Open Yuletide Calm

[Vader Hume]

Vader was leaving the hall, he’d stayed much later than he had intended to, but the fact he’d spent time with Isabelle had eaten up into his time for taking pictures, so he had felt it necessary to stay until most had left the hall. He finally left and felt near dead on his feet. At the very least he had to hope that this level of tiredness, of bone weary exhaustion would mean he’d sleep pretty blissfully. Vader long since promised Isabelle that he was nearly done when he’d said that he’d stay a little more to grab a few extra pictures. Now, he was stepping out of the great hall and in the entrance hall, he found the nearest steps leading to the staircase to the rest of the school and sat down. It was perhaps a mistake to sit down, but the steps up to the gryffindor dorm room seemed all too daunting to do without a little seat first. He placed the camera and the tripod down beside him and let himself relax. He yawned behind his hand and rubbed his eyes harshly. It had been a long evening, a long day, week. But, at least it was over, and he knew that he should probably break up with Isabelle, he couldn’t keep up pretending with her, maybe Pho would’ve been the better pick. He’d known Pho longer. Vader sighed heavily as he held his head in his hands for a moment, he was just so tired of everything, he needed to sleep. He would need to move in a moment but currently his bones felt too heavy for him to do so. Maybe he could just wait till a little and then go sleep in the Accio room, there weren’t any comfortable places but there were some chairs, he could sleep there. No one would notice and he wouldn’t have to worry about Vegeta intentionally waking him up, not when he really needed it. Vader closed his eyes and sighed heavily, keeping his head in his hands and keep his gaze on the floor. He just needed to rest. ​

 

[Isla Zephyr]

Isla hadn't felt like attending the Yule Ball, and unlike her brother, didn't have anyone to go with her either. Instead, the third year had been doing her favourite hobby instead and was scouting out the outfits that the girls especially were wearing as they came in and out of the Great Hall. It was a fancy affair, at least more so than most days at Hogwarts, which usually meant things that would be saved for special occasions would come out, and it was a chance for the Magpie to swoop in an add to her collections. Rings and bracelets were the easiest, as well as any gems that were on heels that the students had discarded half way through the night. She didn't want to be too obvious about her theft habits, and so far she seemed to have kept her reputation under wraps. Unless anyone felt like exploring the underbelly of her bed, they wouldn't know what went on unless their own possessions had been stolen.

She was waiting for the next batch of exhausted females to pass her, so that she had the chance to slip past them an "inconveniently" bump into them, when her eyes landed on a student sat on the staircase. Isla usually had no reason to bother the guys since they weren't as likely to wear the jewellery and sparkly things, however as her gaze dropped to the object to his side, she realised this student may well have been her jackpot. Doing her best to act natural, the Hufflepuff crossed the corridor and began the ascent up the staircase, headed seemingly towards her own dormitory past the boy, who looked like he really wasn't paying much attention with his head in his hands. Just as she passed him however, she paused, turned, and bent down to grab the camera before bolting straight up the stairs with it.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader felt too tired to deal with any thing, he just needed to get back upstairs and he could lay down properly, or just cross this hall and into the accio room where he could at least sit in peace. What he didn’t expect to happen was for someone to behind down just beside him and then move again. It was odd as a movement and Vader thought it was maybe Vegeta messing with him, so he looked over and saw his camera gone, and a girl bolting up the stairs, ”Wait, stop, that’s mine,” he called out, finding energy from somewhere to stand, but not much to chase her. His eyes tired and red, the dark rings around them worse. No one could take his camera...all of his work...all of the accio work….he’d lose it all.​

​

”You can’t take that, give it back,” he hated how shaky his voice was as he spoke, moving up the steps tiredly to meet her somewhere in the middle, each step a visible effort in his tired state. He was trying his best to stay calm but his stress was rising, his desperation doubling and all of that missing with the sheer exhaustion he felt, his breathing was coming in short breaths and his hands visibly shook. He was too tired for this, too stressed, too terrified of having all of his work taken from him, for the lack of sleep and stress of recent weeks to be utterly pointless. He had worked so hard, and this girl was just taking it. He just wanted to rest but he had to get it back, he had to get the camera back. ”All of the accio work is on there,” he added, hating his shaky and pleading tone, the quick breaths with every other word. He needed it back and he needed to calm down. ​

