Closed Conglomerated...

[Holden Marshall]

There wasn't really another word for it - Hogwarts was boring. Holden had never expected a magic school you went to to learn spells and potions and stuff to be boring. Sure, there was stuff going on, but none of it was actually cool or any fun really. Most of the time all there was to do was bounce from class to class, muck about outside, or hide away with a book and hope nobody found him. Holden hadn't done a great job of making friends, and he was almost to a point of admitting Penny had been right to try and set him up with someone, even if she had managed to pick the most irritating option available. He wasn't quite that desperate for fun yet, there were still plenty of ways to waste his time. Like right now, he'd decided to stop by the arts club and stretch his creative muscles. A quick glance told Holden there weren't any teachers or prefects nearby as he pulled a pen from his pocket, quickly altering the sign to say Conglomerated FArts Room. Perfect.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity was spending a lot of time on her art lately. Mostly because the actual classes at Hogwarts were terribly boring. She had grabbed her sketchbook and was making her way to the art room, ready to use as much of the school's paint as she could. Maybe she could sneak some back to the dorms, actually. She doubted anyone checked, and Hogwarts seemed to have plenty of supplies. She walked through the courtyard on the way to the art room when she saw a boy standing near the sign. She watched with interest as he grabbed a pen from his pocket and altered the sign. Vanity snorted. "You should use permanent marker, works better." She told him.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden jumped when he heard a voice and whipped around, ready to bolt. It was a relief when it was just some girl, who didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, she raised a good point. "Do you have one?" He asked, glancing at the sketchbook in her arms. "I usually bring one with me, but it's back in my dorm."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity raised her eyebrows slightly and grinned at the boy. He was clearly not thinking. "You know what room you're defacing, right? They have stuff like that in there." She said, nodding to the room. "Hold on." She said, slipping into the room quickly. She came back out with a few different permanent markers and held them out to the boy. "Ta-da."

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden rolled his eyes at her question. "Yeah, but I'm not-" he was cut off as the girl disappeared, a moment later. He snorted slightly and took one of the markers, filling in the F more clearly. "I dunno if there's anyone in there! I didn't want them to see me taking a pen, and then they come out later and the sign's all messed up." He gave a small smirk. "Now they'll think it was you though, so thanks."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity rolled her eyes at the boy's comments. Clearly, he wasn't nearly as brave as he wanted to be. She frowned. "Aren't you a Gryffindor? I thought you guys were all about being bold." She told him, then tossed her hair back. "First of all, I obviously checked if anyone was in there and there wasn't anyone. And second of all, I was actually going there to do art." She held up her sketchbook. "So I have an alibi. Duh."

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden snorted at her comments, eyeing her. "It's Slytherins who are the sneaky ones." He said pointedly. "Not like I care enough about writing fart on a wall to go to that much effort. Besides, I don't have an excuse to be there." He said, holding up his hands which had never been anywhere near anything even vaguely resembling art.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity nodded. "Yes, and you're trying to be sneaky instead of bold." She told him with a shrug. "I can't blame you, being a Slytherin is much better than a Gryffindor." She added lightly. "You care enough not to get caught." She pointed out. "And if you were a Slytherin you would have brought a sketchbook or something to have an excuse to be here." She said with a smile. "You're lucky you had me to help."

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden rolled his eyes at her explanation, crossing his arms defensively. "It's not cowardly not to want to get caught. I'm just not an idiot, there's no need to try." He said firmly. "Besides, the whole house rivalry thing is bullsh*t anyway. Like, who actually cares? Am I not allowed to read a book because I'm not in Ravenclaw?"

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity shrugged as the boy said it wasn't cowardly not to want to get caught, she awn't sure if she agreed with that. She huffed. "I'm not saying that because of house rivalry, I just think my house is better than the rest." She told him plainly. She watched him critically. "Do you read books?" She asked, sounding skeptical.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden snorted in disbelief. "And that's not because of rivalry?" He said pointedly. "Sounds like you're bitter." He added with a small smirk. He felt a small shiver of nerves up his spine as she picked up on the books thing, panicking slightly. He hadn't really meant to bring it up, and wasn't sure what to do now. He'd been getting more comfortable at school, sure, but Penny was the only person who really knew how much Holden liked to read. But something in this girl's tone made him determined to push back. "Yeah?" He said in his toughest tone. "What about it?"