I Feel So Trapped

Jasmine Malik || 6th Year || Gryffindor   Don't let my appearance or my bodyguard fool you, there's more to me than you think

[notflowernorprize]

mulanzhou:

Mulan rolled her eyes and laughed.  “That was such a scientific and automated answer that now I’m definitely convinced that you’re an alien,” she said, lightly poking Jasmine in the arm.  “Not that you were wrong; just that typically people our age wouldn’t have gone the healthy route.  So Jasmine, if that is even your real name, who are you really?” Mulan laughed.

Jasmine waved it away with a grin. “What was I supposed to do, lie? Tony and Sophee used to compare stories on hangover treatments when they thought I couldn’t hear.” They had been her two main guards before she started school, but when she was no longer around, they’d been reassigned. In a way, she missed them. At least they’d been fun. “Now what kind of a question is that? I think you’d need to get more specific for me to come up with an answer.”

[notflowernorprize]

holley-shifting-gears:

Holley responded with a small shrug accompanied by a wide smile.  “I… I don’t know that I do,” she laughed.  “I just thought it’d be a nice way to cheer people up, you know.  And the house elves were kind enough to give me a bit of a helping hand in assembling these donuts,” she added.  “I’m not much of a baker myself so they were mostly helpful in that regards.”

“Hm, yes. In times of tragedy people need a distraction, and food is one of the strongest distractions that exist. The staff buzzing around give enough of a show of movement to finish the job of being comforting and it will help keep most of the people under control.” Unwittingly, Jas had drifted into the same political thought process she’d been trained to use most of her life, taking another careful bite of the donut. 

[notflowernorprize]

what-makes-the-world-go-round:

Arthur nodded and laughed. “I know a little bit about all that. Although I can’t say I get up to too much mischief myself. My best friend is a prefect you know.” He rolled his eyes thinking of how many times Holley had been the one to catch him doing something he shouldn’t be. She had him completely pegged and he never did figure out how she managed to find him at all the worst times.

“She keeps a close watch on me you know. But I will say that I’ve seen some things tagging along with her when she’s on duty. Did you know you can use the room of requirement to get to Hogsmeade? I haven’t tried it myself but I know for a fact that if you think of food, a passageway will open up that leads to the second floor of the Hogs Head.” He’d actually been meaning to test that theory and see just how many places he could get to from the Room of Requirement in total. Purely for academic purposes of course.

“Oh Holley? She’s fun, I like her. But so far, I’ve been successful at getting around her.” Holley was Jas’s roommate, so she was fairly familiar with the other girl. Of course, as bright and intelligent as she was, she wasn’t nearly as difficult to avoid as Tye. The techniques she used to avoid one worked perfectly well on the other. Then again, if Holly was busy looking out for Arthur it explained how she didn’t have a lot of attention left for Jas. 

But at the piece of information, Jas’s eyes brightened in interest. “I’d heard about that, but I hadn’t tested it yet. Mostly I’ve been using one of the other passageways to get into Hogsmeade or around the castle. The one under the Wheeping Willow is the one I’ve tried most recently, although the one into Honeydukes is terribly useful.” Nearly two years at school had been plenty of time to collect knowledge of various passageways and she enever waited too long to make use of it.

[notflowernorprize]

what-makes-the-world-go-round:

“I think anyone who dares to do the impossible or face the unknown despite their fear is brave. Space definitely falls into that category. I’m not sure if I could ever do that but I’d love to try someday.” The logistics and details may have been lost on him but space travel sounded like an incredible adventure to him.

He caught on pretty quickly to what she was getting at when she grinned at him. He shook his head grinning as well. “Careful now. Don’t want the prefects getting wind of your troublesome ways and shutting you down.” He looked around making sure the cost was clear. “That wouldn’t be very fun now would it.”

“Imagine, being able to see the whole planet at once. All of the oceans and continents together. So high its like none of the people or their problems count in the least.” Her voice took on a slightly dreamy tone as she tried to picture what that would be like. Up high, there wouldn’t be an rules, no one to tell her what to do or how she was allowed to live. She would just get to be and see and experience. It would be wonderful. 

