More than she could chew

[Rhiannon Archer]

To say that rhiannon had a lot on would be a bit of an understatement. She had her exams coming up, both wizard and muggle right on top of each other, she had assignments coming out of her ears and that wasn't to mention the other work she was behind on. It wasn't that she hadn't been working hard. she had, it just all seemed to mount up. the last two weeks had been a blur of all nighters, and mealtimes spent in the library studying. all this stress hadn't left her marked. in the last month and a half she had lost about five kilos and under her eyes were dark rings and bags that even the little make-up she had tried didn't make the tinniest bit of difference and after one attempt she had given up. she also found that she could nod off almost anywhere, one of the few time she had made it to breakfast, one morning after pulling an all nighter finishing off a physics assignment she had fallen asleep at the table and only just about woke up in time to save herself from face planting into her porridge.
Right now she was sitting in the library. reading through her transfiguration notes hardy able to keep her eyes focused on the writing as she went, here lids feeling as heavy as lead. it was about mid afternoon and she had pulled an all nighter the previous night, had a little nap over lunch after her transfiguration class and had missed breakfast, she was literally running on nothing. well maybe running in noting was a little lenient, maybe more like pulling herself along on willpower alone. that thought reminded her of a poem she had learned for fun a few years ago. she focused on the exact lines that came to mind "If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’" she whispered as the tried to run throgh them. then mentally repeated that half stanzer mentally as though it was a mantra as her head started to migrate towards the book on the desk and her eyes got heavyer, maybe a ten minute break wouldn't hurt she thought, maybe the last thought she had before she drifted off to few hour long sleep as slowly the shadows made their way across the room.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt hadn't been overly stressed about his upcoming exams. It wasn't that he hadn't been studying as much, but he had fewer classes this semester and he didn't have to worry about doing all of his classes exams at once. He only had a few and that was enough for him. He was just a little tired having been working so hard on everything and the quidditch too, but he had a stress-free feeling in his heart. perhaps it helped that this year, he'd left behind the stresses of relationships, and having his cousins around, both Stefan and his little cousin Ailsa had given him a little more assurance that things weren't as complicated as they seemed. The gryffindor prefect knew that next year would be the most difficult year that he would ever face while at Hogwarts, but that would be okay. He knew that he'd be able to manage. Ty had been spending his weeks between the sports and the books, and while it made him pretty tired most days, it was still easier than the previous year had been. He did fewer all nighters, and just balanced his time a little better. Whenever the stress got to be too much, Tybalt had taken to walking around the school. Taking a little time to breath. To take some time and focus on himself, because he knew that with the career path he had in mind he was sure to need to keep his head on. With that in mind as the exams loomed in front of him, his stress levels were slightly higher, but he'd spent most of that day sat with his cousin in the library. Well, he sat and occasionally helped his cousin with the work, letting his cousin work away while he read through some books and had the odd conversation. The Gryffindor prefect was happy, it was nice, studying was hard, and this made it a little better.

However, as his cousin finished up his work in the later hours of the afternoon, as evening began, Tybalt decided that he might just need to go do some more intensive studying elsewhere. He grabbed a few snack bars that his cousin wouldn't miss, and set off, he had a few books under his arm, and as he left he remembered that he did need a book. The reason he'd come to the library in the first place. The teen wandered through the shelves to find it. Despite having the large part of his day in the library he had not gone to get the book that he'd been wanting. Not even remembered until he'd been leaving. Ty walked through the shelves and quickly located the book. He turned, and his eyes caught something he didn't expect to see. Rhi, was sleeping, books spread around her. Tybalt liked Rhiannon a lot, he liked her brains, her dedication and how nice she was. But, it was clear that she was having some issues. It was clear that she was under a lot of pressure. From where he stood it looked like she'd lost some weight. Ty remembered that she did muggle classes on top of the magical classes, which was even more classes than Ty had ever done. He'd ditched those muggle classes when his family had moved to New Zealand, but Rhi was muggleborn, with likely pushy parents. He took a seat next to her, placing the books down on the table, as placing the snack bars on top of his pile of books. He reached out and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder shaking her ever so slightly, "Rhi?" Tybalt spoke softly, not wanting to startle her awake too much. "Rhi, wake up" he shook her again, once more just ever so slightly.
​

Hope you don't mind me joining!

