The Night Sky abandoned

Out of all the classes he’s had, Astronomy had to be their favorite. Just looking at all the stars was amazing, he could quite literally feel all the magic in their body while gazing at the night sky. Even when he was back at home, they always found themselves staring at the stars before going to bed. It had some kind of calming effect.

He doesn’t really have any friends in this class, so they’re just relaxing in the corner of the room, enjoying the stars. This particular day, he was staring at a telescope, wondering how exactly it worked. From what he managed to figure out there are multiple pieces of glass, and if you look at it at the right angle, you can see all the stars enlarged.

Allister: this is fascinating,m-maybe I could ask my parents for one when I get back home

The assignment today was a star chart, nothing to hard. Just mark the stars you see in the sky, and try to see some constellations. In the sky right now he could Andromeda. He didn’t know much about the backstories of each constellation, but if they remember correctly, Andromeda was tied to a rock and then eaten by some sea creature.

Allister: man, the greek gods were ruthless…

That’s all he really found so they decide to try to find someone else who’s doing their work to see what constellations they found. He saw this other girl sitting by herself and decided to ask her.

Allister: *walks over* hey, d-did you find any other constellations cause I only managed to find one

Athena continued to work on finding constellations. She glanced at the telescope sometimes, which the teacher seemed to be guarding protectively. She wondered what the stars would look like if she could be in touching length from them. They would probably be hot and bright-blindingly bright. Soon she had found another constellation, Perseus. She made sure her lines were correct before taking a break and cracking her knuckles. Right after she dives back in, and she was so sucked into her chart that she didn’t even see the boy walk up to her.

”hey, d-did you find any other constellations cause I only managed to find one”

“Yea, I found two of ‘em.” Athena held up her map so that he could see the constellations Athena and Perseus. She moved her maps and quills off of the ground so that there was some space on the ground and motioned for him to sit, for what good did standing around do?
“I’m Athena,” Athena introduced, “Athena McClenin, first year Hufflepuff.” She grinned proudly and waited for the other kid to introduce himself.
“See that telescope? Betcha it’s got some kind of magic, since she’s standing so close to it.” Athena thought for a moment and her face lit up. “Or maybe it’s super valuable. Hmm, I’m not sure.”

Nia knew one thing, and one thing only: her nose was going to freeze and fall off.

The weather in Scotland wasn't being too kind to her, and none of her clothes were warm enough for Astronomy, not this high up and at this time of night. Surely, she thought, the professors could come up with some sort of charm to make it warmer out there, couldn't they? This was inhuman.

Her breath made little clouds of steam in front of her face as she looked around. Everyone seemed to be laying down already, all of them grouping with their usual friends and talking in low voices as they did their assignment wrapped in cosy blankets. Nia couldn't help but feel a little lonely in nights like these, where the sky was beautiful and clear, filled with stars that seemed to twinkle and dance within their gleam, and she had nobody to share the moment with.

Her own sneeze pulled her away from that train of thought.
Right.
Class.
She was here for a class.

She looked around once more, trying to find someone she knew, but she couldn't really recognize anyone in the darkness. She was about to give up and sit on her own once again when she saw from the corner of her eye a couple of students a little further away from the rest of the group. She didn't think she had ever seen one of the students, but although it was quite dark, Nia was almost certain she recognized the light blond hair pulled in a neat bun of one of the girls in her house. She didn't know her name and she didn't think they'd ever spoken before, but she had seen her around the common room a couple of times and that was good enough for her.

She took in a deep breath of the cool night air for reassurance, and started strolling towards them without giving herself time to second-guess her choice. If she ever wanted to make any friends, she'd have to take initiative some time.

"Hey guys, is there room for one more?" she asked, and was glad to hear that her voice came out confident and easy. Now that she was closer, she could definitely tell that the girl with blonde hair was the Hufflepuff she had seen around the Common Room. The other student was wearing a Gryffindor uniform, but Nia wasn't sure she had ever seen them before that moment. "It's freezing up here! I'm Nia, by the way."

"Hey guys, is there room for one more?"

Athena smiled when she spotted her fellow housemate and was glad she had chosen to join them rather than sit by herself. The girl was clearly not prepared well and She could she her shake slightly as she blew out little puffs of smoke. Athena wrapped her coat tighter around her and was glad she didn’t have to deal with the freezing cold.
“Yup!” Athena gave her biggest smile and paused. Did the girl remember her from her from her earlier introduction? Athena doubted it and decided she would reintroduce herself anyway. She clapped her hands together and thought about what she would say when she reintroduced herself to the Hufflepuff girl. “I’m Athena McClenin, if you didn’t remember from the common room.” Athena didn’t think anyone other than Cara would remember her introduction, and Cara had grown up with her. She was surprised the girl had even recognized her in the dim lighting and hoped this girl would serve to be a good friend. At least she was sure Nia wouldn’t be an enemy. Or at least she didn’t think so. Athena smiled brightly and turned back to the other boy who had yet to introduce himself to them.

