Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau
October 26, 2012 7:42 PM
Returning Feast by Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau
Midterm had come and gone along with Christmas and New Years. This was the first year of holidays with both Angel and Ayita. Kiva had no idea if they appreciated or enjoyed the holidays with the entire family, but they were both pleasant and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Hopefully, things would only get better. Angel had been officially adopted and that was because both of his parents were deceased and his caretaker and signed over all guardianship. Ayita’s was a little more tricky and they had to seek out legal counsel on what to do. But, they were still determined to complete it. Especially now that they were expecting.Kiva was hitting her fourth month into the pregnancy. She would be able to remain throughout the entire term, but she was pushing it close to her due date. Although her robes were hiding any trace of her upcoming new motherhood, if she were wearing her usual garnets, her coworkers would be able to spot the baby bump without trouble. Still not quite that large, she was definitely growing faster than with Emery. She wasn’t going to make an announcement or anything and she had already told the staff, but everyone else could figure it out on their own.
Standing in front of the student body, Kiva allowed them a few minutes of chit chat to allow them that moment of excitement before forcing them to calm down again. Finally deciding that they had enough time for greetings and initial welcome hugs, Kiva began, “Hello everyone! Welcome back! I hope all of your holidays were pleasant and fun.” She greeted, smiling happy. She loved the holidays, but sometimes it was nice to come back to a routine.
“I’m going to make this short and sweet.” She advised them. She had no new staff members or anything, so there wasn’t a need for anything too long winded. “This year our Midsummer Event is the bonfire. Normally, we like to have the students contribute something during each of the events, but this year, we wanted to give you all a break. We have been very impressed with past years’ behaviors that we wanted to have this be an award.” Kiva explained to them. “We’ll be having a camp out in the Pitch and you’ll get to do nothing more than roast smores and have fun with friends. You’ll hear more about it when we get closer to the end of term. For now, enjoy your dinner.” With that, Kiva sent them off and the food began to arrive.
Subthreads: Exiled again (tag Isabel) by Effie Arbon with Isabel Raines, Isabel, Henry Carey
Back and Feasting by Topher Calhoun with Hope Brockert, Topher
Let the madness begin, again by Eliza Bennett
Well...this isn't very fun. by Brianna Japos with Mellie Goodwin, Brianna
Dueling fates (tag Aria) by Liam Ammon with Aria Yale
Which looks delicious by Arabella Brockert with Amira Thornton
Once more unto the breach by Professor Skies with Professor Fawcett
Heart beats and some eats... by Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw
Counting down to summer by Eris Ackart with Jorge Garcia
Just another term. by Cepheus Princeton with Michael Grosvenor, Cepheus
In two worlds. by Clarissa Clark with Rupert Princeton, Rupert
Focused Feast by Arista Thornton
Happier than ever by Waverly Canterbury with Henny B-F-R, Andrina Thornton, Waverly
Off the wagon again. by Alicia Bauer
You've got to be kidding me! by Carrie O'Malley with Lucrezia Renaldi, Lucrezia
Returning to prissy-dom... by Abigail Thornton, Crotalus
Learning to Trust, thanks to an Angel by Solomon Bensalem, Crotalus
Returning with plastic... WoTW by McKinley Andrews, Crotalus with Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau, McKinley
0
Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau
Returning Feast
0
Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau
1
5
Effie Arbon
October 28, 2012 11:20 AM
Exiled again (tag Isabel) by Effie Arbon
Being home for the holidays had been perfection. She had been busy, her mother cramming in dance and etiquette lessons around the festivities in preparation for her upcoming début, and her father had taken no more interest in her than usual, save soliciting a short report from her on her first term. He had indicated neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, save praising her choice of taking tea with Isabel Raines and selected others instead of attending a vulgar Muggle party. She had been reassured by this that, in spite of how the rest of Sonora acted, she was being obedient to her family's wishes. Her tea party had been something of a success, with most of the fine young ladies of their year attending. She could excuse older years for not wanting to spend time with people of her age, and the boys could be excused on the grounds that tea was more of a ladies' activity, not to mention that boys might do as they wished without the likes of her questioning their choices. She found herself having to list caveats like this in order to maintain the view that the world was as she thought it should be and that those of whom she should expect decent behaviour conducted themselves as she saw fit. But it was a struggle to do so. It was something of an active process. At home, her world was right. Naturally and without effort. Everyone behaved as they were supposed to. At the end of the two weeks, being sent back to Sonora felt like being violently torn away. In some ways, it was worse than when she had first left. At that time, she had been filled with trepidation, with fear of the unknown. Sonora had proved to be alarming and more complicated than she had been expecting but she had concentrated on coping. Now she had been home and, although she had missed it before, she had now had a chance to directly compare. Sonora came up wanting.Gliding into the Cascade Hall, she glanced around the Crotalus table, making a beeline for Isabel.
