nov mp || squad goals || squad/open

november 30th 2003

“So in short, I didn’t finish the project in time,” Magnolia explained to the table, or to whoever was listening anyway, “but it’s so unfair, it was my birthday, I can’t think about that and homework at the same time,” she made a face of obvious displeasure, in case her whining hadn't been obvious enough, “he should’ve just given me an extension,” she continued, picking wearily at the piece of steamed salmon that had somehow made it onto her plate. As was tradition, the end of the month marked the celebration of Saint Andrew, and it was due to this occasion that dinner had been fish-focused, though Magnolia found the entire set-up a little off-putting; she had never been a big fan of fish, to begin with. “You think he’ll fail me? Let’s take a vote!” she suggested excitedly but didn’t sound nearly as concerned as she should have been. Mostly, Magnolia was curious to see what her friends thought about her chances.

Magnolia looked down the table to see whether anyone else had an opinion on the matter. Although the Gryffindor girl was accustomed to some of the faces at her table, mostly the gaggle of chatty girls she had been spending time with since her first year at Hogwarts, her group of friends (or enemies if you looked to the boy sitting on Billie’s right) seemed to have expanded in size within the last year or so. It was not as she minded; Magnolia knew that the higher number of friends she had only equaled a significantly higher amount of gossip to go around. Plus, all the positive feelings of commiseration and friendship that came along with it was a nice addition.

Catching sight of the boy on Billie’s left however, made her completely forget about the question she had posed, and rather, made her look over at Mavis as discreetly as she could, giving her friend a little nudge and a smirk. Although Magnolia had considered the outcome of a fistfight between Killian and Phillip on many an occasion, she had never thought about how it might go down in the Grand Hall. Now that would be seriously entertaining. Unfortunately, she did not think it would come to that. In fact, she was surprised that Phillip had been sitting at the table with them, to begin with, but he probably would pretend that none of them existed. Magnolia could almost visualize the angry cloud of misery that hung over Phillip's head and it was with this thought that when she looked over at Killian, she could see the contrast. The girl would have said something unpleasant to Phillip (which she probably would by the end of dinner)  but figured it was still early and it was only right that she acted civil for Billie's sake. As long as he didn't provoke her, she would. Either way, considering the eclectic group of people sitting at the table, there was bound to be something that went awry. It was just a matter of time.

@Mavis Nandamuri  @Jae Kim @Killian Buckley @Billie Fay @Phillip Donnelly

"He won't fail you!" Mavis exclaimed over the constant chatter at their table. Grabbing another slice of the fish pie, the Gryffindor plopped another roll onto her plate too. Maybe it was all the shouting or the obvious tension in the air, but she felt especially hungry today. Mavis caught Nola's look and smirked as her brown eyes trailed over to where Billie and her beaus were sitting. The two Gryffindor witches had been placing innocent bets for weeks now, not that Mavis really wanted them to fight or anything, but if they did, she'd put five sickles on Killian. Sure Phillip was older and pretty mean all the time, but Mavis believed in Ki; he was a Gryffindor; he had that fighting spirit, right? Either way, the witch would always root for her friend, despite the odds.

"You guys hear the new Banshee song?" Mavis asked as she cut into the St. Andrews special and took a bite. Normally the witch didn't care for fish or meat in general, but once and a while, she got the craving probably because it was a special occasion and not just another Tuesday. "I think Baker is going to get back together with his American wife; I mean, have you listened to the lyrics? So romantic." Mavis had no idea what the song was really about, or even if it was actually 'new.' She had only just heard it, so naturally, she assumed that meant it had just come out.

Jae wasn't really listening. Or well he was and couldn't help but hear, but was actively looking as disinterested as possible, which was par for the course with him. He wasn't particularly into seafood and ate as little of it as possible so tonight's dinner consisting mostly of fish was annoying. It was a good thing he knew his way into the kitchens and could cook himself a dinner that was actually edible later.