 

[Isla Zephyr]

Isla managed to get to the top of the stairs before she heard the boy speak, although she was annoyed with herself for not double checking that he was definitely asleep before taking it, she was going to do her best to wiggle her way out of it. She turned on the spot to see the student slowly following after her, although he really didn't look in any fit state to chase her down if she actually was to run off with it. "I mean, I can" it wasn't like it was impossible. She lifted it up and peered at it, wondering if it was one like Elio's where the photos just came straight out of it and the images didn't save directly onto the camera, or if it was a bit more fancy than that. Maybe it was fancy, it would be worth so much more! She started fiddling with some of the buttons still aware that the boy continued to climb the stairs, and tried to figure out a way to get all of his work off it. If it had a picture roll she could just toss that to him instead. "Finders keepers loser," It would teach him not to just fall asleep and leave his valuables lying around, perhaps it would teach him a very valuable lesson. Unable to figure out how to get the camera to open, and with the blonde still moving up towards her, she knew she only had a couple of options. Teasing him however was a little more fun than just running away, and since no one else was around to help him yet she wasn't worried that she couldn't take him down. She walked a few steps across the corridor, before dangling the camera over the edge of the staircase. If the student came too close, the camera would plummet at least one story and smash on the stone floor below. "You're in Accio!?" she chuckled. Wasn't the club that wouldn't let Elio back in? "What are you, an intern?"

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader knew she was right, she could just run off with his camera if she wanted to. It was an almost terrifying thought. He’d put it down for one second, no one at this school had ever tried to steal his belongings, in his last school they had, in his last school they had taken his things, his bag, his books, anything if he wasn’t holding it so tight they could prise it out of his hands. But this was different. This was hogwarts, for all the negatives the people were nicer...Vader watched as she handle it, desperate to reach out and just grab it from her, but the energy it demanded wasn’t what he had. He shook his head at her, ”You took it, you didn’t find it,” he corrected with a sharp tone, feeling frustration towards her filter through momentarily. His hands still shook and his gaze didn’t leave the camera. His breathing didn’t seem to want to steady, he almost felt out of breath. He was trying to figure out what to say to get it back, what to offer her. But then she dangled it over the edge of the staircase and Vader’s legs seemed to collapse from under him. ​

​

”No.no.no.no,” he muttered with increased panic. ”I’m.the.editor,” his voice was panicked but he felt completely unable to do anything, his camera...the one he’d gotten for joining accio, the one he used at every event, that he knew better than anything else, the one thing he was actually good at. ”Please, give it back, I’ll do anything, just give it back,” he practically begged between panicked breaths. He wasn’t looking at her at all, just staring at the camera. He knew the spell to fix things, but would it fix his camera, would it fix the reel if it was damaged. He didn’t understand why this kept happening to him. His breaths continued to come panicked and shaky, his whole body seemed to tremble, his eyes heavy. He needed to get it back, get it back now, ”Please,”​

 

[Isla Zephyr]

