[mp] i'm in the stars tonight

"Nope, nu uh, don't believe you for a second," Jae's low voice echoed quietly in the boathouse as he lounged inside one of the boats that was up out of the water for repairs and was now serving as his couch, glancing at the Slytherin across from him. "There's no way Hartwood is sweeping the awards, his new record wasn't even that good," he said with a grimace. While a lot of the girls at Hogwarts loved the guy, Jae was adamantly opposed. But yes, he had still listened to the album and he had still hated it.

It was dark out, the lamps glowing dimly around the boathouse making shadows from the water dance across the ceiling as the radio that sat beside him blathered on in the background about how the 76th Annual Wizarding Music Awards were about to start.

Hanging out in the boathouse was common for these two fifth years, usually doing absolutely nothing and taking pride in that even though he was sure other students thought they were getting drunk or high in there. At least, they didn't usually. Tonight they planned on listening to the performances too and the boathouse had nice acoustics for that.

"Oh, let's not forget though," Jae said, pulling out a red velvet bag from Honeydukes and shaking out the deadliest sour candies they had in store. "You agreed. Anytime they mention Rupert or Rigby, we take one," he reminded his friend with a smirk, a quietly devilish look in his eye, wondering if Isaac was going to refuse.

@Isaac Hackney

"Of fucking course he will," Isaac said as he leaned back precariously in one of the few actual chairs in the boathouse. Isaac scowled at the thought of Rupert Hartwood actually winning any kind of music award. He didn't even consider the noise that had that wizard's name on it to be 'music', but always, Isaac's opinion was not generally agreed with. "His record was shit," The gruffness in his tone was nothing new tonight. Opinionated did not even begin to cover the personality of the Slytherin. Still, he was glad to be down in the boathouse with Jae and the wireless, versus in the dungeons or the dormitory.

"Or Banshee," Isaac corrected his Hufflepuff friend with a sharp nod. It was an awful game to play considering the fact that one of those three was almost guaranteed to be brought up consistently. The whole wizarding world seemed to be ass over tits for those guys and their music. Not that Isaac shared that opinion either. In truth, he very much preferred muggle music, especially considering the fact that his father was a one-time has been wizarding wrock star.

Getting up from the chair he ignored the fact that it slammed into the ground behind him from the movement and reached out for the bag of candies Jae had brought. Snatching it quickly and then turning to sit on top of the workbench he turned the bag over in his head. "Says not to have more than six in a sitting," He mused, smirking at the idea. Isaac threw the bag back at Jae with little warning as he reached for the wireless and started messing with the knobs in order to tune into the show.

"No way," he disagreed again, dead set on his predictions that the teen heartthrob everyone loved really wasn't all he was cracked up to be. There were much better artists that weren't getting the recognition they deserved and while he knew Hartwood and Banshee were the favorites to win, he hoped some of the underdogs might come out on top. "Worse than the last one for sure," he added. Yes, he had listened to the last album too, and yes there were a few songs that were good, but definitely not worthy of Album of the Year.

"Oh right, them too," he nodded, smirking. Why they had agreed to this in the first place was beyond him, but at least it was an excuse to get out of the common room. He felt like he wanted to throw up every time he was in there, all the yellow making him stir-crazy, so he often retreated to the boathouse, the library, or one of the abandoned towers to read or study or avoid people.

He crossed his long legs at his ankles as he tracked Isaac's movements, shrugging lightly at the warning. As if labels could tell them what to do. He snapped out his hand to catch the bag, grinning as he caught it with ease, his hand-eye coordination skills from quidditch showing, as he said, "You'll have to do better than that, drop out," he chided as he laid back in the tiny boat again, the bag resting on his stomach as he heard the Slytherin messing with the radio.

"No, there," he said as he suddenly caught the tune of the award show starting. "Go back a bit," he said glancing over at the radio.

Isaac gave the Hufflepuff a big middle finger when he called him a dropout, "Have fun playing with the fucking toddlers," He replied, still pissy about the way the teams had turned out this year. Last year was bad, but this was so much worse. Half the players on the house teams were second years; what was up with that? Isaac remembered when he was a second-year and even trying out for the team was a laughable (and punishable) offense. So much had changed. But whatever, he didn't like being on the team anyway; he just liked the violence.

Turning the knobs on the old radio, he stopped when Jae spoke, turned it back slowly until finally, the broadcast came into focus. The show had just started, but Isaac had minimal hopes that they would give any decent artists awards. The teenager slid back into his seat, lounging and stretching out like he owned the place, and let his head fall back against the wall. "Fucking told you," He said at the first award, which of course, was presented to Rupert Hartwood.

"Eat up," He said, taking one of the candies he'd put into a little pile on the workbench and popping it into his mouth. "Shit," He immediately tasted sour, and his eyes slammed shut as he tried to chew it as fast as possible.

