Sitting within the Hufflepuff common room, Molly had perched herelf upon one of the many couches and spread a text book out before her on a coffee table. She had had the good intentions of studying and writing a short essay for glass but had found it near impossible to focus. Thoughts of her brother seemed to continuously be on the forefront of her mind and the blend of emotions those thoughts spurred tended to be on the confusing side. Hurt, angry, baffled, afraid and perhaps even a little lonely, she couldn't help but wonder if she just up and left would he miss her at all? Considering how very little of his life he included her in, she suspected the answer was not one she would favor.
Starring off into nothing, Molly's daze had her eyes looking into an empty space of air in front of her and somehow seemed a little mesmerized by it. Oblivious to the sounds of her housemates coming and going, Molly let out a slow sigh and lowered her gaze back to her parchment. It was blank, just as it had been from the moment she had sat down and no matter how she tried she just couldn't find the focus to put factual sentences together. Leaning back on the couch lightly, Molly's one hand came to rest on her lap while the other instinctively started to play with the tips of her copper spun hair. Twirling and whirling about her petite finger, the young Hufflepuff witch zoned out once again into the space of air in front of her and tried to think of nothing at all - since it was evident she wasn't going to be able to think of 'something' solid at the moment to write about.
Aubergine huffed, his round cheeks ruddy, as he heaved himself and a stack of three thin books through the entrance of the common room. The boy had been dragging them around all day and he was exhausted. How could professors expect them to live like this? He had been told by his older siblings that as time went on, the schoolwork got easier. They were liars! He had gone from having to carry hardly any books at all to three in the three years he had been there. Granted, if he had been able to master the Wingardium Leviosa spell back in his first year, he might not have had that particular issue, but he wasn't about to admit that. The faculty truly did not have the students best interest in mind, he was quite sure of it.
The boy trudged over to his usual spot - a couch that he occupied so frequently that it usually had his very body shape molded into it. They were rather old pieces of furniture, but Aubergine didn't mind. It just made it easier to get settled into. He noisily plopped his books on the table before it before he seated himself heavily onto the sofa next to the older girl. He recognized her, as they were only a year apart and he made it a point to know everyone's names, and he didn't think she would mind if he sat by her.
He grunted as he lifted his feet up to place on the table next to his books just as he glanced over to see what it was she held, "What are you doing?"
Coming out of her daze, Molly's eyes turned to the young boy who she recognized quite easily as Aubergine Fulvous. A fellow Hufflepuff and a third year student. Though, outside of that she didn't know him terribly well she did understand that he was a nice enough wizard and often saw him sitting in the common room, on the very couch they now sat upon. "...I think the better question would be what I'm not doing," Molly sighed and dropped her quill on the table top - lying it across her very empty parchment before leaning backward into the seat behind her.
"...I have to write a paper for history of magic and I can't seem to find my words." She confessed, turning her chin over her should to greet the boy with a friendly enough smile that didn't quite meet the surface of somewhat side eyes. Normally a perky, pleasant girl, Molly couldn't summon her regular spirit thanks to her relationship with her brother. She'd been at a place in life where she felt she could almost, almost forgive him for the wrong he'd done her in the past but now? It felt as though he'd done it all over again and Molly couldn't stand the way it made her heart tighten inside of her chest. "What about you? From the looks of it, you've got your hands full." She gave a small smile and motioned with her eyes to the hefty books the wizard had carried in with him.
Cathal was sleepy. He had retreated back to the dormitory directly after dinner, intent on catching a few hours worth of sleep to replace the ones he had lost when he had spent most of the night prior reading by candlelight. Tonight would be similar, as always; he rose with the moon and would inevitably become distracted from his own studies by a lengthy tome detailing the adventures of one brave and courageous dragon keeper or another. He knew he'd have to sort his sleeping schedule out some day if he wanted to avoid people thinking he was some sort of nocturnal creature. It wasn't too far from the truth, considering he spent most of the day nearly falling asleep at his desk but somehow regained his energy the moment the sun set. He might have to read up on it, just to ensure he really hadn't somehow become a creature of the night when he least expected it.
Having managed to roll out of bed, the fifth year propped open the door leading from the tunnel of the boys' dormitory, poking his bushy-haired head out to peer around the common room. The tunnels leading into the respective boys' and girls' dormitories were short enough that they required him to stoop a little just to walk through them. It wasn't a particularly pleasant experience, but he supposed it was better than crawling through. It was lucky that there were no students with giant blood to speak of at Hogwarts; Cathal imagined navigation would be difficult for them and that would just be a pity.
