Pepper Mantovani

Sixth Year Gryffindor Prefect

[loganmckeller]

Ink Part 1

[loganmckeller]

He’d once made a face at Pepper hugging Katie before Logan once, but really he was appreciative of their relationship. He was aware he couldn’t be a complete role model for Katie, being a brother who was too much of an introvert, really, to be guiding Katie to the outside world. He was glad for Pepper, who had quickly warmed up to his sister and vice versa.

He smiled now before looking behind Pepper to the inside of Pepper’s house, always warm and inviting. His eyes were drawn from the Christmas wreath outside when he felt familiar arms coming up to squeeze tightly, and he wondered how he thought he could go through the whole break without feeling those arms.

Then again, if their inks don’t match, he would have to go through the rest of his life without them.

He mentally shook his head and pressed a quick kiss to Pepper’s temple before fully separating from her, placing a hand on Katie’s back to urge her forward so she could enter first. He laughed when Katie placed her own on his back and actually moved behind him so she could push him forward to the warmth of the Mantovani household.

Katie was bouncing on the balls of her feet while they handed over their coats. “So what are we doing today?”

[peppermantovani]

Pepper would admit that she was more than thrilled to have the Mckeller siblings at her house. It all worked out that she had finished cleaning a little earlier. The decorations within were minimal for the Mantovani family standards, but that would change quickly in the next coming days. 

Being around Logan, even in the short few minutes since their arrival, had Pepper immediately feeling twice more awake. “Come on in!” She hung their coats up in the hall closet before turning back to them. Pointing towards the hallway, “I was just about to make myself something to eat, actually. I spent all day cleaning.” She let out a groan, thankfully, however, that she had managed to shower after. 

“What brings you to the Mantovani Christmas Display Home?” She gave an amused grin, motioning to the living room which was filled with a large Christmas tree. There were decorations on every branch that would hold one and the fireplace held the family stockings. It was a sea of shopping bags, however, that filled up most of the free space under and around the tree. 

Pepper’s gaze went to Logan as they walked into the kitchen. It was good to see him, even better than she managed to convince him to visit. She wondered what tattoo would appear on her skin come her birthday, no doubt in her mind that they would have matching ones. 

[loganmckeller]

Ink Part 1

[loganmckeller]

“We should visit Pepper,” Katie insisted, sticking her spoon into her dessert.

They currently sat at a table by the window in Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour with Logan staring at his order and Katie almost finished with hers. Logan was already halfway to the decision to visit Pepper, having gone home to the Mckeller’s residence, and it was no secret that he hated being there. Which means he didn’t leave Hogwarts just to stay at the large mansion.

He shook his head. “We’ll bother them.”

“You already made sure we won’t by booking us a hotel room so we won’t have to sleep there. Although, I have a feeling you plan to visit everyday anyway…” Katie took another spoonful into her mouth before shrugging her shoulders are her older brother.

“Why do you have so much to say about this?” Logan demanded, deciding he’d better start properly eating his own ice cream before it all melted.

Katie shrugged again, looking out the window in thought. “I’d have done the same with my boyfriend.”

Logan sputtered, glad he’d just swallowed a spoonful so he didn’t spit out ice cream everywhere as his head snapped up to his sister. He was about to start cursing out a storm but Katie caught his face between her two small hands, directing a bland look at him. “I was being hypothetical.”

“How do you even know what that word means?” Logan asked, momentarily forgetting about the supposed boyfriend.

“Well, that’s how learning works, you know, you learn something new everyday, and it just so happens I like learning new words.” She leaned back as she spoke, taking a bite of the last of her ice cream before nodding to herself.

“Right, we should go.” Katie stood, moved Logan’s own ice cream away from him after her tried to reach for it, and grabbed her brother arms and started tugging.

Logan hurriedly took another bite and spoke with ice cream in his mouth. “Woah, what’s the hurry?”

“Don’t pretend you can wait another minute to see her.” Katie insisted as Logan took another spoonful to try and finish his dessert. She made a face at him.

