A Bunch Of Hocus Pocus (Sav)

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Ashley stood outside the Room of Requirement, waiting for Sav Macmillan to arrive. Her hands tingled with excitement. This Halloween event was fabulous! She hadn't even had the opportunity to do most of the things, but she'd run into the Gyffindor boy earlier in the week and asked if he wanted to join her in trying out the Muggle Escape Room. It sounded like something intriguing and, perhaps, a little difficult and Ash couldn't wait to try it out. If it was done half as well as the spiderweb maze or the Fear Factor, it would be a blast and she was convinced that doing it with Sav would make it more so. 

She hadn't really had a chance to interact with him since their date in the summer, so Ashley was honestly excited to spend time with him. She was positive that it would be an interesting and exciting experience, once they got started. She stood on her tip-toes, looking up and down the corridor to see if he was approaching. At the moment, there was no line to go into the Room of Requirement, so it was perfect timing if they didn't want to have to wait. She smiled when she heard footsteps approaching, even before she knew for sure that it was him. "Sav, that you?" she called, hoping it was. Ashley was ready to get started with this thing.

@sav

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A few days ago sav had agreed to join Ashley at the event in between this shifts as a trickster tour guide. Volunteering normally wasn’t his style, but he felt no reason not to get involved. He wanted to be seen as a leader, especially now that he was actually being looked at by professional teams, he wanted to prove that he was a leader both on and off of the pitch. Plus, the job had been quite fun so far. He had a break from his shift and went to change into normal clothes before going to meet Ashley for the escape room. He saw her before she saw him, she was facing the other way, but when she called out to him, he responded, he had thought about trying to trick her, but he decided to play it safe. He had a feeling she’d be scary when she’s mad. “Hey. I’m here. Sorry I’m late.” he said, approaching her from behind, jogging over as he spoke to get there faster.

@ashley

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Ash turned around, smiling when she heard Sav's voice behind her. Sure, she thought it was him when she heard someone approaching, but there was every chance it could have been someone else. He hurried a little as he approached her and she shrugged, "It's no big deal. You came at the perfect time. See," she gestured to the area around them. "No line. Are you ready to see what all they have in this escape room thing?" Ashley wasn't entirely sure what an "escape room" would entail, except for the obvious idea of needing to escape from it, but she'd never heard of one before so she was curious to see what they would run into. 

The door opened, indicating that they could enter and Ash took a step forward, reaching over to grab Sav's sleeve and pull him with her. Whatever this was, there was a reason she invited him to come with her: so she didn't have to go alone. The first thing she saw upon entering was a dusty old safe. Grimacing slightly, she pulled out her wand, since the sign indicated wands had to go inside. "Here goes," she said, looking over to Sav to see what he thought of this place. She wasn't quite nervous per se, but she kind of was. She released her wand and took a step back, waiting for Sav to do the same so they could see what would happen next. 

@sav

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Sav genuinely enjoyed Ashley’s company, she was easy to talk to and she seemed to have the energy and personality to keep up with him. He was a snarky bastard and he knew it, and it was nice when he found someone who didn’t take him seriously. Plus, she was pretty and a woman, which, as a 17 year old boy, he couldn’t help but notice. They had dated the once over the summer, and Sav would have been happy to take her out again, but no such event had occurred. Now, they were friends, maybe a little flirty, but hey, it was part of who he was. “Yeah lets do it!” He agreed. He was fairly excited to take part in the muggle activity. They walked inside and were instructed to put their wands in the safe. Sav had to admit, it made him feel a little anxious to do so, but he knew that it was students who were running the thing, and from what he knew, they escape rooms weren’t normally dangerous. He tossed his wand into the safe after Ashley had done so also and watched it close and lock magically. “No turning back.” he teased.

@ashley

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Ashley was excited that Sav seemed to be as ready for this whole situation as she was. It was always more fun to be doing something like this with someone who was ready for it and wanted to have fun. Sav definitely seemed like that kind of a person, which Ashley definitely counted as a good thing. Besides that, she had fun flirting with him and joking around so this would be fun no matter what! She turned and made a face at him when he teased her about not being able to turn back. "I guess we're stuck in this mess together," she answered back.

