Henny Boxton-Fox-Reynolds
November 10, 2011 11:06 AM
The Grand Settling In Thread by Henny Boxton-Fox-Reynolds
Henny, who had been feeling fine when she arrived, was feeling a little dry-mouthed as she walked up to her dorm. Alicia's comment at dinner about never having shared a room had reminded her of the wealth of experience she'd got in that field when she'd lived at the orphanage. Not that it had been a terrible place, nothing like they seemed to be in Victorian novels. The staff had been kind and she'd even had a few friends who she'd been sorry to leave and who she was still in touch with. But being there had not been the happiest time of her life, as – to put it mildly - she'd had a lot to come to terms with during those years and it had never been home, it had always just been a kind of limbo. Walking through the library to get to her Common Room had calmed her nerves somewhat. It was where Father had worked and it made her feel at home, as well as reminding her of all that was good in her family now.Once in her dorm, Henny sought immediately the items that would reassure her and make her feel less loss and abandoned. There were three stuffed toys, carefully settled amongst her clothes so that they would be comfortable. There was Boxton Bear, the teddy her parents had given her when she was born. He was a soft bean-filled bear who was starting to show his age around his nose and paw-pads. She placed him on her pillows, setting down another bear beside him. This was more old-fashioned looking but clearly newer. He had jointed limbs, soft curly fur and a rather handsome waistcoat. The final toy was a brand new grey cat, which was compensation for her not having a real pet of her own. Father had a rather elderly and defensive cat, who would not have borne the presence of a usurper, even if it was only just in the holidays. Henny didn't mind as she loved Oscar dearly (and, in his particular way, he showed that she was one of his less disfavoured humans) and she would not have wanted to do anything to upset him.
Henny knew that she should unpack the rest of her things but she decided to sit and hug Wilde, as she had named her toy cat, for just a minute. Next to her on the bed sat a hinged double-photo frame which was currently closed. She would set it on her bedside in a minute, when she had pulled herself together a little. It wasn't like she wanted to go home really...
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The Grand Settling In Thread
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Alicia Bauer
November 11, 2011 3:26 PM
I like for things I'm involved in to be grand. by Alicia Bauer
Upon seeing Professor Fawcett for the first time to recognize him for who he was, Alicia’s main thought what that he didn’t look quite like she would have expected. Almost, maybe, but not quite – like the porridge in that storybook she used to have at Dad’s, the Muggle one about the stupid girl who wandered in the woods and into the home of talking bears, reflecting, she supposed, Muggle ideas about the intelligence of females and children and about magic. Still, he did not look overly fearsome, which was good, and she had never heard anything said about him that wasn’t at least polite, which was even better, so she gave him her best cheerful, excited smile when he gathered up the new Aladrens and followed him without feeling that she would rather listen to Kate sing than be seen in his presence.She thought, she thought, a bit of an advantage here, at least over a few people. It might have been good or bad to have a House prefect as a sister – getting into Teppenpaw or Pecari had frankly never crossed her mind – but she had been at the Feast with Thaddeus and Henny while the pretty girl had only been with Thaddeus’ roommate and the red-haired girl had been with someone who wasn’t even a first year, which meant she knew two people already and they already each only knew one. She was better off that Thaddeus, too, because she and Henny were already more comfortable with each other than they’d had a chance to be with the pretty girl or the red-headed girl.
Though maybe they would just get along. It wasn’t impossible. Alicia couldn’t remember long stretches of time when she and her sisters had all been together in one place and in perfect harmony, but these girls weren’t, after all, her sisters. The politeness of strangers might work out and then keep working out. But it might not, so she had to think like that. All the books and wireless programs she’d read or heard had indicated that schoolgirls usually had cliques, and if this was true, then Alicia had no interest in being the morally right but isolated and bullied main character. She wanted to be the main character who was in the clique – or better yet, the leader. She would try to be nice to everyone, because all those programs had indicated that enemies usually came back to knock a girl right out of her comfortable social niche, but if she couldn’t, she wanted to be part of the better group.
During the question and answer, she silently thanked all goodness for Thaddeus, since he just kept talking and that gave her time to think up a question. She knew, instinctively, that she had to get the goodwill of the professor, which meant drawing his attention in a good way tonight.
