Open Let the flames begin.

[Willow Cullen]

(open mainly to fourth and fifth years but others can come if they are invited or see the event and wander over)

Today was the last day of the semester. Willow was excited. ever since the horrific quidditch match where she had almost been knocked out of the sky with the bludgers she had needed something to take her mind off things. something fun, before the exams and before everyone went back home. She had decided on a bonfire and decided to elicit chante and fleurs helo in organising and of course getting the word out. a sort of not secret wildfire going through the grapevine of the fourth and fifth years, though some people from other years had been invited too.
She had spent the last few days sneaking into the forest after class and collecting firewood and gathering it in piles just behind the first trees on the edge of the lawn. For once glad that her mum had taken her on an extended camping trip and taught her how to survive in the wild, or at least how to get by. Willow, Chante and Fleur had discussed what to do. there were no set rules. but they would certainly be having food, what was a party without food, and a campfire without marshmallows and smores. she had asked the house-elves if it would be possible to get some for a bonfire and they had agreed she hoped her friends would remember to pick it up on their way down. right now she was heading down to the spot on the lawns a table levitating beside her and a bag containing bowls and cups.
She stopped where they had planned the bonfire. it was just far enough out of the way that it wouldn't be obvious but not so out of the way as it would look like they were hiding. She wasn't quite sure how within the rules it was even though she couldn't think of one particular one they would be breaking she was sure if a killjoy like professor Styx found them there would be some old rule that had been overlooked. She then collected the wood she had stored and set to work getting the kindling to light before slowly starting to add some larger twigs and small branches watching as the flames slowly came dancing into life.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was thrilled about this event, and felt honored that Willow had asked her to help out with it. Neither of them were entirely sure if this was allowed or not, but Fleur figured they could talk their way out of any trouble if it came their way. The girl had helped with the setup and brought a bunch of food with her as she arrived at the place they had agreed on. She grinned at Willow and watched in fascination as the girl started to set some wood on fire. "Can I help out?" She asked, dropping the food on a pile on the ground before crouching down near the fire. "It already looks so cool. This was a great idea." She said, grinning at her friend before looking back at the flames.

 

[Willow Cullen]

willow looked up towards the castle as the flames started to grow it was still a small fire that needed to be watched closely but soon she would be able to put larger branches on it and it would become stronger. she saw fleur heading across the grass towards her, her arms filled. she got up and met the girl "I think the fire is going to survive." she said. she felt fairly proud that it had worked the first time. usually, it took two or three goes to get it going. she took some of the food that fleur had out on the ground and opening a bag of marshmallows emptying them into a bowl and taking two eating one and spiking the other on one of the green twigs she had left leaning against the table. she offered it to her friend who was crouching by the fire. "want to toast one?" she asked. she smiled as her friend said that it was a good idea. she had part been inspired by the game of spin the bottle last year where a group of people from the two years just hung out, but it had been awkward as well. and she wanted something with a bit less pressure and a bit more relaxed. "I hope so. and I hope that people actually do show up." she said. it would be a bit of a flop if they didn't but she would still have a good evening toasting marshmallows with fleur.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur smiled at Willow's comment about the fire. "You did a good job, it's impressive." She told the girl. She knew that starting a fire wasn't as easy as it might look, though she wondered if Willow had used magic to get it started. "Yes!" She said as the girl offered her a marshmallow. She took the stick with a grin, then held the marshmallow over the fire. The girl watched with glee as it started to melt a little. She glanced at Willow. "I'm sure they will. It's a big fire on the lawn, people love that sort of stuff." She said confidently.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana had heard about the bonfire some older girls had planned, and immediately assumed they had tried to copy her with an event. Though hers was obviously a better idea, she still thought it was a good idea to check it out. Mostly, she was hoping to run into Simon there. Sitting next to him around a fire while toasting marshmallows seemed like a great idea, and a good way to be seen with the boy. And perhaps there would be other interesting people there as well. With Winnie leaving Hogwarts, Diana was feeling like she needed to expand her group of friends. She was obviously pretty well-known and popular already, but it would be nice to have a few more girl friends to talk to about things. But as she arrived at the fire, she was disappointed to see only two girls there. Gryffindor girls she didn't really know, nor care to know. She supposed they were organizing this. Diana looked at the fire, then at the girls. "Are any boys coming to this?" She asked, her voice slightly bored.

