Open Can't Party Hard Now

[Shane Ackley]

The winter break for Shane had been amazing. He had gone to so many parties, there had scarcely been a night when he hadn’t, he could finally do all of the things that muggles did, and boy had Shane taken advantage of it. He’d gotten a phone, a proper one, faked dumb so one of the muggle boys would show him how to use it. It had been nice. He could understand why his parents had enjoyed it so much despite the fact that he knew it had ruined them. Coming back to school after all of that fun, for just one final year felt like a bit of a let down. He knew he only had one year left and he knew that it wouldn’t be too hard to work hard and get the grades he needed but he didn’t know what he wanted to do, he didn’t know where he wanted to end up, so he wasn’t sure how he was ever to figure that out by the end of the year. He wanted to party and spend time having fun getting a job seemed so mundane. But at least he didn’t have to think about that for another year. Instead he found himself in the kitchens with a coffee in hand, and the vague air of a smile on his face. He wouldn’t make the same mistakes as last, he wouldn’t let the whole Emilia thing happen again. Shane took another sip of his coffee and just let himself think had about all of the fun he’d gotten up to. ​

 

[Lina Olaf]

Between all the hospital appointments shared by her brother and sister, Lina was ready to be back at school and away from the tedious waiting that had consumed most of her holiday break. Obviously it hadn't been either of their faults, but it would have been nice if they'd actually had a chance to do something fun, rather than waste most of her time hanging around, bored out of her mind. She didn't even understand why her parents hadn't left her at home. She was strictly speaking an adult now, and more than capable at looking after herself. Being back at school was like a breath of fresh air for the seventh year, who even though was looking forward to graduation, still had to admit that being back in the castle was more fun than muggle hospitals, not that that was hard to beat. She'd slipped into the kitchens, hoping that she'd find a refreshing drink to wake her up; a bottle of butterbeer perhaps, when she realised she wasn't the only one in the room. The boy, Shane, that she'd spoken to at the end of the last year was there too, and glancing at the drink in his hands, she wondered briefly whether he really had been busy over the break, and been to as many parties as he said he would go to. "Surely, you're not drinking that by choice?" she said, removing her head from a fridge with two bottles in her hands, sliding one across the table towards him. A butterbeer would likely do the job better than that bitter stuff anyway.​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane felt a little smirk appear on his features when someone spoke to him, sliding a bottle of butterbeer across to him. He smirked at it and then looked up at her. ”Hello to you too Lina,” he said. It had been a little surprising to have had a pretty good conversation with her at the end of the last semester, it had been surprising to him if only because he hadn’t tended to get along with most people, and even without meaning to, he just had gotten along with her. He hadn’t even tried to flirt with her and his usual dull personality hadn’t seemed to put her off too much. Shane took the butterbeer and turned it over in his hands. He was old enough to drink now, he didn’t know why anyone would want that sort of beer. But he opened it and took a long drink. ”This is way too much sugar in it, you know?” Shane said as he placed it back down in favour of the coffee, ”At least this won’t affect my amazing physique,” Shane joked, with a little wink. He knew he was verging on flirty, he didn’t mean to be, but it wasn’t like he could stop himself, she’d gotten along with him when he’d been feeling down, and now she’d realise he wasn’t worth the time. ”Plus, coffee will get me through the next few days, my sleeping pattern is awful right now,” it was awful because he’d spent more time at parties than at home, and those were always from evening to night. He couldn’t do that at school.​

 

[Lina Olaf]

Lina shot him an overly enthusiastic smile for a moment, before relaxing and closing the fridge. Part of her thought he would have actually forgotten her name, it wasn’t like they were friends and they’d only spoken once months ago, so it wouldn’t have been surprising. “That’s the point Ackley,” she said, moving round towards him and hopping up to sit on the counter opposite. She pulled out her wand, summoning the bottle from his side and catching it in her free hand, “Well don’t waste it,” she added, taking a sip of his before laying it down next to her unopened one next to her. If she came away with more than she can come looking for then she wouldn’t have been complaining, and besides it was the sugar that she liked to help keep her awake, amazed that some people could drink coffee so easily. She scoffed a little at his comment on physique, wondering if he really felt the need to brag to her, or if it was more for his own benefit to convince himself. “Tell me about it,” she said somewhat rhetorically. She knew how it felt to be up all night, to not pass out until the sun came up the next morning, and the holidays were the worst time to fall into bad gaming patterns. Now though she was away from it all for another year, and it was a disappointing thought to be thrown back into the dark ages. “Is that what you’re doing here then? Fixing your sleep pattern? Trying to stay awake until it’s socially acceptable to go bed?” She chuckled, the words too familiar. “You know, not enough sleep is bad for physique too,” she teased, even though he probably knew that already if he was serious about keeping in shape.​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane shrugged and watched as she took back the butterbeer, he wasn’t much of a butterbeer drinker before and certainly even less so now. He just didn’t care all that much for it. He couldn’t say that the coffee tasted better, but he did prefer the taste of the coffee compared with that of the butterbeer, even if they were entirely different and one was exceedingly bitter. He looked at Lina when she seemed to agree with him about the sleeping pattern being a little wrong. The teen wondered what she did to stay up, he knew that she didn’t do like he did, but she liked muggle things, those games, did those keep her up at night. Shane nodded, ”Of course, I’m usually dead to the world at this hour,” he replied with a little smirk, he wasn’t always but most of the time, he wasn’t the sort the sneak off first thing. ”I was getting plenty of sleep most nights, it just wasn’t you know, at acceptable ‘sleeping hours’” he said, quoting his aunt and her complaints about his schedule over the break. ”What about you?” it was a way of asking her what she’d gotten up to during the holiday and find out more if like him he’d just let herself wreck her sleep.​