stadium arcadium | vivian

[edward remus lupin]

stranger things have happened

both before and after noon

August 2028
Vivian River Jordan

”Viv—“ Teddy began, though he was interrupted once again by his childhood friend Vivian. While he could count on one hand the number of times he’d gotten a word in before Viv, Teddy supposed he knew better than to try. While they got along well, their personalities were far different. Teddy spent more time at Witch TV catching up on some work this week. It was not that it piled up much in his consulting role, but he had the opportunity before the start of the autumn term. And the benefit of only teaching the MAGIC students at Hogwarts—no summer courses, so Teddy could use the time as he wished.

At the moment, he was waiting for Viv to run out of breath so he could get a word in. She had come into his little workspace asking for assistance on a task. But she had yet to name the task, instead going on and on with some (probably) pre-prepared argument on why he should help. For a moment, Teddy wondered if Viv realized she was asking him and not someone like Albus. Considering how often she paired up with James to pick on him, the likelihood he’d ever help her out of the goodness of his heart was very low. ”Viv—I said yes—“ She had finally paused to breathe. ”But you haven’t told me what you need help with.”

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[Vivian River Jordan]

August 2028

“…we’ve known each other a bloody long time and frankly it’d just be a shame to let this opportunity go by, because how often do we really have a chance to do something different and slightly crazy and possibly even educational, because obviously education is a top priority and we should really be thinking about what the children ought to know. And really, don’t we owe it to future magical generations to do our best work and focus on them and all the things they’d wonder and dream about, and we had the ability to shine a light on it but just let stupid bureaucracy get in the way so it just goes nowhere? I mean—"

Viv finally stopped to take a breath, and at that moment her brain caught up with her mouth and the fact that Teddy had just said something. “Wait what?” she asked blankly, the rest of her perfectly prepared speech Vanishing into nothingness as she tried to process this easy-breezy attitude of his and analyze what it meant. Because he’d just agreed, hadn’t he? Just like that? Viv hadn’t even gotten through page two of the script she’d carefully put together and memorized in order to recruit Teddy to her cause. It might seem strange that she'd put all that work into convincing him to help, but there was actually a very simple explanation. Because she really wanted his help, and her producers had been somewhat tepid when it came to her new idea. But that didn’t deter her at all. Once upon a time, They’d also been incredibly reluctant to launch Harry Puppet - and hey, the program she’d put together with Juniper was still running.

Still, she wanted this new idea to work, and she even wanted to impress Teddy (just a little bit). She had a slightly different relationship with him as compared to her other childhood friends. James and Viv had always been partners in crime, sharing a single brain cell while they carried out their pranks. Albus, on the other hand, had been a constant wet blanket and every conversation would literally end in an argument. But Teddy? He was older, cooler, and maybe she’d been struck with a slight case of hero worship when they’d been younger. It had mostly gone away, but there was still some part of Viv that wanted to show Teddy that she could be cool too. Viv gave a little twirl of victory on the swivel office chair she’d stolen when she’d first burst into Teddy’s workspace. “Brilliant, you won’t regret it!” she said, a crooked grin on her face as she pulled out a messy assortment of notes from her equally messy bag. “How ‘bout a drumroll for the big reveal?”

edward remus lupin

[edward remus lupin]

stranger things have happened

both before and after noon

August 2028
Vivian River Jordan

Teddy watched as Viv’s eyes changed and her brain caught up with the present. The corner of his mouth upturned in amusement. His hair had lightened to a sandy brown color. Her one-breath monologue was not only amusing but impressive. As it finally clicked that Teddy had agreed without argument, she twirled in her chair, and he wondered if she would fall off the chair at some point. Despite all their magic in the world, the chairs seemed old or at least very fragile. For all he knew, they were used as props on some of the programs and simply returned to the offices when complete.

At the request of a drumroll, Teddy simply looked at Viv. The idea was not offensive in any way, but he wasn’t James (who likely would have transfigured the office chair into a snare drum). ”What’s the idea, Viv?” Fortunately, Teddy was a patient man. And he wasn’t known to refuse a request from a friend for help. Knowing Vivian, however, he wondered where on the chaos scale this request would fall. Or what ideas that non-stop brain of hers came up with this time.

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[Vivian River Jordan]

“Booo,” Viv said with a pout as Teddy neatly sidestepped the issue of a drumroll and sat serenely in his chair as he waited to hear the idea. It was just classic Teddy, though, so she couldn’t even complain (much). He had a very steady presence compared to Viv’s whirlwind of chaos, which was a nice contrast when she needed to wriggle out of trouble – although it was counterproductive when it came to organizing big showy reveals. She gave him a thumbs-down, just to show what she really thought, but quickly brightened and moved on. In fact, Viv couldn’t stop wriggling in excitement as she began to rummage through her bag. She loved this part of her job – coming up with an idea, storyboarding the plan, tying up all the little fireworks in her head with a neat ribbon for producers to ooh and ahh at.

Without further ado, she pulled a variety of random objects from her bag that she’d been collecting over the last few days. A pocket sneakoscope, which sat quietly on its point. An exact replica of a Firebolt that, unlike the sneakoscope, couldn’t seem to stay still. A rusted medal that had been awarded to participants in the Battle of Hogwarts from ancient times (because anything that happened before Viv had been born should be considered pre-history). “We’re surrounded by magic, right? Like, it’s bonkers how we don’t even see things that are right in front of us. But they’ve all got a story. And if we don’t take time to learn about it, and give it its proper place, then did it even really happen?” Viv lined up the objects as best she could, then gave a dramatic flourish of her wands. “Sooooo, the plot bunnies in my head say we’ve got to do a spotlight. Like, new day, new object, new idea. Cute, innit?” She glanced up at Teddy again, gave him the big sparkly begging eyes, and waited with bated breath to see what he thought.

edward remus lupin