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beatersdoitbetter · 2 days ago

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Ember couldn’t help but to continue to grin down at Anne as they entered the theater and made their way to the wall of posters. There was a fair few of them, though most didn’t really seem to be the kind of thing Ember would particularly enjoy. She didn’t mind though, as long as it was something Anne might like. Her eyes scanned over their various options, noting the way her girlfriend lingered at the horse poster (of course she did) and grimacing at the sight of the Wolf Man one. She wasn’t entirely sure what kind of portrayal Muggles would make of someone like her, but she had absolutely no interest in finding out. The look on Anne’s face said she didn’t either, thankfully. There didn’t seem to be much of those… drawn movies she liked available today and the other seemed a bit… gushy. Her eyes scanned the row of posters again, not sure which one to pick but leaning towards the one with the horse if only because she figured Anne would probably like that one the best. She glanced down at the blonde, a small smile forming on her blueing lips at the question of what films she had liked. That was an easy one. She could still vividly remember the very first time she and Eveleen had come here together, the Ravenclaw insisting that Ember would love it if she just gave it a go. The redhead had been wary but had caved and come back out of the theater awestruck a couple of hours later, absolutely gobsmacked by the wonder she had just experienced. She had insisted on seeing it at least twice more before the summer had been over. She’d been sad when it wasn’t still playing come winter.

“How to Train Your Dragon.” The Gryffindor admitted, not an ounce of embarrassment on her face. “It was the only film playing at the time that me’n’Eveleen didn’t need an adult to see. It was… I’d never seen anything like that before, y’know? Even if the dragons were so inaccurate Eveleen almost had to drag me out the theater the first time we went. She kept telling me it wasn’t supposed to be correct because Muggles think dragons are a myth. If I didn’t know they’d actually swallow me whole, I’d’ve traded in me broomstick for a Night Fury. Maybe. I haven’t seen it since but… I think it’s still my favorite one. I wish they’d play it here again, but they only do newer stuff.”

Ember sipped at her slushie in contemplation, temporarily releasing Anne’s hand to wander over to ticket counter, leaning up against the glass. She stared at the pimply twenty-something man boredly sweeping up some popcorn that had spilled onto the floor until he glanced at her and sighed.

“Whaddayawan’, Ember?” He asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at her as though they had had many a conversation before in the past and he always found them less than amusing.

“The film with the horse. Does it die?” Ember asked as seriously as one can when their mouth is a vivid shade of slushie blue.

“What?”

“The horse, Pat. Does the horse die?” The redhead rolled her eyes as though her question beforehand should have been obvious. “I’m not taking my girl to a film just to have her cry after.”

“That’s a kid’s film.”

“And?”

“And the horse doesn’t die.” Pat sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the main character, but it’s for kids. You’d be better off with something like Wolf Man. Now that’s a good one. It’s got this-”

“We want two for the horse film.” Ember insisted, not bothering to let Pat finish trying to explain about the god awful wolf movie that would probably make her stomach turn and spew the entirety of her slushie up on the floor.

“Suit yerself.” Pat shrugged, punching the order into the register.

“And a large popcorn.”

“And popcorn. You know you’re not supposed to bring in outside food.” Pat chided, though his heart didn’t seem to be in it.

“Like anyone ever follows that rule.” Ember laughed, knowing full well that Pat didn’t actually care even if he always managed to mention it. It had never stopped her and Eveleen, knowing the shop across the way was much cheaper than the inflated prices of the theater. “Babe, we’re going to the horse film.” She announced to Anne, even her teeth tinted a bit blue as she grinned at her. “That’s the one you want, right?” She double checked, knowing she shouldn’t assume but… well, it was Anne and it was a horse… The odds were in her favor.

“No Eveleen?” Pat asked as he handed off the tickets and started filling one of the red and white striped bags with popcorn and extra butter. “You guys break up?”

“What? No. We’d never break up. She’s spending the spring holidays with her boyfriend.” Ember laughed, shaking her head at the absurdity. While she and Eveleen had had an awful falling out because of Ember’s own stupidity after being bitten, if there was one thing for certain in this world, it was that they would always be together. Best mates for life, no matter what came their way.

“Her… boyfriend…?” Pat asked, seeming flummoxed.

“My brother, yeah.” Ember beamed, even more amused by the extra wave of confusion that fell across the poor man’s face.

“You have a brother?!”

“Yep.” The redhead shrugged, grabbed up the popcorn bag with one arm, pinning it against her chest with the same one holding her slushie cup, leaving her other hand still free to grab up Anne’s. “See you.” She nodded and turned, checking the number on the tickets for the right theater. “Ready, dove?”

Bro</3ken

“You just have to work on your balance.” Ember insisted, her blue eyes shining as she held on tight to Anne’s hands. Spring had finally arrived and with it had come the blossoming of early flowers, the budding of leaves, and the melting of snow. The sun was shining today, warming the earth up more than it had been in ages and with it returned the chirping of birds. The last month and a half had been mostly wonderful aside from the unbearable amount of homework the seventh years were being assigned. When she wasn’t stuck studying or, better yet, practicing for Quidditch, Ember was with her friends. She spent the majority of her free time with Anne, laughing over ridiculous things, kissing until their lips were sore, and snuggling up in bed at night together with no worry about who knew. Ember had finally, at last, completely ditched sleeping in a shirt when she was with Anne, which had made her little blonde girlfriend smile and kiss her all the harder. The worry over her scars, at least when it came to Anne, was mostly gone. Ember still had her doubts and refused to change or shower in front of anyone else, even Eveleen, but with Anne it was easier. She continued to kiss at Ember’s scars, working her way down from her neck and back up again, whispering ‘I love yous’ into her flesh with her hot lips and warm breath until they were a tangle of limbs and moans with a mild bit of hair pulling.

Ember was filling out more as well, her body definitely more on the healthy side than it had been at the beginning of the school year. Her face no longer had signs of that sunken gaunt look it had previously held, she had ditched the need for a belt on her jeans, and her shirts had mostly gone back to hugging her body in all the right places. She was eating more than just apples, indulging in things she enjoyed again, finding that being back with the ones she loved was much more beneficial to her health than pushing them away had been to hers or theirs. She, Eveleen, and Coal were as close as they had ever been, for the most part. The main difference was that the latter two were doing a fair bit of their own bed rolling together and thus, she couldn’t just slam open Eveleen’s door like she used to expect for Sundays after noon. Unfortunately, the closer they got to the end of the year, the frizzier Eveleen’s hair was becoming, a clear indication of stress for the Ravenclaw. This time though, it had a lot more to do with school than other things. Their N.E.W.Ts were coming up in June and they only had a couple of months left to really prepare before it would be fail or pass, affecting their whole futures and the jobs they would be able to get once they graduated. That was the main reason Eveleen and Coal had stayed behind at school while Ember and Anne had retreated back to the sanctity of the little cottage in Ireland.

“There you go, you’ve nearly got it!” The redhead encouraged as she side stepped a bit, her eyes flickering from Anne’s face to the old skateboard under her girlfriend’s feet. It was still in good shape despite being a bit beaten up, but it was a hand-me-down that Ember had owned since she was about ten and Ack had given up on it. As it turned out, being able to balance easily on a broomstick had given the redhead an advantage when it came to learning how to skateboard, that and an unhealthy amount of courage when it came to falling off of it. She’d come back to the house banged up, bruised and bleeding with a huge grin on her face and no regrets. After all, on a skateboard, the ground was much closer than it ever was when she was on her broom, and she’d fallen off of that plenty of times without dying or breaking her neck. Plenty of broken bones and a couple of concussions, but nothing too serious. Ember barely noticed anymore when she broke her nose when she was going to fast to stop properly and ran into a tree or something. It would bleed as she laughed and Eveleen would sigh, snapping it right back into place with a spell that left Ember cursing because that part actually twinged a fair bit. Now that the weather was nice, the redhead had decided that it was time for Anne to learn how to ride a skateboard too. After all, she could ride a horse and fly on a broom, so this shouldn’t be too difficult. Unfortunately, while Anne’s core strength was remarkable, her balance while standing wasn’t quite as good as when she was sitting. Still, Ember was excited to share something with her, her heart feeling light as the sun stayed warm on her shoulder, hoodie keeping off the wind, and she watched Anne’s honey hair glisten as it was picked up and put down by the breezes, dancing upon her head like so many fine little tendrils of grass. It reminded Ember of the clearing they had ended up in on the Winter Solstice, of the long grass there, how the clearing had been so warm and welcoming despite the wintry weather around them. Their first time together, only days after their first official date but Ember wouldn’t have change it for anything. She and Anne? They were meant to be together, she felt it in her very bones every time she saw that wry smile on her girlfriend’s beautiful face. Every time she clutched the little resin heart hanging by her key on her chain.

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

The older Gryffindor reached down and untangled the fabric from one of the skateboard wheels, the pink floral print on white now dirty but, well, Anne never cared about stuff like that. She released Anne’s hands then, reaching out, instead, to her waist. She snuck under the hem of her girlfriend’s shirt and grabbed at the elastic holding her skirt up, pulling it higher and then folding it back down so that the edge of the skirt was up higher, out of the way. “There, that should…”

“Emmmiie!” Ember looked up, her head turning to stare at her house just down the lane a bit. They hadn’t gone far, so it wasn’t hard to hear her mother as she came around the corner from the back of the cottage dragging along a red wagon full of bags and baskets of produce. “I need you to deliver these down in town. The list is in the pouch.”

“Aye, Mammy.” Ember sighed and reached down, removing the skateboard from the ground and holding it under one arm while reaching for Anne’s hand with the other. She gave it a squeeze as she started back for the cottage. “Sorry. We can do more later. Should only take a couple of hours. You can come if you want. Me and Eveleen used to do it all summer. I’d board and she’d sit in the wagon and make a day out of it. Mam usually hooks it up to her bicycle though, it’s easier.”

Ember grinned, thinking about all of the times Eveleen had climbed into the back of the wagon, knees bent and off to the sides to leave plenty of room for bags and baskets. Ember would grab hold of the wagon’s handle and down the lane they would go, wind blowing through their hair as they laughed, chattering away about anything and everything. After they had made all of their deliveries, they would end up down at the ice cream parlor, lapping up cones nearly as big as their heads. Eveleen always got the triple chocolate chunk, Ember tried to change it up but she usually ended up with the cinnamon apple crumble crisp anyway. They would trail along the sidewalks, eating their ice cream, skateboard in the wagon, one hand each on the handle as they pulled it behind them. Sometimes they ended up at the local playground, a place Ember had never been to before Eveleen. It was fun, swinging from the bars and climbing up the slides, chasing one another around until Eveleen was too hot to continue. She always wore out faster than Ember, but the redhead had never minded it. They’d rest on the swings for a bit, then make their way to one of the shops for slushies that turned their mouths blue and snacks for when they were up late giggling in Ember’s little bedroom. Meghan never minded it, listening to the noise across the hall with a smile on her face. Her girls, safe and sound and oh so happy. Though those days had passed, Ember still remembered them fondly. Maybe this summer she and Eveleen could retrace their steps if they had time. Get ice cream, go to the playground and make their mouths absolutely blue beyond reason. Of course, looking at Anne, she realized that they could do those things together as well. Maybe not all of them, it wouldn’t be the same without Eveleen, but it had been a long time since Ember had a slushee. Her eyes fell on Anne’s face again.

“D’you like slushees? Or uh… we could go do deliveries and catch a… a… the Muggle thing with the pictures that move but aren’t like our pictures that move? On that big wall thing with the chairs and the popcorn.” The first time Eveleen had gotten her to go into that place with her, Ember had nearly lost her damn mind. Partly because Muggles had managed to make these things without magic and partly because the dragons on the screen had looked nothing like actual dragons, but Eveleen had covered her mouth when she’d tried to argue the point and been hushed by several annoyed people behind them.