He made a few, too, starting to get-

“That’s a trigeminal headache.”

He made an even worse face, making her laugh. “Nerd,” he muttered, finally letting her pull him up.

“Dork,” she muttered back, linking their arms so Logan could lead them away.

~~~

“Well, I’d love to stand here outside in the cold with you, Logan, but how about we knock?” Katie was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet, eager to see Pepper. Unlike Logan, she only ever saw the older witch a few times a year, and she was excited to see her. They’d been owling each other for a while now and Katie was really glad she could get along with her brother’s girlfriend. It would have been a mess if she didn’t.

Logan shifted in his feet, glaring at his sister’s sass. “When did you get all sarcastic? You used to be so nice.”

“You either get sarcastic or you get mopey when you start entering puberty, and I saw you get mopey and saw that it wasn’t fun-”

“Hey!”

“So I-”

But they both jumped a little when the Mantovani’s door opened in the middle of their banter.

[peppermantovani]

There had only been a small response from Logan and it irked her slightly but she let it go--mainly because she had been forced to help around the house so much. In fact, that morning had been spent sweating as she cleaned the entirety of the whole house. One shower later and another chapter in her book, Pepper was fully prepared to find something to eat since she had completely forgotten to do so. 

Walking down the steps, a pair of voices muffled through the windows caught her attention. Halting her humming, Pepper glanced out the window and grinned. Shaking her head at the sibling banter she could tell was happening from their body language, the Gryffindor moved down the last few steps and opened the door. 

Their taking stopped as soon as she did and Pepper ignored the cold weather outside in favor of moving towards Katie. “This is a lovely surprise!” She hugged the younger girl she had come to consider family, tightly, and only let go to greet Logan just as excitedly. “Tesoro!” Her arms hugged him tight, before she noted how cold his jacket was. 

Frowning, “How long have you been out here?” Though before letting them answer, she waved a hand up, “Nevemind, come inside. It’s too cold out.” Stepping back into the house, she playfully let out her hands for their coats as soon as the door was closed. 

[peppermantovani]

[loganmckeller]

Ink Part 1

“So, have you figured out how you’re going to deal with it?”

Logan didn’t even turn his head at the question, pretending to be so consumed in his essay that he didn’t hear his best friend’s approach and tasteless greeting. He knew what Synri was talking about, and Logan has not, in fact, figured out how he was going to deal with it.

It was only a couple of minutes later that a hand appeared in his field of vision, without regard for personal space and privacy as the owner of the said hand pointed towards Logan’s barely-written essay.

“Your surname is Mckeller.”

Logan stared at the words at the tip of Synri’s finger and noticed that, indeed, he didn’t even get as far as finishing writing his name before pretending to be immersed in this particular academic requirement.

Logan rolled his eyes, more to himself than Synri, and looked up at the shorter guy. “Don’t you need to be somewhere manipulating people?”

“It gets a bit dull,” Synri tutted, plopping down on the chair across from Logan. Actually, Synri never plops down. He always gracefully lowers himself unto a chair that would be lucky to have a Vanrith ass on it. Logan often wondered how they’d become friends when Synri was always the exemplary gentleman, and Logan tried really hard to become as less like his father as he could. So Logan didn’t even bother straightening his tie, much less worry about how he drops down on chairs.

Although, not fixing his tie always had the added bonus of having Pepper standing close to him for a few minutes, the female prefect as neat and tidy as Synri was in front of other students.

But that was beside the point.

Logan slumped in his seat now across an impeccably dressed and seated Synri, and Logan groaned. “You always think it’s better to bother me when you’re bored.”

“I thought that’s what friendships are for,” Synri tilted his head, the corner of his lip threatening to twitch in amusement.

With a huff, Logan threw his quill down, thinking that it would be better for his sanity to stop diverting the conversation from something Synri was obviously worrying over him about. The Slytherin prefect would never admit it, though.

“No, I haven’t thought about it. In fact, I’d rather not think about it at all.”

Synri raised an eyebrow. “And how is running from your problems treating you?”

“It’s not a problem.”

