Painting myself [Rm 4] on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Jessica Applerose

August 31, 2011 2:43 AM

Painting myself [Rm 4] by Jessica Applerose

Jessica had never really been into visual arts until the summer after her first year. She had always relied on journals and her textbooks to carry her feelings away. But that summer she had discovered a whole new world within a blank white canvas (otherwise known as the walls of her room) and had a little feeling-fest where her walls were splattered with paint. It looked beautiful.

And now Jess was in room four, gazing around at the room. She had never been to MARS. She hadn't had time or just hadn't been motivated enough to come. She was definitely going to gather a couple friends to play Quidditch with her in the sports room, but till then she just wanted to vent in a "healthy" way.

A letter had come to her on Christmas day that sparked horrible feelings within her. She had hidden it from Regina and her wonderful family, but when school came she went back to burying her head in her books. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only one with so many family problems. If anything, she probably should've been happy at the fact that Darla, her twenty-two year-old sister, had owled her after nearly three years. The contents of the letter, however, had sent her fuming.

Jess was glad that there was a ready canvas in front of her. She opened several jars of paint, her hand almost trembling in anger as she remembered the letter. Then she stepped away and pointed her wand at the paintbrush. It dipped itself daintily into the paint and then began to slash it all over the canvas. Blue.

Dearest Jessica, the letter had read, I'm sorry I haven't owled you in so long. Tom and I went to visit Grandfather on his deathbed in England and we were appalled that you and our parents weren't there. I had hoped that this silly feud between Dad and Grandfather would dissipate, but I guess not. I have missed you very much, you and your little curls. I hope everything is well with you and that you're enjoying your muggle school. I've learnt that muggle-borns aren't too bad here. University has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I've sent you some lollies from England. I hope you like them. It's been a rather boring term here and I hope things are exciting there. Good luck in getting Dad to teach you Quidditch. You ought to learn it anyhow. Being a Seeker is awfully hard work. Perhaps you should be a Chaser. It's loads of fun. Not as fun as being a Seeker though, of course.

The paint was slashing itself furiously in blue, yellow, and a dark green.

University is fun. I like it better than home. Right after I graduate I'm going to England to be with Grandmum and then I'll be working with Tom in Romania. I can't wait for that. You probably won't see me for awhile. I'll try to visit you maybe when you get out of school. Till then, owl me back. Love your sister, Darla.

Slash. Slash. Slash. The paint was splashing onto her and Jess wiped it away furiously. She would clean it off her robes later. How dare her sister owl her out of the blue, pretending that she had missed her? She didn't even know that she was out of muggle school! She was a second year now, for goodness sake! Not that she cared. Jess' lip trembled before she held it between her teeth, her wand slicing the canvas along with the brush. She didn't even like lollipops. Angry strokes. Angry. Angry. Angry.

Jessica took a deep breath and lowered her wand. The brush dropped. Then she looked at the canvas. It was a real mess. But she could recognize Darla and Tom the way she remembered them underneath those splotches. And there was a unicorn. And a golden Snitch in the corner. Her mum and dad were there too, hugging her siblings and her. And her grandparents were there happily looking around at their green surroundings.

Jess wiped her hand on her robes and rubbed her eye. She said a spell to finish the painting, and they began to move. Jess watched intently as her parents hugged them all and beckoned her grandparents to join them. They all embraced each other as the Snitch flew around them. The children each took turns snatching it out of the air. The random unicorn ran around, offering itself for rides. Jessica was staring at the painting, her deepest desire all displayed on the canvas, so intently that she didn't hear someone else coming in. She was too busy wondering if she should add a bloody lightening storm to ruin it all.

0 Jessica Applerose Painting myself [Rm 4] 0 Jessica Applerose 1 5

Cherry Bosko

September 13, 2011 1:07 PM

Go go Fuzzy Time! by Cherry Bosko

[OOC: I realize this post is supposed to come before the DADA class not after, but Cherry thinks that people with fruity names should stick together. Apologies for being extremely liberal with fuzzytime].