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 days ago

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Meghan’s eyes landed on the pair of girls’ hands, taking in how tightly Ember gripped onto Eveleen and how, in turn, Eveleen held her back. There was a kind of quiet desperation there, tiny white knuckles paling from the grip on Eveleen’s small hand, how hard she was clinging onto her daughter, as thought she was some kind of life-line. Ember didn’t complain as her fingers deepened a bit in color, as though she were somehow, whether knowingly or instinctively, aware that her friend needed to hold onto her that tightly right then. They were fluid, the pair of girls, in a way Meghan wasn’t sure either of them noticed. When Ember moved, Eveleen moved and vice-versa, as though they were two halves of one being brought together. The closeness that had formed between them over the course of the school term was obvious to Meghan, who had years and the wisdom that came with them under her belt. She was older than most of the mothers around them picking up their children but a mother no less. Her heart melted at the gentle way Eveleen’s voice flowed from her mouth, small and uncertain, but still polite in a way that she wasn’t exactly used to from her own child. There was nervousness there, the gentle lilt of it nearly hidden away in the slightly staggering words. Then, a cat was presented, another usual subject of Ember’s letters. The reason for this friendship in the first place, if the wild tale of a tree-rescue was to be believed.

“I’m so pleased you could join us, Eveleen. The holidays are always much more fun with company.” Meghan beamed, her voice full of warmth as she smiled down at the pair. She met the cat’s eyes momentarily, taking in the fluffy creature. She’d never allowed Ember any kind of pet, she just wasn’t responsible enough, but she wasn’t exactly opposed to them either. Raisin looked clean enough and she was glued onto Eveleen in a way that said she wasn’t about to bolt out of doors to cause any kind of worry about her going missing. She reached out, gently patting the cat’s head. “Ah yes, cheeky Raisin. Lovely to meet you as well, darling. I’ve got some nice tinned food and cream for you back at the cottage, so no need to worry about catching the mice unless you feel like it. I wasn’t sure what colors she might like, Eveleen, so I’ve set out some of our smaller wooden bowls for her for now.”

“We’ve lots of wooden bowls. My Da made them.” Ember commented brightly, her gap-toothed grin. “He made lots and lots of wooden stuff. He made the couch and the chairs and the counters and the dishes and my bedroom and-” She faltered, her mouth moving faster than her brain as it tended to do sometimes, a little bit of sadness lingering underneath her words but nowhere near as bad as it had been prior to school starting. It was something Meghan took note of. The way her daughter was even so much as mentioning her father when the topic had been so difficult over the past summer alone. Losing him had shaken them both to the core and Meghan was still struggling with the day to day of missing him. She and David had been together for so much of their lives, not having him there… It was more difficult than she would ever let on. With Ember at school, she’d had to throw herself into her work, pushing her body beyond what she normally would have, but there were still other days when she would simply not get out of bed. Had it really been a full ten months without him already? It didn’t seem real. But she pressed on. For Ember and because David would never have wanted her to lose herself missing him. She could sometimes still hear his voice in the quieter moments, teasing her with that way he had had when trying to cheer her up. It would be so lovely to fill the silence with the laughter of her daughter and another little girl.

“And the table and the floors and the doors.” Meghan supplied, reaching down to take Ember’s free hand. “I’ll build you a table and floors and doors. For my heart is forever yours.”

“Just imagine how happy we’d be, if you’d say you’ll marry me.” Ember laughed, giving a little skip at the old rhyme her Da used to sing-song at her, something he’d written in order to propose to Meghan years before Ember had even been a twinkle in either of their eyes. There was a lot more to it, but the ending had always been her favorite part. Meghan’s eyes danced, watering a little bit at the clear joy her daughter was displaying. School, it seemed, had been good for her, but she suspected her child’s happiness had more to do with the other girl currently holding her hand.

“Alright, ladies. Let’s be off. We’ve got a small walk to the closest Floo. I didn’t think you’d be too comfortable with Side-Along Apparation just yet, Eveleen, but learning how to use the Floo is always a good thing. You can get to nearly anywhere in our world if you know the right place.” Meghan winked and reached down, taking Ember’s hand tightly in her own. While she trusted her daughter to be loose in their home village, London was an entirely different story. Ember grinned up at her and snatched for Eveleen’s hand, giving a little skip as they left the station for the sidewalk. While not entirely well-versed in the way of Muggles, Meghan did know how to navigate the city well enough to get them safely to their destination. There was, thankfully, nothing falling from the sky for once, though the streets and sidewalks were wet with the aftermath of a snowfall that had melted more than it had built up. Fifteen minutes of walking, crossing several streets, and skirting down a side-alley that most would have avoided brought the trio to an old rusting green iron door tucked up behind several trash barrels. It was inconspicuous, easily mistaken as a back entrance for the unassuming grey stone building it was built into. Meghan glance around, checking that no one was looking before she was flicking her left wrist, her wand sliding down from a sheath built into the sleeve of her robes. She tapped the doorknob four times, blue sparked emitting from her wand tip before the door creaked open all on its own accord. Grinning, she gestured to the pair of girls to go first.

Ember skipped right up the single step and through the door, the epitome of trust when it came to her mother, dragging Eveleen along behind herself. The door led into a small windowless room, no other exits aside from a single fireplace at the other end. A desk sat beside the door, an old witch sitting behind it in a rickety wooden chair. On the table was a large wicker basket of little glass vials full of black powder and a simple black metal box with a slit in the top. There was already a short queue in front of the hearth, the room lighting up green every thirty seconds or so as people took their turns. The old witch looked up from her magazine, flicking a page as she eyed the newcomers.

“A sickle per person ‘less you’re pairing up, then it’s a sickle and one additional knut for the extra.” The witch gruffed flatly, gesturing towards the table. Meghan stepped forward, digging several coins out of her pocket. They clinked into the metal container and the witch nodded, going back to her magazine, satisfied. Ember gave Eveleen a small tug, pulling her to the back of the line. There were still several others ahead of them, but it wouldn’t take long.

“Girls.” Meghan reached out, handing Ember the vial of black powder before placing a hand on each of their small shoulders and bending slightly, making certain she had their attention. “You’re going together, I’ll apparate along after with Raisin. Cats are particularly good with apparition. Emmie, you know what to do, but you need to be absolutely sure that you don’t get separated, understood?”

“Aye Mam.”

“What d’you do if you come out the wrong grate?”

“Maaaaaaaam…” Ember groaned, obviously already aware and having heard this lecture one too many times.

“What do you do, Emmie?” Meghan didn’t back down and Ember sighed.

“Don’t panic. Assess, apologize and ask for help if anyone’s there.” The redhead grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Mam, it happened one time! And it was auntie’s house.”

“And I’ll find you. Always.” Meghan promised, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s forehead and giving Eveleen’s shoulder a squeeze. “Go on then.”

“I know, Mam.” Ember shook her head but smiled, turning for the fireplace that was now empty and leading Eveleen towards it. She leaned slightly, whispering. “She worries a lot, but we’ll be fine. Flooing’s super easy. I only hit the wrong grate once because I sneezed saying the destination and it still got me almost all the way home.” She stepped into the huge fireplace, not minding the dirty coals against her sneakers.

“Eyes closed, elbows in!” Meghan reminded, her fingers twisting the wedding band on her finger with anxiety as she watched the pair of girls get into the fireplace.

Ember gave her a thumbs up, uncorked the vial and held it up. “Hug me tight.” She beamed at Eveleen, throwing her arms around the small Ravenclaw as she upended the vial and poured the powder onto the floor below them. Green flames lit up and Ember closed her eyes, shouting. “Stonefyre Cottage!”

The green flames danced, the world spun, and they shot up the floo as if made of smoke. It always took longer the further you went, but even then it was maybe only a minute or two before small feet were slamming down against stone once more. Ember kept her legs spread a bit, never entirely great at landing, but with the added weight of Eveleen against her, she was able to stay upright much more easily as the soot puffed around them, leaving a thin layer of black on their skin, hair, and clothing that would have to be dusted or washed off. Ember’s eyes opened, already knowing they’d landed corrected based on the smell of the home around them. She beamed, releasing Eveleen and stepping onto the rug just outside the hearth to collect the majority of the mess.

Gleaming honey-colored wood made up the majority of the combined living room and kitchen, the space wide and brightly lit, the walls painted a brilliant light sage green where the wainscoting ended. Exposed wooden beams crossed the ceiling, thick, load bearing, and wrapped with hanging ivy that seemed to drape across any surface it pleased as long as it was above the eight foot mark. An intricately carved wooden couch covered with soft cushions sat directly across from the fireplace, matching coffee table in front of it on top of an old floral oval rug, the greens corresponding perfectly with the color of the walls. A long counter split the half of the last back third of the room off from the kitchen, the long side of a table pressed to the back of it, creating a dining space with four chairs before it flowed naturally into the living room. An armchair sat between the dining table and couch, a large rocking chair opposite it beside a massive Christmas tree in its own pot of soil in the corner. There was one big window to the left of that followed by a simple coat rack, some hooks and the front door. The entire wall to the right of the door had been built single cupboards on the bottom and bookcases above that, completely chock full of every kind of book once might imagine a small library to have interspersed with the random framed photograph or potted plant. The bookcases split in the center, leaving space for one long hallway, three doors on the left, one to the right, and a one at the very end.

There was a loud crack outside and then the front door opened, Meghan entering the cottage hurriedly, relief flooding her face when she saw that the pair of girls had made it without any trouble. She allowed Raisin to leap from her arms and shucked off her cloak, hanging it on one of the hooks by the door before clapping her hands together. “Lovely. Emmie, show Eveleen where she’ll be sleeping, I’ve pulled the trundle out, and then both of you get washed up. I’ll start dinner.”

“My room’s this way.” Ember beamed, dragging Eveleen along across the living room to the hall. She headed for only door on the right, a small golden plaque peeking out from underneath a crayon drawing that had been taped over it so long ago the edges of it was starting to yellow. It declared in fairly childish writing that this was ‘Ember’s Room’ and then been surrounded by what might have been Quidditch balls and broomsticks along with several basic flowers. Ember pushed the door all the way open, revealing her small, but comfortable sky-blue painted bedroom. It was tidy, books organized, clothing hung up or put away in the dresser, no rubbish in the bin under her desk beneath the window. The bedside table had been moved all the way to one corner to make space for the trundle bed pulled out from underneath Ember’s. Both had been made up with crisp snowflake printed sheets smelling lightly of lavender, matching light blue duvets and fluffy lilac blankets complete with pom-pom fringe. A little box of chocolate sat on the foot of each bed on top of a long sleeved, white cotton nightgown.

“Oh boy.” Ember’s cheeks heated a bit as she lifted the nightie from the foot of her bed, holding it up to get a better look at the peter-pan style color embroidered with a reindeer on one side and an intricate E on the other. “She’s made us matching pajamas. I didn’t think she’d do it this year… Uh… you don’t have to wear it if you don’t wanna. Merlin, there’s lace…” The redhead nearly gagged as she eyeballed the hem of the nightgown.

That First Christmas

“...And we do a big bonfire and there’s lots of music and dancing.” Ember grinned, holding her hands up to indicate just how large of a bonfire she was talking about as she bounced up and down on her seat. She had been rife with joyful energy for several hours, unable to talk or think about anything else except for the fact that the winter holidays had arrived and she was going home. As much as she adored being at Hogwarts, had loved her very first term at school and made so many new friends, the redhead was beyond excited to see her mother and the rest of her family. Well, most of her family. The only downside to the situation was that it would be the first holiday season she’d ever had without her Da, but she was still excited despite this. Mostly because she was getting to bring her Eveleen home with her. That had been the absolute, most wonderful part of actually going home to be honest. The idea of parting with her best mates for a full two weeks hadn’t been appealing to Ember at all. It might have seemed strange how deeply attached the redhead had already become to the other pair of first years in the course of just a few months time, but there was just something about Eveleen and Coal that made her feel… whole. Especially Eveleen, with whom Ember felt just… got her on some kind of other level she had never experienced before in her life. Maybe it was the fact that they were both girls, because Ember had never really had a female best mate before, but Eveleen was her absolute favorite person in the entire world. She loved Coal immensely as well of course, but there was just something about Eveleen.