Synri raised both eyebrows now. “The fact that you’ve been agonizing about it for six months already implies otherwise.” Deciding to cut his best friend a bit of a slack, he leaned back on his chair, trying another tactic. “Have you talked to Pepper about it?”

Logan clenched his jaw, which was really all the answer Synri needed. He averted his gaze again, choosing to look out of the window, the vast amount of snow fall obscuring practically everything outside. It was winter break, leaving only a handful of people in their dorms, which Logan was really thankful for. He appreciated the quiet as he… brooded. “Pepper isn’t here, is she?”

Synri only rolled his eyes. “Again. Agonizing for six months. You’ve had time to bring it up. How did you even get out of the Mantovani Family invitation to stay over for the break?”

Logan slumped further into his seat, so low that if he slid any further, he’d be on the floor instead of the chair. “I wasn’t trying to get out of it. I love Pepper’s family.”

“But you’re terrified of her dad.”

“Her mom actually,” Logan mused absentmindedly, before shaking his head. “I convinced Pepper to spend this time with her parents. I have her for the rest of the year.”

“Pepper didn’t buy that.”

Disgruntled, Logan actually sat up to place his forearms on the table, directing a glare at Synri. “No, she didn’t. But I insisted.”

“Is this practice for when the ink shows up and you’re not paired?”

Logan gritted his teeth, but couldn’t help the sharp pang to his chest at the words that quite accurately summed up what he’d been worrying about for the past few months. “Fuck you, Syn.”

With nary another glance, Logan stood, crumpling the still empty parchment in front of him and stuffing it haphazardly inside his bag as he stood swiftly, slinging the strap over his head and walked purposefully away from one of the two people he knew would stick by him no matter what. He’d feel guilty about being an overdramatic asshole later. For now he wanted to stew in his bad mood.

Which would have lasted longer had his owl not caught up with him, settling automatically on his shoulder while he walked, and managing to balance on one claw while the other extended for Logan to take the letter. Knowing it could only be Pepper, he detached the letter and let his owl settle both claws on his uniform. He felt his lips twitch, because the train had only left late that morning, which meant it hadn’t even been twelve hours since they last saw each other, and Pepper was already sending him mail. He briefly wondered how his owl knew that Pepper was even intending to send him mail.

Lo,

I’m only on this train without you because you distracted me with kisses when you asked for me to spend break with my parents. I’m going to keep sending you mail until you say yes. Don’t think I won’t ask my mum to use that charm that could send thousands of mail to someone.

I know you said I should spend Christmas with family. I will. And, Lo, you’re my family, too.

Love,

Pepper

Logan raised a hand to his chest, pressing the heel of his hand on his breastbone where he felt both a warmth that he knew he’d only ever felt with Pepper. He released a breath as he looked up from the letter, only to slowly inhale, letting the familiar scent of the castle fill his lungs until he couldn’t feel the slight prick of whatever behind his eyes.

He knew he was going to break, anyway. He never could say no to Pepper. And with his parents on several events for the break for the several branches of the company worldwide, he was sure he could steal his sister away anytime. Probably everyday so she wouldn’t have to be around their parents.

Logan tapped the letter on the palm of his other hand as he thought about the logistics of his break, but not being able to stop his worries from cluttering his mind. It was still there, and it would be there until Pepper’s birthday. He didn’t know what he had wanted to accomplish by spending less time with Pepper, but the few hours they’d been separated was already wearing him down.

With a heavy sigh, he dropped his head to reread the words on the small piece of paper on his hand, already starting to give in to the request in it.

[peppermantovani]

The trip home was lonely and she was feeling particularly pouty about it. Since their sixth year didn’t have any major exams to worry about, she felt less inclined to study which only meant she spent far more time with Logan doing other things. Their trips to the greenhouses became more frequent and their place by the lake had become more inhabited than before. Making her way through the train after a brief holiday gift exchange with her fellow prefects, Pepper flopped down ungracefully beside her roommates. 

“Get over it, Pepe,” Lia offered, barely looking up from her magazine. Pepper gave a slight kick across the seats but otherwise kept quiet. 

