Subterranean Meetings

[Deleted]

It was cold. Gracie did not approve. She did not like the cold. Cold weather was, to her, nature's way of telling you that no, sweetie, you couldn't go and play outside. Gracie had never liked being patronised, and she certainly didn't like being constrained, but even she had too much common sense to go out and sit around at this time of year, so instead, she was moping around the basement. The brunette had left her common room out of sheer irritation. There were far too many people around and while in the normal way of things Gracie loved to have people around, she had a headache, she was tired and she simply was not in the mood to contend with the everyday idiocy of some of the Hufflepuff boys. When they had started throwing people's bags around, she had had to get up and leave and now, here she was. Maybe she'd go to the kitchens... but she had just eaten, and she didn't really feel like eating anything else.

So that found her in a corridor which she couldn't quite identify, wandering along with her hands in the pockets of her jeans and thinking about nothing much. Which was in fact Gracie's default state of being whenever she ventured out of her den- otherwise and more commonly known as the Hufflepuff common room.

annie le beau

[annie le beau]

Annie was at a disadvantage to other seventh years. She still got lost on the way to some classes, and she still struggled finding her way around the huge and labyrinthine castle. Today, since it was too cold to be outside and experience the beauty of the grounds, would instead be spent trying to rectify that problem. Anne had started with the dungeons and she was fairly certain now she knew her way around the deepest depths of the castle, cold dark and oppressive as they were. The Slytherin was more or less used to that by now. After all, as a snake her common room was nestled away in the dungeons. The next step was obviously the basement. She'd work her way up floor by floor, or so she reckoned. She only hoped that she could avoid another unfortunate run in with Peeves, or Professor Weasley.

Annie found herself wandering out of the boat house and back down the corridor. She had only previously known about these boats from seeing a few wet first years at the beginning of thee term. It was interesting to see their sleeping place...For a few minutes. She had quickly gotten dreadfully bored and decided to move along, less she find herself getting bored and her part veela temper get the better of her.

Clad in a brand new sweater, and a pair of warm, cozy pants, the cold of the basement wasn't bothering Annie too much, but soon her eyes fell upon a pretty girl of her own age, who seemed a little more affected by the cold. Annie wasn't the most sociable creature and so her intent to keep walking was apparent. She did offer a dazzling veela smile, but that was simply all part of her self presentation. Looking like sweet, gentle soul despite her vanity, and hot temper. She also hoped that smile would conceal her wandering eye. Annie wasn't ready to admit to the world that she was into girls, so as her eyes took in the brunette she shuffled on a little awkwardly.

[Deleted]

Gracie was studying the floor as she went along with an air of total disinterest, for which she had a very good reason; namely that nothing very interesting was happening, and hence, she was not interested in it. That was about to change, but for now, she was still stuck in the tedium of having nothing to do, nowhere to be and nobody to speak to. Which was not a good place to be in; not in the slightest, and so she was just contemplating going somewhere else when something happened which suddenly changed her mind.
A girl walked past. This, in and of itself, was not anything like enough to amuse her- approximately half of the population of the castle was female, and they had to get around somehow, right? But this girl was different. She was a Slytherin, but that wasn't it either; approximately a quarter of the female half of the castle came from the house of the snakes. No, what made this girl different was that she was absolutely stunning, and Gracie's jaw dropped as she walked past. Metaphorically speaking, of course, because to stand there gawping was not only rude but also made one look like an idiot.

For a moment or two, she simply stood there, unashamedly eyeing the girl from head to toe, and she was just a little pleased to think that it was at least possible that the Slytherin was doing the same to her. And, oh Merlin, that smile... Gracie was a sucker for a pretty smile in any case, and this one had some magical enhancement, not that she had any way of telling that of course. Up until that point, the Hufflepuff had been going to let the girl walk out of her life, but after a smile like that... Ah, what the hell?
"Hey, gorgeous." she called.

[annie le beau]

Annie was no stranger to compliments or even cat calls. She knew she was a beauty, and if she ever forgot or doubted it, her veela charm made sure that one of the male students in the school would be there to set that right almost immediately. The whole thing was usually rather tedious, honestly. It was rarer that she received attention from the fairer sex however, and her own preference for women was something she had yet to explore. Her intent to leave very quickly began to abandon her as she contemplated Gracie. She turned sharply on her her heel. She vaguely recognised the girl now, they had some classes together. Annie searched for a name, as she looked over the flirt. But it wasn't coming to her.

"'Ey yourself." she purred back to the brunette. She'd never have been so open with her interest around anyone else. The vain girl didn't want to behave in a way that would diminish her social standing. There were quite a few queer students in the castle. That was obvious, but that didn't mean everyone was accepting, and Annie wasn't ready to take that risk. Still. She was alone with the badger down here, at least as far as she knew. Perhaps there was less harm in this than there usually would be. Annie made her way back toward the other girl now.

