Forum Block
Stacked With: MC4A (StL; FPC; SF; ER; FR); Hogwarts; QL
Individual Challenges: Short Jog; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; Gryffindor MC (x2); Slytherin MC; Metahuman MC; Ethnic & Present; Minerva's Migraine; Cuppa; Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Flags & Ribbons (Y); Letter of the Day (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Interesting Times (Y); Themes & Things A (Y)
Representations: Nonbinary characters; Lily Evans; Secret community
Bonus Challenges: Car in a Tutu; Eternal Boredom; Unicorn; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Persistence Still); Chorus (Bee Haven)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: Satisfaction
Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Captain
Prompts: Write about a secret or society that exists and operates beneath the surface of the Earth. (QL); Write about someone expressing themselves nonverbally (Hogwarts; Art Therapy, Task 2)
Word count: 1,780

Hidden by several layers of earth (not Earth itself, as there are only so many layers Earth has, but instead the dirt that also carries the name of earth) is a network of tunnels not unsimilar to the ones the Tibetans were reported to use. In these tunnels, there were numerous small beings of various types all performing their own jobs (with some of them being rather more efficient than others and some being rather good at getting distracted).

The being known as Ziva was peering through their periscope and taking notes in the black book sitting next to them without looking away from the scenes they were observing. They had been at this station for nigh on seven centuries by now, with the occasional break of course. Ziva belonged to the stock that was rather good at sticking to the task at hand.

A flutter of wings announced the arrival of one who belonged to the other stock—those who were good at both being distracted and doing the distracting. In their hands, they carried a nice cup of hot cocoa for both Ziva and themselves. It was the tradition by now for the reliever to bring a cup of cocoa with them. It had worked for the both of them for the whole time they had been assigned the post and it would continue working until it didn't.

Ziva finished scribbling and then pulled away from the periscope to smile warmly in greeting at Crow. The black wings that had given Crow their name beat lightly as they worked to keep Crow balanced and not falling down the hole that led into the small cave.

"Anything interesting?" Crow asked and Ziva's smile widened.

"Oh yes, I've just discovered an extraordinary new recipe for apple—"

Crow cut them off before they could continue. "Anything relevant that should be reported to Head Office?"

Ziva looked down at their hands and fiddled with the pen. "Ah, no. Nothing quite like that."

Crow merely nodded—they had expected the answer. They handed over the cup of cocoa that was Ziva's and gestured for Ziva to continue. "Do tell me about this recipe."

Ziva brightened almost immediately, took a fortifying sip of cocoa and then started regaling Crow with all the nitty-gritty details of how to make the perfect apple pie crust and the most fabulous filling that was elevated with just the right hint of certain spices (they had to refer back to the black book a few times; the recipe was rather in-depth).

Eventually (meaning 30 minutes, as it always did in the tunnels), the break was over and it was time to get back to work. Ziva moved away from the periscope, gathered up the now-empty cups and started down the ladder that led into the vast network of tunnels beyond the small hole in the earth (and the Earth, it goes without saying) and what amounted to Ziva and Crow's office.

Crow planted themselves in front of the periscope, uncapped their own pen and planted their eyes on the periscope—their hand started moving as soon as they had done so as they recorded what was happening. After only a few seconds of this, Ziva popped their head up out of the hole and said, "Oh, by the way, you might want to focus a bit on that lovely little village of Hogsmeade; something important seems to be brewing near there and you know how those wix can be."

Crow—used to Ziva popping back in soon after leaving with an important tidbit—grunted in acknowledgement and swivelled the periscope several degrees to the left and started writing faster. Ziva hummed with content now that they were sure there was nothing left to say and started once more climbing down the ladder. There was just enough time for a lovely nap and a snack before the next shift change (as there always was) and the cocoa had to be made (as it always did). As Ziva trotted down the tunnels, they wondered if it would be worth it to make a trip to the surface and get the ingredients to try making that marvellous-seeming apple pie.

Crow paid no thought to their departing companion (apart from thinking that maybe they should go topside and see about getting the necessary items for the apple pie that Ziva had been so excited about) and instead focused their attention completely on the town of Hogsmeade and the school that resided near it.

Almost halfway through their shift, Crow came to the end of the current black book and expertly signed it off before closing it, placing it in the basket to be collected later, and picking up a fresh black book—all without looking away from the scene playing out in front of their eyes via the periscope. Finishing books and needing new ones was something that occurred often in the small holes that populated both earth and Earth.

