a play with no rehearsal ∙ [killian]

Scribbled last minute in erratic jagged lines, Josie’s note was hardly legible. Can’t make it anymore. Sorry mate. Gilly flew off with it clutched between her talons and Jo leaned back at the desk wearing a grin so smug it’d put pre-loony-bin Lockhart to shame. Self-satisfaction wasn’t exactly a foreign feeling but it was different in this regard - she felt like an evil mastermind trying to play cupid. She was as giddy as a sprog in a sweet shop. And Josie didn’t get giddy. Magnolia was starting to rub off on her.

Towards the end of the day, when she hadn’t heard from Ki, her only regret had been that she hadn’t followed them. What was happening? Did they do anything else after the show? It made her cringe to think of an awkward exchange of goodbyes with no proper resolution. Merlin’s beard, should she have gone with them instead? She could have at least given Killian a good shove into Billie accidentally-on-purpose. Shit. Where was the update? If she was standing, she would have definitely been pacing. Josie actually felt disappointed and that’s when she knew she’d lost the plot. Gone absolutely mental. Josie fell back onto her bed, sighing deeply. At least she’d see him tomorrow at camp. If he thought she was going to let him off easy, he had another thing coming.

The next day she’d cornered him at his cabin. He and his roommate were still settling in, but she’d shot a glare in the other boy’s direction as a clear indication to beat it. After a moment he left grumbling, but she was too preoccupied with far more important things to lash out. She turned on Killian like a predator to prey.

“What the hell, knobhead?” She wacked him playfully on the arm and dragged a chair over to his bed. She took a seat, crossed arms supported by the base. “Why didn’t you write me back?” Her impatience was already growing and she hadn’t even started grilling him yet. Merlin, who was she? Josie waited for an answer for an entire five seconds before she started speaking over him, “Okay, on with it then. How was the date?”

@Killian Buckley

Dad, Ki had learned around age eleven, hated owls. Birds in general, really. Pigeons had been his main enemy before all this magic business had started. So anytime a letter arrived from one of his school friends, it was a frantic race to get the owl in and out of the yard as fast as possible. Sometimes they circled back, if they were well-behaved and Ki had warned the owner. But Gilly arrived about two minutes before he had to go out the door to meet Billie and Josie, and there was no time to reply if he was still gonna make it. Therefore, there was no one at home to defend Gilly from Trevor Buckley, bird menace.

And there wasn't any time to try and flag down an owl when he got home - Killian had left all his camp packing (another surprise from Josie Playfair) for the evening before. Plus, he was gonna see her the next day, anyway. It didn't seem like a good use of time.

Killian regretted this pretty much immediately. He had just managed to introduce himself to Adam, his American roommate, and maybe make a decent impression, when the door slammed open and Josie descended on him like a wrecking ball. She managed to make his roommate leave with just a stare. Josie was a witch with indescribable power, Ki decided. Too bad he already appeared to be on her bad side.

"Ouch!" Ki yelped as Josie whacked him. "Christ, is that how you say hi now?" Josie, not listening, basically shoved him back onto one of the twin beds. He sat up - she was perched on the desk chair, glaring at him. He had to laugh. Josie could be intimidating, yeah, but this was just ridiculous.

"I don't have an owl, you nonce," Killian shot back, rubbing his arm. "And Gilly didn't stick around long enough for me to write back." He did not mention that Gilly had circled back, several times, while he had been out with Billie, before being chased off by Trevor.

"How was the date?

Ki made a face. "It wasn't a date. Pissed you bailed, by the by." He wasn't - it had been nice to have some time just with Billie. She seemed to open up in a way that she might not have if Josie had been there, but then again, JOSIE WASN'T THERE, so who knew? "It was a good film, though. You would have liked it." He paused, thinking. "We went to a music store after. Don't wizards have music stores? She seemed like she had never been in one before."

It wasn’t a date? And she wasn’t Josephine Playfair, upcoming fifth year Gryffindor. She wiped any emotion from her face and blinked at him blankly before rolling her eyes and moving along. “Yeah, right, I’m sure you were absolutely cheesed off that I left you alone with Billie.” She saw the way Killian acted around the blonde – she’d even placed bets with Mavis and Nola on when he’d finally grow a pair and tell her. She knew he’d been chuffed to get that note.

