Stir them in my witch's brew! (open!)

[ELLE ALEXANDRA WALKER]

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too.
Stir them in my witch’s brew.
I got magic, Alakazamakazoo.

Elle loved all of her classes at Hogwarts. She loved working with the different animals in care of magical creatures, no matter how vile, gross, or angry the creatures could be sometimes. She loved learning about different plants in herbology, which ones had healing properties and which ones could make you swell up like a balloon if digested! She loved charms, and even history of magic sometimes, too. But one of her favorite classes of all time was, without a doubt, potions.

Elle had loved that class since her first year. There was something about the certainty of it all. It was just like cooking. You followed the directions, you added the right amounts. If you were careful, if you were precise, then it came out right every single time. It was a beautiful thing, almost like a guaranteed victory, as long as she studied and practiced and paid attention. She often asked permission to work extra hours experimenting with potions they hadn’t learned yet, or trying to come up with a few concoctions of her own. She would mix her own remedies to illnesses, or find the perfect cleaning solution for those ink stains on her tie. It was a productive hobby, but unfortunately, one that could get a little costly.

Which was what brought Elle to the apothecary. She had used up almost her entire stock of potion’s ingredients, herbs, and other various odds and ends over the course of the summer months, leaving her with nothing to start the school year with. That simply wouldn’t do, since being a 7th year she was in the most advanced potions class that Hogwarts had to offer. It was guaranteed to be demanding, and that would mean lots of practice. Of course, she needed something to practice with!

It was summer, and she was dressed in some of her muggle clothing. Since she was a half-blood her parents found it important for her to have a bit of muggle culture as well as living with magic. That meant doing chores like cleaning and washing dishes by hand sometimes, and it also meant some flare jeans, too! It was far too warm out to wear her robes anyway, so she didn’t mind at all. She just felt as though sometimes it made people treat her differently, like she was less of a witch because she embraced the parts of her background that were muggle. Not that she cared too much about what others thought of her, at least she didn’t try to let it bother her.

“Good afternoon!” she greeted the shop keeper upon entering the store, the little bell above the door ringing to announce her presence. It was cloudy out so her eyes didn’t have much adjusting to do. She glanced around the store, getting her bearings. It had been a while since she’d saved up enough money to buy ingredients she didn’t technically need for anything, so she hadn’t made a trip to the apothecary for at least a month or two. It didn’t take her very long to remember where everything was, and Elle found herself making a beeline for the pickled frog’s eyes.

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[frank]

"Armadillo bile. . . knot grass," Frank mumbled to himself as he crossed the names of ingredients he'd found off his shopping list. If it weren't for the fact that potions was a required course for an Auror career, Frank would have seriously considered dropping it. It wasn't that he wasn't good at the topic, in fact, his grades in the course were top notch, he just didn't fancy the process. Potions required delicacy and patients, two things that were not Frank's strong points. He also wasn't fond of herbology for similar reasons.

The ingredients weren't for Frank, anyway. Ever since the Beatles broke up five years ago, his younger brother, Conner, has been having random anxiety attacks. The poor child is just imcapable of moving on, so their mother always likes to having a calming draught on hand just in case so Frank was sent to gather ingrediants while his mother and younger brother were shopping elsewhere. He was also supposed to get basic ingredients for both him and his brother for school.

Honestly, Frank thought his brother's episodes were more amusing than anything. The last one was because they ran out of cornflakes which resulted in Conner convincing himself that the Beatles broke up because he hadn't eaten enough cornflakes. And not only were the causes comical, the actual episodes themselves were quite humorous. Of course, Frank didn't want to seem insensitive so he always tried to help his brother. He still thought it was absolutely hilarious through.

Frank had gathered the basic ingredients for himself and his brother and now he just needed one more thing for his mother, which he was looking for before he heard the store bell. Instinctively, Franked looked up to see who had entered the shop; it was a fellow seventh year, Elle Walker. After a summer confined to his brother's panic attacks, Frank was glad to see a familiar face. Also Frank was a little curious; if he were to guess who was made head girl, Elle would be his best bet and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather work with.

"Hello, Elle," said Frank as he left a rack of frog eyes to greet her, "Is your summer going well?"

[ELLE ALEXANDRA WALKER]

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too.
Stir them in my witch’s brew.
I got magic, Alakazamakazoo.

Elle had seen that there were other people in the store when she entered, but she didn’t stop to analyze any of them to see if there was anyone she knew. After all, it was almost time to go back to school, so she was sure there would be a few students or even professors running around getting some stuff together. But everyone who was there had their back to her, looking at something or another, and she didn’t recognize anyone.

She was sifting through a pile of tried bat wings when she heard her name spoken by a familiar voice. She spun around to see Frank Sabington walking towards her from the shelf he had been looking at. “Frank!” She greeted him, eyes lighting up. She had seen a few kids from school around Diagon Alley, or those who lived in and around her neighborhood, but she hadn’t seen the vast majority of them since the previous year had come to an end. It felt like an eternity, event hough she knew it had only been a matter of a few months since she’d last seen them. “It’s so good to see you!”