Those that spent their time recording the deeds happening topside were well-practiced in such a thing and had not needed to look away from their periscope for almost the entire time they had been recording (though there was that one time Crow had decided to distract Ziva by moving the baskets that contained filled and empty books, and the time Ziva had decided to switch them around in retaliation).

The happenings topside were neither more or less interesting than they had been the last time Crow had been on duty. Hogsmeade, in particular, seemed much the same and almost as though Crow was watching the exact same happenings they had seen before. There was the group of four boys trailing after the smaller group of a girl and a boy as they always did with the smaller group holding an air of concern and exasperation.

Crow watched as once more, the leader (determined by Ziva several shifts ago and verified by Crow the very next shift) of the four boys called out to the other group. They snorted softly as the boy started as he always did—a snide comment about the girl's companion and an offer to join his group if she ditched the other boy.

No matter how repetitive the scene was, Crow wrote it down diligently without ever looking away (there might have been some drifting, but Crow could always see the main event in the corner of their eyes and besides, the sparkling trinket in one of the shop windows was far more intriguing and Crow thought that perhaps Ziva wouldn't mind another addition to the collection).

"Oi, Evans!" the boy called, as he always did. "You don't want to hang about Snivellus too much or you might catch the grease pox from him!"

Lily Evans—for that was the name noted down in Black Book #58 of this particular generation of wix around the world—whirled around and glared at James Potter—the last entry noted in Black Book #57—before replying as scornfully as she always did.

"It's better than catching the toerag disease from you, Potter."

Crow—who always enjoyed a bit of scorn, especially if it was well-deserved—chuckled and continued considering the shiny trinket as they wrote the happenings of Hogsmeade Village down. James Potter flushed as Severus Snape—a few entries before James Potter, and the boy often called Snivellus by those who called themselves the Marauders (these being the group of four boys trailing after Lily Evans and Severus Snape and consisting of James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew)—sneered and looked down his long, hooked nose at the infatuated boy.

Crow would roll their eyes if it didn't mean looking away from the scene. Severus Snape and James Potter were just as infatuated with Lily Evans as each other, and the girl didn't want to be bothered with such a thing as boys as she tried to figure out how to get back the relationship she had shared with her sister before magic had entered her life.

Really, if either of them wanted to impress the girl, they should just start a collection of shared shiny trinkets and cups of cocoa between shifts. Crow was of the opinion that that was the only true way to show how much you cared for another person. They considered most other beings in the tunnels to be dull and uninteresting with the only exception being Ziva, and Ziva often expressed a fondness for their stash of shiny trinkets and cups of cocoa (thus resulting in this being the only way to properly show affection in Crow's mind as Ziva was the one Crow showed affection to).

As Crow thought of the steadily growing pile of shiny trinkets, the shiny trinket that sat in the window of a shop glinted in such a way that Crow knew meant they would soon be going topside and fetching it (and probably apple pie ingredients). James Potter blustering about the achievements he held that clearly made him a better choice of companion than Severus Snape dragged Crow's attention away from apple pies and shiny trinkets and back to the scene that they had been faithfully scribing even as their mind wandered.

As part of James Potter's attempts at wooing Lily Evans over to his side, the boy let free the practice snitch he kept on his person at all times and proceeded to catch it and release it. Crow's eyes glinted behind the periscope. The snitch was very shiny. It was also about the right size for a trinket to be gifted to Ziva. Perhaps… Well, Crow had already discovered they were going topside for a different trinket and some ingredients, adding a practice snitch to the list wouldn't do too much harm.

There was a shifting noise behind Crow but they paid it no attention, knowing it was merely the shifting of the earth (not the Earth, that would be an entirely different situation) as Anders collected the basket of filled black books and left an empty basket. Instead, Crow continued watching and gave a short bark of laughter as Lily Evans snatched the practice snitch out of the air before James Potter could and stalked away from the Marauders group, dragging Severus Snape with her.

Oh, this would be fun to tell Ziva when the other returned with the routine cup of cocoa—even if both Crow and Ziva had seen and noted many variations of the same scene numerous times with various actors, they still found enjoyment in them. Well, Crow found enjoyment in them. Ziva more enjoyed the energy that Crow exuded and the wide grin on their face when they told such stories, just as Crow enjoyed the same when Ziva discovered a new recipe.