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Time was weird when you were asleep. especially that kind of fitful sleep at a desk when you should be studding. words, spells, and numbers all spiralying around each other vouching for her to give them her attention. when one word bupmed intp her, calling her name, it bumped into her again, her name again, in a southern accent. she opened her eyes and realised that the world was mostly black against her arm with a chink of light she sat up and she realised that her fingers hurt and were numb at the same time as she had been lying against them. and there sat besides her was Tybalt. "oh no." she mumbled sitting up and realising where she was, and what must have happened. goodness, tybalt had seen her asleep in the library, what must he think of her, she liked him, and he must think she was being lazy. "Thank you for waking me Ty". she said realising that she had hardly spoken to him since the ball. and that seemed like an eternity ago, with this semester seeming to have spread out over far longer than it should have. she glanced at her watch and realised it had been a god couple of hours since she had sat down. "I should have finished transfiguration and physics by now" she said more to herself than to Ty. oh well she had already waisted an afternoon, she may as well spend a little time talking to Tybalt. "how is your semester going?" she asked. her brain just about starting to wake up properly and she realised there were a lot more books on the table and some kind of snack bars on top of one of the piles which set her stomach gurgling and her brain trying to remember back to when she had last eaten.

Out of Character:

Of course you can join

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt knew that sometimes studying and all the things associated with that meant that remembering to do things for themselves could be a little bit hard. he didn't think any less of Rhi for having fallen asleep. He thought that she was pretty amazing. In all honesty, Ty really liked Rhi. He just liked most things about her, because he thought he'd have little chance with her. So, he was good, happier with this friendship. He just smiled at her, and shook his head slightly, "No problem Rhi" he gave an encouraging smile, knowing that really she needed to get more rest, and he almost felt bad for having woken her up. But, he was sure she appreciated it. He watched her carefully, clearly she wasn't looking after herself properly. That wasn't a good thing, not at all. Ty cared about Rhi, yes, but if he saw any of the people he knew in such a state then he'd act the same. Tybalt just didn't think that running yourself into the ground for the sake of good grades was the right choice. He studied a lot, he worked hard, but then in the same way he always made sure he was eating properly and taking plenty breaks, he didn't enjoy that weariness that came from not eating, or sleeping properly. Listening to what she said, Tybalt just shook his head slightly and then smiled at the question. "My semester is going well, what about yours?" Tybalt replied with a small smile.

Then, he heard her stomach rumbling, and gave a little laugh. He glanced at the snack bars he'd taken and then took them, and placed them in front of Rhi. "Here, eat something" he told her, with an encouraging tone of voice. "It'll make you feel better" he said with a smile. Really wanting her to eat them. "So, things been a bit overwhelming?" he asked motioning to all the books around her, and vaguely referencing the fact she'd been asleep just moments before. He didn't want to intrude upon her life, but he kind of felt like he wanted an answer about it. And if she didn't really want to talk about, then he would be more than happy to provide a distraction. "Are you still doing both the muggle classes and the magical classes?" he asked, remembered that she'd talked about physics. Ty knew that he did a lot of classes, but he'd ditched muggle classes long before. They were not even a remote thought in his head. He'd talked to Rhi about this before he was sure, but this was entirely different. he didn't want to force her into talking about it with him. Really Tybalt wanted to make sure she was alright. "You okay?" he asked, sure that this was perhaps the first question he should've asked, but, better late than never.
​

I'm sorry this is so awful.

