Good Acoustics

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel didn't sing very often - only when nobody was around - but when he did, he liked to do it best in the towers. The acoustics on the spiral staircases were great, and though he didn't sing loudly, his voice was carried all around the open space. It only being eight o'clock in the morning, most of the students and staff were down at breakfast, and Arvel had an entire tower all to himself. He sat on a stair about half way up, writing down lyrics as they came to him and testing them out to see if he could put them to a melody. "I don't really care... I'd rather be... smart... if you knew I was clever... you'd... have a change of heart." Arvel groaned at his own lyrics. Writing was hard.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana enjoyed being up high in the towers, mostly in the evenings when the stars were shining. But as she was bored today, she decided to go up there for the view from the tower windows. If anyone asked what she was doing here she could always claim to be visiting Phoebe in Ravenclaw, even though in reality she was glad not to run into her annoying older sister on the stairs. But as she ascended the steps, she heard something strange. A frown appeared on her face as she stopped to listen. It almost sounded like singing, but not quite. More like speaking in a melody. Her curiosity was piqued, and she made sure to be quiet as she headed up the stairs slowly. As she peaked around the corner, she noticed a boy in her own year. It looked like he was writing things down, and she realized the song he was reading out loud was something he was thinking of himself. A small giggle escaped her, and she stopped taking care to be quiet as she approached him. She definitely had the upper hand here. "Wow, you're so smart you feel the need to make a song about it?" She asked the boy, cocking her head to the side. "Impressive"

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel's head snapped up, and a blush spread instantly across his cheeks. "No," he said, drawing the notebook closer into his lap and covering it with a hand. He wondered how he'd got so caught up in his writing he hadn't even heard the girl, who he remembered from classes to be called Diana, arrive. It wasn't like him not to be on guard. "Why does it matter if I am, anyway?" There was nothing wrong with being smarter than everybody else.

 

[Diana Hollis]

A smirk spread over Diana's face as she noticed she had startled and embarrassed the boy. The notebook he was clearly hiding was very interesting, and Diana wouldn't mind getting her hands on it. There were probably embarrassing things in there. But for now, she had enough to work with. "No or yes?" She asked with a mocking laugh. "How smart can you really be if you can't commit to one answer?" She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an amused look. "Besides, you're apparently not smart enough to find a private place for your silly songs." The talk about being smarter was annoyingly like her sister Phoebe, and it made Diana feel justified in knocking this arrogant boy down a peg.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel tried not to look as though Diana's comments were getting to him, but his blush betrayed his humiliation. "Yes - because - you're so smart, making fun of people for no reason," he said, trying to sound firm and fierce, but not quite hitting the mark. He couldn't even look her in the eye. "Actually, it was private, until you came. You don't have to listen to me. You can just... you know... keep walking..."

 

[Diana Hollis]

It was a strange rush of power to realize you were intimidating someone enough that they couldn't even look you in the eye. She grinned, enjoying herself immensely. "I wouldn't call this no reason. You've given me plenty." She said with a small laugh. "And unlike you, I never claimed to be smart. I think if you have to say it so loudly, you really aren't. Don't you?" She asked, eyeing him as she waited for him to respond to her words. "And this is a public place of the school, so by definition not private. Maybe you should change some of the lyrics of that song, you don't seem all that smart to me."

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel didn't know how to respond to Diana without giving her even more fuel to attack him. He didn't understand why she looked so pleased with herself; her mean remarks were all the same, unoriginal and made with the same words arranged in a different order. The more she tried to insult him, the more silly she appeared in Arvel's eyes. Unfortunately, he didn't have any clever ways to respond, either. Clutching the notebook tighter, he said, "Don't you have something better to do?"

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana shrugged, looking at her nails. "Not really. I'm kind of curious now." She said with a glance at him. "I mean, I have yet to see any evidence of your supposed brilliance." She glanced at the notebook and grinned. "But I'd settle for another song, let me see." She held out her hand to him, though she didn't really expect him to hand it over. "Maybe I'll change my mind about you."

