The newest batch of Hogwarts students have entered this historic school and no one knows how their future will turn out - will you be a quidditch pro or maybe a prefect? The year is now 2021, and now it's time for the next generation to make their mark. The newest batch of Hogwarts students have entered this historic school and no one knows how their future will turn out - and that is where the fun begins.
The plot will be determined by the characters of the site as of now - future plots will change as these forces weigh in on the Wizarding World, and we see where these characters take us. So join in and let your character make their mark!
Minimum word count is 200.
Post by Lily Luna Potter on Aug 1, 2019 0:31:02 GMT
Sometime in 2039
The first time someone had told Lily, to her face, that every pregnancy was different she honestly had not believed them. True at that point she hadn't wanted to - her first pregnancy had been so easy in retrospect. The birth slightly traumatic, maybe, but she'd enjoyed the time leading up to it much more than she'd expected herself to. She hadn't been through that before. The whole body changing thing. The birth thing. Even the sleepless nights had been a novelty - dealing with a newborn doubly so. Weirdly it almost hadn't occurred to her until she was holding a tiny, screaming, brand new human in her arms that they hadn't actually done that bit before. They were already parents, but Maia had been three when they'd first brought her home. Years. Not days. So the first child she'd actually birthed? Bit of a shock. Even more so when she'd arrived over a week before they'd been expecting her.
And then the second time! Ah, the second time she'd had such bad morning sickness she'd nearly thrown Jasper out of a fucking window. To be honest, he'd probably have let her given that he'd barely flinched when she'd thrown his quivlet at the wall and destroyed it a few months in. But then the sickness had passed, and she got to enjoy just being round for a while and letting both Maia and Jordan suggest names for the newest addition. I mean, its not like she'd chosen a name so far given the fact they'd had to name their first born after Baggy, so why not let the kids name the brewing Kirklet.
Isla, a statistical anomaly, had arrived exactly on the day the mediwitch had said she would. Lily couldn't recall another person she knew personally who'd had a natural birth to whom that had happened, and she never expected it to happen to her again. However, she also hadn't ever expected to be 10 days overdue either.
It was the first time she'd ever understood the idea of feeling like a beached whale. Her bump had dropped at least but even still Lily felt helpless, stuck, and pretty confident in the fact that this Kirklet wasn't ready to move yet. To the extent that she was definitely taking it out on the biggest Kirke in the house, who also in the last few days had been the exclusive carer of their other three aforementioned smalls (even though there were plenty of uncles and grandparents and Lunas on stand-by if they wanted to use them).
She felt guilty about it, she really did. Hence why she'd spent the last half an hour hiding down in her potions lab out of sheer frustration. The place was empty now. Lily hadn't brewed anything in about a month in preparation, the last thing she'd wanted was to have to leave a long-brew potion going unexpectedly. The irony of this was not lost on her - and luckily the basement was soundproofed so she could scream into the void without anyone else being able to hear her do it.
Lily sighed deeply as she dragged her hand across her face, before moving it to crook around the bump. It can't be that much longer, surely, she thought as she slowly made her way up the stairs towards the general noises of chatter she could hear above, You've got to be ready soon, little one. Please.
Post by Dominique E. Weasley on Aug 1, 2019 12:25:36 GMT
All things considered, it had been a fairly mellow weekend for Christian and Dom. It wasn’t often that they could boast of having a whole weekend to themselves, when neither of them had some sort of plans with their friends or work to do. Both of their jobs tended to keep them incredibly busy, with Christian spending long exhausting hours in rehearsal rooms and travelling across the country (or countries, plural) and Dom needing to drop everything and zip off at the first hint of some major news breaking. They were lucky, really, that they both loved their jobs so intensely, as to not resent the lack of spare time they had to spend just with each other - but of course, they both still really treasured the unexpected quiet moments like these where they could just be in each other’s company.
It had been a pleasant enough day, even if most of it had been spent mooching around their flat and not doing anything productive (something Dom had got increasingly better at over the years, allowing herself time to just do nothing). That was, it had been, up until the moment when they very suddenly did have plans, thanks to a series of desperate hexts from Jasper to Christian that ended with him inviting (see: begging) them to come over for dinner to help distract his heavily pregnant wife from the fact that she was basically about to burst. Dom had sighed, but immediately began moving into action. “I’m going to shower,” she said, standing up and letting down her hair from its messy bun. “Pop to the shops and get a dessert for us to bring. And buy some hot sauce too - Lily might need it.”
