Quidditch Cave

Quidditch Cave
hogwarts grounds

The Quidditch Cave is a passage that passes through a large grassy mound. Its entrance is near the Quidditch Pitch and it runs straight through to the dungeons within Hogwarts, providing a more direct route to the pitch. To illuminate the pathway, there are blue flame torches arranged over the cave waters. A rock wall was built to prevent students from slipping and falling into the waters, but it still happens from time to time.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant had actually made his way to the cave the moment she agreed to meet him. It would be pretty rude of him to keep her waiting and be late. It certainly won't make his apology look very sincere, and he doesn't even know where to *begin* on that front. He is pacing as he waits, trying to come up with the words to express how much he regrets the way he's treated her when she's supposed to be his best friend. At this point, Ant would not be surprised if the friendship was not mutual, but it's hard to find a better friend than Mitzi. Especially with the company he keeps. He absentmindedly kicks a rock towards the walls of the cave in frustration. He isn't sure whether or not he wants her to arrive early or take her time – on one hand, it would be nice to get it over with, but he knows this isn't the sort of thing that you can just get over. It will take a lot more effort than that.

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Marisha has convinced herself not to be distraught though she still nervously twists one of the buttons off of her sweater over and over between her fingers. After all, she has spent eleven twelfths of an hour replaying each time they have seen each other in the last two months and decided that apart from some pestering comments, she has not done anything wrong. Marisha believes she is good at sorting out these things. Her parents tend to get upset and give her the silent treatment until she can tell them what she has done wrong and apologize. It would usually lead to her admitting things that there was no prior knowledge of and getting in more trouble, so she has resolved this issue by doing two things: 1) being open and honest with them about everything and 2) figuring out what is wrong with a lot of introspection. So, she believes she would have sorted it out by now, but maybe this is similar to the username thing and it springs up on her with no way of expecting it. This thought occurs to her on minute fifty-seven of her mulling it over and just as she reaches the entrance to the cave. Her face is passive and soft in thought no matter how difficult the subject matter, but she manages a rare, upset huff as she pushes the doubt from her head. Her and Ant are good friends. To her, *best friends* although she doesn't believe that is a shared opinion. He would tell her. "Hello!" she calls as she enters the cave, smiling fondly when she sees him. "It's nice seeing you."

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

It takes everything in Ant to not just jump the gun and say sorry already the moment he turns and sees Mitzi's face. He doesn't want to spring it on her like that, make it seem like he is in a rush to get the words out when he knows that he should not rush this because that might result in a half-assed apology. It is obvious to anyone that Ant is not at his best. His hair is messy and he looks tired. He has barely eaten or slept in days because he and Max are arguing, and while they do argue often, it is never like this. "Mitzi!" he says, a bit too enthusiastically, or at least more enthusiastic than usual. The anxiety and lack of sleep is making him a lot more jumpy. "It's nice seeing you." He repeats, then immediately feels stupid, standing there, with no plan at all. "How have you been?"

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Marisha notices his state the moment he turns around, immediately bringing sympathy to her face despite the ever-present smile. "Good!" Not necessarily enthusiastic about this response, she at least wants to sound sure of it. Her hands finally fall from around the button of her sweater and instead her arms fold to hug the sweater tight around her dress. Mitzi falters, wondering if she should elaborate when she thinks the better, more appropriate thing to do is find out more about his well-being. She breathes in sharply through her nose before cautiously continuing. "My classes have been interesting lately... and I have been studying with a few students to get them set for their exams. It's been nice and busy," she concludes with a smile. Chess Club has gone well and she beat another student who challenged her just recently— a student she had actually been quite concerned about. Rhys is comfortable being around her again, but he mentioned trying to mend things and she still isn't sure about how much mending he intends to do or how to draw that line. Her parents found out about her internship over the holiday and were surprisingly proud, but told her to promise to still attend Muggle university upon graduation and find a job there. So, progress, but not quite. A lot more has happened than that, but still she remains quiet on all matters outside of academics: the one thing that's expected, right? "What has been going on lately?" Her words clunk out of her mouth awkwardly and she refrains from cringing. She wanted to just flat out tell him *What's wrong?* but believes it wouldn't be productive.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

