Alternate RP Outside the walls

[Felix Layton]

Felix had wanted to introduce Nia to his friends outside of Hogwarts for a while now. They'd introduced him to a world beyond magic, and while it would always be something important to him, and be where his future lead, it was nice at times to feel as though there was more to life than just school work. None of the muggles knew what he could really do, and Felix had no intention of them ever finding out either. Out here with them, he was just Felix; the boy who (sometimes quite literally) threw himself into the deep end if it meant he could have some fun.

The fourth year had already told Nia about the groups members, who ranged from a year or so younger than him to a year older, although he'd left out one tiny crucial detail regarding one of the girls. He'd told Nia about how Amelia was the one to introduce him to biking, but failed to add that they'd been somewhat of an item during one summer and he hadn't spoken to her since. Felix just hoped enough time had now passed that things weren't going to be awkward. "Just be yourself," he grinned to Nia, pulling a backpack up onto her shoulders and making sure it was comfy. They had a short walk ahead of them to reach the dock, although his friends weren't expecting him to be bringing another guest, either. "They'll love you as much as I do."

Out of Character:

Alt RP set sometime in the future, although presumably during the warm season, and no later than 2066

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania was all for having adventures and meeting new people, she'd always been all for it. She'd never had difficulty speaking to new people but knowing these people were close friends of Felix made her a little bit nervous. Okay a lot more nervous than she let on. Chewing on the inside of her cheek she nodded and smiled as she glanced at him. "Am I ever anything but myself?" She asked, her grin widening. Truth being told even when she wished she was being something other than herself she couldn't put a damper on her bubbly personality and talkative ways.

She'd just turned to look forward when her head begged to snap around again, but she reigned in that impulse. Focusing on the path ahead and cleared her throat. "And if they don't then they can argue with the trees, or walls or I don't know..." She really hoped they'd like her, she always wanted everyone to like her but she wasn't willing to change herself to be liked anymore. They could either like her or not and mind their own business or they could simply just choke on her personality. Okay well no maybe not choke, that was more of Gaia's way of thinking. "It's okay if they don't love me or even like me, as long as you do its fine!" She said nudging his side with a smile, though they were important to him so she hoped they did like her.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix hadn't explicitly said it, but he knew deep down he was falling for Nia in a way he didn't think he'd fall for anyone. It was hard at times not to let it overwhelm him, the idea that he was slipping down a hill he would find it very hard to get out of, and Nia had been starting to see beyond the walls that he often kept so high. Snippets of a side of himself he'd only glanced at when he was younger, then spent years trying to hide.

He didn't reply to her last comment, but took her hand in his as he started to lead them through the trees. It wouldn't take long to reach their spot but they had to get through the footpath first. Felix secretly hoped there wouldn't be any arguing at all although he knew better than to promise it. "You brought a towel, right?" he asked, moving branches out of their way as they walked. Felix had given Nia a list of things to pack for this weekend because it would mean they had more activities they could do together.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia almost tripped on her own feet when Felix took her hand. She glanced down at their hands with a grin, still recovering from it when he asked if she'd brought a towel. "Yupp, got it." She confirmed pulling her own backpack a little bit by the strap with her free hand. Felix had told her to take some things and she'd done so, including put on a bikini under her shorts and top. She liked swimming, did it often back at home in Greece. Her parents had finally decided to stop travelling around at all times so it was now home, though still didn't quite feel like it. "So... your friends they don't know about magic right?" She asked in a more hushed tone, just to make sure before they got there. Her cousins didn't know about magic either so she knew how to not talk about it.

 

[Felton Meldrum]

Felton had always felt like an outcast in the group. He had a secret he couldn't tell, not even those closest to him, and the weight of carrying such an important role wore heavy on him at times. He could sit with the others, spending their nights engaging in whatever activity it was that was next on their list, but it felt like a charade, like he was just playing a game to stop anyone asking too many questions. His parents did their best to make sure he knew as much magic as they deemed necessary to control his abilities, which wasn't a lot given his mother was a muggle and his father didn't want him mixing with their world.

The redhead had taken it upon himself to supervise, to watch that no one injured themselves or ate anything they shouldn't. It wasn't something anyone told him to do, just what came naturally to him when others looked past responsibilities. "I'll check if he's here yet," he called out, raising his legs from the lake and padding his way back towards the sandy bank. Fe was meant to have arrived a while ago although the others didn't seem concerned.

