Closed Post-Meeting Meeting

[Van Voclain]

Set shortly after this RP

Van rested her chin on her knees and looked out across the blooming gardens. Her face was the picture of calm, but her chest pinged with the erratic sparks of her lingering frustration. So many thoughts and feelings battled for ascendancy inside her that she couldn't capture any particular one for more than a second before another barged in to take its place. Selfish, stuck up, entitled, mean, whiny little snobs! Didn't they know Van would have killed to change places with them? They would never know, never understand what it was like to have nobody back home worth missing. In a few years' time they would be reunited with their families for the rest of their lives. What did Van have? Nothing. Selfish, selfish, selfish...

She hugged her knees a little harder. She had magic. That made her lucky, luckier than the most. She had nothing to complain about. But apparently, she was the only one who knew it. This was an unfair exaggeration, for she had not been the only person to voice an opposing opinion, but Van was too wrapped up in her self-imposed loneliness to realise it. How would she get through the next seven years surrounded by such ungrateful, out-of-touch people? An emotional support group for muggle-raised wizards! What next? A support group for kids with loving families? Ugh! And now she was the crazy one!

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver had left the meeting and while he had originally gone looking for Van he could only assume she had gone to her room to cool off and as a Hufflepuff boy he couldn't even think to get there to see her so he went for a stroll to calm himself down as well. The boy had been taking a very leisurely one and some time had passed since the muggle born meeting and he was back to feeling like himself now after the shock of being yelled at and also having to deal with people's emotional baggage when all he had wanted were tips. He got the feeling that if they had any advice they wouldn't also need a support group so those were not the people for him. Oliver really wasn't sure if there was a place for him yet but he knew without a doubt that the muggle born meeting was not it. Looking to gain more peace he entered the gardens and to look and smell the flowers.

At first Oli hadn't noticed Van but when he had he felt obligated to check in on her so he did so. It wasn't like he had been very nice calling her crazy even if he had meant it as a joke. He cleared his throat so she would hear him coming and she wouldn't be startled. "Hey... you okay?" He asked trying to be gentle and nice to her because she had gotten the worst of it when she was pretty much right in what she had said even if it had come across a little harsh.​

 

[Van Voclain]

Van saw movement and looked up at the same moment Oliver cleared his throat. The calm on her face morphed into chagrin. "What? Are you stalking me?" If he'd come to remind her what a spectacle she'd made of herself, she wouldn't give him the pleasure of looking hurt. She looked back out at the gardens and fixed her gaze on the base of an old stone statue. "I'm fine."

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver's expression changed from concern to confusion quickly when the crazy girl implied he was stalking her. The thought was a little funny to him but he worried she'd punch him or something if he laughed at her response to him. "Aren't we a little self-centred?" he said of her in response. The truth was a lot less exciting and certainly a lot less scary. "You know, I'm glad you're fine because I can't take anymore people talking about their ridiculous feelings," he told her hoping to make light of the situation if that was even possible so they could move on and maybe even be friends. He hoped that by him saying that it would brush past any discomfort from earlier. ​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had followed Van out of the muggle support meeting. He had called out to her, but she had been much faster than he had expected and didn’t really want to be following and yelling after her, he thought that might feel a little threatening. But he seemed to lose her a little when she'd left the room, heading in a direction that it took a while for Eugene to locate, the gardens. Eugene had to admit he hadn’t thought going to a meeting about muggleborn support would lead to him at the gardens having walked out to be able to make sure a new friend was okay, but he knew it was right. It didn’t matter how harsh she had perhaps been in her words, he knew he agreed in part with her, especially in what she meant. He would miss his friends, he would miss jamming out with his cousin, but he wouldn’t miss the mattress on the floor, he wouldn’t miss the ill-fitting uniform, he wouldn’t miss the nights he’d listen to his cousin worry about if they were going to have enough to pay the rent. He knew she supported him in this, and he knew it would change their relationship but they had already had an unusual relationship and Eugene would take that awkwardness to be able eat like a king every night.

