Double Double Toil and Trouble PV Rhea Bishop

sure, there are no happy endings but i'd like a happy start... and a happy middle... and hell, why not a happy ending?

Receiving an owl from none over than Max Avery had struck Rhea as a little bit strange. Mostly because it had been a year since the last time she'd seen him. While the letter threw her for a loop, Rhea knew she couldn't just not show up. The prime reason being her boredom, and lack of desire to complete her homework (even though she had promised herself she wouldn't put off her work until the last minute, Rhea knew that's what she would end up doing anyway).

Actually, now that she thought about it - she was going to meet him at the library, maybe she could get work done there. Or at least, pretend she was, so she'd feel better about herself. Chuckling lowly under her breath, Rhea clutched her bag closer to herself as she approached the library. She didn't know where she would find Max, but it couldn't be that hard to spot him. It was late, so the amount of students in the library would most likely be minimal.

Checking the time quickly, Rhea realized she was late for the time they were supposed to meet. Did she care? Not particularly. The summer had taught her not to care for such minimal things, and besides - her parents were strict on being early, so the idea of... not doing so made Rhea feel like she was fighting back against them, against the situation they'd dragged her into. It was a nominal thing, yes, but don't judge the girl.

Actually, she felt bad about leaving Max waiting. Rolling her eyes at herself (oh god, was this a sign she was going mad? they always said the first signs of going crazy were talking to yourself...) Rhea picked up the pace and appeared at the doors of the library in no time. A giddy smile began to grow on her lips, before Rhea tried to get rid of it because she was cool. Cool people didn't smile like little kids.

Yet upon seeing the familiar head of brown hair in the distance, the smile pulled on Rhea's lips against her will. She practically ran across the library, diving quickly into the chair next to him. The librarian shushed her for the ruckus she'd made on her 'journey', but Rhea simply stuck her tongue out and turning back to Max. (She realized what she'd done, though, and immediately mouthed a 'sorry!' to the librarian).

"I can't believe it's really you," Rhea said, before realizing how out of breath she was. Being cooped up inside the tower... (she was basically Rapunzel at this point. Her summer was spent locked in a tower; she had an evil father, and a grieving mother - that represents Mother Gothel, right?; and a head of blonde hair. Now, all she needed was a prince to come save her! But did she really need a prince? Although the age of believing in cooties was far past, Rhea still didn't get any desire to find a prince, so to speak. For now, it was better for her to remain independent. She was a strong, independent woman!) anyway... The tower had restrained Rhea from any exercising at all. Sure, she was given a broom and was allowed outside every now and then, but Rhea had lost her talent of being a chaser. Not that she was that talented, but it was an enjoyable sport. That was why she hadn't tried out for Quidditch this year, in fact. Maybe next year. The point is: Rhea was out of shape. It was an odd feeling, given Rhea's previous habit of practicing on her broom for almost an hour everyday.

"Where have you been?" she questioned, before waving the question off. "Doesn't matter, really. You're here now!" she paused for a second, before continuing, "Who gave you the right to disappear that long? Hm? No one. Do it again and I'll... I dunno yet, but it's not gonna be something good," the words came out in a rush; she stumbled over her words, the excitement causing her to forget how to speak. Her rant over, Rhea just grinned and hugged him. "So, how are you?"

A loud disturbance in the library announced Rhea's presence, and Max's mouth twitched to an upturn before he even opened his eyes. There was nobody in the world quite like his Gryffindor friends, and his idle wonderings of whether or not this was a good idea were immediately washed away when his lids lifted to see his the blonde girl sitting beside him.

It was odd, seeing her with a full head of blonde when he'd been picturing her with red hair for the past year, and for a moment he wondered just how much she'd changed. Would they have to start all over again from the beginning? Was she a completely different person since he'd seen her last? How had she reacted when she'd gotten the letter? The thoughts crossed his mind in a second but disappeared the moment she began to speak, breathless and bright as ever.

"It's really me," he answered, his mouth stretching into a wide grin that he couldn't contain as Rhea started plying him with questions. "Not sure if it's really you, though, seeing how different you look." He laughed and it was suddenly like they were in first year again, giggling like madmen over how dumb purebloods were. Genuine excitement and happiness bubbled in his chest as he tentatively hugged her back, still iffy about physical contact but giving in because it was Rhea.

"I'm good! A little peeved I have to repeat a year and won't be able to graduate with the lot of you, but at least we can still hang out until you graduate. I've learned my lesson though; no more disappearing. Wouldn't want you to have to come up with something to back your vague threats up, would I?" He mock rolled his eyes with a snort, the picture of a stereotypical teen boy scoffing at something ridiculous. But the look in his eyes was mischievous enough that it was clear he was teasing, and after waiting a beat he couldn't contain the questions that now poured forth from him.

