not whether to be, but how to be

“Funny. You didn’t seem to be the type to form snap judgement, but we do all have our moments of incorrectness, I suppose.”

“I am anything but rash. I base my conclusions on evidence and support until there is a convincing enough rebuttal to prove my case wrong. I’m not beneath changing my perspective, but I have provided with no evidence to do so.”

“Generosity is terribly overrated. Don’t bother.”

“Not a fan of the truth, Parkinson? You do seem the type to prefer denial.”

“Their loss,” she shrugged. “I’d be happy to accompany if you’re in need of a companion.”

"You can if you wish. I’m on duty, so I can’t promise it’ll be all that interesting.”

“I’m glad you have opinions, but I don’t recall asking for them?”

"I’m in a generous mood, so I’m giving them out for free.”

“You see when they run away like that, it’s kind of a hint they’re not interested.” @brentnott

"And here I was about to offer them an exotic tour trip of the dungeons too. What a pity.”

          &&.   no matter where amma was living, no matter who she associated herself with: a sense of hefty pride would ALWAYS sit upon her shoulders. she was an avery by name, but as a person? she was SO much more than that. and it showed, in her taut lips, the narrowed glare she fixed brent with upon whipping around to face him. “opening your slimy mouth to, like, situations you know clearly know N O T H I N G about qualifies as very. fucking. stupid. since you’re obvi not aware, the word for it is ignorant? it means you should shut the FUCK up and mind your business.” she took a step toward brent, eyes flashing, enraged. “i do what i have to to keep myself and my brother safe, NOTT. what do YOU do, hm? what have you DONE?” amma asked, stepping again. “do you want to test that? do you want to find just how UNBENDING my knees are, brett? TRY ME.” amma had no doubts she could squash this boy like a bug beneath her six inches. “otherwise? i suggest you remove yourself. ——— then again, i’d be ecstatic to suffocate you with more of my unworthy opinions whilst you sit on your misguided pedestal, sweetie.” 

And there it came off, the mask Amma Avery had been wearing before. “And there she is.” Those that were disingenuous because they were scared of the consequences of being themselves were weak to Brent. “You’re the one that opened yourself up for discussion by saying there was nothing distasteful about you. Cool and collected one minute, bordering on loose canon the next. Which is real, which is true?” He assumed it was this one. The one that was a disgrace to her parents. “What have I done?” he mimicked, folding his arms. “I’ve done nothing to shame my family while flaunting my independence around. It’s a juggling act that you clearly haven’t been able to manage. Whom are you protecting yourself from? Your parents? Cut the ties then, if you can manage on your own.” Brent wasn’t much in the mood for a fight, but he would defend himself. “Misguided pedestal. Who’s the one that seems to be pricked by the thorns on their crown, princess? You’re the one who’s sitting on the edge of her throne.” Amma could be bent, as she was displaying. How easy it seemed to be to wound her ego. 

She knew who Brent was, since he was one of the prefects for her house, but not once had they spoken. In her opinion, he should have been at the Ball making sure students weren’t making complete fools out of themselves or hurting others. Although most should be using the time to have fun, thre were those few people who would take advantage of the lighter feel. It was a shame really, because those few people could ruin an entire event due to their selfishness. 

“Although I’m sure a lot of hard work went into setting it up, I’m not really the type to be dancing the night away with students I don’t particularly care to speak to. And since you’re in here I can conclude that nothing interesting has happened yet so I’m not missing out on much.”

Brent had made sure to memorize every Gryffindor’s name on the roster, Aylin’s included. A girl that kept to herself more often than not. Not as bold or brash as some of the more stereotypical lions. And, apparently, one who skipped out on school festivities. He could question her on it, find the behavior suspect as it would provide her ample opportunity to break the rules when all the prefects were at the ball, but he chose to not. Something told him it would be a fruitless pursuit. 

“If you count punches that are spiked with love potions, truth potions, and alcohol that makes weaker students both enamored and loose-lipped as nothing much, then yes. And the music wasn’t even recorded, but live, and they could have chosen a much better performer, but that’s what you get at a primarily student-ran event. You made the right choice.”

“Well, that’s not strictly true; if tradition were the sole way of the magical world we’d still be using staffs and we wouldn’t have adopted indoor plumbing from the muggles. Clearly, adaptation and change in some cases is entirely permissible—I don’t see why the quality of our education can’t be one of them. A poor standard of education isn’t just an annoyance—it puts our society’s place in the international magical community at risk.”

“You seem to be misunderstanding me.” Nadia was quick to jump to the defensive. Interesting as she once had carried herself with more poise than that. “I was merely stating the fact that our culture isn’t conducive to drastic change. Nowhere did I offer my own opinion on the matter. If it were up to me, such an overhaul would take place. We would incorporate more modern teaching methods rather than strictly lectures and we would create a position here at Hogwarts such as having a Director of Education that would be devoted to the improvement of the system. Yet most alumni who donate to this school are not likely to take to such changes warmly.”

