goldengirlpippa-blog - Tumblr blog

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

Pippa’s day had been anything but pleasant. She had messed up her potion in class, causing a minor incident that left one of her classmates with a nasty burn on his left forearm, she’d been running around letting her team mates know about the practice on Friday and a rather unpleasant letter from her sister had arrived just a couple of hours ago. She felt stressed, depressed and more than ready for a quiet weekend, whenever that would happen. She had chosen to go down to the quidditch pitch to work on the schedule for Friday’s practice and also to clear her head for a little while, when she saw a small figure sitting on the stands. Approaching the blonde haired girl, she recognized Catriona, a fellow Prefect and Quidditch player. Sitting down next to her, she sighed. “Can we make it the Cat Brown and Pippa Goldstein failure society? I want my name in it if I’m joining.”

Recently, what with everything that was going on all Cat wanted to do was go home, to her little seaside cottage in cornwall with her cat, her dad and her dog. Back to their own little bubble, before even the mention of real parents or neo-death eaters had become a thing. Recently she’d find herself sat on the stands down at the quidditch field. She found that’s where she did all her best thinking, and having two exams to resit, she found this was the best place for her to study without all the distractions. She was deep into the logistics of making a healing draught when she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned towards her new companion with a smile.                                                                                                                    ‘’Here to join the Cat Brown failure society?’’ 

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

fairchildpuff

Her words got him to relax just slightly, shoulders not as tense as a moment before and a breath exhaling that he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. It meant a lot to him, what Pippa thought of him. It was inevitable with her being the Hufflepuff captain and the thought of screwing up that bad had gotten to him quicker than he liked to admit. “Thanks.” The blond attempted a small smile. “It is my fault thought, I haven’t been…organized lately.” He could at least take responsibility for messing up. “But it won’t happen again. I know…I think everyone’s just having a rough couple of days.” The whole school had been in a funk so he understood the slacking, him included, but if the sport was as important to him and Pippa, their team needed to get it together soon. Mercer wanted to throw his head back dramatically and groan at how this felt like such a talk a mother or concerned aunt would give, but then again he wouldn’t exactly know because his own mum had never brought something like this up like the brunette was doing now. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate this though because he did, it was just…foreign. Maybe next time he should just do a better job at hiding the stress. “Nothing, you know, I’m fine.” He stared at the cup of tea, not wanting it, but he didn’t doubt she would stay here as long as it took. He started off slow, reaching out for the handle, but didn’t lift the cup just yet. “You know I’ll be in tip top shape by the time it’s game day.” That small bit of confidence was briefly present in his voice.

“I know you will be. And I’m sure you’ll catch that snitch.” She said, winking at him, glad that she heard something that sounded like confidence in his voice when just moments earlier it had sounded like he was going to have a breakdown. She wanted him to feel good about his position in the team. It was the only thing she could do at the moment since she did get a strong feeling that he wasn’t going to share anything personal. But she wasn’t going to push him, she knew it wouldn’t help. Pushing people was generally always a stupid idea and in his state, she really didn’t want him to feel cornered. Instead, she didn’t say anything for a moment, fumbling on her sleeve for a second before looking back up at him. “Well, Mercer, I’m glad we sorted that out. I have to get on with my day now but if you need anything, let me know.” She gathered her stuff that she had simply dropped on the floor as she was in a rush when she had seen him, stood up and made a couple of steps away from him before turning back and pointing at the cup in front of him. “And please do me the favour of drinking that tea?” She smiled, waved and made her way along the table. If he wanted her to stay and talk, he would stop her from leaving if he didn’t, he wouldn’t and she would respect his privacy.

