Fifth year girls' dorm on Pecari Commons

Jade Owen

August 03, 2013 9:35 AM

Fifth year girls' dorm by Jade Owen

Jade returned to Sonora after the break full of ambition. She had a couple of fundraising activities planned to get enough money for her club to go on a trip next term, and she still wanted to talk to Waverly about a joint bake sale. She was hoping to rally together some other club members to help her out running a stall at the Fair to raise funds, too. She had been working hard on her Quidditch skills and was keen to put Aladren in their place in Pecari's first game that would be occurring early on in the term. Admittedly, she wasn't so eager to meet her CATS at the end of the year, but hundreds of other had survived the exams before her; Jade was relatively sure she would escape unscathed.

Having eaten with gusto, and greeted her friends and acquaintances cheerfully and loudly at the feast, Jade had eventually returned to her dormitory to begin the arduous task of unpacking. It wasn't as heinous as at the start of the year, as she had only taken home a small selection of things to see her through the break, but it was a necessary evil all the same. At least she wouldn't be alone - Jade pushed open the door to find she wasn't the first of her roommates back from the feast.

"Evening," she greeted, walking to her bed and stroking the gray cat that was curled up on her pillow. "Have a good holiday?" she addressed the room at large. She knew that Waverly had seen Josephine briefly over midterm, as they'd both attended some wedding or other (how tedious for them), but was clueless otherwise as to how her peers might have filled the vacation time. Jade herself had been bored enough to do a little studying in between tending the animals, baking festive treats, and doodling randomly on any parchment she could find.

The Pecari pulled the contents from her rucksack unceremoniously, dumping them onto her bed covers in a muddled heap of clothes, books, toiletries and other odds and ends. Her eyes fell on a black, cylindrical object that made her wrinkle up her nose in distaste. She withdrew the offending item and held it up in the air. "My Aunt gave me a lipstick for Christmas," she said, her tone conveying the dismay she had felt upon receiving such a gift from a woman who claimed to be related to her. "Does anyone want it?" Otherwise it would probably be thrown in the trash... unless she felt charitable and gave it to Josephine, although Jade didn't like to encourage her sister to plaster this stuff all over her face. She hadn't forgotten what Jorge had said at the start of term, but lipstick was going too far. Way too far.

0 Jade Owen Fifth year girls' dorm 221 Jade Owen 1 5

Theresa Carey

August 03, 2013 8:28 PM

Here we go again by Theresa Carey

Life at Sonora was complicated, but it was usually clean. This made it a vast improvement over being at home at the moment, so Theresa wasn’t too unhappy to be back at school. She had, over the past two weeks, very carefully considered all the arguments the family gave in favor of having a lot of children and decided on her own that not one of them had ever been formulated by a woman who had to actually deal with a baby, at least not a woman who was at least kind of normal instead of a saint. If she had children, it would only be if she was wealthy enough to have a house-elf to look after them while they were babies and a governess around full-time after they got a little bigger. Once she got out of her house, she would never be vomited on again.

After the Feast, she returned to her dorm quickly, eagerly anticipating her first decent night of sleep since she had left more than anything else, especially since she thought Cepheus was probably still sulking about the Quidditch game and she was not feeling her most patient or sweet tonight. She had just started taking things out of her trunk when Jade came into the room.

“Fine,” she said. “Busy. Mother always acts like none of us has ever seen a baby before, so I had to spend a lot of time pretending the new brother was very impressive.” In fact, Theresa remembered every child after Henry as a baby; she and Jay and Henry had all been born one right after the other, so she didn’t remember those two as infants because she had barely been out of diapers herself when Henry came along, but she remembered Brandon. She’d dropped something ceramic on his head, too, which he liked to use as an excuse for misbehaving or breaking things, though no one else either found him funny or believed him at all, whichever was his reason for saying it. “Yours?”

She looked up at the mention of lipstick, but restrained the greedy impulse to say she’d take it. For one thing, it might be totally the wrong shade for her, and for another, well, Jade’s family probably couldn’t afford very good lipstick, and either way, she’d have to wear it if she took it and then maybe not look so good. She wasn’t as stoic as Aunt Emma, who lived in a fine house with parlor furniture covered in white velvet, claimed to be, so that she’d rather go naked than have anything cheap near her person, but she was trying.

“You should keep it,” she said. “If it’s the right color for you. You never know when you might need it.”

Jade could, after all, figure out how to be a lady someday, or just need to look more like a girl whether she was ladylike or not. As long as you lived, they said, there was always a chance left for self-improvement.