          &&.   “nothing about ME is distasteful.” she shot him a pointed look, face near set in stone. amma had been playing the pureblood game long enough now be able to push all the girlishness from her features. to shed all things she held dear in favour of a potent coldness, the kind her parents emitted. when she was living with kiran, she didn’t force herself into this. but whilst at home, the avery’s had brilliant ways of keeping their eyes on her.  “nor would i ever cry over a boy, ESPECIALLY here. they’re all muggleborn or half or imbeciles.” 

"Shacking up at another student’s home because you can’t face your parents qualifies as distasteful.” If Amma was not wishing to go along with her parents’ thinking, then she should have the nerve to stand up and say so. Quite frankly, Brent found it far more distasteful that she had gone back than that she had left in the first place. Was she spineless? She put up a good act, but if that’s all it was, an ACT and not her true beliefs, then she was a coward, a puppet, and to Brent there was nothing worse. “I would take offense to the claim that I’m an imbecile, but I can’t be arsed enough to care about your opinion. It holds no weight, coming from someone who’s so weak-kneed.” And he was not referring to her being week in the knees over love. 

The silence was euphoric to Aylin as she on her favorite couch in the Common Room with colored pencils and parchment spread over her lap. It seemed as if all of Gryffindor had finally finished priming and primping themselves to attend this stupid Ball the whole school had gotten all worked up about. She had never been one for formal events, and since she had never attended one Aylin didn’t believe in trying it out now. 

Watching the girls go by in their glittering gowns had made her somewhat jealous, but not for the reasons one would think. When she saw those dresses, those gorgeous expensive dresses, she thought of all the essential things she could buy. How could someone be so wasteful? And for something that was so useless?  Content with her relaxing space on the couch, she continued coloring her own home-made map of Hogwarts for….recreational uses.

Brent had resorted to more or less patrolling the hallways and surveying the Common Rooms. The ball had little to offer him in way of good conversation or any other decent socializing. When he found out the punches had been spiked, he had assumed that there was other mischief going on around the castle. After busting a few fourth years  who had been smoking on a bong, he made his way into his own Common Room. Considering the history of his house and its reputation, he had been expecting a mess. 

Yet it was quiet. It seemed that most of his housemates were fans of the Ball then. That wasn’t too surprising. Spotting the lone student on the couch, he leaned against the chair that was perched in front of the fire place. “And they say that Gryffindors lack common sense. A quiet evening in surely ought to beat what has become of the Grand Hall.”

There was no denying that she was nervous, since her cheeks were already flushed and her palms already sweaty. This was just another school event where everyone looked nice. But what if she didn’t look nice enough? What if she had worn the completely wrong thing? Every other girl was most likely in a dress and there she was in a crop top and skirt. It was the most comfortable thing though, and the heels weren’t bad either. “Well,” she said outloud to her herself, “here goes nothing.” And with that she pushed open the doors to find a beautifully decorated Great Hall.

Brent would have left by this point if he didn’t consider both his duty as a prefect and a brother to stay and keep an eye on those that were acting far more undignified. He had not gone to such measures as to cure any that had come across the love potion, however, because he considered it an opportunity for all of them to learn the lesson. Yet, as he saw Kendra come into the room, he greeted her with, “Fair warning that the punches have already been spiked. Do with that information what you will.”

        &&.   this TOTALLY should have been her element. her dress was on point, she was practically THE prettiest girl at the ball. ( aside from leonie and nadia, of course. ) love was in the air, and who else adored romantics more than her? but instead of enjoying herself, the slytherin sat outside alone. at least until she heard someone ELSE approaching. quickly, she forced the glum expression from her features and slipped into one of indifference. “if you’re out here to be sick, like, do it fucking somewhere else. i look way too nice to be smelling your chunder.” 

Brent could not stand the deplorable sloppiness of the ball. By this point, students were either sloshed or love-sick and he couldn’t decide which one was more detestable. He’d gone out to be on his own, not wanting to risk someone falsely falling in love with him and being a nuisance, when he came to a momentary stop, angling his body to glance at the sitting, moping girl. “While the sight of a practical orgy in the Grand Hall was enough to make my stomach churn, the fresh air was meant to do me good. Though if you’re here to cry over love lost, such a pitiful display may be just as distasteful.”

“Well, if anything, let this be a lesson to the professors and school board that our potions curriculum is in dire need of an overhaul—honestly, that even some NEWT students couldn’t identify Amortentia in their drink is just embarrassing. Maybe now they’ll listen to one of my many petitions for improvements.”

“Can you tell me the last time that Hogwarts has overhauled their curriculum, besides during the brief insurrection of Voldemort? The teaching philosophy at this institution appears to be don’t fix what’s not broken and even if it is broken? Well, certainly we can wave our wands to fix it or turn a blind eye. Tradition, that is the way of the magical world and considering our lifespans only continue to grow, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”