Open Through the week

[Zennon Baros]

The worst part of being a prefect in Zennon's opinion was the patrols. It was such a nuisance, particularly since he's been one of the types of people to try and avoid them in his earlier years. He didn't do that so much anymore, mostly because he was usually too busy doing other things to bother trying to sneak around the prefects, but that was part of the reason he disliked patrols. They were time consuming, and that was assuming the didn't find some little hero trying to prove something whilst they were doing it. Honestly, why anyone thought he'd been a good choice was beyond him, and even though he would tell anyone who listened that he really didn't like it, there was a secret part in him that really actually kind of appreciated the trust and support that came with being part of something. The boys in the Brotherhood had his back, as he had theirs, and now, the Prefects had his back, which was a bit more elite than the boys in the Brotherhood. It was just hard to keep everything together when he had so much other work to do. How did everyone else do this. How did Leda? Headgirl and now with everything with Olive too, God, Zennon didn't want to think about the kind of pressure she was under at all. "I think we should start from the top and make our way down," Zennon said to Willow, now that curfew was in. He didn't mind Willow. They weren't super close or anything, but they talked on occasion in class and such. "I'm really not sure how to do this, so... I guess you're going to have to talk me through this a bit." He added, laughing.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

The best part of being a prefect was the fact that you were allowed to wander the castle after hours on the guise of being on patrol. Last year it had been great fun as her patrol partner had been chante it have given them more than enough excuse to hang out. this year her patrol partner was not as fun. Zennon. she had nothing against the boy. at least not until quidditch season came around properly. but well he wasnt her favorite cousin either. he met him in the corrudor they had planned on and smiled. "Hey Zennon" she said. he knew him. and on the few occasions that they had spoken he seemed nice enough. but she didnt know him well. maybe that would change this year. "that sounds like a good plan" she said as he suggested that they start at the top and work down. and she chuckled as he said he didnt know what to do. "you sound like you have a good enough idea already" she said. as they set off along the corridor at a slow pace. "It is fairly simple you walk though the corridors and if you see anyone out after curfew you deduct points and report them to their head of house" she said. she paused and looked at a picture that was lit by the moonlight. "It is also a good chance to explore the castle without other people around." she added. she wasn't particularly interested in the picture but it was part of her usual patrol pattern. she wasn't quite sure if she was going to tell zennon the real reason she had paused as she wasnt sure what he would say about it. he was a perfect after all though he didn't seem like the kind who was a stickler for rules.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon really didn't know anything about patrolling and to be honest he had no idea how people were able to keep all of this stuff up whilst they were studying for their NEWTs as well. Heck, he wasn't even sure how the fifth and seventh years were doing it and after everything with Leda and her family, it seemed like it must have been even worse for them. Leda, Wendall, Asphodel, it was horrible really. He couldn't imagine such a loss as theirs. He didn't want to. "Yeah, I'm trying, but it's a bit hard to wrap my head around... I mean I was on the other side just last year, you know, I went to the Forest and all," he admitted, scratching the back of his head subconsciously, now that he was a Prefect, he felt a bit like a fake. "Gotta be honest Willow, I'm struggling to see the merit in this." He laughed. What did he get out of this exactly? Not bloody much far as he could tell. His fight with Arvel was still fresh on his mind, he didn't think his fellow prefect was going to like any of this very much, he'd made that very clear that first meeting. Subsequent meetings were going to suck. "Like, people like me know all the secret passages, we have to, I couldn't very walk around talking to snakes, it would've been too obvious." He'd very nearly been caught multiple times. It had been such hard work. "Do you get used to it?"​

