We Can Not Let This Stand! ...Undebated on Library

Lyssa Fitzgerald

April 08, 2020 5:21 PM

We Can Not Let This Stand! ...Undebated by Lyssa Fitzgerald

The air moved in front of her as her hand swept through the air in an exaggerated motion. Perhaps the library was not the best place for this, but it was where the knowledge was and was not in her room, where Lyssa was sure Katya didn’t need to hear or see her doing this. She saw enough of it, and Lyssa wanted to give her some space. Still, the stacks were not conducive to Lyssa punctuating the air to make her point in her head. She also felt like she couldn’t actually say her speeches out loud while in the library, so instead she mouthed them.

The one she was currently working on was a follow up to a letter she’d sent off to one of the newspapers on Muggle-Wizard relations that she had signed Lucy Stone. It was on the fact that secrecy itself bred mistrust and fear on both sides. That the secrecy made those who were muggle-born or half muggle half wizard despised by both. If you didn’t think so, why were the later called half-bloods instead of wizards, which is what they were. They weren’t missing half their blood, instead they showed that when the secrecy was left at the front door, Wizards and Muggles were just people. Animals that had risen above their station and now had illusions of grandeur, but both still human. Fear blinded both. It blinded wizards from seeing the positives that muggles could offer, and because of the secrecy many muggles were afraid simply from what they didn’t know and blinded to how wizards could help solve some of the problems Muggles found themselves in.

The letter had received a scathing reply and two letters agreeing with her. Lyssa was working on a follow up letter that built off the first. Thus this speech she was doing while pacing the floor, paper in one hand a pen in the other.

She stopped her speech mid sentence and walked to the shelf where she crossed out a few words and added the line. “In the heat of the anger created here, perhaps we can mold some solid truths into something useful.” She looked at the line and smiled. It reminded her of the piece of the bible her father liked quoting about how iron sharpens iron, man sharpens man. Well, perhaps it took a woman to blunt a stupid weapon into something useful, like a quill.

“In the heat of anger created here, perhaps we can mold some solid truths into something useful,” she said as she thrust her left hand out like people making speeches she’d seen on tv at home. Yes. It sounded good and felt good too. She turned around and found someone standing in front of her and her face froze.

“Umm… Sorry. Was I bothering you?”

Perhaps she should do this outside in the Labyrinth, but that felt like Parkers space. No, this was her space. Then again, the person in front of her let her know it wasn’t exactly “hers”.

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald We Can Not Let This Stand! ...Undebated 1421 1 5

Cleo James

April 12, 2020 8:45 PM

Agreed by Cleo James

Cleo could hear a voice. It was soft, given that it was in the library, but still familiar. Lyssa was talking to someone. Cleo could not quite make out the words.

Whilst, presumably, Lyssa had friends outside of Parker, that was Cleo’s immediate assumption of who she might be talking to. And again, presumably after a dozen years or so of inhabiting the same household, they had many, many subjects to discuss that were not Cleo. But somewhere between anxiety and self-centredness, that was also where her brain jumped to next.

Cleo had sort of wanted to talk to Lyssa for a while. Preferably on her own. To answer what the heck was up with Parker lately. This was not that opportunity. In fact, it could be all kinds of awkward if she walked into that situation, and she was more than half tempted to leave it alone. Except enough people had said horrible things about her already that she couldn’t quite stand the thought of just walking away and letting it carry on. Even if the chance was small that that was what was going on, she knew she’d spend the rest of the day believing for sure that it had been.

She rounded the end of the shelf and found Lyssa gesticulating at the air like a politician. And Cleo could catch the words now there wasn’t a shelf muffling Lyssa’s voice. Then Lyssa caught sight of Cleo, and stopped.

“No,” Cleo answered, with regards to being bothered, “That was… You’re good at that. You know how to talk to people and make them listen?” she asked, sounding as fascinated by that as someone might sound about any of the deeper magics they were tantalised with in class. All thoughts of Parker were temporarily swept aside. “I need that,” she informed Lyssa.

13 Cleo James Agreed 389 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

April 13, 2020 9:03 AM

Then let us stand together! by Lyssa Fitzgerald

Cleo didn’t seem upset, which was good. More interestingly she sounded impressed. Lyssa would say that she didn’t need the approval or admiration of others, but she’d be wrong. Especially when it came from an older woman that she looked up to. And one she thought of as a friend... maybe? Or perhaps that was just a hope. She was more Parker's friend. Still, a part of Lyssa brightened at the compliment from Cleo.

“Umm thank you,” she said with a small smile. “I definitely know how to talk, but making people listen is a bit harder. Doesn’t always work, but is always worth a try cause you never know who might be listening."

Lyssa knew from experience that no matter how good of an argument you make, it can always be ignored by those unwilling to hear it. And sadly, as a woman, and a teenager, and at this school being Muggle-born at that, many were unwilling to hear what she had to say. Especially when she was making sense. Still she knew that the only way to put a new idea into someone's head, was to actually put it there, thus why she used pseudonyms in writing. She'd taken it from the founding fathers the Muggle history books she read.