0 Theresa Carey Here we go again 219 Theresa Carey 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

August 05, 2013 1:50 AM

These are the best of times by Waverly Canterbury

As fun as it had been catching up with Bri during the feast, Waverly was itching to get back to her dorm and sleep for the next hundred years. All the traveling from Sonora, to and from London, and finally back to Sonora had tired her out. She was glad to be back in one place for awhile. Her mom's schedule was always crazy too with the Christmas baking they had to do for everyone in the entire city. At least that's what it felt like sometimes. She couldn't wait to curl up in a familiar bed and just snooze away.

When she reached her common room, she saw Theresa slip in right before her. She said the password and followed after and found both of her roommates in the dorm already. Theresa answered Jade's question first and Waverly started unpacking as she listened. She had wanted to leave it for the morning, but she knew if she didn't start now she probably wouldn't get to it till weeks later. She hadn't known Theresa was expecting a new brother, but that was nice to hear. She liked babies to an extent, but she liked slightly older kids a lot better.

Waverly had really appreciated Jade's support last term after her breakup. Though she didn't seem to be the most sympathetic person in the world, Jade did have her moments. Waverly wasn't sure if she had told her roommates yet about the whole thing, but having friends here to just hang out with had really helped after a somewhat lonely summer.

She let Jade tell about her break as well before she jumped into hers. "Mine was pretty good. I visited some relatives in England and attended a wedding there. It was really pretty. I spent Christmas there and then New Year's back home with my family." She would have liked to spend it with her friends, but she didn't think she should risk it considering the fact she and Brandon had many mutual friends at this point.

Lipstick was not something Waverly used on a regular basis. It had taken her forever to choose one and that was the only one she used if she needed it for some extremely fancy event. Theresa seemed to know more about makeup than either of them, so Waverly trusted her judgment better than her own. It was a little funny that Jade had any makeup at all near her person and even funnier to think of Jade wearing any lipstick. She was, in Waverly's mind, the least likely person to wear makeup any time soon. "I'm okay," she said with a smile. "I'm guessing your aunt wanted to impose some girly traits in you?" She giggled and continued to unpack her clothes. "Oh, here guys. I got you little things from London." For Jade she had bought a Sneakoscope with the card reading, Try not to set it off yourself. Merry belated Christmas! Love, Waverly, and the other for Theresa a silver charm bracelet. On the bracelet dangled a silver swan, a sun to represent July, and a quill. Her card read, I hope you like it! Merry Christmas! With love, Waverly.

Waverly handed their gifts to them with a smile. "I got them from Diagon Alley. It's a really amazing place. Have either of you been there?"

19 Waverly Canterbury These are the best of times 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Jade

August 10, 2013 3:54 PM

Really? CATS and all? by Jade

Jade offered an un-feminine guttural noise, conveying both revulsion and pity at Theresa's familial situation. Jade, thankfully, was the baby of the family. She didn't doubt she would loathe any creature that tried to take her place as the centre of attention (although Josephine did her damnedest to steal the limelight), and knew she would never be put upon to help look after anything so helpless, loud, and sticky. She hadn't really had much contact with babies, but the little she'd seen of them was sufficient to put her off completely.

"Oh, it was okay," she replied, shrugging in response to Theresa's query. "Cold, boring, but I guess kinda fun." Christmas was a big deal in the Owen household. They didn't have many presents, but their mother always managed to scrape together a good feast, and James was always in a good mood at Christmas, which beat every other time of year, and the house was festively decorated, so Jade couldn't knock the holiday too hard.

Waverly took the chance to share her midterm stories, too, and - aside from the wedding - it sounded like she'd gotten the best deal of the three of them. Jade had never been outside of America, and she wasn't sure she really wanted to travel, but she could appreciate that foreign shores constituted a reasonable vacation. "I didn't know you had family over there," she commented, not really interested in the discussion either way, but she had felt compelled to comment on this new tidbit of information.

Unfortunately, neither of her present roommates took Jade up on the offer of free cosmetics. Theresa's suggestion that she might one day use the monstrosity was laughable. "Yeah, maybe for Hallowe'en," Jade muttered audibly, opening her bedside drawer and throwing the offending object inside to be soon forgotten. Waverly's suggestion that her aunt might be making attempts to make her more feminine might have been right on the mark, or it could be pure ignorance of her character, combined with the naive assumption that all girls her age wear make-up.

Jade never expected presents from anyone. She rarely gave them herself, so anticipation of a gift would be absurd, but she greatly appreciated the package, as well as the thought behind it, if to a considerably lesser degree. "Oh, thanks," she said initially upon taking the present from Waverly, a tone of surprise in her voice at the unexpected gift-giving. Jade loved the sneakoscope, but it was the note attached that caused her to grin broadly. "Thank you," she said more firmly and cheerfully, as she placed the object carefully on the cabinet next to her bed. "Though I don't know if Pecari is a good place to keep stuff like this," she mused, thinking of the House traits in general, and of their yearmate more specifically. "It might set off whenever Jorge passes by the staircase," she added with a chuckle.

