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Post by Damon Graas R5 on Jul 5, 2008 9:56:21 GMT -5
He should have known that Rister wouldn’t buy it. At least he allowed to let the matter lay for a couple of hours. He’d have to tell his family about the bond soon anyway. It would probably be easier to tell his older brother before his other siblings, even though his parents still needed to know as well “Cute? Why, oh why, do all girls find me cute? What do I need to do to shake the reputation? Strip and go have a passionate snogging session with Prestimion on the staff table?” Damon sniffed indignantly at Lita, as he continued to eat. Deciding not to tell Lita that he hadn’t chosen. Rather, Ashlyn had chosen him. “I’m yet to see any proof of your votes for me, so I’ll choose my right to remain silent, as anything I say, can and will be used against me by the Graas siblings,” Damon responded in a charade of muggle criminal movies to Jared.
He watched how Morgana fetched Ashlyn, with an impassive face. She would have to meet with his family soon enough anyway. And as she had fleetingly mentioned having been relations with his dorm-mates and other Gryffindors? Well, breakfast with the family was a rare occasion. Ashlyn was – besides Lita – the first person ever to join it, so there were bound to be rumours. But as those, not so popular, were often bullied it might also offer her an additional protection. You attacked one of them, you attacked them all. Rister guided Ashlyn to sit and Damon lightly placed his hand on Ashlyn’s back, sending a wave of calmness, reassurance, warm fondness of his family, security, and yes, also amusement through the bond. “They’re a bit rowdy bunch at times, you can ignore most of it, but watch your words. Playing with words, is the speciality of the entire bunch here,” he advised Ashlyn calmly, letting his family do the questioning part.
“And you aren’t allowed to banish the plate without eating. I’ll leave handling your breakfast, Lita, to Rister and Jared,” Damon added after taking a bite and swallowing. Rolling her eyes at the exaggerated gasps from his family, Damon nodded at Ashlyn: “Mornings should be forbidden. And it wasn’t as if the spell was in effect for long enough to even singe dad’s hair. I didn’t catch any proper sleep for 2 weeks afterwards though. Be careful with Gabriel’s love-claims. If you look around the place, there are plenty of fangirls glaring daggers at you now. It could be dangerous. And by now you have spoken with all of us. Pass the pancakes and cranberry jam please.”
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Post by Ashlyn Swallow G5 on Jul 5, 2008 10:22:38 GMT -5
“So I’m not the only one who doesn’t worship you, even if she is apparently practically a sister to you. It’s quite disheartening to think that I’ve only ever encountered one other girl who doesn’t faint after hearing your name,” Ashlyn responded coolly, shooting Damon a grateful look for the reassurance he flooded the bond with. She had needed it, even if she would never admit that to him. “And I’d be absolutely thrilled to supply you with the Gryffindors posters,” she told the older girl, raising a quizzical eyebrow as the Graas’ and Lita started to choke. Had it been something she said? Ashlyn looked down at herself slowly before raising her eyes back to Gabriel and nodding. “Yes, I’m definitely still alive. Though I might be tempted to rethink your state of living if you refer to me as Damon’s, or anyone’s, girl ever again.” Despite her death threat, Ashlyn regarded Gabriel with amusement rather than ire. Not that she wouldn’t stab him with a fork if he tried to kiss her hand again.
“I can’t believe you tried to set someone’s hair on fire just for waking you up.” Ashlyn shook her head in disbelief, not even bothering to wonder what had saved her from a similar fate. She had been too hyped up on caffeine to remember much of the meeting except for when they got to the kitchens so it was quite likely she had received a threat and just ignored it. “And I’ve already eaten at the Gryffindor table.” Although her fellow Gryffindors had tried their very hardest to distract her and ruin her breakfast, she finished silently. They would have to try much harder though if they wanted to match up to Leda’s and Pollux’s attempts to ruin her appetite.
“Oh Merlin, not more fan-girls,” Ashlyn groaned quietly, hiding her face in her hands for a few seconds before staring at Damon accusingly even as she passed the pancakes and jam to him automatically. “This is all your fault,” she accused unhappily, inching away from him discreetly so that she couldn’t accidentally brush his hand and allow him to feel the amusement entwined with resignation that accompanied her annoyance. Sometimes the bond was annoying but it was always there and Ashlyn had learnt how to manage it in its current state.
