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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 5, 2017 22:54:38 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 5, 2017 22:54:38 GMT -7
@cecelia The goofy grin on his face didn’t go away as he watched Cecelia react to his little joke, and it only continued to widen as she yelled his name out and called him mean for it. All he could muster was a small shrug amidst the chuckles that he was trying to suppress. The last thing he wanted to do was exacerbate it even more, despite Cecelia joining in on the laughing. Everyone was different, which was something he had learned quite a bit over the years, and what he and his very few friends may have found funny didn’t mean someone else would. In his recent interactions with the other Gryffindor though, Grey found himself pushing those boundaries little by little. At first he thought she simply didn’t care what he said, and his rather blunt solutions to her problems went in one ear and out the other. Now that they had talked more, and under varying circumstances, it was starting to look like she was more flexible to talk to than he had initially pegged her for. That thought process probably had something to do with her pureblood status and the subsequent issues with her sisters. He understood now that what her siblings did in their own time did not reflect back on her. The same could be said for him with his sisters, so coming to terms that they were in similar yet different situations to each other took a little more thinking. And that was probably why he was comfortable saying what he felt like around her.
“Tell me about it.” Grey rolled his eyes as dramatically as he could. “Ever play against Malfoy? Not only is he a genius at the game, but he gets really flustered if you get close to beating him. Starts making stupid mistakes.” He had only had the honor of going up against the Slytherin once before, sometime during third year, if he could recall correctly. Since then, they didn’t talk too much outside class, but Grey still remembered how close he had gotten to beating the other boy that fateful day. “A tip if he ever grants you the honor of playing against him.” As for the other purebloods, well, Grey didn’t have much experience hanging out with the elite class. They seemed to be in a league of their own, which they probably were. As with Malfoy, those interactions were typically kept to a classroom setting. No more, no less.
Grey found himself trying to figure out how to respond to her quip about what she was supposed to thank him for. Did she think he was joking about that too? Because he wasn’t. To make a compliment like that, he had to be paying enough attention to notice them. “I had just never noticed them before, until now,” he finally got out, rather awkwardly too, breaking the eye contact that he had maintained since she had asked about her eyebrows, in the process. Thankfully they were onto a different conversation though, and figuring out a new game to play was easier said than done. That meant a longer conversation to get away from what he had just said. At least he thought so, until he blurted it out. “Truth or dare.”
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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May 8, 2017 12:07:13 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 8, 2017 12:07:13 GMT -7
Cecelia cocked her head at Grey when he agreed to her statement about purebloods and their chess. First she hadn’t pegged him at playing chess at all, and now he was saying that he had played against Scorpius Malfoy? Cecelia hadn’t ever played against the Slytherin herself, but she had heard more than a few stories about him and his skill for the game. She hadn’t ever heard someone’s account of him getting flustered when he got close to losing – though maybe that was because Cece hadn’t ever spoken to someone who had gotten close to winning before. That only made her consider Grey’s chess prowess more, if he had made such a move. “I’m not sure the Malfoys are interested in me, Scorpius included.” Cecelia said. She was sure she had made more than one comment about the Malfoy family being blood traitors when she was younger, and even if he didn’t care about those sorts of things, Cece wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it through a conversation with him without awkwardly apologizing, and she didn’t want to have to deal with that just for a game of chess…Especially if Grey could play. That would be much more fun than playing with Scorpius any day of the weak.
The Gryffindor girl blinked at her housemate when he said that he’d never noticed her eyes before. “They’re kind of hard to miss…in the middle of my face and all.” Cece mumbled, once again finding herself feeling rather warm at the thought, especially since she knew that Grey had to have been noticing her eyes in a capacity just beyond them existing. Did he think they were…pretty? And why did she care whether or not he thought that? It was just Grey. Just her friend, Grey. Grey, her pal. Grey, who she did not have any romantic feelings for because romantic feelings had just gotten her in trouble in the past. Right. Cecelia smoothed her robes underneath the table, tuning back into the conversation just as Grey suggested truth or dare, sounding a little bit…panicked? “Alright.” Cece said, glad to have something else to think about other than why she was feeling strange things surrounding the boy in front of her. “Truth.” She said, just so they wouldn’t have to go through the humdrum of deciding who ought to go first. She could do truths easily, since there was now no Unbreakable Vow and the only thing that she had to hide was Braelynn’s status as living. Somehow, Cece didn’t anticipate Grey asking about her sister being raised from the dead.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 8, 2017 22:44:14 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 8, 2017 22:44:14 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey shrugged as Cecelia stated that the Malfoys weren’t really interested in her, including Scorpius. That honestly didn’t surprise him that much. They were in their own little pureblooded world after all. He mentally cringed after thinking of that, realizing how hostile it sounded in his head. He had nothing against purebloods, and for the most part he seemingly got along with them. If anything, Cecelia was a testament to that. But he’d stand rigidly by his belief that they lived in a different world. Certain things didn’t affect or apply to them like they did to the rest of the magical population, or to muggles. “I don’t think their validation is exactly necessary, though beating him in a match would definitely be a sight to see.” Of course, everything Grey had just mentioned about Scorpius only applied to when they were in third year. The Slytherin was already pretty good at chess back then, and he was relatively smart still, so those little mistakes and tells were probably wiped away by this point in time. A chess game now would be night and day compared to then. A combined effort of Grey and Cecelia could possibly take him down, but arranging that would be a nightmare.
