just peachy.

    i. how did she came to be?

 the eleven-year-old girl walks into the great hall. with wide eyes, she tries to take the sight in. she notices the four long tables and tries to seek her brothers out from the crowd but can’t manage to find them. someone behind her pushes her and doesn’t apologize but she barely notices as her eyes are fixed on the ceiling and how infinite it appears to be. mailan wonders if anyone had gotten close to touching it. was it as vast as space? could you get lost in it? what spell was used to create it? could she use such spell in any object? on any wall? questions cloud her mind but they begin to simmer down as her brown eyes notice the headmaster—minerva mcgonagall. all the first-year students try to settle together, shoulders touching. the term personal space is long forgotten as they all wait for their names to be called. 

 time passes and she watches as people get sorted. five are sorted into hufflepuff, three into gryffindor, four into slytherin, two into ravenclaw. and the girl that was sorted just before mailan’s name was called, was sorted into ravenclaw as well making it three ravenclaws. had her name been bella? she couldn’t recall. mailan stumbles with her robes before getting onto the chair and sitting down. she hears some people laughing around her and while her cheeks heat up with embarrassment she tries to not show it. ( she had told her mother she couldn’t just grow into the robes in a week. ) her eyes look straight ahead at the closed doors that she had walked into a couple of minutes ago as the hat is set on top of her head. for a second she forgets to breathe and it’s then that she hears it, the voice of the hat. 

              “ ah.. you’ll do well in hufflepuff! ” are the first words she hears and mailan remembers the bright colors hufflepuff represented, something inside her bloomed with joy.  “ but.. ” the hat started  “ ravenclaw would CHALLENGE you.. with them you could go further, expand your knowledge.. even your own ambitions. ” there was a pause and mailan found herself thinking : where will i do well? “ hm.. the badgers could do you some good yes, but there’s room for that loyalty to spiral. ah, yes. endless possibilities with that one. uh.. with the eagles, you will truly shine. your abilities will grow to make your own peers dim in comparison.. but it isn’t success you want. no.. hm.. a chance to prove yourself? ah.. to create? to question? to understand? you seek answers.. yes. well then.. ”

 the word RAVENCLAW rings in her ears and suddenly the entire table is clapping. mailan stumbles as she attempts to get to the table but once she gets there she smiles brightly. next to her sits a girl, she remembers her because she was one of the first one called. mailan makes a note to talk to her afterward, would they be roommates? as more questions pop into her mind, the last names are called. once the feast begins to make conversation with the other first years. part of her longs for the bright yellow colors she could have worn but there is something about what the hat said that made her glad to be with ravenclaw. ( what could have spiraled if she went with the hufflepuff? )

TRAITS SHE EMBODIES: Loyalty, kindness, and patience. Acceptance, creativity, and individuality. 

loyalty, kindness, and patience will always be a part of mailan. she stands by those she loves. and her kind, light-hearted nature reigns true to her essence. but being amongst the eagles will allow a certain individuality to shine, a trait she would’ve lacked if she decided to wear yellow. ( in the current verse mailan is more of a collective than a self, too willing to follow into the footsteps of her brothers even to the extent of her beliefs, morals, and judgment being compromised. ) the eagles will push her to be independent in her journey but do not mistake that independence with a withdrawn nature. mailan truly thrives around people but she accomplishes some of her best ( and craziest ) work by herself. her innovative nature would only double in size and her answers to problems ( cue: the riddle in order to reach her common area ) are creative, often answers not many would ever come up with. her creativity would CHALLENGE those around her, and essentially push her to be quite an odd one when compared to others. too imaginative, some may say. her feet are not on the ground, others would whisper as she manages to perfect a potion in a ridiculous and unique fashion. 

CHARACTER PARALLELS: 

luna lovegood : a recognized wizard naturalist, previously known as an eccentric student who was also sorted into ravenclaw. 

