hometown glory

[cococalloway]

when stars were just
the holes to heaven

The moment Alice’s last owl had arrived, it had taken all of five minutes for Coco to pack the backpack she’d be bringing along with her. Extra sweater, check. Empty water bottle that they could refill magically after they found some water (after all, finding was part of the fun), check. Two packs of cigarettes, check. Dry pair of socks for Alice and herself, check. Wallet with her id and some muggle money, check. Almonds in a ziplock bag, check. And that was that. Oh and her wand, but that was currently sticking out her back pocket. But it was simple and left plenty of room for things they lacked and had to find. Oh man, Alice Prewett wouldn’t know what hit her when she stepped through that door only to be dragged out again. The Gryffindor went to bed with a huge smirk that night, woke up with it still on and, sure enough, just after she had finished her breakfast, the formerly red and orange flames suddenly turned green. “Prew, my darling!”

[/color] Coco exclaimed innocently, throwing her arms up and ditching the dishes she had just been washing. Rubbing her damp hands on her jeans, the girl ran over to her friend, gave her a quick hug hello, and then broke out into an devious, dimpled grin. “Perfect, you’re wearing a nice and warm coat and your shoes…”[/color] Coco glanced down, helping Alice brush herself off as she gave the pair a once over, “Are waterproof as requested. Perfect, fabulous even!”

Grabbing her friend’s trunk and dragging it to her room next to her own (which had clothes and books still piled sloppily inside and outside of it), Coco was in the main hall, pulling her thick jacket, floppy hat, plaid scarf, and backpack on and dragging Alice out the door before two minutes had fully passed. “Now remember, kid. You asked for a distraction, and that’s just what you’re gonna get, got it?” The brunette said happily as the pair made it to the main, bustling road. She narrowed her dark eyes for a moment, scanning the bus numbers as they went past, ignoring any attempts on Alice’s part to find out what they were doing. There it was, number thirty-seven. With a shouted “quick!”[/color], she grabbed her Alice’s hand and started sprinting down the street towards the bus, grinning all the while as her hair flew around her face and her feet splashed the grey slush as they went. The double deckered bus was just starting to pull away from the small station as Coco leapt onto the small, outdoor landing, grabbing the rail for support as she turned to catch Alice. “And now we ride.”[/color] Where exactly number thirty-seven went, Coco wasn’t exactly sure. In fact, all she knew was that it was one of the buses that, after all the local stops, went as far out of town as you could go. The plan really was that they’d go as far as they could on this and then, or even sooner if they happened on it, they’d get off at a train station stop and jump on the first train that wasn't heading back into town. Preferably without paying for their tickets if they were crafty about. And from there was to be determined. Good thing they had a few days before they had to be back in London for school!

tag:

Alice!

 
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[Alice Prewett]

You always had that one friend that was slightly more insane than everyone else. That one friend who didn't just toe the border to crazy town, but stomped all over it and then proceeded to skip over it without a care in the world, all the while dragging you along, too - although it's not so much dragging if you're willing. For Alice, that friend is Coco Calloway, and she was definitely more than willing to go along with whatever insane plot she had concocted. She hadn't been joking when she'd told her she desperately needed a distraction; she'd thought her New Year's Eve party would suffice, but the next day her parents were still using fake pet names in front of her sister and each "love" and "darling" made her stomach roll unpleasantly. Since she couldn't be around Beth any longer without blurting out the truth - she was leaving that responsibility up to her wonderful parents, thank you - she'd decided that seeking out Coco was the only way to sort out her head. Of course, running away from your problems was never the right thing to do, even if it was easy (then again, when was the right thing to do easy?). It wasn't healthy, either. But honestly, Alice just couldn't bring herself to care. This was her winter holiday. She wanted to enjoy it, and hanging around the house when she couldn't even stand to look at her parents was making this holiday crappier than ever, and she couldn't have that. Which is where Coco came in. She wanted to have a great time, and she wanted it done right. Usually, that meant there had to be some sort of insane plot involved. Now, she wasn't entirely sure what her friend had in mind, and she knew better than to ask because the answers would only cause her curiosity to increase and make having to wait actually frustrating. Thus, she'd decided to simply do as Coco said: she finished her packing, closed her bags and made up a small backpack with essentials - pair of underwear, toothbrush, jacket, things like that. She'd always learned that it was better to be prepared when it came to Coco. She made sure to keep aside her thickest coat and a pair of comfortable, waterproof boots, knowing it was always important to follow Coco's orders to a "T".

