Closed No one will know

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania had absolutely hated Potions, something about it had just been grating her nerves since the beginning, but she couldn't deny and say it could have also been the over stimulation of it all. Her mum had worked a lot with potions and such so it wasn't like new new to her but she just didn't get it. It felt like everything was somewhat familiar yet so new and it was quite frustrating so here she was on a sneaky little mission to sneak into the potions classroom to rummage through the cupboards. Hey nobody ever explicitly told her NOT TO, sooo was she reeeaally doing anything wrong?

Peaking around the corner Nia opened the door to the room and slipped in, placing her hands on her waist she sized up everything in there. "Alright, now to find..." The Gryffindor trailed off looking down on the list of potions in her notebook that the Professor had made during their various lessons last semester. "6 dried Billywig stingers, shouldn't be tooo hard right?" Except it kind of was when you hadn't paid attention to what it looked like in the lesson, so now you were going off of pure vibes.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

For years, Ten had thought that being a Potioneer ran in her blood. Her cousin, her mom, dad, aunt, they were all Potioneers in some aspect, whether they grew their own ingredients or taught the subject at one stage. But after coming back from Scotland and realising there was no point trying to follow in someone else's footsteps, and making the active choice to move to her own passions of plants instead, it had taken off the pressure that she needed to be good at Potions. Of course, it was still a useful topic to know, especially when it came to understand where a number of her plants would end up; in that sense the subjects went hand in hand, however Ten no longer felt the need to be attached to the subject as she had been for the first few years of her magical education.

Passing through the dungeons, not a place she enjoyed being that often and not only because it always seemed to have a weird smell, she thought she could hear someone talking. Having left the class a few minutes after everyone else, her classmates had already left, so why was there still someone lingering around? The voice was apparently coming from a cupboard, and checking the the corridor was still clear of any professors or prefects, Ten popped her head in to see who'd gotten lost on the way through. Inside was a small brunette, talking to.. herself? "What are you doing?" The fifth year asked, leaning on the doorframe.​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia was neck deep in the damn cupboard trying to find whatever those stingers were when a voice scared her and she bumped her head to a shelf above her. "Merlin... Malaka, ugh....." She muttered to herself, getting out of the damn cupboard and staring at the redhead. "Nothing! I was just! Hanging around um, counting the shelves and dust particles, you know the usual..." Mania quickly fell into defense mode, she hadn't done anything wrong.... Technically. "What about you? What are you doing?" She shot back in hopes of recovering her own failure of being sneaky. The top of her head throbbed slightly as she brought her hand to rub it, that damn shelf who even put it there?

(Malaka is a Greek insult meaning typically "wanker" in English)

 

[Ten Layton-King]

The Gryffindor was clearly up to no good, the way she shot out of her skin the moment she realised she'd been discovered. She let silence hang between them for a few seconds after she said she was counting dust particles, waiting for her to elaborate. The fifth years eyes never left the girl, and instead she just slowly crossed her arms over her chest, unmoving from her spot leaning against the doorframe. Ten raised her eyebrows at her question, hoping that the girl would tell her the truth if she refused to respond. It wasn't even that Ten particularly cared what this girl was up to, only that she was so used to being the one caught out herself that it was actually kind of fun to see someone else squirming under the interrogation. ​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania stared at the older girl and blinked a few times, yeah maybe counting dust particles wasn't the smartest thing to say but hey she was caught off guard. Narrowing her eyes as the redhead wouldn't budge Nia shifted uncomfortably. "Ugh you are like Hera, fine I was mayyybe, perhaps, possibly, probably not, most definitely not looking for uh these random ingredients. I wasn't the best in my lessons so figured why not experiment a little on my own time you know? Prep for next year...." The Gryffindor shrugged nonchalantly, this girl was out here barefoot poking her nose into Mania's business might as well just admit it because the staring was getting uncomfortable now. "I mean nobody ever told me not to experiment on my own or come here soooo well technically I didn't do anything wrong." Mania said with a confident smile, yep nobody ever explicitly told them to specifically not do things like this sooo whose fault was this really? Her ooor the Professors for not specifying rules if this was one of them, at least this older girl wasn't wearing a prefect badge so there was that.

(Godmod approved on the barefoot part, trust I would of not come up with it on my own I like socks.)

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Snatching the notebook out of the younger girl's hand before she could tell her not to, Ten's green eyes scanned the page. Her handwriting was a lot messier than Ten's had even been, which was saying something. The scribble in the margin about Professor Hopkins not allowing them to make potions yet was the biggest hint of them all. "Oh right, sure. Because experimenting with potions that you've not actually done in class yet, certainly seems like a smart thing to do," she said sarcastically. It had been a while since her first potion lesson, but she could still recall they'd not actually made anything until second year at least. Her eyes flickered up from the page to the girl in front of her and back, before she finally thrust the notes back to their owner. She didn't even need to ask if the girl was a Gryffindor with that attitude. "No, nothing wrong. But if you end up blowing something up because Professor Hopkins didn't tell you not to, it's probably more trouble than it's worth," she added, hiking her bag up a little on her shoulder. "You're.. trying to be better at Potions?" she asked, thinking for a moment. An idea had sparked in her mind, but she wasn't sure if it was entirely viable just yet.

