Josiah ran his fingers through his fiery red hair as he looked around the Cascade hall. He had heard a distressing rumor, and he wanted to find out if it was true. Was Hyana really gone? Just the idea depressed him. He had looked everywhere he could think of, the pitch, the library, and now the Hall. Would he have to send her her present, and talk only through letters? It would seem so. He grabbed his magically enlarged bag (his father had charmed it to look like a normal over the shoulder bag from the outside, but be large enough to hold a large dog inside) off his shoulder and set it on the marble floor. So it was true. He didn’t see her anywhere. He couldn’t believe it.
He kicked his sneakered foot at the ground, uttering a muttered curse. He just couldn’t believe she left! First Hikaru, now her? All he would need was for Elly to leave, and things would be just perfect!
Speaking of Elly, he had a present for her. He decided to forgo getting her a dress or anything. After all, Elly didn’t seem thrilled with his present last year, why would she want another this year? Instead he got her something he knew she would like.
Wrapped in shining gold paper, hidden snug in his bag, was a broomstick. Its cherry wood handle was waxed and polished until it shined, each straw in its brush was clipped with perfect precision, to maximize speed and minimize drag. The brush was dyed a deep black to match the dark reddish brown handle. The cushioning charms were state of the art, and it could accelerate to great speeds, turning at just the slightest feather touch, or so the description in the catalog said. A gild lightning bolt cut a sharp line across the end of the handle with ornate gold letters spelling out “Shock X200”. He envied her, but he was fine with his Sharpshooter’s performance and wouldn’t give it up for the world. He would have to hunt down Irene and tell her about his new broom find that Elly was about to be the lucky receiver of.
Now to find her. Josiah grabbed his bag again and slung it over one shoulder.
He glanced down the length of the Hall, but didn’t see her anywhere. He dashed out to the hallway outside of Cascade, but didn’t find her there either. He ducked back into the hall for one more look when he saw an orange head of hair. Praying it wasn’t Alexis, he walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder, and said “Hey!” \n
It had been a very pleasant afternoon, overall. Many presents had exchanged hands, and Elly was in an especially buoyant mood and full of festive spirit, despite the end of the holidays, as she headed down to the Cascade Hall for the first meal since students had returned from midterm break. She had apparently picked a popular moment, as she entered the Hall with a huge crowd of other students. Sonora seemed very full all of a sudden after the emptiness that midterm had brought.
Managing to extract herself from the jostle of other bodies, Elly had only taken two steps towards finding a seat when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, searching for the source, and found Josiah. He greeted her with a smile and a “Hey.”
“Hey back,” Elly replied, grinning at Josiah as she ruffled his hair. “You causing trouble again?” She liked spending time with Josiah – he was as eccentric as she was herself; he was like the kid brother Elly had never had. He even looked the part. However, Elly was from a family of Muggles who lived in London on an average wage, whereas Josiah’s family was one of these crazy, rich, American pureblood types. Well, Elly couldn’t prove they were crazy, having never met them, but they were definitely rich.
0Elly ErikssonYes, I can see that, thanks :P92Elly Eriksson05
You know i have to add drama to all I do ;)
by Josiah
Josiah blushed at Elly ruffling his hair and playfully shoved her hand away. He grinned his usual lopsided flirtatious grin, happy to see his friend again. He was going to have to make some more friends, though, now that he was down to Elly and sort of Law.
You causing trouble again?
“Only always!” He said with a wink, “Don’t need to ask to know you’ve been causing trouble, Miss Eriksson,” He added, using the formal version of her name as a tease. “By the way, you look absolutely stunning today. Did it hurt when you fell out of heaven?” He winked flirtatiously at her, but knew she wouldn’t take him seriously. Even though he found the redhead extremely pretty, he knew that she had a thing for that Echo guy, even if she didn’t see it herself. They were gonna get together, definitely.
“How did your vacation go? Did you stay here? I saw my cousin again, Joy, I doubt you know about her, but she’s removed from my family ’cause she’s a half blood, but she’s almost nine and I just love her! But I had to deal with other people in my family which wasn’t fun, but father got me a compass for my broom and mother got me this gold thing that goes around your wand to make it look fancy in my family crest.”
