the walls start breathing, my mind's unweaving {{em, open}}

[Guest]

It wasn't even the end of his first month as Oasis Hill's Head Boy, and Cory Gaunt was already sneaking of the grounds after curfew. What in the world was he thinking? Honestly, he wasn't. He was finding that particular pastime of his had become infuriatingly difficult as of late. A year ago he'd expected the aftershocks from the initial tremors of his messy break-up to be over and done with in a matter of months. Unfortunately this was not so. He still couldn't see himself without her. Patricia Heath was still haunting him, and while he refused to face the facts, his continued correspondence with her was not helping things any. Anybody else would have noticed long ago that she was stringing him along. She had realized how much sway their relationship had over him and she was using this fact ruthlessly. She was controlling him more now than she ever had when they'd actually been together.

For his part, Cory was wholeheartedly trying to ignore his current misery by constantly remembering the joy he'd felt when they'd been together. Tonight it was just too much. His mind was going back and forth with itself in an argument that had been gaining volume over the past year. She's not worth it. But she's everything! Just a month ago he could have soothed both of these angry voices by strumming a few chords on his guitar. Translating his inner turmoil into another song in his notebook (which was actually now a series of notebooks, and some of the songs contained in them were rather good in his opinion). His fingers twitched for the neck of his guitar, but there was no guitar to be found nearby.

He was quickly putting the Oasis Hill castle behind him, each stride bringing him closer towards the Drunken Elf. Towards alcohol abuse and eventual oblivion. That sound pretty damn nice right now. Cory opened the door to the bar and stepped in, the soft background music of the place putting him more at ease immediately. He hadn't touched his guitar in almost a month, and it was effecting him more than he could have imagined. Cory shook his head to force out all thoughts of music and musical instruments.

He sat as unobtrusively as he could in a cozy corner booth of the bar and ordered a local beer they had on tap. Most students wouldn't recognize him in his faded, ripped, well-worn jeans and dark gray v-neck shirt, and that was exactly what he wanted.

[Emily Sophia Adams]

Emily had been sitting around at home, Jake and Ruby were sat cuddled up on the sofa and she felt like they needed some alone time. It was rather annoying, she had gone upstairs and ran back down thirty minutes later yelling for the both of them to 'Have a good night, because she was going out for hers'. Emily hadn't planned anything, and didn't really know what to do with her time, so long as it was far away from the house it was alright with her. Her hair wasn't done to perfection, Ruby would be laughing at her right now for the mess it was in. Scruffball came to mind. Emily had simply thrown on a bunch of clothes to leave the cloud of awkwardness. She shivered as she saw 'The Drunken Elf' come into sight. Fortunately it wasn't often the place for students, far more welcoming to actual adults than her workplace, The Highland, it looked like they just invited everyone in.

Emily knew which she preferred, but she didn't feel like going to The Highland dressed as she was and by herself. She didn't think she was brave enough for something like that. Quickly walking into the warm atmosphere of The Drunken Elf, her blue flats almost slipping on what looked like the remains of a firewhiskey. That was a wonderful start. Rolling her eyes, Emily took a quick scan of the place before walking to the bar. Smiling at the bartender, it looked like Cassie Lestrange. Trying not to laugh at the coincidence, she asked for a firewhiskey. Columbine would love this right now.

Handing over the money for the drink, she picked up the glass and turned back around. Emily was getting inside information right now, although from the looks of it The Highland was becoming very successful, very quickly. There was the usual chatter from the locals, Emily sighed. It was going to be a long night. She looked for an empty booth, although they were all taken. Mostly by couples, or creepy men. She spotted one in the corner, the guy didn't look too bad. His hair was a bit, long but not half bad. He looked a little out of it, but then you could say that about half the people in here. Drinking nearly half of the firewhiskey, Emily walked over there a smile on her face, "Mind if I sit here? There's no where else?" She slid into the booth, "Unless you're with someone?"

Emily frowned for a moment, about to say something when she thought she recognised him from somewhere. "You look like...?" She paused, and her eyes widened. "Cory!?" Emily cringed, she couldn't believe he of all people were here. To think she thought he was mildly good-looking, Emily was glad she hadn't said anything too terrible. Although, why on Earth was Cory here? He was such a stickler about rules, why was he hanging out at a pub when he was underage? Cory was such a hypocrite! Emily scowled, "What do you think you're doing here!!" She pointed at the beer in front of him, "You are... SUCH a hypocrite!". Emily couldn't believe this, the person that was telling her not to skip school, that was such a 'role model' for the younger ones was at The Drunken Elf.

"Sneaking out now are we? Never thought I'd see the day" Emily tried not to laugh, "It's just so.... non-prefecty!" She sat there staring for a moment, "I kind of like it... The new Cory!" Emily blinked for a moment, and took a sip of her firewhiskey. She smiled, and glanced sneakily around the rest of the place trying to spot some other students. "You can't be the only underage student in here, surely? I mean, if you can manage it... there must be others?"

