Inauspicious Happenstance

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley sat with her sketchbook resting on her knee, slowly drawing with her quill pen. She was feeling lazy, and lonely. It was raining outside. Her friends, the Gryffindors that made up the rest of the girl gang, were nowhere to be found. The Slytherin common room was never an option, but there was no-one much to talk to here, either. So she sat by herself and drew, looking up occasionally on the off chance that someone interesting would come in.

Today's sketch was a rose, part of Hayley's ongoing experimentation in using a quill for art. The quill was good for swift, scratchy scribbles that nevertheless managed to look more elegant than anything Hayley could manage with an ordinary pencil. Not that elegance was usually a quality she aimed for. Hayley finished the rough outline and began to shade the underside of the rose with quick, close parallel lines. The other thing the quill was good for was encouraging confidence: it was impossible to run anything out, so every line you drew you had to be sure about. That was the sort of artist Hayley wanted to be, one who was confident in whatever she undertook.

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Today had been one of those disappointing days, where nothing necessarily bad had happened... but nothing had sort of gone right, either. Some days it was hard to go anywhere in this castle without seeing somebody she knew, and other days... no one could be found. It had been wonderful having her phone back over the holidays, but here at school she was once again expected to use owls as a method of contact - a useless proposition within the castle walls. Jessica had been walking along corridors for a while now, but still had yet to come across anyone worth talking to. She really hoped there was someone in the student lounge where she was headed. Once she entered the room however, she was disappointed to find that she didn't recognise anyone in there, either. Huffing quietly, she was about to leave when she suddenly made accidental eye contact with one of the people in the room.

Instantly Jessica felt like she was on shaky ground. What if she looked like some weirdo, entering the room only to leave just as suddenly? She might not have known this girl, but she still superficially cared what she thought of her. However irrational the thought, Jessica needed a reason for being here - staying here after making weird eye contact that had now gone on too long to leave without saying anything. Her decision was quick, strange, and the only possible option of bringing herself out of this awkward situation alive. Immediately slipping into her signature smile, Jessica crossed the room and sat in front of the other girl, her face hopefully hiding the fact that she was desperately clutching at social straws. "Hello. This is a bit out of the blue, but... I just wanted to say that I really like your drawing." She was glad to see that it actually was a drawing - she hadn't been able to tell from her initial distance.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley looked up again, absently, and met the eye of a girl who had just entered the room. They made eye contact for an awkwardly long moment, before Hayley looked back to her sketchbook. She didn't much care; it had been a weird moment, but only because Hayley hadn't been paying enough attention to realise she had made it so. She would have made nothing more of it, but the next thing she knew the stranger was sitting across from her. Hayley glanced at her suspiciously. There was no way this girl had seen her drawing from all the way over there. Hayley wasn't even facing the right way for her sketchbook to be visible from the door. There had to be something else going on here.

Hayley noticed now that the other girl was a Slytherin, and was immediately on her guard. Couldn't she ever get away from her horrible house? Well, that settled it. There was definitely an ulterior motive at work here. "Thanks," she said warily. " I've been experimenting with using quill pens for art, since we had to buy them and they're pointless for schoolwork. Why bother when you can just use a ballpoint?" This was one of her litmus tests for prejudice, making it clear early in the encounter that she was a muggleborn and not afraid to show it. Best to get it out in the open quickly, if that was this girl's reason for approaching her, and it was innocuous enough to move on from quickly if it wasn't. Really, Hayley hoped the latter was true. She wasn't in the mood for a fight today.

 

[Jessica Matthews]

The girl's initial reaction to her compliment wasn't what Jessica had been hoping for. Usually people were happy to hear such nice things about themselves, and though the girl had said thank you, the way she said it alerted Jessica to the fact that somehow she wasn't entirely welcome in this girl's space. It rankled her a little bit. She was just trying to be nice, what had she done to deserve such subtle dismissal from someone who didn't even know her? It made Jessica want to change the girl's mind, and she smiled widely before responding to the rest of the girl's comment. "Oh, that's interesting... do you think using them looks nicer? I wouldn't really know myself; if I draw I tend to use a pencil." She leaned over to examine the rose more closely, but made sure not to encroach on the other girl's space. "Well I think you're right, the quills are definitely more suited to drawing than taking notes. I tried to get used to it last year, but my writing was so terrible I eventually went back to using a pen." She didn't mention that she was once again trying to improve her hand control when using a quill and ink, though, not now that the other girl had implied she thought doing so was a waste of time. "I'm Jessica, it's nice to meet you."

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley smiled; the girl had passed the test, and even seemed to be genuinely friendly. Was it actually possible that she might finally make a friend in Slytherin? Hayley hardly dared to hope . . . and there was still the question of why exactly this stranger had approached her. Still, she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. If this was going to be a benevolent interaction, she would treat it as such. "I usually use a pencil myself," she agreed, "but I think using quills has a lot of potential. There's a different quality to the linework - I haven't quite got the hang of it yet, though it's definitely more interesting than trying and failing to use them for schoolwork." This time she smiled at the girl's more subtle compliment. "I just . . . don't understand why they want us to use quills to take notes," she reflected. "It's so ridiculously old-fashioned - and, like you say, so much more difficult." This was something that had been bugging her since first year, and Hayley was always interested to see what other people thought. For anyone who had passed her initial wary test, it was a non-controversial topic of conversation, too. "Nice to meet you too, Jessica," she said, and almost meant it. "I'm Hayley, by the way."