Godmod approved​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania all but grimaced as her notes were snatched from her, it wasn't her proudest work. She might not have the best handwriting especially not when she was far from focused during the lessons. "Umm.... How hard can it reeeaaallllyyyy be?" She asked giving a smile this time more nervous than confident. Rolling her eyes she took the notes back and huffed out some air. "Well it blowing up would at least mean I did something." Maybe not something right but something.

As the girl questioned Nia of her statement of trying to get better at Potions she shifted uncomfortably again and so did her eyes, this time somewhere behind the redhead. "Well yes. See my mum she likes potions, she's a healer and potions was always somewhat of a favourite of hers so I just want to impress her. I want for her to for once look at me with something other than disinterest or disappointment. Maybe say 'I am proud of you Nia,' instead of 'Nia can you do something else than be a menace and causing trouble?' Would definitely be a plus. I'd like to for once make someone proud and be good enough at something." Like always the words came bubbling out before the Gryffindor could put a stopper to any of it. She had no filter and in theory this girl had asked her about it sooo she was just being honest?

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten's eyes narrowed a little when the girl claimed Potions was easy, although she wasn't convinced considering she was trying to teach herself more right now after struggling in her lessons. As Ten stood there in her oversized coat, she was doing her best to remain neutral faced at the mention of her mother. It was sad though, in some ways, that this girl only expected her mom to disappointed in her. At least Ten would never have that issue even if she was striving to take after her own. Her own mom would never tell her she was proud of Ten, but that didn't mean others in life wouldn't. "Is no proud of you?" Ten asked directly. "Like, outwardly I mean. Is there no one else that says it?" Impressing one's parents, she knew, wasn't the be all end all although it would certainly help if her mom wasn't the only person in her life.

The redhead turned her attention back to the Potions at hand. "Besides, there's no point trying to impress someone with something if it's not important to you," she shocked herself with her own words, "Trust me, it's better someone looks at you with disinterest, than forcing yourself to be someone you're not just to make people like you."​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia shook her head, no of course she had someone proud of her. Hera always was, but she was proud of everyone and Hera was perfect herself so maybe she just felt bad. "I mean there is my sister, she always says she is proud of me well not always she too often just asks me to tone it down. All of them do because I am too much yet not enough you know, but she is proud of me at times I think?" But it wasn't the same, she just wanted some recognition from her parents, positive recognition that was.

Mania shrugged again, this girl had a point sort of but still. "Perhaps so, but it is important to me to not be a disappointment. My sister is perfect it's always be like Hera not like Mania. I am the example of what not to be and it's exhausting." Albeit maybe it was partly her own fault, for always doing before thinking. Clearing her throat the first year brought her eyes back to the older girl. "What's your name?" She asked partly because she was curious and partly to change the subject, to not reflect on her own motives too much.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten wasn't entirely sure where to look. It was as though this girl was trying to stab her in the chest. "Right, yeah. Sure," she said, tucking some of her long wavy hair behind her ear with a brief shake of her head. Siblings were important. She knew that. All this talk about Hera, just reminded Ten of how much like her own mom she wasn't. The fifth year was about to leave this girl to it, to move on with her day and remove herself from the awkward coincidences, until she'd asked for her name. She hadn't used her full name for almost a year now, but given the circumstance she couldn't help but think maybe this girl would appreciate the lore. "Amortentia," she revealed after a moment, "which tells you all you need to know about my parents." A smile crept across her features. "You?"​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania saw the shift in the girl, something she had said had somehow hit her. Being the way she was Nia could not stop herself from asking. "Are you okay? I didn't offend you did I? I'm sorry I talk too much..." It was a knee-jerk reaction to assume she'd gone overboard with talking at this point. After all that seemed to be the main problem with her. A soft smile appeared on her face at the girls name, which was undeniably one of the prettiest she had heard. Leaning in a tiny bit closer the Gryffindor made a show of taking a few sniffs as loudly as she could. "Shame, you don't seem to be working properly." She said as she leaned back to her previous place. "I'm Mania, which given my sister is Hera and we are Greek proobably tells you enough of my parents... Hint, rest of my sisters are named after goddesses too." Not to mention that her name kind of fit her as well so, who would have thought. Perhaps her parents had cursed her and themselves naming her after that exact goddess.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten shook her head, "You're fine." She didn't think the girl was talking too much although she wasn't about to explain her life story to a stranger either. The fifth year almost took a step back when suddenly the girl started to sniff her. "Alright, calm down. I know I've just come out of Potions but you don't need to act like I stink," she retorted, hoping that was indeed true. It took Ten a moment to realise she was making a joke out of her name, a silent oh appearing on her lips. "No one's.. ever said that to me before," she thought aloud, suddenly wondering what Veronica would smell if she smelt her. No, that was stupid. "Mania?" Well, that seemed appropriate given the girls energy. "Have you always been this manic then?" she asked, wondering how long it had taken her parents to name her. Ten had apparently been a loud baby, so she was probably lucky to avoid something of a similar nature. "My other sister is called Asphodel," another smile appearing on her lips. "My brother? Felix. 10 points for working that one out."​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia was rather relieved she hadn't offended Amortentia yet at least, though her joke almost seemed to do the job. Eventually the redhead did get it and the brunette smiled wider than ever. "Shame, it is a great line." Nia herself thought so at least. When her name was mentioned she just nodded pursing her lips together. Aand then she was asked if she'd always been this manic, that was one way to put it. "I mean, I wasn't a silent baby but personally I feel like perhaps my parents did themselves a disservice by naming me after Mania, clearly they cursed me and themselves with chaos on that one." Honestly they seemed to be pretty spot on on most of the names. Hera was the epitome of perfection and in the mythology the queen of gods and well, perhaps her parents were just great at naming their children. The mention of the other siblings, each named after potion or ingredient did make Nia smile a tad wider again. "I think your name is quite honestly one of the most beautiful ones I have ever heard, not only does it sound beautiful but it is the most powerful love potion. As though your parents viewed you as the epitome of love ever since you were born and I think that's actually very beautiful."

