3 little birds

— Benjy.

Hullo Alice. You okay?

#c #c:alice

emmafayevanity

I’d bet 50,000 galleons that that wouldn’t work.

But it’s a lovely thought.

#c #c:emma #me channeling my own college stress

Oh, God. I couldn't afford that bet even if I could assure success. You win.

Isn't it? It's better than all these essays and practise exams.

apeterpettigrew

I’m looking at you and I just see, well, you. You can’t change who you are, just embrace it and those who don’t like it can be cursed into oblivion.

That's a very good outlook on life, Peter. I'm not sure I could see anyone cursed into oblivion, though.

#c #c:peter

emmafayevanity

NEWTs are going to kill me. I can feel it.

Not if we kill it first, that is. I say riots.

#c #c:emma

apeterpettigrew

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Or in this case, Benjy.

#sorry i disappeared!#starter #intrepidusstarter

I could never be dull, look at me! But I suppose I could become slightly boring at times.

#c #c:peter

I've been so buried under work lately, I haven't had time for any fun.

I swear, on my honour as a Marauder, I wont tell a soul. Alice is a lovely girl mate; there is nothing wrong with liking her! It doesn’t make you a horrible person. Have you…have you told her about it? You know…how you feel?

One day! We will ship a human being half way across the planet, and it will be wonderful!

#c:remus #sorry i disappeared!#c

Not really man, she's not interested in me anyway, no point wasting my time, y'know? I'll get over it.

I can't wait.

Conversation and Cuddling || {Alice and Benjy}

It was uncommon for Alice to feel smug. But when she pulled away from him, she couldn’t help it. “Not bad at all?” she scoffed playfully, poking him in the side with one slim finger. “I will have you know that a lot of the people I kiss say that I am a lot better than not bad at all.” This was unusual— Alice shoved the thought down. Bloody hell, it was like this annoying little bug trying to tell her that she shouldn’t be doing this because it might ruin their friendship. But that was the thing— Alice didn’t want to be his friend. She wanted to be the girl who cheered for him at Quidditch games or helped him revise his potions essay. Hell, she wanted to be his girl— even if that came with unusually cheesy connotations.

Her cheeks heated when she felt the small amount of pressure that came with the press of his lips against the top of her head and the alcohol-induced haze faded slightly. Enough for her to realize that what she was doing— that making out with her friend was wrong. Even if she wanted to be more than his friend. The brunette stood hurriedly, tugging down the hem of her dress and blushing. She fidgeted awkwardly with her curls, trying to get them to fall back into place before opening her mouth to speak, fingers finding the fringe of his scarf when she determined that her hair wasn’t going to get any better. And then she realized that she couldn’t say anything. “I-uhm,” Alice cleared her throat and sighed, glancing skywards. “I like you, Benjy. But what are things going to be like in the morning? Or in the light of day? If— I should probably go.”

#sorry i disappeared #been hardcore revising #para #para: alice #para: cac #poor benjy #this is tiny sorry

Benjy laughed, a loud, booming laugh that he has when he's caught in surprise. It was nice seeing someone with so much self-confidence. "No, you're right. It was amazing." He smiled at her, masking any self-doubt he had about what he was doing and who he was doing it with. He couldn't help but think of Frank in this situation and he was almost overcome with guilt. He felt like he was in the way of something, and Frank was a much better person than him who deserved this girl, whereas Benjy was probably better off alone. He always annoyed everyone somewhere down the line and it would only be a matter of time.

And all his worries were confirmed when she pulled away. He barely paid any attention to the girl's excuses, that's all they were to him, excuses, and instead busied himself with getting up, refusing to look at her in the eye in case his resolve was broken. "No, you stay. I'll go. I think the patrol's just left the Hufflepuff corridor so it's my time to leave. See you later." He wouldn't, couldn't look at her. He knew that it would happen, it always did. Maybe he wasn't boyfriend material after all. Frank was much better suited to the girl and even though it hurt like hell, he didn't blame her.

lilyjohanne

Okay, okay! I’m opening them!

Oh my god. They’re amazing, Ben. Thank you so much!

Okay, by accepting these you automatically offer sharing rights, yeah? I need to teach some people the true magic of a Rubix cube. Not to mention that you can't find that Beatles vinyl anywhere else but a really small shop in Wales.

