Absit Omen RPG

Mairead was answering her question, as she should. Eirene started to smirk, but it didn't last long.

How did someone lose their parents? Were they out in the wilderness, completely unreachable? What about sending an owl to find them? What about asking for help? What about-

Of course, Mairead's family traveled, but all Eirene could think was that they hadn't bothered to tell Mairead where they were going.

She glanced down quickly, stifling a strange urge to laugh. It was just so absurd! Eirene glanced up in time to see Mairead's face turn that shade of I'm-about-to-hex-you. Frank was beside her, reminding her that this night was supposed to be fun, but Eirene only shifted her crossed arms closer to the wand hidden in her pocket. Just in case.

Was Mairead telling the truth? She'd left Hogwarts not of her own volition, but to find her family? She looked at her closely, trying to figure it out.

Mairead mocked her. She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You think I care that much? Whatever you decide is on you," Eirene shrugged her shoulders as she kept her arms tightly crossed.

It wouldn't make any difference if Mairead decided not to return to Hogwarts in the fall, anyway. Mairead could hang out every evening at Spellpunk if she wanted to, while everyone else was in school, preparing for O.W.L.s and better things.

Eirene waited to feel happy - maybe she'd never have to see Mairead again! - but the 'fun' of the night was lost on her. She frowned down at the crooked stamp on her hand, then gave Allura an irritated look. No, she wasn't done.

"Also, Allura, Lucinda's situation is completely different and you shouldn't compare the two. You shouldn't be calling her names, either. It's not helpful."

Eirene glanced back at the Ravenclaws she knew were in SAWS, her expectant gaze falling on Tim Pepper. What was he smiling about?

Eirene nodded as Lucinda plaintively mumbled and sighed. Lucinda's bad mood seemed entirely self-focused, as if she were so wrapped up in her problem that she could be talking to anyone or anything, even the tree.  Eirene glanced at the castle in the distance, wondering how busy the library was and if she might find Frank or Noriko there. If Lucinda didn't want to talk plainly, perhaps Eirene could convince her to study for a while, just to take her mind off things.

Lucinda sank against the tree and Eirene looked at her again, her brow furrowed. Wait, what was true?

A part of it?

The stink bomb, or...

The fire!

Eirene glanced around the field, then waved her wand at her backpack, drawing out a spare jacket she kept rolled up in there. She settled the jacket onto the grass and took a seat on the jacket, facing Lucinda. Eirene rested her hand against the leaf-cage next to her, letting Xanthe sniff at her as all cats did.

She looked at the Gryffindor expectantly.

"Did someone set that fire on purpose?"

A year ago, she would assumed Lucinda and her friends had done it, but Eirene liked to think she knew Lucinda better now.

"What happened?"

Eirene and Frank looked great together, didn't they? Ascella's hair looked party-ready, and Tim understood the important of St. Mungo's internships even though Eirene had forgotten for a moment that he had an internship there too. And everyone, not just her, was wondering about Mairead's vanishing act. Allura even tried to be nice about it.

But Mairead couldn't leave things alone. Why did Mairead always single her out? Gamp replied quickly, and Tim started muttering, but Eirene could only hear the beat of the music and Mairead's challenge.

Mairead couldn't just swoop in and say whatever she wanted on their first night at Spellpunk!

"Hm no," Eirene turned to glare at Mairead, wrinkling her nose slightly as she looked her up and down. Had she just rolled off a Quidditch pitch or what?

"If you feel unwelcome, that's your problem," she raised her voice over the music. "I just find it funny that you'd show up out of the blue, then act so surprised when everyone wonders where you've been since April. It's a valid question."

Eirene crossed her arms, staring at her like she expected an answer. Mairead wanted to join their group without hexing or pranking anyone? She didn't believe it!

When someone shouted for Tim, she turned her head to look.

Where was Noriko? Eirene stood in the queue outside, craning her neck to look around the taller, older teenagers. What if Noriko had gotten lost? She should have never let Noriko navigate the floo on her own! They should have met up at her house first, studied a map, and walked here together.