 

[Mazikeen Roe]

Mazikeen had heard about the event that Willow was hosting and knew that she needed to attend, if only because it sounded like a lot of fun. Maze had put on something nice, nothing too fancy given what the event was but just something nice. She was heading towards the event, easily spotting the little crowd of people and the two girls that she knew. Mazikeen rushed over and enveloped Willow in a quick hug, ”Hey girl,” she greeted warmly before looking over at Fleur ”Hey Fleur,” Mazikeeen greeted as she pulled away from Willow and looked towards the slightly older girl. ”This is really amazing guys. Are there marshmallows?” she hadn’t had fire roasted marshmallows in forever and couldn’t hold back the excitement in her voice over the prospect of having them now. This was such a nice event and such a good way to relax before the intense pressure of exams. Well, for all of the fourth years here, none of the fifth years would have that problem for now. ”I’m so jealous of you Fleur, no exams this semester, I mean you do have OWLs but least no exams now,” she said with a warm smile at the girls.​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane appreciated that this school hosted a lot of different events, some done by students and less formal. The teen had heard about the bonfire from someone else, and the hufflepuff had decided that he would definitely take part in it. It wasn’t like he had any exams to revise for in this semester so he had the time. The teen spotted the small group and the fire easily from where he’d come out of the school. He headed over to where the group was. He knew of most of the people here, he knew Fleur, and the girl Diana or something that had hosted the spin the bottle event. One of the other girls had attended it and then the last other person wasn’t someone he knew well at all, but he’d seen her. Shane had to admit that if he was looking to flirt with anyone then he might struggle a little. Fleur wasn’t interested in him that way. He sent a little wink with a flirty enough smile towards the Diana girl as he ventured towards the other crowd of girls. ”Fleur, girls,” he greeted with a flirty smile towards all of them, but he directed his attention to the girl whom he was now remembering he had actually kissed at the spin the bottle event. ”Will we be kissing again, Willow, or this not that kind of event?” the boy easily smiled in a flirty manner, clearly joking and only looking to start the conversation with the girl who had organised this.​

 

[Simon Vanity]

Simon had better things to do nowadays than go to events hosted by other students, but the boy felt like he should go anyway, if only because he thought that Diana might be there and he’d enjoy kissing her a bit more and because he knew if he was well liked it would likely help him be head boy. Being visible and participating in school events was always going to help him with that, even if the events weren’t ones that the school itself organised. So he walked over and spotted the group of people, and his eyes zeroed in on Diana. He made sure to get a few marshmallows before he walked over to her, just hearing her ask if there would be any boys, ”Well, I’m here,” he replied as he sat down next to her with a little flirty smile on his face, ”What other boys could you possibly need?” he joked lightly. He knew that him and Diana weren’t really official, they would be going to the yuleball celebration and they’d been on a date but if that made them official or not was another matter. He liked her but didn’t want to tie her down too much if she wasn’t interested in that. ”This is certainly different from what you organised,” he joked lightly taking a bit of an untoasted marshmallow and smirking lightly at her. ​

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Chante was supposed to be helping with the bonfire with Willow and Fleur, she was supposed to get some food or whatever Willow assigned her to do. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what it was, it had slipped her mind while she was on prefect duties. Chante was held back from her usual assignments to break up a fist fight between two second years. It took a while to handle the situation, eventually, though she made her way down to the bonfire unfortunately empty handed. "Hey, so something not so chill happened and I couldn't make it to the kitchen," she apologizes to her cousin and Fleur. Chante looks around quickly at those who were attending the bonfire and notice the snack that was already there. "Oh, so you did get some food. That's great," Chante gather next to the fire, it felt warm and toasty. It was perfect for a cool night like this. "Hey everybody," Chante greeted the others and recognize Shane from the lot. Chante waves at the boy and hope it wouldn't get weird this evening. She hadn't thought much of the boy, prefect duties kept her busy and so did her lessons. Really, she hadn't thought much of anyone. Which is probably why she agreed to the bonfire, Chante really needed to socialize more.