Frank was also going into his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, though he was a Gryffindor. The two of them had been prefects for the past two years and he was one of the people she enjoyed working with the most. The two of them got along great, and at times there was even a bit of flirting between them. Nothing had ever come of it, of course, and it had always just been a look here or a vague compliment here and there, but it was there just the same. Of course, just the three short months of the summer could change a person drastically. It hadn’t done a single thing to her, but you never knew what to expect from people sometimes.

“My summer is going well. I can’t believe it’s over already! I mean, I’m glad to be going back. Seeing friends and family back home was nice for a little while, but I almost miss classes, and I definitely miss seeing everyone from school and Quidditch games,” she admitted. “And how about you? How is everything at the Sabington household?” she questioned. She didn’t want to ask about Head Boy in case he hadn’t gotten the position… surely he’d mention if he got it? She decided to wait and see if he said anything, and if not then she’d bring it up.

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[frank]

Elle's enthusiasm to see Frank certainly gave his a lot more confidence in the situation. He'd been exceedingly confident before, but now it seemed appropriate to switch to 'lady's man' mode. Frank wasn't a perverted pig-man in these situations like other young men in the school. He liked to think of himself as a rather chivalrous lady's man, which was probably far more successful than the ordinary tactics.

Frank and Elle had known each other since first year and have gotten along well since then, especially after being prefects together. Frank felt like there was a mutual attraction between them, but at this point, it was more playful than serious. However, it was Frank's last year at Hogwarts and he did intent on enjoying it.

"My summer was a bit dull actually," said Frank with a small laugh, "nothing exciting really happens in Liverpool, but we did go out to Scotland for a few days to see the old haunted castles. A ghost stole my little brother's glasses and my father threw a fit and was yelling all sorts of things about how he works for the English Ministry and that he's an Auror. It was quite funny actually because the ghost was really very harmless; he was just bored." Although Frank certainly had a lot of respect for his father, the man did take himself a bit too seriously at times. Even Frank's brother hadn't been as upset by the situation and he was prone to panic attacks.

"But, I did receive some good news this summer; I've been made Head boy." Frank didn't want to sound like he was bragging, but he'd been bursting to tell someone! And a small part of him did want to impress Elle. He wanted to ask her if she had been made Head Girl, but if she hadn't then Frank would just fell like an asshole. Well, at this pointed even if he didn't ask and she wasn't head girl, he would still kinda feel like an asshole.

"So, I'm rather excited to get back to school as well," he continued, allowing Elle to mention whether or not she had made head girl on her own. "I can't believe it's out last year already! But, I do have admit that I'm eager to finish school and start working for the ministry. My older brother just graduated last year and he's already in training to become an auror."

[ELLE ALEXANDRA WALKER]

“I’m sorry to hear that! At least you got to travel! I didn’t go much of anywhere this summer,” she admitted. Elle was a fan of traveling, but money was a little tight this past year at her house so she hadn’t wanted to force the added expense of a trip on her family. She knew that if she had bugged them enough they would’ve gone somewhere, but she supposed one summer off wasn’t going to hurt anybody. And vacations with her family always seemed to be more work than they should be, which just took away from the ‘relaxing’ part out of the idea behind going on a vacation.

“Oh man… I remember how terrified I was of ghosts when I was little, even when my dad explained that they’re perfectly normal in the wizarding world,” she admitted, laughing a little. “Parents can overreact a little, though. I think it’s a requirement for being a parent,” Elle added, thinking of her own family and how her own father had a tendency of overreacting at the drop of a dime. She thought it was great that Frank’s dad was an Auror. She had wanted to do that for a while, and she thought that she might still try to go out for it. Though her main goal in life was to work in the Ministry, preferably working her way up to the spot of Minister of Magic, she knew that having the experience of being an Auror first could only help her in reaching that goal. And it was a job she thought she was very well qualified for. Her parents did not approve because of how dangerous it was, but she knew that with her marks in classes and abilities with a wand, well, if she wanted to there would probably be nothing stopping her.

When Frank told her that he had been named Head Boy, Elle was almost more excited for him than she had been for herself. “That’s great! Congratulations!” She could tell that he had been waiting to tell someone, just as she was. “Well, I have some bad news,” she said, putting on a serious face. “I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck working with me all year, since I got the spot of Head Girl!” She had tried to be somber through the whole thing, but her excitement was evident by the end of her statement. She never had been any good at pretending to be serious or somber to play jokes on people.

Elle was glad to hear that he was excited to get back to school too. Usually when she admitted that to people they looked at her like she had six heads or something, unable to believe that she would want the free time of summer to end. So it was nice to know that others were eager to return to learning, and just the whole Hogwarts atmosphere in general.