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

mskatherinejordan

“My mother has told me about some of it, but I don’t think she really likes to talk about the details.” Katherine replied, shrugging at the other girl. Surely the war wasn’t a happy subject from a lot of people and she knew that both her parents had lost friends during the battle. “I’m Katherine Jordan, and yourself?” Katie added, not sure if she had even gotten the other girl’s name. She looked familiar to her, but that was likely just because Hogwarts was a small school. “Does your family not really talk about that kind of stuff?” She asked, knowing that her own parents talked about family history a fair amount. “Yeah, it is probably worth the read at least.”

“I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me.” Pippa said quickly, regretting that she even brought up the topic in the first place. Of course she knew that it wasn’t an easy thing to talk about and assuming that people told their kids all the details just because her own mother didn’t was just stupid. “Pippa Goldstein. Pleasure to meet you, Katherine.” She smiled softly but the smile dropped when Katherine asked about her family. “Well, my mother and brother are quite the team but they have chosen not to include my sister and I. My father is kind of in the middle, which must be hard on him but then again, he isn’t home that often. So we’re quite the complicated family. And I don’t go home during the holidays because of that so we don’t really talk, I guess.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

jamiepottcr

With a laugh, James snapped the book shut and shoved it back where he guessed he had taken it from – which was probably the wrong shelf but he wasn’t sure. “That was probably the smartest I’ve ever looked,” he said with the smallest of laughs, tilting his head to the side. “Actually wearing my glasses and holding a book?” He moved back so he was in his previous potion, leaning against the shelf. “Isn’t that what you’re here for? To read to me?”

When James pushed the book back into the shelf, Pippa’s arm immediately reached out to pull it back out. She carefully placed it in her arm, taking a couple of steps around the boy to reach another part of the shelf and softly pushed the book back in, hovering her fingers over its spine for just a second. Turning back around to him, she smiled cheekily. “You know, if you actually read these books you wouldn’t just look smart, you’d actually be it.” Pippa rolled his eyes as he spoke again, but the cheeky grin didn’t fade. “Craving a bedtime story about Transfiguration, Potter? Or maybe Divination? - Oh no, not that, I hat divination.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

themugbornslytherin

“oh sod off,” becca barked at the gryffindor at the same moment that Pippa apologized. becca shrugged off the look the gryffindor gave her. she was stressed and overwhelmed, and thus feeling snappish. besides, the same student had been snapping gum rather viscously a few minutes previously and it had irritated the slytherin to no end. the hufflepuff speaking again drew becca’s attention to her, and it took her a minute to process. “the - oh, this book? nah, i was just using it as a pillow, in all honesty. take it.”

The girl snapping at the Gryffindor who had hushed them, made Pippa raise her eyebrows at the girl. She was quite impressed of how little the Slytherin seemed to care what the other thought of the her. Not that Pippa would ever tell anyone to sod off, she would definitely find a more graceful way to do it. “Uh yeah this book.” She finally said, taking it and scrunching up her nose. The other had used it as a pillow. How disrespectful. Pippa used the sleeve of her robe to carefully rub over the book cover to clean it from any of the blonde hairs that might have stuck to it. “Thanks anyway...Uh so I assume, you’ve been sleeping? Haven’t gotten a goodnight’s sleep last night, have we?”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

nate-travcrs

Nathaniel looked at the book in his hands and then at the girl. He needed to finally get on his Herbology assignment as the deadline was coming faster than he would expect. “Well, I don’t know, I kind of need it too, sweets,” he turned to Pippa with a tiny smirk on his face. Sure, he needed the book but only as a secondary source, he could do without it but it couldn’t hurt to annoy her a little first before giving her the book, would it?

Pippa rolled her eyes at the boy when she recognized him. Nathaniel Travers, a 7th year Slytherin who happened to be the Quidditch Team Captain just like her. She didn’t recall having an actual conversation with him except playful banter on the pitch before a match. “Travers. I wish I could say it’s a pleasure but it really isn’t.” She pushed back a streak of hair that had slipped out from under her headband and smiled sweetly. “You know, my essay is due in a week and I really need this book to finish it. I’m sure your mother raised you to be gentleman so you won’t mind my taking it.” She leaned forward, grabbing the book from his hands and nodding at him as she walked passed him toward the end of the bookshelf.

