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**Wilber Winterbottom** · #1 (**permalink**) 12-27-2022, 12:45 AM

For those who belong in Slytherin House, on the right side of the Great Hall is where your table awaits. Green banners containing an embroidered silver snake float above the polished table in honour of the cunning Salazar Slytherin. Already placed on the tables are silver plates with accompanying cutlery and goblets. All that is missing right now are the mountains of food and pitchers containing your favourite beverages.

Though your stomach might be growling as you take a seat on one of the long benches next to the table, it is important to not get hangry -- gnawing your arm away or jabbing your fork repeatedly on the surface of the table will do no good whatsoever. Give everyone some time to get settled in and wait for Headmaster Winterbottom to deliver his speech. Keep yourself preoccupied by catching up with your fellow housemates or those who are visiting from the other tables until it is time to sink your teeth into the hearty and delicious meal prepared by the house-elves.

*Nordic Witch* · 05-02-2026, 04:51 AM

JT was seated directly under one of the embroidered silver snake banners at the Slytherin table. He was occupying himself with reading the latest quidditch magazine to occupy his thoughts over thinking about the big snake in the room, meaning this being his last year at school. Time flied way too fast, and this tall seventh year youth wasn't ready to leave school just yet. JT had goals this year. He wanted to win the quidditch cup, and not finish last in the house cup, that had been awful and of course not fail his NEWTs. Plus there was Iris and that thought made him look over at the eagle table, but he didn't see her. Turning his eyes and attention back to his magazine he hoped he'd get some company soon.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-03-2026, 12:39 PM

The Great Hall glittered with the usual start-of-term glamour — banners cascading, candles hovering, the low hum of anticipation threading through every table, Sorting Hat being loudly obnoxious with shouting house names every couple of minutes — but Calliope barely spared it more than a passing glance. The spectacle was only impressive the first few times.

She moved with purpose, sliding onto the bench and slightly slamming into JT’s side. One hand braced briefly against the table as she leaned in just enough to invade his space while the other brushed back her dark hair.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease tell me mamma is being dramatic," she said immediately, not even bothering with a greeting.

Her tone wasn't panicked — Calliope didn't do panicked — but there was an edge to it like she'd been thinking and overthinking about this all summer and had finally found someone qualified to validate her.

"OWLs this, OWLs that… 'Calliope, you need balance,' 'Calliope, you can't neglect your academics,'" she rattled off, the mimicry effortless in its disdain. "As if any of that actually matters when it comes to quidditch."

She leaned back just slightly, crossing her arms, but her gaze stayed locked on him.

"I can keep my training where it needs to be and just… coast the rest," she went on, one shoulder lifting in a dismissive shrug. "No scout is looking at exam scores. They're looking at how you fly. That's the metric that matters."

She tilted her head and lifted a finger to poke him square in the nose with.

"You've been through this already," she added, swiveling her head. "Tell me I'm right so I can stop hearing about 'long-term prospects' every time I pick up my broom."

Her fingers drummed lightly against the table while she waited for his answer, already convinced she was right… but wanting the confirmation anyway.

She already had a Gryffindor-sized distraction to deal with as it was ― she did not need this too.

• • ✦ ★ ✦ • •

Jae didn’t so much enter the Great Hall as he flowed into it.

There was a rhythm to his steps that he wasn't even bothering to hide. A shift, a glide, a couple easy rolls of his shoulders as his arm slung comfortably across Adrian's shoulders, steering them both forward. Every step threaded together in quiet choreography only he could hear, and he was more than happy to be the only one performing.

Summer had been good to him. Sunwoo had lit up the moment he’d handed over the plush lion which, conveniently, meant she'd clung to him a little less. A trade he considered a solid success. And the audition? Awesome. Not just a pass, but a placement on the elite team. And then, of course, had been the flawless execution of his favor for his best mate.

People liked to think information was hard to come by. It wasn't if you knew how to ask the right questions, knew who to ask, and — more importantly — how to make people want to answer. A favor here, a bit of charm there, a well-placed piece of gossip traded like currency… it all added up. The hilarity of the address he'd uncovered was really just the cherry on top ― for him, that is. He could already picture it: the door opening, Adrian’s face —

Honestly, the power of it all—of knowing, of connecting the right threads and watching things fall into place—it sat warm in his chest, something just shy of intoxicating.