A lot has been going on lately. The holiday break had its good parts, like visiting Juliette or going out with Aven, but towards the end, he finally agreed to go see his mother and it did not go well at all. There is still a significant part of him that wants to blame the disastrous meeting and resulting fallout on Max, who insisted that he come along, only to give their mother a piece of his mind and demand that Ant leave with him. He must have spent two weeks just arguing and arguing with his brother before deciding to finally just ice him out and it is proving to be a very difficult decision to stand by. That is a lot to unload, of course – Mitzi doesn't even know his mom was 'dead' in the first place – and it feels selfish calling her to come here and acting like everything is fine just because Ant is upset and needs someone to talk to. Merlin, he really needed to wait until *now* to apologize, huh? It feels like a dick move, even though he knows his intentions are in the right place. "A lot." he finally says, after a couple moments of silence. "But before we get into that," he starts, leaning against the cold cave wall and looking down at his feet. He finally musters the courage to look at Mitzi directly, and takes a deep breath. "I need to apologize."

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

She frowns, reaching her hand out to touch the cave wall when she notices him move to lean against it. It's a bit gross, so her hand retracts to fold under her opposite arm again and she remains in the center of the cave, staring at him. When he announces that he has to apologize, she repeats his deep breath and holds it for a moment before her gaze falls towards his shoes and she releases it. Mitzi is not *stupid* and she knows that there are some things that deserve apologies, but she was not hung up on ever receiving them. "Okay," she responds quietly, gaze shifting towards his face again. Her feet remain planted on the ground even though she is tempted to try to bounce on her toes nervously. Except she really does not want to appear nervous over something as serious as an apology especially one phrased so...oh, is this terrifying. A pressure sits on her shoulders, but she resists the urge to scrunch them in and instead stays poised. After a moment, she smiles slightly, but her line of vision falls again and so does the smile before she can look at him again. "What for?"

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Where to begin? Ant decides to do this chronologically and forces himself to keep his eyes trained on Mitzi even though there is nothing he wants more than to begin fiddling with his hands and staring at the ground beneath him. He wishes it would just swallow him whole, honestly – that would be such much easier than *this*. But Mitzi deserves an apology. She deserves a million apologies. Just disappearing would be the easy way out, of course, but she means too much to him. "When you transferred to Hogwarts, I could have been more... excited. I *was* excited." he says, "You're – " He pauses, wondering if he should even say it, then deciding it is probably best to just lay all his cards down. "You're my best friend. Of course I was excited for you to start going to the same school as me." Ant runs a hand through his hair, obviously very frustrated with himself and how he had acted. "But no, I was an asshole who didn't put in any effort because I thought that kind of attitude would be *cool*. It wasn't. It just made me a jerk." He wants to use stronger language but he knows how Mitzi feels about that. 'Asshole' slipped out before he could stop himself, though, but he makes a mental note to be more thoughtful in his choice of words moving forward. He is obviously not yet done. There is so much more to apologize for, but he stops to gauge her reaction.

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Her brows knit up in concern the moment he begins, starting in a spot she would much rather forget. Evaluating the situation in hindsight, she is embarrassed and has felt foolish for some time for expecting that to have gone better. Mitzi has long since reasoned that she overestimated their friendship, but had been content with focusing on getting closer to him now that they were together in-person and it would hopefully be easier. After all, Ant had meant (and still means) a lot to her and she would never deny that even if she felt she had confirmation she did not mean the same to him. When he tells her that she is his best friend, her breathing hitches and her hands fall from around her sweater to instead clasp together in the middle of her chest. Her lower lip falls slightly before she closes her mouth to frown once again. This confirmation leaves her heart racing, but she continues to listen. He's right. He *was* being a *hemar*, but she would never tell him that and she would have never expected him to admit it. When he stops, she can tell he is not done, but she nods to acknowledge she has been listening. "You're my best friend too," she tells him after a short moment, still reeling from having this piece of information. "I didn't know you felt that way," she adds shyly, deciding to cut the fat. It was not a very *Of course he was excited* sort of moment, but saying that is too much.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