When the Gryffindor had first broached the subject of them coming to her place for winter break, both of her mates had been surprised but excited by the prospect. She’d asked them both before even bothering to check with Meghan to see if it was alright, something that Coal had gently reminded her she should probably do. Ember had waved him off, saying her mammy would love having them, but she’d ask anyway. The letter she got back had fully confirmed that she was right in her assumption. Meghan had said that of course her mates could come for the break, she would love to meet them and have them spend whatever amount of time they wanted at the cottage, whether it was part of the break or the full thing. She had already received numerous letters from her daughter about Coal and Eveleen, how much fun they were, how she enjoyed hanging out with them much more than she did any of her own house mates which was surprising because Ember had been expecting to want to spend more time with other Gryffindors. Meghan had been very pleased that her daughter was making friends, though it had never been a true worry of hers to begin with. Ember made friends wherever she went and always had. The fact that she had picked up two other children who, from the letters, appeared to be slight outliers among their peers hadn’t surprised her in the least.

Unfortunately though, Coal wasn’t going to be coming. His father had written back saying that he wanted him home, needed him back to help watch his siblings because he and his mother still had work to do during the school break. Coal’s disappointment had been palpable in the way he had sunken into himself when he’d shown the letter to Ember and Eveleen shortly after receiving it. He hadn’t actually been overly hopeful about receiving a yes, but… well, part of him had still been excited by the prospect at least. He would have much rather spent the break with his mates as opposed to spending it back in a home that wasn’t exactly the safest place for him. He would be lucky to have a few hours to himself, even luckier if his dad decided that he was worth gifting something small for Christmas this year. Last year he’d been given a whole five pounds to do with what he wanted. He’d stashed it away for emergencies and hadn’t touched it despite it, honestly, being such a small amount in the first place, but at his age, well, you did what you could. The bill stayed safely in a plastic bag at the bottom of his trunk, of no use to him at school, but he had taken it back out and shoved it into a pocket for the journey back to King’s Cross. His dad had even said he’d be there to pick him up, which had surprised him a great deal to be honest. He’d been expecting to have to get on the underground to make his way home by himself. At least this time he hadn’t brought his entire trunk with him and instead packed what he’d need in his school bag for the trip. Ember had been disappointed he couldn’t come, but maybe he’d be allowed for the spring break or part of the summer. Coal didn’t think so, but he hadn’t told her that, not wanting to burst her hopeful bubble.

“And Mammy makes- ooo, we’re here.” Ember laughed, jumping up and down as she gazed out the window at the city beyond as the train really began to slow down. She fell backwards into her seat, beaming as they waited for the train to come to a full stop. When it did, she was back up immediately, grabbing her bag and her broomstick, not the least bit patient. She was already moving for the door, pulsing with excited energy as she grabbed for Eveleen’s hand, not worried about pushing through the crowd already streaming into the train corridor. She dragged her best mate along, Coal right behind them as they joined the rest of the students slowly making their way off of the train. It took longer than Ember would have liked and plenty of people got accidentally bonked by her broomstick, but eventually they were able to jump down onto the platform. Blue eyes scanning, Ember looked around for her mother, but couldn’t find the familiar head of red hair anywhere. Meghan had said she might wait on the other side of the barrier, where it would be a bit less crowded though, so she didn’t worry. Ember never tended to worry too much when it came to her Mam being there for her. Meghan had never forgotten Ember, never left her behind or not shown up for something when she had promised she would. Ember was the first thing in Meghan’s mind when she woke up in the mornings and the last thing when she fell asleep at night. Her daughter was her entire world, the brightest ray of sunshine she had ever been gifted in her life and she never took it for granted, especially after losing her husband. She would be there, somewhere.

“Charles! Anne Lidia! Get back here! Merlin have mercy-” A blonde woman griped as she chased after a pair of slightly younger children who were laughing, running across the platform as though it was some kind of playground. They were dashing between people, ignoring their mother as she tried to corral them and look for their siblings disembarking from the train at the same time. The girl looked over her shoulder, long honey-locks flowing and wild, unbrushed as though she thought doing so was a vast waste of time. In her distraction, she plowed right into Ember, who also wasn’t paying much attention to the first ten feet in front of herself. Being older and taller, Ember stayed steady on her feet for the most part, only swaying, but the younger girl landed straight on her bottom with a loud ‘oof!’.

“Oh!” Ember straightened herself back up, staring down at the smaller girl in surprise. She released Eveleen’s hand, reaching down to help pull the blonde to her feet. She looked as though she’d been rolling on the ground on purpose, grass stains on her knees, the edge of her long skirt muddied so that the pretty flower pattern was nearly indistinguishable. “Careful, m’lady. Thou mights harm thouself.”

“You talk funny.” The tiny blonde stuck her tongue out and started to take back off but an older student grabbed her by the collar of her sweater. Where was her jacket? It was freezing out. “Hey! Lemmego, he’s gonna win! Charles, you cheater! It doesn’t count if I fall!”

“Does too!” The boy, who might as well had just been a male version of the girl teased, laughing as he picked up his pace only to be snatched from behind by yet another older sibling. “Oi! Okay, okay, let me go.”

“Rematch, rematch!” Anne shouted as she too, was released, and took off running. Her brother shouted and started off as well, yelling at her for being a cheater because they hadn’t started from the same spot.

Ember reached out to take Eveleen’s hand again. “I dun see my mam, she’s probably on the other side.” She gave her best mate a tug, turning her head a bit to make sure Coal was still with them as they headed for the barrier. There was a bit of a line, so they had to wait their turn on going through but eventually they were walking back out into the Muggle portion of the station. Ember’s eyes kept looking, searching for her Mam who had to be out here someplace…

“Coal.” A man’s voice called and the Hufflepuff flinched a bit. Coal sighed, tightening his hold on his bag.

“I gotta go. I’ll see you after the break.” Coal promised, forcing a smile for his mates. Ember frowned but hugged him quickly anyway, her stomach twisting as she watched him go. The man who was waving him on had a kind of sour look on his face… Shouldn’t Coal’s dad be happy to see him after so long apart? Maybe he was just tired…

“Emmie!” Ember’s worry faded a bit as she recognized the voice and spun around. There, standing a bit away from the crowd, hair as red as her own and dressed in a deep blue traveling cloak, was her mother. Ember released a cry of pure joy as she started running, bag bouncing, dragging Eveleen along behind her as fast as her shorter friend’s legs could go. Meghan beamed, opening her arms and Ember released Eveleen, launching herself into them, crashing into her mother with such force the older woman nearly toppled.

“Mammy! Mammy!” Ember laughed, burrowing her face into Meghan’s chest, arms locked around her middle so tightly it was surprising she didn’t crack a rib. Meghan held onto her just as hard, lifting Ember from the ground a bit as she plastered kissed all over her daughter’s head, not caring that her hair definitely needed a proper washing and brushing. She pressed her back a bit, hands with soil stuck in the knuckles and under fingernails coming to cup freckled cheeks affectionately.

“A stór, féach mar a d'fhás tú! Tá an oiread sin caillte agam ort, a leanbh milis.” Meghan leaned down to kiss at Ember’s forehead, so happy to see her. Ember beamed back up at her, not caring about the dirt that was getting smudged on her cheeks from her mother’s hands. It was simply part of being a Herbologist’s child. Meghan, despite her desire to have things neat and orderly, to have a daughter who wore pretty dresses and looked like an angel, tended to usually have soil on her hands from working in her gardens or greenhouses. Ember was not one for pretty dresses, but Meghan had long since given up on that, for the most part. She still insisted upon it for special occasions and Ember humored her because it was ‘just one day’.

“Chaill mé tú freisin, Mammy.” Ember murmured, moving to hug at her mother again, wanting to get lost in the warmth of her arms for a little longer before she was remembering. “Oh!” The Gryffindor let go of her mam, turning and moving to reached for Eveleen. She grabbed hold of the smaller girl’s hand tightly, pulling her closer. “Mammy, this is Eveleen Swan, my most bestest mate.”

“It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, love.” Meghan smiled brightly, her words genuine as she took in the small form of the girl her daughter had become so fond of. Eveleen and Coal were the main topics of most of Ember’s letters and to finally get to meet at least one of them warmed her heart. However, her mother’s eyes took in much more of the girl than Ember had. The way her clothes clung onto her, too tight, sleeves too short, nearly bursting at the seams, parts of them more threadbare than they should have been. Her shoes were starting to pull apart at the rubbers and the slider of her jacket zipper was completely gone, leaving the coat unable to be closed at all. It was obvious to Meghan that Eveleen was a child whose parent could either not afford to provide proper clothing for her or chose not to. She automatically began adding things to the Christmas list in her head. Her arms ached to take Eveleen into them, to hold her close as well but she refrained. “Ember writes about you all the time. I’m so glad you’re able to join us for the holidays.”

*Oh my darling, look how you’ve grown! I’ve missed you, my sweet baby.

*I missed you too.

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beatersdoitbetter · 1 year ago

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That First Christmas

“Coal.” A man’s voice called and the Hufflepuff flinched a bit. Coal sighed, tightening his hold on his bag.

*Oh my darling, look how you’ve grown! I’ve missed you, my sweet baby.

*I missed you too.

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beatersdoitbetter · 1 year ago

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Ember grinned down at Anne, not at all minding the way her girlfriend had chosen to hook a finger into one of her belt loops. It kept the blonde close while still leaving a hand free to pick up anything else in the shop they might decide they wanted. At the mention of catching a film, Ember nodded enthusiastically, her eyes drifting through the window to the theater just across the way from the small shop. It had been a long while since she’d been there, only ever going with Eveleen who was capable of dealing with Ember’s nonstop questions as to ‘why do Muggles do that?’ or ‘what is that thing called?’. Over the years her questions had become less frequent, her knowledge of the Muggle world expanded enough to understand the basics of things like escalators and cell phones. On occasions, Ember would still whisper at Eveleen, asking what something was only to be told it was something made up, not actually something Muggles really had. The easiest way to appease Ember though, was with anything animated. She knew Muggles could do just about anything when it came to those kinds of films and it was fun to see what kind of silly magic they came up with to giggle about for hours afterwards. “Ooo, aye! Let’s.”

The redhead let Anne lead the way to the snacks, her eyes skimming over the multiple selections with very little interest. Ember wasn’t exceptionally keen on Muggles snacks to be honest, but there were a few she liked immensely. Nothing could ever beat a good old apple or the sugar quills she was partial to to the point where she usually had a tin of them lying around. She had nearly settled on some chewy peach rings before her eyes found the familiar red bag she liked even better and plucked it up with no more thought. Apple cinnamon chips, a nearly perfect substitute for her usual choice of the fresh fruit. Ember wasn’t entirely sure what it was about apples that made them appeal to her so greatly, they just always had. The tension of the skin breaking under her teeth, the crunch and fresh flow of juice into her mouth. It was almost, but not quite, as good as the nectar between her girlfriend’s legs. The jibe over her preferences had Ember grinning brightly, crooked and just happy to be with Anne in general. She didn’t mind the little hand sneaking up her shirt either and caught Anne by the wrist as she retreated, lifting her hand so that she could press a gentle kiss to her palm, her chips bag clutched between two fingers. She released her, already reaching for the thin wallet she kept in her back pocket as they headed for the counter. Anne got there first, and before Ember could so much as open up her wallet, her tiny girlfriend was smashing Muggle money down in front of her, making the poor clerk jump.

Opening her mouth to complain, the Gryffindor was quickly shut up by Anne’s insistence to pay based off of Meghan feeding her, as if that would ever be a problem. Of course, Anne did eat a lot more meat than a grown man, but that would never have been a concern aside from wondering if the tiny blonde got enough of her daily vitamins that way. Ember rolled her eyes and shook her head but tucked her wallet away, allowing it for now. She’d just have to insist on getting their movie tickets. “Mam likes having more people to feed. Though, I do think she wishes you ate more fruit and veg for your health. For a lesbian, you sure do like your sausage.” Ember teased, poking a finger into Anne’s ribs. She wrapped both arms around her from behind, nuzzling at the top of her head while the cashier handed back her change. She released her after a moment, reaching out to take up both drinks and chip bags, tucking them against her chest with an arm so she still had a hand free for Anne. Even with the heat outside and the warmth of her little girlfriend’s palm against her sweltering, Ember continued to clutch her close. She wouldn’t have cared it she ended up with her own hand fried to a crisp as long as she got to hold Anne’s. She was slow to let go of her as they reached the bike, needing hands to maneuver it across the street to the theater. The redhead didn’t bother with locking it up or anything, simply leaving it out of the way out front where she knew no one was going to mess with it. Everyone knew who the bike belonged to and as respected as Meghan was in the village, anyone caught screwing with it would have their ass handed to them.