“Our last year… I’m excited and terrified to enter the real world after all of this, you know? I still don’t know what I want to do. I’m great at Potions, but I’d love to enter into the Ministry… and if I could train as an Auror, if I could make it in, that’d be fantastic too. I feel like I’d be happy doing so many different things. I just can’t decide on one specific thing, though, because I’m always afraid I’ll make the wrong decision. Like, if I train to be an Auror, what if I would’ve been better just working in the Ministry somewhere? But I’m rambling now, and that’s way too much information, and HEY! Things that aren’t me rambling. Congratulations to your brother, that’s great for him!”

Elle laughed, wondering if she’d rambled too much. She was sure that Frank didn’t need to know about her fears of the future, and she always started to ramble when she was thinking about things that bothered her like that. She hoped she hadn’t ranted too much, though.

[frank]

"Well, Liverpool isnt entirely bad," Frank began, "we live on a hidden street with a few other wizarding families, so we just have to be extra careful not to draw attention to ourselves. That means no quidditch or anything like that. But, is does keep us in touch with the muggle world." Frank was remarkably familiar with the muggle world for a pureblood. He didn't really understand most of it like television and cars, but he knew of it.

"My dad threatened to rip the ghost's balls off. . . I think that's a but beyond the requirements of being a parent," said Frank with an awkward laugh partway between humor and horror. His father was an intense guy. Lovable, but very intense. What Frank didn't tell Elle was that his mother had threatened to rip his father's balls off if he didn't stop causing a scene. As tough as his father was, his mother was the only one who could verbally overpower him. "My mom took control of the situation though." Frank thought that that was the best way verbalize what had happened.

Upon hearing the news about Elle being Head Girl, Frank lost a bit of his composure. "That's great!" said Frank as he, quite uncontrollably, gave Elle a hug. While blushing furiously, Frank quickly let go of his fellow seventh year, "S-sorry, that seems wildly inappropriate . . . b-but congratulations! I'm just glad it's you and not some Slytherin. Honestly, my biggest fear was for the Head girl to be a slytherin and to have to put up with that. I really wish they would the Heads and prefects when you get your hogwarts letter, you know, so you prepared to work with certain people. Of course, only the Head should get that information because it wouldn't really make sense to just send it to everyone." And now Frank was rambling out of embarrassment from the hug and relief from knowing he would not have to work with a bloody Slytherin.

"I'm not too afraid because I know exactly what I want to do and both my brother and my father are in the ministry so if I ever had a problem I know I could go to them for help, but I know not everyone has the luxury." Frank said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out before the end of the year and they'll probably have all sorts of career guidance at school. My brother told me all the Gryffindor seventh years last year had to have individual conferences with McGonagall about careers."

[ELLE ALEXANDRA WALKER]

“I’ve never actually been to Liverpool,” Elle admitted. “The idea of a hidden street sounds amazing, though! We live in a muggle city. My mom is a muggle born and my parents think it’s really important for me to have some muggle elements in my life. So living in a non-magical neighborhood seemed to be one of those elements. It isn’t that bad, really. Magic can be done inside, as long as no one else is around, and I have some friends in magical communities so I can fly and stuff.”

A giggle escaped her lips at the mental image of Frank’s dad trying to rip a ghost’s balls off. She quickly raised her hand to her mouth in an effort to hide them. “Always leave it up to the female to have to diffuse bad situations,” she noted, knowing full well that this wasn’t always the case. She knew quite a few girls with such a hot temper that she doubted any guy could help diffuse.

“Than--” She had been about to say thanks, since Frank had just congratulated her on being Head Girl, when unexpectedly she found herself in his embrace. Ah, the impulse hug. Something she had done before, probably more times than she could count, and if Frank was going to react that same way she normally did, yes, there was the blush. She had reacted quickly, giving him a little squeeze back, before he pulled back almost as fast as he had started. “It wasn’t wildly anything,” she reassured him calmly, not wanting him to feel super-awkward or anything. It was just a friendly hug, after all! She smiled, hoping to ease any leftover uncomfortable feelings. “And thanks! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to work with a Slytherin either. I mean, I’m far too nice to make a big deal, but it would just never have worked well. It’s like being in Hufflepuff makes you less than human to them! At least you guys get rival status, that’s something, eh?” she half-joked. Of course there were a handful of decent Slytherins, but generally she hadn’t had the best of experiences with them. “It would be nice to have some sort of notice about who else got the positions, though, you’re right!” It was a great idea, too bad even if they decided to put it into action it’d be after they graduated.

“That’s so great, that you all know exactly what you want to do. I’m still as lost as I was as a first year sometimes. But you’re right, I’ll figure it out this year. And if I don’t I’ll just start making life up as I go. It’s what I’ve been doing thus far, and it hasn’t failed me yet!” Elle shook her head gently, her hair falling into her face. She pushed the shorter layers back, tucking them behind her ear.

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