Open Fourth Year Study Group: First Meeting

[Alice Holland]

Alice had meant to bring the study group back together much earlier in the semester, but things had gotten away from her. She had had a busy time, and now that things were settling down, Alice felt the urge to regroup. She had noticed that the fourth year was already a lot more demanding than her third year had been. And she knew that a lot of the professors were preparing them for the struggles of the OWL year next year. Alice had seen two sisters go through that year already, with the third going trough it now, and she realized how important it was to get into good study habits. So she had once again pinned up notices around the school for a study group for other students in her year. She had also told a few of her friends about it, hoping they would spread the word. She had arrived early in the student lounge to push some tables together and set out some snacks, like she did at every meeting. All that was left to do now was wait for others to arrive. Alice hoped they could all get some studying done together. She put her planner on the table and looked over what she had to do today, it always made her feel prepared to write it all down.

 

[Marco Mariani]

When Marco had seen the posters around the school and common room about a fourth year study group, he had been delighted and more than relieved. During the summer he had needed to catch up the previous three years of his school career, more for the reason that he had hardly paid attention to his grades than anything else. He didn’t even know how he got away with it, seeing as his parents were strict and everything. It was probably because they always gave their full attention to Eva, which was mostly okay with him since he got to do what he wanted half the time. And being at school definitely had its advantages and the freedom he usually couldn’t afford to have at home. Marco entered the student lounge, pausing to see if he could spot any familiar face and when he did he went over to the girl and smiled as he sat down, placing his backpack at his feet. "Hey, Alice right?" he asked. "Think we met at the halloween dance," he added, just in case she didn’t remember him.

 

[Vader Hume]

To say that Vader was stressed was slightly undercutting it. He was very stressed, exceedingly stressed. He wasn’t sure how it was possible but his sleep was even worse than the last time this had happened, so much played on his mind and he felt like he was barely keeping himself afloat. Vader was splitting his time, between accio, revising and Isabelle, he spent his nights sat at the table in the common room, when after hours the sleep just wouldn’t come. On a good night he got a couple of hours, on a bad he got none. This hadn’t been a particularly good night, but he knew Alice was holding her revision group and since he needed to study anyway, he knew that was the place for him to go. He had spent most of the morning hours doing accio work, working beyond even lunch. The yuleball was playing heavily on his mind, the fact he would be going with Isabelle, pretending he was excited for it was tiring and he didn’t know why he didn’t like her like he thought he should - well, he did, but he didn’t want to listen to that part of him. He got a coffee and drank it quickly, before getting a second in his magical travel cup and headed to the student lounge. ​

Vader's steps were slow and lethargic, like it was taking a lot of effort to even hold his body up properly. He knew he looked awful, pale and drawn, dark bags under his eyes, but at least the bruise on his face had faded. Curls were at all angles, barely contained by the red cap that Helene had given him. He stepped into the student lounge and noticed both Alice and a boy from his year. The name escaped him. ”Hey,” he spoke with an attempt at a smile on his features looking between the two of them. He found a spot to sit at and placed down first the coffee and then some books and sat down tiredly on the seat. He sighed slightly, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He wrapped his hands around the coffee and then took a small sip, ”Who knew fourth year would be so much more difficult than third, I dread OWL year,” Vader said, hoping that they’d pay more attention to what he was saying than to him. ​

 

[Elsie Baros]

Elsie had heard there was going to be a study session and she definitely could do with something like that. She had been pushing herself to really get her classes this year and with everything currently going on, it just didn't look like it was going to happen. She didn't want to be behind in her classes though, so when she'd heard there was going to be some sort of study group, she thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to tag along. She didn't know many of the people from her year personally, though she knew a lot of their faces she thought, but it was still early in the year enough that she could be excused for not knowing them. Since she hadn't spent much time at this school after first year. She had tried to find Rowan to bring her along, but her sister had dodged her adamantly, telling her there was no way she was going to some stupid study group. Elsie shrugged and left her alone. She could do this on her own. She shifted her books in her arms as she finally made it to the student lounge, she was a bit surprised that there were a couple of people already and though she was fairly certain this was where she was supposed to be, she wanted to make sure. "Hi, am I in the right place?" She hoped they would know what she was talking about, just from her books alone.​

 

[Ilija Olaf]