“Er… I like those…” Ember tried to find the words to describe the kind of movies she usually saw with Eveleen. “The ones that aren’t real.” She groaned, knowing that all movies weren’t actually real. “I mean… the ones that don’t look like real life. Like… comic books. Drawn. There’s usually singing? Or ones with uh… those things. Muggle wands that blow up… oh! Guns.” Ember grinned, proud of herself for remembering what those strange metal objects were called. “They’ll have posters inside. That’s how Eveleen and I usually pick. But whatever you want is fine, dove. I’m just… I’m just really happy you’re here.” The older Gryffindor beamed, giving Anne’s hand a tight squeeze.

Bro</3ken

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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“Mmm, most likely.” Ember shrugged, not entirely sure if that movie had been her first experience seeing boobs but was a definite possibility. She’d had her hands over her face, fingers open, cheeks bright red as she’d taken in the glory on screen. It had been just a moment, but there they had been, titties, in all their glory. Ember knew she had felt some sort of way about it, enough to try and convince Eveleen they needed to go again but had refused to explain why. They’d done it. Snuck in, seen the film, and made it out without being caught despite how obvious they had looked leaving the theater. She grinned, leaning forward on the bike a bit to get closer to Anne’s ear. “No two tits can ever outshine the pair that sit upon my Queen’s chest for they taste the sweetest.” She teased, knowing that, while Anne didn’t exactly have a ton to speak of in that particular category, Ember was perfectly happy to enjoy what she did have. Maybe it was just because they belonged to Anne or because Ember got to fondle them as often as she pleased, but they would forever be her favorite. She smacked a kiss against the blonde’s earlobe and skirted around another corner, fully leaving O’Clancy behind. Her legs pumped against the peddles as they traversed yet another hill and Anne’s hand found her own, gentle and understanding about the cat. It was true that, although she’d never had a pet of her own, Ember had no ill will when it came to animals. She had always loved Eveleen’s sweet Raisin and doted upon little Princess just as much. She had happily helped Anne groom Queenie more than once over the winter break, and tossed hay for the cows, but it had just…. Never been something she’d desired for herself too much to be honest. She was content to enjoy other people’s pets. And after the devastating loss of Raisin last year? No, Ember felt she did much better without. Especially when it came to dogs.

Now, it wasn’t uncommon for Ember to be barked at when she rode the bicycle by, but on this trip alone she had noticed an increase in… animosity, coming from the canines of the town. She purposely kept further away from known gates, avoided leash walkers and kept her eyes open for any potential loose dogs that might decide she was some kind of threat. It wasn’t their fault she smelt the way she did now, that she made their fur rise in a manner than indicated they felt endangered by her presence. Ember understood, she would have reacted the same way to that kind of unknown entity. “Add to the journal… Cac, Saorise, chill!” Ember spoke to Anne as she glanced sideways at a particularly grumpy looking little Maltese yapping through the corner of the fence that kept it from continuing it’s chase alongside them. “That dogs do not like me like they used to.”

Their last stop was quick, Anne helping by bringing the second delivery, but managing to make Ember’s face go red as she planted a kiss to her cheek, using that god-awful given name of hers that she tried to keep to herself. She gagged, nose wrinkling up at the sound of it coming from the mouth of her beloved, but Anne was to be forgiven for the tease, if only because she was too damned cute to stay mad at for more than a moment. She’d let the feeling pass by the time they made it to the shop and was all too happy to be greeted by the cool air inside. It made her flushed cheeks feel better, the red lingering as it tended to on her otherwise pale and freckly skin. She smiled as Anne got her cup and began to inquire about how Ember preferred her slushies. Her blue eyes watched as the tiny Gryffindor moved from one lever to the next, creating a combination of colors that melded into purple a bit where they touched. She had tried the same technique before, but had found it wasn’t her favorite. “Blue. Just blue.”

The redhead took her own cup, eyes shining a bit as she watched her girlfriend finish filling hers and reached for a lid, placing it on top for her. She bent slightly, kissing Anne’s brow before holding her own cup underneath the tap for the blue slush and opening it up. It made that oh so satisfying ‘squoosh’ noise, the slush layering and flattening as it filled in the space of the cup. She capped it, shoved a neon green straw down the center, and snatched up a packet of crisps before reaching for Anne’s free hand, intent on heading to the counter. “The park’s just across the way if you want. Or we could stay in the cool a bit. They’ve tables.” She nodded her head backwards towards a couple of booths with peeling paint next to the spinning hot dog rack. One had already been taken over by a group of men talking loudly, but good naturedly, as if they did this everyday.

Bro</3ken

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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passenger princess? No, I’m the passenger knight. I’ve sworn an oath of homoerotic loyalty to the driver and will protect them until my last breath. I will carry out her road rage. I’m why the front passenger seat is called shotgun

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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being knightcore doesn't mean you have to be pro-monarchy. you can just swear your undying fealty to your best friend or your crush or something

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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Coal managed a smile, glad that the tiny Ravenclaw was alright. The height at which she’d been up in that tree had definitely been dangerous and he knew that if it had been him, there was no way he’d have made it down on his own either. He shuddered to think about what might have happened if he and Ember hadn’t been moving along the path, hadn’t noticed the movement in the tree, thus leaving poor Eveleen to fend for herself. They had just gotten lucky enough to have found her, lucky enough that Ember had her broom on her and Eveleen had been willing to get on it. Coal still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about flying. Heights had never really been his thing, but he wasn’t necessarily afraid of them. Just… more content with both of his feet on the ground. Ember was going to teach him how to fly properly though, better than he would learn in one of those ‘silly first year classes’ where they would be stuck with old school brooms that could have been taken out by a stray butterfly. The Hufflepuff opened his mouth, about to respond when he was all but attacked with a warm wash cloth. The white fabric began turning pink as his face was cleaned by the older blonde girl, her hands gentle as he turned his head away, unable to get a word in edgewise in order to tell her that he could have done it for himself. Victoire didn’t seem satisfied until the lower half of Coal’s face was scrubbed so clean it had gone a bit pink, but there was no longer any sign of him ever having had a broken nose. Perfectly good as new, set to be sent right back out to do whatever it was they had planned prior to the incident as if he hadn’t run face first into a tree. Getting fixed up had taken less than ten minutes and Coal found himself once again marveling at how convenient it was to use magic instead of doing everything the muggle way he had grown up with. The whole ordeal was over now, and Eveleen was grappling at the front of her shirt, looking down in a mild panic. Coal frowned. He hadn’t seen a camera by the tree but then again, he’d been a little bit more focused on wondering if the girls were going to fall and die by his feet.

“Oh!” Ember clapped her hands together, watching the way Eveleen was starting for the door. She grabbed up her brookstick and snatched at Coal’s hand, dragging him upwards from the cot rapidly, feet moving fast to catch up with the small brunette. Coal took the broom with his free had as it was thrust towards him, Ember reaching until she was able to get a hold on Eveleen’s sleeve. “Wait! We’ll come with you.” The Gryffindor insisted, releasing the Ravenclaw but only so she could take her hand instead. “It’ll be easier to find with three of us.” She nodded as though this was the most reasonable explanation available, not bothering to wait for Eveleen to agree with her. Instead, she simply pulled both of her mates along through the doors, not pausing to allow either of them to give them a chance to argue. There was no way she was about to let Eveleen go on a search for her camera all by her lonesome, especially when there was so much daylight left to enjoy outdoors. There would still be time to go down to the pitch, to teach Coal how to fly and Eveleen too if she wanted. Already, without having known the brunette for even an hour, Ember had already staked some kind of claim upon her. She wasn’t sure what it was, but holding Eveleen’s hand just gave her the strongest sense of being right. Like it was something simply meant to happen.

The outdoors was still as nice as it had been before the young trio had come inside. Ember led the way, skipping along, swinging arms, trying to coax the other two to join her. Coal wasn’t much of a skipper, but his longer legs made it easy for him to keep up with his energetic cousin. It took very little time to get back to the tree by following the path and then wending their way through branches for the second time that morning. Only when they reached the clearing did Ember release her friends’ hands and bolt forward. The camera wasn’t hard to find, a big black object sitting near the base of the tree that definitely didn’t belong there. “Got it!” The redhead announced, lifting the camera upwards in the air. She looked down at it, turning it over in her hands curiously. It wasn’t anything like the camera her mum had, with the big bulb on the top, something much more old fashioned than the Muggle had from what Ember had seen. She didn’t have a lot of knowledge when it came to Muggle stuff, but her older cousin, Ack, had explained some things to her. Like how Muggles had these little flat rectangles they kept in their pockets that they could talk on and use to take photographs. Eveleen’s camera didn’t look like it was going to be fitting into anyone’s pockets any time soon.

“A p-polaroid?” Coal asked curiously as he reached Ember, hands taking the camera from her in exchange for her broomstick. He eyeballed the camera, having never really seen one in person before outside of the television. He was gentle with it, holding it out to Eveleen. It was hers after all, there was no reason for him to hold on to it no matter how much he wondered how it might work. Unlike Ember, Coal had a great deal of knowledge about Muggle technology. He’d used computers in school, phones were nothing strange to him, and when Eveleen had mentioned her camera, he’d honestly been expecting a digital one or one of those old-school plastic ones where you had to roll the knob in between taking pictures. An old school polaroid hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“How’s it work?” Ember asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, eyes wide as she got closer again, leaning and tapping one finger against the little light square gently. “I’ve never seen one like that. Me Mammy’s got one that’s not so big, but they don’t look anything alike.”

Flashback: The Most-Important of Days.

Hogwarts was… about as fantastic as Ember had thought it would be. She had grown up hearing all about the stone castle, stories her parents had told her about their time at school and all the wonderful things they had done. The moving staircases, the thousands of portraits that were always flitting about from one hall to the next, the delicious food served on golden dinner ware, and all of the new things she would learn how to do. All of the spells she had seen her parents use around the house without even seeming to think about it and then complaining loudly when she had to wash the dishes, by hand, instead of one of them simply pointing their wand to have them clean themselves up. They had chided her, telling her that she wouldn’t be always be able to use magic in order to do things, that there was a time and a place for such things. So Ember was left with having to tidy up her own room, help wash the laundry and hang it out to dry, and sweep the wooden floors of the small cottage she loved so much with every ounce of her being. From the moss on the roof that covered a majority of the red tile shingles all the way down into the cellar where her mother stored all of the things she canned from her garden, the musty smell of earth all around her. Ember loved her father’s workshop that always smelt like sawdust and broom polish, sitting on his work table, coloring brooms while he told her all about the one he was currently working one, a rack of prototypes just inside the door to the left. She adored the beautiful garden that was so warm and lovely in the summer, buzzing with bees and butterflies, as the plants flourished, surrounded by the scent of green, growing things and overturned earth that she had helped her mother with, constantly learning. She loved her little bedroom, with her Quidditch posters and light blue walls, the fluffy white rug and the little desk her Da’s old radio sat on so she could listen to the games live, sneaking it on in the dead of night under her sheets when she was supposed to be sleeping just so she could catch up on the score, especially if her favorite team was playing. Sometimes her Mammy would catch her, tell her off and take the radio out while Ember crossed her arms, pouting with a huff. Her Da, softhearted with his daughter, would sneak the radio back in and they would sit, both hidden under the sheets, side by side as they listened to the game, Da’s wand lit with just enough light for them to see each other by.

Merlin, what Ember would have given for just one more night like that, one more time curled up with her Da as they tried to keep their whooping to a soft whisper so as not to wake her Mam. For him to take her out on his broom one more time to look up at the stars as he told her stories, old fairy tales, his Quidditch matches in school which, to be honest, weren’t always entirely believable.

“Did you really bounce the Quaffle through all three hoops in one go, Da?”

“Of course, my little flame, what reason would I have to lie?”

