June 1st - June 19th
It's almost summer! The last few weeks of school have come, and students will need to study hard for their final exams! Don't let up yet, or your grades won't be what you want them to. Of course, the weather is almost perfect and pristine, in attempts to lure students away from their studies.
So, I know this is set in the next time block, but I'm not going to be here this weekend so by the time this thread really gets going, it'll be the next time block. I hope this okay with everyone.
ic:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
As the carriage had brought him in sight of the school, Valentino had looked at it with an expression of awe. He had let out a low whistle, clearly impressed by the school. It was a castle after all, and the American boy had never seen one of those before. While the schools he'd gone to had been quite impressive, most were more modern than Hogwarts and didn't have the historical feel as this monstrous castle did. Not to mention it was amazingly far away from anything, from what Val could see as he glanced around. All he saw was the castle, a lake, and a lot green grass and trees. It was also March and the sky was dreary. It was clear to the Southern transfer that he definitely wasn't in Georgia anymore. Or even America, for that matter. He'd spent his past school year at Zephyr on the west coast and well, it was safe to say the school was nothing like this and the weather had even less similarities -- from what Val could see, there were traces of snow on the grass.
You definitely ain't in Kansas anymore, Valentino thought to himself as he walked through the many hallways of the school, glancing around as he walked. The walls were lined with torches, as well as ancient-looking portraits that stared at him curiously as he walked. His footsteps echoed through the hallway and Val definitely felt as though he had travelled back in time to the medieval age and was being led to some sort of dungeon where he would spend the rest of his days fighting the rats for food. Of course, he knew he wasn't going to the dungeons because one, he was going up and two, apparently the dungeons were already inhabited by another house. Slyth-something or other. Valentino hadn't really taken the time to listen, but at least he'd remembered that he had been placed in a house called Gryffindor. He hadn't really understood what this whole house ordeal was, but he was sure he'd get the hang of it eventually.
Eventually being the keyword.
But for now Val focused his attention elsewhere, namely on the attractive girl that was leading him to the Gryffindor common room. She had said she was the head of something... Val wasn't quite sure of what, but he was sure he could make up his own committees that she could be the head of. But while he didn't know what her position was, he did remember that she said her name was Cory Weiss and that she was in the same house as he was. Of course, while Val might have loved to try and push her buttons to see what he could get away with with her, he kind of got the feeling she wouldn't tolerate much. She'd already proven to Valentino that she wasn't thrilled with any smart comments and he'd decided to just keep his mouth shut until they reached the common room, unless Cory said something first.
"So, don't worry about your luggage or anything. It should already be in your room," the Head Girl said rather flatly as she walked up to a rather large portrait.
Val was about to reply when he saw her go up to the portrait and sort of looked at her, clearly confused. "Ain't that a--" he started to say, but before he could get his words out, the girl said something, the lady in the portrait nodded and the picture swung open, revealing an entrance. Now Valentino was even more confused and watched with a bit of amazement on his face as Cory stepped aside to let Val in as though it was perfectly natural for there to be a hidden doorway behind a picture. Val wanted to stand and gape a little more, but he sort of noticed that Cory was looking at him impatiently and with a look like she'd bite his head off if he took any longer. While Val liked to tread on the boundaries, he wasn't stupid and he knew when to haul ass, which was exactly what he did.
The Southern boy stepped through the entryway, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder and looked around. He gave another low whistle, impressed with the room. Now here was a room with some personality. But as he stood there, Val felt extremely out of place in his jeans, worn Converses, and his shirt. He felt like he should be wearing some sort of Napoleonic attire or something like that. The entire place radiated British sophistication and there he was, a boy from Georgia who was raised on a ranch. While it was a nice ranch and his family was very well to do, he still felt immensely out of place.
"So this is the Gryffindor Common Room. The boy's dormitories are that way," Cory pointed. "And don't even try sneaking into the girl's dormitories. It doesn't work. If you have any questions, ask anyone. Or if you must, find me." And with that, Cory disappeared out of the door again. Val watched her leave before shrugging and turning around. As he took another glance around the room, he noticed that there were already some people inside, going about their business. Some people looked at him curiously, but eventually when back to whatever they were doing.
Puck was lying haphazardly across her bed horizontally, with her legs hanging off of the edge. Her hands were resting languidly across her stomach, and her socked feet brushed gently against the floor. With a bit of effort, she managed to turn her head to the side to glance at the closed diary that was lying next to her head. She had just finished writing yet another angst filled entry. Merlin. She needed to get over her problems. If it wasn't boys it was parents and if it wasn't parents it was school. When had her troubled become so prominent? She used to be so carefree. So devil-may-care. What had happened? Puck sighed lightly. Even as she was thinking that she needed to get over her problems, she was laying here doing nothing but brooding about them. Puck's eyes traced patterns on the top of her bed for a moment before she let her eyes slip closed. Stop. Worrying. She had nearly gotten over her issue wit her parents, and was even beginning to feel a little better about the whole situation because she was the one who would get to name him. She had almost decided on Thorri, but there were a few other ones that were at the top of her baby name list.
At least I don't have any angsty music to get all caught up in. Puck thought, trying to be hopeful. Otherwise I'd never be able to get out of this gloom. The gloom she was referring to now was mostly about school. She was tired of every subject aside from Transfiguration. With every passing day, it was growing harder and harder to concentrate, which Puck knew would be her downfall. She had to start studying for her OWLs soon. In fact, a lot of her friends had already begun. Puck usually left things like this to the last minute, but she didn't want to accidentally screw up and end up stuck in terrible NEWT classes with absolutely no job opportunities. Why did something so monumental have to occur when she was still a kid? When Puck had turned sixteen in the previous year, she felt more mature. Different. Now, she had never felt so young. It seemed ridiculously unfair that her teachers require actual thought and devotion from her.
Puck lifted her hands, placing them behind her head to act as a pillow, as she continued brushing her socks rhythmically against the floor. Maybe she should do something to take her mind off of taking her mind off of things. That might work. Bullocks Puck thought sourly, pursing her lips. The more she wanted to take her mind off of school and how terrible she was beginning to feel about procrastinating, the more she thought about it. It was like thinking of a pink dragon. Once someone told you not to think of one, you did. Puck peered around the empty dormitory for a moment before sitting up, clenching her teeth at the sensation of the blood rushing in her head at her action. She picked up her diary and hopped off of the bed, walking over to her trunk before tossing it in.The next entry, she vowed, will be a happy one. One having nothing to do with boys, school, or parents. She sent her trunk a stern look, as though she were promising it that she wouldn't think of the three forbidden subjects, before turning on her heel.
It was a Monday, the worst of days in Puck's opinion, and so Puck had of course had classes and naturally was wearing her uniform. Normally, Puck would have made an attempt at struggling out of her uniform into something more comfortable, but Puck's mind had been completely locked on studying all afternoon. Of course she hadn't actually taken the initiative to do any studying, but she had been thinking about it. Maybe I'll go find Tucker, Puck thought as she made her way to the doorway, rubbing her arm as she went. Or I can bully a first year into playing exploding snaps with me! That thought managed to cheer her up a bit, so she bounced down the stairs of the common room, doing everything to keep her mind off of the three forbidden subjects.
As she entered the common room, Puck moved to take a seat on one of the couches beside a younger student in hopes that maybe they could play a game that she knew she would win. "If you have any questions, ask anyone. Or if you must, find me." Ah, Cory. Puck knew the older girl fairly well. A little better than most of the fifth years, but mostly through Tucker. And even then, it was only because Tucker was telling her about Cory. Even so, Cory had such a strong personality that it was hard to feel as though you didn't know her at least a little bit. Puck lifted her head to catch Cory's back leaving the common room. Her eyes skimmed over the stranger standing in the middle of the common room, looking as though he were at odds with himself. Puck hardly even noticed that he was completely out of place, before the quick glance over him flashed through her mind again.
Wait.. what Puck's head snapped back to look at the stranger, who now stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked as though he didn't belong at all... And he lacked the stuffy persona that a lot of British gents at the school seemed to grow into. After a quick look, Puck came to the shocking realization that she had absolutely no idea who this person was. She began to feel a little insulted, and rightfully so, because Puck was a busy body. She made it her business to know other people's business -- even if they themselves didn't know it. She knew almost every face at Hogwarts, at least the faces that mattered, and she was acquainted with a lot of the older years. But this person, who looked a bit older than her, didn't even ring a bell in her mind. To make things worse, he was attractive. How could Puck have completely ignored this person for five years? Puck pursed her lips curiously, and she halted -- teetering between stepping toward the couch and turning on her heel and approaching the stranger.
After half a second of thought, she walked over to the older boy, her brow creasing slightly. "Please tell me you're new and that I haven't just completely overlooked someone for the past five years." Puck hadn't heard anything about a transfer student. Hogwarts didn't get many of those. Most of this was because of the fact that not many people moved in the middle of the school year, and part of it was because Hogwarts seemed rather strict about letting students join in between years, much less mid-year. But, the fact that Puck hadn't even gotten wind of a transfer student made everything seem all the more worse. What was wrong with her? Why hadn't she heard a single whisper? Obviously, she was spending too much time brooding. She definitely needed to get over her issues.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
When the schools in America referred to common rooms, they usually were talking about the lounge area on the bottom floor of the dorm buildings, simply furnished with plain couches, coffee tables, and maybe a few pool and foosball tables. Aside from that though, there were rarely decorations or any historical value to the rooms. But this Gryffindor common room was amazing. It was like something right out of a history book or a museum and it was hard for the young Georgian not to keep staring. He didn’t want to look like he was a complete outsider, even though he was and he was sure everyone knew by now. Despite the size of the school, Valentino had the feeling everyone sort of at least knew the existence of one another, especially in their own house. After all, they lived with each other and ate with each other and took classes with one another. At Val’s old schools it had always been mixed. The meal times were different, the classes were different, and one usually only saw their roommate and perhaps the other people who lived on their floor. Other than that, the rest of the school was a mystery and if someone wanted to avoid someone, it could easily be done. But here, Val was beginning to feel like he wouldn’t be able to hide from anyone. Well, not unless there were more secret doorways behind portraits around the school. Val would definitely have to look into those and try to find some people who knew their way around the school.
Valentino finally dropped his arm so that his duffle bag was no long slung over his shoulder, but rather resting at his side. The bag wasn’t heavy, seeing as it was only filled with the things he had needed to pass the time while he was being transported to Hogwarts. It was mostly occupied with just some music, a book or two, and a jacket. The rest of his luggage he’d packed safely away in his suitcases that were, according to Cory, already in his dormitory. Wherever that was. But lucky for him, he’d been given a little piece of parchment that had all of his classes and their locations as well as the locations of his dorms and whatnot. He was also given the name of a student that was supposed to be sort of his guide around Hogwarts until he got the hang of things, but unfortunately, he wasn’t given a description of said person. But Valentino was sure that person had been informed of what he was supposed to be doing anyway. All he had to do was wait and see if that person came up to him and introduced himself. Val should probably have reminded himself of that name, but at the moment he was much to occupied with trying to absorb his surroundings. He could only imagine what his dorm was going to look like, especially since he was sure that he’d heard them say he was going to be sharing the room with more than one person. Strange.
