raven wing

louis weasley, ravenclaw. sixth year. sabre fencer.

[lcuisweasley-blog]

@harpiegracie

Hardly a year ago and Louis had been preparing for his end-of-year exams. Now he sat here, sharpening his sword and checking his wand for any defects as he waited to fight for Diagon Alley. The entire place had been transformed. Gone were the vendors shouting out their wares, the colourful banners and posters advertising the best deals that turned out to be not really that good after all once you stepped into the shop. Now it was all low walls and trenches, palisades and bulwarks and shimmering spheres of energy that carried within them some rather nasty Curses waiting to be unleashed on the hapless Death Eater. Louis had been there when Hogwarts fell, one of the last to have retreated through the portrait in the Room of Requirement.

He promised that he would be back with the rest to retake it.

Sliding the wand back into the hilt of the saber he sported, Louis sheathed it at his hip and got up from the stool he had been sitting on, moving over to where a familiar figure was. He shifted her broom aside to make space for himself as he squatted down by her, immediately asking, “Shield tattoos on? You sure you’ve got enough? Is the enchantment in your bag holding? We’re going to be relying on you dropping those spell bombs ..”

[harpiegracie]

“There’s avoiding gossip – ” [Gracie pointed to herself, as if she was some sort of angel who never involved herself in the trifles of her classmates.] “ – and then there’s living under a rock.” [This time, Gracie turned her fingers towards Louis, jabbing him softly in the chest to make sure she hammered home her point.] “The only thing keeping Zac and Zoe from hooking up was his scary girlfriend, anyway. Why anyone would want to date a Slytherin when they could have had their sister set them up with a nice Ravenclaw, I don’t know…” [Gracie trailed off, realizing what she’d said, then made a face.] “Then there are the Ravenclaws that are huge nerds, like you. Ew.” [Her voice was teasing where once she would have been dead serious, though, and she was sure it was obvious even to someone as dense about social cues as Louis.]

[lcuisweasley-blog]

“Oh yea. Oh yea. Totally. Because you weren’t the one that ran out into the corridor in our Third Year, screaming that you caught those two snogging in the corner.” [Louis nodded his head compliantly, in a manner far too exaggerated for the usually taciturn Ravenclaw.] “Do I have to send you for sensitivity classes, or are you going to stop painting people with a broad brush?” [Two finger jabbed her in the forehead, like they always did.] “Eva was a Slytherin and she was fine. She turned out to be a vampire, in the end, but she was fine.” [His mouth fell open, realising that he had her caught, and he was being a little too gleeful to maintain the whole mature moral high horse he was trying to hold.] “Oh, mmhmm. I see. Now that I know you think I’m a huge nerd, but also a nice Ravenclaw, I’m never letting you live it down.” [He said while casually slinging an arm around her shoulder, turning to steer them out of the emptying room.]

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: I DON'T HANG OUT IN DESERTS.

Gracie: Good, he's a smart doggy who knows that everything in the Prophet ends up being trash eventually and that no one should read it.

Gracie: You should have been a lawyer, Lou. Imagine what a RICH smartypants you'd be, then. You could buy me new brooms all the time!

Louis: You don't have to hang out in the desert to know about the desert!

Louis: ... I really don't think that was the point at all, but okay.

Louis: I manage with the money I have and live very comfortably.

Louis: Wait a God damn minute. You're the Quidditch player. You should be the one buying /me/ things.

[harpiegracie]

[Gracie rolled her eyes. They both loved to tell the other they were exaggerating, and this time she maybe was, at least a little bit. But not enough to warrant the dad look, that was for sure.] “Okay, pops, but my dad lets me have more fun than you do, just for future reference.” [ Gracie’s jaw dropped in horror at his statement.] “No! No, people are way better, they’re exciting and – how can you even say that?” [Her nose stayed wrinkled in disgust at his claim that he liked books more than people, which was good because his next statements didn’t make her any more pleased with him, either. Okay, so maybe she was a bit focused on herself at times, and she liked when people agreed with her, but she didn’t take it that personally… Except, apparently, tonight.] “What? Seriously? You preferred kissing a girl that most people think hooked up with her brother at some point? Ew.”

