Queen

Aestraea rolled her eyes at the childish behaviour . “ Well, your name’s not written on it, and it’s a public library . So unless you’re the queen or something, I don’t see why I should care. ”

“I always sit there,” Jia responded with a small frown, arms crossed in annoyance, “Every day. That’s my seat.”

Elliot sighed softly, “I’m sure that your essay is fine.” he said carefully, “And … I mean, maybe we won’t have to stay very long?”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Jia responded with a frown, shaking her head a bit, “This whole thing is stupid. Look at them,” she gestured towards a group of fifth years who were very obviously drunk, “Why are they being so dumb?”

Elliot relaxed a little at that statement, looking around carefully, “Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right. They can replace all of us, can they?”

“Right,” Jia said with a nod. She frowned lightly, “Though this is still annoying. I have a Charms essay due tomorrow that I haven’t proof-read yet. I hate parties.”

“I really shouldn’t be here. If I get caught they’re probably gonna tell me I can’t be a prefect anymore. I mean it’s the forbidden forest … it’s forbidden.” Elliot babbled nervously.

“I’m pretty sure that half of the prefects are here,” Jia said, arms crossed over her chest defensively as she glanced around, doing her best to hide her anxiety.

Roxanne shrugged. “That’s a good point, I guess.” She raised an eyebrow at the girl. “You really don’t like the people in this castle, do you?”

Roxanne shrugged. “That’s a good point, but it would still be better than being stuck in a stuffy classroom, where half the people are messing around and don’t even want to be there.” She knew she’d work much better with the fresh air around her, and without ten different students all up in her personal space.

“Well, since Quidditch is so beneath you,” she keeps her tone light, to soften her words and show that she doesn’t mean any harm by them, “What is it that you’re going to do after school? If you don’t mind my asking.” There was a good chance Jia was going to clam up and refuse to answer her.

Jia regarded her for a moment, a bit surprised by the question. She frowned, in thought, debating on whether or not to give her an actual answer, before deciding that there wasn’t any harm in it, “I want to work in the Ministry. Make a difference.”

“I don’t know why we don’t have classes outside.” Roxanne said, sitting down on the long grass underneath her favourite tree. “It would be so much nicer, wouldn’t it? Soaking in the sunlight, the fresh air. Why don’t we do that?” The only other person around her was someone sitting on the other side of the tree, who looked around in surprise when Roxanne sat down. They weren’t exactly friends, of course. 

Normally, Jia wouldn’t even be outside doing her homework. She would much rather be inside, working in the library. However, since people seemed to think, lately, that the library was a social spot, she had decided to try and find some place more secluded to do her work, where she wouldn’t be interrupted. Obviously, it wasn’t working.

         “Like I told you before at the pitch,” Valerie murmurs tiredly,          propping her chin up on her hand, “Just tired, haven’t been          sleeping well. If you keep worrying you’ll give yourself wrinkles.”          She tries to make light of the situation, hoping to throw Jia off. 

He glances up at the person across from him, slightly less bothered when he sees it’s someone from his house and year. Hopefully, she’ll just sit there and silently get on with whatever she has to do, just as he is. And then she asks for some ink. His quill stops scratching against the parchment and he resists the urge to roll his eyes. Honestly, who doesn’t carry extra ink. “Sure.” He mutters, rather bluntly, pulling out an inkwell and sliding it across to her.

Jia almost lets out a sign of relief when he simply slides the inkwell to her. He didn’t seem to want to talk to her as much as she didn’t want to talk to him, which was great, because people in the castle were very talkative. She nods, giving him a quiet, “Thanks,” and falls back to her work, frowning down as she tries to work out her Astronomy homework.

“You make connections, when you enter the world of professional Quidditch. Or you do if you’re smart,” Molly amended, head tilting to the side thoughtfully. “My dad’s mate was a Chaser for the Falcons, Captained them for a few years, got a job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports he wouldn’t have got otherwise. My Aunt Ginny went from the League to a sports reporter for the Prophet.” She shrugged. “’spose it’s a bit of a stepping stone career.”

She let out a hum, deep in thought at the girl’s words now. She frowned. That didn’t sound anything like she would enjoy. In fact, it sounded like complete lunacy to her. Who would want their lives so controlled by such a silly game. She shook her head, “Still doesn’t make sense,” she responded, “But, I guess if that’s what they enjoy...”

        Valerie is tired, honestly she’s only in the library to try and catch a         nap away from the third years making noise in the common room.         She’s totally out of it when Jia talks to her, the young woman blinking         slowly before looking up at the other girl. “Sorry.” She mumbles, not         feeling like an argument as she stands, shifting to a different seat at         the table.

Maya didn’t bother to even look up. ‘’From here it looks like my seat,’’ she replied flippantly. She turned the page in her book and started taking notes again on a piece of parchment.

“Seems to me it’s more that people can hurt and people just don’t like you.” He sighed, knowing that it came out rough, but knowing exactly that it was the truth, for more people than just JIa.

She was quiet for a moment, shooting a glare at the boy. Then, after a moment, she said, “Of course not. You don’t know what you are talking about.”

      That morning after the first night of a full moon is always hard. It had been a       spectacularly rough night for her, the memories of it are slowly starting to come back.       She’s sporting new scars on her arms and chest, carefully hidden by her clothes,       sealed with powdered silver and dittany. Valerie sighs softly, shivering in the cool breeze.       She’s seated in the Quidditch stands, absentmindedly watching some people practice       and trying desperately to keep up her facade of normalcy. People would notice if she       went missing for days at a time each month. The circles under her eyes have darkened       and her skin is pale, her usually uncontrollable hair hanging limp around her face. She       doesn’t want to speak to anyone or do anything. So when someone sits beside her       she sighs softly, “I hate to break it to you, but I’m not really in the mood for       conversation right now.”

“Good,” Jia responds with a light huff, pulling out one of her textbooks. She had decided to get some fresh air and try to do some homework outside. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what had drawn her to sit next to the girl. For some odd reason, she wanted some contact with someone, yet she didn’t at the same time. She glanced over at the girl, however, and frowned, “You okay? You look a bit sick.”

He’s in a good mood, which normally doesn’t bode well for anyone. However, he’s too preoccupied at the moment to scheme, instead he’s focused on the homework in front of him. It isn’t difficult, but it’s important to maintain a high calibre of work in order to stay on the teachers’ good sides. He shifts in his seat slightly and scribbles something down on the parchment in front of him before his eyes flick to his textbook on his lap. Alfie doesn’t want company in that particular moment, so when someone takes a seat across from him his good mood dissipates. He doesn’t bother looking up to see who it is, instead hoping that if he ignored them, they’ll get the message and find another table.

Jia honestly hadn’t wanted to take the seat across from him but the library seemed to be pretty full and she didn’t want to sit next to any first years or annoying Gryffindors. And so, after a quick scan of the library, she finally settled on taking a seat near a fellow Slytherin, though not someone that she had ever had any real conversation with. Pulling out her textbook, she began working quietly on some homework when she suddenly realized that she was missing something, “Hey. Do you have any ink that I can borrow?”