The grin and the conspiratorial look had her warming more to him and leaning in slightly. it was always nice to find out you actually liked the people you were spending time with. “Oh, I’m not too worried. None of them have caught me yet. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge and ingenuity. Plus of course, a partner that’s not going to turn you in.”

[john-silver-stargazer-blog]

Office Hours are open

[notflowernorprize]

john-silver-stargazer:

John thumps his leg enthusiastically. “O’ course I can count on you to be prepared, Missy.” He leans in as if to share a secret. “Now, between you n’ me yer one of my top students.” Drawing back, he raises his eyebrows as if this is an incredible revelation and not something he says to Jasmine every time she comes to his office. “Finished with that one so soon, eh? Hmm… let ol’ Silver see what he’s got brewing.” Hefting his not inconsiderable weight out of his chair, he limps over to his bookshelf. Mumbling to himself he scans the book titles, “Lesse ‘here. Mmm… Not Sleepwalkers, she’s already read that one… definitely not Space-Pirates, that one is poorly paced… hmm… not 50 Shades of Grey… Ah!” He pulls out a hefty book and blows a bit of dust from it. “How’s about this’n? It’s called… lesse… ‘Light in the Temples’. It’s about how astronomy and ancient Egyptian culture and religion were related. Got some stuff in there about how and why’d they’d built the pyramids the way they did, see?” John drops the book in front of Jasmine and then plops down hard into his chair. “Pretty neat, huh? I think that’s what the kids would call… ‘totally lit’” 

“Oh really?” She found her grin widening at the compliment. It didn’t matter that he’d said it to her before, it wasn’t something she ever really tired of hearing. For once, people weren’t just calling her beautiful or saying something about her father and his politics and wasn’t her life wonderful. He was someone who complimented her on one of the few things she could really openly love, and it was something she was good at all on her own. So even though it was already reaching the status of running joke, it wasn’t something she was going to be able to ignore any time soon. As he limped over to his bookshelf, Jas looked around the office, mentally cataloguing everything in it. But as he pulled out an old dusty book, she immediately looked back at him in excitement. “That sounds incredible. Thank you professor! I’ve done some other reading about the Egyptians, mainly around their mythology and some of the ancient queens like Hatshepsut, but I haven’t been able to find anything really about the pyramids. But...I don’t know that you want to say that ever again. I think that’s the most ridiculous you’ve ever sounded.”

[notflowernorprize]

dig-dog-doug:

Doug cocked his head to the side as the girl approached, then tipped it the other way as she began to speak to him, his mouth opening and closing as if he hadn’t considered the potential risk of pain. He blinked a couple times super-fast, then shrunk in on himself a little and lowered his chest to the statue. A low whine bubbled in his chest. 

“I do not want to get hurt,” he mumbled, eyes downcast. The boy felt as if perhaps he had done something to make this girl ashamed, and he did not like that at all. He just wanted to be everyone’s friend, not make them mad.

As he laid down and began to whine, Jas moved closer, worry clear on her face. It was like a cat getting stuck up a tree and not sure how to get it back down, and she would have been amused if he hadn’t been in such real potential danger. 

Holding up her hands she tried to smile anxiously. “Of course not. I don’t think anyone ever wants to get hurt, but sometimes it can happen by accident. How about if I help you down, we can make sure you don’t get hurt and nothing bad happens all right? I’m right here to help. Whenever you’re ready.” Please say that he would be ready sooner rather than later. 

[notflowernorprize]

mulanzhou:

“Sounds great!” Mulan smiled as she turned to order her food and drink.

“But wouldn’t aliens have done the research and whatnot to know the answer to any question I ask,” she laughed.  “But let me think,” she hummed.  “What… is the best food for a hangover?”

