With her school bag hanging over her shoulder, the fifth year made her way back to the Common Room, still feeling a bit dizzy after the conversation she had with a friend at the library. Passing by the students already sitting there, the Ravenclaw made her way to one of the study tables.

After having placed a few pieces of parchment and quills on the table, the fifth year grabbed herself the two books she needed. One of them was for Arithmancy, and the other, for her all time favourite *eye roll* Divination. As much as she would have liked to be able to ignore the fact that she was likely to get Troll in the Divination OWL, Gwendolyn knew she just couldn’t. Failure wasn’t something she could admit… So, with this thought in her mind, Gwen opened the Divination book and started flipping through its pages. As soon as she managed to find the chapter she was looking for, the girl started taking notes.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

Helen walked into the room and made her way to the study tables, eager to do her Herbology homework so it was out of the way and done with. Herbology was her worst subject but she knew that she had to work hard so she didnt get a Troll in her OWLS. 5th year is a very important year and with the many lectures of her mother about studying for the OWLS - it was impossible to forget about it. She was confident she'd get good grades in things like History Of Magic (her best subject) that she instantly took a liking to but she just didnt click with Herbology.
They were enemies but for this year only, she decided to make peace with it and become its friend (until OWLS are over at least)

A mere two weeks into the school year and he'd already been kicked out of one school and coerced into going to a new school where he knew absolutely no one. That had to be some sort of record, he thought with a mental grumble. And not that he even had the privilege of riding to school on the Hogwarts Express along with the other students and give him the chance of actually meeting someone before he arrived. Oh no, he was hand-delivered by his mum of all people. And to top it off, he got sorted into Ravenclaw? Wasn't that the house full of bookworms? Nothing about that said fun to Ethan as he contemplated just how he ended up here.

No, the newly-sorted fifth year was not in the best of moods on his first day at Hogwarts. As he made his way through the common room, he took in a cursory glance. Just as he had expected - several groups of people already engaged in conversation. Best to settle in slowly... casually... he thought, as he began to get his bearings. He spotted a couple girls sitting at a table with open books. That certainly was the Ravenclaw stereotype, he thought with a low chuckle. At any rate, it seemed like a quiet place to get used to his new surroundings so he made a beeline for the girls' table.

"How's it going?" he greeted the girls with a brief nod and subtle smile before taking his own seat. Ethan may have been in a bad mood, but his mother taught him manners and did his best to use them with the fairer of genders.

He observed the chatter of the room for a few minutes before taking the brand-new Herbology text book from his messenger bag. That was one class he was actually looking forward to and he might as well get caught up with it, already being late to the party.

Elliot had some...letters to write. Not really any homework, she had done that already...but she needed to talk to her father AND Dani. So with a roll of parchment in hand, and her favorite quill in the other, she made her way to the study tables.

She thought she saw a familiar mane of brown hair...and she plopped down in a chair next to Gwen.
"Hey, Gwen. long time no see..." she said with a smirk. Their last meeting in Diagon had been cut short by Elliot having to ruuush off. ugh.

She unrolled the parchment, but didn't start writing yet...eh...she couldn't think of what to say...

After scribbling a few more words on the nearly empty piece of parchment, the fifth year glimpsed back at her book. Ughh. Divination was so boring. Even though she disliked the subject badly, the Ravenclaw decided to at least try to focus. In the next moment, she heard footsteps approaching the study tables, but didn’t look at who it was. ‘Hello’, she eventually greeted the two Ravenclaws, not minding to raise her eyes from the book.

Gwen continued to read the second page of the chapter, writing a few sentences on the piece of parchment from time to time. Even tough she wasn’t a genius when it came to this subject, the fifth year was determined to do her best at the OWLs. Yes, including the Divination one. Failure was just something she couldn’t admit.
. . .

It was only a moment later that someone else came to the study tables. Gwendolyn was busy studying, and, once again she didn’t mind to check who it was. Though, as she heard a familiar voice call her name, the Ravenclaw raised her eyes from the Divination book. ‘Hi, Elliot’, she greeted her friend with a small smirk. ‘Right’, she mused, after having heard the other girl’s comment about not seeing each other in a long time.

