Starting Fresh. [tag Wendy] on Labyrinth Gardens

Rupert Princeton

October 11, 2014 4:41 AM

Starting Fresh. [tag Wendy] by Rupert Princeton

The last term had ended with some discouragement, but Rupert had taken the holiday to recuperate and return to Sonora fresh and rested. Pecari had lost the first match of the year under his captaincy and he hoped not to make it a recurring theme. Defeat was difficult to accept, but overall he had to admit Aladren had played the better game.

In addition to recuperating after Pecari’s loss, Rupert had also spent the holidays thinking hard about his date for the ball. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if his preferred date was not a muggle-born, but she was. He knew that if he asked her, his family would not take it lightly. But despite his family, Rupert had decided he was going to ask her anyway. He really liked her and he didn’t want to bother wasting time letting opportunities to get closer to her pass by. He would simply have to explain himself to his family over the summer and try to convince them he was not mental, that Wendy was a legitimate witch despite her Muggle upbringing. Once Rupert had made his decision, he spent the rest of his time at home planning how to ask her. He didn’t bother talking to his brothers about it. Leo wouldn’t understand and would probably go tattle on him and Cepheus was wrapped up with his own fiancée. Rupert knew his parents and grandparents would never approve and so he kept it to himself.

Rupert was tired as he always was after the long trip from England to Arizona, but he ate what he could during the feast and fidgeted like a child during the rest of it, fingering the folded piece of parchment in his pocket. He was nervous. What if she rejected him? Wendy had never shown any special partiality towards him; in fact, for a long time he had assumed she and Carter were eventually going to get together. It didn’t seem that way anymore, but he was most certainly aware that there were others who found her as charming and pretty as he did. What if someone had already asked her?

Before Rupert left the feast early, he went over to Wendy, whom he had purposefully sat away from. “Wendy,” he said, leaning in slightly so she would see him. “Here.” He handed her the folded piece of parchment, his heart beating rapidly before fleeing from Cascade Hall. The note read: Come to Labyrinth Gardens after the feast.

In the gardens, Rupert decorated a slightly more isolated area with simple embellishments; to accompany the bench already there were twinkling lights he had charmed to change colour every five seconds within their glass orbs. It gave the area a magical aura which he hoped Wendy would appreciate. It wasn’t anything excessive; he was only asking her to the Midsummer Ball. Just in a very…pleasant way. Not romantic at all. “Orchideous,” he said, and laid the bouquet of flowers on the bench. Nope, not romantic at all.

Once that was finished, Rupert lingered around the entrance to the labyrinth, waiting for Wendy to come by. This was the path to the Pecari Commons and he knew she would have to walk through here eventually. The note only added a bit more purpose to their meeting. The night was clear and the stars shined brightly against the inky sky; it was perfect. It would be even better if only he could just regulate his heartbeat. He felt like he had been training for Quidditch. The weather was a bit chilly, but Rupert had prepared for it with his overcoat and combat boots. He dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt in front of the labyrinth’s entrance, wondering if Wendy would be too tired to take a walk. There was a part of him that wanted to hurry and get this over with and another part of him that just wanted to run away. Feelings were beyond complicated.

When he saw her approaching, Rupert’s heart leapt and he stood a little straighter. “Hey Wendy,” he called to her. “It’s a really lovely night. Would you care for a short stroll before curfew?”

40 Rupert Princeton Starting Fresh. [tag Wendy] 248 Rupert Princeton 1 5

Wendy Canterbury

October 11, 2014 9:42 PM

That's always a good way to begin by Wendy Canterbury

The past winter break had been really great. There were a lot of rainstorms and mudslides in Phoenix, but it wasn't as bad as it had been further south, and she was grateful for that. Though the weather hadn't been ideal, Wendy had met up with some old friends from elementary school and had received her first cell phone for Christmas. Though texting and calling was much more convenient, Wendy still preferred using an owl to send her letters. There was something more romantic about it, not to mention her friend group at school consisted of pure-bloods, not muggle-borns.

Her non-magical friends had been a lot of fun; they had all grown up so much since fifth grade. During the break they had loitered around arcades, visited the ice skating rink, and had gone to the mall to shop for Christmas presents. Her mustard yellow dress was one product from her shopping. As the vacation had come to an end, they had made promises to keep in touch once she arrived back home for the summer. Wendy had never been very good at keeping in touch, but she did want to try. Once she left Sonora, who knew what would happen.

During her vacation and in between the time she spent with her friends, she decided to work on making her own gown for the Midsummer Ball. She had tried to make it with her mom’s help and had spent hours at the fabric store trying to decide how she was going to become a seamstress in just two weeks. Since this was going to be her last ball, Maddie had told her daughter not to worry about the cost of the dress, but Wendy had been determined. Alas, her ambition could not be matched by reality and she finally had to order a dress and have it sent home. It was beautiful in itself, far better than Wendy ever would have been able to make, so she was satisfied. She was lucky her maternal grandparents had more than enough money to spare for her dress and she was looking forward to wearing it with or without a date.