Jae dropped onto the bench in one smooth motion, one leg stretching out just slightly before tucking back in, posture settling into something relaxed but controlled in its sloppiness. His grin lingered, sharp at the edges, gaze already sweeping the rest of the Great Hall.

His eyes snagged briefly on the Hufflepuff from Diagon Alley, and just for a second, his chin tipped up ever so slightly. Did she notice what Slytherin green did for him? The jewel tone and how it brought out his eyes? Maybe not, but either way his attention drifted on lazily until—

Oh.

Jae straightened just a fraction, then leaned in, his hand coming up to thwack repeatedly against Adrian's shoulder.

"Mate," he murmured, though there was nothing subtle about the grin pulling at his mouth now, eyes fixed squarely on the staff dais. "Mate." One more firm thwack for emphasis. "I think I've just just seen the meaning of life."

He swallowed.

"…Un coup de foudre."

*Samia* · 05-03-2026, 05:55 PM

Adrian let himself be steered.

Not because he couldn’t shake Jae off - that would’ve taken all of half a second — but because there was something familiar in the weight of his arm slung across his shoulders. Grounding, in a way he didn’t quite feel like unpacking.

“Careful,” he muttered under his breath as they moved through the hall, voice dry. “You keep choreographing my entrances like this, people are going to start expecting it.”

There was a faint edge of amusement there, but it didn’t quite settle into a smile. Not fully.

The Great Hall stretched out around them, loud in that particular first-night back way - Adrian’s gaze moved through it slower than Jae’s. He clocked the tables, the familiar faces, the unfamiliar ones that didn’t matter yet - all of it passing through his focus without quite landing - except for one brief, almost automatic glance toward the Ravenclaw table. It was quick and controlled - easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it, especially when it turned away the moment the certainty of a certain blonde being there was confirmed.

By the time they reached the Slytherin table, Adrian slipped out from under Jae’s arm with minimal ceremony and dropped onto the bench beside him, posture loose but not careless, one forearm resting against the table as he settled in.

That’s when it started.

Thwack.

His shoulder barely shifted.

“Jae -”

Thwack.

A breath through his nose.

“I swear -- if you bruise me before dinner - ”

Thwack.

That got his attention.

Adrian’s head turned slightly, eyes narrowing just a fraction at the tone before following Jae’s line of sight toward the staff table. He didn’t react immediately. Didn’t lean forward. Didn’t straighten.

Just… looked.

“…you’re going to have to be more specific,” he said flatly, though his gaze hadn’t left the dais. “That could mean anything from a midlife crisis to you discovering a preference for authority figures.”

*Nordic Witch* · 05-04-2026, 07:18 PM

JT was busy reading all about a new awesome chaser move that he wanted to tryout on the pitch the first chance he got so he wasn't exactly paying attention to what was going on around him until-

CALLIOPE slammed into his side making him drop his magazine onto the floor with a small thud. Turning his dark eyes to her, JT regarded her for a long moment in silence before responding slowly and quietly when he had just wanted to scream 'I was reading that''' but he was a responsibe seventh year now. "Hi, to you too Calliope! OWL's does matter. If you don't pass the OWL's you might not get to play on our house team or get into the right university or the pro quidditch team you have your eye on."

JT took a moment to bend down to retrieve his magazine from off the floor, and was just placing it on his dinner plate when he suddenly got poked right on the nose by Calliope's finger, and he snapped out, getting irritated with her. "Stop poking me! I will already have a bruise on my side for you slamming into it. I don't want one on my nose too, when tryouts open later this week." It would lead to questions in the snake den that JT would prefer if he didn't have to answer from his buddies.

Putting his magazine down, he had to admit that Calliope had a point even if JT wasn't in the mood to admit it. He huffed out in response to her. "Pro scouts do look more to how we are on our brooms, our flying techniques, strengths, how we can play with others on a team and so on. If you fail your exams they'd wonder why. It'd raise questions, and might make them wonder if you are invested enough, reliable, loyal, someone worth giving a chance to for more than a season."

Giving the staff dias a quick glance to see if the headmaster was ready to give his speech yet but clearly wasn't JT turned to Calliope again. "Mum's are usually right about most things, even when we don't want them to be."

aRogueOne · 05-04-2026, 08:48 PM

Sitting on the far side of the Great Hall was something that Haydée hadn’t anticipated. Having assumed that she’s be on the far left with her sister, the first year felt out of place. Looking up at silver snake, there was something about it that just didn’t sit right with her. She just didn’t belong here, okay? It was bad enough that she’d had to come to this school in the first place, where the weather was cold and the sun seemed to constantly be hiding behind clouds constantly, but now she was expected to stay somewhere away from the only person in the whole castle that she actually knew? Torture at its finest.

