stories in my head || [OPEN]

[DORY LARKSPUR EMORY]

It was impossible not to wonder who he was: Dory’s dad. She had never known him - her mum had never spoken about him. It was like a taboo around the Emory family. Even when she had asked her grandmother, the woman had blown it off as if it was nothing. But she wanted to know, she had to know. This was her dad! Was he a Quidditch champion who dominated the Cup here at Hogwarts? She ran her finger across the lower ledge of the Trophy case, admiring the shining gold glint that nearly blinded her.

Maybe he was a member of the Charms club? The potions club? The Dueling Club? The Magical Creatures club? Maybe that had been where he had met her mum. Dory grinned slightly at the thought - imagining her very Veela mother turning on the charm and catching herself a nerdy guy...Opposites attracted, didn’t they? Now she could only imagine her dad as a glasses-wearing Gobstones Club sort of guy. Reaching up, she pushed her own black-framed glasses back up her nose and turned away from the Trophy Case.

The blonde was absentmindedly painting a picture of her parents in her head, trying to remember everything she could about her mom and then putting it side-by-side the portrait she had of her dad. He would be tall, brown hair - she thought. Maybe a bit of a smirk. She laughed at the thought, knowing that it would be the same smirk that Alma had developed over the years.

Backing up as she thought, Dory didn’t even notice that she was backwards walking straight toward a large pile of trophies. It wasn’t until she tripped over the first one and landed on top of all the others that it struck her how irresponsible she had been being. Now, sitting bottom down in a pile full of excruciatingly painful and pointy gold awards, she sighed. Maybe if she laid back she would disappear almost completely...

[Deleted]

James tugged his bag further onto his shoulder as he headed along the corridor, no real destination in mind. He'd been considering going one of the clubs that was going to be on that evening, now that lessons had finished, but he figured it might do him better to get some work done instead. He was just wandering towards the stairs that would take him to the first floor, still completely undecided.

He enjoyed going to the school clubs sometimes because it gave him a chance to meet other students that he wouldn't otherwise have an excuse to talk to, but then, he'd gone last week, so he didn't really need to go this week. Homework, on the other hand... that wasn't going to just go away by itself. The only problems was that he really didn't feel all that much like doing homework this evening.

Once he reached the third floor, James started to wander along the corridors, rather than heading for the next flight of stairs. Since he was so indecisive he might as well do neither, and just wander around instead, and maybe some inspiration would strike him at some point. 

It was a loud clatter that eventually drew James from his thoughts, and he was sure the sound had come from the direction of the Trophy Room. He jogged over and stuck his head into the room, trying to work out what the source of the noise had been. He caught sight of a figure in a pile of trophies and hurried over. "Are you okay? I heard the... clatter." He finally took notice of who was there - Dory. They were the same year, so he knew well enough who she was, and that she was part-veela, yet somehow even knowing that couldn't stop the sight of her momentarily addling his brain, and for a long moment he found himself staring.

He snapped back to reality, pulling his gaze away. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean..." He wasn't helping, so he just gave her a dorky smile, knowing that she was probably used to getting that sort of reaction. "Sorry. Are you alright though?" Right, yeah, back to the reason he'd come in here in the first place.

[DORY LARKSPUR EMORY]

Dory heard someone coming over and she tried her best to hide her face by staring down at the trophies that surrounded her, she knew that it would be no use, though. She stuck out like a sore thumb. She was a human trying to hide amongst her metal surroundings.

“Are you okay? I heard the...clatter.”

She grimaced ever so slightly, still trying not to look up because she was incredibly embarrassed. Maybe if she closed her eyes she could legitimately slide away into nothingness. She knew that whoever it was that was standing in front of her probably wasn’t going to leave until she assured them that she was doing alright. ”Yeah - I’m fine. I’m good. Fine. Perfectly and completely-”

She took this opportunity to lift her gaze to see who it was who felt compelled to come to her rescue and her breath was caught in her throat. James. Merlin, he was cute. The muscles in her face seemed to seize up, leaving her mouth slightly agape. James was in quite a few of her classes and Dory would often find herself zoning out on that face of his. Precisely like she was now. The blonde Ravenclaw immediately tore her eyes from his and found her face going bright red. She reached up and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, ”I’m fine.” She managed again, taking noticed of the way he seemed to be zoning out on her as well.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean...Sorry. Are you alright though?”

He gave her a grin and she felt her cheeks pang pale pink. Maybe she should have worn a turtleneck today so she could just pull it over her face and move around the castle without people staring at her. However, knowing the curse, they would probably see her hair and go hog wild, ”Yeah, clumsiness. Sometimes I think I’m like a baby giraffe who hans’t quite gotten a hold on how to use her legs yet and I just have a hard time paying attention to where I’m going and-” Quickly Dory slammed her lips closed and went even more pink. Her hands pushed up against the trophies and she managed to get to her feet before slipping on a plaque and crashing right back down on her bottom.