Then, suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a girl appeared. Val blinked at her, not quite sure where she’d come from and what business she had. But he wasn’t quite upset, because she wasn’t that bad to look at. She didn’t have that powerful presence that Cory had, but she was pretty in her own way and she seemed much more approachable and less likely to tear off a limb. "Please tell me you're new and that I haven't just completely overlooked someone for the past five years."
“Ah’m new an’ ya haven’t just completely overlooked someone fer the past fah’v years,” Valentino replied without missing a beat. He’d always been sort of a smart aleck and a reply like that wasn’t all that rare for him. He’d been trying to bite his tongue back a little more lately, especially after coming to Great Britain, but sometimes he just couldn’t help himself. Besides, he’d done what she’d asked him to do and it was the truth. There was nothing wrong with that. But after a moment, Val couldn’t help but crack a small grin, which was usually as much as someone could get out of him. He just didn’t seem to smile all that much and hardly ever let a full on smile come across his face. One reason was because he just wasn’t that kind of “be happy” kind of guy, and another reason was because of the dead nerve endings in his lower left lip. While they gave him no speech impairments and really weren’t much of a bother at all, they did tend to make his mouth look a little crooked, especially when he smiled. So in the end, it was just easier for Val not to smile too much. “Ah’m Valentino, bah the way. Just Val, works, too.” Instead of offering a hand or anything, Val just sort of gave her a casual nod.
It was kind of strange for Val to have someone just walk up to him and start talking. Usually, when he started at a new school, there would always be an awkward week when he’d spend time by himself, trying to integrate himself. And, finally, after that week was over, someone would finally come over and try to be nice to him. But at Hogwarts, he’d hardly been at the school a few minutes and he’d already had the pleasure of meeting two attractive girls. That was definitely something to add to his pros and cons list of being in Great Britain. At the same time, Valentino supposed it was probably odd to have a transfer student at the school. Frankly, Val hadn’t wanted to go to Hogwarts, but his father had insisted and had pulled some strings to get him accepted into the British school. Fortunately for him, he’d been getting schooled over the summers and whatnot, so his skills were, hopefully, up to par. Vladimir Rasputin was also a fairly influential wizard, being the principal of one of the major magical schools in America.
“Well, this is quah’t an establishment,” Val said, glancing around the room again. He felt the sudden need to walk around and touch everything.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
In general, Puck was a rather curious girl. If there was something intriguing dangling in front of her, she immediately investigated. This probably accounted for why Puck knew most of the people in Hogwarts. She knew the people who were important: rising first years, veteran second years, a selective group of third years, a fistful of fourth years, all of the fifth years, a majority of the sixth years, and a few of the seventh years. If someone was worth knowing, then chances were, Puck knew them. Unless they were unfortunate enough to be sorted into Slytherin. Then, Puck rarely wanted anything to do with them. Recently she had been discovering that not all Slytherins were quite as twisted as she had previously thought. Fefe Shacklebolt, for example, was a Slytherin who Puck had decided was a valuable friend. She was a little loony, but Puck felt that she herself were hardly normal. Whatever that was.
Puck's curiosity was also probably the reason behind she had spent her early days at Hogwarts exploring every hall and passageway of the castle. Since it was an enchanted castle, rooms tended to move around almost as often as the stairs did. Walls pretended to be doors, and paintings often talked back to you if you tried to get them to move. Everything about Hogwarts had been mystifying for Puck, and when she had made an attempt to learn everything about it, she had failed miserably the next time everything changed. She soon came to cope with the fact that she would never completely know Hogwarts castle, but she took pride in knowing that she knew it better than most. In fact, Puck took pride in knowledge in general, even though she didn't strive that hard to gain it in the first place unless it involved people's histories. This was exactly why Puck was feeling so odd about not knowing the stranger who was standing in the middle of the common room.
“Ah’m new an’ ya haven’t just completely overlooked someone fer the past fah’v years,”
Puck's eyebrows shot up, both at the speed of his response and the accent that he spoke in. Now that was different. That wasn't exactly an accent that you heard every day. It was definitely foreign, but it didn't even sound remotely European. Puck had heard Russian, French, Italian, and even German accents before. What did that leave? South America and North America... "You're an American!" She exclaimed in surprise, a grin spreading across her face. An American... Usually viewed as pigs by most of the neighbors of the UK... But Puck found them particularly interesting. They were usually a lot bolder than British guys.. At least, that's how it always felt to Puck. Tucker was a prime example. He was born in America, and he was the only guy at the school who was even remotely close to being a playboy... Aside from Armand, Puck supposed. But an American!
Puck looked at Val as though he were some sort of creature behind a glass cage, wondering what would happen next. “Ah’m Valentino, bah the way. Just Val, works, too.”
He spoke again -- with that strange accent. Bah...? Did he just say.. bah? Puck's father had visited America dozens of times, and because of this he knew that for some reason, women favored British accents over those found in the UK. Puck had always puzzled over this, rolling her eyes at how ridiculous American girls were, but now she could see the appeal of something foreign. Puck had gotten used to the way Tucker spoke -- but he didn't sound anything like this person did. This guy sounded as though he were some sort of alien, and Puck was almost having a hard time understanding the words that were slipping out of his mouth. "Val it is then," Puck chirped pleasantly, folding her arms across her chest in response to his nod. "Robin Goodfellow at your service. I'm a fifth year. If you ever need a favor -- like if you ever want someone to sneak down to the kitchens and filch some food for you, then I'm the girl to come to." She paused for a moment before adding quickly, "But you had better call me Puck unless you want me to make a wild attempt at beating you up."
“Well, this is quah’t an establishment,”
Puck watched Val for a moment, "I'm sorry...?" She replied uncertainly, feeling quite strange over the fact that she could hardly understand what he was saying. "Quite an establishment you mean?" She cocked her head to the side in amusement, failing to force back an impish grin, "Yeah, I guess so. You get used to it though. After a few days I mean." Puck watched him curiously for a few moments before glancing around the common room, trying to remember the wonder it had held on her first day at Hogwarts. "Well, Welcome to Gryffindor!" Puck exclaimed, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, "It's the best house of them all you know. You really lucked out. The Slytherin house is a nest of vipers if I ever knew one. Hufflepuff is a good group but they're a bit soft. And Ravenclaw.. Well their noses are usually so far into their books they can't have any fun."
The fifth year paused for a moment before glancing around behind him. "So, what are you doing just standing here? Isn't Cory going to show you around, or is she going to leave it to a Prefect?" Probably a Prefect... Cory's probably busy... Since he's a guy that probably means Tucker... Tucker's going to blow when he sees that there's another American here!
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Valentino took a casual stance where he was, having the feeling that he wouldn’t be going anywhere too soon, not that he really minded. At least if he was standing there talking to someone he wasn’t looking awkward and he wasn’t wandering around the castle trying to figure out where the hell he was supposed to go because in most situations, the boy was too stubborn to ask anyone. But then again, maybe all males had a thing with asking for directions. Nonetheless, Val felt somewhat relaxed as he stood there and that became a little clearer as he dropped his duffle bag on the floor and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Just in the way he stood, it just made it all the more obvious that he wasn’t a native of Great Britain, for he seemed infinitely more low-key and relaxed. He had that perpetual slouch that somehow made him look all the better, giving him that sort of roguish appearance as he stood or walked around nonchalantly. And the look fit Valentino well and he, personally, knew it. While the nonchalant swagger came to him naturally, he had sort of come to expect it and was always moving in that same way.
And ever since coming to Great Britain, Val had noticed that it was because of that stance that he tended to stick out. While the Brits walked around with their backs straight and with that air of superiority, Val just sort of glided along as though he already owned the place. His style of clothes also seemed to make him stick out a bit more, with his American brands and all the accessories he liked to wear like his leather wristbands and dog tags. And then, of course, there was his Southern drawl that was sort of a gift and a curse. Some of the British girls found it intriguing, while others just found him hard to understand. Of course, when getting that reaction, Val liked to point out that he couldn’t exactly understand them that well either. To him, his accent was normal -- everyone else just sounded weird.
"You're an American!" the girl suddenly cried out, as though she’d just won the lottery. But as odd as the reaction was, Valentino couldn’t help but be amused by it. The girl definitely was a cute one, and excitable, too. He had a feeling he’d have a lot of fun with this one, if given the chance.
Val nodded, acknowledging the fact. “All the way from across the Atlantic, sweet’eart,” he replied with another roguish grin. He sort of noticed that the girl was looking at him funny though, and he supposed it was due to the Southern drawl. Yeah, it didn’t seem as though there were many Southerners around here. There were English, Scottish, Irish, maybe some French, Spanish, and German, but there were no Southern accents floating around. Val had heard some Americans while wandering around Scotland, but none of them had been Southern. He supposed he was probably one of the only Georgians running around Scotland aside from his mother who was probably speaking at some convention at that very moment. While Valentino did sometimes get sick of all the reactions he got when he first opened his mouth, he’d sort of gotten used to it. After all, he’d had to deal with this two times before. But he supposed it was a little different now that he was in a whole different country. They had their own variety of accents and slang over here and most of them probably didn’t understand a word Val was saying just as Val sometimes had no idea what a British person was saying to him.
"Robin Goodfellow at your service. I'm a fifth year. If you ever need a favor -- like if you ever want someone to sneak down to the kitchens and filch some food for you, then I'm the girl to come to." Filch. Now that was an interesting word choice. But more than that, Val was just trying to engrain the name into his mind so he wouldn’t end up forgetting him. He also noted that she’d said something about sneaking down to the kitchens, which meant she might know a bit about all those secret passageways around the castle. If he ended up getting close to this girl, he would have to remember to ask her for a real tour of the castle. "But you had better call me Puck unless you want me to make a wild attempt at beating you up."
Val gave a good-nature chuckle. “Whatever you want, pretty lady,” he replied smoothly, still standing nonchalantly in the middle of the common room. He didn’t even really think to move as he stood there, for Val had never been the type to think much about others. He had a good heart at times, but mostly he just liked to be independent and just look out for himself.
"I'm sorry...?" Puck asked, once Val had spoken again. It seemed the difficultly in communication was beginning. Val wondered whether it would get worse or better. He hoped it would be the latter, but one could never really tell. "Quite an establishment you mean?" Val mirrored Puck’s cute impish grin with a cocky smirk of his own. "Yeah, I guess so. You get used to it though. After a few days I mean." Valentino was sure it would take him more than just a few days to get used to this situation, especially with everyone speaking in British accents and the strange room situations and the houses and everything else he had to get into his brain. He would be surprised if he’d managed to understand this whole school by the end of the year. "Well, Welcome to Gryffindor!" Puck exclaimed, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, "It's the best house of them all you know. You really lucked out. The Slytherin house is a nest of vipers if I ever knew one. Hufflepuff is a good group but they're a bit soft. And Ravenclaw.. Well their noses are usually so far into their books they can't have any fun."
There was the whole house thing again. Val just didn’t understand, but he didn’t feel like asking about them either. It wasn’t as if they’d completely affect him in any way. He supposed it was just a sort of way to divide the school, just as his previous schools had been divided by rooming situations and dorm buildings. Of course, he had a feeling that these “houses” had much more meaning than just buildings. To him, it seemed like there were traits and whatnot behind the houses and there were probably elaborate histories on them, too, histories Val was sure he’d end up hearing eventually.