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

maledicentella

Marcella looked up from the page she was immersed in when the girl’s voice rang out beside her, having to take a moment to pull herself back to reality from the uses of sensitive joint-vetch. “I was going to check it out for some light reading, but it sounds as if you need it more than me at the moment.” Marcella took note of her page and scribbled it on the back of her hand, closing the book and offering it to the girl next to her.

A big grin rose to Pippa’s cheeks as the other girl noted her page and scribbled it on the back of her hand. It’s something that she would have done. Minus the scribbling-it-on-the-back-of-her-hand-part because how unaesthetic would that be? “Thank you so much! I don’t think it’ll take me long to get through it, I just need it for the last chapter of my paper so if you want, I can bring it to you once I’m done?”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

jamiepottcr

“Who said that I’ve passed any of my classes? There’s no point getting anyone to do my work now because I’m sure the teachers would catch on pretty quickly when I SUDDENLY start handing in homework.” Taking his finger away from the dusty shelf, he whipped a book off of it and opened it to a random page, pushing his glasses further up his nose for effect. “And the verdict is… I can’t read.”

“True indeed, Potter.” Pippa nodded. It didn’t mean she understood him because she really didn’t. How could one not care about their grades? This school was the only opportunity one got to shape their future so why would one waste their time playing pranks on others or get drunk on fire whiskey in dusty old broom closets? Pippa chuckled at his verdict, leaning against the bookshelf, her arms crossed in front of her chest. “You should find someone to read to you then.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

quidditchrox

Roxanne looked to the girl with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. She had been eyeing the book, unsure if she was going to need it for her report on Sub-Saharan Wormwood, reaching her hand out to grab it as the girl started talking. “No, I’m just gonna stare at it until someone tells me to leave. It’s got a beautiful spine, don’t ya think?” Roxanne said as she finally reached to grab the book, shaking her head. She silently wished someone had been there to hear it, she’d have to tell one of her cousins about it later.

Pippa’s eyebrows almost reached her hairline as she listened to the other girl speak. She watched the girl grab the book and shake her head and a laugh escaped her mouth. “Well, the spine is indeed gorgeous, don’t you think?” She grabbed the book from the other’s hands, running her finger over the cover. “It takes a while to apply the gold letters and fix them....Anyway, what was I saying. Oh yeah, since you’ve been waiting for it anyway, you can leave now.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

albiesevs

Albus hadn’t even waited to see if the girl was going to open her mouth before he snapped and as soon as he heard her speak up he shrunk back into himself, voice quieting as he frowned. “I’m sorry. I just- I have a lot going on and I’ve been up all night revising and I’m just sorry. You can look out the window all you’d like. Obviously, I mean it’s not my place to tell you if you can or can’t and I’m rambling aren’t I? Sorry is what I was trying to say.”

The boy’s reaction to her words surprised Pippa. She’d thought he would snap back at her response. But instead, he seemed to shrink and when he began babbling on about being sorry, a smile rose to Pippa’s cheeks. “You know, it’s fine. I really don’t care. Everyone seems to be acting weird around this damn castle lately so I’ve gotten kind of used to people snapping.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

fairchildpuff

Somehow his eyes managed to widen when faced with his Quidditch captain and he immediately tasted guilt as foul as medicine. “Y-Yeah, I know, I…” He didn’t want to give excuses. He wasn’t that person who skipped or became irresponsible. It was the first practice he missed this year and he had been keeping a zero-absence streak for years. That didn’t justify forgetting they had practice and not running to show face because he was lacking the energy to do much of anything. “I do know that. I-It won’t happen again. You have my word.” If that even meant anything to her. Mercer’s voice was soft, careful to not crack as he pressed his face into his hands. He tried to discreetly rub at his eyes since they had begun to prickle with the idea of jeopardizing his position on the team. Quidditch was all he had going for him and not only did this stack a new wave of pressure on top of him, but now he got to beat himself up over something else. “Mhm…I had some earlier.” He mumbled, even though it wasn’t at all true. He uselessly nodded anyway though.

