As Long As It's Worth It

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica really hoped that the older girl she had just finished speaking with knew what she was talking about. It wasn't that she had looked particularly clueless or anything, it was just that October Alcott seemed to be such a hard person to find. As far as Jessica could tell, the second-year had no friends to speak of and seemed to keep very much to herself - neither of which were bad things, of course (in fact one of them was a very good thing, for Jessica at least). The problem was in gathering enough information to track October down again, especially since she didn't quite have the patience to wait around for the next Heta Omega meeting. Apparently, it seemed she might finally find the elusive second-year by waiting outside the Conglomerated Arts room.

She had heard that October was quite good at dancing which, if that was true, just added to Jessica's admiration. Their chat had been quite brief at the last sorority meeting, but it had been enough for her to received quite a good impression of the older girl. That, and the subsequent snippets of information she'd gathered in her search, now had Jessica quite keen to speak with October again. Usually she wouldn't have been so determined to engineer a second chance for conversation, but she'd learned from earlier attempts at forging friendships that there was nothing much to be gained from waiting around for people to come talk to her. Because they didn't, usually. It was annoying. Jessica's brow furrowed at the thought, but as soon as she realised what she was doing she made a conscious effort to smooth out her face. It wouldn't do for October to approach and see her so grumpy - she might think twice about becoming friends with her.

 

[October Alcott]

Even though it was only the middle of the semester October was beyond eager for this year to be over already. She couldn't wait to go home, see dad, get some peace and quiet, go to ballet classes, all the good things she looked forward to over the winter. Other than the schoolwork, which was still fun and exciting, October was running out of reasons to enjoy being at Hogwarts. Her feelings towards Matt and April were growing more and more bitter with them around all the time, and she couldn't wait to be away, just her and dad again.

The best way October knew to unwind when she was feeling this restless was the violin. She hadn't played in a while, and couldn't help but worry a little about how rusty she would be when she eventually tried. Today was the day though, violin case in hand as she headed down towards the arts room. October was so caught up in her own thoughts, practising chords in her head, that it took her a long time to notice a girl she recognised from Heta Omega waiting outside the arts room. "Oh. Hi, Jessica." She said a little worriedly, glancing at the door. "Is there someone using the room?" Great. If there was a queue it'd be forever before she got to play.

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica had been carefully watching for October since arriving, and when she finally spotted the older girl she checked to make sure October was indeed heading in her direction, then pretended to be engrossed with... shoot, braiding her hair would have to do. What she wouldn't give to having a working phone. Jessica only looked up once she heard the other girl's greeting, and immediately flicked her hair back over her shoulder, smiling. "October, hi!" Turning to glance over her shoulder at the door to the room, Jessica briefly chewed at her lip. "Um, I'm not sure, but I don't think so." Her smile returned as she refocused her attention back on the other girl. "I just wanted to talk to you again, and since I heard that you're really good at dancing... here seemed like a good place to try and catch you." Jessica gestured around herself with a slight shrug.

She was glad it had worked, actually - imagine if she'd had to stand here waiting for October to never show up. She had though, and so Jessica immediately pushed that potential flaw in her little plan aside in favour of dealing with the next one. Pretending to notice the small case the older girl was carrying for the first time, Jessica let a small frown of dismay cross her face. "Oh sorry, I'm keeping you from what you actually came here to do, aren't I?" She looked up at October, hoping the slight widening of her eyes would convey the proper apologetic tone. "I can leave if you're busy." Don't say it, was what followed immediately in her head, however.

 

[October Alcott]

October wasn't exactly sure what to think as she listened to the younger girl, a little surprised. Why would someone have sought her out like this? "Oh... no it's fine." She lifted her violin case. "I was just going to play a little. Why were you looking for me?" Rolling the possibilities around in her mind, October only came up with two likely answers. "Do you need help with homework? Or ballet? I can go get my shoes if you were hoping for some tuition, it's no trouble..." Ballet was about the only thing she had talked about with any of her classmates for most of the last two years, so it stood to reason that someone could have found out she was a good dancer. She wouldn't mind tutoring the younger girl, Jessica seemed like she would actually focus on practice.

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Although externally Jessica's already present smile only widened a fraction, inside she beamed at the fact that October had decided she wasn't too busy to talk with her. She was a little taken aback, however, at the older girl's offer of tuition - it was an unexpected boon that could further ease her way into becoming friends with the other girl. "Oh, really I just came to have a chat with you - I'd hoped we could become friends. But you would? Tutor me? That's so kind of you to offer." Jessica tucked back a wayward strand of hair. "Unfortunately my ballet skills are -" How she wished she could say rusty! "- non-existent; I'm afraid I'd just be a frustration." She attempted a small smile again, hoping October wouldn't be disappointed with her regretful refusal. "I'm more of the math type, I must admit."