He looked at her, eyes twinkling mischievously, “And I went shopping for your present. Hope it’s not too awful girly.” He added with a wicked smirk. He opened his bag and pulled out the long, thin gold tube containing her present and presented it to her with as little flourishing as he could manage. \n
0JosiahYou know i have to add drama to all I do ;)0Josiah05
“You look absolutely stunning today,” Josiah told her, in his usual flirtatious manner. Elly doubted his truthfulness – she was wearing an old grey fleece pullover and her most tattered jeans. “Did it hurt when you fell out of heaven?”
Elly laughed and linked her arm round Josiah’s, leading them to a table while he continued chattering away about his holiday. The way he talked about his family amused Elly no end – he was just from a completely different world to her. She had heard of families disowning members because of marrying Muggleborns and what have you, but she couldn’t envisage someone actually doing something like that to their own kin. Then again, Elly though her mother might disown her for being a witch, if such a thing was possible.
The two redheads had found seats before Josiah handed a present over to Elly. “Aw, I’m sorry but I didn’t get you anything,” Elly told him, pulling a sad face. “Stuck at school there wasn’t much I could do about it, you know?” Turning her attention to the gift now in her hands, Elly couldn’t help but feel a touch of apprehension. Last year Josiah had bought her a dress, which was obviously ridiculously expensive, and had hung hidden in Elly’s wardrobe back in London ever since. What madness had he decided upon this year?
Elly carefully opened the tube, thankful that at least it wasn’t another dress, because it was simply the wrong shape. What was contained within, however, completely took her breath away. “Is that…?” she managed to ask as she removed the broom from its packaging. Seeing a brand new broomstick in her hands, Elly felt several things all at once, including how Josiah must be even richer than she’d considered, and that he was mad to buy her such a wonderful present, and how bad it was that she hadn’t got him anything in return, and how her father had already sent her money to buy a new broomstick, and how Teppenpaw were going to crucify Josiah if she caught the Snitch riding this thing.
With all those thoughts, it was amazing that Elly managed any sort of coherent speech at all. Looking back at Josiah with a strange half-smile, she said, “You’re crazy. You’re completely and utterly crazy. I mean… just look at it!” Then she did. The broom was the same wood as her wand, and polished so skilfully. The tail was perfectly clipped, unlike the school broom she had been using, which was now a very poor performer since its bludger beating last term. “Thank you,” Elly finally said, once she had finished inspecting the broom, “though I absolutely forbid you to ever buy me any presents ever again. Do you understand?” She was smiling when she said it, but she wanted Josiah to understand he simply didn’t have to buy her extravagant presents.
I am that, along with handsome, witty, great with the ladies
by Josiah
“Don’t worry my dear,” Josiah said in response to Elly’s apology for a lack of a gift. Josiah watched her open the gift, possibly more excited than he assumed Elly was watching her open it. He hoped she liked his gift!
Is that…? Josiah nodded, grin stretching ear to ear. He almost bounced right out of his seat with excitement. He gave her a while, for the shock to wear off. It was the most totally awesome gift ever, if he did say so himself.
His grin faltered when she scolded him. She didn’t like getting presents from him? Did he get the wrong ones? He thought she liked the broom. She thanked him and everything. But she was smiling when she scolded him. What did that mean? He was genuinely confused.
“Don’t you like it? You don’t like presents or something Elly?” He asked looking up at her. “I can afford it, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s not a big deal or anything… You don’t even have to give me anything. I don’t need presents at all. You are my best buddy, now that Hyana’s gone. Can’t I get you stuff? And you never told me how your break went silly! Were you too distracted by my charm and good looks to remember I asked?” The last was a tease, and he winked to let her know that.
Maybe she felt guilty? Maybe that was it! Maybe she felt bad that he got her big stuff? “If I only get you little things, can I get you presents?” He suggested. It seemed a good compromise to him.\n
0JosiahI am that, along with handsome, witty, great with the ladies0Josiah05
Josiah sounded terribly disappointed that Elly didn’t want him to buy her presents. She hadn’t meant to upset him, but she felt bad that he was spending so much on her when she couldn’t afford to spend anywhere near so much on him. It was kind of belittling in a way, to have a second year be buying expensive gifts for her. Elly nudged Josiah lightly on his arm at his suggestion of only buying her little presents.