“They are, aren’t they? Funny, eyes are...” Grey responded rather quickly, hoping that it would get him over his little hiccup of a comment. Though the obvious wasn’t really what he had been pointing out, and he was pretty sure Cecelia had caught onto that. He didn’t understand why it came out the way it did, or the timing for it, but it had, and now they were sitting there probably wondering the exact same thing. Grey couldn’t help but think that maybe it was a strange thing to comment on, especially since they were just friends. Hopefully that wasn’t enough to make her think he was creepy or something, though knowing his luck, pointing out the obvious in the way he had probably would.
It seemed that the idea to play truth or dare was catching on, and while he was still kicking himself for spouting that out as well, Cecelia agreed to play it. And he desperately hoped she’d say dare, because asking deep personal questions outside of club hours wasn’t exactly on his list of things to do. Of course, she went with truth. That was a tough one. If he remembered how this game was normally played, it usually started off rather tame and got more and more aggressive as it went on, especially in a group setting. There were only two of them today, and Grey wasn’t keen on getting too personal too fast. But there were still things that he wanted to know about her, and this seemed like an ample time to do that. Clearing his throat, he began. “What is something that people think you would never do, but you have?” That seemed easy. There were plenty of simple answers, like stealing something, or sleeping in class. It wasn’t like they were incorrect in any shape or form. “And truth for me, I guess.” Hopefully it didn’t escalate too fast.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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May 9, 2017 6:43:38 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 9, 2017 6:43:38 GMT -7
Cecelia snorted when Grey said that the validation of the Malfoys wasn’t necessary. It was funny, how Grey sometimes ended up saying the same things a pureblood would say, but for a totally different reason. For him, thinking about what the Malfoys thought wasn’t important because he didn’t really care what anyone thought – for a pureblood, it was all a matter of the Malfoys betraying their blood. “I’d have to practice first.” Cecelia said. Her skills were rusty, at best. Maybe she’d drop by one of the meetings of the chess club, if she could squeeze it into her increasingly busy schedule.
The best part about truth or dare was not the game itself, but rather the fact that it let both of them move on from the eye comment with as little awkwardness as possible. It was still awkward, of course, but at least they were moving on for another task and not for the sole purpose of putting that one innocent comment on the back burner. Cecelia was surprised by Grey’s question, because it was…well, vague. She could make it as personal or as distant as she wanted to, because nearly everything she was doing someone, at some point, probably thought that she would never do. In the interest of playing truth or dare as it was meant to be played – basically, playing it in a manner that made it as uncomfortable as possible for all participants – Cecelia was going to go for the more personal end of the spectrum. “I don’t think that anyone would ever think that I would become my own person.” Cecelia said softly. Everyone had always expected she and her sisters to be the perfect little pureblood girls, obeying their parents’ every order. Desirae had become her own person in a morbid, murderous way, and so had Braelynn, with her love of Zander and her defiance of their sister…Which really only left Cecelia in the mold that their parents had placed her in. Since September, she had been defying that mold, albeit in smaller ways than either of her sisters had. She wasn’t in love with a half-blood, but her best friend was one, and when she walked through the corridors at school her first thought about people wasn’t their blood status or their influence – it was their name. To the people who didn’t know her, she was still just Cecelia Rousseau, Desirae’s sister and likely follower of Elaine, but to some – really just Grey, if she was being honest – she could be just Cecelia, or even better, Cece. “But I think I’ve done that.” She added, just in case it was unclear.
