* SHAKE IT OUT !

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

“The odd looks are the exact reason ‘why not’,” he smirked, shaking his head. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, Thea, but I’m not exactly the guy begging to be the center of attention.” He knew quite a few people like that, though. He shrugged. “Alright, then I’ll have to remember caw caw. Shit, what was the code again?” he joked.

   "I have and that’s why you need to try and loosen up a little. It’s a party. You’re not at work right now.” She winked at him, Thea then bumped her hip against his, “Caw caw!” She laughed as she said it loud enough for people to glance at them. 

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

Leonard blinked a few times before shrugging. “Eh, sure, why not?” he said. “Just don’t expect me to put in any effort to sound like a real bird.” He had every intention of deadpanning the words ‘caw caw’ if they did get separated. Plus, he was determined for that not to happen. “Besides, if we pay attention, how would we be able to lose each other in a mirror room?”

   She laughed, “Well, why not?” She was just teasing him, “It’s all the more fun when people give you odd looks.” Anthea put her hands up, “Trust me, it’s easier than you think. It gets confusing in there.”

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

He mirrored her smile easily, happy he was able to improve her mood at all. He nodded his head in the direction of the Mirror room, turning around so he could walk next to her. He made sure to keep a close eye on her, since he knew from experience how easy it was to lose a friend in this crowd. “What kind of code? Like a bird call or something?”

    She started walking, hands stuffed into her pockets now. “Yes! A bird call would work. We can say something like, ‘caw-caw’ and then we’d know it’s us.” She laughed just thinking about the two of them saying that if they got lost. She knew the weird looks she would get but she didn’t care. “That’ll be our code word.”

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

“I’ve been to a few, but not since I was like… ten, I want to say,” he admitted. “And none like this.”  When she mentioned the mirror room and her year not going well, he said “Well, I think I saw a mirror room on the other side of the carnival.” He jammed a finger over his shoulder, trying to help with the emotional situation in the best way he knew how; completely avoiding it. “You wanna go?”

   Thea was actually incredibly thankful that he didn’t ask her what was wrong. She didn’t really want to talk about it but simply forget. A smile returned on her face, “Is that even really a question? Yes! Let’s go but if we get lost, we need like a code to find each other again.” She chuckled.

[antheadursley]

evangeline-edgecombe‌.

“Not that your red hair wasn’t beautiful,” Evangeline clarified. She had inklings as to why she’d changed her hair, but it was no longer her place to ask or push. She wished it was, because she though, given the chance, she could help. Soothe her She knew plenty of rituals and even prayers for that. Damn. “Yeah. I–if I’m not in class or praying, I’m free. I’m going to guess that you remember when I do that…?”

    Thea had begged both her parents to let her dye her hair this year. She needed that change. She wanted to fit in with them and not stick out like a sore thumb. All her red hair reminded her of was how much her grandmother seemed to hate her. It brought out her bad side and she needed that gone. She cleared her throat, “Thank you.. but honestly, I’m glad it’s gone.” She admitted. Thea nodded slowly, “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

“No, just dead batteries, easy fix,” he shrugged, playing along with the ongoing joke. He squinted a bit. “Why wouldn’t you come? It’s a carnival. They’re fun, or so I’ve been told.” Leonard usually didn’t attend anything Rory Smith threw, but given how Santiago and, potentially, Thea needed cheering up, he was glad he did.

   “Oh, they are.” Thea assured him, “My parents used to take Mason and I all the time when we were younger. It used to be a family thing. My favorite thing though was the mirror room. It’s so easy to get lost in it and it can get a little scary.” Thea shrugged a shoulder, “Dunno though. This year just hasn’t been the best.”

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

Leonard had lost Santiago. Leonard wasn’t sure how he had lost a six foot tall guy but he had. He assumed that the Slytherin just needed to sulk alone for a bit, so he was simply watching people and admiring their costumes before he spotted a familiar face. He called her name and jogged a bit to catch up to her. “Oh, yeah, just put new batteries in it and everything, so it’s working great,” he smirked before saying “Nice costume, that’s cool looking make-up.”

   She laughed, “So was it broken before or something?” Anthea was only teasing of course, she looked herself over and then up at him as she rocked back and forth slightly on her heels. “Thanks. It was a last minute thing. I wasn’t sure I was going to come or not. Thankfully my make up bag had most of what I needed.”

[antheadursley]

   Thea had finally talked herself into going. She knew it could be some fun and she knew she needed something else to focus on other than her problems. She hadn’t really prepared to go since she wasn’t going to at first so she settled for dressing up and doing her make up to look like she was a broken doll. She jumped when she heard someone call her name and saw Leo, she chuckled, “You just seem to always be able to find me. Did your Thea radar go off?”

@leonard-hall

[antheadursley]

leonard-hall‌.

Leonard hadn’t seen Anthea in a while, and felt like hanging out with someone besides the textbooks and other people’s assignments for a few minutes. He assumed, correctly, that she would be playing with a football somewhere outside, and smirked as he watched her for a moment before she snapped at him. “Whoa, no ‘hey Leo, how’ve you been?’”