Cherry was not stalking Jessica Applerose. It was just that Cherry didn't have anything particular to do after her shift at the library, and she happened to see Jessica walking in this direction alone, and so, after some hemming and hawing and failing to concentrate on her Charms homework, Cherry had made a decision. She would go to the art room, which she'd been meaning to do anyway, and if her and Jessica happened to talk to each other, that would be all the better.

The concept of the art room was a little intimidating. Cherry imagined there had to be five or ten serious students with amazing skills hanging out there at any given time, and no first years allowed. They'd probably heckle her a little bit, hey little girl, are you lost? But maybe if Jessica was there, she'd say something nice. Maybe she'd say, "Hey, Cherry renervated me in DADA. She's alright."

Assuming Jessica knew it was Cherry who did it. Assuming it had been Cherry who did it.... she hadn't exactly been conscious at the time.

Geez, Cherry. Chill.

She pulled open the door and was surprised to find no artsy crowd of upperclassmen. It was just Jessica, throwing paint at a canvas with broad, angry strokes. Well, Jessica wasn't. The brush was moving itself. She said a spell and the objects in the canvas began to move. A unicorn, people, and lots and lots of blue.

Amazing.

Cherry closed the door quietly behind her and crossed the room to another station a little ways away--close enough to talk if they wanted, far enough to ignore each other if they wanted.

"Hi. It's Jessica, right?" she said invitingly as she settled in, checking out all the brushes and opening paints. She sniffed one and smiled. She loved the smell of fresh paint. "Mmm. Which blue did you use for that? It's amazing."

0 Cherry Bosko Go go Fuzzy Time! 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Jessica Applerose

September 14, 2011 10:41 PM

I don't like fuzzy time. Time turners? by Jessica Applerose

[OOC: Stalker! Just kidding. I'm going to assume they exchange names in DADA class and years. That way it won't be really awkward and if we decide to do something interesting in DADA we won't be like, uh, change up! Ha ha.]

Jessica, on the verge of angry tears, quickly tried to calm herself. She was sure her flushed face would give away some hint to her feelings so she kept her face towards the canvas. Staring at her faux happy life. "Yeah, um--" She cleared her throat. "Just the, uh, regular blue. It was just here when I got here." Like she'd really had the coherent thought to mix paints. Jess wasn't that much of an artist. Just more of a...splatterer.

She recognized the girl vaguely from her DADA class. Her name was some kind of fruit. Ah, right. Cherry. Her third favorite fruit. She bet Darla didn't know that either. She wiped paint off of her face while surreptitiously making sure tears hadn't fallen. She was safe. "Sorry it's such a mess," she said with a little sniff. "I'll be out of the room if you want some alone time." It was a good thing Cherry hadn't come in earlier. She would've seemed mental, unhinged.

Jessica was a pretty outgoing girl but she didn't know much about having a conversation when she was upset with a girl she didn't know very well. If it had been someone like Regina, Jess would've vented long ago and burst into tears. She certainly wasn't unfamiliar to that. Jess sniffed again, trying to keep her emotions at bay.

"So, uh, are you into painting?" Jess asked, contemplating for a minute if she should throw this painting away. If she knew a spell to vanish it, she would. Instead, she put it to the side and grabbed a new canvas. She'd try and control herself this time. For one so usually talkative, she was scrambling for words. She hoped that Cherry would burst out with a sudden passion for painting and rant and rant and allow Jess to collect herself fully.

0 Jessica Applerose I don't like fuzzy time. Time turners? 0 Jessica Applerose 0 5

Cherry Bosko

September 15, 2011 10:22 AM

Time turners it is. by Cherry Bosko

Cherry looked from the blue paint to Jessica's painting and decided that the paints dry a smidge lighter than they look in the bottle. That, she supposed, was pretty normal. Something in Jessica's voice, though, was not normal. She sounded upset, on the verge of tears.

Jessica sniffed and Cherry dove into her Everything Bag of Everything and pulled out a travel pack of tissues. There were, admittedly, only a couple left since Cherry'd had her own bought of homesick on the way back from break. She held them up so Jessica could see them, and tossed them underhanded across the room. As ever, her aim was off. They landed about halfway between them.

"Sorry," she winced, and hopped up to get them and placed them on Jessica's desk to take or not. Jessica apologized for the mess and offered to leave. Not what Cherry had in mind at all.

