Dead rocks

[Aion Zephyr]

Time was flying past so quickly for the seventh year, they were already half way through and soon would be approaching graduation. That was a topic he didn't really like to think about, not because he was unsure of his career or worried about exams, but because of who he'd be leaving behind at Hogwarts. All his friends seemed to be in the classes below him, and even if he was able to write, it would have been nice to have someone join him in his new life that would be soon upon him.

The library was becoming packed with students, as it usually was around this time. Aion had decided to find a quiet area instead in the student lounge. He had homework to do, for subjects he didn't particularly enjoy, and the change of scenery was welcoming. He leant back in his chair, reading his Astronomy book as quickly as he could. The words really weren't going in. He'd read the same few paragraphs multiple times now. Giving up, he closed the book, pushing it away from him in frustration before standing from his seat, hands in pockets. Looking around the room that had to be something more entertaining than dead bits of rock.

 

[Danielle Gates]

With the semester coming to a close,it was becoming busier for students to enjoy an hour outside the grounds and Danielle was one of those students. NEWTS was fast approaching and she was somehow prepared for it,at the very least. So,in stead of hitting the books at the library,she decided to hang out at the Student Lounge with her guitar.

She entered the lounge,hoping to find fewer people than in her common room. She settled for a chair near the fireplace and started thinking of anything to play. She then started strumming her guitar,its melody flowing softly. Her eyes instinctively wandered around as she continued playing when they landed on someone familiar.Aion Zephyr He seemed to be doing something though,so the Hufflepuff just waited for him to notice her presence.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Sixth year was a weird year to Matthew. After the OWL year he'd just had it was relatively less stressful, but he did have exams in the middle of the year again. And for those exams he had to study, something he had somewhat neglected. He only had two exams this semester, though: History of Magic and Charms. He was confident about Charms, but he really needed to revise a bit more for history. Unfortunately, history was kind of boring, and even as he headed to the student lounge to study, he was looking around for distractions. He had even brought his camera, even though even he couldn't justify that as anything to do with his history studies. Perhaps if the student lounge was close to empty he could snap a few shots of the light through one of the windows. Or something else. Anything to distract him, really.

He walked in and looked for a seat. He saw a girl playing guitar and decided not to head that way. If he did want to get any studying done today he wouldn't have to be distracted by music. He was walking past someone, his thoughts distracting him from his surroundings, when the boy suddenly got to his feet, startling Matthew with his movement. His hand immediately flew to his camera around his neck, as it was the first thing he'd protect. Though, it was a silly gesture as there was hardly anything to protect it from, unless the boy liked eating expensive camera equipment or something. He realized he must look kind of odd like this, so he quickly smiled. His eye landed on the book and he gave a slightly forced chuckle. "Sick of studying too, huh?" He asked him to make conversation. "I'm about to start, but I'm dreading it." If the boy was older, as he guessed, he had to be in his seventh year. Instead of assuming, Matthew decided to ask. "Are you in your seventh year? Sorry, I'm not too familiar with the students as I transferred at the start of last year, but you don't seem younger than me. And I thought I knew everyone in my year by now. I worked hard on memorizing all those faces, you know."

 

[Aion Zephyr]

As he turned, his attention was immediately caught by a boy walking past him. "Sorry" He said quickly, glancing at the camera that seemed to be firmly in his grip. He listened as he started to talk about his studying, and Aion frowned a little. He was quite on edge and wondered if he'd been up to something when Aion had caught him. He nodded, "Yeah I'm a seventh year. Ravenclaw" he too didn't recognise this boy, but that wasn't particularly strange given how little he spoke to new peers. "I'm sure you know more faces than I do" he smiled a little, "I'm Aion". "If you need any help, I could lend a hand?" He was certain it would be more interesting than whatever Astronomy work he had left to complete anyway.