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Post by Jared Graas R4 on Jul 6, 2008 3:37:53 GMT -5
Jared noticed the quiet exchange of signs between his brothers, but didn’t say anything. He knew that everything and anything would be shared with all of them anyway. Instead he addressed Leandra’s teasing. “It would still be the poor sods fault, for staying around for long enough or letting you see him. We’d kill him, bury him in a shallow grave, and then mourn with you,” Jared finished dodging the half-hearted attack from Leandra’s fork. Besides he had heard something far more interesting to dwell on the topic for longer for now. “And whose compositions have you considered to be good enough to play or perform somewhere? And what genre do your own writings generally fit in. I’m not a fan of classical classics, but I do appreciate the composers talent.”
Snickering gloatingly at the smacks Rister and Gabriel received, Jared nodded with all seriousness to Damon: “I’m not sure if you’d be titled a bad boy like Rister and Gabriel after it. But if we get a picture of you kissing Prestimion, we’d all get rich with selling photos though. So you’re welcomed to get a move on,” Jared teased, averting his eyes at Gabriel in alert at the same time. “Photo shoot in two weeks? Don’t forget we have our detention then. Replanting the garden. I do wonder who’ll they’ll make slave in the garden when all of us graduate,” Jared mused absently as he picked up a muffin and started unwrapping it.
After overcoming his own laughter, Jared took mercy on Ashlyn’s clueless face an explained: “Damon hates mornings. If needed we usually wake him by throwing ice-cubes at him while keeping the door as closed as possible. And he didn’t set just anyone random hair on fire. It was dad. His middle-name Faolan means wolf in old Gaelic and he was called a wolf even before he became a werewolf for a reason. Outside the people you’re seeing here right now, I can count the people who aren’t scampering away at his sneer on my fingers. If you think any of us is arrogant, then dad could beat us all together. And it works for him. Damon spent the next 2 weeks being disturbed whenever he wanted to go to sleep and he spent the time having to camp outside. It was summer so it wasn’t too bad but…” Jared chuckled recalling the memory, “And ignore Damon. Beyond his obsession with setting hair on fire, the rest of us are properly behaved. With the exception of Rister. And Gabriel. Of course. And you’ll have to excuse Gabriel. We met you through Damon and we’ve known him for longer. Until we get to know you for you – if we do – you’ll be Damon’s girl for us.”
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Leandra Graas R3
Ravenclaw
There?s a way out of each dark mist on the path of the rainbow.
Posts: 18
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Post by Leandra Graas R3 on Jul 6, 2008 4:52:54 GMT -5
“Well, we know who you are if you want to be that technical. You’re Ashlyn Swallow and a Gryffindor fifth year. But a name and a house don’t define you as a person. None of us is on overly friendly terms with Gryffindors, so for Damon to willingly meet with you so often for some other reason besides tutoring? You need to have quite a character to charm my brothers,” Leandra explained, gesticulating freely, “And obviously there’s some interest on your part too. Not that I blame you, Damon’s neat. But if you didn’t want to hear a single thing about him, you wouldn’t have came over when Morgana invited you. It’s all logic.”
“And actually I adore Gabriel too. But I don’t’ tend to faint near him. Unless I’m profusely injured and bleeding. At which case I’d faint no matter if Gabriel was near me or not. But I’d rather he were near me. Because then I’d get to hope I’d stop bleeding soon and would perhaps wake up,” Leandra tapped her forehead, as if pointing out the simple logic of her thought, “But just because I love him, doesn’t mean that I’ve given up all hope on his improvement!” Listening how AJred explained the hair situation to Ashlyn, Leandra giggled and closed her eyes as she recalled it: “It was so funny, when dad flooded the lake at which Damon was camping. Think dad would do it again, if we asked him nicely?”
“And of course Jared is rowdy as well. In reality only me and Morgana are well mannered. Except when we have to discipline the rowdier bunch. I sometimes think about investing in a cowboy hat and a whip like Indiana Jones. He’s quite cool. Predictable, chauvinistic, idiotic – but cool.” Wrapping strawberries into a slice of cheese, Leandra ate it thoughtfully while peering at Ashlyn: “What’s your favourite class? Do you like love-novels? Or do you have any pets? Or had some before when you were younger? Or do you treat your violin as your pet, as Jared here occasionally treats his guitar? Even though he has proper pets too.”
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Post by Ashlyn Swallow G5 on Jul 6, 2008 7:03:51 GMT -5
Ashlyn shrugged modestly, not really comfortable with discussing her musical tastes. It had been so long since someone had taken a true interest that it seemed odd to be answering questions. “I have contacts who forward their compositions to me and to other musicians,” she answered simply. “The ones I choose are the ones that suit my own tastes or that I know the people I’m playing for will enjoy. If I looked at the names of who wrote the pieces then prejudices might get in the way so I don’t bother. I won’t take the risk of not being able to play a good piece of music simply because of who the composer is, and I don’t deny that it could happen if I checked the names. I have a lot of people who I fiercely dislike and I’d rather not have to fight with my pride about whether or not to play their music. And my own writings tend to fit whatever mood I’m in at the time. If the music that is produced from it doesn’t suit my own style then I’ll pass it on to someone else and hope that it suits whoever it ends up with.”