 

[Syrus Stilinski]

Syrus recovered quickly from the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. He had been knocked out of the game, but thanks to the healer in the hospital wing, he was back on his feet. He never thought he would feel the blunt force of a bludger while in school, but it happened. It hurt like hell, but thanks to magical remedies, he was brand new again and flying. Forget walking, he was practicing on his broom and did not take it easy as the healer asked him to. However, since there were no more games for the remaining of the year, Syrus didn't practice that much. Today, he actually was just flying to enjoy the weather and to see who was around. He must've lost track of time while flying, the skies grew dark and Syrus was flying towards the castle when a low, somewhat medium flames caught his attention. Syrus swoops down lower to get a better look and the source of the flames, there were students gathering and it appears to be a bonfire to him. Syrus landed on the ground gently and swung his broom over his right shoulder, "What's up Cullen?" Syrus greeted the redhead and nodded over at Fleur. "What are you guys up to?"

 

[Jocelynn Moors]

Jocelynn walked down through the lawn seeing the smoke coming up from the fire already. She hoped she wouldn't be terribly late. She spotted Fleur as she got closer, her roommate with the bright red hair. Fleur always seemed to be at the center of events always the favorite in the crowd with people. Jocelynn loved that about her friend, it took off the pressure from her as she was still learning to control her talkative nature that usually annoyed people. "Hey there! Oof, marshmellows! Looks great Willow," she said finding the other red headed girl in the group who she had heard organized the event. She wondered if her sister would come down or not. Mars wasn't really the outside getting dirty type of person like she was. Jocelynn loved camping and along with that campfires. This was a great idea and a awesome way to take their minds off the exams that were quickly coming up.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow smiled as fleur said that people would enjoy a fire in the middle of the lawn she chuckled. "I hope so" she said she wished she had that much conficende in things as fleur did. as much as she was confident in herself and her actions it was reassuring to hear someone else have confidence in her. before she could say anything else someone arrived. Diana, she had not invited the girl from her year. but that was the plan of the event. people telling other people and have a big group here. "Hey diana. I invited a few boys but i don't know who is coming." she said. not sure who would be there. just then more people arrived as if to save her from the awkward conversation she smiled as maze arrived. things were always fun with maze around. She returned her friends hug. "Of course there are marshmallows, What kind of bonfire do you take this as." she said looking at what other food was around. "we also have bananas stuffed with marshmallows and chocolate, damper, and sausages" she said. gettign each of them out as she found them in the bundle fleur had brought down, she hadnt got everything either but more people had arrived. she tried to gree them. she had never thought of herself as popular or as having many friends but there were a lot of people coming this evening. the next person she heard was the boy from spin the bottle she did not know his name even if he was her first kiss. she smiled at his commen and felt herself blushing a little. she didnt like him at all in that way but his directness was something she could admire. "It wasnt planned at being that kind of event. but there weren't many plans at all other than fire and food" she said, which wasnt exactly a no but more she didnt even know his name. or anyhting more about him other than that he was a hufflepuff in the year above her. she looked at he fire and was glad it was going well. "sorry just let me..." she said, as she put another log on it sending a spire of sparks into the sky. by this time anothe rboy had arrived and talking to diana which was great and she was not going to interupt. besides someone else was here, she gave her cousin a hug. "Chante. glad you made it, dont stress you are here now and that is what is important. Don't worry I think Fleur managed to get it all, help yourself." she said. just glad that her cousin was here.
She had never though of herself as popular. or of knowing many people but there was already a great turn out. and she knew most of them even if they hadnt been people she had specifically invited. maybe she underestimated herself a bit. just then someone else arrived from above. "Stilinski" she called. she had invited syrus one day when he had been moping around in the common room but had not relly thought he would co,e as he was a seventh year, a lot older than most of the rest of them. but as he wasa seventh year it meant he didn't have his exams soon to prepare for. "Glad that you could make it. grab something to toast and grab a stick and enjoy the warmth. just then someone else arrived and started to talk other. complimenting her on the event. she turned to see who it was and recognised one of the fifth year Gryffindors. "Thank you Jocelyn. help yourself, we have plenty, and i have some toasting sticks there if you want to" she said. before taking a stick for herself and skewering a sausage on the end. if she started with marshmallows first she probably would not eat anything savoury and sausages were good. she crouched down nearthe fire wishing she had thought to bring some logs as benshies and started to roast her sausage.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella had been a little hesitant when Fleur told her about the bonfire; her fellow prefect had seemed rather uncertain about its status regarding the rules, and as a new prefect Stella definitely didn't want to break any rules, even inadvertently. Then again, a bonfire did sound like a lot of fun, and if there were other prefects going it must be okay. Stella hadn't spent any time outside at night since the last holidays; she loved stargazing outdoors, but at the castle the North Tower was so much more convenient, and less of a problem if she got close to curfew (or, admittedly, sometimes missed it altogether). Having a bonfire would of course be less conducive to stargazing, but Stella enjoyed fire too, and being there, especially with Fleur, might encourage her to be a bit more outgoing. When Stella arrived the fire was roaring and a small crowd had already gathered. She spotted Fleur standing with some other girls she knew, including Chante, and the girl who'd organised this - Willow, wasn't it? "Hi there," she said, smiling at them, "this is looking great."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had planned all along to head to Willow's bonfire, but he'd been delayed slightly. His mother had wanted to chat with him about their upcoming holiday, reminding him that he needed to come home since they were heading to England. Jacob had already planned to go home during the holidays so was annoyed by the reminder, but he'd nodded his head away, agreeing to all manner of things before his mother had finally relented and let him leave. Jogging down the steps and outside, Jacob could see the flicker of lights and hear the slight murmuring which grew louder as he neared. This was really exciting, and he briefly wondered if he should have brought something before finally seeing everything and realizing that Willow had it all covered. "Hey Willow" Jacob grinned, holding up a hand and waving to a few other people, not Diana, but a few people. Jacob's grin dimmed slightly wondering who had invited her . There were a lot of other people around, cool people. Jacob grabbed a marshmallow and followed Willow's example, kneeling by the fire and skewering the fluffy white goodness so he could toast it a bit. "This was such a good idea" he smiled.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