Swinging the door shut, Cathal took a few long strides that saw him to the edge of the sofa Molly and Aubergine were seated upon. He pulled himself over the arm of it, making the duo a trio and joining Molly at her opposite side from where Aubergine sat. No introduction was requiredùthey were acquainted.
"Evening," he yawned before slumping somewhat in his seat and leaning against the arm of the couch. His eyes drifted lazily over the collection of items on the coffee table before they landed on Molly's parchment. He perked up almost immediately.
"Oh! Are you writing?"
It always made Aubergine happy when another person agreed to have a conversation with him. The thirteen year old was incredibly extroverted, although most would agree that his social skills needed some work. Clingy, they called him, and nosy, among plenty of other negative things, but the boy wasn't bothered by it. His mother assured him that he was perfect just the way he was. The other children were jealous. It made sense to him and he tried his hardest to make friends with such petty people. They needed someone to look up to; he would inspire them to be a better person.
Before he could respond to Molly, an older boy plopped himself on the other side of the sofa. Aubergine peered around the girl's auburn hair to offer a friendly smile. He nodded, quite eager to answer the question even though it wasn't exactly directed at himself. If there was a question that he knew the answer to, then surely he should share it!
"She's supposed to be writing a paper for history of magic," He told Cathal, "But she's not doing it." Quite proud of himself for being helpful, the boy grinned from ear to ear, unaware that he had left Molly's question unanswered.
Busy eying over the young wizard beside her, Molly distracted enough to at first notice Cathal's entry into the common room. Normally, on a good day, Cathal was one of the first if not the absolute first person Molly ever noticed. Having known him since almost her first day at Hogwart's, she had been contently attached to his hip - to a point. He'd offered her help navigating around the castle, even doodled up a map for Molly at the time and after discovering they were in the same House and sharing a few humorous moments together - the daydreaming, artistic duo had hardly been apart during the school year even if they weren't in the same year.
Waiting patiently for Aubergine to reply, Molly seemed to furrow her brow a little when the boy got distracted by Cathal's approach and just as her friend plopped down on the opposite side of her, Molly had only just turned her head to realize what it was that Aubergine had been watching. "Cathal, you lazy mook." Molly teased, cracking an earnest smile for the first time since she'd found out about Juliet 'Donovan' - no matter how fleeting it was. Cathal's appearance was a breath of fresh air, exactly what Molly had been needing and just being in his company seemed to light her up a touch more than she had been - though in general her mood still seemed dull in comparison to her normal chipper self.
"He speaks the truth, I'm afraid." Molly spoke on the end of a sigh and resumed her slouched back position in to her chair - the furthest from seeming bothered at all that Aubergine had answered Cathal's question for her. Molly tended to enjoy the presence of younger students, they were often entertaining and it felt good when she could help them out. "...I made the foolish mistake of going home a couple days ago and thanks to Floinn DonnabhÃin--" She all but growled out her brother's true name on an unabashed Irish accent that she felt no shame in emphasizing like her brother often did, Flynn for whatever reason tried to dull down the Irish flare when he spoke but Molly did no such thing - least of all when she was angry. "...and now I can't concentrate at all." She huffed and then leaned her head down to rest on top of Cathal's shoulder. "...perhaps I just need a muse." She smiled, lifting her pretty eyes up to Cathal's and batted her lashes in a fashion that would leave no doubt in Cathal's mind that she was requesting one of his incredibly stories.
Any other boy in the world would have gone weak at the knees whether they liked it or not if a beautiful girl such as Molly Donovan were to rest her head upon their shoulder. Her copper hair spilled in perfect waves over the curve where their bodies had come to rest against one another's, her cheek rested gently against the lapel of Cathal's shirt as she turned her eyes up at him. Yes, any other boy would have been enamored and hoped that they would be suitable enough to call upon her, but Cathal was unshaken. In lieu of going silent with nervousness as others were so wont to do when presented with the touch of a female, he dropped his arm from where he had draped it across the top of the sofa and brought it around her shoulders. He allowed his hand to brush her arm in a silent gesture that told of a kind-hearted "tell me later, when we're alone" in response to her troubles.
Such contact would have been vulgarùobscene, evenùhad it not been for their reputation. Many of the others believed that the two of them had been courting, and they were forgiven for their small displays. In truth, Molly was nothing but a close friend and a cover for a secret Cathal carried.