Her call to vote did peak his interest though. "He's definitely going to fail you," he called out, right after Mavis insisted the opposite, his eyes meeting hers for a moment before sliding away. Should he be surprised that they didn't agree? He wasn't really. He sighed and let his eyes slide over to the doors of the Great Hall, wondering if he should just leave. He didn't feel like he was exactly part of the group even though he had little threads connecting him to some of the others in different ways. The way he saw Mavis and Magnolia exchanging glances though made him think he was missing something and the feeling of being an outsider swam through him.

"The lyrics are good, but the melody sounds just like some of his other tracks," he said to Mavis, again not surprised of the differing opinions. It had always been like that for them. Or it had been. The thought of this new normal didn't always feel quite right though so he glanced away at the door, his gaze wandering again.

Billie was nervous. After the slight conflict they’d had a couple of days ago – where Phillip brought up Ki’s name specifically – the blonde had vaguely avoided her Gryffindor friends. She’d spent more time with Phillip, a part of her anxious to make sure he knew she cared about him, wanted him, loved him. He’d apologised, but she still felt like the whole thing was entirely her fault, and she didn’t want him to have any doubts at all.

Billie knew he wasn’t particularly interested in her friends (the Gryffindors especially, perhaps; he didn’t seem to mind Barbara, for example) but they’d decided to all eat together tonight a couple of weeks ago and it would be strange to not do it now. The group setting made her a little nervous. She wasn’t sure how it had ended up that Phillip was here on her right and Killian was beside her on her left, but somehow it had, and she was nervous about that too.

Squeezing Phillip’s hand under the table, the blonde gave him a small smile before turning back to the group, catching the end of commentary about some new song she didn’t think she’d heard. She wanted a conversational in, but she was fairly quiet in this group most of the time (quieter the bigger the group was, too), so she wasn’t sure how she should interject. After a moment, she spoke. “I don’t think you’ll fail, Nola,” she reassured her. “But how much is it worth again, ten percent? Plenty of time to make it up.”

How Phillip had ended up here tonight, the seventh year, was not entirely sure. He remembered her mentioning sitting with her friends for a holiday, and at the time, the wizard had said yes because he wanted nothing more than to make her happy, but secretly had been hoping something would come up and the 'group-hang' would be canceled. It wasn't. And to make matters worse, he was pretty sure the loud ones had somehow orchestrated Billie sitting in between Killian and himself. He had no proof, it wasn't like they had said it out loud, but he was suspicious just the same. They had been making faces and whispering all night, he had noticed.

The Ravenclaw had stopped listening when they started talking about their Hogsmeade weekend, and his mind had trailed back to a few days ago. To the almost fight that he and Billie had had and how things felt resolved but also not, he didn't like the middle ground. He knew she cared, and he cared too, but he wished they could have been eating alone tonight, and that was the root of it. Phillip knew it was selfish, but the teenager wanted all of her time to himself. He didn't have other friends, all of his energy focused on her now, and he wanted that in return, even if it wasn't healthy.

Snapping back to their conversation when Billie spoke, and only because Billie had, Phillip blinked a few times. "What class are you failing?" He asked the one with glittery clips in her hair before squeezing Billie's hand back. He was trying, but it was especially tricky tonight, as they sat through yet another Scottish tradition. Six months until he would no longer be forced to celebrate every nonsensical holiday in the history of wizardkind.

It was hard not to feel out of place at this table when he thought about the time he had left in Hogwarts. One-on-one Phillip felt like Billie and he were peers, intellectually, emotionally, entirely, but around her friends, he couldn't help but notice they were all fifth years, and it made him feel so much older. Billie wasn't like them, though, she didn't fail classes or debate the merits of lipstick versus lip gloss, and she didn't annoy him.

