summertime meet-ups | brody

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Slowly, Yvonne seemed to be returning to her old self. She might never have been as outwardly sweet as Yvette was, but she also wasn't trying to put up the same walls as she had for much of the past school year, either. Brody knew that it must have been hard for her, which was part of why he didn't—couldn't—judge her for it. It had been only about a year since she and her siblings had lost their parents and had had to leave the United States for London anyway. As bad as not being able to return to Ilvermorny was, he considered it a little bit of a miracle that he was able to be there with her, attending the same school again. They would get another full year together, at least, he selfishly hoped as he felt Yvonne squeeze his hand in excitement.

What was funny was that Yvonne appeared just as nervous as he felt about hanging out outside of school, just the two of them. "Thanks for… agreeing to come on this with me," she told him, looking at her feet. Of course he didn't mind. There's no way he would have ever minded. If the staff at the orphanage hadn't let him leave his temporary housing situation, he would have worked to find some way out of there to see her.

"My… Grandma and my older sibling think I'm elsewhere," Yvonne admitted, "but Yvette knows I'm with you…"

Brody wanted to hide his surprise but couldn't quite mask it. "Oh, um," he began, looking at Yvonne and then at his own feet. "Does your grandma not want you to hang out with guys, or…?"

He didn't want to make assumptions about what the outing was to either of them, but he could feel his cheeks getting a little pink again, too. He guessed that it made sense if she wasn't allowed to date yet. His own parents probably would think that it were weird if he were in a serious relationship at barely fifteen years old. He didn't want to rush things with Yvonne; he didn't want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable, and he wondered if maybe they needed to let go of the other's hand. Having her back in his life and being in London with her was like a dream, even though her mentioning that only Yvonne knew that she was with him raised a few questions for him.

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

LOOKING DOWN AS SHE STARTED to consider why her Grandmother had changed the rules in their home for sometime now, the smile that was on the De Snaijers lips thinned out, her eyes growing distant like she was about to fall into another day-dream. It took another moment for Yvonne to process what Brody had said, before she blinked a few more times, sighing quietly. "No..Well.." Yvonne sighed again, raising her hand to push some of her hair behind her ear.

"She's trying...To push me into one of those...forced marriages. Wants to keep up blood purity or something.." Yvonne looked up, smiling at the pink tint on Brody's cheeks. "You'd think she wouldn't want me to start dating yet because I'm only fifteen...But no.." To the De Snaijer, dating and marriages were way out of her mind. But to Lila, it was all she could think of.

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Yvonne's demeanor changed quickly, and she averted her gaze from his direction. "No…" she answered at first, after a sigh. "Well…" She sighed again. Obviously, there was something going on, and Brody watched her curiously. It was so unlike Yvonne, and he continued to listen.

"She's trying… To push me into one of those… forced marriages. Wants to keep up blood purity or something…" Yvonne told him, though at least she looked up and smiled at him at that point. "You'd think she wouldn't want me to start dating yet because I'm only fifteen," she added, "But no…"

Brody could feel his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach. "What? No, Vonni… You're kidding, right?" It had to have been some sort of a sick joke. Her grandmother didn't want to get her married off already, did she? "She really wants to get you married?"

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

LOOKING AWAY FROM BRODY AND instead at the view of London from the bridge they were on, Yvonne shrugged small, unsure of what else to say. Lila was all kinds of messed up now that Yvonne had thought of it, considering things for the twins that no other grandmother would consider until the twins had grown anyway. "Unfortunately..I'm not.." She sighed quietly then, kicking at a small rock under her shoe.

"Yeah...Not now I don't think, considering how taboo it would look and how...stupid it would be to rush things but...I think at least before graduation...She wants a confirmation from the other party and then...Yeah." Lila had always went on about how she had plans for Yvonne's future and all the De Snaijer could pray to Merlin was Lila would die before then.

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Yvonne looked away from him then. "Unfortunately… I'm not…"

Hearing that Yvonne's grandmother wanted to set her up with someone in an arranged marriage made Brody feel as though he had had the wind knocked right out of him. He wasn't as familiar with that sort of thing, mostly because it seemed to be so antiquated to him, but he had heard things about arranged marriages, none of them particularly good. Most recently, there was the Rosier girl who had been in the year above them before she had gotten expelled from Hogwarts for almost killing the girl her fiancé was actually in love with; that had just happened a few months before, and Brody really didn't want anything bad to happen to him or to Yvonne because of what her grandmother wanted her to do.