"See?" Fleur said happily to Willow as some people started arriving. She ignored the Slytherin asking about boys, instead focusing on her friend Maze who had arrived. She waved at her. "Hi! Of course there's marshmallows." She said, laughing. "Who wouldn't have marshmallows at a fire?" Mazikeen's next words made her smirk. "I'm glad to have none, but you'll probably be better off next semester." She told the younger girl. "Hey, Shane." She added to the Hufflepuff who had arrived. He seemed to be flirting with Willow, which wasn't a big surprise Chante arrived without snacks, and Fleur was glad she had gotten plenty.. "It's okay Chante." She told the girl as she apologized. "Good to have you here." More and more people arrived, and it seemed like Willow's concerns about no one showing up were unfounded. Fleur waved at the Gryffindor seeker, then at Jocelynn as she approached too. Then Stella arrived and approached her too. Fleur had invited her Ravenclaw friend, and gave her a bright smile. "Hi Stella! Glad you could make it. Want some marshmallows?"

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana looked unimpressed as Willow said she had invited a few boys but didn't know if they were coming. "Great." She muttered. But before she could reconsider attending the event, she heard a familiar and very welcome voice by her side. Diana turned with a bright smile to see Simon. "Hello." She said, then tilted her head teasingly. "I don't know, maybe I don't need any other boys." She joked back, her heart fluttering. It was annoying how she couldn't help having a real small crush on the boy, even if she knew that any genuine feelings were dangerous. She had been determined not to give anyone else access to her heart after Edmund's brother shattered hers, but she felt like Simon was certainly someone she could see herself with. "It is... but that doesn't mean there can't be any kissing." She said, her eyes moving to the marshmallow and away again.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Selene smiled as fleur suggested that she needn't have worried that people would come she smiled. "I guess news of any events spreads like fire" she said as yet more people joined them. she nodded when Fleur said that she would be better off with exams next semester "true, but that is a problem for future fleur" she said, Willow has a tendency of not really looking in the future but doing things as they came. as fleur someone else joined the party. she didn't know the girl other than the fact that she was older than her and possibly a prefect. "Hey, Thanks. help yourself to food" she said to the girl. she was glad that there were more people coming, she was glad her friend was also social and making people feel welcome. she got distracted from the girl by another arrival. Hey Jacob" she said. "Glad you could make it. help yourself to food, we have sausages, damper, bananas that you can stuff with chocolate and marshmallows to toast, and of course marshmallows." she said. turning her sausage on the stick as she said it.