There was a brief moment of silence between the boys, and Aion heard a tune in the background. His eyes glanced to where the sound was coming from and spotted a familiar face sat beside the fire. Aion had barely spoken to Danielle since their last encounter. The last couple of months he'd managed to keep away from the whole group, and he hoped that afternoon wasn't going to be as tense as it had before. "Do you do a lot of photography?" Aion asked, head turning back to the new acquaintance. Maybe he was one of those students who liked to lurk in the background; Never spoke to anyone but always knew all your information.

 

[Danielle Gates]

Shifting in her place to get more comfortable, Danielle noticed Matthew Harper. He was a fellow Huff and they were both on the Quidditch team. They didn't have any interactions outside team practices, though. She watched the interaction between him and Aion and a smile graced her face as she saw them talk civilly. Despite the difference of houses and year levels, anybody who didn't know them might think that they were friends or what.

Still strumming the guitar with eyes glancing at the fire, she noticed a movement to Aion's direction. So with a subtle turn of her head, she saw him look in her direction but didn't do anything to acknowledge her presence. She was even sure that he really saw there. She understood this since he might be busy with his studies yet it hurt a tiny bit to be somehow treated like they were strangers. They were not exactly the best of friends but they were not exactly strangers too. Accidentally, she let out a heavy sigh while her mind was absorbed with her thoughts. Too absorbed that she seemed to shut everything around her off.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew smiled, glad he had been right about the year the boy was in. "I see, I'm a Hufflepuff myself. Ravenclaws are the smart ones, right?" He asked with a grin. He was fairly sure of the houses now, but it tended to be a good subject for conversation. He wondered why the boy said he knew more faces than he did, but he decided not to ask. "I'm Matthew, and honestly what I'm doing is trying to avoid studying for exams as long as I possibly can while still justifying it for myself. Though I guess you must have it worse with NEWTs and all that." He said with a small smile. The OWLs had been bad enough last year, and he could only imagine the seventh year exams were even worse. Though they were also at the end of the year instead of in the middle, but the boy had more time to study.

He followed the older boy's gaze to the girl playing guitar, and finally recognized her as the alternate keeper on the Hufflepuff team. He hadn't really talked to her before, but he knew that if he was ever unable to play for some reason she would take over for him. She seemed happy playing her music and Matthew didn't want to bother her. He turned back to the boy as he asked a question about photography. "I do. Actually." He said with a nod. "Too much, perhaps. I've been taking pictures around the castle for a while now. Pretty much since my transfer. I have quite a collection now." He said with a smile. "It's a beautiful castle, I keep finding new things to capture." He was passionate about his photography, and enjoyed talking about it. He just didn't want to bore the boy either with his talk so he stopped himself there. "What about you? What do you like to do?"

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Aion gave a small laugh when Matthew thought Ravenclaw's were smart. "I think they're just curious" he added. Aion wasn't exactly smart, nor was he at the top of his classes, but he enjoyed exploring, and learning what else the world had to offer. "NEWTs are manageable, so long as you stay on top of them" He said honestly. Any exam was going to put pressure on a student, and Aion just tried to keep up. As Matthew explained his photography hobby, he realise they shared at least one thing in common. "I transferred in my fifth year from Durmstrang. Figured Hogwarts gave my grades a better chance" He smiled. The Hufflepuff hadn't been at his previous school, but at least he now knew of at least one person who hadn't been here since the start. Everyone he knew already had a history with others, and it was odd to often be the odd one out. "You're on the Quidditch team too right?" Aion had no personal interest in the sport, but that didn't stop him supporting his own team. "With Danielle?" He nodded in the direction of the girl that sat by the fireplace. He was surprised that she hadn't come over to join them, but maybe she just needed some time by herself.

When Matt asked what he liked to do, it occurred to him that he wasn't really sure. So much time had been spent with his classes that he didn't really do anything for fun as such. "I suppose I love animals. Finding them I mean. I want to be a Magizoologist next year, travel the world" He was highly looking forward to that, just exploring with no limits. "I can send you some pictures of them, if you're interested" he offered, unsure as to whether it would even interest the boy.

