Closed I'm Gonna Run This Nothing Town

[Celia Vuong]

Celia had known she'd made the right choice in turning down her mom's offer to let her transfer to Ilvermorny. She was simply in too deep at Hogwarts. Transferring schools now would mean giving up her prefect badge, her spot on the Quidditch team, the Sisterhood. It would mean giving up on the possibility of additional leadership positions, including Head Girl. If she left now, she would be walking away from everything she'd built for herself over the past four years.

And yet, she couldn't help the sense of loss that had accompanied her decision. There had been a point in her life when she had wanted nothing more than to go back home to the U.S. and attend Ilvermorny. Hell, she still wanted that. Celia's opinion of Hogwarts had not improved over the past four years. If anything, it had gotten worse. Could she really survive three more years in this awful place?

In an attempt to strengthen her resolve, Celia had come to the Trophy Room. She needed to remind herself why she was choosing to stay here. Despite having several awards here, Celia had never actually spent much time in this part of the castle, and it took her a few minutes to locate the more recent trophies. She studied the Quidditch plaques first, frowning a little at the sight of her name buried among her teammates'. What had people like Ares and Eleanor ever contributed to the team? The sight of the dueling trophies made Celia smile, however. At least she didn't need to share those with anyone else.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

not me replying over a month late im so sorry

Caleb had always seen Hogwarts as an escape, a chance for adventure. When he was a first year the castle held so much promise but now he knew ever corner and nearly ever secret passage. There wasn't anything new to discover and it was starting to feel more like a trap. Maybe he was just moody because Lila would be graduating this year, or maybe it was because being at home didn't feel quite as suffocating as it used to. He yearned for the day he would be free forever and would be an adult and could make his own choices for once. It felt so close but impossibly far away. He sighed and continued his walk around the castle. He didn't really have a destination in mind and was hoping his feet would take him somewhere new and maybe that would lift his mood ever so slightly. But when he entered the trophy room he ran into the worst possible thing. Caleb frowned when he spotted Celia staring at the trophies. No doubt just waiting for someone to walk by so she could gloat. "What are you doing?" he asked dryly. "They're not going to disappear when you blink."

 

[Celia Vuong]

((you're all good!))

Celia jumped at the sound of someone else's voice, her cheeks flushing slightly when she realized she'd been caught admiring her own trophies. She wanted to be thought of as confident, not narcissistic. But it quickly became clear that would be the least of her worries. She glared at Caleb. There was a whole castle to explore, and it was just her luck that he would come here. "What are you doing? Last I checked, you don't have any awards here." Celia didn't actually know if that was true. She supposed he could have gotten one of the Halloween costume contest trophies, but those weren't real awards. It was ridiculous that they were even housed here, as if wearing a mildly creative costume was somehow equivalent to getting the most points in your house. "Let me guess, you're here for detention." She glanced past him toward the doorway, where she half-expected a professor to show up. Even though the school year had only just begun, she wouldn't have been surprised to hear that Caleb had already earned himself a detention.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb wasn't surprised when she reacted unpleasantly to seeing him. He could relate. He scoffed. "There's no rules saying I can't be here." He smiled tightly when she pointed out that none of the trophies had his name. The Halloween trophy practically mocked him. That one didn't count, not in a way that mattered. He expected that from her but it did sting a little. He had gotten close and he intended to have his rematch eventually. "Not yet." Caleb said, the tension was clear in his voice and he hated that. "But I also don't intend to peak while I'm in school." He added quickly in an airy dismissive way that he hoped would drive her crazy. He grinned at her and leaned against the trophy case. Caleb rolled his eyes when she mentioned detention. "Why? Is that why you're here? Hex a poor first year?" he asked, thinking quickly and shooting her a pitying look. "You know Celia, that's rather frowned upon, they can't even defend themselves."

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia wondered how far her prefect powers extended. Like, could she make up a rule and say that Caleb wasn't allowed to be here? She was pretty sure she'd seen Liusaidh shoo people away under the guise of "prefect business" before, but something told her that she would never be able to get away with doing the same. She smirked at the obvious annoyance in Caleb's voice. "You're right!" she exclaimed in a tone that one might use when speaking to a particularly unintelligent toddler. "The Halloween Feast is only a few weeks away. Maybe you'll win something then." Celia rolled her eyes when he tried to insinuate that she was in danger of peaking in school. She literally lived in the dungeons of a rundown castle in a forgotten part of the world. There was no way but up from here. "No, I suppose you don't plan on peaking — ever," she said dryly. She wondered if she was supposed to be insulted by his taunting. If anything, she wished she could hex first years — or at least silencio them. There was no shortage of annoying students at Hogwarts. "And yet they still managed to put up more of a fight than you ever have," she deadpanned.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb did his best to look disinterested. "Bitterness doesn't look good on you." he said sounding concerned. "I know creativity isn't your strong suit." She could mock his Halloween wins all she wanted, it was still something he had on her. He wasn't sure if she had it in her to wear a costume and not spontaneously combust at the thought of having fun for once. "It's nice to know you worry about me." He said grinning and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her comment about first years putting up more of a fight. Caleb tisked. "Is your memory going so soon?" he asked curiously. "Quick Celia, tell me who's minister?" he asked urgently and grabbed her shoulders as if to shake her out off a fit.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia snorted. "Why would I be bitter?" She stared blankly as Caleb then tried to call her uncreative. "What does that have to do with anything?" Had she missed something? He was acting as if he'd won a Halloween award when she was pretty sure he couldn't piece together a costume that wasn't store-bought. At Caleb's next comment, she hesitated for a fraction of a second before deciding to prod at what she knew was a sore point. "Someone has to," she said returning the smile. "It's not like your mom cares about what you do in school, if my last conversation with her is anything to go by." She'd only had one conversation with Aleena, but Caleb didn't need to know that. And it was true that during that conversation, Aleena had displayed a striking lack of interest in bettering Hogwarts for her son's sake.

