First Ever School Pride

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell had been preparing for this event for two whole weeks and finally the Saturday had arrived, just after most people had cleared for breakfast the teen had gotten the hall ready, he had dyed his hair rainbow coloured in honour of the event and was wearing one of the flower crowns which Archie had made, and he'd asked all of the Wild Patch members to attend if they wanted to, the teen wanted this event to both be really fun but also educational for all those concerned, which was why he had given those who'd come to help out set up for the event specific tasks; Lydia was in charge of flower crowns and Tholomyes was in charge of face painting, he was in charge of information. The king of Flowers had asked the headmistress to make the ceiling of the great hall be just filled with many great rainbows varying in shapes and sizes, the halls was decked out in all of the flags of the different orientations, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, any and all the flags Orwell knew of, as well as a few eco-anarchist flags dotted about the place, he had music playing in the room, and streamers and balloons filled the hall, of varying colours. He had pamphlets on different struggles and that was what he was in charge of, relating pride back to the political problems which it was related to, he had put Archie in charge of taking pictures, and was just excited for all people to attend, this event unlike the last event held by the Wild Patch didn't exactly break any of the rules and was fairly calm in comparison despite the music playing and the general happy atmosphere of the room. The teen knew that it was important to host an LGBT+ pride event, he knew that Archie had earlier in the year been punch and called a slight slur, and Orwell wanted to create an open environment within the school and remind people that it was okay to be whatever they were. The teen wanted to ensure that everyone in the school, or that there was at least one club that stood with those who were perhaps out already or too afraid to come out from the fear of being judged, he wanted them to feel like it was okay to be who they were and that they could stand with pride.
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Out of Character:

This is the second event run by the Wild Patch Club, Wild patch members can help out in any of the sections described, and people can come enjoy a party, get a flower crown and celebrate with others in this first school LGBT+ pride event

 

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia had been far more enthusastic about this event than she had been about the last one, she herself wasn't anything other than straight but she completely stood with Orwell as his desire to have a gay pride event at the school. She also knew that unlike with the other event they'd held this didn't break any of the rules. The teen had to admit that the hall looked great, decked out in rainbow flags and varying other flag, not all of which that she knew but she was happy and being on flower crown duty was a great thing, specifically she loved the banners and the placards which Orwell had placed around the room which were from different LGBT+ movements from the last 100 or so years. She wore a flower crown, and was happily wearing a summery dress and had with the help of the leader tied a gay pride flag around her, wearing it almost like a cape, she was stood with all of the flower crowns they'd made which hadn't been given away, ready to hand them out, feeling that this would be so much more popular than the last event they'd had.
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[Tholomyes Fontaine]

Tholomyes had always been open minded about different sexual orientations and the young Ravenclaw had been keen to take part in the event remember how fondly his father had spoken about the events which were held at the time, and though they'd never been taken to any his father had always taught him and his family the importance of acceptance, and Theo didn't care what people were as long as they were happy and willing to listen him whine about things. The boy was set up at the face painting stand, he was there to mostly do flags but Orwell had allowed him to do any sort of thing that a person wanted, so the sign said as much, he had the bisexuality flag on his face, or well, the beginnings of one he was using the face paint and a mirror to paint it on to his face. Theo was really looking forward to being able to paint again, even if it was on people's faces, all he needed were others to come to the event and allow him to paint their faces, all in all, Theo was pretty happy to taking part in this he didn't yet have one complaint about the entire thing.
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[Archie Renner]

It had only taken a few minutes since the last big group of students had left the great hall after breakfast for it to be transformed and decorated immaculately with flags of every colour hung from the ceiling and dotted along the walls. Archie was so impressed by the way the hall looked after he had finished setting up and the way the everything was put together that if he didn't have an insider's perspective, he wouldn't have been able to guess that planning this event had lasted two short weeks. He was running around the hall, with a rainbow flag tied around his neck that floated down his back like a cape and a polaroid camera in his hands, taking photos as he ran and throwing each polaroid at the person pictured in it after it was printed. The mid-morning sunlight streaming in from the windows made the photos look stunning and the endless sea of colours in the hall even brighter.

