Open A little more homework than bargained for

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio was staring up at the ceiling of the common room, trying to find any motivation to keep going with his Charms homework. He didn’t really mind the subject so much as Elio just found classes so boring, and it was hard not to just ignore the essays waiting for him and go and explore the school some more with his camera. He looked back around the Gryffindor common room, watching the students that were milling about and chatting to each other, wanting to join them rather than be stuck here. He knew the charms, he’d practised them enough, he didn’t need to be doing this right now. Casting a glance to the window beside he looked out across the grounds, envious of the students that were out and about at this time, doing whatever they wanted. He knew he was a fifth year and he did want to do well, but why should he have to feel as though he needed his days run by the ink on his page rather than by what he wanted to do? He looked across the table to Ro, who was curled up with her head on her arm trying to keep him company, planning to go out once he was finished with his work. “You know what?” Elio said suddenly, packing up his things and raising his charms textbook in the air, “I don’t need all this,” It was such a waste, they made notes in class anyway and they practised often that lugging a text book around was pointless. He suddenly lent over to the window, unlatching it and pushing open the glass frame, flinging the textbook straight out the window with his left hand before quickly sealing it back up again before anyone noticed, “I’m done here, cmon,” he grinned at Rowan, tapping her arm and abandoning his seat.​

Godmod approved

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall was trying extra hard recently not to trip over his own shoes. Luckily since it was summer this was now less likely as the ground had hardened but that didn’t stop the second year from carefully threading his way across the lawn. He’d spent the last hour reading but after getting peckish, thought he would head back inside and go and find Nugget, hoping the two of them could have a little lunch. The Hufflepuff had draped his bag over his shoulder and was minding is own business, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine when out of the blue he felt a slap to his shoulder and a sting on his ear. Wendall yelped, taking a few steps to the side in an attempt to be free of whatever had just attacked him. He looked down to realise it was just a book, thankfully not any one of Lysander vicious man eating pets although as he looked up to see the Gryffindor tower he wouldn’t have been surprised. “WHY DO YOU HATE ME!” Wendall shouted, the adrenaline of the situation was enough to spur a little anger out the Hufflepuff who constantly felt as though this school was doing everything in its power to get him to leave. Why was it always him!? He rubbed at his sore ear, kicking the book lightly with one foot.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou had taken it upon herself to wander the grounds whenever she was feeling particularly anxious. The last week or so had been the worst, and she constantly worried about running into that Slytherin boy. Honestly, every time she saw a Slytherin robe, she had to stop and take a breath to calm herself down. She felt like maybe she was being a bit ridiculous, but he'd really upset her, and she couldn't stop the night mares she got from her very first potions lesson. Just last night she'd dreamt that a giant Alihotsy leaf was trying to suffocate her. It was horrible. She knew it was just a dream, but this was a magic school after all. As she walked, she noticed an older Hufflepuff boy, one she recognised from that day after her second potions class. He didn't notice her and she headed towards him, maybe to ask if he would keep her company, but before she got there, out of nowhere, a book seemed to up and attack him from the tower. Had the magic school just attacked him? He seemed to have the same thought as he yelled up there and she hurried her steps a little as she went over to him. "Oh goodness! Are you okay, I saw that book come flying from the building... do magic schools attack their students?!" She asked loudly, unsure whether she should be warning the school magic that they were onto it or not, whilst also trying to make sure it couldn't throw anything else at them.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall looked up when he heard a voice, spotting the girl from the other day although she was wearing considerably less mud than last time. “I.. hope not..” Wendall didn’t actually think it was the school that attacked him but he didn’t really want to think someone had aimed on purpose from above. It was stupid though, why would anyone do that knowing how likely it was people were walking underneath them. Wendall bent down to pick up the book, “It’s the textbook for Charms OWLs,” she showed the Hufflepuff, thinking it unlikely this came from one of the younger students. The second year moved a little further from the edge of the school, peering up and not seeing anyone frantically at the windows, he wondered whether it had been an accident. “Maybe I should take it back up to them” he asked. His shoulder was still sore and it wasn’t really fair, but Wendall didn’t want anyone to fail their exams because he didn’t give them their textbook back.