0 Jade Really? CATS and all? 0 Jade 0 5

Arabella Brockert

August 10, 2013 9:43 PM

Entering by Arabella Brockert

After she'd finished her meal, Arabella retired to the Pecari Room. Truthfully, if hadn't been for Carrie's presence, she would have wished to be in Crotalus. She'd never felt that she'd had much in common with her housemates and had just never gotten close to them after all this time. She really had little in common with most and a few were a bit full of themselves. One of Arabella's biggest pet peeves-thanks to her cousin-was arrogance. Not to mention there were quite a few that were a bit boisterous, not that she was the quietest person she knew but some were really loud. Like they had ADHD or something.

It wasn't as if she hated anyone in her house, it was just their attitudes got on her nerves sometimes. Usually Arabella preferred to spend time with Alex or getting to know Paul better. She'd give him enough space so as not to seem clingy and in order for them not to neglect their studies or other friends. It was just important that if they were going to get married, they should spend some time together. Of course, there were people in other Houses who had awfully high opinions of themselves as well, besides Carrie.

Still, eventually, curfew would hit and Arabella would have to go to her own room. Besides, most of them weren't that bad. Jade wasn't exactly humble and very crude-the latter of which didn't bother her as much as it should- but at least the two shared an interest in horses and Theresa was a lady, like Arabella was. And probably one who struggled with it. Though probably not because she had a relative who deserved a good punch in the face. Amity said Anthony Carey seemed like a perfect gentlemen and that Henry was a bit different but seemed a lot more proper than some boys in her class. Though due to Evan's recentl betrothal to Lucille Carey, Arabella felt the most practical person for Amity to marry would be Alan Raines, whom Amity seemed to approve of. The third year seemed to think highly of Arnold Carey who had apparently been one of only two on her team last year that she could stand.

Initially, Arabella had expected to be quite good friends with Theresa. They were roommates, both from proper families that somehow fit Pecari, which was largely considered not a very proper place to be. Sara Raines had been the exception rather than the norm. Instead, she'd hit it off instantly with Alex. The Pecari still wouldn't have minded knowing her roommates a little bit better, rather than feeling kind of awkward when she was around them. She might be okay around just Theresa given the whole pureblood society thing and how they managed it, since she'd never gotten the impression that her roommate was like Miss Raines and she certainly wasn't. And even though Jade was probably the most egotistical ones, making Arabella dread Quidditch games, there was still the horse thing.

She walked up the stairs to the fifth year girls' dorm and entered, her roommates already there. The Pecari gave the other girls' a wide smile. "Hello everybody." Had it not been for Theresa, she would have let herself slip and be a little less proper, so it was probably good to have the other girl there to keep her in check. "So, what's going on?" She noticed then that Waverly was handing packages-holiday presents presumably-to the other two girls.

11 Arabella Brockert Entering 217 Arabella Brockert 0 5

Theresa

August 14, 2013 10:50 PM

Let the good times continue by Theresa

Having a Muggleborn roommate made a lot of things all kinds of complicated when it came to morality and proper behavior and that kind of thing, but as far as Theresa was concerned, jewelry was never complicated, at least as long as she could keep the right things about sources from the right people. She couldn’t wear this at home, since Mother or Grandmother or Aunt Emma might notice and ask where it had come from, but here, she thought she was safe enough; her brothers would never notice, and while Cepheus might, well, she’d let him worry about it if he wanted to. He had let Megan sit with him at the Feast, so it would serve him right to have to wonder if she had another option around, too.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, holding the bracelet up to the light to admire it. “Thank you.”

She nodded at the mention of Diagon Alley. “Last Christmas. I attended a ball over there with my family.” Then, lest they remember, if they’d heard anything about it then, who’d hosted that ball, “My cousin Roland married an English girl, he and his brothers and sister all went to Hogwarts.”

The oldest English-language wizarding school. Typical of Aunt Catherine and Uncle Felix, Arthur had always remarked, not without a certain level of envy; he, she thought, would probably have liked to go to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang or some obscure little place in Italy dating back to the Roman Empire just to show off, or else to some institute in Asia or Africa where they didn’t even study western-style magic as the main thing just to really show off. It was definitely true, though, that Aunt Catherine fancied herself a lady scholar, and that Uncle Felix’s family wasn’t very American. Theresa had never felt as comfortable around their four children as her other cousins, just because she hardly ever saw them, even though Eileen and the twins were about the same age and two of the three boys were younger than her. Aunt Catherine was familiar enough, she and Uncle Anthony got together at least once a week to defy their spouses’ distaste for heavily-sugared, lightly-minted iced tea, but she didn’t bring her kids with her.

