back a g a i n {open}

[gage]

Gage plopped himself down in a chair in the group commons, smiling to himself a bit. Schoolwork was already getting difficult, though he had been focusing more on his Quidditch. Thankfully, term had only just begun, so he hadn't exactly had the time to fall behind on homework yet. In all honesty, Gage wasn't quite sure why he was there- he had planned on trying out for professional Quidditch in the spring, though he typically indifferent parents had made it clear they didn't want him quitting school. Gage didn't see it as quitting as much as actually applying his time to something better.

Though the castle was comfortable, and Gage saw his final year as the ideal opportunity to have as much fun as he could. In fact, he was already planning on having a little party that Halloween instead of going down to the festival in Hogsmeade. It would also couple as something of a birthday party for himself, he would be eighteen then, making him one of the older seventh years. Gage of course was taking all the necessary precautions, there was no need to have his party ruined by nosy prefects or professors. Of course, his girlfriend was a prefect, but Emily was cool.

And needless to say, Gage did love her. She was the one girl he had ever put this much effort into and stayed this long with. Their relationship had endured the summer, and Gage found himself hoping that it would last longer than that. Emily was different from anyone he had ever met. Gage just hoped that she would put up with an unauthorized party, and perhaps something more... Gage looked up when he heard someone call his name, turning in his seat only to look at...

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily left the library with a smile on her face having just returned a loaned book, all her homework was done and she didn't have prefect duties tonight. In her mind it was turning out to be a pretty awesome evening, though when she saw two first years sparring in the middle of the hallway she sighed, a small frown etched into her pretty features. "Hey thats enough.." she said, performing a quick expelliamus spell, and holding their wands triumphantly in her hand when they turned to her shocked, "Dueling in the corridors is strictly forbidden and dueling without Professor supervision is not allowed. Any one of you could have been hurt...now I'll be handing these back to your House Heads, they'll be sorting out your detentions." she said.

The boys both Slytherins, scowled at Emily, muttering under their breaths as they pushed past the Hufflepuff, who released a small sigh and continued on her way down to the group commons, needing someone her own age to converse with. It was hard being in a position like hers where no one respected the authority you had, she was Hufflepuff, and her house was considered lesser by the Slytherins and mocked by everyone else. Tucking her own wand in her cloak, she held the two first year ones in her hand and walked into the group commons, reminding herself to go find the right Professor to hand in the wands later.

As her eyes scanned the room she felt a bright smile tug at her lips. There sat in one of the chairs was Gage, a guy she was completely in love with. He looked deep in thought, so much so she considered leaving him be, but the desire to talk and be close to him won out, "Gage?" she called his name as she walked closer to him, smiling as he turned around. She leaned down to give him a chaste kiss before rounding the chair and sitting on his lap, "Hey there." she greeted, letting the wands she held tightly in her hand, rest neatly on her lap.

[gage]

Gage grinned widely when he saw that it was the person he had been thinking about, that being his girlfriend Emily. Something about her just drove him crazy, but in a good way, he almost didn't think straight when he was around her. He had gotten a little teasing from his friends about going out with her- she wasn't exactly the type that he had usually gone for, though he found that he didn't care. Perhaps it was her innocence that attracted him to her, not that Gage exactly wished to corrupt it, he just found it to be different, intriguing almost.

Gage kissed back, glad that they had crossed that barrier over the summer. Truth be told, Emily was the first and only girl he had been nervous about kissing. Perhaps it was because he hadn't known how she would react to it, or maybe it was because he genuinely wanted this relationship with her, and didn't want to mess anything up. "Hello love," Gage returned, pleasantly surprised when Emily sat down on his lap. He hadn't been expecting it, but welcomed the gesture all the same. Though he wouldn't admit it, Gage definitely was physically affectionate.

He raised his eyebrow a bit when he noticed the two wands that Emily was holding, neither of them resembled hers. "Now where did you get those?" asked Gage in a light-hearted sort of way, though he was genuinely curious. People didn't just leave their wands laying around, though Emily definitely wasn't the type to take a wand by force. The mere thought of it amused him, simply because it was so unlike her.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily looked down at the wands when Gage both gestured to them and enquired to where she had gotten them. With a small shrug of her shoulders she looked up over his shoulder, "A couple of first years thinking they could get away with dueling in the halls...I wouldn't have minded but they were really going for the hurt." she said, looking back down at him with a small smile. She couldn't help but feel a sense of something when anyone saw her with Gage, especially the girls who seemed to loathe the fact that he was with someone like her, when they were ten times prettier.