 

[Felix Layton]

Walking through these trees was nothing like walking through the forbidden forest. It was so much more light hearted here and it was a plus that Gaia wasn't going to find him in any compromising position. "Nah, they don't know," Felix said quietly. At the same time he moved closer to Nia, pausing their walk to make the most of the time they had before they were to gain an audience. "There's quite a lot they don't know," he added, eyes dropping from hers to her lips, before he lightly kissed her jaw. "I'm not sure they'd know what to do with it even if they did," he joked.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia gave a nod, making sure to drill it into her brain that any magic talk was simply off limits. Though she always enjoyed spending time with her muggle cousins, it was sort of carefree too to not think about magic and everything that came with it. To just enjoy the moment or whatever tech the cousins were showing her that time. As their walk came to a stop Mania looked at Felix, who was looking at her in a way that made her face heat up for some reason. Who was she kidding, the reason was simply that he was looking at her and that was enough to make her cheeks all rosy. “Oh? Such as?” She asked, stammering a little over her words because that seemed to be the effect he hd on her. Made her all flustered, not that she was complaining. Not when he was kissing her jaw. Sigh one of these days she’d simply melt away.

 

[Felton Meldrum]

Felton went barefoot more often than not these days, and it didn't bother him as he reached the edge of the tree line where the path disappeared up ahead that he hadn't grabbed his shoes. The walk from the docks wasn't far, and the redhead hadn't walked for long at all when he came across a couple in the trees. His face flushed, feeling awkward that he'd found them. He was sure it was Fe although he didn't know who he'd brought with him. Felton was torn between announcing his presence and trying to back away slowly to avoid a conversation, but no sooner as he'd taken a step the way he'd come, the world had other plans for him when the twigs snapped underfoot.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix was trying to make the most of the time they had, but he wasn't always so lucky. He turned his head at the sound of someone nearby and it took a moment for him to register who it was. He backed away a little from Nia, although without letting go of her hand, began to walk them a little closer to the other boy. "Hey," Felix smiled, first at the redhead then back at the third year beside him. He supposed of all people for Nia to meet first, this one was probably the most straight forward and least intense. "Nia, this is Felton. Felton, meet Nia." He'd thought for a while about how he was going to introduce Nia to his friends. Another friend didn't quite sit right, but then she wasn't exactly his girlfriend either. Not that Felton was going to believe that anymore. Felton reminded him a little of how he used to be a few years ago, although perhaps slightly less sure of himself. "Hope you don't mind me bringing a plus one," he doubted he would, be he still knew it would be a surprise.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania’s eyes widened when she heard a noise and she peered past Felix at another boy. Her face reddened further and she sort of wanted to smack her head against a tree or something but that wasn’t very cool so instead she just held onto Felix’s hand a little tighter as he walked them over. Flashing the boy a big smile she looked at this Felton before giving a wave. “Hi Felton! Nice to meet you!” She said in her usual upbeat tone. Unsure if she should offer a hand shake, a hug or nothing. She’d hugged people she’d just met before, that hdn’t ended too well so perhaps that wasn’t the case. “I like your hair! Not in a weird way, my sister, Gaia, also has red hair.” She was rambling because she was feeling nervous, this was Felix’s friend and no matter how much she said it didn’t matter if they didn’t like her she still wanted them to.

 

[Felton Meldrum]

Felton gave a polite smile to Nia, who seemed at least to be willing to meet new people. Judging by how immediately chatty she seemed to be, she'd probably get on well with most of the group. "Yeah, you too." He gave her a small nod. He rarely ever had people commenting on his hair though. "Oh, right." He wasn't entirely sure what he should say to her comment about her sister, "Thank you." He was however nothing if not considerate. "Did you want me to leave? I can tell the others I didn't see you?" Felton didn't want to interrupt whatever he'd just walked in on, and it was easy enough for him to slip under the radar if he wanted to. Besides, it's not as though anyone had been asking.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix wasn't surprised that Nia immediately started telling the stranger about her family, although he knew by now it was partly because she was nervous that she let her mouth get the better of her. It was also kind of cute though, and he trusted she wasn't about to say anything that would ge either of them into trouble. "Nah come on, I want to introduce her to everyone," he waved Felton up ahead, following after him and giving Nia's hand a squeeze. "Is er, Mil's here?" Felix asked cautiously, trying not to raise suspicion, "And Kai?" Perhaps throwing another name in there would make it easier.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Had there not been two other people with her there right now Nia might have kicked the rock close to them. Simply because seriously? She was going to tell this guy he had a nice hair and her sister had the same coulour? Merlin have mercy on them all. Keeping her mouth pursed shut the third year tried not to let any more silly frogs out of her mouth, instead she just followed the two boys. Though she did glance at Felix a little suspiciously when he asked about some Mil, sounding… a bit unsure? Maybe she’d imagined it because he was also asking about some Kai too now.

