Musing...(open to any ONE)

[aneen]

Aneen slumped defeatedly by a tree, staring blankly at the lake. The leaves playing in the breeze, a noise that she normally enjoyed, only irritated her further. She pulled her brown cape further around her, hoping to block out all the sounds.

Aneen, I'm so sorry that we'll both be busy this summer...It really wouldn't do you any good to come here....You should go home where you at least have your own room her father had written.

It was true, she supposed. Sleeping in her own bed would be better than the pull out couch all summer long because her father and brother shared a very small flat with two miniscule bedrooms. She wasn't old enough yet to work or she wouldn't care. At home, at least, she might get odd jobs with people she knew.

Sis, I'll try to get some time off and visit... her brother had added. She knew he would try and probably succeed, but what was a week with him when she could see him every night?

The letter was crumpled tight in her hand along with the bobby pin she had used to open it. She opened her hand and looked, in disgust, at the funny marks the pin had left.

[dana]

Dana signed the letter she had just finished with an almost calligraphic signature before placing the fancy eagle-owl back into the ink-well. She didn’t use this quill very often as it was much too luxurious for that, but Dana had noticed that is she used it on formal letters, then the outcome looked neater and sounded more sophisticated. Letting her eyes scan the letter one more time Dana decided that it would be good enough before standing and glancing outside. It seemed to be nice enough and some movement would only do her good so she might as well take the letter to the owlery instead of summoning Darien here.

Dana glanced in the mirror for a moment. She was vain – nothing to do against it! But she would not go outside without looking good. Or well… alright, without looking acceptable, because she didn’t want to bother changing her clothes. Short blue jeans with a white belt and a thick white sweater – she should be alright. Finding a pair of white socks Dana pulled those and a pair of tennis shoes on as well before casting a warming charm on her bare legs. Closing the letter and stuffing it in her pocket Dana jogged out of the common room, having to duck around some younger students before the message board before she was able to exit the common room. Waving hi to a couple of friends who were discussing something before the library door Dana jogged down the hallways towards the exit of the school.

Jumping on the arm-rest of the main stair-case Dana glided down it, managing to land on her feet before she raced out of the castle and towards the Owlery noticing only now that she was outside, that she should have pulled her hair into a pony-tail as well. Oh well, she was already outside so she would have to deal with it. Keeping a steady pace – Jazz should be proud, that Dana exercised even outside quidditch practice – Dana moved to the owlery and slipped in, locating her eagle-owl without trouble. “Dorian!” Dana called while raising her arm for the owl to land on. “Take it to France. Marien Mierkel,” Dorian accepted the letter while Dana stroked his head for a moment, “Sorry, don’t have any snacks for you right now.” Dorian let out a hoot before raising to air and Dana observed for a moment as the owl flew up and then out of the owlery.

Turning Dana left the owlery again – she had never enjoyed it here overly much – and walking at a slower pace now headed towards the Hogwarts lake. It was nice and the charm kept her nice and warm so she might as well look around for a little. It was nice to move and Dana wasn’t quite ready to return to common room yet. Fifth years were studying for OWLs and 7th years for NEWTs. Watching them study made Dana a bit guilty as she didn’t want to sit behind books right now. The lake-side wasn’t empty either. Dana observed a girl slumped against a tree. She didn’t know the girl personally, but Dana was familiar enough to connect that face as a younger Ravenclaw. Dana gazed at her for a few moments wondering if she should leave her be or not, before deciding to see if she was alright. Ravenclaw did well, if it’s students were healthy and happy after all.

“Trying to curl up in a cocoon doesn’t really work you know. I know that much from personal experience,” Dana stated calmly as she stopped and nodded towards the way the younger girl had pulled the cloak tightly around her. She had tried to block out the world for a while too, when Kris had gotten blind in the beginning of the year. Dana suppressed a wince at the memory as she sent a cool smile towards the younger girl waiting for a response. Would she be asked to stay and be engaged in a conversation, or would she be requested to move? Dana would be able to handle either option so she just waited for the girl’s response.

