Open Signs for the Times

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy had quite the ambitious task ahead of her. While she had never been very interested in quidditch it hadn't stopped a lot of her friends and classmates from joining their individual house teams. Objectively she could recognize that it took a lot of skill and talent to play the sport, even if she had never been to a game herself. But she wanted to change that this year and if she was going to show her support she wanted to do it well. So that had led her to taking over one of the tables in the art room in preparation for making signs to bring to the games. Poppy pulled out her first piece of poster paper and started to think of who she wanted to start with. Lars was co-captain of her own houses team, but Lysander was also co-captain and it was his first year. But it was also Connor's first year to have an actual position on the team. She sighed and brought her hand up to her chin to think before realizing she had paint on her hand. "Oh no." she muttered and started to wipe at her face.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris had been a little bored. She had finished her homework, and hadn't been able to find any of her friends. She thought Emma was maybe at Quidditch practice, but wasn't entirely sure. The days when she used to always know where her twin was were long gone, as they had drifted apart more and more being in different houses. She still saw Emma a lot, but not as much as she used to when they were both living at home. It was fine, even if Iris worried about her sister. But she knew it wasn't a bad thing that they each had their own lives, but it was a little sad sometimes. Iris never used to feel alone. The girl was looking for her brother now, figuring that if Emma had practice, at least Lars didn't. But as she looked into the arts room, she spotted someone else she wanted to see instead. Iris smiled. "Oh, hi Poppy." She said, heading into the room. "Making art?" She then smiled a little. "On your face?"

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy looked up quickly when she heard her name. “Iris!” she said excitedly, glad to see her friend. “Kind of.” she said but paused before she explained, remembering the paint on her face. “Oh.” she mumbled before wiping at it again. “Did I get it?” she asked and angled her face so Iris could see. “I’m actually going to try and make some signs to bring to quidditch games.” she explained finally and gestured to the supplies on the table. "It struck me recently how many people I know on the team and I figured I should try and show my support somehow." she said with a shrug.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris smiled a bit as she saw Poppy wiped at the paint on her face. She shook her head and helped her, wiping some paint off her cheek. "There." She said with a smile. "All gone." She then smiled at the idea of what Poppy was doing. It was very sweet. "Oh! That's a good idea." Iris said brightly. "Can I help? I know a lot of people on the teams too. I suppose many of them are the same people." She mused. "I could help you paint, and also help you hold them during the games. I'd think that would be tricky too if you had more than one." She said, thinking out loud as she scratched her chin. "If, say, Emma and Connor were both playing."

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy waited for Iris's answer before she moved on. “Oh good.” she said with a sigh of relief and made a mental note to not touch her face again until after she had washed up unless she wanted this exact conversation to happen several times before they were done. “Yes! I would love help.” she said and clapped excitedly. She listened to Iris and bit her lip as she started to think about exactly how many they would have to make if they did want to made one for everyone they knew. It would be quite a lot and impossible to hold them all themselves. “I think with the Gryffindor team alone we would run out of hands.” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe we could get Nicole to help?" she suggested. "Or maybe we can just hand them out to who's ever there?" she added with a laugh. "Well who do you want to start with?" she asked, ready to get started.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris smiled as Poppy accepted her help moving to her side. She looked at Poppy expectantly as she waited for some sort of instruction from her friend. She at least wondered who they were all making signs for. "Maybe." She said when Poppy asked about Nicole. "We could ask her." She said vaguely. "Maybe we should make a list first of people we want to make signs for? Like... Emma, Connor, Lysander... Lars." She said, thinking out loud. "I guess I don't really have anyone on the Slytherin team to root for." She mused. "Do you?"

 

[Poppy Perkins]

"That's a good idea." Poppy said when Iris suggested make a list first. She nodded along as she spoke, nearly touching her face before remembering the paint from before. She lifted a finger with each name and felt a little overwhelmed already. "I'd like to make one for Knox too." she said as they started to go through the Gryffindor team. Poppy tried to think of anyone she knew on the Slytherin team and came up with noting. "I don't think so." she said finally. "We can also make one for Juniper!" she suggested, since their roommate had just made the team. "So that's at least....six." she said, counting her fingers quickly.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris nodded as Poppy mentioned Knox, then she laughed softly. "We're definitely going to have some trouble with all the signs, especially if Gryffindor plays against Ravenclaw." She said, trying to imagine it. "We'll really need Nicole's help." She paused. "Do you think Nicole will want to sit with us?" She asked her. "I wonder, since she's all into that boy now." She said, looking at Poppy carefully to see if she had noticed that too. She wasn't sure if Nicole had told Poppy about Eric, but she had heard she had asked the boy out on the train, and he had apparently said yes. Iris was concerned, and she wondered if Poppy felt the same way. "Oh, yes. Juniper too." She said firmly with a nod. Iris grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, writing down all the names. "So we each make three?"

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy nodded in agreement with Iris as she spoke and brought up the possibility of a Gryffindor and Ravenclaw game. “Yes that would definitely make things tricky.” she said with a little laugh, imagining them trying to hold all the signs at once. “We could always switch which signs we hold every few minutes.” she suggested. She considered what Iris said about Nicole and if she would still sit with them. “I think so, or at least I hope.” she admitted. “But you’re right.” she said with a sigh, before realizing she wasn’t actually sure what boy Iris was talking about. “What boy? Ajax?” Poppy asked curiously, thinking back to the rose she delivered last year and all the questions Nicole asked. “Yes, that sounds like a good place to start. You should probably make the one for Lars and Emma.” she said, turning her attention back to the project at hand. “I’ll make one for Knox, and Juniper.” she added and tried to think of how to split up the last two. “And then you can take Connor and I’ll Lysander?” she suggested but made it sound more like a question.