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow tried not to smile as zennon started to talk. she was glad that she had been partnered up with him and not some goodie goodie who liked to stick by the rules all the time like some people did. she really was trying to hold back a smile and keep looking serious however when he said he was struggling to see the merit in it she lost control and a wide grin spread across her face. "there are some benefits. the prefects' bathroom is always good after a hard quidditch training. and there are always snacks in the common room which is probably less use to you with your common room being so close to the kitchens anyway" she said.
when Zennon said that people like him knew all the secret passages she raised one eyebrow as if asking him to specify what he meant and telling him not to make assumptions about who she was. resulting in a verry willow expression "People like you? most secret passages are not as secret as people think they are. and if you know all of them you know one opens up just around the corner there" she said her tone a little harder than previously reflecting her annoyance ad being assumed to be someone she wasn't she paused "I think we have waited long enough should we continue" she said starting to turn the corner and walk along the corridor. she was glad that it was now empty and as she walked she scanned the place though purposly avoided looking directly at the picture concealing the entrance to the passage. At Zennon's next question she thought for a moment. did she get used to it well it didn't feel very unusual to her? her mum had been a perfect, head girl even and she knew she had often been out at night or wandering in the forest. "I think the problem you have is you are thinking of it as us and them, students and professors, and receiving a badge means you have to swap sides. It's not. or if it is you can be just as much on the student side now as before maybe even more so." she said shrugging. clearly Zenon had to re-learn what being a prefect was all about. or at least what being a prefect on patrol with willow was all about. which based around doing what you want to under the veneer of doing the right thing.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon nodded as Willow detailed a little more about the kind of perks they got as Prefects which, to be honest, weren't actually that great, but he supposed it was better than nothing. Despite what he might have said to people, he actually did like his badge and he wore with as much pride as he could despite being positive he didn't deserve it. But that had nothing to do with him, he supposed, and Professor Styx had obviously seen some merit in him, enough to think he deserved a badge anyway. So he supposed he should start thinking that about himself too. Confidence had never really been his thing though, not when it came to himself. That was all Rowan and Elsie at times. "Well, I don't play Quidditch, but you're right about the kitchens," not that he spent a lot of time there, mostly because he never learned how to cook though he supposed that was something he would have to work out how to do at some point. He frowned though when she seemed to take offence to something he said and though he replayed his words in his head, he couldn't figure out why she might have been affected by them. People like him, as in people who had something to hide. What on Earth would Willow Cullen have had to hide. She was popular, Prefect and on the Quidditch team. Even though Quidditch wasn't really his game, he could certainly appreciate it. And he liked watching Jake... watching him play that was. "Right," She was showing him the ropes though, which he couldn't complain about. "So, if it's not us and them, how are we supposed to do our jobs properly?" He asked, following along beside her. "I always hated Prefects, knew they were going to tell on me, so... if it's not us and them, who's side are we supposed to be on?" This was confusing.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow smiled as Zennon said he didn't play quidditch but she was right about the kitchens. "always worth stopping there for a snack too" she said. the house-elves were always so accommodating as to what you felt like eating.
As zennon asked what being a prefect meant she smiled. "I don't know about you but a little bit of rule-breaking is a normal part of the school. and if you are too struct it will still go on but be even more underground. she paused wondering if she could trust zennon with her (miss)adventures. she decided she could. have you really been to hogwarts if you havent gone into the forest at least once? I go in every couple of weeks to see mother-mine, but went in to stop a first-year who went in alone from getting himself in trouble." she said referring to the centaur aspen who referred to her mum as sister-mine and referred to her as 'daughter-mine' apparently following some centaur family name process.
"think that we are here because we have enough sense to do what we do without causing havoc and know when things have gone too far. so we are here more to stop people hurting themselves or each other." she said. "like back there i didn't need to look at that picture, i have seen it a thousand times it isn't that interesting. but pausing there lets anyone out of bounds find their way back to the secret passage before we catch them. which is also why you should never bother to patrol secret passages. even if you know them all" she said. not everyone was like her. some people were stricter. but she would rather let people get away with some rule-breaking as that is what she had enjoyed doing when she was younger.

 

[Zennon Baros]

