Awkwardness meets Arrogance PV Closed

It wouldn't be the first time the boy had to leave the Ravenclaw common room in a considerably more irritated than when he entered.

One would think that he would be used to the looks people stole at him and the whispers that usually ushered thereafter. Growing up in a pure blood family, he definitely did not expect that muggle born filth--I mean, muggle born wizards and witches would be so fascinated by his appearance.

They went to a school that had moving pictures, moving staircases, and Merlin knows what else, buy his appearance is what left them in awe.

At least those of pure blood heritage weren't as fascinated by him. Didn't mean that they couldn't irk him from time to time though.

Back to the matter at hand though. Griffin sat on his own, as per usual, reading over the letter his mother had sent him two mornings ago, he'd been putting off writing back as he did not know how to respond. Friends? He cringed at the thought of having to take a genuine interest in these people. Casting a gaze around the room as he thought this, Griffin's eyes caught someone gawking at him.

He could smell her muggle born blood from here. Rolling his eyes and slipping the parchment back into his pocket, the lad decided to leave before he lost his temper for the second time this week. Getting off the couch, he slung his back pack over his shoulder to march towards the exit, mako sure to keep his eyes on the door as he noted one or two heads turning around to face him.

The rather short walk to the Owlery did help to cool him off, he rather liked animals. They didn't care who you were or what you look like. A small smile slipped onto his features as he thought of his favourite owl. A rather plump little owl he'd nicknamed Alistair. The thought of the small bird would sustain until he entered the Owlery.

A few steps in and he'd know that he would not be alone this time as he caught sight of crumpled bits of parchment and and open bag. Following the trail of destruction his eyes would rest on a familiar figure currently musing about what to write. "You"

Dropping the parchment onto the table for a minute, Serena let a sigh escape her lips. This was pointless. There was so much that had happened but she did not even know what to say... She had written to her parents so little that she was expecting a howler to come in at any moment. In fact, the only reason she probably hasn't received one yet was because her parents were very big on family reputation. It would be shameful to receive a howler in front of other people, so they had to be very careful about sending one. The Hufflepuff dropped her face into her hands, lightly rubbing them against it. As a eleven year old, stress was not something that should be happening to her. She was privileged enough that this was perhaps one of the more stressful moments of her education - as weird as that was.

Sighing again, she picked up the parchment again and frowned at it. She was a Hufflepuff, through and through. Lying to her parents was not an option for her. But... What would she tell them? Deep in thought, she never realised that someone else had entered the Owlery. His voice broke her thought and caught her attention. Glancing up, she spotted a boy she recognised instantly, much to her own dismay. All he said was "you" but it was enough to irritate her. I have a name, you know. "Griffin," Serena replied curtly. Griffin White. A pure-blood wizard whose family she knew well - too well, for her liking. Their families knew each other - probably before she was even born - and she was subjected to various social gatherings. Unfortunately, his face was one that she recognised all too well from a few of these parties. Her bright blue eyes flickered down to the emblem on his robe. A Ravenclaw. Oh how her mother would be so proud of him, if he was her child. Serena could literally feel the disappointed from the letters her parents had written to her after finding out she was not sorted into Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Her fingers clenched a little around the parchment she was holding, instinctively as she looked at him.

She hated moments like this. Moments were she had to force herself to be polite and obedient. Those moments when she had to pretend to something other than who she was. She hated it. She hated the whole pure-blood elitist view that their families shared. She hated her own relatives who were like that, for goodness sake. Of course, she couldn't do much about it but she silently would loathe at them and disagree with all of their views. Internally just getting more and more frustrated.

Staring at Griffin, she figured she should make some sort of conversation with him. It would be awful if he mentioned seeing her to his family and she had just ignored him. The Towers would most definitely scold her for that sort of behaviour. The real question, however, is what should she say to him? There was nothing she wanted to talk to him about. Serena did not care how he was, what he was up to, if he enjoyed Hogwarts. She would prefer they never saw each other and lived in separate parts of the castle at all times. She especially had no interest in asking about his family - she had even less patience for them than she did for him.

In all honesty, his great grandmother seemed terrifying. She hosted a few of these social gatherings so Serena had been forced to meet her on occasion but none of these occasions were pleasant memories for her. Serena pressed her lips together for a moment before deciding what she could ask him, "Ravenclaw, eh?" I bet your family are so proud of you already. Griffin White, the golden child, I imagine... "How does your great grandmother feel about that?"

Why was she the only disappointed around? All of her childhood acquaintances, for the lack of a better word, had been sorted into Ravenclaw or Slytherin it seemed... At least, all of the ones she had failed to avoid so far. She was the only disappointment amongst them.

A wicked smirk twists to his lips as the young lad set his eyes on the girl thoroughly enjoying the tone of her voice. While he would never admit it, the boy did get some perverse glee in pushing her buttons.