It wasn't fair, and he thought that Yvonne at least had the right to define her life on her own terms. If it turned out that they eventually had to go their separate ways, Brody guessed that he was alright with that, but he didn't want her to be forced away from him. Now that he was there with her, it stung even more.

"Yeah… Not now I don't think, considering how taboo it would look and how… stupid it would be to rush things"—not another high-profile event with a girl who was still in school, at least—"but… I think at least before graduation… She wants a confirmation from the other party and then… Yeah."

"Sh*t…" Brody wasn't one to curse, but he couldn't think of anything else to say to that. He tried to keep Yvonne from hearing him talk like that, though, and he put on a brave face. "We have time, though, Vonni," he offered her hopefully, forcing a smile for Yvonne's sake. "We'll figure something out, okay?" They had to.

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

EVERY MAN AND THEIR broom knew Yvonne De Snaijer absolutely dispised her grandmother. She was an old hag who seemed to pick favourites in the family. Yvonne felt like how her mother felt after getting engaged to Yvonne's father. Considering the fact Lila hated Yvonne's mother for no complete reason.

Looking up at the taller boy as he cursed, Yvonne forced a small smile, squeezing his hand to reassure him. In any way, she could do best. "Brody.." She trailed off, trying to collect her thoughts without letting her feelings overwhelm her first. "I don't...Want you to get involved in this...It's okay...I just.." She trailed off again, looking down at their feet this time. "Want to enjoy this until I can't anymore..." She lifted her head as she spoke then, her forced smile replacing with a small genuine one.

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Ever since their parents had suddenly died, Brody had felt bad for the De Snaijers and the situation in which they had found themselves. They had, after all, ended up living in England with their grandmother before everyone had happened with Ilvermorny, and being back with all of their former classmates hadn't seemed to help matters much for Yvonne. It frustrated Brody that he wasn't capable of doing more to help her, especially His family might have been close with hers—at least as far as the kids went—but his family didn't exactly hold any prestige. He wasn't the type of person to whom anyone would have gotten arranged to be married. His parents trained owlets to do tasks like carry the mail. That wasn't exactly a strategic alliance for most people, Brody thought, unless they sent a lot of mail.

Even then, owls were sort of unappreciated. They were reliable, and there were plenty of them around in the magical world. Nothing got mail or packages delivered faster, not even No-Maj means. They were intuitive, and they were always there when they were needed. But what happened when something shinier and newer came along? Owl mail hadn't gone away just because No-Majes had invented airplanes that could also transport letters and packages. Had owls disappeared when the first witches and wizards had decided to pick up broomsticks and fly on them? No, they hadn't. Brody's resolve was strengthened. He wasn't about to go anywhere, either. He'd come across an ocean, and he wasn't about to leave because of Yvonne's news.

Though his resolve might have been strengthened, that didn't stop him from feeling a little weak as Yvonne squeezed his hand. "Brody…" she began, initially not saying anything more than his name. "I don't… Want you to get involved in this… It's okay… I just…" Brody, watching her, saw that Yvonne was looking at her feet. "Want to enjoy this until I can't anymore…"

She gave him a hopeful little smile, and Brody nodded back to her. That would work, he thought. There wasn't any use in being fatalistic about it yet. Besides, he didn't want to ruin his outing with Yvonne. They had plenty to see and do besides standing there and watching tourists go by.

"Okay," Brody nodded back, looking back over at Big Ben. "Let's enjoy ourselves." He didn't want to regret leaving his temporary accommodations at the orphanage to see her—not that it was seeing Yvonne that he would have regretted. "Um, I have a joke for you first, though," he offered her, hoping to lighten things up again if he could.

It probably wasn't a very good joke, but he figured it was worth a try. "Did you hear about the owl who was looking for a chef?" he asked Yvonne, then he paused for a moment to deliver the punchline. "He asked, 'Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you?'" Brody, at least, thought that it was amusing; "Who cooks for you?" was essentially the call that a barred owl made. (Yes, he had just gone for owl humor, but what else was he supposed to do?)

