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9/27
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Harry Potter:"Do you really think there's going to be a war, Sirius?"
Sirius Black: "It… feels like it did before."
TURN ON THE LIGHT is a Post- Potter roleplay that takes place twenty-five years after the Second Wizarding War.
We welcome canon and original characters in this (currently) sandbox style roleplay.
It hadn't been that long since the move, but Sydney was beginning to think she had made a mistake. The lack of a job so far, combined with her general anxiety ramping up was making her actually consider packing up and moving back to the states. Not that it would have been any better, but at least she knew SOME people back home. Here, she was still completely alone.
Or so she thought. Until a memory from years back found its way to the forefront of her thoughts.
Back when she was a student, she wasn't exactly the most sociable. Which was why when the opportunity to have a penpal at Hogwarts presented itself, she jumped on it. It proved to be a great choice, and she had the pleasure of making a very close friend named Paz.
Hundreds of letters exchanged through the years, it was as though they had actually grown up together. They knew everything about each other, and Syd wasn't ashamed to admit that without Paz, life would have gone quite a bit different.
As the years passed, the letters slowed though. After all, life tended to get in the way of things like that. Eventually, they came to a halt, though she was never far from Syds mind.
It was those memories that helped Syd to decide that maybe reaching out would be a decent idea. She wasn't even sure if Paz was still in the UK, or even if she remembered Sydney. Regardless, Syd wrote out the letter, telling Paz that she had moved to the UK and was hoping to reconnect with an old friend. She sent it to the last known address she had, suggesting meeting up at a little pub, which was where Sydney currently found herself. Sipping nervously on her drink, her eyes kept darting to the door every time she heard it open.
Paz had stared at the letter for longer than felt natural. At first, the surprise had made Paz set the letter down to focus on something else. Most people would be delighted to reconnect with an old friend, and for the most part, Paz was. It just was not in her daily routine, and it threw her for a loop at first. She remembered all the many letters, the pouring each other’s souls out to one another, for that to slip away slowly. It had been painful to lose a contact like this, and that was the funny feeling crawling its way to the top.
Paz’s penpal situation was a complete and total accident. She had never signed up for the penpal program between Ilvermorny and Hogwarts. She thought it a silly activity at the time. Why would she write to someone she didn’t know when she had people she could speak to in person on a day-to-day basis? Much like Sydney’s first letter to arrive in her lap, quite literally, floated down from who knows where, she sat on it for a few days.
Then, Paz decided, there wasn’t much to lose to meet someone in person.
The complex feelings of sharing so deeply in her soul did not need to be addressed right now. Paz would never say she had been in love with Sydney, but she also hadn’t even told her nearest and dearest in-person friends the things she told Sydney. That meant something. But, there was little use in worrying over the past feelings that she couldn’t even label then.
Instead she put on a simple black shirt and some jeans and made her way to this bar that Sydney had asked her to meet at. It was like one of those dumb movies where people promise to meet each other somewhere on a certain date. The line rang through her head “If you’re still in the UK and able, I’ll be at the bar…” with a date and time located.
Paz hadn’t actually replied to Sydney. Which, in hindsight was not a very nice thing to do, but there was already an assumed date and time that Sydney had proposed. Had it not worked, Paz would have reached out then. However, since she built her own schedule and contracted her own jobs, she could make any meeting work.
Walking in, it was obvious who Sydney was, even if she had not seen her in person. They locked eyes as she entered, and Paz walked over to the table she sat at already with a drink. “What? You didn’t order me something?” she asked with a small grin. “That’s pretty rude Syd.”
With each passing moment, Syd found herself growing more and more nervous. She wasn't even sure that Paz was even still in the country, or that she would even want to see her. Things hadn't ended badly or anything, but still losing someone as close as they were wasn't easy. If Paz had been even half as invested as Syd, she was sure the pain had hit as well.
She was going to give Paz as much time as possible to show up though, even if it meant looking like a fool at the end of it. The rewards definitely outweighed the risks to Syd even if she was an absolute nervous wreck. Thankfully she was only sipping on water currently, because if it was alcohol in front of her she likely would have been smashed.
Sydney was gazing down at the table for a moment, not even really sure how long she had drifted off into her own world, when the sound of the bell over the entrance way snapped her eyes to it. It may have been a number of years, but there was no way that Syd wasn't going to recognize that face. "Holy shit.." she said under her breath, her heart racing a mile a minute.
