Legilimency?
Danypaces angrily back and forth in the middle of the empty Gryffindor common room. Her long, black robes flowing behind her, as she stalks past Arya and Gendry again, becoming more and more upset.
Every so often she would glance up at the Quidditch Sign-up poster on the wall. And then at Jon Snow's name... scribbled in at the very bottom.
The snapping flames in the fireplace dance wildly, crackling blue and orange flames behind her, as she walks past again.
Arya lounges in front of the fire, stretched out on the couch. Gendry relaxes on the other end, watching Dany pace back and forth, absently staring beyond the hypnotic fire behind her. Arya taps Gendry’s leg with her foot, rolling her eyes towards Dany, a nod at her growing impatience. They share a quietly amused expression.
Gendry sighs obnoxiously, pulling his feet up onto the couch next to hers, “Goodnight,” he lays back, closing his eyes.
"Well… Where is everyone?" Dany finally huffs hotly.
"Dany relax, you made us be here a half hour early," Arya sighs, kicking a fake-snoring Gendry awake. "It's only 7:35, they'll be here."
"Daario is never late." She frowns, "Something is wrong."
Gendry leans up and forward, hugging a plush pillow, "Well, you know, you did let us know about this meeting pretty last minute."
“So?” Dany huffs in surprise, then stops pacing. "It’s important?" She folds her arms, "And that shouldn't matter, considering our first match is in a few weeks. We haven't even scheduled our tryouts yet?"
Gendry smirks, nodding quietly, "Mhm hm."
Arya scoffs a grin at him, hiding a chuckle, as Gendry coyly shrugs again, “Right.”
Dany spins around on her heel, facing them both, "I'm sorry— and what does that mean?"
Arya waves him off, explaining, "Well, what he means is... was— that this meeting was kind of on the spot." She gestures towards her with a smirk, "As in, nobody knew about it, before supper yesterday."
Daenerys shuts her eyes, impatiently frustrated. "But everyone said they would come."
"Yeah, well." Arya chuckles lightly, "It's also a little strange actually, because we've never asked everyone to come before either. Our first meeting of the year has always just been the returners."
Whataretheygettingat?
"So?" She folds her arms.
"So, that may have thrown people off a bit. You changed some things." Arya eyes her thoroughly.
Dany shrugs. "I thought it was time for a change. To include everyone."
"Why though? Our first meeting, we are supposed to talk about the new potential players?" Arya furrows her bushy brows.
"Exactly. It's prejudiced to create a bias before tryouts." Dany eyes her plainly, "That's intimidating to new players. Like the positions are already set. They're not set."
Gendry sifts his vision over at Arya with a knowing grin, "Right... and a certain mysterious wizard wasn’t the reason for it either."
Arya sits up, smacking his arm, widening her eyes in warning. "Gendry? I told you not to bring it up!"
Dany looks back between the two of them, her lips curving downwards, "What, you mean, because I asked, Jon Snow?"
"We're not blind, Dany." Gendry smirks, scratching the scruffy beard along his jaw, "You just want to get to know him."
"Know him? Well, a little bit— but this meeting is about quidditch?" She eyes them both speculating, "Have you two been talking behind my back?” She raises her brows, “Arya?"
The feisty brunette folds her small arms with a shrug, blinking back a straight face, but then peers back at Gendry in awe, as he nervously starts to laugh.
"Really, Gen?" she reprimands him.
"What?" he gawks nervously, "It's funny!"
"Talking behind my back is funny?" Dany quips, pursing her lips.
"No, no," Arya stutters, as she watches Gendry hunch over in laughter, and she can't help but let out a small giggle too, explaining, "We weren't talking behind your back, Dany... I just, told him... about your little crush, that's all."
Dany gapes at them in betrayal. "I do not have a crush. I’m just curious." She huffs at them in disbelief. And then huffs again, at the overall ridiculousness of it.
"Uh— You know,” Gendry says, mocking Jon’s deep voice, “Daenerys. I don’t think I've ever seen you so flustered before last night." He beams, throwing the pillow at a laughing Arya, "That was pretty amusing."
Dany twists her mouth to the side. "I wasn’t flustered? I am just concerned," she narrows her pale, violet eyes, "I can tell that something's not entirely true about what they say about him. And I think, that he was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time. I think we should help him."
"Right, help him." Gendry coos, wiggling his eyebrows scandalously. Then, his eyes suddenly bug out in horrored disbelief. "Wait hold on!” He points at her, half standing up.
She side glances to Arya, ”What...”
“You can read minds, can't you!" he gasps loudly, backing up by the fireplace, "How—how did you know that? That he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?"
What?
"Read— minds?" she chuckles at him, confusedly. “What do you mean?”
