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Hi, I'm Tilly. Nice to meet you = Eph
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Topic: Hi, I'm Tilly. Nice to meet you = Eph (Read 69 times)
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(01/02/2025 at 02:55)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
The Gardens
8pm Thursday Feb 7th
Full Moon
It was late, dark and raining. Not that it mattered. Matilda sat in the garden, on the ground, shoes off, feet sinking into the wet earth. Her hair, no longer imprisoned in the bun, hung wet around her head, with a bit of the curl showing now that it was damp.
It was the night of the full moon, which was currently hiding behind large grey storm clouds, but you could make out the sky here and there when the clouds parted. It was only a matter of time until the moon made its appearance. It was February and by some shocking turn of events it wasn’t snowing. There had been a blast of unseasonable warm weather the last week, bringing with it wind and rain, making the grounds a muddy mess. Which was fine, she preferred it that way.
Just after dinner Matilda made her way down to the gardens. It was beautiful at all times of day and night, tonight being an exception to that. The hard rain and winds made the grass muddy, small branches and leaves dotted the ground, and puddles made trying to stay dry impossible. After walking through the gardens towards the back, away from the castle, Matilda found a quiet spot and sat down on the drenched earth. It took no time at all for her to be soaked to the bone.
Her back leaned up against a rock, placed in the garden for aesthetic purposes. At this moment it was for a back rest. Matilda shut her eyes and angled her head towards the heavens. The heavy rain splashing on her cheeks, wiping away her stress and sadness. This year has been so depressing. She missed her friends and the way she was able to let go and breathe in the past. Hopefully, one day, things will go back to the way they were.
Sitting on the ground, hair wild and wet, robes soaked, shoes off: this Matilda was not the one who has been walking around the castle this year. She didn’t put on the stoic face or pretend to have it all together. No, this Matilda was raw and didn’t care what anyone thought, which was probably a bad thing considering who walked up on her while she wasn't paying attention. No hiding anymore.
Ephraim Prothero
(01/02/2025 at 10:47)
Third Year
C4D2T3S3
The weather up here in Scotland was something of a circus.
One day it was snowing and the next there was rain, and then it turned either into an all-covering skating rink, or into
this
- a complete mudhole.
He had needed a breath of air and the Gardens were closer to the Slytherin dungeons than the Rooftops. Besides, it was less windy down here, and although Ephraim quite liked the wind, which reminded him of home, there was a limit to how much weather he was willing to deal with on a Thursday evening. Still, the Gardens were beautiful in the dark and it wasn't too early to dream about the explosion of greens and flowers that was bound to happen now that spring was nearing.
That was when he happened upon the girl.
There was a lot of things he had to get used to, coming in from Durmstrang, and from the world of the absolute
uppish
.
One of those things was trying to get used to girls behaving like boys.
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin should not have been one of those. He had picked up that she ran with the likes of Cuddrun (as, he supposed, was
he
, given the recent turn of events), but she was from a respectable family. She should know better.
"Have you lost your marbles?" he asked flatly, staring down at the girl.
He imagined this must be how his father's first wife (and Eugene's own grandmother, by marriage), Millicent, was like before Eugene Prothero chucked her off to the madhouse (- when he'd gone on to marry his cousin Florence, the mother of Ephraim and his siblings, and the rest was history).
He was a boy of thirteen and a half, one tiny inch taller that he'd been on his arrival, with his perfectly clean clothes as kept under an enchanted umbrella. His brown leather shoes were slightly muddy - how could they
not
in this weather.
Then, more serious, his expression carrying the hint of real concern, he cast a glance around to make sure there were noone lurking in the shadows. Coming down on his haunches, closer to her eye level, he looked her over. She was an absolutely
mess
.
"Were you
attacked
?"