Doing her best to ignore the Gryffindor table where she should be sitting, she turned her attention to the other kids surrounding her, none of which she knew. Being a first year was tough. How does one go about making friends? Like, do people just confidently strike up a conversation out of nowhere without worrying about being rejected? Pushing down the queasy feeling in her tummy, her muddy brown eyes moved from one person to another, listening intently ready to venture out something witty or funny.

As the seconds ticked by however, she found no pause to butt in, or maybe she simply just lacked the confidence. Who could really say? ~~It was the confidence.~~ Intentionally or otherwise, Haydée retreated further into her cocoon. Without a word, she pulled a book from inside one of the pockets in her robes and disappeared behind it, the only thing visible was her mousy brown hair framing it.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-05-2026, 02:29 AM

Text Cut: JT and his unwavering patience

Calliope didn't even pretend to look apologetic when the magazine hit the floor. If anything, her eyes flicked down after it with mild interest — like she might've checked the page number and bent down to pick it up if JT hadn't beaten her to it — wholly unmoved by the disruption she'd caused.

"Hi. Good summer? Excellent. You're welcome for keeping your reflexes sharp," she hummed with light sway and brisk roll of her shoulders.

The nose poke, on the other hand, had been entirely intentional and, judging by the way his irritation snapped back at her, quite effective. Her lips twitched faintly, but she did at least withdraw her hand, leaning back just enough to give him space while he gathered himself. Ish.

She listened as he laid it out, while the edge in her expression dulled, becoming less feral and stern, it did not fade entirely. The faint crease between her brows lingered, a visible sign that she wasn't entirely sold.

"I'm not saying fail them,” she huffed, arms folding across her chest. "Obviously I'm not about to get myself benched over something that stupid." Her fingers began a slow rhythmic tap against her arms. "But there is a difference between passing and… whatever it is everyone expects us to do."

One hand slipped free just long enough to gesture vaguely through the air, a dismissive flick of her wrist like she was batting away something invisible and tedious.

"All that extra revision, self worth defined by a bunch of letters... it feels like overkill when I already know where I'm headed and that I'm a lot more than an O in Charms.”

Her gaze broke from him then, flicking toward the dark stretch of windows where the pitch lay beyond somewhere in that direction, for a moment.

"I'm not aiming for university," she added. "So half of what these exams are meant to set up doesn't even apply. And scouts aren't going to care if I got an O or a D in Arithmancy or whatever. They're going to care if I can outfly their current Chasers and whether I choke under pressure."

She paused, her shoulders set, chin tipped just enough to read as defensive without slipping into total insecurity while she gawked at him. But then, because she wasn't completely unreasonable, "But I get what you're saying,” she conceded, one shoulder lifting in a half-shrug. "Looking like I don't care at all would be… bad optics."

There it was about as much as she was willing to compromise.

"But if I'm choosing between an extra hour on a broom or an extra hour with my nose stuck in a book... I'm still picking the broom."

• • ✦ ★ ✦ • •

Jae huffed softly through his nose, entirely unimpressed.

"Please," he scoffed, giving Adrian's shoulder another light thwack for good measure, "you're sturdier than that. I'm doing you a favor. Posture correction, character building, divine exposure ― pick one."

His grin lingered, easy and incorrigible, before he angled a sidelong glance his way.

"And Delacour, your French is about as tragic as your X-Men knowledge," he added with a sigh that was far more dramatic than necessary. "I say something profound, you hear static."

A small flick of his wrist redirected his attention toward the staff dais, fingers lifting to gesture overzealously toward the far end.

"There," he said, his gesture turning more flamboyant by the moment. "End of the table. That little cluster. Explain to me how that's remotely fair." His gaze lingered, appreciative, before he was back to giving his best mate a thwack. Really it was everyone but the ghost to the right of the Headmaster, but his warm brown eyes were locked somewhere very specific. "The new one,” he added, chin tipping just slightly toward the unfamiliar face in the Transfiguration seat. "Don't know her name yet, but... sign me up for extra credit."

