Sleeping or studying... ((Sapphire))

[dana]

Dana was revising for her O.W.L. in Transfiguration. McGonagall was stern, but she was a good teacher, so Dana knew the subject pretty well. She hadn’t got much sleep lately though and the warmth in the library and the comfortably armchair were all making concentrating on the dry text of her book hard for Dana.
Noticing that she had been reading the one sentence for at least 4 times, Dana sighed and placing the book on her lap, rubbed her eyes tiredly.
Laying her head on the headrest Dana stretched for a moment, staring into space as she felt her eyes starting to droop. Slowly the quiet noise in the library as students discussed homework seemed to fade away as Dana slipped into sleep.

Dana awoke only to feel that her neck was a bit stiff. As comfortable as the armchairs in the library were, they obviously weren’t meant to be slept on. Dana craned her neck a little and caught her reflection on a window, making her grimace. Her hair was a mess after sleeping, the little make-up she had had on was now smudged over her face and her clothes were wrinkled as Dana had slept in them. Dana smiled as she noticed a black cloak with a Slytherin badge covering her as she slowly sat up.
Dana sighed and say up straight again, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. The library seemed suspiciously empty. Even madam Pince wasn’t near where Dana could see her. Dana didn’t have her wrist-watch along today either, so she didn’t have a clue what the time might have been.

Her grumbling stomach however made her guess it was around dinner already, as Dana started to search for an apple she knew that was in her bag, when a familiar figure passed a bit farther away. Recognizing the figure as Sapphire – a fourth year Ravenclaw Dana had met previously, Dana called out: “Hey, Sapphire? Do you have the time by any chance?” Still being too sleepy to completely understand how weird she must look – and how tired – Dana continued to search through her bag for the apple.

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire made a detour to the library on her way down from the Ravenclaw tower for tea. She wanted to pick up some books on the Sirens Madam Pince had ordered for her, with part of the library's annual budget, which had now arrived and were waiting, fully integrated into the library system and reserved for Sapphire. The libary was quiet at this time - most people had done what homework they were going to do before they ate and were now absent from the room, instead eating at the house tables in the Great Hall. Sapphire made her way over to the front desk, where she had to wait a while and become tactfully invisible as Madam Pince interrogated a young Hufflepuff about the whereabouts of the book. They were saying something about a Slytherin having taken it. Sapphire was inclined to believe them - it was not unheard of - but Madam Pince evidently was not. She gave the poor boy a small, regretful smile as, about five minutes later, he walked mournfully away from the librarian's desk, looking down at his toes.

Sapphire collected the books off Madam Pince, the librarian's stern face softening slightly as she saw Sapphire. Sapphire was always a good borrower - she looked after things well, and returned them on time. She was quite familiar in the library, not seeing reasons to buy all the expensive books she liked to read when she could get the school to do it for her, and her good reputation meant that Madam Pince was willing to do the odd favour for her. She put the three books in her blie shoulder bag and walked round the shelves to exit the library. She hadn't quite stepped out into the corridor when she realised that someone had called her name and asked her the time. So as not to be rude, she retraced her steps and found the caller to be Dana Coran, looking, if anything, even more weird than she had done the last time Sapphire had talked to her. Sapphire raised her eyebrows and looked at her watch.
"About 6:30 in the evening," she informed the Ravenclaw. "Are you wishing to revise your decision about St. Mungos?"

[dana]

Dana nodded to Sapphire as she told her the time, coming back to view.
“6.30, go tit. I didn’t think I would have slept that long,” Dana muttered shielding a yawn with her hand before pulling her bag on the table. Once again sending a silent ‘thank you’ to whoever made the worst bag with a carry-all charm, so it would weigh practically nothing, Dana shifted through the many books and parchments and everything else stored in her bag, until Dana’s fingers found a mirror.
Pulling it out Dana glanced at it and grimaced. She looked absolutely horrifying today.
Pulling out a soft tissue from her bag, Dana started to clean up the smudges left by her make-up, before grimacing towards Sapphire: “Ha-ha. I could certainly use a couple of days of vacation at St. Mungos though. I think I’ll pass still. But remind me to laugh at you, when you’re taking the tests next year.”<br>
Dana sighed and with the make-up removed form her face, looked at Sapphire again: “6.30 right? Does that mean that dinner is… hmm… over already?” Dana shook her head, stifling a yawn and trying to get her mind working at full-gear again as it was working a bit slow after just waking and not having a cup of coffee for the first thing in the morning.

