Playbill: Justin Finch-Fletchley, Seth Darkon, Audrey Miller, Greer Blackwood
Honorable Mention: Professor Gallowes
Summary: Seth attempts to steal Justin's jaffa cakes, which incites the next great war. Greer suspects Audrey is hiding things from her. ---------------------------- Spells and Scales: "Thank you, Tom." Justin Finch-Fletchley was seated in the moderately crowded setting of the Leaky Cauldron at a table, lucky to snag one. He was hunched forward, counting unicorn hairs on a double-layered piece of linen, giving them a once over. Taking the mug of mead that Tom set down, he set it to the right of the left of the linen and resume his count. Once satisfied, he carefully folded the linen up and slid the whole thing into a mokeskin pouch that then found its way into his worn leather rucksack for safe-keeping. Pushing haphazard dirty blonde hair back off of his forehead, he finally leaned back in his seat, supported from behind by the old brick of the wall behind his seat. He reached out fingers for his mead, drew it near, picked it up, and took a deep and satisfied gulp from the mug as legs stretched out underneath the table. Refreshing. -f- Pumpkin Dust: It was a warm, glowy sort of evening in Diagon Alley. The snow that had been flurrying about throughout the afternoons had seemed to finally sod off, and for a change of scenery a certain russet-haired young woman had made herself a little camp in the familiar inn. Busily scribbling into a parchment book at a table (that now had several other books and atlases scattered about) near the fireplace, Audrey had barely touched her half-consumed cup of tea for some time now. Strangely, she wore a green-and-silver scarf over her maroon plaid dress - obviously a Slytherin scarf and not some coincidental pattern. magic: Snow crunched under leather sole of boot, as Greer made her way to the inn. It had been a busy morning at Flourish and Blotts, but it had slowed to a snail's pace in the afternoon. After closing time, she had painstakingly tallied the receipts for the day, then put away the books that had been mis-shelved before locking up. Not the most stimulating of employments, but it at least got her out of the apartment more than her freelancing as a Curse-breaker did. There was just too much fear and misunderstandings running rampant, with the Ministry doing nothing to help. Knocking the snow from brown leather boots on the doorframe, hand would press against the familiar groove of wood to open up to the spacious and warm room beyond. -- Blue shifting over the various tables and bar, before spotting a certain lioness. A relieved smile forming, as the distance between them was shortened within a few quick strides. Hand guiding a free chair from an empty table to pull up adjacent to Audrey, as she smoothly slipped into it. "Miller," soft enough to gently rouse her dearest friend from whatever she was enthralled in. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey had actually started, in spite of the softness in Greer's utterance, as testimony to just how very deeply into her task she had immersed herself. A small smile found her lips and she lowered her quill. "That'd be me, then." Audrey retrieved her cup to take a sip of her tea, but made a face at the revelation that it was cold. Spells and Scales: Mead was important. Mead softened the spreading bruise over the ribs on his left side. Well-cushioned dragon hide padding could take a lot from the kick of a unicorn, but there was still a bit more the body had to take. Deep and careful breaths avoided any exciting shots of pain from that bruising. Of course, when Justin decided to lean sideways in his seat and reach back into the rucksack for a treat, he winced at exciting exactly that when pulling out a small convenience store package of Jaffa Cakes. Didn't matter. Jaffa Cakes were to be had. They would comfort him with his mead. He set the small crinkly package next to the mead and pried open the seal along one edge before carefully withdrawing one slightly smushed cake. The whole thing was immediately pushed into his waiting mouth where it could be properly enjoyed. -f- magic: A soft note, merry in it's delivery to signify a laugh before it was cut off with a look of sympathy. Judging by Audrey's reaction to the tea it had been sometime since she remembered it's presence. Something serious must be going on, but tea wouldn't wrangle information out of her. So.. "Two butterbeers, please," to the passing barmaid with a wiggle of index and pointer in partnership. Charcoal grey wool jacket was slowly eased from shoulders to drape over the back of chair, only for fingers to fidget with the dark navy scarf coiled loosely about neck. Greer didn't launch immediately into a series of interrogating questions, instead allowing Audrey to determine what she felt like divulging first. Gaze shifting to occupants of other tables, and finding a mop of blonde shoving an entire jaffa cake into his mouth. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey seemed to find the same focal figure, at exactly the same time Greer had noticed Justin eating his Jaffas, because she stifled a chuckle at the image. "Inadvertently watching Finch-Fletchley eat could be a pastime all its own," she grinned.
magic: The name had slipped her mind momentarily, but being refreshed by Audrey's mental Rolodex would entice a snort of agreement. It wasn't that the Hufflepuff was forgettable, but Greer had a lot on her mind these days.