There was no denying that Archie was entirely in his element, and happy to the very last cell in his body. He had the freedom to act like his usual, crazy and openly gay self but it was the prospect of educating others and helping fight ignorance for the sake of his peers that he was more happy about. Archie had always been proud of his sexuality and shameless when showing it. His sisters and mother had supported him without question when he came out to them and Orwell and his other friends had acted the exact same way. It had taken a while, but Archie had realized that not everyone had the same support system he did, that not everyone could act like themselves around their friends and family from fear of being attacked or disowned. That realization had angered him, but at the same time it inspired him to help, to be the support system that others might not have and that was exactly why he intended to make the most of today. He continued running around the hall taking photos, and began giggling when he finally reached Orwell and threw an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "Take a selfie with me!" He exclaimed wildly as he shoved the camera in front of their faces, before he turned his head to the side and planted a sloppy kiss on Orwell's cheek as he pressed the button to capture the photo. He took the polaroid from the camera as it printed out and marveled at the sight. The photo looked amazing, he could barely see the flag around his neck but the flower crown on his head and small rainbow flag that was painted on his cheek was on full display. He squealed excitedly at the photo and gave it to Orwell to keep before he squealed a second time and returned to running around the great hall, taking photos of anything and everything he wanted. ​

 

[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi wasn't gay, at least he didn't feel he was, but he thought he'd still like to attend an LGBT support party for anyone who happened to be. He could tell that a lot of work had been put into the Great Hall decorations, the ceiling stood out to him most. He'd never seen it look so cool!

He wasn't exactly sure where to start as he circled the event. He settled for the fellow first year he knew by face but not name. "Hey can I get my face painted?" He asked, "You can paint any pattern you like!"

 

[Felix Warrick]

When Lydia told him about Orwell organising a pride event in the Great hall Felix knew that he had to go. Although not gay himself he had long noticed the lack of LGBT+ awareness at the school and was delighted that someone had stood up and got the message out. Felix slipped on his best pair of jeans, put on his one and only tie dye coloured tshirt, probably the closest thing he had to anything rainbow, and fluffed his hair. Yes he was going to a pride event that had an important message to get across but the teen was still conscious of the fact that he would see Lydia and he needed to look his best. With that in mind there was one more thing he needed, Felix opened hia trunk and sitting on top was the flower crown Lydia had made him the day they officially met. He placed the crown on his head and made his way down to the hall.

The Ravenclaw was amazed at what he walked into, the hall had been completely transformed from breakfast. The ceiling was filled with rainbows and all sorts of colour and flags representing sexual orientations Felix was familiar with and he even saw some flags he didn't know. Perhaps he wasn't as informed as he should be. Among the crowd ge spotted Lydia, he could probably spot her anywhere, it felt like his heart stopped for a few seconds when he saw her in a summery dress. He smiled to himself as he saw the flower crown on her head and a gay pride flag wrapped round her like a cape. Felix made his way over to her, "I have to say Lydia, you are pulling that cape off very well," He greeted her with a smile and tapped his crown to make sure it would't slip from his head.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley didn't plan on staying. She knew that the children weren't exactly friendly with her these days, but she did want to show her support. Her baby brother was gay, so this was a cause she was passionate about. With a plate of rainbow colored cookies in her hand, courtesy of the house elves, of course, though she had been the one to request them, the woman entered the space and went straight for Orwell. "A donation" she stated, holding the plate out to him with a smile, "from the house elves." She'd been down in the kitchens grabbing a snack and offered to carry the cookies up. It was getting difficult to move around easily, but she was sure she could manage that much.