He'd met the girl quite some time ago, during one of his great grandmother's many many parties. While he would never have bothered to remembered her, his great grandmother made sure that he did.

His striking gaze assessed her form, noting the small twitch in her hand that held a piece of parchment. So, she's writing a letter back home. Wonder if she'll mention me? he mused silently, allowing his eyes to rest on the Hufflepuff crest the wore, a small chuckle slipping from his lips as he did.

"She's proud of course." he states whilst stepping into a swaggering stride, walking over towards her desk "As long as it's not Griffindors or... you know.." he let the words hang, leaving the statement unfinished as he arced his brows in a meaningful manner towards her, his smile widening with the thought. "Bet your mom's pretty chuffed huh?"

Turning abruptly on his heel the boy turned his gaze to their surroundings, his mind partially on where he might find Alistair for a moment before returning back to Serena.

A few seconds of silence would ensue, broken only when Griffin turned back to the girl "So, Towers." he starts "How are you doing?" the boy made sure his tone was purely ingenious. "Mother would harp on for several hours if I didn't ask" he adds with a small wink.

Griffin knew perfectly well that her Serena's parents would have expected her to have been sorted into Slytherin or Ravenclaw. The same went for him, however he had not failed his parents. How he wondered what that letter looked like...

If looks could kill, her blank stare would probably do it. Serena genuinely wanted nothing more at this moment than to punch that stupid smirk off Griffin's face. She hated it. And the worst part was, he probably knew how much she hated it. How much every little thing about him - and his family - wound her up. It made her feel sick inside to know she was associated with people like him, and had to continue to be polite to them. Her mother would not hesitate to murder her if she ruined the family reputation, that much she believed fully.

Her teeth clenched slightly. She could feel him looking down at her. It took every ounce of strength in her to not just smack him in the face. He made her feel like she hated herself. He made her feel like she should be looking down on herself. And let's be fair, she did that enough without his help. Tensing slightly, her fingers dug into the parchment she was holding, "What can I say? I'm incredibly loyal - and that's a trait worth being chuffed about," Serena replied curtly, "It's a shame that not everyone can relate to that. Some people just aren't very loyal." She continued with a shrug, fully making the implication that she was talking about him, without actually saying it directly. She could not be accused of anything this way. Unfortunately, they both knew her parents, especially her mother, would have probably killed someone the minute she found out the news. It would have been an utter disgrace to her. Serena was pretty much a stain on the family name. She had spent countless days crying about the failure that everyone seemed to think she was - and she had no doubt she would spend many more doing the same.

But despite that all though, she loved the fact she was a Hufflepuff. Serena was proud to be known as loyal, kind and honest. They were traits she never knew she had but would have loved to be able to achieve. She followed her paternal grandmother, who was the only other Hufflepuff Serena knew in her bloodline - which they could trace back for generations. She was kind and caring. If Serena was even half as amazing as her grandmother was, she would have died happily. Sadly, the elitist pureblood views that her family shared with the Griffins came from her maternal side. 

After Griffin had turned around, Serena shot him a glare behind his back. A look of utter disgust. It was too hard to keep a straight face around the boy but she managed to compose herself before he turned around and looked at her again. Towers. He called her 'Towers', which she hated. Luckily, she didn't take her mum's maiden name. She hated being associated to most of the people on the side so being called it, would be even worse. Either way though, she disliked being called by her surname by him. For some reason, if anyone else said it, she wouldn't care so much. It was just him. The way he said it. That tone of voice. Something about it irked her. Maybe it was everything about him that irked her.

His words did not help. They both knew he did not care how she was. He did not care if she got hurt - both physically and emotionally - more times this year than she could count. She was in the hospital wing pretty much every week, getting something treated. But Griffin White did not care about that. He did not care if she was upset or angry. "I'm fine, thanks for asking," Serena replied, just to give him an answer before her lip curled a little, "My mother was just saying how proud she was that I got made a Prefect in my first year." She continued, making up for being sorted into Hufflepuff. That was an accomplishment that no one expected her to get, right? 

Serena really wanted to punch that smirk off his face. And stab him in the eye with her quill if he tried to wink at her again. Sadly, neither of these options were available to her. She had never silently loathed someone as much as she did him. He had barely said anything to her but she could feel the hatred in her body already. Perhaps it was aimed more at herself than it was at him though. She was angry at herself for being unable to say anything to him. To stand her ground when he was around. Hell, Serena couldn't even stop herself from getting irritated by him. She had no control over her own emotions - and he seemed to have full control over hers instead. If he wanted to annoy her, he knew exactly how to do that. Sadly, she could not even bring herself to physically or verbally hurt him. "And how are you doing? Hogwarts treating you well?" You still treating everyone else like trash? Do you even have a single friend yet?