So there they were, barely an hour later, walking up the slight incline to Lily and Jasper’s picturesque house hand in hand, and bringing their supplies with them. There were a myriad of ways this evening could go, and Dom wasn’t really sure which outcome was best. Still, it was hardly going to be a hardship having dinner with their friends, no matter how much of a foul mood her cousin was in. It couldn’t be helped - and the least they could do was help take some of the stress off Jasper for an evening, because even after the baby was born, he’d still be dealing with a newborn baby and three other children. Isla had really taken to Christian recently, so he surely could entertain her for an evening, and Maia was at an age where Dom could actually feel like she could have a conversation with her, so there was that too. That was at least two things that would be off Jasper’s hands for one night.
And Dom seemed only to have been proven right when the man himself opened the door and invited them in. In a flurry, he flashed his friends a smile, scrubbing a hand through his messy curls and shouted something about making themselves comfortable while running back around the corner to another room loudly asking Maia to help keep Isla and Jordan away from the kitchen. Dom could only blink and squeeze Christian’s hand as they stood on the doorstep. “Remember when we thought we were having a quiet evening in?” she murmured.
Post by Christian George Fraser on Aug 2, 2019 3:06:59 GMT
Christian couldn't say he'd been surprised by the hexts Jasper had sent him that afternoon, but the desperation in them had been somewhat concerning - and was the reason he didn't even hesitate in agreeing for them to come over. The guy sounded like he needed a break, and Christian couldn't even imagine how that must mean Lily was currently feeling.
Leaving Dom to get ready, he took the short walk into Greenwich. There was a closer shop to them but only the type you could pick up the very basics from - unless your basics included chocolate bars and trashy magazines. The local had loads of those. He was in and out of Mark and Spencer's Simply Food in under 10 minutes with everything they could possibly need for the evening: a coupe of types of hot sauce, some raspberry tea, a variety of Percy Pigs for the kids, and a chocolate gateaux that was probably the size of the child they were currently waiting on. By the time they got to the Kirke's he was feeling pretty damn proud of himself.
Stepping into the house, less so. Jasper span around in whirlwind and, honestly, Christian decided the best course of action here was to let him do so. "At least we got a quiet morning," he replied as he toed his shoes off in the hallway. He was expecting Isla to immediately demand some ballet from him which, whilst not his forte, he could passably demonstrate the basics of for a 3 year old. He was proved right immediately upon walking into the main living room of the house to hear the current smallest Kirke yell PIROUETTE as soon as she saw him.
"Not sure I can manage that one perfectly. Where did you even hear that word?" Christian grinned, placing the shopping bag on the floor just in time to catch Jordan, who had launched herself at him from across the back of the sofa. "How's everyone doing?" He asked the room in general, expecting no cohesive response and a lot of overlapping chatter from everyone to follow.
Post by Jasper M. Kirke on Aug 2, 2019 14:38:13 GMT
You know what, it was fine! It was fine, everything was fine and Jasper was fine. Sure his wife who was so long overdue it felt like she’d been pregnant for ten months had disappeared off into the basement to have a scream or a cry or something - and sure he had a little one clinging to his leg with a snotty nose as she was on the verge of working herself up into a similar meltdown because she wanted a snack and he couldn’t slice up the grapes fast enough. It was fine. “Maia, can you get her a tissue please?” he called over, who did as she was bid with little to no fuss, handing him the tissue and allowing him to wipe up Isla’s face as she sniffled. One eye still on the pasta boiling away, he pressed a kiss on the crown of his eldest daughter’s head. “You are an angel and never let me forget it.” Bowl of grapes handed to Isla, the current youngest member of their household wandered off, her upset almost entirely forgotten.
But if Jasper thought he was about to have a moment to himself to consider the state of this bloody pasta sauce he’d been trying to concoct for the best part of an hour, he was sorely mistaken as Jordan came barrelling in, loudly asking if dinner was ready yet. “Gimme ten minutes, bub. You finished your drawing to give to Uncle Christian yet?” She nodded her head in the affirmative and Jasper hummed to himself as he tried to think of something else for her to do - he’d sat her down with some colouring pencils in the hopes that task would keep her occupied until the food was done, but he could tell she was too high strung right now to sit with one task for long. “What about one for Auntie Dom?” he asked, and when she said she hadn’t he added, “Well you’d better get one ready cos they’ll be here soon!” Well. He very much hoped they would be. But thankfully with a new instruction, Jordan bounded out as quickly as she’d come in.
