Like Swallowing Bobotuber Pus (Ariane)

[zach]

Sweet Merlin, this school didn't rest, did they?

Shaking his head, Zacharias dropped unceremoniously into the dirt, black curls falling into his pale face. It felt good to just sit for once---no homework, no owls, and no bloody talking. It was just him and his books. He sighed, leafing through a heavy tome with one skinny finger, squinting at the delicate pages. He was pleased with himself for bringing his own books along. Uncle Phin was right. The school library was very poorly stocked indeed. How did they expect their students to learn from watered-down old textbooks and histories of things no one cared about in the first place? Even the Restricted section, Zacharias thought, must be sorely disappointing. He wanted to read about ancient curses and really Dark Magic, but none of the books in the Hogwarts library seemed to cover those subjects at all.

He sighed, bringing the book closer to his face, so his nose was only inches from the yellowed pages, the musty smell of age and slowly decaying paper filling his nostrils. It was a nice smell. It reminded him of being a little kid, Uncle Phin reading him histories on Goblin rebellions and Dark rituals, and the like. He found all of it fascinating. How was it these people had such power? How did they make their sworn enemies surrender within moments, when even the most powerful Cruciatus of today would take at least ten to fifteen minutes? And that was only a minimum.

How did they survive for so long, when modern wizards were dying younger each year? Was there some trick to torture? Perhaps a spell or a way of speaking? He wanted to know about all of this. He drank knowledge thirstily, and, in result, alienated himself from his peers. Zacharias hadn't had a single decent conversation since arriving at Hogwarts, not that he minded, of course. The less he had to do with these oafs, the better.

Uncle Phin would want to know why he hadn't made friends, wouldn't he? Friends were supposedly a very important part of life, but Zacharias just couldn't see it. Since when did he need friends? He was intelligent and witty enough by himself, thank you very much. Since when did friends become such a necessity? Besides, the people here were just so annoying, and if they weren't annoying, they were unfriendly toward him, and he was more than pleased to let them know the feelings were mutual.

"In ancient Egypt, the High Priests used their magic to control the people and the elements around them," Read Zacharias softly, frowning. What sorts of things did they do with their control? He wondered vaguely if it was possible to gain such power now. Perhaps skill came with time?

[ariana]

It took all of Ariane’s self-control to avoid throwing her silvery hairbrush at the mirror and shattering it into little pieces. It would be so satisfying to destroy things for once. Ariane had been in a bad or barely intolerable mood for weeks now and all because her parents had made her chat nicely to her future husband over tea. Ariane knew that there was nothing to be do about it – the agreement about hers and Richard Meave’s arranged marriage had been signed by blood when Ariane was a year old. But that didn’t mean Ariane was overly fond of the idea. Noticing that she was gripping the brush too tightly and placed it gently on the table before the mirror before sighing. Her parents wouldn’t pick out anyone too bad for her, would they? At least the Meave’s were a respectable family and if she ignored the fact and Richard was to become her husband she had even enjoyed the boys company. Ariane closed her eyes and rubber her forehead for a moment before picking up a simple-cut green dress that went up to her knees. It was simple enough to bring out her youth and beauty, but wasn’t too revealing for her age. Slipping it on Ariane picked out a soft white sweater that was knitted from the softest wool possible and placed it over her shoulders gently before glancing at the mirror again and smiling fondly at herself. She was a pretty girl, the angel of her parents. And looking happy or at least contented fit her.

Not feeling like staying cooped up inside Ariane left the dormitory and common to go and find some better activity for her to do. Grabbing a book along just in case Ariane walked through some hallways that were rather void of people. Sighing a little Ariane exited the castle and looked around. It was a nice enough day she supposed. At least it wasn’t pouring and it wasn’t too cold anymore. Ariane looked around with a little frown. She didn’t like plants. She hated Herbology too. It got her hands dirty and it was so hard to get her hands and nails clean and smooth again after the class. Sprout herself looked like a big living bush herself which most certainly wasn’t encouraging Ariane to pay more attention to the class. She didn’t want to end up looking as someone similar to Sprout after all! But Ariane liked flowers. As long as she wasn’t expected to grow them. She would just enjoy the blooms when the gardners brought them in or when she was given some. Yet she might as well take the chance and take a stroll outside as she was already here.

Ariane observed a figure sitting down curiously as she walked closer. Zacharias Domingart. Ariane knew him from classes and she had heard the last name before. All part of a pureblood training. Yet she hadn’t really conversed with the boy properly before while she had acquintanced herself with most of their other year-mates. This would be as good time as ever to get to know the guy a bit better so that Ariane could decide whether or not to waste her time on him. Arching a curious eye-brow at the soft words that carried back to her Ariane replied: “Water. The element most often connected with the Slytherin house.” Ariane walked a couple of more steps closer as she smiled serenely to the boy while positioning herself in a way so that the sun wasn’t shining in her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Zacharias. You don’t mind me calling you that, do you?”