Had joining him been a bad idea? Maybe the friend group would have wanted to chill on their own without outside interference like Mania? It wasn’t too late to turn around and leave right? Nia did glance behind them, wishfully maybe, and came to the conclusion she’d get lost and never find her way out. She could just stick to Felix if nothing else, he’d asked her here so it was fineeee. Everything was just peachy. Besides what was she so nervous about? She’d be fine, she’d gone to school all on her own and made so many friends. It was all fine. At least that’s what she kept telling herself and maybe one day she’d be able to delude herself enough of that.

 

[Felton Meldrum]

"Mhmm," Things had been weird with Mils after the summer although Felton hoped for everyone's sake things would just be let go. Felix may have been new but the rest of the group had been friends for years, and he hoped Felix joining them wasn't going to be the reason for a divide. Walking back down the path in front of the pair, Felton was unsure as to how much he should divulge regarding the things Felix had missed. Maybe it was just better he find out on his own.

"So do you, go to that same school?" Felton asked, glancing over his shoulder. It made the most sense. Everyone knew Felix went to a boarding school, it was why they only ever got to see him during the holidays, although from what Felton could tell, his dad must have been spending a lot of money for Felix to attend a fancy school only for Felix to still be awful at math. As Felton approached the clearing, he squinted in the sunlight and peered across the sandy banks once more to the other four kids that were lounging on the deck.

 

[Felix Layton]

Nia was being strangely quiet after her initial compliment, so much so that it put Felix on edge. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do about Mils but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For all he knew, she wouldn't even care any more. It was a risk to bring Nia so close to her, but she was going to have to get used to it eventually.

"Hey," Felix whispered, letting go of the Gryffindors hand if not only to slide an arm around her shoulders instead. He would have gone for her waist had she not been so small. He couldn't really reach while they were walking. "You're good, Nia," he kept his voice low so the other boy couldn't hear them as they walked. "Felton's.. he's a bit reserved, but only while he doesn't know you." Despite their similarities, Felton had been the hardest person for Felix to get on with because neither of them had been great at breaking the ice. Nia on the other hand had the benefit of being able to make a rock sound interesting.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania felt like there was a rock stuck in her throat when Felton asked a question. It was easy, yes they went to the same school. When Felix let go of her hand too her eyes widened in alarm. Was he going to turn her around and say never mind this was a bad idea or did he not want his friends see him hold her hand? That was one but of comfort she’d felt in the situation, at least she could hold his hand. It hadn’t even been a few seconds of thoughts rummaging wild when she felt his arm around her shoulders and sighed in relief. He wasn’t turning her around and she could still use the comfort of him being around.

Nia wasn’t used to being so on edge, when Felix told her ahe was fine and that Felton was just reserved Nia gave a small smile and shake of her head. “It’s not that, I just don’t want to intrude and I don’t know.” She couldn’t very well go ahead and say she really wanted his friends to like her and she didn’t want him to feel conflicted because of his friends didn’t like her. Not that he probably would, maybe if his friends didn’t like her he wouldn’t either? Though that sounded ridiculous even as a thought. “Yeah, we go to the same school.” She replied to Felton finally, not wanting to leave him hanging.

 

[Amelia Anaru]

Mils couldn't care less whether Felix actually ever joined them ever again. She ignored Felton as he went off to find him like some sort of lap dog that was missing its owner, but turned her attention back to Lucas. They'd already spent the morning swimming in the lake, and it wouldn't take long for them to dry out while lounging on the deck. Kai was busying bragging about what his father was planning on bringing to their next cook out, and Mils could only imagine what it was like to have a chef in the family. It was Lucas that was currently keeping her sane though, the pair shooting glances at each other behind Kai's back, all while humoring Scarlett, who's blonde hair kept bobbing back under the surface of the lake every time she wanted someone to witness her latest "mermaid technique".

They'd been a quintet for as long as Mils could remember, and no boy was going to come between them. If Felix did show up she'd do everything she could to just pretend he didn't exist because after the things he'd told her that day, he didn't. It was Felton emerging from the trees that caught Mils attention, and glancing across the sand she couldn't help herself but to check who he was with. Of course Felix was there. Her heart dropped out of her chest however when she spotted he hadn't come alone. Forcing herself to look away again, and unable to concentrate on Lucas's mimicking of their oldest friend, Mils reminded herself that she didn't care. Her pulse was lying to her right now, but this kid meant nothing to her, not anymore. He'd made that perfectly clear.