«
Last Edit: 01/02/2025 at 10:52 by Ephraim Prothero
»
❦
SLYTHERIN
don't tempt me
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(01/02/2025 at 16:34)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
Matilda looked up as the squishing sounds of someone walking towards her got closer. It was a face she knew from class and around the castle. Ephraim. In their limited interactions he seemed like the kind of person her Grandmother would love. It was because of this that she had an irrational wariness when it came to the 3rd year.
"Have you lost your marbles?"
It took her a few heartbeats to respond. It was in her best interest to put up the Matilda facade, play the part of the pristine princess, but truth be told, she didn’t have the energy. And honestly, she was sitting in the mud drenched from head to toe, who would believe her.
“Marbles? No. Can’t say that I have. Honestly, though, I didn’t have any marbles to lose. Now my mind, yes. I may have lost that.”
She turned her head back heavenward looking for the moon. The rain was letting up, the clouds thinning and the soft glow of moonlight starting to light up the grounds. It was beautiful.
"Were you attacked?"
Matilda snickered. Not that she could blame his assessment, she was a right mess.
“No Ephraim, I wasn’t attacked. I’m just not in the best mood, thought I would come out here and wallow.”
It had been awhile since she had been in a good mood if she was being honest. There were glimpses of happiness in the Room of Requirement with Ren and in the small interactions with her friends, but they never lasted long. It was just so exhausting trying to keep up the image her grandmother expected.
After the hair cutting incident during the Christmas break, Allegra Nordstrom had been on a rampage. There had been a few howlers, some rather threatening letters sent by rude and peckish owls and then the package that arrived this morning with mail. It was a small box filled with the remnants of her hair. The letter was simple:
“You have one more chance. Step out of line and you’re out of Hogwarts.”
No dear Matilda. No Love Granny. Just two sentences that summed up her life. The letter she sent back was going to be met with anger, that was for sure.
“You think I will go to Beauxbaton quietly? You think sending me away will make me act according to your wishes? Try again. Take me away from Hogwarts and you’ll see exactly how crazy I can act.”
That letter had gone out right before dinner. So it was only a matter of time. She would either get pulled out of school in the next 24 hours or her Grandmother would be rightfully scared that Matilda would cause a scene at a new school. Time would tell.
“You can join me if you’d like. The weather is lovely this time of year.”
«
Last Edit: 01/02/2025 at 23:24 by Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
»
Ephraim Prothero
(02/02/2025 at 19:40)
Third Year
C4D2T3S3
“Marbles? No. Can’t say that I have. Honestly, though, I didn’t have any marbles to lose. Now my mind, yes. I may have lost that.”
It was a curious way to answer, for a girl who was currently looking entirely a mess. At least she had not been attacked. Which was good and bad all at once, for it confirmed that she had, most probably, most
definitely
, actually lost it.
He turned his head, trying to follow whatever it was that she was looking at - in the
sky
? - but found nothing there of interest and turned back to watching the water drip off of her hair.
"Ok," he said, dismissively, short but clear, a word that carried with it a certain air of non-chalance, of
do what you want
, of
if you want to ruin yourself, be my guest
. It was not his problem that this girl had taken to rolling around the dirt like a pig.
Except, he struggled to let her be.
He couldn't just leave her here in such a state.
He would, probably, if her name had been of less importance, if they did not hold room in the same circles. But as it was, Ephraim Prothero knew there was a responsibility for him not to allow for the continued deterioriation of a girl such as her.
"You can join me if you’d like. The weather is lovely this time of year."
Yeah, she had definitely gone mad.
Ephraim released a long sigh, considering his options. Then sat down on small stone half-wall that enclosed one of the flowerbeds, close enough that she only had scoot over a little bit if she wanted sit under the umbrella with him. It was wet, but he was wearing his thick woolen cloak, which insulated against both the wet and the cold.
"What are we wallowing about?" he asked flatly. Then, as an afterthought, added "You look like shit."
