Nameless Graces

[Dove Zhefarovich]

Dove Williams had arrived for her second year at Beauxbatons Academy of magic, and she was loving every second of being at the school. It was no wonder in her mind that of all the schools her sister had attended, Beauxbatons was the one she finished in, it was the best school. Dove had never thought of herself as anything like her elder sister until she had arrived at the school, the school had all of the right things for young Dove. The beauxbatons girl had also sort of grown more into herself over the last year and had discovered that it was easier in this school when you were pretty, the prettier and more popular the better things were. The girl cursed her lack of veela genes to compete with some of the other girls at this school but she was happy nonetheless with the way she currently looked, she wore make up and made an effort with her clothes but she always left the dorm pleased. Unlike her sister, Dove had been born with more genes from her father's side of the family than anyone else, which made her skin pale and her hair naturally ginger, but over the summer after a long conversation with her mother, Dove had dyed her hair a darker brown colour and never looked back. She much preferred this colour than anything else, it suited her face far more than the ginger ever had. She had always stood out, looked awkward, but this was better, this suited her far better. So, Dove was more than happy to be back at school, and thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of her hard work. Of the work she was putting in to be able to fit in with the popular crowd at this school, which was what she wanted.

That very day, Dove had put on her Beauxbatons uniform and spent most of her morning sitting in boring classes, hearing about the different spells and potions they were to revise and learn and wishing that she was in Paris shopping for dresses for the winter dance. She was glad when at long last when she was free of them, the girl had a break between morning and late afternoon classes and so was just able to sit and relax, or well, sit and pretend to be revising. Most of her other friends either had quidditch practice or some other class, she was left alone. Most of her friends at Beauxbatons could not pronounce her very english name, so she opted for most people to call her by her middle name of Nicolette, which was far easier for most of them to say, Dove was a different word in french and didn't work as a name in the same way it did in english. She was currently sat in the Great Hall, with books spread around her, though she was paying absolutely no attention to them. She was pretending to be reading them and pretending to be working on the various bits and pieces of school work that she had to do. There was no rush, and really Dove was just bored, school work took longer when she was distracted by friends sure, but if she was unmotivated to do the work, then at that point too would it take just as long. Dove took off her outer Beauxbatons robes so she was just left in her shirt, tie and skirt and placed them beside her in the empty space. She was wearing knee high school issues socks and simple black flats, she had wanted to wear heels, but her mother had persuaded her into waiting another year before she did that, mostly as Dove was still growing and it would be pointless to be constantly buying good new shoes. Instead of working or focusing she was just twirling her quill in her hand, waiting for something to happen, or someone to talk to, to make this free study time a little less dull.
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[Zephyr Delacroix]

Zephyr Erec Delacroix wasn't the brightest student in his year, though arguably he wasn't the dimmest out of them all either. That being said, the french youth spent a good deal more time than most other students attempting and practicing spells, or brewing potions on his own, the results of which were not always the most successful. At all. Concoctions bubbled and boiled, spitting furiously in his face and smoking up the room with thick colourful clouds or at times, sparking fumes. Spells didn't always turn out the way he'd intended for them to either. If it had the potential to backfire, more often than not it would when it came to the Delacroix. While he had many friends and got along with people for the most part, as sound as he had his wand out, everyone seemed to clear his vicinity quite quickly. Despite his inability to do well in these practical subjects, or many others, he had a natural ability when it came to numbers and excelled in Arithmancy. Knowing that doing well in one course wasn't going to cut it however, he did constantly try to do better in each subject. In his first year he'd believed he might be a squib, but it was all too apparent that he could indeed do magic, just not well. He was thoughtless and had difficulty focusing, which was ultimately his biggest weakness. Transfiguration was the hardest. Visualizing the outcome, trying to imagine one thing becoming another. He'd always turned out with a half-product. Using Torte to turn a tea kettle into a tortoise resulted in the latter with a handle and spout that let out steam.

