August 1, 1920
9:00 PM
A Quiet Spot Near the Lake
❤︎
There couldn't have been a better night for a bonfire if Benji Laurence had conjured it himself.
The boy grinned at Rae as he flung another branch into the pit, sending flames crackling and snapping against the warm night air. All around them fireflies glowed, crickets and bullfrogs sang in the brush lining the calm shores of the lake and there was a light breeze weaving through the trees. She'd been rather casual with him lately - since the beginning of camp, really, and while he wasn't entirely sure why, he rather enjoyed messing with her.
Antagonism was one of his favorite pastimes.
But so was playing host.
He hopped up onto one of the logs, cupping his hands around his mouth when he saw a group making their way down from the cabins. “Oi! You lot took your sweet time. Fire’s already roaring, and if you don’t get here quick, Rae’s eating all the crisps.” He tossed a bag at her without looking, grinning when it bounced off her shoulder.
As more kids appeared, he was in constant motion, shoving skewers into hands, calling out names, and making space around the fire with exaggerated waves. “Front row seats still open! You snooze, you sit in the wet grass, that’s the deal.”
He clapped one kid on the back hard enough to nearly knock them into the log pile, then immediately handed them a chocolate frog as if that evened it out. A second later he was snatching a marshmallow from someone else’s skewer, popping it into his mouth with a wink before they could protest.
OOC: Hi! Come on in. Benji's throwing a bonfire and all are welcome. There's a blanket with various snacks and treats. Come grab some and make friends, and we'll see where the night takes us! Feel free to be one of the two that Benji mentioned in his post if you like.
The messaged had been spread around, people talking about it all day, a Bonfire was planned for later this evening. She would go, of course, because it was expected of her.
“Go. Make friends. Be social.” Her mothers words played on repeat in her head. Honestly, she wasn’t in the mood. Most of her friends weren’t even coming back to school this term, let alone hang out here. Everyone was so worried about the wards around the castle and if the facility was even safe after the last head master went off the rails. Starting her second year without all the friends she made last year sound mind-numbingly boring.
Yet, here she was.
Not surprising, her parents didn’t listen to a word of her complaints. Nope. They packed the trunk and sent her off without another thought. At least she had Alice.
Walking towards the bonfire, Everleigh could see the glow from afar. The wind hit just right, sending the smell of fire and burning wood towards her. She didn’t want to smile or be happy or be excited, but maybe she was just a bit.
“Oi! You lot took your sweet time. Fire’s already roaring, and if you don’t get here quick, Rae’s eating all the crisps.”
The voice was most definitely Benji, a fourth year she vaguely knew. He seemed nice enough and was on good terms with Alice, so she would give him the benefit of the doubt. Walking closer, the heat of the fire began to warm her skin, only a few feet away from the blazing flames. “Hey guys.” Everleigh said with a nod.
“Front row seats still open! You snooze, you sit in the wet grass, that’s the deal.”
You didn’t have to tell her twice. Everleigh took up a seat near Rae and suddenly had a skewer and marshmallow in her hand for roasting. “Oh fantastic, I love these. Thanks!”
Everleigh nodded as more people showed up, a few she knew and more she didn’t. Maybe there were more people at camp than she thought. Just as her marshmallow was a perfect golden brown, ready to be devoured, Benji grabbed the hot melty ball of sugar and popped it in his mouth.
“Hey, that was mine, you filthy git!” She said with a chuckle, there was a playful quality to Benji, she found it hard to be mad at him. Grabbing another, she went to roasting it over the fire, while glaring at the 4th year badger. “Steal my next one and I’ll poke you in the eye with the stick.”
Benji was right, she would eat all the crisps. The girl who possessed a bottomless pit for a stomach was seldom sated this late into the night, no matter how much she ate during dinner. It should've been a sin barring them from the kitchens, but it had eventually become clear that Director Montreaux wasn't the sort you argued with, not even after you became a volunteer. There were many days she wondered what the point of signing up had been when so many of the rules still applied to her.
Then she remembered the ones that didn't...and the perks... After that, having to satisfy her cravings with a bonfire table full of treats really wasn't the end of the world.
