Stressed Out

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

The only thing Flavio wanted to do with his time that evening was to curl up with a stack of books and a blanket in his common room, revising for his upcoming exams. But he instead found himself sitting on one of the stone benches in the courtyard, attempting to read and remember what he had learned that semester, all while ignoring the chill hanging in the air. In the aftermath of waking up to a mess in his common room, spending time outside while the sun began to set seemed like a good idea, and an easier way for him wind down at the end of what had been a stressful day. The chill continued to bother him, making his hands clammy as he closed one of his books and returned it to the pile. Though it didn't deter him from his task as he reached for another book and opened the front cover before scouring the pages.

Any form of studying was better than not studying at all, and studying outside, without a roof over his head or the comfort of sitting in front of a fire place was better than returning to the common room to face another mess. So Flavio continued to read, turning the pages of the book in his hands and making the most of the time he had before curfew.​

<i></i>

 

[November Albertson]

November was enjoying the weather in New Zealand a lot recently. It seemed to give off hope, while most of the students were feeling more dread she wondered if they came outside to study if they'd have a better attitude like she felt. The young girl moved through the hallways following her last class. She wanted to go outside and finish her reviewing that she had been working on in her Care of Magical Creatures class. That class had easily become her most favorite class of the semester and she was looking forward to taking it throughout her coming years at Hogwarts. She hadn't been doing very well in her classes until this year. Finally she found a class that made her enjoy learning magic and being so far from her family. When she first came, she was excited about what she was going to learn, but she found magic hard for her to understand and control.

Stepping outside November sighed, a happy sigh of being outside in the courtyard. It was a quite place and with most of the other student studying elsewhere November enjoyed coming here to study for her finals. She stopped in tracks when she noticed another student already sitting in her favorite spot. It was Flavio, a boy in her year that she had met once in the library. She helped him look for a book, she couldn't remember correctly but she thought it might have been a book about ducks. She tensed up for a moment wondering what she should do. Surely, he would have heard her come out into the courtyard. She didn't talk to many of the other students, even those in her year. It was hard for her to find any connections to them. She was just a muggleborn and most of the students had at least once magical parent and grew up knowing what they were. She was different. She decided that it might be a good idea to acknowledge him at least. "Hi," she said in a light voice as she quietly moved over towards the stone bench Flavio was on.

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

The book in Flavio's hands was about potions, and a welcome change from reading up on defence against the dark arts. While he liked the subject and was glad not to have professor Styx teaching him for a year, it didn't change his apprehension to learn about Boggarts nor stop a chill running down his spine at the mere thought of the creature. No, reading about potions was much more relaxing than reading about dark creatures. So interesting in fact, that Flavio was too immersed in his book to notice someone approach his bench.

The sound of their voice is what roused his attention. Although the voice was soft, in contrast to the near silence of the courtyard it stuck out like a sore thumb, causing Flavio to jump slightly before looking up from his page to see a familiar face. November. A girl Flavio had not spoken to since his first year, who he saw in many of his classes. He couldn't fathom why she was speaking to him that evening, and was tempted to look behind his shoulder to see if she was speaking to someone else. Though he instead resisted that urge, and greeted her back with a small smile on his face. "Hello, November." He said. "How are you?"​

<i></i>

 

[November Albertson]

November was sure her face was turning the color of a tomato at the moment. But what she didn't know was that while it was heating up there was only a slight coloring of pink on her ears and cheeks at the moment. She smiled back at Flavio, a Ravenclaw boy in her year. She hadn't spoken to him since their first year. "I, uhm, I'm good, how are you?" She asked shifting her weight between her feet. She felt a little unsteady having the conversation, but then she thought about the little boy Flavio had been when he asked for help looking for a book on ducks. "I came out here to study, I usually do," November said her hand coming up from her side slightly to point at the bench he was sitting on. It was odd seeing another person on what she had deemed her bench. It looked like he was studying himself, and potions too. She found the classroom a bit stuffy but she had to admit that the better she got making her potions the less she began to dread the class itself. She wasn't sure what else to say to him at the moment. While she wanted to study for her exams she felt a bit self conscious about sitting so near to another person doing the same thing.

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

The interaction with November was a surprise to Flavio, considering the fact they hadn't spoken since the beginning of their first year, and were still essentially strangers. Though he wasn't made uncomfortable by her interruption, and instead tried not to question it in his mind as he nodded politely to her response. "I am good, too. Classes are much harder this year, but not too scary, at the moment." He shrugged. As November stated she was in the courtyard to study, pointing to the bench he was sitting on, her interaction with him that evening suddenly made sense. It caused an embarrassed flush to also cross Flavio's cheeks as his eyes averted to the bench. He hadn't realized the specific bench he was sitting on and it's place in the courtyard was someone else's favourite spot to study, and that choosing to sit there that evening had disturbed their plans. "Oh. I am sorry." Flavio said, folding over the corner of his page, closing his book and then standing from the bench to swipe away the dust that gathered on his robes.