A small part of her hadn't expected her to show up. With all the time that had passed, Sydney wouldn't have held it against her. Hell, Syd wasn't sure how she would have reacted if the tables had been turned. Before she knew it, Paz was at the table and after over a decade of letters, Syd finally had a voice to put with the face. "So much for the cliche Southern Hospitality you hear so much about." Syd said with a small chuckle, motioning to the server to bring a couple drinks.
Once the orders were in and the two were sat at the table, there were so many thoughts running through her mind. "I can't believe you're actually here Paz. I wasn't sure the letter was even going to find you.."
Sydney was not exactly what Paz had expected, if she was being perfectly honest. Some things were right in her head of what this person looked like - the big doe eyes was something she figured she had - even if it was a little rudely stereotypical of someone who was more naïve. The blonde though… that wasn’t the color of hair that she had pictured her having when they wrote all these years. Maybe they had never actually described themselves to one another.
Paz knew little of the United States - it wasn’t a very interesting place for her to be perfectly honest. Paz knew that England and Spain had their own problems, she’d grown up in both, but the way America was portrayed on the television gave her great pause. She had no desire to go there, and when she learned the south was, well, “sticky” as it was said in a letter her desire lessened. Maybe one day she'll change her mind. That all being said, when Sydney said something about southern hospitality, she ignored the comment. What even could that mean?
“I’m teasing,” she clarified with a very straight face and sat down. She caught the eye of one of the workers there and motioned that she was ready to order. But, before they could come over and Sydney said something that made her turn sharply to her. “You do know how owls work, right?” she asked out loud before she’d even processed the sentiment and the possible need behind it. “I mean, it was always going to find me,” she said a little lighter, a little more soft as she knew she could come across harsh and cold at times. It was one of her many wonderful traits of not knowing if she was joking or going to actually murder you with just a look.
“I’m here,” she asserted and ordered herself a dark beer when the server came by. She looked to Syd and let her order something else while she also put in for some chips and guacamole. It wasn’t like the guacamole in Spain, but it was simple bar food and it was safe. “Why are you here?” she asked, her eyebrow raised slightly in pure curiosity.
To Paz, Syd’s childhood was a mystery of rules and regulations. There was so much control that she would have long hurt her own parents or run away if they had done that to her - but her Mom’s were less likely to have any care over what she did as long as she didn’t actually get into too much trouble. But, Syd’s family felt like they would never let her leave this horrid little town with the church people. She felt her insides cringe at the memory of Syd describing her hometown and her family in the letters. But, she was here now, and honestly, London was going to be much of an improvement.
Considering how little planning most of her adult life had been, the small sense of normalcy that Syd felt when Paz walked in was such a relief. People had always found it strange that she had such a connection with a stranger halfway across the world, but that was one of the best parts. They could bare their souls to each other without judgement, without weird looks. The odds of them meeting had always been so small, at least in Sydney's mind since she had never really planned on leaving the States.
Syd felt a small blush creep across her cheeks at the comment about the owls, rolling her eyes slightly. "Well my owl wasn't always the smartest so I had a wee bit of concern." she said softly, breaking the gaze to order herself a nice wheat beer. She wasn't surprised at what Paz got, it just seemed to suit her.
It still didn't fully seem real to her that this was going to be her life now. Or that she was meeting the person that had gotten the closest to her while somehow being the farthest away. Her head was swimming with so many different emotions...happiness, a slight bit of worry, and a whole lot of nerves. Paz didn't waste any time though, asking what brought Syd over to the UK. "Never one to beat around the bush are ya." she said cheekily, thankfully being interrupted by the server bringing their drinks.
She took a sip, sighing with content before taking a deep breath. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, so I apologize in advance and feel free to cut me off at any point." she said, another sip of the beer to calm her nerves. "You know my family was always a bit....well fucking crazy to say the least. They ended up kicking me out and completely disowning me, on my 18th birthday nonetheless." she said with a shrug. "Best part? It wasn't even the magic, it was because they thought I was dating a girl." she said with the tiniest hint of a blush.
"So i took a few years, did some traveling across the US, never spending too much time in one place. Got tired of it all though, always felt like they had some way of keeping track of me." a slight shiver shot down her spine as she recalled the feeling of always having a set of eyes on her. Or the worry that someone was keeping tabs on her, reporting back to her family. "So i finally decided the only way I could feel free was a fresh start, and well...yeah, here I am." she said, realizing she had almost finished the beer. "Enough about me though, tell me all about you. It's been so damn long, I'm sorry that the letters fell off..." her voice trailed off slightly, that feeling of being not good enough threatening to creep back up to the top.