To be honest, Alice momentarily considered sneaking out and leaving her parents to worry about her, but then she figured she didn't want to punish Beth, too, and Beth would probably worry just as much, if not more. So, she told them she'd be staying over at Coco's house, and together they'd be going to the station to take the train back to Hogwarts. There was no need to tell them more than that. She practically inhaled her breakfast - cereal; breakfast of champions! - and then slung her backpack on, grabbed her trunk and dragged it towards the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of floo powder, Alice threw it into the fire and watched it turn green. Drawing in a deep breath - she'd always hated traveling by floo - she struggled to step into the fireplace with her trunk, but as soon as she was settled she clearly spoke the Calloway's household and shut her eyes tightly as the unpleasantly familiar feeling of rushing through several fireplaces. She barely managed to keep herself upright when she suddenly stopped at the Calloway residence, coughing faintly and stepped out of the fireplace, brushing the soot off her coat before dragging her trunk out before the fire turned back. She playfully scowled at Coco's nickname, letting out an indignant huff. "It's nice to see you too, Cocopuff," she rallied, just because she could, wrapping her arms around Coco to return the brief hug. "Should I even bother to ask what we're going to do?"

[/color] she asked, although she already knew the response. Regardless, her stomach began twisting into knots of excitement and her pulse jumped, her face breaking in half with a gigantic smile as Coco immediately ushered her out of the house. When she tried to ask again where they were going, she was stubbornly ignored and she playfully rolled her eyes, finally accepting that her fate rested in Coco's hands. And what amazing hands they were, too.

Amazingly dangerous.

"Quick? What?"[/color] she asked distractedly, stumbling slightly. Her eyes widened when she realised what Coco wanted to do a split second before she actually did it, her eyes becoming even rounder when she actually did it, and jumped on the back of the bus. There was a second's hesitation on her part, before she steeled her resolve and jogged to keep up, managing to jump onto the landing before the bus really took off, grabbing onto Coco's arm to keep from stumbling back onto the road. The shock of what they just did seemed to wear off and she suddenly burst out laughing, clinging onto the railing for support. "Merlin's beard, that was bloody brilliant![/color] she squealed, shaking Coco's arm slightly. Buzzing with excitement, Alice waved at a few random people, giggling when she received several strange looks. "Do we know where number thirty-seven is going?"[/color] she asked. She laughed harder when Coco replied that no, they had no idea. "That's great! So are we going on some sort of road trip, then? Fabulous! I hope it doesn't rain. Actually, I do hope it rains. Mix things up a little. It'll be too perfect if it didn't rain. Or maybe it'll snow."[/color] She couldn't seem to stop talking, too thrilled to do anything but that. It didn't matter where they went, or where they ended up; this trip was bound to be the best trip ever.

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[cococalloway]

when stars were just
the holes to heaven

A huge grin formed when Alice started cracking up at what just happened. Really, it couldn’t be helped! And what was she expecting, anyway, to simply stroll onto the bus platform? No, no, no. Not when you were with Coco! But with a suddenly conspiratorial pulling together of her eyebrows (okay… maybe conspiratorial was going too far since snorts of laughter kept breaking through her façade), the Gryffindor added in a serious tone, “It was bloody brilliant if I do say so myself, and I do, but remember!”