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou frowned slightly in thought. She sure hoped that the school was not attacking them, she had not yet gotten to that lesson in her Defence class. Defence of one's person against a magic school should surely be on the top of the list of things to learn, right? She looked at the book, it seemed like it had been in some use, given it looked slightly older and like there might have been notes inside, like those books you got in the corner of the library that had all the tags hanging out from where the school leavers had to take their final exams. She looked at the Hufflepuff when he said it was a Charms book. Charms, she recognised, she had that class with Professor Robert, but OWLS, that was not something she understood. Was it about charming Owls maybe? She was going to go and see Professor Robert soon, so maybe she could ask him, since he was the Charms Professor. She looked at it again, "can we open it and see if someone wrote their name inside? I always do that so that when I lose things, I can find them again!" She wasn't sure they would be able to find the owner and what if the owner had thrown it because they didn't want it back? At least this way they could call their name and see who answered.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall had opened the book and was flicking through it as he tried to see what was in store of them in a few years time. Well, he might as well have tried since he had the textbook in his hands. Mary Lou had a good idea though, and he moved to the front and then to the back of the book, trying to find something that would indicate who it was from. He didn't find a name, but there was some kind of weird poorly drawn thing in the back cover. He turned it landscape, standing to the side of the Hufflepuff so she could see too what he was now frowning at. "You know, maybe this isn't a fifth year.." he thought aloud. Whoever drew this surely couldn't have been any older than him. He couldn't even work out what was going on in this scene, but it looked like there was a square with lots of lolly pops in it. "Is that meant to be people, or something you eat?" he asked, turning the book again to see if anything else would give away a clue.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou looked at the drawing that was being referred to and frowned. Perhaps he was right and this was the book of someone their age. Mary Lou had seen better pictures from the children at her church. She tilted her head slightly and reach out to trace the picture. "It... it is smores?" She asked, seriously wondering how this could be interpreted any differently. "Is it something magical?" She had no idea, since she was so new to all of this. There didn't appear to be a name though, so that was a bust. "Would someone claim this, with this very badly drawn sandwich?" She didn't think she would, if it was her. That would be awfully embarrassing. "It came from up there?" She looked up to the window from earlier, wondering if maybe they were being watched to see if they would return it or not. "Should we go up? I've never been that far except for Astronomy."​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Despite being a whole entire year older than the Hufflepuff, Wendall was almost the same height and he often forgot that he wasn't the youngest in the school anymore. He peered up to where Mary Lou pointed, "I think it's the common room," he confirmed, counting in his head from the windows where he knew he could get to. He dropped his gaze again at the mention of a sandwich, although he couldn't really tell if she was right or not. "We can try. Someone should recognise this I think," it wasn't like all textbooks were going to have this mess in the back of them. He was glad that she seemed willing to come up with him. Even though he knew some Gryffindors they were still a weird batch for the most part, and it was nice to have back up. He closed the book, tucking it under his arm, "I know the shortest way of getting there," he added, having practised a lot since he would go and meet his best friend quite often, "I can take you." Wendall dropped her a smile, happy to give her a little bit of a tour.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou nodded at Wendall, though she wasn't sure she knew enough to know if he was right or not. She didn't really know any Gryffindors after all, her friends were Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. "I think they would, though they maybe will not want to claim it?" She asked, with a very cheeky little grin. She wasn't a mean person, but a little light teasing, especially as they did not know who this belonged to, would not hurt anyone, surely. It was unlikely they would ever run into the person who belonged with this book, so she didn't think there was much risk she would feel guilty. At the mention of Wendall saying he knew how they could get there, Mary Lou clapped her hands together in excitement, "oh thank you!" She called, placing her arm through his so they could walk together. "Thank you, let's go!"​