"What about you? What's with the blonde hair? Don't tell me you're a Metamorphagus like Eris?" He realized belatedly that Rhea was a young woman now. It seemed like a foreign concept because to him because girls and boys were generally sorted into 'friends' or 'enemies' instead of gender, but Rosalyn had made it clear there was a difference. 'Your friends - especially the female ones - will be very self-conscious about their looks at this age, so you'd better not say anything untowards, Maxwell,' had been the exact phrase she'd used. Perhaps there was some truth in it, because lately when he looked in the mirror he wondered how he looked to other people instead of just whether his personal hygiene was presentable. Sometimes he even wondered whether certain people considered him attractive. It was odd.

"Not that it looks bad - it looks nice - it's just different." He hoped that was an adequate thing to say to a 'young woman' about her looks. The whole boy/girl thing sounded like a field of landmines. "And how are you, anyway? How was your summer?" There, a much safer topic to focus on hopefully.

so many books... so little time

Still in a state of belief, Rhea didn't realize Max spoke for quite some time before she eventually snapped out of whatever trance she was in. She matched his laughter, offering a little shrug. "Do I really look that different? It's just the hair that changed!" she said, before a small frown graced her face. It was news to her, that Max had been held back a whole year. The frown immediately disappeared, to be exchanged with a very unladylike snort (her mother would be disappointed.. if she wasn't too busy being sad, and was actually present in Hogwarts).

"Damn," Rhea shook her head disappointedly. "You're a mere second year. How does it feel, being so young? I wouldn't know, cause I'm a whole third year," she grinned at him, before gasping in shock. "Now now, my threats are very real and not at all vague. I like to maintain an aura of mystery, so you don't know what to expect or when." Rhea nodded, sure of her words. She'd have to come up with some threats later, maybe enlist Eris's help... Eris always came up with the best things. A slurry of empty threats filled her head for a moment, and once more she was pulled out of her thoughts by a variety of questions thrown at her. Well, she'd had her turn of inquiries - now it was his turn, it was only fair.

"A Metamorphagus? God, I wish!" Rhea voiced, slouching back in her chair. How cool would it be, to change her appearance at will! Only then could she fix all her flaws, look like the rest of the pretty pureblood women at the parties her parents used to drag her to. Well, they wouldn't be dragging her there anymore, that's for sure. The only good thing that had come out of the chaos of the summer. "A girl can dream, but no. I'm glad you don't think it's bad, though!" Rhea smiled a little, then continued, "My hair colour, it's originally blonde - it just became red when I accidentally spelled it when I was about 6, and only now has disappeared. Guess my mother wanted me to look like a Bishop now more than ever." She looked down at her lap, intertwining her fingers nervously. She only hoped he wouldn't ask how her summer had been-

And that's exactly what he did. It was surprising he hadn't heard of what happened, but then again both her parents had tried as hard as they could to keep everything covered up. It was inevitable that some nosy purebloods would hear about it; she was glad Max hadn't. Perhaps it would make him view her in a different way, and that's the opposite of what she wanted... from any of her friends. "I'm okay," she replied, voice a little weaker than it had been before. She cleared her throat. "My summer was.. well, it was rather boring, to say the least. I didn't do much," couldn't do much, but same thing. "How about you? I'm sure whatever happened to you has to have been a lot more interesting than my boring summer." 

"I don't know, you just seem... older," Max shrugged, unable to quantify the difference everyone had between second year and now with words. There was just something more grown up about everyone, like they were on the cusp of becoming more mature. Not quite the cusp of 'adulthood,' just different than they'd once been. It was like people had stopped believing in 'magic.' Not the Hogwarts kind; the kind you imagined existed when you were a kid and didn't really know how the world worked. Now that everyone was older, they were losing a kid's charming naivety. It made him feel slightly melancholy.

"Clearly you have to go back to second year since you don't know the difference between age and grade," he sniffed haughtily, his mouth wavering as he tried not to laugh. "Not sure who let you into third year but obviously they weren't the sharpest knife in the drawer if you catch my meaning." It was filled with the pureblood arrogance everyone knew and hated loved, however the sparkle in his eye made it clear he was kidding around. It became all the more clear when he chuckled, shaking his head at the fact that Rhea had charmed her hair into being red. He'd heard all sorts of stories about how magic first came about, but Rhea's first magic lasting that long was impressive.

He was planning to continue with his joking around until Rhea's voice changed, making him sit a little straighter as his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. She was hiding something, that much was clear. What it was, he couldn't say - maybe something to do with her family, since pureblood families were always messing up their children's lives. If he was any good at this friendship stuff he supposed he ought to prod her for more, but at the same time if she wasn't talking about she clearly didn't want to tell him just now. So he let it go, resisting the urge to pry until she felt comfortable enough to say more.

“My summer was... informative." That was one way to put it. He wondered if he should give her more; she was his friend, after all, and it would probably help her open up to him. Glancing around the library to ensure no one was within earshot, he leaned forward and dropped his voice to a hush.“I went to Salem in the United States; I’m sure you heard about what went on there. It’s not just there either... the whole Muggle world all over discriminates against people they believe to be witches. The things I learned were crazy. I’ll never be able to look at Muggles the same way again.”