homework before the holidays

[Elisabeth McKnight]

The last week before Christmas was probably not a good idea to start on more revision, but Ellie had figured she could get all the help she could before most students left for the holidays. She was one of those who planned to stay, mostly because Aurelia was (the girls’ respective parents learned long since that both girls at one house usually spelled disaster of some sort and thus were careful to limit their association over holidays). As it was, she got to the dorms, tripped over the threshold and gave it an evil glare before glancing around, spying one of her dormmates in.

The other girl, a Miss Annie Binns, with whom Ellie was on rather odd terms (by her own definition, anyhow), didn’t seem to notice that she was no longer on her own, so Ellie chirped a polite “Good day” toward her roommate to alert her to her presence. She was not at all curious about whatever it was the other girl was doing since everyone was always up to something, but she did brighten up at the possible prospect of getting to know the other girl a little better. After four years’ worth, they knew some things about the other, which was hard not to given they inhabited the same dorm, but given they largely did not associate, it was often hard to say what the other girl was thinking most of the time.

As such, she hummed quietly under her breath, considering her options as she danced from foot to foot, having grabbed the materials she intended to tackle, the essays this time. She’d had enough practical work to last her in a while, especially as she’d been caught by her own House’s prefect during the latest attempt. “Would you like to join me in the common room for a bit of study?” She asked curiously, wondering what the other girl would make of the offer. “Don’t worry, it’s just theory this time around.” Everyone and their hats by now knew of her troubles with spell-work, so she didn’t expect anyone to be around for those messes!


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Annie had been so excited about Christmas. She more or less wanted to know what everyone would be getting her, but nonetheless enjoyed her time not having to do schoolwork. She pondered the ideas of possibly having some new jewelery to show off to her friends, a new book to read, or some clothing that wouldn't make her so boring.

She did have another week to drag herself through unfortunately... She'd been studying so diligently and thought it was unfair that she was rewarded with a horrible case of impatience. Sprawled about were her books and papers, completely unorganized. Annie wasn't one to keep things in order, even though it could have benefited her in the long run. She had secluded herself in the dorm room and had it not been for a pleasantly toned voice, she would have remained alone.

It was Elisabeth, at least, and not one of the annoying ones. Though, some of her actions caused Annie's eye to twitch such as her never failing ability to be happy and flitting about the room. She had almost jumped at the sound of Elisabeth's voice considering the peaceful atmosphere, but immediately looked in her direction. "Why hello!" Annie spoke, closing one of her books. She supposed it wouldn't be as rude compared to keeping it open. It was in thought that she wanted to obtain more friends, so this could be a great opportunity - especially since they were in the same year and had already spent so long together.

Studying... She had done a lot already but... Oh well. She couldn't turn away the possibility of keeping herself busy. At least it was in company, as well. "Sounds like a plan. Theory seems a great place to focus." She semi-chuckled, knowing fare well of her classmates spell-work. Annie began bundling her materials together to join Elisabeth in the common room. She was quite thankful that Elisabeth had not been seeking her as a result of Peeve's cruel pranks. Since Jane had previously been a victim, Annie had been weary of falling prey to such foolish displays of amusement yet wondered if Elisabeth had experienced such things over the weeks. "Hey, did you happen to see Peeve's actions recently? I've only heard about it, but it was quite amusing." Annie finished grabbing her things and began walking out of the dorm. She hoped this odd conversation starter wasn't off-putting. "I can't believe the lengths he would go... Honestly." She was still caught up about this, more so because she was nervous of actually getting stuck beneath a piece of plant and have to kiss someone... or something!

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

Ugh, Peeves. She had sworn revenge, and she should attempt extracting said revenge, and given she was staying for the holidays, the half-baked plan she had should be fairly easy to execute. Waiting for Annie to join her, Ellie giggled nonetheless. “You mean the fireworks one or the mistletoe one?” She asked in amusement, entertained despite herself. “The second one caused quite the fuss!”

None the least of which was her own, but she deemed it wise not to have her own experience mentioned, as it didn’t look like she’d find any sympathy here. Not that she was looking for it in almost unfamiliar faces and she could go complain to Rorie later. “I’ve even seen, considering some people ended up being stuck while they waited for the curious ones to clear off,” she added with a giggle. “Those twigs’re all over the place, though I’m sure the common room and the dorms are quite safe. I hope.”