So, it was while practicing Petrificus Totalus in his dormitory, seemingly alone, that he accidentally managed to petrify his roommates cat. What he'd mistaken for a furred pillow was actually a lazing feline, which screeched and become stiff and rigid as his spell spiraled into its side. The paralysed pet fell from the bed top and landed on thick rug with a muffled thump. "Oh." He murmured, at first surprised by what he had done. Oh ho ho ho ho ho. Merde. His statement had gradually shifted into a prolonged chuckle. He couldn't deny that he was amused. But his roommates would be back soon and he did not want to be seen with a petrified cat. The boy got to his feet and hastily walked towards the door, whistling to himself as he vacated the room and headed away from the scene of the crime. Halfway down the staircase he could hear his name being yelled. That hadn't taken too long. He quickened his pace, trying not to look to suspicious but not wanting to be caught up with either. He took two steps at a time, silk robes fluttering behind him, its corners whipping dangerously close to his feet, threatening to trip him. He made it to the bottom step safely, and turned toward the Great Hall. As he stepped through its high, open doors, his blue eyes found a girl surrounded by books. They might have been useful to hide his face in. He knew he'd have to deal with the other boys eventually, but if he could put it off, he would. Besides, maybe the cat owner wouldn't be as mad in a few hours. Perhaps he'd be feline fine by then. Zeph glanced over his shoulder, ensuring he hadn't been spotted yet. Then, turning back, he walked deliberately over toward the girl and sat by her side, away from the entrance. Wasting no time he selected a book and opened it to a random chapter, keeping his face close to its pages. "Salut. Don't mind me, I'm just er, possibly being chased. Could you sit forward a little? I need you to block me from direct line of sight." He asked a little hurriedly, adjusting his body to try and match hers. "I'm Zeph by the way. Sorry, don't mean to intrude. Could you just help me out for a few minutes?"​

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[Dove Zhefarovich]

Dove was caught up in her own little world, unassuming in her boredom of someone coming to sit with her, so when someone did in fact take the seat next to her, she was incredibly startled, having neither noticed him approaching or not even knowing who he was. So startled in fact that she had not said anything about the matter, staying silent expecting him to say anything. She had neither found herself able to say hello, or even ask this person to leave. A section of her mind was clearly thinking of her boredom and the other part of it too in shock to be able to figure out how to form real words, which just in all meant she had sat in startled silence. Instead of saying anything Dove just narrowed her eyes at him as he began talking, willing to hear him out. She listened carefully looking round the boy to the entrance of the room to see if she could see who he was talking about, and in doing so ended up leaning forward slightly in the way that he had asked, at the point when he'd asked. She didn't know why he was doing this, surely there were better places to hide than the hall where most students sat. It wasn't overrun with students either, it was averagely busy for the period of time following lunch, where most were just studying in relative silence. She looked at him, Zeph, as he then at long last both introduced himself and then apologised, it was only then that Dove seemed to really react, a small smile graced her lips and she gave a little nod, brushing a few strands of hair out her face, opting to in this case give him a little bit of a hand, after all, she knew it would come to no expense for her.

Dove glanced back round at the door again and still couldn't spot anyone, though it wasn't like she knew who had been chasing him or how true the story had been, but upon doing this Dove realised that she hadn't introduced herself to Zeph, though he had introduced himself to her. Dove felt her cheeks going a light pink colour as she hastened to say, "Nicolette," rather than introduce with her actual first name, Dove just introduced herself with the french nickname people in this school had mostly given her. They were speaking in french after all, and that meant she had to. Her voice was lightly accented, a barely noticeable english twang on her words. She would've held out her hand for him to shake, but they seemed to be trying to pretend that they knew each other, so Dove didn't do such a thing, "Why are you being chased?" she asked, feeling like considering this was cutting into her time, though she didn't mind at all, and therefore it meant that she deserved a few answers as to why, after all, really all it would take for her was to call something out and he might be found. Dove was unlikely to do that, but this was their first meeting, how would he know if she did that or not. The beauxbatons girl just sat, pretending to be continuing with her work, like she'd really been doing before he'd got there and waiting for the response. Hoping to get something, even if she had no way of checking to see if it was a lie or not.
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[Zephyr Delacroix]