His posture shifted again, loose and fluid as ever, attention already wandering and catching briefly on the familiar chaos of Calliope giving JT grief. Jae watched it for half a second, lips twitching. "Poor bloke," he muttered under his breath. "Seventh year and still losing battles to a menace half his size."

There was the faintest flicker of something like sympathy there. He knew how little sisters, or little sister figures, could exhaust.

His gaze moved again, skimming the table until it snagged on a much quieter presence: the first year — Haydée. He remembered the name from Sorting just a moment or so ago. Jae leaned just slightly in her direction, not enough to crowd, just enough to exist within her orbit.

"Careful," he murmured lightly, nodding toward the book she'd disappeared behind, "hide behind that all night and you'll miss the best parts. and that would be a waste of your first night in the castle, Haydée."

Like whatever had just gone over at the Hufflepuff table that he just now he caught the tail end. He gave Adrian a questioning glance and then jabbed his thumb in the direction of a retreating Aurora. "Any idea what that is about?" he asked rhetorically, leaning back towards his mate so only Adrian could hear.

*Samia* · 05-06-2026, 11:19 AM

Adrian didn’t bother swatting Jae’s hand away this time.

He just let the thwack land, eyes still half on the staff table before sliding back to him with a look that sat somewhere between tired and unimpressed. “Remarkable,” he muttered. “All that effort and I’m still exactly the same person.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, but it didn’t quite commit. At the jab about his French, his gaze flattened. “Your definition of profound is questionable at best,” he returned evenly. “And if that was poetry, I’d rather stick with static.”

Still - he followed the gesture. End of the table. The “little cluster.”

His eyes tracked it properly this time, slower than Jae’s, taking in the new face without the immediate theatrics. There was a brief pause in the way he looked - measured, assessing, then gone just as quickly.

“…right,” he said under his breath. “You’re insufferable, and you will get detention even before the term starts” Not disagreement, no but enough restraint to stay out of whatever was brewing in Jae's head. Because his enthusiasm, as usual, was doing laps around any reaction Adrian might’ve had.

Another thwack.

Adrian finally caught his wrist this time, not rough, just enough to still it mid-air before letting it go again. “Try not to embarrass yourself before dessert,” he added dryly. “At least pretend you’ve been here before.”

His attention drifted with Jae’s again - Calliope, JT, the chaos - earning a quiet exhale through his nose. “Some battles aren’t meant to be won,” he said, glancing once more at JT with something faintly sympathetic.

Then Jae leaned toward the first year, and Adrian didn’t interfere - just watched it happen, expression neutral but aware. That was Jae. Orbiting, collecting, inserting himself like he belonged everywhere.

Which, annoyingly, he often did.

The question came next.

Aurora.

Adrian’s gaze shifted instinctively toward where Jae had pointed - catching the tail end of her retreat. He didn’t answer immediately. Something flickered there. Brief. Complicated in a way he didn’t unpack out loud.

“…no,” he said after a second, quieter than before. His eyes lingered a moment longer before pulling back to the table, posture settling again like he’d made a decision to leave it there.

“Probably nothing you need your nose to be in,” he added under his breath, tone dry again, though it didn’t quite mask the fact that he’d noticed.

Of course he had.

sweetpinkpixie · Yesterday, 07:58 AM

Jae let out a soft, scandalized gasp beneath his breath, head tipping back slightly like Adrian had just delivered the greatest insult known to wizardkind.

"Ahaaaaaah, mon dieu," he sighed dramatically, dragging a hand down his face before peeking at Adrian through spread fingers."Perhaps I simply need to hit you harder. We'll workshop it."

And because commitment to the bit mattered, he punctuated the statement with another quick thwack to Adrian's shoulder before immediately dissolving into a grin. The continued slander against his French, however, earned an even deeper look of betrayal. Jae pressed a hand over his heart, shoulders drawing back as though physically struck.

"You wound me," he lamented, voice rich with theatrical suffering and his hand briefly pressing to his chest, right over his heart. "One day I'll say something genuinely poetic and you'll miss it entirely because you've conditioned yourself to expect nonsense."

A travesty, truely. How was Jae to merge all there of his languages together, maybe sprinkle a bit of Mermish in there for good measure, with all this resistance?

But the mention of detention had the entire mood pivoting instantly, his expression lighting with dangerous enthusiasm as he slung his arm back around Adrian's shoulders.

"Detention?" he echoed, brows lifting. "I think you meeeeaaaaan a private one-on-one educational opportunity."