"So, what are you doing just standing here? Isn't Cory going to show you around, or is she going to leave it to a Prefect?"
And there was yet another British term Val didn’t exactly understand. “Well, I ain’t quah’t sure what a prefect is, but Ah’m supposed to be lookin’ fer someone named--“ Val took out a crumpled piece of paper and looked it over for a moment. “Tucker Pence. It says here he’s s’posed to show me the ropes and make sure Ah’m ‘accommodated’.” He looked from the paper back to Puck before shoving the piece of parchment back into the pocket of his jeans and gave a nonchalant shrug. Even if this Tucker Pence didn’t show up, Valentino was sure he’d figure out how to get around. Or maybe Puck would help him. He wouldn’t have minded that at all.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Merlin. There was just something about Americans, and about how they carried themselves. They were completely different from the homegrown UK boys. Tucker, who Puck often viewed affectionately as an adopted brit, was vastly different from the other students at Hogwarts. From what Puck remembered, he had been born in Omaha.. And he had moved when he was nine, so a lot of the qualities of a teenager American had been ground out of him. A lot of times he just seemed like an average bloke, unless he began swaggering in that way that only an American could swagger. Puck was interested to see if Val possessed the same sort of confident on-top-of-the-world walk, but as of yet the older boy had only stood still... Either way, he looked relaxed and comfortable, as though he already owned the place. This made Puck grin slightly, because she knew that look well enough. It reminded her a lot of Tucker, for some reason, and she was beginning to wonder how the two would get along. Puck hardly knew Val -- which she was growing more intent on changing by the second -- but she certainly knew Tucker...
“All the way from across the Atlantic, sweet’eart,”
There it was again! That garble that made Puck want to lean forward, half out of complete lack of understanding and half out of wanting to hear it again. Sweet-art? Puck asked herself silently, Sweet art... Sweetheart..? Puck nearly choked when she recognized the word, Sweetheart! All she could do was grin widely, feeling strangely mute as she stood in front of him. Puck was almost afraid that if she said something, the strange warbling would cease and she wouldn't be able to hear anymore of it. "Sweetheart." She murmured in amusement, shaking her head, "Since you're new and you're American I suppose I can let you get away with that one," She replied with a cheeky grin. Puck couldn't think of anyone she knew that went around calling people... Sweetheart, unless they were dating. Were Americans really that friendly? Friendly enough to start calling a stranger sweetheart? Puck had even heard that they kissed each other as a greeting -- which was more than a little bizarre. Puck was suddenly slightly afraid that Val would reach over and scoop up her lips in his in some sort of strange ritualistic hello. She leaned back slightly at the thought, mostly because kissing a stranger was weird. Unless of course, the kiss was on a dare, or part of a game... Or something of that nature.
“Whatever you want, pretty lady,”
Puck raised an eyebrow, trying not to grin back at him. Just from watching him, Puck began to notice small features of his. He possessed a rather devilish crooked smile, and his impish grin made her feel as though he were almost as ready to get into trouble as she was. Puck was growing rather pleased with the idea of another person to run around and cause trouble with... Puck never had any problems with friends from other houses, but there was just something in Gryffindors that she could identify with. The way they held themselves, the way they spoke... Even the ways they amused themselves had a sort of binding effect on the lot of them. "Right." She finally replied, "Well. Try not to forget my name and I'll try not to forget yours -- Val."
At her question of who was going to be showing him around, Val fished out a piece of parchment. “Well, I ain’t quah’t sure what a prefect is, but Ah’m supposed to be lookin’ fer someone named--“ Val took out a crumpled piece of paper and looked it over for a moment. “Tucker Pence. It says here he’s s’posed to show me the ropes and make sure Ah’m ‘accommodated’.”
He didn't know what a Prefect was?.... Merlin. This boy had a lot to learn. Puck had felt behind when she had begun as a first year because she hadn't been raised as a witch, but this boy was going to have a lot of catching up to do. Not necessarily in a magic sense, but in a culture sense. She shook her head slightly, feeling sorry for him. It must be a complete culture shock for him to come to a completely different part of the world. Well. At least they all spoke english. Mostly. "Tucker Pence." Puck began, "You'd make an interesting pair, I think. He's American too. The only other American at the school, I think. But he came over when he was young so. He's probably not as... Red blooded as you are." She grinned and winked at the words 'red blooded' to show she didn't mean any harm or insult by it. "But. Well. I'm not really sure where he is at the moment. But a Prefect is basically your worst enemy, unless they're someone like Tucker. Prefects are like miniature professors. The ultimate 'brown nosers' you might call them. They basically keep tabs on us and make sure we don't get into any trouble." Puck scratched the top of her head lightly, trying to think of a good way to explain what a Prefect did.... "You wanna watch out for them if you're running around after hours."
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Monday night meant Prefect duty for Dion. After classes had finished, he managed to change into a pair of his faded, black, tight jeans, and big, bulky, black, army-sort of boots. He was finally able to take off hit clock - he still felt rather odd wearing it.
Once he got into some more comfortable attire, he managed to finish some of his homework – now that he is finally caught up with all the homework he missed in the beginning of the year (finally). Now, as Dion loosened his golden and red Gryffindor tie from the upper half of the uniform he was still wearing, he looked at the clock on his bedside table and realize the 5th Year Gryffindor Prefect would return from his duty any time soon.
Dion jumped off his bed, grabbed his prefect badge from the bedside table drawer, pinned it to the vest of his uniform, grabbed a Discman and a big pair of old-stylie ear phones, grinning satisfyingly at the Ramones CD he had left inside the player. He put the massive earphones on, and, making sure his wand was still in the inside pocket of his coller shirt, and headed down to the Common Room until he waited for his upcoming shift to start.
When he entered the Common Room, he realized that a few students were hanging about, as usual, and caught a glimpse of cute little Puck goodfellow talking to a strange boy who Dion couldn’t find in his mind to remember meeting before. He walked toward the coach in front of the fireplace to learn against as he listened to Puck discussion with the Stranger.
He removed the earphones from his ears so that it was rested on his neck and bits of a Ramones beat could still be heard humming from it. “…Prefects are like miniature professors. The ultimate 'brown nosers' you might call them. They basically keep tabs on us and make sure we don't get into any trouble." Dion scratched the back of his once again close-shaven head and rubbed down to his quite currently, clean-shaven chin.
“You wanna watch out for them if you're running around after hours."
“Now were not all that bad are we?” Dion asked out loud to Puck, raising an eyebrow questioningly as he stand himself up from the coach and made his way to where Puck, and the presumable new student stood.
He rolled up the sleeves of his collar shirt, and his place in front of the fireplace’s warming flames had made it rather hot, so that part celtic designs of his tattoo revealed themselves on his left arm.
He held out his hand to the stranger, never forgetting his opening nature, especially with his prefect’s badge on. “I’m Dion, Roderick.” His took a strong hold of Val’s hand and a gleam of sincerity glowed in his eyes. His Irish tongue seemed to stick out a bit beside Val’s assuming Southern American one. Dion grinned, remembering his friend Tucker’s American roots.
Dion put his hands in the back pockets of his dark jeans and elbowed his younger, rebellious, fellow Gryffindor, “Haven’t seen Tuck or that 5th year prefect around, have you Puck?” he asked, knowing she’d probably know the 5th year Prefect’s name better than he could. He looked back at the Common Room’s door, but he caught no glimpse of anyone’s entrance.
“So ‘s Cory showing you around then?” Dion asked Val, raising another eyebrow at him, in a sort of way that indicated Dion knew Val would no doubt find Cory to be a nice catch and would very well much enjoy her company. He had missed Puck’s introduction to the question, so it’s repetition was unknown to him. He contemplated his question before quickly adding in continuation, “Then again, Cory’s probably don’ her shift now, you’ll probably getting Tuck,” he said, looking back over to Puck, who was no doubt in much excitement about another American like Tucker in the school. “He’s the 6th Year Prefect, I’m the 7th Year one, though, I’m “technically” in my 6th year, so I’ll probably be in a good lot of your classes.”
“Tucker came from America too, aye?” Dion commented, his eyebrows in a bit of a purse as he looked over Val, trying to pick him apart. Dion was probably looking intimidating when he was acting in this sort of manner, though, it wasn’t purposely.
The music coming from his earphones was still blasting and he turned the volume done a bit. “So whereabouts are you from, there? I’m from Dublin me self,” Dion came about to asking. He took a few steps back so that he was leaning against the coach again. He looked at Val and back to the Common Room door. He was anxious to get his shift over with, but he was also a bit curious about this few transfer student.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Moping was fun, Tucker had decided. He had been doing quite a bit of it ever since that fateful day that Cory had decided to break off their relationship, all over a stupid little tiff. So what if he had a fling with some muggle girl over the summer? So did she! Had a fling, at that. Not with a girl though. Tucker would have had much more reason to worry if her fling had been with another female. But that wasn't the point. Cordeila Nanette Weiss was a hypocrite and that was the story that Tucker was going to settle with for the rest of his life. He didn't want to date a hypocrite. He didn't want to have anything to do with her if she was going to sit there and condemn him for something that she had done as well. The circumstances could be ignored as well. Especially Tucker's own hypocrisy. Moping did not involve dwelling on your own faults and how you had messed up. Moping was being sad, and victimizing yourself. And Tucker was very good at that.
His homework was sprawled out in front of him, half completed. Since their break up, he had admittedly been doing more homework. He had spent more time in the Library researching, studying, and getting things done. It was incredible that he was acting like a Prefect for the first time since he had gotten the position. He had been to all his duties (on time, he would add) he had turned in every single piece of homework (again, on time) and he had kept to himself for the most part. Very atypical Tucker behavior. But he needed some time to bounce back. This was his time. Then he would bounce back full blow, and be ready to let go of Cory forever. He had his second chance with her. It hadn't worked out. It was the end of their relationship as far as Tucker knew. Whether he liked it or not, it was over.
But he wasn't over her. Not quite yet.
Letting out a sigh, he looked down at his open books, trying to get back to his work. He kept taking a few breaks to wallow and mope before turning the page to push on and try to get all of his work done. Why did it seem that nothing mattered anymore? This wasn't normal for Tucker. He loved to have fun, and here he was. Being bored. And miserable. And moody. He needed a party, and he needed to get completely pissed. Just once. Just to completely forget about how much he wanted to pack his bags and leave Hogwarts forever. Bryce King had done it. He had gotten a job and high tailed it out of there. Tucker could too then, right? No. He wasn't going to lower himself to the likes of a stupid Slytherin like Bryce. Bryce had a desk job. A boring job. Something that required absolutely no brains or skill. Tucker was definitely going to amount to more than that.
Throwing his quill aside, Tucker realized he wasn't in the mood to do homework anymore. All he wanted to do was wallow and mope. All his hair was going to fall out in a couple of hours if he sat there wasting away. Realizing this, Tucker ran a hand through his dirty blond locks, which he was quite fond of, and decided that he should break free, and go socialize. With who, who cared. There were bound to be people downstairs in the Common Room. There always were. Especially on a Monday night after a torrent of treacherous classes that made everyone want to flunk out and die. Monday's were hell. Complete and utter hell. But yes, Tucker needed to stop being so antisocial. He wasn't going to let Cory force him to die from misery. He wasn't going to let Cory make him never want to date another girl again. Absolutely not! Tucker loved girls! With every fiber of his being. It was time for him to find another one.