Ilija had been both dreading and looking forward to the next study session for some time. He knew what he had to do, only he had to be brave enough to actually do it. The Hufflepuff was pleased to see the posters up, showing that Alice was holding her study sessions again, and he met the rest of the group in the lounge. “Hi Marco, Elsie,” he gave a shy wave towards his friends, glad that they were here. If things were about to go downhill then it would be nice to have them around even more so. The fourth year waited for a moment for Alice to be available, not wanting to intrude on her conversation, before eventually appearing at her side, cheeks reddening considerably as he began to speak. He has to do this quickly, like a band aid. “Hey Alice, erm, can I..talk to you for a second?” This wasn’t going to take long, but he didn’t want this to be even more embarrassing with everyone else listening in too as he no doubt was about to get rejected.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio had never been to a study group before but considering he didn’t want his parents to kick him out again, he couldn’t have been a bad idea. He waved at Alice before taking a seat near Vader and Elsie, looking across to the Ravenclaw with a chuckle on his face, “Well if it’s not you’ll find out soon enough,” Elio thought she was quite different to her sister, and whether Rowan felt like she had to look out for her quite a lot. He was a bit surprised she wasn’t here too to be fair, since she loves studying in the common room so much. “Oh don’t, I don’t know how I’ll cope,” he said to Vader without thinking. He knew his roommate had even more going on than he did so why should he be complaining? “You’ve just got to think about what’s most important and work on that, right Els?” He said, trying to dig himself out of his hole.

 

[Chrysander Kaster]

Chrys hadn't expected to be going to a study group, he wasn't exactly the best at studying after all, none of his siblings were, well, except for Ben, but he was the odd one in the family. He carried his books into the room and first noticed Ilija, one of his dorm mates before also noticing Elsie, who he smiled at, draping a hand over her shoulder and giving her a quick peck on the cheek, though he was quickly swatted at. "Hey, hey, girls and boys, this a closed session?" He asked, dumping his books with Elsie's before taking a seat with the Gryffindor boy sitting near Elsie. "Hey boy, I've not seen you around before, you know my girl Elsie, huh?" He asked, leaning between the two and grinning.​

@Elio Zephyr

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader watched a boy from his year, whom he was sure he had heard Padme talking about when they’d last spoken. He asked to speak to Alice, but the room was filled with other people he didn’t know, when had his year gotten so big, had he been just too busy to notice? He gave Elio a tight smile as replied to his statement, but others all seemed to know each other, so Vader just opened his books, turning to where he’d last been in the herbology book, found the accompanying notes he had and after downing most of his coffee in one go he set to work. He didn’t have time to waste, he needed to just study. He needed to do well in his exams. He had to go back to the accio later, he needed to get something to eat at some point, see isabelle at some point, he needed to sleep at some point - hopefully. So for now, where everyone else was comfortably speaking to each other, he blinked tiredly at his notes, rubbing his eyes a little harshly and just beginning to read over the herbology books and notes. He didn’t want to be rude, but he had to study. It would maybe be a good occasion to get to know the others in his year, but as vader gave a nervous glance around the room at all the students who seemed to know each other well, he didn’t want to interrupt, they wouldn’t want to get to know him when they all had each other, not that he even thought he could keep up conversation with his level of tiredness and stress that he would be any fun to speak to. ​

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice smiled at the boy who had arrived first. She remembered Marco from Halloween, and it seemed like he remembered her too. "Yes! Thanks for joining." She said cheerfully. Vader came up next, and Alice's smile dimmed a little at the sight of him. He looked bad, and extremely tired. She knew better than to bring it up in front of other people, but she couldn't help a look of concern she shot his way. "Hi Vader..." She said softly, searching his face. "I know, right? I don't know how we'll get through next year." But in truth, she was more worried about Vader than herself. If he was struggling so much already, how would he cope in his final year? She vowed to talk to Ava, maybe they could think of a way to help him together. A girl arrived, and Alice remembered her name was Elsie and she was in Ravenclaw. She seemed a bit unsure about being in the right place, and Alice quickly nodded to reassure her. "Yes! Hi Elsie, thanks for joining!" She was always happy when more new people joined the study group. The more the merrier. A few more people arrived, but Alice's attention was taken up by Ilija who had headed up to her. She looked at him curiously, then nodded. "Sure!" She said, wondering what this was about. "Like... privately?" She wondered if it had something to do with worries about studying. Was Ilija embarrassed he was struggling with a subject? She turned her head as she heard one boy ask if this was a closed session. "Nope! Completely open for anyone." She said quickly, before turning her attention back to her friend. She wondered what he wanted to talk to her about.