[Guest]

A server brought him his beer and he finished nearly half of it in a single draft. He ordered another to be brought, since this first one wasn't going to last much longer. Beer certainly wasn't the quickest way to get plastered, but it treated his head much more nicely in the morning than several shots of firewhiskey would. Besides, Cory was a bit melodramatic. Drowning one's sorrows in a deep tankard just made such a more romantic scene than slinging back shots until you blacked out. With half a pint of beer bubbling in his tummy, Cory began to think this night might not end up as poorly as it had begun. The room was already going a bit rosy at the edges. He glanced around slowly at the people around him, not actually noticing anybody in particular until a girl slid into the booth and came to a halt across from him. Oh Merlin no.

He was too preoccupied with the metaphorical slap in the face Emily's appearance had given him to answer her first question. He stared at her like an addle-brained idiot as she worked out his identity. If he'd been a little quicker on his feet he could have extricated himself from the situation entirely before she'd figured out who she was. His eyes rolled unhappily as she cringed; he was glad his appearance could have such a wonderfully positive effect on the people around him. He slumped forward and rested his head on the table with a thud. He wished he could melt right into the floor. "Just. Go away." he muttered miserably. Of all the people to find him while he was flagrantly disobeying school rules, of course it had to be Emily Adams. He couldn't even bribe her with a get out of detention free card (not that he necessarily would) now since she'd already graduated. Damn damn damn.

He peeled himself from the table, drained his drink, then rested his chin on the empty tankard that sat between him and his uninvited and unwanted guest. "I'm certainly not here to talk to you." He sighed heavily. He had no energy to be demeaning right now. "Can you please just not mention this to anybody? Just keep it to yourself how much of a hypocritical git I am." Yeah right, like that was going to happen. "Bet that makes you feel wonderful, doesn't it."

The server came and took the empty tankard, replacing it with a new, much fuller one. Cory took a big gulp. "Yup, sneaking out. Drinking too. To excess, if you'll notice." His eyes slid from his drink to her face. He wondered what horrible repercussions this inopportune meeting would grant him back at school. He noticed she was staring. What, did he have beer between his teeth? "It's not that difficult to comprehend. Me." he pointed to himself, then raised his tankard between them, "Debauchery. Big whoop. Call the presses."

I kind of like it... The new Cory! He blinked. Had he heard her wrong. "Wait, what? Really?" He laughed, the tension in his face disappearing into a warm smile. "It's not really that new." He watched her look around the room and tired to sink further into the cushioned booth. "Can we not draw attention to ourselves? By 'we' I mean 'you' and by 'ourselves' I mean the prefect out past curfew and drinking." He tried to relax. He took another gulp of beer and peered at his unexpected companion cautiously. "So what's it like? Being out of school and not having to sneak around if you want to do something fun?"

[Emily Sophia Adams]

Emily laughed, Cory was obviously very happy to see her. Cory drank his drink rather quickly, she felt like she shouldn't be seeing this. "I'm certainly not here to talk to you." That was lovely, although as much as she wanted to carry on this wonderful conversation she was missing the rest of a great night. Now, she was of legal age to drink, and she didn't think Cory should be drinking by herself. Emily hadn't thought she had a responsible side, she really was growing up! "Trust me. I have better things to do nowadays than ruin a reputation." People would just find out for themselves if he kept this up each week. "Bet that makes you feel wonderful, doesn't it." Emily frowned, of course it didn't make her feel 'wonderful', he was just trying to drown his sorrows. "It makes me remember you're not a lump of metal in there. You are actually... somewhat human"., Emily always thought, when she was younger that the prefects were robots secretly trying to take over the castle. Emily had watched television when she was younger. Her mother watching fancy films on it, one night she watched one and had nightmares for weeks!

She realised she was getting off track. Cory's drinking... Well... It was pathetic, but she was sure she had been there at one stage. . "Yup, sneaking out. Drinking too. To excess, if you'll notice." Emily nodded, "I definitely noticed", she had a strange look on her face. As if she was seeing something she didn't quite know how to handle properly, like holding Matty for the first time. Cory laughed at what she had said and Emily smiled in response, she wondered what had caused him to be like this. She was all for a drunk Cory as much as the next person but he probably wouldn't be here without a reason. "So what's it like? Being out of school and not having to sneak around if you want to do something fun?", Emily didn't really know how to answer that question. She missed Oasis Hill really, time had flown by and before she knew it she was out in Woodberg wondering what the hell to do with her life.

