“Oh, I’ll definitely go- even if it’s just to check it out for a day or something,” Dona nodded resolutely. “Honestly, I have no idea. But I’d like to work for the Ministry after school, so I thought it would be a good way to look more into it? More than the tour trip was, y’know.” 

“I don’t think anyone is excited about exams,” Dona smirked right back at Nadette, “But it’s like, more what it means? This is it, you know? The Point of No Return.” She nodded right along with Nadette, probably would have snapped her fingers if they were at a poetry slam. Hogwarts was wonderful but it was isolating, especially in the winter. “Absolutely,” She said, without missing a beat. “Did you know, I even applied for this Ministry Work Experience program a few months ago? It’s meant to happen over winter break, I didn’t even get a rejection letter. I bet they’ve cancelled it because they don’t want people seeing the protest. How messed up is that?”

Charlie’s eyes go wide before he blushed a deep red. “Oh yeah?” He cleared his throat and loosened his tie at his throat. “Well to each their own.” He gave a sheepish smile. He hadn’t expected Nadette to give him such personal information and while he was happy she felt comfortable enough to, he worried if he said anything it might be the wrong thing to say. Already what he’s said was cringe-worthy. “I’m happy for you.” His blush deepened even more.

Nadette smiled at his easy acceptance but she didn’t know how that was surprising or making him blush. Some of his embarrassment was rubbing off on her, that much was evident from the heat crawling up her neck to her cheeks. “Thanks, I’m glad we’re all happy. Can we go back to studying again or are you looking to heat the castle with your ruddy cheeks?”

“Maybe some golden bells or something then. Shiny and noisy.” A compromise in one object. “First time for everything. Just like a kid starting to test their boundaries.” Hopefully it didn’t get Nadette and himself in trouble. She carefully adjusted to make sure that the necklace was easily seen. Sol wanted to make sure she didn’t screw it up so she just tried to act as naturally as possible and continue talking but in a softer voice just so Midas wasn’t scared away. “So are you going to do something in the realm of  magical creatures when you graduate? You seem to like them.”

Nadette smirked watching as Midas became oblivious to almost everything but the necklace and his attempt at sneakiness. In all actuality Midas really wasn’t very sneaky. Sure his tiny paws made little to no noise and he was able to quickly scamper under the seat Sol was lounging in but because of Midas’ obliviousness Nadette was able to creep closer as well. “My parents are Veterinarians, I’d like to do something similar long term but yes with Magical Creatures.” She whispered as she crept closer. “Have you heard of the Einhorn Sicherheitsinstitut? A Unicorn Sanctuary. I do anything to spend any amount of time there with Unicorns and if I can care for them as their Doctor, all the better.” And with that, she scooped Midas up off the floor before he attempted to pounce for the necklace.

“I am right.” Dona said, giving herself a certain nod. “This summer sucked. But it’s not going to repeat itself because we’ve learned. The Ministry’s stamping down on intolerant people… And talking about how they’re going to fix all the violence happening.” Dona was worried she was starting to sound a bit like a broken record- and frankly, a bit like her family in their unwavering support of the Ministry. “But if we just leave all that aside, and focus on our own stuff… Like NEWTs, we’ll be doing those soon, what even.”

“Not excited about your NEWTs?” Nadette asked with a smirk. “We have some time before that I’m not too worried. I do feel like we live in a bit of a bubble at Hogwarts. Do you think you’d be at the protest if you weren’t here?”

“He’s the professor that runs Wizards chess.” That doesn’t answer the question at all but he was still trying to process what she said. “So what is your type?”

Nadette grinned but let Charlie off the hook. “If he had a younger sister, I’d probably have a crush on her.” Sure Nadette hadn’t nailed down her sexuality yet, she was pretty sure she had a preference for girls. She felt she was still too young to give a name to her feelings at seventeen. Maybe when she was older she’d be able to nail it down or it would continue to remain fluid. She honestly felt she had more pressing concerns, like her studies and pets and family than her sexuality.

Charlie whipped his head back around to stare at the top of Nadette’s head that still hadn’t lifted from her assignment. “Do you find him attractive?”

Nadette snorted. “No, not my type. It was just gossip. And sure, I can see why others would be attracted to him but nope, not me.” She raised her head from her work and smirked. “Do you find him attractive?”

“I don’t know about you, but Summer is not really something I want a repeat of.” Dona explained, raising her brows. The last school year had been hell, no ifs or buts. Even just talk of a ‘festival’ made Dona’s skin crawl, and she rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. “But… You know, there are always good things to look forward to.”

“Maybe make it like a laser pointer and cats? They can never actually get it but they still love to chase.” Sol didn’t have much experience with pets but she was trying. “Okay,” she sat down and made sure her necklace was on full display. “Maybe he’ll be happier once you graduate and leave the castle. I mean I know I’m going stir crazy in here so I can’t blame him for being mischievous to pass the time.”

Nadette giggled shaking her head. “Midas and Jin both like noises.” Jin being one of her pygmy puffs. Jin loved bells and music but Midas liked the sound of galleons and gold chains. “He might like a laser though. Honestly, he’s never been this naughty so I’ve never really had to test ways to get his attention. She can hear some rustling off to the left and holds her finger up to her lips pointing in that way to indicate. She smiled and held up her hands trying to indicate to let him come out a bit more before she would snatch him up.

“How are you looking forward to all that?! I feel like I know barely anything. Like… Houses? I don’t know how to get a house? How to get a job? What job to get?!” Dona shook her head. “Let’s just like… Focus on the current year?”

“You're not looking forward to warm weather and summer carnivals?” She realized Dona probably thought Nadette was looking forward to ‘the real world’ but that was not the case. As much as Nadette enjoyed challenges she really just wanted free time to spend on her own pursuits and maybe spend some time in her animagus form.

“Pets always seemed nice. My mom never wanted any animals around but a couple of my cousins had animals. Mostly chickens and a couple of goats but some had dogs too.” Certainly no one had any magical creature but to Sol they were just as lovely though the goats were definitely too smelly for her taste even if they made great cheese. “And now he’s getting bored while you’re in class. Hopefully you can figure something out to keep him entertained and safe.” The little guy was also so small and kind of blended in with the dark gray of the castle so Sol was worried someone might accidentally trip on him and hurt the little guy.

Nadette sighed and turned to the room and scanned for anything shiny that would draw him in. “I’m working on something like a cat tower with cubbies and dangly shiny things that maybe I can charm to hide or make it harder for him to get it. He used to spend hours cleaning but he’s in his agnsty teenage girl phase so he doesn’t want to do anything nice.” Nadette stepped further into the room and pat a pillow. “Why don’t you sit here as bait.”

“Shhhh….this is a library.” He whispered before turning back to his Herbology assignment. “Can you believe that? No wonder they’re not gonna get kicked out, they’re flirting with Xiao.”

Nadette chuckled quietly though she never took her eyes off of her own assignment. “You don’t find him attractive then? A lot of students do.”