   “Sorry, you know how into football I can get.” She chuckled and then set the ball down fully and turned to look back at him. “I didn’t recognize it was you at first. Some people tend to mock me when I’m out here practicing.” She apologized, a smile on her face, “Hey, Leo, how’ve you been?” She couldn’t help but laugh, “On a serious note, honestly, what’s up?”

[antheadursley]

hcnriette‌.

         “S’not for everyone, I suppose. The only time my head feels clear is when I’m letting out everything I’m feeling in something.” She looked to Thea and smiled. “But writing is a great form of art.”

   “That makes sense. That’s what writing is for me. I have a journal full of things from happy to not so much. It’s helped me exceptionally over the summer.” Thea smiled at her and tapped her fingers against the table to the rhythm of what she was listening to. “How are you, Henriette? You gonna come over this summer again, right?” She had gotten so used to seeing both her and her brother at school that knowing they’d be gone next year made her a little uneasy. Anthea had always gotten along with Henriette and she was glad that her and Mason were finally together because their love was one of the purest ones that Thea had seen.

[antheadursley]

evangeline-edgecombe‌.

“Yeah, I heard.” Evangeline readjusted the strap of her bag, but it was more so she had something to do rather than needing to. Did see want to start working right then? When the pairings had been read off, Evangeline thought for sure that Thea would procrastinate or put it off completely in order to avoid working with her. The thought alone–that she intentionally avoided her–cut her gut in half. She used to seek her out, and now the script had flipped. “You changed your hair,” she said–again, more so she had something to do rather than out of necessity. “It’s nice.” She reached to touch it, but withdrew at the last second.

    “I did.” Thea responded and when she reached to touch it, she didn’t pull away but she let out the breath she had been holding when she pulled back. Thea knew that Evie deserved the biggest apology from her than anyone else but she wasn’t quite ready for that because she knew what would follow. Regardless of if she forgave her or not, Thea knew that whatever happened between them was over and that was for the best. She had to remind herself that. She broke eye contact, “I just want to touch base with you if you wanted to set a schedule for later or not.”

[antheadursley]

   Thea wasn’t a fan of Quidditch. She wasn’t a fan that was the only sport that Hogwarts seemed to offer either when there was a world of other sports out there. She mostly wasn’t a fan of Quidditch because she thought of it too unsafe but she went to matches to support her brother. However, she would often times bring a ball for football to school with her and when she was too stressed or overwhelmed and had extra time, she’d practice doing tricks with it. She caught the ball on top of her foot and then held it there before she dropped it down, she felt someone’s gaze on her. She turned around to look at the other, “What?”

[antheadursley]

masondursley‌.

    He leaned down and kissed her head softly. He knew she was going through a hard time but he needed to let her go through all of this. Mason sighed softly, “I know and I know it’s hard but.. it’s better you face this now rather than let it drag on.”

    “I get that but it doesn’t make it better..” She whispered and then wiped her eyes once more and sniffled. “Can we use your prefect powers and sneak into the kitchens for hot chocolate, please?..”

[antheadursley]

cricket-parkinson‌.

Cricket looked at his shoes. They were completely clean. He liked that. He’d spent half an hour ten minutes ago cleaning them up. It was worth it. It made him smile–at least internally. He heard everything that Thea said, but as she finished, he noticed a loose thread at the hem of his sweater. He started to pick at it. It kept slipping through his fingers, and he knew she was expecting a response (everyone expected a response), but how could he answer like this? He tried five times before he got it. Finally, he could respond. “Okay,” he said. 

Patience was a virtue that Thea needed to learn how to have. One that she especially was working on. So she remained silent as she waited his response. She waited quietly and maybe that was one thing that was so different between the two of them. Thea dreaded silence. It made her anxious. Silence made her thoughts race and boy was there a marathon happening of how this could go. Finally, he responded and she blinked, “Okay?” She asked softly. That was more than she hoped for, “You don’t hate me?”

[antheadursley]

hcnriette‌. 

         “Well, whatever works,” Henriette chuckled and she nodded as she set her books down in front of her. “My Chemical Romance only comes out when I’m trying to paint up something.”

   “I can see that. I’m not much of a painter-- or creative at all. I’m good with my words though which I mean in a way can be art. Descriptive writing has it’s perks.”

[antheadursley]

evangeline-edgecombe‌.

Evangeline shifted on her feet, looked at Thea, looked away, and then sucked in a sharp breath–all before responding. “Hi,” she said. Her throat was more sandpaper-esque than she thought it would be. She’d had all this time to be okay with her ex–knowing she’d be forced to see her around school–and she wasn’t. She wasn’t okay. She briefly wondered if there was a way to get around being partners. Probably not. “Did you need something?” She hoped her face was neutral. 

     This wasn’t easy but Thea wasn’t about to run away as much as she wanted to. She still stood behind her decision to end the relationship because she knew that Evie deserved so much more than she could give or maybe was willing to give. Thea had too much self doubt in her to let anyone else in. She was half tempted to take the failing mark but that would mean that she would have to as well. “We were... paired together.” She responded, “For that potions assignment.”

[jessicahenwicks-deactivated2018]

It’s me. I’m missing something. 

— Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013)