Looking around the room, she saw a couch with a table in front of it, holding a briefcase. "I think we need to go over there," she suggested, tugging on Sav's shirt to get his attention and then pointing. Sitting down, she moved to open the briefcase. Looking inside, there was a piece of paper and Ashley turned to Sav, gestured for him to take it. "You can read this," Ashley said in a cheerful voice. She didn't want to take all the fun.

@sav

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Sav followed Ashley’s lead and went over to the sofa. She opened the briefcase and handed him the letter inside. The letter described that they needed to find a mysterious object before 1 hour was up, or the bad guys would come and get it. In order to find the object, they had to search the room and figure out all of the clues to unlock the chest in the corner. They were given a few times during which they could ask for a clue if they were stuck, but besides that, they were on their own. While Sav searched for clues on the bookshelf near the couch, he asked his partner, “So how’s your life?” just vaguely. They were here to hang out as much as they were to figure out the puzzle, right? The two hadn’t seen each other very much since term started.

@ashley

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Sav read the letter and Ashley listened intently. Okay, so they were supposed to search this room for clues that would help them get out. Sure, that sounded pretty cool. Definitely like something she could do. She started to look around vaguely, moving towards the desk, since he was looking on the bookshelf. Sav asked how things were going and Ashley smiled. "It's going pretty well. Hogwarts is an interesting place, very different from Ilvermorny, but I like it. Really, I've just been meeting new people and doing lots of school work," Ashley laughed lightly. "Still waiting for that tour you promised me though," she teased, glancing back over at him. "How about you? Anything interesting going on in your life?" Deciding nothing of worth was on the desk, Ashley decided to move over closer to Sav and see if maybe she could help him find any clues. Also, it was a lot easier to tease someone if you were right next to them, mostly because it was easier to see them.

@sav

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Ashley talked about how Hogwarts was different than Ilvermorny and Sav had expected about as much. Not that he had ever seen the other school or even knew much about it, but he knew there were major differences in British and American culture. She added that she was still waiting for the tour he had promised her over the summer and he gave a laugh. “Do you still want a tour?” he asked, half teasing. He’d be happy to walk any pretty girl around the castle, however, Ashley was fun because she wasn’t just a pretty face. Though, he wondered if she was still getting lost this far into the year. He supposed, however, that there were still parts of the castle that even he, a 7th year, didn’t know of. “No, not much interesting going on for me, just Quidditch mostly.” he admitted, while reordering the books on the shelf in alphabetical order. Which caused the bookshelf to swing open, exposing a secret room. “This is quite interesting though.” he smirked.

@ashley

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Sav didn’t say anything about Ashley’s comments about the differences between the schools, but Ashley didn’t really expect him to. It wasn’t like he could say much, since he’d never been to her school. Her old school? Oh, it was weird to think about Ilvermorny now. She missed the place, but she liked Hogwarts too. He laughed when she teased him about a tour and Ash shrugged when he teased her back. ”I don’t not want a tour,” she started before shaking her head and laughing. Did that make any sense. ”Okay, maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to do something with you.” Ashley offered a coy smile, lowering her eyes for a moment before looking back up at him. Dang, Sav was cute.

She smiled when he mentioned Quidditch. ”Oh yeah! You’re the team captain for Gryffindor, aren’t you? When is the first game?” Ash laughed as her mind instantly flitted to the memory of their date during the summer when he mentioned painting his number of her face. That probably wouldn’t happen, but she wanted to go watch him play at least.

Ashley was hardly paying any attention to the task at hand anymore, mostly just watching Sav as she teased him. So a grin lit up her face when a secret room opened for him. ”Oh, nice job!” she stepped inside the room, looking for more clues. Well, kind of looking for clues. She was still mostly focused on Sav. She’d invited him to get to know him better, after all.

@sav

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Sav was happy to hear that Ashley wanted an excuse to do something with thim. While he didn’t really think their date over the summer would lead to anything more from a romantic relationship, he was happy that they had become friends at least, she was an interesting girl, even if she had been sorted into Slytherin, and Sav enjoyed spending time with her. “We’ll be sure to schedule that tour then.” he promised her with a wink.

