* DON'T WANNA DIE YOUNG.

[prongtr]

NOGAH:

Nogah takes a huge breath before beginning to over ramble again. The idea of asking for help was really beyond her list but she knew she had to let her captain know. “I-I- I just think that I’m a little out of practice for my position in the sport. I mean people say quidditch is supposed to be for fun but I’m competitive as heck and I can feel the other team’s oppose stronger against me. It makes me feel like crap to say this because I don’t want to let you or the team down.”

james is surprised,   to say the least,    to see nogah of all people approaching him for help,   especially with a matter so serious to her.    he’s careful to not let the surprise show,   though,   knowing that judgement wouldn’t help,   would only serve to have her shut down,    and he nods slowly after she’s finished,   thoughtful.    “look,   you’re   ...    you’re a great player.    you’re not letting me or the team down,   nogah.    what makes you think you’re letting us down  ??”

[prongtr]

EMMELINE:

Emmeline nodded. “I’ll take that under advisement,” she said, making a mental note to talk to Remus later about teaching. “I can see him as a professor,” she admitted. “But you have leadership qualities, too. You have charisma, and I know you’re smarter than you pretend you are. Students like you and will follow your lead.” She studied him. “Maybe I’ll have you be in charge of recruitment.”

“ooh,    i get a role too   ??”   james nearly squeals in faux excitement    --    though it’s not all an act,   not really.    sure,   he’s busy with already being on the front lines,    with classes and quidditch,    but what he really cares about is making sure no one else gets hurt.   “yeah,    sure.    i can’t screw up recruitment,   right   ??    i’ll recruit the shit out of this student body.”

[prongtr]

“woah    !!     slow down,   you’re talking way too fast.”   james furrows his brow,   looking at the other in confusion.    “take a breath,   then  tell me     --    but slower.   a lot slower,   preferably.”    /    ( @newagestarters​ )

[prongtr]

EMMELINE:

Emmeline rolled her eyes, but she was honestly glad for the new levity in the conversation. “Unlike some people, I don’t need to be in the spotlight all the time. So long as you provide helpful tips and demonstrate good teaching skills, you’re welcome to have as many admirers flock to you as you want.”

“what a hostile tone.”    james jests,   but he still grins and then shakes his head.   “oh,   i mean.    i can help,   definitely.   but i think moony’s more apt to being like,   the teacher   ??   he’s a genius,   honestly.   i wouldn’t be surprised if he was a professor or headmaster or something one day.   but i’ll be there to help.    definitely.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“right” he nodded, the finger pointing and blame game wouldn’t do anything but make matters worse. asher had seen it happen before, albeit in much more tame and mundane scenarios. “that’s a good idea”

“thanks.”    james says with a decisive nod.   “i’ll look into it myself,   but you tell me if you hear anything,     yeah    ??    it’s best if we all work together on this.”

[prongtr]

REMUS:

                       remus  smiles,  wider  now.  he’s  encouraged  by  the  mention  of  a  class        –       he  knows  what  is  coming,  knows  that  people  need  to  be  more  prepared,  especially  those  that  are  going  to  be  more  vulnerable  to  attacks.  he  leans  closer,  making  a  mental  note  to  ask  marlene  about  this  later.                    ❝    that’s  great  news,  prongs    !     that’s  what  we  need.  i–i  can  teach  you  and  marlene.  you  two  are  better  at  directing  things.     ❞  

“oh,    come on moony.    you could do a much better job at teaching and you know it.    i’m all loud and marlene’s kind of a bitch    --   in the best way,    don’t tell her i said that    --   and the younger kids especially listen to you.   we’ll learn it,   but i think you should be the one to teach it.”    james says firmly,   moving to nudge at remus with his shoulder.    “besides    ...    maybe you could get madeleine to go    ??    i bet she’d think you look so cool teaching     ...”

[prongtr]

EMMELINE:

Emmeline raised her eyebrows at that. “Oh really? That’s good to know. Especially now.” She glanced around at the students in the hall before turning back to James. “I’ll definitely talk to him about it. Thanks for the tip.” She wasn’t entirely sure what else to say. She reached up to pat his shoulder lightly. “And of course you’re welcome to come join us whenever.”

“oh,   yeah   ??”   james cracks a smile and even laughs for what must be the first time in days     --    he’s not had much time to do anything,    especially not laugh and have fun,    since sirius was hurt and the school seemed to fall into chaos.    “sure i won’t be stealing your spotlight    ??    i’m somewhat of a celebrity.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“Who do you think would know the types of protective spells put up? Would anyone other than the professors know?”

“i don’t know,      honestly.     maybe the older students      ??    advisors or prefects     ??    i don’t wanna point the finger at anyone because the last thing we need is to be divided right now,    but i wanna look more into it.    get a list of everyone who knows.”

[prongtr]

EMMELINE:

“It’s not your fault, that’s true,” Emmeline said, hesitating before sitting down next to him. “It wasn’t your job to stop it or take care of it.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “But I understand your frustration. This is why I wanted to make the training club. So students will be prepared when things like this happen. I’m still planning on organizing it … if you want to join.” She glanced over at him. “It might help the feeling of helplessness.”