“To make it sound cooler.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

One freckled pale hand reached upwards, clutching tightly at the tarnished skeleton key hanging from a chain around the eleven-year old’s neck. It hadn’t even been a full six months yet… Sometimes she still woke up in a cold sweat, terrified by the image of her father, pale and limp in his rocking chair. She wished she could have a nightlight like she did back home, but then the other girls would probably make fun of her, call her a baby for being afraid of the dark, but it was easier when she woke in the night, if she could see where she was right away without having to really think about it in the blackness. That, and leaving a candle burning on a night table all night would probably have been frowned upon. Ember had already made a few friends in her dorm, or at least, acquaintances that she could eat meals with and sit together at the shared tables in their classes. Her older cousin, Donnecha, or affectionately ‘Ack’, was two years ahead of her and already had his own friends. That wasn’t to say he and Ember didn’t see each other, but they were in different years and differen houses, making it a little difficult during the school week. Unfortunately, Ember had never been very good at book work or paying attention when someone was droning on, especially when there was a soft breeze blowing in through one of the windows, the warmth of the end of summer coming in, the perfect weather for flying. She was finding that she was much better at the more practical type classes where they had hands on experiences. Potions was alright and it was hard to get distracted by the outdoors when you were in a windowless dungeon. Herbology though, had quickly already become Ember’s favorite class. Her mother was a Herbologist and Ember had already met Professor Longbottom on a couple of occasions in the past, so seeing him had brightened her up a bit, especially when he had pulled her aside at the end of their third class to tell her he didn’t think there was much he could teach her in the first year level that she didn’t already know. He’d gifted her a third year schoolbook and started giving her separate homework unless it was group work. She’d already been teased a bit for needing ‘remedial lessons’ in the first week of school, but she had shrugged it off with a smile, rather that than being picked on for being some kind of plant nerd.

Outside some of the other Gryffindor girl first years, Ember [i]had[/i] made one other friend, a Hufflepuff boy called Coal. He was kind of lanky, his clothes and robes worn out, discolored, slightly too large and fraying at the edges and he never seemed to take the ratty black beanie off of his head. Ember probably wouldn’t have noticed him much, except, he had been called right ahead of her in line for the Sorting Hat. She had stared, eyes wide with a bit of shock as the boy who shared her surname had stumbled up to the stool, the peeling rubbers on the bottom of his shoes having caught against the stone of the floor. Ember had never met anyone else aside from her mother and father called ‘Stonefyre’. As far as she knew, her Da had been an only child, raised by older parents who had long since passed on before she’d been born. It had been even more confusing when she’d found him the next day right before he could head into the Great Hall for lunch and discovered that, closer up, Coal’s eyes were the same shade of blue she had always seen on her own face and that had been on her father’s. His hair, too, where she could see it peeking out from under his hat, was a very similar shade of red to hers.

“We have the same surname?” Ember had asked, reaching out to grab hold of the boy’s sleeve so he couldn’t just walk away from her, curious if maybe it just sounded the same as her own or was similar enough to have been mispronounced by mistake. “Stone and then f-y-r-e?”

“Y-yeah.” He’d whispered, his eyes meeting her own from above, blinking as he looked from her hand on his robes to her face and back again, his shoulders tight. Ember had released his sleeve then, frowning at the obvious nervousness in his posture.

“I’m Ember… Not Amber, it’s an E not an A. You’re Coal?” Ember had clarified her name automatically, having already been called the wretched ‘Amber’ too many times by others. It wasn’t exactly a lie, persay, but it wasn’t the full truth either. God forbid anyone ever found out her full name. She’d begged her mother to write to the school, to make sure they called her ‘Ember’ at the Sorting, when she’d been clarifying the need for her first year to bring her broom to school with her. In light of losing her father, a previously well-loved student, both had been approved. But if she used her broom in any way that was reckless or taunting to the other first years, it would be removed from her person and returned to her mother.

“Yeah. W-with an A, n-not an E. C-o-a-l.” The Hufflepuff had nodded in apparent understanding, the misspelling of his name a common enough mistake as he’d been growing up because most people expected it to be the classic ‘C-o-l-e’.

“You have my hair and eyes.” Ember had crossed her arms, but her tone wasn’t harsh, the boy already seeming to shrink into himself a bit, as if he were afraid of her.

“Maybe… It’s… It’s pr-probably a c-common name.”

“Not at all.”

“Then I d-dunno why either.” He had shaken his head, quiet, unsure of why they had the same last name or looked similar right on down to their slightly crooked smiles, not that Coal smiled all that much. That was something Ember had discovered pretty quickly. He was shy, taller than the rest of their peers, kind of… closed in, like he was afraid someone was going to lash out at him if he said the wrong thing.

Cousins. That had been her mother’s answer to Ember’s questions about Coal and that was that, no further investigation needed in her mind. Coal had grown up in part of London, Muggleborn as far as he knew but Ember had shrugged it off, not concerned. Maybe someone in her Da’s family had been a squib. Her Mam said they were cousins and that was enough for her. With Coal being so shy, Ember had taken it upon herself to look out for him. He was family after all, and no one was going to make fun of his clothes or slight stutter unless they wanted a fist to their face or a broomstick to their stomach. They sat together in their shared classes, Ember sharing her books with him when she realized he didn’t have a copy and wasn’t going to speak up to the teachers about it. They worked at a table in the library, at least, when they had homework to do, but neither of them was much good at the whole ‘studying’ thing. That first week had gone by quicker than expected and finally, Saturday had arrived at last. Ember hadn’t had any proper time to fly since she’d gotten here and she was bound and determined to change that as soon as possible. Her whole body thrummed with the need to get into the air, to mount her father’s old Nimbus 2000 and feel the wind through her hair. She had also promised Coal that she would take him up with her if he wanted. He hadn’t seemed to keen on the idea, but they had met at breakfast anyway, swiping pieces of buttered toast and apples before heading outside into the sunshine that was bound to turn into wet, rainy weather within the next couple of weeks. They needed to take advantage of the nice days while they lasted.

“It’s really not that hard. You kind of just, sit and hold on, stick your feet back onto the bipods. That gives you the best position for going fast and steering, but you can ride without them too, not all brooms have them. They make it easier to keep your legs from dangling when you’re learning how to move your muscles properly until you’ve built up your thighs enough to hold on without them. Most people never remove them because it makes riding more comfortable.” Ember explained as she held her broomstick up, showing it to Coal as they strolled along a lesser used path that went by a fairly this little grove of trees that weren’t connected to the Forbidden Forest, but close enough to the lake to still have a lovely view. It would take them to the Quidditch Pitch, but they had decided to go the long way around, that way Ember could give Coal all of the very much needed information when it came to brooms. “There are different makes and models. This one is older, it’s a Nimbus. That’s the make, the model is 2000. It’s usually always a number. There’s another version of the Nimbus but it’s called the 2001. There are always new brooms being made and released, each one claiming to be the fastest ever, the best steering, the perfect aerodynamics for limited wind flow, all that kind of stuff. You’ve got your Cleansweeps, those are decent, your Comets, not as fast, but still pretty good, then there’s the Silver Arrow, never had any other models and it’s got crap speed but not nearly as bad as the Shooting Star. Ugh. Those are the worst. The steering’s terrible. You might as well try to fly on a sweeping broom. There are stunting brooms too, but they’re kind of newer because broom stunts didn’t become popular until the last fifteen years or so. They’re based for even balance and stuff, but you don’t exactly need one to cool stuff. My Nimbus has always worked just fine, even for that, but my Mammy says that’s because I could fly before I could walk. I like to do the Youth competitions, they usually have them over the summer. I didn’t do it this summer, but last year I got second, but only because of a stupid technicality. S’not my fault they put the commentator’s stand right there…”

Coal, as usual, was fairly quiet, nodding along as Ember talked about a mile a minute, but he didn’t exactly mind it. She was the first actual friend he’d really had, never making fun of him like he had been in his primary school. He liked spending time with someone who could hold nearly an entire conversation all by themselves, letting him insert the occasional ‘cool’ or ‘yeah’ at the appropriate times, limiting the amount of words he had to speak. The more he talked, the more he stuttered, especially when he was nervous. It had been awful when he’d had to read aloud in class. Lots of snickering and the teacher telling them to quiet down until it became too much and she would simply tell Coal to just sit down. He strode along, hands stuck into the front pockets of the torn jeans he was wearing today underneath a slightly too large grey t-shirt with a warped collar, shoes still making him stumble every now and then. He’d outgrown them, but they were what he had, peeling rubbers and broken laces and that one spot where his big toe was bound to pop out any day now. It was just another part of his life he was used to, unfortunately. His dad and step-mom didn’t exactly do a very good job of looking after him, but he had a bed to sleep in, a roof over his head, and food to eat for the most part. He didn’t starve at least, other people had it worse than he, he was sure of that. As they walked, Ember still spouting off different types of brooms, a bounce to her step that had her pigtails swaying along with her, Coal bent down to pick up a fairly thick piece of branch that must have fallen off one of the nearby trees. It was bare of leaves, indicating that it might have been there a while, but as he felt it in his hands he found that it was still nicely solid. Not rotting yet. He tugged a slightly rusted pocket knife from his jeans, tugged out the blade and started peeling off the bark with it, bits of sap sticking to his long, nimble fingers. He liked the way the knife felt against the wood, something he could control for a change. The movements were soothing and he was able to do it while still keeping up with Ember. He looked up as one of the trees rustled a bit, probably just a squirrel or bird. Ember didn’t even glance towards it, now rambling about different Quidditch teams. Coal still didn’t really get the idea of Quidditch, but Ember had promised he’d understand better when the first school game of the season was played next month.

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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“I definitely don’t mind this.” Ember grinned, letting her chin fall onto Anne’s shoulder as she pressed down at the pedals to get them going again. The dirt turned to cobblestones that had them bouncing along what was considered the main road of the town itself, but they would have to traverse the even smaller portions, some not even designed to be used by cars, walls narrow on either side and leaving maybe just enough space for two people to pass one another. Ember kept close to the side in these places, going slow enough that she wouldn’t run over anyone by accident, following the old familiar route she always took when doing deliveries. It was enjoyable, being able to show Anne around the muggle village close to her home. There were lots of little shops, people milling about on the sidewalks, occasionally lifting a hand to wave with familiarity as they went past. The sun shone down brightly on them, not a lot of cover from it as they rode along, the wind helping to keep their bodies cool for the time being. Usually Meghan would have had them go earlier in the day, before things had gotten so hot, but today had been different. She’d let them linger, watching them from the windows as she’d packed the bags, enjoying the sight of seeing the pair just so… happy. Laughing and running about in the yard and down the path with the skateboard like a pair of lovesick puppies. Ember’s clothes weren’t hanging off of her as limply as they had been, starting to cling against her skin again the way they used to. Her cheeks were full, eyes glimmering, and Meghan couldn’t have been more overjoyed to see it. Anne was good for her daughter, so good.

The Gryffindor continued their deliveries, stopping at each dwelling long enough to greet whomever was inside. Her brow was sweating by the third time she returned to the bike and she rubbed at it with one of her gloves, but it was only a temporary fix. The heat only urged her pedal faster so they could hurry up and finish. Anne was right, those slushies were waiting for them and Ember couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than someone nice and cold to drink right about then. Thus, she wasn’t paying as careful attention as they swerved around a corner and nearly ran over an older gentleman who already looked quite surly to begin with. Ember skidded the bike to a stop, nearly toppling the wagon and using one hand to grab at one of Anne’s arms, wanting to make sure she didn’t go tumbling off the handlebars from the fast braking. The gentleman crossed his arms, a cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth, glaring down at them for a moment. Ember climbed off the bike rapidly to pluck up the hat that had flown off his head, offering it to him with a sheepish look on her face. “Tá brón orm faoi sin, Mr. O’Clancy.” The redhead apologized, watching as the man shook his hat as though it had gotten covered in dust.

“You and your gallivanting! Could’ve broke me other hip. I’ve half a mind to ring your mother, Emily. My poor Madame Fritters has never been the same since you ran over her tail last... last...”

“I was twelve, Mr. O’Clancy.” Ember sighed as though she had heard this statement multiple times in her life, though that didn’t stop her from wincing at the memory. It had been the first time she and Eveleen had done deliveries for Meghan. Her poor Ravenclaw had been absolutely beside herself at the fact that one of their wagon wheels had gone over Mr. O’Clancy’s surly old cat’s tail when she had hidden under it during a break at the park. Eveleen had been in tears as she’d held the poor thing in her lap inside the wagon all the way to the O’Clancy house. By the time they had gotten there, Madame Fritters had gotten over the whole ordeal but that didn’t mean her owner would ever let Ember forget about it. “That was six years ago.”

