The Last Break

[Athena Zhefarovich]

It was a rare day for Athena that she didn't have anything to do. While the rest of the school prepared for exams, Athena was gloriously free as her exams wouldn't come until the end of the year. At that time, she'd be going crazier than all of the students except the other seventh years. And, for now at least, she was off with prefect duty, something that hadn't happened in quite a while. She did have a patrol the following day, but she'd think about that at another time. Straightening the blue tank top that she'd decided to wear, Athena wished that her brush was with her. Her hair was a bit on the frizzy side, the heat causing it to be so. With a sigh, the Slytherin exited the restroom, her silver eyes not lingering overlong on any one person. Instead, they skated from one person to the next, her head held high as she moved down the corridor. Most people assumed that the airs she put on was because she thought she was better than everyone, and it was true. She did believe that about herself. She knew that her family was very well known among the wizarding community, their numbers causing them to have influence in almost every sector of the community that she belonged to. She was also almost painfully shy, though that had eased some over the seven years. Athena never seemed to think that she had anything in common with most of her school mates, other than her cousins of course.

Finding something to do was proving to be more of an issue than she had anticipated. Without studies or prefect duties, Athena didn't know what to do with herself. Her friends, the few that she had, were noticeably absent. As she reached the ground floor, the Slytherin decided to head outside. There had to be something to do outside and, if not, she would at least get some sun, something she sorely needed. Slipping through the open doors, Athena paused on the steps as she looked towards the lawn and wondered what she should do next. She scratched her back absent-mindedly, her fingers covering a small area of her tattoo that was peeking out from her tank top.

 

[David Pike]

As David lay on the lawn, he thought about the future, not for the first time. He really had absolutely no idea what he would do when he left Hogwarts. That was probably an issue, but David wanted to live life as it came to him. He sat up and tore his unfinished poem out of his notebook and crumpled it up. Writer's block. It sucked. He took out his wand put it at the corner of his crumpled paper. "Incendio" he murmured, and it lit. He held it in his hand and watched it burn slowly. When the small flames got close to his hand, he blew them out and just crumbled the remainder of the charred paper to small pieces.The small pieces blew away with a gust of wind. That was a waste of an hour of his time. David stood up, grabbed his notebook, and walked over to a bench. He was done with writing today. He hadn't gotten anywhere. Sighing, he sat his notebook down on the bench.

Out of Character:

Went in and edited it a bit. I was disappointed with it's length.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

After a moment, Athena spotted a lone empty bench. The few other benches on the lawn were occupied by students who were either studying or lounging around. Enjoying the slight breeze that caressed her shoulders as she walked. As she neared the bench, a tall figure beat her to it and sat. Her steps slowed as she moved closer to the bench. Glad that the guy hadn't chosen to spread himself out, Athena perched on the end furthest away from the guy before turning her head to look at him. The Slytherin recognized the guy as one of her housemates, a fellow seventh year named David. They shared classes and a common room, though she couldn't say that she was friends with him. She couldn't say that about most people though.

Inclining her head, the Slytherin's silver eyes glanced down at what was between the two of them. It was a notebook. Perhaps the guy had been studying despite the fact that they had no exams until the end of the year. It was no matter to her. "Hey she said by way of greeting as she crossed her sandaled feet.

 

[David Pike]

David looked up when he heard a voice. It sounded like it came from the bench next to him. He looked over and there sat a fellow seventh year. David was pretty sure that he recognized her. Yeah, she was in his house, so he has seen her around the common room. He'd probably been in class with her for two years, and he'd never learned her name. She was relatively pretty, but David wasn't much for dating, so he didn't care. He liked her hair though, and her eyes were interesting. "Um... Hi" he said, "I don't think we've met before, I'm David." David wasn't great at introductions. He tried to fake a smile and act pleasant most of the time though. He hadn't really gotten to know his classmates very well, and he only had a few friends, but he wasn't like, unpopular or anything. Most people just didn't know him very well, and to some extent he just didn't care.

He noticed that she had glanced at his notebook earlier, and normally he would put it away or something, but he didn't see a way to do it. He didn't like people to read his unfinished work. It was a personal pet-peeve most defiantly.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena knew David in the way that she knew most of her housemates. Their faces were familiar to her, as she was fairly good with faces, but she was horrid with names. Mostly because she didn't care. Finding introducing herself after being in the same school for a number of years slightly awkward, Athena blew a piece of her blonde hair out of her face before she spoke. "Athena" she responded, glad that she didn't have to shake hands. It was such a formal, old person thing to do. Counting his name, Athena knew exactly three things about the guy- that he was a Slytherin, that he was taller than she was and now his name.

The old Athena would have ended the conversation there, turning her attention towards the other people around. She rather enjoyed people-watching, her own inner dialogue providing her with more than enough by way of amusement. Her silver eyes wandering around anyway, Athena spoke once more. Perhaps the teenager would prove to be more amusing than the other people laying around. "So what are you up to today?"

