The Lark and the Nightingale PV Thora Abandoned

@Evelynn Decipio

A pink-cheeked Thora burst out of the common room, hurrying down the dank hallway that wound through the dungeons. It really was a pity that Slytherin's commons were located in the wettest part of the castle that was pretty much without natural light, save the sunlight and occasional moonshine that filtered through the Great Lake's murky waters and thick glass windows. Travel on foot was necessary to reach even a whiff of fresh air, as obviously, you couldn't exactly open a window and let water flood the entire castle.

Sketchbook tucked under one arm, the tiny brunette skipped along, deftly avoiding the trickles of water crossing the stone floor. Hogwarts was probably magically sealed watertight, so the fact that there was even lukewarm water eternally dripping and winding through the cracks of the pathway was bizarre. Perhaps it was just for the dungeon aesthetic, or for the general feel. It matched Thora's mood though, sometimes, as she was typically wandering the castle with no companion more than a book and her emotions threatening to choke her. She'd felt worse than ever, ever since the Masquerade Ball, and while deep down, the girl knew that simply bottling up everything into a tight smile and two simple words--I'm fine--wasn't the answer, she simply didn't know what else to do.

Christmas break, while it had been agonizing to spend the holiday away from her originally close family, had helped Thora along quite a bit. The festive mood was sure to boost spirits--well, it certainly did so for Thora. Although the first week of school had appeared suddenly, like a brick wall ready to block any little progress she could make in her learning, the Slytherin appeared unfazed. The past week had been more than difficult for her, honestly, with late-night studying and mad dashes to the library for books before it closed for the night.

Thora'd managed to gain a little more weight with the stress of school having been removed for the weeks of break that, honestly, passed as quickly as a fleeting shadow. Still, school was school. And Hogwarts, despite her not surviving a day of Muggle school without an insult thrown at her, was harder than anything she'd tried. Perhaps it was her lack of focus, or perhaps it was her background completely detached from the Muggle world, but Thora couldn't deny that nothing came without practice. So, thus came her plaguing professors for extra help and suggestions and hours of work thrown into her homework in hopes of Os.

Self-discipline and an incredible sense of ambition typically held Thora in shackles, holding her responsible for her work before she allowed herself even a moment of freedom. But still, hard work was hard work. It was a Friday night, and while the professors had clearly jumped on their students, each assigning a considerable chunk of homework, Thora had time--or, that's what she told herself. The weekend counted as time, didn't it?

So, two homework assignments, hundreds water-drips, and a sherbet lemon later, Thora had finally ditched her work, tossing it on her four-poster bed, and picked up her sketchbook instead. Her declining work ethic disappointed--almost disgusted--her, but hard work deserved a reward. After all, that was one of the sayings the young girl had grown up with, having lived on quite the independent farm for her whole life.

While Thora honestly had no idea where she was going, she found herself quickening her pace along the dark hallway. Nearing another door that was held slightly ajar up ahead, the snek wondered what could be in there. There was a soft tune floating out, its notes echoing, bouncing off the stone walls again and again. Potions. Right. There was a classroom down here. It was sort of a shame Slytherin didn't have their own domain, while it often felt like they did. Shunned by many of the other more prejudiced students, it was nice to have an underground hideout of sorts. It was annoying, though, having to climb stairs to access the rest of the castle. Well, the other houses were even higher up, so perhaps everyone was even.

Flipping her sketchbook open, Thora examined sketches that she had started--and some finished--several years ago. Merlin, were they pathetic. Painting was more of her territory, and she certainly excelled at it, but in order to splash color on things, you had to have a base. And since there always seemed to be a dearth of time with her busy Hogwarts career, most of the drawings were but a light pencil vignette.

So absorbed was the girl in her past work that she didn't realized a slightly smaller girl cross paths with her. A flash of reddish hair not unlike hers just the last year flashed across Thora's vision before she stopped short, barely an inch away from the other girl. She'd never seen the small girl before, but assumed she was a first year. Most people her age were much taller than her.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Thora exclaimed, holding out a hand reflexively to steady the other girl. Merlin, what was she even doing? She wasn't the oldest in the castle by any means, but as a second year, didn't she have an obligation to be kinder to the younger students? Besides, she'd been run over herself enough times to know that it was not fun. Thora hated to trip over someone else, especially if it was completely her fault. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," her flushed cheeks deepened even further as the girl fidgeted with the binding of her sketchpad. Hopefully the other girl--whoever she was--wouldn't be the mean, salty type. Thora had come across way too many of those recently.