Paz felt herself biting her tongue as Sydney talked about her own. Her normal response would have been something like 'well owls are all trainable so what does that say about you?' But, one blunt comment right now was enough for the first in person meeting. Paz always felt she was herself in her writing, and also, when you were writing to someone you were more able to pause in your thoughts than you might in face to face conversation. Paz assumed she had plenty of time to build up to her short and curt humor. It was after all like meeting your best friend and a stranger all at once. Paz was a different person three years later than she was in school. Paz had an entire business now that she ran on her own timelines and created much more than she was ever able to in school.
"No, I'm not," she agreed as Sydney made a very obvious statement. Paz didn't ever want to be frivolous with her time. She had things she could be doing instead of engaging in frivolous activities. There were many passions in Paz's life - wasting time was not one of them. Sydney asked to meet, and Paz did want to, but also wanted to know why most of all.
Paz simply looked at Sydney as she told her it was a long story, using silence to invite her to go on. She took a small sip of her drink as she spoke, not breaking eye contact with her. Her face stoic and focused, she could feel the judgment tugging at the corner of her eyes when Sydney mentioned her family. "Mhmm," she agreed, remembering snippets of past aggressions that almost warranted the crucio curse.
Paz didn't emote when she mentioned there was a theorized girlfriend that the family disowned her for. Coming from a household that was as fluid as possible in sexuality and having no box she would put herself in when it comes to that part of her life, she always found it infuriating when someone disowned someone for existing. "What was her name?" Paz asked, because she refused to put energy into people who held a holier than though attitude over everyone. The irony with the church, and another reason that religion was more likely a cult than an actual gateway to an all powerful entity.
"Getting a fresh start in Europe sounds like the most American thing you've ever done," she said with a slight smile on her face. She broke eye contact for the first time to find her glass again and take a drink. "How long are you staying? Where are you staying?" There were certain areas of the city that were more dangerous than others, and Paz didn't know Sydney's full magical ability in such situations. Call it concern, call it human decency, she didn't want her friend to be killed for a stupid reason.
When Sydney mentioned the letters Paz found herself blinking a few times before her face fell into part of a frown. She could feel the guilt coming from her and it was not the feeling she had about the letters stopping. It just was another thing that happened. People drift apart and that was okay. "Well, I never sent a letter either, so we're both the asshole and can move on." Yes, she skipped the question of 'tell me about yourself' - it was too vague and too much like an interview or a bad first date where you'd already run out of topics to talk about. Paz also didn't like to talk about herself. It felt like bragging and she didn't need to brag about her superiority traits, she knew them, that was enough.
Even as she spoke, Sydney was still finding the whole situation hard to believe. Not just that she was finally sitting with someone that knew everything about most of her life, but that she was living in another country, finally....free. It was a feeling she had never honestly expected to feel. But oh was she glad she did, even moreso that she had her Paz.
Sydney wasn't used to someone so...blunt, but it was a bit refreshing. She could tell that she would never have to mix words, or wonder what Paz meant. No hidden meanings, no having to be overly cautious that she was going to say the wrong thing...it may take a bit of time, but if this was the new normal it would be worth it.
Of all the things in her story, Sydney noticed that Paz zeroed in on the girl, and a soft smile came across her lips. "Jamie. Wonder what shes up to nowadays.." she said as her voice trailed off softly. Syd had considered reaching out, but she had to leave any trace of that life behind. Freedom meant making sacrifices after all. She enjoyed seeing Paz smile, and Sydney couldn't help but to laugh at her comment. "Yeah, running away is a pretty American thing ain't it." she said with a wink, ordering another beer.
"As for where I'm staying, kind of hotel hopping for now til I find a steady job. Got enough saved up to last a bit, couple interviews lined up." she said with a slightly nervous sip. That was stress she wasn't really wanting to deal with yet, so she moved on quickly. "As for how long...don't want to say forever but that's kind of the plan for now." she said with a shrug.
Paz could almost sense the memories playing across Sydney's brain as she said the girls name. Paz was never one to read too much into anything. She had learned people say a lot of things and do the other, it was a rather constant in life. That said, there was definitely some kind of connection with Jamie that Sydney might not have been able to see, but there was something there. Her tone around Jamie's name and the way she lingered on thinking of her even now.
"You really cherished her," she said. That was a nice and rare feeling in this world. Finding a person who's oddities met your own seemed harder for people in these modern times. Paz was not immune to the juggle of life, friends, and lovers. Yet, she had rarely cherished someone deeply enough to leave an entire situation because it was the better option.