Celia narrowed her eyes at Caleb's next nonsensical question when he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her. She recoiled, her hand flying to her wand. Celia didn't have time to think; she just knew she needed to get him away from her. "Everte Statum!" An invisible force threw Caleb back, and she shuddered for a moment before glancing towards his sprawled form. She stalked towards him, gripping her wand so tightly her knuckles turned white. "What," she hissed, "is wrong with you?!"

 

[Caleb Thorne]

"Because I think if you had fun for once in you're life you might explode." Caleb said rolling his eyes. She was so uptight he was pretty sure if a strong draft came through it might be too much for her. He grit his teeth when she brought up his mother. He did his best to ignore her comments. She didn't know anything about his mother and what their life was like. "Stop acting like you know anything about her." he said tightly not wanting that particular conversation to go any farther.

"Merlin!" Caleb cursed as Celia sent a shield charm to keep be back. He stumbled back a few feet but thankfully didn't fall over. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" he shouted back. "It was a joke!" he said and held up his hands. "Do you really think I would hurt you?!" he asked incredulously. He would gladly curse her into next week but only on a dueling platform. Never in a million years would he consider actually hurting her. No matter how frustrated she made him. And the insinuation that he would struck him harder than any of the other words they had thrown at each other.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia smirked when Caleb's entire demeanor changed. She still didn't know why he got so prickly whenever she mentioned his mother — Aleena had seemed perfectly nice during their one conversation — but she knew he did, and that was all that mattered. It was a topic she planned on continuing to exploit in the future. However, before she could retort, everything went sideways.

"Me?!" Celia asked just as incredulously. "You literally grabbed me!" What was she supposed to think when someone who was both bigger than her and very clearly did not like her violently seized her by the shoulders? "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to touch people without their permission?!" At the very least, it was extremely rude. They weren't friends; she didn't want his grimy fingers anywhere near her. "I don't care if it was a joke. Touch me again, and I'll curse your fingers off," she promised, jabbing her wand threateningly in his direction before lowering it. The only thing stopping her from cursing him now was that she refused to lose her newly acquired prefect badge over Caleb of all people. It was kind of hard to claim self-defense when your target had his hands up in surrender.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb was still fuming as he faced Celia head on but he still kept his distance in case she really lost her mind. Which was more likely than he originally thought. "I was trying to shake some sense into you since apparently you desperately need it." he said low even voice as he had to explain his joke that she was too dense to understand. "I barely touched you!" he shouted in defense. He had reached for her shoulders not her neck or anything more vital. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind and his anger at being accused of something so unsavory only grew. "It's not my fault you think everyone's out to get you." he spat. He wanted to get into her face and really giver her something to hex him for but he stayed put. Using his words even though his hands itched to grab his wand. If anything he would make her strike first. Maybe loose that shiny prefect badge she didn't even remotely deserve. "Why do you think that, huh? Why do you think everyone hates you?!" he asked mockingly. "Or are you just insane!?"

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia watched in disbelief as Caleb grew positively unhinged. He was acting like he was somehow the victim here after he had grabbed her. She tightened her grip on her wand, drawing comfort from its presence. He had asked her earlier if she really thought he would ever try to hurt her, and now she had no doubt he would if given the chance. "First of all, I don't think everyone hates me." Oh, sure, she knew there were people who disliked and possibly even hated her — people like Ivelisse or Estella or Rhys — but at least the feeling was mutual, and she knew why they disliked her. Caleb, however was a mystery. One day, he was annoying her with intrusive questions, and then the next, he was scowling at her like she'd killed his stupid rat. "Second of all, don't act like you don't hate me." Celia still wasn't sure what had caused the sudden change in Caleb's demeanor, especially since she was pretty sure it had happened before their fight at breakfast last year. "And finally, are you seriously throwing a temper tantrum because, what, I thought your sh*tty joke was sh*tty? Because I don't want you touching me? Are you upset that for once in your life, there are consequences for your actions?" Celia had always thought Caleb immature, but it dawned on her that he was just an entitled brat, the kind of person who thought he could do whatever he wanted as long as it was under the guise of a "joke," never mind that no one else found his antics funny. "Grow the f*ck up."