Well, now they know on Cascade Hall

Cleo James

September 16, 2018 8:35 PM

Well, now they know by Cleo James

Cleo made her way to Cascade Hall, having missed both the Defence class where they were all educated about her, and the subsequent Charms lesson. The thought of walking into a room full of suspicious eyes and whispers, of trying to sit and concentrate, not knowing what anyone thought about her, and not being able to do abythibg about it because they were in class... It had been too much, and she had been given permission to spend Charms in the library, practising under the supervision of the librarian.

She could not avoid the rest of the school forever though, and at lunchtime it was time to face the music - to see whether they were going to gather around her, the object of curiosity, the subject matter of their lesson, or shun her entirely for being a freak, a non-human. She thought of her own reaction when she had found out. She had found the description of veela terrifying and disturbing, and she still did. Worse still, she could not promise that she wasn't like that, that she would never hurt them, because she didn't know...

In theory, one was supposed to face these situations with head held high. Except Cleo wasn't sure she wanted to be able to look around the room, to see how people were looking at her. She kept her head down, trying to be unnoticeable, and made her way to the Crotalus table. She helped herself to a ham sandwich, even though her stomach was twisting itself in knots, and tried to pretend... She was just an ordinary girl, on an ordinary day, eating an ordinary lunch. But pretty much only the sandwich was capable of maintaining its part with any real conviction.

13 Cleo James Well, now they know 389 Cleo James 1 5

Jasmine Delachene

September 20, 2018 8:38 PM

Let it go. Let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. by Jasmine Delachene

Jasmine had not really been phased by the whole sexual orientation segment of DADA that had followed the Veela lesson. Most of the words on the board had been completely foreign to her (except gay; she knew gay - gay meant happy; it was a bit archaic and mostly used in Christmas songs these days) but as Professor Hawthorne discussed what they meant she dismissed them as totally irrelevant and promptly forgot all of them. (Except gay, gay was still a word used in Christmas songs.)

People were people and people loved people (and sometimes non-people loved non-people or people loved magically cursed Beasts or whatever) and she simply didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Frame it up nice with a good romance story and pretty music and it really didn't matter at all to her what words people were using to describe the same thing. All anyone really ever needed to say was True Love and that was that.

So she had ignored the discussion as pointless and got on with her essay. Well, aside from noting down that a good defense against Veela was pretending to like boys when you don't, because that would make you miserable, and then you'd be too sad to be interesting to them. Which was rather the opposite of gay, which she supposed was why boys who did not like boys were not gay. It was much better to really actually like boys. Just look at Great-Uncle Dan. He had a husband (or at least Great-Uncle Barry was the next closest thing) and he was gay even when it wasn't Christmas time. Well, she assumed so. She mostly only every saw him at Christmas time, and he was definitely gay then.

She hadn't noticed Cleo was missing from Charms. It hadn't occurred to her to look.

But when she saw her at lunch, she remembered the relevation during DADA, and she looked so miserable, so Jasmine went over to sit next to her. "You missed a dumb discussion about boys liking boys and girls liking girls and anybody liking anybody in DADA," she announced as she sat down. "Seriously, what does it matter? If it's love, it's love, right? Why do you need all those extra pointless words? I mean, King Richard, who is a lion, has Maid Marian, who is a fox, as a niece. Assuming she wasn't adopted - which, given Disney's tendency toward killing off parents, not a bad assumption, but that was never specified, so you can maybe assume they are actually blood related somehow since they make such a big deal about the outlaw as an inlaw joke. But if that's okay, everything is okay, right? I mean, as long as it's True Love, and not someone horrible like Gaston or Hans of the Southern Isles tricking you or forcing you into a marriage you don't want."

1 Jasmine Delachene Let it go. Let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. 1397 Jasmine Delachene 0 5

Cleo

September 22, 2018 5:32 AM

Can't follow the conversation either by Cleo

Well, Cleo’s concern that people weren’t going to speak to her certainly seemed unfounded. Jasmine was doing nothing but talking. Nothing but talking, including not making the slightest bit of sense.

As far as her predictions of how this lunchtime would go had gone, she had to admire the universe in its constant ability to surprise her with a curve ball. Her worst case scenarios had included creepy boys coming to letch at her and tell her that the whole half veela thing was totally hot, or either girls or boys calling her out as a monster and saying they would be writing home to their parents about her. She had pictured misplaced pity, or people trying to get all touchy-feely in the non literal sense. She had not expected remarks on boys liking boys or… fox adoption(?) to be any of her classmates’ opening gambits. In fact, she wasn’t even entirely convinced that she had skipped the right lesson, or that Jasmine even knew she was half veela. If this was, somehow, meant to be related, it was incredibly abstract. The only thing that Jasmine had said that seemed even slightly related was that it was evil to trick people into marriages that they didn’t want, but even that hadn’t seemed particularly directed at Cleo.

“I… I thought class today was about veela?” she managed, “About.. About me?”