Once the group broke up, she went upstairs with the other girls, refusing to acknowledge that she was starting to feel anxious and shy and awkward and almost to wish she was at home in her bed even if it did mean Rachel and Kate got to have something she didn’t. She just couldn’t think about that. She wanted to look around the dorm room carefully, take everything in and make up her mind about this place where she was to live, but there wasn’t time for that – she couldn’t just stand there and stare at the furniture. So instead, she started opening her trunk, looking through her things and wondering if she was really supposed to change in a room of strangers and hoping the answer was ‘no, the bathroom’s fine.’
Glancing over, she saw Henny holding a stuffed cat, with two stuffed bears already on her bed, and smiled. “I like your bears,” she said. “And your cat.”
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I like for things I'm involved in to be grand.
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Henny B-F-R
November 13, 2011 11:30 AM
Well, this might cause a grand old hoo-ha by Henny B-F-R
“Thank you,” Henny smiled, looking up and seeing that it was Alicia who had spoken. She was relieved the other girl didn't think it was babyish. Even though they were only eleven, she was sure some girls would consider themselves far too grown up for such things and whilst one old favourite toy was possibly ok, she did have something of a menagerie. However, each was special. She supposed the invitation was there to open up and explain where they had come from, but that was a rather long story. “It's nice to have things around to remind one of home,” she said instead. She glanced around Alicia's bed to see whether she'd got out any trinkets yet but it seemed that the other girl was still at the very preliminary stage of rummaging, and trying to think where to begin.“Did you bring a pet?” she asked, “I couldn't get a real animal because Father's cat wouldn't have got on with it, hence...” she held Wilde up and wiggled his paws at Alicia. “But I do love cats, and it'll feel ever so funny if there isn't at least one around,” she added, glancing around at other roommates to let them know that the question was open to them too. She was keen not to fall into an automatic clique with Alicia just because they'd spoken at dinner and miss out on the chance to get to know the other people she was sharing with. Especially as she rather felt Alicia and Thad might fall out with her once families and politics got put on the table.
That was bound to happen sooner or later. She wasn't going to hide the family she was part of, partly because the longer she tried to keep it a secret the more angry Alicia and That were likely to be when they found out and the less chance she'd have of making more like-minded friends, as everyone would have settled by then, but more because her upbringing had engendered the very firm belief that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with her family. She loved them. She was proud of them. These feelings, combined with feeling a little more calm and secure, led her to opening the hinged photo frame and placing it on her bedside table. On one side, was a photo of a brown haired man and a women with a golden blonde set of curls. On their knees sat two children, one of whom looked very like Henny, but in dungarees and with gaps between her teeth. The other child was a small boy with short blond hair. In the other side of the frame, were two men, one with long black hair and a beard and the other with floppy blond hair, their arms around the same two children, looking a few years older. The frame was facing in towards Henny's bed so its contents would not be immediately visible unless anyone came to have a look. She smiled at her families and absent-mindedly reached out to stroke each teddy between the ears before returning her attention to the room.
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Well, this might cause a grand old hoo-ha
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Ephanie Lucore
November 13, 2011 9:36 PM
Making it a party. by Ephanie Lucore
Still full of energy, even after the Head of House speech, Ephanie bounded up to what would be her new room. She was a little surprised to find that she wasn’t the first one in the room. She wasn’t even the second, but that was all right. The bed that she would have picked even if she had been first was still available. Hurriedly, she dragged her trunk over to where she would be sleeping for the next year. Opening it, she pulled out a framed black and white poster of her idol, Kallan Kennedy. Anyone that knew anything about the theater knew who she was. For the last three years, she had been the most sought after actress, which all started when she stole the hearts of the audience in even the most insignificant of roles at the tender age of fourteen. It was everything that she wanted to be.As she went back to her trunk and took out the shimmering blue blanket that her grandmother had given her. The shimmering effect came from the veela hair that had been threaded through. It was an heirloom that had been passed down through her maternal family. Her grandmother had thought it would be a good connection for Ephanie while she was away at school despite promises of writing everyday. While she was placing it on her bed, she glanced over to two girls, the ones that had entered originally, talking. She felt a little funny inserting herself into their conversation, which really wasn’t like her. But this was her first night in a room with girls that she didn’t know. Though, she supposed that was exactly the reason that she should talk to them. She was going to be spending the next seven years, presumably, with these girls.