“Lovely to see you,” she smiled at her friend, taking the seat beside her before they were called to attention. She listened, unenamoured, to the headmistress' speech. She was not sure what a smore was but her lack of knowledge that made her highly suspicious of it, as it implied it was something with which she was not supposed to be familiar. The whole affair reeked of the unfamiliar and therefore of things with which she was not eager to engage. Apparently, this was supposed to be some sort of reward. She made a note to herself to encourage as much bad behaviour as possible in the hopes of their year group avoiding any future blessings of this kind.
“Did you have an enjoyable holiday?” she asked Isabel as the food appeared before them. Inwardly, she sighed. There was nothing wrong with the food at Sonora. Much of it was, in fact, perfectly tasty. She had become accustomed to it being served buffet style, which she had come to accept as a practical necessity. But it was not home.
13
Effie Arbon
Exiled again (tag Isabel)
238
Effie Arbon
0
5
Isabel Raines
October 28, 2012 6:23 PM
That's a very gloomy way of looking at it by Isabel Raines
At first, it had been strange to be back at home, where everyone else seemed to have continued in their routines the whole time she was away learning new ones and had, because of that, not seemed to find the occasion of her return nearly as unsettling as she had at first. Of course her mother and father had both paid an unusual amount of attention to her at first, they had missed her just as she had missed them, but in the end, things had been very normal, with Mamma worrying about the Christmas party right up to the last moment and Papa trying to avoid Grandmother and Catherine and her children wandering in and out all the time. She didn’t know what she had expected, exactly, but she had thought that going away to school would make everything different, including the times she spent at home, but it seemed not.She had enjoyed herself anyway, though, and it hadn’t taken long to settle back into the rhythms of home. She and Alan, much to their disappointment, hadn’t gotten to attend the Christmas party, but they had gotten into a massive snowball fight with their sisters and her brother-in-law and Ella and Will the next day, which had been fun even if she had caught a cold and needed to take Pepperup Potion the next day, and they had been allowed to stay up all night on New Year’s, which was good compensation for missing the biggest holiday party in the region since they had never gotten to do that before, either. She had also gotten a ton of Christmas presents – a doll with a full wardrobe, a number of new books, even more new clothes of her own, some jewelry, a letter set, a memento box, a new blanket for her bed here, and it had gone on – and was, as she sat down in the Cascade Hall, both glad that she didn’t have to carry her own trunk all the way to the common room and content with life, even if she had cried at the station this time where she’d been able to control herself back in September. Leaving home once had been hard, but exciting; since she already knew what was at school this time, it had just been hard.
Not that Sonora was bad, not at all. “And you,” she whispered back to Effie as her roommate sat down beside her. She didn’t feel as close to Effie yet as she had heard roommate relationships could be – she didn’t feel about Effie the way she thought her sister did about Nicoletta, like she couldn’t live if they for some reason stopped being friends – but she did like her very well, and had really appreciated it when Effie asked her to help with arranging their tea before midterm, so she was happy to see her again, too.
They didn’t have time to talk anymore, though, because the Headmistress was speaking. From the sounds of it, they were going to have a vast outdoor party at the end of the year, the centerpiece of which would be a fire. That could be fun, she supposed, if she were with people she liked; the prospect of dealing with older students was always a little intimidating, but quite a lot of them in her year were friendly, so they could maybe find a place a little separate from the intermediates and the Advanced students, maybe with some of the more respectable second years, and have a nice time.
Food appeared before them and Isabel began to serve herself. “Oh, yes,” she said happily when Effie asked about her holidays. “I had a wonderful time at home, all the family came to visit.” No one had been very happy to see Raines, but as long as he was the only blot on an occasion, that was all right. “And I got to stay up on New Year’s,” she added. “I had forgotten how annoying my nephews can be, though. I’ll miss them less this time. How was your break?” She felt proud of herself for stopping her chatter in a timely manner and asking after the other person, instead of just babbling on, as she worried she did sometimes.