Thankfully too it wasn’t too long until he heard them at the door, and he all but launched himself out of the kitchen to go let them in - though he couldn’t stay for pleasant greetings for too long, because he very much remembered he’d left cooking food on unattended, with three kids wandering around the ground floor of the house. He zipped off without barely a look at either of his friends and called round the corner, “Maia keep them away from the kitchen please!” Though thankfully as he turned the corner into the kitchen, there didn’t seem to be much need, as she was still stood where he’d left her.
“Dad,” she said, just looking at him with an expression that was startlingly like her mother.
“You’re my hero,” he said solemnly, and before she could stop him he pulled her face in and started smothering her in kisses, while she feebly protested through her giggles. “Now get outta here,” he joked, batting her lightly with the tea towel he’d had slung over his shoulder. “We’ve got it under control.” She didn’t really look like she believed him but she left anyway, and Jasper smiled to himself as his attention turned back to the food, as he heard the commotion of his girls greeting Christian and Dom in the living room. And like, yeah it wasn’t the best thing he’d ever cooked but it was perfectly fine, so everyone could deal with it. Turning the heat down he let it start to reduce (and chucked in some oregano for good measure because why the fuck not), and drained the pasta.
Finally somewhat happier, he left the food where it was and decided to say a proper hello to his two friends who were saving his life and entertaining his daughters while he took a breath or two. “Hello, you,” he said, pulling Dom in for a hug and a social peck on either cheek. Christian, it seemed, was under more scrutiny from the kids where he had Isla happily babbling away at him and Jordan clinging on to him, which Jasper interrupted slightly when he asked, “You gunna show Christian your drawing?” Jordan jolted away as she suddenly remembered that she had something to give him, running off round the corner shouting about it. With an exhausted smile, Jasper took his best friend’s face in his hands and pulled him in close to whisper, “You beautiful man, Phrase. I love you and never leave me,” accentuated with a loud smooch.
Post by Christian George Fraser on Aug 2, 2019 22:53:15 GMT
His friend re-emerged maybe not in a happier state, but with a much calmer attitude which was definitely a good sign. No Lily, still, Christian noted, but she was probably off hiding somewhere and he fully expected Jasper to go and find her once the kids were sufficiently distracted. He did consider pulling the sweets out for them to try and speed that process along a bit, but then remembered they'd been invited round for dinner and given how early it was the kids probably hadn't already eaten. Jasper wouldn't mind too much in the grand scheme of things, but he had no idea how Lily would react in her current temperament and Dom would tut and it just wasn't worth it in this moment.
But that was fine, it wouldn't be long until he'd hopefully be able to slide away without one of his Kirklings following him. Although saying that Isla immediately forgot all about Christian the second her dad was in the vicinity - and he was supposed to be her favourite at the moment too so, wow, rude much?
"No worries, Dadsper, I love you too," Christian grinned at the easy affection they'd never lost post school, before sitting down crossed-legged on the floor to give the picture Jordan was about to hand off to him his Full Attention, "Also, literally any time. OK?" He added, and he truly meant it. He wanted to be a dad the same amount as Dom wanted to be a mum - meaning literally never and please dear every and any higher power that might exist no - but he loved being Uncle Phrase to his friends' kids the same amount he loved being an uncle to his biological niblings. With his whole heart, and with great enthusiasm, but also with such relief when he got to hand them back and get a full night's sleep.
Christian took the picture Jordan handed him eagerly as she copied his position on the floor in front of him, "What's this then?" He asked, going over it in detail as he did so. He knew she wouldn't respond, would wait for him to ascertain the image first and would only tell him if he got it entirely wrong. Luckily, though, this one was easy. A big fluffy golden haired creature running across the grass with a big happy sun in the corner, it was clearly his and Dom's dog, Cleo, running through Greenwich Park. He was honestly thrilled.
"Cleo! Excellent. Can I take it home to show her?" He looked up at Jordan who was looking very pleased at the situation - not sure if she was pleased proudly at herself for drawing the picture, or patronisingly at Christian for being able to tell what it was. Honestly, with this one it could go either way.
Post by Jasper M. Kirke on Aug 9, 2019 11:45:19 GMT
Jasper couldn’t help but laugh that escaped him as Christian offered his help. “Don’t say that dude,” he said, smiling as he saw Jordan come bouncing back around the corner with her artwork in hand. “We’re a whisper away from a newborn. Every night I fall asleep wondering if this is the final night I’ll know peace, so I will shamelessly take any spare hands offered.” And he was mostly joking, because he doubted he’d ever willingly drag Christian and Dom into a nightmare child-related situation unless he felt like they were getting something out of it (ie. food, wine, and somewhat pleasant company like today) - but also knowing the option was there might be too tempting to miss on his fifth day without sleep and covered in three types of pee and puke.