"I do." he says. The words spill out and almost distract him from continuing his apology, and they come out of his mouth in a very desperate and certain kind of way, like he *has* to know that she knows it is the truth. He is so relieved when she says that she still sees him as her best friend, and that only serves as further motivation to keep going with his apology. His *best friend* deserves it, after all. "I'm sorry for how I treated you after that, too. You kept giving me chances to make it up to you, and I kept messing up. Telling you to change your user was unnecessary. I didn't *want* you to. I didn't mind. Max and Rhys got into my head, and I shouldn't have listened to them." Ant feels like he should be pacing just to shake off the anxiety that radiating from him, but he can't do anything but stand still and look at her. "I should've replied immediately to every message you sent me. I should've offered to hang out more often. I should've been the one showing you around this stupid castle." Ant takes a deep breath, before listing what he considers his greatest offense. "I should've watched your phone that night. I am *so* sorry for the fall out with your parents. I'm sorry it took me this long to apologize for it, when I should've been *begging* for forgiveness the minute it happened. It shouldn't have even happened. I was drunk, yeah, but I still *promised* and you trusted me. I let you down and pretended like it was nothing for months. It wasn't nothing. It was – " Ant feels tears begin to prick at his eyes for the first time in forever and he has to stop talking to calm himself. His voice comes out shaky after he swallows to keep himself from totally breaking down. "Your friendship means more to me than that."

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

All she does for a moment is stare, listening in silence as he lists off all of the things he regrets. When he breathes in, she does too and the deep breath serves as one last blow to her emotional circuit before tears begin to tug and one slips over and rolls down her round cheek. Mitzi wipes at it, trying to not draw attention in order to give him space to continue. It hurts, however, to have to stand there and relive it, recounting all of the things that have built up and chipped at their friendship as well as small parts of her self-esteem. It's upsetting and crying does not seem to be so ridiculous in this moment. She remembers tearing up the first time they met and drops her gaze for a brief moment to hide how much the whole memory upsets her. When she turns up again, Ant is telling her about how he should have apologized a long time ago and she opens her mouth to tell him it's fine because she's starting to get stressed watching him be this way. *It wasn't nothing,* she repeats to herself, closing her mouth and evaluating his expression in silence. "I- Hmp," she pouts and her brows knit further together in worry. Mitzi's hands tug to bring her sweater over her fingers and she begins to start bouncing on her tiptoes before she forces her heels into the ground. Another deep breath and her face scrunches up to try to remind herself to focus and not be so emotional before she continues. "I believe you. I *do*, and I accept your apology," Mitzi stops and stares up at him visibly shaken. "I'm glad our friendship is important to you b-because I was starting to believe or I believed a long time ago that I h-had miscalculated and I had misunderstood our friendship. I thought I was b-boring or embarrassing and I unders-stand that, but it was upsetting and-" Mitzi seems to get caught up on her words, but her face is bright red by now and she seems flustered enough that that is the effective end.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant's eyes widen in alarm when she begins crying, though he really should have seen that coming. It does not mean it hurts any less than it does, though. "*Never*." he cuts her off, so it doesn't really matter much if she was incapable of continuing. "You are not boring or embarrassing at all. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I was so caught up in doing all this stuff my friends were telling me to do and trying to act cool but I hated it. I hate parties and I hate Quidditch and I hate dating around and I hate not being able to talk to you without people assuming we're together." He exhales, sounding defeated. "That... that wasn't me. I mean, it *was*, and I'm holding myself accountable to that, but I didn't enjoy it and I hate how much it put a strain on my friendships with you and other people who actually mattered to me." Ant feels a pain in his chest mostly because Max still does matter to him *a lot*, obviously, but he is still angry and bitter. He feels the tears pooling in his eyes again and chuckles a little as if to pretend they don't exist. "Please – *please* don't cry, Mitzi." he says, though he's smiling a little because she *accepts his apology* and he knows he is on the verge of tears spilling too. It feels cathartic knowing that he is still capable of such displays of emotion. He almost thought he lost his ability to cry, but here he is. "I'm gonna make it up to you."