 

[Wendall Layton]

"I don't know why they wouldn't.." Wendall pondered. Surely something like this was very expensive really and it could cost them their grades if not their money. The Hufflepuff looked up to catch her grin and suddenly oh was written all over his face. It was a joke although he hadn't seen it coming. The second year smiled a little alongside her, "You're right, it is bad," he grinned, almost as though the intent behind her words was only just hitting him. As she linked arms with him he found it a bit strange because they didn't even know each other, but Wendall was still a gentleman in these situations and proceeded to walk her towards the closest entrance back into the school. "You're in your first year, aren't you?" he asked, looking across to her inquisitively. "And I know you're in my house because I've seen you." He left out the bit she was also the girl he'd found face down in the mud, fearing she may not have wanted to be reminded. "Are you finding it okay?" he asked, knowing that sometimes that's what other older people usually asked when new people joined.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou was glad that Wendall seemed to have gotten her little joke. She couldn't really draw, but she was sure that if she did try, it would at least be recognisable as what she was depicting. "Is it mould?" She asked in wonder, as she kept thinking about it. She had no reason really to be so fascinated, but it was just so interesting to think about what might have possessed someone older - Wendall was sure they were older - to draw on the inside of their book, but not write their name. Was that not something people did? Perhaps she should stop as well. She got enough problems without even doing anything for someone to find out she was a baby because she wrote her name in things. She was just really conscious of the things that were hers and she liked to know she would always be able to find them. The thought that maybe she was setting herself up for worse was worrying. She barely knew her way around anything, so it was hard to know what might or might not be something she had to consider. This was al very hard. She looked back at Wendall as he asked if she was a first year, and she nodded once. "Mhm, I never knew anything about magic before two years ago. I still don't, really," she added, frowning slightly. Magic was weird and some people didn't like her just because she was different. She had thought being here would be better, that people would be like her, but, that wasn't true, because every time she was alone she felt like she was six years old again and the Church girls kept calling her Princess of the Freaks and by the time they were finished, she'd started to believe them. She supposed they'd been right, in the end. "It's..." She shook her head. She wasn't going to bring the mood down by telling him everything she had thought, her whole life had been changed and she wasn't sure it was better than it had been before, because all she wanted was to go back to how things were. "My wand smells like apples," she said instead, pulling it out of her pocket and holding it out to him. "I really like it, because it reminds me of home."​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall didn’t really know what the drawing was but whoever it was clearly had only done it for their own amusement rather than to show it off, at least he thought it was because who want to show that to anyone? As they walked through the castle he listened to her admit she didn’t know much about magic, which sort of reminded him of himself a bit because realy he hadn’t known a lot either. “It can be a bit of a learning curve,” he said, thinking about what he’d gone through. “I didn’t really know about it until Olive told me.,” he explained, finding it easier everyday to talk about her. “My mom is a muggle, but my Aunt Olive she was a witch and I lived with her for a few months before I came here,” he didn’t know if Mary Lou wanted to hear about it but she seemed hesitant to tell him much and he didn’t want to walk up in silence. “Do you know the Head Girl? She was Olive’s sister. I lived with them and then came to school with Leda but really anything before that I didn’t know,” he nodded to confirm his own speech. “I think you’ll pick it up too,” he gave the first year a confident smile, pausing outside the common room as she showed him her wand. “Really?” He asked, leaning forward to give her wand a sniff, “Did you have a big garden?” He was a bit envious of those who were able to go outside to play.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou had to agree with Wendall, everything he was saying was true. She didn’t want to talk about it too much, but every morning she woke up she felt as if she was dreaming. So much of what was happening to her was so far outside her sense of normal that she barely had the option of thinking past it. Questioning her beliefs had always been encouraged by her father and they had such a close relationship that she’d always felt certain she’d be accepted no matter what path she chose. She felt sure she never would have left her faith behind and she’d even considered asking her father about the nunnery, of course she’d been about five or six at the time and she’s really only wanted to get away from the girls that constantly bullied her, but it was still a belief. Coming to a magic school had her core beliefs on shaky ground and she found that more and more often she would wish she could have a conversation with him, since he’d had his own tumultuous relationship with God. He’d told her stories once about it, though he’d left out any particularly adult stories. Wendall was right though, it could be a bit of a learning curve, whether she wanted it to be or not. She supposed she had even less chance of understanding it, since she was having something of an identity crisis these days, not that she really knew what that was, just that it was something she was experiencing that made everything else hard to deal with. She had been about to ask him who Olive was when he explained further and she found she didn’t really want to explain her living situation, especially now since his seemed much nicer than her aunt and uncle plain ignoring her and treating her with indifference. “I don’t know her, I think I saw her one time, but it was at a distance and she seemed busy with a boy.” Not that it mattered really, since none of that information was particularly important. In fact she didn’t have much to say at all until they’d come to a stop on one of the higher levels. Her face lit up instantly at the question about her home and she closed her eyes a little. “No garden really, my house isn’t that big,” she said, not realising she was using present tense to describe a home she no longer lived in. “There was a little Apple tree just outside on the path up to the house, it never seemed to grow very big and there was always this big red apple that would grow. It had a really strong stem and the apple was really hard to pull off most of the time,” she said, her smile getting wider. “Daddy always said if I could get the apple off the tree, I could eat it because it was the most delicious apple, and I tried every year to get it off, but every year he’d beat me and every year he would eat it.” She opened her eyes and frowned then. “I really wanted to eat it, but I got frustrated and I...” she shook her head. “I got sent to live with my Aunt and Uncle here in New Zealand, I never got to eat the apple,” it was strange that she felt like this was one of the things she regretted. She wondered if he was still eating the apple, it had been two years already.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

