Closed Study Helper

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos was nervous, he was half way through the semester and he was feeling the mounting pressure from his various classes, he had plans to study with Flavio, but in all honestly Marcos hadn’t moved much since he’d finished up with classes that day. Marcos didn’t know had time and there were plenty of weeks before the exams would be upon him but that didn’t particularly help him. He felt so daunted by the level of hard work that Flavio and Pia had set before him. He needed to do well, to at least match them and because he didn’t want to be the only Morales child that didn’t do well at Hogwarts. He’d for long just sat on his heels and just passed then he wouldn’t have anything to show for it. He had to study, he had to pass with a good mark, he had to do and be better. Marcos pulled the muggle studies book in front of him, and continued to write things down from it. He was looking at the old stuff from third year, and he knew Flavio would be there soon. He had to just keep working. Once he did well in his OWLs, he would be better prepared for his NEWTs, or well, that was his hope. He was sure that Flavio could help him learn how to focus and study better. But he had finished all of his homework and he wasn’t doing too bad, in fact if he really took a moment to reflect that things were going quite well, that he wasn’t failing too badly yet. Maybe he just had to focus, but no matter how much he said to his nerves to do that, to calm down and just focus they never did. Hopefully Flavio would be there soon and that would provide him with a little more help. ​

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio was exhausted just thinking about the fact he was halfway through the semester. His subjects other than ancient runes which was surprisingly relaxing, were on an entirely new level of difficult that year, and the time he was spending on homework and revising class notes was adding up on top of his other responsibilities. The only time Flavio had a chance to sit still and breathe was when he was on the verge of sleep at night and on the very rare chance a class allowed some time in his schedule to become free. When he wasn't studying himself, practicing quidditch, completing homework or his prefect and head boy duties, he was helping others study in what felt like a never ending schedule of activity where his mind was required to be in constant focus. That moment Flavio was heading to the great hall to help Marcos study for his OWLs in what had become the norm for them since the semester began. Flavio knew more time focusing on his own classes would be beneficial, but wasn't able to say no to helping anyone who needed it and especially not his own family. Getting good grades in classes and generally being an overachiever, though a growing detriment to his well being, was one of the things Flavio was good at and known for, and it would be selfish of him not to help someone he cared about if they asked it of him. ​

Arriving to the Gryffindor table, Flavio spotted his brother taking notes from a book, and quickly walked to where he was. "Hey, how's the studying going so far?" Flavio greeted, slipping into Spanish as he sat down and placed his own books on the table in front of him, so Marcos could be honest about his progress without worrying if someone would overhear. He didn't know if Marcos cared what other Gryffindors thought of him, but wanted to take the precaution anyway. Plus in a state of stress it was easier and more comfortable for Flavio to speak his first language. English required more thinking for him and after a long day he wanted to reduce the other things he was thinking about to focus on helping his brother.​

 

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos looked up as a familiar spanish tone sounded next to him. His expression softened and he nodded lightly in response to the boy’s question, it was a half nod and a half of a head shake. It was obvious that he was managing but perhaps not all that well. The boy smiled though at his brother and was visibly relieved to see him, ”It’s……,” he started in english, ”I’m not doing that well Flav,” the boy then finished in Spanish, he was perhaps over thinking it, putting him through more than he needed to when it was really fairly simple but he couldn’t entirely see it. Yes it was getting easier and he was remembering more whenever he went to class but that wasn’t always the most helpful thing, he wasn’t seeing that that well. ”How are you doing?” the teen asked, sticking to the spanish, it was still very natural upon his tongue more so than english, though his english was increasingly the language he went to naturally. The teen pushed the book away from him slightly, ”How do you study?” the boy asked him, he knew that Flavio had been showing him bits and pieces so that he could learn to study better but he felt like he just wasn’t getting, so asked more specifically, maybe the methods by which Flavio studied would be methods that he could use too. Flavio had been of help to him before and he knew that it was with Flavio’s help that he was managing at all but on some days it just took longer and felt more hopeless than other days.​