“Oh that’s easy. Everyone says its greasy foods like burgers, but that’s actually a lie. Bananas, eggs, and green tea are much more useful for that sort of thing.” Very little of that was experience was personal. But she had listened to her father and the guards over the years, as well as her fellow students, so she’d picked up a few things. 

[notflowernorprize]

what-makes-the-world-go-round:

“Well, the internet has all sorts of information on it. The muggles have actually sent people to space and they send back pictures and information we wouldn’t otherwise have. If any one knows the timing of celestial events they would.” He shrugged. He didn’t actually get to look at the internet very often. His foster dad was pretty strict about the computer usage at his house. But when he got permission Arthur made good use of it and soaked up any knowledge he could from the world wide web.

Arthur brightened at the offer of extra help. “Sure that would actually be great! I can only read so many books before my eyes melt into my head. It might help if someone could actually translate this information into something that makes sense. And I’d love to learn about it from the perspective of someone who loves and understands the material.” He grinned feeling like he could finally make some progress in Astronomy. 

“I’ve read about some of the muggle adventures into space. It’s really incredible. I mean, John Glenn’s incredible faith alone going into space like that when they essentially had to invent math that would allow them to do so. He has to be one of the bravest men who ever lived.” Considering both of them were in Gryffindor, it wasn’t hard to consider that both of them admired bravery to a large extent. But while it might be strange that a sheltered pureblood girl knew about muggle space travel, it wasn’t really so strange. She didn’t do anything else these days, and Professor Silver had a large book collection he was willing to share. 

Jasmine grinned happily, leaning forward. “Good. I’m usually either here or in the library so its not like I’m hard to find. Well, except when I find a way a way to cause a little trouble.” She winked cheekily, although she was testing him slightly. Most Gryffindors had a bent towards the reckless, but she still liked to have a sense of who she was dealing with. Having an ally rooming with Tye would be incredibly helpful for sneaking out occasionally. But if he reacted badly, she wouldn’t say anymore and they could talk about something else. 

[notflowernorprize]

holley-shifting-gears:

At the call of her name, Holley turned on her heel towards the familiar voice.  “Coming right up, Jas!” she smiled, bounding over.  “Coffee and a donut, here you go!” she smiled as she handed a cup to her roommate and opened the box for her to choose.  “Milk and sugar?  I have that too,” she added enthusiastically.

Jas poured a little bit of each cream and sugar into her coffee before grabbing a decadent jelly donut. “You really do think of everything. Did the house elves give these up to you or are you so magical you happened to conjure up whatever people needed.” She was mostly teasing. But her roommate was the kind of person to be so completely organized that she could think of what people needed before they did. 

[john-silver-stargazer-blog]

Office Hours are open

[notflowernorprize]

john-silver-stargazer:

John kicked his feet up onto his desk, getting a smattering of dirt on the scattered paper. “Hmmmm…” He stared at the student in front of him intently. “Now, what were you needin’ from ol’ Silver, kiddo? I know it’s not an extension on that there 3 feet of parchment I assigned last week. Because then you’d be the fifth person today to be doin’ that.” Turning his mechanical index finger into a small knife he began to pick at the dirt under his finger nails. “And if’n its relationship advice yer after, why, I don’t think an old gaffer like me’d be the man fer the job.” 

Jasmine glanced amusedly at the Astronomy Professor. “Don’t worry, I’ve already finished that essay. And yes I’ve been helping a few of the other students with theirs already so I don’t need an extension. It’s not like I have anything else to do with my time.” The professors were the only ones who knew that Tye wasn’t actually her boyfriend but her bodyguard, so they were the only ones aware of exactly how limited her life was. “No I finished Celestial Delights, and I was wondering if you had any other recommendations? There’s only so many times I can go through the Sleepwalkers.”

[notflowernorprize]

what-makes-the-world-go-round:

Arthur hadn’t really thought about it that way before. He looked down at the book as if the pages he had just read had somehow changed and made a little more sense now. “That’s an interesting way to put it. I’ll admit I hadn’t really thought about the timing certain magic takes. Muggles would just use the internet to find all that information but I suppose if you’re in a remote location you’d have to know where the stars are just by looking.” 

