Closed Crowded Places, Beautiful Faces

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia didn't mind being back at school, especially not now that classes hadn't started yet. It wasn't that she didn't like class she actually did enjoy learning, she just wasn't as good at it as she would've liked. It could put a damper on her mood sometimes, feeling like she needed to work harder to understand certain things than others. Which was exactly why she tried to stuff some art supplies into her bag wherever she went because if there was one thing that'd lift her spirits in no time it was art, pretty things. It cheered her up, made her appreciate the things around her. Since classes hadn't started yet there was very little that could bring her down though and Ana had happily made her way through the school's hallways, twirling around every now and then, before ending up at the student lounge. Unsurprisingly for this time of the year the room was pretty crowded and she took a second to look around, see if there was an empty space anywhere. If not she'd probably just leave and head outside, but Ana quite enjoyed the zoned out sounds of people chatting around her whilst she was drawing. After a second she spotted an empty spot on one of the armchairs and quickly headed over to claim it for herself. Content she had found a seat she got her sketchbook out of her bag, noticing one of her classmates nearby as she did. She hadn't spoken to the girl before or paid her too much attention but something seemed different this time around. She was unsure about whether she hadn't noticed actually how pretty the girl was before. Maybe something had changed. Or maybe she had just never looked at her long enough to realize. Either way there was something about her that just caused Ana to stare at her without fully realizing she was doing so.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy knew that she couldn't slack off even for a second, so even at the start of the semester she was studying. She had brought a few books with her to the student lounge, along with a new roll of parchment so she could take notes. She was looking through her potions book, taking a few notes here and there. If she could memorize the ingredients used in different potions, it would definitely help her in class. She needed to do well and work harder to impress her professors. While Ivy had gotten perfect grades since her first year, it wasn't enough to truly stand out. She knew that was important, her dad had impressed it on her again that she needed to be excellent, better than the rest. That meant she had to beat that stupid Roland to answering a question once in a while, so the professors could see how smart she was. The girl dipped her quill into the ink again to scribble down a few more ingredients when got the weird feeling she was being watched. Ivy looked up with a slight frown, seeing a Hufflepuff girl from her year looking at her. She recognized her from classes, but had never paid that close attention to the Hufflepuffs. She thought this girl's name was either Anna or Sophia, she couldn't remember. Ivy lowered her quill. "Do you need something?" She asked the girl, looking down to see she was holding a sketchbook. So she was drawing instead of working on her studies, that seemed pretty typically Hufflepuff to Ivy.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia only realized she was actually staring at her classmate when the other girl speaking startled her and caused her to quickly look away. "O, I-" She started, now looking back at her as she spoke. "No.. I.. don't know why I was staring.. I'm sorry." She apologized, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as she started to feel slightly embarrassed about it. Not so much because she had been staring and the other girl had caught her doing that, but more so because she herself wasn't exactly sure why she had been staring. And if she didn't know she couldn't tell the girl either. Ana slightly cocked her head as she looked at the girl for another second, trying her best to figure things out. It wasn't like the girl was the only pretty person in the school, or in their year for that matter, and even though she appreciated pretty things and pretty people she had never found herself staring at someone like that. Deciding she probably wasn't going to figure out the processes within her own brain she gave her classmate a small shrug. "You're very pretty though." Ana smiled, before continuing to search her bag for her pencils now that her brain seemed to be function accordingly again.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy had wondered if the girl wanted to ask her a question or something, but from her reaction she quickly realized that wasn't the case. Ivy felt a slight feeling of unease, realizing this was familiar. It was how she sometimes saw people look at her mother when they were out, though the girl was at least less transfixed than those people seemed to be. But her mother was half veela, and Ivy only a quarter. So it had to be different. She wasn't entirely sure that was the case anyway, until the girl said she was very pretty. Ivy felt her cheeks heat up, and she nearly snapped her quill in half as she clenched her first. It was a compliment, and she knew her mother would want her to take it as one, but she also felt uncertain a out this whole interaction. Had she unknowingly put on her veela charm? Had she somehow tricked the girl into staring at her and saying something nice like that? It was how her father spoke about her mother's powers, that they were made for deceiving. Ivy realized she hadn't said anything for a while and that it was probably pretty rude. She cleared her throat. "Thanks." She said quickly. "But I'm also smart." She added almost without thinking. She knew how much her father wanted her to be known for her brain rather than her looks, and it felt almost like a betrayal to simply accept the compliment. Only now did she realize how arrogant she sounded, and she half wanted to disappear into the armchair.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