The way Mary Lou spoke about Leda made him laugh a little inside. Leda had never really be one to be "with a boy" the way someone listening may have thought, although he knew that most of her friends were boys. In fact, did she have any friends that were girls except for her half sister? They paused outside the Gryffindor common room and the second year was listening to her explain about her garden. He stood silently, letting her finish her story before interrupting her with anything; he didn't want to be rude. Wendall didn't know what it was like to have a daddy. His mom had never really told him anything about his own dad, and really he didn't know much about his mom either. That was okay though because that mean he got to watch a lot of films. It might not have sounded so sweet to Mary Lou though as it sounded fun to Wendall, but he didn't mind. He didn't know any different. "I know it can be a bit scary moving to a whole new house though, even if they are your family. Did you find it scary coming here too? I was only with Olive for a few months and then I came here so really I haven't been settled for very long." he kept changing houses the last few years and after Olive's death he'd been terrified of being sent back to America, but there was some hope now and he thought he might have actually been able to get comfortable here in New Zealand. "I think one day you will get the apple," he smiled to her, not really knowing whether or not that was actual true or even possible, but he wanted to lift her spirits a little bit. "This is the portrait by the way," he said, pointing at the funny lady on the front of it. "All the Gryffindors are in there." Wendall knew he should probably knock or something, but he was a nervous to. "Maybe we should ask someone.."​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou didn't know Wendall very well, but she appreciated him for trying to comfort her when he probably didn't even realise she needed it. He was very kind and she liked that about him. He was a comforting presence for her. She agreed with everything he said, though she wasn't the type who found it particularly easy to verbally disagree with someone. "Goodness yes," she said, shaking her head as she thought about the long ride to the school, being in a carriage with people she didn't know. Not understanding anything and really she still didn't know anything. "I am still very scared all the time," she admitted, smoothing out the front of her robes on instinct. She always had to look perfect. She couldn't help it sometimes, that was just how she was raised. To give people her services when she could, help out as required and always look her best. It was the three lessons her Mama had drilled into her from an early age and she would find it incredibly difficult to change now. She didn't want to tell Wendall the truth about her family though, as she would not speak ill of her guardians, so she tried to move on from anything discussing her family. "It is funny... I don't even really love apples. I like them, but it is just an apple. I don't quite understand why is it so important?" She asked, though she wasn't really asking him for an explanation as she doubted he'd have one. She looked up as Wendall mentioned this was the portrait and shook her head. "There is not anyone around to ask, here," she quickly moved closer to the portrait and knocked loudly near the moving lady. "Good morning Gryffindors! Please come out here a moment as my friend and I have something we would like to return!"​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio had spent the last few minutes changing into something a bit more comfortable, Rowan tagging along behind him. It didn't take him too long to pick a shirt and fresh pair of sweats that would be way nicer to chill out in than his skinny jeans. Then again the latter had taken the Gryffindor a moment to get off, they weren't the easiest thing. Once he was set, he grabbed his camera and planted a kiss in Rowan's hair, hoping that they'd be able to go outside or find somewhere nice to spend the rest of their afternoon, and heading back downstairs and crossing the common room. He heard the knock on the door, although Elio was semi convinced it was his imagination until he heard a girl on the other side of it. Shrugging to his best friend, he pushed it open to see two students standing there neither of which he recognised. "Who are you looking for?" he asked, hoping it would be someone he knew and who he'd already seen in the common room so that he could leave sooner rather than later. ​

Godmod approved

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall frowned a little when Mary Lou told him she was scared all the time. He wanted to help her although he didn't really know what he could do. Maybe he would have to think about what he did when he got scared and see if he could apply the same to the Hufflepuff, although he didn't know if she would want that or not, since he hadn't known her for very long. The second year was very glad when Mary Lou knocked on the door, he hadn't really wanted to do it himself because he didn't really want Mervyn to answer. He still hadn't forgiven the prefect for kicking him into the lake, nor treating him like a baby over the summer. He hadn't even let them watch the movies they wanted! With any luck Lysander was in there and then he would be able to introduce him to his newest friend. Wendall waited patiently for the door to open, but the boy that popped his head out of it wasn't anyone Wendall cared about. He was pretty sure he'd seen his best friend talking to him at some point, but since they were in the same house it wasn't that surprising. Since Mary Lou had done the knocking, Wendall cleared his throat, "I think this book came from your common room. I think someone might have lost it when they were studying," he began, offering the textbook up to the older boy with both hands. "We tried to see who it belonged to but there was just a weird drawing in the back." Wendall left out the bit about almost being taken out by the textbook, thinking he would save that for if and when this boy told him who it belonged to, then he would get his apology.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou didn't know many people and she knew even less Gryffindors since she was a Hufflepuff, so she did not recognise this older boy or the girl in the slightest. The only thing Mary Lou could tell about them was that they were older, probably around the right age for this book, she had to figure, so with any luck, they would know who it belonged to. Mary Lou was about to follow up with the knock when Wendall beat her to it and she nodded. "I saw it get thrown out of the window, but I did not see by whom," she said, her thick sudden drawl ebbing in and out through her words. "Why, the fungus was a bit offputting but we made do, didn't we Wendall?" She asked, moving closer to him in case this older Gryffindor was a mean person. They would stand better odds together though she doubted either of them would stand much of a chance. She was going to have to make Wendall some nice tea and muffins after this ordeal was finished. She was feeling a tad bit peckish herself. She looked over at the girl who was laughing so hard she looked like she was about to fall over, only she was being held up by the boy. Mary Lou didn't know what was so funny though, she didn't think she'd said anything that was funny. She felt like the repeated use of the words "El", "oh my god", "merlin" and "did you hear what she just said" were a little much, but she really didn't like it.​