When Grey also asked for a truth, Cecelia bit her lip. She wasn’t good at thinking of questions, especially since she wanted to walk the same delicate line that Grey did of being personal without being too personal. Eventually, Cecelia gave up on trying to think of a perfect question, and just pulled the first semi-decent question she could out of her head. “What’s your biggest regret?” She didn’t think that Grey had many of those, not with his life philosophy, but she was still curious to see what he had to say. Then, in the interest of not making Grey think of another question, Cecelia announced her next choice. “I’ll do a dare this time.” Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything horribly difficult or embarrassing.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 10, 2017 22:32:36 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 10, 2017 22:32:36 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey wasn’t sure what to expect from Cecelia’s answer. On one hand, he didn’t want her to think that she was obligated to give him some extremely detailed, personal life story; they had already been through quite a few of those in their other encounters. But at the same time, he found himself really wanting to know more. Deepest, darkest secrets were definitely one way to get to know someone, and that’s exactly what he wanted to find out right now. He had no idea why this was suddenly piquing his curiosity, but it was, and if the chance presented itself he was surely going to take it. The other caveat to it was that Cecelia had never spared the details around him before. She had been rather open about one sister murdering the other, and then Claire killing the remaining one only a few months earlier. He had assumed that was mostly because she had become numb to death and violence, considering what had happened, and that would make opening up about truths in a stupid little game that much easier. It wasn’t like he was going to force an answer out of her if she didn’t want to tell. He wasn’t that cruel.
She stayed true to what he thought would happen as she explained that she was sure that other people didn’t think she was capable of being her own individual. That made sense. People were broken records. They could never get past certain issues or flaws in others. Maybe that was a rather large generalization, but he had seen it happen to himself, and obviously it had happened to Cecelia too. He was sure they were both perpetrators of it as well. Human nature and all that stuff. They had been over the whole thing about her acting as someone who she wasn’t, Grey distinctly remembering that he had called her fake, or something of the sort, during their conversation. This Cecelia in front of him, or even the one earlier in the day, was definitely different from the one he had held that conversation with, or even the one he had stumbled across in the Prefect’s bathroom. He had noticed the change, and that was only through brief encounters. “I think people need to look harder then,” Grey voiced his thoughts. “Because it looks to me like you’re finally you,” he added with a shrug.
He left it at that though, because now it was his turn to answer a truth. He nodded his head slowly as she asked him what his biggest regret was. There were tons of regrets throughout his life. He was positive that entering his name in the tournament would have been one if he had backed out at the last minute like he had been thinking of doing. Obviously that didn’t matter now that he wasn’t chosen, but it was a big deal at the time. “Not playing Quidditch,” he spoke up, eyes still concentrated on the table in front of him. “I probably wouldn’t have been motivated a lot, but I love watching it and writing articles on matches. Now that’s all starting to come together with only a few months left of school,” he trailed off. “Can’t do much about it now though,” he shrugged again. There was no telling how different his school life would have been had he tried out and made the Gryffindor team. Probably would have been more outgoing and had more friends, at least in his own house.
But it was back to Cecelia now, and she wanted a dare. Perfect. “I dare you to do a cartwheel,” Grey said with a grin. “Or a handstand. Whatever is easier in this space.” It had come to his realization that the room was rather small, and that anything involving horizontal movement was probably going to be difficult. “I’ll go with another truth, too. Give you time to think up something really cruel for me to answer.”
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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May 11, 2017 13:30:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 13:30:14 GMT -7
Cecelia had hoped that Grey would respond well to her answer to his question, and she wasn’t disappointed. He didn’t argue with her, or say that she was wrong to believe that – instead, he said that everyone else was wrong, and that she was finally her. It was that one word – finally – that got Cecelia. Maybe she was reading too much into this, but she could have sworn that the way Grey said that word implied that he had seen her, this version of her, before, and had spent his time since waiting for Cecelia to be brave enough to show her real self to the rest of the world. The problem with what Grey said (which he probably didn’t even realize was a problem) was that she wasn’t the same person around everyone else as she was around him. That sounded like an awful thing to say, but the truth was that Cece was more comfortable around Grey than she was around every other living person (at least that she could think of). The her that she showed him was the real her, but as for everyone else… The matter of not seeing Cece as she was wasn’t really their fault – it was the Gryffindor’s own. Though, she did have to admit that if people weren’t expecting something of her in the first place she would have been a little less hesitant to open up to them.
Grey’s biggest regret in the world…wasn’t one that Cecelia expected. She knew that he was a Quidditch fan, but she hadn’t known that he wanted to play the sport, too. She was half-tempted to tell him that it wasn’t too late to try, but it mostly was – and she had been doing a lot of the ‘it’s not too late’ preaching earlier when it came to opening the Room of Requirement, so she was going to have to pick her battles. “We should play together sometime.” She offered. She didn’t know what position Grey wanted to play, but Cecelia was a Beater who was also comfortable handling the Quaffle, though she honestly preferred Keeping to Chasing. “I might not be as great as the professionals, but it’s better than nothing, right?” She added, not sure how else to show the appropriate amount of self-deprecation so that Grey wouldn’t feel the need to accept the offer just because it was made.