 

[Isaiah Jeffreys]

Isaiah had known about the Pride festival, mostly because he shared a dorm with the guy who had organised it, but also because of his interest in Archie. Isaiah had prior to the beginning of this very year always been fairly certain of his sexuality, straight, but he'd really brought that into question when he'd begun finding other men attractive, so instead of just focusing on why this was, he had begun to accept it as part of who he was, he still found woman attractive, he had equally as many crushes on men as he did women, but for now his attention was still mostly focused on the annoying Gryffindor. The teen stepped into the great hall, spotting Archie easily as he ran around the room taking pictures, Isaiah was a little nervous having never been openly out about his sexuality than Archie was, but the teen was surprised by how great the hall looked, how different it appeared from that morning, and at least or hopefully no one was going to get into trouble for it. He stood slightly off his eyes lingering on Archie and just smiling at the boy, wanting nothing more in that moment than a kiss.
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[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia was thoroughly enjoying her task, the flower crowns were simply made, and just simply amazing on people's head, they were the simplest of items and yet they made so much sense to her to wear. Lydia wasn't sure how long this event would go one for, Orwell had been a little vague about that, but she was looking forward to it, hoping that lots of people would think to attend, even if they weren't gay but to be in solidarity with those that were, those even too shy to come out or afraid. The girl smiled to herself, adjusting the hem of the skirt of her dress just as she spotted Felix wandering over to her, she returned the smile brightly, glancing at her own cape and just nodding happily, she spotted that he was wearing his flower crown, although it was held down by tape, "Thank you Felix!" she replied to him brightly, before motioning to the crown, "Nice crown," Lydia grinned at him, "Do you want to help me out, I'm in charge of handing out flower crowns," she looked at the flower crowns surrounding her, all made by members of the Wild Patch, and she was so proud of them all for making so many that could then be handed out to the people wandering into the hall, even if they were only checking it out for a moment, "All we have to do is give the crowns to those who want one and we have plenty to go around,"
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[Tholomyes Fontaine]

Tholomyes has pretty much finished painting his own face when a boy sat down in one of the chairs and asked to get his face painted into pretty much anything, he knew this boy's face, recognised him from classes, a gryffindor he was sure, "I can do a lion," he told him with a nod, "I can make the nose rainbow coloured so that it fits with the event?" he asked, unsure as to if the boy would want such a thing but feeling that it would be a pretty good thing to do if he could. The Ravenclaw posed himself to get ready to begin and smiled at him, "I'm Theo, by the way," he added as an introduction with a small smile, knowing that this was as good a time as any to get on a first name basis with another one of the guys from his year, he did seriously lack friends and as he was about to paint his face, hopefully into a lion the Ravenclaw knew that this man knowing his name would do no harm. Tholomyes hadn't painted much since coming to school and he was just so happy to be able to do this, both in association with the event and also to improve his art skills.
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[Felix Warrick]

Every few minutes Felix felt the urge to touch his crown to make sure it wasn't slipping off. He smiled warmly at Lydia as she asked if he would help her give out flower crows, having been moments away from offering himself, Lydia must have been able to read his mind. "Happy to help," Felix took some of the crowns and waited for people to come for them. The Ravenclaw was not the least bit surprised to find Lydia in charge of handing out the crowns, they seemed to be her thing and he remembered how happy making them made her. He grinned at her before turning his attention to the crowd.

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell was definitely glad that things had worked out pretty well and he had to admit that the hall looked pretty great, he'd hung old banners and placards dating all the way back to the gay rights movements in the 60s, he was glad that it looked so good and was happy that even a few people had turned up, he didn't know how popular this event would be to people, and he was admittedly nervous about it, but the rainbow haired teen knew that it was definitely important to have this event and it was definitely important that people attend, and he knew that should he try and do the event again it would only get more popular with time. The teen grinned slightly, watching Archie be completely in the moment of this room, and was not surprised when he rushed to his side, when finally near him and then threw his arm around Orwell and then took a picture of them, Orwell's grin in that moment could not have been wider, he was so pleased, so happy to be able to do this, so happy to have been able to organise and throw this event, Orwell took the photo from Archie when it was handed to him, and put it in his pocket for safe keeping as the excited camera boy left to go take more pictures.

