Writing a conversation instead pv Lucia Fox Reopened

[ @Henry Knight ]

Lucia liked Transfiguration well enough. She wasn't as good at it as she was at charms, but it was still fun. Apart from the theory. The theory for transfiguration was just plain old confusing - this was spellwork, not science! Didn't muggles learn this sort of stuff? Why did Lucia need to know it? Well, she supposed there must be some sort of reason. They wouldn't add it to the curriculum for nothing.

Lucia entered the classroom a moment late - not as much as to attract attention, but enough that her seat was taken. Anyway, she didn't like sitting near the front. She just always seemed to end up there because she didn't know where else to go. The Hufflepuff slipped into a seat at the back just as Professor Wade began the register, and then noticed that she was next to Henry, whom she'd met and talked to a few times and whose cat liked River almost as much as River despised him. Actually, it was very funny, especially when River saw Loki wandering the corridors and burst into terrified squeaks, pressing herself against Lucia's neck in an attempt to hide. Just in time, she murmured to Henry now, and bent down to get her books and equipment out of her bag.

Professor Wade always seemed to start with a lecture, and this lesson was no different. Gamps' Law: a relatively simple concept, in Lucia's mind, which now needed to be turned into physics, because that was apparently how transfiguration worked. Magical physics... this was why Lucia preferred charms. It was less mathematical. Even so, Lucia took a few notes as the Professor spoke, putting her quill down only when he asked a question. She thought for a moment, and then slowly raised her hand, frowning - but she wasn't chosen after all. Instead, Henry was, and he gave the answer with his head lowered as if he was embarrassed of being right, before asking to go to the toilet. He left, and then- Lucia's eyes were caught by her name, written in cursive at the top of one of Henry's notebook's pages.

Huh? Lucia instinctively looked around her as though scared she'd get caught looking in Henry's notebook, then (flushing a little from curiousity and, well, okay, maybe a bit of shame) pulled it towards her, scanning the contents of the page quickly. There was a drawing - a very good drawing actually - of a girl with long hair lying down, on grass maybe? Wait, was this her? Lucia looked at it more closely and then began to notice a few similarities between her and the girl in the sketch. They had the same sharp chin, the same eyebrows even. Woah, Henry was good.

Then, Lucia turned her attention to the words jotted around the sketch like some kind of spider diagram. Some of them made sense. Some of them didn't.

• Friendly. Oh, that was nice of him! Lucia did try to be friendly. It was something Ebony had told her a few years ago, actually: a friend made is an enemy lost. Lucia liked loosing enemies.
• Kind or nice towards everyone, almost. Was this the kind of reputation Lucia had? She liked it. It was nice that Henry thought she was kind towards everyone. Almost.
• Logan's duelling partner. There was a word crossed out before this, and Lucia wondered what it was, but she couldn't tell. Well, this was true. How did Henry- oh yeah. He was friends with Logan, wasn't he?
• Accomplished dueller? Lucia wouldn't exactly call herself 'accomplished', but it made her blush a little all the same. However, it was a little confusing how this one came with a question mark, as if Henry wasn't sure either.
• Something crossed out, which Lucia couldn't read. Again. She hoped it wasn't anything bad...
• adorable pygmy puff with a cool name. There was another crossed-out word before this, but he couldn't be saying anything bad about River. River was pure joy wrapped in purple fur, Lucia was sure of it. Apart from when she tried to steal your earwax. However.
• intelligent or seems to be? Lucia was fairly sure she wasn't intelligent.
• Another crossed-out note, longer than the last. Oh, Lucia really did hope it wasn't anything bad.
• Popular. Wait, what?
• Why would she sit next to me? Because there was a seat spare?

Then, Lucia heard the door open and closed the notebook in a panic, thrusting it back onto Henry's desk. Then, Professor Wade announced that, for the rest of the class, they would practise the spell they'd learned and study quietly. Oh, Merlin. Lucia had no idea what spell they'd learned. She'd been too busy snooping. She looked over at Henry out of the corner of her eye and made a tiny coughing noise, immediately regretting it as soon as it came out of her mouth. "Um," she blurted, "Uh, I'm not popular." Then she flushed in embarrassment.

