Nox PV Alma Stoll, June Selwyn

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Alma walked out of charms, rather happy that she had succeeded in the wand-lighting charm. Unfortunately, her dear friend Finnegan wasn’t as successful. She assumed he must’ve gotten it at least once during the lesson, as she was too distracted with her own wand to look at what he was doing, but the sullen expression on the boy’s face as she walked out of the classroom told Alma all she needed to know.

She hurried to catch up with him, offering a pitying frown and comforting shoulder pat to accompany his apparent distaste for today’s lesson. The squib comment had her knitting her eyebrows trying to think of some way to console him. “Hey, don’t say that! You tried your best, that’s what matters.”

He grumbled his way along the length of the corridor and Alma tried her best to make him feel better. The entire way she rambled on about how he would have his moment eventually and catch up to the other kids, and when he did he’d be even better than everyone else. He probably wasn’t listening, but she continued anyway. She stopped in her tracks when he swiveled around to face her, an expression of annoyance crossing his face.

She gave a disapproving frown at his language, but didn’t comment. He seemed too distressed for her to offer her signature “cursing is impolite” lecture.

“Hey, maybe I could come with you! Would that make it better?” she asked. Maybe if he had a friend present to help aswell, it’d make his day a little more bearable. She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and smiled. “I won’t have to tell George anything, because you’re not blowing yourself up with Lumos. Not if I have anything to say about it. Come on!”

She took initiative and began walking towards the classroom on the second floor. Usually, that was where students went to be tutored and she couldn’t think of any better place to practice charms in (outside of actual charms class). She walked in long strides, determined to get there fast and hope Finn could keep up. Eventually, they reached the classroom and she looked at him with glee.

“Is this it? Who’s tutoring you?”

A parcel and letter arrived for June at breakfast. Under normal circumstances, such a small event wouldn't ruin someone's day, but these were not normal circumstances.

Dearest June,

I hope you've been doing well. How is broom racing going, is your Silver Arrow still holding up? Does Maggie Hawks still have hers as well?
Things have been a bit slow here at home without you. Your father thinks he's settled on an idea for his next novel: A sequel to Drainmuss and Death (oo, how exciting!). He's currently in one of his focused moods, so you might not hear from him for a bit.
Did you enjoy the cardigan I sent you?
Please write back soon, I'd love to hear from you.

All my love,
Mum x

June crumpled up the parchment and shoved it deep into her cloak pocket. That woman had been sending her a letter almost every week now, every time accompanied by a gift of some sort, each as boring and dull as the next. That woman couldn't even remember the name of June's best friend.

The Slytherin second year had half a mind to throw the parcel away after reading that, but the allure of a wrapped present is difficult for any 12-year-old to handle, no matter who it's from. The compromise was ripping the package open with no Inside was a sparkly silver headband, delicate crystals lining the thin metal accessory. A small note was tied to it,

To help keep your hair fixed in one spot and out of your face.

In a fit, June tore off the note, but as she did, the headband hummed to life with magical energy and zipped onto her head, perfectly placing every piece of her platinum hair. Of course, it was enchanted.

And June couldn't figure how to get the damned thing off.

After a long (but entertaining) History of Magic lecture, June was looking forward to her Thursday tutoring sessions with Finn to get her mind off of things (including the headband still affixed to her head). Had he improved? ...Well, not exactly, although he had successfully cast a few charms since their sessions started, which had to be some sort of progress compared to when they started. Then again, it could all be the work of Professor Fresnel, and June's tutoring was just a waste of time.

But such thoughts were forcefully shoved out of June's mind as she set up the classroom they practiced in. No, these sessions had to be helpful in some way shape or form, otherwise Finn would have asked to stop them. Right? Right.

... Right.

┌────────────────────┐ F I N N E G A N └────────────────────┘

┌────────────────────┐ C O N N E R └────────────────────┘

Nox

Though he lamented the thought of being spectated, Finnegan made no effort to stop Alma from joining him. He'd figured out some time ago that once she'd set her mind on something, it was just best not to argue. Stubborness seemed to be something of a common trait among his friends.

Along the way, a picture of a stout knight in clattering armor challenged him to a duel, and he had half a mind to take up the challenge. Whatever skill he lacked in charms, he made up for in Defense against the dark arts, though he doubted any of those spells would be of any use against canvas and paint. Perhaps the fire-making spell would do the job, but then he'd have to set the whole corridor alight, or one of the other paintings might peach on him.

