InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "magical expanding loft of love"

Zoe Renaud (zoerenaud) wrote in refreshrpg,
@ 2015-01-28 02:10:00

Entry tags:

! log, 1998-january, x-character: calliope travers, x-character: zoe renaud

WHO: Zoe Renaud and Calliope Travers
WHAT: Things get heated
WHEN: January 28, 1998
WHERE: The halls of Hogwarts
RATING: Medium for violence and language.
STATUS: Closed, in progress

The halls tended to be crowded with a ton of students trying to navigate annoying staircases that changed direction while you were on them so that by the time you got to a corridor, you were elbowing people out of your way in an attempt to get to class on time. It was standard, and it was completely unbias.

It wasn't like Zoe had meant to elbow Calliope out of her way, but she was going to be late to class, and Calliope was moving too slow. It had nothing to do with her being in Slytherin. Honest. But she did add the snide, "watch it," because Calliope was Slytherin, and the worst kind. She could turn over a new leaf all she wanted, but she couldn't just be nice to people who hated her because they were terrible people. She just wouldn't punch any of them.

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calliopetravers
2015-01-28 08:44 am UTC (link)

Calliope was running late to class for much the same reason, and was already in a not-too-pleasant mood because of it. Honestly, if she had to keep pressing up against this filth in between every class, they should give her enough time to shower before sitting down to work.

The elbow came out of nowhere, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back. "Watch it, pleb," she snapped, turning to face... whoever it was. One of the Renaud twins, she didn't particularly care which. Either it was the revolting queer mouthy one or the sub-literate hyperactive thuggish one, and she didn't want either of them brushing up against her. "Don't touch what you can't afford."

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zoerenaud
2015-01-28 09:11 am UTC (link)

Zoe paused, because she had to let that wash over her, roll right off her back, or... whatever it was that pacifists did. She had to bite her tongue. "You haven't worked a damn day in your life, you don't own a damn thing." What the hell was a pleb and was she supposed to be insulted about it? "And it's that pompous, entitled behavior that makes people less bloody understanding than me, want to punch your face in," she added, taking a step toward Calliope. But she wasn't going to do anything because - new leaf, new reputation.

"Maybe if you were a little more open, less ignorant of people you've known since you were eleven, this could all be a much more happier place, we're bloody magical," she added, and only half noticed that she was actually lecturing Calliope of all people about being nice. She was in a weird state with this new leaf ordeal. She sounded aggressive, angry, like she wanted to hit something, but her actual words weren't supporting that tone at all. "You're a cancer, Callie." Ah, there it was. Wait, that was the opposite of what she'd meant to do. This new leaf ordeal wasn't going well and it'd only been a few days. "Fix it."

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calliopetravers
2015-01-28 09:36 am UTC (link)

"I don't have to work. My da -- my father says that most people have to work for their money, but our money works for us," Calliope said in the haughtiest tone she could muster. She'd almost said "daddy", but stopped herself in time. She called him that at home, but knew that Renaud would just mock her for it.

"And you say that like it's supposed to frighten me," she sneered. "But you aren't going to hit me. You're all talk."

And then Renaud did the thing that Calliope hated the most -- besides being a filthy mudblood, that was, and at least Renaud had one magical parent -- calling her Callie.

"It's Calliope," she informed her sternly. "Kuh-lye-oh-pee. But I guess that's one way to tell you and your sister apart: you must be Renaud the sub-literate, who finds four syllable names a struggle."

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zoerenaud
2015-01-28 10:22 am UTC (link)

Yeah and it was probably blood money he made off the backs of the lesser fortunate, but Zoe bit that back. It was actually painful for her to remain quiet when she wanted to make a snide comment back. So she let it pass, and she let the next comment pass too, with little more than an arched eyebrow. But the last one...

Intelligence was a touchy topic with Zoe, but it wasn't a topic she made known, and it was enhanced because she had an identical twin that succeeded so well at everything schooling and she couldn't stop measuring herself up to Lena, even if she kept it to herself most of the time. And yet Calliope was great with those digs, which was even more annoying.

So she smiled, and it was not a friendly smile. It was the most malicious thing about her. "Right. Calliope," she said, over enunciating the name. "The girl so blind and ignorant, she can't tell us apart after seven years of sharing classes with us. Pity that must be, having to have every thing spelled out for you, nice and slow, and then having to turn around and put on this act, like you're above it all. I might be sub-literate but I am a damn near sight smarter than you. Walk away, you're pissing me off." That was a warning, and it was the only warning Zoe was likely to give.

