Summer (2105) {Bray and Ash}

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn frowned at his friends. Such mean judgemental friends they were. "Maybe you should step into the cats shoes sometime, then you'd see how much they love crap like this." Then he ignored the gay comment and continued petting the purring kitten. Smiling at it, Bray continued to coo it without caring what they thought. "Yes, yes they do! They love the baby voice, yes!" Bradyn would make a rather scary father, wouldn't he?

Shrugging a bit, while not disturbing the cat in his arms he just stared at Fay. "I guess you'd treat them right. Not like some pureblood families I know. It just makes me sick to see enslaved elves. They're so sweet and they do everything you ask, it's just not right to take advantage of that." He frowned a bit and decided he wouldn't ask anything of her elves as he did to any wizarding family. Bray had to do it all himself at home, and without magic since he still had his Trace. Speaking of which...

"Ay, Ash! How long 'till your birthday and you're free?" His was actually pretty soon. July 18th, the cursed birthday to be over the summer break.

Noticing how easily sidetracked he got, he listened to what Fay was rambling about in her tour. Bray'd sat in on so many Pureblood house tours that he learned to tune them out since they were usually 'and my great, great, great, grandpa's second wife's sister did such an such.' When she mentioned library, he burst out laughing remembering his conversation with El. "Ooh! A library! Let's sit around and read! Hell, I barely even read during the school year." At the thought of a practice room, he frowned a bit. Bray didn't bring his guitar and he couldn't use magic to summon it and that was a shame since in the first week of break he started practicing an amazing song.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash just stared at Bray and shook his head, "You my friend, need some serious help!" He blushed when Bray asked when his birthday was. He laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh...today?"

(( I don't have a set birthday for Ashy, so it's the first day of break))

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity rolled her eyes at him. Shoot still seemed to be purring in her arms as she pet his head. "I would, but there's this small problem about me not being an animagus. Go figure." She snorted.

She glared back at Bray. "Don't like my library? Fine, I'll sick Shoot on you. Or, better yet, I'll just maul you." Felicity threw him a wicked grin then started to walk back up the stairs. "Fine, we'll skip this level. Third level is the bedrooms -boring- and the last one is my room."

Fay almost fell off of the stairs when Ash announced his birthday. "What?!" She whirled around and threw her hands into the air. "Hold up. Why didn't you tell us this before?!" Felicity set Shoot down and placed her hands on her hips. "Now I have to give you a late present! Gah!"

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash shrugged, "Didn't see a reason to I guess. Birthdays were never important to me." He glared, "And no, I do not want to do anything for my birthday!"

[Bradyn Reed]

[ I gave Bradyn my birthday (: ]

Bradyn smirked a bit at Fay. "You could always pretend. You know, crawl around on all fours and meow. But your mom might cart you off to St. Mungo's." Rolling his eyes a bit at Ash, he decided to do his little coo'ings in a whisper so they wouldn't distract his friends. "Meanies they are, yes, yes, so mean to me."

Then he looked up and smirked at Fay. "Yeah, I don't like your library. You got a problem with that?" Bray was only joking with her of course, it had been a while since he got to joke around with people and end up without a bruise. Ah, holidays the season of... family love.

But nearly dropped the cat he was holding when Ash said that today was his birthday. Gasping a little, he rounded on Ash and gave him a big grin. "But! You're traceless.. you're a freeman!" Then he remembered the tradition for turning seventeen and wondered if his father had done it. Based on Ash's currently empty wrist, he guessed not. "But, you have to get a present.. you're 17." He said with a pout on. There was no way he was going to get out of this.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash glared at Bray, "No, I do not want any presents."

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity rolled her eyes at Bray. "Yea, I'll pass. Crawling around on all fours doesn't sound like my cup of tea."

She grinned at him angelically. "Nope, no problem at all." Fay tossed her hair over her shoulder and smirked. "I just have to keep remembering the fights you go home to, and suddenly my life isn't so bad."

Fay gaped at Ashton, her hands were still on her hips. "Listen here mister. You're going to get presents, and you're going to like it. I don't care if you don't want me to spend any money or any of that nonsense." She flapped a hand in his direction. "We're going to go shopping somewhere and find you something."

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash sighed with resignation and hung his head, "I don't have a choice do I?" he asked looking up at Fay.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn frowned at Fay. "My family may fight, but we still... love each other. I guess." He couldn't quite be sure after Rose jinxed his hairdryer instead of May's, but usually things were pretty quiet back home.

Shaking his head a bit, he turned back to Ash with a more determined look. "Yeah, what she said! ...Wait, is this going to be expensive on me? What are you going on about, woman?" But none-the-less, he'd still get Ash something. Probably wouldn't be as expensive as Fay's gift but he'd definitely try.

"Well then, since it's his birthday and all, maybe we should just skip out on this lame.. I mean, awesome tour thing."

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash sighed, "And you people wonder why I never tell you anything." He grumbled. Then he smiled, "Hey guess what? I changed my last name!"

[Felicity Locke]

"Nope. It's your birthday gift and you're going to like it. So smile damnit." Felicity picked Shoot up again and started back up the stairs. "Fine Fine, we'll skip the tour. Let's just go up to my room." She started up the spiral stairs that lead way to her room.

Fay opened the door and walked over to her bed, flopping down on it. She glanced over to Ash. "Why? Did you just pick some random name like, Wagglebottom or something?" Felicity put Shoot on her lap and let him curl up there.

Tacted on Felicity's walls were several pictures of her and her friends. Her personal favorite was the one on the wall above her headboard. It showed Bray, Fay and Ash, all leaning in with their arms around one another's shoulders. Fay was sticking her tongue out at the camera, Bray held up the peace sign --because Fay wouldn't let him flick off the camera-- and Ash was just grinning, as he normally did. She layed back on her bed and looked up at her ceiling.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash laughed, "Alright fine. You win." He made a face, "Wagglebottom? Eww! No! I changed it to Laurent. It was my mother's maiden name. She was French. My dad is English, raised in France."

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn shook his head a bit at Ash. The crazy kid wasn't excited about getting rid of his Trace? He'd be skipping around singing and doing everything possibly by magic.

Bray raised an eyebrow at Ashton's random announcement. "You just changed it? All out of the blue like?" He laughed at the wagglebottom ideas. "Geeze, Fay, if he changed it to Wagglebottom, he'd have to do a dance with it." Just to be lame, he demonstrated by shimmying once he walked into her room.

Her very, very Fay-like room. "Laurent? That's cool." Bray's eyebrow twitched a bit when he spotted a couple pictures of Scott Brooks plastered up among the many random ones Bray took with Fay and sometimes Ash. 'Boy do I ham for the camera.' He thought rather smugly.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash shook his head, "No, I did not just change it out of the blue. I had been thinking about it for a long time!"

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity grinned at Bray, and burst into laughter at his little 'shimmy'. "I think you should change your last name to that and do that dance wherever you go Bray." She snorted and waited for her giggles to stop.

"Laurent eh? I like it, it's pretty." Try as she might though, Fay couldn't imagine Ash's mom in her head. Maybe she could ask him for a picture later.

Felicity glanced back at Bray, just in time to see his eyebrow twitch and see him glaring at her wall. She followed his gaze and noticed the picture of her and Scott. Her cheeks flushed to a soft pink and she ducked her head to rub her face in Shoot's fur. Bray would probably freak if he saw the picture she had in her little album. The one of Scott pecking her cheek.