Hopeless Wanderer

[Asaiah Murphy]

Instead of seeking out his friends to explain why he didn't wrote them back during the holidays, Asaiah Murphy went straight outside as soon as the Sorting Ceremony was over. He didn't want to go to the commen room just yet, and certainly didn't want to explain to Marisol why he wasn't able to respond to her letters because of two reasons. 1, he was afraid she'd be angry with him. And 2, he was somewhat embarressed by the fact that he failed to live up to the promise he made his parents about getting better grades in his second semester as a first year. So whilst making his way to the castle grounds, the second year Slytherin tried coming up with things to say to his friends in the morning, when he would see them at breakfast. Without really thinking about where he was going, Asaiah stopped walking once he saw the Quidditch Pitch in the distance, smiling because he remembered that try-outs would be held soon and that he was going to try and get a spot on the Slytherin team as a Beater. Asaiah sat down on the damp grass against a large tree, thinking about Quidditch and what to say to his friends, hoping that some fresh air would calm his mind, too.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Being back at Hogwarts felt amazing as Zara and her brother had both been back at their mother's home for the entirety of the break with no time allowed to see their grandparents. The disappointment she'd seen on her mother's face as well as the overwhelming anger she always seemed to have was a lot for the Ravenclaw even if she tried to not let it get to her. She wanted to be there for Lennon as he was there for her so the second year sat through it all with him but now she was glad to feel the sweet taste of freedom again. The young witch walked down to the lawn, caring little of the chill in the air just as she paid no mind to those around her whilst she was enthralled in her book. She was determined to do better this year as her disdain of all things Quidditch had kept her distracted and too busy for intellectual pursuits. Whether it was because of her mother's incessant nagging or her own ambition, Zara kept her eyes glued to a book so much so that she missed a particularly slipper patch of wet grass and fell flat on her behind. "Oof." She sat up, with her clothes now wet from the grass and her pride bruised just as much as her tailbone, hoping no one had seen her display because Zara really didn't need a bad start to this year already.​

