possibility

BRENT NOTT. 18. GRYFFINDOR.

[intcrritus-blog]

quivivraverras:

Dominique wasn’t aware that Brent’s longer strides were falling just behind her, trying to catch up to her, not until his voice cut through the white noise in her head. Voice calm, collected, like always. Her first instinct was to hide her face, the embarrassment was hot enough to feel like it was burning her, just a week had gone by since he’d complimented her resilience and here she was. Fleeing, eyes full of tears. “I’m— I’m fine.” Yet the moment his hand clasped around the cap of her shoulder she stilled, feeling grounded, some part of her taking root. She let him steer her away, one hand trembling as she placed it against her ribs.

Dominique didn’t need to do that -- push herself unnecessarily. Perhaps he should have thought to ask her if she was ready to attend a game, but he had believed that she would make the decision with her best judgment, as she would know herself best. But it was clearly too soon, Brent guiding her out of the stadium and toward a quiet corner outside the arena, away from most of the noise. “Count to ten with me,” he instructed carefully, doing so slowly and monitoring her symptoms. She was hyperventilating, and it appeared as if she was overheating, flushed in the face as she was. Retrieving a handkerchief from his pocket, Brent fetched his wand from the other, giving it a flick with an “Aguamenti,” to dampen the cloth and handing it over to Dominique. 

[intcrritus-blog]

@barbarcgriffiths

After a brutally lost Quidditch game, Brent was glad that he had taken Nadia up on her offer for a night off Prefect duties. This was a far more peaceful way to spend the evening, without having to manage drunk Gryffindors and enduring snide remarks that undoubtedly would have been flung his way. Hands draw into his pant pockets, he turned to regard his companion. “Was there anywhere that you wanted to go first?” This was a rare occasion where Brent didn’t have a structured plan. Even if he had been the one to suggest the outing, he didn’t want to dictate what he and Barbara did. “We can stop by Spintwitches, if you needed an ice pack for that hit you took earlier?” 

[intcrritus-blog]

@bookspined

Brent was skipping out on dinner, opting instead to feed his brain in the library. Thumbing through Habermas,  he had anticipated a quiet evening before he would head into the fray of Prefect duties. Flipping the page of Theory of Communicative Action, Brent turned his attention from the theory of rationalization to the head of striking blond that had made its way into the aisles of the library. Lips upturning slightly, the older male acknowledged the other presence even as his eyes flicked back to his reading, “Were you not enticed by the pheasant either?” Despite not being a Prefect himself, Brent often found the Slytherin student hovering over others when he wasn’t dissecting a book. It was no wonder that he too could use a break away from people every once and awhile. 

[intcrritus-blog]

thelouisweasley:

“Do I get points for waiting for so long to pull the name jab card? I mean come on. It’s quite impressive. You’ve caught me…what? How many times just this past semester? And I’ve never sunk so low until now.” The male said with a nonchalant shrug, running a hand through his hair as he shoots Brent an annoyed look, “To be fair, I wouldn’t tell you the truth even if one of those scenarios were to happen to me because I know you wouldn’t believe me.” He groans, folding the parchment and slipping it into his trousers, “I was running from some prick. It was an accident and a misunderstanding and now he wants to kill me.” But he knew there was no point in explaining it any further, the results would be the same. “You do not treat me the same as every student. You’re always annoyed and pissed at me. Just you wait. One day my stories will line up with my overactive imagination as they tend to do. You haven’t witnessed it yet but I assure you will. And it’s okay. I’m attracted to you too, handsome.” Louis said with a wink.

"If I put a point system in place, Weasley, I am fairly certain that you would not want me to disclose what your score would be, even if I was gracious enough to grant you points for holding back for so long.” As far as repeat offenders went, Louis wasn’t the worst but he was rather bull-headed. Brent did aim to be as objective as he could be. It just so happened that nearly all of Hogwarts’ students did not meet his standards, and he could always find something to openly criticize about them. It was simply in Brent’s nature. He did not even mean for his criticisms to be truly disparaging. “If there was a misunderstanding, then you would be better off explaining yourself than running away. Doesn’t doing so suggest that you are guilty of whatever he is upset about?” Brent had spent the first decade of his life in solitude and even he could have better communication skills than some students. “I’m not pissed at you,” Brent only repeated the word because Louis had used it. “And I would not even consider myself annoyed. Perhaps I am just tired of the same routine. You have yet to surprise me, so surely you will understand that I will not be holding my breath.” The wink was met with a steady, deadpanned expression. 

