This... was a possible disaster of a mission already, but for King Botros, Sophie was willing to try to reach out to the person she thought looked like needed the assigned "friendly and nice" more than anyone: Daxton Prince.

Sophie had been watching this kid all term. Not in a weird creepy way, but just... observing him. She wasn't really sure what to make of him - she just knew it was best to probably stay out of his way most of the time. He was ALWAYS brooding and looked inconvenienced to be around people, and he never said a word to ANYONE ever... and he didn't smile or laugh or have fun, and aside from Rea telling her that SHE had made somewhat of a connection with the Prince boy, Soph hadn't seen him being friends with anyone else. He was a loner, but... maybe he liked it that way. Maybe he didn't want friends or people around him.

Still, that wasn't going to stop Soph from trying to reach out to him. He was still a human being and deserved to be treated as such. She wasn't going to avoid him because he gave off an unfriendly appearance. Maybe deep down he was super sweet and super kind, but just gravely misunderstood.

So, Head Girl Sophie Brown was HERE TO UNDERSTAND.

Curled up in an armchair early on a Saturday morning, Soph let Daxton's handmade gift hang from one of her knees with her legs pulled in toward her chest, attentively watching the stairs for the first year to descend, planning out just what in Merlin's name she was going to say to the boy. She had to be sensitive and delicate, and just in case she caught him without a notepad or something to reply, she had one of her own laying open near her on the table with a self-inking quill at the ready.

What could possibly go wrong?

Despite living in a castle with an excessive amount of people, and even sharing a dormitory with a small horde of other boys, Daxton had, for the most part, managed to keep up his solitary lifestyle. It helped that nobody seemed to want to bother him, and tended to leave him alone. There were... exceptions, but generally, Daxton kept very much to himself.

He had a habit of breakfasting early, to avoid the crowds of students and staff. After grabbing himself some dry toast, finding a well-hidden nook in the castle to eat in and read from a book he had borrowed from a professor, Daxton had returned to the common room to collect more books and writing supplies.

Observant as Daxton was, it was impossible to miss the Head Girl in the otherwise empty common room, but as her presence meant very little to him, he simply ignored her and crossed the floor, heading for the door up to the dormitories.

A few others had passed through the room and Soph had perked up every time, but none of them had been the first year she wanted to see, so she settled back into her armchair and simply greeted everyone warmly as they went to breakfast.

That is, until Daxton entered through the DOOR instead of down the stairs, and Soph sat up quickly the moment she spotted him, her mouth hanging open as she fought for words... but what could she say to him that wouldn't end with him ignoring her?

"'scuse me, Daxton? D'you have a sec?" Soph rose to her feet, intentionally very conscious of her body language and trying to look relaxed and poised in such a way that it wouldn't make the boy feel threatened nor, hopefully, inconvenienced. "I promise you're not in trouble and I'm not gonna try to make you talk or anything?" she reassured him a bit uncertainly, lightly fidgeting with the necklace in her hands. Would he give her a moment to talk, or would he blow her off? She was anticipating the latter, really, but she had to try.

At first, Daxton did not realise that the Head Girl, Sophie Brown, was talking to him, because for what reason would she, or anyone, be talking to him. But upon hearing his name, he stopped in his tracks and looked towards her, blinking.

He eyed her, somewhere between curious and suspicious, and stayed exactly where he was. Eventually, Daxton nodded, cautious, and also mildly amused at even the suggestion that Sophie Brown thought that she could make him talk.

Well? What did she want?

...Sweet Merlin, he actually STOPPED.

The relief very clearly showing on her face and a big ol' grin giving away her elation, Sophie took a moment to re-gather her thoughts. It had been one big feat for him to stop for her at all - now she had to... be... sensitive, and hopefully not cause the boy to just stare at her or turn around and walk away, unimpressed. She anticipated that kind of reaction because she'd seen him do that to people before, but it was an undesirable reaction, of course, so she had to SELL THIS.

"Thanks." For stopping. Ahem. "I... y'know how for our runes class, we're supposed to pick someone we don't know from our house and try to do something nice for 'em? Well... I mean, I know - I mean, I THINK... I can tell you want to be left alone all the time, but you're one of the only Ravenclaws I haven't gotten to know. So." Was he walking away yet? "I thought I'd try to do something for you that... doesn't require... you to have to talk to me, and I'm not gonna try to be in your business and make you tell me your life story. M'sure y'don't want that at all, so in lieu of the assignment, m'gonna NOT do that as one act of kindness."