[zach]

Zacharias looked up, raising an eyebrow delicately. He wracked his brain for the name of the girl in front of him, trying to remember everyone's face from his classes. She was a pure-blood, he recalled. Something like Ariana or Ariane. Oh, yes, that was it. Ariane. He stood, the book held almost protectively under one arm, extending his hand.

"Yes, of course. It's my name, isn't it?" Perhaps that was a bit too sarcastic to constitute as a proper greeting? It had been so long since Uncle Phineas's dinner parties. But surely she wouldn't take offence or anything. Looking at her, Zacharaias thought privately that any insults would probably bounce off of this girl. She seemed rather, ah, what was the polite word? Confident. Ariane Phyllis Dianne seemed far more than confident in herself. "Do you mind if I call you Ariane?" He didn't force any pleasantness beyond that. Why should he? He was trying to read, and here she'd come, disturbing his peace with her little explanation of water. What did it have to do with anything? He glanced at his book. She had probably heard him reading aloud and decided to comment. Zacharias frowned. Well, at least Uncle Phin would be pleased. He was actually speaking with another person now, and a proper sort of person as well.

Zacharias knew enough about the pure-blood community to know that Ariane's family were a very wealthy and respected family. He remembered Mother speaking about them when he was younger. Mother was always so concerned about how she appeared to the other families. She said respect was the most important thing one could gain in proper society. That, and a good reputation. Fortunately, money brought enough respect for her to build upon herself. Zacharias's frown deepened, images of the many parties his mother had held flitting across his mind. He shrugged it off, returning his attention to Ariane. She had better not expect him to smile or any of that rot. Zacharias didn't smile, unless Uncle Phin made him, but even then, it was just a quick little curve of his lips that faded back into his constant scowl in a moment.

He didn't like smiling at people. Friendly people smiled, as did overly-happy people. Zacharias wasn't a friendly person. He didn't display any special talents in socializing, but he knew how to make small talk, and he knew how to carry on a polite conversation, as protocol demanded. But beyond that, the boy knew very little of how to interact with others. He was more at home among his books, practicing Dark Magic from within the privacy of his own bedroom. He had no bedroom now. The bloody school had him sleeping with a bunch of other snivelling brats, but he did his best to tolerate them. Apparently, one could not hex another student at this school without landing in detention, or some other equally unpleasant mess, so he kept to himself. Couldn't do that now, could he? Ariane would surely expect him to talk to her, to pay attention to her. He sighed. Zacharias would much rather have been reading up on the Egyptians. They practiced such fascinating magic.

[ariana]

Ariane looked at Zacharias thoughtfully while she expected a reply for him. He didn’t seem very sociable. None of the Slytherins told very much about themselves which was only natural. Why tell your own mistakes and weakness for others to exploit? Yet Ariane didn’t even know the basics about Zacharias now that she thought about it. He didn’t even tend to prefer pleasantries to other Slytherins in the beginning of classes. Or at least Ariane hadn’t heard them. Not that she had exactly paid much attention to Zacharias before either. She had been busy enough trying to cope in some classes and in those in which Ariane excelled in she was still rather busy with the work. McGonagall wasn’t the sort to let someone just sit in their class, even if Ariane was good in Transfiguration.

Ariane nodded in reply to Zacharias’s words smirking a little as he asked if she could called her Ariane. Smirking lightly and without malice Ariane quoted Zach’s words back to him: “It is my name, isn’t it?” Perhaps it wasn’t the most refined answer. But Ariane didn’t feel the need to twist the conversation into an overly formal one. Sure, manners shouldn’t be forgotten most surely, but that didn’t necessarily mean sticking to the topics of weather and politics. Just two acquaintances conversing with each other in an almost friendly sort of way. Ariane almost laughed at the idea. She wasn’t overly friendly, but Zach didn’t have to know it, did he? At least not now. Ariane was a good enough little actress to enjoy talking to people, even if she practically never let anyone befriend her.

Taking a couple of steps forward Ariane glanced at the ground but decided it was much too dirty for her to sit down. Positioning herself to stand in a ray of sunlight instead – as sun did bring out her best features in an almost deceivingly soft manner – Ariane observed Zach for a moment wondering why he had frowned suddenly but deciding not to ask. An expectant silence stretched before them for a moment before Ariane broke it again taking a hint from what she had heard Zach reading before. “Egypt. Such a fascinating country, don’t you think? I have never visited it myself, but I surely want to one day. But everything I have heard of it has been simply fascinating. I would rather enjoy familiarizing myself with the magical history of that place as well. Educating oneself could never hurt, could it?” Ariane chattered easily staying on light topics on purpose. If she saw in which direction Zach would turn the conversation Ariane would learn all that much about him.