The feast was fun and Wendy had a lot of energy left over afterwards. She really liked her roommates and was looking forward to catching up with them afterwards as well as the rest of her housemates back in the common room. In the middle of her dinner, Rupert came over and handed her a note. He looked nervous giving it to her and before she could even say, “Hi,” he was gone. It was a simple note and she wondered initially if he was going to ask her to the ball. She wasn’t sure who else he hung out with though; he had to be popular with the girls especially since he was the captain of the Quidditch team. He probably just wanted to catch up after their vacations which she would be happy to do. She liked being able to share her non-magical heritage with him.

It was a little chilly when she had left Phoenix, but here it was downright cold. She was glad she had worn her red peacoat over her long-sleeve yellow dress and gray sweater tights with her brown ankle-high boots. After she met up with Rupert, she wanted to go back to the Pecari common room to change into her pajamas and warm up in front of the fire. The gardens were already pretty dark and she paused to look up at the sky before venturing inside. It was beautiful up there and she sighed, her breath creating a little fog.

As she stood staring up, someone called her name and she looked around. It was Rupert; she hadn’t seen him right away in the dark and she smiled and waved at him before tucking her short, stray hairs behind her ear. “Hi,” she said as she walked over to him. “Sure, a walk sounds really nice. It’s such a beautiful night.” Wendy let him lead and she followed along. “I love how clear the desert sky can be at night. I’ve always wanted to learn all of the constellations.” She tilted her head up to look at the sky again. “It’s a shame Astronomy hasn’t been taught for awhile here. Do you know any?”

19 Wendy Canterbury That's always a good way to begin 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Rupert

October 13, 2014 3:00 PM

Leaping and hoping I don't crash and burn. by Rupert

Rupert had caught Wendy staring at the stars and he had a moment to reflect how lovely she was and how colourful. She accepted his invite for a nightly stroll easily and Rup's hands felt a little sweaty in his pockets. "I know a few," he replied. He looked up at the sky with her and lifted an arm to point. "See those three stars in one line together? That's Orion's belt. There are three more spread out above and two below that form the rest of Orion. Can you see it? That one's only visible during the winter. My brother's named after a constellation, Cepheus. Leo as well, actually. I suppose I'm the odd one out." He smiled briefly at Wendy before looking back up. "I can't find Cepheus right now, but there's the Big Dipper." He followed the star formation with his finger, trying to make the imaginary lines as visible as possible for Wendy.

With that, he slipped his hand back into his pocket and looked over at her. "Lovely aren't they? Cepheus took Astronomy when it was still on and he enjoyed it. He showed me some of the constellations he'd learnt about." Rupert continued walking, afraid to walk too close to her. "I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard Arizona is considered to be a part of the desert, but it's actually quite lovely at times. At least the heat and cold are bearable on Sonora grounds. I suppose I've never seen any other part of Arizona." He looked over at her. "How was your holiday?"

They were nearing the side-entrance of the Labyrinth and Rupert was feeling nervous all over. He tried to think if his older brother had ever asked a witch to a ball in this manner, but Rup realised that was impossible. The only Midsummer Ball Cepheus had ever attended, he'd double-crossed his date to go snog another. Rupert hadn't approved then and he didn't approve now, but that was all in the past and Ceph seemed much more loyal to Lucrezia. Hopefully Megan had found a better match than the one her family had attempted to assign her with.

Though Cepheus was the child his parents doted on as the future patriarch, Rupert considered himself to be the good one. He was honest with his feelings, likes and dislikes and hated the duplicitous nature of his brothers. After watching his older brother play around, Rup had wanted to be a better boyfriend or a better fiancé if he were ever betrothed. With Wendy, he wanted to make everything special, even if he was only asking her to the Midsummer Ball. Dates were somewhat of a big deal in pure-blood societies especially when they were at the marriageable age, but no one really treated it that way. Asking one to be one's date wasn't a special affair, but Rupert wanted it to be. At least, he wanted it to be with her.

Rupert walked into the side entrance of the labyrinth when it came and led Wendy down the somewhat narrow path. When they turned left, they came right upon the bench where the bouquet was waiting and the lit glass orbs were twinkling as they floated around the bench. It cast a dim, almost romantic aura to the scene. Rupert picked up the bouquet and turned to his friend. "This might be a little extensive, Wendy, but I wanted to ask you something." He held out the bouquet, nervous. "Will you go to the Midsummer Ball with me?"