She looked down at the wands again and frowned, aware of the fact that what she'd done would lead to huge amounts of payback for her. "The Slytherins will be gunning for me after this but little I can do now..." she said, chuckling lightly, she was far from scared of the Slytherins but they were the ones that seemed to take the most pleasure out of making her life hell. Emily though wasn't one to complain she could hold her own to a point and had been for the last 6 years. "I'll just deal with them when it comes to it." she said with a firm nod and a smile as she lifted her hand to brush a lock of Gage's hair away from his forehead.

"So what are you doing in here all by your lonesome I thought for sure you'd be out on the pitch tonight." she said, lowering her hand back to her lap as she spoke to him. Really she should be spending some free time out on the pitch but she had enough to do, when she returned to her dorm there was some match planning she had to do, Emily was determined that this year was going to be the best for her team and with her and her co-captain working side by side she was sure they had a shot at the cup.

[gage]

Gage chuckled a bit, shaking his head when Emily explained that she had taken them from a pair of first years sparring in the corridor. "Really think they do know best, don't they?" said Gage, "they have so much to learn about not getting caught." Thanks to his six whole years of experience in the castle Gage knew how to get away with more than his fair share of trouble. Of course, thaat didn't stop him from spending more than a dozen evenings in detetion last term, though Gage wasn't too bothered by them. They were more of an inconvenience than anything else, and he had always had the luck of making his Quidditch practices in spite of them.

His grades, however, were trouble of a different sort. Gage couldn't count the times where he had been in jeopardy of loosing his seeking position because he was failing more than half his classes at the same time. Usuaully when he got to that point he would work his ass off until he had scraped up some decent marks, though Gage didn't typically put much effort into schoolwork. Academics wasn't his calling, he definitely did not see himself at a desk job. He was going to be continuing Quidditch, that much he knew.

"I can hex anyone that gives you trouble," Gage offered in a teasing sort of way so Emily would know he wasn't entirely serious about it. Though, if he was going to be honest with himself, Gage likely wouldn't hesitate to curse someone if they hurt his girl. He rested his hand on her knee, glad for the physical contact. "Not even the professionals practice every day," said Gage with a shrug. He had just wanted to sit that evening, not really do anything- an odd sort of evening for him, but he supposed even busybodies like himself needed to take a night off from time to time.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily chuckled at Gage when he teased her about cursing anyone who hurt her, shaking her head she poked his shoulder, sending him a mock scowl, "I catch you cursing anyone buster and I'll put you in detention myself." she teased, there was no way she would, mainly because she knew there was no way Gage would allow himself to get caught by anyone, even her. She dreaded to think what her boy-friend got upto without her knowing, though she supposed considering she was a prefect, it's probably best it stayed that way. To let him know she'd only been joking herself she dropped a kiss onto his forehead as his hand came to rest on her knee.

Emily hated PDA's, she often frowned upon them herself, which is why she couldn't understand her complete turn around when she was with Gage. It was as though she felt more like herself with him, like she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't just to suit his needs. Gage took her how she was, goodie-two-shoes and all. They were an odd pairing she knew a lot of people didn't understand what he saw in her or vise versa, but she paid them no mind. She was in love with Gage so little else mattered to her, especially what other people thought.

"Well I have training tomorrow, so I probably won't see you, the team needs to put in the practice if we're going to kick Gryffindors butt." she said with a small nod, shooting him a smile as her fingers toyed with the back of his shirt collar. "I just hope the Slytherins don't take over the pitch like they did last week." she said, scowling as she remembered the Slytherins interupting her teams practice time and all but forcing the Hufflepuffs off the pitch.

[gage]

Gage chuckled, though he knew that Emily didn't really mean it. He couldn't help but wonder what she actually would do if she caught him doing something against the rules, however. Well, he had managed to talk her into going to the forest with him after curfew, so perhaps she was a little more lax on rules than he thought. Or maybe that had been a one-time thing. Whatever the case Gage was a little nervous about telling her about the Halloween/birthday party he would be having in a deserted dungeon the next month, but he did want her there.