Zephyr gave the girl a small thumbs up as she seemingly obliged to his request to help keep him hidden, unaware that she had moved to obscure him accidentally, but happy to see she was willing to continue to help him out. He let a relieved breath escape him. Though her introduction was delayed, the boy barely noticed it as he remained so focused on not being seen, resisting the urge to put down the book he'd taken from her pile to spare a glance at the entrance. however, at the sound of her name, he did take the time to peel his eyes from the pages he'd been staring into, eyes not particularly focused on its words to begin with. "Nicolette." He repeated with a smile. It was a pretty name, but he thought as much about any name that ended with -ette. Cosette, Alouette, Anette, Charlotte. Something about it gave off an air of elegance. "Enchanté." He continued, avoiding extending out his hand to her. Under normal circumstances he would have done so, but this didn't count as a normal circumstance. If anything it was an abnormal way to first meet a person. He hoped that she didn't find him weird because of it. Though, perhaps he was. He hadn't considered it. He wasn't all too bright, but he thought he was at least a pretty average person.

At Nicolette's question as to why he was being chased, Zeph smiled a little sheepishly, unconsciously chewing at the corner of his lip as he thought how to word the response. "I, er." He laughed slightly, feeling like a bit of an idiot to even be saying it aloud. "I accidentally petrified one of the other boy's cats. It was so still I just thought it was a pillow or something. You know those fuzzy or furred ones? He wasn't - isn't - happy about it at all. The owner, I mean, but I don't think the cat is either." He shook his head, letting his shoulders relax a little. He thought it may be safe to say he'd lost them, but he couldn't be sure. He hoped they'd headed for the grounds instead of the hall. Zeph wasn't the type to frequent it often, never lingering after lunch as some others did. He couldn't sit down and stay focused enough to study. He sucked at even pretending to read. His eyes had narrowed straight onto the center of the book he held, that crease where the two pages met. It was evident to anyone who'd have payed attention that he wasn't actually reading. Not that he'd been able to keep looking at it anyway, his gaze had shifted to the girl since they'd spoken and he'd totally forgotten about keeping his face hidden.
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[Dove Zhefarovich]

Dove just nodded at him as he repeated with a smile, and replied with the same quiet enchante that he'd given her, watching him carefully. She didn't know what to make of him, he seemed strange. Not the usual type of person she tried to surround herself with. He seemed nice enough, but perhaps reckless, Dove was very put together, things were in their place, ever since she had definitely grown into herself in the past year. She waited for him to answer her question, it was then that he knew that she would decide whether to continue helping him or not. She had been quietly studying and he had just crashed that plan like a bull in a china shop. The beaux girl listened along to what he was saying, finding it funny in the end what he had done, and how annoyed the other boy seemed to be about it. She couldn't help it, but she just started laughing at him, unable to help herself, she felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment over the fact that she couldn't stop. She covered her mouth with her hand but it did nothing to stifle the laughter that she was overtaking her.

"I'm sorry," she told him when she had managed to get herself together and stop laughing, it was a task and a half. The girl just shook her head at him, "Did you not try turning it back, or casting Finite to make it stop," she asked him, that was what she would've done that might've at least meant that he wouldn't have had to run away. She glanced around him and then moved slightly closer to him, "If we look like we're being intimate people won't glance at us too long," she told him with a smile, "So just pretend we're both intently reading this passage, but we're just whispering to one another," she suggested leaning into a passage, pointing at it with her finger and wondering if he would follow her lead. She wasn't sure if whomever was chasing this guy was still around, but she was willing to bet he would give this hall a good once over before looking somewhere else, so he might just benefit from pretending to be interested in what she was pointing at and sitting a little too close.
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I'm sorry, this could've been better.

 

[Zephyr Delacroix]

When the girl he knew as Nicolette laughed at him during his recount of events, Zephyr's own cheeks flushed a bright shade of red, the normally pale skin suddenly blossoming with a pink tinge that quickly deepened from there. He felt rather foolish for his actions, especially now that he'd said them out loud, and wasn't sure whether or not he'd just messed up this conversation. He had never been the best at decision making and it wasn't often he was vocal about his mistakes. Admittedly he probably would have laughed too, if the situation had been reversed, so perhaps it wasn't too bad. More importantly than that, he was worried the noise she was making might be attracting some of the unwanted attention he was trying to avoid. Even so he couldn't help but let her laughter get to him, smiling along with it, if a little awkwardly. He was grateful when she did manage to finally quiet down.

