After what felt like hours in Dumbledore’s office, Jacob had finally arrived back at the Hufflepuff common room. One thing he’d always been grateful for was that there was no password to get in - just the same pattern that had to be knocked on one of the barrels. Easy to remember, and it didn’t change... he was sure it was the only thing he could say that about. So, after tapping the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff with his wand, he entered the common room, taking a deep breath once he actually stepped inside, and letting himself smile as he took it in.
Corban, for once, wasn’t too mad at being back at Hogwarts. Especially after his mother had let a certain bomb drop. He was trying to ignore it however, which is why he found himself alone at the lake.
Hearing footsteps, Corban groaned, ready to probably jinx whoever it was — until he heard the voice. His entire body turned ridged, his face ashen as he wiped around to face the other. “What the fuck?” Someone who he’d believe to be dead, standing right in front of him? “I don’t know who you are, and why you think this is funny, but I’m not in the fucking mood,” He spat out, pointing his wand at the other with arched eyebrows.
Jake knew that not everyone was going to take it well that he was back. It was unbelievable, really - people thought he was dead. Or, at least, missing beyond the hope of finding him. And, truly, it was a fluke that he’d managed to escape when he did... but he was back.
However, when he saw Corban pull out his wand and point it at him, he felt his breath catching in his throat. He kept his eyes locked on Corban’s as he shook his head, making sure not to move suddenly. “It’s not a joke.” He said first. “It’s me. Ask me anything, it’s me.” He never expected to be facing the end of Corban’s wand, but a lot had happened since he’d been taken... and he was sure he didn’t even know the half of it.
Jacob was looking for Gideon, and although he was certain it would take him a while to find him, he actually ran into him quite quickly. He only saw the back of his head and a glance at the side of his face, but he knew it was him. So, he slowly approached from behind, not wanting to startle him too much. “Gideon?” He said first. “Don’t freak out.”
Was that CHARLIE ROWE I just saw walking down the hallways? Oh wait, no - that was JACOB ORPINGTON. The CISMALE is a TWENTY-ONE year old HUFFLEPUFF who is in TENTH YEAR. I heard the HALF-BLOOD has chosen to STAY NEUTRAL which explains why HE is RESILIENT and FORGIVING, but also DETACHED and RETICENT. But who really knows?
tw: kidnapping, murder, death, abuse
William Orpington was supposed to be a perfect pureblooded son. And, in many ways, he was - until he declared in his first year out of Hogwarts that he had fallen in love with a muggle girl named Victoria.
Will’s parents, upset by the scandal of it all, told him to pack up his things and leave. They only spoke again when Will and Victoria had their son, Jacob. Even so, however, Jake barely knew his grandparents, and only saw them about once a year to sit through awkward dinners.
For the most part, Jake was a normal kid. He got his Hogwarts letter when he was eleven, played Quidditch for a couple years, and got average grades in school.
When Jacob was near the end of his sixth year, the Daily Prophet was doing a story on blood purity within the ministry. William made an offhanded comment about getting weird looks when mentioning his wife, a muggle, and shortly after, William and Victoria Orpington were found dead in their home. It was reported as a Death Eater attack.
With only a few weeks left in classes, Jacob was excused from exams, and was supposed to be picked up by his grandparents on his mother’s side at the train station. However, when they arrived, he was already gone.
Jacob woke up in an unfamiliar room with his wand missing. He could do a bit of wandless magic, but when he tried to get out, it was no use. It was only when his grandparents came in that he realized where he was.
Isabelle and Walter had heard murmurings that the death eaters were planning on going after Jacob as well, after what happened to his parents. Their solution was to hide him away, without anyone’s knowledge, because they insisted there were spies in the Ministry, and he wouldn’t be safe if anyone else knew where he was.
Jacob was not allowed off the property from then on without taking polyjuice potion, and without serious planning. Walter placed charms around the property to keep him from being able to disapparate, and they kept areas of the house locked so he couldn’t access most of the exits.
Had to use polyjuice to go to his parents’ funerals. Very sad.
Jacob’s wand was kept locked in one of these areas, and he was only allowed to use it for schooling, which they insisted he continue from their home.
To the world, Jacob was missing, and presumed dead. There was no funeral, but Hogwarts held a vigil for him two weeks after he went missing, as some sort of closure for the other students. It was assumed that the death eaters got to him as well.
Being rather wealthy, the Orpingtons had a large property. Once the ministry had decided that he wasn’t there, Jacob was allowed out in the backyard - with charms having been placed to make it appear as if nobody was ever outside. He spent most of his free time out there, although he always wished there was enough room for him to go flying.
