She was a champion.

Holly wouldn't (and couldn't, since she was sure it was well-documented) deny that she had cried. Quidditch had been her life for so long, and to have this stretch of a career without a league cup to call her own, it was hard to deal with. Seasons were long and ehxausting, they took away all your time and energy, and to not win the cup meant that you'd just wasted the year. Sure, there were the fans, there was making personal records, and even the international circuit was fun, but Holly had needed this win so badly that she still got shivers when she thought about it. She'd done it, and she'd been the best.

She sighed, taking in the surroundings. Appleby Park had been transformed into a wonderful setting for the event, the spells on the stadium keeping the guests warm and the night sky bright above them. The league cup sat on its platform in the middle of the dance floor, looking like a glorious holy grail that she'd finally wrapped her hands around. Her husband was here somewhere, but she was lost in the sea of people. Teammates, competitors, agents, and the media, it was simply a night for the game she loved, and Holly couldn't remember a moment when she'd been happier with everything in her life.

As she made her way to the bar, she spotted one of her aforementioned teammates standing off and away from the rest of the guests. Holly, not one to ignore a teammate as she'd taken on the role this past season as, well, a mother-hen (but don't tell Theo), she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her head.

"You're missing all the fun," she said, taking their elbow. When Holly finally got a good look at their face, she frowned, "What's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost."

While she wasn't particularly keen on parties, she was set on saving wildlife. Everyone else seemed to rake in the galleons by throwing large events, no matter the scandals that erupted from them, so why couldn't they? Nora had conservatory's committee for quite some time now, and being the youngest by a good forty years, had devised this plan as a new and fresh way of funding. It helped greatly that she had friends that had access to some of the best party planners (or that she could twist Charlie Spinnet's ear until he helped her out), and things seemed to have turned out well. So far.

For the brave at heart, there was a grand maze that made its way throughout the haunted castle. Guests would be offered clues to get themselves to the ballroom, and if they were truly lost (as Nora was sure was to occur), for just a small donation (it's for charity), any money dropped into a clue box would light up a blue path down the correct route to lead the way out. With all the Gryffindors that Nora had put on the guest list, she was sure they were going to triple their goal.

There was a simpler route than the maze, which was simply to walk through the double doors to the dance floor. Nora was currently wavering between the two, having run out of pamphlets to give out at the front entrance therefore giving her no excuse to join the festivities. She felt rather exposed, as Delilah had stolen her cloak, and when someone tapped her shoulder she jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Bloody hell!" she let out, spinning around. "You scared the life out of me!"

Who: Michal Conway Lynch & Larkin Whitby!
What: omg these two
Where: Mungo's! His room
When: nowish!

( Who gave you access to my room? )

His grin couldn't be any wider.

"I'm pretty sure she's going to beat my score," Vinny said with an extreme nod to the group of onlookers that were watching his lovely and adorable girlfriend Gleny score as many goals in the miniature hoops that were set up. Vinny had quite purposely aimed a bit far to the right as to not completely run away with the game, but Gleny was putting up a rather good fight regardless.

It was a fun day, weekend, really, of games and events that he thought were going to be a bit of a chore but had ended up being remarkably entertaining. The fans that were participating were the ones who truly loved the game and were great to have conversations with. It was a very unique way to interact with them in a way Vinny had never really gotten a chance to, and he did not feel overwhelmed in the slightest. Hosting the weekend's bigger attractions had seemed daunting, but it was going swimmingly.

Mostly in part to his, once again, lovely and adorable girlfriend who had just ended the round of Quick Quaffle with a tie score!

"Great job!" Vinny said with honest excitement as he happily hugged Gleny in celebration. Merlin, quidditch and his girl, what more could a bloke ask for?




OOC: Click here for ideas of what could be going on at Falmouth Stadium! These fun days dated from the 27th - 31st! List of Teams!

Who: Michal Conway Lynch & Larkin Whitby
What: omg
Where: Jordan!
When: tonight!

( Thankfully, though, her charming wit hadn’t quite been lost with her breaking of reality, so she still had that. )

He walked as quickly and stiffly as possible through the expansive corridors of the castle. Ethan's head was whirling and he needed to see Larkin right now. In their month than a month long stay here at Larkin and Zayn's castle, Ethan had kept himself entertained by playing along with the castle guard bit, showing off some things to the muggles, and with the bit of liberty he was given, explored what he could. He gained access to a variety of locations, but never enough to be out of sight of the royal vizier. Of course he knew he was a wizard, but even Giaffar's appearing and disappearing acts managed to startle Ethan. Just when he felt like getting close, or getting hold of something that could be useful, there he was, ready to shut things down.

Tonight however, Ethan had set up a decoy. He'd slipped out in the middle of a fight in the guards' dining area that had been caused by some conveniently dropped rumors about some bloke's sister not being pure. That had been fun, and Giaffar was currently delighting himself in writing up the fools who had dared to cause such a ruckus. Ethan made his escape and now he'd managed hopefully some alone and private time with the Princess.

"Larkin," he whispered at the door, knocking quickly. He kept his eyes shooting down the dark corridor. "Whitby, open up!"

Good Merlin Nico was going to throttle her in her sleep for this one.