Then came more surprising information. Cleo needed help in getting people to listen and seemed to imply that Lyssa could help. Lyssa scrunched her mouth to the side briefly. She could imagine that Cleo, who was nice, and because of her ancestry overly beautiful, would be ignored or at worst walked over. This could not stand.

Lyssa stood up a bit straighter. Having still not gone through the puberty growth spurt she was told she would have, she was still shorter than Cleo. But just standing straighter, she felt a bit more in control. More like a teacher.

“I could try to help you if you’d like? I don’t know much, but I can give you what I’ve read and what is in my head,” Lyssa took a step towards and then past Cleo and looked down the rows. She didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean no one was there. She stepped back so she was facing Cleo.

“It’s not secret knowledge, but I don’t want to bother others if we get too loud,” she said to explain her actions.

Lyssa tapped her lips as her mind swirled with ideas on where to start. Using questions to break down an opponent in a debate? The Four Types of Communication? Storytelling? Basic Communication Theory? Then she stopped short. Lyssa cocked her head to the side, realizing she was going off down a road, not knowing why she was doing it.

“Wait. Cleo?" Lyssa's voice sounded more concerned than she meant it to, but this was important. "What do you want people to know that they aren’t listening to?”

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald Then let us stand together! 1421 0 5

Cleo James

April 14, 2020 7:44 AM

I could use that by Cleo James

There was a difference between knowing how to talk and getting people to listen. Well, Cleo was not particularly sure she was adept at either but it felt, to a degree, like the first one eluded her more. She knew she was angry. That had fuelled her at first. Now she had found… if not a platform, then people who were expecting her to reply to them, and she had no idea what to say.

Lyssa seemed cautious about bothering people, and Cleo nodded distractedly. She had, so far, only committed ideas to paper, and she couldn’t exactly imagine herself making a speech. Especially not one so loud and confident that it disturbed other users of the library. However, she was certainly all for keeping this quiet and private, for now.

And then Lyssa’s question came. And it wasn’t really like it was unexpected… Some variation of ‘What are we working on?’ was bound to come up, except - well, Cleo hadn’t exactly come in here to find Lyssa and to talk about this, so it wasn’t like she had the answer quite ready to put into words. She knew what it was, of course, but that wasn’t the same as knowing how to say it.

There was also the fact that Lyssa was a fourth year. That seemed incredibly young, for all that she had ideas on how to do things that Cleo didn’t. It felt a little bit wrong bringing up the things she was dealing with with a fourteen year old. And Parker’s sister. Was he going to be mad at her, for dragging Lyssa into this? Was he already mad at her, for other things beyond her control?

On the other hand, it was hardly like anything she was about to tell Lyssa was secret, or new information. If she had so much as picked up a newspaper last year (and it seemed highly probable that she did that on a regular basis) then what had happened to Cleo and how other people had reacted were not going to be new information.

“Over Christmas break, I found out something,” she stated, taking a deep breath, “I found out that other girls were claiming to be me. As in, claiming they were the half-veela… written about in the papers last year,” she stated, addressing the spine of a book just above Lyssa’s head. It was easier putting it like that, but still felt somehow dangerous, confirming the truth that she was sure Lyssa knew anyway… “I put out a piece asking why. The responses I got… Well, a lot of them were people telling me exactly what they thought of me. But there were three from those girls.”

I am claiming to be you because I am you.

His name might not have been Blake Brize-Norton in my case…

I wanted your story because no one would listen to mine…

“All you ever hear about veela and half-veela is how attractive we are to men. No one ever asks if we actually want to be. Or whether men should take any of the responsibility over how they feel about us.”

13 Cleo James I could use that 389 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

April 14, 2020 9:20 AM

You Could Use a Friend Too by Lyssa Fitzgerald

Tears began to well up in Lyssa’s eyes but didn't fall. Tears of rage. The injustices that Cleo must be dealing with and have gone through this last year. She had read about the half-veela last year, but she assumed that if it had been Cleo, Parker would have told her. Or maybe he was trying to protect her in some misguided way. But the way Cleo stared off over her head, if Parker knew, Cleo hadn’t mentioned it too many other people. Lyssa held her tears in, setting her jaw and biting her lip as Cleo continued to talk. It seemed that Cleo hadn’t talked about this too many people and Lyssa didn't want to make Cleo feel self-conscious about it.

Lyssa wasn’t uninitiated into the world of harassment, but she’d not experienced the level that she knew Cleo had received both in person from that horrid boy and on the pages of papers last year. The tears burned in her eyes as Cleo mentioned that she put out a piece asking people why they pretended to be her. Lyssa could only imagine the responses she’d gotten back. The hate. Always so much hate when you don’t have to face the person. Lyssa winced at Cleo's last comment. Lyssa felt very much like she agreed, and wondered if Parker, who might not be able to take responsibility for his feelings, even understood the power of Cleo’s statement.

Lyssa closed her eyes and let out a deep breath she’d been holding onto.