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah had been thinking about what to say to his friends for a couple of minutes now, thinking if he should tell them the truth why he hadn't been responding to every single letter he received from them, especially the ones from Marisol, but he did not want to feel embarrassed again by the fact that why he hadn't send letters back to them was completely his own fault. After coming to the conclusion that telling his friends the truth was the best and that he shouldn't worry about feeling embarrassed because they would probably make a joke out of it or something like that, his mind quickly switched from worrying about what to say to the Quidditch season that would soon start. Asaiah thought about what position he wanted to go for come try-outs. He was most excited for the position of beater but the longer he thought about it, the more unsure he got. Sure beater was the best position but it was also one of the most dangerous positions, and he wasn't bad at playing as seeker as well. The Slytherin started thinking of pros and cons for both positions and eventually came to the point where both had an equal amount of pros and cons. "Well this isn't going anywhere." he thought as he tried thinking about more pros for beater. While Asaiah was thinking about it he heard the sound of someone or something hitting the ground, and without hesitating whether he should check it or not, he turned his head to see what it was. The twelve year old boy tilted his head to the side when he saw a girl he didn't know sitting down in the damp grass. "Ehh.. Are you ok?" Asaiah asked to girl carefully, hoping she wasn't about to cry.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara was immediately embarrassed even more from her fall when someone approached her, especially as she didn't know this person. She looked up at him and smiled meekly. "I'm fine, just clumsy." Admittedly it hurt her rump a little bit she was hardly going to say that to this boy. Instead she patted the grass beside her so he could sit beside her because now that her butt was wet there was no point in making a big deal about it. So she figured that she might as well attempt to meet someone knew from her small misstep and move on from there. Besides he looked nice enough and not like some of the students who were rash and aggressive and just so obsessed with Quidditch that her eyes could roll out of their sockets in one small conversation with them. Those people were so common and so ill-suited for their so-called intellect because she could never see any of it. So she waited to see what he might do and whether her offer would be accepted or not because either way she wasn't fussed as she had previously had her nose so deep into a book.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah sat down on his knees trying to figure out if the girl really hadn't hurt herself. The Slytherin knew that he probably shouldn't but she could be hiding the pain for all he knows. He tried doing it very subtle but checking if the girl was fine couldn't be done subtle, so Asaiah tilted his head from left to right and then shrugged as he could not find anything that may cause her to be in any pain. ''All right.'' Asaiah said smiling at the girl hoping she wouldn't think that it was weird of him to make sure she was ok. Making sure that people where doing fine after an accident happened became somewhat of a habit of him ever since he saw Marisol's reaction in the Forbidden Forest. Happy that the girl seemed to be doing fine Asaiah looked around if she had dropped anything whilst falling down on the ground. Asaiah picked up a book off the ground and wiped it clean with the sleeve of his robes. ''This must be yours, here.'' the boy said as he handed the girl her book back. ''I'm Asaiah.'' The Slytherin thought that introducing himself would be a good thing to do to make sure she wouldn't feel embarrasded, if she felt embarrassed.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara could feel the boy’s eyes raking over her and out of politeness she pretended it wasn’t happening despite how uncomfortable it made her feel to have a boy staring at her. The Ravenclaw finally smiled when he seemed to stop and accept that she was just a fool for not paying attention to her footing. The last time she’d done something like this, she had been starring at someone while her mother was dragging her to pick up her school books. Zara still remembered the long blonde hair that had caught her eye - probably because it was so long and so unlike her own hair that just rested on her chest. Her cheeks had gone as red as could be when she got up but with only the boy she didn’t know seeing her she felt less embarrassed than she might have other wise. Smiling graciously as the book was handed to her, Zara said, “Thanks a lot,” whilst tucking it into a large pocket on her robes. As introductions were made, the Ravenclaw extended her hand and responded, equally as polite as he, “Zara. Nice to meet you.” Asaiah seemed a familiar name to her, making her presume they were in the same year but as she had kept mostly to her fellow Ravenclaws and primarily to Lennon over her first year she wasn’t actually certain. The witch had been horrendous about making friends but hopefully she could change this before classes even began this year with the boy sitting beside her.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah smiled when the girl who's name was Zara extended her hand for him to sake it. He grabbed it with his and shook it gently before letting go of it. ''So, Zara'' The Slytherin said with a sigh. ''What brings you here? Sorting Ceremony was only moments ago, surely you want to be at your Common room right now celebrating with the newly first years or something like that.'' He knew that that the reason the girl was outside immediately after the start of the new year may have a personal reason behind it, but Asaiah thought that it would be a nice way to keep the conversation going as he had enough of thinking about either his friends right now or Quidditch, which was a surprise to him. Without thinking of what it would do to his Slytherin robes, Asaiah layed down on the ground watching the night sky as it was beginning to clear up. The Slytherin didn't want to worry about lessons and grades and other stuff that was important just yet. ''I like stargazing.'' he said suddenly. ''It calms me down whilst I'm counting stars.'' Asaiah then turned his head toward Zara. ''Would you care to join me?'' he asked with a smile.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