The moment the bag of crisps hit her shoulder, her hands sprang into action, swiping it before it could fall to the floor. Leave it to Benji to play the charismatic host, swiping food like he'd learned nothing from his friendship with Matilda and encouraging everyone closer. She would leave it to him, always having been more of a schemes type of girl than an outright social gathering. Ask her to help you into a professor's office or into a neighbouring dorm for revenge, but entertaining others?
Certainly not.
Ruth Anaya entertained herself.
At the invitation to the front row, Rae sank onto the log, soon joined by the no-longer-first-year, Everleigh. The poor girl was on the receiving end of Benji's larger-than-life persona, promptly losing her marshmallow to his shenanigans.
"Only silly girls warn first," Rae said with a mild tease, accio-ing another marshmallow and offering it to the younger girl. "Next time, you let him, and when he thinks he's won, you jam it up his nose." She'd happily play nurse after.
The girl shot her boyfriend a cheeky but good-natured grin while she incited violence against him, a more familiar song and dance than whatever the hell they'd been doing since the start of summer. She wouldn't actually let someone jam a stick up his nose...not unless there was something to be gained by them both, but that was neither here nor there.
Watching him make his way around the crowd, she was again greeted by the unwanted realisation that she missed him. They hadn't stopped talking, not really. Things were perfectly cordial--friendly even. She didn't like it.
She didn't like any of it.
I heard the director did end up leaving for the night. Tell me you packed the fireworks like we talked about." In some ways, it was easier talking to him about the simple things that didn't matter, but each shallow conversation only widened the already gaping chasm she felt growing between them.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
✗ ✗ Fire Away ✗ ✗
Maevie arrived at the bonfire excited and smiling brightly.
Her mum and brother had dropped her off at the summer facility only a week ago, so she could get to know some friends and find her way into a strange new world none of them had known existed. She had never been away from her family for this long before and she missed them terribly but at the same time there were so many things happening that she barely got the time to get homesick at all.
And she supposed she would see them again soon, in one more week when they'd come to pick her back up. Although a little after that she would be away at school for almost four months without getting to seem them at all and that did scare her a bit. They were all she had and after father--
No, she wouldn't think of that now. Father was probably playing chess right now with one of the others who had to go early, having fun and watching her. At least that's what mum had said.
The fire was visible from afar, bright against the dark night, flickering yellow and orange light over the guests already present, illuminating the abundance of snacks stacked on a blanket.
Maevie accepted a skewer from a boy that bounced around like a bouncy ball, feeling instantly infected by his bright mood and she grabbed herself a handful of marshmallows before plopping herself down on one of the logs next to a girl with crazy cool hair.
She gaped for a moment, open-mouthed and awed, before she remembered her mum had said it wasn't polite to stare and she quickly smiled instead. "Hello," she said happily, pushing one of the marshmallows onto her skewer. "I'm Maevie, I'm new here."
Eyes grew wide when the girl next to her suddenly made one of the treats fly through the air. "Whoa!" Gaping yet again but this time she couldn't quite remember her mum's words. "How did you do that?"
Will was running late, but it wasn't his fault. Okay, it kind of was, but it also kind of wasn't. If he had any real friends (still up for debate. He wasn't sure if other cult members were technically friends or if they got another title), they would have woke him before the bonfire had started.
He could have also set an alarm, he supposed. But that would have required him to know that he was going to fall asleep, which he hadn't. He'd intended to read; the bed just had other ideas.
At least, he'd known about the bonfire though. That was a start. Maybe they were his friends after all. Wasn't that nice?
Things were already in sort of full swing when he got there, people hanging out near the fire and toasting marshmallows and bothering each other. He must not have been as late as he thought he was because there were only a handful of people already there. Perfect. He hadn't overslept that badly at all.
"Oi!" he called to Rae and Benji, his cult leaders, as he snagged a skewer and some marshmallows for himself. "How come ya ain't told me we got two sacrifices? I woulda came faster."
He glanced between the two youngers girls, grinning mischeviously. He'd seen them around, arriving just in time to hear that the younger looking one was called Maybe. Weird name, but compared to home, everything was weird in his new country.
"So, which one of ya wanna get eaten first?"
“Steal my next one and I’ll poke you in the eye with the stick.”
"Promise?" Benji asked, eyebrows raising in amusement at the younger girl, as he moved easily past her, enjoying the warm melty goodness of Everleigh's marshmallow. It seemed it was his marshmallow now, considering it was in his mouth. Hazel eyes fell on Rae, appreciating the cheeky smile she shared with him - one he didn't know quite what to do with. Things had been weird between them all summer, and while they weren't broken up - at least he was fairly certain they weren't - they definitely weren't behaving like a couple anymore.