"Also, what song were you just singing? Just curious," the words tumbled out of Thora's mouth before she could stop them. It was terribly obvious to the self-conscious young girl that the song might've been well known, and that she might've just been ignorant enough to not know what it was, but what was done was done. She'd might as well just stay quiet and hope the girl would be nice.

@Thora Larkston

Leaving the potions class in a hurry with the sole goal to make it to the library with enough time before it closed at eight, Evelynn had barely been looking where she was going as she bolted through the door. Often, she was the only one still in the class this late, and the halls beyond were just as vacant, generally. Perhaps she had grown too used to this general pattern that she had allowed herself to drop her guard. Unfortunately, on this occasion, she should have been looking where she was going.

"Oh crap!" exclaimed the redhead found herself barely an inch away from someone in the hall. She had down a weird sort of skipping weave as she dodged and skittered to a halt in an attempt to avoid a head-on collision, and in doing so didn't get a good look at the face of the obstacle. When all was said and done, she found herself still upright, a hand that was not her own upon her shoulder as thought to steady her. She'd even managed to hold onto her school bag.

Unfortunately, the same could not quite be said for the potion she had been carrying. There was a pleading, "Oh no..", followed immediately by loud and echoing *CRASH!* as Evelynn tried -- and failed -- to dart her hand down in time to catch the dropped bottle. Glass shattered as it hit the floor and orange liquid spilled out.

For a few breaths, Evelynn just stood there, staring at the corridor floor. At the shining shards and perfectly brewed potion. The result of the hour or two she had just spent. Wasted. She felt a crushing sensation in her chest, and the feeling of something growing in her throat, a feeling as though she were about to choke on something. Her eyes prickled annoyingly, and she could feel her nails as they dug into her palms. It was just like the time when Melissa had taken a lighter to one of her sketches. She wanted to cry.

She couldn't cry, though. Not here. Not in front of someone. Evelynn refused to show that kind of weakness anymore. She shoved the feeling down, drowned it in the pit of her belly just as hot angry rose up her spine and flooded into her chest to cover it. In a flash, happiness turned to despair, and then shifted again into something on the edge of rage. Looking up from her spoiled fruits of labour, she set her steely gaze upon the one who had dared admit she wasn't looking where she was going, ready to give her a snappy reprimand and take all of her frustrations out in one fell swoop.

Just as suddenly as the wash of emotion had risen, however, did it then fall. One look at the face that met Evelynn's gaze, the crimson glow of embarrassment, was enough --however annoyingly -- to dissipate the brief desire for revenge. And if that hadn't been enough, the clearly apologetic tone of her voice would have given credence to her sincerity.

Evelynn let loose a long, drawn out sigh of resignation, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"It's okay…" Her gaze dropped down to her lost work again. "I should have been paying more attention as well."

A pause. What the heck was she supposed to do about this? She didn't know how to clean it up magically, and she didn't have anything with her that she use to mop it up. Although, now that she thought about it, she was fairly certain that the cupboard in the classroom contained cleaning supplies. She was just about to offer an apology and turn to take her exit for them when the stranger asked about the song.

"Oh…uh…" Evelynn faltered for a second, glancing back to the other student.

A Slytherin student, she realized, spying the crest. A briefly amused thought of how much this girl contrasted the stereotypical Slytherin description crossed the Gryffindor's mind, but it wasn't enough to overshadow the embarrassment that Evelynn now felt at having been overheard. It was her turn now for a tell-tale rosy hue to creep its way up her neck and colour her nose and cheeks. She averted her gaze.

"I think it's called 'Toss a Coin'.." she replied sheepishly, not actually quite certain whether or not that was the title. That was just what everyone, everyone being her, her mother, and the internet, seemed to call it. Then, trying to be vague so as not to allude to her own muggle heritage, explained, "It's about a Witch..er..a monster bounty-hunter..and their traveling companion.. Not really sure any more than that."

Another pause. Then something occurred to her. This was a Slytherin. Maybe…just maybe…if Evelynn could get on her good side, if they could get off on the right foot, she could be of help. The first Liberation Club meeting was coming up tomorrow morning, and Evelynn had some breaking news to present the folks who attended. But to act on that breaking news, they'd need to enlist the help of some snakes…

"I'm Evelynn…Evelynn Decipio. A first-year Gryffindor," she spoke again, offering to the older student a smile and a hand to shake. Then in a hopeful tone, added, "You don't happen to know how to magically clean up spills, do you?"