“It gets too busy,” Zara explained without much hesitation. Last year she hadn't minded too much because she had been able to meet new people and her Head of House but this year she had just wanted a moment of peace before the insanity really began. “I didn’t do very well in classes last year too,” she admitted despite all common sense telling her to keep that inside. “I feel a bit like a fraud being in Ravenclaw.” Trying to seem dismissive of her own failings she shrugged her shoulders and returned the question, “What about you? Shouldn’t you be partying it up with Styx?” She laughed at the idea of something so strange because she could hardly imagine the common room gathering in Slytherin house was celebratory. He seemed a man that would really like to hurt whoever had put him up to the position of Head of House. However, as Zara wasn’t in Slytherin like Asaiah clearly was with the green and silver accents on his tie she could have been completely mistaken. People were different away from the public eye. Zara knew she was. Surprised at the sudden change of topic and offer, Zara smiled with amusement written on her face. Whenever she was with her grandparents on her father’s side they would take her and Lennon outside at night to star gaze and told them wonderful stories all about the constellations. Sometimes it meant that Zara’s grandma would get quiet because she had told these stories to her dad when he was little too. It always gave her such mixed emotions as she cuddled in close with the older woman but this was something different all together. “I like star gazing too,” she told Asaiah with a nod of her head as her answer before she laid down beside him. “Do you have a favourite constellation?” she asked softly. Maybe to her new comrade they were just twinkly balls of gas that looked pretty or maybe they were more of a story to him but to the second year she preferred to think of constellations like their stories. The world was more beautiful that way.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah nodded his head indicating that he understood the point Zara made on why she wasn't in the commen room at the moment. ''Yeah, tell me about it.'' he said. Asaiah usually liked being in the Slytherin commen room, it was a good enough spot to make homework and relax after a long day of classes and having fun with friends, but when the room would be as crowded like it'd be after the sorting ceremony Asaiah found himself unable to concentrate or find a chair to sit in most of the time. When the girl mentioned classes the Slytherin chuckled and said, ''Join the club.'' Automatically telling her that Asaiah, too, did poorly in classes last year. ''You shouldn't feel like that - there's nothing wrong with doing bad in classes.'' Asaiah told Zara. ''I mean, well, unless it gets you grounded, then you should feel like that. But I'm pretty sure you didn't get grounded over the fact that you didn't do very well in classes so there is nothing to worry about, just do better this year.'' The Second Year didn't mean to ramble on about it but it somehow happened automatically, almost as if he was talking more to himself than to the girl besides him. Asaiah laughed at Zara's comment about partying with Styx. He had heard enough stories in his first year to know that Styx wasn't a person you'd be hanging out with and have a good time with. The boy shook his head and said, ''I think Professor Styx would rather kill himself than to party with a bunch of teens.'' He tried to picture the Professor going to a party with the Slytherin students but it didn't particularly look like a fun evening for all of them. Asaiah smiled when the girl told him she liked star gazing, too, and thought about an answer when she asked him about it favorite constellation. ''I guess I like Hercules the most.'' he told the girl while a smile slowly started to appear on his face as he thought back on the nights he spent with his brother outside. ''My brother used to tell me this story about how Hercules was defending the other constellations from the evil clouds with his muscles.''

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

As Asaiah told her that he also was struggled last year she felt bad for him and yet Zara couldn’t help but smile because at least she wasn’t alone in her struggles. “No I didn’t get grounded,” the Ravenclaw confirmed. This was only because her mother was less interested in her life than her grandparents were. However she had not seen them over the break to explain how poorly she’d done in her first year at Hogwarts. “I did get in trouble for getting pets without my mom’s permission though. I got my brother one of those charmed dragons,” she said with a small smirk because while she had gotten into trouble for having her sweet little cat Ectetera it was nothing compared to the wrath of her mother towards Lennon when his dragon had nearly burned up parts of their home. Maybe it was bad to think that it was funny but their mom always got this vein in her forehead whenever she was mad and Zara couldn’t help but think it was amusing when it was directed at someone other than her. The twelve year old managed a huge grin as she imagined Professor Styx partying with his students because it was so preposterous but then again that would be very uncool so it was for the best. “What does he say then?” she asked more hypothetically than anything else before putting on her best stony expression and a deep and silly accent to try to impersonate the man. “Welcome students I want to stab you all in your eyes.” Zara knew it was a terrible impersonation so she broke her resolve and laughed, it was a particularly amusing idea. Still quite pleased with herself from her little joke, Zara couldn’t help but manage a small laugh as Asaiah told her what his brother told him about Hercules. She knew the myth was wrong but it was nice anyway so she didn’t correct him instead she just smiled. She hoped he knew it wasn’t the recognized truth now that he was older but in the same right it was a myth as well. “I always liked Scorpius,” she said softly but didn’t give an explanation for it because there had been enough rumours surrounding her father’s death in the media with ridiculous Quidditch fans who continued to pester her and her twin well into their toddler years simply for being his children. However the constellation had always made her feel somehow closer to him.


 

[Asaiah Murphy]