“All the same, young lady.” Mr. O’Clancy shook a finger at her before replacing his cap on his head as Ember climbed back onto the bicycle. She pushed up the brake again, more than ready to get out of there. “Now you wait just a second there whilst I ring your mother.”

“Sorry, Mr. O’Clancy. No time, gotta get these deliveries made. C’mon Annie.” Ember waved, pushing off the ground to get them going again. The old man shouted after them, having no way of catching up on foot. He swore, waving a flip phone in one hand, face growing redder as he raised his voice.

“I’m still ringing Meghan, Emily-Amber! You hear me?!” The old man’s voice echoed slightly as they hit the bottom of a small hill and Ember turned left and out of sight behind a long row of bushes, cringing at the name only her mother was allowed to use and only when Ember was in trouble. She only began to slow again once they got closer to their next house. Only a couple of more stops, no more than five minutes apart, and they’d be done. She rose up on the pedals, rising so she could better see over Anne’s head as they bounced along a bit of an incline, legs working hard to pull them up it.

“Madame Fritters has been gone for about two years now, but O’Clancy’s got it in his head she’s still kicking and no one has the heart to remind him. For the record, she was fine, just gave her a little scare.” Ember promised, not wanting Anne to think she’d ever deliberately hurt any kind of animal on purpose. “Just here and the one with the fence, then we can go to the shop.” The redhead didn’t bother with parking the bike twice. Instead, she simply stopped in the middle of their two last destinations and delivered one, then the other order. With the wagon now fully empty, Ember gave Anne the option to sit there now if she wanted before turning the bike around and heading back for the main road. Soon, she was pulling it over, off of the road and into a small lot alongside the fence of a park. She set the bike between two rails of the rack, not bothering with a locking chain, having no fear of anyone bothering to take it. The redhead offered a hand to Anne. “My queen, might I escort thee to the land of frozen refreshments?”

Bro</3ken

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 2 years ago

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“My n-nobe.” Coal groaned as he removed his hands from his face, glancing down at the blood that had leaked into them, making his palms red. He could feel it dripping down his face, that familiar metallic taste hitting his tongue as he licked his lips automatically to clear them. He gagged a bit, wincing at the stinging pain in his face, his nose already starting to darken with bruising. It hurt quite badly, enough that he could feel his eyes watering from it, but he couldn’t very well cry, now could he? He was nearly twelve! Boys his age didn’t shed tears, especially not in front of girls no matter if he was related to them or not. Still, he had a hard time holding back as Ember leaned in to give his nose a look over. Her own face scrunched up in sympathy, having broken her own nose at least half a dozen times in her life already just by running into thing on accident. Her mum was well versed in the repair of it, but had also threatened more than several times now that if she broke it again, she’d leave it to heal on its own and it’d probably end up crooked. Coal sputtered a bit, sending flecks of red forward without meaning too. They dotted along his hands and his already beat up jeans. He glanced down before rubbing his hands against his pants, trying to clear them a bit. He’d already found out that whomever did the laundry here at school was a master at getting out stains, even blood, so he wasn’t too overly worried about it. He reached up, accepting the offered tissues, crumpled from a pocket and slightly linty, but otherwise looking mostly clean. The Hufflepuff took over holding the paper to his nose, pinching it carefully, tilting his head forward to help the blood flow out better. At least down it wouldn’t go dripping down his chin. The blood there was already beginning to dry and crack. “’anks.”

“Up you go.” Ember insisted, rising to her feet and bending down to grab at one of Coal’s arms. Her cousin was tall, but together, the girls were easily able to get him up off the ground. He kept the tissues in place as they began to lead him back towards the castle, only pausing to pick up her broomstick on the way. By now, Coal’s face was really starting to sting, making him squint his eyes a great deal, relying on the girls to get him where they needed to go. It was strange, being led along by the pair. Coal was only just getting more used to Ember’s abundant physical affection and to have someone else decide to touch him as well… He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. This girl, Eveleen, seemed nice enough though. She could have laughed at him for running into the tree, but instead, she had acted out of concern for his well-being, just as Ember had. There had been no jeering words, no taunting about what a klutz he was. Just a type of kindness he wasn’t very familiar with. While he stumbled a bit in his too-small shoes, Coal found himself grateful for the hands keeping a hold on his arms, guiding him along the path they had taken earlier. It wasn’t very long before they were heading in the large front doors of the castle and then up the stairs to the first floor where the infirmary was located. It was easy to find, needing to be accessed quickly in case of any kind of emergency. And this, definitely constituted one as far as Coal was concerned. He hoped it wouldn’t be something too difficult to fix. He’d heard other kids talk about breaking their nose and how it had to be shifted back into place so it could heal straight. Was there magic for broken bones? Would a school nurse be able to handle it or would they have to send him out somewhere to get xrayed? Coal didn’t like the think about that. He had rarely been to a hospital or clinic in his life, usually left to his own devices unless something serious enough was going on. Ember patted his shoulder as they pushed through the hospital wing doors.

“I’ve broken my nose loads of times. She can fix it easy, but it’ll sting like a b-… I’m not allowed to say that word, but you know what I mean, for a second.” The Gryffindor grinned brightly, trying to be as reassuring as possible as Coal’s eyes fully close, letting loose a couple of tears that she was not going to mention. Ember knew about crying, she had done a lot of it that past spring, but she’d decided shortly after to never do it again. She didn’t like how helpless it made her feel, enough that she’d try to close off those kinds of emotions the best she could. The redhead was glad they had their new mate with them as she seemed to be pretty well-versed with the infirmary already, though why she would be only a week into the school year, neither of the cousins was sure. Maybe she’d had some kind of incident in a class or climbed a different tree and fallen or something. Neither asked as they were greeted by a nice looking blonde girl who had to be several years older than them. Coal blinked his eyes open a bit, the world a bit blurry around them but he still caught the sight of shining blue eyes and a rather pretty face. Or what he assumed was a pretty face from what he could make of it. The Hufflepuff wasn’t exactly interested in girls, not yet, but he wasn’t entirely blind either. He felt Ember go a little stiff next to him and turned his head. Her cheeks were going a bit pink, eyes dashing to the floor instead of looking upwards. She was probably just nervous, nurses made him feel that way too. Eveleen seemed unaffected though and soon, she and Ember had gotten him to a cot that he almost instantly got blood on when his nose finally leaked far enough through the kleenex. It stained the white bedding between his legs, making him give another groan as the older girl ran off towards the office at the end of the room.

Having his nose repaired, did, in fact, hurt like the word Ember wasn’t allowed to say. The old matron was very gentle as she reached out to examine his face, touching delicately at the bruising along the sides of Coal’s nose while Ember held tightly to his hand for support. The elderly Healer pulled her wand from her sleeve, and with a simple flick, Coal’s nose popped, shifting right back into place, making him holler as the bone sealed itself back together, heat flooding the area until it suddenly began to cool again. The bruising faded away, leaving his face looking as if his nose had never broken and he’d only ever had a nose bleed.

“Bring a warm cloth, would you Weasley?” The matron called before giving Coal a pat on the head and heading over to the poxy-marked boy in order to see how he was doing. The Hufflepuff wiggled his nose a bit, eyes wide with shock at how easy it had been to fix despite the temporary pain involved. He blinked a few times, glad he had managed to keep his cool enough to avoid actually crying and looking like even more of a fool. Ugh, the boys at his primary school would have teased him relentlessly for something like that. He looked down at the bloody tissues in his hand, knowing he couldn’t give them back to Eveleen but feeling bad that now she probably didn’t have any left in her pocket for herself if she needed one.

“I’ll g-get you m-more tissues.” Coal promised as he balled up the ones in his hand and tossed them towards the nearby rubbish bin. It bounced off the rim and onto the floor, rolling a bit until Ember picked it up by a corner and dropped it in properly. She hugged Coal tightly around the shoulders, nuzzling her face against the top of his beanie. She probably would have licked his cheek if he’d been a bit cleaner too. Coal rubbed at his nose a bit, but didn’t try to push her off. He kind of, maybe, liked her weight on him, just a little bit. “Are y-you okay? Th-that tree was really h-high.”

Flashback: The Most-Important of Days.

“Did you really bounce the Quaffle through all three hoops in one go, Da?”

“Of course, my little flame, what reason would I have to lie?”

“To make it sound cooler.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

“You have my hair and eyes.” Ember had crossed her arms, but her tone wasn’t harsh, the boy already seeming to shrink into himself a bit, as if he were afraid of her.

“Maybe… It’s… It’s pr-probably a c-common name.”

“Not at all.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 3 years ago

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those three little words

Ravenclaw: I just wanna hear those three little words.

Gryffindor: I love you.

Ravenclaw: That’s sweet, but try again.

Gryffindor:

Gryffindor: I will behave.

Ravenclaw: There we go.

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beatersdoitbetter · 3 years ago

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Ember’s eyes stayed on the girl’s face, hand still outstretched as she waited for her response. She was definitely frightened, the redhead could tell by the way she clung onto the tree, eyes squeezed shut as though this circumstance would go away if she pretended it wasn’t happening. Ember looked down for a moment, finding that, yes, while they were quite high up, it wasn’t nearly as high as she’d been before on her broomstick, doing things that could warrant her actually falling off of it if she wasn’t as careful or surefooted as she always was, meshing her body’s movements to that of the broomstick with little effort due to years of practice and a natural knack for it. Her blue orbs returned to the other first year in front of her, still grinning as she watched one, then two, deep chocolaty eyes open up to look at her. They were… gorgeous. Not that bland kind of brown that a lot of people had, but that dark, soulful kind, the kind of brown where you could see into the depths of someone and felt as if they were reaching into yours at the same time. They were large, round things that suited the girl’s rounder face perfectly, accented by her freckles and finished off with so very many curls of dark hair that had obviously been pulled back in an attempt to keep them contained but were still escaping the hold of the hair ties that seemed to be clinging on for dear life. As she met that soul-searching gaze, Ember’s smiled widened as she tilted her head, a gentle laugh coming out of her throat, her too-big front teeth showing with that clear gap in between them that everyone said would go away as she grew into them as the rest fell out and she got the remainder of her molars. Ember had never been too worried about it. Coal had the same gap she did and so did her… so had her father. Her smile didn’t falter even the slightest as she leaned closer, still offering her dirty hand to the stuck student, not about to just leave her up here under any circumstances. If she refused to come down with Ember, she’d holler for Coal to go get them an adult to help after all. For now though, she figured, this was the best, quickest way to do things. That, and it would definitely cause less trouble for all of them if they didn’t get any teachers involved. Ember wasn’t sure what the rules were about climbing trees at school, but part of her was pretty sure the professors wouldn’t be too happy finding a first year this high up one on their first weekend here. They might lose house points or get detention or something… Her Mammy would not be happy if Ember got detention within her first week away at school. She’d probably march right on in the front doors to scold her herself for being reckless even if she’d only been trying to help. Probably. Maybe.

The Gryffindor’s hand was small but strong as she received the other girl’s, her grasp holding tight as a strange kind of warmth fluttered up her arm and all over her body, making her hair dance around her face and her toes tingle in a way that was so different but felt so… right. Her eyes met the brunette’s again and she gaped at her for a moment, unable to look away as her heart rate picked up, a surge of something pulsing through her. It felt like… magic, but older, stronger, and as she gazed into the other girl’s face, her mind began to race, full of those same brown eyes, rapidly coursing through other faces she felt she recognized without even knowing them. Male and female, a constant flow as she seemed to leave her body, going back and back, as though in reverse, until the eyes were gone, replaced by a strange darkness and then, she was one of two sparkling lights dancing around one another, voices talking, singing, laughing as they spiraled until they smashed together and became one once more, forming back together as though this was where they were meant to be, where Ember was meant to be right now, in this very moment. It lasted all of half a second but sent the redhead staggering ever so slightly. Not so much that she fell or lost her grasp on the girl, but enough that she had to regain her balance. Thankfully, that was something she was decent at when standing in the air on pieces of wood, not so much on the ground.