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

It isn't aweful

Rhiannon smiled when Tybalt said his semester was going well. she was glad someones was, even if hers was going to to dogs. that is good to hear. mine is so busy and frantic." she said. When Ty handed her a snack bar she looked at it to him. "are you sure you don't want it?" but she didn't need to be told twice and a nod later she was hungrily ripping into it. she took a bite. she had been living of snacks and things she could cary with her or nothing and whilst the bar was not the substantial meal she so expertly needed it was certainly a good start. she smiled the first genuine smile in a while, just about managing to break through the now almost constant concern in her forehead. when he asked how she was doing really she realised she was fed up with holding her it in. "It extremely overwhelming. I started year eleven in february, which is like sixth form and though i have less classes there is so much more work. and i lost my duel to perseas, i'm falling behind in all my classes, and i haven't had a decent nights sleep in weeks." she said feeling a little bad for subjecting ty to her rant but not relally meaning to say all this, bur not really in the mood to evade the truth. She wasn't crying, but it was clear she was distressed.
When he asked if she was doing both muggle and magic classes she nodded. "yes. I have Chemistry, Physics, human biology, Maths, specialist maths and english, on top of magic classes." she said. now trying to hold back her emotions. though it wasn't easy. she took a deep breath and then took a bite of the bar concentrating on her chewing. as he asked her if she was okay. "I'm F, I'm F-f-f" she said before realising this was a lie and she never ever lied. "I could be better, but that is okay" She said. not sure what else to say. she just looked at him to see his reaction biting her lip. "sorry for over sharing, you don't need to hear this, I am sure you have your own worries" she added.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt had become very good at managing his time. It was simpler now than it had ever been before, and he knew that for Rhiannon, who was doing even more classes than Ty had been it was be busy and frantic like she said. When Rhi asked if he was sure he didn't want it, Tybalt just smiled at her and nodded. "I'm sure, there are plenty more where they came from" he told her brightly, watching as she practically inhaled what he'd give her. A small amount of concern appeared on his face, and he became a little annoyed that he didn't have anything else for her. He really wanted to make sure that she was okay, but she didn't seem to be looking after herself and was likely incredibly hungry. However, despite this he just decided to let the conversation play out before he made sure that she got some real food in her. He cared about his friends. And when he cared about his friends, he always looked after them. It made no sense to not. It was pointless, he wouldn't be a very good friend if he did things like that. So, instead of orcing her immediately to listen to him and what he wanted to do, as in get her some food and then to bed. Without any of the books. But, as she spoke, he knew that at least to begin with she just had to get it out. Just had to be able to talk about it.

Tybalt listened and nodded, wondering when she paused if he should say anything else, but in the end he waited. Which was the right thing to do, since she continued by tell him about all the muggle classes that she had to do. It really was a lot, and he didn't blame her for feeling overwhelmed and finding it difficult to be able to catch up, or stay on top of things, He too would find it incredibly hard. As she had begun to say that she was fine, he had been about to correct her, but she didn't finish the word, and did in fact then say that she wasn't that fine. He shook his head at her, "It's fine Rhi, I have my own worries yes, but that doesn't mean I don't have time to listen to you." he said with a smile. "Now, why are you still doing the muggle classes? I know they might still be important to you Rhi, but perhaps this shows that they are holding you back." he said, trying to show her that she didn't need them. "You are heading into your OWL year, it's a lot of work. And I don't want you running yourself into the ground. Maybe it's time to seriously consider which direction you want your life to go." Tybalt didn't want to appear to be telling Rhi that what she was doing was stupid, but he knew that unless she somehow managed to get herself together, and really be able to focus, then she'd fall behind, and he didn't want her to ruin her chances in both muggle and magic school.
​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon was glad Tybalt wasn't making fun of her, or dismissing her stress. it was good that someone was taking her seriously.having someone to take the time to listen to her concerns. or rather taking the time to to tell someone her concerns was probably good for her. it gave her some kind of perspective. his question made her think, why did she want to do muggle classes. there were a few reasons ranging from the fact she found them interesting to the fact se wanted to be, she always wanted to be,, better than her brother. She had so far been so what difference did one semester make, actually she still wanted to be better than him.
She sat for a moment thinking about what the best answer would be until she had one forming in her mind. "I want to be a Doctor, and i hate to give up on things." she said. the two most clear reasons why she was still going through it all and putting up with the total mindbend of it. "It isn't holding my back too much. I am still mainly getting O's, and what good is a social life". she said smiling at her half attempt of a joke.
but he was right. of course, she couldn't keep going on like this. Especially with as much at stake As OWL's next year. she really did need to focus on them and not burn her self down so far again. one would never know how easy it would be to unburn herself, and she never knew it may be even harder if it happened again. 'that is good advice, I should have a look through my priorities over the break and try and figure things out." she said. making note on the edge of the peace of paper before her to do that over the holidays after the exams, though it seemed unlikely she would see that paper again, hopefully just writing it would keep it stuck in her mind. "thank you Ty, thanks for being a great friend. and for listening" she said wanting to say something but not sure what.