‘How are you?’, Gwen eventually asked the girl, deciding to interrupt her studies for a moment. Well… Divination was to boring. Might as well take a short break. Gwen suddenly remembered the things that happened earlier that day… she had been sitting on one of the benches around the Courtyard, when people kept interrupting her while she was reading. Hmph. As if she were the most sympathetic person. Anyway, Presley was one of the people who talked to her, and the fifth year remembered her fellow Ravenclaw having said something about Elliot. Hmm. What was it? Ack, Presley had been talking a lot too fast, this making it harder for Gwendolyn to remember what the problem between her two housemates was. Actually… no. Presley never told her what really happened. Anyway, Gwen decided not to meddle in.

Elliot sighed...truthfully..."All right. Not good..not great...but not that bad. I'm...pretty...emotional lately. Which is weird, you know? And...I don't know...I am just very confused about...stuff..." she spilled out, glad to have someone she could talk to at last.

Ezra...Max...PResley...her father...all of the feelings seemed to be jumbled, somehow, into one huuuuge pile of dung in her mind, and it was making her really cranky...and since she couldn't tell Presley...Hannah and Jayden were both busy...she had been holding it ALL INSIDE.

And she felt like she might explode...like at any point in time.

But on the surface, she plastered a smirk on her face, and seemed normal. Until Gwen asked about it. Then...well, Elliot wouldn't mind confiding. Gwen seemed trustworthy, after all.

She didn't really intend on writing a letter..so she stuck the quill behind her ear...whatever. Letters could wait. For now.

Blink.

Gwen just eyed the other Ravenclaw for a moment, trying to figure out what she was actually willing to say. ‘Confused?’, the fifth year enquired. Well, she did figure as much. Elliot seemed to be rather troubled, but Gwen couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She wasn’t really the sympathetic kind of person, nor was she usually even willing to listen to what silly problems people had, but she did want to help her friend. Even though that meant having to be nice… for like… a few minutes? She could do that…

The fifth year glimpsed one more time at the book she had placed on the table, right in front of her, before looking back at Elliot. Fine. The other Ravenclaw had her full attention. Gwen placed the quill she had been holding in her hands on the piece of parchment which lay on the table. Though… maybe Elliot wasn’t willing to talk? Anyhow, the fifth year waited for a moment, just to make sure if the girl would be needing her help.

Well… not that she was a very kind person, or actually sympathetic. Not really. But she was willing to listen to what Elliot had to say. Elliot was her friend, so that was the right thing to do, yes? Of course. That seemed rational.

She watched with a raised, critical eyebrow at Gwen as she seemed to decide whether to grace Elliot with her attention or not...hmmpphh!

Sigh.

Big, deeeeep sigh.

"Well...I got into a fight with a friend, over something quite silly. ANd I have apology problems.." she rolled her eyes...stupid pride. Why was she so proud again?! Oh yeah...SHE WAS TOO AWESOME.

But anyways...AHEM.

"And then I have two boys...I like one...and the other...but one of them is not around...and I don't even think he goes here...and the other might only be using me to get over his ex...and just..." she sighed over-dramatically, resting her chin in the palm of her hand...her elbow propped up..."I just..I'm very confused...about everything...and I've never even had a crush before...so of course I now have TWO!"

WHY WAS SHE CURSED WITH SUCH AWESOMENESS?!?!

After leaving her books and school things on the table, the fifth year drew her attention to Elliot, ready to listen to whatever the Ravenclaw had to say. Fight with a friend? Something silly? Gwendolyn continued to listen to her friend, not saying a word yet. ‘Might this friend be Presley?’, she eventually asked. As about the apology problems… ’That is understandable…’ Gwen didn’t find it easy to apologize either. Oh well.

Even though she wasn’t a very sympathetic person… err… correction- almost at all a sympathetic person, Gwendolyn somehow found herself listening to everyone’s problems lately. Ari, Jory, Presley, that firstie… and now Elliot. Well… Gwen was going to do her best to help out her fellow Ravenclaw. Nod. Nod.