He exited his dorm room and trotted down the stairs, forcing a positive demeanor across his face. No one wanted to talk to a sour puss. “Tucker came from America too, aye?” Tucker stopped in his tracks before he was all the way down the stairs, listening to the voices. He was the topic of discussion, eh? Man of the hour. An arrogant grin came across Tucker's face, but all in vain when he recognized the voice as being Dion's. Why would Dion mentioned Tucker's American heritage?
Then it hit him. "Bloody hell!" Tucker murmured. He remembered now. There was a new transfer student coming from America. A sixth year boy like Tucker. And Tucker was supposed to show the punk around and make sure he knew what was going on. Rushing down the rest of the steps, Tucker tried to compose himself before entering the Common Room.
"Did I hear my name?" Tucker asked with a grin, nudging Dion as he entered the circle on conversation. Let's see. Dion, Puck, and New Boy. Wasn't Puck being Miss Friendly, playing part of New Boy's welcoming crew. "But yeah, I'm American. Land of the free and home of the brave," Tucker said with a cheeky sort of smile. No more wallowing for him. "So I'm guessing you're the new kid, just in from America. The name's Tucker," Tucker said, holding his hand out to Val. Might as well SEEM cordial. Even if Tucker could care less about Valentino Rasputin getting comfortably intermingled with the Hogwarts way of life.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Lianne hummed softly to herself as she put the finishing touches on an essay for one of her classes. Though it was one of the most boring topics imaginable, she was in utter ecstasy, and had been ever since the Valentine’s Day Ball. The song she was recalling was the one that had played as she left the Great Hall and made her way to the courtyard, not knowing what she would get into once she arrived.
She’d met up with Devon Singer there, completely by chance, and seeing him again had only confirmed in her mind the fact that she did actually have a crush on him. A younger student, at that! It wasn’t proper, really, she supposed … she was seventeen and he … he was fifteen, or perhaps just barely sixteen. They hadn’t exactly exchanged birthdates yet.
The stranger matter at hand, though, was that he actually liked her in return, and had TOLD her. On Valentine’s Day, no less. And really, how could it be any more romantic than that? Lianne smiled as she recalled their slight awkwardness after their confessions, and the dance that had come afterwards … they had had no music, no band, no extravagant decorations, but they hadn’t needed them. They had danced to their own tune.
Idly, she began to sketch on a spare bit of a parchment as she rested her head on her hand. She was no great artist, unlike some in Hogwarts, but she could hold her own. Not that she ever really showed people her sketches. They weren’t marvellous enough for all that. She was good at enough other things that she didn’t feel a need to add another talent to the mix. It wasn’t until she lifted her quill from the parchment that she realized that, somewhere along the line, she’d gone from sketching a sheep to sketching … Devon.
He had completely taken over her thoughts, and things had barely begun with them! Shaking her head, Lianne put her writing utensils and the pieces of parchment away and walked out of her dormitory and down the stairs into the common room. If she was lucky, one of her friends might be there, and she could pass some time with them. She supposed that she could always seek out Devon, too, but that seemed too …
Well, anyway, she could hear at least one friendly voice down there, among several others. Smiling, Lianne jumped the last three steps and swept into the common room. Eying the small gathering, Lianne walked up behind Puck and tugged a lock of her hair playfully. “Is this an exclusive party, or can anyone join in?” Lianne said to her best friend, returning her hands to the pockets of her flared blue jeans. Surveying the rest of those who were there, she cocked her head slightly as Tucker introduced himself to the new student.
"So I'm guessing you're the new kid, just in from America. The name's Tucker,"
Well, that explained slightly more than it didn’t. This was an interesting turn of events.
OOC: Hope you guys don’t mind me jumping in. O.o I’m just not in any ‘group’ threads right now, and Lianne can off-set the two male prefects.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Born and raised in Georgia, Valentino could be considered a thick-blooded Southerner. It was true that he didn’t really have any American heritage (his ancestry mostly consisted of Italian with some Russian thrown in the mix), but he seemed to have more pride in being from the South than pride in being Italian or Russian. And it was clear that he had more of the traits of a Southerner than and Italian person. His family was quite Southern after all, and thus Val had been raised in that kind of environment, rather than any ethnic situation. In fact, he didn’t speak any Italian or Russian (aside from the names of some ethnic dishes) and it could be said that Val was more Southern than anything else. The way he spoke and the way he acted was pure Southerner, which probably explained why he often gave little pet names to people, especially girls. Calling them ‘sweetheart’ or ‘pretty lady’ or even things like ‘Freckles’ or ‘Legs’ just came to him naturally and most of the time he hardly realized he was doing it. But whilst talking to Puck, he was abundantly aware of what he was doing, because he was, in a way, attempting to use his “Southern charm” to try and draw the girl in. Val had only known her for a few minutes now, but he was definitely getting some interesting vibes from her and she seemed like the kind of person who was worth investigating. He was curious about Puck to say the least and the easiest way to get to know someone was to befriend them in some way shape or form.
"Tucker Pence." Puck began, "You'd make an interesting pair, I think. He's American too. The only other American at the school, I think. But he came over when he was young so. He's probably not as... Red blooded as you are." She grinned and winked at the words and Val casually grinned in response. While he may have gotten insulted in another occasion, the way Puck said it made him somewhat okay with it. Besides, he’d learned to deal with people mocking him because he was different and he no longer cared too much. Of course, that wouldn’t stop him from causing some damage if someone really was looking for a fight. "But. Well. I'm not really sure where he is at the moment. But a Prefect is basically your worst enemy, unless they're someone like Tucker. Prefects are like miniature professors. The ultimate 'brown nosers' you might call them. They basically keep tabs on us and make sure we don't get into any trouble." Well, that made Valentino not like these ‘prefects’ already. But if Puck was right, at least this Tucker Pence would be halfway decent. If not, no matter. Val would figure out a way to get rid of the little nuisance and maybe he’d be able to hang out with Puck instead. "You wanna watch out for them if you're running around after hours." Now there was a novel idea. Wandering around after hours… Yes, Val was definitely in for a little sneaking around the castle. While he wasn’t the type of person to intentionally cause trouble, risky things like that did often catch his attention.
But before Val could inquire as to when they could, perhaps, do a little sneaking around themselves, another person joined their little party. Unfortunately, this person was not another lovely female like Puck, but rather a tough-looking male that appeared a bit older than Val and Puck. For some reason, Val immediately got a sense of having to watch where he stepped and didn’t feel quite as comfortable as he did with only Puck around. But the American kept a cool demeanor as this new person entered into the conversation, clearly having some sort of friendly relationship with Puck. Val just hoped that that was it. “Now were not all that bad are we?” the boy said, and Valentino had to pause for a moment to think about the accent before identifying it as not British or Scottish. It took him another moment to decide that it was probably Irish, because there really weren’t any other possibilities, aside from something non-English. “I’m Dion, Roderick,” the Irishman said, offering a strong handshake to Val.
“Val Rasputin,” Valentino replied, firmly returning the handshake before replacing his hand in the pockets of his jeans. The guy seemed nice enough, though Val was never one to like ‘nice guys.’ He himself wasn’t much of a nice guy and in return he thought nice guys somewhat spineless and generally didn’t like them. While he had no problem with people being nice to each other, he had a tendency to believe no one could actually like every single person they’d ever met. That simply wasn’t possible and Val thought that being super nice to someone you absolutely hated was just pointless and stupid. While Val himself would act civil, he was never one to smile and be perfectly wonderful to a person who’d wronged him in any way.
Upon being asked as to where he was from, Val replied, “Ah’m from Georgia. But Ah guess you could just refer to is as ‘the South’,” he replied with a nonchalant smirk. He supposed that should clear up some confusion as to the origins of his rather odd accent.
But, once again, before he could get much out, another person joined in, and yet another male as well. This one was rather handsome and had that sort of cocky aura about him. Valentino wasn’t quite sure whether or not he liked that, but supposed he could reserve his judgment for the moment. "Did I hear my name?" The boy said, and it didn’t take too much brainpower for Val to deduce that this boy was none other than Tucker Pence. Well, he’d definitely be able to form his judgment on this boy, for he had a feeling he’d be spending a lot of time with Tucker Pence. "But yeah, I'm American. Land of the free and home of the brave," Tucker said with a cheeky sort of smile. Val just gave sort of a nod. He wasn’t quite one for cheeky grins. Valentino really, really didn’t do cheeky. "So I'm guessing you're the new kid, just in from America. The name's Tucker."
Although Val didn’t appreciate being called a kid, he tried not to get too worked up about it. He had to at least make a decent impression and act somewhat civil toward his tour guide for the next few days. He took the proffered hand politely. “Val,” the Southerner replied, his greetings seeming to get shorter and shorter with every new person. But he couldn’t help it. Valentino, while enjoying company, wasn’t the most social of people and didn’t quite like to entertain people. Just as that thought entered his mind though, yet another person seemed to want in on the action. “Well, ain’t this turning into quite the get-together,” Val said with a little smirk as he glanced around at the small group that had accumulated. It was like a giant welcoming committee just for him. How nice. “And Ah thought us Southerners were supposed to be the most hospitable.”
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
In a matter of minutes, Puck decided that she was well on the way to liking Val. He was attractive, and he seemed to be a decent sort of fellow. Judging from the look in his eyes and the grin on his face, he had gotten into a fair amount of mischief in the past, which meant he was another person that she could run around with breaking the rules. There was nothing wrong with having a large group of friends that you made mischief with, especially because Puck was still feeling awkward around Ashton. This put a bit of a damper on things whenever she hung out with Devon, Ashton, and Alex. Especially Devon and Ashton. As long as she put it from her mind, she was fine, but then something would happen or someone would say something and she'd remember that she and Ashton had made an attempt at being romantic. There was nothing more uncomfortable than being around someone who you had had a failed relationship with. Puck suddenly understood how Tucker must have felt all those times that things hadn't worked out with other girls. At least Damien had moved far far away so she didn't ever have to see him again and remember the embarrassment of knowing that things wouldn't work out. Where was he now? Entertaining flocks of women? Probably. Puck tried not to think about things like that.
Especially when she should be thinking about the southerner in front of her. She held her hands behind her back for a moment, waiting for Val's take on Prefects. He didn't look too pleased with the idea of them, and Puck wondered if they had anything like Prefects in the schools in America... Perhaps teachers did all of the work. That would have been exciting. No Prefects meant less eyes and ears in the castle waiting for you to mess up on a prank. A prank.. Puck hadn't done one of those in quite some time. For some reason, her life had been so full of ridiculous teenage angst that she hadn't gotten to have fun in a while. Fefe and Ashton hadn't even let her in on the prank with the love potions, despite the fact that she had been born for things like that. Hell, she had even been named for things like that! That was exactly what Shakespeare's hobgoblin had been doing in Midsummer Night's Dream!
“Now were not all that bad are we?”
"Dion!" Puck exclaimed with a laugh of surprise, "Where do you get off sneaking up on me like that? You're supposed to be a nice guy!" She nudged him playfully with her elbow before folding her arms across her chest once more. Dion was another Prefect that Puck didn't mind spending time around. He understood troublemaking to a certain extent, and Puck found herself enjoying conversations with him even though there was a little bit of an age gap between them. “I’m Dion, Roderick,” Puck kept quiet as the two introduced themselves, mentally twiddling her thumbs. She enjoyed having the newcomer all to herself, but that was mostly because she was the type to enjoy attention. Besides. If their conversation were one on one, Puck could get away with faking an understanding of the words that were slipping out of Val's mouth.