❦
SLYTHERIN
don't tempt me
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(02/02/2025 at 22:48)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
When Matilda made her way to the garden after dinner, she honestly didn’t want any company or an audience to her depression. It was easier to be sad alone. Alas, an audience she had. And of all people Ephraim Prothero. If you were to list out all of his good and bad qualities, on paper, he would be exactly who Allegra Nordstrom would pick for her. From a prominent family, Pureblood, wealthy and good looking. Well, the last one was subjective, but if she thought about it, sure, he was easy on the eyes. He was friends with Benji, so that was one point in the good column.
"What are we wallowing about? You look like shit."
And another point in the bad.
Matilda on the other hand did in fact look like shit. After his very blunt observation she couldn’t help but laugh. His honesty was refreshing and as sharp as a razor.
“Well, you’re not wrong,”
she said laughing.
“I probably do look like shit. Sometimes it’s nice to let the hair down and forgo beauty standards. Besides, it’s my grandmother that expects me to look and dress like a doll.”
The last part came out biting, anger leaching into her tone when her Grandmother was brought up.
The rain was letting up to a soft drizzle. The wind taking the clouds off into the distance. The moon was clear overhead now. Bright and huge against the dark sky.
“See, there it is. I was hoping to see the moon tonight. Do you think it looks much different in France?"
She asked with a note of sadness to her voice.
"And to answer your question, I am wallowing out here in the rain and mud because my Grandmother is a bitch and tomorrow might be my last day at the castle. So I guess I just wanted to sit out here and pretend that things were different.”
Matilda stood up, realizing just how wet and dirty she had become. Wiping her hands down the front of her robes, she discarded at least a little of the mud. The rock that was just her backrest, now became her chair as she sat down on top, putting her and Ephraim more eye to eye.
“So, what brings you down to the garden this late at night? If not wallowing in self pity like the rest of us.”
Us, being her. Gods she hoped no one else was in the garden to see her humiliation.
Ephraim Prothero
(03/02/2025 at 08:57)
Third Year
C4D2T3S3
He had not expected her to laugh. Then again, he had not expected much from her at all. In truth, his interaction with females had been severely limited, in part due to the clear gender hierarchy in the community (and despite the utmost fierceness of some of the women of his Family), in part because he had never really held any interest.
For all that it ripped at his idea of girly behaviour, her laugh cut through something in him, and he could not help but feel the smirk forming smugly on his face.
"I probably do look like shit. Sometimes it’s nice to let the hair down and forgo beauty standards. Besides, it’s my grandmother that expects me to look and dress like a doll."
Well, he agreed with her grandmother on this one, but he did not respond yet, mulling this over in his mind. Besides, it turned out that she had more on her mind, hazel eyes to the sky again at the mention of the moon, of
France
. It sounded like she had gone emotional and just needed to let it out
"What did you do?" he asked, figuring she was talking about a potential transfer, and to
Beauxbatons
nonetheless. It was an odd choice, he thought, she sounded like she would be better off in Durmstrang.
"So, what brings you down to the garden this late at night? If not wallowing in self pity like the rest of us."
"I live in the Dungeons, so it's nice to come up to catch a breath every now and then," he explained, shrugging. He did not mind the Slytherin dungeons, as he was used to living in a Castle even off-campus, but his bedroom at home held more windows, and he had a limited interest when it came to staring into stone walls. "And I thought maybe Nael would be out patrolling."
Alas, he had found no Nael.
"You're going to get sick," he said, another point of cold criticism directed to her behaviour. From his perspective, she seemed to need it as a simple measure of self-preservation, the deeply patriarchal stance from which he was looking down on her reminding him that females were born emotional and irrational and would need guidance.
Eugene had also mentioned this - while his father did not talk down on his mother, they knew that Eugene's own transfer from Durmstrang to Hogwarts had been made to help make Florence a Lady. She'd always been less levelheaded than his father, supposed Ephraim. A new insight - again - that he had not much considered before. That was a part of it too, becoming the teenager.
(Cutting the cord from mother to child.)
And he thought about his father - what would he have done in a situation like this?