13 Cleo Can't follow the conversation either 389 Cleo 0 5

Jasmine

September 22, 2018 3:13 PM

I don't see why by Jasmine

Jasmine blinked in momentary surprise as Cleo questioned the content of the DADA class. "Well, yes," she agreed dismissively, "But then Kir brought up a side topic and that's what I was thinking about while Professor Wright went on and on like he does in Charms." She waved a hand, as if shooing away a gnat. "It was a more interesting to get worked up over that, than try to follow whatever it was he was talking about."

"Anyway, I think it was sort of related because veelas only affect people who actually like girls. Which I don't, so," she spread her hands and lifted her shoulders. "I'm safe." She looked out across the room, and let her eyes settle on a particular second year Pecari, a small fond smile playing about her lips as she regarded the boy. "Now, if Michael DiCaprio was a part-veela, then I might have a problem," she mused.

She shook herself out those thoughts and smiled back at Cleo. "But you're still Cleo and I don't like girls, so it's all good, right? I mean, it’s not like you can control who your biological parents are. I don’t even know who mine are.” She realized belatedly that may not be something Cleo knew about her so she added, “I’m adopted.”

1 Jasmine I don't see why 1397 Jasmine 0 5

Cleo

September 23, 2018 2:17 AM

I don't speak Disney by Cleo

Ok, so she had skipped the right class, but it seemed they’d talked a lot more about something other than her. She was taken aback by how quickly Jasmine dismissed the whole thing as unimportant.

“I… I guess so,” she nodded, when Jasmine pointed out that Cleo was still Cleo. Jasmine was just… chit-chatting with her like they were friends, which was odd, because they never had been before. It seemed having a massive personal secret revealed about yourself in class could function as something of an ice breaker. Cleo had to admit, it felt kind of nice, having someone just… being friendly. Especially Jasmine, who was in her house and her classes, who she had a room on the same corridor as. If Jasmine really wanted to be friends now, that felt like a pretty big defence against the rest of the scary world.

“I didn’t know that about you,” she admitted. Really, she hadn’t known a lot about Jasmine. She was surprised to find that she was adopted because Jasmine tended to roll with the Pureblood girls, and seemed quite…. Like that. “Is it ever weird for you, not knowing about your parents?” she asked. “And you like Michael, huh?” she added with a little smile.

13 Cleo I don't speak Disney 389 Cleo 0 5

Jasmine

September 23, 2018 8:05 AM

Oh no. That's my native tongue. by Jasmine

Jasmine looked toward the Pecari table again, taking the last question first, as it was the easier one. "I guess. He's cute, and we danced at the ball. I'm not sure it's True Love or not, though. I thought that would be more obvious when you found The One," she remarked in mild confusion. "But he's nice and I like him."

Changing back to the bigger topic, Jasmine shrugged negligibly and looked back at Cleo. "Most of the time, I don't really think about not knowing who my biological parents are. I love my adopted parents, and they're all I've ever known. They adopted me when I was just a baby. Mom didn't think she could have kids of her own. Well, at least, not until my little brother was born," she rolled her eyes a little.

"But it comes up sometimes. Like, if anyone ever brings up blood status. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not half-veela or anything, because the adoption agency probably would have mentioned that. And, you know," she touched her own nearly black hair. "Not blonde. There's my dark hair giving me away again," she smiled with a faint air of self-deprecation. "Dad is a blond, and mom's a much lighter brown than I am," she explained.

She picked up her original point, "But if I'm biologically muggleborn, half-blood, or pureblood, I have no idea. I usually just go with half-blood because that seems the safest middle ground. Plus, I think that's what I'd be if Mom and Dad were really my Mom and Dad. She's a muggleborn, he's a full blood wizard."

"And sometimes I like to imagine I'm really the undiscovered princess of some tiny kingdom, and I don't have inconvenient knowledge that tells me I'm wrong. It happened in the Princess Diaries," she added as evidence of it being possible.

1 Jasmine Oh no. That's my native tongue. 1397 Jasmine 0 5

Cleo

September 23, 2018 10:57 PM

Maybe you can teach me by Cleo

Cleo was kind of surprised to hear Jasmine talk about finding True Love and The One. They were not things Cleo had ever really given a lot of thought to, though if prompted to consider it, she had to say she didn’t believe in that sort of thing. It was something that happened in fairy stories, not in real life. She had grown up without a model of a romantic relationship to base her ideas of grown up life on, and had thus never really considered it an important element of becoming a grown up. Since the whole veela thing, the question of whether people like her, or Liked her had becoming more confusing and scary than interesting or fun - how would she ever know if someone liked her for herself, or because of what she was doing to them? Putting firm, screech to a halt brakes on anyone’s idea of romance towards her seemed the safest option. Still, she didn’t want to be negative about Jasmine’s ideals, especially when she was being so nice, so she simply let the subject drop.