[Deleted]

 ”Yeah - I’m fine. I’m good. Fine. Perfectly and completely-”

If she'd said any more than that he didn't notice, too busy noticing her. It wasn't that he was ignoring her intentionally, it was just the initial shock of being face to face with someone with veela blood messed with his head for a few moments, at least until he had time to pull it together and stop gawking like an idiot. She must be so sick of people doing that all the time, but it was something she'd probably never escape from.

He noticed the pink tinge that flared across her cheeks. Being found after falling over something was probably a little embarrassing to anyone, so he didn't think any more of it that that. He tried not to think too much about it and just act normally, because he most definitely didn't want to be one of those guys that stood gawking and making her feel uncomfortable. 

”Yeah, clumsiness. Sometimes I think I’m like a baby giraffe who hans’t quite gotten a hold on how to use her legs yet and I just have a hard time paying attention to where I’m going and-” 

A baby giraffe? He couldn't help but smile at the visual image that created, and the whole thing just sounded dorky - kind of cute. For some reason he hadn't quite been expecting that from her, but then, it seemed fitting. He stepped back while she stood up, only to slip over again, and he quickly stepped forward again, reaching for her to help pull her to her feet. "A baby giraffe, huh? Suits you." That smile still hadn't left his face. He shoved a few of the shields out of the way so she didn't slide over them again. "Are you're sure you're okay?" 

[DORY LARKSPUR EMORY]

James seemed to be making a conscious effort not to stand there like a fool, or at least, that was what Dory thought. She was too busy trying to talk herself out of being embarrassed, “I came here to look at all the trophies. They’re so cool; you know a lot of famous witches have been on the Quidditch team and -” She cut herself off as she realized that he was smiling at her. Merlin, she had done it again. Sometimes she wished that she could just clamp her lips closed and not worry about preverbal word vomit flowing out of her mouth.

“A baby giraffe, huh? Suits you.”

Dory felt the faintest of smiles appearing on her lips and she was suddenly less embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all...Even though she had managed to fall on her arse twice in front of James, he still seemed willing enough to help her up. She slid her hands into his as he pulled her to her feet. Thankfully she also saw him move some of the slippery shields out of the way too. What a gentleman, she thought, finding that the smile on her face was spreading like wildfire. She really needed to get herself under control or they were going to have a serious issue.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m good, promise.” She said, offering him a thumbs up and then blushing again. Merlin, sometimes she wished that she wasn’t such an absolute dweeb, “Are you alright?” Why did she say that? There was no reason that he shouldn’t be - after all, he wasn’t the one that was falling all over everything in his path, “I mean...hi.” She thrust out her hand for a handshake, “I’m Dory. We’re in a lot of the same classes I don't think I’ve ever really introduced myself.” Her freehand made her way to her glasses which she pushed up her nose.

[ESHAE JOSANO]

Taking a walk around the castle corridors always did lead her to thoughts of a world which now seemed to very far away. Eshae could remember the first time she stepped through the doors of Hogwarts. Scared and not without an understanding of how dangerous her time would be, she could do nothing more than tremble as she had made her way through the throng of students ready for her sorting. She had been welcomed by her house, she was a Hufflepuff by nature and loved to try and fix the problems around her that people had. It had been a very difficult year, she could remember the screams from some of the older students who were muggle born and not worthy of being given a nicer treatment. They deserved it, she had been told by those who masqueraded as professors. "For stealing the magic of those like ourselves..." The crazed man had told her, gripping her arm none too gently and shoving her past the ajar door which showed students been cursed horrifically. Those images burned into the back of her brain. She could still smell the blood on the floor. The caretaker didnt bother to clean the mess. He said it would be a reminder not to disobey the professors, lest they too suffer the same torture. 

She had written home about the atrocities but obviously the mail was being intercepted. She lightly gripped the back of her hand which no longer bore the letters that had once been etched into them. Blood quills were illegal for good reason and she certainly would not forget that very sharp turn in her scholastic life. She had been punished for writing that letter, citing that she was a pureblood made no difference. She should accept the good of people like her. Of being a superior person to those filthy mudbloods. How she despised that word. It was vile and served as a cruel reminder of a time which had thankfully now passed.

However, her musings did not stop her from hearing a loud metallic crash from down the corridor. With ease of a thousand emergencies she pulled up the edge of her robes and sprinted down the hall. It took her a moment to get there, having been quite far away when she heard the noise echo down the hall. However she did not expect to see two students seemingly ... gazing at each other. It was so adorable. And completely unprofessional of her to speculate about the social and romantic lives of her wards. However she knew all to well what those particular looks meant. She was almost tempted to walk away and let them be, but if it was known that she left them in the position they were in without making sure no one was harmed she could get in quite alot of bother.

She crept past the door frame and took in the picture of the two students. "Now much as I hate to interrupt, but I heard a crash. Now who fell on what?" She said softly, giving the two a low grin. "Don't make a fuss and I won't even tell the other professors that you managed to dislodge the broom from our beloved quidditch cup." She added, motioning to one of the broken pieces sitting at the very bottom of the pile of metal. She would never turn them over to the other professors. Few were as forgiving as she in terms of accidents and breakages.