Open Teatime

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey would never admit that she had made a mistake in deciding to take on all the classes. Of course, she couldn't possibly be mistaken, because that was tantamount to failure, and Audrey couldn't possibly fail. Still, her schedule looked dreadful, and Audrey was trying to put on a brave face about it. It was a challenge, and she could handle challenges. She'd thrive under this pressure, she knew she would.

She'd had the holidays to read ahead, so she'd surely be on top of things and able to handle Quidditch and clubs alongside it. Of course, teaching herself things could only go so far. She couldn't practice her spells at home, or make potions, or ask about the classes that didn't naturally make as much sense. Like Divination. Audrey made a face as she drank the tea from the cup in front of her, spluttering as she swallowed a couple of leaves by mistake, and then swirled the cup hoping that the leaves formed into some sort of picture she could recognize. She was creative and innovative. She could do this, couldn't she? "It's a...hippogriff? No, a tree..." she swirled the cup again, wondering if that would make it more recognizable.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy had made the somewhat rational decision to just take the classes she needed to follow in her parents footsteps - that of being a healer. But she'd sneakily snuck in one extra class, that of ancient runes. In consequence, her timetable didn't look too bad and she was pretty happy with it. Spotting Audrey, she pranced over and took a seat beside her, just in time to hear her mumble about hippogriffs and trees. Lucy was confused for a moment, then put the two together. "Hey Audrey! Oh, are you trying to read tea leaves?" Lucy asked curiously. She peered in closer. "I think it looks...more like a griffin, maybe. I wonder what that means."

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey looked up and grinned at Lucy, despite her consternation at the tealeaves. "Hey Lucy! I wanted to get a head start," she admitted, with a shrug. It was probably a little unnecessary, but Audrey needed to manage her time well this year. Plus, if she went into classes well prepared, she could show off a bit. She looked at the tealeaves again, tilting her head from side to side. "Oh, a griffin? I can kinda see it...I think it means, uh, challenge," Audrey reasoned, trying to sound very authoritative despite clearly having no idea what she was talking about. "No wait, griffins, Gryffindor, it means courage, of course!" She nodded, satisfied with that answer and putting down the teacup. "Phew, thanks. I don't think I could handle a fourth cup."

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh, are you taking divination this year?" Lucy questioned curiously, admiring Audrey for taking the initiative to get some early practice down for the school year. "I nearly took that, but my parents thought it was a bit silly." Lucy made a face. She wasn't really attached to taking divination, but the idea that any subject could be not worth her while seemed like the silly thing to her. "Oh, of course, yes. Courage. That sounds like a promising reading," Lucy said. "Unless it's telling you to be courageous, and then you'll have to put in the effort. Hmm." Lucy paused in thought, considering what the reading meant.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey nodded. "I'm taking everything," she said, sounding a lot more confident in it than she actually honestly felt. But, Audrey knew she was clever, so of course she'd be able to manage the class load. She had no choice but to, really. "...it probably is a liiiiiittle silly," she admitted, a little more quietly, before shaking her head. "I mean, reading the future? Like, just go make the future happen yourself, right? I don't need a blob of tea leaves to tell me that." She tossed her hair back, looking haughty for a moment, before looking back at Lucy with some curiosity. "Actually, what subjects are you taking?" She realized she hadn't actually properly asked.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh wow, all of them?" Lucy repeated, impressed. Teddy was doing the same, and if Lucy was a more competitive person she would have felt a pang of jealousy - and a need to overachieve. As it was, Lucy was content on simply cheering her friends on. "That's pretty amazing. Mm, I suppose divination is a little silly, though it's nice to know what's in the future. Like, what if you plan a nice hike and you need to know if it'll rain? Not sure it works like that but it'd be nice to know." Lucy thought for a minute. "Um, I'm taking potions, defence against the dark arts, charms, herbology, and ancient runes. I snuck that last one in before my parents could tell me not to," Lucy said sheepishly. Sometimes she felt a little rebellious. Her parents couldn't know exactly what was right for her all the time, after all.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey nodded, preening a little. Sure, maybe she'd end up regretting this decision by the end of the year, but for now she was going to show off just how clever and talented she was, so she wouldn't get overlooked. Part of her felt like she needed to one-up Lucy, since it seemed like people liked her more, but it was mostly overshadowed by her just liking having a good friend. If she didn't think about it too much, she could ignore that weird ugly jealousy feeling she hated. "Oh yeah, that does make sense! I hear you can use astronomy to predict the weather but it seems like they get it wrong a lot, maybe using divination would mean you can always get it right." Audrey looked back down at the teacup, with at least a tiny bit more apprecation for it. "At least, maybe if you look at the tea leaves and it looks like a cloud that could mean it's going to rain?" She beamed when Lucy said the classes she was taking. "Go you! Honestly, if they stopped you doing classes you really wanted to I'd jinx them myself."