 

[October Alcott]

October stared at the other girl, startled, as she tried to take in what Jessica had just said. She had just been looking for her to become friends? October had no idea how to react to that sort of approach, laughing nervously and twisting the handle of her violin case in her hands. "Oh!" She laughed awkwardly. "Um, oh, that's fine!" She said awkwardly, straightening her posture slightly as she struggled to put together a response that made sense. "That's, um... I mean, I like maths too. It used to be my second favourite school subject. I can't wait to be able to take Arithmancy next year. I miss muggle school subjects."

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica was glad that October didn't seem to think she was strange after hearing the reason she had come to talk with her out of the blue... or rather, she hoped she didn't. The other girl was acting slightly more awkwardly than she had been just before, but Jessica decided to press on regardless, even if she was already preparing herself for multiple ways the conversation might go from here. However, what she hadn't been expecting - but was exceedingly pleased to hear - was that October seemed to have a much greater appreciation for normal class subjects than a lot of the other students she'd encountered so far with muggle experience. Jessica's face lit up at the news, and she nodded her head excitedly in agreement. "So do I! My sister will be at high school next year, and she's going to be learning all sorts of things that I won't get to - and she'll hate it all! It's completely unfair." She didn't want October to think she was complaining too much though, so she cut herself short to focus on something the other girl had mentioned herself. "Is Arithmancy like maths, then? I can't believe they wouldn't teach it to us earlier, considering how often people need to calculate things." A fact that had really hit home to Jessica once she no longer had working access to her phone and its calculator app.

 

[October Alcott]

October's face broke into a broad smile as Jessica talked about her sister going to school. Everyone here seemed so blown away by how fantastical the classes were that she felt like the only one who missed maths and science. "Yes!" October said delightedly. "My old friends from ballet are all in high school now, everything they talk about learning sounds so fun, I wish I could keep doing that stuff." She nodded in agreement. "I think so, though Arithmancy is more sort of... doing magic with numbers. Not like standard maths. But I can't wait to start taking it. I miss numbers so much. I can't believe wizards just... stop learning anything scientific, it's... pretty sad. I wonder how they do things like... budgeting, or... what the wizard version of medical school is like, if nobody here learned what a germ is. It seems like such a backwards system sometimes." Once she got onto the topic of learning October found it hard to stop talking, bouncing ever so slightly on her toes.

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica was pleased to see October open up a little more as the conversation progressed; she seemed to have hit upon a topic that the older girl was quite interested in... which meant that she needed to think of something interesting to say in return, and quickly. She had never really thought about the wider implications of how wizards lived without science, being only concerned with how the absence affected her personally thus far - but now that October had brought it up, she was a little horrified at the thought. The wizarding world had doctors who didn't even learn about bacteria? Well, no wonder there weren't very many of them around in comparison to normal people - and they thought they were so superior with their ability to do magic. Jessica was glad that October seemed to think along similar lines to herself, this school truly did have a backwards education system. "I've found that to be true myself, a bit." She hesitated before saying the next thought on her mind though, hoping the opinion wouldn't sound too disagreeable to the older girl. "The astronomy lessons were... disappointing. I mean, the actual content was okay, but, the way the professor talked about Muggle science was... she acted like it was a joke." That had been Jessica's impression of the lessons anyway, and she hadn't been too happy about it.

 

[October Alcott]

October nodded quickly, relieved that Jessica seemed to understand exactly what she was talking about. "I get that vibe more and more the longer I'm here." She sighed, folding her arms. "Wizards seem to think all muggle science is automatically backwards just because magic isn't involved. It's such a bad attitude, and it makes no sense. They love to laugh and scoff, but you could ask the most brilliant wizard to make a lightbulb work without magic and they'd never figure it out. There's so much they just... seem perfectly happy to refuse to understand." October blushed a little, realising she had been rambling. "Sorry. It's a pet peeve, I guess. I miss studying real science."

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica couldn't believe her luck as she listened to the older girl. She'd originally sought out October due to the seemingly sophisticated air and more approachable nature she'd sensed on the other girl, but now to find out that she actually agreed with something Jessica had been thinking all year... it was one of the best moments she'd experienced all year. She nodded along as October talked, unconscious of the smile that had formed naturally on her face. "No, don't apologise! It's interesting to hear someone else's opinion of the subject, especially someone who's been here longer than I have. They should have science classes here, I agree - which subjects are you more fond of? I always liked the little chemistry projects we would do sometimes, like mixing Coke and Mentos." Jessica was so caught up in the excitement of being able to discuss all this was someone who actually knew what she was talking about that her usual self-awareness of what she might look and sound like was quickly slipping away.

 

[October Alcott]

October nodded eagerly, listening to Jessica intently. It was a weight October didn't realise she had been carrying lifted, talking about real science at last, and all the problems wizards seemed to have with it. "Yes! Those experiments were so much fun!" She said excitedly, gripping her violin case tighter. "I always loved maths, and biology, it's so fascinating finding out what everything's made up of and where we all came from! And I always really wanted to study physics, it looks so interesting. I bet if that stuff was covered alongside magic we'd actually know things like, how it works and where it comes from and stuff. Wizards don't seem to have any curiosity at all, I hate it!"