Ephraim's hands went to the silver fastenings of his cloak, located on his chest. He did not ask before getting up to losen it from around his shoulders, then offered it to her while carefully making sure it did not touch the muddy ground in the process.
She was awfully dirty, too, but what was he to do about that? He'd give the cloak to the elves for a proper cleaning later.
«
Last Edit: 05/02/2025 at 14:41 by Ephraim Prothero
»
❦
SLYTHERIN
don't tempt me
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(04/02/2025 at 01:17)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
This boy was a mystery. Sure, they had classes together. They had even partnered in some, but they had never really talked. It seemed in the last few months Benji had become tight with Ephraim, which made her look at him under a different lens. Maybe there was more to this Slytherin than she originally thought.
"What did you do?"
Sitting on the rock Matilda rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion. That one action would have gotten a slap on the face if it had been her Grandmother standing in front of her. Luckily, it wasn’t.
“What haven’t I done? Let's just say I’m not the perfect princess that she was hoping for. Over the Christmas holiday things got pretty bad at home and I decided to cut my hair, which you may have noticed.”
She said, motioning to her hair in a dramatic fashion.
“Luckily I got someone to make me a hair growth potion so that’s coming back nicely, but my Grandmother wasn’t happy. I apparently don't look perfect and pristine with my hair down. Or in the shoes I want to wear.”
Matilda ran her hands through her shorter hair, working out some of the knots that had formed with the rain.
“I’ve tried really hard to do what she wants, to be who she wants, but it’s hard when that person is the opposite of who I have always been.”
Why was she unloading her troubles on this boy? He was the last person she should talk to. He was one of the elite Pureblood that her grandmother would love. If it got back to Allegra once again she would be in trouble. Par for the course at this point.
"I live in the Dungeons, so it's nice to come up to catch a breath every now and then, and I thought maybe Nael would be out patrolling."
Matilda nodded. She understood that.
“At home, I have one window in my room. It’s tiny and faces a brick wall. I can’t see the sky or anything but brick, so I get it. At least you are able to leave freely and stretch your legs.”
She didn’t come right out and say that she was typically locked in her room for days, but maybe he would read between the lines. Was her room in the dungeon, no, but it might as well have been.
“I haven’t seen Nael, or anyone but you for that matter. I suspect the rain has kept most sane people inside.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Matilda's eyes focused on the moon. The clouds had all but disappeared now, the moons rase shining over the grounds.
"You're going to get sick.”
Ephraim said offhandedly then did something completely shocking. Matilda’s eyes tracked his hands as he undid the buttons on his jacket and handed it to her. She sat there frozen, shocked by his offer. Looking down over her ruined cloak Matilda didn’t know what to do.
“Ummm. Thanks.”
She said timidly. She carefully undid the three buttons at her neck, letting her cloak fall to the ground, taking with it the mud and dirt that had been clinging to her since the storm started. Underneath she wore a simple pair of blue jeans and forest green sweater. Both were wet, but at least they weren’t muddy. Taking the offered cloak, she slipped it on over her shoulders and pulled it tight around her. It was long, almost hitting the ground, since she was so much shorter. It was also dry, warm and smelled like Ephraim. She wondered if he wore cologne.
She was at a loss for words. Her stomach was doing a weird flippy thing and her face was heating up from more than just the dry clothing.
“So, you came from Durmstrang right? Do you miss it? I have to be honest, I know nothing about the other magic schools.”
Maybe he would open up a bit, take the spotlight off of her.
Ephraim Prothero
(05/02/2025 at 15:04)
Third Year
C4D2T3S3
"What haven’t I done? Let's just say I’m not the perfect princess that she was hoping for. Over the Christmas holiday things got pretty bad at home and I decided to cut my hair, which you may have noticed."
He nodded slowly at that. He
could
sense some sort of empathy within him - Ephraim had also sort of not turned out to be the perfect image of the son that his father wanted him to be. As much had been made clear. In fact,
he
was the one of them that had
already
been transferred.