“First off Cleo,” Lyssa began, trying to find the right words, “Thank you for telling me. And the fact you spoke up at all, and receive that… backlash,” Lyssa paused. She’d received her fair amount of hatred already due to her writing, but never to the extreme she’d seen last year around the articles on, what she now realized was, Cleo. “You are amazingly brave. I can’t imagine being in your shoes or what you have gone through. But please. Please realize, you are brave. If I had gone through something similar and could put on some of your armor, I know I would probably try to adopt some.”

Lyssa looked up to the older girl. “Secondly, before we start on working on your voice” Lyssa opened her arms, “Can I give you a hug?"

She didn’t move into Cleo’s space, but kept them open. If Cleo didn’t want a hug, Lyssa would just hug herself.

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald You Could Use a Friend Too 1421 0 5

Cleo James

April 15, 2020 3:58 AM

Yeah, that too by Cleo James

Cleo nodded awkwardly when Lyssa thanked her for telling her. It seemed an odd thing to be grateful for hearing, given that it was so horrible. But Lyssa probably meant for trusting her or whatever. Even though it was scarcely a secret. Anyway, Cleo wasn’t really sure what to say, so she didn’t.

Then there was the B word. Again. Not the negative one that the angry letter writers had used but the allegedly positive one. Brave. It was a word Cleo struggled with. Virginia had used it too. It sounded far too noble for a feeling that felt more like wanting to scream until you ripped a hole through the world, alternating with never wanting to step outside or draw attention to yourself ever again.

Still, there was the fact those letters made her feel like that but, instead of backing down, she was here with Lyssa, asking how to fight better. Maybe she could own being just a little bit brave. It seemed like she was going to have to. She had followers. And armour. And no idea what to do with either of them, or how she’d really got there, but you couldn’t just shrug those off and say ‘Sorry, there seems to have been some kind of mistake here.’ She would just have to fake it until they either realised she had no clue and abandoned her, or someone vaguely competent came to take charge. Because there had to be someone out there better at handling all of this than she was. She was here asking a fourteen year old how to make speeches, for crying out loud.

“Thanks,” she accepted the compliment, surprised at finding herself able to do so without feeling totally like a fraud.

Lyssa then offered her a hug. Cleo was not, by nature, a touchy person and never had been. But she could accept it. Especially when it was offered. Forewarned. From someone female.

“Sure,” she nodded, stepping forward and letting Lyssa hug her, and hugging back just a little. It felt nice. Not because the touching itself was really anything to enjoy but because it was nice to know that there was a solid human being here who had her back.

"So," she said, as they broke apart, "What do we do first?"

13 Cleo James Yeah, that too 389 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

April 15, 2020 9:07 AM

Forward Together by Lyssa Fitzgerald

Cleo came into the hug. Lyssa was a bit surprised if she was honest with herself. Lyssa had always enjoyed the joys of a good hug, but she knew that not everyone did. Knowing only a little of Cleo’s experience she could imagine it wasn’t easy to trust human contact. That made Lyssa feel a bit sad.

Lyssa, who was raised with brothers (one of whom was extremely volatile when younger to put it nicely), had always wanted an older sister. As she let go of the hug, she smiled, maybe Cleo could be like a big sister to her. Tess, JR’s girlfriend, seemed to be trying to make up for JR’s past sins and wanted to be Lyssa’s sister, but there was something about Tess that Lyssa couldn’t shake. Cleo though was nice through and through. She enjoyed being outside in the garden, and now wanted to find her voice. Or maybe, more accurately use her voice. Also, if anyone got in her way, Cleo could probably barbecue someone. Though Lyssa felt like Cleo wouldn’t be able to do that ever, unless her life or someone else’s was on the line. Yes. Lyssa felt comfortable around Cleo and thus felt more drawn to her as a big sister.

What do we do first? There was so much you could pass on. Lyssa and Cleo could probably sign up for classes there was so much, but that would take time. Lyssa could tell Cleo how she did things step by step, but Cleo and Lyssa seemed to communicate differently so that might not work. Lyssa took out her pen and began tapping it against her chin.

“Where to start… Where to start…” Lyssa generally just started. She threw everything up on the board and whittled it down from there. Sometimes literally a board (chalk or otherwise), but the library didn’t really have any of those. Lyssa could be the board though.

“Ok. I got it. Let’s just start with what comes to your head that you want to say. I’ll try to write it all down, and we can edit it from there. The first step is to get the ideas out of your head so you know what you are working with. Remember, it’s just the two of us and we’re in this together so just say what you want to say. Judgement free zone,” Lyssa said as she drew an imaginary circle around the two of them, “We’ll use those thoughts and words to craft a story worth hearing, maybe multiple stories. We’ll figure it out, but we just need it all out of your head.”

Lyssa sat down in the middle of the row preparing to take notes. She looked up at Cleo and realized that if the positions were reversed, Lyssa would be hesitant to open up for fear Cleo might share with someone.

“Also, I promise that this all stays between us. Nothing to Parker. Nothing to any professors or one else. Does this idea work for you?”

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald Forward Together 1421 0 5