0 Rupert Leaping and hoping I don't crash and burn. 0 Rupert 0 5

Wendy

October 14, 2014 12:02 AM

On the contrary by Wendy

As they looked at the constellations together, Wendy leaned her upper body closer to him to try and see what he was seeing. Her blonde head was close to his and she saw Orion’s belt right away. “I see it!” she said, watching with excitement as he pointed out the rest of Orion. “That’s cool. It’s okay, I think Rupert is a good name. It matches you.” She liked naming creatures, plants, and inanimate objects according to what they looked like. She believed everything had a spirit and every spirit had a name attached to it. Just in interacting with something, she could do her best to find what its name was. With most people, she thought they fit their names well. Aria fit Aria. Waverly fit Waverly. Rupert fit Rupert.

He moved on and Wendy kept her eyes on the stars above, awed by how many she could see. In the metropolitan city, she couldn’t see many stars. That was part of the reason why she loved her family’s camping trips during the summers. They didn’t go on them so often anymore, but it was something to write home about when she had the chance. She missed seeing millions of stars in the sky. “That’s great that your brother got to take that class,” she said. "I hope another professor comes along before we graduate."

As expected, Rupert just wanted to catch up and get to know more about her hometown. Wendy didn’t know if she was disappointed or not, but she went along with it. She wouldn’t mind going to a ball by herself. “The desert outside of Sonora is one of extremes,” Wendy laughed. “It’s pretty nice here. It rained a lot in my city and there were some mudslides, but nothing serious. I did get to meet up with old friends though! We hadn’t seen each other since elementary school, so it was nice catching up. They’re all non-magical and really fun to be with. We spent a lot of time just exploring the town. I also got a cell phone. Remember learning about those in Muggle Studies? I couldn’t bring it with me, but it wasn’t all that great. Convenient, but I have mostly magical friends so a phone would be kind of useless.” It wasn’t an invitation for him to go get one just for her, just something she had noticed. “Did you have a good Christmas and New Year’s?”

Rupert seemed kind of quiet and Wendy wondered why he wasn’t talking as much as he usually did. She followed him into the labyrinth, wondering if he had found some sort of shortcut to the Pecari commons. It would be nice to change out of her clothes and into her matching pajamas. A nice cup of hot cocoa would be perfect right now too. Wendy sighed dreamily just imagining it. She had to enjoy her time before settling back into the schedule of classes and homework and Prefect planning. She wanted to make the ball really special for everyone and as a Prefect she knew she had to help with some of the planning. After spending some time in her role, she had gotten a lot more used to it and actually enjoyed planning school events and helping out the younger ones.

They turned and walked right into a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Wendy was amazed and as her brain took it all in, she watched Rupert pick up the bouquet and realized her gut instinct had been right when he had handed her that note. No way. No way.

It was just like the stories Wendy’s friends had told her about getting asked to semi-formal dances in high school. There was the special boy, the flowers, and the magical scene. At least Rupert had enough sense not to ask her in front of the entire student body as one of her friends had been asked to Homecoming, and this was way more her style than having candles lit everywhere and rose petals and whatnot. There were twinkling, floating lights and her close friend holding out a bouquet of beautiful flowers. This one beat all of theirs.

Just before Wendy could say anything, some of the pollen from the flower got into her nose and she sneezed into her elbow and laughed a little afterwards at the timing. “Of course I’ll go with you,” Wendy said, flushing with pleasure as she accepted the flowers. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you for asking me! We’re going to have so much fun together.” There wasn’t any other boy she would rather go with besides Carter, but she and Carter had already gone to the ball together years ago. Rupert would make the perfect date. “I can already imagine you looking all dressed up.” Wendy’s hazel eyes were bright. “I’m looking forward to it.” She wanted to kiss him because she was happy, but she didn’t think that would be acceptable. “You’re really so sweet for setting all of this up,” Wendy continued. “I love these lights.” She smiled at him. “Hey, before we go back to the common room, do you want to go stargazing? We’d just have to lie on our backs in the grass and look at the stars. We can even do it here if you want to, head to head.” Wendy smiled brightly at him, holding her flowers close. She would have to transfigure a vase to put it in once she got to her dorm room.

0 Wendy On the contrary 0 Wendy 0 5

Rupert

October 15, 2014 2:15 PM

Just what I'd hoped for. by Rupert

As they looked at the stars together, Rupert was a bit more aware of Wendy's presence as she leant in closer. It wasn't as though he'd named himself or was sore about being excluded from the constellations, but hearing Wendy approve of his name still made him feel good. He smiled at her. "I think Wendy is a nice name too."