But then, as Elliot started talking about two boys, Gwen just raised an eyebrow. That was the huge problem?!? Tsk Tsk. That girl didn’t know her priorities. Anyways, the fifth year decided she would listen to the other Ravenclaw so… might as well stick to her original plan. ‘Have you talked to them lately?’ Stupid question, but she had to start from somewhere…

Elliot scowled...how in Merlin's name had she known? "Wait...you're friends with her?" Well they WERE in the same year...Elliot forgot a lot of times that Presley was a fifth year and not in her year..."Well, yeah. It was. What did she say about me?" she asked, her voice a bit flat, yet having a cold tone to it. BEcause Elliot wanted to know.

It might change her mind about apologizing.

Boys. "Not Ezra, but..." she sighed, blushing a bit..."I had a little...it wasn't a date...but we had tea together by the lake on Saturday." And it had confused Elliot a bit, too. "And then.. my family...Gwen, I haven't seen my father in..four months." Yep. "And..and...my family is crazy, Gwen. I don't...talk about it." No.

Her father was constantly cheating on her mother, Elliot just had to admit that to herself after seeing him with other women constantly. Her baby brother took up all of her parents' time from her. Presley was supposed to stay with her, and her father seemed very against it...and just everything at home was very...strange. Elliot missed home but hated being there at the same time. She didn;t even WANT to say any of these things to GWen, though. Maybe Hannah...MAAAAYBE Presley..but she didn't want to bother Gwen. No.

"Gwen, I'm sorry. I'll stop talking. I don't like doing this. It's against everything I've learned..." to hold everything in..

Presley lugged her bag full of books into the study area, thinking about the many things she had just learned about Elliot Morganzo. For one, the girl sometimes had real emotion. And for another, they were back to being friends. Which was good. She picked a nice table, not big enough to invite any other person to sit with them, but big enough for Presley and Elliot to spread out all of thier writing paraphenalia and get started on that letter they needed to write.

Elliot followed Presley into the common room...she had cleared her mind of whatever they just discussed. She had to focus on the letter to Mr. Black. Because Elliot wanted to help Pres...

And she was sick of talking about her sucky life at the moment.

"All right...now...you don't have to outright apologize, you know. there are ways to apologize without saying those words..." she told her, thinking back to them JUST now and how both had managed to say sorry...without even really saying sorry.

Presley nodded. "So, should I start with 'Dear Father' or just 'Father'?" Because starting was the tough part. It was the first thing he would see and it made the initil impression. She was leaning toward 'dear', because it made it seem like she missed him, which he would enjoy, even if she didn't miss him one whit.

Elliot contemplated for a second...what would she say? "Father. It shows respect while still holding your grounds. You still sound strong....but you're addressing him like he wants." She told her her suggestion...

Although, the dear might make it sound...nicer...but the point of the letter wasn't to be nice. It was to remedy their relationship. It didn't have to be nice.

The blonde glanced directly at Presley, wondering what she would decide. IT WAS SUPER IMPORTANT!

Father then. Presley dipped her best quill into the black ink and carefully penned 'Father'. She paused and sighed. "Elliot, I don't even know where to begin, and what to say to him." But she had to, didn't she?

Elliot was gifted with words. It was a Morganzo trait, she knew, because she had read in many books(written by her family, of course) about the lineage...they all ALWAYS seemed to talk themselves out of things. They could charming when need be...but usually their words were sharp, convincing, and very powerful.

Elliot knew the power of words. it was the greatest magic ever invented, a famous wizard once said..ahem, Dumbledore.

Elliot rolled her eyes at Presley. "Start off by telling him how you felt when he sent you to beauxbatons. Also address why you think that he sent you, and tell him that you can totally see where he was coming from, or whatever, and just...be very factual. Don't get too emotional...even though you're talking about your emotions." Two different things.

Elliot could differentiate...

Don't get too emotional? Did Presley ever get emotional when talking to her father? Well, if passive agressiveness was an emotion, then yes. Presley was the queen of passive aggressive.

She paused, her quill still resting on the last period. "That's too much, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. Presley dipped her quill in the ink, and crossed out the most of the last paragraph. All the way from "I failed to mention..." to the end. It sounded as if she was trying to convince him she was right, and that was the wrong way to go about this. "Merlin Elliot. Can you just write it? You're so much better with words than I am." Presley knew what she'd learned from tutors. Elliot had a talent that came naturally. And Pres would never tell her, but it made the older girl very jealous.