LUNA is.. eccentric, bold, unapologetic, intelligent, kind, knowledgable, strong.

 mailan resembles luna’s rather odd way of thinking even if the two function differently. while luna had a wide knowledge about creatures and topics that many wizards didn’t take seriously, mailan has a thirst for experimenting with plants. the young witch would face too many detentions for not only sneaking into the greenhouses but conducting rather dangerous experiments with spells that no sixth year should know. and even so, she proudly wears the colors blue and silver. luna’s unapologetic mannerism shines through mailan, and for once she would not feel sorry for merely existing ( at least not as often as she would amongst the badgers. however, some of the struggles our current mailan would face would still be relevant. ) many would question why mailan was sorted into ravenclaw, similar to the way students questioned luna’s place in the house. however, the two would -in their time- prove to others why they are there. their journey is quite a tedious one but these two overlap even career-wise.

eleanor bishop : an ncis agent whose brain works a little differently. intelligent but easy to tease or play with. 

ELEANOR is.. quiet, stubborn, resourceful, independent, compassionate, and a perfectionist. 

 upon eleanor’s first appearance in the show, it was obvious that she was beyond resourceful and innovative. the way she worked differed from others and her messy aesthetic catches mailan’s essence entirely. while she’s smart and determined, mailan works best when she has papers ( see: parchment ), books, and squills sprawled around her. eleanor has a heart too big for her body and shows a compassionate nature to those she works closely with. it’s not easy to take advantage of her and the same goes to mailan. sure, she’s knowledgable but mailan’s heart has always been too soft and big for her body. the two tend to keep their problems to themselves, refusing to share with others what they’re going to which only leads them to burnouts, breakdowns, and overall not a good time. eleanor tends to butt heads with those in a higher power than her and mailan follows that streak especially if those with authority are corrupt and unyielding. 

    ii. what would be different?

MORAL ALIGNMENT: lawful neutral good

PERSONALITY: funny how many label gryffindor as brave and daring because while they do fiercely represent those traits, they aren’t the only ones. there is bravery in wanting to go FURTHER than anyone has ever gone before. there is AMBITION is longing to innovate, to create what no one has ever done. and mailan would adapt that daring nature too well. in contrast to her random acts of bravery she has amongst the badgers, she will be purposefully brave. she would dare to go beyond her own capabilities. ( of course, her ambitions will expand as well but only because she DARES to let herself have those ambitions in the first place. )

FRIENDS: it was never difficult to become friends with mailan but her accepting nature would enhance, duplicate. she would end up with some rather unlikely friendships ( see: bulstrode. ) and while her morals and beliefs are more solid ( firm, grounded) than ever before, it would not keep her for befriending those that see the world from a different perspective. if anything it would allow her to want to inch closer to those with contrasting experiences. her curiosity does not linger merely on plants or animals but on the nature of other wizards as well. 

    iii. what would remain somewhat similar?

ELEMENT: air // impractical, curious, fickle, talkative, and disjointed ( see also: misguided. )

INTERESTS: experimentation at its prime. mailan has been caught multiple time experimenting with plants that are too dangerous. the number of times she’s ended in detention because of it is just crazy. it has never stopped her, when she’s surrounded by people that pursue KNOWLEDGE to the extent some ravenclaws do, boundaries seem to fade away. cooking will be a passion and mailan would use her career ( since it allows her to travel ) to learn about different cuisine around the world. RIGHTS would always be something that mailan is drawn to. she would try and work closely with organizations that aren’t corrupted and actually seek to help the unfortunate; in fact, mailan would make various generous donations with her wealth ( hers or her family’s, the line is too difficult to draw. ) 

CLUBS: divination, herbology, spew, and care of magical creatures. mailan loves divination even if wizards go to extreme measures to push it to the ground. there is a certain fascination she feels about it, and naturally, she was too good at divination. her eye for the unseen, for the inevitable, for the possible was keen, precise, unique making her one of the few students that excel at divinations ( & one of the few ones that even TRIED with the class. ) another slight difference would be, that like the hat mentioned, the eagles would give her NEW ambitions. mailan would’ve never dreamed of being a leader if she didn’t wear blue on her robes but alas they pushed her to DARE to do more hence why she eventually became the president of care of magical creatures club. 

