Hey, Four! on Teppenpaw Commons

Ben Holland

March 15, 2011 10:53 PM

Hey, Four! by Ben Holland

Ben had been overwhelmed for his first term at Sonora. Before he knew it, midterm was creeping up on him. It wouldn't be too long before he was home for the holidays. He could tell Cy and James in person about his first match. They may have lost, but he had knocked some one of their broom. He thought that was something to share with his trainer. He could also tell Kara stories of the gardens, and of all the magic. He would even share with her the dance he had to do to get to his commons.

He was in the Labyrinth when an owl swooped in and landed on his lap. He recognized it as his father's owl, Mercury. He petted the bird's head and coaxed him in to giving him the letter from his parents. His mother's gently penmanship decorated the short piece of parchment.

Dear Benjamin,
I hope school is going well for you. I trust that you're keeping you grades up, as well. If not, we might be having a talk about your Quidditch position.

At that, Ben remembered he had an essay he needed to do. He couldn't risk having to resign from the Quidditch team. He continued reading.

I can't wait for you to visit at Christmas. Perhaps you could invite your friend over for New Year's? It would be lovely to meet the boy that you'll be living with for the majority of your teenage life. Please reply as soon as possible.
With love,
Mom and Dad

Ben grinned and took off running to the Teppenpaw common room. He reached that certain step, and performed his silly jig, before entering. He hurried into his dorm, "Hey, Four! I've got news!"

0 Ben Holland Hey, Four! 0 Ben Holland 1 5

Derry Four

March 17, 2011 1:32 PM

Hey, Ben! by Derry Four

Derry heard Ben come into the room, and put aside his Charms essay gratefully. He didn't think the work at Sonora was any harder than what Hamlet used to give him, but there was a lot of it. The most difficult part was keeping everything straight; when to go to Potions instead of DADA, what assignment is due for Transfiguration while you have to do something else for Creatures . . . it was just way more than he'd ever had to deal with when Father went off to do Heir stuff and Hamlet came in and said, "Today, we will learn about the Roman Invasion of Britain."

At least classes were more interesting than the Roman Invasion of Britain. He'd definitely give them that.

Though this particular essay was no more fun than any essay he'd ever had to write for Hamlet, so he was glad for Ben's interruption. "Good, you're here! You've saved me from death by essay. What's up? What kind of news?"

1 Derry Four Hey, Ben! 189 Derry Four 0 5

Ben

March 17, 2011 2:08 PM

A question to ask. by Ben

Ben grinned even broader, "Glad to be of service. Anyway, I got a letter from my mom." Ben flopped out to his own bed, before continuing, "She says that if your parents don't mind you can come to my house after Christmas and spend New Year's with us. We have this big field and there'll be fireworks, magical and nonmagical. And Cy and James will play Quidditch with us. Cy's an amazing Beater. She trained me!" He stopped before he could begin to babble.

That's when it hit him. Derry Four came from a high class pureblood family. They probably wouldn't want their heir to spend several days with a HalfBlood and his Muggle mother. He turned red as disappointment flooded him, "Of course, if your parents don't mind about my mom being a Muggle. I understand if you can't."

He knew it didn't bother Four, but he had never met his family. Ben really hoped that they didn't care. His mom really wanted to meet his roommate and he really wanted to introduce Four and Cy. She would have loved him and his funny clothes.

He pressed on, feeling foolish, "I'll give you your Christmas present then too. But if you can't I'll just bring back to school. It won't be in before we leave for the holidays."

0 Ben A question to ask. 0 Ben 0 5

Derry

March 17, 2011 3:40 PM

An answer to give. by Derry

Derry sat up with interest as Ben said he got a letter from his mom. By the grin on his face, it had to be a good letter. Derry nodded along, grinning as well, as Ben described what would occur over the break. So far as he knew, the only plan he had for Midterm was for Fae's party, but that wasn't on New Year's.

Then Ben's face fell and Derry's wasn't far behind because there was no way Father would let him go to a half-muggle home.