She had no wish for repeat performance after having to go through one herself but she did find it most entertaining to listen to the grapevine about others. “And why not? It’s Peeves. I mean he did set up all those fireworks in the Great Hall, remember the confusion he caused?” That had kept her entertained so much that she ended up looking for when the next one was going to explode. “Can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next.” Hugging her book bag to her, she wandered into the common room as she chattered, pausing enough to ensure that the other girl was following and not at all concerned with the fact that sometimes her chatter could cause an eyebrow twitch of annoyance. One couldn’t please everyone, after all, and she was what she was, and there was no helping it.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

"Oh yes, I can't believe it often... The fireworks were an awful mess and the mistletoe just appalling..." Annie said, following Elisabeth. It was easier to speak to someone about this her own age or even house, considering most would either shrug away the thought of the pranks if they had been caught in one. She wasn't sure if her roommate was trying to avoid speaking about her own incident, yet hadn't cared much to pursue an answer. "Twigs indeed... And I swear if he makes a move towards either area, he'll have another thing coming." She really didn't want to partake in any of Peeve's plans and would rather lock herself in a closet before having the prankster appear before her to laugh in her face. Though... he could just go through the doors of the closet... She wasn't safe! That's all she knew.

Annie had been, so far, getting along nicely with Elisabeth - seemingly surprised over anything else. While she hadn't any qualms about the girl, meeting new people in general was a task on its own and provided her with a great deal of nerves. Accompanied by the uneasy feeling about Peeves roaming the halls, Annie had not known how her arms weren't shaking or how her books weren't sprawled about the floor. "Yeah I guess you're right, and really what can we do about it but sit and watch everything unfold... I'm just glad Christmas is approaching - though I think Peeves is just a little too giving." Annie appreciated the fact that Elisabeth had not skipped too far away from her. The books were quite heavy after all and caused a little lag towards the common room.

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

Ellie had to give an amused laugh, despite having found the second incident bit more disagreeable than the first. “I found it more fun than an awful mess,” she confessed, shaking her head at the thought. “Of course it took hours to get the smell off, which wasn’t as funny, and I wager he’d been warned against messing with the dorms,” she speculated, putting a finger to her lips. “I mean, we didn’t have any trouble from him in there for as long as we’ve been, had we?” Now that she thought about it, the dormitories seemed to be the safest place to be.

Pausing, she found a table where they could comfortably seat herself and nodded toward it. “What do you think of over here? And yes, he’s gone a bit over the top this time. I shudder to think what he’ll come up with next, really, imagination knows no bounds.” Despite giggling and everything, Ellie wasn’t very happy with the way he was too giving, as Annie has put it. “I’ll be most happy if he finds other ways to amuse himself…though maybe not.”

As an occasional mischief-maker herself, the girl could think of hundred and one ideas that could go through the poltergeist’s mind, and that’s just her, a fourth year student. She shuddered to imagine what about thousand years’ worth of experience could wreak on the school, and as such, put it out of her mind for now. No need to worry about what could have beens when she had present to focus on.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

"I really hope it stays that way too... I mean, imagine what he could do in here if permitted; half of the girls would be crouched in a corner!" Annie meant her words to be serious, however let a soft chuckle hum at the thought of her roommates huddled together. Talking to someone about these events was relieving to her and allowed her to get many of the insecurities about them out in the open. Annie noticed Elisabeth's nod and rushed to the table before her books slipped out of her grasp.

"Seems perfect to me." She huffed. Even before saying so, she had already claimed the space lest she be known as the klutz in the common room. "You know, I say we out smart him and escape unscathed... For the most part at least." She seemed hopeful, yet with all this talk, Peeves could be lurking around a corner somewhere and stalk them upon leaving the safety of the area. "But yes, I guess we can even relate him to some of our classmates who survive off of silly pranks alone. Though, none of them can fly through walls now can they? Lucky for us!" She laughed and sat herself down at the table.

Annie preferred sarcasm and witty banter over pranks any day, so allowing herself to stoop to Peeve's level wasn't favorable to say the least. Though, maybe that is what she had to do to be evasive in his devious plots.

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

Ellie giggled and shook her head. She personally found it quite fun, well, aside from when she’d been on receiving end of it, but decided she wasn’t going to mention anything of it to the other girl. “Well, there’s nothing we can do, I mean people have tried and he’s still here, isn’t he?” She asked with a dejected sigh, though inwardly, she was delighted. “I’m just happy he isn’t, means we’re safe from poltergeist accidents in addition to others.” By which she meant her own mishaps as well as those for other students unfortunate enough not to get things learned on first try. True, the poltergeist was an annoyance, but a fun one, and one among those who made things interesting at Hogwarts, though ‘interesting’ was probably putting it mildly.