He tried to escape several times. He failed, and was punished accordingly each time.
Jake hated being trapped, but his grandparents did try to make it as comfortable as possible. Any indoor hobbies he wanted to pick up, they supported, and they did show sympathy for what they were putting him though - but that didn’t make it any easier.
Jacob wrote letters to some of his close friends, to let them know that he was alright, and his grandparents told him they mailed them. They actually burned them.
He’s only been able to keep up with things by what’s been printed in the paper. So he knows some of the things that have happened in the last four years, but not much.
Wow this is long I’m gonna try and wrap it up
In the last year, he’s been devising another escape plan. He figured out where they have been keeping his wand, and has secretly been packing his trunk with things he thinks he will need. Finally, his escape plan worked, and he managed to get off the property long enough for him to disapparate.
He managed to get himself to Hogwarts, figuring that it would be safer for him to be there rather than on his own in the world. So, he talked to Dumbledore upon arriving, and it was determined that all the training his grandparents had been doing with him was enough, as long as he caught up in his classes in whatever ways his professors deemed necessary, at this point in the year.
Now, Jake basically has to kick his ass to get caught up, but since he was dead to the world for four years, his profs are fairly lenient with him and mostly are just giving him smaller versions of assignments so he can actually get it all done.
OKAY THAT’S ALL THE BACKSTORY INFO now for the random babble
He used to be very bubbly and friendly and loved to make people laugh. LOVED to make people laugh. Would play little jokes on his friends, all in good fun, and deliberately distract them when he could tell they were stressed.
^Will still TRY to be that way but like he’s been locked in a house with only his uptight grandparents for four years sO YOU CAN IMAGINE
Was dating Corban in secret from the beginning of his fifth year until he went missing. So there will be a lot of tension there. Just for anyone curious.
Doesn’t really like to talk about what happened?? But will if asked
Very self conscious about people staring at him. But gets why they are.
Highkey trying to pretend like everything’s normal. Lol what a joke
Needs lots of love and hugs
He’s a teaching major and is in the knitting club. That’s kinda all he’s involved in - but I may throw him in as a Reserve for the Hufflepuff quidditch team at some point.
Bisexual af okay he will fuck anyone and has had no action fOR FOUR YEARS PLS GET HIM LAID
Pls love him
CONNECTIONS PLS:
A lot of these will be like... connections he had before he went missing?? Because it’s not like he’s had any time with them in the last four years.
Friendships (any of these can have multiples)
Best friends: Jacob was and is really easy to get along with and can for sure have multiple best friends?? Also could be similar in personality to him and be a total jokester or be completely serious and he’d befriend them either way so
Dorcas Meadowes;
Bad influence: He could either BE the bad influence or someone could be one on him?? In the past or present idm either
Good influence: someone that tRIES TO HALT THE CHAOS
Family friends: the Orpingtons were very well known and his dad was pretty well liked at Hogwarts, so there’s tons of options for this
Anna Higgs; August Higgs;
Basically siblings: They banter and bicker, or maybe they got along swimmingly - either way, it would have been really hard for both of them when he went missing.
Andrew Davies;
Confidant: Someone who like... knows almost everything that happened. They tell each other their secrets, and they’re there for him when he’s down.
Family
Distant cousins?? His mom’s family is muggles and his dad was an only child, but he could have a second cousin or really distant cousins?? Probably pureblood or one pureblood parent.
Enemies
Friends turned enemies: Maybe they were friends before but now there’s some weird tension or something?? Idk
Someone he just cannot get along with. Maybe they find him annoying?? Idk what to call this.
Romantic (not a ton of past options for these?? Sorry)
Friends with benefits: friends who hook up, I don’t think this needs much of a description. Like I said, he’s horny.
Crushes?? Idk
Exes: Corban Yaxley; (maybe one more before Corban??)
Tbh I’m up for anything just DM me we can figure something out
Anything else??? I’m unoriginal pls lmk if you have ideas... pls pls pls.
The sound of her heels echo against the marble floor, disregarding any attempts at subtlety. Why should she? Her reputation ensured her certain level of immunity and liberty from the social norms. Deciding to push it further when she approached the set of tables at the library her hand pulled the chair away, using more force than necessary only to create a creaking cacophony, smirking in satisfaction when she succeeded. As she positioned herself to sit down, she caught the pair of eyes staring at her. “You wanted to say something?” Voice as honey and saccharine smile completed her mask of amity, camouflaging the underlying threat in her voice.
