Welcome to TB, an all levels Harry Potter roleplay with no word count. Our purpose is to go through the books with one exception: the addition of original characters and what changes that makes.
We accept all beings and creatures in the Harry Potter verse including ghosts, veela, muggles and even centaur.
We have many active events ongoing for both students and adults and many characters and locations around the world.
Come join us and discover how your character can grow and evolve in the world of Harry Potter.
Post by AIDEN PINE on Sept 16, 2023 21:38:03 GMT -5
Aiden waited in the dim light of the abandoned classroom of the third floor. The location had been picked, mostly, due to the want to avoid others, though there had been some underlying meaning as it was the same room Aiden and Silvia had agreed to date. As it was, the conversation about to take place probably wouldn't be as nice as the previous one, though whether that actually mattered or not for all involved remained to be seen.
There had been a note passed on for Silvia. It had been simple, somewhat impersonal, and Aiden had given it to a Gryffindor first year with a bluff about a curse, if it was opened by anyone else. The contents had been simple:
Silvia, meet me in our abandoned classroom, Aiden
Nothing mean spirited, nothing insulting or intent on causing pain. Sadly, all those things would probably come later, after Aiden said what he needed to say, and to address the secret Silvia had kept from him...
Post by SILVIA ODETTE STIRLING on Sept 16, 2023 22:28:53 GMT -5
By the time one of her housemates told her about the letter on the notice board, it was too late. It seemed like the whole school knew, and when she got to the entrance hall there was no letter to be found - someone had taken it off. She knew the contents, though, if it was indeed the note her mom had sent her a while ago.
In hindsight, she should have listened to the advice of a parent - especially one who passed the Veela genes onto her in the first place. Telling Aiden at once would have been the wisest choice, and telling him at any point after they started dating up until now would still have been smart. But there had been exams to prepare for, and she didn't want any doubts pestering him during that time... and that talk about her being the one who cheated on Daniel might have caused Aiden to really doubt his own feelings, if he believed it and then learned of her charm. Silvia had resolved to tell him after his - and her - exams were done, right before the summer break. Then, if he decided he didn't want to be with her, at least they wouldn't have to see each other any time soon. And if he was fine with it, perhaps they could spend the summer together, go on a boat trip, meet each other's family...
The idyllic image shattered in her mind when she realized her secret was out, and the shards were blown away into nonexistence when she read Aiden's note, handed to her by a frightened-looking first year. Her limbs felt cold and stiff as she made her way to the classroom, feeling the eyes of the passing students on her. There were whispers, too; she thought she heard the word 'Veela' uttered several times.
Ducking into the classroom didn't bring relief, however - it only increased her sense of dread. "Aiden..." There was a lot more she intended to say upon entering, but her voice caught in her throat, coming out in a croaky whisper. Silvia tried again. "Aiden, I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. This isn't how I wanted you to find out."
Post by AIDEN PINE on Sept 20, 2023 6:36:55 GMT -5
The waiting time had cooled Aiden down some, but he still had a few things he needed to say. When the door to the classroom opened, and Silvia stepped in, the Hufflepuff turned and was about to speak yet she did instead. He listened, apprehensive, but willing to hear the excuses. Aiden sighed before he crossed his arms and spoke.
"From the sounds o' it, ya didn't want me to find out at all," he said stiffly, his blue eyes lacked his usual carefree demeanor. "Not until most of the school did, anyway."
Aiden could weather a fair bit, he was used to doing it tough, so what others thought of him wasn't particularly important; though, when it came to his own thoughts and feelings, especially for a girl he liked - or, more accurately, didn't know if he liked or not by his own choice - that was a little more so. As it was, Aiden wasn't sure and no matter how he tried it seemed impossible to untangle what might have been his, hers, or the charmed feelings from the knot.
"I think what sucks the most is I don't know anymore," Aiden said slowly. "I don't know what I am to ya. I thought we had a good thing, but now yer've kept this all from me for, what, months? An' ya note reads like I was nothin' but a rebound, anyway. Not to mention the cheatin', which is somethin' I wouldn't do to a friend - or anyone - in a million years."
The taller student paused.
"I told ya what I am, even when I knew it could turn ya away. You didn't, ever. I feel like ya led me on, and at this point, I don't know how to... I dunno, like, what I'm meant to think or feel or whatever, if you weren't a Veela. Would I have liked ya the same? Would I have tried datin' someone else? I just don't know."
Aiden had thought about that since the letter, about what might have been different. He had liked Silvia, as far as he could guess, and it was obvious why - she was strikingly pretty and great at Quidditch. But how much after that, leading up to the dating, was natural or influenced? It felt like Aiden's choice had been removed, sapped away and thrown into a complex mix of uncertainty, and that wasn't a place he could see a relationship existing in.
"Ya even kept it from one o' me mates. Daniel didn't know, right?"
Did that place Daniel in the same, or similar, boat? Had that been cause for their breakup? Who knew. Who knew what Silvia would say or try to prove... and that was where Aiden knew things weren't going to work out.
"I just... I can't trust ya."
That was that.
It was even worse because now Silvia knew something, a secret, about Aiden that she could decide to spread in spite. He would just have to deal with that, if it happened, but he planned to keep everything else to himself. It was the least he could do, especially after the public humiliation to the letter. Whoever had done it had better hope Aiden didn't catch wind of them, or he would make sure it was well-received that such a low act wasn't on.
"I'm sorry."
And Aiden was. Granted, a confused and uncertain state of sorry, but sorry nonetheless.