Orwell had all the information lined up, relating to all sexualities and the connection between sexuality and the general struggle, as well as information on gender, even a few books that he thought people might enjoy. The teen knew of all the fun things, like the face painting and the crowns, which he was sort of hoping would evolve into letting folks make their own crowns, and the music he was sure his bit would be the least interesting, but he proud nonetheless to be doing it. He looked up at the professor who then stood in front of him, with a plate of cookies, which were rainbow coloured, the boy smiled warmly at her as he took them and placed them on the table with the rest of the information, "Hold on," he told her, "Watch this for a moment," he added before exiting his bit and then going to where the flower crowns were and finding two flower crowns before rushing back to his stand, "Here, for you and for the baby," The king of flowers held them out to her, though he disagreed with her movement to punish all the Gryffindors he was impressed by the fact she'd taken the time out of her day to come to his event, to show her solidarity to them, "Thanks for cookies and for showing your support," he thanked her.
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[Hemi Te Rua]

Hemi greeted the boys suggestion with a nod, "A rainbow nosed lion would be great!"

Hemi smiled as he introduced himself, he knew his name was something like Theo but wasn't certain, "Nice to officially meet you, I'm Hemi. I believe we have a couple of classes together." He replied, getting himself comfortable in his seat before Theo started to paint his face,"Have you done face painting before?" He asked, hardly aware of everything that was going on around him as the Great Hall started to fill up.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

In usual fashion, Rudolf was late. Reuben tapped his foot impatiently as he hung around in the entrance hall, straining to catch a glimpse of his useless twin brother. Neither of them had really reached an age where their sexualities were defined, but the boys did share one thing in common - they both loved parties. A LGBT pride party did strike them as a little odd to attend themselves, but Reuben was pleased and relieved to see that there were plenty of other heterosexual students there to support their friends and peers.

At last, after at least twenty minutes, Rudolf showed up. "There you are," he said, taking his brother by the arm and dragging him through the doors to the great hall. "Would it kill you to be punctured every once in a while?" he continued obliviously, dropping Rudolf's sleeve now that they were inside. The room looked amazing. There were rainbowfied decorations, flower crowns, and, most importantly of all, cookies. But before Reuben could even make it to the food, something else caught his eye. "Cool!" he yelled, darting between two Ravenclaws to sit himself down at a table. He recognized the boy next to him as Hemi and the face painter as Tholomyes. "Hiya! Can I get a badger with a rainbow nose? Pleaaase?" he whined, grinning happily.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

It was only when Rudolf's stomach growled that he realised how long he'd been studying. He glanced up at the clock on the library wall, and the motion sent his heart plummeting to his feet. The party! Gathering up his books and returning them to their respectful places as quickly as he could, Rudolf set off to the entrance hall where they'd agreed to meet. When he finally arrived, he was panting and red in the face. "I think... you mean... punctual," he spluttered, but Reuben probably hadn't heard. The Gryffindor had only just finished his sentence when he was dragged abruptly into the great hall.

As far as he was aware, the party's organiser was no other than Orwell Brocken. He was a Ravenclaw several years above Rudolf, but that hadn't stopped him offering his assistance with the twins' petition. It was really the least the Gryffindor could do to show his face, both for Reuben and Orwell.

But before long, Rudolf began to thoroughly enjoy himself. "Hey!" he called after Reuben, miffed that he'd run off without him. He followed the Hufflepuff through the crowd and emerged at the face painting table. "You are pathetic," he said, shaking his head pitifully, but he couldn't resist nudging his twin to the side of his stool and sitting down right next to him. Besides the emblems on their robes and the expressions on their faces, they were almost impossible to tell apart. Rudolf felt the need to rectify this immediately. "Can you do me a lion?"

The queue was going to be a long one.

 

[Tholomyes Fontaine]

Theo was definitely pleased when the boy agreed to have his face painted like a lion with a rainbow nose, he thought it would be fitting for the event a lion for the fact he was a Gryffindor and the rainbow was well. Obviously, the boy had little experience in painting faces and as he got started the boy just smiled at the introduction although shrugging a little at the question, "Honestly, no," Tholomyes told him, knowing that if he did mess up he would have to try to own up to it now, "I'm a fairly good painter, or at least my old teachers used to say," he worked at it, making use of the right colours, and he did have a little guidebook sitting not too far that he could use if he was at any point lost in what he was doing, but Theo was focused on Hemi sitting in front of him, and the painting he was doing on the other boy's face. He noticed that two others had arrived one of them asking for a badger and the other a lion, which was fine, the boy was sure he could do both of those, but he just concentrated on getting the first one done, and then once finished grinned and held up a mirror for Hemi, it probably wasn't the best work of a face painter but it was clearly a lion, with a rainbow coloured nose, "There you go, and I'll do the badger next," so he then moved to the boy who'd asked for that, sitting closer to him because of the fact the two boys were identical and got started, "Don't forget to get a flower crown, we worked really hard on those," the Ravenclaw told Hemi and the two other boys, grinning happily at them all as he set about doing a badger.
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[Hemi Te Rua]