Heh. Heh. A little bit funny, right? There was some light nervous laughter on Soph's part, and after a moment she shrugged and held the necklace out for him to see, the rune part facing him. "But I don't think Botros'll like that, so I made this for you. S'a rune necklace, with Wunjo on it. M'sure y'know Wunjo is supposed to bring joy," and you look like you need that, "and I thought the rune looks cool - like, a P for Prince, right?" Heh? Yes? Maybe? "So I found a nice smooth stone and carved the rune into it and I had to read a book to make the necklace part like this, it's adjustable, see?" She held it up for him to see and adjusted the rope part a little to make it shorter, then made it longer for demonstration purposes. "That way y'can wear it whatever length y'like. So. It's practical, doesn't look terrible, might bring y'happiness... I mean, no one has to know it's from me, m'not gonna go 'round telling anyone, but it could... I mean..."

She gave a helpless sort of shrug, her expression sheepish. "It's for you. I didn't make it for anyone else. I'd like for you to have it, not just 'cause of the assignment, but 'cause..." Another shrug. "I think you deserve happiness, too."

...Please?

Daxton blinked again, a slow, judging blink. He knew the assignment the Head Girl was talking about, very vividly remembered greeting said assignment with a roll of his eyes and a silent refusal to complete the task on the grounds that it was utterly inane and would have done little to aid him in his understanding of runes.

She was doing it though, the assignment. And she had chosen him as the recipient for her... nice gesture.

Suspicious. Very suspicious, and though Sophie Brown was stood here explaining herself, as verbose as she tended to get in classes, all Daxton could really think was Why? People did not do nice things for him, and he did not do nice things for other people, and that was the way he liked it. He could not help but feel that there was some sort of ulterior motive at play here; if he accepted, would he be in the Head Girl's debt? Perhaps it was that this was not actually a nice gesture at all, and simply another student obsessed with house points and homework, being nice for the sake of a homework assignment, in a gesture they never would have done had they not been prompted by points. Perhaps using him as an extra bonus because he was solitary, friendless (in his own opinion), and generally avoided by everyone. Somehow, all that sounded better to him than being in someone's debt.

As she prattled on, Daxton eyed the necklace that was presented. What would he gain by taking it, and, more importantly, what would he lose? He could always sell it on, he supposed, if it turned out to be defective or otherwise problematic. He could sell it on no matter what, in fact; it was not like he could not do with the money.

Though Daxton did believe in the magic of runes - it was an indisputable fact, if what he had read was true - he did not quite believe that even these would bring him joy. You probably had to feel capable of feeling that in the first place; even magic had its limits. As for deserving happiness... that was another matter entirely.

Without saying a word, without a change of expression, Daxton reached out and - being very, very careful not to accidentally make physical contact, even just the faintest brush of skin-on-skin - he plucked the necklace out of the Head Girl's hand and held it up, dangling it front of his face so that the carved Wunjo rune was at eye level. His eyes tracked its gentle pendulum swing in the air for a moment and, as the rune steadily rotated out of sight, he turned his gaze back to Sophie Brown and stared at her again, still holding the necklace.

Suspicious. It was all very suspicious.

Where were all the Ravenclaws?

Davie liked this spot because he genuinely liked studying, and studying in the Ravenclaw common room made him feel like he was getting smarter just by the osmosis of all his intelligent peers' auras. Or whatever the Divination textbook had said. Today he was studying Transfiguration, one of his best subjects, and it would help if he had a peer around. He could understand if no one else wanted to study at 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon though. It was March. It was pleasant outside. He forgave them. But as for him, he was going to do some Transfiguration.

Clearing his throat from the couch where he sat, Davie made sure there was a good amount of phlegm in his throat, and then sunk down a little lower into the couch cushions. He pulled a small fork he'd borrowed from lunch out and set it on his leg, then lazily waved his wand at it, muttering, "Scribblifourrrrs," as lazily as possible. He imagined this was how Slytherins who didn't care if their silver went missing said the spell.

Naturally, the fork did nothing. Well, it quivered a bit, but it certainly didn't transform into a quill as was the intent of the spell. Right. Davie made note of that on his parchment resting on the couch's armrest, and tried again, this time with precise language: "Scribblifors!" he squeaked, still with poor posture, his head drooping onto his chest. The bottom of the fork, the handle part, seemed to sharpen slowly into a quill-like point, but what was the use of a quill that still had tings to it? It was-- it was a quork! Or a forill! Fascinating. Davie picked it up and admired it in the light, jotting down a simple sketch of his newly invented device.

Now, now he needed to do the spell properly, and put this little fork out of its misery. The first year straightened up his posture, held the quork out in front of him, and cleared his throat importantly. Time to focus on what he really wanted: a simple quill. "Scribblifors!" Davie cast confidently, watching as the fork finished its transfiguration into a real and proper quill, featherly light at one end, and razor sharp for ink at the other. Perrrrrrfect.

He tickled his cheek with the quill and then dipped it into his inkpot to finish his notes--- and to test out its transfigured quality. There, that wasn't so bad. He could probably answer all his questions based on this little experiment...