She smiled politely at Jade’s joke about Jorge, still not getting what it was with those two, and looked around as Arabella came in, putting down her own present. “Hi,” she said. “Just talking about our holidays. How was yours?”

Generally, Arabella didn’t seem to be around the dorm as much as the rest of them, and sometimes, Theresa was really glad about that. With Arabella, she was fine, and with Jade and Waverly, she was fine; it was just when they were all together that she sometimes felt as though she were in the middle, which was not a place she liked. She was no negotiator, no peacemaker, no ambassador, and anyway, she always had the faintly guilty feeling that she shouldn't have a conflict of interest. Arabella, after all, was one of her own kind, and the other two were not. However much she never seemed to master the Carey ideal for a girl, always letting her silk slip, it should have been as simple as that.

0 Theresa Let the good times continue 0 Theresa 0 5

Waverly

August 17, 2013 8:23 PM

Extending the good times further by Waverly

Waverly was happy with the reaction of her roommates. She giggled at the thought of the sneakoscope going off every time Jorge walked past. "I can see that happening." They could keep track of him every time, though Waverly personally thought Jade was most likely to set it off herself more than Jorge. That was part of the reason why she liked Jade so much and why she knew there was no other gift that could be any more perfect for her friend.

Theresa's reaction to her gift was especially important to Waverly since she didn't know Theresa as well. "I'm glad you guys like it," she said with a smile and was about to put Arabella's gift to the side for later when she came in. Arabella's present had been one of the more difficult presents to think up. Waverly had initially thought of just getting Jade a present, and then she knew she had to include Theresa and, by association, Arabella. Otherwise it would've been unfair. Waverly hadn't really talked to Arabella as much as her other two roommates so shopping for her was much harder. She had finally gone with a pretty jewelry box. Arabella seemed to be the proper type and, while a ring or some other jewelry would have been the easiest present, she didn't know what kind of jewelry Arabella liked. That meant a pretty wooden box with flowers carved into it would have to do.

"Hey Arabella, I've got a present for you too." She handed her the wrapped box. It was even tied with a ribbon and had a card attached to it. Her card read, I hope you put this to good use. Merry Christmas! With love, Waverly. She had tried to be personal with her roommates even if they all didn't know each other as well as they ought. But that was okay; as long as they all got along in the same room Waverly was content. She just hoped Arabella liked her present too.

Theresa had already asked Arabella about her holiday, so Waverly was content to continue unpacking and keep her ears open. She would give Jorge his gift later on and she and the Thorntons she was friends with had already exchanged gifts. She loved Christmas; it was her favorite holiday besides Valentine's Day because she got to give presents to people and be nice all day.

0 Waverly Extending the good times further 0 Waverly 0 5

Jade

August 21, 2013 6:38 AM

Still not convinced this counts as good times by Jade

"Hey, Arabella," Jade joined in the round of greetings as their last roomie joined the fray. She thought that, individually, all the girls probably got along just fine - for her part, Jade liked all of the other three. However, when they were all together as a group, they didn't seem to functional very well. She couldn't put her finger on quite what was different, but the atmosphere seemed somehow less relaxed when everyone was together. Perhaps, in their fifth year of living together, it was something they could work on. Jade already had a lot on her hands this term, and she was sure the others did, too (she knew Waverly had too much to handle), but maybe they could squeeze in some sort of 'bonding' (she hated that word, but it seemed right for the scenario) scenario. Preferably one that involved cookies.

"Did you have a good midterm?" Jade asked Arabella, looking up from folding her clothes for a moment to address the newest addition to the conversation. Among her old belongings were a couple of new additions, including some jeans and t-shirts she'd actually bought in a store. They weren't new, of course, but Jade had been able to pick them out herself, rather than just making do with whatever hand-me-downs passed her way.

"I dunno about the rest of you," Jade spoke up at a pause in the conversation, "but I have way too much going on this term. Exams, fundraising, Quidditch, organising a booth for the fair," she trailed off the end of her list, sure that there were more things to be added, but not sufficiently commited to think of them herself. "If I start stressing out like a crazy person I want one of you to slap me," she requested, finally shoving the last of her books under her bed and sinking down on top of the covers, scooping Bella into her arms as she did so. She fussed her gray cat behind its ears, encouraging a soft, rumbling purr from the creature. She found being with animals relaxing, which could be very important in maintaining her sanity for the rest of the year.

0 Jade Still not convinced this counts as good times 0 Jade 0 5