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Chante embraced her cousin in a hug, she all smiles now that she could relax and not have to worry about second years fighting or making up assignments. As far as she was concern, all her lessons were right with all of her professors this semester and she was getting the hang of patrolling corridors on prefect duties. For the moment, none of that needed her attention. Chante thanks Fleur for bringing the food, Chante fetch a sausage link from it's packaging. "Hey Stella," Chante greeted the other prefect with a genuine smile while she stabs the stick right into the pork and held it up against the flames. "Glad you can make it, alright, so, anyone have a scary story to tell? It'll make it fun, my cousins in America says they tell scary stories all the time at bonfires," Chante shares with the group. It's the muggle version of viewing a scary film, but since they didn't mix well with electricity, telling scary stories was the next best thing. "Willow, you want to start us off?"

 

[Syrus Stilinski]

Syrus shrugs, and went with the flow of the evening. He set his broomstick down close to him and sat near the rousing flames. Syrus picked up a stick and stuck a marshmallow over the tip. "Yes, ghost stories," Syrus snapped his fingers and nodded at Chante. He a horror film fanatic since he was younger and took his girlfriend recently to a drive-in muggle horror film. Admittedly, that night he saw less of the film and more the soft lips of his hot girlfriend. "Hey Jake," Syrus acknowledge the younger boy with a small wave and head nod. That might shock the other teen, they weren't exactly close as he is with Willow. Syrus decided to be less of a jerk after that game, not all together, but he needed to put a check of how much of an a*s he could be towards other students. He won't change to his rivals on the other teams, that won't change for anything in the world. It'd mess up feng shui and the competitiveness of the game if he did, there no way he'd go soft on the other seekers.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow was just settling in as her cousin asked her to tell a scary story. she thought for a minute trying to remember one. she felt sort of put on the spot, but she should have been prepared seeing as it was a common thing to be told at campfires. "hmm. Have any of you heard the story of the deer woman?" she asked. she knew Chante would have. it was one that she had heard one time when she was staying at the res with their grandma. a group of them had had an evening similar to this where the older teenagers told stories from the tribe's mythology. she started to tell the story, really expressing and emphasizing different phrases to keep it sounding interesting. "The deer woman was once a normal girl like you or me. She lived in the American planes with her tribes. it was a normal life, as normal as you could expect. that is until one night she snuck away from home to meet with a boy from a different tribe. but this date did not end will. she was attacked. by the boy as she was returning home. he and his friends left her by the river bruised, and bleeding to death." she paused looking around. this was not the main story. this was the background. "As she lay there dying a deer spirit found her and saved her. but she was now cursed." she paused again. "In the day time, she lived as a deer. but as the sun went down she was to transform into a beautiful lady, with big doe eyes and cloven feet. If you see her don't look into her eyes. those who do get enchanted by her." she paused turning her sausage again over the fire. maybe this story was not the same coming from her than from some of the older boys in the res. maybe it didn't have the same effect when it was still rather light as sunset this time of the year was very late. she wasn't telling the story directly. she was twisting little parts of it, like the fact that everyone gets seduced by her. the actual story is was just the men, and only the unfaithful or young ones at that, she was known to help ladies. but as there were more girls here she hoped chante would forgive her. "those who were enchanted by her could not help but follow her much like she had followed the boys from the other tribe. what happens after no one knows as no one has lived. some say that they keep following her unable to keep up until she turns back into a deer and then they wander looking for her until they die of exhaustion. other say that much like the night she had nearly died the night starts enjoyable until it doesn't as she needs to feed off their energy to survive and she leaves them there a hollow shell of what they used to be. others say that she leads them away and then tramples them to death" she said. "but everyone says that if you ever see a beautiful woman at night don't look at her until you know she doesn't have feet like a deer because if you do she will be the last lady you see" she finished ending dramatically. she paused and looked around the circle of people around the fire not wanting to say anything to break the mood but wondering if someone would say something or start another story.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella smiled at Fleur, already feeling a little overwhelmed by the growing crowd of people, but glad she had come. "I'd love some marshmallows, thanks." Stella wasn't usually particularly enthusiastic about marshmallows, but roasting them over an open fire was a lot of fun, and made them taste so much better. Stella grabbed a stick and a couple of marshmallows, listening with interest as Willow listed the other foods available. She'd definitely have to get some chocolate later. "Thanks," she said to Chante, "glad to see you too." She speared her marshmallow and held it out to the fire, watching the mesmerising dance of the flames as she tried to think of a scary story. Horror really wasn't the genre Stella usually went for, and she was relieved when Willow began telling one. The story was interesting; Stella generally enjoyed mythology, and although she didn't really find the story scary, she was honestly quite glad of that.