0
Isabel Raines
That's a very gloomy way of looking at it
241
Isabel Raines
0
5
Effie Arbon
October 29, 2012 7:13 AM
Well, it does have some good points by Effie Arbon
“That sounds delightful,” Effie smiled, as Isabel told her of her holidays, “Mine were just lovely, thank you,” she said with feeling. Effie had never quite mentioned being homesick but she spoke frequently of home and especially of her sisters. She had been employed for several evenings the previous term in embroidering bookmarks for them. For her, the presents – though delightful – had played second fiddle to those giving them. Not only had she got to spend the morning laughing and playing with her sisters but it was one of those rare occasions when her brother and father joined in with them. Her father and her brother were not unkind but they were usually somewhat distant, having different concerns to the female members of the household. On Christmas Day, the entire family gathered around the tree. Ignatius had received several toys, including a broomstick racing game. The set up was a little fiddly for his still slightly chubby, child-like fingers and Effie had offered him her assistance. She was used to taking on the big sister role for Delphine and Araceli but she rarely got to do it for Ignatius. As she had helped him fix the little metal broomsticks to their poles, and affix these to the track, he had stared at her in wonder. He had then insisted on racing each of his sisters. There was an element of chance in the game and so, unlike day to day life, he was not automatically first and preferred above them. He took their winning with good humour, simply eager to play again.“Mama was keen to ensure that my dance and etiquette lessons were not falling behind but I still had plenty of time to spend with my sisters, and with my father and brother on Christmas Day. I was also permitted to stay up on New Year, and that is when we entertain the extended family.” It was true that she had been permitted to stay up, as she always had been, although she had been at the children's party. This would be the last year for which that was true though. The adults had a ball whilst the children played party games in an adjoining room. She had made a point of trying to speak more to some of her male cousins this year, for practice. It was somewhat easier than talking to strangers, as by the dint of family connection they were supposed be favourably inclined to her in spite of not really knowing her. However, they were still boys and virtual strangers, as she only saw them once a year, so they were intimidating enough for it to be worthwhile. These attempts had been somewhat hampered by Araceli, who was always quite unsettled by the appearance of a number of strangers in their home and had clung alternately to Effie and Delphine. When midnight came, the children were permitted to join the adults to see in the new year, and there was one more dance before they were sent to bed. All of the children attempted to stay up, although there was usually a small pile of younger cousins amongst the chairs before they reached midnight.
“It seems a little odd, thinking of you having nephews,” she smiled, “It just sounds so grown-up. Being the oldest, I predict it will be quite some time before I have them,” she explained.
“What do you think to the end of term celebrations?” she asked. She had been eager to ask this from the start, although it would not have been polite not to ask about Isabel's Christmas, and she had been genuinely interested to hear. However, the end of term celebrations were already worrying her somewhat. It sounded like another of those contentious Sonora occasions which did not quite fit with her model of how the world should be. However, this one was being put forward by the staff. Did that make it more acceptable or just harder to avoid? She was also unclear on what exactly was being proposed. Isabel was her translator. She seemed somehow able to mediate between the confusing world of Sonora and Effie's own world.
13
Effie Arbon
Well, it does have some good points
238
Effie Arbon
0
5
Isabel
October 29, 2012 9:55 AM
Most things have at least one or two by Isabel
Isabel did not have a large extended family, at least not anywhere nearby – one of her aunts lived in Spain, with children and grandchildren they rarely saw, and the other in Louisiana, with children they had no desire to see, and Great-Uncle Luke’s side of the family was not very large either, yet – so having a special event, on a holiday, just to entertain them seemed a little strange to her. They spoke of the big Christmas party, the one she wasn’t allowed to attend yet, as the family party, but that was because the whole family helped Papa and Mamma host it, and she didn’t think of the more intimate occasions when her aunts and some cousins and Catherine’s family and Uncle Luke’s were around as entertaining, really, unless it was for someone’s birthday or wedding anniversary. There was no fuss, no formality, to such occasions.Effie’s family, though, she had gathered, was different from hers in a number of ways even if they were still united in being more like each other than they were their roommates, so she didn’t really think much about that. “That also sounds lovely,” she said with a smile, thinking especially of the part where she spent time with her father and brother. Isabel had never had a brother or spent much time with her sister because of their age difference, but she did enjoy spending time with her parents.
It was, to her, a defining part of what separated holidays from regular time; of course she saw her parents every day even when there were no holidays, or had before she came to school, but they were more focused on her during holiday family time than, busy, they were usually.
“It is unusual,” Isabel agreed about her nephews. She talked about Ella more than she did Will or Charles Augustus, so it was possible Effie thought she had a cousin there rather than a niece, but she didn’t clarify the point right now. “We’re more like cousins, really – none of them call me ‘Aunt Isabel.’” She tilted her head a tiny bit toward the Pecari table. “I think Annabelle and Annette’s nephew does call them ‘aunt,’ thought,” she added, partially because (technically speaking) two other girls in the year having a nephew made hers a little less unusual.
She tilted her head a little to the side when Effie brought up the end of the term celebration again, thinking. She hadn’t really thought anything about the occasion when she heard it, but now she was being asked for an opinion, and wanted to be sure she gave the right one.
However, a problem occurred to her and solved the dilemma for her after only a second. “I’m not really sure yet,” she said honestly. “I’m not really sure what we’ll be doing – except that it doesn’t sound strenuous.” She made a small, apologetic face. “Catherine and Sara have never really talked about the bonfire, and they didn't have the events when Papa was here, so I really don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sure we can find some way to enjoy ourselves, though," she added encouragingly.