[/color] She raised a finger to emphasize her point and nodded solemnly, “None of this Merlin’s bearding around these parts! After all,”[/color] Coco leaned in and did a stage whisper, “Wouldn’t want to seem strange to all these muggles… who probably are going to be staring at us wherever we go, anyway. But we have to uphold the statute of secrecy, do we not!”[/color] Getting law abiding advice from one Coco Calloway was purely laughable given how bad she was at abiding by any of the rules, so it wasn’t as though she was expecting Alice to take her seriously. Especially with what she yelled, not whispered, afterwards. “Can’t go around yelling ‘MERLIN'S MOST BAGGY Y FRONTS!!’ at random passersby, now can we? Oh and don’t worry… snow’s in the forecast.”[/color] The girl beamed as she ushered her friend into a seat before going to the front of the bus to pay the few p for their fare, ignoring the odd looks from the other passengers all the while.

The bus trundled on, making various stops as it took them out of central London and into the tightly rowed neighborhoods of the outskirts. There was an airport in this general direction that Coco had been to about five years back to fly to America to see her relatives, but outside that one trip, south just wasn’t a direction she was used to going in. They chatted happily and Alice was wise enough to leave the crazy planning ideas (or lack there of since it was established that she had no idea where she was taking the pair of them) alone. About forty minutes into their little bus trip, however, the girl did spot a rather useful looking rail station. “Hmm you know? I rather like the name East Croydon. Let’s get off!”[/color] And so they did. “If we can get a boat involved somehow,”[/color] Coco mused as they headed towards the station entrance, automatically tapping the butt of her cigarette pack against her palm (fresh air had to be polluted, after all), “Then I’d be very impressed with our use of all modes of muggle transportation! We just did a bus, so that’s a check, we’re about to do a train, so that’ll be a check, there’s easy room for the others, but a boat… we may have to row across a pond or something if we come across one.”[/color] The shade of the station engulfed them as they crossed the threshold. Taking a nice long drag from her fag, Coco paused alongside Alice in front of the departures board. “Hmm… now where oh where do we pick…”[/color] She looked back at her travel partner and suddenly grinned. “I’ve got an idea.”[/color] Sticking the cigarette in her mouth so her right hand was free, she promptly covered Alice’s eyes and with a muffled way thanks to her teeth not being able to open too much, she ordered, “Tell me left or right panel and how many down! Quick, woman, quick! Jumping onto a moving train is a hell of a lot harder to do than with a bus!”[/color]

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[Alice Prewett]

Alice knew Coco couldn't have been serious about being careful. The last thing Coco ever worried about was being careful about everything, even if they did draw attention from muggles. Then again, saying "merlin's pants" in public wasn't as big of a deal as if Alice had begun brandishing her wand and hexing the passengers. Just as she'd thought, Coco proceeded to shout a similarly Merlin-related phrase and Alice only laughed harder, finding solace in the railing once again to keep herself upright, well aware that they had just received strange looks from a few random passersby on the sidewalk, but she couldn't be too sure, really, because the bus passed them by too fast for her to notice. Still giggling, she waved at a kid who was begging his mother -rather loudly - for ice cream. He was momentarily distracted and Alice liked to think that maybe she gave the mother a little break from the child's whining. She turned away from him - he was becoming smaller and smaller anyway, so there wasn't much to see - when she felt Coco tug on her arm and she realised they were finally climbing into the bus. She was still giggling quietly to herself - left over adrenaline, she knew - when she sat down on one of the seats, and offered the passengers on the other row of seats a large grin. She was lucky enough to have said passengers be two old ladies, who instantly looked offended and then began whispering to one another, probably about how much of a shame it was that teenagers were throwing their lives away and getting stoned all the time. This only made Alice laugh harder, and she explained through bursts of chuckles about the two old ladies, forgetting to keep her voice down, which might explain why they were now glaring at her rather heatedly. Oops.