Post by SILVIA ODETTE STIRLING on Sept 20, 2023 7:42:11 GMT -5
Aiden's statements were so loaded that Silvia was having a hard time picking where to start with her own responses. Knowing that she was in the wrong did not help, nor did the sudden blurriness and itching in her eyes.
"I was going to tell you before the summer break started, so we wouldn't have to see each other if you decided to end it, and so neither of us would be distracted from exams," she blurted out before the tightness in her throat could make it too difficult to speak.
"And I didn't cheat, Daniel did, I don't know who spread the rumour that I did. Maybe Daniel himself, or--" Or his murderous mistress, Faulkner; although that was a secret she kept even through all the negative gossip aimed at her. "Or one of his friends. But you're not a rebound, I like you much more than I ever liked anyone else."
Her voice sounded brittle, and there was still so much she had to say. The blonde took a deep breath before continuing. "See, that's why I didn't dare to tell you at first. You would've had the same doubts, wondered if it's real or just Veela Charm, questioned every moment we had. I was about to tell you back when we decided to date, but I-- I just lost my nerve..."
She crossed her arms, fingers of her right hand digging into the skin of her left upper arm out of sheer need to hold on to something while her whole world slipped from under her feet. "Daniel didn't know. Nobody knew, except the school staff. But I really was going to tell you in a few weeks."
Aiden's words sounded final. He was breaking up with her, but trying to do so without actually saying it. Silvia didn't want to hear the line, but she felt like there might be a glimmer of hope, a chance to fix everything before it could ever be uttered. If only she knew the right words, or had the capacity to make a compelling speech without breaking into uncontrollable sobs half-way through the first sentence. So far, she managed to accept that the whole school knew about her by now, and that the gossip would make her one of the least popular students for at least the next term. But if she could just hold on to the relationship she had with Aiden, all of it could be bearable. Without that, everything would unravel. "Please, try to understand..."
Post by AIDEN PINE on Sept 20, 2023 8:42:12 GMT -5
Aiden swallowed as he listened. The built up anger had started to subside, he felt every word, etched into his focus on Silvia. He had tried to be as forward as possible, without getting nasty or mean. But, with her expressing what she had wanted to do, how adamant she was about Daniel and the cheating, and her doubt about how Aiden might feel exactly like he did now with her heritage... it was enough to make him think.
He wasn't a rebound.
The Hufflepuff looked down, he stared at the ground, he tried to understand.
"I..."
Aiden looked back to Silvia, into her large blue eyes, to her withdrawn and self-soothing stance. Why was he considering reconsidering? Why was the loss in trust and loyalty, both being very important to Aiden, something he might have made less so? There was no proof or way that Aiden could tell, to know if Silvia was influencing him or something. And he did like her... right?
I can't do this.
There was too much uncertainty. Aiden couldn't even link his thoughts and feelings together, not after the day, and not after learning what he had. It didn't seem right for Silvia to not tell him the truth, when he had taken that same leap and put everything on the line back then. She had kept it from him, lied to him by omission, and had continued doing it until a letter to her parent - of all things - had forced the admission.
That didn't seem right.
Trust was lost; loyalty was lost; and honesty hadn't even existed.
"I'm sorry," Aiden said quietly, as he closed his eyes and hated how they felt wet. "I can't be with ya. Not right now."
Aiden winced to himself as he added the nicety on the end. He hadn't meant to. But he also didn't want to be harsh, not now that his anger and sense of betrayal had reached more reasonable levels, mainly after seeing Silvia. Again, uncertainty filled his mind. Did she calm him?
I need to leave. I'm useless right now, don't know left from right.
Aiden exhaled, then stepped past Silvia and resisted reaching out for her fingers, before he strode for the door and opened it.
...
Aiden clenched his jaw and stepped through, pushing past the pause, before he closed it behind him and walked away into the halls of Hogwarts...
Post by SILVIA ODETTE STIRLING on Sept 20, 2023 9:44:01 GMT -5
Silvia couldn't focus her vision properly, her eyes burned and blurred with the unwelcome moisture. A sound between a hiccup and a sob escaped from her constricted throat. This was the worst part of this whole letter scandal. Everything else she could take, she was sure - if only Aiden supported her. She should have told him from the beginning, it wouldn't have hurt so bad even if he had decided he couldn't deal with the uncertainty. Or, even better, she should have agreed to transfer to Dahshur the first time her mom brought it up, and left Hogwarts before the Christmas break.
The fifth year looked away from Aiden, trying to concentrate on an empty bookshelf as if it was the most interesting object in the whole room. If this was their last interaction, she didn't want the older boy to remember her as a snivelling mess. Although he would probably still remember her as a liar and a possible cheater, which wasn't much better.
All she managed in response to his words was a weak nod. Most of Silvia's energy was being channeled into keeping her breathing slow and steady, and preventing any more piteous noises from slipping out through her lips.
When the door was closed again, she leaned back into it, staring up into the ceiling as though gravity could force the tears back into the tear ducts. Her chest was rising and falling much faster now, accompanied by tortured little whimpers. How would she manage to survive another whole month at Hogwarts? And the O.W.L.s! She had to pass so many difficult exams to get into the N.E.W.T. level classes her career demanded! Desperately, she clung to the unrelated thoughts, trying to remove herself from the present moment. Perhaps she should transfer to Dahshur, after all. No, she really should - it was a great school for a future curse breaker, just like her mom said. That could be a fresh start, an easy escape from this cursed place.
Her legs slowly gave in and she slid down to the floor, her back still pressed against the wall. It might be a good idea to stay here for a while and just... think.