“Ah’m from Georgia. But Ah guess you could just refer to is as ‘the South’,”
The South. For some reason it sounded strangely mysterious and dark. The south. Puck's history lessons had been spent learning about the history of the UK. Her teachers had hardly spent their time on America, so Puck knew very little about the continent. She had no idea that places like Georgia were thought of as hicksvilles, or that the stereotype said that they were rednecked trailer trash that worked on farms and were uneducated in general. The South. Anticipation filled up in Puck's chest when she repeated the words over in her mind. It sounded taboo. Just like 'The East' called up fantastical and romanticized images of caravans and camels and oasises, 'The South' began to become more and more vivid in Puck's mind as an area teeming with people who spoke just like Val, who were equally as dark and mysterious. "Mm.." She replied, nodding slowly in response.
"Did I hear my name?" Puck's face lit up at the sound of Tucker's voice. Finally! He could meet the American! "But yeah, I'm American. Land of the free and home of the brave," Puck's eyes turned to Val as Tucker spoke, looking for some sort of reaction. Did he seem unimpressed? "So I'm guessing you're the new kid, just in from America. The name's Tucker." Puck smiled, feeling strangely proud of Tucker for introducing himself so well. They absolutely had to get along well after an introduction like that!... But then why did Puck feel as though they had to get along? They could hate each other, and she shouldn't have cared... Except Puck was beginning to feel as though she wanted Tucker to like Val, because she liked Val. If Tucker didn't like him, then every time she hung out with Val, Puck could imagine getting warning glances from the Prefect.
When Lianne joined the group, Puck grinned slightly. This was getting to be a rather large, and social scene. Others were beginning to turn and look at the group as it grew. "Hey Lianne!" Puck greeted, "This is the new guy--he's American." “Well, ain’t this turning into quite the get-together,” Puck's eyes flitted between the members of the group silently. Wow. This was turning into one heck of a powow. “And Ah thought us Southerners were supposed to be the most hospitable.”
"Don't be mistaken by our friendly outward appearances. We're just a bunch of humbugs when it comes down to it." Puck chirped in reply, hands held behind her back. She stepped so that she was standing beside Val, "Be on your guard friend," She murmured in a fake whisper, "Every last one of them is a Prefect, and I believe they’re making a move to surround us.”
"Dion!" Puck exclaimed with a laugh of surprise, "Where do you get off sneaking up on me like that? You're supposed to be a nice guy!"
“I always gotta keep an eye on you, don’t I Miss Goodfellow?” Dion contorted, nudging Puck back playfully, before screwing up this face in a “whatever” expression, eyes lifting in the centre of his face accordingly “Pft. And me? A nice guy? Come on…your reefing my dignity.” he grinned at the girl in a way that verified his joking around and brought his attention back to the new student.
“Val Rasputin,” Dion nodded his head, his eyes already scanning over Val’s expressions and body language to try to figure out his personality. Dion tended to do that. He’d make his friendly greeting to a person, and the rest was judging and overlooking the person – try to pick them apart and figure them out. But he hadn’t caught anything from Val quite yet, so he continued on with simple conversation.
“Ah’m from Georgia. But Ah guess you could just refer to is as ‘the South’,” Dion nodded again. He had never really thought too much about the United States, being a sort of proud Irishman, but he had to admit he would like to go there sometime, given all the good things Tucker has told him about it.
"Did I hear my name?" Dion gave a wide grin and nodded in greeting at Tucker as he entered into the circling group. Somehow, seeing a new transfer student sort of reminded Dion of when he had just returned from Juvey. The school had had a good change in the time he was gone, and returning to his peers and friends had been a strange thing for him at first. But now, everything was back to normal, and Dion felt gratitude towards Tucker for sticking with him. Dion had a good number of girl friends, but Tucker was probably Dion’s only really close guy friend. He had welcomed Dion back with open arms and Dion really did appreciate having a friend like him.
“But yeah, I'm American. Land of the free and home of the brave," Tucker said with a cheeky sort of smile. Dion leaned against the coach, and pretended to be sort of disinterested in the American praise – and he sort of was - though he was listening and watching from the corner of his eye. He watched Val nod. "So I'm guessing you're the new kid, just in from America. The name's Tucker." Just then, another person had joined the room, and Dion noticed Lianne walk up to Puck and say something to her, he gave her a grin in greeting. “Val,” the American replied, and Dion couldn’t help noticing his enthusiasm for thie greeting party declining by the second.
“Well, ain’t this turning into quite the get-together, and Ah thought us Southerners were supposed to be the most hospitable.” Dion had never heard of Southerners being hospitable, but compared to a bunch of drinking Irishmen, he suppose they would be. But his thoughts were in a different place now. The more he heard from Val, body language and verbal, the more he started making a small picture of his. So far, it seemed that Val wasn’t the absolute friendliness of guys – but who really said anyone needed to be absolutely friendly to anybody.
Dion was in introductions, especially ever since his reputation got but down the drain from Juvey, because he wanted to make a good impression – that he wasn’t that rebellious, hard ass he use to be. And it was true, he use to be a sort of hard ass. He use to be a lot less friendlier than he was now, a lot more personal, defiantly more rebellious, bold, stubborn, ignorant, and smug. Of course, many of the good qualities he possesses now were present then too, but they seemed to have developed from Juvey. He had become a much friendlier person at that, and much, much more sensitive and caring. He had always been a good friend in the past, but more of the “lets-have-some-fun” sort of type – and only to close friends at that. But that “lets-have-some-fun” sort of thing sometimes consisted, especially with his Dublin muggle friends, of the more illegal sort, like fighting, damaging property, booze, and drugs. His friendship qualities had matured much more since then, as well as his appetite for that kind of rebellious attention, and he was a much better listener and much more caring – though a bit over-protective of his lady friends at times.
But one thing had struck him when he attempted at interpreting Val. In some way or another, because Dion had knew just about nothing about the guy to make too many judgments, Val reminded Dion of the kind of guy he use to be. He wondered, at that, what kind of trouble Val would get into at Hogwarts if he indeed turned out to be a lot like Dion was picturing him. Dion wasn’t looking at this from a prefect’s perspective, though he probably should, but rather in a concern perspective. He didn’t want some new kid going around and causing trouble and disturbance, and hurt whoever he wanted. Of course, there was that sensitive side of Dion that was creeping up again that also wanted to keep Val, himself, from trouble and ending up where Dion ended up.
But he was thinking way too far ahead of himself right now. His CD had finished, so no more music mumbled from his earphones, and Dion decided to put his concerning thoughts in the sack for the time being, until he figured out who this Val guy was. Dion had tried to pick people apart like that in his trouble-making stage too. His readings of people, then, had been to used to his advantage, so he was prepared for whatever might get thrown at him and know how to tick a guy off. Now, he read people for others' advantages. He read those who were his friends to their advantage, to make sure they were carefree and satisfied, and he read strangers to make sure that his friends wouldn’t get hurt.
"Don't be mistaken by our friendly outward appearances. We're just a bunch of humbugs when it comes down to it." Puck chirped in reply, hands held behind her back. Dion smiled at Puck’s cute little comment (he always seemed to think everything Puck said was dote). She stepped so that she was standing beside Val, "Be on your guard friend," She murmured in a fake whisper, "Every last one of them is a Prefect, and I believe they’re making a move to surround us.”
Dion laughed and looked at Lianne and Tucker. His presence was in a much more mellow mood now then before, and he was observing much more than participating in a witty reply to Puck. He stood up from up against the coach, and looked at the clock in the common room. “Well, I should probably get a move on. I don’t bloody hell know where that 5th year prefect is…” Dion stopped himself from saying anything too bold like, ‘I’ll kick his arse for making me wait’ because that would just ruin his motive to appear more pleasant, and because there were ladies in the room.
Instead, he looked at Tucker and Val, “Are you guys going to be heading out some sort of tour now? Cause if you are, I may as well tag along. Not like there’s too much else you can do on Prefect duty.”
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
When the new boy spoke, it was with a Southern twang that wasn’t entirely familiar to Lianne. It would mean he was from the United States, wouldn’t it? That was generally where you heard that kind of talk … she was sure that to most people, it sounded quaint. Adorable, even. But for some reason, it was annoying her; there was an air of arrogance in the way he commented on the growing group, and it didn’t suit her at all.
"Hey Lianne!" Puck greeted, "This is the new guy--he's American."
Lianne raised an eyebrow; her assumption had been correct. Not that it had been a hard one to make. “You’ve come a long way,” Lianne said simply, watching him; in fact, one might say that she was studying him. Why hadn’t she been told about his upcoming arrival? She was a sixth year prefect, after all, and in his house, apparently. Already, she could just feel the cockiness emenating from him. No doubt he was one of those charming lads who felt he was above authority; she only hoped that he wouldn’t get in trouble on her watch. Tucker or Dion could deal with him better than she could, she was sure.
"Don't be mistaken by our friendly outward appearances. We're just a bunch of humbugs when it comes down to it." Speak for yourself, Lianne wanted to say, but bit her tongue as her friend circled around behind Val and said in a stage-whisper, "Be on your guard friend. Every last one of them is a Prefect, and I believe they’re making a move to surround us.”
“Would we do that to a new student?” Lianne shook her head, allowing a small smile to creep onto her face as she looked to Dion, her only other real ally in the group. She and Tucker weren’t exactly tight, though they had been able to resolve the worst of their differences … she hoped. “Honestly, they come up with worse rumours every year. Besides, if we mean to surround you, you won’t realize it until it’s too late.” With a wink, Lianne crossed her arms and watched the rest of this play out.
“Are you guys going to be heading out some sort of tour now? Cause if you are, I may as well tag along. Not like there’s too much else you can do on Prefect duty.”
Perfect. If they were planning to leave, then Lianne could pull Puck aside and impart some important information on her before anyone else told her. Though news hadn’t exactly circulated the castle yet of the budding relationship between Lianne and Devon, there were definitely some gossips around the school that wouldn’t mind stirring up trouble. Besides, Puck was one of Devon’s friends, and she could tell Lianne if he was mostly sane or not … or if she was!
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Upon Tucker's greeting, New Kid seemed to look either bored or disinterested. This picked at Tucker's ego slightly, and made him narrow his eyes in regard at New Kid, trying to pick him apart. A rough customer, eh? Thought he was "too good" for the crowd of Gryffindor students that had taken enough time out of their busy and scheduled lives (Moping was a huge priority for Tucker, he wasn't going to lie.) did he? Well maybe he would appreciate Cory's presence more. Someone who would brush you off when you wanted to be around them the most, make you jump through fiery hoops just to gain their trust, and then call you a hypocrite and dump you. And then that's the end of it all. What a fantastic life Tucker was leading. As this train of thought crashed into his mind, his growing dislike toward New Kid's "too good for you" aura vanished, and he suddenly had the urge to trudge back up the stairs and lock himself in his dormitory again.