She smiled at Jasmine’s comment about the fact she was clearly not part veela, having been tempted to make a similar observation herself.

“Is that a… book you like?” she asked when Jasmine mentioned something called the Princess Diaries. Judging by what Jasmine said happened, it sounded like a made up story but Cleo wasn’t familiar with it.

“Um… even if it wasn’t very important, what exactly did Professor Hawthorne say about me?” she asked. Nice as normal chit chat was, it was kind of hard to keep her mind off what might have gone on in class. “And how did everyone else seem to take it? Is there anyone I need to avoid?”

13 Cleo Maybe you can teach me 389 Cleo 0 5

Jasmine

September 27, 2018 8:54 AM

I will have to by Jasmine

“A book?” Jasmine repeated in mild mystification before realizing Cleo didn’t know what the Princess Diaries were. “Oh! No. It’s a movie.” She additionally realized she had no idea if Cleo knew anything at all about muggles. “That’s like a muggle play,” she tried to explain, “except recorded so you can watch it over and over at home.”

She’d had to teach Arianna and Peyton about the Wonders of Disney, and prepared herself to do it again for Cleo. Before she could launch into her introductory lecture, though, Cleo asked a question that Jasmine did reluctantly admit might be more important to Cleo.

“Well, it was actually Professor Skies who talked about you. Professor Hawthorne just talked about some mythology and distraction as a primary defense in regards to veelas and veela magic in general.“ Jasmine bit her lip as she tried to remember specifically what had been said. This was hard for her, because she wasn’t really a very good listener.

“I think Professor Skies said something like you are still learning to control any powers you might have inherited from your mom, so if you do anything to anybody it is probably by accident, and there’s elves around to protect everyone from those accidents. And you’re still a witch, like the rest of us, and we should treat you the same as we always did and not bother you.”

Jasmine realized then the disconnect between what she’d been told to do and what she was actually doing. “You don’t mind me sitting with you, do you? I saw you looking miserable and thought you might want some company. I’d’ve done that for anyone looking so upset,” she tried to explain, which was mostly true. She had never expected to get Sorted into Teppenpaw- she could acknowledge to herself that she was a bit too self-centered for that - but as long as it didn’t inconvenience her too badly, she liked to think she was a nice person who would help out and be kind to a fellow Housemate in distress.

And while Cleo had never quite struck her as having the breeding to be a proper Lady, Jasmine hadn’t missed that some of those who did seemed to hold Jasmine’s half-blood status against her. It made her feel a little more inclined to be inclusive. Cleo couldn’t help not being rich any more that Jasmine could help that her mom was a muggleborn. Somehow Mom had managed to get in with the highborn crowd despite that, and Jasmine didn’t do too badly herself either, but there were hold outs like Sylvia Mordue and Caitlin Pierce, who were rarely outright rude to her, but who had definitely seemed to avoid sitting near her in class last year and were generally not as friendly as she thought peers of an equitable social rank ought to be.

Her parents owned a Flying Horse Ranch. She was friendly with Arianna Tate. And Dad worked in the French Embassy with his father. What part of that didn’t scream, ‘Hey, I am rich and have connections. Make friends with me?’ And still they avoided her. It had to be because Mom was muggleborn. She couldn’t think of any other reason proper girls would want to avoid her.

Well, their loss. Cleo’s gain.

OOC: mentions of Arianna, Peyton, Caitlin, and Sylvia approved by their authors.

1 Jasmine I will have to 1397 Jasmine 0 5

Cleo

September 28, 2018 8:55 AM

Ok, what's lesson one? by Cleo

“I know what movies are,” Cleo assured Jasmine with a smile, “But we don’t really watch a lot. Obviously, we don’t own a TV,” she said ‘obviously’ because she had been raised being told that magic and electricity did not mix well together, and she tended to take whatever Daddy said as gospel. She hadn’t felt she was particularly missing out on anything. “I mean, I would watch them at friends’ houses, and with my grandparents. Sometimes the movie theatre.” She was only a kid, and only around the devices for a short amount of time, so that was fine. Not like having a permanent tv around her adult wizard daddy, which would, she was informed, end badly. “I don’t have particular favourites. We listen to the wireless - the radio,” she added, because Parker had got confused by that word, although Jasmine was from a partly magical family, so she might not have the same issue, “a lot. It’s more compatible with magic, and we have a little one which we can take up with us when we go to our allotment to garden. We do that most Sundays.”

Cleo felt her cheeks burning slightly as Jasmine explained what had been said in class. But she had asked, and it was better to know - it honestly wasn’t even all that bad, it was just so weird to hear herself discussed like a… a subject.

“Oh, no - not at all,” Cleo smiled, when Jasmine checked she didn’t mind her being there. “It’s nice to chat. And to, y’know, know that not everyone hates me now. Well, everyone but Parker. I knew he didn’t. I mean, he knew before class - since last year,” she explained.

13 Cleo Ok, what's lesson one? 389 Cleo 0 5