He watched her go on about her hair. As shallow as he was, Ephraim considered the physical aspect of a girl to be among the most important ones, if not
the
most important. Other than good manners, of course.
(Hypocrite as he was.)
But this one was an odd creature.
“I’ve tried really hard to do what she wants, to be who she wants, but it’s hard when that person is the opposite of who I have always been.”
"Who have you always been?" he asked, and despite himself, he found himself actually listening to her story. Turning the question inward to think about who
he
had always been. That one was easy though - he was a Prothero. Through and through, he was Prothero first.
His eyebrows rose as she described the view from her bedroom. That didn't sound nice at all and, all things considered, below her position. He'd thought that the Nordstroms were better off than having to live somewhere with no view. But he also caught the mention of
leave freely and stretch your legs
. What did she mean? Did they
lock her up
?
(Part of him thought that locking up an unruly girl was within what should be allowed, but he needed to think more about this. - The disciplinal measure certainly did not seem to have the desired effect.)
She took the cloak. He seated himself anew, now wearing simple black trousers and a blue shirt. It was chilly, but he could stay like this for a little while, and then maybe he'd be able to chase her inside after all. At least he had his umbrella.
"So, you came from Durmstrang right? Do you miss it? I have to be honest, I know nothing about the other magic schools."
"Yeah, I miss it," he admitted, glancing into the air while thinking it over. "The classes are different there, and I had to leave my friends behind, which really sucks." Somehow she'd managed to milden him. This was stuff that he hadn't really talked to anyone about, not even Nael, not in
this
way anyway. Then again, while he missed his friends, he was also getting new ones.
«
Last Edit: 05/02/2025 at 15:12 by Ephraim Prothero
»
❦
SLYTHERIN
don't tempt me
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(05/02/2025 at 20:22)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
"Who have you always been?"
He seemed genuine in his question. There was no snarky tone or sarcastic comment. Might as well go for broke, everyone can know her pain!
“Well, I don’t know if Benji has mentioned anything, but last year I lived with my parents and brother and sister. Normal family life. Things… changed though and I went to live with my Grandparents. They took custody of me, hence the Nordstrom-Davin name. My Grandfather is a solicitor for the Swedish Ministry, so he lives there most of the time. When I’m not at the castle, I am living with my Grandmother in London.”
See, that wasn’t so hard. It didn’t even sound horrible. Yet.
“My Grandmother is very strict and expects me to act a certain way. I get it, she wants to uphold the Nordstrom name, but I was born a Davin. The prim and proper, always perfect, high heels and tight hair were not how I was raised, so it’s been hard following those rules. And when I don’t follow them, well. She gets really mad. So, when I cut my hair, yeah. Talk about livid.”
She trailed off. Talking about the abuse, being locked up, the lack of food, and love was difficult.
"Yeah, I miss it. The classes are different there, and I had to leave my friends behind, which really sucks."
Matilda nodded. That would suck, and might just be the life she will live soon.
“Well, hopefully Hogwarts isn’t too horrible. And you’ve made some friends here right? Benji and Nael. I hope if I get sent to Beauxbaton I can find some friends. I hate the thought of leaving here."
She got up from the rock she had been sitting on and looked again at the sky, arms extended she turned in a slow circle.
“At this point, Hogwarts is the only home I have. My family dumped me, my Grandmother locks me away in the tiniest room in her brownstone. If we go to Sweden, where they have a family estate I have a bigger room, but it’s just not me. Everything is cold and there is no love or affection. I just can’t imagine not being at Hogwarts.”
She stopped turning and looked at him again.
“I used to be so happy. Smiling, playing pranks on everyone. Joking around and laughing. I would sing, badly, when my favorite songs came on. I haven’t truly laughed in almost a year.”
Matilda sighed loudly. Depression cloaking her in sadness once again.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. Hopefully you come to like Hogwarts as much as Durmstrang.”