He genuinely didn't know what to make of all of it.
"I'm Maevie, I'm new here."
"Benji," he said, finding his words again and tossed the small girl a chocolate frog to go with her marshmallows. It was a bit late in the summer for Maevie to just be arriving, but she was welcome all the same. He remembered how scared he'd been as a first year, but this girl looked properly comfortable and outgoing already. In any case Rae would take care of her.
"Oi!"
Benji glanced over his shoulder, eyes brightening with amusement as Will made his way over. Benji turned quickly and share a brief look with Rae. Their friend was an interesting one. Tons of fun and made him laugh, but the whole 'evil spirits' and cult thing really was the cherry on top of Will’s very peculiar sundae.
"How come ya ain't told me we got two sacrifices? I woulda came faster."
"And spoil the surprise of a soul feast?" Benji asked, his eyes darkening slightly as he lowered his voice into a mock-serious growl. He didn’t hold it long, breaking into a crooked grin with a shrug. Will seemed to really be all in, and the Hufflepuff had no problem leaning into it.
Somehow the notion had stuck, and Will seemed to think Rae was his high priestess and Benji her right-hand demon. Not the worst reputation he could have picked up over the summer, really. There were worse things he'd been called over the years. He nodded towards Maevie, "Her first. Little ones have the freshest souls. Make for the best offerings to Morvain."
He had no idea who Morvain was, but all cults had to have something they worshipped and followed. And with enough conviction, it sounded believable enough.
To really drive the point home, Benji turned back to the fire as he skewered another marshmallow, uttering a string of gibberish. Nonsense and garbled syllables that didn't mean anything, but weird enough, he figured to pass for some sort of ancient chant.
"Promise?"
Ugh, Boys! Why were they so annoying. Thankfully Rae replaced her pilfered marshmallow, so she got back to toasting this one, keeping one eye out for Benji so that maybe she would get to eat this one.
"Only silly girls warn first, Next time, you let him, and when he thinks he's won, you jam it up his nose." Weren’t they…. Dating? Yet she still condoned violence. Wow, relationships were so confusing. Not worth her time if she were being honest.
A tiny sprite of a thing sat down with the group, bright red hair glowing in the fire light. She seemed very interested in the magic Rae had just performed. Accio, if her ears had heard correctly, which honestly wasn’t anything too impressive, unless you were muggleborn. If she had a galleon to wager, that would be her bet.
"Oi! How come ya ain't told me we got two sacrifices? I woulda came faster."
Everleigh looked between the two older boys, trying to sus out the joke. Whatever it was, she didn’t find it funny. This new character had called her a sacrifice. How barbaric! Looking over at the little one, Maevie, Everleigh felt the need to protect her from the evil older boys. The words of Rae coming back to her from earlier… ‘Only silly girls warn first…’
"So, which one of ya wanna get eaten first?"
Ever sat in her seat, taking in her surroundings, poised to strike if necessary. This time, she wouldn’t be warning anyone, and the hot molten marshmallow on the end of her stick would make the wound that much more painful.
"Her first. Little ones have the freshest souls. Make for the best offerings to Morvain."
Everleigh stood up suddenly, eyes glaring at the boys with hate and annoyance. Their spooky words and gibberish mumblings were meant to scare them. It was having the opposite effect on her, typically not a violent person, Everleigh could make an exception for these two. Scooting closer to Maevie, her hand held tighter to the stick while glaring at them from across the fire.
Everleigh's mother tried to drill into her brain, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all... She would be so proud in this moment, she thought, while mumbling curse words in her head. She always did have a colorful vocabulary.
Tulip wasn't surprised to have ended up sent to Summer Camp, she was somewhat surprised it had taken this long. Mater had harped on about how she longed to spend the summer with her girls, but Tulip knew it wouldn't last. The Mothership liked the idea of seven daughters but the reality didn't match her ideals. But then being an Asquith was never like the ideal. The final straw had not been for a change her but the letter that came from her sister Clover, upon reading it her Mater had come down with one of her 'Headaches' and next thing she knew, her Rose, Briar and Poppy were being shift off to summer camp, well summer in it's losest of terms as it was in the bloody lake district and it was either midgies or rain or both.