Moments after he sat down, two more boys arrived at the face painting stall. Those two boys happened to be the Lagowski twins. Hemi liked to think he could tell them apart, but he usually guessed - unless he was somewhere only Rudolf could go, namely the Gryffindor Tower, then he was certain which twin it was. "Yo Rudolf, I'm getting a lion as well! With a rainbow nose." He stated, with a hint of pride. It was their house mascot after all.

He remained still so that Theo could finish his face paint. It felt weird on his skin, almost cement like as it begun to dry and he didn't like the sensation much but it was finished soon enough.

Hemi checked his reflection in the mirror, it definitely looked like a lion with a rainbow nose, Theo had done a good job. He grinned, "Wow cool, thanks Theo!" He got up from his chair to let him get through his growing queue, "Alright I'll get a flower crown next," He replied before turning his attention to the twins "Good luck guys!" He was soaking up the LGBT atmosphere whilst feeling very cheerful with his new facial accessory.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben struggled to contain his enormous grin as Tholomyes began painting his face. When the brush ventured worryingly close to his eyes, he closed them and sat stiller than he'd ever done in his life. When it was done, he beamed happily into the mirror, tilting his head to admire Theo's work from every angle. "Wicked!" he said, hopping off his half of the stool. "Thanks, man." The Hufflepuff turned to his twin, the smell of food and the temptation of a flower crown overwhelming him. "I'll be by the sausages when you're done," he told him before skipping off to find Lydia. Taking a quick detour past the buffet tables, he approached with a broad smile on his face and a mini quiche in his mouth. "Can I get two?" he asked, spraying pastry at the girl's feet."One for my brother."

 

[Massimiliano Moretti]

Massimiliano had been excited to hear about the parade, and so made his way down to the Great Hall as soon as he could find the time. There was already a substantial group of people, and the Italian-born young man was happy to see it so lively already. He wasn't sure what needed help with, until he saw one lone guy painting faces - and there were quick a lot of students lining up. He rolled up the sleeves of his Ravenclaw robes and pulled his long hair back into a bun, before smiling at the younger student. "Hey, mind if I help?" He waved over the next person waiting and got some paints, ready to do the design they desired.
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[Monty Pendleton]

Upon word reaching him that a LGBT pride party was being hosted in the school, Monty felt it only courteous to show his face. He was entirely supportive of the children feeling confident about themselves, no matter what their sexuality or gender. He entered the great hall with a smile, quickly spotting Cyndi amongst the crowd and weaving through a group of students to reach her. Ever since signing the petition to revoke the Gryffindor curfew, Monty had been feeling rather ashamed of himself. It really hadn't been his place to question the Head of House's actions. "Hello!" he said brightly when he emerged through the crowd. The party's organiser, Orwell Brocken, was also standing beside Professor Kingsley. Monty turned to him. "You've done an excellent job-" he gestured with his hand to indicate he was talking about the room "-wonderful cause. Keep it up!"

 

[Willow Jaye Hydran]

In all her years at the school Willow could not remember ever having an event such as this be so wildly popular. It was great, it really was and she admitted to being terribly excited as she walked down the halls in a rainbow skirt. She heard all about it over the course of the last couple of days and as she made her way to the Great Hall she wondered if she might see Dominique or Skye there. Any of her friends in attendance would be great if she was honest so she wasn't picky who. All of them would be even better. As she walked into the Great hall, she was veritably blown away by the designs and other things, she looked around and grinned at the sight of everything. Orwell had done well. Willow looked at the line for the face painting and jumped in the queue. She loved face paint ever since she was a kid and she was always begging Rebecca to do her face, not that the Slytherin ever actually did so. She wanted stars and hearts and birds and anything else that would fit on her face!
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[Desideratus Lesley]

"SOREN!"