The stuff at the Forest was still weighing on Zennon's mind a bit. That centaur, Aspen, had said something about Willow, or a Willow. Maybe it wasn't this Willow, but another one? But he didn't know any other Willow's, of course he didn't know most other people in other years either, it all kind of went over his head a little. "Oh yeah, for sure. Snacking is great!" Zennon enjoyed snacks, who didn't? He got curious as she started opening up a little, and hearing that the Prefect status didn't seem to dull her sense of adventure was cool and all, but he'd never really been much of a rule breaker. Okay, that was a pathetic lie, he'd probably been to the forest more times than people could count for the snakes, but, still. She kept talking then and mentioned mother-mine, which sounded familiar, like what that centaur had said before. He was going to ask her about it, but she kept talking and so he waited. She talked about the secret passages and he nodded sagely. He didn't know all of them, he didn't think anyone did, but there were certainly a few. There was one particularly nasty passage in the dungeons that lead right to the fifth floor. Great for getting to Transfiguration on time, if you were lucky. "Hold on, Willow," he said, stopping to look at her. "Sorry, just... something you said back there a second ago," he wanted to know if she was related to the centaur in some way. "This 'mother-mine'" he air quoted, "her name isn't Aspen is it?" Meeting Aspen had been both amazing and terrifying if he were honest and he wasn't sure he liked hearing how many times she's seen him in the forest, he was obviously terrible at it.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow had walked a few paces before she realised that Zenon had stopped. she turned around to see what he was up to as he started to talk. she was glad that it was dark and she didnt has to hide the flush of embarrassment as he picked up on something she had been saying, why had she referred to aspen as mothermine. she knew that was how it would have been structured in centaur society and aspen called her daughtermine but she didn't think that way. aspen was, well, what was she? her aunt she guessed. but what should she say. "so you know aspen. isn't she great." she said. "She is always trying to find friends among the students" she said a smile creeping across her face. while the centaur was obviously older than all of the students and some of the professors and living like she did she had to be more mature than them too there were some ways especially socially where she was the same as the students. her enthusiasm for making friends. was one of those ways. "She and my mum got on well when she was a student here sort of two outcasts ended up adopting each other as sisters. so now following the rules of her tribe she sees me, and I guess Chante and lin, as kind of surrogate children." she said. that was the truth, or at least as close to the truth as she could say without breaking the promises she had made to her mum when she had been younger. promises that she knew were important. not to talk about her mums upbringing and childhood. and not to say that her dad was a werewolf."[/b] the latter she had broken last year when she had told alistair but that had been a special case and she had got permission.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon was surprised that Willow was open about Aspen, though he didn't know the full extent of the relationship, he was surprised that she was talking about the same Aspen that he'd met in the forest. It was kind of cool that Willow knew a centaur, he wondered what else he would learn about Willow along the way. She wasn't exactly a friend, but if this last couple of minutes had proved anything, it was that they definitely had potential. Zennon never thought about how many friends he had, but it would always be nice to have another one, especially after all the Arvel drama and the stress of not understanding his own actions lately. "Met her not long ago in the Forest, I caught a couple of first years in the forest and they weren't listening to me when I was trying to tell them it was dangerous. If they'd listened they probably wouldn't have lost points, but as it was, Professor Kain showed up and removed a lot of points from them." He was surprised he'd gotten away Scott free, especially when Aspen let slip she'd seen him around and the first years had taken off with that. He had no where else to go at the time, what was he supposed to do? "I can't say for sure, but I think she enjoyed the boy asking him questions, they all wanted to know about the creatures in the forest and about centaurs and things like that," he told her, surprised at his own confession. He'd liked Aspen if he was honest and it was an interesting experience. He listened to Willow as she explained the situation a bit with her mother and he nodded. He vaguely remembered seeing a Cullen on the boards, but that had been a boy and not a girl. "Did your Dad go here too? I don't actually know who your mum is to be honest," he said, though he didn't think it should be a surprise since this was the longest conversation he'd ever had with her. Class was really their only interaction and they were clearly into different things given she was a Quidditch player and he was not. He liked to watch, he didn't like to play. "Having generations at the same school is pretty cool." He knew other members of his older extended family had attended, but his parents had not. It was kind of cool and a bit weird, that Willow probably had stories about this place.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

willow let out a sigh as he said that he had caught first years in the forest. she couldn't blame them the best way to attract curious eleven-year-olds to an area was to but a big do not enter sign on it or call it forbidden she had entered it a few times as a first-year but she would like to think that she had been a bit more prepared than the average firsty after her mum had dragged her on a couple of months 'holiday' around Europe to teach her about living in the wild. "please say one of them wasn't my brother" she said. hoping that Lindon wasn't part of the group. but is would sound like him chasing after animals "and that is definitely what aspen would enjoy. i am sure she purposely goes far nearer the edge of the forest than she should just in case she finds students she can talk to. that is why she stays in the forest on her own instead of finding a tribe" she said. she had heard the stories. and she had to admit is was impressive what the centur had done and given up just for the chance to spend a few minutes with humans.
at the question about her dad she shook her head. "My mum is briar Rowan Cullen. or briar rowan. her name is on a few of the quidditch and Halloween cups in the trophy room. but now she works at the ministry and heads the department of magical creatures. and no dad went to dermstrang" she said he had hated it as far as she knew which was why there had never been any question as to where her and her siblings would go to school. as for her mum's job well it was a cooler position now as head of the department than it used to be with the werewolf support services. but still wasn't as cool as it had been before she had been born who would give up being a pro quidditch player to run around helping werewolves with silly things. "your parents didn't go here? where did they go" she asked. by thi time they had descended a flight of stairs and were halfway along the next corridor. See patrolling is easy" she said.