@Evelynn Decipio

Thora felt her face heat up even more as the first year's potion flew onto the ground and shattered. Everywhere. She never intended to crash into the girl, let alone ruin her draught. It was simply a mess. Besides, she was a second year. Assuming the small girl was younger than her, wasn't she supposed to be the example? She'd failed again. How utterly pathetic.

"N-no, it was totally my fault," Thora honestly was quite self-conscious of everything. Her reputation and what other people--well, most people--thought of her mattered. A lot. The importance of first impressions had been something her parents had instilled in her from a young age, and after several reprimands and several mistakes, the lesson stuck with Thora. So as she watched tears rose in the young girl's eyes and crystallized into a steely blue-gray, the Slytherin felt something near dismay.

It was her fault. While the other girl had been the one rushing out of the classroom, Thora had been the one to run into her. Maybe she could do something, anything to help her out. Thora could even make another potion and gift it to her and steal her own time for the sake of her mistake. But as she opened her mouth to offer, the redhead spoke about the song. Oh, yes. The song…

Thora listened intently as the other girl explained, green eyes flicking over the girl's figure. She seemed quite uneasy and a blush was slowly rising from the base of her neck up to her face. However much Thora wished she could say otherwise, she knew exactly why. It was her fault again. She should've known better than to ask about strains of the song she had heard reverberating through the hallways, because it was simply embarrassing.

The brunette herself wasn't exactly a singer--no, she wasn't at all. Sure, Thora was in Frog Choir and had, in fact, joined willingly. But she had done it for the people rather than what they got to do. So the rare times people caught her singing, or even humming, they found a mortified girl, who would then try and escape from the awkward mess.

But in this situation? Thora honestly didn't really care what the girl had been singing--it was simply a question of curiosity, and evidently carelessness. She didn't know what Toss a Coin was, anyways. Perhaps she was ignorant, or perhaps her ever-disconnected life from the rest of the world--Muggle and wizarding--ensured that Thora wasn't aware of much more than school-taught knowledge.

So while Thora just wanted to redeem herself somehow, even if just by means of another simple apology, it appeared that it simply wasn't the time. However much it pained her to let it slip, she had to, as in her moment of indecision, the redhead beat her to taking action, introducing herself, asking about a cleaning spell.. And then it occurred to Thora that she had yet to introduce herself. How amazing.

"Hey Evelynn, I'm Thora. Second year Slytherin, as you can see," the snek said with a smile. Maybe they wouldn't exactly hit it off, but at least they were getting somewhere. 

"And, about the cleaning spell, um, I believe I do," Thora answered, trying to buy a little time. Many a spell had she learned over her year and a half at Hogwarts--even mastered a couple little charms that she really shouldn't have learned until the following year. Sometimes, it just got a little out of hand, a little too hard to keep track of. But as she racked her brain desperately for the right one, the snek remembered. Scourgify. Of course. Maybe she was getting too little sleep, or had taken too much work upon herself. The amazing memory Thora tended to pride herself on wasn't doing too well.

Thankfully, she always had her wand with her. And thankfully, while it had taken her a bit to remember the charm itself, she still remembered how to perform it. "Scourgify," the girl muttered as she waved her aspen wand in the shape of an S. As the shards of glass and orange splatters scattered everywhere on the stone floor disappeared, Thora paused. "W-wait, you didn't need the vial, did you?" Hopefully not.

"Which potion was that? Just wondering," Thora asked awkwardly, trying not to reveal too much. She couldn't deny that Potions was one of her weaker subjects, and while it clearly had been a bright orange, the name simply didn't register. And then, "Um, would you like me to re-brew a vial for you to compensate? I-I wouldn't mind." As random and stupid the words sounded, they came tumbling out of the girl's mouth, despite how tight she tried to squeeze her lips together. Oh, Merlin. What was she doing?

@Thora Larkston

Evelynn watched with no small amount of jealousy as the second-year Snek flawlessly cleared away the spilled potion and broken glass. There wasn't a spot to remain. Even if someone had known there had been a mess, they wouldn't have found any shred of evidence to support the notion.

"Wish I could do that…" She sighed wistfully, lips pursed as she continued to gaze longingly down at the pristine stone corridor floor for a few seconds longer. Then, raising her gaze to Thora's, added, "Sometimes it seems like they tell us all about the spells, but never let us actually learn anything…"

Side-stepping, Evelynn moved off to the outskirt of the corridor and leaned herself against the wall.