Nia wondered if the Felix one might have been the one from the shop, that was both infuriating and sort of cute. "Felix, I am assuming is after Felix Felicis, perhaps they saw themselves as lucky to have him, I like the way your parents named you guys." She liked it a lot, even if their thought process might not have been as deep it was an interesting thought. "In Greek mythology there's asphodel meadows, which is where majority of the souls were sent to live out the rest of their eternity. I'd imagine it is a peaceful and lovely place to be." It probably had no correlation to the sisters name but it was an interesting connection never the less.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

For a moment Ten wondered whether Mania was related to Chaos and Horror, but thought better of it before asking. "Thanks," Ten wasn't sure if she agreed, her name was just a constant reminder that her mom had named her after a potion, that Ten would never be a potioneer herself, that she'd never be able to fill Olive's footsteps and that her mom had left her. That's why she didn't use it anymore. Thinking about how her parents must have named her after love though did pull on the Gryffindors heartstrings. Of course she was fully aware of the effects of the potion, but to consider that her parents had chosen to name her after something so pure made Ten a little uncertain. She wasn't deserving of being named after that, not just because she wasn't deserving of the love itself but because who was she to suggest to others she was anything close to being an epitome of anything? She was just, there. Often in the way, often where others didn't want her, and a dead weight to the majority of those around her.

"You can call me Ten though," the fifth year added. "You know, it's way shorter so it's probably a lot easier to say. Besides, no one actually calls me Amortentia, it's a little embarrassing to tell people you were named after love." Not to mention pretentious. Perhaps her parents had had good intentions but had they considered how much of a big head their daughter would have needed to carry that crown?

The redhead nodded, "I guess so. It was probably more likely to be that than they thought he would grow up to be lucky," she joked. She supposed she was lucky to have a brother if not just to have someone else in her family, although Ten wasn't sure if luck got you very far, either. Ten actually cackled at the idea of Asphodel being peaceful. "If you think I'm loud, you've certainly not met my sister." She may not have been close to Pho, but there was a reason Ten had grown up as self assured as she was.​

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania looked at the older girl, trying to get a read off of her but her vibe was a little bit of everything. With that being the case Nia just focused on listening to whatever she had to say and taking what she could from that. Her smile widened at the nickname though, oh Ten was absolutely FEEDING her with possibilities and opportunities. "Oh, I was going to guess the nickname was because you are a ten out of ten but I suppose that works too," She said shrugging with her sh*t eating grin. "Please, try telling people your name is after the goddess of insanity basically and then continue to show them just how chaotic you can be. Now that one is quite awkward." She made a show to do a full body shudder, as though the thought of explaining it alone gave her chills.

"Well Ten you never know, he might end up being the luckiest man on earth in the future." The younger Gryffindor countered. Who knows, maybe he wins some big competition and eternal fame or something in the future? Nia gave the laugh about the comment of Ten's sister being louder than her, "Well if you do meet any of my many sisters rest assured you have met the worst of us already." It was meant as a joke but there was a underlying fear of everyone seeing it as that. Her as the worst of them all and the rest perfect in comparison.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten couldn't stop the rolling of her eyes when Mania called her a ten out of ten. Ten hadn't been a ten for anything. "Well it was that or Mort, so take your pick," she sincerely hoped she hadn't just given the first year a new idea. Ten wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to shorten Mania, although she could imagine trying to explain why your parents had named you as such would have been worse than Amortentia.

Ten wasn't sure whether Felix was genuinely lucky or not, he didn't seem to be any more so than anyone else. "You and me both," the Gryffindor mused, knowing of the three of them she too was probably the hardest to get along with. She would have offered to introduce Mania to her brother, although she didn't think he would have stuck around long enough for her to if he saw her coming his way. "You know, if you don't want to get caught stealing ingredients, you should probably not talk to yourself while you're doing it," she nodded to the younger girl, thinking it was probably time to leave her to it. It wasn't as though she was about to report her for it.​