 

[David Pike]

"Me? Oh. Um..."

David really wasn't used to being talked to by random strangers. He brushed some of his dark hair out of his eyes. "I was just hanging out." he lied. He didn't really talk about his writing to very many people. He could still smell the ashes and smoke of his burned paper in the air. He'd been having writer's block for the past few days. He hated it. He hadn't written a good poem in weeks. He frowned a little. Hopefully it wasn't too noticeable. He forced a small smile though.

"And you? What brings you outside. Most people are studying for exams." he said quietly. Unsure of what the girl hoped to get out of this conversation. He brushed his hair out of his eyes again. He'd considered getting his bangs trimmed before, but they acted as a good way to keep himself from standing completely still in conversation. Because apparently that looks awkward. He wouldn't know. He was good with words, not well... words. Spoken words that is.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

“Oh.” Athena had hoped that the boy had been doing something at least relatively interesting. Perhaps David was just as boring as he appeared to be in classes. Athena couldn’t help but noticing the boy during class. He was one of the few guys in her year who was taller than she was, and although she only had the slightest of interests in any of the guys in the school, she still enjoyed watching a few. It helped to pass the time because surely she wasn’t expected to pay attention for the entirety of a class. David had always been someone she knew little about. In the past, Athena had just assumed he was really shy, but now she wasn’t so sure. He did have a nice smile though.

With a shrug, Athena continued the conversation. “Well, are exams aren’t until the end of the year so I’m definitely not going to start studying now.” Eventually, she knew that she’d have to focus and begin studying. Her dad, Kara and Levi would all be furious if she didn’t walk away with a respectable amount of NEWTs, though she was pretty sure that what was respectable to one wasn’t what was respectable to another. “I just needed some air. Sometimes…it can be stifling in there.” Athena didn’t just mean that it was hot. Being a Zhefarovich meant that she had family members lurking everywhere, both older and younger, all ready to jump and inform her father should she do anything wrong. Some were worse than others, but it was overwhelming sometimes. The teen uncrossed her legs and then casually asked,“So, is that a journal or something?” Her silver eyes swung over to see the boy’s reaction.

 

[David Pike]

"Huh?" David's eyes darted down towards his writing notebook, "Sort of." He tried to think of ways to change the subject. Stupid lack of real conversation skills. "Umm... yeah. I suppose you could call it a journal." He put on a little smile, that way he didn't seem like some depressed freak. Even though he sort of was. "Yeah. The castle can be pretty stifling though. That's why I prefer to hang out outside." Or in the dungeons, he thought, but again that might be considered freakish. He only liked it down there because he was almost always alone down there. And it was quiet, so he could focus on his writing. Not that he was actually writing anything decent anymore.

Athena didn't seem mean or anything, which was somewhat strange. It seemed like a lot of his house mates were. But he didn't like to assume things. And hey. He was a nice Slytherin, so why couldn't there be others. David somewhat regretted not really getting to know his schoolmates over the past two years. But he just wasn't an outgoing person. In the fast few weeks he'd met a couple nice people though. And he supposed it was better late then never. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and tried to keep up his slight smile.

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena smirked down at the book, wondering what sort of details the guy might have written in his journal. The young woman had never kept a journal herself, half because she feared her siblings or father finding such a book and half because she wasn’t sure what she would write. She didn’t even realize that guys did such things, but then again, she didn’t know much about David. Athena nodded as he continued the conversation. “Yea, me too.”

Running out of things to say to David, Athena turned her attention back to looking at the other people who were roaming around. It was a nice enough day that there was a slow but steady stream of people walking around. Athena’s hands rested on the bench as she moved her legs back until they were just under the bench. For what felt like the millionth time, Athena remembered that this was the end. Fairly soon, she would be moving on from the school same as David. “It’s crazy that we’re almost done here” she said, more to herself than to the guy though she was sure he was going to overhear.

 

[David Pike]

"Yeah." said David shyly, "It does seem to have gone fast. At least, my two years here." He tried to put on a little smile. Conversation wasn't so bad. He wondered why she had inquired about his writing journal. It had a couple of poems in it, but it would probably be weird to just kind of show her his works. But he kind of wanted to get an outside opinion. He was conflicted, and he hated conflict. He decided to wait it out and see if she asked about it again, then he might show her. Maybe. But she might think poorly of him or whatever. He wouldn't want her to think that he was a freak. A sad little frown flashed across his face, but he quickly adjusted it back to it's little smile.

Athena seemed rather bored by the whole conversation, which was expected. David assumed that he was kind of a boring person. I mean. What did he have to talk about? Poetry? Like that was gonna happen. He brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. Stupid hair. Always falling down. Athena was really pretty, it's a shame David didn't have the confidence to like, talk to people. Maybe he could work on that sometime. David readjusted himself in his seat a little, as to attempt to encourage conversation, because well. It was his last year here. He should try to make a friend.