Penwick.ink is a 16+, volunteer-run, fully independent writing site in a fully original setting within the Harry Potter universe. Many RP platforms either lock you into rigid systems, have a community that seems hard to break into, or overwhelm players wi
The Dranaga common room is as lavish as it is imposing, as it is the only house to occupy an entire tower, and the tallest tower of the castle at that. The vast common room glows with warm light from ornate crystal light fixtures and a towering hearth, its fire framed by an elaborate mantle carved with dragons. Polished stone floors are layered with rich crimson rugs, while deep armchairs and sofas of leather and crushed velvet cluster around low tables of dark wood. Tall windows open onto sweeping cliffside views, their heavy drapes embroidered in gold thread. Along the walls, Pre-Raphaelite-style paintings depict classic tales from Camelot and King Arthur's folklore.
At the center of the room rises a grand spiral staircase, its banisters wrought in gilded ironwork. It ascends through the middle of the tower to the two upper dormitory levels, which ring the chamber as open balconies rather than enclosed floors, their railings overlooking the common space below. High above them all, crowning the tower, is an enchanted stained-glass dome depicting dragons in flight. From the hearth on the lowest level to the dormitories above, its light washes the tower in jewel-toned brilliance as the dragons move within the glass piece.
It was Hazel's third night at Penwick - and it was quite late for her. 10pm. She was having trouble sleeping, so she came down to the common room. She thought it might be nice to have a good look around finally, see what was available in the common room, maybe even decide where her favorite chair or nook might reside.
It hadn't been a full week yet, but already it was overwhelming after only two days of classes. To be fair, the journey and sorting on the 1st of September was a huge day - and it was a late night as well. She wondered why there wasn't a buffer day to allow students to get a good night's sleep before the first day of school, but she supposed maybe everyone was used to late nights here. She certainly wasn't.
Hazel also wasn't used to having trouble getting to sleep, especially at the end of busy days. But there must just have been something about this experience. Maybe it was because she was so far out of her comfort zone that she was still adjusting. Entirely likely. Again, it had only been two days of classes. She hadn't even experienced a full week's normal scheduling to better understand the days ahead of her and how the term was going to lay out.
Whatever the reason, she had to deal with the fact now that she wasn't sleeping. As she climbed the spiral staircase down into the common room, she quickly scanned to see if there was anyone else there. There didn't appear to be. She looked around as she reached the bottom, and began to follow her nose around the room, just looking and exploring.
So far, second year was different from first year, but also exactly the same.
Devon had the same dorm room, the same professors, the same uniform. Different roommates, different lessons in class, and different hunger levels. “Hunger” in multiple senses of the word, but he chose not to dwell on the more sinister implication.
And tonight, he was hungry.
Hungry for food.
Not the other thing.
...
It had been three nights in a row now that Devon's stomach growled as he put on his pyjamas, and it had become a sort of ritual for him to head to the common room and grab a late-night snack from a fruit bowl on one of the tables.
Devi had made it halfway down the spiral staircase before he noticed someone else moving through the common room below.
He stopped for a second, one hand resting on the railing.
New girl.
He recognized her vaguely from the Sorting Ceremony. At least, he thought so. There had been enough new faces crammed into one evening that he wasn’t willing to bet money on it, but she had the general look of someone who had only been here a few days. Mostly because she was actually looking at things. Not the sort of thing many do after their first couple of months at Penwick have passed.
Devi continued down the stairs, dressed in loose pyjama trousers and an old shirt, his hair considerably less cooperative than it usually was during the day (which is saying something). He had intended to make a direct trip toward the fruit bowl, but curiosity won out somewhere around the last few steps of the staircase.
“You’re new, right?” If the girl hadn't been paying attention, he probably would have scared her half to death. “I mean, obviously you’re new,” he corrected, hopping off the stairs and onto the floor. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before this week.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced around the room, following her general line of exploration. It was cool seeing someone take the place in for the first time. Devi barely noticed half of it anymore. The familiar furniture, the corners people tended to claim, the places where the floor creaked and alerted prefects if you broke curfew.
Important information.
He stode toward the bowl of fruit, grabbed an apple, took a bite and glanced back toward the girl.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked as he chewed. It seemed the obvious explanation. Nobody came wandering around the common room at ten at night to admire the furniture unless something had driven them out of bed.
“First week’s weird,” Devi added after a second, with the authority of someone who had survived exactly one of them. He leaned back against the sofa, studying her for a moment with open curiosity. “I’m Devon, by the way. Devi.” Another bite. "You want an apple or orange or something?"