Plopping her books down and taking a seat, she gave an amused giggle, though her eyes lit up. Finally, Annie was talking her language, so to speak, but Ellie still had no clue what could get to a poltergeist with years of experience on them, even if the other girl only meant at evading his pranks entirely. That would put a one up on him, too, after all. “Yes, we are, and we could certainly try,” she said eagerly. She was careful not to speak too loudly and ensured the table in question was well within the sight of anyone who might be passing them by, but they could certainly exchange ideas if any came up during their impromptu revision.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Annie knew Peeves had been prevalent in mishaps at Hogwarts for some time now and, with Elisabeth's words, tried her best to push aside thoughts of possibly exiling the poltergeist. "I suppose you're right." She agreed. After all, without Peeve's intervention, the halls may never be clogged with on-lookers or gossip... So in some ways, he was needed to provide Annie and her roommates with something to talk about; such as the conversation her and Elisabeth were having. "I for one am glad we can study in peace here without any fuss." With all the talk about peeves, she had thought it best to direct attention towards the books in case someone else had been listening.

"Speaking of..." Hinted Annie as she opened one of her many books. "How much theory had you plan to cover before the holiday?"

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

“Just enough to avoid clogging my brain in a hurry after it,” Ellie chirped, opening her own book upon decision to tackle Charms homework first. “I need all the readings done I can get so I can get in some actual spelling practice, though I’ll take it in short bursts to memorize better. You know me and my love for mishaps with unfamiliar spells,” she giggled, knowing that Annie had most likely witnessed at least one of said mishaps, as she had taken to practicing in the common room lately. The former seemed to be quite all right to practice in, but she avoided doing so in the dorms. She thought her dormmates would, for one, appreciate the lack of mess, and for the other, there was no one to help out, more often than not, if she was stuck.

The other topic was closed and she was quite happy for it, considering she could’ve easily slipped up and given away her own mistletoe misadventure, as she referred to it by now. She had yet to complain to Rorie about it, too, but the other girl wasn’t about as she hoped she’d be and Ellie wondered if she wasn’t looking hard enough. Deciding she would do so later, as she knew her best friend was planning on staying for the holidays, the girl attempted to focus on her book, deciding that in this instance, she agreed with Annie – Peeves in the common rooms would be chaos, panic, and confusion none of them needed and most would not appreciate.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Annie laughed at the girl's remarks. It was indeed surprising how the first spell casts went and she just couldn't figure it out at times. But... she was happy that Elisabeth refrained from doing so in the dorms - at least to her knowledge - to prevent any of her belongings from exploding or flying about. "That's about the same to what I've been doing." Annie began, "Though I tend to lose focus and start again another time..." It seemed as though she were interrupted every time she sat down to study; here's hoping to a change.

"So you're staying for the holidays?" She asked, flipping through a similar book to Elisabeth's. She had known about a few of her classmates doing just the same and hadn't anything against it. Annie wanted to spend time with her family, her father especially, as they hadn't been together for some months now. However, getting away from the school in general for a short while was an added bonus.

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

That was in part the very precaution to keep their belongings safe was why Ellie kept her practices out of the dorm, not to mention it was both amusement to others, exasperation for her, and a bid to find help if she needed it really badly. There were enough older students out and about that could help her out of a pickle if there was need for it, and everyone in the dorm was probably happy for lowered amount of noise some of her spells caused.

“I tend to stick to it until I’m done, though over short periods,” Ellie explained, picking up the thread of conversation easily enough. “It’s far easier to do while your mind’s already occupied with the subject, I find. Though a break is appreciated once or twice. Kitty, shoo. Quills are not mice.” Gently shooing the ginger cat who decided to join them, Ellie ensured the cat was comfortably situated where she could see both girls and giggled in amusement. “She tends to chew my quills,” she explained with a shrug. “I should probably find her a nice snack for Christmas, should be easy enough here.”

As to Annie’s other question, it was quite the obvious one. “Yes, I am. My best friend’s spending it here, too, so I’m keeping her company, though she would, of course, insist it’s otherwise.” She then had to giggle. “Though I believe it’s more that our respective parents decided that keeping us in the same place was more trouble than was worth.” Take that little adventure with Mr. Grindy, for example. Ellie still wasn’t sure who came out of it more alive, but it certainly taught her to steer clear from the Grindylows. “What about you? Are you staying?” There were places they could be once holiday truly started, she decided, turning the page after carefully reading it, but it just wasn’t the same sometimes.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Annie was pleasantly surprised to see how the cat so casually walked up to the table and began chewing on the quill. She couldn't help herself from laughing as the day presented itself with quite a few mishaps so far. After Elisabeth placed the cat a fair distance away, Annie responded to the cat's actions. "I'd sure hope so. There seems to be a decent supply of vermin... Especially those people bring as pets. Ick... I can't imagine living with one of those by my bed, or in it!" She shuddered at the thought, and looked towards the cat.

