tell me something ((ptolemy))

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Finally deciding that it would be wise to not put off talking with Ptolemy for much longer, Thius invited his friend to join him in the duelling chambers; if there ended up being no shortage of tension, at least they could blow up the dummies and get it out of their system. He thought about some of what he had said to Ptolemy, and he was torn on whether some of it was misdirected. There was no direct evidence that he or Alayna had colluded to glitter bomb Bellona like that. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't write off the possibility of them arranging such a trick so swiftly. Who knows what could occur next?

His foot tapped the ground repetitively as he awaited Ptolemy's arrival. This time, he was trying to think of more covert, more normal methods of fulfilling the ritual. It resulted in him dancing and singing along to what turned out to be the beat of a Weird Sisters tune.

"...Na na ny na... Flyin' off from a cliff..."

@Ptolemy Rowle

As the jinx pushed him back, it gave him an opportunity to change direction, run back to the other side, and possibly obscure himself inside of the bleachers. Perhaps his cockiness got the better of him, as his foot got stuck somewhere between the benches. Instead of falling forward, however, he was whisked upward into the air.

Feeling like he'd left his guts several feet below, he quickly whipped out his wand hand and flung it off in desperation to one of the training dummies. "Carpe Retractum!" The invisible rope of light pulled him back down towards the dummy, so that he could land onto his feet. He spun around immediately, sighting out Burke under a heavy brow.

"Bombarda!" he cried, to the floor in his general direction, then darted off elsewhere.

@Melanthius Burke

He held back a snigger watching Rowle get momentarily caught in the bleachers; however, the moment of joy distracted him enough to end up being launched elsewhere in the room as a result of the blast. Thius grimaced at the shot of pain he felt through his arm, but he had to power through it.

Thius dragged himself along the wall until he had a good vantage point of Ptolemy. Pointing his wand in his direction, he sent over a rather strong wind before encasing himself in a layer of fog.

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Partis Temporus!"

The wind passed either side of him instead of throwing him off his feet, but it still managed to cause quite a distraction as his clothes and flower-hair was thrown about in the flurry. His spell wasn't great enough to part through Burke's fogging spell, but he attempted a stronger form of Lumos to try and cast the slightest shadow.

He stepped around carefully, raising his wand high to the fog, squinting through it.

@Melanthius Burke

Crouching down, Thius began to move away from the layer of fog hoping that it would be enough to throw Ptolemy off from his next move. He observed his surroundings as he narrowed his eyes on his housemate's legs.

"Tarantallegra!"

@Ptolemy Rowle

He thought he could see something like a figure, but it could have been one of the training dummies. He threw a few sparks at it to check, and it turned out that it was. Frowning, he went to try another spell, when his legs suddenly buckled from beneath him and he almost lost grip of his wand.

It was as though his legs had a mind of their own, throwing him left to right, causing his arms to flail.

"Finite Incantatem," he gasped, and managed to fall forwards onto the floor as his legs suddenly halted. Growling, he took up his wand again and transfigured a large fan to clear away the fog. Leaving that to whir away, he got up quickly and tried to hit him with a sneezing hex.

@Melanthius Burke

It was very amusing to see Ptolemy lose control of his legs, but that didn't last for very long. Thius would've gotten away and set up another obstacle, but his arm began to sear to the extent that it was getting difficult to concentrate on his target.

He began to sneeze profusely, unable to stay crouched down for much longer. Now sitting down, Thius tried to clutch his hurting arm and cover his sneezes simultaneously.

@Ptolemy Rowle

He was sitting down? It was a peculiar point in their duel to be giving up, so he imagined there was something not quite right.

"Expelliarmus." Ptolemy attempted the disarming spell while Thius sneezed away.

@Melanthius Burke

Now disarmed, it took a while for him to register it. Thius was clenching his teeth doing his damnedest to not show too much pain. The clutching he was doing wasn't of much help, so he continued to focus on getting all of the sneezing out of his system, if it ever would.