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire smiled as Dana begin to set about improving her appearance. Once she had finished she looked a lot better. A lot more normal. In fact very pretty. She grinned at Dana as she offered to laugh at Sapphire the next year as she herself was caught up in studying for exams.
"It certainly could be an option," she said. "I will, if I feel either of us have need of it." Sapphire adjusted the shoulder strap of her bag as Dana yawned and asked about the time again.

"Well, though it could be midnight the amount you're yawning, it is indeed 6:30pm. And I certainly hope that dinner isn't over, I haven't been there yet. It shouldn't finish for another hour yet. You look as though you could do with some food actually, and certainly a break from revision. Would you like to go to the Great Hall with me?" She smiled at Dana. She was getting hungry herself, having been detained here for a while. But the fifth year did hold a good conversation, and since she could do with some food, Sapphire hoped she would accept the invitation.

[dana]

Dana made a grimace towards Sapphire as she comment how much Dana yawned: “I need a cup of coffee to get me going again now. I can never wake up in the morning without a cup of coffee… cappuccino… espresso… latte…”
Dana could almost swear her eyes glazed over as she dreamed about having a huge mug of one of these drinks right now. Steaming, so deliciously strong and having such good impact on Dana’s brain, waking it up.
Shaking her head Dana stifled one more yawn, before nodding to Dana: “Sorry, I’m an addict to coffee. Started drinking it when I was about 13 and now I need a cup to get me going every morning. But dinner sounds amazing. I’m a growing girl and need as much food as possible.”<br>Dana didn’t mention the fact that she hadn’t grown an inch during a couple of years, but her hunger was sometimes laughed at among her friends. Dana could eat almost non-stop for a rather long time. Luckily it never showed on her figure.

Standing up Dana pushed all the things on the table into her bag after stretching lazily.
“So how’s life?” Dana asked curiously – she was rather fond of Sapphire’s sarcastic comments, so she wouldn’t mind her company at all over dinner.

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

((All right, I know this is going to be bad. I'm in a mood for Sapphire... but not in a mood for Sapphire. If you understand what I mean.))

Sapphire regarded Dana as she expressed a pining for coffee, and rolled her eyes, smiling as she said she said dinner sounded like a good proposition. Sapphire had been started off on a trail of thought though, which followed how caffeine affected you, and she decided to share this with her companion, as it was better conversation than silence.
"Being addicted to caffeine isn't necessarily a good idea. It's not good for your sleep for one thing - you can usually sleep, but not deep sleep. So that's why you need coffee in the morning to get you going. You don't feel good, 'cos you haven't had enough sleep. You need the adrenaline boost, and once that's gone, you need it again, and it isn't gone by the time you're going to bed, and then you don't sleep properly again and you need more coffee in the morning. It's a serious thing... you can have councilling to stop you from being addicted to coffee." Sapphire grinned at Dana, to show that although she was saying things that she meant, she was never entirely serious. "There's probably a department at St. Mungos for that too. They are going to be busy."

They were entering the Great Hall now, and Sapphire stayed quiet for a while as she took a seat near the end of the Ravenclaw table, away from most of the other people who were still there, starting to put some food onto her plate. She never took all that much; she had a fairly small stomach, but the food did seem appealing today, so she took slightly more than usual. Kedgery, a few tomatos to go by the side. The kedgery was the smoked fish mixed up with rice, egg and herbs. Quite filling, but tasty as well. Looking over to Dana, Sapphire regarded her companion again, to give her an answer to the question she had asked.
"Is that life at this present moment, life in cloud cuckoo land or life in general?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.

[dana]

Dana shrugged: “Well, maybe I could get over the addiction. I probably could as it’s mostly an habit, but I like the taste of coffee. I prefer coffee to tea for example – maybe because I’m not English and I don’t have that inborn gene for drinking tea.”<br>Letting out a chuckle as Sapphire mentioned St. Mungos dealing with it again: “Really? Hmm, if I continue like that, then St.Mungos will never have to worry about taxes, as my hospital bill should cover all the expenses. I’m not sure I want that however – some of the taxes pay Fudge’s salary as well and I don’t want to support that guy. No offence, if you like him, but I personally think that he is an incompetent old fool.”<br>As they entered the Great Hall Dana looked towards were the professors sat and Dumbeldore: “Well, Dumbeldore seems crazy sometimes as well, but he is fun. And not harmful. Even though his choice of DADA professors is beyond weird.”<br>
Dana watched as Sapphire filled her plate. With so little that Dana would only call it a snack. Some friends sometimes laughed that Dana could compete with Crabbe and Goyle on a better day, and Dana certainly ate a lot. Luckily it never showed on her figure.
Starting by turning her juice to mineral water Dana ate a couple of oysters, opening the hard shells expertly with her fork. Then she moved forward to some rice, sauce, salad and fish – salmon as Dana discovered after tasting the marvelous fish.