As nice as it was to chat with Coco, Alice found herself beginning to become a little antsy from all the sitting down, bouncing a little in her seat every now and then, shifting uncomfortably in the small seat. She was grateful when Coco decided it was time to get off, eagerly getting up and nodding in agreement. "Yes, yes, East Croydon is lovely," she agreed, even though she had no idea where that was and had never been there before. "Oh no. No boat rides, please,"

[/color] Alice stated, feeling queasy at the idea. Once, her parents had taken her and her little sister on a cruise - a "muggle experience" they'd always wanted to have - and, needless to say, she'd spent most of the time with her head in a bucket, fighting off the waves of nausea each time the boat rocked. She was about to elaborate when Coco suddenly covered her eyes and demanded that Alice choose at random. Grinning because this had to be the best solution for making a decision when you were willing to go anywhere, Alice pretended to be deep in thought before speaking. "Left...no, right panel, four down,"[/color] she said hurriedly, and then pulled Coco's hands away from her eyes to peer at the place she'd picked. "Sheffield! Brilliant! I've never been."[/color] And then she remembered her dislike for boats and continued as if she'd never been interrupted with the need to make a choice as they made their way to the ticket booth. "How about after we take the train, we start going on foot? I've always wanted to just trek around everywhere. And that's a mode of transportation! Our feet! Plus, we can go places that vehicles can't get to, yeah?"[/color] she suggested, sounding coaxing as she pulled out some muggle money, insisting on paying this time since Coco had paid the bus fare. "Hmm? What say you?"[/color]


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[cococalloway]

when stars were just
the holes to heaven

Changing the quirk of her eyebrows from its generic pose of one of mischief to one of curiosity, Alice’s protest to sailing had Coco intrigued. As she waited for Alice to blindly pick out their destination, the girl joked in mock horror that didn’t, and wasn’t meant to, mask her curiosity, “Don’t tell me I should have brought the vomit bag for this trip! And here I thought I was ahead of the game by bringing extra socks. Strike one to Calloway!”

[/color] She grinned to herself and took a drag from her cigarette, only to hastily blow it out away from Alice so that she could join in the decision-making celebration. Spreading her arms out and up by her sides as though addressing the entire train station, the girl proclaimed, “Let it be said, let it be written! The great and majestic Alice Prewett has chosen our path—nay, our destiny! Let’s get a move on then, shall we!”[/color] The pair moved forward to the ticket booth and a wicked smile formed on Coco’s face the moment Alice suggested going on foot.

Walking was going to be a part of the plan, most definitely. Granted, the idea had been that once they got to some place with an obscene amount of snow making it look like some winter paradise, they’d trek their way through some fields, maybe around a lake until they got to some area that looked like a good location to choose a place to spend the night. But that did count as walking! There was going to be some hitchhiking too, preferably with them riding in the back of a lorry. It was the best way to sight see, after all, especially since they had magic on their side to keep them warm despite the general chill. But Coco was glad that Alice suggested it (and picked Sheffield, a place she had also not been to) since this was their trip after all. Coco wanted to share some of the crazy planning now that things were getting started! “Me too! I did that from Dover once. You know, take the ferry across to France and then just spent the day on foot wandering around where it dropped me off! Can’t speak a word of French, granted, but it was still pretty brilliant and I took some amazing photos… Dad did yell at me for just ditching randomly in the morning without telling him, though—but anyway! On foot once we’re there… or wherever looks good to get off, it is.”[/color]

Silently letting Alice pay with the idea in her head that she would get tonight’s lodging costs (no matter how much complaining was involved on Alice’s part; Coco was going to treat her whether she liked it or not!), the pair moved through the gate and onto the train. The crowd going to Sheffield was a rather large one, so the brunette grabbed her friends hand as to drag her more efficiently and ducked and shoved their way through the slowly milling passengers as to get them two window seats. Slipping into a seat as a middle aged man, most likely bent on sitting where Coco just threw herself, placed his luggage up top, by the time he turned to look down at his former seat, the girl had spread herself quite effectively across it, a grin that lacked any sort of apology etched on her face. “I heard the scenery from here to Sheffield is gorgeous! Good thing we got these seats, yeah?”[/color] she told Alice, biting her lip as she tried not to laugh as the man, huffing loudly, moved to the row across from them. But as the train started moving and the people took their seats, Coco took on a vaguely more serious tone as she placed her hands on her thighs with a loud “thwap” and said as she leaned forward, “So! We know that we’re gonna be on foot at some point, but what else would you like to accomplish on this what-promises-to-be-an-historically-epic adventure of ours? I promised you some choice distractions, yeah, but I am more than happy to take suggestions and cater to your needs, Alice my dear.”[/color]