The boy shrugged his shoulders at Nicolette's apology, his expression reassuring. It wasn't a big deal, he knew he'd have done the same. But his face dropped when he heard her comment on why he didn't simply end the spell. Finite. Finite. He smacked his face with his palm, head shaking slowly. "I, I forgot all about it at the time. I think I just wanted to get away from the, uh, scene of the crime as fast as I could, I didn't even think." He stifled a chuckle, realising how stupid it was and how easily it could have been solved. He tried not to focus on it too much, turning his attention to Nicolette as she explained her idea for him to blend in. He nodded his head as she spoke, more than happy to go along with it. His gaze shifted to her book as he ditched his - which had also been hers - to act as if he were paying attention to the passage she'd pointed out, head nodding slowly with a feigned, thoughtful expression. They were pretty much touching now, and he came to the realization that this was the closest he'd been to a girl before. He'd always thought they were annoying when he was a lot younger, from the few he'd interacted with at the time and how different their interests had been, but since being in a co-ed school he saw that they weren't all that bad.

Becoming aware that he hadn't really said anything since he started staring at this passage, he cleared his throat. "So uh, what were you reading before I interrupted anyway? Sorry about that, again." Despite the fact that he'd spent most of his time sitting beside her just blankly staring at pages, he hadn't registered their contents. Now that he thought about it, she hadn't seemed too engrossed in them either when he'd approached her. ​

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Way to put pressure on me to make decent posts

 

[Dove Zhefarovich]

Dove had been reading about the spell finite not long before this boy had suddenly sat down beside her, she had liked the spell, thought it was an interesting sort of spell, since it managed to do quite a lot. She shrugged at him with a small smile, "Well, you'll know for next time," she sized him up, "I feel like with you there will be a next time too, so, keep it in mind," Dove added with a smile. She didn't necessarily mean it in a bad way, but it was worth noting if he ever accidentally did something like that again. She wasn't too sure what to make of him yet, and her first impressions of him were that perhaps he was either the type of person who liked pranks or didn't pay attention, in either case knowing that spell would be good for him. The beaux girl gave him a little smile as they neared each other like Dove had suggested that they do. It was something she had once heard in a movie and had believed it, since she herself knew that when either of her brothers or her sister was intimate with anyone that she looked away and yet here she was Of course she'd really just met this guy and just wasn't interested in him in that way, though she noted with them being so close that this was perhaps the first time she'd ever been so close to someone, specifically a boy.

Dove shook her head slightly and stared down at the book in front of her, that she had them looking at. She leaned in slightly and then laughed lightly, "You know, I don't even know, I wasn't really paying attention," she leaned in slightly to it, "I think this book is about centaurs in the french forests in the massif central," she shrugged slightly, she looked at him and then felt her cheeks blush slightly, she had been trying to concentrate, but it had been hard, she had been alone and just looking for something to do. She could pretend to be annoyed at Zeph all she wanted but it didn't stop the fact that she was actually fairly grateful of him being there. It was a little company where she had been bored before, with all of her friends in various classes that she didn't have, her mind had believed this study hour to have been the dullest one ever, but it was turning out not too poorly really. She glanced at him, "Are we in the same year?" she asked, wondering if she'd seen him before because she knew his face a little but didn't quite know if it was just because this school was fairly small or if it was because they were in the same year. She turned the page of the book as she looked up at him, "I'm a second year,"
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[Zephyr Delacroix]

Nicolette wasn't wrong when it came to her judgement on Zephyr having to know Finite in future. He himself had no doubt he'd have to use it many, many times throughout the rest of his school life, if not into his adult life as well. Mistakes were just such a common occurrence when it came to him, but it was something he hoped, perhaps fruitlessly, that he would grow out of it in time. He had no way of knowing. He liked to think maybe one day he'd become something really cool, like an Auror who caught criminals on a daily basis, and had epic duel-offs with that Scitorari group he'd heard of. Magical Law Enforcement seemed like a dream. Or perhaps a Curse-Breaker, breaking into tombs and disarming the protections left by ancient wizards. But he knew that those aspirations were unlikely. He expected if anything to end up doing something boring and dull, the same thing day in and day out. His only strength was numbers. Maybe a wizarding bank would employ him.