Pippa sensed that something was seriously off about the blonde haired boy in front of her, especially since he was stuttering and stumbling over the words. She felt that maybe, just maybe, she had been to harsh on him. She knew that Quidditch meant something to him and he was usually the only one who consistently showed up on the pitch. It was fair to say that she valued that a lot about him. Adjusting her robe, she shot him a grin. “I know I have your word, Mercer. I’m sorry, it came out harsher than I expected. I’m just mad that everyone seems to be off somewhere and I need to run after you lot.” She chuckled but the laugh quickly faded as she watched him rub his eyes. Pippa knew that they weren’t close enough for him to share any intimate issues like heartbreak or whatever but it bothered her that one of her players seemed so out of it so she picked another strategy. “You know, as your Captain I am not only responsible for your practice but also for your physical and mental health. I want you to play well and stay focused so I’m not leaving until that cup is empty and you tell me what’s bothering you. I know it seems unlikely but maybe I can help.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

mskatherinejordan

Katherine followed the girl through the shelves, interested to see what she had in mind. “Take your time, I’m not in a hurry.” She replied, sending the girl a smile. Katherine didn’t want for her to feel as though she was being rushed, because she was obviously doing Katie a favor. Katherine looked at the book in the other girls hand, and couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. It looked like it was going to be intense, although that is exactly what she needed at the moment.  Katherine listened to the girl speak, and couldn’t help but feel as though it would surely be an interesting topic. “Well, that does sound like quite the potion. It surely would make a good paper.” She added, interested to learn more about the potion. “My mother fought in the battle and was part of Dumbledore’s Army. It would be interesting to write about something that is related to my family history in a way.”

Pippa listened carefully as the other spoke, nodding when she came to an end. “The battle...Quite a story, huh? I bet your mother told you all about it. What did you say your name was again?” She fumbled with the page for a second, not quite sure what to say. She knew her mother must have fought as well but since their relationship had turned bitter years ago, Pippa had never found out what side she had chosen. On the other hand, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to know which side her mother had fought on. “I guess it’s nice to write about- you know- family history and stuff. I wouldn’t know though.” Shaking her head ever so slightly, she held out the book to the other. “So...Here, take it if you want to write about it. If not, then at least you learned something new.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

“Uh yes, Mercer, I was indeed saying something.” Pippa snapped, shooting the boy a sharp look. “I was wondering why you skipped the last Quidditch practice? You know we have to work hard if we want to have any chance of beating Gryffindor in the next match and I need everyone to be there when we practice. I thought you knew that.” Organising Quidditch practices had been hard for Pippa lately since all of her players seemed to have better things to do than to stand on the pitch with her and she was tired of running after them. “I expect you to be there next time or there will be consequences.” After finishing, she pushed back her hair, looking around the Great Hall before drawing her gaze back to Mercer. She immediately realised how slouched he was and how he had not even touched the cup of tea in front of him. “Hey...You know, breakfast is important right?” She fabricated a soft smile. “Is...Is everything alright?”

Mercer had been sat in the Great Hall for some time now. Ever since the news spread around the school like wildfire, he’d been watching the way more owls flew in and dropped mail to his classmates–concerned relatives checking in to make sure things were okay for now. This will be the day, he kept thinking to himself each morning he lingered at the table and waited for his mum or dad to send something. The Hufflepuff had even sent his own letter to ask how Greta and Colin were. He needed to know his younger siblings were safe at home. But nothing ever came. He was slouched, elbows on the table and ignoring the cup of steaming tea in front of him. Of course he was hungry as well, but Mercer was quickly falling back into the habit of not wanting anything other than to return to his bed and hide out under the blanket for a while. “…Hm…sorry, were you saying something?” He hadn’t realized he’d been blocking out the chatter around him and was prepared to blame it on feeling sleepy, which wasn’t a total lie.