But the queue kept moving, and Eirene was busy dispelling the last bit of floo powder from her dark blue party dress, and then she was frowning at the stamp on her hand, and complaining to the doorman about how it was crooked, and then she hurried inside the club, searching for her friends.

It may have been seconds or minutes, but she spotted them - Noriko safe and sound, Frank, Tim, and Allura. They were all wearing a shade of blue or green in Ravenclaw-Slytherin solidarity.

"I'm here!" Eirene smiled as she sidled up to Frank, happy to overhear her friends wondering where she was - proof that they'd missed her this summer, if the many letters sent back and forth weren't proof enough!

Frank looked really nice. Taller? Tim looked like a combination of cool and like he were worrying about when the next class would start and if he had enough time to get there. Allura looked like Allura - leagues ahead of everyone, and the only unknown in Eirene's friend group. Eirene glanced at Allura a little longer than usual, wishing she had been the one to plan this cool idea to brave Spellpunk as a group.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was working the late afternoon shift at St. Mungo's."

Though her eyes sparkled with pride, she smiled primly, as if it were no big deal. It was a big deal. After her volunteer shift, she'd gone home and torn apart her closet looking for something to wear to her first club, and when she'd finally settled on an outfit, she'd realized her favorite barrette had gone missing, and she didn't want to adorn her hair with anything dowdy, and then her mother threatened to make her stay home if she was going to snap at her over it, and then her father, always able to overhear her in her worst moment, had shouted from another room that he'd had enough of Eirene's attitude this summer.

So Eirene had left her house sans her barrette and with a trail of stress following her.

Eirene turned her head and saw someone familiar, though she hadn't seen the girl since - when was it - April? Her smile fell in an instant. Mairead ó Fearghail ruined everything, and had even plotted to land Eirene in detention last year.[1] She'd better not ruin Spellpunk.

"What is she doing here?" Eirene only lowered her voice an iota, inclining her head in Mairead's direction. "I heard she dropped out of school."

1.	According to Eirene

Dear Noriko,

Hello! How are you? Are your pesky brothers still being annoying? We should have another sleepover at my house! I have so much more to tell you about my internship at St. Mungo's...

(Eirene goes on for several more paragraphs)

I cannot believe that we're going to be fifth years in the fall! Technically, we already are, but it's doesn't quite feel real yet. I have so many plans for us when we get our prefect badges. I know it's not an absolute certainty, but who else would the Headmaster pick besides you for Slytherin and me for Ravenclaw? I don't even care who the second is, as long as the other prefect is tolerable.

I thought of something that might alleviate our fears! If Storm really had been tasked with choosing the prefects, you wouldn't have to worry because you're an excellent duelist, and he would have already sent me the rejection owl and ruined my summer, and we know that the Headmaster likes to take his time and make thoughtful, considered decisions. Choosing us. There's no doubt.

But it's already August and we don't know! No, I just have to be patient. Regardless, once we get our badges, we should visit the Diagon shops together and pick accessories that match, and we could order new stationary that states our names and titles!

Imagine:


See what I did?

Also, though I get the impression we don't quite agree about SAWS, there's this new organization called E.L.F. that I learned about at St. Mungo's, and I've attached a pamphlet to this letter and I do hope you'll read it! It's very thoughtful and considered just like we hope know the Headmaster is. I'll give you time to look it over and we'll discuss more later!

Best friends always,

Eirene

Dear Frank,

My internship at St. Mungo's is going quite well, thank you for asking! I'm learning so much and I'm getting so much experience on every floor ever since the Healers decided I should broaden my horizons and not limit myself to one specialty just yet. I never know which Healer I'll be asked to shadow for the day! Of course, I shadow my mother often and we have lunch together sometimes, when she's free. Yes, I did see Healer Mordent too, and she looks as though she remembers us well. I also met a fascinating Healer named Athena Marrowbone, and now I'm more conflicted than ever about what sort of Healing I'd like to do, because I have so many talents and there's so many options...