[lcuisweasley-blog]

[There seemed to be a cycle that they had fallen into. Exaggeration and deprecating reply, back and forth. It had started with Gracie, and Louis had eventually picked it up.] “That’s because I’m not your dad, geez.” [He laughed out loud, having gotten the reaction that he had expected from Gracie. There was always that sense of satisfaction at egging her into doing something he knew she would do. It was just entertaining, and maybe a little cute to watch.] “What? Books don’t chatter as much. And if they do, I just put them under something really heavy and they start behaving.” [Louis narrowed his eyes at Gracie, as if he was starting to get ideas.] “Okay, it was only a rumour that had no bearing on reality. Since when did I actually bother listening to gossip? Plus, everyone’s got some dirt on them, one way or another. Like people actually thought Dom and James had a thing?”

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: I mean, I'd have water to DRINK, but it's not the same as being around water holes. The atmosphere's just different. There's nothing chill about the desert.

Gracie: Your sister trained me well.

Gracie: Maybe they think they're better at occlumnency or legilimensy or whichever one blocks people's heads out than you are :-p Not everyone knows you're a total smarty pants.

Louis: That's ... why ... it's ... a ... desert, dumbass.

Louis: My sister can't even train Geoffrey Pawcer to fetch the Daily Prophet.

Louis: That's Occlumency. It's spelt Occlumency. What I mean is, when you've got a certified Interrogator right in front of you, you've at least got you cooperating with the investigations on your side to lighten the sentence.

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: Yeah, yeah, sand everywhere - if I wanted that I'd just go to a beach, at least there they have water to cool off with, too.

Gracie: We're allllll in this together! Blah blah blah, I didn't retain all of the words yet.

Louis: You have a freaking wand and you're talking about the lack of water? Plus there are oases!

Louis: ... why did I not see the whole Wildcats pep talk thing coming?

Louis: You know what I don't understand? Why some criminals still lie through their teeth when I can literally pluck it out of their heads. So much less unpleasantness.

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: The only message I'm getting is 'this place is so boring we had time to make this canal palm tree'.

Gracie: I'm soaringgggg, flyingggg... (You can thank Dom for teaching me the song :p)

Louis: The desert is a beautiful place. Haven't you learnt anything from my r-

Louis: Of course not. HMPH.

Louis: Dom and I are going to have words.

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: Nature does it better. And doesn't make it tacky shapes.

Gracie: And they really didn't think there were better things to spend their money on?

Louis: It's about the message it sends. That they aren't going to back down just because they were in the middle of the desert.

Louis: Are you on the ground yet?

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: OASISES DID THAT FIRST.

Gracie: Unsustainable so like... their weird thing is just going to end up falling into the ocean someday?

Gracie: DOES THAT SAY 'HAVE FUN FLYING, GRACIE?'

Loucie: That is NATURE. This is HUMANITY.

Loucie: Not the ocean, but it costs a lot of money and resources in general to keep it going, even for a day.

[AUDIO MESSAGE ATTACHED: GRACIE, I SWEAR TO MERLIN, YOU BETTER STOP TEXTING WHILE YOU'RE ON THE BROOM OR I'LL-]

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: There's nothing wonderful about it, though! It's got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

Gracie: What do they even need it for? Does it DO anything, or is it just there for shits and giggles?

Gracie: La la la my phone screen glitched I can't read your words what are you saying there's no message there

Loucie: They've turned a desert GREEN.

Loucie: Even if it's literally the definition of unsustainable.

Loucie: It's a testament of human persistence! And extravagance.

Loucie: GET ON THE GROUND. RIGHT NOW.

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: RIGHT? Aside from the fact that the players are all going to MELT, there's the whole weird fake palm tree canal thingy. I'm flying over it and I just do not understand.