#c #c:lily

At least you got to the trying part! I’m too awkward and anxious and oh dear, never mind, I don’t need a girlfriend. You do?! Well ignore them. If you think she is perfect then she could not ask for a better guy really. You are only young once right? It’s worth trying for that fact alone! May I ask who it is? And no, no, I don’t really know any girls that well…

It’s not worth it, I’ve changed my mind. I guess we’ll never know!

#c #c:remus #JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT BENJY COULDN'T GET AWKWARD #BAM OUT OF NOWHERE #he is the most awkward man on eart #h

No, that's true. You don't need a girlfriend, but if you wanted one you could get it. Well, uh, I guess it doesn't hurt to talk about it... The thing is, you can't tell anyone, especially Frank, okay? Like, it's a secret you can't share with anyone. Anyone. Alice. Oh, god, what's wrong with me, I'm a horrible person. Oh jeez.

Don't give up yet, we'll find our time. And it will be brilliant.

Conversation and Cuddling || {Alice and Benjy}

From an early age, Alice had been observing affection. It wasn’t something that she was a stranger to. Her mother hugged her and her siblings and her father would pick her up and spin her around. She had not lacked in physical contact at all. As she had grown older, she had started to give it out more and more. In fact, she would easily label herself as one of the most affectionate people at Hogwarts. There wasn’t one person here that she hadn’t touched in an innocent or friendly manner. But this was different. This was odder— maybe even better because it felt romantic. Her crush on Benjy had grown since their first meeting and now, it felt like it was bursting into butterflies on her insides. And she didn’t mind it. It was… amazing. Lovely was too weak of a word to describe it and perfect suited the situation but amazing just sounded better.

Perhaps her crush on Frank was useless. Perhaps it was never going to go anywhere. But Alice had something better in the here and now— she had Benjy. And so she allowed herself to kiss him passionately. It wasn’t her first kiss— there had been plenty of drunken encounters fueled by alcohol and the secret whispers of lace underthings under her party dresses. She was still drunk during this kiss, however, but in her opinion that made it so much better. Both of her hands moved to his face and she realized that she was at an awkward angle and so was he but she didn’t care. She kissed him eagerly but she didn’t allow herself to be sloppy and testing the waters, she slid her hands down to his shoulders. After what felt like an infinity, she pulled away, smiling shyly and shutting her eyes. “Wow… that was… wow,” she elaborated, resting her forehead against his shoulder. “You’re a great kisser.”

#para #para: alice #para: cac

Benjy was unsure of how he felt before, but now he was completely and utterly screwed. He'd had plenty of enough drunken make outs (at least the ones he could remember, his friends also informed him of a few) in his time, and it was always fun and stuff, but he never expected it to go further and he and the girl always decided to not pursue whatever made it happen and stay friends. Now, though, he wanted to take Alice out for tea, buy her chocolates and take her on dates and be a boyfriend. This terrified him more than he thought he could be scared. But he pushed the doubts to the back of his mind and enjoyed the moment, worried it could end at any second.

He knew that everyone had decided that Alice and Frank were going to get together and stay together forever. He knew that he was going to get hurt in the end, and he'd have to push it down and stay up for everyone else, god forbid anyone seeing him hurt, but he was completely falling in love with Alice Fortescue. When they broke for air, Benjy could have almost falling back with a lack of oxygen to his brain, and he laughed loudly at her comment, before rallying and sitting back up with a smirk (and yes, he knew it was embarrassing, but he was proud. "You're not too bad yourself there, m'dear. Not too bad at all." He chuckled and placed a kiss to the top of her head.

lilyjohanne

It’s my birthday!

#c #c:lily #idk if this is ok lol #he's dancing he's so excited

Happy birthday! I totally got you awesome gifts, okay, you're going to love them.

Seeing as everyone here doesn't understand what an actual girl needs in her life as they've been raised among potions and flying broomsticks, I'm totally representing the Muggle side. Open them, open them!

We are both such dating tragedies mate. You are a really great guy, I’m sure the day you became a boyfriend, it’d be so smooth sailing you’d wonder why you were so unsure in the first place! Speaking of, is there a girl you like at the moment? Maybe?

See, that is the problem! He’d have way too much fun. If we ship Sirius off anywhere, he’ll just make the most of it like a holiday! We’ll find someone else to send, perhaps not so far, and make it slightly less damaging for them.

Well, to your credit, you've not really tried. I've tried and failed, so I think I'm the worse of the two of us. Well mate, I kind of do, yeah. Not really sure how this happened, or what I'm even gonna do though. She's kind of perfect, but everyone thinks that she's perfect for someone else, you know? What about you?