"Naw," she replied about the vial with a dismissing wave of her hand before tucking it and its opposite in the pockets of her robes. "It was just a Forgetfulness Potion," she answered with a shrug of her brow. "Nothing really difficult. I was just doing a bit of experimenting with the preparation of the ingredients and was hoping to… um… see how effective it was. But… it's okay. I can brew another one next week. Practice makes perfect and all that."

She glanced away, feeling a little awkward now. It wasn't exactly the ideal way to make someone's acquaintance, and Evelynn had never really been the best with small talk. She had taken after her mother in that regard.

"What's that?" She asked with a slight incline of her chin. Her eyes had settled on the book in Thora's hands, the binding with which the elder girl was fidgeting. "Is that a sketchbook?"

Maybe there was a way to recover this interaction. After all, Evelynn couldn't exactly jump into a request without some sort of rapport.

@Evelynn Decipio

Thora didn’t miss the shadow that passed over her younger companion’s face as the mess magically vanished with a swish of her short aspen wand. “Yeah, I do wish we could learn more spells that we could possibly use.” Long-lashed green eyes finally locked with blue-grey as the second year fumbled to retain her dignity as a slightly older student.

Sure, she’d wrangled quite a bit of pain and loss in her mere twelve years and knew some spells so well she could probably recite them in her sleep. But Merlin, talking would be the end of her. Thora simply wasn’t great at getting her point across while acting “normal”, so to speak. Some mannerisms, while rather commonplace like fidgeting or lack of eye contact, tended to show themselves when Thora was flustered. And she found herself uncomfortable in practically every social situation. At least agreeing made it the load of carrying a conversation on and on a little lighter.

But as for Evelynn, she seemed rather nice and quite pretty as well with her easy conversation and auburn hair, and Thora could only hope that they would continue to get along. The snek busied herself tucking her wand away in a pocket. She'd almost forgotten the intent of her walk, to sketch and basically just to find a spot of respite for a bit, when Evelynn asked about the slim book she clutched in her left hand. Her sketchbook. One of her most prized possessions.

"Ehm, yeah, it's my sketchbook," Thora smiled, eyes flicking over the black-covered book. It was a moment of consideration, a moment of thought as every painting she'd completed on the thick pages colored themselves into being in the girl's mind. The right thing to do, the normal thing to do, would probably be to open the sketchbook and share some of her art. But Thora was in the habit of keeping to herself, and opening up to the finished drawings--most of which were based on her childhood home in Ireland--wasn't something she was used to.

But nevertheless, slender fingers found themselves prying open the cover, and pages turned until a half-painted castle was found. "I did this one about a year ago, though I'm obviously not done…" A light pink returned to Thora's cheeks as she surveyed the piece she'd once prided herself upon. No, it wasn't bad, but it certainly was far from her best work. "D-do you sketch?" The girl blurted, "I mean, just curious. I'm not great at drawing, honestly. Just painting."

It wasn't at all like her to talk without giving it a thought. Hopefully the redhead wouldn't think her creepy, or annoying, or pathetic… But if she did, it was quite likely true anyhow. But what was done was done, and Thora'd get what was coming to her. She always did.

@Thora Larkston

With that simple, little, "Ehm, yea,", Evelynn's interest spiked significantly. If nothing else, her love of art was one thing that she had definitely acquired from her mother. She never failed to find a refreshing surge of inspiration from perusing through another artist's work; if meals were fuel for her body, and chess fuel for her mind, then art and all things artistic were fuel for her soul. Her eyes brightened and flicked immediately from Thora's face to that oh-so-precious booked clutched almost tenderly in her grasp.

When Thora began to crack that precious little horde of untold beauty, Evelynn wasted no time. One moment, she was standing in front of the Slytherin girl; the next, beside her head inclined with the faint hint of a mesmerized smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Ooooh," she breathed under her breath at the sight of the incompletely painted castle.

Who cares if it wasn't finished. Evelynn could see the vision, the care that had gone into selecting the hues and applying the brushstrokes to paper. Unlike Thora, she had no internal criticism for it, no thoughts that it was any sort of far cry from anyone best work (not that she knew that Thora was having those thoughts).

"Yea..." Evelynn admitted, her own cheeks rosying up a touch, when Thora asked if she sketched. She didn't exactly hide the fact that she liked to doodle, but neither did she advertise it. And she tended to pursue that hobby strictly in the confines and comforts of her own dorm. "A bit. I don't really paint, though. Not well anyway."

But she wasn't interested in over-sharing about her own artistic pursuits; she wanted to know more about Thora's!

