The Trophy Room

Oh jeez....

Lily blinks. She stares at Tracey for ten full seconds, wondering what to do. In the end she smiles, although the corner of her eye has developed a slightl twitch. "Yes," she says through her teeth. "That is exactly what I am doing. Did you want directions to the Library, Tracey?" she asks, deciding best not to mention her muggleborn status. Not that she thinks Tracey would be smart enough to locate her wand, let alone use it, but that's not a discussion she really wants to have with this girl. She doesn't really want to have to explain to Dumbledore that she was merely trying to beat some sense into the girl's head after that inevitable point where Lily slaps her, after all.

Reed walks into the trophy room after stumbling his way here from the library. He looks around to try and find his next birthday surprise.

Leaning up against a bigger trophy was an envelope.
Inside was a letter with a tiny bumblebee picture at the bottom.
This is your third to last letter. Your second to last letter is hanging on the outside of the door to our dorm, but you can't come get it until 8.
I hope the rest of your day is as lovely as you are. You mean more to me than anything in the entire universe, baby. You always will.
<3
<3
<3
~Kras

Reed sees the letter and practically runs over to it. He rips it open then looks confused for a moment. Kras didn't write anything about where he'd get the last letter, so hopefully that meant he'd be giving it to him. Reed looked at his watch and groaned. Why wasn't eight 'o clock closer? He had one more class today then he would attempt to maybe get some homework done in the common room. Yeah. That could work. Oh who was he kidding, he'd never be able to stay sane while he waited. He smiled at the note then sighed and left and headed off to his last class of the day.

[Shall we just skip ahead to 8?????]

[Of course! X3 I'm posting in the dorm now. *flails* ]

[*flailing so hard right now*]

Al walked into the trophy room, an area of the castle that he hadn't spent much time in since first year when he came in to admire the medals and trophies, some of them with his father's name on them. He remembered how he'd compare himself to his brother and his dad, always trying to be exactly like them, even if it meant playing a sport he didn't particularly enjoy. He stopped in front of one of the trophy displays, and smiled to himself as he thought of how much had changed since first year.

Jenna stumbled into some room in the castle. She was quite the klutz and also had the world's most horrible sense of direction. She was trying to outrun Peeves, she really didn't feel like dealing with him right now. So, she ducked into the first open room she could find and ran straight into someone else. "Ohmymerlin! I'm so sorry!"

Al was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear when someone else came into the room. In fact, it wasn't until the girl stumbled into him that he realized she was there. He quickly reached out to rest his hands on her arms, steadying them both as he tried to keep from falling into the trophy display. "Woah there. Are you alright?" he asked politely as he slowly lowered his arms away from the girl he hadn't recognized from any of his classes.

Jenna could've sworn that she was about to crash into a case full of trophies and the boy she had only just noticed standing in front of it. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands catch her arms, and steady her, keeping the two of them from crashing into the case. "I'm okay, I was just running away from Peeves, and then my foot got stuck in a trip step in the staircase at the end of the corridor and essentially tripped my way here." Jenna blushed, she had never been the most coordinated.

"Ah, Peeves." Al nodded with a knowing smile. "Been there, done that. He doesn't seem to bother the Slytherins as often though, especially once they get older," he shrugged. "Anyway, I'm Al. Albus Potter technically, but no one calls me that." He grinned as he offered out his hand to shake hers. He could tell from her robes that she was a Hufflepuff, but other than that he really didn't know much about her.

Jenna took his hand and shook it, so this was Al Potter, she faintly remembered Reed mentioning that he was one of the nicer Slytherins. "I'm Jenna, Jenna Wood. My dad was your dad's Quidditch captain. He should have a trophy or two in here somewhere."

Al smiled as he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, recognizing her name right away. "Wood? Like Oliver Wood, right? Yeah, my dad's told me stories about him. I'm not big on Quidditch, but my dad and my brother are. My mum too. She used to play for the Holyhead Harpies."

"Yeah, my dad is the great Oliver Wood. It would be a lot to try and live up to but, I don't play keeper so that takes a lot of the pressure off. Big on Quidditch is a bit of an understatement for me but I do have friends who aren't the most Quidditch obsessed so I'll just try not to talk about it too much. And your mom played for the Holyhead Harpies!? That's amazing! I love them, they're my second favorite team! (After Puddlemere United of course)"

"Yeah, she played when she was younger," he explained with a proud smile. He was never a fan of Quidditch himself, but he had always been proud of his mother for what she'd accomplished. "Now she's a reporter for the daily prophet." He smiled when Jenna mentioned being a fan of Puddlemere, knowing that it was the team her dad played for because his parents had talked about it quite a bit. "What position do you play?"

Jenna smiled, she decided she liked this Al kid. He seemed nice. Even if he wasn't into Quidditch. "I used to be a beater but I had to stop because I'm so small and no one took me seriously. So now I play chaser, which I love too but I still do beater drills as well to keep my skill up. It's cool that your mom's a reporter. I always thought reporting sounded like a fun job." Jenna smiled and shrugged.

"It does seem fun. She likes it anyway," he replied with a light shrug. "Chaser is cool! That's what position I played back when I used to be on the Slytherin team. My brother is the keeper for the Gryffindor team. He's alright," he shrugged again. "I don't think I'd ever be able to play keeper. I don't have those kinds of reflexes."

"We should go down to the pitch sometime and toss the Quaffle around! I would make a horrible keeper. You'd think that playing chaser and/or beater would mean that I have good hand-eye coordination but it's more like the universe temporarily gives it to me for the duration of the practice or game."

"Huh." Al pursed his lips and nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. You're more graceful and coordinated up on a broom than you are when you're walking. I can see how that would work." He smiled when she suggested they fly together sometime. "I'd like that! I'm not all that great, but I've been practicing for a few years now so I know a thing or two."

Jenna smiled when Al said he'd be game for some Quaffle-tossing-Quidditch-Stuff. "That's okay, you don't have to be the best chaser in the world. We'll still have a blast. And knowing something is always better than knowing nothing. I was raised to play Quidditch, from the moment I could sit on a broom so I don't really know how to play many other sports."

"Really? That's pretty cool. I'm the same way with music. I've basically been playing different instruments ever since I could sit up and hold a miniature toy guitar in my hands," he chuckled. "My brother and sister were usually the ones out playing Quidditch. I'd play with them every now and then, but I've always preferred music."

Jenna looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke; "I played a little bit of piano when I was younger, my mom always wished either my brother or I were musical. But we both preferred sports. I always wanted to learn how to play guitar though, I've always thought that it looked fun."

"Piano is amazing," Al grinned. "I love it. My brother was always the sportsy type, while I stuck with music. We're about as different as you can get. Even our houses. I'm a Slytherin, he's a Gryffindor," he chuckled. "I could always teach you guitar one day if you'd like."

"Yeah, my brother was in Gryffindor too. But, he's nine years older than me so chances are our brothers don't know each other. And that would be awesome! I don't know how successful that will be though, I haven't played an instrument in ages."

"Well, I'm pretty patient when it comes to music," Al assured her with a broad grin. "Is your brother a big Quidditch player too?" he asked curiously, wondering if everyone in the Wood family was big on the sport.