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

SMILING AT HIS NOD, YVONNE was simply glad he agreed to at least...Spend time with her until her Grandmother eventually forbade it. Lila hadn't said anything of the sort just yet but with each conversation the elder twin had with her...stupid Grandmother, the more annoyed she grew with her. It was always boys this, marriage that...And never what the De Snaijer wanted for herself. It was as if Lila had planned out her entire life before Yvonne could even live it. She was fifteen. Who thought of marriage this early? Mimicking Brody and looking over at Big Ben, Yvonne's smile only widened at his offer of a joke.

"Yeah?" She responded firstly, tugging at his hand lightly. "Go for it." The Slytherin didn't really care for jokes all too well, but she wanted to have a good day with Brody over everything. Even if that meant laughing at his terrible jokes. Besides whatever unamusing things left his lips, Yvonne would still find him completely and utterly adorable. At the start of his joke, Yvonne's brow rose in question but she kept her smile up. She definitely knew where this was going. With the pause between them, Yvonne waited for the punchline.

And there it was. As a result, the De Snaijer snorted, finding it unbelievable that Brody had probably kept that in his book of jokes. "How long have you been practicing that one?" She asked, laughing quietly.

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Yvonne had seemed eager to hear his joke, and Brody was glad to have made her laugh when he told it. He thought that the both of them sort of needed it after the whole conversation about what her grandmother wanted for her life. She hadn't asked for her parents' deaths or to end up in another country with her grandmother and her antiquated ideas about blood purity and marriage and whatever else continued to govern that sort of thinking. There was far less of that left in the United States, Brody knew; though it was more taboo for people to marry No-Majes because of wizarding secrecy, getting teenagers married off was really weirdly old-fashioned.

A really corny joke about owls had broken the ice with Yvonne again, however. Owl humor was good for that. "How long have you been practicing that one?" she asked him, still visibly amused by it.

"I will have you know, Miss De Snaijer, that I am good for owl jokes and owl jokes only," he told her in jest. Brody knew that wasn't entirely true, but it was true enough. If pressed, he could probably come up with a Quidditch joke or two, too. Owls were always a safe bet. He bowed to her, still exaggerating things a little, mostly because he could. And because it put Yvonne in a better frame of mind. "Shall we check out the tower now, m'lady?"

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

WHILE SHE EXPECTED HIS JOKE to be completely terrible, Yvonne wasn't expecting it to be that bad. She found it cute though, how he kept his smile up regardless and the way he replied to her. "Just owl jokes Mr Dubois?" She asked, mocking the tone he had used with a wide smile. "Could I not convince you enough to try new jokes? Ones that aren't incredibly corny kind sir?" She added, snorting by the end of her sentence.

She couldn't help but giggle at his actions also, especially as he bowed. In response, she curtsied, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "We shall!"

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Just owl jokes? No, owl jokes were good jokes. The diversity of owl jokes, regretfully, left something to be desired, but Brody could live with the deficit there. He could try to come up with something of more interest to Yvonne. He would try, not desiring her to find his jokes too monotonous for her liking. He could use owl jokes to explore other jokes, including but not limited to other bird jokes… possibly even tree jokes. There existed endless possibilities, the more Brody put some thought into it. The outdoors were full of interesting quirks. Not everyone would find it humorous, but he could come up with jokes to keep in his collection for use with Yvonne.

"Hey, Vonni," Brody grinned in Yvonne's direction. "You know I could do worse," he pointed out to her, though he knew not to run his jokes into the ground. "They're slightly corny, but they're not so owl-ful, right?" She'd giggled in response before, too; she couldn't then tell him his jokes were the worst she'd listened to, or she would've run. Sprinkling in owl jokes wouldn't hurt. Besides, few boys were equipped with such excellent knowledge of the birds of prey. Brody didn't see himself pursuing comedy, either, so the little niche of his didn't concern him.

