were that far from that portrait. As they finally reached the bottom of the lengthy flight of stairs, Rhys slowed to hear if anyone was near the Charm’s classroom. But it was easy to hear even the lightest of footsteps in this type of quiet. Or at least it was for Rhys. Confident, he resumed his usual pace—a modified version, as he was now taller and needed to allow others to keep up with him.

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