((Hope you don't mind me responding. Just let me know if you do. )

[aneen]

Aneen heard someone coming up behind her. Of course. Of course! Someone always found her when she didn't want to be found.

Or do I? I'm in a perfectly public place. There are a million and one other places I could have slipped off to if I'd really wanted to be left alone. How peverse it that?

Aneen quickly slid the letter into a pocket as well as the bobby pin. She was ashamed at the red imprints it had left on her hand because they'd at least kept her from crying. I shouldn't cry she'd told herself this isn't really anything that new. Then, she figured the least she could do in the attempt to be "nice" was pull her hood off.

She shook her head, feeling the weight of her braids that moved only slightly because they were wrapped in a crown around her head. Non-chalantly she tried to pretend that she'd at least been staring at the lake. She felt her fists clench underneath her cloak and toes curl in her shoes.

When she heard the girl speak, she turned her head around and looked at her with a blank stare. At it's not some Slytherin. I'd rather fall in the owlery when it hasn't been cleaned than be found by a Slytherin right now. Why do they INSIST on aggravating upset people? But Aneen merely shrugged and responded in a dead-pan "No. But I can pretend, can't I?"

((I don't mind at all...I just think posts kept to two are easier))

[dana]

A branch snapped into two under Dana’s foot making her glance at it rather uninterestedly for a moment. When she looked back up she noticed that the younger girl had pulled of her hood. Either she was too immersed in her own thoughts to notice her hood had fallen down or she had heard and this was her way of showing that she wouldn’t bite when she was approached. Wouldn’t have mattered either way as Dana could bite back herself as well, yet it was a bit easier now. Dana levelly returned the dead-pan look the girl was sending her hooked the index finger of her left hand into the pocket of her shorts.

“Pretend? Well, it’s surely an option. Yet pretends can go too far and after you reach the point in your head where you actually start believing you mutated into a butterfly I don’t want to be the one to have to explain to Flitwick why I didn’t stop you from jumping off a cliff in an attempt to fly. Not to mention the amount of work it would give to Filch,” Dana replied with a tilt of her head responding easily. Hopefully the girl wouldn’t take offence of her words, but really now? What else had she expected for a reply after such a greeting from her? Dana smirked slightly towards the girl. She had been brought up by a Slytherin, her best friend and brother were in Slytherin. It would have been a blow to her self-respect had Dana let such an opportunity the girl had just played into her hands pass without a comment from her.

“I admit it. I’m a stereotypical Ravenclaw, with a touch of egocentrism in me as well so I can’t help but want and enjoy Ravenclaw winning the House Cup though it doesn’t seem to be the outcome this year. However Ravenclaw can only win if it’s students don’t dream of going to sleep in a cocoon for who knows how long,” Dana pursued her lips while raising her head again and arching an eye-brow towards the other girl, “What can I do? I have the unforgivable habit of displaying house-pride so when I see a Ravenclaw looking like a puppy who has just been stepped on, I can’t help but venture closer. However I can always leave you to your day-dreams if you wish.”

[aneen]

Aneen gave a small jump when the twig cracked but quickly pursed her lips and pretended that nothing had happened. She gathered her thoughts back together and replied in the same dead-pan.

"And why would I ever want to be something as ridiculous as a butterfly?" A very self-satisfied smirk slid onto her face and she straightened her posture up and stared the girl right in the eyes.

Stepped on like a puppy? Aneen thought venemously. Is that all I am? Nothing new, I suppose. Better than a fly buzzing in the ear. She took a deep breath and decided she'd much rather ignore the topic that have a confrontation right now.

She inched over the tiniest bit, indicating that the girl was welcome to stay, should she choose. She let her hands unclench themselves and her toes relax and her cloak fall rather than holding it in. Then, she placed her legs out straight in front of her and look pensively at the lake.

"No...you're right. It is doubtful we'll win the House Cup this year. Unfortunate, isn't it?" She said thoughtfully, giving the girl a look of "well, not much we can do now" with a doubtful shrug.