"Thank you!" said Nia, sitting down next to the girl as soon as she was given the green light. Somehow, being vertical right now meant getting colder.
She pulled her knees towards her chest and wrapped her arms around her, feeling somewhat relieved from her own body heat.

"I totally remember your face, but names aren't really my strong point, sorry about that." recognized Nia, a bit embarrassed. Athena's smile was warm in the cold of the night. "Nice to officially meet you, Athena. That's the name of a Goddess, right?" she asked. She wasn't an expert by any means, but she enjoyed mythology and was pretty sure she'd heard that name before.

She rubbed her hands together and blew a breath of hot steam into them to warm her fingers as she looked up at the night sky. She should definitely start working.

"How is your assignment coming along?" she asked, trying to take a sneaky peek into Athena's parchment, but giving up immediately with a sigh. "I've never had the patience to just sit down and look at the sky for lord knows how long, so I'm procrastinating this."

At least it was a beautiful scene. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to recognize any of the constellations, but the stars on their own were beautiful enough to inspire her. She wished she could capture them in a picture, or translate them into a a design for a gown.

That sure was an idea!

Athena nodded at the girl.
“Yup, Athena is the Greek goddess of war and wisdom. Pretty sure both those traits fit me.” Athena grinned cheekily and couldn’t help but pretend to hold a bow at the ready. She was glad that the other girl wasn’t uncomfortable as much anymore though she could still see a little shiver coming from within the bundle of clothing she was holding tightly too her skin. “Are you cold?” Athena was ready to pull of the coat she was wearing and give it to the girl if it was necessary. She hoped it wasn’t nessecary buy if it was she would do it. “Here, do you want my coat? You can have it, I’ll be fine.” Athena smiled sheepishly at the other girl and hoped she didn’t seem weird. But she was weird, that was the problem. That’s probably why she didn’t have a lot of friends at home, just enemies. Of course other than Cara, who had been her friend since they were babies. Athena really was hoping she would find a friend in the other girl, because as her grandpa always says, the more the merrier! And the other girl was a Hufflepuff, so it was possible they had classes together.

Interacting with: @Nia Greenwood || Mentioning: @Cara Smalley

Nia couldn’t help but laugh along as the girl mimicked the pose of an archer ready to shoot. “I would have to agree, the bow and arrow look good on you!” she said, and flapped her eyelashes as she pretended to flip her hair in an exaggerated gesture, although really, her hair was so short that all she did was wave at the air. “My name is supposed to mean “priceless” and “beautiful”... Pretty accurate as well, if I do say so myself!” Nia joked, and winked at Athena with a flashy smile. She quite liked the girl’s sense of humour.

Athena looked ready to give out her coat as she saw Nia struggling to get warm. It was a lovely thought, but Nia thought it was also a crazy thing to offer in that weather!

“Oh, babe, no need!” she said, lightly slapping her arm in reprimand, just as her mother did with her. “You’d freeze without that, I’m quite alright. Thank you for the offer, though.”

She took a look around and saw that professor Horne was still standing protectively around the telescope. She smirked to Athena and said: “I’m thinking of asking the professor for a blanket, do you think she’d say yes?"

ACTIONS: Nia chats with Athena.

INTERACTING WITH: @Athena McClenin

MENTIONING: x

Athena grinned. “That’s cool,” She shrugged, “I’m sure my name has some other crazy meaning, I just haven’t checked.”
Athena blushed a crimson red and snuggled deeper into her coat, in hopes to hide her embarrassment. Sometimes she could be super sensitive.
“I’m sure if you asked her she would give you something.” Athena smiled and winked. “So long as your not annoying about it.”Athena opened her mouth and yawned, spreading her arms out widely and stretching her legs.
“I wish there were someway to take this class during the day without, you know, interrupting my sleep hours.” Athena’s eyelids looked heavy if not ready to close and she repositioned herself onto the blanket. She searched the room in hope for something to keep her awake but terribly failed and she soon began nodding off, to her own dismay. She pulled herself out of it.
“you think there’s something special about that telescope?” She yawned. “the teacher is practically guarding it. Hah.” Athena hoped class would end soon because she wasn’t sure if her eyelids would stay open much longer. She rubbed her drooping eyes and yawned again, before picking up her quill to start working on her star chart again.

Mentions: X

Interacting with: @Nia Greenwood