"Avoiding an assignment, are you?" the oldest boy of the trio teased, voice taking on a somewhat thicker Irish accent than it would have otherwise. Molly did that to him; her accent reminded him of his mother. Though he'd grown up in England after relocating from Ireland, he didn't fear the tension between the two countries and their people when it came to the students that spent their school year at Hogwarts. It rarely ever seemed to be an issue. It was safe for them to keep their accents, especially in the common room.
"Well, then," Cathal said, picking up the blank piece of parchment that had been discarded among Molly's work and snagging her quill as well. He scrawled his words in a delicate cursive. "There was this lass, you see, who didn't want to do her homework..."
That was how all of Cathal's stories began. "There was this dragon-keeper, you see," or "there was this great hero, you see," or "there was this goblin with poor eyesight, you see, though he didn't" or something to that effect were heard often enough that some of the students of Hufflepuff house had begun to see such words as better terms than the traditional "once upon a time". The first years were certainly familiar with itùCathal was there to utter stories in the dark while the first years, fiercely anxious and away from home for the first time, wept through their first few nights at school.
"What happened to the lass, Aubergine?" Cathal prompted, grinning over Molly's head at the younger student, urging him with a nod to continue the tale as he passed the parchment over the lap of their feminine companion in the direction of the youngest Hufflepuff in the group.
Aubergine watched the exchange between the other two students eagerly. Oh what fun was this! He now had two friends to speak with, rather than one. Never mind the fact that they seemed to know each other much better than he knew either of them, that didn't matter. They were friendly toward him and he was friendly back. The boy nestled himself even further into the sofa, leaning to the right slightly so that he was even nearer to the girl. Their arms brushed against one another.
His grin widened even further as he realized that Molly had persuaded Cathal to tell one of his stories. Aubergine remembered when he had been a first year, Cathal had told him and the others stories in order to help calm their nerves. Granted, the spoiled Fulvous had hardly paid attention to it. He had been so terrified and upset about having to leave his mother that he had been an utter wreck. Not even his older sisters were able to soothe him. In the end, they had taken him to the school's nurse and she had had to give him a tonic for his nerves. Only a quarter of an hour later, he had passed out and slept the entire night like a baby. It wasn't until after he woke that he heard the other first years going on about the stories.
When the notepad was passed over to him, Aubergine immediately felt his palms go sweaty. He took the quill in his hand as well as the parchment and began to scribble in his sloppy handwriting. It didn't take him long at all to figure out what he wanted to say.
Once he finished writing, he turned to the both of them and announced, "So two of her classmates came to keep her company. They talked and laughed and had a lot of fun together and became the best of friends. When it was late at night and they were all too tired to keep their eyes open any more, they all retired to their beds and promised to do it all over again the very next day." It was a rather good bit to the story, in his opinion. He cheerfully passed the notepad and quill back to Cathal, satisifed that he had finished the story for him and had given it a unique happily ever after.
It was odd how comforting such simple, common place words could be. Cathal's opening of 'There was this lass, you see,' were not only words of welcomed familiarity but ones that also brightened the smallest smile to appear on Molly's features and encourage her to let loose that fairy like laugh. He had a way about him, Cathal O'Callaghan, and both Molly and the older boy himself were well aware of it. "A lass you say?" Molly's eyes drifted back up to Cathal's handsome face, amusement already expressing outward from the shimmering gleam of her eyes as she perked a single eyebrow up at him and grinned wider still when he passed the parchment off to Aubergine.
"Yes, Aubergine, do tell - what exactly does happen to said fair lass, she is rather fair faced is she not?" Molly said, poking fun at herself and teasing the younger boy just a touch - after all Molly had quite been aware of the way he too had started to lean in on her as well. Listening to the young Hufflepuff, Molly couldn't help but feel her tooth would start to ache from the earnest sweetness of the young wizard next to her. He seemed so kind hearted and friendly, also very optimistic it seemed about making friend with the two older housemates he'd sat next to.
"..best of friends you say?" Raising an eyebrow to this, Molly smiled and let a thoughtful expression pass over her features before smiling. "Well I suppose best of friends should share the best of their treats, should they not?" Molly inquired, more in the direction of the younger wizard than Cathal though she was certain if the older wizard had something to say he certainly would. Meanwhile, Molly leaned forward from her comfortable position at Cathal's side and rummaged into her schoolbag that had been dropped on the floor by her feet. Shuffling about it for only a moment, she pulled out a little bag of assorted candy and sweets she'd picked up from Honey Duke's to help 'comfort' her hurt over her whole dilemma with Flynn. Truthfully, it was the only time Molly really indulged sweets - when she was emotionally upset and unbalanced.