(Eirene goes on for several more paragraphs)

How is the shop? I miss passing notes to you and meeting in the library for study dates. Frank, I've been wanting to ask you, did your parents like me when I met them? My parents adored you, unsurprisingly, and they think your apothecary is so cute, and that they must see it for themselves someday.

May I see it someday?

I have something exciting to tell you! (No, I didn't get my prefect badge yet, but you'll be among the top three to know when I do). Have you ever heard of an organization called E.L.F? Forgive the acronym - it stands for Eradicate Lycanthropy Foundation. I've attached a copy of the Daily Prophet article[1] about it which I'm sure you've already read. I've also attached the pamphlets that a volunteer at the hospital gave me. Frank, these people really care, and they're looking for a cure! We should tell Zeta about it on the train ride to school. I'm sure no one is paying as much attention as we are this summer. What would the wizarding world do without Ravenclaws like us?

Affectionately,
Eirene

1.	New Movement Preaches Cure

Special Title Request

Character Name: Eirene Antonopoulos
Title Applying For: Prefect
Character Biography: LINK

What Experience has Prepared You For This Honor?:
Eirene would like to think she's prepared for this her entire life, but really, it's only been since she started school at Hogwarts. She gets O's in most of her classes. She's active in several clubs such as Potions and Astronomy and has been known to support the Hogwarts Howler (for Cosima) and Divination (for Noriko) and SAWS (for Lucinda) from time to time. If there's extra credit or an extra seminar, she's on it and telling other students to join, too.

What Do You Think the Most Important Aspect of This Job Is:?
While she loves to boss other students, she'll need to learn how to be more of a leader and to treat everyone fairly regardless of their House and friendship status with her.

Tell a Story From Your Past That Has Proven Your Mettle: 
In her fourth year, she branched out and tried to help other students instead of only focusing on herself. Checking on Frank in CoMC here, helping Lucinda make a potion here.

When Frank finally left, Eirene walked onto the scene as soon as the guide happened to look at her. Frank had followed his own internal guidance, keeping his eyes off the mirror until he'd found the right place to stand.

But Eirene only had eyes for her own reflection.

She walked quickly to stand upon the brass footprints on the marble floor, and as she walked her reflection changed, growing a little taller, a little older, her hair a little glossier, her shoulders just the same as they were now - rolled back with perfect posture, and her smile the same - wide and eager.

Confident in her place in the world.

As she settled and turned to face the mirror fully, her clothing changed too. She wore her school uniform of blue and bronze, perfectly pressed, and on her blazer she sported a prefect badge. Those closest to her - Noriko and Frank - formed a trio of prefects with Eirene in the center. A cluster of supportive Ravenclaws stood behind her, Tim and Cosima and even a Gryffindor or two - Lucinda! And oh this was embarrassing - Mairead, looking awed.

Eirene ignored that detail and saw that her blazer kept sporting more and more club leader pins, pins for Herbology and Potions and History, and though her mirror self knew better than to get near the Dueling club, there was Professor Storm among her adoring professors, looking at least like he didn't want to murder her.

And then Headmaster Greyfriar was awarding her the Head Girl badge, and the reflection flickered, showing Frank as Head Boy beside her, then Noriko as Head Girl, then Frank, then Noriko. Mirror-Eirene and real-Eirene both glanced around for the answer, but the mirror couldn't show what it didn't know.

It was no surprise when the scene changed to show Eirene in front of the doors of grand St. Mungo's with her smiling, proud parents, and she was wearing the lime green robes of a Healer, and then she was Healer in Charge, and then she was Deputy Head, and then she was on the Board of Warlocks and in charge of St. Mungo's itself and also on the Wizengamot, and also given an Order of Merlin, all the while she had her own family, though the spouse beside her was quite hazy, and her children numbered one, two, three, then back to one, and itfelt like her dreams were flying by so fast, the people in her reflection crowding each other to find a spot to stand, that for a moment Eirene couldn't find her parents, but then there they were, wedged between two Wizengamot elders but looking proud as ever.