"If you're not making a mess, you're not doing it right," she grinned, "Right?"

Was she into painting?

"Well, not specifically. I'm kind of into everything. Drawing, painting, card making... muggle stuff," she explained. Was Jessica a pureblood? Cherry watched the unicorn dance around her canvas and almost wished she could take back her casual mention of muggles, just in case... but if Jessica didn't like muggles, maybe it was better to find out sooner rather than later. Not that Cherry was a muggle--she was both and neither. It was complicated, or at least, it seemed complicated sometimes.

She wanted to ask Jessica if she was alright, but it seemed too forward and the answer was pretty obvious anyway. But did not alright mean that Cherry should try to help her take her mind off it or try to get her to talk about it? Cherry went back to her own station and perched on her stool. Maybe if she started talking, Jessica would start talking, too. Jessica had taken out a fresh canvas, so that meant she was staying, right?

"I don't know anything about moving pictures or floating brushes... like yours. They didn't teach that in muggle school and my parents aren't artists," she dipped a brush in the blue paint and gave it a few practice swishes on a piece of scrap paper. "They're funny, though. Wizards following their dreams of being auto mechanics."

She laughed and swallowed. If she wasn't careful, she was going to need her tissues back, and then where would they be? Happy topics! Quick! Think of something you don't miss... the winter wind. Coming in off Lake Michigan, a blast of it could freeze your coat stiff. Now there was something to avoid. Better to be in Arizona in the winter and Wisconsin in the summer.

"Do you know, it's like 50 million degrees below zero at home right now? I think I'll paint the wind remind me how much better the weather is here," she decided. "What are you painting?"

0 Cherry Bosko Time turners it is. 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Jess

September 15, 2011 2:20 PM

How many times you reckon we'll have to turn it? by Jess

“Thanks,” Jess said, and took a tissue out to blow her nose. “My nose is getting kinda stuffy now, it being winter.” It still got cold in Arizona, though not as cold as she imagined someplace North would. It was still an excuse though.

She appreciated Cherry’s attempt at cheering her up, whether she was aware of it or not. Card-making sounded interesting.

Was Cherry a muggle-born? She entertained this idea till she said that her parents were wizards that were into mechanics. She had to think about it for a moment before wondering if Cherry was a pureblood that had grown up in the muggle world just like her. This excited her slightly.

“My mum went through a phase where she painted a lot. She tried to just paint like a muggle but it wasn’t as fulfilling for her nor as entertaining.” She was unconsciously getting back into her talkative rhythm. “And anyway, they wouldn’t teach us that even if we went to a magical primary school. We can’t do magic till we’re eleven anyhow, and it doesn’t show up till we’re around nine.” That’s how it’d been for her, anyway.

“Are you a half-blood?” she asked, just in case she was. “I’m a pureblood but I grew up in the muggle world ’cause my parents were really into muggles and muggle things.” She wouldn’t get into her whole story of the Great Divorce that was unmentionable in her house. That’s what her siblings had called it. “I went to a muggle primary school. We’re from England originally, but my parents moved to Southern California in a muggle town so that’s all I know.” Her parents still had their thick British accents. Jessica was the odd one with a sort of mixed American and British accent. She liked it. “My dad has an apothecary in the magical part of California, but he likes to tinker with muggle stuff. My mom’s really into it too.” She smiled slightly. “They go through phases.”

Talking about her parents was another slightly sore subject just because they’d left her for New York over the Christmas holiday. It had turned out to be a pretty good break regardless (besides Darla’s letter), so she had forgiven them. And they’d sent her a whole lot of amazing gifts.

When Cherry asked about her empty canvas, Jessica hesitated. In all honesty, Jess only painted when the emotion came to her. So now as she sat here, not so angry anymore, she couldn’t think of a thing to paint. She wanted to paint her sister, but that would give Darla too much credit.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I just like to splatter paint on, see where it takes me.” She was a very emotionally-driven girl, anyone who knew her could tell you that.