FUTURE: amongst the badgers, mailan greatest ambition was to become a healer but the eagles gave her a new opportunity to DARE to do something greater, something a little bit challenging ( not that being a healer isn’t challenging, huff! mailan couldn’t even get the NEWTS to pursue such passion. ) as previously mentioned mailan would follow into luna’s career and become a magizoologist. the career seems all too perfect for her considering her love for the unknown and dangerous, and her position in the comc club.

with nikita being a prodigy it was hard for her to admit that she did play the VIOLIN. however, once she did say it, some conversations just flowed better. it was easier to talk to nikita when they had something in common, especially considering how much music means to him. at first, mailan visited nikita when he practiced. she didn’t bring anything with her, quickly realizing how he worked. if she wanted him to let her stay she had to be at her best behavior which wasn’t that difficult. as time passed, and mailan became more of a SOFT spot for the other hufflepuff; she was allowed to bring snacks and her homework. later on, he agreed to tutor her, to teach her more about the violin. to this day, mailan gets a shaky bow when she practices or plays the violin around nikita. however, with nikita she does learn a lot more about the violin, over the years she’s learned new techniques as well. 

mailan always had a unique interest in the students that transferred to hogwarts, it’s a nurturing instinct that pulls her to those students. hence it was no surprise when she approached nikita during his first week at hogwarts and volunteered to give him a tour of the best places of the castles. let’s just say that their FIRST MEETING didn’t go so well. it didn’t take much for mailan to notice his cold, stoic behavior. his responses were short precise and she found herself intimidated when he spoke. persistence was key and although nikita turned her comment about the greenhouses being the best place at hogwarts down, she still asked questions. mailan showed him where some of the music rooms around the castle where (they definitely got LOST which didn’t help mailan but back then she didn’t go to the music rooms, she had no reason to do so). something that lingers from their first meeting is the UNCERTAINTY and FEAR that mailan feels around nikita. sure they are close friends, they know each other pretty well. but it’s too easy for her to take his words to seriously, to find the mean tone in his voice. she is easily hurt by nikita and his words / actions. 

there’s many ways mailan shows her love and AFFECTION, and one the three most prominent ones are physical touch, gifts, and words of affirmation. with nikita physical touch is probably the most notable form of affection they share. it’s hard to not see them walking with their hands intertwined. mailan showers him in kisses, never on the mouth although they’ve shared two of those kisses. she made it a habit to kiss his entire face at random times. kissing his cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, the list goes on. however, there are TWO places mailan kisses nik the most: his hands and his jaw. as a violinist, he uses his hands a lot, and she tries to ease up any tension he may have by kissing his fingers or wrists, or the back of his hand when they are holding it. mailan kissing nik’s hands is probably one of the rare times that nik gets flustered. his jaw is merely because.. she loves it, she really enjoys kissing his jaw and would probably blush whenever she did so. (is his jaw one of her favorite things about nikita? More Likely Than You Think™️). mailan also massages his head when he’s too stressed. and when nikita is burying himself into his work and forgets to eat, she nibbles his bicep or arm, it’s an attempt to get his attention. 

in a world where mailan acts as a double agent for the side of the war, she despises, having friends that belong either to the MA or neutrals is a PRIVILEGE—one she shouldn’t afford but does regardless. Allowing herself to be as attached as she is to nikita is SELFISH and not a day goes by where she doesn’t hate herself more for all the truths she has kept from him. and it’s no surprise that she is selfish in their friendship as well. more often than not mailan forgets about how nikita’s fingers need rest and she continues to hold his hand instead of letting him rest. more often than not she would be a distraction to him in music rooms or studying sessions; even when she understands his dedication to music. most of these selfish acts feel so insignificant but maybe the most selfish one of them all will be sharing her SECRET with him, only him. ( just kidding, in the future -if they have one in this verse- she would be FAR more selfish than she ever was in her school years).