He then looked to his two stacks of books still on the bench and pursed his lips in thought. Leaving, although it meant not intruding on November's study time, would be difficult with the amount of books he had carried all the way down from the Ravenclaw common room. He looked from his books, and back to November as a thought crossed his mind. "Would you, um, like to study together?" He asked, hesitantly. Sitting on the bench had been peaceful, yet chilly and Flavio would have liked to continue studying there. But he also did not want to disturb November's peace either, and figured he could at least see if there was a possibility he could stay, without bothering her. He at least knew they shared some of the same classes, so studying together wasn't an idea completely out of the blue. In hindsight, it would have been nice to study with a companion and ask them to explain some of the definitions he was yet to understand.​

<i></i>

 

[November Albertson]

November was surprised Flavio thought the classes were harder this year than before. It was the first time she found classes started making sense for her. It was a little awkward pointing out the bench to him but she hadn't been sure what else to say in that moment. While she did want to study right then she felt like her normal routine was now in ruins and that it would be hard for her to actually study, instead she'd go everything said and unsaid that happened during this conversation between her and the Ravenclaw boy. She was surprised that he stood up from the bench, she wasn't sure if that meant she should now sit down.

November glanced at the stack books Flavio had with him. She wondered if he had brought them from the Ravenclaw tower of just the library. There were floors of difference between the distances from those two locations to where they were located now. He seemed to be offering to leave, but she didn't feel like it would be fair to him to have to leave when he had gotten there first. "If you'd like to," November said back to the Ravenclaw who offered to study with her. She had been studying with Noemie who was a Ravenclaw in their year, but a girl. She felt like she had learned a lot with the girl's help. It'd be nice to see what Flavio had been studying for their exams. "Are you planning on going to the Yule Ball?" She asked as she sat down on the bench looking up at the Ravenclaw.

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio felt awkward and more so out of place than he had upon arriving to the courtyard, simply because he now knew that he was intruding on someone else's time to study. What made the feeling even worse was that the only reason he'd chosen to go to the courtyard was to get away from the mess that had been the Ravenclaw common room. He wanted nothing more than to apologize to November again to avoid any negativity. Though his thoughts were then interrupted as she didn't immediately decline his invitation to study together. Flavio had a feeling that if he had encountered any other student, they wouldn't have been so accepting of his offer, or polite in telling him that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He felt his shoulders relax and his lungs let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

He smiled to November, then sat down next to her before answering her question about the yule ball. "I have not planned to, or asked anybody to go with me yet, so if I go then I will be alone." He said, opening his book at the place he folded the page before looking back to her. "Are you going to the ball?" He asked in return. In all honesty the yule ball had been one of the last things on Flavio's mind between studying and quidditch, but it was nice to talk about something other than classes for a change, even if he expected to return to studying after a few moments.​

<i></i>

 

[November Albertson]

November loved being the in the courtyard, especially in nice weather and as the school was now experiencing the summer months she liked it every more. She found it odd that she hardly saw a snowy winter in December any longer. But she really did enjoy the year round warm weather she got to have between here in New Zealand and being home in Pennsylvania. She decided to start with opening up her Potions book as Flavio sat down next to her. She wasn't sure if he'd want to continue studying the subject or not, but she didn't mind starting her personal study session by studying it with him. She did wonder how long he was planning on staying now that she was here. The young girl wasn't used to having others around her when studying, unless she was in the library but that was a given there.

"Really? I would have thought you'd have asked a girl, or a boy, by now," November said in response not wanting to hurt his feelings. She knew that the school had a variety of people and each had there own preference of who they liked or didn't like. The Hufflepuff was pretty sure she like just boys. But she hadn't had much interaction with either sex. "I want to, but some of the other girls, I've heard them talking about going with dates," November said looking ahead of her and not at Flavio. "Say, uhm. Would you want..to maybe, gowithme?" November asked the Ravenclaw boy sitting next to her. Looking over shyly she wondered what he'd say, they hadn't talked in a long time and only really saw each other in classes and even then they hadn't been lab partners in any classes as of yet.

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio looked away from November and back to the pages open in his book, shaking his head and smiling at her expectation of him already having a date to the ball. His confidence and ability to socialize had risen during the semester, but that did not mean he was near confident enough to ask someone to the ball, and especially someone he didn't know well. In fact he felt even further away from being confident enough to go to the ball with a date that wasn't his sister's friend or one of his own friends, and felt anxious even thinking to ask someone to go with him. In hindsight he was glad he hadn't since it meant he had avoided the stress of getting the words out and possible sting of rejection entirely.

November asking him to go to the ball with her was more of a surprise than her presence and their interaction had been that night, causing Flavio to look away from his book again and to her while pondering his answer. After a moment he figured going with November couldn't hurt, so he nodded his head and said "Yes, sure. I would like to go with you to the ball." Really, going to the ball would do more than just 'not hurt' and instead garnered a possibility for he and November to become proper friends after years of being no more than acquaintances. "I will need to find something to wear, now." He said, forgetting about studying altogether as he wondered what kind of outfit he could scrape together at the last minute.​

<i></i>