to stay among eagles

Katie made a face, Ancient Runes was never her favorite subject and she already shed a few tears leaving Old Sluggie’s room. So the Gryffindor just ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Go lie on the grass and cuddle? Maybe take a swim or dip out heads into the Forbidden Forest? Dunno babe.”

Olivia felt as though she hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks. Of course that wasn’t true, while she’d been working especially long hours this week this was nothing compared to the school year. Between classes, work, and studio time she was lucky if she had a completely free day ever. But she was about to start her third year at Chelsea College of Arts and she loved it so she really couldn’t complain about the long hours though Rei rarely hesitated to do so, not that she had any room to talk. But today was free and Olivia had decided to spend it in the park. The park was bustling with activity which wasn’t surprising considering how nice the weather was though the slight breeze was making Olivia wonder whether or not she should have opted for something besides a tank top, not that she ever wore anything besides tank tops and shorts these days. She’d found that she got less art supplies on her clothes is she didn’t have sleeves but less was most definitely a relative term. Plus after seven years of uniforms and robes Olivia was really enjoying getting to dress more casually. Besides the lack of uniform she didn’t feel like her appearance had changed much in the last two years, her hair was held in a messy bun by a pair of paintbrushes just like it had always been though she had dyed the tips a bright blue color just for the experience and the color was still there. The most obvious difference was the tattoos, the was one on the inside of her elbow on a flower that spread out around her arm and one from her spine across her shoulder blade of a flock of birds. That one always made her think of Ravenclaw with fondness. She missed her roommates a lot and she wished she’d kept in better touch with them. Well obviously she was still in touch with Rei, they practically lived at each other’s flats and they’d been dating since sixth year, but she hadn’t heard much from the others. Cass was off doing exciting things and it had been a while since they’d been in touch, Olivia tried to write Grace occasionally but it had been a while, and she had no idea what Arabella was up to. Olivia leaned her head back and stared up at the sky for a moment thinking back on Hogwarts, she’d have to send out a couple of owls to see how everyone was fairing in the adult world. She looked back down before she accidentally ran into someone and continued walking aimlessly along the path she was on, her ever-present messenger bag bouncing on her hip. She was glancing around trying to find somewhere she wanted to sit when she caught sight of a familiar face. Olivia stopped abruptly and stared at the woman leaned up against the tree, her hair was different but her face was exactly as Olivia remembered but she had to stare for a moment just to be sure. Without the familiar shock of bright red hair the other women looked distinctly different but Olivia would have recognized that face anywhere. Walking up to stand a few feet in front of her Olivia tried to think of a way to announce her presence without scaring her, though she imagined she wasn’t likely to manage that. “Y’know it’s easier to read with your eyes open right? Though if anyone could read by diffusion it would be you,” Olivia piped up, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the noises of the park.

The record was spinning in the player and Grace was staring into space, letting the words wash over her. Everything since the Minister’s Ball had felt like a dream: sleeping either came easily or not at all; her appetite was ether insatiable or completely non-existent, and Grace had been living in pyjamas, refusing to emerge out of the dorms unless she was sure that people had classes or wouldn’t be loitering around in the places where she needed to go. Whether we’re together or apart, we can both remove the masks and admit we regret it from the start. Grace frowned and bit her bottom lip as tears whelmed in her eyes just as there were footsteps on the landing outside the door. Quickly wiping at her face and turning her back to the door so the person couldn’t see her face, she pretended to busy herself with some notes from class while the song played in the background. “If you’re looking for Arabella, I think she’s uh-… I don’t know, but uhm-.. she isn’t here,” she said as the door opened, sniffing quietly.

Olivia held tightly to Cassidy’s hand as though that little bit of physical contact could afford them the comfort they needed from each other but it did very little to slow Olivia’s heart rate which was increasing exponentially the more Cassidy spoke. “Wait..Ara was coming back from the dorm or the auror was?” The idea that Undercut could have been in Ravenclaw tower scared her in a more intimate way than the idea that she’d been in the castle had. “They have to be nearby right? They wouldn’t just abandon us would they?” Olivia had been feeling the absence of their usual aurors all night and now that Cassidy put it that way she felt terror swell in her chest anew. “Lowell is involved Cass…I’m convinced of it,” Olivia whispered, leaning as close to the redhead as she can get without actually leaning against her.

"Sorry - Ara was on her way back from the dorm," she corrected. The squeeze of Olivia’s hand was tight and worrisome. Placing her free hand atop Olivia’s, she rubbed light, small circles into the back of her hand in a rhythmic effort to calm her. "Of course! They’re probably just on the grounds but I-… I can’t help but feel… a little vulnerable. If we asked a teacher they would probably just argue there are too many Aurors in one place but… I don’t like this…" She felt worry radiate from Olivia, her tone wavering and her whisper impossibly quiet. Closing the distance between them, Cassidy rested her head in the crook of Olivia’s neck and squeezed her eyes shut. "I don’t… I don’t know about Lowell, but his blonde henchwoman is, definitely," she mumbled. She couldn’t help but hold out a small ounce of hope that Lowell might be different; might be good for the Ministry - for them all. Cassidy clung to it desperately. She had no cause to doubt him yet but Olivia’s surety made doubt briefly tug at her stomach.