"We'll have to see about that," said Gage light-heartedly, it was odd to think about, them playing on separate teams. They had done it all last term, but this year it seemed exceptionally odd. Gage was just glad that Emily was a chaser, rather than the seeker like himself- he wouldn't be sure how to handle playing directly against her, rather than in more of an indirect way. He frowned a bit when she mentioned the Slytherins taking over the pitch the previous week, they had tried to do that at Gryffindor practice, though most of them knew better than to challenge him and Nix.

"Downright pretentious lot," said Gage, lightly shaking his head, "they think just because they've got a new seeker that they overrule everyone else's practice time." Gage had seen their newest player, it was the youngest Malfoy boy, nothing more than a third year, whose position on the team was likely bought for him by his father. Gage hadn't seen Malfoy fly, but he didn't see him as having much talent. "Wouldn't it be great to see them beat by everyone?" said Gage, swapping his slight frown for a grin.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily frowned slightly when Gage mentioned the Slytherins new seeker, and despite hating being harsh towards someones capabilities, she couldn't help but agree that the young Malfoy boy wasn't exactly seeker material. Sure Hufflepuffs were looked down on and laughed at but her team was fantastic and her seeker would have no problems flying circles around the young boy. She'd only seen him fly the once, and new no self respecting captain would have brought him onto the team, then again they were Slytherins, and all Malfoy's Father had to do was flash some of his wealth and Amadeus was on the team.

"It would, but...and as much as I hate to say it, they have a pretty good team minus the Seeker..." she said with a slight grimace on her face. Who would have thought, she of all people would be complimenting the Slytherins. Though she supposed stranger things had happened after all. Looking down at the wands on her lap, she noted she should probably get them to the Slytherin Head of House soon, longer they went without their wands the more likely she was going to have to deal with the backlash.

"Would be nice to see them put in their place for once though, I'll agree to that." she said to Gage with a small nod of her head. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she looked around the Commons, it was steadily growing empty and she figured people were heading off to their rooms to finish their own homework, that or it was later than she had realised. "Hogsmeade this weekend? or you practicing?" she asked Gage looking back down at him and smiling.

[gage]

Gage didn't miss the frown on Emily's pretty face when he brought up the Malfoy boy, she likely felt the same way that he did about the new addition to the Slytherin team. He was almost disappointed, he had been expecting someone that might be a challenge to defeat- Gage never did like having victories handed to him, they were much more satisfying when he had to work for them. Or perhaps it had something to do with his slightly inflated ego and the love of showing off. Regardless, Quidditch wasn't nearly as fun when he and the other seeker weren't evenly matched.

Of course, there always was the off-chance that the Malfoy boy could fly well- but Gage didn't see himself getting beaten at his own game by nothing more than a little third year relying on his family's name and Daddy's money. "Then we won't need to worry quite so much," said Gage, lightly rubbing Emily's leg, "it would take a long while for them to get a hundred and sixty points ahead, that's usually only in the professionals." In all his years playing Hogwarts Quidditch Gage had yet to see a point margin that large.

"Hogsmeade," Gage replied with a smile, he didn't see the need to deny himself the fun of going to the village that Saturday. He could always practice on Sunday morning, he usually did- early in the morning when the sun had barely risen and the pitch was guaranteed to be empty. "Might I be able to persuade you to go with me?" asked Gage, smiling up at Emily.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily pretended to tap her lip as though she was actually thinking about Gage's offer, she shrugged her shoulders and looked down at him, sighing in defeat, "I suppose I don't have anything better to do." she said, barely able to supress the smirk that tugged away at her lips, realising she couldn't lie Emily leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips before nodding her head, "Of course I'll go with you." she said sweetly, shooting him a bright smile, "I was hoping to stock up my sweet drawer..." she said seriously, only just realising her drawer was getting empty rather quick.

"Though Saturday night I'm afraid your on your own, I've reserved myself a couple of hours to indulge in the Prefects Bathroom." she said happily, it was a guilty pleasure of hers. Each time she hid away in there for those few hours, she had the music playing the hot water running, and that's all, she didn't need anything else and she could just forget about the stresses surrounding her. "Although I should be finished by 9...and I highly doubt your going to be tucked away in your common room...so we could meet up for a bit afterwards whilst I have my rounds?" she suggested.

