Being at Hogwarts feels like being in love. Jace Connor gave a contented sigh as he walked through the doors of the Great Hall and glanced up at the ceiling, which reflected the sky outside. Slightly foggy. Â
Passing the Gryffindor Table, he gave a wink and a smile to Cas Martin, along with an âAlrighâ Cas?â; grinned winningly at an adorable second year Ravenclaw just to see her stunned reaction; and slapped Teddy on the shoulder as he passed the Hufflepuff table, before settling down at his home away from home, the Slytherin table. Sliding in next to his favourite Scot, Allison Fletcher, he nudged her in the side before pointing towards the troupe of first years now entering the hall to be sorted. âGood haul this year, you think?â he asked, giving her nothing less than his finest smile. She rolled her eyes good naturedly at him, before laughing and asking him if he thought it was Christmas.Â
âIt might as well be, Alice my luv, it might as well be!â The mischief was back in his eyes. He had gotten lazy during summer holidays.Â
As the singing got under way, Jace took this opportunity to give the Great Hall a good scan. He was startled, but not totally surprised when he caught Teddy Lupin looking their way, his focus more on Allison than on Jace himself. He couldnât say that he didnât approve. He knew that his Alice had had her eye on the Hufflepuff for a while, even though she was too bloody stubborn to admit it. He hoped she would branch out this year and talk to more people. In a friendly way at least, and not the anti-social shit she had been doing. He loved being the one who made her happy, and kept her entertained, but sometimes the pressure of being the only one to do so was a bit much. Sometimes, he just wanted to go out and be one of the boys without feeling guilty that she was all on her own.Â
Still, as Potter, James the second, became a Gryffindor, he put it all out of his mind. He only had one more year after this one, after all. Better to enjoy it while he could.Â
Grumbling as she sat, Allison tried to find a bright side to her new status as prefect. She was coming up with nothing. What she was coming up with, was the fact that she had to give up her traditional Post-Welcome Feast party with Jace in favor of taking care of first years, and a lot of time during the rest of the year to deal with the trouble they got into. She had to be responsible. Set an example. Who's dumbass idea was this? Surely not the Headmistress'? McGonagall had better judgement than that. The Slytherin Head of House, Connor Seymour couldn't hardly remember her name. So he was out. She got on alright with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Lupin, but not well enough for him to give her a nomination.
She shot her best mate Jace a disgruntled look as he slid in next to her, after his usual rounds of ego-boosting greetings. His look of joy upon seeing the first years disgusted her. It was as if it were christmas for him."Good haul this year, you think?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes. "You do know its not actually Christmas, right Jace?" She couldn't help smile when he did.
"It might as well be, Alice my luv, it might as well be!" Damn his enthusiasm.
They were silent for the duration of the sorting, something Jace always took seriously. The only thing Allie could take seriously was the food. When it finally, miraculously appeared, she dug in with gusto, scanning the room as she piled the food on her plate. Unfortunately enough for her, she spotted Victoire Weasley, not sitting at the Slytherin table as she should be, but standing at the Hufflepuff table, flipping her hair and talking animatedly with another fifth year boy, and a few sixth years, some of whom Allie didn't recognize. She shook her head. "Unbelievable."
She glanced up a Jace who barely raised an eyebrow at her, continuing to shovel food into the giant hole in his face that he called a mouth. "What is?" he asked, bits of roll falling to the table. Allison gave him a look that plainly told him he was gross before continuing. "That Weasley girl. Victoire." she responded, reaching for a roll herself, and starting to slather it with butter. Jace grinned.
"I know. It's like she's part veela or something-- meow!"
Once again rolling her eyes, she corrected her friend. "Not that, you prat. She's just always causing a scene. Throwing herself on these boys, in front of the professors and everything. Where's the self respect?"
When she looked back up from her plate, Jace had actually ceased stuffing his face, and was fixing her with a knowing look. "Ah Alice, my beautiful lass. You're just cross because she's throwing herself at Teddy. In front of his dad. Whom I suspect you may also fancy." She threw her napkin at him.
He smirked. It was infuriating.
"You know, Ted and I are on good terms, mates even! I can put in a good word for you. You're both prefects now, so you'll probably end up doing rounds together anyway. I can just...plant the seed beforehand." He winked at her, before reaching for her roll. He got a smack to the hand for his troubles.
"Don't forget the part irish. And, no. you. will. not." She embellished this last to prove her point, just in case he missed it. Sometimes, as much as she loved hm dearly, Jace could be a bit thick. "I don't fancy Teddy Lupin! We don't even know each other!" she protested.
It sounded rubbish even to her ears. She could tell clearly from the look on Jace's face that he wasn't buying it either. She decided to switch gears. Steer the conversation somewhere safer.
"And stop analysing me! Seriously, next you'll be doing your homework. What will Hogwarts do then?"