When she was dared to do a cartwheel, Cecelia laughed a little. That was one of the most unladylike things she could imagine doing, and she liked it. Her parents would probably have a fit if they knew that their only surviving daughter (or so they believed) was alone with a boy, cartwheeling, and that made her smile even harder. She hadn’t ever done a cartwheel before, but she knew vaguely what it was supposed to look like, so Cecelia just went for it. Her cartwheel was sloppy at best, but she hadn’t fallen on her backside, which had been an honest fear of hers. The Gryffindor girl’s hair had made a mess of itself during its brief time upside down, and Cecelia blushed a little as she tried to smooth it down and make it look a little less wild. The cartwheel had been kind of nice, because it sent a large rush of blood to her head, which was invigorating and made it slightly easier to think of a truth question for Grey despite the late hour and her fear of asking something that crossed the line into ‘too personal’. “What’s your biggest secret?” Cece asked, propping her elbow on the table and then her chin on her hand. It was one that would be easy to lie about, if Grey didn’t want to spill his guts to her. Cecelia hadn’t minded the cartwheel, but she was curious as to what Grey was curious about. “I’ll do a truth, too.” She added, wondering if Grey would just turn her own question back on her.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 17, 2017 22:32:42 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 17, 2017 22:32:42 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey hadn’t been expecting Cecelia to offer him the chance to play Quidditch at some point. He knew it was tough to reserve the pitch for anything outside of official practices, and even then the players had priority over those that didn’t participate. Obviously she was one, but he wasn’t; and surprisingly, that did make a difference in his experience. “Yeah, sure. That would be fun,” Grey nodded his head slowly. “You’re loads better than I’ll ever be. I’m decent at flying, I think. Can’t speak for handling a quaffle or hitting a bludger though,” he added hesitantly. The hand-eye coordination at top speeds really didn’t go over too well for him. Tracking the players and their movements to report on them was one thing, whereas actually doing it was another.
It looked as if Cecelia had decided to go with the cartwheel. Grey leaned back in his chair, moving the table slightly so she could have more room to do it. There were no complaints, so he figured she knew how to do one, though the final result said otherwise. He wasn’t one to judge, there was no way he could pull off any acrobatics of that nature. As Cecelia returned to the table, Grey clapped a few times. The fact that he had misjudged her and assumed she would have complained about the whole thing meant that this little game of theirs could go to the next level. And by the nature of Cecelia’s next question, it seemed as if she was on the same page as he was.
Grey tapped his fingers on the table a few times as he tried to decide what to say. He knew what his biggest secret was: the love-potion. Cecelia was also a prefect, as was Ondina, and letting that out could cause unnecessary backlash that he didn’t want to deal with. Then again, this was truth or dare, and Grey felt like he had to answer truthfully. “I was under a love-potion all of November up until the Yule Ball,” he finally managed out, taking a deep inhale as he did so. Omitting Ondina’s name for now would save some issues. If Cecelia asked who did it on his next truth, then he’d call the game off. “Someone noticed I was acting different and told Irina, and she fixed me up with an antidote. Only a few people know about it, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He wasn’t sure why that made it sound like he was ashamed of the whole thing. In a way he kind of was, but it wasn’t like anything he said or did during that period of time was serious.
Back to a truth for Cecelia now that he was done answering his question. He felt like flipping it back on her, but that seemed like it was too easy. To add to that, Grey had a feeling that there were some secrets that Cecelia probably didn’t want to share with him, at least not just yet. The only reason he was fine with his was because he trusted her not to spill that all over the school. Life or death secrets, or ones that had to do with criminal activity were not things he needed to know, and that she didn’t need to share if she didn’t want to. “What do you want to do after graduating?” Grey supposed that was an easy one, seeing as they were forced to have a post-graduation plan. He had two, though that made him an oddball compared to the rest of the class. “I’ll go with a dare this time. Mix things up a little.”
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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May 22, 2017 20:11:44 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 20:11:44 GMT -7
Cecelia was surprised that Grey took her up on her offer to play Quidditch – after he had been so hesitant to allow her to try to teach him to get into the room, she hadn’t thought it likely that he would accept. Except that Grey was actually interested in Quidditch, and didn’t seem interested in the room, especially since he could just have someone else open it for him. Cece shrugged when Grey said that she was loads better than he was. That was probably true, but she had also had a lot more practice than he did, so it wasn’t fair to compare them. And no matter how much better than him she was, she wasn’t planning on trying to beat Grey. She wanted them to have fun, and being absolutely trounced by someone with a skill level miles beyond your own wasn’t fun. That was what had made their Exploding Snap game so exciting – well, that, and the tale of the maybe-missing eyebrows. Cecelia smiled a little to herself. Even though that had just happened a few minutes ago, she was sure that it was going to become one of her fondest memories, which was strange to think about. Many, many of her memories were polluted with death or betrayal or fear, and it was nice to have one that was just…nice. “You’d probably be better off starting with the Quaffle. Hitting a Bludger involves a lot of coordination.” With every moving object in an equation, it became more complicated, and since hitting a Bludger involved one moving object hitting another moving object towards a third moving object, it was definitely complicated. It was why Cecelia couldn’t fathom some of the shots that professional Beaters made – and why she wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life in Quidditch.