Desideratus had been dragging his friend Soren towards the Great Hall ever since he heard about the celebration. There were point where he just picked the thin Hufflepuff right up off his feet to make him move faster, but by time the pair got there, he had released his friend and now was just dragging him by the wrist. The Gryffindor's face lit up at the crowds, the noise, and the excitement, and he grinned brightly at Soren. "Okay, so like I know you don't like crowds and noise and like, everything else, but look!" He rushed off to get flower crowns, and threw one over Soren's head, before tearing off to get some food, which he promptly brought back to Soren. "Face painting!" The Gryffindor pulled on Soren's arm once more to have his face painting by the Ravenclaws. "I want my face covered in spots and flowers and dragons! Oh, and my friend too!" Uncharacteristically, he remained silent and still during the whole process, and once they were both finished, his eyes rested upon the dance floor.

There was music playing, and he had a wonderful idea. Like a clamp, he grabbed Soren's arm one last time and pulled him to the centre of the floor. The music was upbeat and he spin around excitedly. "You look great, Soren!" They had their identical paints on their face, and he grabbed Soren's arms, trying to get him to start dancing. "Come on! Live a little, Soren!"
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[Dexter Lesley]

Dexter approached the Great Hall happily with his friend, and prefect, Rebecca in tow. The pair had been going along their rounds, but he felt that they could spend a little time checking out the pride and helping out if they were welcome to. He grinned down at Bex excitedly, and gently nudged her arm as his eyes fell over all the people and how happy everyone seemed to be. This was awesome! He immediately wanted to help out, and upon seeing painters, took note of his friend's artistic appearance. She frequently drew on herself, she'd certainly help with the lines. "Hey, Bex, why not see if you can go help?" The Head Boy would himself, if he had a vaguely artistic bone in his body, of course. He went for the organiser, Orwell, and smiled brightly at him, and the professors. He didn't know Orwell personally, but he knew his name and face, completely. "Hi! Is there anything I can do to help out?"
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[Rudolf Lagowski]

It wasn't long before Rudolf's turn to have his face painted arrived. He was made quick work of, and was thoroughly impressed when staring back at him in the mirror was a lion with a rainbow nose. After thanking the face painter, Rudolf hurried off through the crowd to find Reuben. As promised, he was by the cocktail sausages, sporting a very feminine flower crown. The Gryffindor rolled his eyes as he approached, batting away his twin's attempts to put a crown on his head. "I don't want one!" he insisted, but eventually gave in, because Reuben was going to poke his eye out if he didn't stop waving it around.

A breeze passed Rudolf's back and he spun around to witness a boy dragging his friend to the dance floor. Grinning, Rudolf tapped his brother's arm. "Come on, leave the food. Let's go and dance!"

Together the Lagowski twins stepped onto the dance floor. The music was cheerful and upbeat, but the boys had other ideas. They took each other by the waist and shoulder and began waltzing across the room, their expressions perfectly serious as they went.

 

[Maya Fergusson]

Maya loved parties, it really didn't matter what the party was for, but she loved them anyway. She only regretted parties when she was the host and so couldn't have as much fun as anyone else. The appearance of a party in support of LGBTQ was interesting and Maya had to admit that she wasn't sure she'd ever been to one, so now was the time to try something new. She would have to really buckle down with her OWLs and then her NEWTs soon so she wanted to make sure she got as much fun out of this year as possible. She headed down to the Great Hall from the common room and immediately noticed that the place was full of students, that was a good thing because these things needed to have people, for the support, the fun, the effort. She waved at a couple of the people she knew, other fifth years, other Hufflepuffs, other prefects. She smiled at Willow, the resident shirker and chillaxed-beyond-understanding prefect. Maya didn't spend much time with Willow, but she liked her, well, when she wasn't lounging around on the sofa's and wearing barely regulation uniform. She looked at the people with the flower crowns and walked over to them. "Hi! Can I have a flower crown?"
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