"Well. I suppose there are benefits, but really. The something fun back at Oasis Hill was sneaking out here, and I do that now so it's began to lose it's appeal. I don't have to deal with all the exams now, but I'd do that to have my friends around twenty-four seven. Now, they're all over the place and I have to think about a job and paying for stuff." Emily bit her lip, she missed school life in reality. It was really nothing like she imagined and it was quite disappointing. "It's all rather serious, so I think Oasis Hill is far better than the real world... At least for now." Emily nodded after she finished, that was pretty much it.

She could go on all night about why she wanted to stay at Oasis Hill and right now she couldn't actually think of anything that was good about being away from it. Overall, Emily realised that she would probably be able to put up with everything bad about the place to have her dorm room back and mucking around in the Dining Hall with her friends. "I think it's best to have a plan when you leave. I thought I did but it went out the window." Emily wanted to just do it all again, so she could have something after she left Oasis Hill to look forward to. "What do you want to do when you leave?" Emily asked curiously. She could see him having something to do with The Ministry, but that was never very interesting to her.

[Guest]

"It makes me remember you're not a lump of metal in there. You are actually... somewhat human"

Cory snorted into his tankard. He was well aware that he didn't always make the best of impressions on his fellow Oasis Hill students, but a lump of metal? That was a new one. "Somewhat." He shook his head and couldn't help but smile at Emily's turn of phrase. For all of her faults (which he seemed to be able to recall with less and less accuracy as the beer wriggled its warm fingers around his head), Emily was at least good for surprising him into thinking differently about things. He stared down into his beer. His second was still about half-full and he was contemplating draining it again. He decided this wasn't a good idea now that he was actually planning on trying to make conversation. He'd like to stay just a bit metallic if he could. If only for old times' sake.

Cory's eyes glanced over Emily's face and shrugged off the expression she was giving him. He didn't know if she was doing it consciously or not, but it was there nonetheless. To him the expression seemed to be a mixture of anxiety and fear. Or perhaps it was loathing. He laughed it off and gave her a slightly self-conscious smile. He wasn't used to people seeing him like this. Well, people besides Alec and his roommates, of course. He was pretty good at keeping his bad habits to himself. Drinking, howling at the moon, wearing mismatching socks. The list went on and on.

He listened to Emily as she answered his question. He was a trifle shocked at her frankness, but reminded himself that he shouldn't be. If Emily Adams was anything, she was frank and straightforward. He remembered this ticking him off somewhat, but right now he was finding it extremely refreshing. He sipped at the drink in front of him as she elucidated her feelings on being out of school. It was disheartening to hear her melancholy. A little depressing. It made him think too hard about all the things he would miss at the end of the year. He was trying very hard to be excited about 'real life'. To try to be a grown-up, he guessed. An upstanding citizen. He was actually pretty terrified.

Cory nodded in sage agreement with her sentiment on having a plan. Plans were always good to have. Unless something that you had no control over changed and threw your plan completely out of whack and some power-mad bint made you promise to scrap the plan you'd been working on for most of your life and-- Cory shook himself. What was that? He drank deep from his tankard and erased his previous train of thought from memory.

"What do you want to do when you leave?" Her question caught him by surprise. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even pause to consider his answer before replying. "I think I'll be a rock star, actually." It was as if somebody else had spoken. Cory heard his own words and dropped his head onto the table again. He'd been over this with himself. It wasn't going to happen. He rolled his head onto its side so that he was looking up at Emily through one eye. "That's what I had wanted to be. It's pretty stupid though. Isn't it?" What was he doing asking that question? What did he expect her to say? Somewhere deep down he knew what he wanted her to say. He wanted her to say it was okay for him to want to be something more than just a suit at the ministry.

[Alec Edwards]

Alec stared at the child in his arms. He didn’t speak, he just stared. And Matty stared back. Not that Matty could really see too much, anyway. From what the doctor’s had told Alec and Dani, Matty’s vision was extremely blurry. He couldn’t distinguish a person from an inanimate object at the moment, but that would change soon. Alec didn’t know how long he’d been staring at his child. It felt like it had been hours. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, holding Matty so he wouldn’t cry. He’d just fed him. Dani had finally agreed to bottle feeding, though she insisted on using breast milk, and not the formula that had been recommended to them by the muggle at the pharmacy they’d gone to. So they had a large supply of breast milk in the fridge, ready to be heated up whenever Matty needed a drink. He hadn’t liked the bottle at first. It had taken some coaxing to get the little guy to get used to drinking out of the bottle. But he got there in the end. Alec had never asked Dani how exactly she got the milk from her boobs to the bottles, and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. It seemed like an unusual process.