He was more or less just speaking his thoughts out loud but turned to face her with wide eyes as he realized how he had made it sound. “Oh no! It’s not that I don’t like the subject. I just, i’m not very good at it is all.” He raised his hands in apology smiling sheepishly. He hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. “I continued into NEWT classes because I want to learn all I can before I graduate. So I’ve been taking as many courses as I can keep up with to maximize the time I have left at Hogwarts.”

“Really? How would the internet tell them?” Jas had thought about taking muggle studies when she started Hogwarts, but given the class choices she’d had available, she had decided not to try and add that into her schedule. She still did plenty of reading on her own. But there were some things that made more sense when they were explained by someone else. And anyway, it seemed like as good a way as any to draw him out of his shell a little more while she had the time. 

But at his confession, she smiled, leaning a little closer. “If you ever want any help, you should just ask me. It’s my favorite subject and I’m very good at it. Plus it seems like all I do these days is tutor other people and you at least make an interesting conversationalist as well.” Tutoring was one of the only ways she was allowed to socialize, and it still usually happened under Tye’s strict supervision. But since he currently roomed with her bodyguard, she couldn’t invite him out on one of her more scandalous adventures. Yet. 

[notflowernorprize]

mulanzhou:

Mulan feigned a gasp and wiggled a finger at Jasmine.  “Sneaky!” she laughed.  “Honestly, I’ve never considered going for fun after the Equinox party.  It just, I don’t know, left a bad taste in my mouth.  But if you go again, can I tag along?”

“Hmm… but aliens would have so much technology that they should be able to answer any question!”

“Absolutely! It’s bound to be more fun with company.” Of course, that meant she would need to figure out what she did about her outfit. Normally she always went in disguise, but hopefully Mulan would accept that. Even this much exposure as herself felt dangerous. 

“Ah, then you must ask a question that isn’t about technology at all. Something only a genuine Earth person would know.”

[notflowernorprize]

keepmovingforwards:

Wilbur’s eyes widen before he shakes his head. “Yes, I mean no, but kind of?” He hadn’t really talked about his Ziggy situation with anyone. Partially because he didn’t want people paying special attention to him, but also because he wasn’t sure what going on. Ziggy was rude and mean to him most of the time, but other times he was….decent? Yeah, decent.

“It’s not a big deal. I’ve got it under control I’m pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure? If you’re pretty sure it doesn’t sound like you’re particularly sure. Sometimes it helps to talk to a random stranger who you probably won’t see again. Or, I suppose you might since Anna is my roommate, but still. Not that I’m saying you have to, but otherwise I’m all ears.”

It was like the easiest way to gossip that was incredibly low stakes on the one hand. But on the other hand, she was worried. People who thought they had potential bullies under control were far too often wrong. 

[notflowernorprize]

holley-shifting-gears:

Holley had heard about the lockout of the Gryffindor dorms.  Honestly, she wasn’t the least bit surprised considering the line-up of house-specific attacks.  For some reason, though, the attacks kept drawing the students out of their dorms.  And, she found it rather uncreative that the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws faced a similar situation where the door was simply the blockade.  Hopefully they find the Fat Lady soon though.

But, in the mean time, Holley wanted to help out and ease tensions.  So, after a quick trip to the kitchens, she rushed over to a large group of people with a box of donuts and coffee in hand.

“Anyone need a pick-me-up?” she smiled.

As soon as Tye had seen the destroyed portrait, he had shoved Jas behind him and into a corner while he stared around suspiciously, as if the danger would still be there. After a bit, he crept off to try and investigate and get the story before he rushed her to ‘safety’. Because she could see just as well from where she was standing as she could if she was closer, Jas decided to stay where she was. 

But when she heard the voice of her friendly roommate, she immediately grinned. “Over here Holley! The answer to that is yes, absolutely, and always. You’re a life saver.”