Yeah, if we were going to send anyone anywhere it'd have to be really inconvenient just to make it all worthwhile.

#c #c:remus

As lovely as the women is, I do not want that counting. Well, okay the out come is not always so great, but at least you have given it a go! Have you ever had a…a proper girlfriend? Or something close to one? I’ve never been drunk around girls, but I’m sure Pete, Sirius, or James could vouch for drunken me. I dance, a lot.

Australia seems far enough, as space is clearly not possible! We could shrink him first so It didn’t weigh anything!

#ignore zee writing #c #c:remus

No, not really. I'm not sure I'm really built for that, you know? I mean, yeah, I've liked girls in the past but I don't really know how to do the boyfriend thing. I'm much more of a friend than anything else to anyone, and I don't really know how I could do any more. Oh, wow. I think I'd like to see that. It sounds interesting to say the least.

You're a genius! I wonder how he'd even deal with it all once he's there? My best guess is that he'd just surf all day until one of you lot drags him back.

Conversation and Cuddling || {Alice and Benjy}

She was already wearing her Gryffindor scarf and yet, she didn’t hesitate to wrap Benjy’s on top of it, snuggling closer into his side. This was more than what she usually allowed herself to do. And her crush on him wasn’t being ignored for once. Alice was thrilled— but she was terrified as well. She liked the way he looked at her— he looked at her like she was important and she knew that she looked at him the very same way. Alice cleared her throat and ducked her head once more when he chuckled at her, trying to avoid the heat that was seared into her bones every time his eyes were on her. “It wouldn’t ruin it!” The debate was her attempt at normality. And she realized that it would likely fail as soon as she spoke. “I’d just take it as something so I won’t get my hopes up too high when I read it.” A childish protest, yes, but saying something was better than staring at him like a lovesick fool. You can never see the stars where I live. The nostalgia in his tone made her sigh slightly. “That’s all you can see where I live— the stars. And the mountains are lovely. We should go there together one day and have a picnic or something. If you want to that is.” She stopped talking when he kissed her forehead, face heating up even more.

And then they were holding hands. Alice stared at him, feeling rather uncertain. It’s impossible not to be head over heels for you, Al. “Are you?” the question came out before she could stop it and she clasped her hand over her mouth, feeling like she had just confessed her soul. Alcohol make her honest and Alice wasn’t going to stop now— she’d already stated her mind and now she was going to do what was on her mind. “And so are you,” she said determinedly before placing one of her hands on the side of his face, using it to gently guide his lips down to her own. “You’re perfect.”

#para #para: alice #para: cac #sorry this is late!

Benjy smiled and looked back up at the stars, fascinated by the constellations and the way that they illuminated the castle grounds. He was really happy at this moment, and despite his best efforts, this was different to how he felt under normal circumstances. He always worried about making sure that other people were happy that he often ignored the gnawing feeling at his own heart. "Well, they don't exactly run off together to have babies." He chuckled, reminding himself later to dig out the copies he had, passed down from his older cousins who'd been using them for school. They had assumed that Benjy would need them in boarding school, not knowing the ins and outs of his life at all. He blushed himself at the invite, surprised they seemed to be so serious. "Yeah, I'd love that. It sounds amazing." He hugged her tighter still, they were inseparable at this point.

He looked down at the question and found himself gazing into Alice's eyes. He didn't know how to answer the question without completely ruining the friendship they had, and even though they were definitely close at that moment, he didn't know what she'd be like in the morning. Instead of answering with a resounding yes, he let her guide him to her and captured her lips with fervour, determined that if this was his last shot, his only chance, then he'd make it count.

Mate, I’m the least sad person in this place, I swear. No need to worry, or tell me cheeky lies! The cheek of it all.

I…I don’t know about that, I mean at this stage, just a-a kiss or something? I’ve never kissed anyone…unless my grandmother counts. Which I don’t want it to! Have you ever…you know, kissed a girl?

I was hoping you’d ask! I’d like to send him somewhere nice and remote. Far away from me.

Okay bud. If you're sure.

Uh, I'm not really sure your grandmother counts. It'd be a bit creepy if it did. And, yeah, I have, if you can really call it that. I've done it when I'm drunk, but as long as I'm sober, I'm kind of awkward with all that. Mornings after are never fun.

Australia's far enough, right?

#c #c:remus

marlenefavorsthebold

Because then people won’t annoy us about what we’re looking for. Listen, if your skin is really that important to you I can do it on my own. Godric knows you boys are more obsessed with yourselves than the girls claim to be.