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calliopetravers
2015-01-28 10:38 am UTC (link)

"Oh, I can tell you apart just fine," Calliope said, perkiness and mock sincerity dripping from every word. "One of you gets Os and Es, and the other manages As on a good day, Ps and Ds the rest of the time." She smiled, flashing dimples at the Renaud.

"Or did you think I had nothing better to do with my time than sit there examining the both of you, looking for the minute mole or freckle that would let me tell you apart visually? Newsflash, Renaud, that would never happen, for the following reasons. One, your sister's the queer, not me. Two, you're fucking clones. Deal with it."

She was about to turn and walk away, and perhaps start a note to Delilah about what a loser Renaud was, when the last comment reached her ears. She turned back, her smile icy. Dangerously icy. "What are you going to do, Renaud?" she asked, her voice still mild, perky, but the undertone of aggression evident. "Herp-derp me to death? I'm shaking."

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zoerenaud
2015-01-29 04:01 am UTC (link)

That wasn't actually true. Zoe had obviously passed her classes to NEWT level. She might be a little bit of a slacker, but who wasn't? The slight wasn't as bad as the last one, though, so she could shrug it off. But Calliope kept digging. Just digging her own grave, and Zoe had to watch her do it.

"I'd rather be her clone than have to look at your ugly albino face in the mirror every morning," Zoe snapped - shouted really. Other students had actually begun to stop, hanging back along the fringes of the corridor to watch them. Then Zoe clapped, loudly, obnoxiously. "I don't know how you do it, but you deserve a bloody award for it. Not really a community service, but you keep fighting the good fight."

Zoe curled her fists tighter. "Walk away Callie, just walk away. Daddy dearest isn't here, nobody's here to protect. You and I are equals, and if you don't bloody back down, I'll show you how bloody equal we are."

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calliopetravers
2015-01-29 04:12 am UTC (link)

This was actually beginning to be sort of fun. Calliope grinned brightly again, shimmying her shoulders just a little. "Albino?" She let out a merry little laugh. "That just proves my point. The definition of an albino is someone with no pigment. They have blonde hair. I'm a redhead. You could have called me a ginger and scored a point but even that was too intellectual for you. And you'd know all about community service - with a track record like yours you'll be doing a lot of it when you get out of Hogwarts."

Watching Renaud lose control was bordering on hilarious. A little more needling, and Calliope would be able to drop her in shit without even lifting a finger. "In your wildest dreams are we equal, pleb." She sneered. "Gonna hit me? Way to prove you've got the intellect of a troll - all fists and no finesse."

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zoerenaud
2015-01-29 04:59 am UTC (link)

Oh, she wanted to see finesse? Zoe would show her finesse. She'd been at Hogwarts a while - she knew how to duel, she was great at defense against the dark arts. And it sucked that she was being goaded by someone like Calliope, but she wasn't a detached observer here, she knew what was happening. She knew she was being goaded, it wasn't accidental. Zoe just didn't care about semantics like that. That was who Zoe had been before the death of her uncle. She hadn't cared about semantics like being the bigger person, taking the high road, remaining calm in the face of adversity. She'd leave that to better people. What she'd cared about was making people eat their words, and making them cry. That was how she lived with herself. She didn't cry over teasing, she made them cry.

Zoe didn't reach for her wand, but she moved fast enough, obviously driven by anger. She threw her books aside and lunged at Calliope, and swung hard, for that smug stupid face, because it didn't matter if a troll relied on violence to Zoe. Sometimes violence got shit done.

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calliopetravers
2015-01-29 05:10 am UTC (link)

Renaud was fast. Too fast.

The punch landed square on Calliope's jaw, splitting her lip so that she tasted blood. And it took her a moment to realize what had happened, because in her world, people didn't fight like this. They drew wands and settled their differences in a civilized manner.

Wiping the blood from her mouth, she narrowed her eyes at Renaud and pulled out her wand, casting "Condolesco" without even blinking. The green light shot from her wand, hitting Renaud square in the face and Calliope just waited for it to take effect.

"Nice shot," she said in a cold voice. "Too bad that's all you get before I send you to the Hospital Wing."

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zoerenaud
2015-01-29 07:40 am UTC (link)

Magic felt like cheating to Zoe. She didn't grow up as a muggle. Her brother outed this whole wizard ordeal when Zoe and Lena were both at an extremely young age, and after that it was almost as if they'd always grown up with it. They still fashioned tree houses with their hands, and rode bikes and played pretend like the muggles growing up, but their father had been extremely forth coming with what it meant to be a part of this world. They weren't robbed of anything. But to Zoe, to rely entirely on that ability felt a lot like cheating. It didn't mean she hadn't thrown herself into Defense against the dark arts, and charms.