0
Isabel
Most things have at least one or two
0
Isabel
0
5
Henry Carey
October 29, 2012 6:10 PM
It's always best not to speak in absolutes, though by Henry Carey
If there was an upside to being the third of six children, and one of nine who tended to be lumped together a great deal during the holidays, Henry supposed it might be that his life never grew too quiet. He had always thought of this as a bad thing before, since he hadn’t been very fond of noise and crowds and, for that matter, some of the people in his family even on an individual basis even before the Incident, but it had occurred to him during the usual chaotic Christmas breakfast at Uncle Anthony’s – with his aunts and their children there too and Brandon and Diana playing a game which involved flicking bits of bread into the brim of Uncle Felix’s hat and Theresa shrieking because Mother had been scolding them and thus not paying enough attention to keep Cecilia from flinging some of her cereal on Terry’s new dress and the twins arguing about something, they wouldn’t tell anyone why they were really angry with each other but they had spent half the holiday disagreeing over the slightest thing, and Aunt Emma and Aunt Lorraine telling stories they evidently found funny, since they had both laughed like hyenas about them, and Father and Uncle Anthony arguing about Quodpot on top of everything else – that at least he wouldn’t be as overwhelmed by the din at Sonora this time as he had been when he first came. People had whispered around him for a long time, and Mother, at least, had treated him like glass for most of his tenth year, but they had all forgotten now, so there hadn’t been nearly as much of a transition between the levels of things he didn’t like in going home and coming back as he had thought there might be.Still, though, he was glad of the calming draught Aunt Lorraine had given him before he got on the wagon. It wasn’t having as much of an effect on him now as it had been when he first had to go high in the air – he had actually fallen asleep at one point, when the ride wasn’t too rough, on the way here from it – but it was enough that after he took one look at the Cascade Hall, he didn’t feel the urgent need to run. The desire, yes, but not the need. He was quite capable of going to the Crotalus table and finding a seat, though he did try to look for that screeching creature as he picked it and he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder a few times, just to make sure no one was directly behind him at that moment.
He listened to Headmistress Jareau’s announcement calmly, thinking that at least fire would keep it from being dark, and that he could, if they were not assigned tents to stay in, perhaps get Jay and Anthony to share one with him. One of the things he liked best about school was that his room was the first space, in his life, he had ever had which was all his and no one else could come in if he didn’t want them to, but he thought he could tolerate his cousin and brother better than most people. Certainly better than the brother he had to share with at home.
Afterward, he didn’t attempt conversation with his Housemates, but just focused on his supper, listening to Arbon and Raines talk to shut out some of the chatter coming from everywhere else. They had both had pleasant holidays, by the sounds of it, with possibly even about as many relatives as he had, though it was hard to tell. Raines mentioned her nephews, but her having a much older sibling meant very little; she could be the youngest of seven or eight – he expected Theresa would have children by the time Cecilia came to school – or she could just have a strangely-spaced smaller family. Arbon’s family, though, definitely didn’t sound small; she mentioned a brother, and the use of sisters, plural, meant she must be the eldest of at least four. Perhaps they had more in common than he would have thought.
Their conversation turned to the event. He listened to them discuss that, too, before venturing to comment. “It’s a casual outdoor event,” he said, looking at them, but still not completely sure they’d really hear what he was saying, or that it was directed toward them. Nor did he really care. “At night,” he added, since that was the part which caused him the most concern, and then looked back at his dinner, prodding his green beans and trying to decide if he really wanted to eat them.
0
Henry Carey
It's always best not to speak in absolutes, though
239
Henry Carey
0
5
Effie Arbon
October 30, 2012 3:08 PM
That's def- er, probably true. by Effie Arbon
Effie was unsure how to react to Isabel's lack of knowledge. On the one hand, the person on whom she relied to help her navigate the confusing maze of Sonora social life was as lost as she was, which was scarcely a good situation. On the other hand, it meant that the event was open to interpretation. It might be theirs to make of what they wished. It appeared, in Isabel's eyes, not to be something that needed immediate or worried attention. For the sake of her sanity, that seemed a sensible approach to take. She felt comfortable enough of her position within the group of Crotalus first years that she did not feel they would make a plan that excluded her.“Perhaps it shall be what we make of it,” she agreed with Isabel, “And, so long as there is pleasant company, I daresay we can make it something positive, don't you think?,” she reasoned. Isabel seemed to have spoken of the bonfire in terms of definite attendance which at least answered one of Effie's queries.
She was surprised when a small voice piped up near them. She caught the content of the speech, which caused her to turn towards the speaker, otherwise – from the volume and tone – she might have supposed that the person was not talking to them at all. On the other end of the meek voice, she found Henry Carey. She had to frequently remind herself of his existence when counting Careys. Or, truth be told, in general. She usually took note of where important people were during class and to whom they were speaking. However, unless Henry caught her eye whilst observing others, he often passed her by. This made her feel terribly guilty as firstly he was a Carey and thus loomed large, or should have done, within the social elite of Sonora; of the important families at the school they were the one with whom she had made the least acquaintance thus far but amongst those whose good opinion she desired most. On a more personal note, he reminded her somewhat of Araceli. She was not sure whether Henry was cursed with seeming somewhat invisible or whether it was an effect which he strove to achieve. However, his thorough lack of limelight reminded her of her timid youngest sister, for whom any kind of attention was the worst possible fate.