[notflowernorprize]

what-makes-the-world-go-round:

Arthur scooted his chair over a little to give her some more elbow room as she sat down. “Ah maybe I’ll read Sleepwalkers after The Edge of Physics then.” He scratched out the note he made and changed it to reflect the new advice. “I mean space and stars are interesting and all, but I just don’t see what they have to do with magic.” He smiled a little and shrugged not really sure how else to word his confusion about the subject. “I guess I just don’t understand why we need to know the names of Jupiter’s moons when we could be learning more practical magic instead.”

“I suppose that depends on your definition of practical magic. Potions and Herbology don’t require wands, but how can you know when the proper time to gather ingredients would be if you don’t know where the stars are in the sky? Certain major workings can only happen effectively when the planets are aligned, so you need to know whey they are going to be like that. And, if you’re interested at all in alchemy, astronomy is a required pre requisite because you need to understand the cosmos before you can perfect it.” Jas bubbled over slightly as she talked about all those connections before smiling slightly and shrugging. “But, sometimes its nice to learn something just because it’s interesting. Why did you continue on to the NEWT classes if you dislike the subject so much?”

[notflowernorprize]

mulanzhou:

“So you’re not some alien sent from outer space to infiltrate this planet’s resources?  That’s exactly what an alien would say,” Mulan joked as she took a seat at the bar.  “Well, we can go there next time then.  Unless they card.  Then I cannot go with you for another few months,” she laughed.  But having gone to the Black Minotaur last time, she found that she hadn’t had much fun there except for the fact that was how she met Bobby.  Guess she shouldn’t hate on the place too much.

“If they carded, do you really think I’d get inside? I’m younger than you are.” Actually, she was a little younger than most people guessed, as the years of homeschooling meant that she was slightly underage for her school year. But as she was a 6th year to Mulan’s 7th year, it was still a true statement. “In that case, you might need to ask me questions I wouldn’t be able to answer if I was an alien, just to prove it.”

[pete-jete-blog]

notflowernorprize:

If Jasmine were a different person, or in a different situation, she might have appreciated his sentiment. Indeed, she often believed many of the same things herself which was why she tried not to let an opportunity to help pass by. The problem was, she had so many people who made it their business to be responsible for her, she couldn’t appreciate yet another person doing so. Especially yet another person who didn’t actually want to be here in the slightest, so once again she was forcing someone to accompany her as she tried to do something to make herself happy, and really only succeeded in making someone else miserable. 

“I don’t need a babysitter. You aren’t required to worry about me. Inaction may be dangerous, but this is my action, my life. You aren’t required to live it. I’m sorry you got pulled in here with me but there is nothing tying you to me.” A corridor opened up next to them abruptly and Jas stopped. “Here, you can go your own way. We should still be in the castle if nothing else. But it is not your job to prevent anything from happening to me.”

Jasmine’s reaction was the one PJ had expected. After all, she had no idea what PJ had been through. She didn’t know about the lingering shadow of the times PJ had come across people he cared about nearly dead or seriously injured. She didn’t know that those instances were exactly why he had even come this far with her. So it really wasn’t surprising that she was essentially telling him to fuck off.

PJ eyed the corridor that had opened up and considered the situation. He didn’t want to be here. Jasmine didn’t want him here. She was right, there was nothing tying him to her and she was just as capable as he was of preventing anything dangerous from happening. More capable, probably. And at least she’d had the decency to add a sorry in while telling him to leave. He could go. And if she wound up hurt, that was on her. 

“Fine,” PJ said, relenting to his desire to get out of this dark corridor and back to the populated parts of the castle. He’d be worried about Jasmine until he saw her next, but that was better than staying here with someone who already resented him and had absolutely no intention of heeding any of his warnings. So, it was best he leave. “Stay safe,” PJ muttered as he turned around and headed back up the corridor they had been travelling down. He was not about to explore an unknown path on his own. No, he would be taking the path he already knew led back to safety.