“Val,” the boy replied, shaking Tucker's hand. But wait, what was that he had heard in Val's (actually he liked referring to him as New Kid better) voice? It was difficult to tell from a monosyllabic word like "Val" but there was definitely an interesting kind of accent in New Kid's voice. “Well, ain’t this turning into quite the get-together,” Val said with a smirk. That was it! Tucker's face split into a grin that he tried to conceal. This boy was from the Dirty South. Alabama? Nah, Mississippi. Couldn't be Louisiana. They had an accent of their own. Not Florida. Somehow they escaped the southern-ness of the United States. Probably because of intense tourism that flooded through every single day of the year. Georgia was an option too. But personally, Tucker liked the idea of New Kid from Alabama. He would rest with that. For his own happiness. “And Ah thought us Southerners were supposed to be the most hospitable.”
Tucker wanted to laugh. Southerners. Hospitable. From what Tucker knew, they all sat on their porches in rocking chairs drinking beer and spitting at their neighbors. Okay, so that was the dirty, DIRTY south. The more wealthy and social south owned plantations and welled in their amazing southern arrogance. In all honesty, Tucker didn't have much room to criticize. He was, after all, from Nebraska. But see, Nebraska was a bread basket colony. Not a part of the south. It didn't excuse them from the accents though. Having moved to Britain at age nine, Tucker had lost his Nebraskan accent by maybe his second year, and even by the time he had entered Hogwarts, it had been very, very slight. Just a few "ain't"s and "don't got"s mixed in with his sentences. If Tucker ever had the desire to switch back, however, it would have been more than easy to do so.
"Don't be mistaken by our friendly outward appearances. We're just a bunch of humbugs when it comes down to it." Puck chirped. She seemed to be in a rather good mood that day: Cheerful, bouncy, chirping. He would confess that he hadn't seen Puck chirp in quite a long time. Tucker raised a suspicious eye at Puck, but quickly looked away. Best be on his guard where this New Kid was concerned."Be on your guard friend," She murmured in a fake whisper, "Every last one of them is a Prefect, and I believe they're making a move to surround us." At this, Tucker had to laugh. Yes, they were surrounding them. Blocking them in! Neither of the were going to make it out alive! When Tucker said three, they were going to attack. One...two...
“Would we do that to a new student?” Lianne asked, shaking her head with a small smile. Bugger. Way to ruin their evil plot. “Honestly, they come up with worse rumors every year. Besides, if we mean to surround you, you won’t realize it until it’s too late.” Well okay, so she redeemed herself and all of the other Prefects. They could attack if they wanted to. They just had to make sure people weren't suspecting it. This could actually turn out to be quite fun. A cult of Prefects. Not that Lianne would take a part in it. Merlin knows she was far too straight edge and liked to abide by rules. Tucker followed the rules. Most of the time.
"Well, I should probably get a move on. I don’t bloody hell know where that 5th year prefect is……” Dion said, seeming slightly aggravated. “Are you guys going to be heading out some sort of tour now? Cause if you are, I may as well tag along. Not like there’s too much else you can do on Prefect duty.”
A tour? Oh. Right. New Kid probably wanted to know how to get to all of his classes and which ways to not take. How quaint. Really, Tucker could take advantage of this situation. Watch New Kid trip on the trick stair or lead him into forbidden corridors... It was all too tempting to bring his southern arrogance down a notch. "I'm all for it if...Val wants to," Tucker said, almost tripping up to call him New Kid.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Val observed Dion and Puck react to one another with mild interest. Not having been in one school for longer than a few years and thus didn’t really have anyone he could consider a long-time friend. He’d never had any best friends or anything of the sort and thus watching friends interact was always curious to the Southerner. He was much to arrogant to admit that he was jealous of them, but deep down, he was. Val knew that he would never be able to have a relationship with another person in the way many people at Hogwarts did. They’d all probably known most of their peers since their first year at school and even if someone wasn’t exactly close to someone, they still shared a bond through being at the same school for so long and being in the same classes and the same dorms. All the people were familiar and to many of these students, Hogwarts was probably much like home to them. Valentino, on the other hand, had difficulty referring to school as home and now that he was in Britain, his real home was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It wasn’t a distance one could cover very easily and Val knew it. And it seemed with every step he took, it became even clearer that he wasn’t in American anymore, but rather a strange country that he’d only been in for a few days. While the British did speak English, the similarities basically stopped there. And sometimes it was hard to even say that the British and Americans spoke the same language, what with the different accents and slang.
Of course, Valentino was by no means homesick. He didn’t mind being away from home, he just wished his father hadn’t shipped him off to an entirely different country. Val sort of thought it a little much, even for his father. But then again, Vladimir was never one to do things half-assed and making sure his son had the proper education was always very important to him. Val, on the other hand, could have cared less where he went to school and what he learned as long as the credentials were enough for him to become a dragon keeper. That was all he really wanted.
“You’ve come a long way,” the newcomer, Lianne, Puck had called her, said to him. Unlike with Puck, Val detected a hint of disinterest in her voice and attitude. He glanced her, trying to assess the situation just as Lianne was studying him. Val had a feeling this Lianne wasn’t getting the best impression of him, but the Southerner really didn’t mind all that much. He was never one to wish that everyone liked him. A few enemies were healthy things to have and besides, this Lianne came across as somewhat of a do-gooder to Val, and the boy really didn’t care for people like that. While Valentino wasn’t one to blatantly break rules, he did like to bend them a bit and was never one to strictly interpret rules. He always saw them as more like guidelines anyway.
“That Ah have,” Valentino replied, dark eyes focused steadily on Lianne as if to show her that he wasn’t the least bit intimidated by her. The newly made Gryffindor wasn’t about to be pushed around by some goody-goody in his first few hours at this new school. These were crucial moments of his new school career and Val had to make the right impression. He didn’t have to make a good one, per se, but he needed to make an impression that was accurate. He needed people to know who he was and what kind of person he was so as not to mislead anyone. Despite his roguish nature, Val did have a sense of honesty about him and he wasn’t going to put on a façade for anyone’s sake. Besides, if he came across as a nice guy now, everyone would think him a nice guy and then he’d have to keep it up for the rest of the year and perhaps more. It was better to have people hate him for who he was than like him for being who they wanted him to be. Val wasn’t the kind of boy who played dead for anyone.
"Don't be mistaken by our friendly outward appearances. We're just a bunch of humbugs when it comes down to it," Puck then chirped, drawing Val’s attention away from Lianne back to the younger girl. He grinned as she took a step so as to position herself beside him. Well, this was nice. "Be on your guard friend," She murmured in a fake whisper, "Every last one of them is a Prefect, and I believe they’re making a move to surround us.”
Val took a hand out of his pockets and placed it lightly on Puck’s shoulder as he leaned toward her to return the fake whispering. He was quite aware of what he was doing as he did it, and truth be told, he was hoping for some kind of reaction. From the moment he’d started noticing girls, Val had been quite aware of the effect he had on some girls. Most girls. “Well, then maybe we ought’a make a run fer’it,” Valentino fake whispered back. “Ah’ll make a distraction an’ you fah’nd the fastest way ta’ hah-tail it out’a here.” He winked at Puck before slipping his hand off of her shoulder. He didn’t want to make his intentions to obvious to anyone, besides, it wouldn’t exactly be great if Puck already had a guy, in which case Val’s actions would be completely in vain. Well, perhaps not completely, but his physical health could perhaps be in danger if indeed Puck was attached. But Val supposed he had time to dig up some information. He was going to be here for another several months, after all.
“Would we do that to a new student?” Lianne then spoke up. Of course the prefect would try and keep her name clean. Hah. “Honestly, they come up with worse rumours every year. Besides, if we mean to surround you, you won’t realize it until it’s too late.”
Ah’d beg to differ, Legs, Valentino thought to himself. He had half to the mind to say it aloud, but decided against it. Despite the fact he wanted to make the right impression of himself, he didn’t want to come off as a complete jerk.
"Well, I should probably get a move on. I don’t bloody hell know where that 5th year prefect is……” Dion said, seeming slightly aggravated. “Are you guys going to be heading out some sort of tour now? Cause if you are, I may as well tag along. Not like there’s too much else you can do on Prefect duty.” Ah… Tours. It seemed all that Val had been doing lately was going on tours. Tours of cities, tours of buildings, tours of whatever else there happened to be on the side of the road. Val was getting quite good at taking tours. "I'm all for it if...Val wants to," Tucker responded. And while Val would have rather stayed in the common room to hang out with the local, he supposed going a tour would be beneficial, especially when he started classes and needed to find his way around. Having to ask for directions to his next class would be devastating to him.
“Ah s’pose a tour would be good,” Val replied. He then glanced at his duffle bag that was still on the floor next to him. “But Ah was hoping Ah could drop mah bag off in mah room b’fore the tour, it someone could maybe show me where Ah’m stayin’,” Valentino said, eyes sweeping over the crowd for any volunteer. It seemed he’d already made both friends and enemies in the very few minutes he’d been at Hogwarts. Well, that was a good start.
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Puck had absolutely no idea what it might be like for the new guy to be just that. A new guy. Puck had never been considered new, except when she had first joined the Hogwarts cast, but back then everyone her year had been new. She had no friends, no allies, except for a certain neighbor of hers who helped her out a bit. Everyone had started fresh at the same time, with about the same abilities and the same knowledge. They forged their memories together, and everyone knew just about everyone. They could say 'Remember that time second year in potions when so and so spilt his boiling cauldron all over so and so?' and everyone knew what event they were referring to. It was odd to have someone around who was older than them who didn't know the younger versions of them. Puck would never know what second year, third year, fourth year, or even fifth year Val were like. All she could go off of was sixth year Val now. He had no memories that she could identify with, and there was nothing they could look back on and be sentimental about together. It was a strange feeling, but Puck imagined that it was even stranger for Val. Was he used to this sort of thing?
“That Ah have,”
By this point, Puck had come to the conclusion that 'Ah' translated to 'I'. Puck could hardly wait to hear Val's next words, if only because she had to decipher them once she had heard them. She was watching him curiously, and how he interacted with the others. It was a subconscious examination. From his manner, he seemed confident. Nice, but not a 'good guy' type. He sort of reminded her of Tucker, but Tucker felt more easy going than Val. A glance at Tucker told her that he was still feeling terrible over Cory. She became slightly worried that Tucker would become short with their new guest. Recently it felt that Tucker was mopey and short with the majority of people he came into contact with. Even now, Puck noticed that he seemed a little stiff and upright. Almost ill at ease. Puck bit her bottom lip as she watched him for a moment.
But once Val's attention had turned back to Puck, her own attentions flew away from Tucker, and returned to the new guy. She felt proud of herself, for being able to amuse him, as she was clearly doing. Normally she enjoyed being in the spot light, and entertaining others. Being a source of amusement gave her a bit of a natural high sometimes, but right now she was just feeling accomplished. But what had she done to feel this accomplishment? Just amuse the new kid. Why was she feeling so proud over that? Perhaps it was because he was new and mysterious. And from a far-away place that was all the way across the Atlantic. Puck was contemplating this before he put his hand lightly on her shoulder. Any other girl might have begun to flush and stutter, but Puck had acute control over her reactions. The last person who had really been able to make her flush and stutter had been Damien, and that felt like ages ago.