“Thank you, Mister Carey,” she smiled. The fact that the whole school was attending and that little was required of them had indicated that it was casual, and the headmistress had stated that it took place on the Quidditch Pitch. However, even if the information was a little redundant, she appreciated his attempts to address their question. In fact, she appreciated the mere fact of a Carey speaking to her, even if it was the.... less dynamic one. “I take it that many relatives of yours have attended similar occasions here?” she added, with a slight questioning tone. It was habitually the way she spoke to Araceli. Gently. It invited him to offer further information if he desired but equally he could just escape with a nod if the situation was beyond him. It was difficult for fragile people and one had to treat them with care.
13
Effie Arbon
That's def- er, probably true.
238
Effie Arbon
0
5
Isabel
October 30, 2012 4:46 PM
I agree by Isabel
“Of course,” Isabel said with a smile when Effie said she was sure they could make something pleasant out of the event at the end of the year, happy right now that her thoughts had been accepted and that this meant she probably hadn’t made a faux pas. She worried about that, talking to Effie, who seemed ever so much more proper than she was. If Effie thought they could make it all right, though, then it was not a sign of Isabel having poor taste or anything like that.Not everyone, she knew, thought that well of her family. It didn’t bother her, as such – as she had once heard Papa remark to Theo, he was so damn rich he didn’t have to care much whether people liked him or not – but she did want the people around her to think well of her, specifically. And she just didn’t want to be tasteless in general, for her own sake. That was one of the worst things to be, she thought, regardless of who her family was or what her family was or anything else; based on her observations of how people dressed here, even Muggleborns could have good taste sometimes, so there really was no substitute for it.
She was surprised when Henry Carey spoke to them, since generally he didn’t. Isabel thought her main thought about him was that he was the only boy in their year and House, which made him stand out; certainly it wasn’t that he was a Carey, since when she thought of that, she thought first of Anthony, the other one in her year, and of Arnold, the Aladren Seeker, and Jane, the Head Girl. Not of Henry.
She felt a little guilty about that – weren’t the Houses supposed to be almost like their families here, while they were away from their own? She should know the people in her own House better than she knew their relatives in other Houses by reputation – as she listened to Effie talking to him. She didn’t have much to add at the moment, since she had already offered up her relatives at the school – at least the ones she talked to, she amended, thinking of Raines; even if she had wanted to talk to him, him sneering whenever he saw her, if Papa wasn’t right there, and ignoring her completely would have made that difficult - so listening for now seemed like the best strategy.
0
Isabel
I agree
0
Isabel
0
5
Henry Carey
October 30, 2012 10:13 PM
Now I want to disagree just on principle by Henry Carey
Henry looked up from his green beans – he had never liked them; they tasted like dirt to him no matter how they were cooked, though the ones here were marginally better than those at home; he didn’t even know why he had put some on his plate – when Arbon spoke to him. Mr. Carey. Huh. He liked that about school, people calling him that. At home, he was just ‘Hen,’ generally; that was what his cousins and his brothers and sisters called him, and the adults didn’t often seem to notice he was there at all.“Yes,” he said, and wished to leave it at that. Instead, he shrugged and added, “Jane and the twins were here the last time they had a bonfire.”
Edmond had as well, but Henry saw no need to mention him, since he had never met him and had only heard of him from the twins, who’d been under his leadership on the Quidditch team for a year. The one year Arnold had ever lost. Well, everyone knew the Georgia branch was bad luck and up to no good. As for Jane, he only knew her through association – he thought she and Arthur got along well, but he had only had one conversation with her in his life, back in the first week of school, and he had spent most of that with his eyes fixed on the surface of the table between them – but the question had been about family attending events, and she was family. A little suspect in her associations, but a respectable member of the family nevertheless, from the Virginia branch, with a husband all lined up and waiting for her; his mother had encouraged Theresa most strongly to take her as an example of what Terry should try to be.
Theresa. She wanted them to call her ‘Theresa’ most of the time now, instead of the many things they had always used in place of that name before. She fancied herself a grand lady now, very important because she was in the Intermediate classes. He found that annoying, but he supposed he should try to go along with her, if he ever wanted them to stop calling him Hen. They were both most likely never going to get their own way about those things, but it was worth a try.
He looked between Arbon and Raines. “My cousin Arnold found the part where they slept in tents most interesting,” he added, since they evidently were not blessed with such a superabundance of relations that they could know things about everything that was ahead of them. His weren’t always cooperative, when he even knew the right people, which wasn’t all the time at all, but he listened to everyone, everyone talked sooner or later, and then he knew things. He considered it a useful skill. “Arthur believed they were reasonably comfortable, but he would have preferred to stay inside.”