[intcrritus-blog]

thelouisweasley:

“The best part was that was completely unplanned. It was all natural. Merlin, you probably get so many jokes for your last name.” Louis points out before his brows furrow, tilting his head, “Or I came to you for protection? What if I was being attacked? That wouldn’t make me in the wrong. That’s a horrible conclusion to come to! WHAT if I’m pitted against someone who is MORE in the wrong than me and MORE often in the wrong than me? Therefore, resulting in the rarity of me actually being in the right!” But he scoffs at the punishment, shaking his head, handing it back, “Thank you for your time but I can’t accept this. One…you don’t know what happened. Two. You don’t have any evidence. and three this is all because you don’t like me. Or you secretly find me desirable and that drives you even more mad. Either way…given the current circumstance this is simply unfair.”

"I would say that most outgrew using them, but I am not in the habit of lying.” The play on his name was the sort of joke that many of the more juvenile students that he caught during his Prefect duties would use. “Unlike you. Here you are, spinning these ridiculous scenarios where if you were actually in any danger you would have spat out the truth initially rather than talk in circles.” Brent did not reach out his hand to take the slip back. The punishment would stand. “Regardless of what has happened, I would still be well within my boundaries to hand you a detention for being out well past curfew and running through the halls. If you want to explain what happened, then by all means do so. I will listen.” But Brent was under no obligation to believe anything that Louis said without evidence of it, concerning the boy’s history. “I treat all students the same, including yourself. I assure you that it is not the result of any covert attraction. That too is clearly the result of your overactive imagination.” 

[intcrritus-blog]

thelouisweasley:

The sixth year stopped in his tracks, groaning when he heard the familiar voice, “Nott.” He acknowledged with a grunt, running a hand through his disheveled locks, “Believe it or not but not everything is about you.” Though he can’t help but chuckle, “Get it…NOTT everything is about you. That’s one for the books.” Louis says with a sigh before shooting the Brent a look, “That happened ONE time. Besides how do you know I’M in the wrong? Your lack of faith is quite astounding and a bit insulting.”

"Yes, yes, very clever,” Brent complimented sardonically. “I am not insinuating that this is about me at all, merely that if you were wanting to hide, it would be wise to do so from someone that can assign you yet another detention. I would suggest we go over your track record to highlight what has brought me to the conclusion that you are indeed the one in the wrong, but I would rather not stand here all night. It has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with the what evidence has already been archived. I doubt there is a convincing argument you can present that would shift the blame from you.” Without further preamble, he handed out Louis’ punishment, “You can join Parkinson-Macmillan with Filch on Tuesday evening to assist in trimming the hedges and otherwise attending to Hogwarts’ landscaping.” 

[intcrritus-blog]

thelouisweasley:

“QUICK! I need you to hide me!”

Well, one night off had been pleasant but now it was time to go back to reality. And late night Prefect patrols. “Weasley,” Brent addressed the younger boy, exasperated. “Shouldn’t you be hiding from me? Or are you attempting to outrun an angered pixie?” Most Weasleys were trouble, but Louis was particularly so. 

[intcrritus-blog]

quivivraverras:

Decked out in her Gryffindor scarf with red and gold ribbons in her hair and paint on her cheeks Dom’s coltish legs trembled with every step up into the stands, her fingernails biting pink marks into the flesh of her palm as the crowd trickled into their seats. Everyone had been asking if she was sure she’d be alright and she had assured them with the usual sunny smile that she’d be absolutely fine and they had trusted her because Dom hardly made a habit of lying. As the players took to their brooms she blinked rapidly, her eyes burning and as she tried to take a breath she let out a choked off little gasp. The pitch spinning in front of her eyes. She shot out of her seat and dashed to throw herself as quickly as she could back down the steps. Her chest so tight she could hardly suck in a breath and eyes filled with tears. Her thoughts consumed with one thought. Getting away.

Out of his peripherals, Brent had caught a flash of red and gold fleeing the scene, the familiar blonde ponytail making it easy to identify the figure. Maneuvering his way through the aisle of Gryffindors, he made quick work of catching up with the younger girl, not wanting her to hurt herself in her haste to get out. When he reached her, he began with, “You’re safe, Dominique. Let’s get you out of here, alright?” He made a motion to reach an arm across the span of her shoulders, keeping an eye on any body language coming from her that would indicate further distress from the action. Beginning to guide her out of the arena, he didn’t inquire if she was alright. It was evident enough that she wasn’t. He needed to bring her back to herself gently, carefully. “Place a hand on your diaphragm and breathe with me, okay?” he encouraged as he continued to weave them out through the crowd, attempting to lead her through deep breathing while also wishing to ground her. 