Larkin bit the inside of her cheek, hand hovering over the handle attached to the door that lead to her best friend's (newly upgraded!) quarters. In Jordan. Where they now were currently living. For an undisclosed amount of time? Held questionably under the vague term of 'guests.' Well, except for her. This was technically her home. A palace. At least a nice palace, but still a... palace. That, was also, so obviously not magical it would be startling if she had not somewhat become accustomed to it the first time around. First time around.

Larkin closed her eyes sharply, finding her own thoughts unappealing. That shouldn't be how she described... it was very complicated, her time last spent here, so it really... wouldn't be right to... the boom of a distant door swinging open down the hall snapped Larkin out of her thoughts, and she shook her head fiercely.

Right, this was--- all just lovely! She pressed her lips briefly, eyes rolling up to the ornate ceiling as she adjusted her clothes. It felt very strange to be wearing something that A, was not trousers and boots and in fact a dress, and B, articles of clothing that were completely void of magical culture.

Yes, just another thing to add onto the list for Nico and Ethan to be stark raving mad at her about. Larkin had decided, in the couple of hours that she had been given 'off' (off from what, exactly, she wasn't sure, because it felt like she wasn't doing much of anything for the past day), she had thought it wise to finally sit down and clarify what was... going on. One at a time. In private. She hoped, at least, that the residential upgrade provided for Nico through her brash decision of naming him her 'royal advisor' would help soften the blow of his undoubtable anger and disbelief toward her. It couldn't hurt, right?

Biting her tongue, Larkin finally pulled down and slipped through the door. Hiking up her dress to walk properly, she didn't have to go very far until she came upon her partner in crime.

"Hi," she let out sheepishly, her voice dropping to a low tone. Well wasn't this awkward?

Who: Ethan Jordan, Nicodemo Penrose & Larkin Whitby
What: RUNNING SECRETS FEELS AHH!
Where: a bazaar! Istanbul!
When: today!

( I don't quite recall being finished with my browsing )

Who: Galvin Gudgeon, Michal Conway Lynch, Seth Wadcock, Howell Williams & GUESTS
What: SPENDING SOME HARD TIME
Where: ISTANBUL
When: last night!

( Team building, Howell. That is what is happening. )

He blinked wearily, waking up from a rather deep sleep. Ethan let out a long breath from his nose as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit wands that were gathered in the center of the room---oh, oh no, excuse him, tomb. The wands were in the middle of the dimly lit tomb that he and the rest of the curse-breaker team were trapped in.

If he was going to narrate this disaster, he had to get the wording right.

It had all happened very quickly. One of the final hurrahs of the expedition was to get to the center of a recently unburied pyramid that had a lot of magic reverberating from it. Muggles couldn't get past the first set of rooms (which they had announced already, to the world, was the furthest the tomb would go), but within a few days the wizard team had managed to find ten more locations with various dedications to different deities, sarcophagi that's paint was still as bright as the day it was lathered onto the casket, and precious jewels that had literally knocked them off their feet with the amount of magic they each contained. It was a beautiful way to end the rather successful trip, and Ethan was more than proud of the work they'd accomplished.

At least, it had been a beautiful way. Upon entering this resting spot of theirs, the excitement of the find had left one minor detail overlooked; no one had been assigned to watch the entrance. The door had slid shut behind them and no matter the volley of spells that they hit it with, it would not budge. That had been yesterday, and after agreeing that a good night's sleep might help them think of a solution, the team camped out. Ethan had hoped an idea would have come to him in a dream, but all he could focus on was the heavy weight leaning on his bad arm.

"Penrose! I told you not to touch me!" Ethan let out, shaking his upper torso wildly to knock the sleeping curse-breaker off of him. He looked across the cramped room, his frustrated attitude not alleviating, "Larkin, he's touching me again!"

Larkin smacked her lips, twirling her clipboard on its corner to pass the time. Her goblin employers, in all their benevolence and charity, had put her up to desk duties for the week, which meant doing activities like inventory, paperwork, and dealing with incoming potential personnel of the wizarding kind. It was all fancy goblin talk for counting things and going through curse-breaker applications, both of which that did not particularly interest her, but that was how it went in the small downtime when you weren't on location.

Plus, she really wanted to get put on that potential Egypt job, so protesting assignments was a fast way to get off that list. Larkin wasn't daft; she would be the best little counter/interviewer Gringotts had seen. Or would it be better to be the worst so that they sent her away at the next chance? No, that would be counter productive.

Letting out a long sigh, Larkin gazed down to check the watch. Finally! Appointment time. She popped back to life, slipping her heels on, flipping her hair a bit, and adjusting her clothes before making way down to the waiting area in the front. She looked down at the application in her hands as she walked, skimming it over for nothing in particular, but just for good measure. Usually, how these things worked was they first did a sit-down interview, followed by an informational spiel section on her part, and finally a practical "test" so to speak, but she'd been practically bored numb on the counter for so long that doing it in that order seemed dreadful. Why did the most exciting things always have to come last? Perhaps she would ask him what he wanted to do first. That would be a good indication of character, or at least she thought so.

"Ethan Jordan?" Larkin called out, looking up upon reaching her destination. She smiled pleasantly. There weren't that many people here, but it wasn't her position to assume what this Ethan Jordan looked like.