The brunette stole another glance at their extra guest. From this distance she was hard to make out, but she was frustratingly pretty. Mils couldn't even pretend they were just friends either, because the way Felix had his arm over the girls shoulder? Well, Mils knew first hand what that meant.

 

[Kai Redwood]

Days like these were hard to come by, more so the older Kai got. He knew what was expected of him, and while he tried to keep up as much as he could with the rest of the group, it was finding it increasingly difficult not to bail on their usual trips. "Will you, cut it out," Kai turned in time to see Lucas taking the p*ss, like that was anything new. Amelia seemed somewhat distracted, and he followed her eyeline across to the trees where Felton stood with a couple of others. "Alright, show's over," he told Scarlett, getting up from his seat on the dock to reach into the lake. After a few seconds, he felt Scarlett hands around his arm, and he lifted her clean out of the water, landing gracefully beside them. "Over there," he nodded, shaking his arm dry.

Immediately Scarlett hurried off to meet the others, leaving Kai to resume his position. "He's brought a friend this time," he told the pair, although he doubted they hadn't already figured that out for themselves. He let Scarlett do most of the talking, it was usually easier that way. "Hey Mils, grab that won't you," he told her, pointing to another blanket that was usually left for emergencies.

 

[Scarlett Sutherland]

Kai was under strict instructions to let Scarlett know when Felix arrived. He may not have been part of their group for as long as the others, but she'd still been sad when he'd left for school. For the rest of them it was easy, they could more or less meet every day if they wanted to (and is Kai's dad let him) but Felix's absence had left a dent in their group.

The teen had been in the water since the moment they'd arrived, so much so she was surprised she hadn't turned into a prune already. The shadow over the water meant Kai was searching for her again, and bobbing to the surface she took his head, already eager to see if Felton had found him. She landed on the dock with a plop, before running off toward the trees, a grin on her face. "FELIX!" She threw her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him as though she hadn't seen him for years, before turning to the third person. She was new, but as far as Scarlett was aware that just meant there were more of them to hang out with. She threw her arms around the brunette too, shoving Felix's arm out of the way in the process. She'd been the new girl once, and when Felix had joined, she'd taken it upon herself to make him feel welcome. There was now nothing stopping her doing the same for this girl too. "Hi, it's so nice Felix brought someone," she told the girl, taking a step back and waiting for someone to tell her her name.

 

[Felton Meldrum]

Felton pretended he was oblivious to the way the pair were nattering to each other behind his back as though he couldn't hear them. Eventually Nia replied to him, although he made no effort to continue asking her any questions given they had reached the tree line, and currently Scarlett was now flying across the sand toward them. If he thought Nia was going to be chatty, well she'd have some competition. She practically hurled herself against the pair, and Felton wasn't surprised when she immediately tried to include Nia, too. "Give them some space," he told her, although a small smile had appeared on his face.

"Come on, if Kai's getting another blanket out, you know it's important," he told them, walking back across the banks toward the trio that were now waiting for their arrival.

 

[Felix Layton]

It was only now that Felix was starting to realise that maybe bringing Nia was a mistake. Not because he didn't think she'd get on with them, but what if she got on with them too well? Felton was kinder than he was, Kai, stronger. Mervyn, even Lucas was funnier. It would certainly suck if Felix introduced her to his friends outside of school, only for Nia to think of them more highly than she did him. To dump him and turn to one of them instead. Not that they were dating of course.

Felix gave the blonde a one armed hug when she flew at him, and the smile on his face widened as she turned to his companion. "This is Scarlett, you two will get on well," he nudged her encouragingly. "Scarlett, you can take Nia swimming but you don't get to hog her," he warned. Scarlett was more like a little sister than anything else, and most people treated her as such. It was probably why she thought she could get away with the things she did.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

As they got to the tree line and could see the others by the water Mania took a breath in. It was fine. Thanking Merlin she’d worn contacts she looked at all the friends of Felix’s and her eyes landed on a few girls, one that was looking at them weird but had such pretty face and hair, kind of reminding Nia of Callie and one that was blonde and practically flying at them. At first Nia’s body tensed at the hug but then she relaxed immediately after. She could tell if nobody else then this one she would get on with just fine.