[intcrritus-blog]

leiarookwood:

“Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s some broken bones, cuts, and bruises. I’m willing to handle a little bit of pain to see the look on their face when I walk out onto that pitch.” Spite, Leia found, was a motivator that never got enough credit. She refused to let them think they crushed her with this. She would not let them think for a moment they won. “You can tell them it’s fine. I hardly place any blame on them for what happened. The terror twins are rather manipulative and pathetic. What other kind of people exploit an eleven year old for the sake of self pity and misogyny.”

"You will perform better in the long run if you allow yourself the appropriate amount of time to heal. That way, when you play you can perform at your best rather than risk further injury that could affect later games as well.” The terror twins. There weren’t many sets of twins at Hogwarts, let alone ones that were acquainted with Leia. “Phoenix and Marzia Yaxley” he assumed, recalling the last conversation that he’d had with Phoenix on the very topic of the younger students needing to be protected. “Would you have any evidence it was them, even circumstantial?”

[intcrritus-blog]

thatssofletchpm:

“No, no, I just-” memorized all of your schedules? Paid attention to each ones habits? Fletcher wasn’t going to let that cat out of the bag. “No, you’re right. I could not distinguish between you and Nadia out here in the dark and in my current bacchanalian state.” Fletcher wasn’t even that drunk. Once again, it was all a farce. A grand scheme that had no end. “Detention? I’ve got trophy polishing next Monday and then lines in Longbottom’s office Thursday. Maybe you can squeeze something in with Filch for Tuesday? That works best for my schedule.” Filch was a creep but Fletcher couldn’t get enough of the old curmudgeon. Fletcher thought he had the most interesting stories. The feeling, however, was not mutual.

“I’ll shower tonight for Tuesday, four to seven, with Filch.”

He would never be able to comprehend his housemates’ reasoning, how they could justify their behavior to themselves. What did they get out of spending a bulk of their time in detention, serving out one punishment or another.He was far too calculated, constantly weighing the risk of every action he took, knowing far too well what consequences felt like, to be anything like them. “Are you under the assumption that you are in detention frequently enough for it to be on a volunteer basis, a time that you can conveniently schedule for yourself?” How was it that Brent had wound up in this situation, where he was at the point where he was stuck having to negotiate with a roommate about whether or not they would maintain good personal hygiene habits. “Fine then.” Brent was in an agreeable mood. “Four to seven with Filch on Tuesday. I do believe he’ll be tending to the hedges that evening. If I catch you out again anytime this week, plan for your entire week to become booked. You ought to be spending your free time resting after last week, not further leaving your head hazy when I can assume that whatever Madame Pomfrey prescribed you is not meant to be mixed with alcohol.”

[intcrritus-blog]

zinaidamcgonagall:

“no shit,” it hadn’t come out rude, more of a teasing tone. it wasn’t like every time she had ever seen brent he was reading or doing work. had he ever taken a break? she shrugged lightly, “trying to, it’s just the one thing that i never really understood, so i’m trying to better myself at it. and failing.”

If he wasn’t performing his Prefect duties, he was reading or writing. There were only rare, special occurrences where Brent was doing otherwise. His lip quipped upward at Zina’s inflection, bookmarking his page as she gained his attention. “Perhaps that is part of the problem. Poetry ought to be inspired, rather than forced. Think of what it is that you want to tell, what imagery and emotion you want to portray. Think less of the words you purposely want to use and focus more on expression. If it’s a Shakespearean sonnet, consider an example from Hamlet. The infamous To Be or Not to Be speech. Maybe you can draw inspiration from that.”

[intcrritus-blog]

adelaidefawley:

“I would, if it no trouble for you. I find it strange if I just call you Nott as if you were my business partner instead of my classmate.” She shrugged gracefully. Brent was hardly popular, if anything, their classmates would party even harder knowing he wasn’t there. It was a bit sad, but inevitable with Brent’s personality and way of interacting with others. Especially since it got out that Brent was the reason Lily Potter and Valeria Carrow were both out of the upcoming game. “Perhaps. We are down two of our best players. Speaking of recent events, have you seen the first year who was attacked? He doesn’t remember anything. I can’t imagine who would be horrific enough to prey on an eleven year old.”

"It is commonplace in our society to refer to each other by family name. I imagine it stems from the importance that is emphasized on them. But very well. Adelaide, then.” Names in the wizarding world did carry a weight, after all, and with them came reputations and expectations. “That is due to their own choices. If they manage to behave, they will have a chance to make it up in the next game.” Brent paused then, focusing on not allow his anger to rekindle at the mention of the incident. “I have and I spoke to him about it. I also had quite the conversation with Rookwood. Whomever they are is a coward of the lowest caliber, to stoop to the level of manipulating a child.”