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Mitzi stares up at Ant, doe-eyed and full of tears threatening to spill over. Another one does when he tells her she's not embarrassing and she immediately wipes at it before pressing her hands into the center of her chest as if to relieve the emotions knotted up there. A small smile appears the moment he laughs and she can see he's tearing up too, which startles her for the simple fact that she's never seen it before. Ant tells her not to cry and the tears immediately start streaming down her face: her one act of defiance. Mitzi laughs nervously as the tears fall, "I can't stop it." She sniffles and holds her hands to her face, feeling the heat radiating off of it. "It's fine, Ant. It's good to get it out," she insists, giving him a reassuring smile before she stares at his shoes again and focuses on gathering her breath. A part of her feels as if she has been tossed onto the moon, elated and in a state of catharsis. Crying is important to her and it's a part of her routine. It gives her balance, she believes. Mitzi breathes in and she shifts her line of vision up towards his face again. "I'm crying, but this is really, really nice. I never expected this..." And not because she had little faith in him, but because she has never been used to getting apologies and it felt as if it had been so long that there was no need to acknowledge it. Mitzi thought she didn't need it, but it turns out- "I needed it though," she adds with a sniffle. "And I'm glad we're friends and that things will be better! You are *so* important to me."

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant lets out a large sigh of relief. He knows that this is not the end of his apology because he needs to make good on his promise to do better and make it up to her. It's a continuous process that he is more than willing to embark on because Mitzi *is* his best friend. He visibly relaxes, glad to have finally gotten all that off his chest. "You are so important to me too." he tells her. He has gotten *slightly* better at wandless magic just because his wand is so finicky that it gives him no other option. It is still difficult, but he has enough skill to mutter *Scourgify* and clean up a section of stone for him and Mitzi to sit on. It is awkward standing when he is so much taller than her, for starters, but also he is just *so* tired and he feels as if he might collapse any second. Thinking about how he is going to make everything up to her, he remembers a conversation Rhys had with some of Ant's 'friends' and almost makes a face just remembering it. Almost. "I heard Rhys is trying to talk to you again." he begins, wanting to gauge her reaction first. "How is that going?"

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Mitzi's brows raise when he uses wandless magic, but doesn't mention it. Maybe she can pester him later about teaching her. It would require acknowledging that she doesn't currently have the skill set for it, which she believes she honestly should, but that is worth the opportunity to acquire it. How else would she go about learning? Some people are so foolish about these things, but she is not one of them. When he mentions Rhys, she frowns and stares down at him. "What?" she lets out softly and in shock, finishing wiping away some tears before sitting down beside him. Mitzi folds her dress underneath her, then pats it down flat once she's all situated. Her legs feel weird against the stone, but bringing them up to her chest is not an option when she's dressed this way. "We're friends, and he needs help studying for his NEWTs. So, we're doing that Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that's been going well." Mitzi pauses and turns away, pouting as she stares at the opposite stone wall and considers everything for a moment. "I don't think it's anything!"

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant takes in her words thoughtfully. He knows he has no right to impose his opinion especially considering how he, himself, has treated her lately. Perhaps Rhys is truly apologetic and has good intentions, but he can't shake the whole WG user dilemma from his mind. "That's good to hear." he says, "Just... be careful with him, I guess. You know how boys are." Ant makes a face. He should know, considering he is one of those boys. "And I don't really know what's going on with him anymore. I haven't really talked to that crowd in a while." It's been maybe two weeks since he checked the group chat, not that it matters very much because it isn't like he was checking it much before then. He takes a deep breath, then exhales. "Max and I are arguing." he explains, "It's a long story."