“Yeah, okay,” she replied, grinning. “You can buy me little presents. No more dresses or broomsticks, okay? I do love this, though,” she said, glancing back at her broom again. She still couldn't quite believe it was hers.
“My break was okay. There was an ice rink on the Quidditch pitch, so I did a bit of skating, and there was a treasure hunt which I did with the sixth year prefects,” she said, pulling a frightened face. “We got hot chocolate on Christmas day – it was fun,” she told him. “I didn’t do my midterm prank, though, because none of my friends were around to see it. I’ve got some ideas for Charms club, though. You are doing that this year, right?”
“Oh wait,” Elly said, suddenly remembering something else Josiah had said. “What do you mean Hyana’s gone?”
Josiah nodded with a large grin at her agreeing to let him continue to buy presents. He would definitely downsize. Chocolates, maybe. Or stuffed animals. That would be great.
Elly’s break sounded pretty fun. The poor girl would’ve probably had more fun of a time if she had some friends stay over break. But he couldn’t help it. Christmas was like a family reunion at his family’s house. Just because his mansion was the biggest and he was the heir. Maybe someday soon he would be able to stay. He hoped.
Then she mentioned Charms Club. He hadn’t thought of that this year. With McKindy gone, he didn’t really feel like it. But maybe people still cared about it? Or it could’ve been just Elly. He didn’t know. Maybe he could ask around? But who would sponsor it? Surely not the new Charms Professor. She was such a stick in the mud. Would his head of house do it?
“If you want, you can tell me the ideas. I might do Charms Club this year.” He said with a non committal shrug.
“Oh wait. What do you mean Hyana’s gone?”
“She’s gone. That’s what I mean,” Josiah said simply. “I heard it on the wagons, people talking about it. I can’t believe she would do that without even saying goodbye, but it seems she really is gone. Moved to some school in Colorado. Near the Silverleafs. My cousins. Maybe it had something to do with Alexis? My cousin? She was a real jerk, she hates anyone who’s a halfblood or a muggleborn. Only, she calls them a bad name…” He faded off, blushing at the memory that he had once almost called Hyana a ‘mudblood’.
His blush increased tenfold with his next thought. Maybe she didn’t like him? Maybe she was getting away from him? Maybe he flirted too much with her and she couldn’t handle it.
“I was going to ask her to the dance…” He said with a sigh, “But maybe I could ask Irene’s cousin? Irene and I get along okay, maybe me and her cousin would too? I don’t know though. There are just so many pretty girls here!” His mood lifted as he talked about his options. “Who are you going to ask? Saul? Echo?” He suggested.\n
“Yes, you should do Charms club again,” Elly told him. “I’ll show you my ideas – I’ll even embarrass myself in front of everyone again, just for you,” she said, laughing. It was weird about Hyana, though – to have just moved schools without warning. Elly knew she’d been having some family troubles this time last year – she hoped Hyana was okay.
“Renaye, you mean?” Elly asked Josiah – she didn’t think Irene had any other female cousins at the school. “I didn’t know you guys were fiends,” she said, smiling. “I played Quidditch with her over the summer. Nice kid.” She laughed then, at his pretty girls dilemma. “Yes, so many pretty girls,” she agreed. “Wish there were enough boys to go round. She had noticed before that there were a great many more female students at Sonora, but it hadn’t seemed to matter before – now everyone was talking about the ball, the lack of boys was more obvious than usual. It meant that a lot of girls would have to go to the ball without a partner – Elly thought she probably be one of them.
“Who are you going to ask?” Josiah questioned her. “Saul? Echo?”
Elly couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Saul or Echo?” she repeated, with her eyebrows raised. “I don’t think they’d like to go with me,” she said, beaming with amusement. She supposed Josiah had suggested those two particular boys because they were the people Elly spent most of her time with. “Saul is having a hard time choosing between Briony and Pepper – you know, fourth years, in your House – and Echo…” she trailed off. “I’m not sure Echo’s going,” she said, thoughtfully. Echo certainly hadn’t mentioned the ball, but that wasn’t the reason Elly suspected he would skip. His touching phobia was fairly common amongst their year, now, and a place as crowded as the ball was likely to be would no doubt make him nervous.
“I think, if I go, I’ll probably just go on my own,” Elly said. “I can’t imagine anyone’s going to ask me, anyway.”