“November.” he told her when she asked when the first match was coming up. “Yeah, I’m the captain.” he nodded, it was nice to remember that he had finally got a foot up on the team and that his new position would help him get to where he wanted to be professionally, but it was still a little weird to hear out loud. “I trust you’ll be there?” he smirked, remembering back to their conversation over the summer.

Sav followed the blonde into the secret room, which was darker than the first room, but not scary exactly. It was made to look dusty and dim with fake cobwebs in the corners and dusty trinkets lined on shelves around the room. There had to be something good in there. “How are you getting on here? Making friends? How’s Slytherin?” he asked.

@ashley

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Ah, spending time with Sav was definitely time well-spent. He was fun and flirty without being overbearing. Ashley truly felt like she could really let loose and have fun with him with without having to worry that he was looking for something serious. He seemed to want to have fun, just like she did, and there weren't any strings attached. To Ash, that made everything more fun. "I'll look forward to it," she quipped back, willing to let the topic drop now that she got a bit of a commitment out of him. She wouldn't hound him, but hopefully he actually wanted to give her a tour. That would make it actually happen.

She nodded when he explained the match was in November and that he was the captain. "Fancy," she teased, "Is that helping you get all the girls?" Ashley gave him a sweet smile, unable to help herself. She giggled when he asked if she'd be there, then scrunched her nose up. "Weeeeeeell, I was planning on it. Are you still wanting to paint your number on my face?" The question was innocent, teasing like everything else. Ashley was starting to realize that in some ways she was a lot like her brother. Sometimes she said things just to see how people would react to it. This was one of those times. She laughed and then added, "Yeah, I'll be there. Gotta see if you're as good as you said you were over the summer." 

This new room was a bit dirtier than Ashley really wanted, but that wasn't particularly a bad thing. It was supposed to be creepy, after all. Besides, she'd had enough of her brothers scaring her while they grew up that she honestly wasn't the type to scare easily. She started to glance through the room, starting on one of the shelves. She nodded at his questions, "It's going fine. I mean, a lot of my friends from Ilvermorny are here, quite a few of them in Slytherin with me, but I'm making a few other friends too.  Most everyone seems pretty nice." Which she appreciated, but at the same time Ashley knew how to hold her own. 

"Oooh look at this!" She called over her shoulder, having found an interesting little box. Ashley tried to open it, having a feeling that if she did something would happen, but she didn't know what. Hopefully something exciting. "Can you open this?" she asked, holding the silver box out for Sav.

@sav

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She asked if Quidditch was helping him get girls and sav laughed, “I don’t need help getting girls.” she teased with a smirk. But yes, being Quidditch captain did certainly help him get a little more attention when it came to members of the opposite sex. He was sure when he went professional it would only get worse, which he was, of course, fully prepared for. As much as Sav loved Hogwarts, he was excited to graduate and get to meet new people. Maybe that was why he loved that there were exchange students here this year and the last. He loved getting to meet new people, and not just to flirt with a new face. He just felt like eventually he’d need to find The One, but he certainly hadn’t found her yet, he was almost sure. “You’re welcome to if you want - though you might get some weird looks from your fellow Slytherins.” he laughed.

“Yeah just about everyone here is fairly nice.” he nodded when she explained how she was faring so far at Hogwarts. It wasn’t too hard to fit in here, especially not with all the people, there was bound to be someone for everyone so that no one ever felt too left out of anything that they wanted to do. “Any young men catching your eye?” he asked, giving her a wink as he did. She handed him the box and he looked it over before he decided to just be brave and pull the lid off. When he did so, a large, black spider crawled out and jumped from his hand, down to the floor and under a chair nearby. “Maybe we should check under there.” he suggested.