Jae grinned quick and quiet as his friend flipped him off, white teeth flashing in the dimness of the boathouse. He knew other people didn't like Isaac's bluntness, but the honesty and rawness was something Jae had found comfort in for a reason he wasn't sure of. "Oh I will, they have no skills, my save stats will be great this year," he said with a smug laugh. "Surprised you don't want to knock their heads together though," he said, his curiosity getting the better of him. Isaac had told him the outcome of what had happened at tryouts but not the why of it.

He found a coin in his pocket, listening as Isaac tuned the show in, and no surprise that Hartwood got the first award. "Ridiculous," he spat out as he flipped the coin in the air, easily catching it on the back of his hand before snapping it up again. "Jagged Edge's single was so much better than Hartwood's, but he's the favorite so of course he won it. This whole award show is rigged," he said as pulled open the tie at the top of the bag and fished out one of the candies.

"Bottoms up," he said before he popped it in  and immediately squeezed his eyes shut. It was so much worse than he had remembered. "Merlin, why did we agree to this," he complained even as he tried to get it down.

"Because I did not feel like being a fucking babysitter?" Isaac told Jae, and even though the end of the sentence lifted like a question, the Slytherin hadn't meant it as one. Isaac was done with Quidditch; he was so done. "They do not know how to play, and they should not be allowed to try out in the first place," Isaac had been griping about this for days, really, but he hadn't explained why. He just swore a lot and called the twitches mean words. "And Lovecraft is just going to let them," Isaac shook his head as he barely paid attention to the broadcast. "I would have gotten the shit kicked out of me if I tried out as a second year," And it was true too, but things were different three years ago; a lot had changed. Hogwarts had gone soft, but Isaac supposed that was better than the castle trying to swallow them whole.

Shifting in his seat, he knocked something off of the workbench, and it shattered on the floor. It wasn't anything that belonged to him, and he doubted Jae would have left something valuable just sitting around, so Isaac didn't even bother looking, let alone cleaning it up.

Soon enough, their predictions were starting to come true. No one good got an award, Hartwood got recognition for nonsense, and the pair of them were trying to save face as the sour candies worked their magic. "These suck," Isaac said, pretending like he hated them because they were terrible and not because they made him want to rip his tongue out of his mouth. How could something be this sour? It wasn't natural. Magical candies were horrifying sometimes. It finally started to wear off, just in time for the next category to be announced, and Isaac almost wanted to shut the whole thing down so he wouldn't have to eat any more of those awful things.

"So, you are still playing, then?" Hufflepuff had a good team because apparently they were living in upside-down-town where nothing made sense and the fucking Badgers were actually good at sports again.

"Too scared to be shown up by some ickles, I get it, no need to explain, mate," Jae teased, his grin devilish. Isaac was maybe his closest friend and he'd stand up for him any day, but that didn't mean he also wasn't going to take the piss out of him when the Slytherin gave him such a good opportunity. Besides, Jae was almost sure that there might be a sliver of truth in what he said, not that he'd ever actually call out his friend that way. If he wanted to pretend he was too high and mighty for quidditch this year, he was free to do it, but Jae wasn't one to prescribe to that sort of idea.

"Well apparently all you need is a famous quidditch parent and you make the team. Too bad your parents are just run of the mill snobby Purebloods, you don't make the cut," he added, sarcasm and derision heavy in his tone. Coming from muggle parents, blood status was a sensitive thing for him normally but he didn't feel the need to put on a front with Isaac like he did with others and he could point out the unfairness of the favoritism situation with the kid who had the famous quidditch dad. As if that made him talented at all. Jae couldn't wait to block each and every shot in the next Hufflepuff/Slytherin game.

He heard something hit the ground and he glanced up, curious, but laid back down, his eyes on the ceiling of the boathouse again when he didn't see anything of interest. This place wasn't exactly a palace, but Jae liked that it wasn't overrun with other students. "Literally. They literally suck," Jae said in agreement, a chuckle in his voice as he had to suck down another one as Banshee won the next award.

At Isaac's question, he nodded. "Someone from our year has to represent," he said, a silent dig toward Isaac there, but the comment also made him think of Mavis and how she hadn't tried out this year. Then he thought back to their days of Mudditch in the park near their childhood homes and he felt a pang of something he couldn't quite name.

"Magnolia was asking about you the other day.." he mentioned, his gaze sliding to the Slytherin, wondering what he would have to say about that.