After hearing Elisabeth's plans, Annie found it nice that her roommate would be able to spend the holidays with a friend - a best one at that. It would be awfully lonely otherwise and knowing the girl, she needed someone to talk to. She also let out a soft giggle. "No, no. I'm going to be spending the holiday back at home with my family. I've been writing to my father for some months now and it will be nice to finally spend some time together!" She had already been packing ahead of time for the holiday and wasn't going to waste a moment arriving home.

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

She hummed in thought in response to vermin. “I seem to be more averse about the toads,” she giggled. “Though it must be mostly due the fact that one of them followed me around like a lovelorn fool for a bit.” Giving a mock shudder at the thought, she avoided mentioning the fact that said best friend was using the poor creature for her potions experiment. “It really is fortunate my cat hadn't been experimented on yet, she gets into all sorts of places.” Like pet, like mistress in this case, too, though Ellie didn’t think Annie needed to know that particular fact if she didn’t know it already.

As to the plans, she was really rather happy that some wanted to go home for the holidays, Annie being no exception. “I hope you have fun, then,” she chirped, wondering at what she was missing this year. No matter, she was going to find out the year after, for she often alternated staying at school with going home for Christmas. It was just one of those things to keep her from being bored. However, each made their own plans, and if the other girl was excited to spend time with her family, she’d be just happy for her roommate, because, really, it wasn’t like she was, at all, on her own.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Ugh toads. Annie hadn't liked them either... Though the only pets she could tolerate were the cats or owls. If one of them had found their way into her bed one night, her roommates may have never heard the end of it. "They are so hard to manage at times... I'm surprised it's stayed in the common room for so long to be honest." Annie never had much experience with pets, but with her fill at the school, she hadn't the need for one at home. She gazed over at the cat and roller her eyes slightly though not in the direction of Elisabeth. "But that would be quite horrible... Especially with our classmates' minds; I would never let that thing out of my sight!" She laughed and returned to an uneasy frown after thinking about what she had just said. She didn't want Elisabeth to think letting her cat roam was wrong, though what was one to do about managing a pet between classes and studying? It wasn't at all possible unless they carried it in a bag or something.

"Thank you! I hope the same for you - and your friend as well!" Annie was rather excited and happy at this time of year so she couldn't control what she said or how she said it. Her speech was enthusiastic to say the least. Returning her focus to the books, she flipped a few pages and immersed herself in the art of studying.

  

[Elisabeth McKnight]

Ellie grinned fondly over at the cat, who now started on cleaning her paws. “Ah, she’s usually fine. Cat’s own luck, you know? And tends to calm down at around this time, and then I’ll go look for her to call her back in if she runs off,” she giggled, though she had to agree with the other girl’s opinion. “It’s not a thing, or an it, they usually have names,” she added, slightly indignant on behalf of her cat and possible other critters so insulted. Giving an amused shrug at the latter’s words, though, Ellie hummed and bit the tip of her quill as she wrote with the other one – well, Kitty had a right to attempt chewing this one, it was of sugar variety, though she never chewed those that were actually meant for writing.

“Thank you, though I hope the school survives everyone who decides on staying as well,” she giggled as she glanced sideways toward Annie. She and Rorie put together were sometimes bit much, and she heard down the grapevine that they weren’t the only ones with mischief inclination staying around, and that’s not counting Peeves. Of course, considering that the school managed so far, she was mostly joking and hoped the other girl understood it as such. That being said, she returned to her own book. It was, after all, her suggestion they study, and if she was chattering, it wasn’t like she was getting any work done despite the fact that she was.


@Annie Binns

  

[Annie Binns]

Annie raised her head after the girl's remarks about the animals and their names. She hadn't meant anything by calling the cat an "it" considering the name was never spoken nor a gender specified. However, she assumed she was in the wrong by not taking the time to ask. "Well in that case, may I ask the cat's name?" She inquired, slightly moving her head to the left. Her tone was in a way annoyed considering the situation though not in any way attacking. Her thoughts on the matter were that it had been just a cat... A pet. She knew people could get severely attached to their companions but to the degree of defending them in such a way was something she hadn't observed. Possibly she was taking this the wrong way.

"Hmm yes, it would be a shame if someone pulled off something foolish over holiday. Luckily most stay calm." She spoke, despite previous context. She's only stayed once during the holiday in her four years and most kept to themselves or sat quietly in the great hall. She thought about this and was somewhat perplexed by the state of Hogwarts during that time. Though peaceful at least, she had wondered what it would be like if she spent time during the holiday at the school and observed what Elisabeth had spoken about.