There wasn't much she could do to offend her mothers though. They both had their own neurotic tendencies that she did also adore. Chloe was emotional and high-maintenanced, while her mother Rosa could be manipulative, but only used it for resourceful endeavors. Her birth father was very cold and distant, not wanting to associate himself with his failed pairing and child. It was a wonder that Paz was as stable as she was. Sydney had had a very different childhood and upbringing. Though, she probably never watched one of her parents threaten to tear someone's eyeballs out with her own fingernails. Honestly, Paz wanted to see if Chloe could have done it or not.
"You know, you could always contact Jamie and find out," she suggested. "What was her feelings about the situation anyways?" Paz might unleash her moms on Sydney's parents if they needed. And probably these Jamie's parents too.
If we thought the internal thoughts around Jamie were upsetting, it was when Sydney said she was hotel hopping without a job. "No, you're not." She stated, a fact, not an exclamation or question. "You're checking out of whatever frivolous place you've 'landed' and coming to mine."
It surprised Paz a little too that she offered up her own place, as she was not known for the being the hospitable type. She'd tolerated the roommate situation at Hogwarts, but never loved the idea of sharing so much time with the same people. However, the impulse wouldn't stay inside her mind. Plus, she has a perfectly empty guest room she never utilized and it has a much better bed than any hotel in the city.
Interacting with someone who wasn't a complete stranger wasn't something Sydney had done in quite some time. Yet here she was with her childhood best friend, and it was as though they hadn't spent a moment apart. Paz was extremely observant, picking up on things that Syd herself may never had known. "She was a muggle friend who didn't care about the magical side of me. A rare occurrence." Sydney hadn't told many people in her life about the true nature of her secrets, and for good reason. The judgement and stress wouldn't have been worth it in the slightest. Easier to lie.
Paz suggested contacting the girl, and Syd just shook her head. "Too risky that my family would find out, not worth the risk. For all I know they probably think I'm dead, wonder what that celebration was like." she said with a bitter tone to her voice. She was positive that her departure hadn't mattered to a soul in her life at the time, and it wasn't a wound worth reopening. "Honestly, it's probably for the best. Fresh start and all that." she said trying to get a more positive tone back. No use dwelling on the past, especially with such an uncertain future.
Before she could change the subject though, Paz took care of that by making an offer that caused Sydney to almost drop her glass. "I'm sorry, what?" was all she could manage, blinking a few times trying to settle her now racing mind. "I...are you sure?" Sydney was absolutely flabbergasted, this was NOT how she saw this day going.
What Paz wanted to say in regards to Sydney's former family was "they are idiots." But, that would be harsh even for her blunt nature. She held her tongue and nodded only as though she understood. The fact of it was, she did not understand this idea of disowning someone because of a trait of their own they could not control. If you make bad decisions again and again, sure, you don't need to be in contact. Being magical was just as natural as being queer. This wasn't something that was learned and was very much a fact of existence. The way that people feared what they did not understand, or better yet, what they did not had never set well with Paz. She might not understand what being a werewolf or vampire was like personally, but that didn't mean every single person who had either was a monster to run from. Some of the best people she had met happened to also be werewolves or vampires.
One could say, Paz was seeing a little red and her internal thoughts about what she might say or do to Sydney's family if she ever so happened to run into them would scare even the darkest of souls.
"I thought you'd know me well enough to not question my decisions," Paz responded to her question of "being sure." "I have a room, well multiple rooms, that are not being utilized and you don't have a job or a real home. It makes sense." Ever the pragmatic, though even she knew deep down inside it wasn't the only reason she wanted to have Sydney closer. There was an unspoken connection here and it wasn't one that she had very often. Paz would easily have lived on her own for years, spending her money on herself and her hobbies. She had a few friends from school she kept in touch with who also tended to be in the more influential social class. It was easier to trust someone wasn't after your money or your status when they had their own. And yet, it wasn't always a real connection.
Before Sydney could argue any more Paz took out her quill and write the address on the back of her hand. "I'll set it so that the door will know you can enter." Not even a key needed. Paz had already taken a few galleons out of her purse and set them down. "Dinner if you so choose, will be at eight tonight." As they were wrapping up their drinks anyways. "I have a few things to do, but I'll see you later and I'll show you around the space."
As she stood she smiled. "Oh, and whatever you're thinking my place looks like, prepare yourself, it's probably more luxurious." She smirked ever so slightly. Money wasn't everything, and also, she had it, so she lived in the comforts of luxury as she wanted. The marble, the wainscoting, the library were usually enough to surprise people, let alone the fact there were three other rooms as you kept going. But so too was this unassuming child to have such a world already at their fingertips.