Josie’s sixth detention had been the consequence of a shoddy attempt at starting a food fight last year. She could remember the shocking final blow clearly. One eye closed, tongue poking out of her mouth, index finger pulling back a spoonful of mashed potatoes into the perfect arch that was sure to hit her target once released - only the bugger ducked and the mash landed right on a professor’s chin instead. The shot had been a bloody good one but she’d barely had time to admire it before she was being dragged by the shoulder. The memory remained fixed in her mind while her gaze went back and forth between the potatoes on her plate and the grumpy pile of gloom and doom sitting next to Billie. It was certainly tempting.

Magnolia’s voice stole her attention and, finding a new target to fix her anger on, Josie glared at the Hufflepuff. “Shut up, Kim.” Merlin, with two functioning storm clouds at their table she wouldn't have been the slightest bit surprised if it started pouring rain out of nowhere. Nodding in agreement with Billie, Josie poked at the fish on her plate warily and put the fork down. “Yeah, it's only ten percent, so who cares if he fails you anyway? You can make it up later. Mavis 'n Ki'll help.” Josie volunteered their friends' assistance unashamedly. If it weren't for them, she would probably still be a first year at fifteen.

She was surprised when Phillip spoke up and she had to fight the impulse to narrow her eyes. She did not trust the bloke one bit. This time, however, she didn't focus on him for long, redirecting her attention to Killian on Billie's other side. In some ways the situation was laughable and there was no doubt she was going to give him shit about it all the way to the common room later. But for now, Josie gave her friend a look that should have directly translated to "blink twice and I'll send these potatoes right to his face". She hoped he was picking it up.

Killian was uncharacteristically quiet tonight. In fact, so far he had been avoiding conversation, opting instead to keep his mouth full and chewing on something at all times. A bead of sweat trickled down from the nape of his neck down the back of his shirt, which was incredibly uncomfortable and oh god was he sweating everywhere? Could everyone see him sweat? Worried, he cast his eyes quickly around the table. Seemed no one had noticed, yet. Especially not - Killian swung his eyes back straight ahead and swallowed the bit of mash still in his mouth.

The thing was, Killian was fairly certain Phillip Donnelly was going to murder him.

He had missed the memo that Billie was bringing Phillip along to the St. Andrew's feast - which was fine, nothing wrong with that, they were together after all! Just that Killian hadn't realized that was happening, but Magnolia (goddAMNIT, Nola!) clearly had, because she had suggested he sit next to Billie in the first place and now she had such a look she was sharing with Mavis like this was the funniest thing in the world and not Killian's whole life on the line.

His nerves about Being Murdered were the primary factor at play here tonight - though he was still unfortunately not over his crush (brewing an Anti-Love Potion was apparently not an option) Killian rather thought he was being a normal friend to Billie. He treated her a little different from the Gryffindor girls, sure, but that was because Billie was less absolutely mental than the rest of his friends.

"Sorry, I'll what?" Ki snapped out of his fear-based dissociation at Josie's mention. It took him a moment to replay the conversation in his mind, then - "The hell I will help, I'm right drowning as it is!" His voice felt a little squeaky but his indignation was righteous. "I have to manage you lot and study for my own OWLs and do this damned trigonometry!" His father, helpfully, had been sending worksheets on normal math, and Killian hadn't gotten the nerve to tell Mr. Buckley to sod off with the trig. For a moment he almost forgot who the company was. Then he remembered and stiffened up again, blinking rapidly. "I mean. I don't know. I'll see if I have time, I guess." He quickly made eye contact with Josie, trying to blink out an 'S.O.S' signal to her as another spoonful of mash went into his mouth. 

“Keep up, Phillip,” she said, pointing her fork menacingly in Donnelly’s direction, “I am not falling anything, let’s not talk about it like it’s an absolute,” she added, glaring at Jae for even suggesting she’d fail. Rude. “Plus I’m sure the Professor loves me but of course he’s supposed to be fair or whatever, but thank you, friends,” she emphasized, looking down the table to give her actual friends a smile and making sure to skip right over this outsider at the table.

