Stone Gazebo
Afternoon
Towards the end of this thread.

Like many, Grace Eddy was looking forward to the upcoming house quidditch matches on the slate. Obviously, she wanted Gryffindor to win and her loyalty there could hardly be questioned and little could shake it. But, as far as her support of other houses when her team wasn't competing, Grace rooted for any team that played against Slytherin and any team that faced the current cup points leader (when it obviously wasn't Gryffindor).

One of the next matches was Hufflepuff v. Slytherin so Grace was avidly rooting for the former. Unfortunately, the team had become depleted of late and when certain Hufflepuffs who were friends talked about joining the team to help the cause, it piqued her interest. One person in particular was Fauna Blake. Grace was hoping her friend would do well and so wanted that to happen that she had even offered Fauna the use of her broom (when Grace herself did not need it).

On the day of Fauna's first practice, Grace was anxious to see how the Hufflepuff would do. But, Grace also was wary of watching because she didn't want to make Fauna nervous by having an audience. So, Grace hit the books for most of the afternoon in the Stone Gazebo at the end of the Covered Bridge (one of her favorite spots to study), but her eyes kept flitting to her watch, watching for when it might be safe to head to the quidditch pitch and check on the progress.

Finally, after the hands reached the hour of the practice's end, Grace snapped her book closed and looked across the gazebo at her study partner, who just so happened to be her partner-in-crime #1 and fellow prefect, Chance Ryker.

Wrinkling her forehead, she queried, “So what do you think? If I ready this passage one more time, I might go crazy. Maybe we should go check and see how Fauna's doing...”

Chance's exceptionally deep green eyes seemed to be spiraling into another galaxy...or attempting to burn holes through the textbook before them.  Chance was in "study zombie" mode...and was about to start munching pages, when Grace slammed her book closed.  He blinked and looked up to his restless prefect partner.

"Are y'askin' me my take on a crazy Grace?"

The Irish Gryffindor chuckled and shrugged somewhat before closing his own book.

"Or were y'askin' 'bout takin' a break t'check on th' Fauninator?"

Chance nodded with a smile.

"M'always a fan o' ditchin' th' books t'check on 'at wee, lit'l lass!"

The Quidditch fever was contagious.  Chance had just recently joined the team...and had yet to play his first official match as a Gryffindor Beater, but he was looking forward to it nonetheless.  Here he was...joining a TEAM, playing a SPORT.  Wild stuff for sure!  But he had a fantastic teammate in Grace Eddy and he knew they'd be making great memories and having a lot of fun in the process.  So...he was anxious.

"Let's be on our merry way then, shall we?"

Chance hopped to his feet, folding his book under one arm and extending his free arm in gesture to escort Grace quite properly away from their little study session.

Grace echoed his chuckle, realizing that her abrupt ending to the study session could indeed be puzzling. Usually someone else was pleading for the torture to stop. And now here she was displaying a behavior that had become quite regular for the usually studious Grace--indifference.

Some might say that her mother's condition caused Grace to reevaluate the way she viewed the world, including her studies. While most of her classmates seemed to be kicking in high gear for preparation to take the NEWTS, Grace could not muster the same spirit she remembered having during her fifth year exams. She still cared and wanted to do well, but she realized now that it wouldn't be the end of the world if she didn't do as well as she had wanted for so many years. Life was just too short to get so worked up about it.

She appreciated Chance's sense of humor and gave him a goofy grin when he called her Crazy Grace. "Well....I don't know if you are the best person to ask for a take on Crazy Grace. She seems to only come out when you're around," she joked. "But yeah, I think we should check on Fauna. The good news is that we haven't seen her running from the quidditch pitch screaming yet. But Edmund could also be working her super hard and she could be collapsed on the field exhausted."

Grace hopped up off of the bench excitedly. "In which case, we shall need to revive her! Give her strength for another round, especially when Slaying Slytherins is on the horizon!"

Grace's competitve fire was in full effect. She looped her arm through Chance's and started walking, descending the stairs from the gazebo all the while gently tugging him along. She declared, "Let us away!"

It was good to hang out with Grace.  She had mellowed out considerably since they'd first met.  Chance had come to greatly value his friendship with his fellow Gryffindor prefect.  Now perhaps more than ever, Chance was thankful and appreciative of Myrni Levartian pairing them up against their wills.  It truly had a normalizing effect on the both of them. 

Of course, Chance couldn't take all the credit for the changes in Grace.  She'd been through a lot which would change anyone.  And actually...so had he.  Chance tried not to think about such somber things such as dying mothers, mothers that had disowned their children, or murdered mothers...such as was the case with Ramona Flickwick.  It was a bad year for beloved mothers at Hogwart's for sure.  Chance realized his mind had really wandered off on a tangent that he'd prefer to avoid altogether...but he knew he had to show those around him how important and loved they were.  He had to quit being so self centered and dwelling on the problems that consumed him.  He gave a smile to Grace.