Putting the owl jokes out of his mind for long enough to go over to join the tourists who were keen on experiencing the joys of "Muggle" London, Brody went with Yvonne over to where the crowds were. Being in such close proximity to countless people who didn't know of the existence of "their" world felt sort of different, which, too, deterred Brody from mentioning owls too much. Obviously, those people knew owls existed, but how commonly did foreign boys of fifteen come up with cringeworthy owl puns while queuing for tourist sites in one of the world's most prominent cities? Ding, ding, ding! Not very often, Brody guessed—or not often enough to keep from getting more curiosity in his direction for his liking. He didn't know if he could keep up with lying if questioned on how he knew so much on the subject of owls, either. How much time did most people outside of their world spend with owls?

It provided Yvonne with some reprieve from his horrid jokes, though he wondered if she'd thought of telling them to Yvette, too. It would be one method of speeding up the length of the queue, he guessed, if he could come up with some good jokes. Before they could hop into the line, however, he needed to check to ensure they weren't in need of tickets. Getting to the front before finding out would be mortifying for both of them, Brody knew.

"Uh, let's see… Tickets…" he mused, looking to see if he could find something remotely close to ticket windows. "Tickets, tickets, tickets…" He could see plenty of tourists, so they must've gotten tickets somewhere. They were historic buildings they were going to see, not thrill rides or people strolling through crowds of shrill children with huge, clownish noggins blocking their eyesight. There wouldn't be neon signs, he knew, somewhere like this. He looked to Yvonne so he wouldn't lose her in the throng of people but kept checking, swerving to keep from running into people who'd stopped in the middle of where they needed to be. It seemed to be ubiquitous, though Brody tried to keep from letting it bother him. If people were so inclined to get photos, they could do it where they wouldn't be obstructing others, but Brody digressed. He didn't think he needed to get cross with other visitors. They were there for twin purposes—no pun intended—weren't they?

Brody looked over to Yvonne once more, being mindful not to block the route for everyone else while he stopped. One sign seemed to point them in the right direction, though he couldn't tell completely from where they stood. Luckily, British people didn't use some weird word for "ticket"; tickets were just tickets. "Look… Over there, I think?" he checked, motioning to it to point it out to her. It looked like it to him, so he needed to check if she'd seen it, too. "It looks like there's somewhere to go buy some tickets." They couldn't be very expensive, or Brody hoped not. "I'll buy yours for you, too. No problem," he continued. He didn't mind doing it for her. Plus, it would speed up buying the tickets if they weren't discussing who would buy them when they got to the point of doing so. "I shouldn't get money out before we're up there," just in the event someone decided to pick his pocket, "but… just so you know. Before we get there."

The other difficulty, Brody knew, would be in figuring out the Muggle money. Figuring out the currency over there when only Gringotts entered into the picture took some time, but British Muggle money… He didn't know how much he'd hold up everyone else in the process. The one bright side? His foreignness would excuse him, unlike someone British, so he felt better there. Brody couldn't picture how much more difficult it would be to be from there but to seem completely ludicrous. Obviously, the Muggles would question it more if someone who sounded British didn't know how their own money worked. He could slip by, though, which worked for him there. Truth be told, he couldn't bring himself to lie extremely well, so slipping up might've been possible otherwise.

"I think we're good, though," Brody smiled. "It's just super crowded, but it could be worse. Like my owl jokes." They were corny, but corn—considering Yvonne's home turf in the Midwest—might've been more her thing. There were plenty of cornfields out there, miles upon miles of them. He could definitely come up with jokes to do with corn itself, too. It would definitely be "corny", but so be it. It would keep Yvonne from twiddling her thumbs forever. Plus, he could grow his joke repertoire.

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

WITH THE DATE SOMEWHAT OFFICIALLY starting, Yvonne stuck by Brody's side as they began to walk, in whichever direction and where their destination was, simply remained unknown to the De Snaijer for now. As Brody called her name, Yvonne looked up at him, smiling while she tilted her head, silently asking him the question 'What?'. "Please don't.." She mumbled, in realisation he was able to give her another terrible joke. As he said the joke, a quiet sigh left Yvonne's lips and her hand rose slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I hate you." She joked, her lips slowly raising into a small smile. "Not enough to actually hate you but...Enough to hate every joke you make."