“Your vote of confidence is very helpful,” she said with as much gratitude as the gossipy teenage witch could manage. Like Billie and Josie had said, it was only ten percent anyway and even if she did get an extension, Magnolia had too much going on in her life to actually like do the homework she had due in a couple of days, much less do the one she had already missed. She was satisfied with the results of the poll. “If Josie says you’ve got to help, Ki, I don’t think you’ve got much of a choice, isn’t it part of your Prefect duties of whatever?” she teased. He’d help her; she was sure, Magnolia was confident in her ability to be extremely persuasive under the right circumstances.

“I haven’t heard the new song but looks promising, yeah?” she added, turning to Mavis then to Jae, “but talking about American wives,” she segwayed into a completely unrelated topic because who could resist the perfect situation happening right then and there. “Ki, what was that movie you were telling me about over the break?” she started, her smile only widening as she spoke. Surely he knew what she was referring to, the one he had seen with that little angel sitting so prettily between her two suitors. “I’ve been talking to Mavis about going to see a film over break,” she started (she had not done this) glancing over at Mavis for a little back up here, “but I’ve never been to the muggle movies before so you know, suggest,” she added.

“You should all come,” she opened the invitation, decidedly not for Phillip but surely he’d get that on his own, “we need winter plans, friends, the break is finally upon is!”

"I will help you, even if he's too busy; Goddess knows I don't have anything else going on," Mavis sighed dramatically. She had such high hopes for this year. The teenage witch had hoped to be playing Quidditch and dealing with her own love triangle drama by now. It was November, for Merlin's sake. Instead, all she had was advanced arithmancy and the vicarious entertainment she managed to glean from these glorious little events. Did she want her friends to feel awkward or uncomfortable? No, not, but was it fun to watch? Of course.

Mavis' spoon hung in front of her mouth as she watched everything beginning to unfold. Jae had informed Nola that she would fail, and naturally, that earned a scowl from the witch. It was hard to decide who she disliked more right now, the boy she used to know or the one who refused to know any of them. Nope, nevermind, five words, and her hostility was pointed back at the Ravenclaw. She saw the look on Josie's face, and Magnolia's words made her grin; the two girls would set him straight, Mavis knew this. It wasn't a question of if, but when.

Magnolia then brought up the movies that Billie and Killian had gone to over the summer, and Mavis dropped her spoon into her fish soup with a loud clang. It splashed the liquid on her robes, and she giggled. Even though Mavis knew they had never once talked about seeing a movie over break, the Gryffindor nodded like it was the absolute truth. That was the friend-code, and she upheld it like it was gospel.

"Agreeeed~ It will be so nice to get out of Hogwarts for a while," Mavis stated louder than was required, but speaking softly was not her gig. "Lots of negative energy here," She finished, spooning what was left of her soup and slurping it loudly as she peered around the table.

Billie looked at Ki, mildly alarmed; she was surprised that he’d been quiet this whole time, and then burst out suddenly like that. She was trying not to worry – or at least, trying not to look like she was worrying – but he’d been quiet all night, and she wondered if he was upset.

He’d noticed her being more distant, maybe, but had no idea why? Billie felt a moment of despair; now that Phillip had made it clear that he wanted to spend more time with her (or, more explicitly that he wanted her to spend more time with him instead of them, though she couldn’t bring herself to think anything bad of him), would she always be in these kinds of positions? Letting someone down? In another situation, she might check in with him – at least non-verbally, with a look or something – but she didn’t do it tonight.

“I’ll help, Nola,” she said quietly instead, giving Nola a small smile across the table. She gave Phillip’s hand another squeeze, then let go so she could push her food around on her plate with her knife and fork. Billie wasn’t particularly into fish, but she made herself take another small bite anyway, sinking back into the background as the Gryffindor girls took over the conversation again. She went to glance at Barbie, but couldn’t see her past Phillip without leaning too far forward or back, so she just went back to the food.

