WHO: Nora Peakes & Octavius Pepper!
WHAT: Mischief, etc.
WHERE: It starts in a pub...
WHEN: Technically before Charlie got dragon pox LOL but it doesn't really matter
Nora’s head dropped back to the couch, hoping against all hope that the Spinnet twins would stop their bickering for long enough to actually leave the bar in one piece. This always happened, no matter what they did. Charlie would say something idiotic, Delilah would jump to the defense, and then they would go at it for at least thirty-four minutes. The record had been an hour and forty-five.
“What’s the time?” Nora groaned, slapping a hand to her head and reaching out to grab the sleeve of Octavius’ robe. At least she always had someone to sit and be miserable with. Even throughout Hogwarts Nora would find herself beside Octavius, eyes darting back and forth while the twins duked it out. She wasn’t exactly sure why they both dealt with their friends like they did, but it was something that probably was not going to change any time soon.
There was the sound of water hitting a face, and then an indignant shriek from Charlie was heard. They’d be at it for at least another fifteen.
Octavius was not quite sulking, but one wouldn't know it to look at him. His long legs were crossed at the ankles and obstinately stretched out in front of the sofa, ignoring the rest of the bar's foot traffic. His arms were folded, and his posture would surely have caused his mother to smack him upside the head. This was more often than not the position he assumed whenever an outing with Charlie and Delilah Spinnet occurred. Every so often, he leaned against a wall. On one memorable occasion, it was a version sprawled out on top of a billiards table.
"Ten 'til eleven," he sighed heavily, flicking his eyes down to his watch-face despite having looked not two seconds before Nora asked the question. He let her maneuver his arm to examine for herself, and then sighed again when Delilah yowled angrily.
"We should do this to them once, see how much they like it." Octavius's brow furrowed deeper as his gaze fell on his feet and he discovered the mis-matching socks peeking out from the gap between the hem of his robes and his shoes. "Or you need to start bringing Kenneth to all of our outings so he can join them."
“He’d end up biting off their thumbs or something of the like,” Nora drawled, shaking her head. While she appreciated her friend’s ferocity (though she couldn’t for the life of her remember what the twins were fighting about), it was all very rude. What if she just up and ignored Delilah for an hour and a half! The blonde would certainly not like that. Octavius’ words and her own thoughts sparked an idea, and she turned to the bored-out-of-his-mind man with a devious grin.
“Let us escape this painful excursion for some more interesting and entertaining settings, shall we?” she said, standing and putting her hand out for Octavius. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried to escape these kind of things before; their timing was usually just awful and one of the twins would spot them grabbing their coats and they’d finally end their fighting match. But, Nora had no desire to spend the rest of the night with Charlie or Delilah, as this had gone on far too long and she was much too insulted to fake a smile for the rest of the night.
“Before they realize they’ve both stormed into the ladies’ loo.”
He felt immensely amenable As from his vantage point, he watched the still-swinging door of the ladies' room suddenly emit a shower of sparks and shrieks sounded from within, Octavius felt a brief surge of affection for his idiot friends who quite literally had word-for-word re-enactments of arguments from their days in Hogwarts when they were twelve years old not two months ago. The rational part of his brain told him this feeling of nostalgia was an assimilate-or-die survival response to doing the least amount of work, but being that Octavius had the energetic inclinations of a slug at the moment, that was just fine.
So feeling more than half-hearted about the whole thing, given the inevitable lethargy that can overcome one when deeply affected by boredom, Octavius accepted Nora's hand and found himself nearly flying up off his seat by the surprisingly powerful jerk she gave. Massaging the spot of the socket, he glared at her in only part mockery.
"And where else shall our intrepid selves explore this evening, Nora?"
She’d forgotten how to be delicate a long time ago. Tightening her hold on Octavius, Nora tugged and pulled him toward the exit, getting them the hell out of this bar. Delilah would forgive them, Charlie would sulk for a bit but he too would eventually forget, and they were free of another agonizing night of boredom. Nora hated being bored more than she hated being ignored (which often caused the other?), and now that she had a partner in crime (whether he knew it or not!) she was going to take advantage of it.
Breaking out into the cool night air, Nora finally released Octavius from her hold as they stood on the pavement outside of the bar.
“Hogwarts kids are studying hippogriffs next week, I helped Professor Kettleburn herd them yesterday,” Nora said with a grin, pulling the intricate braid out of her hair. She had a goal for the night, and that goal required the wind blowing through her hair, “You’ve ever ridden a hippogriff, Pepper?”
Having the family and friends that he did, Octavius had very little say in whether or not he got into mischief. Whether it was being an innocent six-year-old lured by some of his many siblings into a wild prank to get another one in trouble, or the decidedly less innocent sixteen-year-old who was either unable or unwilling to tell Charlie that perhaps stealing into the Slytherin locker room and swapping out their brooms was a poor idea, it seemed as though Octavius was forever getting into trouble.
He loved it.
Usually, he amended, even as a somewhat foolish grin spread over his face as he looked at Nora's wicked expression. Trouble that involved marriage or livestock or excessive alcoholic consumption was not quite as enjoyable as the other sorts of adventures he might partake in.
"Didn't you know, it's how I get to work most mornings," he said glibly, their friends long-forgotten from his mind with this promise of fresh high jinks. Crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes at Nora. "All right, Peakes, you've baited your trap well. Now let's see you deliver, because I almost can't believe you can make this happen."