"Ah, blame 'er on me why doncha?"

Chance nudged Grace with his forearm a bit and nodded.

"Ah like 'er personally."

And as for Fauna...circumstances had kept the two of them apart for too long and on too many occasions.  Chance chuckled at Grace's suppositions as to the results of Fauna's Quidditch training.

"Helpin' th' Fauninator...Snake Slayin'...sounds like a worthy cause t'me!"

And now the pair of prefects were on the hunt for Fauna!

Grace grinned and told him, "Well, I don't think that Crazy Grace is necessarily a bad thing. She needs to come out every now and then. If she didn't, then life would get to serious..." Grace's voice trailed off and she was certain that he knew what she meant  with that statement. She shrugged and added, "You bring out the best of Crazy Grace."

With her arm now looped through his, Grace hugged herself closer to her friend as they walked to go find Fauna. She didn't voice as much out loud, but Grace wondered if Chance would be okay in their little endeavor, given his feelings for their Hufflepuff friend. It was her hope that their trio's shared experiences earlier in the semester could help keep their bond strong, no matter what may or may not be brewing romantically between Chance and Fauna.

Grace decided not to bring that up, even though it was on her tongue to ask how Chance felt. Instead, she focused on the Snake Slaying. She pumped her fist and declared, "To slay the snakes! Huzzah!" Then she cackled with laughter. "Too bad Maeve Whitman is not on their team. I would love to see her fall off a broom and land in a pile of mud." Then Grace feigned a bit of sheepishness. "Oh wait! How could I forget that she doesn't need to fall off a broom to land in mud?!"

Chance smiled and nodded in firm agreement with his fellow Gryff.

"Ya've got a ruddy good point 'ere, lass!  Ruddy good!"

The Irish prefect had a bit of spring in his step, feeling energized and excited to be with his "partner-in-crime" on a new caper...or should it be mission?  After all, they were supposed to be good examples to their House.  The whole Batman/Batgirl thing fizzled through his mind for a moment as they continued on their way.

As for romantic tensions, Chance himself wasn't even really certain what to expect.  Things had been brewing for quite some time, but there had also been some major setbacks.  The primary one being Devlin Matthews.  Other misunderstandings and miscommunications seemed to fade away into obscurity, but that one had been ugly for more than just that love triangle.

Chance couldn't help but bite back a snicker as Grace mentioned Maeve Whitman falling into the mud.  He shook his head and nudged Grace...still trying rather hard not to burst out laughing.  He didn't want to encourage Grace, but...it was somewhat hysterical now that it was all said and done.

"Yer bad, Grace....ba-a-a-ad!"

Fauna had survived her first Quidditch practice! It had gone on longer than she'd expected, since Edmund had taken a break in the middle to ask her advice about Lou, so she wasn't sure what time it was as she trudged tiredly down the pitch and towards the path leading to the castle. She'd tied her jacket around her waist (80's style!), and rolled up her jeans to just below her knees. Her hair was windblown and her shirt felt a bit damp. Fauna was looking forward to kicking off her shoes and taking a shower when she made it back to the common room.

As she walked, she spotted two figures in the distance, and squinted - one with red hair, one with a shock of dark hair. Two of her favorite Gryffindors! Fauna glanced at the broom in her hand and hastily smoothed out a few bent bristles. Then she grinned, waved at them, and walked faster, until finally she did a funny little jog towards her friends.

"Hi! I'm alive!" She announced breathlessly.

"Er, Edmund's putting away the bludgers and stuff," Fauna glanced towards the lockers. "He survived too," she noted, just in case there was any doubt.

"And your broom!" Fauna held it out to Grace. "So what are you two up to? Hoping to use the pitch?"

Fauna slouched where she stood and smiled, secretly wishing they were here to see her.

Despite areas of her life that were quite grim at the moment, Grace was very thankful for her friends. They allowed her to have a reprieve from all that was dark and crazy, even if her friends were all quite capable of bringing crazy to her life as well. Even when relationships between her friends seemed strained or awkward at times, like the one between Chance and Fauna, Grace still felt happy to focus on them.

And focusing on a mutual enemy like Maeve was also a storied past time. Despite her best efforts to remain as lady-like as possible since their face-off (no pun intended) earlier in the semester, Grace was still secretly plotting the Slytherin Queen's ultimate demise—if not for herself but for the  many others who's lives had been made miserable over the years because of the girl.