The boy caught her cutting remark but paid no mind. He thought of this as the little dance they often had with almost every single conversation the two engaged in, most of them forced by their parents. Not that he wasn't glad to have someone from his childhood to talk to..not that he'd outwardly express this to her.

Rarely impressed, Griffin would make sure that Serena knew he found her becoming prefect quite an achievement. His expression changed to reflect this fact along with the slight nod of his head.

He could read her expression quite well, having been on the receiving of that look far too many times. He could already decipher that classic conflicted glare she gave him. He knew her mother would not approve if she acted out against him. Something the boy would take every opportunity to exploit, being part of the White family gave him many of these little joys in life.


Returning his attention back to Serena as she spoke, Griffin contemplated her question for a moment, darting his mismatched eyes up for a moment. "Good question." he replies after a while "I'm actually pretty good."

Thinking back over the the last couple of weeks,  the young wizard mused on his many interactions with the myriad of personality and blood statuses. The various arguments that had broken out and the number of times he had come close to casting a jinx on someone, or doing what the muggles say 'engaging in a bout fisticuffs'.. or something like that, he heard the phrase from his mother some time back.

"Hogwarts is pretty decent. Not like home but, at least I'm learning spells." he states before pointing out the parchment she held in her hand. "So, are you writing back to your mother? Only reporting what she wants to hear I hope?"

Serena caught Griffin's expression change and watched this head nod towards her. It was the slightest nod she had ever seen but it was perhaps one of the first times she had seen it from him. Almost as though she had received his approval on something. And honestly? It threw her off entirely. The Prefect comment she had made was not intended as a jab or a show of arrogance, at all. She just wanted to seem... well, less useless. She knew her parents were disappointed in her for a number of things, this was one of the few things that she actually had to her name. Seeing his reaction, she felt a little bad. Arrogance was definitely not her forte. It made her feel awkward, "I-" She started before closing her mouth. There was nothing to say. Serena simply looked down awkwardly, the tiniest blush visible on her cheeks. Never in her life did she think she would do something that would impress  the arrogant looks-down-on-everyone Griffin White.

She had no words to say. Instead, she met his nod with the smallest nod of her own, as though to say thank you. A silent thank you acknowledged only by the movement of her head and perhaps the pink tinge on her cheeks. Because she was perhaps a bit too awkward right now to openly thank a boy who she also disliked immensely. It was all so confusing.

Silently, Serena listened to the Ravenclaw speak. As he acknowledged the parchment, it suddenly dawned on her. Her eyes widened for a split second as she realised that she was holding one of the crumpled up letters that contained information that she had decided not to tell her parents. And yet, here was a boy who knew her parents that could easily read them. In a moment of panic, she quickly crumpled up the letter she was holding into a tight ball again and shoved it into her open bag. Out of sight. It made her look more suspicious but she panicked. She did not want him to come over and read it accidentally, seeing things that he should not know. That the White family should not know and that her own family should never be told, "Oh uh well- yeah- I am," She started in reply to if she was writing to her mother. 

Serena stayed silent for a moment. He knew her so well... It kind of hurt how well Griffin knew her. Or perhaps, knew her family. They both knew she had to be careful about what she said. Too little information, they would ask a lot of questions that she did not have the answers for. Too much information and she could get into a lot of trouble. Her hand shook ever so slightly, the curt angry facade dropping if only for a moment. Perhaps she had been caught off by the awkwardness he had made her feel moments before. "I... I don't know what she wants to hear... I don't know what to write..." Serena whispered softly, her voice cracking slightly. It was more to herself than to him. She had not meant to be so honest with him but... he had hit the mark so well that it hurt. Unsure of what else to say, she tried to calm herself down. She had to stop herself from crying. She hated this, she hated how she felt. Her own family made her feel so worried... 

Brushing her words aside quickly, she looked up to him with her former expression again and replied to something he said earlier, "I guess you're not treated as a prince in Hogwarts, so it must be a little different from home," She replied a little snappily, trying to recover from losing her usual facade. This was perhaps a little harsher of a comment than she had intended but she seemed to be making up for faltering earlier. Sighing softly, she tried to be a bit nicer - because it was not actually his fault if he was spot on with his words, "Are- Uh- Do you miss home?" She asked, perhaps more sincerely than anything else she had asked him before. She did want to apologise for being a little rude in her prince comment but... He'd probably consider an apology a sign of weakness and she was not about to give him any more signs of how weak she currently felt in front of him.

He always managed to get to her, to push her buttons and irritate her but she kept it hidden. 

Today was different... she had failed to keep her usual expression up several times. Had she ever blushed in front of him before today? Unlikely. He had probably never been impressed by her prior to this moment. Had she ever been on the verge of breaking down and crying? No, she had refused to let him see that. She was trying hard not to break that record today...