After digging around for a little while Ana Sofia finally managed to get her pencil case out of her bag. For a second she had wondered if she hadn't even brought it, which wouldn't be the first time that happened, so she was relieved when she realized she did. She looked back up at her classmate when she thanked her, although what she quickly added afterwards made her think that perhaps she wasn't too keen on being called pretty. "I have no doubt that you are." She smiled at her. She was sure the other girl was a whole lot smarter than she was since most of her classmates seemed to be. Or at the very least she was better at studying. Ana looked at her sketchbook for a second, before looking back at her classmate again. So far, she found it rather interesting to be talking to the girl. Especially since they had been in the same classes for two years, yet she had never had anything close to a conversation with her. "So," She started as decided to try and keep chatting with her a little while longer. If the girl wasn't interested, she was sure she'd make it clear to her in no time. "Which electives are you taking? Are you doing any of the difficult stuff? Like arithmancy?" Ana asked curiously. To her arithmancy was one of the classes that seemed impossible but since she had decided the other girl was probably as smart as she said perhaps she would actually manage.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy fussed with her hair a little, uncertain about how she was supposed to react to all this. At least the other girl didn't laugh at her for insisting she was smart too, even though it had been a bit of a weird thing to say. Thankfully, she simply seemed to move past it. Ivy saw the girl looked back at her sketchbook and wondered if she was going to just keep drawing now so Ivy could to back to her studies, but instead She asked her which electives she was taking. Ivy shifted in her chair, adjusting the book on her lap. "Ancient Runes and Arithmancy." She said promptly, both at her father's advice. Her father had told her Ancient Runes stopped being useful after a few years, but would be good to take for now. Especially with her head of house teaching the subject. "I suppose that is difficult stuff." she said, a small smile on her face. "What about you?"

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia wasn't surprised when the other girl said she was in fact taking both arithmancy as well as ancient runes. To her, they sounded like difficult subject. Things she surely wouldn't be good at. She figured her classmate was a whole lot smarter than she was anyways. It did make her almost a little nervous when she was asked about her own electives though, suddenly very aware of her own lacking skills when it came to schoolwork. "Care of Magical Creatures." She responded softly. "And Divination." Ana added. She knew people might not exactly see them as the most useful classes there were but they seemed interesting to her, which gave her a little hope that perhaps if she enjoyed them she would be able to do better. That studying would get easier. It was a far stretch, but still. "I'm Ana, by the way." She decided to introduce herself eventually, feeling a bit awkward to be talking to her classmate when she wasn't even entirely sure what her name was. It did get difficult though since most of the classes they've had so far were only with one of the other houses. Or perhaps she should just start paying more attention to people. "Well, Ana Sofia but most people just call me Ana."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy kept her face neutral as the other girl said the exact two electives her dad had told her weren't very useful, not unless you wanted to go into very specific magical branches. Though Ivy supposed they were at least more useful than Muggle Studies, which was something. She truly didn't understand the point of that class. "Well, then we won't see much of each other in our elective classes." She said, stating the obvious a bit. Ivy had never been very good at making conversation. Though she was pretty glad to hear the girl say her name and to realize she had been pretty close, even when she had hardly been paying attention to her classmates, especially those from Hufflepuff. "Nice to meet you Ana, I'm Ivy." She said with a smile.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia was sort of relieved when the other girl didn't respond specifically on which electives she would be taken. Especially since she was taking classes Ana thought sounded extremely difficult, which made her uncomfortably aware of her own electives and what people might think of those. There had always been people who were smarter than she was, better at schoolwork, and she always tried to not really let it get to her but sometimes it just did. "Or at all." Ana chuckled softly at her classmate's words, feeling like that had been the most neutral thing she could've said in response to the difference between what electives they were both taking. She smiled when Ivy introduced herself as well, now even more sure she wouldn't have been able to come up with the girl's name on her own. She was sure she wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon though. It was only then that Ana Sofia took notice of the books Ivy had been looking at before she had caught her bluntly staring. "Were you.. studying?" She asked curiously, surprised anyone would study this early on in the semester and at the same time feeling a little bad that she might've kept her from doing so.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy nodded and shrugged at Ana's words, she supposed the Hufflepuff was right. "Yeah, you're right. But we'll see each other in other classes, probably." She said though she didn't often sit with any Hufflepuffs. They always seemed a bit unfocused, unmotivated, to her. The girl's surprise in her question seemed to support that view, and Ivy gave her a slight frown. "Yes, of course." She said. "We're at school."