Sabbath was sitting on the floor, in the corner with his back leaning against the wall, he'd been alone tinkering on his guitar before he'd heard someone coming in. He'd stopped playing and watched as David entered the room and sat on the couch clearing his throat. He still hadn't noticed Sabbath observing quietly in the corner.

Sabbath smirked to himself as David practiced transfiguring a fork balanced on his knee, using odd voices, finally having success with the transformation and tickling himself on the face with the quill. Obviously, the kid was impossibly studious, in here at 4pm on a Friday doing homework. Now that he thought of it, Sabbath had completely forgotten to do his, he realised that a golden opportunity had just been laid before him. "Hey, David" Sabbath piped up, giving a grin "Do you think I could get a copy of those notes of yours - there's a chocolate frog in it for you". Sabbath started the stakes low, he had more lollies to bargain with if David was keen to cough up the notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpio Vulpeculae

Sabbath was sitting on the floor, in the corner with his back leaning against the wall, he'd been alone tinkering on his guitar before he'd heard someone coming in. He'd stopped playing and watched as David entered the room and sat on the couch clearing his throat. He still hadn't noticed Sabbath observing quietly in the corner.

Sabbath smirked to himself as David practiced transfiguring a fork balanced on his knee, using odd voices, finally having success with the transformation and tickling himself on the face with the quill. Obviously, the kid was impossibly studious, in here at 4pm on a Friday doing homework. Now that he thought of it, Sabbath had completely forgotten to do his, he realised that a golden opportunity had just been laid before him. "Hey, David" Sabbath piped up, giving a grin "Do you think I could get a copy of those notes of yours - there's a chocolate frog in it for you". Sabbath started the stakes low, he had more lollies to bargain with if David was keen to cough up the notes.

There weren't many Ravenclaws Davie didn't have a reason to trust, but Sabbath... would be one of the ones he watched closely. The kid was always at war with their other dormmate, Daxton, and he had a strange, almost adult, sense of humour. The problem today was that Davie hadn't watched Sabbath closely enough and now he had more or less sneaked up on the more studious Ravenclaw.

Davie blinked at Sabbath's request, then pushed his glasses up his nose so he could look down at his notes. "What happened to your notes?" he asked quietly, looking up again and considering the offer of a chocolate frog. Hmmmmm. He did like chocolate and he WAS on a mission to collect all the cards... but Sabbath probably knew that already. He was probably UP to something......... something worse than just getting his homework done...

After the first one, Sabbath had not even bothered to turn up to his transfiguration classes, he figured that a good read over of the text book and paying someone else off to do the homework would probably suffice for a passing grade. As David looked interested in possibly making the deal, Sabbath got up from the floor, slung his guitar over his shoulder and made his way over to him on the couch. “My bag got stolen and all my notes are gone”, Sabbath lied, in response to David’s query on the whereabouts of his notes. He pulled a downcast expression in an effort to invoke some sympathy. “It’d be impossible for me to catch up now, unless you help me with a copy of your homework and notes. Do me a favour, hey?” Sabbath took a chocolate frog out of his robes pocket and held it in his hand so that David could see it.


“You seem really smart and I couldn't think of anyone better to ask. Besides, we're dorm mates". Sabbath clapped him on the shoulder as he buttered him up. Anyway, a clever kid like you, I bet you’ve done most of the homework already, and answered all the questions on the transfig noticeboard?” he nodded towards David’s notes. Before he sealed the deal he wanted to make sure that the homework was finished and of a decent standard, because he intended to submit a copy of David’s homework verbatim to Professor York and it pass it off as his own.

His bag was stolen, was it? "Hmmmmmmmm," Davie dragged the thinking sound out loud this time. "That sucks. Hope you reported it to Mister Kitridge." He kept his tone light, not sympathetic, but not un-sympathetic either. "Come to think of it, were you in the Hospital Wing or something the last class? I keep having to partner up with Slytherins or Gryffindors in our lessons... it makes me wonder where all the first years have gone."

He stared down his dormmate with his intense blue eyes, not in an accusing way necessarily, but certainly in a piercing manner that sought the truth. He eyed his own homework again, and making a quick decision, tapped the parchment with his wand so the entire thing rolled up tightly and sealed itself. This Davie tucked into the inner pocket of his robes, right over his heart, so it would be safe until he turned it in. "Sorry, mine's sealed. You can borrow my notes though, in exchange for that frog."

He collected a few bits of parchment from his bag, all covered in excruciating detail, and tapped them into a tidy pile. Obviously Davie was really smart, clever, and dorm mates with Sabbath. None of that won him over. The chocolate frog though? He could trade a few notes for that. Sabbath probably wouldn't even read 'em in enough detail to pass the homework, so what was the harm.