Even so, Puck was intensely aware of everything that he was doing. His lean. His fake whisper. His hand. “Well, then maybe we ought’a make a run fer’it,” Valentino fake whispered back. “Ah’ll make a distraction an’ you fah’nd the fastest way ta’ hah-tail it out’a here.”
Puck shook with silent laughter, both at what Val had said and how it had come out. What was he saying? That they had both better make a run.. Ferret? Puck sent him an amused glance, trying to assume that he didn't really mean they should do anything involving a furry creature. Fahnd. Find, obviously. Hah tail? That was a new one. Half of what he had said went sailing right over her head, but she didn't let him know that. After all, she didn't want to appear stupid -- she had her pride to take care of. Before she knew it, his hand was off of her shoulder and he had straightened slightly. Pity. “Would we do that to a new student?” 'Of course you would' Puck wanted to reply, but Lianne continued on. “Honestly, they come up with worse rumours every year. Besides, if we mean to surround you, you won’t realize it until it’s too late.” Puck laughed, "As if you lot have enough sneaking powers to take me by surprise." Puck replied with a wide grin.
"Well, I should probably get a move on. I don’t bloody hell know where that 5th year prefect is……” Dion sounded as though he were in a slight tizzy over the fifth year. Gavon, was it? Puck pursed her lips. She hadn't seen him at all recently. “Are you guys going to be heading out some sort of tour now? Cause if you are, I may as well tag along. Not like there’s too much else you can do on Prefect duty.” A tour? Puck had never really been one for going on tours, but she was a little afraid to leave Tucker alone with this guy. Since Tucker was feeling especially sensitive, she had no idea how he would react to Val if the two were alone. "I'm all for it if...Val wants to," Puck looked at Val expectantly. She knew that he would probably want to go on the tour.
“Ah s’pose a tour would be good,” Puck nodded, "Good choice. This place is confusing enough even with knowing your way around." “But Ah was hoping Ah could drop mah bag off in mah room b’fore the tour, it someone could maybe show me where Ah’m stayin’,”
"I could do that," Puck replied happily, sweeping the duffle bag up off of the ground and into her arms. "It's right up these stairs," She added, walking briskly over to the staircase. "Come on then! We Don't have all day." She began walking up the stairs to the sixth year male dormitories. Puck had been here several times before, so she knew her way around. He'd be rooming with Tucker, no doubt, and she would know the moment she stepped through the door, because there would be another bed and a foreign suitcase. Once she reached Tucker's door, she pulled it open, poking her head through and not bothering to warn any sixth year males that might have been inside. "Here we are!" She exclaimed, "Sixth year dormitories." She stepped in, "Tucker's in here too. So. At least you're not sleeping with complete strangers I suppose. There's the bed," She pointed, "Obviously. The one with, I'm assuming your trunk at the foot of it, is yours." She pointed to desks and dressers, "These don't really belong to anyone so you can use them if you need them. There's parchments and quills and ink in the drawers of the desks. You don't need to worry about picking up after yourself because there are house elves for that... And they don’t steal so... Mm. But…" She frowned, "You do know what house elves are right? Or are those only in the UK..?" She shrugged off her question. "Ehm what else... I guess that's it for your room." She walked over to his bed and plopped his duffle bag down lightly. "Oh, but you can move your clothes into a dresser if you want to. Just make sure someone else doesn’t have their junk in it first.” She sat down on the edge of the bed, “It’s pretty self explanatory. Most people don’t hang out in their dormitories unless they want to be alone…. Any questions?”
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
Up until the point he focused his dark gaze steadily on her, Lianne was ready to give him another chance, thinking that first impressions weren’t always correct. He could have been tired – she didn’t know if he’d just gotten here from America or not – he could have been overwhelmed by all of the people swarming in around him … but then he looked at her and said, ”That Ah have,” in a way that clearly said, Kiss my ass. Or should that be, kiss mah ass?
This ‘Val’ was going to be someone to watch out for, the rest of the school year. Lianne really didn’t like the way he was cozying up to her best friend; what was he thinking? For that matter, what was PUCK thinking? The two had just met, and already they were flirting with each other. She had to have a talk with that girl. Lianne was half of a mind to pull the new kid off of her when he pulled away himself, offering an obnoxious wink before doing so.
Gah. He made her skin crawl. There were three types of teenage boys; the sweethearts, the wannabe baddies, and the jerks. Why did one of the third kind have to get mixed in with the Gryffindors? She still wasn’t being fair, she supposed. It was his first day, and the Sorting Hat must have some reason to put him in the lion’s house. Maybe he was brave, loyal … but Gryffindors also had a tendency to be reckless. She had a feeling he was going to prove to be more of that type of cloth than any other. If he wanted to show her differently, he was going to have to earn it. Big time. Until then, she wasn’t about to let her best friend go gallivanting off with him.
“Ah s’pose a tour would be good,” Val replied. He then glanced at his duffle bag that was still on the floor next to him. “But Ah was hoping Ah could drop mah bag off in mah room b’fore the tour, it someone could maybe show me where Ah’m stayin’,”
Lianne was about to offer to draw him a map – it wasn’t as sweet of an offer as it sounded – when Puck swept the duffle bag off the floor, grinning gleefully. "I could do that, It's right up these stairs," And then she was at the bottom of the staircase before Lianne could suggest otherwise. "Come on then! We Don't have all day."
Blinking as Puck left the room, Lianne shook her head. Dear Merlin, another idiot to add to the daily crush of life at Hogwarts. And in all likelihood, he would be in her classes. Bloody sodding hell! The day had been going so well. She waited until Val had also left the room and then ran a hand through her hair. She glanced at Dion and Tucker and said quietly, “If you two happen to find a convenient closet along the way, don’t hesitate to accidentally lock him in there.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words – she didn’t know, after all, how the boys felt about him.
OOC: *has been giggling ever since she saw ‘Ah’d beg to differ, Legs’* ‘Legs’. Ah man, if she only knew …
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]OCC: Sorry to pop in randomly...
Very nice layout by the way...it makes me happy. *bows deeply to the masters of layouts*
IC:
Gavin Nightshade sprinted haphazardly through the twisting corridors of Hogwarts, a slip of paper clutched in his hand. "Sorry, excuse me!" he apologized breathlessly as he ran through a swarm of Hufflepuff girls.
He expected that he looked pretty stupid dashing about in his-I'm-a-Prefect-please-move way. Gavin liked being a Prefect for the most part. The only downside was people using key phrases such as "brown noser" and "teacher's pet" over and over. Certainly he didn't fit those descriptions!
He personally wished that the notice for him had come a little sooner; he had been in the library when he was notified that he had to welcome a new student. The note hadn't specified how old this person was, or why Gavin should even be going to meet "the noob." Why could or would Hogwarts possibly need him to help out a new student in any way, shape or form? They had Cory, and a rabble of other Prefects to help out with the "settling in."
Upon reaching the Gryffindor Common Room, Gavin noticed a pile of bags by the portrait. He was about to open his mouth to ask, but as always, the Fat Lady answered for him.
"They dropped them off here not too long ago," the Fat Lady told him from inside her frame. "New student apparently."
Closing his mouth with a pop, Gavin nodded, and the portrait swung open. "I should probably take these things in..." he mumbled, and hastily grasped a bag in each hand, stepping into the Common Room easily.
"Come on then! We Don't have all day," was all Gavin heard when he reached the center of the common room. The female voice belonged to Puck- his friend's voice was fairly easy to scope out.
Gavin glanced at the queue of people already collected in the common room, Puck not being one of them. Instead, Gavin was surprised to see Dion Roderick (fellow Irishman,) the infamous Tucker Pence, and the lovely Lianne Apsey.
The perfect herd of Prefects all gathered in one spot.
“If you two happen to find a convenient closet along the way, don’t hesitate to accidentally lock him in there,” Lianne spoke out of the side of her mouth to Dion and Tucker. Gavin couldn't tell if Lianne was serious or joking. Had the New Kid made that much of an impression already?
Gavin set the bags down lightly on the red carpeted floor. "I hope that isn't me you want to stuff in a closet, Lianne..." the boy joked. "I suppose I missed the Mystery New Kid? Sorry for coming a little late... I mean I just got sent up here a few minutes ago."
He glanced down at the bags by his feet. "These bags were outside, so I'm guessing they're for this New Person." Edited by: CookiesandDragonsMilk at: 3/29/06 4:38 pm
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
When Puck didn’t so much as flinch when Val placed his hand on her shoulder, the boy took that as an extreme sense of control rather than disinterest. There was no way she wasn’t interested. She was showing all of the signs, so the only interpretation was that she was just very good at keeping her cool and Val applauded her for that. Most girls would have giggled or flushed or done something to acknowledge the fact that they knew his hand was on their shoulder. Even people who weren’t interested usually flinched or winced or something to that extent to show that they noticed. But Puck simply stood there as though it was perfectly natural and that made Valentino want to laugh. So he supposed he’d have to try a little harder to keep Puck’s attention focused on him, but he was always up for a good challenge. Besides, this would give Val some motivation to be a bit more social at this new school and get acquainted with people. He could get some more information on this girl, not to mention he could come across as a fairly likeable guy. Not nice, for Val always associated nice with boring and Val did not want to come across as boring, but he needed to at least appear approachable. He needed to make an attempt to befriend the people Puck was friends with so as to find a good excuse to be around her. It seemed like a good plan to him.
Of course, at the moment he had a few people to somehow get off his tail. While Valentino appreciated the welcome, he felt a whole lot of suspicion radiating from this crowd. He could already tell that Lianne didn’t like him and this Tucker Pence didn’t seem all that impressed either. Dion, Val wasn’t sure about, but he seemed like the kind of guy Val needed to stay on the good side of. Unfortunately, it was the job of the “prefects” to make sure Val was nice and settled in and he supposed he would have to follow them around for at least a week or so. After that, he could set out on his own and wander around more freely, though he had a feeling he would be seeing the prefects quite a bit. While Valentino was never one to purposely go out and find trouble, trouble always seemed to find him. It was true enough that a lot of times it was his fault, but Val was just the kind of guy who got into trouble whether he wanted to or not. It didn’t help that he sort of seemed like the type who went out looking for trouble either. A lot of times, his peers would often look to him when the time came to blame someone for something. It was just the kind of guy Val was. And a lot of times he didn’t try and defend himself either, so that didn’t really do him much good.
"I could do that," Puck replied immediately after Val’s request for a guide to show him to his room. She scooped up his duffle bag and Val wanted to laugh at her eagerness. "It's right up these stairs,"[/u] She added, walking briskly over to the staircase. "Come on then! We Don't have all d
The girl climbed up the stairs and Val chuckled a little, following her. His walk was nonchalant and could be described as a bit of swagger. There was a natural confidence in the way he moved, as though he was right where he belonged and he knew it. “Right beh’ahnd you, sweet’eart,” Val said. He followed her as she reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hallway, trusting her to know where his room was. While other people might have been a bit confused as to how Puck knew her way around the boy’s dormitories, Val wasn’t too surprised. Puck seemed like the kind of girl who just loved sneaking around places. She probably had quite a few male friends that she like to hang out with, too, and so she probably scuttled around up here frequently. Val just hoped she would continue making frequent stops to the boy’s dormitories, namely his room.