In a somewhat softer tone she added "Aneen, by the way, third year." Yes, let's not talk of home right now. I'll be there soon enough without dragging it all the way over here, Aneen thought sadly. I almost wish I could stay here...it would be nice?

Instinctively, one hand slid into the pocket where she'd stashed her letter and made sure that it was still there. She knew perfectly well that it was, but that extra check made her feel more secure about leaving it on her person rather than stashed away in her trunk.

[dana]

“Why not? Butterflies come from cocoons so it was perfectly logical conclusion I reached. Besides butterflies and worms can be useful – not only do they add beauty to nature, but they just might be useful for the plans,” Dana stated calmly even though she might have been wrong on the worms part. She had never been interested in any more biology than what she needed for living and as she didn’t take Herbology either Dana didn’t really know too well. Yet, she didn’t find anything wrong with butterflies. Maybe they weren’t overly useful, but in Dana’s opinion they weren’t quite ridiculous either.

The girl shifted herself so Dana figured that she didn’t want to be alone right now. A glance at the not very warm and soft looking ground made Dana decide that she would still rather stand than take a seat. Shifting her balance a little Dana stepped forward and raised one of her hands lazily on a lower branch as she looked down at the sitting girl. “Aneen,” Dana stated as if tasting the name on her lips before giving a brief smile and a nod, “It’s a pleasure. Dana Coran. And sixth year.” Thankfully a sixth year. Though Dana had done relatively well in her OWLs – all E’s or O’s – she still wouldn’t have wanted to do them again. She still had NEWTs coming up, but at least OWLs had already been passed. Besides prefect duties on the evenings when Dana wanted to revise had been pure torture. And trying to read while you patrolled the hallways wasn’t something you easily succeeded in. At least Dana didn’t.

Dana arched an eye-brow towards the look the girl was sending her. “Unfortunate, yet the year isn’t quite over yet. But if we don’t win then we can blame only ourselves, can’t we? For not being quick enough to answer questions or not good enough with handing in the homework assigned.” Dana lowered her hand from the tree as her palm started to get a bit wet as well. Grimacing at the piece of tree-bark on her hand Dana brushed it away noticing absent-mindedly that her silver ring had gotten a bit big for her. She would have to take it to a jeweler when she next went to Diagon Alley, as there didn’t seem to be a jeweler Dana would like in Hogsmeade. Turning her attention back to the younger girl Dana grinned: “And as we seem to be out of other topics – not an overly nice weather today. While it’s not raining, I wouldn’t call it nice either.”

[aneen]

Still with the butterflies. What's so great about a butterfly? Aneen thought in annoyance. When the girl finally changed the subject, she was very greatful.

Aneen was a little impressed that a 6th year had stopped to talk to her. Aneen was always in slight awe of those who were older than her, but she would never have willingly admitted that aloud. She knew that someday, she too would be "older" but those days always seemed far away and out of reach.

Aneen vaguely listened to Dana go on about House pride and while Aneen was more thankful than she could express to be a Ravenclaw, the actual winning of the cup seemed...silly? Competition is not inherently a good thing...all we'll ever do is project these divisions onto our adult lives.

Aneen slid slowly back to attention when the weather came up. She squinched her eyes and critically looked at the sky.

"No, it isn't bad. I actually like it. Cold enough for my cloak," she said and indicated her brown cloak. I don't like days when it isn't cold enough for this. I feel...so naked without it. Like I'm missing apart of my body, almost

Aneen looked at Dana's ring, hiding the bit of envy she felt. She didn't have any nice trinkets, save one good hair clip. Her mom thought that she wasn't interested and so never bought her anything fancy like that for Christmas or her birthday. The best thing she'd ever gotten was her cat.

I wonder where she is...I haven't seen her in awhile... Aneen looked around a bit, as though her cat would reveal herself in such a small area of the grounds. She's probably off in the courtyard, basking and napping. Silly cat.