Cecelia didn’t really register Grey clapping for her – she was already looking forward to the answer to his question. Asking someone what their biggest secret was was sure to draw a few interesting answers, but Cecelia couldn’t have ever imagined what Grey said his biggest secret was. That alone made it hurt more. They hadn’t been as close back in November – that was when Desirae had exploded and sent the world crashing around Cecelia for the second time in sixth months – but how on earth had she not recognized that the person she now called her best friend had been under a love potion? Cecelia tried to shove her anger at herself down, just in case Grey mistook it as anger at him. She was going to have to figure out more about the situation… Even if that meant talking with Irina, who, Cece had gathered, was not her biggest fan following their discussion after Irina’s nightmare. Would that be an invasion of Grey’s privacy? She didn’t know, but Cecelia had this desperate urge to do something, to erase the past and protect Grey from being in love with someone else – from being in love with someone he didn’t choose, that was. “Your secret’s safe with me.” She promised. Cecelia assumed that the room was kind of like Las Vegas – what happened there stayed there.
Grey’s truth was tame in comparison to hers, and Cecelia was grateful for that. If she was asked to give up her biggest secret, she would have had to lie, and she loathed the idea of lying to Grey. What she wanted to do after graduation wasn’t something that she talked about often, since she hadn’t informed her parents about it yet, and most people would think it…odd, to say the least. “I want to be an astronomer.” Cecelia had loved the sky since she was a kid, and it had become an even bigger comfort to her in the months when she had believed Braelynn dead. And now, knowing her sister was alive, there was still a sense of warmth in knowing that she and her sister were looking at the same sky, if not the same stars (since Cecelia had not a clue where in the world her sister had landed). Grey asked for a dare, and Cecelia bit her lip. She wasn’t as good at thinking of those. “Kind of a longer term one…” Cecelia warned before getting to the actual dare. “Next time you’re with your crush, flirt with them. Obviously.” Cecelia’s stomach did a weird twitch just then, and she chose to believe that it was hunger. They’d play a round or two more of truth or dare, and then return to the common room, where she had her snacks stored.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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May 24, 2017 22:10:10 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on May 24, 2017 22:10:10 GMT -7
@cecelia Cecelia did have a point. Quaffles were bigger targets; not as difficult to catch while on the fly. If he was a beater right off the bat, he would probably end up like Irina’s sister, though most likely in worst shape. Nasty accident that was. In all the Quidditch matches he had seen while at school, he was pretty sure nothing came close to that. And that wasn’t even in a match, to boot. “Maybe getting some of the rust off by flying around first. That and normal exercise. Merlin knows I could use it these days…” Here he was trying to become an auror and most of his time was spent holed up editing articles for the paper or trying to force himself to stay awake to get his school work done after that. The aurors were going to put him through the ringer if he wasn’t careful here. That time was coming up fast, and aside from worrying about final exams, passing on the torch of the paper, and other, more personal things that he wasn’t sure about yet, getting a daily workout in was both exhausting to think about and actually follow through with.
Grey wasn’t sure what to expect from Cecelia as he finally divulged his secret about the love potion. When Irina had finally fixed him up he could tell that she had been holding back laughter, or at least that was what it felt like at the time. He understood why, of course, and didn’t blame her for thinking he was an idiot, because he was. So far, Irina had kept her promise to stay quiet, and it was starting to look like Cecelia was as well. He didn’t know why he wanted her to say it, but he felt a wave of relief come over him at her confirmation that she’d keep it secret. Anyone with half a brain that had witnessed his antics during November around Ondina would know that something was up, considering he had cut the Slytherin out of his life completely since the Yule Ball. That meant that he shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed or anxious over telling anyone. Except he was. His sister was easy, obviously because they had a common enemy in the Weasley girl now, and Irina was there to see it first-hand. Cecelia was different though, and he couldn’t put a finger on why that was. “I appreciate it,” he smiled. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday who did it. I don’t think now is really a good time for either of us. Not really worth the trouble that it’ll bring.” More like the repercussions he’d leave Addi to deal with next year. He couldn’t toss his problems on her like that. She had enough to deal with right now.
She wanted to be an astronomer? That made sense to him for some reason. “Always looking up and moving forward then. Because that’s what the stars hold.” That sounded really cheesy to him, and he made a face knowing full well that it was bad. “At least that’s what muggles say, right? They get some things correct on occasion. Loads of them are smarter than me in that regard.”