Grace's rueful smile at Chance calling her bad clearly meant that she didn't care. Even in hindsight, which usually allowed one some amount of remorse for such actions, Grace knew that she would do everything the same if she had it to do all over again. Watching Maeve's face melt off and her subsequent scream fest was priceless.

All thoughts of Maeve dissipated, however, at the sight of Fauna up ahead of them. “Well, you're in one piece so that's a plus!” she called to the raven haired Hufflepuff. Grace chuckled when Fauna confirmed as much for both herself and her coach. When Fauna held her broom out to her, Grace waved her off. “Oh no, you hang onto it. I'm sure you'll have more practices in the coming days.” She pumped her fist. “You need to be prepared to slay the snakes!”

Grace turned slightly so that she could loop her other arm through Fauna's and answered her question about what they were doing. “We've come to see how you were doing, silly. I couldn't study anymore without knowing how it was going.”

Chance was never really prepared how to react to being around Fauna anymore.  It seemed like every time that things were settled that they just bubbled right back over the cauldron again in a big mess of magical muck?  As romantic as that sounded...the Irish rocker couldn't help himself but smile at Fauna's wave and energetic jog nearer.  However...he couldn't be sure that Fauna would have approached the same way if he was without his fellow Gryffindor prefect.

That trademark sideways smirk of Chance's seemed permanently chiseled into his features when Fauna was around.  He gathered his wits, though a lesser version of the side grin remained in place.

"S'good t'know yer both alive...an' th' one piece bit too.  'at's good o' course.  As great as 'avin' lotsa Fauna 'round may be...lotsa pieces o' Fauna...not s'much in th' great department.  S'a wee bit morbid actually!"

As Fauna extended the broom to Grace, which his partner in crime so politely rejected...Chance couldn't help but smirk as Grace explained their reason for going toward the Quidditch pitch.

"...though Ah probably could use a good Quidditchin' m'self...Y'know Ah joined th' Gryffs, Faunanator?"

Grace being there was easing this transition for Chance.  Maybe it didn't have to be so awkward.  Though...he really had no idea where it would go, if anywhere.  At least it was comfortable.

Fauna held onto the broom, careful to keep the bristles from dragging on the grass, though her arms were sore. She chuckled at Grace's encouragement that she needed to slay the snakes, and looped her arm with hers, grinning shyly when they said they'd come out here to see her. She only hoped they didn't want to see her fly. Fauna was still a bit self-conscious about it.

"Did you?" Fauna exclaimed after a pause, when she'd been lost in her thoughts. "That's exciting!" She reached over and awkwardly gave Chance's arm a nudge.

"Um... what position did you get? You wanna play for the Hufflepuffs, too?" She said teasingly, wondering if Grace had talked him into it. Fauna imagined he'd be rather good at flying, Quidditch, all of that. Of course, she was biased.

Grace often felt that she was serving the role of a buffer whenever she was around both Chance and Fauna of late, but that was okay with her. She didn't mind being the wingwoman if it meant possibly getting two of her good friends together. Anyone who observed Fauna and Chance close enough could tell that there were sparks between the two. It was just a matter of time and circumstance that might determine if they'd end up together “like that”.

Grace chuckled at Chance's take on how it would've been bad to have  pieces of Fauna all around. She nudged him playfully. Then she gave him an encouraging squeeze of his arm when he announced that he had joined the Gryffindor team. Grace could not help her competitive juices from flowing. She was already anxiously anticipating her team's next match.

Even if she desperately wanted her own team to win the cup (which she was carefully hiding at this point), Grace still wanted to be able to help Fauna do well. And knowing that she was helping to defeat Slytherin was certainly a plus as well, which is why she had no qualms about letting Fauna use her broom.

“You know, Fauna, that's not a bad idea! We could totally dress some Gryffindors and Ravenclaws up to play for Hufflepuff and then be totally sure Slytherin would lose!” She exclaimed. Then she was serious but clearly still full of optimism “But you guys are going to do great anyway! You've all been working so hard. That has to count for something!”

" 'at Ah did, lass!"

Chance wasn't the type to brag on himself, at least without a tinge of a playful jest involved.  However, he had taken rather naturally to the role of Beater for Gryffindor's team.  As protective as he was as a general rule of thumb, the position appealed to him.  After all...How ouuld Chance not be up for protecting his friends by guarding them from the Bludger and giving said ball a good swat in the right direction against those who threatened his teammates?  Fauna's awkward arm nudge felt strangely soothing and exciting.  It was as if he'd been able to allow his apprehensions release with the simplest of physical contact. 

"Ah'm a Beater like yerself actually."

But as Fauna and Grace both jokingly tossed around the idea of dressing up Gryffindors as Hufflepuff Quidditch players, Chance couldn't resist a silly little bit that popped into his head.