The overshirt he was wearing obscured the swelling of his arm.

"Agh!"

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Finite."

Putting a stop to the hex, he retrieved Melanthius's wand and put it onto the bench beside him, before standing upright again before him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, frowning as he looked him over.

@Melanthius Burke

Finally, the sneezing ceased, and he took a deep breath as he attempted to lift up his arm. Thius winced as another intense shot of pain raced up his arm.

"It's my arm... It hurts to move..."

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Then I can take you to the hospital wing," he said, conjuring a sling for his arm to be supported in. He didn't have enough confidence in healing magic that it would make the slightest bit of difference, so that was really the best he could do for now. "I suppose I could probably do with some sort of potion after that as well. It was a good duel, though. You performed very well."

The edge of his lip curled slightly to a smile.

"Can you stand up?"

@Melanthius Burke

"That'd be swell..."

The sooner this overwhelming pain was taken cared of, the better.

Thius smiled slightly, nodding in agreement. "You put up a fair fight. It's reassuring to know we can still keep each other on our toes." That factor always made for more exciting duels; he would just have to help Bellona reach that point so he can have more challengers.

Feeling around for his wand, he found the edge of the bench and used it to lift himself back up. "I believe I got it..." He grabbed his wand with his good hand and placed it back into its holster.

"I suppose this little duel means we're good now..?"

Guys always had an easier time getting through some sort of ruffle; they just needed to let out some aggression, and it was as if nothing happened.

@Ptolemy Rowle

Ptolemy felt his hair returning to normal now, although he adjusted the length of it to sit the way he liked it.

"There is never any sense in us quarreling for long," he said, holding his hand out for Melanthius to shake, ensuring that it matched the one unburdened by the sling. "Let's get out of here."

He waited for Melanthius to gather himself so they could walk to the hospital wing together.

"So. When are you planning on asking Bellona to the formal? I really think you ought to get a move on, if you are planning on it."

@Melanthius Burke

Shaking his hand, Thius nodded and began to head out of the chamber. He might've broken a bone, but at least their issues had resolved on their own.

"You know how duelling club for this week had gotten canceled? I plan on asking her then. I'm going to have a picnic with her, but she doesn't know. Instead, she believes we'll be practicing spells outside..."

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Hmh," he said, sounding and looking impressed. "How devious of you."

Smirking, he exited the duelling chamber with Melanthius.

"You see, you have all the ideas of how to impress a woman, so you really haven't a lot to worry about. I'm certain that if you had simply asked her to attend the dance with you, she would have said yes." This was where he struggled to fit into Melanthius's shoes. That may have worked for him, as he was secure enough in himself to accept rejection, but it may affect Melanthius differently. "But she will be very impressed, I'm sure."

@Melanthius Burke

"I want her to know how serious I am about wanting her as my date. I take the wooing aspect of entering a courtship quite seriously."

Some of the words from Atticus' outburst had stayed with him, and he had too much pride to admit it. Thius only knew that he needed to secure Bellona as quickly as possible so his parents or worse, his grandmother, don't try to consider an arranged marriage.

"I'm going to make her such a splendid sticky toffee pudding that she'll no longer want her house elf's! I should tell you all about the time she and I had spent duelling..."

For once, he was able to have this kind of guy-to-guy talk.

"She was wearing this ravishing dress that shaped her so perfectly..."

Thius attempted to outline it with his one good hand.

@Ptolemy Rowle

Sometimes he wondered what it was like to be a part of the Burke family, and how strict traditions were enforced. It was just all so old fashioned though, even for him, and he had been accused of being old fashioned himself!

"You're making sticky toffee puddings..." 

Well... that was unexpected. He found it hard to imagine Melanthius swanning around a kitchen like Atticus did.

What he said next made him chuckle. "I had noticed that she was rather developed for her age. Perhaps it's all the sticky toffee puddings." He smirked. "I just love it when they wear clothes so fitting to their figures. And then they always complain they are fat, when they look absolutely remarkable."