Hmmm.

Was she friends with Presley?

Gwen didn’t really know what to answer to that. She had known the other Ravenclaw ever since their first year at Hogwarts, but they weren’t really friends. Erm. They haven’t been extremely nice to eachother either… Gwen just remembered the time she tried not to make fun of Presley because she was talking to herself in the mirror. Pft. Gwen thought that was silly. But Presley probably thought that a lot of things Gwen did were silly too. Like the time she and Ari used a wooden board to slide over the moving staircase. Yes, Presley just happened to be passing by at the time.

Oh, anyway. Gwen just left that question unanswered, and it didn’t seem very obvious that she was avoiding the subject. Elliot continued talking shortly after asking the question so yeah. No need to bother to find out an answer, right? ‘Not much’, she replied honestly. She didn’t mean to say that Elliot was insignificant, and that Presley didn’t mention her, so better make sure the other Ravenclaw didn’t get the message wrong. ‘She seemed quite bothered, though’ Short pause there. ‘And umm… I don’t think I’m the right person to solve these problems between friends’ Apparently, Presley thought so too, or else she wouldn’t have provided only half pieces of information. ‘That’s probably the reason why she didn’t say much to me’

Gwen stopped talking, thinking that it may not be a good decision to start questioning Elliot about what happened. Because Gwen thought that she wouldn’t like to just share with people if she had a fight with any of her friends. But she was willing to listen. Then she heard the younger girl talk about the two guys. Not Ezra? Well then just pick the other one. The Ravenclaw tried not to roll her eyes. Just when she thought that Elliot would keep talking about this Ezra, she heard the fourth year say something about her family. For once, Gwen felt like willing to help out. But now, there didn’t seem to be anything she could do. Not really.

And Elliot seemed to be quite confused. And it seemed to Gwen that she stopped talking quite out of a sudden. Did she think she was just boring Gwen? ‘You are not bothering me’, she assured the other Ravenclaw, still not knowing what else she could do.

Elliot read the letting...leaning a bit over Presley...frowning. "Presley, your grammar--" she scowled, picking up a quill and trying to add a few commas here, and a few different words here...but then she stopped when Presley scratched out the last part! But now it just sounded stupid!

Elliot opened her mouth to suggest something...when the older girl asked her to write it. Well, well, well. Elliot smirked. "It would be my pleasure." She slid the parchment in front of her and ripped off the part that Presley wrote, neatly with her wand, and crumbled it up. Start afresh, eh? Ahem.

she began to write, pausing here and there, making some scratch outs that she would fix with her wand...hmmm.

Finally, "How did this sound?" she asked, sliding the parchment in front of Presley.

Elliot had her eyebrows raised..."It's...what I would write...if I were you." Elliot would probably been a lot...bolder? if it was her...but she didn't want to make Presley's father angry or anything.

Sigh. Elliot didn't want to continue, though. So she tried to grin...but kind of failed. "Well, Gwen, I don't want to talk about me anymore..." she smirked, "I know, I know, I'm pretty awesome and all...and that you would LOVE to hear about my whole life...but...what's going on with you? Anything?"

Because Elliot kind of cared. Gwen was a nice person..ish. Elliot considered her a friend!

Presley quickly read the letter Elliot had penned. It sounded good, it really did. It just didn't sound like Presley. Her father would probably never notice that. He didn't know what she sounded like because he never listened to her. Presley almost wanted to tear up the parchment and decide that she wanted nothing to do with him. However, her entire life and future hinged on her making ammends with her father. She nodded "I'll have to copy it down. He knows my handwriting." Duh. "Thank you, Elliot," Presley smiled gratefully at her friend, glad that they at least had made ammends. Presley would make only one alteration. Her middle name. She never signed a letter without it unless she was very angry with the recipient. She would add that to the letter.

"Next problem, what am I going to wear to the Holiday Soiree at the Rosier's?" She laughed, grateful that once again her biggest problem was what to wear, how to dance, and the right words to say.