"Maybe you could show me around the basement. Zis is badger territory, yes?" she asked gently hamming up her accent a little on purpose.

[Deleted]

Gracie was under no illusions as to her appearance. She was not one of the most beautiful or even pretty girls in the world, or even in the school. But it didn't bother her as such. There were other elements to her; she was far more than just skin deep and she had so many layers that even she wasn't quite sure just how far down she went. She didn't care what other people thought about her unless they really knew her as a person. In fact, she just didn't care what issues anyone else had with her life, her appearance or even her sexuality. They were part of what made her her, and she did not intend to give up any part of herself at any time soon, thank you very much.

Her heart nearly stopped when the girl reciprocated her opening gambit; she had expected a disdainful look and a dismissive comment, perhaps. But Gracie wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth; she simply allowed a flirtatious smile to creep across her face and went with the flow. "I think I could manage that." she agreed, leaving her wall and stepping over towards the blonde. "But perhaps you could tell me your name first? I'd hate to have an encounter with such a lovely lady and come away not even knowing how to refer to her. That would be a real tragedy, don't you think?"

[annie le beau]

One of the most interesting things about beauty, was that it was usually subjective. Annie knew, objectively, that she was beautiful. Whether she was right or wrong, she knew it. She also knew, subjectively, that Gracie was a very pretty girl. Maybe not a beauty queen but perhaps that was part of the appeal, she wasn't a cookie-cutter beauty. Annie found herself admiring the girl in a way she never would have permitted of herself if they had been above ground, and around their fellow students. To be seen flirting with a badger by the rest of the house of snakes was one thing, but to be seen flirting with a -woman- was something else all together.

If there was one way to get Annie off guard, it was praising her and lavishing attention on her. She knew that people couldn't help it quite often but she loved to be the centre of attention. As Gracie complimented her, Annie wasn't sure whether she was trying to butter her up, or earnestly flirting, hoping to get something tangible out of the situation. "Annie Le Beau" She introduved herself either way, grinning warmly to the girl who was fast becoming her favourite badger... A fierce competition between Gracie, and a literal badger that Annie had once seen at a zoo. None of the other Hufflepuffs came close. "And you are?" She asked. Annie had seen this girl in classes before but they'd never talked, never sat near one another. She was sure that she had heard the others' name.

She asked the pretty badger, as she started to continue her walk staying close beside the girl.

[Deleted]

Gracie's interests were not perhaps those of a typical teenage witch. She was not so much concerned with beauty charms and hair potions- so far as she was concerned, her looks were past all hope in any case- as she was with riding boots and stirrup leathers, although her opportunities for riding while at Hogwarts were lamentably limited; so much so, in fact, that they could be said to be non-existent. Hogwarts was not, as a school, concerned with riding; in fact, she thought that the closest thing to a horse which they might have on the premises was a centaur, and everyone knew just how they felt about the prospect of being ridden. She was sadly deprived.
Of course, her romantic interests were not exactly what the more conservative witch or wizard in the street might expect either. Gracie was, as she liked to joke, permanently indecisive, so much so that she really didn't know whether she preferred males or females. In fact, she didn't think she preferred either- she just saw someone that she liked and went from there, regardless of their sex. It was a fundamental part of Gracie's psychological makeup that she really didn't care what other people thought of her, and so she was quite prepared to admit her opportunistic approach to love. It was just how she was.
The girl fell neatly into step with the gorgeous Slytherin as she accompanied her down the corridor, a spring in her step and a smile on her lips. "Gracie Hill." she introduced herself, allowing her hand to brush against Annie's. "And it is a tragedy that I didn't know you earlier."

[annie le beau]

Annie nodded her head in agreement. It was a shame these two hadn't encountered one-another previously. Annie eyed Gracie with a growing interest. interest as she considered her. This was going to be a one-time thing, she thought. Flirting with this girl. There was no way that she could admit that it had happened after the fact.Who would take her seriously? Her blood status was already impaired by being a Veela. she didn't need to damage her family's reputation by being a gay veela. Annie couldn't imagine her mother would be impressed, and her grandmother had already almost burned down one family home over a relationship she found unacceptable. This made Annie's emotions a complicated mix of excitement that she was having a chance to express her attraction to women, particularly to tomboyish women like Gracie. She was also frustrated, upset that this wouldn't be something she'd ever have the hear  t to openly pursue. At least she thought not.

"So what is zere to see on zis floor?" Annie asked curiously, as she found herself drifting slightly closer to Gracie, the barest bit of skin on skin contact occurring between their hands. Annie felt no shame when she was alone, she'd made her peace with who she was, but it was up to the world to do the same.They wouldn't.