“actually,     i’d been meaning to talk to you about that.”     james says,   turning some so he can face her.   “marlene told us about it       --    the club,   i mean.    and moony knows that spell to ward off dementors.   he knows everything there is to know about it,    really.    i feel like we should teach it to everyone,    just in case this ever happens again.    and of course i’ll join and help out however i can.    i wanna make sure we’re ready.”

[prongtr]

REMUS:

                    remus  lets  james  talk,  carefully  maneuvering  him  away  from  directly  in  front  of  the  door          –         they’re  not  letting  visitors  in  to  see  people  yet  anyway.  he  lowers  his  voice  too,  nodding  and  looking  solemn.  he  doesn’t  like  to  admit  it,  but  he  knows  that  this  war  will  take  some  actual  action.               ❝    there’s  a  spell   to  expel  a  dementor,  but  it’s  pretty  advanced.  usually  only  higher  ups  in  the  ministry  have  to  use  it,  but     …      i  think  we  should  get  people  together  to  teach  them.     ❞    

james listens,    nodding thoughtfully along with what remus is saying.    he’s rarely this serious,    expression seldom this grave    (     save for when there’s a mask covering his face and he’s actually on missions      )    but the situation calls for it.    “okay,     yeah.      we’ve gotta teach it to them,     we owe it to them to be ready.    last i heard emmeline vance was setting up a dueling club with lucy karoonda and marlene     --    maybe you can teach it to everyone,    yeah   ??”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“right. i wonder if we could get them to put some sort of protective precautions up around the campus too. have it like as a first lines of defense type thing.”

“i’m pretty sure that they did have protective spells around campus.    that’s what’s got me all fucked up.    even if the dementors just wandered onto campus,    someone must’ve messed with the spells,    lowered our defenses somehow.”

[prongtr]

EMMELINE:

“I think it does matter. None of us can help effectively if we ourselves aren’t doing well,” Emmeline pointed out gently. “Have you eaten? Had something to drink? You should take a seat,” she gestured to the windowsill beside them. “At least give your feet a rest before you start rushing around anymore.”

“it’s    ...    it’s hard.     i can’t just rest,   i mean,    it’s not fair.”   james says,   but even as the words leave his mouth he realizes he’s being foolish.    he sighs heavily,    taking a seat and running his hands over his face.    “i mean,   fuck.    sirius is in there.    i know it’s not my fault,   but i feel like i should’ve stopped it somehow.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“yeah, that could be something. even if it isn’t everyone more people should know how to cast one. at least more than do now anyways.”

“look,   i’ve learned that ‘should haves’  and regrets don’t really do anything to help.    yeah,    i wish we would’ve been better prepared and i wish this hadn’t happened but it did,   and at least now we know better.     we can be ready.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“you’d think they’d make it a priority to teach something like that.” even if it wasn’t something taught in first or second year, it still should have some sort of importance. “there are things they teach us that we could go the rest of our lives without using, but how to cast a patronus spell that’s not one of them”

“well,      yeah.    i mean,    i wish they’d change things up and i’m sure now they will but it’s hard to learn a spell that advanced without a little bit of background.   but,    i mean,    i heard emmeline vance is starting up a dueling club,    so maybe that’ll help.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“Right. Right” he let his fingers run back through his curls again, “I guess the fight or flight theory really got put to the test today. yeah, I don’t know how to.” he’d tried before, but it was one of the things he hadn’t quite mastered yet.

“no one blames you for that,     either.”     james says with a nod.    “i mean,    if you had all the students of hogwarts in here i’d say over half of them have no idea how to cast it.    and honestly,     i only know ‘cause of moony.”

[prongtr]

ASHER:

“I just - I didn’t do anything. I should have done something, right? That’s what - that’s what good people do. Maybe I’m not a good person” 

“it’s not about being good or bad.    i mean,     you have survival instincts,   you know    ??     besides,    no one really knew what to do.    i don’t even think half the people in this school know how to cast a patronus yet.”

[prongtr]

REMUS:

                      ❝   james,  you  have  to  calm  down.   ❞              remus  says  softly.  he  knows  his  best  friend  is  passionate,  and  that  he  has  a  huge  heart,  but  all  the  raised  voices  wasn’t  good  for  people  dealing  with  trauma.   remus  knew  that  james’  was  actually  angry  at  himself,  for  not  being  able  to  help,  to  do  more  ( to  protect  sirius ).              ❝   nobody  thought  it  would  come  to  the  school,  but  now  we’re  more  prepared.   ❞    

“i     --     i know,     moony.     of course i know that.     it’s just      ...      all these people were hurt,         they’re scared at their school for fuck’s sake and        --       sirius,     they     ...”     james trails off,     taking in a deep breath.     he lowers his voice.    he knows remus is right,      knows ranting and raving in the hall isn’t helping anyone but he feels so powerless for once.    “but what next        ??       what if we’re unprepared next time and we lose people    ??”