You might belong in Gryffindor

[littledhampir]

Who: Gryffindors! (+ Friends/Visitors/People sneaking in)
Where: Gryffindor Tower: Common Rooms + Dorms. Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall.
When: During the event
Rating: Label as you go
Summary: Gryffindor Mingle Log
The Story:

Common Room
The common room is a circular room where Gryffindor students can relax after a long day of studying. It is full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. The common room is decorated in several shades of red, which is associated with the house.

There are many windows that look out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominates one wall. The mantle of the fireplace is adorned with a portrait of a lion. The walls are decorated with scarlet tapestries that depict witches and wizards, but also various animals. There are also bookcases located in the room.


Dorms
The Gryffindor dormitories are also located in the Tower, with two doors leading off from the common room that open to spiral staircases. One of them leads to the girls' dormitory, the other to the boys'. The stairs to the girls' dormitory are enchanted to become a slide if any boy attempts to climb them, but not vice versa, since it was deemed that girls were more trustworthy than boys... (Look don't blame me it's canon)

Comments

[normandysbest]

[Honestly, it doesn't even cross her mind to be offended. She doesn't take too well to people falling all over her, which is... kind of part of the reason she's here, so it all ties in.]

Just, ah, looking to wander a bit. Spotted a prefect and ducked into the nearest room. I'm not used to being so cramped up at night, even if I have been going here for years.

[The wide, open spaces are just too ingrained in her to get locked in a single room to go to bed by 10 PM.]

What about you? Practicing something?

[postictal]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Exactly what he was doing. Only "practicing" implies that some measure of progress is being made, and that you're steadily getting better. And not just saying empty words to an empty room in the hopes that something will eventually happen.

Nothing ever does.

Tim shifts nervously, frowning as his gaze darts to the closed door.]

Are they...I mean, you think they'll come in here?

[normandysbest]

[She presses her ear back to the door, listening intently.]

Sounds like they're passing. I doubt we'll get caught.

[For good measure, though, she steps away from the door, to reduce the chances of them getting heard.]

Honestly, I dunno why they spend so much of their time making sure we're obeying curfew. Practically everybody breaks it.

[postictal]

Everyone I know does.

[Tim sounds glumly resigned as he says it. He's just accepted this as a part of his life now - getting roped into things he doesn't wanna get involved in, and then getting blamed for it when it goes wrong.]

Mostly for a better reason besides just "feeling like it," though.

[normandysbest]

What, so I gotta have a reason not to lie in bed bored? We're in a magical castle. That's reason enough for me.

[She pauses, for a second, sizing him up a bit.]

You don't seem too thrilled with it, though. But you're still here by yourself.

[postictal]

I don't sleep.

[He realizes a bit too late that this is...kind of a misleading thing to say to someone, so he hastens to amend it somewhat:]

I mean, I have - problems. Problems sleeping. Sometimes end up walking all over the castle before someone wakes me up. Or catches me before someone important sees.

[normandysbest]

Oh. Jeez. Like sleepwalking?

[That's rough, buddy.]

'Mm sorry about that. Sounds like something they should give you a pass for, though I bet they're not that accommodating.

[postictal]

I mean, they don't punish me for it. Just...doesn't make it any easier.

[When the janitor knows you by first name and the prefects just basically get to the point where they're constantly rolling their eyes at your shit, you know it's bad.]

[normandysbest]

I mean, still. Jeez.

[She's... glad she's never had to deal with anything like that. But she still feels for him.]

Heh, well, at least you've got an excuse if they catch you out of bed on purpose, right?

[postictal]

[He grimaces and resists the urge to shoot her a withering glance. Just making light conversation, probably. Still aches, that little stab of oh yeah, hah, you're not normal, are you?]

Yeah, it really makes my life super easy in the long-run.

[normandysbest]

I mean, probably not. Sorry. Most of my problems just get laughed at.

[If ya gotta live with it, might as well make it a joke, right? She coughs a bit to clear the silence. Jeez, she's bad at this.]

So, uh, what're you practicing?

[postictal]

[At least she apologized. That's more than he gets. He opens his mouth to fire out some refutation, but then a vicious streak of something angry and contrarian curls up inside of him. Why? Why should he act like he's normal? He's not.

So let's prove to her how not normal he is.]

Patronus.

[normandysbest]

Wow. That's ridiculously complicated.

[She knows she's dicked around with a Patronus spell in DADA, but she's never actually... made one. They're supposed to be from crazy strong good memories. She doesn't know if she has any of those.]

Hope that's not a class assignment. Unless you're doing a really advanced Defense Against The Dark Arts project.

[postictal]

Figured it was good to know before I graduated.

[Not that it'll matter one way or another. He still can't do it, and might as well never will. It's for the best that it isn't a school assignment. He'd fail right at the gate.

The idea that something might be able to ward away your personal demons is - it's comforting, in a lot of ways.

Too bad a good memory is more or less requisite for it to even work.

Too bad he has a dearth of those. Assuming he has any.]

[normandysbest]

I mean, yeah. I've tried it a couple times, but... never seriously. Always seemed a little out of my league.

[It'd be nice, to have something like that. To think herself that capable.]

Are you thinking of going into like, being an auror or something? Where you'd need it?

[postictal]

I dunno.

[It's the sad truth. He's got no idea what he plans to do with himself after graduation. What he even wants to do. He's not a guy who's all that accustomed to having wants at all - let alone ones that are attainable. Most of his "wants" lie in the realm of "I want it all to stop hurting so much one day," and that one's out of the cards. Always has been.]

Just curious, I guess? Seems like it'd be a good thing to know.

[normandysbest]

It would be.

[She's wondering now, offhandedly, what memory she could use. Tries to think of something that incredibly happy. A happiness that's powerful. She comes up blank, and pushes it to the side.]

Bet you could ask the DADA professor about it, if you were having trouble.

[postictal]

I could, yeah.

[And by "could" he means "no," and by "no" he means "fuck no." Not that he's not used to failure, but publicly attempting something only to not even meet the requisite standard of "have a memory that is happy" would take whatever shit he's dealt with thus far and amplify it a thousandfold. He gets talked about enough as it is.

He jerks his chin at the door, eyes dark.]

Think they're gone?

[normandysbest]

[She raises her eyebrows, realizing she's entirely forgotten she was hiding in here and not just chatting this guy up. She tiptoes to the door, gently pushes it open, squints into the hall before closing the door again.]

I think I'm in the clear. Thanks for letting me hide out in here for a while. And, ah, good luck with...

[She gestures towards his wand.]

All that. Seriously. Let me know if I can help or whatever.

[postictal]

I'm fine.

[An easy lie. He's always "fine." No one needs to know if he's ever anything less (which he never is, but no one needs to know that either). He glances at the door again, trying not to act like he's desperate for her to leave.

He knows better than to expect a life of people who genuinely want to be around him.]

See ya.

[normandysbest]

[She watches him, but doesn't really know what to say. There's a twinge of guilt for barging in, but she doesn't really have anything else to add, so...

She shrugs, and waves as she slips out.]

See ya. Good luck.