Gracie: When I retire I'll fix all these crazies, but that's still a long way off so for now we need to find someone boring who's already been grounded :-p

Loucie: Oh, that's actually an ... artificial wonder of the world. Of sorts.

Loucie: It's quite impressive, Muggle engineering. They're doing all this without magic.

Loucie: ... Wait a god damn minute.

Loucie: Are you flying AND texting?

[lcuisweasley-blog]

TEXT ✉ LOUCIE

Gracie: Why?

Gracie: Why did anyone think it was a good idea to have a World Cup in DUBAI?!

Loucie: ...

Loucie: ...

Loucie: 47 degrees Celsius at its peak in the afternoon.

Loucie: Lowest 35 in the day.

Loucie: ...

Loucie: Look, I know the association for football for Muggles is corrupt as hell but ... We should start looking into our Quidditch people.

[harpiegracie]

[Gracie brought her hand up to rub the spot on her forehead he’d hit – not because it had actually hurt, but because she loved to try and make him feel guilty, though it usually never worked.] “Whatever. I don’t fall off my broom, that’s you. Besides, if you can get obsessed with books and spells, you can get obsessed with people. It’s all kind of along the same lines.” [Gracie hadn’t even noticed that the class had filed out around them; she herself had an obsessive personality, too, on top of her overly competitive nature, and she couldn’t just leave things well enough alone.] “No way! I’m never average, I’m excellent at all things. Besides classes, which I don’t care about and I don’t have to take anymore. But I’m a great kisser! You have to tell me who’s supposedly better than me, because until I get a name, I’m not buying it.”

[lcuisweasley-blog]

“Yea, don’t exaggerate.” [He glared at her, placing both hands on his hips like a disappointed parent. It only lasted a brief moment before he realised what it looked like and he quickly snatched his hands away, forcing them back to his sides.] “Are you equating books and spells to people? That would be you implying that people are actually more interesting than books and spells. Absolutely preposterous.” [No, of course Louis did not feel that way - but it was worth telling that little lie just to watch the woman’s reaction.] “You can’t just ignore an entire aspect of your life just because it doesn’t match the personal narrative you’ve forged for yourself! It’s like saying you’re the best-looking person in the whole wide world because everyone else is absolutely irrelevant. That doesn’t make sense, does it?” [Crossing his arms, Louis sighed exasperatedly as he noticed that they were the last people still in the classroom - which was when he started walking out.] “Well, Zoe Boot, for one ...”

[harpiegracie]

[Gracie looked up towards the ceiling, then rolled her shoulders in a shrug. She guessed she had said that, but it was funnier when she did it – and when it had just been some dumb peck for show, and not Louis deciding kissing her to piss her off was a good idea.] “Huh, nope, sorry, must have been your imagination busy being obsessed with me. Sounds like you, right?” [Gracie went to elbow him, the same playful jabs that she normally engaged in, but instead slipped and landed with her elbow on the counter, trying to play it off like she’d meant to lean over lazily all along.] “Pfft, no way! Who have you possibly kissed that could be better than me? Now I know your imagination is crazy.” 

[lcuisweasley-blog]

“I would like to point out that no, I don’t get obsessed with people, and no, my memory isn’t failing me. If anything, it’s you, falling off your broom and hitting your head all the time.” [He reached out to rap her sharply on the forehead with a knuckle. The class had been dismissed and most of the couples were starting to file out now.] “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t grade all the kisses that I’ve had in my head.” [Not exactly many kisses to grade and rank, but Gracie didn’t have to know that in this scenario.] “But you were definitely somewhere around average. Definitely nowhere near the best.”

[lcuisweasley-blog]

tharpiegracie:

[Gracie swallowed hard when Louis pulled away; she hadn’t meant to kiss him back, especially not for that long, but it had been a long time since she’d kissed anyone… and it was a nice kiss. She was only human, but that was it. It wasn’t as though it was the fact that it was with Louis was what had kept her lips where they were for so long. The tips of her ears were pink, but hopefully covered with her hair so that he couldn’t see and turn her trademark teasing back around on her.] “Who said anything about love?” [Gracie’s normal comebacks were stilted, as if she was struggling to talk a little bit in the wake of what had just happened, but then she swatted his arm with her hand.] “I was just taking pity on you, since that was officially probably the best kiss of your life.” 