Then it was time for his dare. To flirt with his crush the next time he was with them. The words resonated and rebounded throughout his head, eventually decreasing down to just ‘flirt’ and ‘crush’. Did he even know how to flirt? Did he even have a crush? These were the hard-hitting journalistic questions that flooded his thoughts. The flirting thing disappeared quickly, as the second question took over. Why was it telling him that he did, when he wasn’t even sure of that himself? He did. Did he? Back and forth those two went. “I, uh…yeah I can do that,” Grey mumbled out as he looked away from Cecelia, still rather confused on his own feelings about the whole thing. “So, think now is a good time to head back? Unless you’re fine with everyone in Gryffindor thinking we’re up to something. I'd be game,” he teased, smiling at Cecelia as he stood up from his chair. Maybe that wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded. He'd let Cecelia figure out what that meant though, because he wasn't even sure.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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May 27, 2017 18:55:40 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 18:55:40 GMT -7
Grey seemed to be thinking out loud when talking about Quidditch, saying that he’d start by just flying around, and by getting regular exercise, too. Cecelia’s exercise mostly came in the form of mandatory Quidditch workouts or her long walks around the castle while she was on patrol, and since Grey didn’t have either of those things, she could see why exercise might be a priority for him. Especially considering that he wanted to be an Auror after graduation, and Aurors tended to do a lot of running around. Once she was in the adult world, Cecelia was going to have to find some way to exercise, too, since astronomy wasn’t exactly an adrenaline-pumping career. That was one of the things that she was going to label as something to worry about when she got there, though. There was already so much to keep track of with her various duties in school that thinking beyond it was sure to give her a headache or a nervous breakdown.
When Grey smiled at her after she said that she wouldn’t tell anyone about his being love potioned, Cecelia couldn’t help but smile back at him. Grey said that he might tell her someday who had been behind the plot, and Cecelia wrinkled her nose. “It’s probably better for everyone involved that you didn’t tell me. Ever.” She said gently. Cecelia wasn’t a murderer, but she was related to one, and after how angry she had been upon hearing that someone had potioned Grey, she wasn’t sure she wanted to take the gamble of knowing the person’s identity and possibly not being able to constrain herself from doing them bodily harm if the opportunity every presented itself. And if he had told her now, she still had four months and all the powers of a prefect to make that person’s life how. Then again, her prefect powers only extended to Gryffindors, and Cece was all but certain that she would have noticed if it had been one of her housemates poisoning Grey. Like Grey said… it just wasn’t worth all of the trouble, and while Cece was curious, she suspected her curiosity wouldn’t lead to anything good this time around.
Cecelia was surprised by Grey’s reaction to her career path. Since she hadn’t told anyone, she wasn’t sure what the common reaction was, but she hadn’t expected him to take such a philosophical bent on the thing, talking about looking up and moving forward and all of that. “Sometimes, there’s no place to look but up.” Cecelia said softly. There was no way that she was going to look behind her, because that was a mess, and her future was so murky that looking ahead was just as scary. Looking down just seemed to be a great way to get depressed, so why not look up? There was so much hope in the stars, and Cece wanted just a little bit of that hope for herself. “I wouldn’t know what Muggles say.” She said honestly. She was too much of a sheltered pureblood for that, but the Muggles definitely were right on this one, as much as it would kill some people to hear Cecelia say that.
Cecelia smiled a little to herself at Grey’s response to her dare. He seemed so flustered by all of it, and that was… nope, she wasn’t going to try to think of a word to describe what that was, because all of the ones that were coming to her were… not within the realm of their relationship. That was a good way to put it. Grey asked if she was ready to head back, and Cece nodded automatically. It was going to be interesting to see what would happen if they were caught, though Cece didn’t know if they could get caught in the first place. The uncertainty was part of what made it all exciting, though. “I’m trying to go a whole month without being the source of somebody’s gossip, so I pick no.” Cecelia teased Grey right back. She felt like whispers were always chasing her around the castle, so why give people more of a reason to gossip? Other than to laugh at them because the gossip wasn’t true, of course.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 3, 2017 20:53:08 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jun 3, 2017 20:53:08 GMT -7
@cecelia This had to be a first. Grey couldn’t recall any of the other people he had told about the love potion having responded in the same fashion as Cecelia. Most of the time when he said he would spill someday would accept it as that; either they were going to get the information eventually or it was going to go away quietly. None of them had actively told him to not say anything about it. He was pretty sure he understood the reasoning behind it, though maybe that was more of an authority thing. There were rules that the Prefects were supposed to follow, apparently, and that would probably make it messy. That and the one who had done it to him was a Prefect herself, so somewhere along the way there was probably a grey area on what could or could not be done. But that was that. It was said and done with, he had escaped it because of the watchful eyes of friends, and hopefully it wouldn’t happen again. At least he would be able to tell if it did, because being hopelessly obsessed with someone for no good reason was pretty