"Here we are!" Puck suddenly said. Val turned his attention to the doorway. "Sixth year dormitories." As Puck stepped in, the Southern rogue followed suit and did as well. He glanced around as he did so, and noted that these dorms were nothing like any of the other dorms he’d seen over the past six years. "Tucker's in here too. So. At least you're not sleeping with complete strangers I suppose. There's the bed," She pointed, "Obviously. The one with, I'm assuming your trunk at the foot of it, is yours." Valentino nodded idly as he continued to glance around at the very authentic-looking dormitories. The beds were nice, four-poster beds, adorned with curtains and there was even a fire pit in the middle of the room where one could get warm or dry their damp clothing. And as Valentino glanced out the window, he saw that they were quite high up. He supposed they didn’t call this the Gryffindor tower for nothing, but it was quite amazing. And once again, Val felt extremely out of place. This was no place for a boy from Georgia -- maybe a squire or a knight or something, but not a boy who was raised on a ranch in the South in the United States.
"Ehm what else... I guess that's it for your room." Puck walked over to his bed and plopped his duffle bag down lightly. "Oh, but you can move your clothes into a dresser if you want to. Just make sure someone else doesn’t have their junk in it first.” And as she sat down on the edge of the bed, Val walked over to one of the dressers and examined it for a moment. He opened it to find that someone had used it as a place to store crumpled up essays and a scarf. The boy frowned for a moment. “Well, ain’t this a waste of space?” He grabbed the scarf off the hangar and tossed it out before taking out his wand to get rid of the crumpled up pieces of parchment. Once that was done, he walked over to his trunk and opened it, grabbing a few jackets that could possibly get wrinkled if kept in the trunk for much longer. Not that Val really cared. Most of the things that wouldn’t have survived being wrinkled were the things that Val didn’t care to wear anyway. His parents just bought him nice clothing because they’d thought he’d need it. Val preferred not to wear them because one, they really weren’t his style and two, he didn’t like to flaunt his family’s wealth.
“It’s pretty self explanatory. Most people don’t hang out in their dormitories unless they want to be alone…. Any questions?”
Once Valentino finished moving some things into his new dresser, he closed the doors and turned around. He casually crossed his arms and leaned back on it. “Yeah, Ah got one,” he started. “Little Miss Firecracker said not tah even try goin’ up to the girl’s dorms. And yet, yer sittin’ here in the guy’s dorms. So, is there some kind’a rule or somethin’?”
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
OOC: *feels sick but she had a second to post so she decided to attempt a post* I know it's probably dead but, I wanted to stick in another post >_<
IC:
The apparent hostility that was emanating towards Val did not go unnoticed by Puck. The young Gryffindor could read reactions well, which was probably why she was such a successful troublemaker. Generally if she found herself caught by a professor or a prefect, she would attempt to smooth talk her way out of the situation. One had to be able to read how the opponent was taking your story to be successful. If the opponent wasn't buying it, you had to change directions and take the story a different route. Since Puck had spent so many years causing trouble, and talking her way out of it for that matter, she could grasp the general feel of the room. It didn't take a genius, or a trouble maker, to realize that not everyone was warming up to Val the way she had. Puck blamed Tucker's unfriendliness on his recent loss of Cory. The 5th year generally regarded boys as sort of animals. Lions, perhaps. They lazed around and looked after their pack of women, but if another foreign male lion walked onto the scene they became defensive. Perhaps Puck would have a talk with Tucker later. Val could very well be the ally and friend that Tucker hadn't known he needed.
What was Lianne and Dion's excuse then? Dion was probably just trying to keep up the responsible-prefect appearance for the moment. He didn't really seem to have any bad feelings towards Val, which was probably a good thing. Puck wouldn't want anyone to be on Dion's bad side. Well, Puck felt that Lianne had always been a bit like that toward newcomers. It probably didn't help that Val quite a bit like Tucker, and that she and Tucker had never been 'right' after the break up. They had talked and chatted, but things could never be the way they were before they were together. Puck realized this, and she knew that it probably killed Lianne to know that she had lost a good friendship. Puck couldn't even imagine having a relationship with one of her friends turn sour just because they had been dating. Oh-- She started, Ashton... Right... Sometimes Puck would forget that she and Ashton had dated. It had been so quick, and so sweet, but so not right. Puck still felt awkward around him sometimes, especially when it was her, him, and Devon alone in a room. That usually managed to become awkward quite fast because of the triangle that the love potion had created. More often than not, Puck found herself avoiding her friends nowadays, which was quite unusual in light of the fact that she was such a social creature. Maybe I can forge a good strong friendship with Val, Puck thought to herself as she waited for the Georgian newcomer.
“Right beh’ahnd you, sweet’eart,”
There was that southern drawl again that managed to crack a smile across Puck's face. Beh hahnd... Puck mused to herself as she watched Val meander over. Sweet 'eart... Val's accent just about tickled her pink. She though that people only talked this way in old and terribly unbelievable westerns! The only times Puck had ever been exposed to accents like Val's were when they were on the silver screen. Even then, she was tempted to switch on subtitles so that she could understand what they were saying. Sometimes it took her watching a movie once or twice before she understood some of the words and slang. Now that she thought about it, she began to wonder if Val was a cowboy. Were all southerners cowboys? No, that was silly, that was like wondering if all Brits were football fans (which, most of them were, really.) But still, Val seemed to fit the profile aside from the whole 'bad boy' thing he had going for him. He had the accent, the swagger, the confidence. All he needed was a lariet and a horse and he'd be set.
“Well, ain’t this a waste of space?”
Puck smiled as Val got rid of the papers and the scarf as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She hoped that Val would become acquainted with Hogwarts life. Moving from the states all the way out to the wizarding UK must have been a huge culture shock for the boy. The muggle societies between the states and the UK were different enough, but with the magical factor added in, the differences were quite surprising. The only thing that really united the two vastly different cultures were magic, and that was quite a thin thread to be connecting two such powerful entities. From what Puck knew in History of Magic and the brief section they had covered on the government, the Minister of Magic of the UK and the head of the ministry over in the states spent a lot of time conferring. Puck was a bit interested to know how the government and education system worked in America, but she was more interested in learning about Val.
As Val unpacked, Puck leaned forward a bit to eye what he was putting into his drawers. If it had been any one else, it would have been considered rude, but Puck wasn't trying to be a bother. She never stopped to think that a person might want to keep their clothing a secret (it seemed illogical, she thought, because you were going to be wearing them for the whole world to see anyway.) But, just as she didn't stop to think about the rudeness factor, she didn't stop to think that some people might just want more privacy than others, and like usual, she was letting her curiosity get the better of her. She noted a few expensive looking clothes, along with clothing that resembled what Val was currently wearing. So is he well off, then? Puck wondered. Are there such things as rich cowboys or are they all poor? Or is he a plantation owner? Or a ranch owner? Puck's view of America was heavily influenced by the media, so she didn't stop to think that Val was no more likely to be a cowboy than she was to be Royalty.
When she inquired as to whether or not Val had any questions, she dropped her hands and folded them across her lap as he began to speak. “Yeah, Ah got one,” he started. “Little Miss Firecracker said not tah even try goin’ up to the girl’s dorms. And yet, yer sittin’ here in the guy’s dorms. So, is there some kind’a rule or somethin’?”
"Firecracker?" Puck laughed, knowing in a second that he was talking about Cory. "Well it's against the rules for guys to go into the girl's dormitories. There's a magical barrier so that you can't. Godric Gryffindor, he's one of the four founders to the school mind you, and the inspiration of the house of Gryffindor, didn't trust young males to be alone in girls dormitories. It leaves room for all sorts of mischief." Puck's eyes sparked a little as the word 'mischief' left her lips, "But he trusted girls to behave themselves in male dormitories. We're not very likely to go snooping around in who knows what, fondling who knows what, and sitting on beds with boys. So, we can come and go as we please. But that's just in Gryffindor, each of the other founders had their own rules. I don't suppose Cory explained the Houses and founders to you...?" Puck tilted her head to the side in question.
After a moment, Puck decided that she might as well ask Val the question that had been lingering in the back of her mind since they had begun up the stairs. "You aren't a cowboy, are you?"
Re: Welcoming Committee [3/2/09 ; ISO: Puck, Open]
(OCC - Whoah, guys. Sorry this took me so long. I'm a little rusty, and I'm not even sure anyone will reply to this, but here it goes...)
"I'm all for it if...Val wants to," Tucker had asked, after Dion had asked them if they were heading out.
“Ah s’pose a tour would be good,” Val replied. Dion’s mind slipped for a moment as he thought about what a tour might be like with Tucker and Val. For some reason, he couldn’t quite see them getting along. Then again, maybe they could. Val looked at his bag on the floor, “But Ah was hoping Ah could drop mah bag off in mah room b’fore the tour, it someone could maybe show me where Ah’m stayin’,”
"I could do that," Puck answered quite jollily. In seconds, she had jumped to the bag and heading straight for the stairs to the Gryffindor boys dormitory, Dion's in fact, with the 6th year boys (the Headmaster Percy insisted that Dion would need to stay in the sixth year dormiatory if Dion was in his, technical, 6th year)."It's right up these stairs," She added on the way, "Come on then! We Don't have all day."
Dion was hoping, for the moment, he hadn’t left underwear about or something, but grinned, and shook his head at the keyed-up Puck. He turned his glance at Tucker with a small shrug, giving his head one last shake, and letting his smile dye down, until Lianne looked at him and Tucker in her Lianne-eyes, “If you two happen to find a convenient closet along the way, don’t hesitate to accidentally lock him in there.”
Dion laughed and was about to start shaking his head again before an Irish accent entered the room, "I hope that isn't me you want to stuff in a closet, Lianne..." the boy gagged. Dion’s smile dimmed down from his face, his eyebrow’s pursed, almost half mockingly, “It’s about time you come!” he grumbled, sarcastically, in his deep Irish voice.
"I suppose I missed the Mystery New Kid? Sorry for coming a little late... I mean I just got sent up here a few minutes ago." Dion winced. Little? Pft. Yea, right. “Little?” He scorned quietly, before letting his irritation slide off. “Yea…okay,” he quickly followed with, half-smiling and looking somewhat earnest. Though, he couldn't remember the 5th years name, and sort of felt bad for that, “I’m going to head out though…Lianne?” his voice perked up, looking at her with his out-stretched eyebrows and tall-tale face. He lightly clapped his hands together in front of him, in an ‘I-have-an-idea’ sort of fashion, “I believe that you should join me, and we can go out into the halls to prepare this trap for the new kid...and look for some other fresh, rebellious meat,” his grin was on a minimum, but had the joking tone perched on his face.
He raised an eyebrow, playfully questioning Lianne, he looked at Tucker, “Why don’t you wait for Val to get back and we can meet up with you guys later.” Quickly then, his voice turned to a loud whisper and he cupped his hand over his mouth, "Bring him near a closet!" he kidded at Tucker; he was quick to assume Lianne couldn’t say no to his endearing eyebrow-raise. Ha, ha.
He hoped she wouldn’t refuse. It had been awhile since Lianne and him had talked, one-on-one. It would be nice to have a moment to talk to his friend, even if it was talking about Quidditch or joking around. He grinned at her before heading towards the portrait hole, only to stop just a metre or so away from Lianne, “Well? You will join me won’t you?” he asked curiously, giving Lianne a puppy grin and one last go at a slight eyebrow raise, deciding to let his joking tenor wear off.
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