"Would you boys like some?" Molly offered, holding the baggy over to Aubergine first with a smile and an encouraging wink before offering the bag to Cathal as well. Molly herself would randomly pick any piece her fingers first touched and popped it into her mouth only a moment after she'd peeled it from the wrapper. "...Aubergine, as lovely as your story truly is, don't you think the best of friends should have the best of adventures too?" Molly questioned on a kind smile, leaning back slowly to reclaim her comfortable position up against Cathal as she turned her attention back to her long time friend - well, long time for a girl who was only 14 and some odd months old that is. "What do you say Cathal, shall we take the trio on an adventure?"
"Oh, aye," Cathal enthused, speaking around a sweetie that he'd eagerly shoved into his mouth upon being offered. He reclaimed the parchment and quill once Aubergine had passed it back, sparing a glance for the words that the younger student had written upon the page. He shot the third year a satisfied smile and switched the quill into his left hand while he held the parchment to the coffee table with his right and wrote at a delicate left angle. It caused his words to slant in the opposite direction as Aubergine's, creating a mismatched brotherhood between the lines of text, but the eldest Hufflepuff in the group paid it no mind. Oddly slanted lettering was just one of the byproducts of left-handedness.
"However," he said, speaking the words aloud as he wrote them, "when the three friends congregated the next day, something happened that would spur them on the path of adventure and change their lives forever."
The curly-haired Hufflepuff perked his head up once he had transcribed his speech and grinned at his companions. He urged the parchment and quill into Molly's hands before leaning back against the sofa, watching her with an eager gaze.
"Well? What happened then?"
Aubergine eagerly took the bag of sweeties once it was passed to him. He popped not one, not two, not three or four of five, but six of the candies into his mouth. He sat with the bag in his lap, his chubby fingers wrapped lovingly around it. The thirteen year old was not one to turn down food, especially sweets from Honeyduke's. He had made his older siblings bring him back some before he had been old enough to attend Hogwarts. He had even demanded that his mother go to Diagon Alley so that he could get some wizarding candy. It was just that much better than muggle sweets.
With is mouth so full that he could hardly keep it closed, Aubergine listened with some displeasure as the other two spoke. An adventure? But, he didn't want to go on an adventure! He had finished the story well enough, hadn't he? However, he couldn't voice his concern unless he wanted candy and saliva to dribble out of his mouth. Instead, his blonde brows furrowed and the corners of his lips tried their hardest to push down into a frown.
The parchment was passed to Molly, which surprised Aubergine. He had thought that only he and Cathal would tell the story. Everyone knew that girls were only good for being given orders and affection. His mother and sisters let him boss them around quite easily. They showered him with gifts and hugs and kisses. Why would they want to write a story? Why would they even need to write a story?
He was torn between voicing his thoughts and savoring the taste of the candy, which had not yet softened enough so that he could chew them. They were rather delicious. The youngest Fulvous chose what was the most important - the sweets. He kept his mouth shut for the time being, though his frown did not disappear from his chubby face.
Eying Aubergine from the side with a slight hint of amusement shining in her eyes, Molly couldn't help but think the younger Hufflepuff kind of sweet. His eager, young hands all but taking possession of her candies - not that she minded so terribly anymore. With Cathal at her side and Aubergines company, she was already starting to feel a little bit better. Plus giving her mind something other to focus on than her homework and issues with her brother was a blessing in and of itself.
"Mmmm." Molly hummed thoughtfully. Carefully analyzing Aubergine's apparent love for candy and sweets by the way he stuffed his cheeks full like, what the muggles called, chipmunks. Twirling the pen back and forth in between the pinch of her fingers, Molly eventually leaned forward and began to write. The flow of her cursive a little softer, more fluent and generally a touch more 'feminine' than the likes of Aubergine's and Cathal's already written upon the page.
"...Meeting in the common room, the three best friends had decided to take a trip down to Hogsmeade together. It seemed the youngest, handsome wizard of the bunch had a fancy for some sweets but upon arriving the unthinkable occurred. Honey Duke's was closed with no signs of the owner being anywhere nearby! But Honey Duke's was never closed during the day, so deciding something had to be wrong the three best friends decided to investigate the case of the 'Missing Honey Duke's Owner' together." Tapping the tip of the quill to dot a period onto the end of her sentence, Molly Glanced over to Cathal and just smiled, Cathal always made things fun. "So you'll have to tell us Cathal, what do they do? Will they find the missing candy shop owner? Is there a happy ending or reward at the end of our story?"
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