dive bar on the east side (sav)

[Deleted]

March 15th, 2025

Katherine wasn't entirely thrilled about being assigned dueling partners with Sav Macmillan. Mostly because she was still bitter about coming to this school in the first place and any of the kids that grew up here just reminded her that they had a home and she didn't. She hated them for it. Still, Professor Dent seemed to team people up with people they didn't know on purpose, at least some of the pairings. 

Her and Sav decided to start their project by researching old dueling techniques in the library, which was where they were now. They had been pretty quiet so far. Suddenly, there was a noise from the next study table over and she looked up to see Bobby Newton, another American transfer in first year. He looked upset, head bent down.

@sav

[Deleted]

Sav was fairly indifferent about being paired with the American Slytherin for the dueling project. He didn’t know the girl and he hadn’t heard much about her. Ashley had told him a bit, but that had been a while ago and he didn’t like to judge people without actually knowing them. Plus as much as he loved his friend Ashely, he knew she was a bit of a drama queen. How bad could Katherine Kowalski be?

Sav was already a skilled duelist. He had to be, as a member of Heliopath he needed to stay in top shape and at the top of his game. Even as a student he was called up a fair amount and wanted to be able to impress as much as possible. not to mention that failing to do so could result in the end of his life, or the end of another’s. So the assignment wasn’t too hard. He and Katherine had decided to start in the books, his least favorite spot. He wasn’t a reader, but he decided to humor her. As they sat in the library, Sav heard a small whimper coming from a table behind nearby and looked up, his eyes caught his partner do the same. The kid was sitting alone and seemed completely done. Without hesitating, Sav stood up, pushed his books aside and went over to the empty seat by the kid. “hey bud, what’s going on?” he asked in a friendly tone.

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It became clear that little Bobby was crying. Katherine didn't even have a moment to think about what she would do next when Sav was already getting up, pushing the books aside to move near the boy. He asked him what was going on, and katherine eyebrows knit together in thought. It was... Different to her, how quickly he went to this boy's rescue. She watched, as Bobby looked to Sav, red eyes, shaking his head. "I miss home," he said letting out a deep sigh.

Katherine wasn't sure if he meant America in general or if he just missed his home home. Because all first-years went through some sort of homesick withdrawal. It was already nearing the end of his last semester at school, which could mean the homesickness was really kicking in to go back to his parents since it was almost time to do so. Katherine frowned, but for a moment, didn't know what to do or say. She wasn't generally the type to go to someone's rescue... But at the thought of being homesick her own throat felt tight, like it was being crushed. Her eyes were glues on Sav.

@sav

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The boy, a kid who Sav could honestly say he had never seen in his life, admitted to being homesick and looked up at Sav with the biggest, sad eyes he had ever seen. It kind of broke the Gryffindors heart, but it also made him want to chuckle and ruffle the kids hair. But Sav has been there. He knew what it felt like. Though he couldn’t help but think it was a little late in the year to be homesick. Maybe finals and exams were making it worse. Sav nodded, “it was really hard for me my first year too.” He admitted. “I missed my parents a lot and my room at home.” he explained. “But what I thought about when I felt sad and missed home was all the cool new friends I have made here. And all the fun adventures I was getting to go on. All the spells I was learning. Was there something you’ve done this year that was so super cool that you can’t believe it really happened?” Sav asked, now I’m a state of attempting distraction. Redirecting thoughts away from the negative was the best way he got himself to calm down. he has completely forgot about his dueling partner.

@katie

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Sav was good at this, Katherine has to give him that. He comforted the kid by talking about how he felt the same which was a classic tactic. Then he spoke about the positives without making Bobby feel less validated about his bad feelings. Then, he went the route of encouraging Bobby to talk about something better. Bobby sniffed, looking over to Katherine, then back to Sav. He pursed his lips in thought, and Katherine sighed, moving from her seat to cross over to them, standing and leaning back on the edge of the table. She spoke in her usual, slightly monotone voice, "remember when we took those boats across the lake when we first got here? That was pretty incredible." This kid didn't have Ilvermorny to compare to, she realized, because he was a first year. Her heart broke at the thought of him only knowing Hogwarts, but she didn't think that was best to bring up. Hogwarts did have it's beauties, even if it was hard for her to admit it. "And that old hat? Ravenclaw is a great house. I bet your common room is amazing. Neither of us even get to see that," she tried.

@sav

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Sav hadn’t been expecting really any help from his partner, so he was surprised when the boy looked over at her and she moved over to help, bringing up the boat ride and the sorting hat and his common room. From what he heard, Katherine Kowalski wasn’t the type of person who would spend her time trying to comfort a first year. Maybe rumors and first impressions really weren’t things to be taken seriously. “oh yeah those boats are cool. I actually almost fell in my first year.” He admitted. It was true. He had almost fallen in. Due to his own stupidity, he had wanted to get a glimpse of the rumored giant squid. Hugo grabbed onto him before he actually fell, thankfully. Sav hoped that the anecdote would inspire a bit of a laugh from the kid. Maybe even a bit of a laugh from his partner. “and all of this cool stuff you’ll be able to share with your family when the term ends soon.” whether the kid would ever come back to Hogwarts or not after this, Sav didn’t know. It seemed like Ilvermorny would be rebuilt by then, but at least he got to experience it now.

