Long Overdue PV Phaedra Closed

@Serena Towers

Studying in her dorm just wasn't cutting it anymore. Notorious O.W.L. examinations only months away, the elusive fifth-year found herself more drawn to public, yet quiet areas for study. Her usual study group didn't meet today, but as always, she still took the opportunity to hit the books. Building up individual reasoning was just as important as many heads together. Turning around in her seat to glance at the seemingly behind clock, Phaedra did a double take at a certain someone's entrance.

As if being pulled by an invisible force, Phaedra craned her neck while the short-statured head disappeared between the aisles. Serena Towers. Her childhood best friend turned distant. The pair that had once planned to take on Hogwarts together now did so separately. Almost defensively in nature, Phaedra had made a habit of glancing past her in any shared space, an unspoken rule ever since their explosive falling out years ago. Her mother had once advised, “Growing apart is only natural,” but many details were left out then. Only they knew that this had been anything but.

Sometimes, when guilt allowed, she wondered what could have been. Fingers drumming on the table surface amid her internal struggle—to face the monster she'd created, or leave the many matters be—Phaedra’s eyes instead glued themselves back onto the tome. This was ridiculous. Just how long had this tension existed? If her memory served correct, perhaps five or six years. Either way, the chance to make things right had long sailed. Even kind Serena had limits to forgiveness.

On the other hand, now that they were together on the Headliner, avoidance was hardly conducive to a healthy work environment. Utilising her Secretary title was a good enough excuse to speak, Phaedra reckoned, absentmindedly brushing her quill across a cheek. In a swift motion that had her dumping her belongings into her satchel, she coaxed herself with a deep breath and beelined for Serena's last location. No more running. Even if to no avail, at least she could say that she tried.

By the time she'd found her, Serena was sitting at a table, alone, with a towering pile of books. The sheer size indicated study for something serious, but Phaedra would have much rather sprawled herself across the table than use that as an excuse to flee. With her bag’s strap held in a vice grip across her chest, Phaedra closed the distance by standing behind the part-Goblin. Any effort at minimizing her footsteps went in vain after suddenly clearing her throat for the girl's attention.

“…Hello, Serena,” she said, voice lacking its usual command. Although practiced in remaining blank-faced, Phaedra inwardly winced at the reveal of frailty, and would avert her gaze to Serena’s stack of books should she glance back. The first drawn forward sat opened to its contents page. Not that she cared to read it—the swim of symbols went disregarded as she considered how to navigate such a long needed conversation. To someone keen, her apprehension could not have been any more obvious, but Phaedra pushed nonetheless. “I see that you’re busy, but I felt it improper to not congratulate you for a job well done. Getting the columnist position, I mean.”

Improper. Funny, was her bigotry, no matter how fueled by grief, not also improper? Phaedra ripped her eyes from the pages in hopes of gauging Serena’s reaction. If she was Serena, she would have told herself where to shove it. But call it wishful thinking, something felt different this time, like a dam waiting to burst or something. Perhaps the scrap with Black that summer was the push it needed. They really needed to talk about that too. Rigidly, while waiting permission to either take a seat or get lost, Phaedra wrung her hands before whispering, “Can we… can we talk?”

Interacting with @Phaedra Stavrou

Running her index finger down the page, Serena scanned the contents list of the book trying to figure out what chapter she was meant to be reading. Flipping to the right chapter, she started to read. If she was honest, reading was not something Serena excelled at. She was a slow reader, who had to go over the same paragraphs multiple times to try and remember them. She had to pause, take notes and reread them if she wanted to study for an exam. Her concentration quickly fell when it came to it and she struggled to focus on the words. It was that lack of concentration that forced her to reread. Focusing was not something she did when it came to books. She just found them boring. However, they were also incredibly useful and a good source of knowledge and that was why she was here. She was not anti-reading, she was just not much of a reader and refused to do it as a hobby.

However, before she managed to get through the chapter, a voice caught her attention. A voice saying her name. But more than that, a voice that seemed eerily familiar. Her gaze quickly flicked up, tilting her head to see the face of someone that she did not expect to see actually talking to her. Phaedra Stavrou.

Their relationship had been through a lot. They had, somehow, gone from being best buds to... whatever this was. A relationship where they mostly avoided each other. "Hey," She mumbled in response to her greeting, unsure of where this was going. Perhaps it was about the Headliner. That had to be it, it was the only thing Serena could think of. She had recently joined the team and it turned out that Phaedra was one of the people in charge of it... As expected, the conversation turned to the headliner rather quickly. With a nod of her head, Serena responded in a quiet tone so they did not get in trouble, "Thank you. I figured I'd get started on my article," She continued as she motioned to the books in front of her, showing why she was busy.

She swallowed, staring at Phaedra as she half-expected the Ravenclaw to turn around and leave on that note. When she did not leave, Serena just blinked at her, wondering what was going on. Did she do something wrong? Was she being fired from the Headliner already? What was happening? "Oh, uh, yeah, of course," She stuttered a little, kind of surprised by the whole thing as her mind frantically tried to go over everything Phaedra Stavrou would want to speak to her about. What could it possibly be?! "Oh uh, please," She waved her hand over the table in the direction of some of the empty seats to indicate that they were free, if she wanted to sit, "Or uh, did you want to go somewhere else?" Serena continued, unsure if this was a conversation that they needed to step outside for. If she was going to get yelled at, she would prefer it not to be in a library.

Though she did not want to admit it, she was worried about where this conversation was going to go. She could tell by the way it made her heart pound a little and she felt her throat tighten slightly. It had been a while since they had really spoken. They mostly just avoided each other during classes or when passing in the hallway. The one time they really interacted in the past few years was during the recent summer camp and even then, they did not really speak. To this day, Serena was not entirely sure why Phaedra did what she did when the fight broke out between her and Falentra when even Arjan had sided with the latter.