Ephraim Prothero
(07/02/2025 at 09:45)
Third Year
C4D2T3S3
He did not quite realise how large of a question he had asked, or how personal. To Ephraim, the question of who someone were was external, it winded its way through your family and relationa first. What was going on on your insides was secondary to this - in a sense it did not even matter, for no matter what you
felt
like, you had your obligations, your expectancies, and stepping out of those boundaries was betrayal.
Then again, Ephraim was also a social being at his core, and imagining himself as some floating spirit of
self
simply was not possible. Ephraim did not excist outside of his social context, it was not possible.
What unravelled before him now was unexpected - he had not thought that she would open her mouth and share her story with him openly, though perhaps he should have been able to read the signs and understand that the state she was in was a symptom of something else.
Now he sat very still, watching her.
For him, who had always had to adhere to a strict set of rules of presentation and behaviour (the latter of which had seriously gone off the rails in the past one and a half year), it was hard to relate to why she would not just wear those heels and why on earth she would resort to cutting off her hair. But what really got to him was the idea of being removed from your family, from your parents and your siblings, to live with a grandparent. Now, the Protheros all lived together, aunts and cousins and grandparents included - having all of that removed sounded, to him, positively disturbing.
"Your family dumped you?" he asked gravely. He didn't understand what that meant - had she been disowned? (Should he be talking to this girl, at all?) But in that case, why was she with her grandmother?
Either way, he could tell that Matilda was very unhappy.
“Well, hopefully Hogwarts isn’t too horrible. And you’ve made some friends here right? Benji and Nael. I hope if I get sent to Beauxbatons I can find some friends. I hate the thought of leaving here."
"It's getting better," he admitted. As per usual, he didn't really have any trouble picking up friends, as long as there was a fresh supply of purebloods available at any given moment. The rules were much more slack as well - he didn't dare think about what might have happened to him if he had pulled off that Quidditch move on Cuddrun while he was still in Durmstrang.
❦
SLYTHERIN
don't tempt me
Matilda Nordstrom-Davin
(08/02/2025 at 02:04)
Second Year
C3D2T2S2
"Your family dumped you?"
Matilda had said to much. It was like her verbal filter disappeared in his presence. He was harsh and stoic, but he was a great listener. She just said things, not worrying about the consequences.
“I told you a long story and that one is even longer. Maybe we can save that for the next rain storm.”
Talking about her father being a squib was very taboo. Everything else she said was bad, but not damning to the family name. So she decided to leave that part out of their conversation. As it got later the clouds began to roll in and the wind was picking up. Matilda pulled Ephraim's jacket tighter and took a small sniff of the fabric.
Listening to him talk about Durmstrang gave her all the feels. She was glad that he was finding a place at Hogwarts, but also sad that he had to leave in the first place. She got the impression that he didn’t want to talk about the whys. Otherwise he would have mentioned it already. Maybe she could get it out of him later.
A few raindrops fell from the sky, signaling another bout of showers headed their way.
“It might be time to go in, so that I don’t end up ruining another cloak tonight.”
She bent down to pick up her muddy soaked cloak from the ground and held it out away from her body. She really didn’t want to get his dirty. With a audib;e squish, she shoved her feet into the too wet shoes left discarded on the ground, then turned her attention once more to the boy making her skin prickle.
“Do you mind if I use the umbrella with you? So I don’t get your cloak wet?”
The rest of the time they spent together was quiet. They didn’t talk as they walked to the castle, in comfortable silence. A few times their fingers touched, hers tingling from the briefest of contact. When they got to the place where he needed to descend to the dungeon and her to the tower she handed back his cloak with a smile.
“Thanks, for that. It was nice talking with you. Goodnight.”
And with that, she made her way to the Gryffindor common room. What a weird and oddly pleasant night. One that without Ephraim, she would probably still be sitting in the rain.
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Hi, I'm Tilly. Nice to meet you = Eph