@ashley

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Ash laughed with Sav, glad that he took her teasing well. She'd anticipated enough after their last encounter, but some people didn't really act like themselves on dates. She was glad that he seemed to. "Oh, I'm not surprised at all by that," she answered with an easygoing shrug. Sav obviously knew how to flirt well and that had nothing to do with Quidditch. She laughed when he mentioned she'd probably get weird looks from the Slytherin's if his number was on her face. "You're probably right about that ... not to mention that my brother would kill me," Ashley laughed, thinking it through. "He made it onto the Slytherin Quidditch team. Then again, maybe that would be a fun way to tease him," she added, though she didn't really mean it. Sure, she loved teasing Joe, but she loved doing it mostly in private. The public teasing was because he deserved it, because he'd earned it some way. "Maybe I'll see and wait if you can deliver with your skills," she teased. 

Sav agreed that everyone was pretty nice and Ashley nodded her head. There were a few people, like that guy in the Slytherin common room, that she didn't get along with as well, but as a whole it was fun. She liked being in a new place with people that didn't already know all about her. It was kind of freeing in a way. She rolled her eyes when he asked about anyone catching her eye. "Not any new ones," she answered with a shrug. Honestly, the only guy to have caught her eye was Eli and they weren't even friends anymore. They hadn't spoken since last spring. She cringed when a spider jumped out of the box onto his hand and then started giggling, "Okay, I'm glad you opened that and not me," Ashley admitted as she moved so she was right next to Sav. She nodded, "Yeah, sounds like a good plan." She moved over to the chair and decided to tip it over, since she didn't want to stick her arm into a dark space. Once it was lying on its back, she looked where it was sitting a few moments previously. "Okay, is that a trapdoor or am I imagining things?" Ashley laughed, surprised by how smoothly this was going.

@sav

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“You’ve got a brother?” sav asked when she had mentioned it. “I didn’t know that. He older than you? Should I be worried?” he asked, teasing of course. The fact was he didn’t really think of Ashley romantically. He had a blast on their date over the summer, but, he didn’t think anything would come of it. Other than a friendship. It was rare that Sav was able to feel so completely himself with people, Hugo and Adrian were two of the only people, and Ashley was quickly joining their ranks.

“Not any new ones?” he asked, raising his eyebrow curiously and watching the blonde, “does that mean there’s an old one?” he questioned. As they went on to explore the room after the spider had down it’s part in the maze, “Scared of spiders?” he asked. He wasn’t scared of them, he really didn’t see a point to be. There weren’t many poisonous ones this far north, most of the dangerous spiders preferred the warmer climates. Ashley tipped over the chair and Sav nodded along with her. “Yeah i think you’re right." He bent down and pulled the door open. A ladder lead the way down. “You want to go first?” he asked.

@ashley

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Ashley smiled, nodding at Sav's next question. "Yeah, I have two older brothers and a younger. I'm talking about Joe though. He's a 7th year, thinks he's all that like most of them do, you know?" she smirked, teasing Sav as she talked her older brother down at the same time. Then she laughed, "You only need to be worried if you kiss me in front of him." Which she wasn't worried about in the slightest. Sav was fun to be around, but she didn't really want him to kiss her, which meant it wasn't going to happen. She was still teasing, as Ashley often did. 

Sav was surprisingly perceptive. At least, much more so than Ashley expected when she said she wasn't interested in any new people she'd met. She shrugged a little, trying to brush off how sensitive the topic was. Surprisingly, she didn't mind talking about it to Sav. Interesting. "There was, but he basically hates me now so I'm waiting to meet someone else." Ha. She could hardly look at anyone else when Eli was in the room. It was ridiculous and Ashley knew that, but for some strange reason he was under her skin. After all, she did start running during the summer so she could still have a connection to Eli somehow. Pathetic. 

She shook her head when he asked if she was scared of spiders. "No, not really. I just don't want one climbing on me." She couldn't be afraid of something like spiders. Joe would definitely use that against her. She nodded when he agreed with her and then laughed, "Yeah sure. I'll go down first. Just wait for me to tell you I'm at the bottom before you come down. I don't want you to step on my fingers if I'm still on the ladder," she teased before making her way down into the dark space. "Okay you can come down now," she called to Sav, squinting in the darkness as she moved to one side. "I can't see a thing," she grumbled, annoyed. 

@sav