obvious. The only problem would be if the potion was messing with his logic and reasoning like it had last time. Then he’d be stuck in the same position again. He smiled slightly as Cecelia agreed that sometimes looking up was best. A little positivity never killed anyone. He hadn’t meant to get super philosophical in the whole thing; apparently there was more to astronomy than staring up into the night sky at stars that were supposedly light-years away. That was one thing that he had always found fascinating about muggles and their understanding of what else was out there. There wasn’t too much of that going on in Hogwarts though, as far as he knew. Even though astronomy was practically made for his insomnia, he didn’t want a class to encourage it to be more than it already was. “They just do their own thing, I guess,” Grey responded, realizing that they probably had different levels of knowledge on their non-magical counterparts. It wasn’t like he went out of his way to learn things about them and what they were up to. Nowadays it was a lot easier to keep up with their technology as much as it was with his magic. Someday they would have to assimilate in some areas, and it was better to know about it before it was too late. Grey held the door to the room of requirement open for Cecelia as they prepared to leave. He wasn’t sure when he’d be back in it again, the next time probably as a meeting room for a club event or to privately discuss newspaper business. Seeing as that was how he had always used it, he didn’t think that would change during his last few months at school. He was still intrigued by the fact that it could come up with rooms as creative as this one, and if he had the chance to ever get in on his own, this would most likely be what he would get. A private, cozy apartment flat. That was probably going to be a reality for him within the next couple of months anyway. “You haven’t made it until the Gossip Witch gets to you though. This might be your time to shine.” Grey was joking of course. He absolutely despised the opposing gossip paper. If it could even be called that in the first place. There were so many things wrong with what the Gossip Witch was doing. Snapping the ethical practices of journalistic integrity in half was the first place they had started, and it hadn’t let up in the last few years either. It was a disgusting piece of literature in his opinion. “Not that I recommend going out of your way to get in it. Sadly more of it is true than not…” he trailed off, realizing that was mostly a dirty little secret between his people and the ones that the stories were about. Everyone else, at least to his understanding, had taken the articles with a grain of salt. He hoped it stayed that way too. [OOC: too lazy to end it on my side, so it can go a few more I guess]
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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Jun 19, 2017 15:26:55 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2017 15:26:55 GMT -7
Cecelia looked at Grey curiously when he said that Muggles just did their own thing. In some ways, Cece wondered if the rest of the Wizarding world was really better about appreciating Muggles than the Purifiers were. It seemed like most people saw Muggles as sloppy dogs – somewhat messy, but overall entertaining and thus worth keeping around. If the time came where they got too sick or tired (or got in the way of what wizards wanted), it was painful but not morally wrong to wipe their memories or manipulate their lives in whatever fashion was necessary to keep the Wizarding world safer or simpler. There was an entire area of the Ministry devoted just to wiping memories, after all, and another section for coming up with excuses to feed to Muggles. Cece wasn’t for breaking the Statute of Secrecy or anything of the sort – the two worlds were definitely not ready to collide – but treating Muggles with a little more respect would set a good precedent for future generations… and maybe one day render the need for Statue useless. “That they do.” She said simply, unsure if her views were strange or radical and not wanting to find out when she and Grey were getting along so well.
Grey opened the door to the room, and Cecelia smiled at him. She knew that Gryffindors were known for being chivalrous or whatever, but it was still strange to have someone open a door for her. Most of her housemates weren’t her biggest fans, so even if they were chivalrous, Cecelia wasn’t the recipient. She was a little sad to leave the room behind – it felt oddly like a home, even though home for Cecelia had always been a mansion that was too big and high vaulted ceilings and copious amounts of marble. Maybe she would return there one day, if only for the sense of easiness that she got while being there. As she was leaving, Cece couldn’t help but flash back to how she and Grey had entered the room – holding hands. She cleared her throat a little, unsure why her face felt so warm. Cecelia had the odd thought that even though the room was behind her, she still felt terribly at ease. She had always thought of Grey as someone she could be herself around, but the association with the feeling and home was strange and a little bit uncomfortable. Luckily Cece was saved from her discomfort by Grey making a comment about getting into the Gossip Witch’s column. “I have had more than enough of seeing my family’s name in the papers lately.” Cecelia said. Granted, the Gossip Witch was a little different, but suffice to say that Cecelia had had her fill of being in the spotlight. Grey then added that he wouldn’t go out of his way to get into it, and Cecelia nodded vigorously. If she did something particularly notable, she wasn’t going to fight against being put in the gossip column, but she definitely wasn’t going to go stirring the pot just to see her name written down. “It’s true?” Cece said curiously. Some of the things that were written in the Gossip Witch seemed downright impossible to have happened. “Shows what I know about truth and lies.” Cecelia definitely would not make a good reporter. For someone who had been burned before, and was generally distrusting, Cece ended up being horribly naïve about people’s intentions.