@katie

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When he said that he almost fell in the lake his first year, Katherine made a face of disapproval in his direction. Bobby did chuckle a little, seeming to be feeling better. The kid muttered a sort of thanks, saying that he did have some nice memories to take home to tell his parents about. Katherine looks down at the floor, letting Sav handle the rest of it as Bobby was cheered up and made his way out of the library. Katherine made her way back to their table where they had been studying. "You... Almost fell in the lake?" she questioned, her brow raised incredibly high due to both being inquisitive and judging. What kind of person almost falls in the lake in a perfectly safe boat? Sure he was twelve years old at the time but still... It didn't seem like something that could happen very easily.

@sav

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The kid seemed to come around and ended up deciding to go back to his common room for the night. He packed up his books and waved to the two 7th years as he went. Sav wasn’t always that nice or caring, but he hated to see anyone sad and crying, especially someone so young and without anyone else around to comfort him. After the kid left he followed Katherine back to their table and sat back down while making a face at the books in front of him. She asked about him almost falling in and he smirked. “I wanted to try to see the squid. Leaned a little too far over the edge. My friend grabbed onto me before I fell.” He admitted with a shrug. He wasn’t embarrassed. It took a lot to embarrass Sav.

@katie

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He said he wanted to try and see the squid and her lips pursed slightly. She leaned back, then put her feet up on the table and reached over to grab a book. "I hear your house is known for that kind of stuff. Interesting," her tone indicated that it was anything but. If anything, his doing that was incredibly stupid. To be fair, she thought recklessness in general was stupid. Katherine carefully thought about every move she made, mostly so that she could avoid Jake. At least when they were kids that was the main reason for being so calculated. "This book says that the duel between Arson Kane and Atticus Welch lasted three days," she looked up at him, "how long does Professor Dent expect ours to be?"

@sav

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Katherine gave him a hard time about being so reckless on the boat and Sav just nodded. “you never know if you don’t try.” He teased. Sav was definitely one to take risks. He likes the thrill of not knowing what would happen and he liked the things he learned and experienced along the way. It was the reason he liked flying so much. Quidditch was a thrill because every game was different. She read him something from one of her books and then asked how long their duel needed to be. “well we’ve gotta get through them all in one day so not that long.” he shrugged. “let’s just keep it simple and classic.”

@katie

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He said that 'you never know if you don't try' and she scowled at that a little bit. She didn't respond, not really caring for that sort of thinking. She'd rather learn her lesson by seeing some other fool do it. She didn't want to try everything. Sure if something was interesting enough and she calculated the risks... Maybe, but falling into a freezing lake? Definitely not worth seeing some squid for that.

He suggested that their duel be short and sweet, since the whole class had to do it in one day. She nodded, "sure. Guess we'll just take turns getting hits in and/or blocking," she muttered. This would take a very meticulous approach. "We can start a script of some kind. At least write down the order," and that led into a night of more duel research and Sav just seemed soooo thrilled about that.

-- March 20th --

Since Katherine and Sav had mapped out their plan for the duel, they were now ready to practice. They decided to meet right after his Quidditch practice and she agreed to meet him at the pitch. She sat in the stands, and hated every second of it. She was sitting on the lowest possible bench she could without being too close to the railing and without being too high up in the stands. She wished she had just stayed on solid ground. She watched him speaking to his team as they were wrapping up, and felt an annoying little tickle at the bottom of her stomach. He sure had a way with words, charismatic, he was a good leader.

@sav

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Sav agreed that they should map out a little order so they knew what to do without actually hurting the other and 5 days later they had it all figured out and were now onto actually practicing the spells. They had agreed to meet after a Gryffindor Quidditch practice, but he noticed that she arrived a little early and waited on the stands. A few of his teammates muttered about a Slytherin watching them practice but Sav shut that down, insisting they weren’t going to be taken down by a spy anyway. Once they all landed, Sav quickly laid out the plan for the next practice and then dismissed the team, who all hurried into the locker rooms. As they did, he turned and went over to his partner. “hey, sorry that took a little longer than I expected.” he apologized while rubbing the back of his neck and standing his broom up against the stands. “we’ve got the pitch now if you want to come down.”

@katie

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Seriously, she should have waited on the grounds. Soon, though, the team was gathering to rap it up and Sav flew over to her, setting his broom aside as he apologized for it going longer. She shook her head, ”it's cool,” she stated, trying to be dismissive, but sounding a little too small. He suggested they go down to the pitch and she nodded, standing and moving to the railing quickly. ”Yeah, I'll meet you down there if you wanted to fly down,” she suggested, nodding toward his broomstick. She remembered flying class. Honestly, the sensation was kind of fun when she was fairly close to the ground. Otherwise it was not her thing.

@sav

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Katherine said that it was fine that practice had gone a little longer but Sav wasn’t entirely convinced. She looked at his broom and said that she would meet him down there if he wanted to fly. He smirked. “I could give you a lift.” he offered. Flirting was in his nature, whether or not he meant to be, it just came out sometimes. Of course, it wouldn’t be out of the way at all to walk down the stairs in the tower nearby, but what fun was having a broom and being skilled at flying if you couldn’t show off a bit?

@katie

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He was charming, definitely, but the words he said were not something she was ready to respond to in a charming way. She kind of wished for a moment that she could let him give her a ride down, but the split second of even imagining it made her throat close up a little. "No," Katie answered quickly, almost as if she was snapping at him. She gripped the railing even more tightly, and took a few steps toward the stairs that would take her down. Honestly, she didn't have any emotional room to feel bad about snapping at him. First of all, she hated being up here. Second of all, she hated this school. Third of all, she had lost the one thing that made it bearable. To say she was on edge these days was an understatement.

@sav