"You know," he whispers accusingly, "Legilimency?" He whispers to himself in shock, “I was just thinking that, and then, you said it...”
Her and Arya mirror-share a shocked grin, then start giggling uncontrollably.
"Legilimency?" she gasps, "I'm a sixth year student— that's nearly impossible?! Who told you I could do that?”
Even if she had read his thoughts... she very well wasn’t even aware she did. She immediately thought back to that night on the train when she heard Jon’s pleas against the dementor. She pushed that thought way into the back of her mind.
Gendry frowns back with a small shrug. His expression slowly falling more anxious, “Uhh,” his forehead wrinkles nervously, “Tormund.”
“Well, there you go.” Arya gestures obviously.
Though then, the two girls' grins gradually subside in realization, now processing more the weight of his words.
Wait a minute. He must have told him something important about that.
“What do you mean, exactly, by ‘he was at the wrong place at the wrong time’?” She squints her eyes at him, “What does that mean?”
He freezes, nonchalantly explaining, "I—I didn't mean it like that. Like that you knew he said something to me...” Arya leaps up from her seat, and so he starts backing away, “It's nothing—just, I think that you're right... he is innocent. I think." He nods, checking behind him, slowly moving around the armchair towards the windows. His eyes, now dancing nervously back and forth between the two of them, as they stride forward menacingly, while he suddenly bumps into the windows.
Dany sits against the arm of the chair, impatiently folding her arms. Arya whips out her wand, slowly stepping towards him— a joking threat. She delicately aims her wand at his chest, then swiftly to his neck. "You know something, Waters. Spill it."
He chuckles nervously, glancing away from the noticeably short distance of space his chin was now to her forehead. "Oh, come on?” His voice cracks, “When did this turn against me?"
Arya quaintly pushes back his chest with her other hand, knocking him back against the windows. "Gendry— What do you know about him?" She chuckled with a short gasp, as he had fallen slightly, catching himself by the ledge with his left arm— staring at her in shock. She winces, backing down. “Sorry.”
"Jesus?“ He gawks at her ridiculously, like she’d just murdered his grandmother, then timidly shakes his head, “I don’t know anything—" He reaches down to rub his wrist tenderly. "Jesus— Why do you always have to push me?"
Dany had honestly always thought Gendry was dramatic... but she’s only now just realizing how much he really seemed to turn it up a notch in front of Arya.
“Sorry, I was just joking,” Arya laughs, mumbling maturely, “...if only you weren’t such a baby."
He huffs at her defensively, “I was only trying to—“ he freezes, his face slowly morphing into newfound amusement. “Hold on— Did you just call me baby?” he says, flashing her a classic Gendry grin, dropping his wrist, as well as the act.
Dany gawks at him, rolling her eyes while turning away to hide her own smirk.
Arya scoffs incredulously at him. “What?— I” she sputters, turning red, “I called you a baby, shit face— there’s a difference...”
Gendry backs off, waving, “Okay... Boy, no need to get all embarrassed, Arya.”
This was the point where Dany’s eyes usually widened with secondhand embarrassment. It happened whenever Gendry and Arya acted like this and she suddenly felt the urge to leave the room. They both could be so... completely oblivious to other people sometimes. Pushing each other until the other one was literally speechless.
And it was bad enough last year with the ridiculous fighting. But this year, somehow the fighting— had become fueled by and altered into something much more than just hatred... And as much as it was entertaining, it was also nauseating to be around.
Upon hearing the lock unhitch, Dany coughs loudly, getting back their attention, and then they all pan over towards the majestic heavy door, as it carefully swung open.
Stepping inside, was Tormund and Gilly arguing in the midst of a heated conversation— with Jon Snow following in close behind them, undoubtedly exploiting his typical moody expression.
He really did always look annoyed at everyone. Or just sad.
Tormund coughs out, pointing, "See, I told you Gilly! We're early."
Gilly shakes her head angry, echoing flatly, "No, you're late. I told you, I'm not joining this meeting." Then she scans the room, suddenly puzzled. Now turning her gaze over to Daenerys with a slow, blank stare. "Wait, but why's nobody here?"
Tormund cocks his head at Jon, smirking. "I'm gonna have to go with that it's because of our frightening fellow right here." He laughs, pointing his jagged wand up at the sign up poster, “That’s apparently one scary signature. Hmm maybe you might need me this year?” He chuckles teasingly.
Dany knew Jon Snow was reason behind the no-show, but him saying it out loud now, just made her even more angry.
"Well," she smiles coldly, "we can still wait a few minutes longer."
Arya huffs, strutting over, plopping herself back down on the maroon couch, as Gendry followed her. She raises her thick brows dryly, "Well, we could be here a while."