[intcrritus-blog]

akiraxyamaguchi:

“It’s a strange system, neveretheless. We don’t have anything like that in the Muggle world, except in books. Perhaps because we don’t have a magical hat to tell us where we’d fit best at eleven years old.” She had tried to hard to understand why she was in Gryfinndor for years, still wondered sometimes today. “I wonder, how different we might have been if we had been in a different house. If different traits in us were put a spotlight on. Would we recognize ourselves?”

“Yes, a bit. But I’m used to cars and trains. Teleportation still isn’t a thing for Muggles.” She had always wondered what it was like, to grow up and know magic was real. To know impossible things were, in fact, possible with the flick of a wand and the right incantation. It seemed spectacular. “Right. People forget that, I think, and they think because someone fears you means they respect you. Means they are anything more than a bully.”

"The division in muggle school is randomized rather than based on any certain quality.” Brent knew enough about their education system do understand that, considering he spent a great deal of his time reading scholarly works about the subject. Currently, he was engaging in John Dewey’s civil society theory. “Perhaps we would not, if we would have had different influences as a result.” As much as he had wanted to be in the House of Merlin back when he first arrived at Hogwarts, he could imagine a different him that would have spurred from it, one that had far less to handle as a Prefect at least. 

“But they have self-functioning cars now, correct? They are not without innovation.” He could give muggles credit where it was due, even if he knew they were not capable in the same ways that wixen were. Instant teleportation was convenient, but it often felt like the magical world and its traditions came with a stagnation. “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear,” Brent quoted Albert Camus. “There is nothing honorable about it.”

[sm2576-blog]

There are a lot of people who don’t like me at all, I’m very sure of that. But I wasn’t put on earth to be liked. I have my own reasons for being and my own sense of what is important and what isn’t, and I’m not going to change that.

Lauren Bacall (via h-o-r-n-g-r-y)

[intcrritus-blog]

leiarookwood:

Brent Nott, as charming as ever. How pampered I am, she thought sarcastically, to have two of the most terrifyingly efficient prefects stop by my sickbed. She wondered for a moment if Brent would help her and stop her from slowly torturing and then murdering the Yaxley twins in the most literal and metaphorical way she knew how. Remembering Nadia mentioning the Gryfinndor first year the two of them cowardly and creepily preyed on in order to do this, she thought it would be the former.

“Well, since you asked so nicely, I won’t begin tap dancing across the hospital wing floor until Pomphrey gives me the okay.”

"That would be in your best interest. Particularly if you want to be well enough to participate in the next game. Madam Pomfrey will not likely give you her approval to play in the one this weekend.” Brent could take the snark. Leia had just been targeted, after all. She deserved to be scornful if that was how she chose to channel her vindication. “The first year who the wand belonged to was rather inconsolable about the whole incident. They assured me that it wasn’t them. Not that it took much convincing, seeing as how it would take a rather advanced first year to perform the kind of wand work that was cast on you.” 

[intcrritus-blog]

adelaidefawley:

Adelaide looked up from her notes at her fellow prefect. “I would think that after so many years of knowing each other, you’d just call me Adelaide by now. Would you care to share why you’re leaving campus, or should I be purposefully vague when someone asks me?” She put her quill down to tap her cheek. “Thank you, though, for informing me. I’m sure Dominique and I will have an undeniable amount of fun after this Quidditch game, two of our players out and the Slytherin captain injured.”

How long he had known someone didn’t determine familiarity with Brent. Though Adelaide was far from the worst Gryffindor, more akin to him than the reckless ones that they were chosen to watch and discipline when necessary. “If that’s what you would prefer, I can,” Brent allowed. “I doubt that anyone will care to know where I have gone.” Or whom he would be with. Even if they did, he would rather that they not know. All they would need to hear, he imagined, was that the Buzzkill had left the building. “I am sure that you will, yes. It has been quite the week.” And unfortunately, he could only see it all further escalating in the immediate future. “More adrenaline is flying around than usual. The aftermath of a game likely lost will not help matters.”

[intcrritus-blog]

zinaidamcgonagall:

she was silent for a moment, taking in everything he had just said, “merlin, brent. how’d you learn so much about poetry?” she shook her head, recovering from the answer he had given her instead of what she was expecting. “Shakespearean sonnet, giving it that old school love letter type of thing to juxtapose with the dark tone of it all.”

“Through reading,” Brent answered plainly. Frost, Whitman, Eliot, and Angelou were just a few of his favorite poets. After he’d soaked up Shakespeare as a child, it was a natural progression for him to move onto poetry. It just wasn’t a hobby he often divulged to others. “Appropriate choice, considering Shakespeare’s love affair with tragedy. Are you writing in iambic pentameter?”