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Mitzi frowns at Ant's caution. To her, it's innocent and there's no cause for concern. If anything comes about that is more concerning, then...she can handle that. Mitzi is strong and she can put her foot down. No one will pull one over on her and not someone she knows as well as Rhys, but she *doesn't* know what boys are supposed to be like. "I- I don't," she answers, eyebrows knitting up in concern. Mitzi doesn't have much time to focus on it. Maybe she can mention it to...who would she tell these sorts of things to? Rayy does not seem to be the person to inform her about such things and maybe it would be too painful for Ant to. It couldn't be terrible though. There isn't much time to really consider it because he's mentioning his brother. He's not the worst, but he sort of is. "I'm sorry. Is that what has you all torn up?" Mitzi asks cautiously. Her hands shift in between her lower thighs nervously. Maybe she can bring him soup or something from the kitchens. She had been planning on it, but that's because she thought he was sick.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant sighs. "Yeah." he admits. He's about to really get into it, but that wouldn't be very fair. He doesn't want it to seem like he apologized just so he can vent, and he's been dealing with his problems long enough on his own that a while longer shouldn't hurt too much. "We had this big argument about my mom." he says, which isn't a lie. To everyone's knowledge, his mom is still alive anyway, so the whole faking-her-death thing doesn't need to come up. "I don't think we'll recover from this one." he admits, frowning. He isn't even sure why he feels so strongly about always being on good terms with Max considering they weren't even that close until last school year. It was nice, though, getting along with his brother. "But it's fine. It helped me realize that I wasn't acting like someone I wanted to be." Ant tries to force a smile but it doesn't look very convincing. "I'm glad I'm not hanging out with that crowd anymore."

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

Mitzi hasn't heard much of his mother (or anything at all) recently and the mention confuses her. When they were younger, she would come up from time to time, but that topic had closed sometime over a year ago. Hearing that he fought with his brother over her confuses her more, but she's more focused on how upset he is. Mitzi doesn't have siblings, so she doesn't know what that relationship is supposed to resemble and how strong it is. "I'm glad you are getting to be yourself again," she says quietly, hesitantly. It seems to be a good place to start. She is happy for that part. "We will see what happens, but we don't know. Siblings are- I don't know, but it's possible that things will get better between you two. Sometimes people need time from one another! And that's fine." Her parents need time from her a lot, and she supposes she needs time from them too, but they still love each other. When they fight, or rather they yell at her, things get better eventually. It's probably the same with siblings, right?

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant is quiet as Mitzi talks, looking down at his shoes but listening carefully. Marisha is right there is really nothing else to do except wait it out and see what happens. He is half-tempted to explain the situation more but it does not feel like the right time, so he stays silent for a couple more seconds. "Yeah. It's fine." he repeats, but it is obvious he is saying it mostly to convince himself. If only he could somehow be friends with Max without sacrificing so much of himself. He knows that it is possibly the best course of action to just give up on that relationship entirely, but he's *family*. Ant sighs again. "At least I've got you again, yeah?" He looks up and smiles, tryin to focus on the brighter side of things.

Marisha Gorski

ravenclaw, seventh year § head girl
ateleia

The notion that it's fine is one she's willing to let go of. Mitzi smiles at him when he does, pushing her hair behind her ear. *You never lost me,* she thinks, and it's not false. Through all of the frustration and upset, she would have forced herself to move past it for him and...having gotten this apology, she knows now that that shouldn't have been the case. It's not as if she had known that that was so bad before. "Yeah, best friends! I'm excited- and very happy." Her smile turns a bit cheesy, shoulders raising up towards her ears before she notices she's being too much. She straightens herself, glancing down towards the ground again for just a brief moment before staring up at him. He really seems to be a mess (in the politest way possible). "I love you a lot, and I know you will get through this. First step is...to get you some sleep- or food? Are you hungry? Dinner should start by the time we reach the castle." And there she goes.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

He's not very hungry, but it would be nice sitting with Mitzi in the Great Hall instead of holing himself up in his room to avoid having no one to talk to during dinner since his usual group is not the most welcoming as of late. Rhys will probably not be too pleased that the two of them are acting so close again, but Ant couldn't care less right now. "Let's get dinner together, yeah." Mtizi will probably force him to eat once they get there but he knows it's because she cares about him. Why she still cares about him, he has no idea, but he is definitely grateful that she does. "I love you too." he answers even though he knows he doesn't really have to, but from now on he will probably say it to her as much as he can.