As Jordan started happily babbling to Christian and his attention was directed elsewhere, Jasper allowed himself a moment to enjoy and take in the peace. With his hands on his hips, he stood quietly with a smile and surveyed the scene - Jordan and Christian chatting happily, and Maia and Dom sat with each other not far off, their heads close together as they talked quietly. It was nice, he thought to himself. It was....yeah, it was nice. Having loads of people you love together in a room - well he’d always been the sort of person that did better when he was around people he cared about, and that only increased tenfold as more people joined in - but this just felt special, and Jasper was thankful for it. That unfamiliar panic that he’d had before (and that he hated having) had subsided to the point where he almost forget he’d even been stressed, and he felt like he was finally settling.
A little tug on his trouser leg alerted him to Isla, who was looking up at him with big eyes, no doubt displeased to feel left out with the attention directed at her two older sisters. Without a thought, Jasper picked her up and hitched her up on to his hip. “Shall we go sort out dinner?” he asked, already moving away to go back to the kitchen. He didn’t so much mind leaving the rest of them now - the girls were with Christian and Dom, who had finally been properly greeted, and he frankly had other things to be doing, primarily - “And we need to go get Mummy, don’t we?”
Which - Jasper had always been one to bend to confrontation, or more generally try to avoid it at all costs - but that got harder to do when Lily was in the way that she was. It was no-one’s fault, obviously (apart from you know, his swimmers, but he’d already tried to make a joke about that and it really didn’t land, so he figured he wouldn’t try it again), but it was really not a great time for either of them when even their happy moments were tinged with irritability, discomfort and downright exhaustion on Lily’s part. Luckily for them both, Jasper was already a master at walking on eggshells to try and avoid drama, so in reality it could have been a whole lot worse than it actually was. They were just on edge waiting for it all to be over. He - well, he desperately hoped this evening might help even a little bit. You know, even if it just was able to distract her from stewing too much in how terrible she felt for a few hours.
He stirred the pot of pasta sauce with one hand, Isla still propped up on his hip with the other, and his eyes flitting across to the door at the other end of the kitchen, still ominously closed. It had been a while since Lily had disappeared down into her basement brewery, and he couldn’t quite figure out whether it was best to leave her to come up in her own time, or to go fetch her up now that guests were here. But with dinner on the verge of being ready, he supposed he’d have to go fetch her sooner rather than later - so still with Isla in his arms, he paced over to the door and pulled it open, only to be pleasantly surprised to find his wife already on her way up the stairs.
“Oh hello,” he said, cheerfully. “Dinner’s basically ready, so good timing. Also! Fun surprise!” And look, it was shameless that he was using Isla to help deliver this news and act as a buffer in case Lily was less than pleased, but shame and Jasper were not two concepts that ever really occurred in the same sentence.”Uncle Christian and Auntie Dom are here! And everyone’s very excited about it.” He bounced Isla and hoped their shared positivity would transfer to his wife.
Post by Lily Luna Potter on Aug 11, 2019 23:56:34 GMT
Lily takes the stairs carefully - not quite one at a time, but pretty close. Its safer. Its also slower which seems mean because she does want to be upstairs with her family having dinner, she really does. However she wants to be having dinner with her husband and four kids, not her husband and three kids whilst not quite being able to reach the table. As well as that she's battling herself internally as she climbs, because its likely that Jasper will be hovering somewhere close when she emerges (probably in the kitchen itself, and if not in the living room next door - or maybe in the downstairs loo with one of the younger two) and she'll see him and really want a hug and he'll see her and know she really wants a hug.. except in reality she wants absolutely nobody to touch her right now. Yes, it makes no sense. Yes, its contradictory and frustrating. No, she really can't help it.
And then the door opens suddenly and there he is, and part of Lily wants to cry all over again but she doesn't - not because she can't in front of him but because he's holding a toddler and really that's where her attention should go now. Isla's about to have a huge shift in her world view and Lily's has a feeling there's gonna be a lot of tantrums in their hopefully near future, so she deserves all the undivided attention Lily can give her at this point in time. Which she thinks Jasper must have been thinking as well as the rest of the kitchen behind him is... eerily quiet, and they definitely do have other children that should be making some sort of noise at least.
However she grins, and pokes her tongue out at their current youngest to make her giggle, and Jasper talks at her brightly and everything's OK. Everything's going to be fine. The kitchen is quiet because Dom and Christian are here and she's finally made it to the top of the fricking stairs.