[dana]

The girl didn’t seem to be overly vocal Dana decided with an arched eye-brow as she actually managed to get a two full sentences out without looking as if Dana was a dentist telling her that she was going to bring all her teeth out with using any anesthetic. She was improving already. Dana inhaled slowly through her mouth before letting the air out through her mouth. She wasn’t exactly annoyed – she wouldn’t have been made a prefect had Dana not have the patience to tutor younger students and take listening to their problems in stride – but she did prefer it when other people answered to her. This girl wasn’t a Slytherin either, so it wasn’t very likely that she had trouble talking to Dana normally, not as to a servant. Which was good for her because being rich and pureblooded enough Dana wouldn’t tolerate that.

“Not all of us present are wearing a cloak,” Dana remarked softly as she glanced at the girl’s cloak lazily. What more could she say? While she wasn’t exactly cold thanks to the heating charm, she wasn’t feeling cozily warm either. Today was the kind of day when you could dress up in comfort clothes, wear a thick pair of socks and play some board-game with friends or drink hot chocolate and read a good adventure book. Then again everyone had their priorities and it did seem rather evident that Aneen wasn’t much of a socializer or she was in a very-very lousy mood today.
“Not overly vocal, are you? It is usually considered a conversation if both parties speak. You say or ask or state something and I will react accordingly before adding my own comments or opinions or maybe ask something further and then you react to what I said or did. Yet however much I love myself, I can never quite find the right topic to discuss out loud with myself as I always came to the same conclusion right away,” Dana stated with a lazy tilt of her head as she glanced over the lake and towards the Forbidden Forest as well wondering if Kris was somewhere out here. If he was Dana could perhaps summon his cloak or sweater or whatever he was wearing, but she wasn’t all that sure her cousin would be around. While it was more likely than not that he was outside, he didn’t tend to stay this close to the Hogwarts castle.

Dana shrugged and follow the flight of some owl towards the school for a moment before the bird shifted behind the corner of the castle and disappeared from view. Returning her gaze to Aneen Dana pushed her hand through her hair: “Everyone are in a bad mood and want privacy from time to time. So if you want to be left alone – just let me know and I’ll move on without any hard feelings. If you’d rather have some company or wish to speak about anything from flobberwarms to aliens or the dresses worn at the last Ministry reception – then I would really appreciate some reaction rather than only listening to my own voice most of the time.”

[aneen]

Fine, Aneen thought. I'll talk. And you'll love it, you'll just love me to pieces. Aneen thought with strong saracasm. Ohh..what does she expect me to talk about? I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll just talk about the moon or something equally inane.

Aneen fidgeted around uncomfortably for a second. She was still hoping her cat would appear, as she was a little worried for her. It's not like Lor to disappear for this long.

"Soo..." the word came out of her mouth slowly and awkwardly..."Do, you...have a pet?" she asked, and felt ridiculous for relying on something so boring. "Lor, my cat...seems to have decided to...wander away for a bit..." I really wish she'd magically appear right now. Ha! Magically... Aneen couldn't help but suppress a smile at her own incredibly bad pun.

Aneen felt the weight of one of her braids starting to fall and quickly reached for it, before it fell further. She grabbed the bobby pin from her pocket and whisked it out and shoved it in her hair. Then, she patted her braids to make sure everything where it belonging, re-adjusting some bobby pins as she went. She hadn't done the best job of it that morning and it was ready to start falling down. About halfway through, Aneen just gave up and started pulling the pins out and making a small pile of a leaf in front of her.

"Hair...get's pesky some times..." she muttered with a wry smile at Dana as two long braids fell down her back.