0 Jess How many times you reckon we'll have to turn it? 0 Jess 0 5

Cherry

September 16, 2011 10:15 PM

Maybe five? That a good round number. Expect that it's odd. by Cherry

Cherry found a little plastic palate and distributed some blue in three of the dips and started combining different amounts of black and white with each blue dot. Should the winter wind have more colors than that? she wondered. Yellow was too warm. Green was too spring-like. Purple? Maybe a little bit of purple, if she was sparing. She began smearing thick blue-grey strokes across her canvas as she listened to Jessica talk about her family.

It was hard to think about the winter wind with Jessica there, telling her about her muggle-loving pureblood parents. Cherry had hoped to make friends this year with muggleborns because they, too, had to bridge the gap between worlds. But she never dreamed she would meet another pureblood who did.

She mixed up some light yellow and white, and in the middle of her winter wind, she drew a point of light. Maybe it would be a street lamp. She could put snow flakes lit up around it. A lantern in the snow.

"I'm a pureblood," Cherry told her and then changed to a comically proper tone. "The Southwestern Hodges, on my mother's side." She laughed and wondered if Jess had heard of them. Her family sent all their squibs and near-squibs to Southern California... and they had quite a lot of them. They were heavily involved in the Squib Rights Campaign out there. "Stanley Hodges is my mom's cousin, if you know him. He's always making speeches."

"Anyway, my parents work on both regular muggle cars and magically modified muggle machines... that's a mouthful. Magically modified muggle machines. Ha! Like flying cars and wizard-friendly tvs. We live over the shop, so everything downstairs has to be muggle-safe in case we have muggles passing through. And then upstairs we can have our magic stuff, so I wasn't allowed to bring my muggle friends up to my room."

This was so cool. Cherry always thought she'd have to wait until her little sister Addie was in school to be able to share the weirdness of trying to fit into the muggle world with someone else. And here was Jessica, another pureblood who'd gone to muggle school.

"When you went to muggle school, did you already know about muggles? I thought I did from having them around the shop, but... I thought the tv and the computer were magic. I didn't figure out that I was allowed to talk about them until halfway through kindergarten!"

Cherry put a glowing halo around her picture of a lantern and went back to painting the wind. It looked sort of like that Scream painting except with an old lantern in the middle instead of a screaming ghoul. Maybe she could add some swirly strokes before putting in the snowflakes. Her method of painting was a lot different than Jessica's.

"I don't think I've ever started without having some ideas first. That actually sounds like fun... almost like an adventure." She'd have to try that method sometime.

0 Cherry Maybe five? That a good round number. Expect that it's odd. 0 Cherry 0 5

Jess

September 18, 2011 11:29 AM

Odd numbers work for me! by Jess

Jessica had never heard of the Southwestern Hodges. She didn’t really hear about any pureblood family, to be honest. Her parents mentioned a couple friends that were supposed to be well-known purebloods in England. “That’s really cool,” Jessica exclaimed. Her mood had improved incredibly at this news. “Yeah, I understand. I couldn’t bring my muggle friends home because of that. I always had to think up excuses.”

Jess began to paint again aimlessly. She used grey and a little blue for the sky. “Yeah, I did,” she said with a little smile. “My dad made sure that I learned everything I could about muggles. Though I was a little disillusioned about some muggle things like the wireless, uh, the radio I mean, and the alarm clocks and the car.” She smiled. “The alarm I had used to cry when I didn’t wake up and blow into my ear. The car had an untraceable extendable charm on it too, so I was really surprised when I went into my friends’ cars because it was so small inside.”

Jessica was so glad that she had someone to relate to. As comfortable as she felt around muggle-borns and the like, she was really glad for Cherry. Her painting was beginning to turn into a scene that she imagined England to be like in the winter.

"I've never met another pureblood who lived like a muggle," she said after a brief silence. "That's really cool! Were your grandparents or anyone mad about that?" She wondered if she wasn't the only one with family problems too.

0 Jess Odd numbers work for me! 0 Jess 0 5

Cherry

September 18, 2011 1:03 PM

Me too! by Cherry

Cherry had seen muggle cars with the untraceable extendable charm and each one was as different as their owners. Those was exactly the type of vehicles her parents worked on at their shop. She could definitely see that if you'd only ever been in one of those--or one that flew or squeezed through traffic, or one that folded up and fit in your pocket so you didn't have to find a parking space--that the muggle version would seem pretty clunky.