“But of course, m’lady. It is but this knight’s duty to serve thee forever more for as long as mine heart dost beat.” Ember replied, the words flowing out of her without really thinking about them beforehand. She continued to smile as she carefully helped the smaller girl down onto the more sturdy branch she was standing on, only having to grab at her a bit more as the cat decided to leap into her witch’s arms. Ember laughed, releasing the girl’s hand and wrapping an arm tightly around her middle, holding onto her as she was gripped back, shifting her broomstick with the other. She held it out, releasing it so it hovered beside them. She threw a foot onto it, balancing as her grasp shifted back to the girl’s hand a ndshe coaxed her forward. The cat was going to be a problem… Balancing and holding it at the same time might not be the safest of ways to get onto the broom, but the creature seemed to have realized this on it’s own. It leapt forward, landing with grace upon the branch and lapping at its paw as though waiting its turn. Shifting slightly, the Gryffindor reached out with both hands, grasping onto the girl’s elbows now so as to have a better grip should she slip and carefully helped her onto the back of the broomstick, crouching until she was safely seated. Making sure she was on well and the broom wasn’t going anywhere, Ember reached down, scooping the cat up in one arm and stepping her other foot onto the broom, balancing before she deliberately launching each of her feet to either side of her broomstick. She landed, safely on her ass, cat under one arm as she reached back, tugging one of the girl’s arms forward. “Hold on tight, m’lady.”

Down on the ground, Coal was trying not to have some kind of heart attack. Or maybe it was an anxiety attack. He wasn’t entirely sure what the difference was, but he stood there, his too tall frame in too small clothes and shoes, staring upwards as his cousin landed on a branch near the other girl. He couldn’t see exceptionally well from here, his neck craning back the closer he got, not entirely sure what he was going to do if either of them were to fall. It was a long, long way down and there was no way they would survive it. Probably crack their skulls open, break their necks, their noses, their faces… There would be blood and guts everywhere. He’d have to run and find someone to help, or would he need to properly flee the scene of the crime? Would they think he had something to do with it if he lingered around, two dead girls and possibly a cat? He looked down at the rusty carving knife still clutched in his left hand and shoved it into his pocket, wondering if he would need to throw it into the lake, just in case anyone thought he was an accomplice to a tree murdering two girls by launching them and allowing gravity to do the rest. His body shook as he watched Ember hold onto her broom and a branch, moving through the tree a bit towards the dark-haired girl, his heart pounding as he pictured one of them slipping. Ember moved closer, her hand outstretched and the other girl responded, reaching for her. There was a strange glimmer of light, almost imperceptible, but Coal saw it, as they clasped hands. It pulsed outwards, shooting up and down the tree so rapidly he thought his eyes must have been playing a trick on him, for it was gone before he could even really figure out what it was he was seeing. Probably just the sun coming momentarily out from a cloud or something, just long enough to confuse him. He almost screamed as the unnamed girl slipped a little as she caught her cat, but Ember had her, and they clung together, a mixture of red and brown tangling together. Coal covered his eyes as they began to climb onto the broomstick, unable to watch any longer. When he didn’t hear any thudding in front of him after several long moments, he peeked out from between his fingers.

A wave of relief washed over the Hufflepuff as the girls began to descend, safely, slowly, towards the ground. The broomstick held them both and the cat without any trouble, Ember keeping the transition from the air to the ground as smooth as one might expect from an elevator. The way she normally talked about riding broomsticks, he was surprised to find her moving so delicately, but it was probably due to the smaller girl clinging tightly to her back, eyes closed. When they were about ten feet from the ground, the cat leapt free, landing easily on all four feet with a simple meow before sitting down to watch her witch get closer to the ground. Ember didn’t land completely, instead, letting them hover, toes skimming the grass as her legs dangled. It would be easier to slide the other girl off this way, making sure the broom stayed afloat a bit while she dismounted it. Careful, Ember swung a leg over, easily landing on the ground, still holding onto her broomstick as she pressed it a bit lower onto the shorter girl’s feet were able to land firmly on the ground. She beamed, holding out her hand again, an offer to help her keep her balance as she climbed off. “I’m Ember Stonefyre. E, not A.” She introduced herself a bit more properly before a soft thump had her turning her head around. Coal had sat down hard on the ground and then fallen backwards, arms and legs outstretched, his eyes staring upwards to the matching sky above. Ember quirked an eyebrow and pointed a thumb back at him. “And this is me cousin, Coal. A not E.” She leaned in closer to the girl, whispering loudly, as though conspiring but really just teasing the poor boy.

“Don’t mind him. Everyone says he looks a bit scary, but he’s the most buachaill croí bog, I’ve ever met.” Ember laughed as a small bit of wood hit her in the shoulder.

“I th-thought you w-were gonna d-die!” Coal all but shouted skyward, having sat up just enough to find something to toss at his cousin. It hadn’t been a big enough piece of wood to do anything decent with but he still felt a bit bad as he saw it fall back down on to the ground. He fell backwards again, closing his eyes. “D-discard e-evid-dence. A-alibies. F-flee the c-country.”

“Aye, aye.” Ember shook her head, finally releasing the girl now that she was safe and marching the few paces to the Hufflepuff. She reached down and grabbed him by the wrists, tugging at him while he made himself as dead weight as possible. “C’mon, mate.”

“Ch-change my n-name. Dye my h-hair. L-learn Sp-spanish. G-go to… to… Por-portugal.”

“Do they even speak Spanish in Portugal?” Ember asked as she gave Coal another heave but he tugged back this time, surprising her as he managed to pull her down onto the ground and roll out of the way while she all but landed flat on her face. “Oy!” The Gryffindor pushed back up, dirt on her nose as she grappled a bit for Coal who was already on his feet and running. She stared after him, watching the way he raced across the small clearing towards the other end where there was an outlet to take them back to the path that they could either take down to the pitch or back to the castle. She watched as he glanced over his shoulder… and then proceeded to trip over his too small shoes and veer right into a tree.

Coal had been ready to try and outrun Ember, at least until he had checked behind him to see if she was chasing him. Instead, he found her still on her knees and his eyes flickered over to the smaller girl, still standing next to the broom now on the ground and lost all concentration on where he was going. He hadn’t really looked at her before when he’d been on the ground, but now… She had a nice face. Soft, and her eyes were nice too. In fact, if anyone had asked him, Coal would maybe had said all of her was nice. Her hair, the way her eyebrows arched, those long lashes and the scattering of freckles. Cute? Was that the right word? He didn’t really have time to ponder it as he slammed into a tree, a sharp kind of cracking noise echoing in his ears and then pain as he landed flat on his back again.

“Coal!” Ember pushed up from her spot on the ground, made a beeline for her broomstick and snatched it up before her hand was locking around the brunette’s and dragging her along as she ran for the boy even as he started to sit up. From here she could see that his nose had started to bleed down onto his front and he was grasping at it, eyes watering like he maybe wanted to cry but was trying not to. “Lemme see, lemme see.” Ember’s voice had changed, softer now as she kneeled beside her cousin, tugging at his hands so she could get a better look at his nose. “Ugh… I think you broke it. We’ll have to go see the nurse.”

(*Soft hearted boy.)

Flashback: The Most-Important of Days.

“Did you really bounce the Quaffle through all three hoops in one go, Da?”

“Of course, my little flame, what reason would I have to lie?”

“To make it sound cooler.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

“You have my hair and eyes.” Ember had crossed her arms, but her tone wasn’t harsh, the boy already seeming to shrink into himself a bit, as if he were afraid of her.

“Maybe… It’s… It’s pr-probably a c-common name.”

“Not at all.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 3 years ago

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Ember beamed, glad her little girlfriend was having just as much fun with attempting to skateboard as she was with trying to teach her. Anne was always down for new things so long as they were interesting enough. They had already been having a very lovely spring holiday, having returned several days ago and having spent every minute of them together. There were no boundaries here that they had to worry about, free to just do as they wished without question or judgment. Meghan seemed to have absolutely no issue with her daughter tugging her girlfriend into the bathroom in order to share a shower, or when they disappeared into the Ember’s room for possibly hours at a time. She was just glad Ember was happy, always careful to knock on the door if it was closed to give the girls fair warning before calling out that dinner was ready. They were well old enough to be making their own decisions about certain things and it amused the former Ravenclaw to watch them together. It was like observing a pair of puppies playing with one another, always touching, chasing one another, laughing. It was as if a new light had filled her daughter back up, helping her overcome the onslaught of emotion she had dealt with for almost a year now. Every time Meghan saw her, Ember’s clothes were fitting more like they used to, there was life in the redness of her cheeks and the sparkle of her eyes. The difference from last September when she had left for school to today… It made Meghan’s heart light. She didn’t know what she would have done if Ember had continued to spiral downwards until there was nothing left of her but a husk of who she used to be. She had her daughter back. Even as she called a bit down the lane to the pair of girls goofing around with that old skateboard, Meghan could see the way they were smiling. It was a good thing, this connection with Anne.

“Alright, if you want.” Ember agreed, leaning a bit to kiss at her smaller girlfriend’s head as Anne wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling their bodies together in a way that had become comfortable and familiar. Her skateboard was tucked under her free arm, but she set it down once they passed through the front gate to meet her mother. The wagon was loaded up with potted plants and paper bags, each with some kind of name labeled on them for easy identifying. Ember looked them over, already recognizing a fair few of them as weekly orders from some of the locals down in the village who Meghan had been selling to for years. The older Gryffindor didn’t try to get her girlfriend to stay, much preferring if she came with her anyway. It was better, being with Anne, able to feel like herself and not have to worry about hiding so much of herself. Everyone in Whispering Hollow knew what had happened, they were well aware of the situation and no one had been really treating her any different. They were, after all, her family and they loved her dearly, welcoming Anne with open arms as well. “I’ll get the bike then. The wind will feel nice until we can get you that slushy.” Ember smiled, aware of how hot Anne was feeling just by the way she had pulled her hair all the way up off of her neck onto her head as well as having ditched her usual sweater for a tank top instead. Sweat lingered on the blonde’s forehead, but a nice bike ride and something cold to drink would help.

The redhead moved around to the small shed sitting near the fence on the side of the cottage. It was already open, spilling out clay pots and different gardening tools that in all shapes and sizes. It took Ember a moment to extract the bicycle from inside, pulling it free from where one of the pedals had gotten caught on a bit of chicken wire and tomato stands. It was an older thing, but in excellent shape, a blue cruiser with a wicker basket in the front. She wheeled it over and removed a chain from inside the basket, using it to lash the wagon carefully to the metal rack that sat above the back wheel, careful to lock the handle into place so that it wouldn’t push and pull awkwardly as they traveled but could still be turned easily. It took her just a couple of minutes, used to doing it. She kissed her mother’s cheek and then turned to Anne. “It’ll probably be easier if you sit on the handlebars until the wagon is a bit emptier.” Ember explained as she carefully moved the bike through the gate along with the wagon. She climbed on, not bothering with a helmet but keeping her balance by leaving her feet on the ground as she pulled her hair up onto her head and then removed her hoodie, tying it around her waist for safe keeping, knowing she would probably get hot on the way into town. Her leather gloves still ran up to her elbows, keeping her forearms covered but she had left them alone for a good while now. The gloves still kept the scars covered up so her mother wouldn’t see and Meghan had never questioned why Ember liked wearing them. They kept her arms warm but left her freer than sleeves that could catch and tighten around her did.

“I’d like to do both.” Ember stated simply, enjoying the idea of going on a kind of proper nice little date with her girl. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t gone on dates before, but there was something appealing about sitting in the dark while they watched a whatever-it-was together. Ember also kind of wondered what it would be like to share icy blue flavored kisses. She waited until Anne was able to get herself situated, making sure her skirt wasn’t going to get caught on anything before she pushed off and started pedaling them down the lane. Ember leaned forward, rising up off of the seat to better see over Anne. Biking was easy compared to flying in some ways. She certainly had plenty of balance and strength for it, but not being up in the air made it a good deal less interesting for her. The lane was fairly shaded as they went down it, sunlight dappling down through the newly unfurling leaves, not having quite reached the peak of their greenness just yet. The wind blew through their hair, pressing loose bits of blonde locks into Ember’s face but she didn’t mind it in the least. Her legs kept pedaling along, the wagon bouncing every now and then but the cushioning charm on the wheels kept any bumps from disrupting the contents too much. It didn’t take long to reach the end of the lane and then turn to the left, heading down along the side of the main road towards town. It was still dirt for a while until it turned to pavement shortly before houses came into view. Ember knew exactly where to go once they reached the edges of town. She made a few turned before reaching their first stop. She brought the bike to a halt, put down the kickstand and climbed off. She grabbed up a bag from the wagon, double checked the name on it and then strode up to the front door of the house to knock upon it. A woman with gray hair answered and then exclaimed excitedly as she took the bag from Ember, set it down inside and then reached out to hug her.