Olivia nodded, relaxing slightly knowing that Ara wasn’t unwell. “I understand that, I don’t think most of us are comfortable being here.” She could see the discomfort in Cassidy’s face and Olivia glanced at the crowd milling around the edge of the dance floor and she realized it might look suspicious if she and Cass were sitting off in a corner alone looking anxious. Turning back to her roommate Olivia forced a smile onto her face and dropped her hand onto Cassidy’s, her eyes still giving away her nerves. “The beautiful but terrifying one…” Olivia nodded, remembering the conversation she’d had with Katie earlier in the night. Her fake smile faltered slightly as Cassidy continued and the blonde shifted herself closer to her roommate. Olivia felt the color drain from her face as a spike of fear shot through her. “She was here? W-where?”

Cassidy nodded, “That’s the one.” Taking a deep breath she listened closely to Olivia, the blonde grasping at her hand. The redhead held at it firmly before whispering a response, “I-I don’t know, she didn’t say exactly, but I think she was coming back from dorm… I don’t know.” She took the chance to check her surroundings quickly before continuing, “‘livia, none of our Aurors are here - none of the Hogwarts Aurors. And if one of Lowell’s Aurors was here during the lockdown it begs the question why, and the possibility she knew about the werewolves that caused the lockdown in the first place.”

Olivia looked over at Cassidy as the other girl spoke, it wasn’t like her to be so serious. “Back at the room? Why would she have gone back to the room?” Olivia asked confused, they were all supposed to stay at the ball until they were dismissed. Wouldn’t Ara have had to feign illness to be sent back to their dorm? Or maybe she actually was sick. Olivia turned back to look over the crowd, not seeing Arabella anywhere, concern for her friend growing quickly in her chest. She looked abruptly back at Cassidy as she spoke, before allowing the girl to pull her through the crowded room by her hand. Olivia sat next to Cass, turning to face her fellow Ravenclaw, the concern growing stronger at the look on Cassidy’s face. The blonde leaned closer, her eyes growing wide at her friend’s words, “One of…which one?”

"She’s just not… comfortable being here and I just want to make sure she was okay," Cassidy admitted. The concern on Olivia’s face didn’t settle her and she shifted anxiously in her seat. Cassidy hoped desperately that the two of them looked simply like two friends gossiping among the mill of students and nobody would pay them any attention. "The blonde one - the one with t-the undercut," she said, motioning with a finger at the side of her own head and chewing at her lip nervously. "Ara’s seen her before," she whispered, leaning closer to Olivia to be heard above the din, "I-It was during the lockdown on the day of the protest. She was inside the school, Olivia…”

Olivia felt herself visibly relax as she realized it was Cassidy standing in front of her. She smiled slightly and shook her head, “It’s alright, I wasn’t looking either.” She could hear the strain in her roommates voice and she raised an eyebrow as the other girl stood up on her toes to scan the room. Olivia shook her head again a bit slower this time, “No I haven’t seen her all night. Why? Do you need her for something?” Olivia hadn’t seen much of any of her roommates recently, especially Cass and Ara so she hadn’t been surprised that she hadn’t run into either of the girls that night. “I can help you find her if you want.” Olivia turned around to scan the room with Cass looking for their roommate’s familiar dark hair. “Are you alright Cass you seem…on edge?” She looked over at her friend concern obvious in her features.

The kind words seemed to pull her back to Earth and Cassidy couldn’t help but smile softly at her friend. After this Cassidy bit at her lip, “No I-… I just need to make sure she’s okay… She’s probably back at the room but I…” she trailed off. Knitting her eyebrows together she stopped looking at the crowd and gazed around at her immediate area. “I need to tell you something. C’mon,” she said, dropping the bunched fabric of her dress and grasping Olivia’s hand lightly before guiding her to a quiet table in the corner of the Great Hall. Sitting down, she shifted along the seat so Olivia could sit close by, and spoke “it’s about one of Lowell’s Aurors.”

Heels now comfortably off and grasped in Cassidy’s hand, the trail of her dress in the other, her feet treaded lightly on cool ground. She had done her fair share of dancing tonight already and her poor toes had begged for release. She had told Arabella to go enjoy herself as much as she could and Cassidy had tried on her part, but without much luck. Quickly deciding to track down her roommate, she squeezed past clusters of people and made a beeline for the edge of the room, looking in to desperately find Arabella. The sudden appearance of Olivia made her jump and they stopped suddenly before bumping into each other. “‘livia! Sorry, that was my fault completely, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she said, leaving her sentence hanging in the air to rise on her tip toes to quickly scan the crowd. Her toes protested and she rested back onto the heels of her feet, turning to the blonde and asking, “Have you seen Ara, by any chance?”