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Hmm, I suppose the problem with divination is maybe the cloud might mean something more metaphorical," Lucy added after thinking about it a moment. "But hopefully they can teach you when it means something literal and when it doesn't, right?" Lucy posited optimistically. She smiled sheepishly when Audrey cheered her on for sneaking in ancient runes. "Thanks," she said appreciating the sentiment though she wouldn't really like her parents to be jinxed. "They kind of want to be a healer just like them. And, well, I don't really know what else I'd want to be so I'm just going along with it," Lucy admitted with a slight shrug. It was bothering her a little, but she still felt like she was young - too young to have her future decided for her.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey moved a hand to her chin, tapping her fingers on her lips as she thought about it. "This is more complicated than I thought it would be." She knew she really should just wait for the actual class, but she really wanted to get a head start. Considering all she had going on, she had to think strategically about these things. She looked thoughtful again at Lucy's comment about her parents wanting her to be a healer. "I get that. My parents want me to be a Quidditch player just like them. But like, sometimes they go on about how I should be better than them, but then if I was I think they'd totally get jealous, so I dunno! And there's so many other things I want to do and they don't even care." She huffed, slumping a little in her seat as she said it. "I guess we'll work it out later, right?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy looked at her friend thoughtfully. She knew Audrey's parents were into quidditch, but hadn't really thought about how that might affect Audrey. Maybe Audrey was under more pressure than Lucy had really realised. For Lucy, quidditch was just something to let off steam with. "That sounds kind of annoying," Lucy commented, cupping her chin with her hand and leaning in slightly. "But parents don't always know what's best for us. At least, that's what I'm starting to think," Lucy admitted. "Sometimes I just want to, you know..." Lucy trailed off, not sure what she was even saying. "Just...like, ignore everything they say and just do what I want to do. But...I don't." Lucy looked pensively at Audrey's tea cup. "Are you parents quite strict? I've always done what my parents wanted, so I kind of wonder what would happen if I ever said no."

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey gave a surprisingly gentle and understanding smile to Lucy at the comment, kind of getting what she was saying. It seemed like Lucy had a closer relationship with her parents than Audrey did with her own, but she could understand what she was saying. "They really don't," she said, emphatically. "You should try it sometime! It can be fun. But...I actually do get it." She nodded, thoughtfully. She had signed up to play a beater in the Quidditch team after all, just because that was what her parents wanted. "All mine do is yell at me, if they don't just...ignore me." She twiddled a strand of hair between her finger and thumb, looking back down at the teacup. "They can't ignore me if I prank them, though."

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy smiled a little. She liked that Audrey had sort of similar experiences to her - it was comforting, made her feel less alone. She felt a little sad when Audrey mentioned that they yell at her. Lucy at least didn't have to put up with that. Though she did know what it was like to be ignored. "My parents kinda ignore me too sometimes," Lucy said. "They're just busy all the time with work. But at least they don't yell at me, sheesh." Lucy started to get a little angry on Audrey's behalf - Audrey didn't deserve to be yelled at. Lucy was adamant about that. She smiled again though at the idea of Audrey pranking them. "I should get more into pranking, I think. It's fun, but I'm just not good at coming up with the ideas. I like doing them though," she said, remembering last year at the Yule Ball.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

It was somewhat reassuring to know that Lucy had a similar upbringing to hers, if anything that made Audrey feel a little closer to her. At least Lucy's parents didn't yell, but they seemed to be kind of neglectful too. Parents sucked, thought Audrey. "I suppose it better be really important work otherwise they totally suck," she said, bluntly. She relaxed into more of a smile. "I guess it depends what you're wanting to do. I do need to use my glitterbombs, I'm just waiting for the right moment." She smirked. "I guess my pranks at home are a bit meaner though. Maybe not good for school. Or fail. I pretended to be kidnapped once. They didn't notice and I had to give up because I got hungry."

 

[Lucy Montague]

"I mean, technically they're saving people's lives or something. They're both healers." Lucy had told herself time and time again that that was a decent excuse, but lately she wasn't so sure. It had worked when she was a kid but now she was starting to feel differently. "Ohh, glitterbombs! How cool." Lucy lit up at the mention of them, then her enthusiasm faded as Audrey continued. "Parents really suck, don't they?" Lucy commented, sounding uncharacteristically bitter. "I think that's partly why I like Hogwarts so much. Adults have to pay attention to you here." Lucy gave a slight smile at that.