“You did, the previous time we kissed.” [He glanced up at the clock, smirking.] “About ten minutes ago.” [Only a kiss, after all. Just lips touching and nothing more. Physical contact meant little without the sentiment humans assigned them and if he were to think nothing of this - of the kiss just being a means to fluster and silence the usually boisterous brunette, what of it?] “Ah, yes. Well.” [He put away all the crockery that they had used before, wiping down the counter top of all the water droplets from her spraying.] “I suppose it was an okay kiss. I’ve had better.” [He might have taken one step away from her while also taking the hose away with him. Just in case.]

[harpiegracie]

[Gracie had rolled her eyes at Louis’s comment, but surprisingly had left his research alone. She may thing it was boring, but even as far back as the Red Wedding, she’d seen just how useful his research could be. There were lots of things worth insulting Louis over, but the things he developed with his magic? Not among them. He may think that she only ever enjoyed pushing his buttons, but deep down Gracie also appreciated everything he’d ever done for her… At least, until today, with this kissing incident. She’d been so certain the he was kissing, that when he leaned in again her first instinct was to make a face or maybe even keep spraying him until he left her alone. Instead, though, she dropped the sink hose in surprise, this kiss surprising her more than the first, short one that she had hardly had a chance to process…although the most surprising thing was the fact that Gracie found herself kissing back.]

[lcuisweasley-blog]

[He had braced himself big time for a punch that he was sure was coming his way. The dull impact, the numbing sensation that gradually spreads over his face, then the tingling foretelling of a sneeze ... but it never came. What Louis got instead was softness, warmth, the faint sweetness of lip gloss and the stark awareness of Gracie’s cold nose against his warm skin.] “Well, at least we’re blending in now.” [Those words were a murmur against her lips, the exchange of kisses and then of breaths, and almost instinctively there was another brief contact between their mouths and he pulled away, smoothly placing the last of the clean dishes on the rack.] “Before you say anything about me being ‘in love’ with you, I would like to remind you that you kissed me back.”

[harpiegracie]

“Yeah, I’m failing to see the problem with that plan.” [Gracie wouldn’t mind having someone cook for her, and she didn’t hate Louis’s company… She never had, no matter how much she thrived off of teasing him.] “You’re a better cook than me anyway, you could keep me from food-poisoning myself.” [Gracie kept the sprayer pointed in Louis’s direction even as she rolled her eyes. She’d heard his schpiel about their different interests a dozen times a month since they were teens, but she’d still had fun dragging him out of his comfort zone, and even occasionally letting him read to her or do something that was more up his alley.] “If you were pretending to be a bird you’d have wings, dummy. Broom flying is much different.” [The sprayer had never moved off where she had it trained towards Louis, but she wasn’t one to back down from a dare, either.] “There’s no way you’d kiss me again, you’re just bluffing.” [Ready to prove her point, Gracie pressed her finger down, laughing gleefully as water sprayed right in Louis’s face.]

[lcuisweasley-blog]

“Except for that part where you end up having to live off takeout and microwaved dinners again, because I’m not about to be at your beck and call since I have work to do.” [Oh, he was sure she was going to start talking about how his research wasn’t really work anyway, because it’s not really work if you’re not flying around throwing balls and things.] “The point of an analogy is to compare two similar qualities, not all of them, otherwise why would I even need a bloody analogy in the first place?” [Louis rolled her eyes, knowing full well that no, there was no chance that any of that had gotten into Gracie’s head.] “Oh yea? Try m-” [And he was blasted with a faceful of water, leaving him sputtering, eyes closed.] “Gr-” [Managing to point the sprayer towards the sink after grabbing her by the wrist, Louis pulled her in for another kiss.]