A bit out of breath from stomping his way up a flight of chairs (they didn't always move by themselves), he arrived at the classroom with Alma in tow. June was already there, preparing the room for another practice session.

"Hiya," Finnegan said, sounding tired and a bit exasperated. He'd just been through two hours of charms, running through the same spells he'd been stuck on since the start of the year with bloody little progress to show for it. Sighing, he plopped down into the nearest chair, slid halfway down the seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "June, this is Alma, a buttie (=Wenglish for buddy or friend)of mine. Alma, June. June, Alma." He gestured vaguely between the two of them before slouching impossibly low into his chair, his limbs draped across the seat like overcooked spaghetti.

And that was that. He'd didn't bother to drop his schoolbag from his shoulder, made no effort to equip his wand and the only movement was that of his hand, combing slowly through his messy hair as though it was the most important thing in the world. Already he could feel the inevitable pressure mounting on him, but he absolutely refused to move out of the spindly chair. "I don't really feel like practicing today, awright?".It came out sounding a lot more agitated than he intended, but he made no effort to clarify. Already he was counting down in his head to when Alma would attempt a motivational speech on him. Bugger that, it wasn't going to work. Not today. He fired a glum warning look in Alma's direction before he noticed the silvery headband on June's head. "That a crown is it? Are you some kind of princess now?"

@June Selwyn, @Alma Stoll

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Alma walked curiously into the room, looking around while Finn greeted his tutor. It was quite dull actually, just a normal classroom set up with rickety wooden desks and a large chalkboard front and center. She walked around the desks in a figure eight motion, really just moving around for the fun of it. She realized that she wouldn’t be doing much, but she also realized that she was definitely the “i’m here for moral support” friend in all scenarios, so she didn’t mind.

She snapped back to attention when Finn introduced her to…June? She had recognized the name, but couldn’t place where it was from. She studied the girl with a puzzled look for a quick second before the pieces snapped into place like a rubber band, her fingers snapping with the realization that she knew the slytherin.

“Selwyn! June Selwyn!” she quoted from their last interaction, pointing an almost accusatory finger at the girl. She let her lips fall into a wide smile and she went in for a hug. Quite awkward, since last time they’d met she was locked in a bathroom stall and they had about a one second conversation afterward, but who’s keeping track. “Sorry, I’m a hugger. Nice to see you again!”

She turned back to the one she came here with, only for her expression to fall extremely unimpressed. His current position had his limbs draped lazily across the seat and slumped halfway down his chair, looking like a toddler who was just denied a juice box. She turned to June and whispered an explanation, “Rough day in Charms class.” His pitiful statement had Alma rolling her eyes, already skipping over to offer her signature pep talk.

She ignored the sad look he threw her way and plopped herself down into the seat next to him with her best comforting smile. “Come on, get up. You’ll never get better if you don’t try!”

She swerved her eyes around to look at the mentioned object, and did in fact see a sparkly headband adorning June’s head. “I think it looks beautiful June. Definitely compliments your eyes! Where’d you get it?”

The sound of footsteps pulled June out of her thoughts as she looked up to see not one, but two people enter the classroom. It was obvious that Finn was not in the best of moods, which seemed to seep into the room and into June's outlook. Alma, yes, June knew her. June did not know that she was "a hugger", and awkwardly returned the girl's embrace (it wasn't that June disliked physical contact, it was just that right now it felt... odd). "Nice to see you again too," she replied, a sincere tone clouded by the torrent of thoughts in her mind.

Rough day in charms class? By the way Finn was acting, that could have been the understatement of the year. June sighed, "Well, I'm not particularly in the mood for teaching right now, but we press on."

"Are you some kind of princess now?" June rolled her eyes, "No." Her response was too quick, too sharp. She sucked in a breath at Alma's compliment, which was indeed kind, but not exactly what June was interested in hearing about at that moment. "My... My mum sent it to me but it's enchanted and..." June tugged at the headband with all her might to no avail. "I can't get the thing off. It just stuck itself to my head as soon as I opened the package."

