Two Paths Diverge...
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It had been floating around in her brain for weeks, ever since she'd followed on that strange boy in the Forbidden Forest.
Before their strange little wandering, she thought she'd had a relatively clear, neat, and tidy understanding of the world and how it works. Purebloods, proper titled families, they were held to higher expectations and responsibilities by society. Their influence had power, and that meant that their reputation had to be maintained. Going to the right schools, knowing the right people, exceling at the right things, succeeding in the right careers, marrying the right person and having children that then start the cycle all over again; that was what it meant to be involved in that world. Lots of rules and eyes judging your every move, lest you dishonor your entire line by using the dessert fork for salad.
Then there was everyone else; Wizards and Half-Bloods and Muggle Borns, they all had the privilege of setting their own course for whatever it was they wanted out of life. There were no rules or expectations, just unbridled freedom to explore all of life's options because it didn't matter and there was no one to impress. No one was lying in wait to call out their next minor screw up.
And it had seemed to Taliesin, in her short time at Hogwarts, that that had all seemed to be true. The untitled kids all seemed so carefree and laid back. Not in an unstudious way, but at least in a way that didn't seem to imply that anything less then a perfect score might mean the end of the world. Meanwhile, the few Pureblood students she'd identified always seemed so much more structured, ridged, in their approach; much like herself. Perfection, or at least striving for it, was second nature in every aspect from appearance, to behavior, to classwork.
But in the woods, the boy said that wasn't quite right. He'd explained that just because someone acts carefree, doesn't mean they aren't under the pressure of similar expectations; and that sometimes, they were rejecting those expectations completely. That was also an idea that baffled Taliesin. How does one simply reject the plans set for them? She couldn't even imagine the fallout that would have to ensue if she tried to go against her parents; or what she would even do as an alternative.
Yet, he'd made it sound so simple. Like it was as easy as tossing a wasted parchment in the bin.
Taliesin's nail tapped restlessly against the wood of the study table as she tore her gaze away from the textbook she hadn't really been paying attention to. Glancing around herself, she landed on someone not far from herself, "May I ask you a question?" she heard herself blurt suddenly.
"The girl who carried her last name like a burden..."
Two Paths Diverge...
Mentions: @Taliesin Annwyn Clothes: beepboop Date: 1 February 2026 Place: Library Word count: 300
Lauren stepped into the Hogwarts library and felt the quiet settle around her like a spell. She noticed how the shelves seemed to rise higher the farther she looked, packed with books that felt older than the castle itself. Some spines were cracked and faded, others oddly pristine, and a few gave off the faintest shimmer, as if they were aware she was passing by.Note: thoughts are in blue
Speech is in purple
She drifted between the rows, breathing in the smell of parchment and dust, her footsteps softened by the vastness of the room. Sunlight slipped through tall windows and pooled across long wooden tables, where students sat hunched over open books, quills moving steadily. At night, she knew, floating lamps took over, bathing everything in a warm, steady glow that made the library feel timeless.
Lauren’s attention was drawn to a darker corner where ropes marked off the Restricted Section. She didn’t go closer, but she could feel it there—heavy with secrets and warnings, like the books themselves were holding their breath. Turning back, she found a seat and ran her fingers along the edge of a table, comforted by the calm hum of study around her.
Lauren was in the library too, just relaxing after her classes. She looked at the books on the bookshelf. Some of them were dusty. She took a book titled: Quidditch Through the Ages and found a good seat near a window.
After reading for a few minutes, a voice behind her said,
“May I ask you a question?”
Who is this girl? Should I answer her? But it would be rude not to answer her… right?
Lauren was so positively alarmed about being asked a question by someone she did not know that she mumbled,
“Sure…”
| Emi Sato | ||
“Every story has the potential for infinite endings” |
Two Paths Diverge...
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Taliesin hesitated a moment, first because she hadn't actually thought through her question before words left her mouth towards a total stranger, and then second because they actually engaged back and Taliesin wasn't even exactly sure what to say.
She worried her lip a moment, trying to gather her thoughts quickly and pray they came out with a semblance of sense, "Right so, parents... they teach us what all exactly we're suppose to know about the world right? What we're suppose to do or not do, right? So that way we're able to then make our way in the world when we're grown ups. Make sense right?" whether the other answered back, might've gone somewhat unheard in the moment as Taliesin worked up her words.
"Then it would make sense that if our parents have been successful in their lives, and also because they're our parents, we should do what they say, right? Then we would be successful and be what we're suppose to be because that what we were raised to do. And yes, sometimes its hard, but its what you're suppose to do and sometimes things are hard and if your parents could do the hard things, then obviously we can do them to and it'll all work out in the end because it must if it worked when our parents did it."
"So it if you don't do what they said, then things would probably work out badly because that's not the way its suppose to be and you wouldn't know what to do because you're not doing the thing you were raised to do," alright, maybe here was about where she was starting to get even herself jumbled, "so everything would fall apart and that would be bad." her brow furrowed, the gears in her brain grinding as she struggled to find the words for her point.
"What I guess I mean is... why would someone not follow the plans their parents made for them if that plan means they'll be successful and correct?" finally, after a long and winding road, she got to the actual question. By this point, she wasn't even sure if anything she'd said had even remotely made sense or if it was just word-vomit.
"The girl who carried her last name like a burden..."