Magic made her feel powerful. But fighting wasn't about magic. It was about building and destroying something with your own two hands. Getting dirty. And it didn't surprise her a bit that Calliope pulled out a wand as soon as she could. That bitch had probably not gotten dirty in her entire life.

She supposed to Calliope, inflicting pain without having to ever touch your opponent was power. She was dull, and thick and shallow, so she was likely to think that. And it hurt. The intense migraine was startling, and Zoe recoiled, grimacing at the sting. "Hospital wing, are you shitting me?" She asked incredulously. Who in their bloody mind would go to the hospital wing for a headache? "You're gonna have to do better than a headache." And then she lunged for Calliope.

She hit Calliope with her full weight, low, like a rugby player might, and tackled Calliope. What students had been lingering hadn't dispersed yet. Fist fights weren't an every day affair in the halls of Hogwarts, and it was definitely worth it to be late to class to watch it. Not necessarily worth it to interfere, but watching was free.

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calliopetravers
2015-01-29 07:54 am UTC (link)

Letting out an undignified shriek as the two of them tumbled to the floor, Calliope lost grip on her wand and heard it skitter away.

Physically fighting was definitely not something she indulged in - good girls didn't - but she wasn't going to take this lying down. Even if she was... sort of... lying down already. She was quick with the reflexes and wriggled out from under the Renaud, grabbing a fist full of her hair and yanking hard. That wouldn't help the migraine any.

"Get off me you queer!" she shrieked. "You Renauds really are clones, in looks AND proclivities!"

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zoerenaud
2015-01-29 09:07 am UTC (link)

"Ow," Zoe shouted, but it sounded so much more angrier than it sounded pained. That didn't mean it didn't hurt. Zoe's pain generally turned to anger. Getting hurt fueled her fire, it didn't extinguish it. She grabbed Calliope's wrist, digging her nails in hard enough to draw blood as she ground her teeth together.

If she wanted to throw slurs around, Zoe would give her a slur. She moved, pushing away the pain, crawling over Calliope. "You bet your damn ass I'm a bloody queer." She dug her knee into Calliope's hip, and jerked her head down, feeling the sharp pull of Calliope's hand in her hair every inch she moved forward. She pressed her lips to Calliope's hard.

The migraine was almost overwhelming. It'd moved from being an incredulous inconvenience to something more akin to scalp splitting. It was the worst kiss she'd ever had, but it didn't matter, because there was a point to be made here. Watch what the fuck you call someone.

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calliopetravers
2015-01-29 09:17 am UTC (link)

Calliope panicked. Flat out panicked. Scrabbling and wriggling she managed to get out of the Renaud's clutches where she wiped her mouth theatrically. She considered spitting, but decided against it. She'd lost enough face for one day.

"What the hell was that?" she screeched. "It's not enough to be a freak, you have to spread your freak germs around?"

She got to her feet, grabbing her scattered things and hurrying - not running, because that would be undignified - hurrying to her class. Ugh, she could still feel Renaud's lips against her own. Revolting.

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zoerenaud
2015-01-29 10:24 am UTC (link)

Even when Calliope nearly shoved Zoe off of her to wiggle free and then practically flee the scene of the crime, Zoe was grinning. She rose - very dignified - to her feet, brushed off her robes and then took a theatrical bow for those students that had stuck around long enough to see the fight's end. They weren't applauding. She had her head held high.

"That's your princess, Hogwarts. Can't fight worth shite, the oxygen thieving, walking, talking fecal waste dump. That's your princess. A cancerous brain tumor, dead from neck up." She would've laughed if she didn't feel riled up right now - still angry.

"If anybody's got anything to say, you can say it to my face, and I'll kiss you too. And bite the tongue out your head while I'm at it. Bullying's not tolerated here. If you've got trouble keeping your words to yourself, I'll help you. I'm bloody generous like that." She pulled her wand from her robes, and started walking toward the dispersing students, but the fight was over. She said, "Accio books," and caught the books without breaking her stride. She moved through the crowd, but there was more confidence, more swagger to her step. She might be rubbish at turning over a new leaf, and being a better person, but she was done settling. Malicious people were always going to exist, but if they did exist - so help her Merlin, she planned to make them fear her.

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