[dana]

Dana was rather curious as to how the girl would respond to her words. Maybe she could have stated it a bit more politely, but the girl would have to learn that not the whole world was made of sweet marshmallows at one point anyway. Today was as good time as any. None the less the girl spoke and Dana flashed a grin her way: “Yep. Well, I don’t really know how much of a pet Dorian is, but I feed and groom him. Dorian is my eagle-owl and I’m rather fond of him. Other than him – no pets however. I wouldn’t really have anywhere to keep them and I’m perfectly content on visiting my cousin and dealing with his numerous animals if I feel the sudden urge to pet someone.” Dana glanced at the ground once again. He would want to take a seat but the ground didn’t seem welcoming at all as she didn’t have a thick cloak to sit upon. Pulling out her wand Dana pointed it towards a near-by rock and muttered the correct spells to transfigure it into an armchair. Adding a quick heating charm as well – Dana wanted to have children one day so she didn’t want to sit on cold rock – and Dana’s seat was ready. It was a bit hard as Dana discovered as she sat in it, but it would do.

Throwing one of her legs over the other Dana smiled at the younger girl while putting her wand back to it’s place: “Lor? Is that short of something? Lorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.” Dana tested the name slurring the ‘r’ out long as she tilted her head. It reminded her a little of something. That one guy from the muggle cortoon. Simpsons was it called? She wasn’t sure who from there it reminded her of though. But that didn’t matter. Dana liked the letter r anyway. It could add so much to your words… either a soft purring r or a snarling and threatening r. In her opinion every proper male name had an r in it, as it also added character.

Dana observed quietly as Aneen handled her braids absent-mindedly glancing at the quite admirable length of her hair. Now this she could handle. Dana was a vain girl – she would have been the first one to admit it. She was just too lazy to wear make-up besides she didn’t think she really needed it daily, but she had tons of clothes and jewelry and shoes. Why, before the Halloween masquerade at least half the fifth, sixth and seventh girls in Ravenclaw had raided both Dana’s wardrobe and her jewelry box to borrow something to go with their outfit. Everything had been returned properly too. And even if something hadn’t been returned within 3 days – Dana would have known as the piece of jewelry was enchanted against thievery so that specific girl would have started sprouting rather horrible warts as a foreplay.
A random gust of wind blew Dana’s hair into her face and as she brushed back behind her ear Dana nodded and agreed with Aneen: “Most surely can. It’s a bother to wash it, a bother to comb it, it takes time, patience and skill to come up with a suitable hair-do and it will get in your face if you leave it loose on a windier day. Yet despite all of this trouble I’d hate to give up my hair as well. I’m vain and for some reason I don’t think I’d look very nice with a bald head.” Taking hold of a strand of her hair Dana brought it before her eyes inspecting the black colour almost curiously: “I’m wouldn’t want to die it either actually.”

[aneen]

Aneen listened with a bit of envy as Dana talked about her eagle. Aneen would loved to have had her own Owl to carry mail. Though, at the same time, they weren't exactly good companions, so she quickly re-contented herself to the idea that she owned a cat.

"Lor," she found the words slipping out of her mouth, despite the bobby-pin that was tucked in it, "is short for Lorean. And she's usually pretty happy with just running around the grounds and eating any mice she finds." Aneen paused to remove the pin from her mouth. "She'll usually sleep with me for a couple hours, at some point in the night, and check in during the day. Sometimes, I swear she thinks like me," she finished, not totally aware how much she was saying. Her hands and mind were busy re-wrapping her long, red hair back around her head.

"Eh. I don't find my hair that much of a bother. It's...fun and...relaxing" she got out, shoving in the last of the pins "to have something to do every day. And, goodness, no, I would never dye my hair!" she exclaimed while patting all over her head to make sure that there were no lumps.

Aneen then took a moment to admire the arm-chair that the girl and transfigured. As a third year, that sort of thing was rather beyond her, so she settled for removing her cloak and spreading it out on the grass in front of her. She sprawled onto it, stomache down and one leg waving and swinging up in the air. She picked at leaves and grass and methodically started shredding them along the veins and then letting the air take the bits where it might.

"I like doing people's hair..." she tentatively put out there. "I just don't have a lot of interesting clips....just pins.