“What fun would life be without cloud cuckoo land to spice it up a little?” Dana asked back with a grin before thinking about the question for a moment, “I think I’ll go with life being a bit hectic at this point. Usually I’m well above things needing my attention. But O.W.L.s are certainly worse than the exams at the ends of other years. Luckily I have learned well enough before.”<br>
Dana enjoyed the taste of fish. It was only her first helping – the fish would most probably be followed by some of that lasagna, cheese naturally and those filled eggs looked inviting. And some pancakes to start dessert. Dana pulled her mind away from food and took a sip of the water: “You can enjoy cuckoo land yourself next year. I know it’s not really my business and this question is often uncomfortable, but have you thought about what you’ll do after Hogwarts as well? I mean you have to know something, as you need to choose your classes according to it.”<br>

((Don't worry about it. Take the time you need ))

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire smiled. She hadn't been entirely serious in her lecture about caffeine. She had her own foibles, and now she told Dana about them, simply to be fair. "I'm not free of caffeine addiction myself," Sapphire said. "I am rather partial to hot chocolate, and that also contains a fair amount of it. And being addicted to tea is also being addicted to caffeine. That's what tea contains. I would have thought some people have to drink tea every morning to get them going. It's not a gene... it's a way of life. Although, not being raised on it myself, and certainly not being English, I'm no addict to tea."

Sapphire put a forkful of kedgery in her mouth and chewed and swallowed it before she looked up at Dana again, looking slightly serious as she thought about the Minister for Magic. He wasn't doing too bad a job administrating things as a whole... the economy was doing fairly well... but one thing he had completely failed in was keeping his people safe. There had been two kidnappings this year and Sapphire entirely believed that they were the responsibility of Death Eaters. But the Aurors didn't have the resources to combat them as effectively as they needed to to minimise the threat. Fudge had failed to realise that a strong economy was nothing if he didn't keep the country safe from such a menace. The economy could be so easily wrecked.
"Yes, he has fudged things a bit hasn't he?" Sapphire said, although it wasn't really a question, just her opinion. Although by the sound of things, Dana didn't seem to be particularly fond of him.

Sapphire took a sip of her water and ate some more of the kedgery. It was very filling, and she was beginning to feel slightly full, but she could go on eating for a while yet. And there would be room for a light dessert. Dana was talking about exams again. They were evidently at the forefront of her mind. Well, they were probably at the forefront of everyone's minds at the moment, but especially those having to sit OWLs and NEWTs alarmingly soon. And Dana also seemed determined to remind Sapphire that it would be her next year. Sapphire grinned at the older Ravenclaw.
"I'll bear that in mind," she said. "At least when you get to NEWTs you won't be doing quite as many subjects so you won't have quite as many different things to revise. Although you'll be doing them in greater depth so you'll still spend just as long revising for them. As for what I want to do... well of course I've thought about it, but at this point in time I of course have very little idea. I'm not one of those people who's set on becoming a Healer just because they know they'll get paid well. I'll probably either go off down some route to do with Mythology and History, because that's one of my passions, or do something else interesting where I get to use my mind. I've got a whole year to think about it, despite the fact it'll probably go past alarmingly fast and I'll be where you are before I know it."

[dana]

“All hail caffeine!” Dana said jokingly raising her goblet of water, “There is just the problem of getting a properly onde coffee her ein England. The house-elves are more or less alright while making it already, but madam Puddifoots’ in Hogsmeade is awful in my opinion.”<br>“Fudge, eugh. He seems a bit senile. His diplomacy sucks, Aurors are swamped with work and not even now people are safe. Not to mention the problems with Azkaban and everything else. Not to mention tons of useless byrocracy that just takes taxes and is time-consuming, when there is so much more useful to be done,” Dana grimaced before shaking her head and pulling her hair loose, “Sorry, got into a rant, didn’t I? I blame my grand-father. He grumbled about it almost non-stop during Easter.”<br>
Dana finished her plate, she happily and immediately moved onto lasagne. Which was absolutely delicious, so Dana closed her eyes and savored the taste of first bite.
“Mythology is interesting. I personally know most about Greek and Scandinavian mythology. Roman as well. I don’t know very much about Egypt – just the basics,” Dana mused calmly, “It must be interesting. Curse-breaking qualifies near your choice of career as well, as I personally probably wouldn’t be able to do only paper-work and research every day, all day long.”<br>