•
Dany shifts on her toes, staring into the blazing fireplace. "How can people believe something about someone so easily without proof?" she wonders madly.
Tormund scoffs, shrugging his shoulders, though in contrast, Jon peeks up at her, his eyes cautiously surprised.
She starts pacing again, "The players who knowingly chose not to come tonight for whatever reason, will later suffer the consequences," she threatens.
Tormund gulps, flash-questioning a look over at Gendry. He mouths to him silently asking, 'suffer?'
"Suspension," she articulates, quickly glancing at Tormund, "Not, a torturous death."
Gendry sneaks back a mocking grin over at Tormund. "Okay, then. Well, we are all here, so why don't we get started anyway?"
•
They all lay relaxed and reclined on the furniture, with the overcast hue glowing golden in front of the fire.
Dany walks back to her display board, continuing her speech with a pointed wand.
"So that is a key element to this strategy... if we want to win. Pacing, control, and defense. Then we worry about the offense."
Tormund rolls his eyes at Jon, who was sitting in the chair behind him, mimicking Dany with a talking hand. Jon smiles back at him quietly.
Dany stops, turning her attention towards the red head. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?"
Tormund's smile immediately curves downwards, as he blinks back at her with a shrug, considering. "No, it's just, I didn't know this meeting was gonna be this long. I'm tired."
Her eyes widen at his boldness, but then he suggests, defending himself, "Well, this strategy stuff is probably important and all, but I'm more of an action guy. You know, I think out on the field... not weeks beforehand."
Arya cringes, shaking her head in utter aggravation, turning around to face him, "That's what strategizing is, idiot."
Daenerys smirks, pouting in amusement, "It's alright. Arya, Gendry, we can end here."
"Wait," Arya remembers suddenly, then taps Gendry for his attention, asking out loud, "Don't we still have the interviews?"
He winks back at her, twitching a grin. "Oh yeah, Dany, the interviews."
Dany frowns, "Oh, yes. Well, actually Jon and Tormund are the only non-returners here right now so that would be rather pointless, right? Besides, we usually do them at tryouts anyway."
Tormund smiles sheepishly, "Aye, and I actually have some homework...and things to do so..."
Gendry gapes at him, laughing out loud at his ridiculously unlikely excuse. "I thought you were tired?"
"All right then. We will postpone—" Dany says, but then stops, interrupted by Tormund again.
"I don't see why Snow can't stay, though. He doesn't have any homework, do ya, Snow?" He elbows him cheekily, as Jon glares back at him in exhaustion.
Hmm. Points to you, Giantsbane. She would rather do his interview alone, without everyone around to eavesdrop.
Why was she so desperate to know more about him? How could someone who barely talked be so... interesting?
"Hmm," she tilts her head thoughtfully, pretending to be thinking about it. She puts a hand on her hip, "Well, I don't see why not?"
Arya rolls her eyes with a half-smirk, rubbing two tired fingers into her temple. "Okay, well I'm going to bed."
The rest of them all turn around to Jon, waiting for his response.
He shrugs back hesistantly, "I mean... I guess I could stay."
•
Before the other boys go upstairs, leaving Jon completely alone with Dany, Tormund whispers in his ear cautiously, "Be careful, Snow. Don't get caught saying something that she'll hold against you."
Yeah, there was no way she's putting up with that one all year. He was hard enough to deal with in class, let alone by choice, in her extra curricular activities.
Jon glares back at her, suddenly confused, as Tormund flees in escape, chuckling up the stairs. “—Wait?" Jon echoes quietly, “What’s this really about?” But Tormund was already halfway up the stairs and gone.
Arya stands up with Gilly, then heads over to the stairs, repeating her offer, "Dany? We'll be in our room... if you need... anything." She flashes her eyes seriously.
Why was everyone making this such a big deal?
He’s not dangerous. She wanted to get to know him, yes, but this is about quidditch. That's it.
She tosses her silver hair over her shoulder, smiling casually, "Okay? I'll be in in a few minutes. Goodnight."
•
Dany sips her tea, sneaking over a look at Jon, wondering what she said wrong, as he stares hotly into the fire, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
Maybe her preliminary questions were too hard? And he was intimidated by it. Or maybe... it was because of the enchanted quill, intrusively recording his answers?
She walks around the couch, still watching him out of the corner of her eye, and picks up a Quidditch text-guide laying flat on the table.
She opens the thick pamphlet, absently leafing through it, though she finds herself more interested in the way Jon's zoned eyes blacken a certain mysterious depth. Lost to the flames in a thoughtful trance.
What was he thinking about? What could she have possibly said wrong?
She shakes her head, switching her focus back to the text.
Oh well, if something was bothering him, he better say something soon... or she was going to ask.