"You're welcome, Pres. Anytime, really. I like using words...against people." Against people. Yep. Elliot flashed her an evil grin. She watched as Presley rewrote it...Elliot's handwriting being very curly and script, it was an obvious difference. Some people couldn't read it, but it was neat. And tidy looking.

Oh Merlin. Elliot rolled her eyes. "I haven't thought that far yet. But I'll probably wear something...well," she sighed. Every year, her family HAD to match colors..."I think my mother wants baby blue this year...for Darius." Stupid baby..."Do they sell lace in that color? Of course Madame Priscilla's does...or they would make it if I asked..." she shrugged, not really worried. Madam Priscilla's was the boutique in France her family has frequented since before Elliot was born. Presley shopped there, most pureblood women did.

Oh. Elliot should probably...tell PResley...about Maxwell.."Er, Pres? I have something of importance to..tell you..." BIIIIG SIGH..."Ihaveaboyfriend..." she said quickly, turning away so Presley wouldn't see her blush...Merlin.

Presley really was grateful that she and Elliot were friends again. Because the letter was phenomenal, and Pres would be sending it out first thing in the morning. Presley rewrote the letter in her own crisp neat handwriting, and laid it out to dry.

"Baby blue?" Presley wanted to roll her eyes. "Didn't you guys do that not to long ago? Why not step out and do something else? I mean, if you don't match them, what's the worst they can do to you?" Because no way would Pres go to a party matching her family. But she nodded. "I'm sure you could special order it if they don't have any in right now, but you'd have to get on that soon if you want quality material." Fabric masterpeices didn't happen overnight.

Presley inhaled sharply. "A boyfriend?!" She nearly shouted before glancing around to make sure she hadn't disrupted anyone's study. How in the hell had Elliot Morganzo gotten a boyfriend before Presley? Not only was Pres a year ahead of her, but she was nice to people, which was more than she could say about Elliot. But now she was being selfish. She should be happy for Elliot, even if she was so jealous it made her almost angry. "Elliot, that's great! Who?" She asked, her voice laced with excitement. But it was fake.

Not that anybody would be able to tell. Only Presley would know that inside she wanted to go for a run and then dance until all of her muscles ached so that she could forget all of this. So she could pretend that she wasn't jealous and she didn't care about boyfriends.

Elliot sighed and rolled her eyes..."We did lavender. And Presley...if I don't match, my mother will complain to my father. And then he'll make me extremely guilty...and plus...it's just what we do." Matching. It didn't bother Elliot as much anymore...since her mother stopped giving her and Dani and Sam the SAME outfits...thank Merlin they didn't do that anymore..."I will write to Mother and tell her what I want, then. I hope we have a nanny...because if we don't get one soon she might not make it til Christmas," she smirked at the thought of a nanny...hhhmmm. Would she try to make this lady's life hell? She didn't know yet. It depended.

And...Presley sounded really happy. Like, reeeaally happy. Almost too happy. Elliot raised her eyebrow suspiciously...but didn't say anything. "Maxwell Lupin. He's a pureblood, don't worry," she said before Pres could even ask. "He's really nice to me. Way nicer than my father ever was to my mother in my entire life. And he may be a Gryffindor..." she scowled...a gryffindor. She couldn't believe she liked a Gryffindor. "But he's not a dudderhead...like some of them." All of them.

She smirked at Presley..."You should meet him. He...well, he set up this really nice picnic for me in the Orchid...it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." And it was nice...to have a male actually listen to what you say. Elliot so wasn't used to that, not with her father.

Presley rolled her eyes. Matching was so...juvenile. Whatever. Not the thing to worry about here. "You know, nannies aren't really all they're cracked up to be," spoke the voice of experience. They didn't even do everything you wanted them to. If it wasn't in her job description, she didn't do it. Brutal.

"Maxwell Lupin?" Presley exclaimed. "I met his step-sister the other day." Presley lowered her voice as if telling a grave secret. "She's a little touched. And I feel bad, because I was a little mean to her at first, before I figured it out, you know?" Presley instantly returned to the more important subject. Maxwell. The words swam around in her head Nice, Pureblood, Father, picnic, Orchard, meet him.... Those were all great things, but not the point. "Is he attractive?" Presley asked. Great if he was nice and all, but if he was ugly, what was the point?