Sure, they’d spent time apart before, but after spending just over three months constantly around one another had made her comfortable in always knowing he’d be there. The conversations of the space came and went and by the time Pepper was walking off the train, her excitement over the holiday had come back. Her favorite time of the year, she was ready to jump into the world of technology, shopping, and cooking that her home provided. 

Her parents gave her a tight squeeze, even pausing to give her roommates one as well. After a few hours running errands, she finally arrived home. All through the day she had been working on a letter to send out to Logan. Giving it to her mother’s owl, Pepper smiled in satisfaction as it flew out in the window through the fading sunlight. 

While she knew that Logan had denied her insistence the first few times, she hoped the time apart would make him want to reconsider. Not to mention, her family sincerely wanted to see him. Her father tried to hide it, but he enjoyed spending time with Logan--who could loosely be considered the only other male in the household. She smiled in wonder if she’d be able to see Katie as well during break, as she made her way to her luggage to unpack. 

[peppermantovani]

[peppermantovani]

New York City Apartment

Skylight in Bathroom

Open Kitchen

Full Size Appliances

Ridiculous amount of closets

Walk in Kitchen Pantry

Newly refurbished

Overlooks Saint Nicholas Park

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

I see. Well, thank you.

White macadamia nut cookies. If I could make anything worthwhile in exchange I would, though I suppose if you ever need extra help in Potions or Charms, or if you ever need some manner of Healing I could help.

[peppermantovani]

Noted. I'm probably better in Potions than you but I will definitely be taking up help in Charms. Seriously though there is no need to give me something in exchange. I enjoy making food for people. 

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

Oh? Because I’m apparently intimidating without meaning to be? Or because you’ve never seen me angry?

What kind of cookies though? That’s the important question.

[peppermantovani]

Neither actually. Because I don't like you being angry...or any negative emotion for that matter. 

I think the most important question is what your favorite cookie is. Then I can answer your question. 

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

Of course. You’re very agreeable, so if someone made you cry, especially as a first year… I would be quite mad.

I would need a dozen cookies at least to calm myself.

[peppermantovani]

Then I'll accept that compliment even though the thought of you angry doesn't settle well with me. 

I can easily make at least a dozen cookies or more. 

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

I think I’m a standing example that house stereotypes are just that, but that’s good. If someone had made you cry I might feel the need to hit them, and since I tend toward pacifism I would have be disquieted for days.

[peppermantovani]

You'd do that just for me? 

I'd at least offer up comfort food for such angry emotions being brought up to you

[peppermantovani]

Pepper Mantovani + Moodboard 1/?

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

I guess. I’ll feel better once I apologize. But I can’t recall ever crying because a sixth year chastised me. Did you?

[peppermantovani]

I don't see you as one to cry. I myself didn't cry from such a thing. I'm a Gryffindor. We're supposed to be badass not criers.

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

You’re making me feel worse Pepper. 

[peppermantovani]

I was proving that it's not your fault. Once they become our age, they'll probably have the same problem. Don't beat yourself up on it, sweets. 

[zendayac-blog1]

Requested manip of Lyndsy Fonseca and Tyler Hoechlin.

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

She was screaming and playing Exploding Snap in the study area. I didn’t even yell. I shouldn’t be allowed to talk to first years- you look at them wrong and they cry or they act like you’re going to hit them.

[peppermantovani]

That's because they're sensitive and still children. 

[tiberius-west-deactivated201408]

I made another first year cry.

Can someone go find her and give her a cookie or a cheering charm or something of that nature?

[peppermantovani]

This is the second one this month.

[cy-riviera]

Oh, I don’t mind using ‘social life’ time as ‘Cyrus avoids the world’ time, so boredom doesn’t strike too often.

[peppermantovani]

So you mean you're never bored then? That's what you seem to be alluding to. Some of us don't like being alone all the time, sir.