"Y'think I could pull off th' badger look, eh?"

The Irish Gryffindor lifted his arms, bending at the elbows to leave his hands dangling  in front of him as a prarie dog might and then chattered about playfully like a little rodent of some sort.  Truth be told...he didn't have a clue what a the Hufflepuff's mascot might actually sound like.

" 'at's not...right at all izzit?  'aven't exactly seen or 'eard a lot o' badgers in all honesty.  Don't 'ave th' foggiest idea what they sound like!"

Chance grinned in spite of himself.  As Fauna asked him what position he played, his grin slid into that famous half sideways smirk that he carried so regularly.

"So what kinda embarrassin' fanfare do we need t'get ready fer Fauna's first game, Grace?  Banners...Signs...T-shirts...Fireworks...?  It is comin' up awfully soon, after all!"

Chance's unnaturally deep green eyes flashed over to Fauna as he sent a teasing smile her way, while continuing to walk with Grace's arm in his own.

Grace's enthusiasm about destroying Slytherin in the next match made her giggle, especially with her copious use of the word 'totally'. It was nice to hear her friend had faith in her, though. Even if by her logic, Slytherin had been working hard at Quidditch for longer than Fauna ever had!

She raised her eyebrows in delighted surprise when Chance said he'd gotten the beater position as well! He went on to mimic the badger mascot, and she shook her head and laughed, sharing an amused glance with Grace. 

"I'd imagine it's like how Winnie or Figaro talk," she joked. They were a pair of chatterboxes! She meant it in a good way, but it was true.

"Nooooo," she protested, giving her friends imploring looks. "Don't do that! I'll fall off my broom from embarrassment! No, you lot should just... um... everyone should pretend they're not looking at me. Paper bags over the head would help."

Fauna grinned nervously, trying not to imagine how her first match would go. Both Grace and Chance knew enough about Quidditch to be able to judge whether her desperate swipes at bludgers were correct. Especially now that Chance had become a Beater!

"Actually... you know what you can do? If I knock a bludger out of the pitch, which I'm sure will happen with my aim... make sure it goes into the Slytherin stands. You know? Use your wands, or the strength of your wills. Send it right at Maeve!"

Hufflepuff might not beat Slytherin, but they could certainly make the Slytherin Queen miserable! Ah well, Fauna could dream.

Things were going well. The Three Musketeers were together again and having a good time. Awkwardness was at a minimum—for now. They where joking and sharing about quidditch.

Grace looked at Chance and tried to imagine him in Hufflepuff colors. She considered that if they had been sorted into any other house, that might be it. It made sense given how many Badgers they were friendly with. Then Grace looked at Fauna and even though she might not think so, Grace definitely thought that the girl could be suited for Gryffindor, and not just because she had so many Lions as friends, either. Fauna was honest and loyal and courageous.

Smiling at those thoughts, Grace said, “Yeah, I think we could pull off an infiltration.” Then she laughed at Chance's attempt to be a badger and she exclaimed, “Hey! Good idea! We can dress up as badgers for the game!” She paused and shrugged, “But  banners, signs and T-shirts work too. We'll make sure there's a whole lot of yellow in the stands!”

Yes, Grace was an enthusiastic fan. Delving into that was certainly a distraction for her. Grace smirked when Fauna insisted that they wear paper bags to keep from looking at her. “Maybe you'll have to imagine us only wearing our underwear and it'll be less of a distraction for you.” Her suggestion was a tip to what was often suggested for people who had stage fright or a fear of speaking in public. But given her recent Quidditch Match stint with George, Grace didn't have a problem stripping down to her underclothes now. 

The mention of  sending bludgers at Maeve caused Grace to grin mischeviously. “Yes! And maybe it'll distract Callum too, seeing as they are supposedly dating.” She paused then added, "But I've never seen them together like that so maybe it's just a ruse. You know...like Ian Cuddyer and Eleanor St. James?"

Chance smiled at the girls' reception of his peculiar badger impersonation. 

"Ah feel like Ah should be askin' th' two of you fer lion impersonations next!  S'only fair y'know?"

Fauna and Grace certainly had contrasting ideas about showing the Hufflepuff support when she played Quidditch.  Chance shook his head with a smirk.

"Gotta say Ah'm leanin' toward Grace on this one, Fauna dear."

What was this about picturing people in their underwear?  Chance quirked a brow at Grace.

"Say wha?  An' that's s'pposed t'be...a calmin' influence?"


Chance facepalmed at Fauna's suggestion regarding stray bludgers and Maeve.  Regardless of how amusing it may have been...given Grace's previous encounter with the Slytherin ice queen, Chance did not think it wise to get Grace started on the subject.

"Don' encourage 'er, lass..."