On the other hand . . . Mom might let him go. And if Father didn't know certain key details . . . "I can ask," he said, "and your name is Holland, and that's magic name," he was nearly positive Three went to school with a Holland, too, "so if I just don't say your mom's a muggle, it should be okay."

He frowned a little at the implied dishonesty, but he really wanted to go and didn't see why he shouldn't and, really, Mom wouldn't mind, he didn't think. "Just so Father won't overrule Mom's decision."

Hamlet said Father was wrong about some things. This, Derry was certain, was one of them.

"I'll write her now." He pulled a blank sheet of parchment from behind the one he'd been writing his essay on.

In his best script - because he didn't want her to say no because his penmanship was lacking - he wrote out:

Dear Mother,

I have been cordially invited to the Holland Residence to spend a couple of days meeting my roommate's family over New Year's. I have it on good authority that his sibling, Cy, is an outstanding Beater and will be willing to teach Benjamin and I how to do better in our next game. I have also been told there will be magical fireworks.

May I please go?

Thank you,
Derwent IV

He showed it to Ben and said, "It's all about phrasing it right. Make it about learning instead of fun, and even Father will be all over sending me to visit. Mom won't mind either way. She dressed Three like this," he spread out his arms to indicate the colonial style clothes that he'd become accustomed to over the last months, "because that's how she thought Muggles dressed and she wanted him to fit in." He leaned forward and whispered, "I think her great-grandfather was a muggle himself. There are old pictures in the attic, with him dressed like this."

1 Derry An answer to give. 189 Derry 0 5

Ben

March 17, 2011 5:08 PM

Sounds good to me. by Ben

Ben nodded, "Right, Dad's a pureblood wizard, so it won't be too unfamiliar." He watched as his roommate carefully penned his letter to his mother. When it was shown to him, he read it carefully.

"Sound good to me. And good thinking, not clarifying if Cy was a boy or girl. Some people don't like girls playing the game. It doesn't make sense to me, but whatever." He shrugged.

"Your mom sounds nice," Ben complemented, "Your father won't be angry at her if he finds out, will he? I'd hate to cause a ruckus." He'd read a book about a mother keeping the fact that their son was hanging around Muggles, and it hadn't ended happily. Of course, this was the real world, and not one of his novels.

"If they don't say yes," Ben spoke, running a hand through his hair, "it'll be alright. I mean, we do have the next six and a half years together, midterm won't kill us. That is, of course, if we don't get sick of each other before then. Then we'll just sulk and try not to kill each other." His lips turned up in a smile, before turning into a laugh. "I don't think that'll happen. We are the tolerant house."

0 Ben Sounds good to me. 0 Ben 0 5

Derry Four

March 18, 2011 1:42 PM

Re: Sounds good to me. by Derry Four

Derry nodded in agreement as Ben congratulated his foresight in not mentioning Cy was a girl. Even Mom might balk at that; not so much because she agreed with keeping girls off the Pitch as because Grandmother dictated the family was to support WAIL fully. Since meeting Kirstenna and the other girls on the team, Derry was far from convinced WAIL understood what it was talking about (and honestly, Derry had been rather confused by WAIL even before then - why couldn't girls be friends with each other and what did Quidditch have to do with Greece's immigration?).

"Yeah," he agreed to Ben's assessment that Mom was nice. Mom was the bestest mother in the world, and he knew that because he'd seen Grandmother interact with Father, and Aunt Katrina talk to Thad, and Aunt Bettina couldn't even tell her daughters apart. "She's great." Then he shrugged, uncertain how Father would take it if he found out Mom was hiding things from him. Especially muggle-related things. "I think they would have divorced after Three died if they were going to."

He had gathered from literature, history, and even Thaddeus's parents that most married couples did not avoid each other as much as his parents did, and the vast majority of the lessons Mom gave him were about 'keeping up appearances for other pureblood families.' Even Derry was able to figure out Mom and Father's marriage was just an appearance to keep up these days. He'd even worked out that, far more than the 'Heir Stuff' he claimed was keeping him away, the avoidance of Mom was why Father was never home. Some days, though, Derry wondered if maybe he was avoiding him, too.