Trying to pull the focus away from her new accessory, June pulled an empty glass potion out of her bag, examining it in the sunlight, watching the way it refracted the light, before promptly smashing it on the table. It broke into five large chunks that scattered across the tabletop. Releasing her emotions physically actually felt quite... therapeutic. "Come on, you've been getting really good at the Mending Charm. I bet after a couple more tries you'll have it down pat and then we can play exploding snap or something."

┌────────────────────┐ F I N N E G A N └────────────────────┘

┌────────────────────┐ C O N N E R └────────────────────┘

Nox

While Alma had pulled June into a hug, Finn slid further down the chair and sunk into a swamp of thoughts about all the things he'd rather be doing than proving just how much of a muggle he was by failing basic charms. His mood wasn't helped by the gloomy light spilling into the old classroom through the tall, narrow windows. There was a promise of rain in the air, but that wasn't likely to make Pax cancel Quidditch practice. "Oh," was all he said in reply to June's explanation about her headband. Whatever. It wasn't his problem and so he slid back into his swamp of moody thoughts.

Thursdays really were the worst, he decided. After I've failed charms class, embarrassed myself in front of Alma and June, and got soaked and exhausted at Quidditch practice, I've still got two scrolls to write for Defense against the Dark Arts. Alma wouldn't be able to save him this time as it would be well into the evening and they'd both be in their respective common rooms. Besides, he really didn't want to ask for help again and feel like even more of a failure.

If June wasn't in the mood to teach, why couldn't she just call it quits? Then at least he could find a blanket to hide under until one of the Professors would find him and tell him there had been a terrible mistake and that he wasn't a wizard after all. He'd just started thinking about where he'd left some of his stuff that he would need to pack when June smashed the glass phial with a vengeance. Much to his shame he let out a high-pitched noise in surprise though to June's credit, she had at least succeeded in making him sit up.

While he could have pretended not to have heard Alma's gentle encouragement for him to at least try, June's approach impossible to ignore. At long last, punctuated by a heavy sigh, he got up and sauntered his way over to his two surrogate moms. It was only after he'd combed his hand through his hair one final time that he finally got out his wand and muttered, "Reparo".

The shards on the table wiggled a little, but without any care, will, or focus to back up the charm, not much else happened. He turned back around to face the girls and shrugged. "I think I'd best get some superglue like if you want your phial back..." He arched an eyebrow at June and wondered aloud, "is it really stuck to your head?" Unable to think of any better or faster way to test whether it was really true, he simply reached out to grab the silvery band with both hands and gave a firm tug. He hadn't seriously considered that it was more than a little stuck, or that his attempt to pull it off probably hurt. But most of all, he had not at all thought about how it caused his hands to end up awkwardly covering her ears, holding her face with both hands. Her hair is quite soft, he thought stupidly before he retreated a pace, mumbled an apology and looked to Alma for help.

@June Selwyn, @Alma Stoll

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Though it might not have been her award-winning motivational speech that got Finn up and out of his chair, Alma was still happy to see him attempt the spell. However her smile faded fast as she watched her friend dismally recite the incantation with absolutely zero enthusiasm. This was turning out to be a rather hard-to-watch tutoring session.

It became even more so when Alma watched with horror in her eyes as Finn completely overstepped June’s boundaries by attempting to rip the headband from her head by himself. This left both of them in quite the awkward position, with Finnegan’s hands framing her face and them both in close proximity. It reminded her of the cheesy romance movies her dad had her watch at times. Alma smacked her palm to her face in second-hand embarrassment before getting up from her seat. She had to do something.

She rushed over and gently pulled Finn back a little bit more by his shoulders. “Sorry! Like I said he’s had a rough day.” she offered her condolences to June. Rough days seemed to be a theme here in this group, but that just meant it was up to Alma to brighten things up a bit.

She looked to the still broken phial, and pulled out her wand with a sigh. “Finn, if you really wanna get this over with, you just have to give it a go. And maybe actually try this time?”. She pointed her wand at the broken glass and muttered a small Reparo, watching as the phial came together with ease. She picked it up and this time, walked over to June, and held it out to her.

“Would you like to break it again? I heard breaking things is a healthy way to let out your frustration?” Giving one last empathetic smile, she hoped a second chance was enough to get these two out of their heads. Maybe they could head to the Quidditch pitch for some flying afterwards - Finn was a quidditch player, and she had heard before about June the Broom Racing captain. Maybe this was the link that could cheer them up a bit.