One of the things Arthur and Henry shared in common was a preference for being left alone with their work, not disturbed by brothers wanting them to play. Arthur, though, didn’t seem to mind not getting his way in that as much as Henry did. Presumably because he could get away with doing whatever he wanted most of the time. It didn’t seem to make him feel bad when he hurt his brothers’ feelings, or when they put on a show of being hurt, anyway. It did bother Henry, even if, after it was done, he refused to admit he had noticed, knowing that they would all take advantage if he did.
0
Henry Carey
Now I want to disagree just on principle
239
Henry Carey
0
5
Effie Arbon
November 01, 2012 6:53 PM
Being contrary will get you nowhere but a goblin pit by Effie Arbon
Initially, Henry Carey seemed keen to leave his response at the minimum required. However, after a little pause, he seemed to rally himself to providing more information.“Sleeping in tents?” she repeated after him. It was not the fact that he was softly spoken which caused her to seek clarification. Effie was pale faced and wide eyed by nature and thus shock did not display itself with these physical tell-tale signs in her case. However, the emotion was still clear to read. It was hard to say what it was. Perhaps the previous easy, happy animation of her features was suddenly absent. The prospect of an informal gathering had been made good by the knowledge that she could still choose her own social circle within that. But sleeping in a tent? It was not something of which she had any kind of experience but it did not sound promising. She was at a loss as to what to think and turned to Isabel to gauge her reaction.
The meal had been going well. In spite of her heartache for home, she had been pleased to see Isabel. She had felt she had as good a grip as she ever did on things at Sonora. But now she now felt as though the floor had been snatched from under her feet. She took a mouthful of food to escape further comment but it did not seem to really taste of anything. She chewed. The action did not seem to transform the food into a manageable ball to swallow.
13
Effie Arbon
Being contrary will get you nowhere but a goblin pit
238
Effie Arbon
0
5
Isabel
November 02, 2012 6:56 PM
Let's all just get along. by Isabel
Henry offered more specific information than he had on the first round after Effie prompted him, and Isabel noticed at once the change that the details wrought in her friend. She seemed…alarmed, maybe. But definitely not at all happy with the report.Well, Isabel wasn’t sure what to think of it, either, but she was sure it couldn’t be anything that bad – they were at a school, which was paid for by their parents, which meant that not many things were going to happen that their parents were going to object to too strenuously – but anyway, it wasn’t something they had to worry about right now. Because of that, her first thought was about trying to be the cheerful, optimistic one at the table, since she really doubted Henry was going to be any help there, in the hopes of comforting Effie somewhat.
“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” she jumped in. “And we’ll make the best of it – we’ll share one, Effie, and it’ll be just like our dorm. Only…different.” She felt herself flush as she realized what a stupid statement that was. “Because – well, if we want, we can just stay with who we like….”
As opposed to those of their roommates they found strange and difficult to deal with. That was why she lowered her voice as she said that part, hoping that neither Henry nor anyone else but Effie would hear it. She didn’t want to start a feud, after all – even listening to a little of her older sister’s stories from her school days was enough, in Isabel’s mind, to put a fear of that into any sensible person, and it had worked for Isabel very early on, she had always known that she wanted to have a lot of Nicolettas who didn’t fall from grace in her school years and absolutely no Gwen Careys – and, well, she didn’t really know what to suggest to Henry, who didn’t have any roommates to be friends or enemies or anything with. He was just on his own.
Surely his cousin will let him stay with him, she thought, feeling a little better then. She didn’t think there were any boys besides Anthony Carey in Aladren, either, so maybe that would just work out without anyone even having to feel as though pity had been taken on them. That would be the best way to do things.
“Besides, it’s just for sleeping,” she went on. “We can have a very lovely evening until then and then just go to sleep, I’m sure we can bring our own blankets and pillows if the ones the school supplies aren’t good enough….” That might be an actual problem, since she doubted that moving a lot of beds outside was a task to be taken up readily and that it might be easier to put them on inferior beds for that night. But a few good thick comforters repurposed as mattress covers would take care of that, surely, just like when Will wanted everyone to clamber around in blanket forts at home.
0
Isabel
Let's all just get along.
0
Isabel
0
5
Henry Carey
November 02, 2012 9:19 PM
...She threatened to throw me in a goblin pit! by Henry Carey
“That’s what I said,” Henry said when Arbon repeated the remark about tents. “Reasonably comfortable ones, I’m told.” Actually, the combined impression he had gotten from what he’d heard was that they would do, but were hardly what the twins would even expect to sleep in if they went to a major Quidditch match, but he saw no need to volunteer this information to the girls; for one thing, he honestly wasn’t that interested, and for another, they weren’t likely to understand the reference, anyway.Arbon and Raines, after all, were such nice girls – sheltered, well brought up to a fault, especially Arbon. They probably had never even heard people talking, or at least would pretend they hadn’t. Unlike his sisters, he thought dryly, who would never think to hide that they knew something. Perhaps Cecilia would do better, but Theresa and Diana were hopeless cases, in his opinion. He’d sooner cut his own throat than marry any girl who reminded him even slightly of them.