The thought was chased away by Ben's last comment, though, and Derry looked up and grinned back at him. "Yeah, we'll be best friends forever."

1 Derry Four Re: Sounds good to me. 189 Derry Four 0 5

Ben

March 21, 2011 2:54 PM

And now we wait. by Ben

Ben still wasn't quite sure what had happen to Four's older brother, Three, but he knew it would be best to leave it be. Obviously, he wasn't living, and it had affected his parents enough to cause strain between them. He remembered Four mentioning a potions accident twelve years ago, but what kind of potion had such destructive qualities? He shook it off, before nodding.

Feeling like a bit of a girl, he grinned. He didn't mind sounding foolish when talking about friendship. He had her Kara go on about her "BFFs" but he knew that her "forever" only meant until she turned eleven and fully entered the wizarding world. Nothing would stop Ben and Derry from being friends forever. Unless, of course, Four's father found out about Ben's mother. He wasn't sure what that would lead to, but the effects probably wouldn't be positive.

"You want to use Damon to send it?" he asked, gesturing to the cage on his side of the room. "I'll send Mom's reply with Mecury." He had brought him in the owl early that morning, after finding him swooping around the Labyrinth. The sleek black bird was sleeping lightly, his cage door open. Ben let out a low whistle, causing the bird to wake. He swooped over and landed gently on Ben's shoulder.

0 Ben And now we wait. 0 Ben 0 5

Derry Four

March 24, 2011 9:45 AM

The Post In Which Time Passes by Derry Four

It took almost two days for Damon to return, but it was a long trip from Arizona to New Hampshire, and even Grandmother's Jezzi took about that long for a round trip. Fortunately, Damon was less likely to take off fingers for making him fly that distance two days in a row. Jezzi Belle earned her name honestly.

They were both in the room together, getting ready for bed, when Damon returned with an envelope. "Oh!" Derry exclaimed, running to the window to let the bird inside without noticing that he looked ridiculous in a colonial shirt, a half unbuttoned vest, and fuzzy pajama bottoms. "This'll be Mom's reply!"

The window only gave him a little trouble and he got it open on Damon's second impatient tap. Closing it again immediately, because it was getting really cold out at night now, he waited until after it was latched shut before taking the envelope addressed to him and sending Damon on back to Ben.

Tearing open the parchment, he more scanned than read the letter and the grin on his face probably answered any of Ben's questions regarding what it said well before Derry looked up at him, bounced on his heels, and said, "She said yes! I can go!"

1 Derry Four The Post In Which Time Passes 189 Derry Four 0 5

Ben

March 24, 2011 6:35 PM

And now, we celebrate. by Ben

Ben wasn't sure how quickly Damon would travel, but he knew it would be over a day. It took a day and then some for him to make it to Tennessee and back, so the trip to New Hampshire would take a little bit longer. Ben was tugging off his shirt when he heard the tap at the window. By the time he had pulled his pajama shirt in replacement Damon, was perched on his headboard. He was glaring at his owner, shifting from foot to foot. Ben pulled out a box of owl treats from his nightstand, but watched Derry instead of handing Damon his reward. The grin on his friend's face had answered the question a moment before the boy did.

He tossed the box on to his bed, a couple of treats spilling on to the covers. The dark bird attacked them, but Ben didn't care. He gave Four a high five, a grin spreading on his own face, "Yes!" He couldn't wait for it. He knew he would have fun introducing some of the slightly Muggle things their family owned or did.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Ben exclaimed as he grabbed a couple rolls of parchment from his nightstand draw. "I'll send letters to my parents to let them know." He was practically bursting in his excitement. He had never had a really good friend, a best friend. He couldn't wait to show him his home, his parents, his siblings, his nephew, his bedroom.

"This is going to be the best break yet!"

0 Ben And now, we celebrate. 0 Ben 0 5