 

[Marco Mariani]

Marco nodded at the girl. "I think I really need this study sesh," he said with a smile, but didn’t get a chance to say more as Ilija greeted him and then asked to speak to Alice in private. He wondered if there was something going on between his friend and the girl but he didn’t question it, knowing when it wasn’t his business to pry. The fourth year noticed Elio and went over to him and some other people who seemed to be friends with him too. He smiled at him, giving him a small wave but unsure if the Gryffindor saw it. "Hey El," he said, oblivious to the nickname he had given his friend. "So, if anyone is wondering, I’m Marco, just to get the introductions out of the way," he announced. He didn’t want to admit it out loud but he wanted to be friends with the people his friends were friends with. They seemed cool to hang around. ​

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian had changed his mind about going to this meeting at least four times, but now he was here and there was no turning back. Amaya had suggested the study group for him, and while he knew it was a good idea, he was nervous too. Abian had never been a very good student, and he felt like if he showed that side of himself to his classmates, he would be revealing a weakness he preferred to cover up. But if he wanted to be a healer, he also knew he had to get his grades up quickly. A's and P's had to become E's in several subjects, and Abian had no idea how to make that happen. The group of students was hard to miss, and he quietly made his way over. The girl who had organized this seemed to be busy talking, so Abian approached Vader instead, a friendly face and someone he trusted. He noticed Vader was looking kind of tired, and he nudged the Gryffindor as he sat down next to him with his books. "Hey, dude. You cool? And do you know if I can just join this without asking? I've never been to one of these meetings before." He said in a hushed tone.

 

[Ilija Olaf]

Ilija was debating whether or not it had been a good time to ask since Alice seemed very busy in leading the group, and it was even more obvious as she was welcoming a few more people. He smiled at Marco, but then suddenly the girl was asking him if he wanted to talk to him privately, and there wasn't any more escape for the fourth year. His cheeks were bright red as her face was so close to his. He was only standing next to her but he felt like there was an invisible force bringing him to her attention and suddenly he was under the spotlight. She was still trying to help others so he knew he didn't have long to do what he needed to do. It was now or never.

"Sort of, I guess." he glanced up to the others, painfully aware that if anyone was listening in hard enough it wouldn't be impossible to know what was going on, "I was just wondering really," he began, voice especially quiet so much so that he was surprising himself that any sound was even coming out. "I mean, you probably don't want to, and that's fine," was he really about to just get rejected? He nervously flashed his eyes back to the girl. What on earth was he doing? She was never going to say yes and he was never going to live this down. His stomach was doing flips as he paused in his tracks, embarrassed was an understatement. No, he couldn't do this. He needed to get out. "I was just going to ask if can borrow your study notes," the last few words tumbled out of his mouth as he panicked, reaching for the most obvious question. Yes, he was of course, very clearly, very embarrassed to ask her for those notes, "I lost mine." he added, hoping his failure wasn't strikingly apparent.

 

[Alice Holland]

There has been something serious about the expression on Ilija's face when he had asked to talk to her, which was why Alice had asked him if he meant privately. She felt a little bad now, as she got the feeling her question had embarrassed him a little. She smiled at him, wondering what he wanted to ask. She said nothing as she waited for him to say what he was going to say, wondering for a moment if he was going to ask her out. He seemed so nervous! But right as Alice was starting to think that, he asked for her study notes instead, and she felt silly for her own thought. Clearly, he was afraid that she was going to be upset with him for asking. Alice nodded immediately. "Of course!" She said, glad the question had been something she could help with fairly easily. "No problem at all. For which subject?"

 

[Teliko Snyder]

Teliko wasn't big on studying, she took a more 'flying by the seat of her pants' approach to her exams and it seemed to do fine for her so far, but she knew how much hosting the study group meant to Alice so she made the effort to attend to support her roommate turned friend. Teliko made her way to the student lounge where the group was being held and there were already a few students gathered, some she knew, some she didn't. Teliko spotted Alice over in the corner talking privately to Ilija, maybe he was finally asking her out. It had been clear he liked her when they had all been on the train together, he seemed like a good guy so hopefully it worked out for him. Teliko ventured over to the other students while she waited for the pair to finish their discussion. She would catch up with them both when they were done.

 

[Ilija Olaf]

Ilija just had to pray that his cheeks weren't giving away his true intentions. He smiled sheepishly when Alice said sure, and he felt like a fool because now she probably thought he was just unorganised and messy. The Hufflepuff took pride in looking after his belongings, and it would do him no favours for the fourth year to think otherwise. "Er thanks." He hadn't thought about which subject, so when she asked him he falted for a second, trying to recall the name of any class they had together. "History of Magic." It was the first one to come to mind, and even though Ilija was good at making notes, perhaps it would have been interesting to see hers too. He spotted Teliko in the corner of his eye, his stomach flipping as he had believed she knew how he felt back when they were talking on the train. Hopefully, she wasn't about to assume anything out loud. "If you don't mind, of course," he clarified. He'd never borrow them if Alice needed them at the moment.

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice noticed Ilija looked embarrassed, and she gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Happens to the best of us. I'll give them to you now so you can use them during the study group." She said, hoping she was helping him feel better. "Of course I don't mind." She said brightly. "I'll give them do you now." She started to lead him back to the table where her bag was with her notes in it. She was eager to get studying, and also happy to help a friend. She hoped Ilija wasn't too embarrassed about this.