There Eirene was in the center of it, wiser and smarter, the world at her feet.

It was everything she'd ever wanted.

"Antonopoulos! Hurry up!"

The reflection wavered as Eirene glanced to the side, startled by the student on the sidelines (who even were they), and startling again to find the guide right beside her, not looking proud at all but impatient, gently touching her elbow.

Eirene plastered on a smile and strode away from the mirror, not glancing back once.

But if she had, she would have seen the reflection shifting again, growing a little smaller, a little clearer, and a little more of her heart's true desire.

Eirene set her backpack and her cat-basket down on the cleanest patch of grass she could find and she stood there too, seeing as Lucinda was holding up the tree. Folium Insidiari! Did Lucinda want to be a botanist?

Eirene nodded as if she understood, but she didn't really understand anyone wanting to avoid school. Unless Lucinda meant the students and the poltergeists inside the school - and Lucinda had, actually, listed people specifically. People were always a problem.

"Oh," Eirene crossed her arms. "Well, everyone is in a bad mood, I'm sure. We all had to leave Hogsmeade early and no one seems to know what's going on. I keep hearing about a fire in the woods, as if the bomb at Zonko's wasn't enough."

She shook her head to dispel the memory of the stink bomb. She'd had to wash her hair about a dozen times back at the castle!

"But you had nothing to do with that. You left the protest early," she said more pointedly than she intended.

"They shouldn't be singling you out."

She frowned, a little worried that kids were howling at Lucinda. Lucinda wasn't exactly quiet about it, but had the whole school found out she were a werewolf, somehow?

What had Eirene missed?

F - I know exactly what you mean, but there's still so much we can learn from Career Day! You should certainly talk to any potion masters and herbologists because you never know who you might be working with in the future and the good impressions we make today could last a lifetime.

I'm going to "camp out" (as a Hufflepuff once said - I've no idea what utilizing an entire row of tables in the library has to do with camping) at the St. Mungo's table about ten minutes early if you'd like to join.

~E

Eirene stopped short, staring in horror when Lucinda raised her wand. Oh no! She'd meant catch the cat, truly, not Accio! him!

Cats hated to be Accio'd.

But the Gryffindor didn't Accio him. Lucinda waved her wand in a swirl, forming a soft net of leaves around Xanthe, who struck out with his little paws at the sudden capture.

The net gently dropped to the ground. Impressive! Eirene hurried towards her cat as Xanthe slinked away toward the tree again, his little paws slipping on the leaves that prevented him from climbing up the trunk. He circled the trunk of the tree slowly, rustling his leaf cage, and letting out offended meows.

Eirene tried to keep a straight face, she really did. She'd read so many articles about not laughing at cats, because it only encouraged their antics! This in mind, she knelt by the net.

"Which spell is this? Is it a variant of Necto Nassa? It looks fairly sturdy," Eirene poked at it, then withdrew her hand as Xanthe batted at her. She frowned, concentrating, and didn't appear to be listening for an answer from Lucinda.

She waved her wand carefully at the net, creating a sturdier cube shape out of the leaves. There! She smiled. That would hold Xanthe for a little while.

"Thank you," she stood and finally looked at Lucinda, who seemed a little off somehow. Quiet. Subdued?

"What are you doing out here?" Eirene asked obliviously.

Eirene looked up from the pamphlet, raising her eyebrows at Frank, who was smiling so sweetly at Greer.

How could he be so nice to everyone? That was one of the things she liked best about him, but right now, it felt like he didn't need her around.

Of course, she was the one who'd completely forgotten about Frank's father as she'd talked on and on about court cases, and she hadn't even meant to hurt Greer by bringing it up, but she just wanted to feel included. No, important.