Interacting: @Lucia Fox
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[ @someone • @someone ]

The moment the words came out of her mouth, Lucia regretted it. Henry snapped the notebook shut and placed his hand on top of it as though trying to steady himself, then appeared to take several quick breaths. Lucia flushed in embarrassment. Oh, mother of Merlin. Now Henry was going to think she was some kind of stalker, or- or-

As it turned out, there wasn't a need for an or, because Henry opened his mouth... then closed it again. Lucia mentally cursed. She'd been making quite an effort to stop cursing since Christmas, when Ebony had given her a lecture about it, but she rather felt that this situation called for it. Henry repeated the motion a few times, but nothing came out. Merlin's beard. Had he gone mute? Had Lucia done that? Oh no. This was not good. This wasn't good at all.

Suddenly, Henry spoke, holding his notebook to his chest, and Lucia nearly collapsed with relief. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and relaxed a little more in her chair. Then she registered the words, and flushed a little at the praise. "Oh!" she said out of want for anything else. "Uh, thank you!" She gave him a slightly embarrassed smile. Lucia knew she was pretty, sure, but for some reason it was different when someone else noticed. And she liked being told she was nice. "That's nice of you," she blurted, her lips curving upwards a little more. "I'm, well, not sure about 'smart', though," she half-joked. However high her own opinion of her looks may have been, she wasn't entirely convinced in regards to her brain.

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[ @Henry Knight ]

Lucia blushed a little - again - at Henry's praise. (This lesson was certainly turning out to be one for blushing.) It was weird, being complimented by someone she'd only talked to a few times before about being 'smart'. If anyone ever complimented Lucia, it tended to be on her appearance. I love your dress, Lucia! Your hair looks great, Lucia! Painting your nails worked really well, Lucia! She wasn't the sort of person who often got praised for what was inside, which was maybe one of the reasons why she worked so hard on the outside. It was easier not getting straight Os like some people did when you looked good. Lucia always had that going for her, at least. "Oh. Um, thank you. Uh, you too, I'm sure."

How did he know that Lucia had won her first duel? Oh, yeah. Logan. "Um, you did too, right?" she ventured. She was pretty sure her duelling partner had mentioned that at some point during practises - or Lucia might have just heard it on the grapevine. Sometimes she lost track of where she was getting information from if she hadn't been paying full attention to it at the time; which, let's be honest, was unlikely. "And the last one? With-" Lucia's brow scrunched up and she ran a hand through her hair as she tried to remember Henry's partner's name. "Uh, the blonde one? She does dance club."

Yeah, okay, now it sounded like Henry was stalking her, even if he was being extrordinarily sweet about it. He also only seemed to remember things about her in a positive light, which was nice. "I was okay at mending the books, and I only raise my hand in classes I get," Lucia blurted, feeling like she had to correct him. "Um, like Astromomy? Are you in my Astronomy class?"

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Had Lucia ever been in a situation as awkward as this one? Well, yes, actually. After all, she'd been partnered with Rose Moon for potions once, and that had been painful to say the least. This was good awkward, though, mostly. Henry seemed just as intent on compliementing her as Rose had been on insulting her, even if both of them had chosen the wrong things to talk about. After all, Lucia certainly wasn't smart - she struggled in lessons just as much as anyone - and ahe definitely didn't cheat in anything, let alone duels - an idea which she was still sore about.

Lucia sat up a little straighter in her seat, suddenly remembering that - oh yeah - this was a Transfiguration lesson, and she was supposed to be practising Transfiguration. She looked around doubtfully at the other students, who were doing... something. With wands. Lucia couldn't make out what spell they were practising; she probably ought to ask someone, or look it up at the library later. But both options would be, in Lucia's mind, a rather humiliating way of admitting that she didn't know what was going on, so she did nothing.

At the information that Henry's first duelling partner had left Hogwarts in the December of their second year, Lucia nodded. "One of my friends left then, too. Alina Rosier? Did you know her? She went to Beauxbatons." Lucia found her eyes drawn to the metal bracelet on her arm which Alina had given her and Alexa. The Hufflepuff tended to wear it all the time now, even though Alina wasn't at Hogwarts any more. They still owled each other, although admittedly not as much as they used to, but even so if was nice to have a reminder that there were people there for her, who were there for her by choice. Lucia loved her family wholeheartedly and knew that they would always stand by her, no matter what (well, she... she hoped they would stand by her no matter what), but there was still always the fact that they'd never had any choice about it. They couldn't not be family. But Alina and Alexa had been Lucia's first really close friends, and they hadn't been forced into it. There had been - there was - no ulterior motive: just friendship. And that was something which Lucia didn't take lightly.

"I... think so," Lucia said a little vaguely when Henry realised that yes, they did share and Astronomy class.

Interacting: @Lucia Fox
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