Her wicked grin shone under the streetlight. Nora wasted no time in grabbing onto Octavius and side-apparating them out of the street and towards the gates of Hogwarts. She was definitely more of a doer than a talker---she wouldn’t have to explain a thing once she got him on the back of that flying creature.
It was much quieter in Scotland than the busy street they’d just left. If Nora wasn’t sure that Filch was going to have her head for abusing the keys he’d let her have (though, really, Hagrid was the keeper of keys and all...), she might start appreciating the crystal clear sky and the constellations that were shining so perfectly in the night. Nora had many nights under the stars during her trips and expeditions, and she always found time to appreciate the sky. She’d have to make up for her dismissal of the stars some other night.
She crept them along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, though Nora often scoffed at its title. During school she’d always been too scared to enter the woods, but these past few years she’d made many visits into the forest to study what lurks inside.
“Hagrid sleeps like the dead,” Nora whispered as they made their way behind his hut, “but his dog doesn’t, so----ah!”
Nora slapped her hand over her mouth, flushing at her lack of restraint at the sight of the herd of hippogriffs. They were just so beautiful, even sleeping. But, fortunately, there was one hippogriff that was trotting around the pen, seemingly as restless as Nora often felt. Her heart swelled at the majesty of his wings and the sharpness of his talons. She let out a breath, dropping her hands to grab onto Octavius once again, “You need to keep eye-contact and bow. You need to show him the utmost respect, or he’ll rip your arm off.”
She grinned up at Octavius, in the most exaggerated way, “Don’t be scared now!”
Dear Zeus, what had he gotten himself into? Octavius thought he vaguely recalled the passages on hippogriffs from their Fantastic Beasts text, not that he ever thought he'd have cause to use them. But being that he most certainly did not want to get on the bad side of this creature, he believed he could keep it together.
"If I die," he told Nora, pointing at her in warning, "not only will my scarred and ravaged spirit haunt you for the rest of your life, but you'll get custody of my goat."
Turning back to the pen, he scaled it a little too easily for his supposed reluctance, but hung closely to its' walls to avoid intruding. His presence was not unnoticed, but the animals seemed little affected by him. A sable colored one, however, craned its great head at him in what he liked to think was curiosity, and not calculating the best strategy to snatch up a meal. With a few hesitant steps toward him, Octavius noticed the creature trotting in his direction (if the movement of a hippogriff could really be called a trot), too. Stopping to awkward take study of one another, Octavius found himself locked in a staring match with a pair of fiery eyes.
"Er... greetings?" He'd meant it as a statement, but nerves had his voice pitching up at the end. Also, he felt like a fool. Mindful of the fact that he might be a foolish gimp at any moment now, Octavius thought now would be the ideal time to bow. Bending as low to the ground as he dared while still not taking his eyes off the hippogriff (his gaze might have wandered, being that his eyes were watering so strongly now, he couldn't quite see straight), he ungracefully righted himself. Almost darting his eyes toward Nora, he caught himself, but still asked, "And, er, what happens no–"
“You get on!”
Nora had waited until she saw the signs of acceptance from Octavius’ hippogriff before making eye contact and bowing to hers. It was easy enough; she had dealt with these animals a lot in the past few days and they were all rather smart. They remembered that she was a friend and had given them those extra rats for dessert after dinner yesterday. The hippogriffs weren’t saddled, as Professor Kettleburn had been told not to let the students ride the animals, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be taken for a fly.
Her hippogriff reared up on his two hind legs and Nora held onto its feathers with a tight, secure grip. Her grin was almost maniacal with the excitement she felt, and she waved to Octavius to follow her lead. Though she reckoned that the hippogriff he was about to get on would just follow its companion out of the pen and into the night sky.
“Race you to the Great Lake!” she challenged, wondering if he’d even be able to control the hippogriff. Nora didn’t waste any time to find out, however, and kicked her heels agains the hippogriff to signal it to take flight. What a rush.
Startled by the bow, he lost his balance for a few moments before flailing and grabbing hold of the hippogriff. The next thing he knew, he was astride it and great big wings were flapping on either side of his thighs, preparing to take off. Octavius was just fretting about navigation and general balance when his hippogriff took flight and he realized he was not the one with the control in this two-some. Fuelled by what he assumed was friendly (oh, hell, he hoped it was friendly) competition between the two creatures, his sable-coated beastie soared high and raced his companion with showy ease.
Any intention of lightly maintaining his hold on the hippogriff, to perhaps avoid insulting the touchy creature, had been eradicated the instant it snapped its wings in an angled-V and rocketed straight up into the sky, his arms dashing forward in a chokehold around the thick neck. Octavius wasn't incompetent on a broom, but he didn't possess the innate skill of someone like Charlie. Still, a broom was simple enough to guide if one had an idea of the general mechanics. It was another thing entirely to be taken for a ride by some enormous creature that could tear his vital organs right out of his body without so much as blinking.
Thrill quickly overwhelmed his fear as they flew over the grounds he tramped about as teen, and he was flooded with nostalgia. Sixteen-year-old Octavius would just about be green with envy right now, he imagined. Grinning a bit maniacally, fully in the spirit of their midnight mischief (and the very real possibility it might still result in detention of the adult kind), he urged his hippogriff on. "Better hope your flying mate there doesn't get tired and pitch you off once we get to the Lake," he teased when their flight paths crossed. "I'd hate to have to fish you out in these robes!"