"I applied for a summer internship at St. Mungo's," she finally said, side-eying Greer. She'd better not be one of those Gryffindors who would make fun of her for having ambition.

"I might not get it because I'm younger than the other applicants, but if I do get it, I'll be helping out just a little bit on all the floors, or I might be assigned one floor in particular. I doubt that they'll let me help my mother directly on Floor 3, but that Healer who saved Hogwarts from the flu at the beginning of the term should remember me," Eirene nodded. Elixa Mordent would remember her! No escape for the healers of St. Mungo's!

"Right, Frank? Healer Mordent? She must have appreciated our help."

Eirene hoped Mordent or another Healer would attend the Career Day at Hogwarts. It was coming up so soon!

"She'll remember you," Greer stated, letting out a small cough into her napkin.

For the sake of the queue, Eirene stood close to Frank, dressed smartly in varying shades of Ravenclaw blue, not a hair out of place, and her shoes polished to a shine. She looked like she was on a study date. Her favorite type of date. This incredibly important school trip was also meant to be... a date.

From one angle, Eirene and Frank looked like a coordinated couple.

From another angle appeared Greer Grant, her curls mussed, her trousers somehow muddy at the hem even though they were half an inch too short, and her shoes trailing the rain of London. Eirene had already glanced at the girl critically and then stuck her nose in the informational pamphlet, only glancing up when Frank rambled on and she couldn't resist stating her opinion.

Like now.

"I know exactly what I desire and exactly what I'm going to see. Unlike some people," she sniffed, her gaze lingering on her boyfriend. Sweet, oblivious Frank.

"My goals and dreams will barely fit on the mirror's surface. I wonder if-"

Was it expandable? No, now was not the time to happily discuss the mirror's abilities. It would have been, if it had just been the two of them!

"I've planned it all out for the next ten years. There will be no surprises."

Eirene couldn't help but frown at Greer. The surprise. The surprise with muggle grandparents who apparently didn't care what she looked like when she left the house, and the surprise who Frank was being so nice to, which was sweet of him but also infuriating and also - those snacks! From Frank's father! Eirene didn't like those snacks. Peanut brittle was too messy for the museum. Those snacks had been meant for her! 

A few minutes after the bulletin is posted, a certain pair of Ravenclaws sign up, talking in hushed and excited voices:

11:30 am, Tuesday.


"I know it's the outdoors, but it's not that cold out!" Eirene scolded, her voice a little muffled by her warm scarf. "I won't let the wind disturb you."

Eirene cuddled her scaredy-cat, Xanthe, in her arms, who was sniffing at the questionable outside air quality and squirming. She'd created an extra spacious compartment in her bookbag where her cat could lounge comfortably, curled up with his favorite blanket and gazing out a little flap window, but once she'd collected a bundle of herbs and tucked them inside another compartment, the smell had offended his delicate nostrils, and he'd squeezed out of the flap window and darted away from her once already.

Now, a second time.

Xanthe leaped out of her arms and ran down the path, stopping every so often to paw at the crooked cobblestones, which let Eirene catch up long enough to lose him again. Her bookbag full of herbs flopped against her shoulders.

"If I have to Accio you!" Eirene huffed, stopping in surprise as she noticed Lucinda underneath a tree.

The cat froze between them on the offending grass, looking up at the tree, and glancing at Lucinda.

Looking up the tree, and glancing at Lucinda.

Oh the choice! Dart up the tree while the person sat there, or find another escape?

"Lucinda!" Eirene called, her wand out. Xanthe sneaked toward the tree, his belly low.

"Catch him!"

In this moment, it didn't matter so much that Lucinda had left the SAWS protest early and hadn't even wanted to stand next to her.[1] It didn't matter that there were lots of rumors flying around about the Hogsmeade weekend that Eirene had mostly ignored. What mattered was her cat! And her studies. And figuring out why Professor Storm had seemed especially grumpy during today's Defense lesson.

Maybe Lucinda would know.

1.	We have not yet begun to burn