Lily puts a hand on Jasper's arm and gives it a reassuring squeeze as she pecks kisses all over Isla's face, "Were you helping daddy?" She asks, and the answer is a beaming grin in the affirmative as Isla wiggles her way down Jasper's torso to take Lily's hand and lead her further into the kitchen and show her what's for dinner as if she'd made it.
"Nice try. Surprise my arse," Lily says as she passes her husband, so far passed not swearing in front of the kids these days its become a bit ridiculous. Thing is, this far down the line they've learnt that they're going to repeat what they hear whether they hear it once or hear is a thousand times, so they might as well not censor themselves too much and just let them know what's not appropriate if any of them decide to parrot it. There's still a line, but its a bit of a wavy one. "It'll be nice to see them though, I feel like its been forever," and, its a selfish thought, but hopefully this means that they can distract the kids a bit. Not so much that they're not around, but enough so that Lily can sit on the sofa for a while and make Jasper give her a foot rub. She doesn't think that's too much of an ask.
She can make out the sounds of the others in the living room now and it fills her with warmth, Isla in front of her dancing as she's wont to do recently but there's something... different about it than just energy. "Isla, baby, do you need a wee?" Lily asks, knowing the verbal answer will be a definitive no but also knowing that that is a lie and now they're in a waiting game. A cycle of asking the question until the very last possible minute.
Post by Jasper M. Kirke on Oct 16, 2019 16:49:22 GMT
Bless her, Jasper couldn’t help but think to himself as he watched his wife waddle closer to them. She still looked exhausted, though she seemed markedly better than when he’d last seen her, fraying at the seams and on the verge of some sort of breakdown. His smile was fond when Lily finally reached them and squeezed his arm, and he indulged himself in a moment of just looking at her and enjoying the view. He quite enjoyed the kind of gentle chaos they’d created for themselves - it had always been the sort of environment he’d seemed to thrive in best, and he loved being surrounded by all his girls always keeping him on his toes. But even so - those moments of stillness were cherished when they came, as brief as they often were.
And then as if on cue, Isla began to grapple to get on the move again, and with a practiced ease and barely a thought about it, Jasper gently lowered her to the ground where she could toddle off hand in hand with her mother. He followed a few steps after, shutting the door behind them, before putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the counter with his signature lanky slouch. “I tried,” he said, though his tone probably belied how little he had actually tried. He’d less put effort in than made a last desperate attempt with very little thought put into it - his speciality. “They’re in the living room with Jordan and Maia.”
Speaking of their progeny, Lily was probably right to ask Isla whether she needed to be taken to the toilet - their potty training had been going somewhat hit or miss with their third and was requiring both of them to keep a sceptical eye on her at almost all times. As it was, Jasper had already been suspicious just before Dom and Christian had arrived and asked her himself, though had received a negative on the toilet trip. He hadn’t quite believed her, but also hadn’t really had the time to do anything about it.
He pushed himself up with his hip then, opening a cupboard that was very purposefully as far from the children’s reach as they could manage. “Do you reckon Dom’ll want some wine?” he said, head in the cupboard trying to spot Dom’s favourite red he knew they had somewhere.
They usually had a few racks that they kept the reds on in the cellar (Jasper, though severely lacking any sort of taste through his teens and into his twenties, had had somewhat of a wine renaissance as soon as he hit twenty-seven and took his alcohol very seriously from that point onwards) - and as a preventative precaution for Lily’s Overdue Baby Rage, Jasper had thought it best if she couldn’t accidentally run into the reminders of fun things she couldn’t do because of pregnancy. Therefore, as the dutiful husband he was, Jasper had taken it upon himself one afternoon to hide their wine collection all over their house in places Lily and the kids weren’t likely to find it, namely among the scattered but safely locked places he kept his paints, as well as high up cupboards and drawers that neither the Smalls or Lily herself could reach without help. It had worked for the most part, though had on more than one occasion led to Jasper getting drunk in secret while he was meant to be painting, though he thought that was neither here nor there. Still -
“Not to taunt you with it or anything,” Jasper continued, procuring the bottle he’d been looking for. “But I figure the least we can do for essentially semi-tricking the two of them into babysitting for us is to ply Dom with wine.” He chanced a look at the simmering meal on the stove too. “Plus dinner’s a bit shit so I figure I need all the help I can get.” He flashed a smile over at Lily and hoped he didn’t catch way he’d sniffed longingly as he’d uncorked the bottle.