Ashlyn glanced at Jared for a second before recalling that he wouldn’t know that the fact that it was their father’s hair that Damon had set on fire wouldn’t mean anything to her. Just because she felt that her relatives would be best suited to jumping off a cliff didn’t mean that everyone else felt the same, Ashlyn reminded herself patiently. But neither did it mean that she should share her thoughts with everyone. But no wonder everyone had been so surprised that she was still alive. “It’s hard to attack someone who’s hyped up on caffeine,” Ashlyn informed them after a moment’s deliberation. She hated sharing information about herself but it was better than letting people think that she had been saved from Damon’s wrath because he was interested in her romantically.
Jared’s last remark had irritated her but Ashlyn merely smiled coolly and forced away the urge to stand up and leave. She was no one’s girl – even her parents referred to her using her name. But that was fine. She’d sit through this breakfast and then take out her anger on whatever idiot dared to annoy her first. Heh. Leandra’s comment earned a slight smile. Houses didn’t define people? If only her parents had thought the same way. Their reasoning had been that Ashlyn would suddenly transform into a sweet idiotic girl who would obey every order they gave her if she got sorted into Gryffindor. She had, but she definitely wasn’t sweet or an idiot.
“You’re his sister. You can adore him without being counted among his fan-girls,” Ashlyn explained her logic nonchalantly before smiling slightly at the next lot of questions that the younger girl shot her way. “My favourite class...probably DADA. A typical Gryffindor answer perhaps but I can’t help my preferences. No, I don’t like romance novels, which probably has something to do with the fact that I don’t like the idea of romance at all. I don’t have any pets at the moment but when I was younger I had five cats and two dogs that I’d rescued from the streets. They drove my Uncle crazy because the cats would curl up on his guitars and the dogs preferred to sleep on his bed,” Ashlyn remembered wistfully. Maybe it was time to get some animals again, Ashlyn pondered thoughtfully before discarding the idea. She had no one to look after them during the school year and she couldn’t leave them alone for such a long time. Maybe after graduation.
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Post by Rister Graas S6 on Jul 9, 2008 6:01:37 GMT -5
Rister saw and felt that Ashlyn didn’t appreciate his relaxed gesture of resting his arm around the shoulders but he didn’t let it distract himself. Just the same as he sent Lita an equally warning loot in return as he slowly sauntered back to his seat after Ashlyn had sat. The girl would have to get used to quickly to the fact that touching each others shoulder or hand or even clapping the others back wasn’t prohibited in the family. She might as well get a head start on the detail. “I’m sure you’ll have no problems portraying sins,” Rister remarked with a cool grin at Gabriel, knowing fully well both the statue and problems with girls.
“Disheartening? Hardly, Ashlyn. You see. The girls don’t faint on us, or we would just leave. At least they don’t faint unless they think there’s an option that we’ll catch them should the faint,” Rister claimed arrogantly, but quite truthfully, laughing quite merrily at Ashlyn’s groan. “You’ll get used to it soon enough. They’re quite amusing at times. Gabriel won’t mind if you spread some random rumours about him. That he’s heart-broken, so disappointed in girls he’s planning on becoming a gay, he’s on a date, he’s actually secretly in love with the fan but too shy to admit it. Anything for our amusement.”
Finishing his own first plate of food, Rister helped himself to a second helping of fried eggs, ham and toast huffing at Leandra. “Exception of me? Please, I can be the perfect gentleman,” Rister winked at Ashlyn as if adding her to the conspiracy, “If I wish to be. And Leandra, if you’re there then it’s far more likely that Gabriel – or any of your brothers around – are the ones bruised and bleeding.” Which was true. They were all protective – most likely by the influence of their father – of their sisters. None of them would have hesitated for a moment if it came to jumping down a pit or before a hex to protect their sisters. Even now during breakfast they were sitting protectively, with the girls surrounded by them from both sides, even if Rister smartly didn’t point it out loud.
“Why is DADA typical of Gryffindors? Everyone duels or has arguments or sees the bogeymen in dark. Everyone needs to know how to deal with it just the same. Jared likes DADA too, I’m good enough in the subject – and neither of us has that many Gryffindor characteristics,” Rister countered with a slight frown, “Both dogs and cats. Not bad. And why don’t you have any now then? Cats are allowed at Hogwarts just the same, even if they don’t even allow guidance dogs. Or does it mean we can bring the next kittens or puppies to you?”
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