Closed Unconventional Habit

[Ethan Mendoza]

During his first few years at Hogwarts Ethan had never really been the studious type, mostly due to a lack of supervision. Without a parent there to remind him to do his homework or study regularly, he didn't have the self-discipline to do it himself. He had been a pre-teen with more freedom he'd ever been used to in his life, so he had picked up some bad habits along the way. However as he got a little older and a little wiser, he had begun to buckle down, knowing that P's weren't going to get him anywhere meaningful if he kept up the way he usually had. Next year he'd be taking his OWLs, but he hoped if he started bettering his study habits now, it might help him be more prepared for next year.

Though soon enough, Ethan found himself getting a bit restless in a stuffy common room or a quiet library, and there was absolutely no hope of studying in his comfy dorm room. So if he wanted to study well, he needed to find a good place to study first. Since he didn't seem to be having much luck indoors, Ethan figured he might try and see if somewhere outdoors might work. Sure, the probability of getting distracted was very high, but he also found that just a bit of fresh air helped him focus during Quidditch practices and games, so perhaps it'd have the same effect for studying. The Hufflepuff took his bag with his textbook and notebook and headed out across the castle grounds. At first he was headed towards the Great Lawn, but halfway there he realized he wanted to be able to look over something. He liked the height that being in the air gave him when he played Quidditch, so sitting over the cliffs would be a good alternative as he studied.

It took him a little while to climb up, and by the time he reached the top he was slightly out of breath, but as soon as he stood up properly to look around he knew he had made the right choice. He didn't want to get too close to the edge, so he looked around until he spotted a large rock he could sit by. He placed his bag down and sat down, leaning his back against the rock. Once he was all settled, he finally took out his books from his bag and flipped to the page he had been studying earlier, hoping to absorb the information this time around. ​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur hated exam time. Everyone got so serious and stressed out about these subjects, and Fleur really disliked the energy in the common room. Even the Gryffindors got serious around this time, as though grades were the only thing that mattered. Of course she knew it was a little important, but she thought it shouldn’t be the only part of school that counted for anything. The girl already knew what she wanted to do after Hogwarts, so she focused her energy on the subjects she would need for that. Anything else seemed less important, and she wasn’t going to spend all her free time studying for subjects she wouldn’t need later on in life. Fleur had done her best to pay attention in classes, kept up with most of the reading, and now she knew she would probably do at least okay in most of the exams. Why would she strive for more? The only subject she really cared about was care of magical creatures, and she didn’t have that this semester. Herbology was another one she liked, but it was also a subject she was reasonably confident about. On the other hand, a subject like History of Magic wasn’t interesting to her, so she wasn’t going to waste hours poring over the books. Instead, she made her way outside to the grounds for a walk, far away from all the exam stress inside the castle.

Being outside had always been better in her opinion, and growing up on a farm had been great for the girl. She missed her home sometimes, but at least Hogwarts had very nice grounds she could explore. The girl couldn’t wait to show her brother around, knowing that he would appreciate it too. She could already picture him sitting in the grass with a canvas, painting some pretty flowers or other detail of nature Fleur hadn’t even noticed. After wandering around for a bit, Fleur made her way over to the cliffs. She had met Willow there earlier this year, which had been a lot of fun. The girl had let her play on her guitar a little, even though Fleur really didn’t know anything about playing music. She hoped the cliffs had something interesting to offer today as well, something to distract her and keep her occupied. As she climbed up to the part where she had met Willow, she noticed someone’s bag. Fleur was glad to see someone else was up here, as that was definitely more fun than being here alone. But when she saw the boy sitting with a book, she let out a small sigh. It seemed that even here, people were studying. But she hadn’t climbed up all the way for nothing, so she decided to head over. “And here I was trying to run away from books and studying by coming here.” She said with a smile, gesturing to the boy’s book. “Do you mind if I sit here for a bit? I’ll try not to distract you for long.” She paused and then grinned. “Unless you want to be distracted, then I can try my best.”

 

[Ethan Mendoza]

Ethan was only a few pages into his reading, making somewhat better progress than he had while indoors but at a glacial pace, when he heard the sounds of someone approaching. The footsteps were still far enough away that he thought perhaps it was just someone passing through, so he didn't bother to look up right away. He was practicing extreme self control in not getting distracted by any outside factors, including the really cool bird he'd seen earlier (honestly if it wasn't for the fact that it had flown away too quickly, he probably would've stopped reading to watch it), so he was proud of himself for keeping his eyes trained on his book so far. But as soon as he heard a voice near him, he looked up at the newcomer and all self discipline was immediately forgotten as he looked up at the red haired girl.

For a moment, his brain short-circuited as she grinned at him and he laughed at her comments rather belatedly. "Um, no, you can distract me as long as you want," he said, "I mean, sit! If you want, sit," he added quickly, cringing at his words tumbling out before he could filter them. He scrambled to move his stuff, pages and quills bending in odd angles in his haste to make space for her and then cleared his throat as he tried to gather himself. He was never usually this fidgety, but the girl was so pretty and he didn't know what to do around her. It was completely different than being around his sisters all the time. There was no way he'd get any studying down with her around. "I couldn't get any studying done inside, so I thought a change of scenery might help," he explained with a nervous chuckle before instantly berating himself. He felt so uncool right now talking about studying, especially since she'd already indicated she didn't seem to like it. "But it doesn't seem to be working, so," he said, closing his textbook to finish his sentence. "I'm Ethan, what's your name?" he asked, smiling at her now that he seemed to be calming down slightly.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur had the feeling she startled the boy, and she supposed she couldn’t blame him. The cliffs were usually pretty quiet, he probably hadn’t expected anyone else to bother him here. She felt a little bad, but she still laughed as he told her she could distract him as long as she wanted. The boy hurriedly moved his stuff out of the way. Fleur bent down to pick up a stray piece of parchment that had escaped the pile and handed it to the boy as she sat down. “Thanks!” She placed her own bag next to her and turned to him with a smile. As he said he had trouble studying inside, Fleur nodded sympathetically. She preferred doing just about anything outside to inside, but she also thought it would be pretty distracting. There were just so many fun things around, how could anyone focus? So it wasn’t a big surprise that it hadn’t really worked, though Fleur thought maybe she had a small part in that. She decided to leave if the boy seemed eager to get back to his studying, she didn’t want to ruin his chances at getting good grades by sitting around and distracting him. But she did like talking to new people, and he seemed really nice. “Alright, if you get the urge to start studying again you should tell me and I’ll leave you in peace, deal? What were you studying anyway?” She glanced at the book but couldn’t tell. “I’m Fleur,” she added after tearing her gaze away from the book and turning her attention back to him. He wasn’t in her year, and seemed to be older. Fleur was fairly sure they had never talked before, but he did look familiar. For a moment, she stared at him, squinting slightly. Then realization struck and she snapped her fingers. “Quidditch!” She said, before realizing she may need to explain that a bit. “Sorry, I thought you looked familiar and I was wondering where I knew you from. But it’s Quidditch, right? You play?” She watched every game, as she had an interest in the sport. Twice she had been hesitating about trying out, but twice she had decided not to bother. The Gryffindor team was so busy and competitive, it always seemed to her like someone else wanted it more. “Chaser?” She asked as she tried to think back to the matches she had seen him in. “I prefer playing chaser too, but I don’t play on the team.” She said, in case he wasn’t sure. “Just casually with my siblings, if I can get them to play with me.”