Not, of course, that he expected to have to deal with that problem. They would find him something to do, since he was not a Squib, but since there were five others to carry on the family name, he didn’t see anyone just rejoicing at the thought of the possibility of him having kids who gave them all more scares like he had. This was fine with him, since he had no desire to have to deal with that, either, or with anything even remotely like it, including the prospect of spending his whole life around a lot of other people even if there were no more problems. As soon as he was an adult, Henry hoped to find some way to have an empty place all to himself, which he would heavily enchant and not tell any of his siblings or his parents how to breach the wards of. He doubted he could get away with only having specific hours he opened the floo, but if he could, he would do that, too. All that silence, he would enjoy it….
Somewhere far away, he would enjoy it even more, but he didn’t think that would happen. The family liked to keep people close. It was a pleasant dream, though. To be by himself somewhere, with no one making fun or trying to kill him or just being generally underfoot, to be Henry Carey rather than just a Carey, to have a library with deep leather chairs and to drink his tea and watch people and be eccentric yet respected…A very pleasant dream.
He listened to Raines trying to make the best of the situation, shrugging irritably, as though to shake off a fly, when she lowered her voice so he couldn’t quite make out what she was saying to Arbon. He bit the side of his tongue to keep from snapping at her to stop whispering in public – that was something which had always annoyed him. His siblings, his cousins, they all did that together, but no one had ever whispered with him, and they all stopped talking when he came near. They had always done it, but since the Incident, it had started to bother him more and more; he had always suspected that maybe they were whispering about him before, but now he knew that sometimes they were, and it made him grind his teeth until his head hurt.
“Good idea,” he contributed when Raines said they could improve on their surroundings a little when the time came, then he addressed his attention to his steak. He rarely got that at home, so he liked to have it when it was available here. It was like leather seats and tea in a library, one of those more decadent things that were only for visits and special occasions, something to aspire to for the future.
0
Henry Carey
...She threatened to throw me in a goblin pit!
239
Henry Carey
0
5
Effie Arbon
November 05, 2012 5:53 PM
I did not! Active throwing by me was not mentioned! (wotw) by Effie Arbon
Effie smiled, not a terribly beaming smile but a wholly genuine one, as her friend reassured her that camping out would not be dreadful, and indeed offered to share a tent with her.“Thank you. That will be lovely,” she said softly to Isabel. Of course, if she had really thought about it, the cosy scene of her and Isabel sharing in a scene much like their normal room should have come to mind. The words had just conjured up a sense of the unfamiliar, and that tended to transform in her mind into a non-specific but definitely threatening scenario. “We could ask Amity to join us. It could be just like our room, except we'd have her instead of.... of her being in Aladren,” she hastily changed the direction of her sentence, although she suspected Isabel might easily guess at what she had been going to say. Still, she hadn't said it, and thus couldn't be held to it. Whilst it was better not to almost put one's foot in it, getting out of it on a technicality, such as not having said it even if one's meaning was perfectly clear, was the next best thing. It was quite plain that there was an odd one out in their dormitory. That the girl was a problem. However, Effie's attitude to problems was to deny their existence and to hope that they went away. Therefore it would not be right to bring the ugly subject of Abigail Thornton into what was a perfectly civilised conversation.
Isabel chatted away about blankets and the like, which Effie supposed would make the place more homely. She subconsciously ran her fingers over the necklace that she always wore. It was a delicate silver tree with an 'E' woven into the branches. The tree formed an important part of the Arbon family coat of arms. Each girl in their family had a necklace with her initial in it, whilst the men had signet rings. She had a little piece of home wherever she went. It kept her feeling safe and sane when the world challenged her. Yes, they might have to sleep in a tent but it would be their tent.
“That's a good idea,” she nodded.
She was unsure whether to turn back to Henry and try to reintroduce him to the conversation. It rather depended on what had motivated his initial burst of communication – on what went on inside his head. Perhaps he had simply felt that he knew something relevant and had plucked up the courage to share it. Perhaps that had been a fight and he was now drained of all will to interact. If that was the case, she would willingly give him his respite. She did not want to protract the torture of someone so fragile and they had reached a natural point at which to part ways. However, just because someone found it difficult to communicate did not mean that they did not want to. She knew that very well. If Henry, for all he seemed a little brisk at times and a little reluctant to join in, dearly wanted to make friends and was striving to do so, she would feel dreadful in not supporting him in that endeavour.