Barbara was not sure how she felt about all of this. She liked Magnolia Hawkins -- one on one, at least -- and Mavis Nandamuri slightly less -- she was just so much -- and Josie Playfair from a distance -- if that -- but in combination they intimidated her, speaking over each other and over the food and not seeming especially fussed about whether the rest of them were following. And she might have been imagining it, but she thought that there was some tension here.

It was just inherently weird to bring multiple groups together, she reasoned. To interact with her friends in the context of their other friends. But it made her wish Owain was at her other side -- she'd have liked to feel less left out, and Phillip -- sitting next to her -- was probably not going to help much.

She cut a piece of fish, quietly.

For a moment the chatter was animated enough to convince her that she was just imagining things: Magnolia and her friends were chittering on, and Billie being her usual quiet and reasonable self, and the boys seeming somehow to lurk even though they were just sitting at the table too, and Barbara at the edge eating her fish. Then Killian burst out; in the immediate lull in the conversation, Barbara quietly reassessed. There was absolutely something going on here, to which she was not privy. She glanced sideways at Billie, but -- of course -- couldn't see past Phillip.

After a moment, she returned to eating her fish. Killian's outburst had prompted everybody else to offer Nola their support, so Barbara wouldn't need to, which was a relief. But -- there it was again, something going on. She didn't know Mavis Nandamuri well but she knew a pointed comment when she heard one (she glanced, unbidden, at Phillip.)

Best not to comment on the rudeness. "I've never even seen a Muggle film," she said instead.

“Thanks, Billie, I’ll totally take you up on that,” Magnolia noted, flashing the Ravenclaw sitting across the table the sweetest smile. She wondered if the busy girl would simply make time to help or if better yet, she’d be clearing her schedule of that clingy boyfriend of hers. It was so much easier when things stayed inside of the squad, but only because there was some highly coveted information that went around and who knew the sort of gossip that Phillip got up to when he was not around them. Not that he had any friends to talk to but with those quiet, brooding types, one never knew. Killian was in the squad, they were both Prefects, there was no better match in all of Hogwarts, now it was just about convincing the two of the same thing. Of course, there was the problem with the (hopefully soon to be ex-) boyfriend. 

Magnolia could barely contain a giggle at Mavis’ comment, but instead of calling out exactly who she was referring to (because at this point, everyone knew) she bumped her leg into hers and gave her a look. A glance of recognition. “Right, all this negative energy's been putting me in a bad mood, which is probably why I got that head cold in the first place," she decided, looking over at Mavis for some agreement, "but at least the new year is coming and you know what they say, out with the old, in with the new,” she made a sweeping direction across the table, not oblivious to the fact that it was close enough to Phillip as it was he she was referring to. “I think two thousand and four is going to be great guys,” she said, once again addressing much of the table. 

“Maybe we can do a sleepover!” she suggested enthusiastically, “Billie you think you can come over to mines if I have it? Jae and Ki will probably have to go home by midnight or something because my dad is so not cool with co-ed sleepovers but might be fun? Barbie you should definitely come as well,” she added with a smile. “And we can all watch films on Ki’s movie device,” she added looking over at Killian for confirmation, “can you carry something like that ‘round to Gravesend?”

Christ, he hadn't meant to be that loud.

There was a lull in the wake of his hollering, awkward and tinny as the conversations around this group didn't quite fill the silence. Killian stared down his mash, his fish soup, like he was in Divination again trying to read tea leaves. Maybe that little swirl of oil meant that he was going to survive this dinner. Or maybe it meant he was going to be eaten alive.

Josie volunteering him was not out of character and of course, correct. "Course I'll help," he mumbled around a mouthful of food, still not raising his gaze from the table. He didn't even dare glance sideways at Billie - he could feel the blonde girl staring at him, he wanted to look back, give a small smile that would show that everything was alright, but of course Donnelly was right there and would see if Killian tried to exchange glances with his girlfriend, Killian swallowed. Billie offered to help too. "That would be a load off my plate, if you helped too," he said, daring a quick glance out the side of his eyes. He couldn't see much in the quick motion, but Billie did not seem -- happy.