[Deleted]

Gracie noted the girl's interest in her out of the corner of one eye, and, although she didn't show it, she was rather flattered. The Slytherin girl was rather gorgeous, after all, and when Gracie had noticed her in the past- she rather thought that they shared some classes, although she might be mistaken, but either way, she knew they'd passed in the corridors many times before now- the brunette had always discounted the possibility out of hand when it had entered her head before, knowing, or thinking that she did, that she hadn't a hope in hell of ever having anything with Annie. Now, however, she was just about beginning to entertain the idea that she might be wrong.

"Well, there are the kitchens." Gracie suggested, her Hufflepuff mind going instantly to the prospect of food- although, looking at the figure of the girl next to her (and she wasn't likely to miss an opportunity) she wasn't sure that Annie would be quite so keen on the idea as she was. The brunette took plenty of exercise and had a naturally good metabolism, so she could eat more or less whatever she wanted and would have done so anyway, but she knew that some people were more concerned with the appearance of their bodies.

[annie le beau]

The kitchens. Annie supposed there had to be kitchens somewhere. Food couldn't just be created by magic, and honestly she was actually a little interested to see how the whole process worked down here. What sort of staff did they have cooking the meals? She'd never learned that about Beaubaxtons, she always assumed her previous school had very skilled chefs cooking away in industrial sized ovens. A few magically versed cooks could feed hundreds of students several courses fairly quickjly after all. Of course this chool was bubbling with strange eccentricities, from the presence of a poltergeist who had recently earned her ire, to the forbidden forest on the grounds filled with centaurs. Why should she assume the kitchens weren't equally strange.

"Ze kitchens sound interesting." She answered the other with a smile. She assumed Gracie's interest in the kitchens was probably a bit more material than academic but Annie wasn't going to begrudge her a snack. Annie herself was far to vain to indulge herself. For the young half-veela her figure was something that mattered a great deal. "Lead ze way?" she requested gently, and in a whimsical moment she interlocked her arm with Gracie's to walk arm-in arm with her. This wasn't something Annie would ever have done where anyone else would see them, but she suspected that whoever staffed the kitchen wouldn't talk about it, given she'd never even heard of them.

Annie shot the other girl a dazzling grin. As far as Annie was concerned she wasn't so much leading Gracie on as promising a single interesting experience.

gracie moreau; Sorry it's been a while!

[Deleted]

Gracie had never been remotely concerned with her figure since, so far as she was concerned, it wasn't worth preserving in any case and things could only get better. So, while she knew and appreciated the fact that there were many members of the school's female population, and of course, some of the male population as well, who tried to keep an eye on what they were eating in order to preserve a figure which was less than spherical, she herself, quite frankly, couldn't be bothered. She ate what she wanted, when she wanted to eat it, and as a benefit of this, she didn't have to struggle with her own lack of self-control. So, it was a win win situation, and Gracie was a big fan of win win situations. She always won.
Now, though, she was seriously thinking that she might have to reconsider that philosophy. This Slytherin girl was absolutely stunningly gorgeous, and the Hufflepuff had a feeling that if she wanted to make this a regular occurrence, then she was going to have to do something about herself. As to what she could do... well, that was a puzzler, but there was a charm for everything and a whole library full of books to find them in. Happily, the brunette laced her arm through Annie's and tightened her grip a little, arranging matters so that as they walked, her leg brushed against her new friend's. "This way." she indicated with her free arm.

[annie le beau]

Annie felt the other woman's leg brush up against her own and she continued her walk. A light blushing smile most unbecoming of the queen bee veela that was Anabel Le Beau crept across her lips at that point. She didn't really know what to do here. She'd never been flirted with by a woman - certainly not without her stringing them along, much less in such a physical fashion. She was distinctly flustered. It was odd that for someone who spent so much of her time ensnaring, using and manipulating people with her veela charm, that something as simple as brushing legs with a girl would set her off as much as it did. She supposed it was at least in part due to the fact that she'd been very curious about this sort of contact with the fairer sex for a while,but had rejected every advance a woman had ever made on her. Now alone in this basement, that was different.

Annie followed the other toward the kitchens, watching her out of the corner of her eye, contemplating her. This girl was interesting. Blunt, forward, she seemed to know strongly what she wanted. That was all desirable to to Annie but something she would struggle with if things ever became public. She had a reputation to uphold, simple as that. If Annie was to find the company of a woman, then she would need for it to be someone more discreet - but that was boring, and Gracie wasn't. Annie told herself that there could be no future there, while all the while growing more curious about how the world would react to her Gracie flirting in public, how it would deal with her kissing the Hufflepuff, or being kissed. All of this was, of course, hypothetical.

Then they reached the kitchen and Annie looked in from the door, standing aside in case Gracie wished to enter. House elves in their typical state of...inventive dress. Annie's family was in possession of a house-elf themselves. They'd never mistreated the poor thing, with the exception of her grandmother, but the veela temper wasn't an easy thing to account for. Annie wasn't surprised to see house elves. "Zat explains a lot." She said with a smile.