Spells and Scales: Unaware of his new audience, Justin proceeded to lift his extended legs up to set them in the seat opposite him on the other side of the table, munching the current occupant of his mouth, and closed his eyes, head resting back on the wall at his back with the rest of his upper body. Upon swallowing, he washed it down with a smaller gulp of mead, closed his eyes, and fumbled around blind for the Jaffa cake packaging, annoying a nearby table with the sound of crinkling as he fished out another and shoved it into his mouth. Long day. Good day. Good mead. Good Jaffas. -f-
Pumpkin Dust: "Keep it down over there," Audrey scolded, suddenly. "Some of us are trying to hear ourselves talking, over the obscene sounds of your face-stuffing." Spells and Scales: Justin didn't hear this, busy munching thickly away on Jaffa cakes. -f-
Pumpkin Dust: "It's like watching Seth attack his jellyslugs, and just as obliviously. It's no wonder the two of them get on.." She grinned, again, and glanced back down to her ledger just in time for the waitress to return with their Butterbeers. She muttered a quiet thank you and nursed her first sip, pleasantly. magic: Lips pursed to restrain further indications of amusement, before redirecting focus on the russet haired witch across from her. "What's with all the books?" the question slipping out even as the barmaid deposited the drinks and slithered off to attend other tables. The fiddling of scarf forgotten as fingers realigned themselves to the amber filled mug, to bring it towards mouth for a generous swig. ghoulgate: The mission was underway. Espionage had a new name: Darkon, Seth Darkon. The ginger had been moving silent as a particularly quiet librarian through the Leaky Cauldron, ducking and dodging and executing brilliant barrel rolls and tactical maneuvers the likes of which none there had seen before. Nor, for that matter, had they seen them this time, as Seth was so stealthy, he was quite sure that he had remained entirely undetected. Finally, he was in the drop zone -- a rather cramped position, situated just underneath Justin's raised legs. His body contorted, and a hand came creeping up alongside the table, a serpent rising to strike. And strike he did! In a flash, the package of Jaffa cakes were in hand! Operation: Jaffa 4 Pillowface (OJ4P) was well underway! Pumpkin Dust: "They're for reading," Audrey remarked snarkily. "You know... words that formulate in your head to tell a predetermined story or relay information." She winked at her companion, just in time for another red-headed hellion to arrive on the scene and terrorize poor Justin and his cakes. "There goes the neighborhood." Spells and Scales: Justin didn't even hear the crinkling of the package when the Jaffas were whisked away. Instead, moments later, fingers were crawling over the surface for the package, eyes still closed, but they never... found... the Jaffas. What had been a face of deep and blissful satisfaction slowly twisted into concern as his arm slowly extended out as far as it could from his lounging position in the corner. "...Huh?" Eyes finally opened to see only... the mug of mead. "What?" Legs were withdrawn from the chair so he could plant his feet on the floor as he started to look around himself. -f- magic: There was a parting of lips to point out that of the two, Greer was the one that often kept her head in books as opposed to Audrey. But wisely shut, as it could be misconstrued to imply that Miller was dumb. Which the Gryffindor alumni certainly wasn't! It was odd though, and Greer knew with nagging certainty that Audrey was keeping something from her. Dark head shifted to follow her friend's interest in time to witness the clever theft. Brilliant.
ghoulgate: "YEOW!" Came a howl from under the table, where Justin's feet had unintentionally collided with Seth's ribs. The Hufflepuff leapt up, only to smash the top of his noggin against the underside of the table, simultaneously colliding with Finch-Fletchley's legs in what was sure to be a horrendous flying car wreck of an incident.