“I haven’t seen you in ages! How’re you doing, love? Your Mammy said you were having some health issues.”

“I’m okay now.” Ember promised, hugging the woman back. She accepted the cash she was handed and then counted it before pressing several bills back into the older woman’s hand. “That’s too much, Mrs. Chester.”

“You have to take it, it’s a tip.”

“No tips.” Ember insisted, shaking her head and turning to jump back down the front steps before the woman could argue with her. Ember didn’t need tips, she had plenty of funds in her name already from her father’s portion of the racing broom company he had started with a few of his friends shortly after graduating from Hogwarts. She hopped back down the steps and strode back to the bike before turning to give a wave and climbing back onto the bike. “Seven more and we’ll be done.” She promised Anne, leaning to kiss her cheek.

Bro</3ken

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 3 years ago

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Coal’s head turned again, his blue eyes returning to the tree as it rustled again, this time harder than before. He stopped walking, reaching with one long arm to grab hold of Ember’s back pocket to get her attention so she wouldn’t just keep walking along, talking to the air and realize he was no longer with her once she reached the pitch. Ember frowned, looking back at him as he pointed towards the trees, to the biggest one a bit further into the little grove. “There’s s-something there.” The Hufflepuff whispered, not exactly used to being out in nature when he had spent the majority of his life surrounded by buildings, never really seeing much more than a park that was well maintained with wide open places between the trees for playing. His concern was growing as the tree’s upper branches swayed just a bit, indicating that there was most definitely something up there, though it was impossible to tell, from here, what it could be. What kind of creatures lived in the trees here? There were so many different ones he had seen in their schoolbooks, lots of beings he had always thought to simply just be imaginary. “Is… Is it a dr-dragon?” He asked with obvious concern, but Ember laughed, her shoulders much more relaxed as she shook her head.

“Nah, dragons are monitored closely to keep them away from the Muggles. There’s no way one would be here.” Ember patted her cousin’s shoulder with reassurance, tilting her head back so that she could try and see up into the tree as well. It wasn’t a very clear shot from where they were standing. Maybe if they got closer she’d be able to figure it out easier. “It’s probably an owl. Let’s go see.”

“Wh-what?” Before Coal could even attempt to stop her, Ember had already stepped off the path and into the grove, keeping her broomstick tight under an armpit so that she wouldn’t knock it into any low hanging branches that she might not notice if they were above her head. Coal stood for a moment before he chased after her, catching up before he lost sight of her among the trunks, head turning this way and that, looking out for anything dangerous that might be coming after them at this very moment. His knees shook a bit with anxiety, but Ember kept going, only pausing momentarily to reach back and take his hand. This was something that Ember seemed to do quite often, always touching him in one manner or another. She wasn’t afraid of the physical contact, the kind of closeness Coal wasn’t at all used to, but at the same time, it was kind of nice having another’s hand to hold onto. She was always bumping shoulders with him, leaning over in class to look at his notes even if it meant she was nearly falling out of her chair and into his lap. No one had questioned their strange, fast attachment to one another, but then, most of their peers had no clue that Coal and Ember had only just met. With the way Ember acted, it was as if they had grown up together. The Gryffindor was exuberant, fully of energy and life (at least when they weren’t in History of Magic) and it was hard not to feel happy just being around her. Sometimes she talked funny, like some old timey person or she’d slip into Irish without meaning to before correcting herself. Just that morning Ember had come barreling at him from down the large marble staircase, jumping excitedly as she’d thrown her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly and sending him into a state of slight shock, enough so that he was pretty sure something wet had touched his cheek but also not completely certain enough that he hadn’t just been imagining it. She’d gone on to showing him her broomstick, holding it up with pride in both hands, crooked smile beaming, her two front top teeth spaced out just a bit further than they should have been, the same way his were. It was strange, having someone who looked so similar to him that he had never met in his life but not nearly as much as actually having someone he could, probably, safely say was a friend.

Coal had never really had much in the way of friends growing up. He’d been the weird, quiet kid at the back of the classroom, the one who got in trouble for refusing to remove his beanie and then being laughed at relentlessly for the state of his hair when it was taken off for him. Coal, in all his life, could not remember ever having a single hair cut and he still had no desire for one even at just shy of twelve. He liked his long hair, it felt comfortable to him, familiar but once he had reached a certain age it had become just another thing the other kids picked on him about. His clothes, his hair, his stutter. He had gotten into plenty of fights as well, no one ever expecting such a hard punch to come from someone so seemly scrawny in the muscle department once they had antagonized him one to many times. As he grew, his face was starting to lose that kind of younger roundness associated with the earlier years of life, getting slightly more angular, but not so much that it looked weird. He face was still round, just… not as soft in appearance as it once had been, a near permanent kind of scowl that made him look tougher than he actually was. Ember had overlooked that, getting him to laugh just enough for his face to light up with a genuine smile for a change. This first week at Hogwarts had been probably the best time he could ever remember having in his life. It was almost unbelievable, like something out of a movie but better. He hadn’t been sure about it at first, not when a teacher had come to the apartment door with a letter to let him know about his acceptance. His father had been more than happy to send him off for the school year, especially when there were no fees to pay. He hadn’t even really asked much about the school in general, just glad that he would have the kid out of his hair for the next nine months or so. He’d agreed to everything the teacher had said, waving him off with a fairly dismissive hand. The man had shoved his foot into the door to keep it from closing, asking if he might take Coal along to get his supplies while he was here, sensing the tension in the air and figuring it was a better idea to get the child out of the apartment for at least a while. Professor Longbottom was a kind person, soft spoken and gentle as he’d taken the boy to Diagon Alley, getting what they could of his supplies with the money provided by his father. A single uniform, some of his required books, tools, and a wand had been the brunt of what he’d sent him to school with, everything fitting into a smaller sized suitcase with a broken wheel that had come from a second hand shop. Other books, the professor had said, could be borrowed directly from a teacher if Coal simply asked for one and returned it at the end of the year. Next year, Longbottom promised, they would sign him up to receive some of the school funding put aside specifically for cases such as these. It had left Coal red faced and embarrassed, not accepting any offers from the professor to help get him more of his things but giving in when they reached the ice cream shop. Longbottom had kind of tricked him though, asking casually what his favorite flavor was, but Coal had shrugged, not really sure. He supposed vanilla was nice and so was chocolate but he hadn’t tried too many other types. He’d ended up with a huge cone of purple ice cream swirled with bits of white. He’d eaten the entire thing, blueberry with marshmallow swirls and chunks of brownies. That had been a nice day and he’d been happy to see the teacher again when he’d entered his first Herbology class a few weeks later.

“It’s fine, Coal. There’s nothing in here that’ll hurt us.” Ember promised, clutching his hand tightly in her own. They were freckled, like his, but also more calloused and sweaty and for some reason, sticky. That part wasn’t surprising. Ember was always covered in something or other. Twigs in her hair, dirt on her face, a peeling bandage on an elbow. Even now, she was kind of disheveled despite it being earlier in the day, as if she hadn’t bothered to shower, left over residue on her face from Herbology class yesterday afternoon, and just thrown on whatever she had found rumpled up in her trunk. Today it was a pair jeans patched at the knees with two different floral fabrics, and a light blue t-shirt with some kind of silver arrow symbol on the front. He held on to her just as tightly, ducking under branches when he needed to, allowing Ember to tug him along deeper into the small grove. It wasn’t thick at all, he could still look back and see the path they had come from, even as they reached a small kind of clearing. There was the start of an actual path off to the left, indicating that they had simply just taken the scenic route.

The Gryffindor moved closer to the large tree, tilting her head back so she could look up and up and up through the branches to try and see just as a small scream came from somewhere above. At first she thought was might be imagining things and frowned, turning her head to look at Coal, pointing upwards. He joined her, looking at the indicated point and blinking when he realized what was in the tree.

A girl.

From down on the ground, she looked fairly small in stature but it was hard to tell with the way she was clinging so tightly onto the branch she’d come to rest on. How on earth she’d even gotten up there and why was a mystery in itself, at least until there was the obvious meow of a cat. The furry thing looked perfectly alright, tail flicking as it licked on paw and then glanced at the girl as if asking ‘Well, what next kid?’

“I th-think she’s stuck.” Coal murmured, turning his head to look at Ember, not sure on how they were going to help her get down, if they even could. They had been learning how to do a levitation spell in Charms class, but neither he or Ember had quite figured it out enough to get their feather to float more than a foot off the desk before it flopped back down. “We sh-should get a t-teacher. Or a p-prefect.” He suggested, ready to head for the path in order to get back to the school, to find an adult or someone close enough to one to help. There was always someone lingering around. “One of u-us should stay and w-watch-”

“I got it,” Ember stated simply, not missing a beat as she released Coal’s hand in order to swing her broomstick around, mounting it in one swift movement that indicated she’d done it about a thousand times before.

“I d-don’t think th-that’s-” But Coal’s words were lost on the smaller redhead as she pushed off the ground, heading directly upward with a look of sheer determination. Ember held on carefully to her broom, but her touch was light, not needing to steer too much when she was just trying to get higher in the air at the moment. One of her pigtails, already kind of loose, came free from it’s elastic tie, leaving her hair a bit lopsided. She stopped when she got to the right height and then turned a bit, circling around until she was as close to the girl as the branches would allow her to get. She reached out, grabbing hold of the tree and stepping off her broomstick onto another, shifting her broom to her left hand. The branch was nice and thick, close to the girl and her cat. Up close, Ember found that she was a kind of… runty girl, probably a first year like her. Her dark hair was thick, puffing up and curling in places where it had escaped from the twin braids it had been contained in, fly-aways dancing on the top of her head. Her eyes were squinched shut with obvious fear on her round face, arms wrapped around the branch she was on for dear life. The girl’s clothing was tight on her body, clinging to her skin in the same manner a snake’s skin would have right before they began shedding it because it had become too small and needed refreshing. Ember could see a small hole already near the girl’s side where a seam had given up all hope and finally popped. Like with Coal though, Ember didn’t focus in on the girl’s clothing so much as she did her face. It was… pretty, as far as faces went. Freckles dotted across her nose, her eyelashes long as they kissed her cheeks, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. Ember was pretty sure she’d seen her in some of her classes, but hadn’t really ever noticed her properly. She wasn’t a Gryffindor and the redhead didn’t know too many of the kids in the other houses yet.

Keeping her balance steady by leaving her core firm and her feet separated on the branch, Ember reached out, one small freckled hand held out towards the girl, smile bright. Her fingernails and knuckles were dirty, she had a bit of a scabbed part on her palm where she’d lost the fight with a trowel, and there were already leaves starting to get stuck in her hair from the tree. She didn’t miss a beat, her eyes shining the same shade of blue as the sky behind her as the sunshine dappled down through the color changing leaves, dancing on her hair as it got itself tangled up in smaller branches close to her head. “M’lady, doth thee require assistance for thyself and thy feline companion? I can help you get down.”

Flashback: The Most-Important of Days.

“Did you really bounce the Quaffle through all three hoops in one go, Da?”

“Of course, my little flame, what reason would I have to lie?”

“To make it sound cooler.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

“You have my hair and eyes.” Ember had crossed her arms, but her tone wasn’t harsh, the boy already seeming to shrink into himself a bit, as if he were afraid of her.

“Maybe… It’s… It’s pr-probably a c-common name.”

“Not at all.”

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beatersdoitbetter · 3 years ago

Text

Flashback: The Most-Important of Days.

“Did you really bounce the Quaffle through all three hoops in one go, Da?”

“Of course, my little flame, what reason would I have to lie?”

“To make it sound cooler.”

“Hmmm, perhaps.”

“You have my hair and eyes.” Ember had crossed her arms, but her tone wasn’t harsh, the boy already seeming to shrink into himself a bit, as if he were afraid of her.

“Maybe… It’s… It’s pr-probably a c-common name.”

“Not at all.”

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