"Wizards take muggle stuff and make it better," Cherry agreed. "Or more annoying. I think your alarm clock has mine beat. Mine is enchanted to look like that Flintstones bird/record player thing. It squawks and squawks even after you get up--but at least it doesn't blow in my ear." She shuddered and rubbed her ear just thinking about it.

"I haven't met any other purebloods like us either," she told her new friend. "My cousins all think we're very quaint and I have no idea half of what they're talking about. And then my muggle friends I have to hide so much from, you know? It's weird. I was waiting for my little sister to be old enough to understand."

"My grandfather was pretty mad at mom for marrying a half-blood and going all muggley--but I think he's gotten over since I got my letter, and he'll be reasonably happy, I think if I can keep my grades up. He's got bigger problems than us," she lowered her voice. "My cousin turned out to be a squib last year--that was big."

Cherry swallowed, "We don't have drama like that on dad's side. My muggle grandfather is really cool, he thinks magic is fascinating and loves it, even though he can't use it himself. He's got all these wizarding doodads around the house he likes to tinker with. Do you have old blood on both sides?"

0 Cherry Me too! 0 Cherry 0 5

Jess

September 18, 2011 4:02 PM

Cool. Five times it is. by Jess

"I think they make it better," Jess agreed. "Normal alarm clocks just aren't as interesting." She smiled. She missed that old alarm clock even though she had hated it at the time. Another memory of her mother enchanting her stuffed bear, Tuff, to play with her at night was a good use of magic. She loved magic so much. She couldn't imagine not being able to use it and living like a real muggle. Poor muggles.

"Oh, so you're a half-blood?" Jess said. Well, that worked too. Purebloods marrying half-bloods made her a half-blood. Good enough, she supposed, though she didn't really get all the blood prejudice. It was almost like a not-so secret club. Anyone could say they were a pureblood. Well, maybe not, but whatever.

Jess couldn't believe that there were so many squibs produced by Cherry's family. Did their magic have some kind of flaw in it or something? To her knowledge (the little she had), her family hadn't ever produced a squib. Or maybe it had just been covered up very well. She knew when her father had broken away, it had been a big deal in England for a little while.

"That's nice," Jess said. She had never met her mum's parents. Mum never even talked about them. At least Dad seemed to have some feelings about them. When Jess had told them that Grandfather had died, Dad had been really depressed for a little while. But he got over it. You eventually do if you haven't seen them for years and years.

"Definitely on my dad's side," Jess said. "My mom's family wasn't as prestigious, but they were pretty rich so my grandparents O.K.'d the marriage." She smiled. "It's really nice to be the only generation of Appleroses to ever break away from the clan. It doesn't happen often, and my brother and sister were really mad about it. They're full-blooded English purebloods. I don't even know what weight the Applerose name holds in England, but it's supposed to be a lot. My...sister sent me the article that had been published about my grandfather. I can't remember him, really, but I guess he did a lot of good stuff for the community." She shrugged.

"When my parents came to America with us, my grandparents were really, really mad. Disowned them, pretty much." The story was coming out like word vomit. She couldn't stop. "Darla and Tom, my siblings, went back a lot to visit them and they were really unhappy here. Tom left home when I was, uh, six. He's twelve years older than me. I don't remember him that well either. And then Darla went to college when I turned ten and she hasn't been home since. I think they're both going back to England to be with my grandma 'cause she's having a hard time there." She sniffed, the feelings she always had to keep bottled up inside her coming out.

"My parents took their decisions pretty...hard. During Christmas it's...it's always sad for a little bit just cause my mom remembers them." The anger she had against them burned a little but she didn't want to scare Cherry away with that. She'd probably scared her enough now. Her bottom lip trembled for a moment before she bit down on it gently to stop it. Her painting had become more abstract. The sky had become lines through a deep purple. She dipped her paintbrush into the red.

"Sorry," she said. "My family is pretty different." She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant even as a storm brewed inside of her. "The only family I really know are my parents. I've grown up as an only child, pretty much." It hadn't been a bad life. She'd actually had a pretty happy childhood. She just had to ignore the fact that her siblings had abandoned--uh, left home when she was young.

0 Jess Cool. Five times it is. 0 Jess 0 5