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio frowned slightly as Marcos admitted he wasn't doing well, and began to feel guilty that he wasn't helping his brother as much as he thought he was. His intention was to teach Marcos ways to study alone so when he graduated and Marcos was left in school without him he could fair on his own in classes, but with this admission he was realizing he should be helping more than he was already. He nodded sympathetically, understanding how difficult it was to keep up with classes and understand everything properly as it was an issue he faced regularly. As he tried to think of ways to help Marcos more he looked between his books and the book in front of Marcos, almost missing the question of how he was doing. In truth he wasn't doing well either but he needed to be confident and knew the focus wasn't meant to be on him, thus he brushed off the question with a simple "I'm alright." before answering Marcos question about how he studied. On top of what he had already shown Marcos, there were a couple of methods that might help more but he wasn't sure if they would be helpful. "After taking notes in class, one thing I do afterwards is rewrite it all in my own words, and in a simple way where I can understand it more." He explained, crossing his arms and leaning more on the table in front of him. "Usually I rewrite notes in Spanish because I don't need to think as much when I read them over. After that I write down any further questions I have about each thing I have learned and then research them later in the library if I cannot find those answers in my books." He knew that he and Marcos were very different people and they both had different ways of learning and retaining information, so he was unsure if this would help but he hoped it might give Marcos some idea of how to study better since he was having trouble. ​

 

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos gave his brother a sympathetic smile as he replied to his question, he could know that even though Marcos was having a huge amount of bother currently with his OWLs, that Flavio was probably really struggling with his NEWTs. He had always believed that both Flavio and Pia were immune to any stress, but he knew that just wouldn't be true. They would like him, struggle and it was certain that they would struggle a lot. It was a lot of work and where his OWL grades mattered because of what they led to in terms of future classes, he knew that the NEWTs led to jobs and that had to be stressful. He was really appreciating his brother taking the time to help him, when he wasn't sure he would be able to do the same for someone younger than him. Though as the youngest brother he would never have to. He hadn't tended to write his notes in his own words, though it was definitely a smart thing to do as he did sometimes come weeks letter to his notes and not quite understand entirely what it all meant, even if he'd written it. Writing it over after would give his mind a bit of time to remember what had been said and make it more understandable. He also hadn't considered really putting them into spanish. He liked to think he was a little more fluent in english than his siblings since he'd grown up with it a little more than they had, but perhaps that would be something for him to consider all of his notes so far had been in english, "That's a good idea, Spanish is easier when I'm tired, I'll do that!" he said excitedly, keeping in his first and most natural language, "I get so immersed in english it's easier for it to be in that here, it's only with you or Ignacio that I speak spanish at school," he admitted.​

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Marcos reacting excitedly made Flavio feel relieved, he hadn't been sure his suggestion would help at all but the enthusiasm from his younger brother told him it was a good idea. He nodded at Marcos' admission he only spoke Spanish with him or Ignacio while at Hogwarts, understanding that completely as in turn with this the only people Flavio spoke Spanish to were Marcos and Ignacio. That was why rewriting notes in Spanish had worked for Flavio so well in the past, the different and more familiar language was distinctive from his notes written in English. As he went over his Spanish written notes in the library, his common room, or anywhere else there was noise, it was also much easier for him to focus on studying and minimize distractions since the language on his parchment differed to what was being spoken around him. "Now, did you need help with anything specific? Is there a subject that you're having more trouble with than others?" Flavio asked, wanting to stay as focused on helping Marcos as possible while he still had time on his schedule. ​

 

[Marcos Morales]

Marcos could admit that he felt a little silly for never having thought that his notes would be easier for him in spanish than they were in english, the boy was studying in an english speaking country and to him then it only made sense that he was then doing all of the work in english, everything he did was in his second tongue and really when he hadn't been trying too hard it hadn't been much of a problem, but now it was proving as much. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been studying much at all, he'd just been working on the occasional piece of homework, but now, he was working on his subjects and trying to do relatively well. The teen looked up at his brother and nodded, "I'm struggling a bit with defence against the dark arts, the whole curse and jinx difference is kind of going over my head," he pulled those notes towards him as he spoke in quick spanish, he pointed to the title at the page, "I get it Flav, mostly, so long as I have examples in front of me, but i'm not sure if i'm really actually getting it, or just repeating what I've written," he was looking for any guidance on that specifically that his brother could provide, it wasn't too complex and he felt a little silly asking about it, but he knew that Flav would never judge him. ​