Josie waved a dismissive hand. “Great, cool, yeah. We can talk about the film later.” If she could reach the pillow to throw it at him she would. She’d come here for the details – piping hot, straight from the press – and he was doing a shit job at delivering! She had the support of the chair in a chokehold waiting for him to continue.

“A music store?” She moved to thump him in the arm again but remembered his first reaction before her fist connected with his shoulder and put her hand down reluctantly. “Okay, Ki. Sounds romantic.” She grinned, showing only teeth. “Course we ’ave ’em. That’s where Leah gets all her Weird Sisters records, but maybe Billie wasn’t a record person.” Josie shrugged. “What do Ravenclaws like besides books?”

“Anyway, tell me more about this music store. You’re killing me – no pun intended.” Why was he glossing over everything? She eyed him suspiciously. Had it not gone well, then? In a battle of friendship, Killian was the obvious winner over Billie. The Ravenclaw was nice and all, but if it weren’t for the boy Josie probably wouldn’t know her name. She thought about Billie rejecting him and felt instantly combative. “Did you leave off badly?”

Josie clearly did not believe that he had missed her at the movie. Which, was true, to an extent, but he wasn't going to admit it, was he? He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Jo." What had gotten into her? Since when did his best friend take such an interest in his romantic life?

Since right about he had started to notice Billie Like That, Ki realized. Goddamnit, the girl was good.

Anyway, she had no interest in talking about the film, which was fine by Ki. He'd rather talk about it with someone who had seen it - so, Billie. Shit. Even in his head, he was talking himself into corners. Killian had already resigned himself to having to spend camp getting over Billie, so this was going to be difficult.

"Yeah, the HMV," Ki said, remembering too late that Josie would have no clue what an HMV was. Oh, she managed to keep herself from whacking him like a Blugder again. How good of her. "It wasn't, uh, not romantic?" he managed, remembering how she had cried at the song on the sample machine. It could have been romantic, theoretically. "She likes music, a lot - orchestral stuff, not Weird Sisters." Maybe that was why she seemed so overwhelmed. He was glad for an answer to that at least.

Did they leave off badly? "Not really, I thought it was a great time all round." Ah, Josie was not gonna like this bit. "She's got a boyfriend now, so."

“The whats’it?” Josie asked, features scrunching into a confused look, which she quickly waved off to avoid getting sidetracked. She zoned in on his next words with a vengeance. Her eyes narrowed. Not romantic? “Then what was it?” Josephine wished Nola could’ve been here for this. She was sure her friend would be able to give better more specific prompts for this line of questioning. It wasn't her strong suit. Plus, getting Killian to talk felt like what she imagined trying to pull a tentacle clean off the giant squid felt like.

Then, before she could pelt him with any more words, he’d caught her off guard. Josie’s eyes were as wide as the full moon. Was Killian pulling a fast one on her? He wasn’t exactly the joking type and she didn’t think this was something he would joke about. But, well, damn. This was a shocker.

“She’s got a what?” Josephine gripped the ends of her braids in distress. A boyfriend? Absently, she let go of the clump of hair and stared at Killian questioningly. He seemed… a little less disappointed than she expected, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he was playing it off. She had to give it to him. Josie didn’t have any active crushes, but she was sure if the person she liked told her they were already seeing someone, her instant reaction would be to claw the other person’s eyes out - because how dare they not only like who she liked, but actively date that person too?!

Anyway - Josie shook her head rapidly - this was only a minor setback. She refused to let a boyfriend put a stop to the show. She was too invested! Still, curiosity continuing to bubble, she leaned forward. “Who is he?

"You know, the music store..." Killian trailed off, realizing again that of COURSE Josie had no idea what an HMV was. He needed more muggleborn friends. "I don't know it was like, intimate?" Wrong word. Killian's face flushed darker as he backtracked. "Just. Nice. Close. But not like. A date." He could feel his tongue becoming heavy in his mouth. Christ, he felt stupid.

Stupider now, the way Josie's eyes were going wide as melons, bugging out of her face as she pulled on her braids. He would laugh if he didn't feel like such shit. "Yeah," he mumbled, falling onto his back on the bed. "Boyfriend."

He didn't want to think about this he wanted to be PURGING BILLIE from this STUPID PART OF HIS BRAIN so he could go back to just being NORMAL FRIENDS with the other girl. But Josie had to know details. So. Killian groaned, reached for a pillow and pulled it over his face, so the name came out muffled and exasperated.

"Phillip Donnelly." Ravenclaw Prefect, older, and scary. Killian didn't stand a chance.