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

Pippa looked at the boy, confused. What was he talking about? Why would she want to know about his feelings or - Merlin forbid - see him upset. “Excuse me? I don’t think I said anything. I was literally just standing here, looking out the window and you chose to be offended by that.”

“Let’s play a little game why don’t we? It’s called unless you’re here to give me to the History of Magic exam I have to resit tomorrow shut up. Because talking about my feelings or letting myself be upset, whatever you want me to do isn’t going to help me pass and it sure as hell isn’t going to find my father, or anyone else for that matter.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

mskatherinejordan

“Honestly, suggestions would be great. My brain just doesn’t want to cooperate at this point.” Katherine replied, sending the girl a soft smile. Suggestions were always useful, and it wasn’t as if anything would force for her to follow the suggestion that the girl has in mind. “I’m coming, don’t worry.” Katie replied, heading in the direction that the girl had taken off. At this point she was incredibly curious.

Pippa quickly made her way across the library with swift steps until she stopped at a row of bookshelves filled with books about any type of potion you could ever imagine. “Now, let’s see where it is. I swear I saw it just a couple days ago.” Skimming over titles briefly, she made her way along the shelf until, finally, she reached out and took an enormous red book. Immediately, she opened it, turned a couple of pages until she found what she was looking for. “Here...The Emerald Potion, also known as the Drink of Despair. It induces fear, delirium and extreme thirst...Cannot be penetrated by hand, vanished, parted, scooped up, siphoned away, Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made to change its nature in any way. It can only be drained away by drinking....Meant for protecting something of extreme importance.” When she finished, she looked up with a stern look on her face.”It’s the potion Dumbledore had to drink in that cave to reach one of you-know-who’s horcruxes. I admit, it’s a bit dark but certainly something special.”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

xglassmadeheart

a sharp gasp escaped rosy lips as she winced, almost dropping the old book. alice hadn’t noticed anyone appearing next to her. in fact, she didn’t even notice going into the library after being focused on her own mindset for quite some time now. not to forget the other’s raised voice cut sharply into the silent environment. finally turning towards the girl, alice recognized her fellow house- and classmate, a gentle smile gracing her lips. ❛ pippa, hi! ❜ the ebony-haired girl averted her glace, looking downwards at said book, briefly nodding before handing it over. ❛ it’s all yours. i’ll just take it later. ❜ without anything left to hold onto, petite fingers fumbled vacantly at the sleeves of the dark cardigan.

“Oh, Alice! I didn’t realise it was you for a second there.” Pippa said while taking the book slowly. “You know, if you need it you can have it first. I’m almost done with my paper so it really doesn’t matter too much.” She knew that the delicate girl in front of her would let her keep the book but she still said it to be polite. Watching the other fumbling at her cardigan, Pippa sensed something was up. “Um...Alice, I hope you don’t mind my asking but...Is everything alright?”

[goldengirlpippa-blog]

jamiepottcr

“FAVOURITE? I always knew you liked me the most.” He didn’t protest when the book was taken from him and simply shrugged, focusing his attention on drawing in the dust on the bookshelf. “This is possibly the first time I’ve been in here. I was wondering the same thing so I figured if I came in here, I could figure out once and for all if I can read.” Smiling humorously, he crossed his arms and leant against the shelf.

“Oh, don’t be too full of yourself, Potter!” Pippa laughed, rolling her eyes at the curly haired boy in front of her. “You know, it still startles me how you passed any of your classes without stepping a foot in this library. But I’m sure you’ve found some fans that do all the work for you.” She watched him as he drew in the dust, raising her eyebrows at him as he spoke again. “So? What have you found? Can you read or can’t you read?”