She'd heard some rumours of a get together that evening something about a camp fire, Rose had gone off with some lad, Briar had met up with some of the other creepy Ravenclaw gremlins she hung out with, and who knows where Poppy was, but Tulip would not take that reprobate anywhere near a fire. So she had decided to go by herself, see who was out and about, see if any of the other 4th years she knew from school had been shipped off to camp for forced fun.
The fire was easy to find, the glow lit up the sky and Tulip sauntered down, she smelt the smoke and heard the noise, it was just chatting and friendly noise not the noise of a riot yet. In the glowing light she saw faces she recognised Ruth, and Benji fellow 4th years, she saw the snack pile, clearly the Hufflepuff had been robbing food again, say what you like about the House of Badger, if you were having a party invite them, they got all the best grub. She'd not had the chance to attend many parties the last couple of terms, as she'd been in detention....alot.
"Ahoy,hoy, my lovelies" she greeted as she approached the fire, "How are we all this fine evening, I see we all got shipped off to camp fr yet another summer."
August had just begun and yet it felt like the end was coming to a complicated summer. Ren had never been fond of summer camp, simply using the period to avoid a multi-month stint at the Gloria Whitfield Home for Children. The two weeks between the beginning and the end of the school year and the summer camp were quite possibly some of the more unhappier ones of his life. It continued to be the ever-lasting reminder that his parents were dead, the refusal to let him get over it as him and all of his belongings perpetually shifted from one place to another when the castle decided to close.
And that was considering that the castle went through some shit last term. And even then, it was still better than the orphanage.
Upheaval. Hogwarts in uproar. Chaos everywhere. And if that wasn't enough, his girlfriend was infected by a magical Brazilian plant. The last couple of months had completely knocked him out of whack, to the point where his participation in the summer camp was hard pressed to be any kind of 'participation'.
But Benji was hosting the bonfire. And he was a homie.
Ren walked towards the group, looking around at all the faces. A few near and dear to his heart, Benji and Rae were there as always. He couldn't probably imagine a better couple, and they'd certainly been active throughout the summer. But there was a minute degree of figidity that was hard not to note. Ren hadn't seen Rae jump onto Benji's lap all summer and if that wasn't telling enough, nothing was.
There were also a few new faces. Sure, he had seen them around the castle before. He even knew that Rae and Benji had befriended some of them, but Ren had certainly kept his distance. Although it was better to say that he'd been distracted by his own new relationship to focus outward. But with the summer ending, it was time for him to mingle more than he'd been doing up to that point.
Tapping his wand with his fingers in his pocket, a nervous tick in the absense of a notebook in his hands, he walked up behind the Gryffindor girl he'd only noticed a few times before.
"Hey everyone. How's the fire?"
A mention of souls raised an eyebrow. He didn't know it was this type of party.
Bear was more than in the mood for a bonfire.
Any chance of him getting to go home at the end of summer was nullified by the letter he just received from home. Apparently if one welcomed enough patients you became a trainee healer. With the skirmishes caused by those wanting independence there were more patients so his mother got what was jokingly referred to as a field promotion. It also made for once in his life the idea of him spending time with his mothers parents in Knockturn Alley preferable to Belfast in the mind of his mother. A rarity as his mother had stayed in Belfast after his father’s death out of a stubbornness to raise him above the riff raft that was found on Knockturn Alley.
He loved visiting the storefront his mother’s parents had on Knockturn Alley and having the opportunity to work on the clocks and other mechanical devices that found themselves there. The catch was with everything he worried about his mother who stubbornly refused to just move to London insisting on staying in the city his father had called home prior to his death. To say he needed a distraction was an understatement.
He walked into the group and half-heard the various things said about souls, and sacrifices. He grabbed a stick placed a pair of marshmallow on it then found himself a good spot at the fire. He tossed the letter he’d just received from home into the fire before sticking his stick with marshmallows above it to roast.
"Hey everyone. How's the fire?”
Bear said “ Don’t tell them we are sacrificing marshmallows. They’re too busy pretending the ghostly fluff at the end of their sticks is souls. “
The fact he didn’t follow the bits of conversation that came before he arrived was a detail he didn’t care about. He had marshmallows about to be cooked to perfection in minutes - hopefully.
