New Year, Same Goals

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Ever since her mediocre grades at the end of last year, and knowing that she hadn't been the best in her year, Athena had decided that her manner of getting to the top would change this year. She still aimed to get the best marks, of course, but she'd get a head start and be fully prepared before every lesson. She would even do extra credit work if she had to, and maybe hand in assignments earlier than expected. Good assignments, but getting them done earlier. That way she wouldn't have to stress even more about not failing and compete against those in her own year group for pretty much everything. Like Charlotte, for example. From what Athena had gathered, Charlotte didn't like her much and Athena had stopped admiring her a long time ago.

It was really annoying that people still didn't notice her or how hard she tried to be friendly even with people she didn't like that much or wanted to be friends with. And one way to be noticed was to make sure she was top of the class. Athena settled herself on a table, and began to read, concentrated. When the blonde glanced up to take a break from reading, she spotted a familiar face and as soon as she saw the other girl Athena got an idea. She gathered her books and approached Veronica, whom she'd sort of befriended the previous semester when they had accidentally bumped into each other. "Hi," she spoke up, making her presence known to the older brunette. "Mind if I join you?"

 

[Veronica Willows]

It wasn't surprising that with the start of a new year at Hogwarts, Veronica once more found herself in the heart of the library. She had a whole new subject to study for this semester, as well as two more familiar classes that needed theory prep work as well - particularly Transfiguration, which Veronica often just liked to read about on her own time regardless of any homework Professor Summers might have set. She was deep in one such book now, her pad of paper completely forgotten once she'd moved far beyond the fringes of anything they might be studying in Transfiguration this year. It wasn't until she heard a voice right next to her ear that she took any notice of her surroundings, and Veronica flinched slightly in surprise before giving the newcomer an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was... well, I guess you saw me, but, of course! I, um..." She hurriedly pushed her books and paper away into a small and chaotic pile, leaving plenty of room for the younger girl to spread out her things wherever she wanted. "Your name is Athena, isn't it?" Veronica tucked her hair back behind her ears. "I remembered because she's the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle, and, I thought it was nice. The name; it's a nice name to live up to." She was only glad that the other girl hadn't wanted to battle her after Veronica had practically knocked her down in one of her distracted, preoccupied rushes to this very place earlier in the year. "You've, um... been well?" She tapped her fingers nervously along the edge of her book, unsure if Athena wanted to talk or just study in peace.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena kept the smile on her features as the older girl gathered her things, and shuffled the papers on the desk to make some space for the Slytherin. She kind of felt bad that Veronica was trying to give Athena most of the space, so as an attempt to make her feel better, she said gently, "Thank you, that's very sweet of you. You don't have to give me so much space," she sat down and placed her own stuff in front of her. She nodded her head. "Yes, I'm Athena. And you're Veronica," she straightened in her chair as she sorted out her textbooks while still having a conversation with the Ravenclaw. She chuckled, amused, at the definition of her name. Athena already knew that information, but she didn't say that to Veronica. Athena needed more allies at this school. "Do I resemble her at all in appearance?" she joked, purposefully twirling a lock of her blonde hair with her fingers. Of course Athena was totally kidding and hopefully Veronica wouldn't take her question too seriously. "Yeah, I guess so, as good as a girl can be when she has lots of things to do, even during the holidays." Athena wanted the older girl to trust her and not to feel nervous around her. "What about you?"