@Melanthius Burke

"Yes, I had roped in Atticus to help me as he's the only pureblood I know that has actually used an oven before. As we were spending time in the chamber, Bellona mused about how she'd like for a boy to cook for her. So, I'm doing just that for the picnic..."

It'd be quite special that way and show how much effort he'd put into asking her out. He was sure his family would appreciate some of the more formal aspects of it once he told them.

"Yeah, she's certainly a stunner..."

Thius thought about her a lot that in some classes, he was barely able to focus. It was fortunate that their two-year gap meant that he didn't have to struggle too badly during lectures... "My brother found me liking her curves rather vulgar, but you know how he is... He's always preferred the more svelte types. She and I plan on visiting each other's households over the Easter holiday."

She was going to torture him, and he was looking forward to it.

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Hector thinks everything is vulgar."

He said the word 'vulgar' or 'vulgarity' at least a few times a day. It was exhausting to have to listen to sometimes. 

"I thought that was the type I preferred as well, but it's quite untrue. I think Alayna looks wonderful with her new curves."

That was mainly just because it was her though. As they reached the hospital wing, Ptolemy's hair was turning lighter until it was entirely flaxen.

@Melanthius Burke

Thius sometimes wondered how he and Hector were brothers, especially when they didn't look all that alike at an initial glance.

"He was acting as if I was describing my deepest fantasies to him, it was prudish of him. I say some perfectly normal stuff, you know, the kind of topics we discuss among the lads, and he looks scandalized at the mere thought of it. It's sort of childish, really."

But there always had to be that one within their age group with such an attitude towards anything hot.

Thius raised an eyebrow noticing the change of color in Ptolemy's hair and chose to not bring it up. "If I'm to assume correctly, you and Alayna will be married once term ends?"

Usually, pureblood weddings tended to have a longer planning period, especially if they followed the traditional courtship structure.

@Ptolemy Rowle

The feeling of embodying a girlish figure, having their assets and their clothes attached to herself - himself... what was he thinking?! His hair retracted quickly to its darker colour once more. He made a vow to himself to stop all that childish nonsense about Perdita.

He forced himself to focus.

"I will propose to her, yes."

He always thought it was a man's personal business when it came to marriage proposal. The where, the when, the how. Still - he had intended to propose to her at her bloody party, but that all fell through after the arrival of that stupid letter.

@Melanthius Burke

"I see..." That didn't exactly answer the question, but he was aware when not to push things. There were always other opportunities to press him if it came down to it.

It appeared that there wasn't a healer up front, so they'd have to wait to explain the injury. Hopefully they wouldn't take too long; it'd be very inconvenient if both of his arms weren't in tip-top shape by the picnic.

"I should tell you that I believe I'm starting to figure out what kind of career I'd like to have after Hogwarts..."

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Yes. So my plan is that we are married in the summer, likely around the time term ends and examinations are over."

He hadn't told Alayna any of this, and he hoped that it hadn't made her feel discontent by the uncertainty of his intentions. He wanted to looking after her, physically and mentally; but he knew how much it would mean to her for everything to be a surprise.

"Please say you will be coming to the Ministry with me," he said, chuckling.

@Melanthius Burke

"Actually, no."

He considered going into the Ministry, but being an Unspeakable was the only one that appealed to him in any way; he didn't think it'd be the right occupation for him.

"I think I may go into healing. The field has more intricacies than I had assumed..."

@Ptolemy Rowle

"Interesting. Not what I had envisioned for you, but what can't be seen isn't always not there."

That sort of profession could be very profitable, but he had a feeling Melanthius wasn't just after the money. He was far too curious to be working a job where there was very little to be researched day to day. Ptolemy, on the other hand, just wanted to be somewhere prominent within their society.

"Would you go to the University?"

He went off searching for someone to tend to his friend's arm, and a healer eventually came over to examine him.

@Melanthius Burke