 

[Zoe Westwick]

Zoe had been excited for a bonfire with her classmates ever since she had heard people chatting about it. She had been struggling since her breakup with Stella with the painful realisation that she didn't have a lot of friends of her own, and didn't really know how to go about making them. Teddy was fun to be around, but he couldn't be Zoe's only friend forever, and she didn't know how she would go about making up with Stella at this point, so Zoe really needed to branch out and get to know her classmates better. And a bonfire seemed like the perfect place to do that.

Approaching the group, Zoe's first thought was to wonder why an older student was hanging around. Had a prefect come to break the party up already? But as she got closer it became clear he was just... hanging around, for some reason. Before she could really wonder why, Zoe got distracted by something she couldn't believe hadn't occurred to her. Stella was here. Zoe looked away quickly, not wanting to make eye contact with her ex girlfriend. Why hadn't she even thought about this? Of course Stella was here. Zoe couldn't do anything anymore without having to see her. Not wanting to risk talking to Stella, Zoe avoided her side of the group and moved over to sit next to a boy she recognised from a few classes, giving him a quick smile. "Hey! Mind if I sit with you?" She smiled, eager to be too busy talking to someone else for Stella to think she was sad or lonely. "You're... Shane, right?"

 

[Acacia Dunn]

As enlightening as the spin the bottle game had been, Acacia was excited and relieved for the chance to hang out with some of her classmates at a more casual event. The mention of a bonfire reminded her of home in a nice way, and she was excited for the evening. Acacia had been doing a better job of getting out of the sad, lonely bubble homesickness had built for her, and she really looked forward to relaxing with her friends and feeling like part of something.

Acacia had been a bit nervous that she wouldn't recognise anyone at the bonfire, but she was delighted to be immediately proven wrong as she approached, beaming as she bounced over to sit with Maze. "Hey, girl!" Acacia said brightly, giving her friend a cheerful hug in greeting. "What's been up?"

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur laughed as Willow told her that was a problem for future Fleur. "Future Fleur will be very annoyed." She told the girl with a grin. More people arrived, and Fleur waved at the Gryffindor captain who joined the group. Willow listed all the food they had, and it was quite a bit. Fleur settled in comfortably next to Stella after ensuring she had some marshmallows, and listened to Willow's scary story with amusement as she ate some marshmallows of her own. She laughed and applauded as Willow finished. "That deer lady sounds pretty awesome." She said with a small shrug. "Don't we all feel like trampling someone sometimes?" She glanced at Stella and grinned. 'Do you have any scary stories?"

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella was oddly pleased that Fleur had decided to sit next to her, out of all the many people she must know at this gathering. Maybe she had better friends than she'd thought. On that note, Stella looked up, and with a jolt saw Zoe at the far side of the bonfire. She must have just arrived, or Stella would have seen her earlier. Had Zoe seen her? What did it matter? She'd just avoid her, like she always did these days. Stella shoved those thoughts away, smiling at Fleur and concentrating on the bonfire and the conversation. Zoe's presence did make her even less comfortable with speaking up, though, and she shrugged awkwardly at Fleur. "Scary stories aren't really my thing, I'm afraid. Anyone else got a good one?"