Spells and Scales: The sound of accident happening under Justin's table caused him to jerk in his chair in a shocked attempt to get up. His own bumping into the edge of the table combined with Seth's smash into the underside of his caused the mug of mead to knock over and spill onto Justin's pants and between the cracks of the tabletop. "SETH!" was the bellowed and angry shout. Justin then bent over and shoved arms under the table, though his head remained above it, flailing them underneath to try and grab him. -f-
Pumpkin Dust: Audrey was, and had always been, a fan of the books. Any perception otherwise was purely mistaken, for sure. Just the same, Greer's nagging certainty was correct - though, perhaps incorrect at the same time. It wasn't so much that Audrey was keeping something from her, but rather that Audrey wasn't entirely certain what it was she had to share as of yet. It was difficult to divulge a secret to a friend when you weren't even entirely certain what the nature of that secret was. In the few moments of Seth and poor Justin's entanglement, Audrey had somehow managed to slip back into a semi-comatose state... leafing through the pages of what she had written and pausing only to take a sip of her Butterbeer.
magic: The smack of noggin with wood could be heard from the table the girls shared, and it sounded painful enough that Greer gave a wince. Darkon should have immediately left the scene of the crime instead of lingering.. A sharp intake of air produced a hiss of sympathy as the fumbling surprise, would cause mead to splash upon Justin's trousers. It was humiliating to watch, even as she fought a losing battle to laugh. There was the heralding sharp bark, before it bubbled forth like an uncorked soda pop bottle that had been shaken aggressively beforehand.
ghoulgate: Seth squirmed about wildly, limbs flailing like those of an octopus who had just been given a hit of crack cocaine. Not that anyone here had any clue what that looked like. "Stop! Stop! WAIT! STOP!" There was a brief -- very brief -- moment when Justin stopped attempting to grab the redhead, and after a second's silence, a high pitched voice rang out from under the table. "I'm not Seth! I'm Seth's sister, Seth...ina!" First rule of espionage, never blow your cover. Of course, it was ruined seconds later, when the more usual voice of Seth cried out "HEY EVERYONE, LOOK, JUSTIN PEED HIS PANTS!" Aaaand Seth went scrambling out from under the table, army crawling as fast as he could across the dirty floor. Second rule of espionage: DIVERSION!
Pumpkin Dust: Audrey took a break from being distracted, enough to drop her face into her book and groan. Damnit, Seth.
Spells and Scales: Sethina?! Justin's face screwed up and he growled as Seth crawled out from under the table. All best were off! Justin shoved the table Seth had just vacated, despite protesting ribs, and immediately flung himself body at the crawling redhead, landing half on top of him. "GIVE IT!!" The Hufflepuff Commons were often a catastrophe due to happenings like this. -f-
ghoulgate: Seth somehow found time in the midst of his escape to throw a Jaffa cake each at Audrey and Greer. Rule Three: Pay Off The Witnesses!
Pumpkin Dust: Audrey still had her face buried in her book, ala faceplant, and the jaffa cake hit the back of her neck and bounced off, rolling on the ground toward the two feuding boys. Emphasis on the word boys.
And, unbeknownst to them all, the lot of them were being very-closely observed by a stranger - whose features were, of course, obscured by the hood of his dark cloak. magic: Greer was too busy laughing at Seth's antics to be of any actual assistance. It seemed far too long since she had witnessed such an exchange and it made her face hurt from being so happy. Free hand rose to catch the soaring jaffa cake, because wasting such a treat should be a felony.
ghoulgate: "RAPE! RAAAAPE!" This wasn't even the worst of these incidents. Once the Hufflepuff commons had turned into what could only be described as a prison riot. Again, the -- HUFFLEPUFF -- commons. Seth realized, however, that the jig was up. Finch-Fletchley had the upper hand, the high ground, as it were. "Okay! Okay! I surrender! I surrender!" Another very slight pause, before Seth began shoving as many Jaffa Cakes into his mouth as he possibly could. They'd never recover the evidence. Rule Four: When captured by an enemy, consider taking the cyanide pill. Spells and Scales: Justin had paused at the announcement of surrender... until, "YOU MANKY GIT!" He scrabbled just as fast as Seth, trying to bat them out of his greedy gob. Justin would rather WASTE them than allow the thief the satisfaction! -f- Pumpkin Dust: "I'd like to take this moment to remind anyone who will listen that I am not actually related to this person." Her voice was muffled by her book. magic: Greer only gave Audrey a snort. Before taking a bite of the evidence and payoff that Seth had so wisely gifted their way. She was a bit famished having forgotten to bring lunch to work that day, when it was left on the counter at home. Which meant that Gandalf had certainly eaten it by now.