Film, though, that was something he could talk about. "Oh, Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers!" Dangerous territory, of course - everyone here, except maybe Kim (he had told Barbara, yes?) knew who he had gone with. "Josie stood us up," Killian pointed out, stabbing the end of his fork in Josie's direction with a friendly smile. "But yes it was fantastic --" his eyes narrowed, staring down Nola and Mavis "-- but you two didn't pay much attention when we watched the first one."

A movie night? Killian tried to run through what was coming out this winter, then gave up when Magnolia asked “can you carry something like that ‘round to Gravesend?" Killian scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know, does your house even have electricity?" He wasn't quite sure how wizard houses were wired. "I think we would have to drive something out there -- I don't know." At least this was a distraction: Killian's mind was overtaken by the logistics of getting a television and DVD player from London to Gravesend and back without his parents throwing a fit. "It might be easier if people come by mine again," he admitted after a few minutes of thought, interrupting the conversation that had been moved to. "It's not very portable, that stuff."

“Oh,” Billie said, when Nola asked her a question, nodding at first and then hesitating when the conversation changed to potential co-ed situations. She didn’t have to glance at Phillip to know what he was thinking – his thoughts were probably tied up in something about Killian’s presence, along with the fact that Nola had clearly not meant to extend the invitation to him. “I’m not sure I can do co-ed sleepovers either,” she added, though she wasn’t sure her presence mattered too much. It probably depended more on the supervision of the situation; whose parents were staying where, and if her boyfriend was going to be there or not.

She stayed quiet while Killian talked about the movie, smiling politely when he accused Josie of standing them up and then returning to her food when he moved back to logistics. After finishing her mouthful, Billie got to her feet. “Bathroom,” she explained softly to Phillip and whoever else cared. She touched him lightly on the shoulder before making her way away from the table towards the nearest girl’s bathroom. With her back to the group, Billie’s smile faded. As soon as she was away from the table, though, she felt a clear sense of relief.

/ end

Apparently, the group at large didn't like hearing the truth about Nola's likelihood of failing. Jae shrugged it off as Billie took the opposite stance in that polite, sugar-coated way, Donnelly was lost in his own head so much that Jae wondered if he had anything going on up there, Playfair told him to shut up which he retorted with a quick "you first," Buckley brought attention to himself and his stupid trig homework. No wonder he didn't really fit in with this group, he wondered why he even tried. He glanced at Mavis, who sent him a glare, before he looked away to the doors of the Great Hall.

He was not offering to help, no matter how much 'negative energy' Mavis accused him of. Of course, he wasn't positive it was about him, but he wasn't an idiot. He could see they were all hinting at something and he wondered why they didn't just come out and say it. He sure in hell wasn't bringing it up, just in case there was that .01% chance that he was wrong. But he felt instinctively there was some thread going on here that he wasn't quite catching. Too many shared glances and pointed words, but he was missing a piece. His brows furrowed.

At Nola's plans for a gathering over break, Jae sighed and dug into his meal more. Maybe if he finished sooner, he could make an excuse and leave. Like they would even care. His name on Nola's lips made him look up though. A co-ed sleepover? What? Jae had just assumed when Nola first brought it up that he wouldn't be invited. after all, he wasn't part of the Gryff group like Killian and he wasn't an adopted little pet like Billie. He didn't even count Donnelly since he was just attached to Billie's hip. So the invitation made him a little hard around the edges, thinking it was only offered because he just happened to be sitting here at the of the conversation.

He sure as hell wasn't offering his house even though he knew the series and knew what they needed to hook it up more than apparently almost everyone at the table. "Why even bother with Two Towers if you didn't watch the first one?" he asked though, glancing between Nola and Mavis.