Closed Good Intentions

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah was pleased with how her lessons were going so far. Thankfully she had managed to select classes that required very little wand work this semester and gave her more time to figure out what exactly was going on with her. It also helped that her brother hadn't gotten into any trouble that she had heard about yet. So for now she could find some sense of peace reading her Defense Against the Dark Arts text book as she ate her lunch. She looked around and wondered if she should try and sit with someone, other girls or boys. But if she was honest she liked eating by herself on occasion. It was one of the few times she could relax and not worry so hard about what she was 'supposed' to be doing. Delilah took a deep breath as she turned a page and picked at some fruit on her plate and tried to drown out the voice in her head telling her she should be doing more.

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia really, really, really, didn't feel like sitting at the Slytherin table on her own again today. She was sick of it, as she was often sitting by some other people who had little to no friends and things were just awkward. So when she spotted a girl at the Ravenclaw table she sort of knew, mostly by name, she made her way over and sat down. She told herself this wasn't weird, she had seen plenty of people sit at other house tables. Though usually with their friends or siblings. "Hello, you are Delilah Thorne, right?" She asked the girl politely. She really hoped she wasn't wrong about that, that would be very embarrassing

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah looked up quickly she heard someone say her name. “I am.” she answered, and in her surprise she had forgotten her mouth was still half full. Quickly she covered her mouth and swallowed before speaking again. “I’m sorry do I know you?” she tentatively asked the girl in front of her. Delilah was fairly certain the girl was younger and seemed vaguely familiar but couldn't place her. Was she one of Brooke's friends? “Sorry.” she mumbled, feeling guilty for not knowing the other girl. “That’s a bit rude of me. I’m just not the best when it comes to names...or faces.” she tried to explain.

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia was glad she had gotten the girl's name correctly, but then she clearly had no idea who Natalia was, and that made her feel embarrassed as well as a little indignant. She was the one who should be unaware of Delilah's name, not the other way around. Didn't she realize Natalia was from a more important family than her? But she remembered how her mother always told her to appear nice, even when offended. "I'm Natalia Novak, I know your family's name." She said with a slight shrug. The Thorne's were not an unimportant family, but their reputation wasn't nearly as good as Natalia's. She looked at the girl coolly, waiting for her to make her next move. If she said something else that Natalia didn't like, she decided she would end the conversation right then and there.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah's face immediately began to burn when the other girl, in very few words explained why she had come over to talk to her. "Oh right." she said quickly and gestured for Natalia to sit. She honestly hadn't expected many people to recognize her name in New Zealand since most of her family was in England and most of the time if Thorne's were talked about reverently it was usually in reference to the side of her family that were still purebloods. It was her grandfather who first broke with tradition and married a mixed blood witch. It apparently had been a big deal and after he died it left them in an awkward position and Delilah hadn't seen those cousins since she was very young. "It's nice to meet you." she said kindly and tried to hide her unease. It had been a while since she had had to be so polite and she felt rusty. "Novak?" she repeated. "Where is your family from?" she asked curiously.

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia sighed softly, feeling like this attempt at being social had been a mistake. Just like so many others, this girl didn't actually seem to care about her family name. As Delilah asked her where her family was from, Natalia decided she would at least try to figure out if this girl was a pureblood. That might make her more worth talking to. "My family is from Hungary." She told her with a slight smile. "What about your family?"

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah was still hungry and wondered if it would be too impolite to continue eating while they talked. But the thought of getting something stuck in her teeth kept her hands folded neatly in front of her. "Oh." she said with a smile as Natalia answered her question. She wasn't sure what else to say about that but Delilah wasn't sure exactly way to say about her family either. "My family? Well we're from England mostly." she answered plainly. "But my parents, and my brothers, and I moved to New Zealand a few years ago." she explained and hoped the other girl wouldn't be too curious as to the why they moved here. "We have some family from France and around Europe." Delilah continued. She was fairly certain she had a cousin or something from Spain but she would have to ask her mother. "Don't think we have anyone from Hungary though." she added with a small laugh, trying to break some of the tension she felt. "Maybe you've heard of Gabriel Thorne?" she offered tentatively. He was her great uncle and was one of the only names she remembered from the pureblood side of her family.

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia had wondered why the girl asked her where her family was from, but she didn't follow up with any other questions. She talked about her family being from England, but also having some family in France. Natalia listened with interest, trying her best to remember all her lessons about notable magical families. She nodded when Delilah mentioned a Gabriel Thorne, the name was familiar to her. "Yes, is he your grandfather?" She asked hopefully. That would mean Delilah was likely someone worth talking to.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah tried hard not to make a face when Natalia assumed that Gabriel was her grand father. "No." she said with a laugh. "He's not my grandfather, but he is my great uncle? I think that's the right term for it. My grandfather's brother." she explained. Delilah chewed on her lip as she waited for the other girl's response or if she was going to ask any more questions. She wasn't exactly lying about her blood status, she was just leaving out some details. Besides if she asked she would be honest but...if she didn't, where was the harm in that?

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia turned to the girl with a bit more interest. If Gabriel Thorne was this girl's great-uncle, that meant there was a distinct possibility she was pureblood as well. She knew from her mother that it was often considered rude to ask directly, but the girl had pretty much implied it by bringing him up in the first place. "That's very interesting." She said, giving the girl a slight smile. "We are the only part of our family to be out here in New Zealand, and we're still trying to get the proper connections here." She said. "I'm friends with Liusaidh Fergusson." She added though it was a bit of a stretch. "But it is surprisingly difficult to find people around my age from the... right sort of families." She added, glancing around at the other students surrounding them with some distaste.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah felt some of the tension in her shoulders fade away as Natalia moved on to talking about herself. She smiled politely and listened closely as she spoke trying to commit everything she said to memory in case it came up later. "It can be tricky." she agreed as she mentioned making proper connections. She knew her mother struggled a lot and Delilah only managed to be lucky enough to make proper friends due to those tedious prep school lessons. "I know her by reputation mostly." she admitted tentatively. Delilah knew Liusaidh was from a very prominent family but at the same time the other Slytherin girl seemed to end up in trouble more often than not, which made Delilah glad for the distance. She reached out and took a dainty sip from her cup of tea but nearly choked on it as she heard Natalia's last comment. She recovered quickly. "Hot." she whispered with an apologetic smile, and set her tea down. "It really can be." she added quickly.