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire raised her eyebrows at Dana's comment about not being able to get properly made coffee and the corners of her mouth twitched and curved upwards slightly playfully. ""Not at all, not at all, the English know how to make their drinks properly," she quipped. "The Scottish appear slightly less adept. But you know, there is always another option as to getting a good cup of coffee. Make it yourself. Then there's only yourself to blame if it doesn't turn out right. Always works for me when I make hot chocolate, mind you. Right taste, right aroma, right temperature, right texture. That might be something to do with the fact I use the spell so often." Sapphire took to eating another slightly more substantial amount of kedgery as Dana started off complaining about Fudge, nodding slightly at her words although not commenting much on them until the fifth year Ravenclaw apologised for ranting.

"Well, maybe you were slightly," she said, "but that's not to say your words weren't true. I take it your grand-father hasn't taken any action about it yet or your annoyance would be a distant memory?" Sapphire grinned at Dana, finishing off her kedgery and refilling her water before glancing around the table at what desserts were available. In the end she settled for a rather nice looking apple crumble with cream and looked up as Dana started talking about Mythology, smiling as she was actually complimentary about it.
"I'm glad to see someone has a slightly higher opinion than the norm," Sapphire said. "I agree Professor Binns isn't the most inspirational of teachers but I still have a genuine interest in the subject. I have to confess I've done quite a bit of reading... Egyptian mythology is fascinating as a matter of fact, although being a curse-breaker sounds rather adventurous for me don't you think?" She started into the apple crumble, which was emitting a wonderful scent, allowing herself time to enjoy each mouthful before swallowing it.

[dana]

Dana laughed at Sapphire’s reply: “The Scottish are less adept? Oh my, that is not good news. Making it myself – I prefer hand-made coffee for some reason. Maybe it’s the fact that even though I have mastered the spell to turn some other drink to coffee, I can never summon proper coffee. It’s always too weak, without cream and sugar or has a burned taste.” Dana grimaced at the mere thought of it before banishing the thought. She had survived so far, she would survive for a lot longer time period.

Thinking about Julien – her grandfather – and his grumblings over Fudge, Dana shrugged. She herself disliked Fudge too, but Dana knew there was nothing that could be done about it. Not by her, not by her grand-parents really. So she just settled with a shrug: “Fudge is an other countries problem, so no, my grand-father can’t really do much more than minimize his contacts with Fudge as much as possible.”

Listening carefully to Sapphire speaking about Egyptian mythology Dana smiled. Awfully many people didn’t appreciate mythology for all it was worth. Raising her goblet towards Sapphire as if saying a toast Dana grinned: “Here, here. I liked most Hathor actually.” Dana took a sip of her goblet before putting it back on the table, “Don’t know why, but she just seems most pleasant to me. Nothing wrong with Thoth either. But why not curse-breaking? What’s wrong with a little adventure now and then? Something a la Indiana Jones?”

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire raised her eyebrows again at Dana and retorted with a wry smile, "Not good news for us, seeing as we're in Scotland, but I can vouch for the fact that in England there in indeed a coffee shop near my mom's house where they really do know how to make real coffee. You're right handmade coffee is best; of course there's never any substitute for the real thing. But there's no reason not to make it yourself from the basics. Good coffee beans, for example." Sapphire muttered a spell and a number of medium-sized coffee beans materialised on the table in front of her. She took them in her hand and gave them to the fifth year prefect sitting opposite her. "Yes, you'd be better off with the real thing, but if you focus on getting the basic ingredients of what you want right, you'll get a good cup of coffee, streets ahead of what they serve in Madam Puddifoot's, although I would agree that would hardly be difficult." Sapphire smiled at Dana and added offhandedly, "Am I the only one all this talk of caffeine is giving unnatural cravings for this time of day?"