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[Alice Prewett]

"France, you say?" Alice repeated suddenly, her eyes wide and sparkling with this new development. Granted, Coco had mentioned it in passing and hadn't meant it as a suggestion for them to do, but now it was in Alice's head and, well, an idea was starting to formulate because wouldn't it make this trip ten times more awesome if they actually left the country? Of course, her parents would flay her alive if they ever found out that she did such a thing...but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right? "I could definitely handle a trip across a body of unstable water on a piece of floating wood-" gulp "if it means going to France. Do you need a passport or something? I heard muggles use those things." She shrugged slightly, considering the rest of what Coco had said. "But for now, it seems like a good idea to just stick to England. I do want to travel all over it, it is my country and I haven't even seen the half of it!"

[/color] she exclaimed, frowning thoughtfully, and then she shrugged again with a grin. "You know what? Nevermind everything I've just said. I say we go where the wind takes us, and if it happens to take us to France or Spain or something, then so be it, and if not, then so be that! I don't want to plan anything during this trip!"[/color] With that - and a firm nod - she bounced the rest of the way to their gate, tugging on Coco's hand to force her to keep up with her pace.

Once on the train, Alice could hardly hold in her giggles when Coco purposefully stole an old man's seat, shooting him an apologetic look which, granted, would have been a lot more effective if she wasn't laughing quietly, and she thought it only made him even more angry. Still trembling with silent laughter, she sank into the seat opposite Coco and crossed her legs. "Hmm, what I want to accomplish,"[/color] she repeated aloud, her face taking on a ponderous expression. "Let's see..."[/color] She held up her hand suddenly and began ticking off her fingers with ever suggestion she made, "I definitely want to sleep under the stars somewhere. I want to meet strangers, of course, but that's a given. Oh! I want to party with strangers. Now, I don't want to get drunk...well,"[/color] she wrinkled her nose in thought and then giggled again, unaware of the glares she was getting from the old man who thought they were being too loud. "Maybe we can get a little drunk.[/color] She'd forgotten all about ticking things off her fingers by now, simply waving her hands in the air in random gestures that showed her excitement. "What else, what else...oh! SKINNY DIPPING!"[/color] Now she noticed the looks the old guy was sending her and she raised her eyebrows and stared back until he looked away and then turned back to Coco, "Where was I? Oh right, skinny dipping. You know I've never been before? It's so sad. I don't know if we can do that since it's so cold, though, and I like all my bits where they are and rather wouldn't have anything fall off. But I suppose we could break into a house with a heated pool or something...hm. Let's make snowmen in front of people's houses. And have them stare into the window or something, so that they see them as soon as they open the window."[/color] She laughed evilly at that. "And that's all I can think of now, but I'm sure we'll think of more as we go along."[/color] She winked and then dissolved into giggles again for absolutely no reason beyond her own adrenaline getting to her.

It took approximately two hours to get to Sheffield, by which time Alice had become quite antsy, bouncing her legs anxiously for the last ten minutes after which they were told off for wandering around (well, so maybe they weren't exactly "wandering around", more like popping into random compartments and introducing themselves and generally being a bother to the other passengers, but come on the train ride was boring!). Before the train even fully stopped, Alice was already strapping on her backpack and tugging on Coco's hand, and they were the first people onto the platform. As soon as they were out of the train station, she threw her hands in the air and breathed in deeply, exclaiming, "Sweet, sweet air!"[/color] Grinning, she spun on her heel to look at her road trip buddy. "Okay, your turn. Where to next? Oh! Wait! Close your eyes."[/color] She waited until Coco did as she was told and then gently grabbed her shoulders, turning her around several times until she was sure Coco wouldn't be able to tell where she was facing anymore. "Keep your eyes closed! Okay, now, which way should we go? Left or right?"[/color]

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