Jacob had a lot of work to catch up on. He’d missed a hell of a lot of time, and he was hoping not to repeat a year... which was going to be very difficult. Thankfully, the amount of work he did while at the Orpington manor was proving helpful. He knew that if Dumbledore didn’t think he was at the same level academically and magically as the rest of the students, he likely wouldn’t have accepted him into tenth year... but that didn’t mean that catching up on the work itself would be easy. So, when someone sauntered through the library with ear-splitting shoes, he paused, eyes raising up from the table to look at her. At her words, he rolled his eyes, letting them land back on his parchment. “I didn’t, actually.”
Milo blinked twice, turning to the other with a sheepish grin. His mind had been elsewhere, and he wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been standing there. “Sorry, I uh, was in a world of my own there.” He admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose, before pushing up his glasses. “Were you saying something?”
Jacob was studying. Honestly, it felt weird that it was only his second day at Hogwarts again, and he was already behind on homework... but he knew that this would be the case. However, when someone approached the table, and then stopped, the brunet frowned slightly at him, asking if he wanted to sit at the table, or just keep staring. “I asked if you were going to sit down?” He repeated. “I get the staring, it’s whatever, but I can’t read, you’re blocking the light.”
He’d lost track of how many drinks he’d had after 5, only thing he could remember was that he hadn’t stopped after that. What he did know was that everything was blurry after, and that he certainly didn’t make it back to his dorm. He wasn’t sure what time it was, or where he was when he woke up, startled by a loud noise. “Merlin!” Alastor quickly straightened up, a small frown on his face as he tried to spot the source of the noise. It took him a moment, eyes squinting, before he spotted the other figure. “What do you want?”
( @finestra-starters )
Jake had gotten several books from the library that he needed, and was planning on bringing them all back to his dorm. It wasn’t that he disliked studying in the library, or even the common room, but it was all too soon. There were too many eyes on him for him to be able to concentrate. However, the number of books he’d actually taken was proving to be too many... and when he saw someone laying on the floor of the hallway, it startled him enough that several of the books came toppling out of his hands. “Oh, fuck.” He muttered with a roll of his eyes, bending down to start picking them up, before looking up at the other when he spoke. “Go back to sleep, you’re dreaming.”
Andrew hadn’t been much of people person recently, choosing to spend his time down by the Black Lake, distracting himself with a book or some homework. This time, he chose his camera–a muggle one his parents had gotten for him years ago–and was photographing whatever he found interesting. He was looking through the lens, turning around to find a good subject for a photo when someone walked into frame. “Huh,” he said, looking up from his camera. “I figured everyone would be up in the Great Hall for dinner.”
Jake knew there were a few people he needed to talk to - a few people he needed to see, before Dumbledore should announce that he was back. It wouldn’t be right for him just to show up again, not without talking to them... and Andrew Davies was one of those people. He felt a smile creeping onto his face as he walked down the path towards the lake, having heard from someone that he was down there with his camera. “Yeah, I ate early.” He said first, assuming that the other hadn’t yet realized it was him. “Hey, man.”
It had been a whirlwind of a day. How he’d managed to get into the castle and to Dumbledore’s office without any students running into him, he had no idea. He’d sent a letter explaining the situation covertly a couple of days before, and he knew that there was a chance he would be turned away... but when Dumbledore spent nearly two hours testing him for skills he needed to know as a tenth year, and he passed, he was more than just a bit relieved.
Finally, he was given a room number and sent to the Hufflepuff dorms. So, as he stepped out from the stone staircase, and the gargoyle slid back into place, he glanced around for a moment to get his bearings again for which way to go. However, as he turned to actually start walking, he paused, eyes landing on a familiar face staring back at him. “Hey, Annabird.”
Jacob had already run into a few people he knew, people whose shock was evident from the moment he looked at them again. However, there was one person he hadn’t seen, and he knew he had to find him... but he didn’t even know where to start. He couldn’t go waltzing into the Slytherin common room, he didn’t even know the password to be able to do that, and he wasn’t sure where else to look. He’d already looked through the library, trying to be as discreet as possible to not draw more attention to himself, but had no luck.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he wandered down to the black lake, just wanting to sit and feel the breeze on his face... when he saw a figure, with a head of black hair. Jake paused momentarily, suddenly doubting if he should even try to talk to him yet... before forcing the courage out from his stomach as he continued forward. “Corban?”