[dana]

Lorean. Dana decided that she liked the name as she grinned at Aneen, before tilting her head. Eating mice? Well, it was natural for a cat she supposed. And Dana didn’t like mice. But she still would prefer not knowing that a cute kitten she petted now would bounce off to go and eat a fresh mouse an hour later. Or vice versa. “While I know most animals could handle them better in the nature than I could, aren’t you worried that she might get hurt or not find her way back one day?” Dana asked curiously. She worried about Dorian if he was gone over 2 days, despite Dana often sending him flying to France and Italy. “Sleeps with you? In your bed or in your dormitory?” Dana questioned curiously. No matter how cute some animal would be Dana didn’t think she personally would agree to share her bed with an animal. In the end animals were animals and humans were humans. Some differences had to stay in place for her. Or maybe she was just extremely far from getting contact with nature, but Dana had never made any secret of the fact that she was a city girl either.

Dana grimaced and shook her head resolutely with a chuckle: “Rather the opposite for me. I like having other people do my hair. While I have tons of clips and pins and head-accessories – given to me as presents and quite a fair number I have bought myself too – I just don’t have the patience to use them myself. So that’s one part of my jewelry box that I don’t use for most of the time.” It was true. Dana was a rich girl and she enjoyed dolling herself up from time to time. And while she preferred to pick her clothes and jewelry and shoes and other accessories herself – when it came to her hair she either went to a hair-dresser or left it loose. Luckily her hair was nice enough when loose so Dana often just brushed it and left it be after that.

[aneen]

"I suppose I'm a little worried..." Aneen proffered tentatively, not wanting the let any true worry show through. She loved and was more attached and connected to that cat than she was with her mother, but less than her father and brother. Aneen shook off the feeling of worry and swung her feet to the side and all around, wriggiling until she was sitting criss-cross.

"Well...some nights she sleeps on my feet, but other nights she prefers to curl up by my head. But when it's really cold, she dive under and sleep on my chest or back," she said in an amused voice. She loved the warm, purring body of her kitty at night. Aneen was most certainly a country girl and had spent countless hours chasing little furry creatures up and down and all around her house.

"Well, that's silly..." Aneen found herself continuing in a bit of surprise. "What's the point of having pretty hair things if you can't use them?" She herself had never felt the loss until she'd come to Hogwarts. Where she was from, fancy things were only likely to get tarnished and worn from all the running around the coast she did. The kids at the school she'd gone to, while she didn't get along with them, hadn't had many material things either. The more diverse mix of students at Hogwarts had opened her eyes to a much larger world.

Suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable with such talk of things, Aneen shifted about and felt her eyes wandering away and her voice trailing off. Gathering herself suddenly, she abruptly changed the subject.

"How do you feel about the end of the year coming up? Any exciting plans?" It came out more coldly than she meant it to. But what's said is said and there's no taking it back now.

((OOC: does time run mostly parallel here to real time?

[dana]

Dana nodded understanding what Aneen meant. She was worried about her pet, yet at the same time she couldn’t exactly keep her cat locked up in her dormitory all the time either. There was something to worry about all the time whatever you’d decide to do. Yet as Dana listened to Aneen’s explanation she grimaced slightly: “I must admit that I’m too much of an egocentric to ever allow ANY animal share their bed with me. That’s one border between humans and animals I won’t agree to cross. You don’t obviously share that opinion, but that’s your choice,” Dana replied with a slight shrug. She wouldn’t force her opinion onto Aneen and she expected to be treated the same.

Dana laughed a little as she tugged on her hair a little: “True, I agree with that. But I like pretty things so I gather them. Besides most of my family thinks that those are the most appropriate gifts for a young girl or a woman and therefore I constantly keep on getting new pieces of jewelry. But it gives me a big variety so if I ever do decide to doll myself up I have the accessories to go with mostly everything. And I have some favourites among the jewels I won that I wear.” Dana smiled. Actually she didn’t wear her jewels daily in Hogwarts for one more reason other than her natural laziness. She came from a very wealthy pureblooded family-tree and from her immediate family – she was the only heir or heiress meaning she one wore real stones and valuable metals. She couldn’t very well keep on prancing around the school with something that fancy, could she? The most valuable thing Dana wore occasionally to school was a string of 6 sapphires that Kris had once given her for her hair.

