Open Fourth Year Study Group: Second Meeting

[Alice Holland]

((Open for all fourth years!))

Alice felt a bit more swamped this semester compared to the last. It really seemed like every year at Hogwarts was getting more difficult. With the OWL year next year, Alice thought it was important to get together to study again, even if it was already a very busy time. She had advertised the group as she usually had, though she thought most fourth years would have heard about it by now already. Alice hoped that everyone who wanted to join had time to do so, and she was glad that their usual table was free when she headed to the student lounge. She had brought snacks as usual, as well as spare quills and parchment. For a few subjects she had made flash cards, and she hoped she could revise a bit for the exams with a few people present. Alice placed everything on the table, then waited for her friends to arrive.

 

[Ilija Olaf]

Ilija still wanted to go to the study groups, but he was getting increasingly nervous about them every time he went. Today he hoped he’d get a chance to know Vader a bit more, since Padme always talked about her brother fondly. Then again the idea of talking to anyone at the moment was a bit daunting. Entering the study session, he was pained to see that Alice was so far the only other person now. He couldn’t just walk straight back out, could he? He lowered his head and braced himself for small talk, taking a seat a few chairs away from the brunette. He knew he was supposed to be interested in Padme now, and he hoped that in doing so he would be able to get over the Hufflepuff sat with him, but so far it hadn’t been particularly successful. “Hi,” he said feebly, adjusting himself at the table, getting out his books. “How have you been?” He asked politely. The only thing that could make this worse would be if he found out Eric had told her he’d spoken to him.​

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader always went to the study meetings, at a certain point he wasn’t sure how useful they were to him, but it was a reason to be amongst the others in his year and interact with people that were his books or the film in his camera. At this point in the second semester however, Vader was pretty deep in his work, between accio and just his schooling, he started each day too early with a list too long. It was both a good thing and a bad thing that his sleep was just non-existent, since he simply just had more hours to do everything that he needed to do. To do the homework, to do a bit of reading, to work on some pictures, everything that he was doing for the rest of the day. Vader wasn’t feeling any calmer than he did normally at this time of the year, his coffee consumption had increased, he’d just accepted that he wouldn’t be able to sleep and would just need to keep himself going. Vegeta was still himself, but the practicing with Goku was nice, it was helpful to him. ​

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Vader felt reassured in the bullying that he had something, he was working on a way to make it stop. Vader walked into the usual room that the study group was in and looked towards Alice and the one other person there, Ilija or something. He knew that much like almost every time she saw him, he looked exhausted, that he had dark circles around his eyes indicating the low levels of sleep. His hands always shook a little from the caffeine and he knew he held himself like someone who definitely didn’t get enough rest. ”Hey Alice, Ilija,” he greeted them as he took a seat in the room, he pushed as much brightness into his tone as possible and just smiled as much as he could at them. ”How are you both?” Vader asked as he put his books out, as he took out the magical thermos of coffee and took a sip from it. ​

 

[Alice Holland]

Every time, Alice was slightly nervous that no one would turn up. So when Ilija approached the table, Alice smiled brightly at him. "Hi Ilja! I've been good, but busy. How have you been?' She asked, leaning on the table a lit as they talked. "It feels like ages since we talked." She commented. "Are you ready for some studying?" Vader then approached the table, and Alice was shocked at the sight of him. He was looking bad, and Alice bit her lip. It was clear he barely slept, but Alice didn't know what to do about it. She had wondered if she should talk to a teacher or a nurse, but what if Vader would be mad about that? She didn't want to upset her friend. "Hi Vader..." She said softly. "I'm good, what about you?" She watched him sip the coffee disapprovingly, but bit back a comment.

 

[Ilija Olaf]

When Alice suggested it had been a while since they'd talked, he'd nodded in agreement. He'd not intended it to be that way, although he knew she'd probably be bored by him most of the time anyway so maybe keeping conversation to a minimum was the best thing for everyone. "Think so.." he looked up at the sight of another student and realised Vader had joined them. The Hufflepuff was both glad and irritated that someone else had arrived so soon. It barely even gave him a moment to talk to Alice by himself, but the fourth year at least wasn't put on the spot as much now. As Alice began to talk to Vader instead, Ilija sat back, glancing between the students and the book in front of him. The Gryffindor always looked tired, and Ilija wondered what was keeping him up at night. "I'm good thanks," he said simply, wondering if this study session was going to be as busy as the last ones were. "Will you be hosting these sessions next year?" he asked when he had a pause in conversation, hoping that the year with their exams include study sessions too.​

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked between them briefly, he wondered if perhaps he had interrupted something, he could admit that wrapped up in his own world, his own problems, with accio and Ava, he hadn’t had a lot of spare time to spend learning about his friend and the others in his year. He said he was Alice’s friend, but he knew that he was a bad friend. He sipped his coffee and gave a nod, ”Yeah, fine, busy,” he said, and really it wasn’t too far from the truth. He was exhausted from the lack of sleep, stressed because of Accio, Vegeta, Pho and exams, but he wasn’t panicking about anything and he didn’t have the time to not be whatever this level of fine could be called, he wasn’t any worse than on the days when Vegeta was particularly annoying or particularly tired when the sleep was so non-existent he might collapse. This was his fine, his normal no.. Whatever level of okay or normal this could be. ”it’s nearing the end of the year, and I have a whole week marked out at the beginning of the break for sleep,” he added, making a light joke so that any concern would hopefully disappear. He looked towards Ilija as the other boy spoke. He only really knew the boy from this sort of time and now from what Padme told him. ”Yeah, I think I’ll definitely need these next year,” Vader agree but for a moment when he finished speaking he thought of what the next year would be, hope on earth he’d find the space to cope, but he rubbed his eyes tired and seemed to shake off the thought from his mind, he had to finish this year before he moved on to the next. ​

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice was glad to hear Ilija was doing well, and nodded in response to his question. "I do plan to. From what I've heard, next year we'll need it more than ever." She said with a slight grimace. She had heard about the OWLs from both Rose and Phoebe now, and Diana was going to sit through them soon too. Alice tried to smile at Vader's joke, but was unable to erase the worry from her expression. It was clear that he was trying to joke, but it also confirmed he really wasn't getting much sleep. Alice hesitated. "Are you getting enough sleep here?" She asked him, unable to help herself. She was glad to hear Vader was in support of the group for next year too. "Well, if you two come... at least I won't be on my own." She said cheerfully.