Sapphire nodded as she listened to what Dana was saying about Egyptian gods and goddesses, glad to see that someone at least found mythology worth the time to think about it. She nodded and smiled as Dana agreed with her sentiment about Egyptian mythology before saying, "Hathor? I think I know her as Hetheru. The one that danced for Ra when he needed cheering up. I can well imagine you admiring someone who was in charge of dancing." Sapphire paused for a second, considering. "And Thoth... you couldn't get anyone much wiser than him. But there's a place for gods that you might consider 'less pleasant' too. When I was first learning about Hinduism, I found Shiva a bit alarming to start with, but I like the fact that he's the Lord of the Dance, stamping out things which are bad and keeping those that are safe in his hands, keeping the balance. Though I'm not entirely sure where I'd come in that. But I can see why he's one of the most popular and important Hindu gods. Hinduism isn't a polytheistic religion of course though, like the Egyptian gods were part of." Sapphire shrugged lightly. "I like the way God is expressed in Hinduism," she said, before asking lightly, "How about you? How would you view the ancient Egyptian gods for example?"

Sapphire laughed as Dana suggested something 'A la Indiana Jones'. "I'd hardly have imagined I'd be the kind of person you'd associate with anything to the style of Indiana Jones," she said, her amusement showing plainly in her voice as she finished off her apple crumble with relish. It had indeed been very delicious. "You'd hardly find me doing much active, I have to confess. My brain is far more active that the rest of me, I'm afraid. No... I don't think I'm a very adventurous person, tragically." Sapphire paused, frowning as she thought, before admitting, "I'm trying to think of the most adventurous thing I've done in this past year, but I can't think of anything. That's rarely good news, I think. Well... if I were being serious then the thing most beyond routine that I've done would be going to Weinig Zug on the school trip there at Christmas. And I think my sister Zara would probably have to take much of the credit for getting me to venture there. I was even possessed enough to venture out onto the ski slopes. I think I should probably not repeat that experience, although if I were to not it might rather be insulting the first year Ravenclaw who was kind enough to give me enough skills so that I didn't find myself stranded at the top of the slope." Sapphire smiled with amusement at the Ravenclaw prefect. "Maybe I should start studying the Norse gods more. Do you know if there's any curse-breaking to be done around there? I think it's rather the fault of Indiana Jones that I always imagine curse-breaking as something that tends to be based in rather hot countries." Sapphire filled her goblet with some freshly made lemonade and started sipping it delicately to give Dana time to finish eating. She found talking to the fifth year rather enjoyable.

((Would you mind bringing this post to a close? I've enjoyed it immensely but I think we probably ought to finish it off.))

[dana]

Dana laughed at Sapphire’s explanation about coffee, but decided to drop the subject. Yes, she was somewhat addicted to the drink… well, alright, more addicted than somewhat, but she didn’t die when she didn’t get the coffee at the precise same time every day. She could wake up without coffee as well, even though waking was much more pleasurable with coffee.
Listening carefully to Sapphire’s opinions Dana couldn’t help but to smile back at her. She was most definitely smart. Dana made a mental note to find her some time when se wasn’t this busy with studying so they could have a proper conversation about mythology and everything else that seemed to interest them both.
“I have to admit that I don’t know much about Hinduism. But I am rather fond of Buddhaism. I like the cheeriness in that religion. It has spirit, a spark and th joy of living Christianity often seems to be lacking. I can in no way call myself religions, but I wouldn’t say I’m exactly an atheist either. I do believe that there is some kind of a higher force, but I don’t think it has complete control over my life. And if that higher force happens to be god, then I think that all the different religions actually support only one god. They have given god different names, but the main points all seem to be covering each other. I don’t think any religion would accept with my views.”

Dana finished off her food and pushed her plate to the side, leaning her arms curiously on the table as she listened to Sapphire’s words. She asked about curse-breaking in the norse mythology and culture. Thinking to everything she had been reading and what she had heard about that:” Norse mythology. I’m sure there is some curse-breaking done there. I would have to ask my cousin for more information, but the Norns and the Yggdrasil; not to mention Valkyries, research about Ragnarok. Bifrost the Rainbow Bridge leading to Asgard Realm where god live, not to mention the ice-caves Loki hided and studied in… I’m completely sure there is some very serious research being done about all of that.”

Dana rubbed her eyes sleepily before smiling at Sapphire brightly: “I must seriously thank you for waking me up. Besides you gave me a lot interesting things to think and ponder about concerning mythology. But I suppose I better go now or I’ll never get Potions revised. I’ll see you around.”
Dana offered Sapphire one more smile as she stood and made her way down the Great Hall slipping out of the doors that were opened by some older Slytherin boy, who obviously wanted to enter the Great Hall.


((This post has been great. *huggles*))