"Yeah, I am bloody terrified," Isaac replied, his voice as flat as his features, and then shook his head. "Yeah, it must be nice to have rich parents to buy your way in," The Slytherin replied, knowing that Jae knew what his home was really like, and so he didn't take offense at the words. Isaac's parents were anything but snobby Purebloods; well, maybe his dad was, but the teenager hadn't seen him in ten years, so how would he even know? His mum was a magical maid that cleaned up after people like Jae were talking about, but Isaac wasn't going to mention precisely how right the other wizard was. Especially not since his mother had started working as a maid in the Hawkins household. He hadn't told anyone that, except for Magnolia, by accident, when he demanded she swore not to tell.

"Half your team is fifth-years, dumbass," Throwing one of the sour candies at the Hufflepuff, Isaac groaned when Banshee won something, and he had to eat the next one. This one was a little easier since he knew what to expect, but it still sucked, and not in a good way. Isaac was quiet when Jae brought up Nola, partly because of the war that was going on inside of his mouth, but also because he couldn't give up how eager he was to find out why she was asking about him. A part of him silently worried, had she told Jae his secret? Would she do that? But another part of him smirked at the obvious implications.

"Oh yeah, what did she say?" He asked, as calm and relaxed as ever, as he leaned back against the wall again and found something to prop his tattered black sneakers upon.

"Guess we just have to wait and win the lotto then, mate," he replied with an exaggerated sigh. He knew his friend wasn't much better off than his own parents despite his 'pure' blood. Like that meant anything really except to elitists struggling to hold onto oldworld values. He wondered if the Hawkins kid was actually good or if he was more of a legacy shoo in.

Jae pursed his lips as he thought about his team. "Is it?" Then he did the math, looking at the roster from last year and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Well the Hufflepuffs have to rep the fifth years since the Slytherins seem to give up when they get a little competition. Pity, though, since I was looking forward to whooping your arse on the pitch again this year." Maybe if he buggered his friend enough, he would rethink his decision. If not, it was always good fun to irk Isaac.

"Oh nothing much really," Jae said with a light shrug. "Just that you were uglier than a troll and that her granny could probably play quidditch better than you," he said deadpan then grinned devilishly as he threw some candies at the Slytherin's head. "This is shite," he added with a nod toward the radio. "I don't want to listen to Hartwood or Banshee win another award," Jae groaned.

"No, we just have better shit to do than play school sports," Isaac already knew he would miss being on the house quidditch team, but he was nothing if not stubborn, and there was no way he was going to ask for his spot back especially if the team kept letting underclassmen join. It was more than that he found it annoying to play alongside the tiny terrors; it was also because Isaac didn't like to play when he knew he couldn't win. Up against the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams, there was not a chance that Lovecraft and his merry band of ankle-biters could take the cup. Ravenclaw wasn't even in the running because no one took them seriously as a team, not even the Ravenclaws themselves.

Asking about what Magnolia had said, and waiting for the answer, put Isaac at his limit of pretend. Pretending not to care, pretending he wasn't insanely interested, and pretending that he wasn't picturing the way her lips moved when she said something sarcastic. It was exhausting. He was careful not to fidget while he waited but not stay too still, and the realization of how calculating he was being had Isaac growing even more annoyed. Four months ago, he barely knew who Magnolia Lane Hawkins was, and now it was like she was everywhere. Like those stupid flashing Hartwood pins that every witch in their year seemed to have on their bookbags. They showed up overnight (in Isaac's mind), and now they were blinding him every time he turned a corner in the hallway.

"Oh, piss off," Isaac groaned, searching the table beside him for something heavy to chuck at Jae's head, but finding only a crinkled, empty pumpkin juice can. It would have to do. "It was probably something dumb anyway," Isaac sighed, tilting his head against the wall and letting his eyes close as Banshee was given another award. "Magnolia and all of her friends are insane." Honestly, the Slytherin found that every witch in their year or near it was certifiable. They were always gossiping, laughing, or crying about something. It was all drama, heartthrobs, and nonsense. Teenage girls were the reason why wizards like Rupert Hartwood were rich and famous. Was he a little jealous? ... probably.

"All witches are bonkers, actually."

"Sure, sure," Jae told him as the Slytherin gave excuses for his piss poor team. "Excuses, that's all I hear," he said with a wave of his hand. He wondered if he badgered and bullied his friend enough that he would actually get off his arse and get back on the team. Maybe he was too scared to go toe to toe with the Hawkins kid. Jae grinned at the idea.

The dark-haired boy laughed as he put up a hand to dodge the empty pumpkin juice can and flipped the bird to his friend. "I dunno, she was just talking about detention and you and your band of 'clowns,' as she called it. Apparently she got detention for passing notes in class?" he explained, throwing his friend a bone, wondering why he was curious at all. But as Banshee was given another award, Jae flicked his wand at the radio to shut it off. "Clearly, the awards are all rigged," he said as he stood and stretched his arms overhead, feeling the pull and pop of his muscles as he yawned.