The pair had just walked up the stairs to the seventh floor, which meant that they were almost at the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. Cecelia found herself disappointed – not just because she hadn’t run into anyone to give her detention, but because it meant that her conversation with Grey was going to have to end. She considered doing something to prolong it, but the ending was inevitable, so she was going to have to accept it and not think too much about all of the feelings that this excursion had elicited – from the constant warmth to the feeling of belonging. There was something there, a riddle Cecelia wasn’t sure she wanted to solve.
grey xavier slater
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grey xavier slater
HOGWARTS ALUM DAILY PROPHET QUIDDITCH REPORTER
693 posts
played by Colin
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:03:35 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 19, 2017 19:55:49 GMT -7
Post by grey xavier slater on Jun 19, 2017 19:55:49 GMT -7
@cecelia Grey returned the smile that Cecelia flashed him as she stepped out of the room. He followed close behind, giving it one last look as he made his way all the way out of it. There wasn’t much to think about when it came to the strange shape that it had taken, aside from the fact that he knew it had all been Cecelia’s doing, and none from him. There was no way he could come up with something that homey. Understanding her familial situation as much as he did definitely helped to a degree; having her own space, regardless of how big it was, at this point in time was probably far more comfortable than whatever her actual home was like. Grey wouldn’t have minded a place as small as the one they just left. All he really needed was a bed and a desk. That was all he had at home anyways. A place to sleep and a place to write. No wonder his sisters thought he was a little out there sometimes…
“Point taken,” he responded. Though the Gossip Witch wasn’t nearly as vile as some of the ‘professional’ papers out there were. Sure, it had its own bouts of idiocy dripping all over the school, but for the most part everyone seemed to believe it was fake. As far as he and the subjects of the stories should be concerned, the Gossip Witch was nowhere close to being a threat to the safety of the school. At the end of the day, it was amateur. And he was proud to know that he could sway readers’ attention to his work over that garbage. “Unfortunately,” he sighed. That was the same reaction everyone had to it. If he were to be honest, he had taken far too long to get over that hurdle. There was something really distasteful about knowing that little factoid. “Especially when the truth is carried out like it’s a lie. We’ve all had enough of that for a lifetime, I’m sure.”
The rest of the walk to the common room was quiet, and Grey wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. Weren’t they supposed to get in trouble? Loud noises and talking always grabbed a prefect or professor’s attention when he was out and about late at night. Then again, maybe they knew Cecelia wasn’t there, and figured she would be one of the people wandering around the Gryffindor Tower. He wasn’t sure how those things worked – if they had a communication system in place to know when and where the others were while on patrol. Seemed rather invasive to him if that was the case. He spent enough of his time delving into other people’s lives while trying to write stories, he didn’t need someone knowing where he was 24/7. Stopping a distance from the portrait that led into the common room, Grey turned to face Cecelia. “You might want to go first. The Fat Lady kind of has it out for me these days.”
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last online Apr 25, 2024 13:46:53 GMT -7
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Jun 21, 2017 18:27:24 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 18:27:24 GMT -7
Cecelia attempted to smile at Grey when he said that her point was taken, but it ended up being more of a straight-mouthed grimace. She was still working on how to reconcile the image of her family that the world had with the reality. Accepting that she hadn’t had a healthy relationship with Desirae had been a big part of that process, but unhealthy relationship or no, there had been a time in Cecelia’s life where Desirae had been all she had, and there were days her emotions still wrestled with her rational brain about how she ought to remember her sister. “Is it wrong to say that in the future I hope to see the name Slater in the papers only in the byline?” Cecelia asked. She wished Grey’s older sister all the luck in the world in her career, but the more an Auror’s name was in the paper, the more danger they were put in. Notoriety wasn’t the best when it came to law enforcement, especially when there were people like Elaine Dupree in the world. “It would be nice if people were just honest with themselves and others.” Cecelia said with a sigh. It was a dream that was too big to be fulfilled in any number of lifetimes, and Cecelia knew that she was a hypocrite in that way. She still had many, many things that she hid from those closest to her, so wishing for honesty was just… wrong. She didn’t want to take what she couldn’t give.
Grey stopped a bit away from the portrait hole entrance, and Cecelia stopped, too. She felt a rush of something that might have been relief – that they weren’t caught, probably – but the disappointment she had been feeling earlier was increasing, too. He suggested that she go first because the Fat Lady had it out for him, and Cecelia chuckled. “There’s a story there, and you’re going to tell me someday.” The story was probably something as simple as the Fat Lady noticing that Grey was always coming into the dormitory past curfew, but it was still a story worth hearing. Cecelia would listen to it, that was. Not tonight, though, because it was already late and she didn’t feel like pressing her luck. “Good night, Grey.” Cecelia said. She approached the portrait and said the password, slipping through and forcing herself not to look back for one last glance at Grey.
grey xavier slater (end?)
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