Matty gurgled, and Alec was pulled out of his trance. It was usually like that when he was holding his child. He could just get lost in that face. That adorable, pudgy little face. Alec shook his head. Boy, had he changed. He glanced at the clock that was on the wall in the kitchen. Dani had only been asleep about half an hour. Alec had, once again, told his girlfriend to go to bed and get some sleep. She deserved it, what with juggling Matty and school. Alec was proud of her, he really was. Unfortunately, Matty wasn’t as generous as Alec. The baby had decided he didn’t want to sleep at night, which usually meant Alec would have to stay up with him to make sure he didn’t cry and wake Dani up. Since he’d just been fed, Matty would be fine for a while, but he still wouldn’t go to sleep. Alec slept most of the day. On the couch. With Matty safely tucked into the curve of his arm. They slept at the same times. Alec woke when Matty woke; Alec ate when Matty had eaten. They had a system between them. It was working, and it meant Dani could focus on school, like she needed to. Alec glanced at the clock again. He didn’t want to be sitting at home like this. Just because he had a child, didn’t mean he couldn’t have a social life, too.

A few minutes later, Alec had Matty expertly bundled up in his pram. He had Matty wrapped in a blanket – tight enough so that he wouldn’t be cold (because babies got cold easier than adults, duh) but not so tight that it looked like he was in a cocoon. Alec quickly scribbled a note to Dani – Dani, gone for a walk with Matty. Be back soon. Love, Alec. He always told her where he went, especially now since they had a child together. He’d forgotten once to write Dani a note letting her know where he and Matty had gone. That hadn’t been a good day for either of them. Alec pushed the pram towards the front door, and grabbed the house keys off the hook hanging next to the door. Once outside, he locked the doors – the screen door, then the main, wooden door. He pushed the pram down the path that lead to their front door, and turned onto the sidewalk. He knew exactly where he was going – the Drunken Elf. It wasn’t really a place for a baby, but thankfully the people who lived in Woodberg were pretty good around babies. And Cassie, the bartender, was good with handling the ones who got a bit more rowdy than the others.

----

It was something he’d never pictured himself doing – walking into the Drunken Elf pushing a pram with his child in it. It was odd. He received a few looks. Of course he did. He was an eighteen year old father. Who wouldn’t receive looks because of that? For the most part, he ignored them. Screw what they thought. Alec knew he and Dani had struggled in the beginning, but they had settled into a routine, and everything was fine. Alec looked around for someone, anyone, that he knew. He saw a flash of blonde hair, and a familiar face. A smile appeared, and Alec pushed the pram towards the blonde girl. “Emily! Thank Merlin you’re he-” Alec broke off as he got closer, noticing who Emily was with. “Cory? You’re here?” Alec sounded incredulous. Why was Cory here? Wasn’t that against his Prefect – no, Head Boy rules? Alec slipped into the seat beside Emily, pulling Matty’s pram closer to him, and turning it around so he could see his child, and still focus on the people he’d just interrupted.

[Emily Sophia Adams]

"I think I'll be a rock star, actually." Emily didn’t think she had ever been more shocked than in that moment. She was utterly speechless, Cory Gaunt, wanting to be a ’rock star’? That was unbelievable, and funnily enough Emily found she had more respect for him than ever before. Cory gave her a look like it was the most ridiculous thing he could be, yet it was cool. Emily wished she could be a rock star. All the fans, you had to have talent and Emily didn’t think she had much talent. Cory was rolling his head, right next to his glass of beer. "That's what I had wanted to be. It's pretty stupid though. Isn't it?" Emily shook her head, her eyes wide. She didn’t really know what to say, her mouth wobbled like a gasping fish. “Of course not!” She burst out. “A rockstar is like…. Like the coolest thing in the entire world!” She sounded like such a child right at that moment. One of the boppy teenager groupies that she despised. Still, Emily could imagine it now, she was a professional photographer and Cory was doing his first book major photoshoot. Emily was taking all sorts of pictures of the famous Mr. Gaunt and everyone was green with envy, wanting to be in her place.

“What’s stopping you then?” Emily asked curiously. She looked down at her empty fire whiskey, and frowned. When had that happened? Emily looked around until she caught the eye of one of the waitresses, who nodded and went to get her another firewhiskey. She swirled around the last remaining drops of firewhiskey, that wasn’t even worth trying to drink, staring into it “I think it’s far better than any old job as an old fart at the ministry” Emily looked up and shrugged, “It’s quite boring, don’t you th--?” She saw something out of the corner of her eye, a smile forming on her face.

Someone was pushing a pram into The Drunken Elf, he looked around until he caught sight of Emily. She gave a big wave, “Emily! Thank Merlin you’re he-” and began zoning in on what he was pushing. Baby Matty. Her little godson. “Alec! How’s Matty!?” Nevermind how her best friend was doing in all this, his little son took precedence now. “Cory? You’re here?” Emily nodded, giving Alec a look as if she couldn’t quite believe it just as much as he did. The waitress came over, just as Alec sat down, placing another firewhiskey in front of her, as she slid up to make room for Alec. Emily smiled, and thanked her then began watching Matty. His little eyes were half-open, he looked a little dozy as if he had just finished a nap.

[Sponsored content]