“Do you suppose that you will share with your cousins, Mr. Carey?” she asked him, again restricting his options to a yes or no response if that was all he desired to give. She would gauge his reaction and proceed accordingly.
13
Effie Arbon
I did not! Active throwing by me was not mentioned! (wotw)
238
Effie Arbon
0
5
Isabel
November 07, 2012 1:11 PM
Why don't we just change the subject away from goblins... by Isabel
Isabel did indeed guess what Effie had almost said instead of ‘her being in Aladren,’ but she let it pass, since she had avoided saying the same thing. She did not want to be like her sister, in a room full of conflict for seven years, so she tried to avoid saying anything too negative about anyone even in confidence. Effie clearly shared the same sensibility, so they could move on without any difficulty.“Yes, that would be lovely,” she agreed, nodding.
Her suggestion about how to make the experience more comfortable was accepted as well. “It won’t be home, but we’ll make it all right,” she assured Effie again, hoping this was true, now that she had said it and might be reminded that she had if it didn’t work out the way she thought it would. Playing with her nephew sometimes, after all, wasn’t the same as staying in something for a whole night, but if Catherine could stand to do that at all, Isabel thought they could survive camping as long as it was no worse than what Henry was describing. He had mentioned that he thought the tents they were going to be in were ‘reasonably comfortable,’ and he was a Carey. That was to be a very different sort of thing than Isabel was, from a whole different and, in many people’s minds, better kind of family; if he could stand it, surely they could.
She glanced toward Alan, wondering what he thought of this, or if he knew what Sara’s official stance was on the matter. That second part was more important, at least for her, than Alan’s own opinions; Sara was, after all, a girl, and one that everyone thought well of, it seemed. If what she thought lined up with what Isabel thought, that would close the matter, as far as she was concerned. It would be safe to talk about that point of view. But now wasn’t really when she could go over and ask. There was nothing wrong with following the advice of an older girl of good reputation in her own family, but there was with seeming to need to go grovel at that girl’s feet in public every time anything came up.
That was why she was glad that the only one of her cousins near her age was Alan, a boy, who couldn’t stay in a tent with girls, as Effie asked Henry about his cousins. She would have hated to be stuck like that, with just family around; she loved her family, of course, but not the idea of sharing a room with them. It was easier to do that with friends than with family, or at least she thought it would be. Annabelle and Annette would probably disagree, and almost surely stay together, but their example could be written off as a twin thing. In general, she liked seeing her cousins – and niece and nephews and sister – in a different way than she did her roommates.
0
Isabel
Why don't we just change the subject away from goblins...
0
Isabel
0
5
Henry Carey
November 08, 2012 9:24 PM
To what? by Henry Carey
After the Pierce girls – who, as far as Henry could tell, were effectively the same person in two sets of clothes except during flying lessons; Anthony, he knew, was trying to figure out some pattern to which one wore darker or lighter colors more often from roll calls, but Henry really didn’t see the point of that – Arbon and Raines seemed to Henry to be the closest pair in their year, and he couldn’t really figure out which of them was the leader. A casual glance said Arbon, but she seemed to look to Raines for reassurance. It made them difficult to sort out, and made Henry even gladder than usual not to have roommates of his own to deal with. He liked to know exactly where he needed to stand, with no ambiguity in the deal whatsoever.Anthony, for example. His eyes wandered, as the girls kept muttering, over to the Aladren table, where his cousin sat. Henry had always known exactly where he ought to stand relative to Anthony, which was just behind him. Because of the difference of a few months, they had always been thrown together, and so his mother had been very careful to teach him that from the time he was old enough to understand anything. What Anthony wanted to play, they played; where Anthony wanted to go, they went. Anthony didn’t insist, and Henry didn’t object, and so they got along very well. It was much easier just to accept things for what they were, because he knew he could never change them.
Some people were leaders, some were followers, and some were just overlooked. Despite his proximity to the family heir, Henry counted himself as part of the third category. He minded it much less than he had before he was introduced to the perils of being noticed.
He was called back to attention by Arbon’s question. “Possibly,” he said. “I’m not very concerned about it,” he added.
This was a lie, but Henry didn’t feel bad about telling it. He despised feeling out of place, like an extra, something left over and without a place, and pretending that he was something else was pleasant for him. And anyway, he didn’t like to show what bothered him; people would always seize on that, always use it to tease him, and he couldn’t abide being teased.
He was a little tired of the two girls now, but he could see no graceful way to back out of the social interaction he had, for some reason, decided was a good idea when he initiated it. He was stuck with them, at least for the rest of dinner, since Arbon was polite and had hooked him back in.
“We do have a few months to sort it out,” he added and reminded himself to smile politely. He had never thought the expression suited him, but it was the correct thing to do, even while avoiding the topic of his lack of friends with a pair of friends.
0
Henry Carey
To what?
239
Henry Carey
0
5