His grin widened, sharpening his cheek bones before his brows and their absolutely shameless wiggle joined in. The whole exaggerated charm lasted only a couple moments before he unsnaked himself from Adrian again, posture loose and fluid as he stretched back against the bench.

"And if tonight's dessert selection disappoints me," he added with a thoughtful hum, gaze flicking across the Great Hall to nowhere in particular, "I may have to seek fulfillment elsewhere."

His fingers tapped idly against the tabletop in rhythm with some internal beat only he could hear before Adrian's comment about keeping his nose out of things earned a soft snort. Jae turned his head slowly, giving him a look that practically dripped amusement.

"Just hand a bloke a challenge on a silver platter, why don't you?" he chuckled while straightening his posture and adjusting his robes in a very 'getting-down-to-business' way. "Sounds precisely the sort of thing my nose belongs in."

Just an objective truth. Don't get mad at as a man when that was simply how the universe worked.

Then good ol' Headmaster Winterbottom rose for the feast speech, which meant food was finally close — and, more importantly, introductions. Jae tried to pay attention. Really. There was something about time capsules, reflection, unity, future something-or-other. But, honestly, the second the name Professor Voss left the Headmaster's mouth... the rest of the speech may as well have dissolved into ambient background noise.

Professor Voss? More like Professor Bom-VOSS-e.

When the food finally appeared, Jae was immediately leaning forward, sleeves shifting down his forearms as he began loading his plate with roast potatoes first, roast chicken leg, and — without even looking — he stole a bread roll directly off Adrian's plate on instinct alone.

And, judging by the dessert spread now scattered about the table, he might very well need to embark on his own little side quest before returning to the common room.

aRogueOne · Yesterday, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

• • ✦ ★ ✦ • •

Jae huffed softly through his nose, entirely unimpressed.

"Please," he scoffed, giving Adrian's shoulder another light thwack for good measure, "you're sturdier than that. I'm doing you a favor. Posture correction, character building, divine exposure ― pick one."

His grin lingered, easy and incorrigible, before he angled a sidelong glance his way.

"And Delacour, your French is about as tragic as your X-Men knowledge," he added with a sigh that was far more dramatic than necessary. "I say something profound, you hear static."

A small flick of his wrist redirected his attention toward the staff dais, fingers lifting to gesture overzealously toward the far end.

"There," he said, his gesture turning more flamboyant by the moment. "End of the table. That little cluster. Explain to me how that's remotely fair." His gaze lingered, appreciative, before he was back to giving his best mate a thwack. Really it was everyone but the ghost to the right of the Headmaster, but his warm brown eyes were locked somewhere very specific. "The new one,” he added, chin tipping just slightly toward the unfamiliar face in the Transfiguration seat. "Don't know her name yet, but... sign me up for extra credit."

His posture shifted again, loose and fluid as ever, attention already wandering and catching briefly on the familiar chaos of Calliope giving JT grief. Jae watched it for half a second, lips twitching. "Poor bloke," he muttered under his breath. "Seventh year and still losing battles to a menace half his size."

There was the faintest flicker of something like sympathy there. He knew how little sisters, or little sister figures, could exhaust.

His gaze moved again, skimming the table until it snagged on a much quieter presence: the first year — Haydée. He remembered the name from Sorting just a moment or so ago. Jae leaned just slightly in her direction, not enough to crowd, just enough to exist within her orbit.

"Careful," he murmured lightly, nodding toward the book she'd disappeared behind, "hide behind that all night and you'll miss the best parts. and that would be a waste of your first night in the castle, Haydée."

Like whatever had just gone over at the Hufflepuff table that he just now he caught the tail end. He gave Adrian a questioning glance and then jabbed his thumb in the direction of a retreating Aurora. "Any idea what that is about?" he asked rhetorically, leaning back towards his mate so only Adrian could hear.

It didn’t take long for Haydée to get lost in the pages of her book. With her nose firmly in the book, it took her a few seconds to look up when someone talked to her. Or, were they talking to her? Truthfully, she hadn’t been listening, although they must have been seeing as she was the only one reading.

Popping out from behind her book, she eyed the older student wearily for a moment before pulling the book back up to cover her face. “Maybe…What are the best parts exactly? Because I haven’t seen anything special so far.” In truth, there had been plenty of weird and wonderful things happening around her, and yet, all she could do to keep the sadness of not being in the same house as her sister at bay was to hide behind her book ~~and delve into someone else’s story~~.

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