“Yeah, I reported it already, that's what I was doing last lesson”, Sabbath replied dismissively as he watched David seal up his homework and slip it into his pocket. He stifled a smirk, he could see David was going to be a tough nut to crack, but he had David figured. He’d bet a hundred galleons that David was the kind of kid who collected frog cards.

Sabbath shrugged, “Come to think of it, I don’t think the deal is worth it without the homework part. I guess I’ll keep this chocolate frog for myself then". He started to open the frog while keeping David talking “Hey, you’re not a card collector are you?” Sabbath thought, if luck was on his side, it might be a card that David wanted.

He flipped open the wrapper, “Oh, look, Felix Summerbee… You know, I’ve heard he’s kind of rare. Got him, have you?” he paused waiting to see David’s reaction. "Cos’ if you don’t, we could still work something out”, he said, moving the card so that David could see the moving picture of Summerbee. Of course, the deal would be David unsealing his homework and handing it over, but, that would depend on whether the fortunes were smiling on Sabbath and Summerbee was a card that David wanted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpio Vulpeculae

“Yeah, I reported it already, that's what I was doing last lesson”, Sabbath replied dismissively as he watched David seal up his homework and slip it into his pocket. He stifled a smirk, he could see David was going to be a tough nut to crack, but he had David figured. He’d bet a hundred galleons that David was the kind of kid who collected frog cards.

Sabbath shrugged, “Come to think of it, I don’t think the deal is worth it without the homework part. I guess I’ll keep this chocolate frog for myself then". He started to open the frog while keeping David talking “Hey, you’re not a card collector are you?” Sabbath thought, if luck was on his side, it might be a card that David wanted.

He flipped open the wrapper, “Oh, look, Felix Summerbee… You know, I’ve heard he’s kind of rare. Got him, have you?” he paused waiting to see David’s reaction. "Cos’ if you don’t, we could still work something out”, he said, moving the card so that David could see the moving picture of Summerbee. Of course, the deal would be David unsealing his homework and handing it over, but, that would depend on whether the fortunes were smiling on Sabbath and Summerbee was a card that David wanted.

Ohhh right right. Sure, that made sense. What a convenient answer. Sabbath certainly belonged in Ravenclaw because he was smart... smart and devious, that is. He shrugged as Sabbath said he would keep the card then, but didn't get up just yet. What if he had one of the ones Davie still needed?!!

Nope, he didn't. "That's too bad," David smirked, "because I do have Felix Summerbee." He scooted forward on the couch and stuffed his notes back in his bag. "Guess you won't be needing those, mate. Good luck with your homework..." or his chocolate frog eating and swindling. He picked up his bag and tossed it on his shoulder.

Sabbath smirked, David was even smarter than what he'd given him credit for. Was he trying to call his bluff? When Sabbath had secretly looked through David's collection of cards in the dorm earlier, there was no Felix Summerbee in his pack. Of course, it was still possible David was telling the truth, and he had the card stashed elsewhere. But, Sabbath thought it was probably unlikely.

At that moment David had gained a newfound respect from Sabbath. He could appreciate someone who kept their wits about them. In actual fact, the chocolate frog that Sabbath had just unwrapped, had really had a common 'Harry Potter' card inside, Sabbath had switched the cards using slight of hand for the Summerbee card he thought David wanted. But all was not going as planned.

Sabbath pocketed the Summerbee card in his breast pocket, tapping it with his hand for safe keeping and smiled at David. "That's ok, if you change your mind, you know where to find me". He leant back on the sofa and picked up his guitar. He hoped David would have a change of heart quickly because the homework was due by tomorrow. He also wondered how long it would take David to realise that someone had indeed tampered with his card collection and that there was a noticebly absent 'Mopsus' card missing from the stack.

David probably wouldn't change his mind, but he would go double-check his collection to make sure he hadn't just turned down a valuable card. What if Sabbath had taken out his Felix Summerbee card, and that was the one he'd just turned down?

Still, it wasn't worth getting in trouble over homework for, and he really didn't want to lose favor with pretty Professor York. So the first year trodded up to the dorm, just giving Sabbath a wave bye in response to him.

Kitty really hated having to combed her own hair. Back home her older sister always did it for her, and at her old school in Romania (where she had attended her first three school years) her best friend had done it. But here at Hogwarts she had no friends, and felt awkward approaching people to ask them to comb her hair.

True, she was 14 - and most 14 year olds didn't have any problems combing their own hair. But Kitty loved her straight hair so much that her hands would tremble whenever she touched a comb for fear that she would mess it up - and then that trembling would always ruin it a little.

And so that was why Kitty found herself sitting down on one of the blue sofa's in the Ravenclaw Common Room, reading a book on charms. She really should have been studying homework (considering that she had ditched the first few lesson). but first she wanted to learn a spell that would just straighten her hair. Couldn't be that hard, right?