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica listened intently as the girl explained her use of the quill, nodding along here and there. "Do you draw a lot then? How long have you been doing it?" It was already apparent that this girl wasn't likely to be a beginner, but Jessica knew that people often liked to talk about what they enjoyed doing - and tended to think well of anyone who seemed interested and indulged them in speaking freely. As to her remark about quills being the preferred utensils to wizards liked to write with, Jessica just shrugged. "I just think they're used to it - pens don't seem like they would be any more or less difficult for someone who grew up knowing how to use a quill." It was actually the root of her own problem with the issue; her attempts looked so childish and untidy and she couldn't wait to finally be good enough that she no longer stood out in such a way. But this girl, Hayley, didn't seem like she was so concerned with that aspect herself, which made Jessica wonder why exactly she was bothered with it. "But if no one's told you off for using a pen then you don't need to worry about it, I think. They'll do what's easiest for them, and we'll do what's easiest for us until we can do that too - everyone's happy." She smiled, hoping that would be enough to reassure the other girl. It sounded like they had things in common, both struggling with a way to fit themselves into a world they had only just arrived in. It would be nice if she could help someone else, however small the contribution might be.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley smiled. "All the time," she said, idly flipping back through her sketchbook to show it crammed full of drawings, while leaving a finger to hold the page with the still-wet rose open so the ink didn't soak in anywhere it shouldn't. "I've been drawing for . . . pretty much as long as I can remember, actually." She paused, head cocked to one side, to consider Jessica's next remark. That was a point that hadn't occurred to her, although now that she thought about it there were definitely kids in class that seemed entirely comfortable with using a quill. "I don't see why, though. It seems silly for the wizarding world to cling to such outdated equipment, just as . . . what? A point of difference?" Hayley didn't mention the prejudice against muggleborns just yet; it seemed that she had an ally here, but she didn't want to scare her off by expressing too much of her anger too quickly.

Hayley had no intention of learning to use her quill for writing like Jessica clearly did, but she didn't mention that either. She had no intention of fitting in. Hayley's response to a world that looked down on her for who she was was to continue to be different, more obviously, more aggressively, more defiantly. She was a little contemptuous of the people like Tristan (and maybe Jessica, though she didn't want to assume so early) who tried to fit in, who went along with this unacceptable status quo . . . but it was difficult, and she wasn't ready to try to start a revolution just yet. "I guess . . . it's a tiny frustration in itself, but there are so many things here that just make zero sense. Like, this is basically a high school, but it doesn't teach anything except magic? I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure even wizards need more life skills than that."

 

[Jessica Matthews]

Jessica tilted her head to get a better look at each of the drawings Hayley was showing her. Even though her previous interest had been a ploy to seem friendly and gain friendliness in return, she was actually kind of intrigued to see what else the girl had drawn. Not all of the subject material was quite to her liking, but it was clear that Hayley was proud of her efforts. Smiling, Jessica directed her gaze upwards again. "You're much better than a lot of other aspiring artists I've seen," she remarked, pleased that she could speak the truth... even if it was only because the grand total of other aspiring artists she'd met happened to be zero. She then nodded at Hayley's next reply, keeping her face schooled in an open, listening expression. "Perhaps it is a bit silly," she said with a slight laugh, "but it's what they do, so I never really thought to question it." Other people using quills wasn't what bothered Jessica - it was the way they did so so effortlessly while she continued to struggled that really annoyed her.

She was more receptive to the continuation of Hayley's train of thought, and sat up a little straighter as she invested herself more fully. "Yes, I find that strange too! I mean, I guess science doesn't make much sense to teach here when it treats magic as an impossibility, but - don't wizards need math? Surely they have accountants, and proper bankers?" Jessica had only ever seen the one bank in Obsidian Harbour, which had an overwhelmingly large number of fierce looking short people... but surely shortness wasn't a prerequisite for the occupation? "I just don't understand it at all... but I suppose I wouldn't, not having grown up knowing about it." The corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile. "Sometimes I think it might have been easier to never find out about all this; to not have magic in the first place." A lie, of course - it was something she thought about frequently, and still wished in vain for at odd quiet moments.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley smiled. "Thank you." Somehow this compliment had a more genuine tenor than the previous one, though she couldn't pin down why she felt that. She turned back to her rose, and left the sketchbook open on that page while she met Jessica's eyes and turned her full attention to the other girl. She shrugged at her next comment, not really wanting to argue. Hayley hardly dared to hope, but it seemed that perhaps she'd made an actual friend here. She wouldn't jeopardise that by nitpicking about small things. And if Jessica hadn't thought to question the status quo, then maybe Hayley could teach her to.

"Yeah!" Hayley agreed, pleased to find that Jessica agreed with at least that one of her opinions. Hayley didn't have much interest in science, and hadn't really considered it beyond being a point in the defence of muggles, but she guessed for people that cared about that sort of thing it must be pretty frustrating to have it all thrown out the window. She chuckled. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to not have to do math, but isn't it like, a necessary skill? Way more so than turning beetles into buttons or whatever the hell we were supposed to be doing there. And I'm pretty sure most people are supposed to get through life with more than primary school-level English, too." Jessica's last comment made Hayley look at her sharply; maybe they had more in common than she'd originally thought. She'd certainly wondered more than once whether it wouldn't be better just to abandon all this, to go back to the muggle world where she wouldn't have to fight against prejudices she'd never even heard of three years ago. "Yeah," she said softly. "But if people like us don't combat this stupid system, who will? Someone's got to point out these things, to try and change them, and it might as well be us."