Tilting her head Dana rubbed the skin between her thumb and forefinger thoughtfully with her left hand. End of school. It was a difficult question. She didn’t have too many obligations, yet there was the family-tree gather she was expected to attend and dozens of other such details she had to take care of. Small in themselves, but taken all together they would take quite a nice number of time. Now that her grand-parents were dead and she didn’t even have Kris as his legal guardian anymore as she had turned of legal age herself not too long ago – she would have to spend some time thinking about her plans. “Have a couple of appointments and parties I can’t miss. Maybe go travel for a bit, take a week off to enjoy the Mediterrean, drop by the family-manor in Paris and I have appointments I can’t afford to miss in London as well. I’m not completely sure of the final plans I must admit. Why do you ask? Anything special coming up in your summer that you can’t wait for?”


((Yup. The months change at the same pace so a post you'd start now would take place later that this thread we have. The only exception is within a thread, becuase obviously months can't speed past while Aneen and Dana are conversing. Feel freet o ask again though if I answered too confusingly. )

[aneen]

Apprpriate gifts...Aneen thought harsly. As though all that women are good for is prancing about in pretty things. What a joke. If all you ever expect of someone is to carry the name of their family tree on, why bother sending them to school? Oh, I suppose there are a multitude of good reasons....just...oh! the Mediterranean! aren't we lucky? she thought meanly while the girl chattered on about the finer things in life. Aneen focused quietly on the little two bedroom house that was often chilly and in the way of the wind that she would be returning to.

"No. I'm not at all looking forward to this summer," she said mechanically, managing NOT to spit out "but I would be were I going to the Mediterranean and had nothing to do but gad about with the upper class." Aneen forcibly held her tongue while images of scuttling around, trying to keep out of the way at home she had to look forward to. No...not out of the way. I just go unnoticed anyway. Neither of them really notice me.

"But that's nice," she forced her tone to smooth over. "If I'm lucky, I'll get some odd jobs, both with wizard and non-wizard families. De-gnoming for an old, batty wich. Baby-sitting the two brats who are thankfully Muggles, or heaven knows what they'd do..." she said with a thoughtful smirk.

Her little part of the world was secluded enough that a few Wizard families had deemed it safe enough to live there, away enough from prying eyes but with the comfort of not being the only Wizards and Witches. And while many of the people around the area were rather superstitious and didn't like the idea of magic, when accidents did occur, they were often merely attributed to one of the many "mythical" creatures that inhabited the region. It always made Aneen giggle when the local grocer blamed some noise on a creature Aneen had seen in her school books or in DADA class.

"Muggles can be so silly sometimes," she said without realizing what she was saying.

[dana]

Dana’s eye-brows flew upwards with sarcasm as the girl commented on her summer plans before revealing her own. Odd jobs. Well, if the girl wanted to be bitter about it, then it was hardly Dana’s problem, was it? Dana had never made a secret of her inheritance and she enjoyed it freely. She had worked – at Cat’s cubby as a cook, at book-stores as a sales-lady. But she enjoyed the finer things in life that she could afford herself and most of her friends enjoyed it too. Her grand-parents – or hers now – beach-house near Marseille and their manor in Paris were always milling with people, both relatives and just friends. What right had this girl to try and judge?
“Bitter much?” Dana asked with a small sneer curving her lips for a moment, “Or should I now apologize for having the luck of being born into the family I am part of. Oh, wait… maybe I should give away my family inheritance and live as a poor beggar?” Dana looked at the younger girl almost coldly but decided that it would be more polite of her to just shut up and not pick on her words any more.