 

[Danielle Gates]

Danielle continued strumming her guitar as she contemplated whether to join Aion and Matthew in their conversation. She knew both of them but not that deeply. Come to think of it, she had not spoken to Matthew outside Quidditch and she had not spoken to the Ravenclaw since the first time they talked at the forest. After a few minutes or so, she decided to just wait and observe. It might be possible that her presence wouldn't be welcome since the boys were enjoying conversing with each other.

Just as she looked around the lounge again, she noticed Aion nodding in her direction. This made the Hufflepuff confused since it would seem that either Aion mentioned her or they were talking about her. The latter seemed ridiculous but still plausible. Danielle stood up,placed her guitar on her seat and made her way towards them. She gave them a smile in greeting."Hey guys. Aion. Matthew. How are things?", she asked politely, keeping a small distance between herself and them, just in case she was interrupting on something. "I hope I am not intruding on something.", she added as her hand fumbled with the sleeve of her sweater.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew nodded when the boy explained Ravenclaw's were more curious than anything. "That makes sense, actually." He said with a small smile. He could tell the older boy was honest about the NEWTs being manageable as long as you kept up with them, and it gave him some hope for the the future. "I worry about it a little, to be honest. But my OWLs went well, so I think I'll be fine if I keep up my strategies from last year." He had studied a lot during his fifth year, as he didn't want his transfer to a new school to be a reason for him doing badly. Matthew was surprised to learn the older boy was also a transfer, and it made him feel an odd kinship. "No kidding! I don't know anyone else that transferred." He said with a smile. "It took some getting used to for me, but I really like the school." When Aion asked if he was on the Quidditch team, Matthew nodded quickly. He wasn't really proud of how he had been playing lately, and followed the other boy's gaze to Danielle a small distance away. "Yeah, Danielle is the alternate keeper on the team, and I'm the current playing keeper." He said, surprised a Ravenclaw would recognize them from the team.

Hearing the Ravenclaw wanted to be a Magizoologist was interesting to Matthew, and he smiled. "That sounds really cool, getting to travel and explore. I traveled through New Zealand a little with a friend of mine to take pictures over the last winter break, but aside from that and seeing some of America I haven't really seen much of the world yet. I'd love pictures, honestly."

Then Danielle joined them, and Matthew smiled at her. "Hey Danielle, of course not." He said kindly. "We were just talking about Quidditch and what we would want to do after Hogwarts." He wasn't close friends with the girl, but he noticed she knew Aion too. He had sometimes wondered if she resented his spot on the team, despite being younger than her.

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Quidditch was one of those things Aion couldn't care less about, but apparently seemed to know all the ins and outs of as well. Perhaps if he hadn't been forced to watch so many games as a kid, he wouldn't have noticed, but it was as though he had a radar for anyone on the teams these days, in case he came about situations such as this. He'd not watched the school games, but that didn't mean he hadn't gotten to hear all about it as soon as they were over. Aion nodded as Matthew admitted to not knowing any other transfers. "Yeah, you're the first I've come across too. It's been strange, I'm not sure if you've found the same. Starting half way through the school when everyone already has their groups? That was hard" He said, glancing across the room as Danielle started to approach them. "If you have any cameras recommendations I'd be super appreciative. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy having to draw everything! I have a handful of places I need to visit, New York, The Tianzi Mountains in China. Oh and Peru." He'd been planning this was for some time, but he wasn't quite set on the specific details yet.

Aion smiled as Dani joined them, following Matthew's suit in greeting. "You're welcome to join us. Can't say you'll learn too much more additional information about me though" He said through a small laugh. They'd already spoken about their hopes for themselves after Graduation back in the forest. For the seventh years, the prospect of leaving the school would have been slightly more daunting, purely given that it was only a few short months away now, but he directed his next question to the both of them. "Will you be glad to leave?" He asked, genuinely curious.