[IC] Year One [ Closed for TheDookieNut and El Taco Taco ]

[TheDookieNut]

George was as glad as anyone to see their school day finally over. There was only so long he could manage to keep his head from spiralling over the morning's headline until it became ingrained in his brain, word for word. It wasn't as if it was only his family who'd willfully taken part in the two most recent Wizarding Wars, voluntarily murdering muggles and wizards alike; Theo's continuing bigoted options weren't helping George's case.

He followed along behind Sadie with a handful of pastries he'd quickly taken from the Great Hall: pumpkin pie, sausage rolls, and a traditionally sized Cornish Pasty. Tonight would just be the three of them, at least until time grew too late.

"Quidditch is great, normally," George added to the two's current discussion. "I'm not looking forward to the next three years of Quidditch here, mind you. Friendly competition is one matter, but I don't think things are going to be friendly." He passed a tiny chuckle as he spoke. Round Two of the Battle of the Brothers rang low on his list of events he wished to revisit.

"Quidditch is fantastic! I still can't believe you don't like it. The season has already started and you’ll see your brother play in a few weeks; you'll be a fan before too long!" Seine continued with his family smile, wide and genuine.

"Did you follow any muggle sports?" George pulled his robes from his shoulders and laid the collection on the fabric between them. "Don't muggles have lots of sports? I remember seeing one in a pub once where the players were throwing tiny sticks at a target. All the crowd seemed so serious, it was incredibly daft." It was the first time all day his tone hadn't sounded entirely defeatist. "I just don't get it, a lot of muggle things don't make sense." He even managed a chuckle.

"Wait, what were they doing?" Seine asked with a snort of utter confusion.

"These men were dressed in waistcoats and were tiny sticks-" He paused and motioned the throwing of a dart. "against this huge target, covered in numbers. There was another target in the pub itself since most of the muggles were watching it on a rectangle." George fumbled over his words. His childhood might have been far from sheltered in terms of the Wizarding World but George had little knowledge when it came to the world of Muggles. "It really weird, the sport, not the rectangle, paintings have moved for years."

Siene cracked a grin behind his hand and soon found himself roaring with laughter, much to the confusion of his friend. George glanced at Sadie and Seine with panic and bewilderment plastered on his face. His skin shifted in tone, rolling from pale to an uncomfortable red hue.

"I'll let you explain this one, Sadie."

[El Taco Taco]

"It's also like, horrifically violent," Sadie pointed out, rolling her eyes about Quidditch. It didn't help that she was terrified of heights. She had spent her flying lessons desperately trying to get away with not flying, and had managed a decent job of it thus far. She suspected Madame Hooch was aware of her self-sabotage, and Sadie wasn't sure how much longer the hawk-eyed woman would let her get away with it. "Hard pass."

As George asked about sports she was interested in, Sadie bounced back with a grin.

"I really like tennis! My mum and I are big fans of the Williams' sisters. They're incredible, literally the best players ever! I'm not very good at playing, but it's so fun to watch."

It took Sadie a couple of moments to piece together what George was talking about. It was adorable, really, the way he described the real world. Perhaps it was unfair to think of it like that, but she suspected the wixen world would always feel more like a vacation than her own life.

Sadie giggled as Seine burst into laughter. Their amusement wasn't mean spirited, but she did feel a tinge of guilt as George's face turned pink. Her tone was gentler as she spoke up. "You're talking about darts. It's more of a pub game than anything else. You're trying to throw darts at specific numbers so they can sum up and get your score down to zero. I mean like, it's kind of a sport, but it's not super popular. We're more into like football and rugby." She wrinkled her nose, shrugging her shoulders. "They're okay, I guess. Brennan played a lot of rugby with some of the other boys in the village when we were kids and never let me join, so it kind of soured me on it. That jerk."

[TheDookieNut]

George looked at Sadie as if she was speaking a completely different language. Football he'd heard of, but tennis and rugby? Perhaps had he seen a video or an example of the former, he likely would have understood the former. Since examples weren't available, he remained clueless.

"That's a bit rude if they didn't let you play. Did you ever ask him why?" It hardly seemed fair that Sadie hadn't been allowed to join in. Although, had he known the rules, he likely wouldn't have agreed. Quidditch was violent but at least they weren't so young; and magic, which helped a great deal when injuries got worse.

"You'll have to show us some, one day. Probably not when it's freezing outside though." Especially since it was only going to get much colder. November had started wet and continued through until the approaching winter winds hit the castle and seemed to whip across faces and under cloaks as students made their way across the bridges and the grounds. They'd each be grateful for the temperature inside their year-round home, but it only seemed to be getting colder by the week. George hadn't expected it be long at all before the snow hit, as excited as he was. The white flakes weren't common in London, nor at his Aunt's boggy home.

"Who do the sister's play for? Are they on a team? Like a city team or a country team?" Such a closeted anti-muggle household meant such commonplace things such as television and tennis were far more alien than most would expect; especially considering the short distance between his home and the famous tennis court.

"I think you're thinking of Rugby, Georgey." Seine continued, a wide and bright grin still creasing his cheeks. "There aren't really any teams in Tennis, right?"

[El Taco Taco]

"Sometimes they play doubles, but it's not like Quidditch teams," Sadie explained, before clicking her tongue in irritation. "It's so annoying. If I had a phone, I'd just show you a video. I'm seriously having withdrawals. I mean, don't get me wrong, magic is amazing, I'm happy to be here, but it's so frustrating being disconnected like this. It's going to be weird going back home for the holidays. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to tell my friends about where I've been."

"I hadn't thought about that," Seine admitted, rubbing his chin. "My dad's a half blood, so we have some muggle stuff, but we don't really talk a lot with that side of the family."

"Brennan made it really clear we're not allowed to talk about this with our old friends. We can tell mum and dad, but that's it," Sadie said grimly. Brennan's old friends had stopped coming round the past few years. She couldn't blame them; from their perspectives, Brennan had ghosted them. Sadie was pretty sure it was going to happen to her as well, and she didn't much like that thought. Sadie pushed past it. That was a problem for future Sadie.

[TheDookieNut]

George frowned, pulling his forehead together, skin faint with subtle hints of pimples. He’d never thought, nay considered, what muggles had to go through. The secrecy they were all bound to was standard life to those without non-magic family members. Sadie was practically losing half her life.

“You’ll have the entire Ministry on your back if you tell them anything- your brother is right. There are stricter laws protecting what we do with magic than anything else when it comes to Muggles.” He shifted unsteadily and sighed. “Why not write to them? I’m sure your parents could easily send supplies-“ Parchment would have been the least of their concerns considering the usual method of mail postage.

“Send ‘em to your parents though first. I doubt they’d shrug off letters coming by owl.” Seine offered his suggestion with a smile. “There’s nothing to suggest your can’t have Muggle friends; just don’t go casting magic in front of them.” Seine let out a small laugh, before resting his hand on Sadie’s shoulder.

“We should go exploring this evening. Find some of the secret rooms my Dad mentioned. Apparently him and his friends knew so many of the passages. Part and parcel of how he caused so much trouble I guess.”