Catching the one looking around, she braved up and spoke, “I brought mine.” In addition to her trunk, she had a bag with her. If one didn’t really look at the bag, they would fail to realize it was a carrier. Opening the front, she reached her hand in and petted the creature within, encouraging her to not be afraid. Picking her up with her hand, Ephanie cradled her to her heart. Slowly, she approached the two in conversation. “This is Storm.” No bigger than her hands was a fluffball, white with patches of gray. The tail was entirely gray. The fluffball’s paws were wrapped around her fingers, the claws sticking slightly out. The kitten’s blue eyes, not yet changed, starred at the girls. “She’s a little shy.” As if to say this was true, the kitten buried her head in Ephanie’s hands.
“Anyhow, I’m Ephanie,” she said, introducing herself. She hoped that she wasn’t supposed to do so in the manner that the boy she had sat with at the Feast had. It was just all too prim and proper (and boring) for her taste. “Anyhow, I couldn’t help overhearing that you couldn’t get a pet. You could get a pygmy puff. They can deal with just about anything. A lot of kids get them.” One of the kids that she had played with when she was younger had one and he just threw it around, so she knew they were pretty hardy.
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Making it a party.
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Alicia
November 15, 2011 10:34 AM
*Parties.* by Alicia
Alicia wasn’t entirely sure how much she wanted to be reminded of home – her house was very nice, and she liked it very much, but her family was just a series of horrific embarrassments she’d sooner stay far, far away from; Momma was by the far the best of them, and she had still been stupid enough at one point in her life to drop out of school and marry Dad – but she smiled and nodded anyway. She had brought a few new throw pillows to put on her bed and arrange to make it more like a day bed when she wanted to just sit and talk, framed by the curtains. Maybe that was sort of the same thing.Seeing one of the other two girls taking out a blanket to decorate her bed with, confirming that it was acceptable here to embellish a little, she took out her pillows and began setting them up around the headboard and sides of the provided pillows. Hers were in brighter colors than the dark blues of Aladren, but Momma had helped her pick them out so they wouldn’t clash with any of the four Houses’ color schemes, so she thought it just did something to add some elegance and style to her bed. She made a mental note to write home to Momma and get a throw or something to add to it as she took out a tall candle and put it on her bedside table. She liked candles, even if Momma had strictly forbidden her from trying to light it for a month.
Not that Momma would know if she did, just as Momma didn’t know that she had been able to light a candle since she was eight, but she didn’t see the need for the other girls to know she could do that already, either, and she’d see what they thought of things before lighting candles anyway. If they didn’t like them, it would just have to be a decoration in its pretty holder, just a bit to stamp her personality on this bit of room instead of Henny’s or one of the other girls’.
She giggled when Henny waved the stuffed cat’s paws at her, but before she could shake her head about real cats, one of the other girls spoke up and came up with a kitten. “Awww,” she said, her voice going slightly higher than usual as she looked at the little thing and resisted the temptation to go pet it. Storm, really? It looked more like a fluffy little cloud than a storm cloud. Maybe it had a very fierce mother and the girl thought they were going to be alike. “That’s so cute!”
Cute, but shy. Like she was supposed to be. Though maybe not that shy. “I’m Alicia,” she said with a smile when the other girl introduced herself. “An – “ She stopped, then blushed, realizing the comment had probably been directed to Henny more than to them generally and feeling a moment of uncertainty at the prospect of seizing control to the extent of introducing the other girl when Ephanie was talking to her instead of Alicia and they hadn’t known each other long enough for Alicia to be sure that was how to be the leader here. Or even what being the leader at all entailed, really.
Not for the first time, she wished she could just ask someone these things, but there wasn’t anyone to ask. Aunt Helena didn’t like them and hadn’t been in the country for years anyway, Gramma Alma had given her advice but she was old and probably didn’t even remember being in school, Gramma Claire was dead, Gramma Naomi was crazy, Gramma Nadia was foreign and had mental problems, there was no reason whatsoever for Aunt Lavinia to exist, Kate was nearly as useless, and she had to keep up appearances with Rachel and Momma and her few female tutors. Jeremy would have been good to ask, except he wasn’t a girl, which was the same thing that took Uncle Geoff – a last, desperate resort under any circumstances since he wasn’t very successful yet and she had seen him maybe five times in her whole life, all of which he had summed her up as a useless kid and mainly ignored her during, but viable for some things since he had been Head Boy in his day – out of the running. No matter which way she looked, she was alone in this.