"Whoa! How did you do that?"
This one was cute as a button. Rae twirled her wand between her fingers, once, then a second time, before allowing it to rest flat against her palm. Maevie. New. First year, most likely if she was asking how she did that. "Accio," Rae explained, summoning another skewer for demonstration. One could never have too much sugar at a bonfire, and Benji had ensured they had plenty. "Dead useful when you've got things clear across aa room you don't wanna be bothered getting up for."
Rae extended one of her skewers to the flames, wanting the marshmallows nice and gooey. "We're you from, Maevie?"
"How come ya ain't told me we got two sacrifices? I woulda came faster."
Rae grinned at the appearance of her friend. The girl had been so busy getting things set up earlier that she hadn't been sure where he'd gotten off to after being told about the bonfire. When the crowds started gathering but he hadn't, there was a part of her that thought maybe he didn't want to be there or maybe he had one of those...uhhh....wendigoes he wanted to find?
"They'll be less compliant sacrifices now that you've told them they are, William," she tsked lightly, amusement clear in her dark eyes. She placed a hand on the little redhead's (maevie's) head. "But we're not eating this one. Too cute, no matter what Benji says."
A valid criterion in the Slytherin girl's book and her boyfriend wouldn't be overriding it.
"You should help him with the chanting," Rae continued, nodding Will in Benji's direction. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see if they could get anyone else to chime in. Everleigh already wasn't amused. The younger girl looked truly ready to jam her skewer up Benji's nose. The boys may have made an enemy with their antics, but perhaps only a mild one.
"Ahoy,hoy, my lovelies" she greeted as she approached the fire, "How are we all this fine evening, I see we all got shipped off to camp fr yet another summer."
With Ever having an eye on little Maevie (in case Benji decided to prove a point), Rae's gaze drifted to the newest arrival, one of the livelier Gryffindors she'd ever met; Tulip.
Rae snorted lightly, deciphering the zealous tone nearly instantly. I didn't think I wouldn't be after Mum showed me her schedule for the summer." Safaris, expeditions, recovery missions. A lot of it screamed 'don't take your daughter along'. "Took them long enough to get you here."
Oh, Ren was there!
Rae gestured to a spot along the log by her and the other girls when her friend arrived. "Hot enough for roasting marshmallows and anything else," she replied. "Not that we will. Probably." It was hard to tell with these things. "Benji's stealing food so you'll wanna watch whatever you grab for yourself."
Overhearing Bear's words, he got his very own playful tsk out of her. "The spirits of the facility will never be satisfied with marshmallows. Only ickles who aren't Maevie will do."
Oh, shoot! Her marshmallow! Rae squeaked, blowing with all her might when the entire thing caught fire.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
✗ ✗ Fire Away ✗ ✗
Maevie watched in awe when the girl repeated her trick and a second skewer flew through the air, right into her hand. It was the first bit of practical magic she'd seen done by a peer and it was the coolest thing ever.
She hadn't even gotten a wand yet; her mum said they'd buy all her supplies after camp. But seeing magic performed right before her eyes made her want to dart up immediately and write to her, beg her to take her to the shop early.
But then she would miss the rest of camp and she really didn't want to, besides her marshmallow looked about done.
"We're you from, Maevie?"
"I'm from Norwich," she replied as she munched away on the gooey sweetness sticking her teeth together. "I live there with my mum and brother but he's studying in Cambridge so I don't really live with him, but I used to before he moved away and--"
Another boy arriving and making strange comments about sacrifices put a halt to her ramblings she hadn't even noticed might be off-putting to the older girl. Maevie frowned in confusion, watching the boy with curious eyes.
Not that she was actually scared of getting sacrificed. But it was a really odd statement to make and so she leaned into her new friend a little and murmured, "Are they always this weird?" Right when the boy who had introduced himself as Benji began chanting to the fire. Had to giggle just a bit nonetheless.
The other girl that had already been sitting on the log (Everleigh) was standing up, looking pretty sour and then scooted closer to Maevie. She nudged her next. "Don't bother with them," she shrugged lightly. "I've heard all boys are slightly insane. My mum said that." She gave a convinced nod of her head.
More and more people arrived and Maevie just smiled contentedly, sticking another marshmallow onto her skewer, watching the crowd grow with interest.
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