"Centaurs, they're kind of cool. I wonder if they'd let you ride them if you asked." Zephyr said aloud, almost more to himself. His mind had already strayed to riding an armoured centaur into battle. He'd never met one before, or any other intelligent non-human for that matter. "But I guess I wouldn't want somebody to ride me." He considered it further. Piggy-backs were okay but he wasn't very strong, and he knew that if he were a centaur he wouldn't want people sitting on his back. It would probably hurt after a while, like his back and shoulders did when he carried his younger cousins around. Then again, maybe it was different for centaurs. After all, people rode horses all the time, it likely wasn't uncomfortable for them. The boy turned his head toward his new acquaintance, listening as she asked him about his year. He hadn't given any thought to the fact that they could be in different years until he heard her say she was only in her second year. "I'm a third year. You wouldn't think it." He chuckled softly, eyes wandering toward the page she was turning. "Me not considering using finite for something I can easily fix. I guess it was two and a bit years ago when I learned it so I forget sometimes." He tried to justify himself somewhat, though not very well. It was one of the most used spells after all. He averted his gaze from the page, eyes back on Nicolette once more. It was not often that he interacted with any of the younger students in the academy. The boy mainly kept to his own year, more because he was always around them than an unwillingness to mingle with any of the others. He was glad to branch out a little more. "I miss being a second year. Now I have all of my elective courses on top of my usual classes. They can be a lot of fun though. Do you know what you want to do?" He asked curiously, guessing perhaps she might go for Care of Magical Creatures considering she had a book on centaurs. He took the class thinking it was going to be a bludge and turned out to only be half right. Lessons on flobberworms were easy, but some of the creatures were difficult to handle.​

 

[Dove Zhefarovich]

The young girl had just been sitting alone, staring at a book in front of her, and as she leaned in with Zephyr, she couldn't help but start to pick up some of the words, pretending to look interested in them and therefore be half reading it, slightly more than she had been before the interruption. Dove looked at him, and cocked her slightly, not quite believing what he was saying to her, not quite thinking that centaurs would ever allow someone to get on their back ever, she had to agree that they looked pretty cool, but she had never thought that she would ever want to. For her, she'd always had a horse, she hadn't ever thought she would need a centaur, "Just ride a horse if you really wanted to," she told him, as if that was obvious, "I don't think centaurs let people ride on their backs," she had to agree, although she really didn't think it was something that happened, perhaps only in extreme cases, when it was necessary, but even at that, she doubted it was true. Centaurs were incredibly smart creatures from what she knew about them, part of the young girl doubted that even in extreme cases that kind of thing happened.

The boy as it turned out was a year older than she was, a third year, but it wasn't too obvious, she thought him about her age, so she wasn't that far off, but he looked younger than a third year to her, it was why she had thought him to be in the same year as her. For her, it hadn't even been about the fact that he hadn't gotten that spell, that hadn't been it in the slightest, "The important part is that you now know it," she told him, not particularly wanting to listen to whatever excuses he might give for not knowing it, that didn't matter, in her mind it was done and over, as long as he remembered it from that point onwards, she was sure everything would be fine. She was sure that he wouldn't have more issues with cats, and other boys. Dove was really looking forward to the elective classes, she couldn't understand why he would miss second year other than a lighter workload, but he was moving up the school, as everyone was, half the fun was having lots of work to do, balancing it between everything else, "Probably Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes," she told him after pausing a little to think a little, though she had decided months ago what she was going to be taking, "What have you taken?" she asked, curious about what he took, and if they were similar to what she wanted to take, in case he could give pointers or actually persuade her to change before it was too late. Dove doubted she would, when she was set on something, she would drag her heels in.
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