Rupert had never experienced the extremes of the desert as Wendy talked about them, but he was glad her holiday had been pleasant. He hoped to meet her Muggle friends one day, but he would have to reign himself in and not make a fool of himself by asking stupid questions about their upbringing. She mentioned cell phones and Rupert nodded. He remembered being fascinated by those Muggle devices and how they required no magic to work. He didn't really understand it and they hadn't spent much time using one. Mobiles would be useless in the wizarding world, but perhaps if he ever did visit her he could see what she meant by how convenient a mobile could be for Muggles.

Wendy asked about his holidays and Rupert had to think of a pleasant way to talk about them. "It was fine enough," he said. "I went to a couple balls, spent Christmas at home and played a bit of Quidditch. It was slow, but relaxing, I suppose. Not too much to think about." Except to think about her and how he was going to ask her.

When Rupert turned to ask her, feeling nervous and excited at the same time, Wendy's expression made everything--all the feelings, anxieties and planning--worth it. She sneezed first, surprising him initially, before accepting the bouquet and throwing her arms around him. Rupert put his arms around her in return, laughing at how excited she seemed. He really liked making her happy; she wasn't the type to try and hide how happy she was. The moment was perfect with the lights still twinkling and Wendy looking at him with those eyes and that smile. Rupert swallowed and clenched his jaw in the effort to hold himself back and extinguished the lights as Wendy commented on how she liked them. "It was all my pleasure," he said, revelling in her approval and joy. "We're going to have fun."

As he put the little glass balls into his pocket, allowing the darkness to reign once again, Wendy asked if they could go stargazing. Rupert didn't know what she meant by head-to-head, but he nodded anyway. "I wouldn't mind at all," he said. The ground was cold and the dirt would cling onto his coat, but he laid down anyway. "Like this?" he asked, wondering if she meant she was going to press the top of her head against his. That seemed most logical with the little space they had to lay in. They certainly couldn't lay side-by-side in this narrow pathway.

0 Rupert Just what I'd hoped for. 0 Rupert 0 5

Wendy

October 22, 2014 8:40 PM

I'm very glad! by Wendy

Rupert's holidays sounded nice. Relaxing was always fun. "That's good. Do you live in London or somewhere else in England?" she asked curiously. She didn't really know the provinces or anything there, but the differences between the country and the city were about the same no matter where. Phoenix was a pretty big city and Wendy had had a lot of fun with a slightly faster-paced vacation. She liked the city, but she also liked the slower life of the country. She wasn't sure which she liked more.

It was true that Wendy connected more to animals and places than she sometimes did people, but when she did connect she really clutched onto them. She missed Carter a lot. She never saw him around anymore and was a little hurt that he'd just left without any notice. They had been true best friends, her first real best friend here at Sonora. Rupert wouldn't be able to take his place or anything, but at least it was nice to have another British boy as a good friend. He was willing to do things with her like take her to the Midsummer Ball or lay down in the dirt and look at the stars.

When Wendy laid down, she pressed the top of her head against Rupert's initially before lowering herself slightly. She could feel the very top of her hair brushing his and smiled at the sky. "The stars are really bright right now," she said. They weren't dominating the darkness, of course, but were definitely more prominent than nights back home. This was a very nice way to welcome in the new school term. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and looking at the stars with her good friend--could she say best friend now? They didn't know everything about each other yet, but he was definitely one of her closest friends here next to Aria.

Wendy put a hand behind her head and tried to piece together the stars. She could see Orion as Rupert had described it and the Big Dipper. "What's your favorite constellation, Rup?" she asked.

0 Wendy I'm very glad! 0 Wendy 0 5

Rupert

November 07, 2014 1:14 PM

As am I. by Rupert

"I live in the country," he replied. "In Surrey, south of London." It mightn’t mean anything to her, but at least she would get a bit of an idea.

Rupert didn't travel often to London for his parents' sake. They had hoped to keep him from interacting with the Muggles there, but in sending him to school their efforts were somewhat in vain. He'd found muggle-borns to be fascinating and through Muggle Studies he'd been able to learn much about their culture. One day, when he was no longer living at home, he hoped to spend some time in London talking with people no matter their blood status. It was a dream that wouldn't come to fruition any time soon, but Rupert could hold onto it for now.

When he felt her head against his briefly, Rup's heart started beating quickly again. All sorts of feelings ran through his body and he tried to focus his mind on the stars and constellations. Were there any he could see that would interest her? Any stories he could tell to entertain her? "Yes, they are," he agreed, finding it difficult to think as he lied there, every hair quivering when he felt her move.

"My favourite?" he asked, putting his hands on his stomach. "I suppose... well, I suppose I like Orion because it's always around on my birthday in February and because it's the brightest. Do you have a favourite?" He paused, realising he’d never asked her a certain important question. “When’s your birthday, by the way? I consider you one of my close friends here and I’ve never asked.”

0 Rupert As am I. 0 Rupert 0 5