ghoulgate: Seth attempted to yell "That's my cousin Audrey over there!" Attempted, as every bit of space in his mouth was currently occupied by cakes. Oh, and he was being swatted at by Justin, to boot. So...you know. That's sort of how his life was going at that moment. He flailed about wildly, looking a bit like a chipmunk in a schoolyard fight with his cheeks all puffed out. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey lifted her hand to accept the shout-out, in spite of herself, but didn't lift her head. Spells and Scales: Messing with a man's Jaffa cakes should be punishable by all forms of government. It was simply criminal. In Justin's attempt to keep the cakes out of Seth's festeringly endless mouth, he finally realized the signals of pain from his ribs as a particularly sharp one hit him, causing his attack to cease as he fell over onto his side in surprise, hands going for his torso, as if that would somehow protect the bruising there. "You..." he panted, "are... my... sw-sworn... enemy." -f- Spells and Scales: Tom finally wandered over with a large bucket and upended cold water over both Justin and Seth before silently heading back to the bar with the empty bucket. -f- Pumpkin Dust: Audrey finally lifted her head at the sound of the water being thrown against the pair -- and immediately joined Greer in her laughter. magic: After a moment, Greer managed to quickly dispose of the jaffa cake before crushing crumbs off on a napkin. Bright blue eyes still watching the struggling pair, even as they became doused in water. She wasn't sure if it was clean or not.. Laughing anyway. ghoulgate: Seth finally managed to gulp down the absurd amount of cake he'd been chewing, in a great, exaggerated gulp, no less. He didn't escape, however, instead choosing to lay on the floor, panting for breath. "Oh, baby, was it good for you?" SPLASH. And he was soaked. A mouthful of water was spit out, more for effect than anything. He looked over to his sworn enemy, laying there on his side in agony. "...Well, at least now nobody can tell you peed your pants, right?" Seth reached over for the package of Jaffa Cakes, taking it in hand and turning it upside down, a single cake falling into his lap. He took it in hand, and slid it over to Justin. "Here. You fought with honor. You've earned this." Spells and Scales: Wet. Cold. Bruised. Defeated. Justin glared through sopping hair at Seth... and then snatched the one lone Jaffa Cake and shoved it into his mouth. He had his priorities, ya know? He continued to glare at Seth as he chewed before finally, out of the corner of his mouth, managing to speak through the crumbs. "I guess so." -f- Pumpkin Dust: Ms. Miller indulgently allowed herself to finish laughing, glancing over at Greer and shaking her head before she opted to close her book, finally, and stand up from her chair. She moved to retrieve the jaffa cake that had bounced off of her earlier and crossed over to the two (drenched) boys. Retrieving her wand from the pocket of her dress. With a quick little wand-wave, Finch-Fletchley would find himself miraculously dry... and she offered the spare cake out to him (just as he was shoving the one Seth had offered into his mouth). Seth... was to remain wet. Spells and Scales: Blonde hair suddenly puffed into a weird mix of curls and not curls as Justin's entire being was dried out by a wave of Audrey Miller's wand. He looked up at her as she offered the spare cake, and he held up an abstaining hand. "No, no... you have it." With a groan, he slowly pushed himself into a seated position and reached out to punch Seth in his damp shoulder. "You could have asked!" -f- magic: Literal tears had formed, Greer was laughing too hard. It was ridiculous and stupid, and just the right antidote for everything it seemed. Had there been actual concern one of them could get hurt in the tussle, she may have intervened. But since they were known friends, it didn't seem right to get involved. Audrey was family however, and smartly saw to set things right. This left the werewolf to regain marginal control, albeit soft hiccups from the prior fit of laughter. A shake of head was given, as she elbows braced upon the table to support a lean as she sipped from the frothy mug in-between hiccups.