Potato Pot"a"to. She still technically found it on the floor, it wasn't like he was holding it so much as was conveniently sat beside it. Isla glanced over to the boy and watched as he clambered up the stairs, even more nervous now that she risked dropping and breaking it. "You're the Editor?!" She was shocked. She'd heard Elio's roommate was, but was the boy in front of her really the same Vader that he'd spoken about? He looked so weak in front of her right now, nothing like he'd been described as. Vader seemed so desperate to get his camera back, Isla wasn't even sure if she'd seen someone act like this towards another person let alone something so trivial as a camera. It obviously meant a lot to him. The third year wondered whether its value wasn't in the machine itself, but what she could do with it instead. "Alright. I'll give it back," she began, still hanging it over the edge because like this she had complete control over the older boy. "If.. you tell Elio he can come back." Sure, the camera was worth a lot of money, but maybe she would be able to give it up again if it meant her brother would be able to return to his old position. Right now she was convinced Vader would do anything for the camera back in one piece, so it didn't hurt her to try, and she smiled politely at him as she waited for his answer.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader wasn’t concerned about her surprised, his gaze focused on the camera, he just needed it back. It meant too much to him, held too much. Had too much of tonight’s pictures on it for him to not need it so desperately back. It didn’t help that he was so tired and worn out, that his emotions seemed to firing on all fronts. So his heart felt like it stopped when she said she would give it back, on the condition that Elio could come back. It was then he looked at her, were they related? But it didn’t matter, ”Yes, yes,” he replied quickly nodding near frantically, ”I’ll...I’ll need to speak to the uhh, headmistress but he can have the position back, its his,” he could deal with what he was saying after, for now Vader would say whatever he needed to, to get the camera back. If she needed to hear that he would let Elio back on to the team, then he was back on the team. He just needed the camera back, or at least the film inside of it. But, he wanted it back, desperately. It was obvious from how quickly he’d agreed to his continued panic of it being over the edge and so entirely unsafe. Vader couldn’t understand why she was doing this, if she’d known about him or if this had been random. He didn’t have anything besides his camera and accio, he didn’t have talents like the other kids, all he had were his pictures, his camera. ​

 

[Isla Zephyr]

As Isla was watching Vader, it all seemed.. too easy. He agreed to her terms there and then, eager to get his camera back. It was a little scary to think that maybe he was just saying these things though, and that as soon as she gave him back his camera he would go back on his word. How could she trust him if she gave back the one thing she had over him? She pulled the camera away from over the edge of the stairs, clutching it to her chest and watching to see if he would finally relax. He had said he would speak to the Headmistress, but Isla wanted to make sure he kept to his word. The Hufflepuff was squeezing the camera in her hands, pressing anything and everything she could get her hands on, until something finally popped and there was a clatter on the floor. She peered down to see the roll on the floor, and bending down quickly to pick it up, she was pleased with herself that she finally managed to figure it out. "Here you go," she said, throwing the camera across the few feet that separated them, and hoping for the best that he was still able to catch it. His eyes hadn't left it so it wasn't as though he wasn't fully aware of its whereabouts. She pocketed the film however. "Let me know once you've spoken to her, yeah?" she added with a fake pleasant smile, before backing up a few steps. He had the valuable thing now that he'd seemed so desperate to have, so maybe it would be a good enough compromise to get her brother back on the team.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader watched with a keenness as she seemed to contemplate his answer. She was doing something with the camera, touching at things and he was worried she would break it from the sheer force of how she clutched it, but finally she seemed to find what she wanted in the film within the camera, ”Be careful,” he couldn’t help but say as she took it but the more important thing was now begin thrown back towards him. He caught it and gathered it up in his arms, feeling his body relax ever so slightly. She had taken the film, with all of his work from the evening, he had to get it back, but just bringing Elio back on to the team was not that easy, he didn’t know if he could actually do it. He couldn’t help but think of the other members of accio, of Caro who hated him, of clifton who he was supposed to mentor, they would all hate him. What kind of leader was he, what kind of gryffindor was he, he couldn't help but think of himself as so pathetic, so desperately in need of a hug from Ava or just about anyone. God, he was just so tired. So fed up of always being picked on no matter where he went, so stressed about everything, so worried about being himself. He clutched the camera tightly, his body still shaking but his breathing steadying somewhat. He had to get back to the dorm, he had to talk to Elio, had to get Elio to get it back, but he couldn’t move. Instead after taking a shaking breath in, his shoulders sagged, he curled somewhat into himself and felt little tears form. He could give himself a moment and then he had to go to Elio. ​