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel almost laughed when Diana asked to see his notebook. "Um - why would I do that?" he asked, genuinely interested to know why the Slytherin would think he'd open himself up to more of her witless insults. "I don't have to prove anything to you. You wouldn't understand it, anyway." It was too intelligent.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana shrugged. "I just figured I'd let you think you had a choice." She said, her grin turning wicked as she pulled her wand out of her pocket. "Accio nerdy notebook." She said in a sing-song voice. Phoebe had shown her the spell over the break, telling her it was one Diana would learn soon anyway. Though Diana wasn't as interested in learning new things as her older sister, she knew a useful spell when she saw one. Practicing it on her hair clips had paid off, and she snatched the notebook out of the air. She darted up a few more steps to be out of his reach and flipped through the notebook. "Let's see what I am apparently too stupid to understand, hmm?" She mused out loud. "More bad song lyrics? For someone so smart you might need another lesson in rhyming." She taunted. Then she started reading some of them out loud mockingly, giggling.


(godmod approved)

 

[Arvel Ayers]

While Arvel was trying to make sense of what Diana had said about giving him a choice, his grip on the notebook slackened slightly, and before he knew it, the thing flew right out of his hands and into the Slytherin's. Arvel stood up, starting to panic. There were personal things in there. "Give it back," he said, half-heartedly reaching up the stairs, too shy to make a proper grab for it. "Please. Diana. Stop it." Students were starting to come up the stairs from breakfast, and now they were all getting to hear the private things in his notebook. Nearly on the verge of tears, Arvel made another weak swipe for it.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana stopped reading his lyrics out loud. They were boring and not really embarrassing enough. She grinned at him. "That's what you get for calling me stupid." She told him sweetly, making sure to stay out of his reach. "But since you ask so nicely, I'll stop." She was somewhat surprised he knew her name, but that was hardly important. For a second, she looked like she was going to hand it over to him. Then she swung her arm back to toss it over his head down the stairs where the sound of approaching students was growing louder. "Good luck getting it before anyone else does!" She called out, laughing as she headed up the stairs. This would teach him to be so arrogant, hopefully.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia was on her way to the north tower, it was one of the nicer spots in the castle to sit and think. She was also hoping that perhaps she would run into Evelyn this high up, as she was in Gryffindor which was also in a tower. But for the most part, she wanted to spend some time away from people. Unfortunately, she ended up finding herself in the middle of a group of Ravenclaws also climbing the steps on the way to their common room. Making herself as small as possible, she waited for them to pass, not making eye contact with anyone. She didn't really know any Ravenclaws, and would prefer not to talk to strangers. When she started to walk again, she stopped in surprise as she heard a soft thump. Looking up, she spotted a notebook that had landed a few steps above where she was standing. Hesitantly, she picked it up. She glanced up to see if she could spot anyone that had dropped it.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

"Um - I didn't say th-" Arvel started, reaching for the notebook - but just as he thought Diana was going to hand it to him, suddenly she tossed it down the spiral staircase. Without hesitating, the Hufflepuff took off down the stairs, almost knocking three people over as he ploughed through the crowd. He had the notebook in his sights when, to his dismay, Emilia picked it up. In a few more seconds, he reached her. "That's mine," he said bluntly, holding his hand out for it.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Just as Emilia considered placing the notebook back where she had found it, she heard someone say it was his. Looking up, she smiled slightly when she recognized her classmate Arvel. He was a Hufflepuff like her, though they hadn't really talked before. She quickly nodded. "Oh, here!" She said, handing it to him. Then she faltered as she took in his expression. "Are you okay?" She asked, blurting it out without really thinking. Then she lowered her gaze. "Sorry."

 

[Arvel Ayers]

For some reason, Arvel had expected Emilia to withhold the notebook from him, too - perhaps read some of its contents aloud to all the passers-by - so when she instead gave it back, he was briefly stunned. He held the notebook to his chest, nodding timidly. "Yes. I am now," he said, without looking her in the eye. There was an awkward pause. "You... you didn't read any of it, did you?"

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia wondered what he meant when he said he was okay now. "Did you drop it?" She asked as she glanced at the notebook. She assumed it was something like notes for class, which is why his next question surprised her. Her eyes widened slightly and she quickly shook her head. "Um. No." She said quickly. "I just picked it up..."