As he spotted her in the gardens he noticed that Oli had managed to find her first and was glad to see him too. He approached just as he heard Oliver say that he didn't want anyone else to talk about their feelings. He gave a little smile, "But bro, I've got so many feelings to share about how much magic sucks," he joked lightly. He didn't want to necessarily ask if Van was okay but he looked at her and gave a little smile. "Those girls were out of line Van," he said with a little smile hoping to reassure her that she wasn't the one in the wrong. "And that girl shouldn't have shouted at you either Oli," he said to Oli. "That meeting kinda sucked," ​

 

[Van Voclain]

Anger rose in the Gryffindor again, and she pushed it down. She couldn't afford to burn any more bridges today. Besides, the mean girl at support had been shouting at Oliver, too, which probably meant they were on the same side. She looked up to make sure his expression wasn’t mocking her and saw Eugene arriving over his shoulder. Eugene. If she’d realised he was at the meeting, she might have tried a little harder to control herself. He was all right, for a boy, and she had hoped he might like to be her friend. Now, though...

She stared. He was on her side too? Something wasn’t right about that. They were both making fun of her, she just knew it. After all, she had been in the wrong to call those boys and girls morons, even if it was entirely justified in her own mind. “Thanks,” she said, pulling at a bit of skin on her thumb. The ridiculousness of it all flooded back, and with two new potential allies to vent to, the frustration surged out of her in spite of her doubt. “Can you believe she said we were whingeing? Could they not hear themselves? ‘Boo hoo, I’m magical, I’ve got to go to boarding school in an actual castle, for free, it’s just so hard!’ Them lot are so spoiled. Poor, perfect lives they’ve got. And did you hear that girl, saying wait until we start missing our families? Not everyone’s got a family, you know - oh, wait, she wouldn’t know, ‘cause she lives in fairyland. I’m so angry.” A small part of her wished she’d stayed and said all of this to the girl’s face. It would have felt better. But it also would have got her into trouble, and the term had barely started. “Do you want to sit down?”

 

[Oliver Boone]

Oliver hadn't expected anyone else to join the unlikely pair so he took an unsteady step backwards before collecting himself and managed a chuckle at Eugene's joke. He rather enjoyed his roommate's company especially because he had a sense of humour about the whole debacle - he hoped Rene would be understanding enough too. "Sorry man, I think we left the feeling's stick in the meeting," he jested as a way to get out of any uncomfy emotional conversation that might be had. It seemed like that place really needed one. Or maybe a licensed therapist would do the trick instead. "Don't know what whingeing is - probably not good?" he asked, letting his stereotypical American ignorance of colloquialisms show more than he'd like. "That didn't even occur to me, either. Oof," Oli said. He had a pretty decent home life admittedly but he still felt it was dumb to complain about something that was so cool all the boy really wanted was to know how to survive and thrive in this new environment. He hoped that Van wasn't saying this because her home life wasn't great but he could only assume this was her personal life experience causing such a reaction which would be a fair one to have in his mind.​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene gave her a little smile as he sat on the ground with Van and Oli. He laughed lightly at Oli’s jest but it was taken over by what Van was saying. He nodded and agreed, he knew that not everyone would want this, but to not see it as an opportunity, to not see it as a good thing was crazy. It was like being offered a place at the best school in the world and being annoyed about have to do the work at it. Sure, they hadn’t really opted for it, it hadn’t been a choice but to deny it was..it was just wrong in his mind. He agreed too about the fact it was free, and for Eugene it wasn’t just free but they gave them money, an allowance, more money than he’d ever seen in his life. He could admit he missed his cousin, and would’ve missed his mum if she were still alive, but he’d see his cousin again, they would likely see their families again so that wasn’t a bad thing. He had to imagine that perhaps Van not too dissimilar to him had perhaps less at home than most. ”Whingeing is like complaining bro,” he explained to Oli, not sure if he was exactly right but sure enough. ”I mean I miss my cousin, but I’ll see her again, it’s not like I’ll never see her again and we’ll save a bunch of money with me being here so it’s good,” he said with a shrug, he couldn’t know what it was like to not miss anyone, but he knew what it was like to miss someone who could never come back. ”You know I thought the meeting was gonna be about tips and information to help with getting to grips with magic or the magical world,” Eugene said, ”Did you guys know that vampires exist?!”​