[gage]

Gage smiled, Emily knew the perfect way to playfully tease him, just enough for him to find it funny and not annoying. Everything about her seemed to be the right balance, she talked, but not too much, she was affectionate, but not clingy. He found that no one he had gone out with before had had that delicate balance, being on one extreme or the other rather than just right. "Excellent," said Gage when Emily kissed him, and then finally did agree to go to Hogsmeade with him. If she didn't want to go then he supposed he could always hang out with his friends down there, but he wanted to spend some time with her, just her.

"Me as well," said Gage, reflecting on the sorry state of his own sweets stash. There usually wasn't a shortage of junk food hidden at the bottom of his trunk in case of late night cravings that combined with laziness of him not wanting to go all the way down to the kitchens. He smiled and nodded as Emily explained she had booked the prefect's bathroom Saturday evening, and that he would be left to his own devices. "That sounds lovely," said Gage, Saturday was starting to look like a very good day to him.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily couldn't help but laugh lightly and shake her head so her now much longer curls bounced merrily over her shoulders, "Trust me to get a boy-friend who is more hooked on sweets than I am." she said lightly, apparently she had no hope of quitting her addiction to sugar any time soon, not with Gage around anyway, he was almost as bad as her if not worse and that was saying a lot. "I'll bring my bag." she nodded, Gage was the only one who knew about the banned spell she'd cast on her little wrist bag. It was a lot bigger on the inside than it should be now.

Looking down at Gage she sighed, she didn't want to leave but she had to find the Slytherin head of house, and doubted her boy-friend would appreciate being pulled all around the castle to help her with her Prefect duties. "I really should get these to the Professor." she said a small pout appearing on her lips, taking the wands in her hands. The last time she'd gone hunting for this particular professor it had taken her a good three hours to find them, she just hoped tonight would be different, but still she didn't move from Gage's lap since she was so comfortable.

[gage]

Emily's laugh always made Gage feel elated, it was such a great sound to him. He smiled a little guiltily, he knew that his problem with junk food would catch up to him eventually- though he figured that he was active enough to compensate for the extra calories. Lord knew that the boy couldn't sit still for even a few minutes, let alone for an entire class period or longer. Though he was content to be still with Emily on his lap. Gage found she had a calming effect on his energetic spirit. Granted, he was still active, but more content to not be moving all the time when she was around.

"No, don't go now, you just got here," said Gage, pouting his lip a little before kissing Emily lightly. He understood she had things to do, but he didn't want her to leave since he had just got there. They really hadn't had much time together lately, what with the house difference and things. Gage was determined to make the most of this year with her, however, there was no telling what his schedule would look like once he had made professional Quidditch like he planned to.

[emilylouisebaker]

Emily laughed lightly at Gage's pout which she happened to find rather adorable. When he kissed her she savoured it for a moment, before releasing a small sigh, her fingers playing with a small lock of hair at the back of his head, reluctant to leave. "I don't want to...but the sooner I get these to the Professor the less severe the paybacks going to be for me." she said with a nod. It wouldn't be the first time Slytherins got their own back on her, they always did no matter what though she had handled herself.

"I'd invite you to come with me but usually I end up searching the castle for hours..." she said with a small shrug, leaning forward she kissed him gently whilst sliding out of his lap carefully, her hand slipping into his as she pulled back to look down at him. She really hated to leave, their time together as of late had seriously been lacking and she hated that, though she supposed it wasn't all bad, after all, they had an entire day to spend together in Hogsmeade at the weekend, just the two of them. "I really have to go now." she sighed, reluctantly taking her hand back from his.

[gage]

Gage couldn't help nut smile after Emily broke the kiss, he liked it when she played along with his games. Though he did suppose that it was unfair of him to keep her all to himself, especially when she did have things to do- like returning those wands to the Slytherin head of house. He frowned a bit when she mentioned the paybacks that she would be getting- granted it was something he probably would do himself, but he did not like the idea of other people messing with his girlfriend. Though the second they crossed whatever imaginary boundary Gage decided on... They wouldn't be getting any mercy from him.

Gage kissed back, though found it was on the more disappointing side since Emily was sliding out of his lap at the same time. He squeezed her hand a little, reluctant to let her go, but at the same time reminded himself they were going to have all day Saturday. He would have to think of something special before then that he could do for her, though he was somewhat lacking in the finance department at that moment. "If you must," sighed Gage, allowing Emily's hand to slip from his, smiling gently up at her.