ghoulgate: "Hey, c'mon, we can still be sworn enemies if you want. But I want to be like...Professor X and Magneto, y'know? Like...we're sworn enemies, but we just respect each other so much, and we play chess and our differences are mainly based on complex issues where you understand both sides. Oh! Or we could be the kind of sworn enemies with a really intense sexual tension, maybe not actually there, but girls will totally pick up on it whether it is or not, and write all sorts of fanfic about us, not even necessarily being gay, but just being super kawaii together and draw little chibi versions of us fighting over Jaffa Cakes and who am I kidding it's mostly just gonna be gay stuff but still." Pumpkin Dust: Audrey started to insist Justin take the cake. "I don't actually like th--" she started, but was cut short with Seth's rant. She stared at her cousin... lowered her arm (holding the jaffa cake), turned around and immediately walked back to her table. Spells and Scales: Justin also stared at Seth, head tilting slightly to one side as his protective hand dropped from his side. "Huh." Justin shook his head and slowly drew himself up off the floor and back onto his feet. "You know, Seth.... uh... I'm okay with you being gay and all, but... I'm not... I'm not gay." Out of everything Justin couldn't understand, he thought Seth was admitting to being gay! -f- magic: Greer was just going to focus on her butterbeer, because she couldn't be nosy during the blossoming scene between Justin and Seth. It felt a little too personal, yanno? Hiccup. ghoulgate: "Oh. Well, I mean, I'm not either. I'm just saying, that's...that's the sort of sworn enemies we'd be. The fangirls would write it that way, but we wouldn't actually be...okay, hold on, you're wildly misinterpreting this. I feel like I'm not actually explaining it properly, and I need you to get this, because it's going to really bother me if you don't." magic: Fangirls. Snort. Hiccup. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey had to chew her lip to stop herself from laughing again when she overheard how the conversation between Justin and Seth had devolved. "Anyway," she chuckled, sliding back into her seat across from Greer. Who was hiccuping. Audrey lifted her eyebrows. "Merlin, Greer, you're not already drunk are you?" Spells and Scales: "No, no." Justin held up his hands as he took a step back. "No, I get it. It's all right, Seth. You, uh, I'm really proud of you." Another step back. Another step back. "That takes a lot of courage. I mean, I don't know half the stuff of what you said, but I appreciate you telling me. I support you." Pause. "Gotta go." Justin grabbed his rucksack from his table and sprinted out of the Leaky Cauldron, despite his bruising. It was only after he escaped outside into Muggle London that he laughed to himself and then groaned in immediate regret as laughing hurt his ribs. -f- magic: Glancing up from the butterbeer to Audrey, as she rejoined her.. Greer gave a small smile. "No, just laughed a bit too hard," a small shrug of shoulder given, even as she hiccuped again. She hoped it passed soon, because they could get rather irritating (if not painful). Pumpkin Dust: Audrey nodded. "Do as I say. I want you to breathe in right now, as deeply as you can, and hold your breath a few moments. Then, without exhaling yet, swallow. Once you've done that, start breathing out slowly and exhale as deeply and for as long as you can. Trust me." ghoulgate: "No! Wait! Justin, hold on, don't...dude, I'm not! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but, it's just not what I am! Dude, come on, I know you get what I'm saying! Justin! Justin! ...Justin!" Justin was long gone by now. Still. "...Justin! Seriously!" Well. This all backfired tremendously. magic: Eyebrow arched as Audrey took the matter of hiccups seriously. The Ravenclaw would give it a go, with a knack for following directions to the letter (which is why she had remarkable scores in potions). After an uncomfortable minute or three, a relieved smile was presented. "You're brilliant," it was a statement, not a question. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey grinned and took a sip from her Butterbeer. "Can't take all the credit for that one. Courtesy of Professor Gallowes." magic: At the mention of Gallowes, velveteen cheeks flushed slightly. The attraction to the older man was silly, but safe as nothing would ever come from it. "Well thank you anyway," taking a well deserved swig. Line of pearl chewed thoughtfully at lower lip, knowing that whatever Audrey was doing with the books would probably not be forthcoming that evening. So she thought about addressing something they had discussed a few days before.. "..Remember the other day, when you mentioned Malfoy?" volume dropping low to make it more difficult for someone else to overhear. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey's expression changed inexplicably, warm eyes visibly cooling at the mention of the Slytherin prat. Why on Earth would Greer want to bring that up again? "I seem to have a vague memory, yes," she teased, coming to hold her butterbeer with both hands (and relishing the warmth of the mug). "Why? Did you have a pleasant encounter of your very own?" Audrey took a sip from her mug, her gaze locked on Greer's in genuine interest. magic: "Sort of," even white teeth tearing into lower lip with consideration. It was obvious that his name struck a sour note with Audrey, but Greer's curiosity had been aroused. "You said that he had made a fine mess at Ollivanders," index finger tapping the smooth glass of mug, "Do you think he was testing wands?" Pumpkin Dust: "I do, yes," she offered easily. It had been obvious, on the day she'd encountered Malfoy in the shop, that that was precisely what he'd been up to doing. "Though I haven't a clue why. I thought maybe he'd broken his and was just being extraordinarily prat-ish about finding a new one. Though, now that you mention it, it wasn't necessarily the first strange encounter I'd had with him.." Audrey wondered if it was a mistake to mention the incident at Borgin and Burkes, where she still wasn't entirely convinced it was the back of Draco's head she'd seen in the wake of the chaos. magic: "I think you're right," not that it was embarrassing thing for a witch or wizard to do. But.. "I don't believe he's found a new one," pausing only to put her thoughts in order before continuing. "The night of the party, I found him locked in the library. It wasn't spelled or anything, just locked from the outside.." delicate brows furrowed a bit, as the idea of being wandless didn't make one entirely helpless, unless they weren't good with wandless spells.. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey smirked at the mention of Draco being locked in the library on the night of the Masquerade, but she didn't say anything. She simply took another sip of Butterbeer, then added "Poor, helpless, wandless little prat." magic: It was evident that Audrey wasn't terribly surprised at the news, which meant she had possibly known something about his predicament. Greer itched to pick her brain, but felt that it might be best left alone like the collection of books that Miller had been reading. It was odd, feeling like the last to know. Shrugging aside the dark thoughts that would swallow her if she let them, a shrug was given at the slew of adjectives. "I just thought it was interesting," returning to nursing her butterbeer. Pumpkin Dust: Audrey seemed to catch on to something while the two of them were sitting there, eyeing her friend with sober observation from the other side of the table. "You know I'm not... much of a sharer, Greer. It's not because I'm hiding anything from you." She knew her friend well. Audrey moved to unwind the Slytherin scarf from around her neck, folding it onto the table between them. "I didn't lock Draco in the library, as much as I wish I might have had the satisfaction. Truth is, I don't really know what that idiot is up to and I'm not entirely certain I want to know. As for all this..." She lowered her gaze to the mess on the table. "It has to do with..." it took her a long time to say his name. It almost felt as though it was becoming more and more difficult, with time. "Benedict. I don't know what any of it means yet. But I've been getting owls from him.. or someone pretending to be him." magic: It was true that Miller didn't spill every facet of her existence, but Blackwood had hoped that the important bits that interrupted the daily grind would be a little more forthcoming. A small small formed as Audrey took pity on the unspoken concern that radiated from Greer and spoke up. This was better than the Ravenclaw poking and prodding, right? "I know, that sometimes you just need to piece it out for yourself. I just can tell when you've got your hooks into something. Or it has it's hooks in you," wanting to smooth the potentially rough edges. The matter of Draco was dropped for the time being, mostly because of the relative bomb at the mention of Benedict Avery. "..What do you mean, you've been receiving owls?" immediately suspicious, and trying to shrug off the dread. Pumpkin Dust: "I only received a couple, and then it stopped. The thing is... if there's even a chance that he could still be alive out there somewhere..." She didn't finish her thought. She simply kept her eyes fixed on the scarf on the table. She had to find him.