A small smile appeared on his face as the girl besides Asaiah told him that she did not get grounded for doing poorly in his first year at Hogwarts. ''Guess it is just me then.'' the Slytherin said with a chuckle. Looking back at his holidays now Asaiah considered himself very lucky since the punishment his parents had given to him seemed like nothing compared to the punishment they gave his older sister when they received a letter from the French school telling them that their daughter had broken half of the school's rules at her first night at the castle. He listened attentively as Zara mentioned getting in trouble for the charmed dragon she bought her brother. Asaiah laughed softly at her story and said, ''I got in trouble because of a pet once, too,'' he began as he tried to recall the day that his owl had pooped all over his bedroom out of excitement to deliver a letter and he had to clean the mess. ''My owl got a bit too exicted to deliver his first letter and starting pooping in my room.'' To the twelve year old the story was still funny. He perfectly understood Axel's reaction and was convinced that he would have probably done the same thing if he was an owl. Asaiah grinned at Zara's impresonation of his Head of House, though he hadn't seen or talked to the Professor much, if looks could talk they would say the exact same thing Zara said. ''Yeah, something like that I think.'' the Slytherin said while laughing. His laughter slowly faded when he began to count the brightest stars, not really paying attention to the girl besides him anymore until she spoke again. ''Why's that?'' Asaiah asked Zara with a soft voice, slowly getting a bit more relaxed as he lay on the ground watching the stars with her. He didn't know if there was a personal reason behind the fact that the Ravenclaw girl liked Scorpius and if she would tell him, but either way Asaiah could understand why one would like Scorpius as the constellation looked pretty cool.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara smiled sympathetically at the Slytherin beside her for getting into trouble because she felt for him. She imagined that a parent being justifiably angry and disappointed was hardly fun. This didn’t mean she quite understood that as her mother was hardly ever concerned about her future or Lennon’s. It was only the immediate and when she had returned home for winter holiday the immediate problem was that her brother was having terrible allergies towards her cat and his toy dragon nearly burned down their house. Unable to say much on the topic she just hoped that a warm smile would do the trick before the subject was changed. “That’s somehow gross and cute at the same time,” she said. Owls were so adorable and although Zara had fallen for her little cat, Ectetera, she still loved the family owl even if it had the nasty habit of screeching in the early hours of the morning. Familiars were the best sort of animals and could hardly imagine having something as simple as a dog because they just weren’t that useful at the end of the day. While one might argue that a cat wasn’t a useful animal too, Zara would have to call those people fools. She imagined that Professor Styx felt all animals and most people were useless as well which added to her short impersonation of the man. While laying back and crossing her arms over her chest she thought of a response to Asaiah’s question. She couldn’t tell him that the father she’d never known was named after the constellation without earning herself an express ticket to Pityville population Zara Cohen-Knight. “I was told when I was little that if I was ever scared that I had the biggest scorpion ever looking out for me,” she said, not entirely lying but certainly not revealing the whole truth. “My grandma told me that if anyone would even think to hurt me or my brother that Scorpius would protect us from way up in the sky,” the Ravenclaw concluded, almost certain that her acting skills weren’t up to snuff but the truth was for her and Lennon only. It was them against the world and as nice as Asaiah was she didn’t need to let him in that close. Not now and not ever.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah softly laughed when he saw the girl's facial expression and shook his head. ''It's my own fault that they grounded me.'' he told Zara. ''Instead of taking my precious time and study like I should have done, I was busy wandering around the castle - day and night - and playing with my owl.'' the twelve year old explained to the girl laying besides him on the ground. ''Guess not every parent likes to see their son failing almost every exam because he was busy wasting his time on doing other things.'' Asaiah said with a small chuckle. Although the Slytherin talked about it as if being grounded for the whole holidays did nothing to him, Asaiah had sworn to himself to quit fooling around as much as he did in his first year and actually pick up one of his school books outside of classes, even if he didn't feel like doing it at that moment for he did not want to be cooped up in his room again without having something fun to do. He laughed at Zara's comment. It was indeed gross and cute at the same time, well, maybe a tiny bit more gross for him since he eventually had to clean it up. ''What about you? You have any other funny pet stories?'' Asaiah asked as he noticed that he had turned the topic to his pooping owl story. It was a habit that the Slytherin had developed during the years. Whenever someone would tell him something that happened to them and something similar happened to him, too, he always got excited to tell his story without giving the other person a chance to finish whatever they were saying. Asaiah listened attentively at Zara and smiled. ''That's really nice of her to say.'' The Ravenclaw mentioning her grandmother made him miss his. He didn't see his grandparents much as they lived in Australia but whenever they would come and visit him and his siblings, his grandparents would bring them gifst, and he really liked that part of them visiting the Murphy household. Asaiah yawned and looked up at the night sky again. ''You think they're having fun?'' he asked Zara sofly whilst nodding his head at the casle, wondering if they were missing out on something by being outside.