"You're not telling me anything I don't know," Jae replied darkly, thinking of one Gryffindor witch in particular who he didn't understand in the least and at the same time, knew more about her than himself almost. "They're all nuts and Merlin help whoever ends up with any of them," he added with a nod toward the door. "Want to go see if there's any firewhiskey stashed in the South dungeon?" he asked with a perk of his brows.

Isaac understood what Jae was doing, and even though it was successfully irritating, he was dead set in his choice. He wasn't going back to the stupid house team, not even if they dragged him onto the pitch and set the end of his broom on fire. Isaac had found better things to do with his time, and annoying Magnolia just so happened to be one of them. Nott that he was planning to offer that information up to Jae; he knew better. "Because she sucks at passing notes," Isaac said with a shrug, defensive about something he shouldn't have been defensive of and covering it with a cough. "I mean, she actually said my name out loud once before throwing the note." Isaac gave Jae a look, like it was the most offensive thing he'd ever told him, and then shrugged.

It was a total lie—of course, but it didn't matter. Magnolia wasn't here to defend herself, so naturally, Isaac was going to make up his own version of the story.

"Yeah, this shit sucks anyway," Motioning toward the radio that announced a tie between none other than Hartwood and the Banshees, Isaac pushed off of the counter he'd been sitting on. Kicking the old pumpkin juice can with his beat-up sneakers, the tin flew across the boathouse, hit a beam, and bounced into the dark waters of the black lake. Isaac didn't flinch as it started knocking into the sea wall on little lapping waves. He wasn't going to fish it out.

"You finish that charms essay?"

"You're the one that passed her the note?" Jae questioned, his brows furrowing. Nola hadn't mentioned that to him. And had acted as if she hadn't even known Isaac, at least not well enough to be passing notes. It didn't add up. Was it the truth? Hmm. Then again, the Gryff girls gang was not a group that made a whole lot of sense to him at any given moment so Jae just rolled his eyes. "No wonder she got caught," he said with a smirk.

He dodged the can with a Keeper sense of reflect as Isaac bounced it around the room and shook his head as he headed out of the boathouse and up the sloping lawn to the castle which glittered darkly against the night sky. "You didn't finish it yet? It's due first thing in the morning," Jae said incredulously before laughing at Isaac. "You're screwed," he said, the most cheerful he'd been all night. Jae wasn't exactly top of the class, but Merlin, he tried to at least get it done on time.

"Guess I know what you'll be doing tonight," he added with a grin as he shoved the Slytherin away. "Maybe you should skip the South dungeon then and get to work."

"Piss off; she got into trouble on her own." Isaac was not going to let Jae join in on the 'Blame Isaac' game, and he turned to give him a deep frown as they walked. Magnolia had tried to blame it on him, and surprise, surprise, it had turned into an argument. Isaac was starting to realize it was impossible to talk to the Gryffindor witch without bickering. It was a dramatic, aggravating, and utter waste of time—so why did he keep doing it?

"Jae, chill, I finished it the day it was assigned. I believe I asked if you had finished it." Isaac rolled his eyes at his friend before walking a little faster. It was cold outside, and he was irritable because of the Hufflepuff's assumption. Despite the role he had been typecast into as a poor Slytherin who liked to bully first years, Isaac was quite intelligent. The teenager always turned his assignments in on time, put in real effort, and tended to read ahead. His only downfall was getting bored and agitated during lessons. If school were assignments and exams alone, he would have been one of the top students in their year. Instead, he spent half the day in detentions and got looped in with the idiots.

Walking up the stone path that leads back to the castle, Isaac was careful not to slip. Whoever designed the castle must have been hoping for some mayhem and carnage. What student could carry a stack of books and run down thirty flights of jagged, uneven stairs in the pouring rain? Nearing the castle, the glow from the windows and lanterns cast eerie shadows onto the lawn, and Isaac turned around to walk back just long enough to flip Jae off.

"Mhm, sure," he hummed, smirking as Isaac frowned. Honestly it was so easy to piss off his friend that sometimes it wasn't even worth trying.

He was so testy tonight, it made Jae smile quietly in the dark as they made their way up to the castle. "I finished it yesterday. Not as quick as you, the oh so perfect student, but close enough. I'll probably get a better mark on this just like the last time," he added with a laugh, bringing up the old argument. He had only gotten a better grade than Isaac on an assignment once and yet Jae brought it up any chance he got just to poke at his friend.

Jae smirked when the Slytherin flipped him off and then bounded the last few steps to snag his arm around his friend's neck, squeezing him a little too tightly before he pushed him away. He danced a few steps away, out of range, his smile gleaming in the dark. "Promise I won't tell your snake gang about it though. I know you have your bad boy reputation to keep up," he added.