As Brody directed them throughout the crowds of Muggle London, Yvonne was rather scared she would potentially lose him. It was unlikely, considering the two of them were holding hands and stood really close to one another. Standing in whatever queue Brody had introduced them to, Yvonne quietly looked over the area of the city they stood in, taking in the attractions she hadn't noticed before. She listened to his quiet mumbles about tickets, assuming he too was trying to find the area in which they could buy some tickets of their own. Looking up at the direction he pointed in, the De Snaijer nodded in agreement. "Lets go there?.." She offered, before lightly blushing at the mention he would pay for her too. "You don't need to...I can pay myself.." Lila had gifted her with British pounds the last time she went out to the city, but luckily, Yvonne didn't need to use them back then.

"I know the Muggles money system..So I can just help you calculate it." She informed him with a softer smile. "Of course to make it easier for us both.." She tugged at his hand then, leading him to the original information panel Brody had pointed out before requesting a few tickets in which would allow them to explore most of the attractions they were surrounded by.

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Yvonne said that she hated him for the joke that he had cracked that time, but Brody luckily didn't take it to heart. He knew that Yvonne didn't actually hate him, or her initial reaction would have been a lot stronger than that. Brody could take a hint, though, when it came to the cheesy jokes he'd been telling her. Maybe it was time to stop with the owl puns for a little while, he thought, and he got confirmation of that when Yvonne elaborated, "Not enough to actually hate you but… Enough to hate every joke you make."

"Okay, okay…" Brody smiled at her. "I get it."

No-Maj stuff was always a little bit weird and confusing to him, even back home in the United States, but he had at least gone to a No-Maj school prior to Ilvermorny. He could understand things like Dragots versus dollars, for example, but throwing in the added confusion of Galleons and Sickles and Knuts plus the No-Maj money—weirdly enough, called a "pound"—was a lot. Yvonne told him that he didn't need to pay for her, though he certainly didn't mind doing it. It was the chivalrous thing to do, he guessed, and how expensive could a ticket for admission be, really? "If you want to," he offered, not wanting to argue with her over it, "I mean…" It wasn't as though he thought that he absolutely had to pay for her; it was just nice.

What did help even more was that Yvonne mentioned that she knew how the Muggles' money over there worked, so she could help him with the calculations. That really was a big help to him, Brody thought, and he smiled at her. "Of course to make it easier for us both…" Yvonne took the lead, and Brody might as well have been putty in her hands.

They managed to purchase their tickets without any issues, thanks to Yvonne, and Brody held tight to his ticket in the hand that wasn't holding Yvonne's hand. (She was more important, though.) "Now that we have tickets, what do you wanna see first?" he asked her, not minding in the slightest.

yvonne rae de snaijer

[yvonne rae de snaijer]

these choices and voices.

LOOKING UP AT HIM WITH a wide smile, Yvonne hoped that Brody understood she was only kidding about his terrible jokes and hating him for them. Of course, they were completely terrible, but Yvonne couldn't nor would she ever hate him or merely dislike him like she did once years prior. Yvonne still believed she had reasons for that, even though it seemed genuinely unfair.

Knowing that Brody most definitely wanted to pay for her, Yvonne took action quickly to pay for herself, before side-stepping to allow Brody to pay for himself. Paying without any issues - especially since the De Snaijer helped Brody with the Muggle calculations, Yvonne smiled as they walked away from the information stand, slightly leaning into him before raising her free hand, making a motion for him to hand over his tickets to her. "So you don't lose yours." She smiled as she told him. "But anything! Maybe the aquarium?..Or even the London Eye?.."

brody christopher dubois

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[brody christopher dubois]

June 25, 2025

Yvonne gestured to him to have him hand his tickets to her. "So you don't lose yours," she instructed him. Although he chuckled at the thought that she didn't fully trust him not to lose his admission tickets, he did as she asked. "But anything!" she exclaimed. "Maybe the aquarium? …Or even the London Eye…?"

"You wanna check those out instead of the tower?" Brody asked. She probably had a point. There had been plenty of towers at Ilvermorny, and there were plenty more of them at Hogwarts. He didn't really think that they would be missing anything if they were to skip out on seeing the inside of one. They could just play tourist up in the Owlery once they were back at Hogwarts and get the same experience. The London Eye and the aquarium were both a little bit different from what they would get otherwise.

"Your choice, Vonni," he smiled at her. He would go anywhere with her. It didn't matter where or when. "How long do you think the lines are?"

yvonne rae de snaijer