Dana shrugged. “I like kids,” she commented easily as she gazed at the younger girl thoughtfully. She had a big family-tree so at family gatherings Dana had often been one of the people looking after kids from infants to about 4 or 5 year old kids. She had a knack for handling the kids. According to Kris Dana sometimes shared the same mental level as a 4 year old. Then again Kris was Kris and while he was the only on who was allowed to tell that to Dana and not expect retribution, Dana just as often picked on his own house. As for muggles… Dana didn’t know too many of those. She knew some – there was one working with Kris’s horses and her own cook and maids back in France were muggles, but that was about as much of them as Dana knew. Well, Dana also knew muggle fairy-tales. She even knew enjoyed quite a number of them for the creativity they had been made up with, even if Dana understand that in reality it might be quite likely to have such occasions happen. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to show kids that being good paid off, that there was kindness in the world. Dana shrugged the thought off as she gazed at the girl with a blank face: “Muggles have their uses.”

[aneen]

Yes, I'm bitter. I've never even been to the continent. Just Edinburgh, and London, when mom doesn't just get my school supplies for me. You have no idea what it's like to live mostly in the same few square miles for most of your life, do you?

"Their uses?" Aneen said in a quiet rage. "They 'have their uses'?" she seethed, her volume growing a bit. "I'm SO glad that you think that.

Slowly, Aneen started standing up and pulling her cloak back around her and fastening it around her neck, she continued, eyes narrowing and hardening.

"My father is a Muggle. As is my brother. As is my step-father," the words caught in her throat, never once thinking that she would ever do something like defend that man. Re-composing, she continued. "And since you don't know any of them, who are you to say 'they have their uses?' They've been around just as long as Wizards and, frankly, on an individual basis, I prefer Muggles," for a moment, Aneen just stared and Dana, daring her to reply. Not giving her the chance, she added,

"So, you can ... go to Slytherin!" she finished childishly, and about 2 seconds after saying so, she realized it, but she still could not get past this girl's blood hang-up. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes started to water. Turning on her heels, Aneen stalked off back towards to castle, her cloak billowing out behind her.

I will not cry...I will not...We've been through this once already she told herself resolutely. To fight the tears, she dug her fingernails into her palms and set her jaw tight. Aneen was a half-blood who was as vehemently against pure-blood superiority as they were for it.

[dana]

Dana raised her eye-brows as the girl sprung to her feet. Thinking back to her own previous words Dana decided that maybe they had sounded a bit wrong. But still she hadn’t expect such a reaction to herself. Looks like she had managed to irk the younger girl quite properly. But anything that was better than wallowing in self-misery right? Dana stood calmly and with a flick of her wand let go of the air armchair before catching up to Aneen and taking hold of her arm, pulling her to an abrupt stop. “Muggles have their uses. They have managed to live with magic and just like there isn’t a substitute for magic, there isn’t a substitute for electricity or planes either, nor muggle medicine that is advanced when you consider that there isn’t magic involved. You can’t apparate to France and if you use a portkey over this long distance, then you may end up with wounds. I fly in muggle planes every year to get to my birth home, so yes – muggles have their uses. I didn’t specify what kind of uses as you rather preferred to jump to conclusions,” Dana told the younger girl with a small sneer as she let go of her arm, having said what she had wanted to.

Dana turned and started moving towards the Hogwarts castle wordlessly as well, feeling the warming charm she had placed on herself wearing off so she picked up her pace. Turning before the castle doors Dana looked back at Aneen and smirked, raising her voice so that she would be clearly heard by the younger Ravenclaw: “I’ll take that as a compliment. My grandmother was a Slytherin, my brother is in Slytherin and Slytherin was offered to me in my sorting.” Dana pulled the castle door open and slipped inside letting the door snap closed behind her on it’s own as Dana turned and started walking towards Hogwarts kitchens to grab a cup of hot cappuccino before heading back to the Ravenclaw common room. Dana had been very near to going to Slytherin. The one thing that kep her out of it was the lack of malice towards muggleborns and half-bloods, even if Dana understood why purebloods were considered and were the elite of the magical world. They had an inborn knack and instinct on magic and they were just schooled so thoroughly in the skill and the background of magic that very few others could compete with it. Naturally not every pureblood, but a big part of them. Dana sometimes wished she could show the more ignorant people in the school just how much Slytherins were trained and taught before they even came to school. Maybe it would help the others understand Slytherins better.

((I rather enjoyed the post, so thank you. )