When Felix told the girl she could take her swimming but couldn’t hog her Nia gave an amused raise of her brow. She found it hard to believe anyone would want to hog her, well anyone besides maybe Gaia. “Hey, I’m Mania. Well Nia really, only my parents call me Mania,” she said to the girl with a big smile, already feeling slightly more at ease. At least she didn’t have to worry about being too bubbly with this one around. She was going to be just fine with these people.

 

[Scarlett Sutherland]

"Mania?" Scarlett's eyes lit up, "That's so pretty! That's like Narnia. Imagine being named something that sounds like it came out of a fantasy book," she smiled at the brunette, tucking her arm through hers and pulling her across the bank, completely disregarding what Felix was saying to her. She'd been happy to see him of course, but now she had a new friend to take care of. Felix could wait.

"That's Mils," she said, pointing at the curly haired girl that kept glancing their way. She wasn't quite as much of a social bunny as Scarlett, but the girls had to stick together at times and Mils was certainly as loyal as they came. "You'll love her, she's so sweet. If you ever join us on a bike ride too she knows the best routes," she told her excitedly, very much hoping that Nia would ride. "Are you scared of heights?" she asked, not waiting for the answer before moving on. "The grumpy looking one is Kai. He's sweet really but usually super tired. His dad works out by the fishing hut, want Kai to work there too instead of hanging out with us." Scarlett wasn't sure if Kai's dad thought they were a bad influence or that Kai just had better things to be doing these days, but she was glad that he still joined them as much as he did. "And the one with the hair? He's Lucas," she told Nia, squeezing her arm. "Everything that comes out of his mouth is a joke, don't take him seriously." Lucas had once convinced everyone he was more than capable of fixing Amelia's water logged camera until he told them he'd only watched two Youtube videos about it.

"Hey guys, this is Nia! Isn't she pretty?" she yelled, waving the rest of them down.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania smiled, a little sheepishly maybe, at the compliment of her name. Though talking about Narnia made her think about one of the first times she’d properly spoken to Felix and he’d called her Marnia. “Thank you, my mama is kind of obsessed with Greek mythology so she named each kid after a goddess and my brother after her favourite god.” She explained, her voice gaining more energy with each word.

Nia had been wrong to think nobody would want to hog her because no sooner had she spoken out was she being pulled from under Felix’s arm. The loss of contact making her feel instantly more out of place and on edge, glancing behind at the boy she gave him an apologetic look and mouthed I’ll be back before turning back to Scarlett that was going off on something else now. Was this how talking to her was like? If so it was amazing. Mani decided there and then she really liked Scarlett. Giving a small glance at everyone the girl pointed out Nia did her best to remember their names. “Scared of heights? Absolutely not. I love heights, my sister Hera says it’s a bad habit but I like to lean over the railings of tall buildings. Honestly one day I am going to skydive or bungee jump. Probably both, give Hera a heart attack while I’m at it.” Now she too was talking a lot, both of them barely giving each other a space to speak in.

Then Scarlett exclaimed to the rest of them that her name was Ni and she called her pretty. “Stop it you are going to make me blush,” she said jokingly, turning to the rest of them and growing bit more nervous again. Swallowing the nerves she focused on just being herself and gave them a big smile and a wave. “Hi! Nice to meet you, I hope you won’t mind me joining.” If they did mind perhaps she’d cry about it or maybe she’d just deal with it and not focus on the negatives.

 

[Amelia Anaru]

It didn't surprise Mils that Scarlett ran off to greet the newbies, nor that she immediately took the girl under her wing. She'd already thrown the blanket at Kai upon his request, although after a moment was helping him lay it out neatly. It gave her something to do before she had to face whatever mess was headed in her direction.

As Scarlett joined them with their latest addition, Mils finally stood up straight. It wasn't this girls fault that Felix was an ass, she knew that. She didn't know enough of the situation to be able to judge her either, and even if this was a girl that Felix liked like that, it still didn't make it her fault. She smiled at the brunette as Scarlett pointed in her direction, willing herself to be as nice as she could be. It was one weekend after all, she could do that for the peace of the group and besides, it didn't mean she had to even look at Felix. "Of course not," Mils stepped closer, resting her arms on her hips and putting a genuine smile on her face.

It was true, even up close Nia was pretty. But Mils was too, just, in a different way. "Felix didn't tell us you were coming," Mils didn't mean for it to sound like she was blaming anyone, so much as just wanted to clear the air. "But, we have enough to go around, you're welcome to stay as long as you like," she added, gesturing to the now set up space on the docks beside them. "Scarlett will probably make you go swimming," the brunette shrugged, "but you can always just sit out on the sand too if you prefer."