“Sorry,” she said, smiling apologetically and directing that particularly at Henny for a second, in case she’d inadvertently talked over the other girl. “I got a little excited, carried away.”
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*Parties.*
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Henny B-F-R
November 15, 2011 1:08 PM
Woo, party dorm! - wotw by Henny B-F-R
Henny smiled as another girl joined in the conversation, noting the theatrical poster by her bed and the beautiful blanket. Musicals and beautiful things were not priorities in Henny’s life but you couldn’t spend much time around her Dad and not have a working knowledge and appreciation of both. She liked the way the blanket shimmered for the calming, water like effect, rather than for the way it clearly marked it out as an item of quality.“Aww, she’s adorable,” Henny smiled, as they were introduced to the other girl’s kitten, “I’m sure she’ll get used to us in time, won’t you?” she added, her voice ending in the higher pitch that people reserved for animals, babies and occasionally the patronisation of the infirm. She added a couple of encouraging clicky noises too but resisted the urge to tickle the kitten’s ears until it had shown itself to have adjusted a little more to the situation. "It’s not so much about how brutally Oscar, Father’s cat, would murder the interloper, although that comes into it," she added, as the girl suggested robust pets for her, "It’s about how he’d take it. He definitely thinks of himself as the head of the household and he would be mortally offended if we got another animal.” Not pet. Oscar made it perfectly clear that he was no mere pet.
“That's ok," she smiled at Alicia, as the girl nearly jumped the gun and introduced both of them. She genuinely wouldn't have minded as it was scarcely a momentous occasion. "I'm Henrietta but everyone calls me Henny," she informed the other girl. "Ephanie's a very unusual and pretty name. Do you know where it comes from?” she asked. It sounded Classical but she couldn’t remember ever having ever come across such a character in myths and legends.
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Woo, party dorm! - wotw
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Andrina Thornton
December 14, 2011 7:28 PM
Party?! Can I come too? by Andrina Thornton
Andrina was thrilled to be finally at school with her older sisters. She remembered how it felt when they left her year after year. Arista left first, then Addi joined her. Last year Amira left with them and left her being the oldest. Sure, she liked being the oldest. The red-head got to be the boss around the little kids and that felt good. It also felt sorta good cause Ris, Addi and Mir needed her there too and they lived for her reports. Now she too would live for reports from home with her oldest sisters. She felt important and she liked that feeling. Aubrielle and Abigail would have to send them now and Andri looked forward to seeing their pretty little scrawl in letters to each of the sisters there at Sonora School of Magic.Andri, even at eleven years old, was competitive in anything she could be doing. This explained her slightly muscular body and slim shape to any who knew her. If you didn't know Andri though, it wouldn't take too long to get to. Andri was very talkative. In fact, she was probably the most talkative of the Thornton siblings to date. The fourth Thornton to attend the school was also very smart. Though if she was very excited her words got jumbled up a bit and it didn't seem so to anyone who didn't know her personality. Everyone that knew the Thornton family there in Portland, Oregon knew Andri. This was a job in itself as Andri was the fourth of fifteen children and as a middle child logistically forgotten much more often than say Arista as the oldest or the triplets as the youngest.
She wouldn't let herself be forgotten there, nor would here be any different.
Andri had been at school there for a few hours, spoken to an older boy at the feast, heard her Head of House's speech and now had the chance to meet her housemates with whom she would live with for the next seven years and she couldn't wait to get to know them!
Running into the room, she realized that she was not the first one in the room as she had slowed down to try to talk to anyone in her path. They were talking already and she was just going to insert herself into the conversation. There was nothing wrong with that, was there? Shrugging, she barged right into the conversation. “Ooooh!! Kitty! She’s so pretty!” she said, dropping her things down right in the doorway and going towards the girl with the kitty and the kitty itself. “Can I pet it? What’s her name? It is a she, isn’t it? Of course she is, she’s too pretty not to be!” Her excited eyes sparkled in the light of the room as her smile widened. “Oh! Sorry! I’m Andrina Thornton, but you can call me Andri, or Andi. Those are the things my brother and sisters call me!” she added, blushing almost to the color of her red hair. The blanche died down and she smiled at her roommates. “I guess I’ve missed the introductions, sorry, but uhm… Who are you all?” she asked.
If Analea was with her she would have told Andri to shush it and let them get a word in edgewise, but as her little sister was not there she couldn’t stop her. She wondered if anyone would?
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Party?! Can I come too?
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