"Where is that?" Evelynn queried, glancing side-long to the elder student. "I've a couple of castles─" Her mother had done a little bit of a northern tour with Evelynn in France to revisit some of her own childhood memories. "─but not this one, I don't think. Or..." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "Is it even a place? Somewhere in the world, I mean. Or did you think it up yourself?"

@Evelynn Decipio

Thora's smile widened as Evelynn confirmed that she, too, enjoyed drawing. The love of art wasn't exactly uncommon, but it was definitely nice that the two girls shared a passion. That made things a lot easier. Though the girl certainly wasn't a skilled conversationalist, she'd found that similarities just made it simpler to relate to people and just talk. "Sketching's really cool, I think. It's just that… For some reason it's just never come easy to me."

When the younger girl asked about the castle, Thora found her own eyes trailing over the work she'd done years before, scrutinizing every dark shadow. It certainly wasn't Hogwarts, and it was only on rare occasion that the girl left the country. So what really was the crumbling building? The luscious green landscape--also unfinished--suggested somewhere in Ireland, and she supposed it must have been…

"Minard Castle, I think. It's in Ireland, near where I used to live." Now that it came to mind, Thora could recognize the fortress with every shade of the castle on her page. Minard Castle really was a rather mysterious structure, having been uninhabited for a couple centuries and the Larkstons had come across it on a venture beyond the farmhouse they typically were stuck at otherwise.

"I'd, uh, love to see some of your drawings if you'd like, sometime. If not that's fine too, but it's just nice to find people with similar hobbies," she stumbled a bit. Judging from the flush in the younger girl's cheeks, Thora could guess that this wasn't exactly a comfortable option for the girl. Well, too late. Her awkward mouth never ceased to get her into rough spots she wanted to instead avoid, and here was such a time.

Thora hated to make Evelynn uncomfortable or anything, but hopefully she could fix this. She had to. "I did this one of Hogwarts not too long ago," the girl amended hastily as she flipped a few more pages to another painting. "Whoops, haven't finished that one either…" Thora trailed off as she glanced over her work in progress.

@Thora Larkston

"It's still really nice looking," Evelynn commented, keen gray eyes alight yet again as they roamed the unfinished image of their very own Hogwarts castle to take in every little detail. She gave a wistful sigh. "And I suppose I could show you some of my work," she replied thoughtfully. "But none of it would be recent. It's been ages, really, since I've had the chance to do anything at all. If it isn't a fresh batch of homework keeping me busy, it's practicing for quidditch, or getting in some extra potions studying in, or trying to find out more about the Potter trial."

She stopped short, blinking, her mind doing its own sort of double take regarding that which she had just said. The Potter trial. The Liberation meeting was tomorrow, and there was a certain piece of new information that she had wanted to bring up: that of the identities of the witnesses. It had just been the other night that she had overheard the elves talking in the common room.

"Hey…Have you been keeping up with the events and outcome of Mr. Potter's trial at all?" Evelynn asked slowly, an idea forming itself in her mind as she posed the probing question. "Only…well…back before the holidays, we…and by that I mean myself and some other Gryffindors…discovered some interesting things in our common room. It was a lot to take in at the time and would be a lot to explain now, but the short story is that we think Mr. Potter is innocent. Or… there's at least more to the story than what's been written in the Daily Prophet.

"The article talked about some witnesses to what had happened, but it wouldn't say who. But I know who it is now. Or who they are, rather. The only problem is that they've been keeping to themselves, and aren't in my House so I can't question them. Two of them are Slytherins though. Marion Davenport and Victor Moore. They were apparently the ones who actually turned Mr. Potter in…I've been wanting to talk to them. To get their side of the story. But…well…obviously I can't enter the Slytherin commons…"

She trailed off, eyeing Larkston with a hopeful expression, "Any chance you'd be willing to help me out?"

@Evelynn Decipio

Every word Evelynn uttered about not having time was relatable. Being a second year, it seemed that the professors' main joy in life was to assign them even more homework. The load of work that met Thora at the end of every day of her first year had already been more than overwhelming, as she had found her previous education--an Irish Muggle school--quite simple. And when she'd returned to the grueling school schedule that past September, the expectations she realized she had to meet were nothing short of scary.

And Quidditch? That, too. Though Thora was merely a reserve on her team, she still made it a point to attend every practice. That way, she could actually hone her skills, and if she ever had the opportunity to play, she would do decently well. But it was what she mentioned last that caught her attention. The Potter trial. Thora had done more than enough studying in her books to know about the famous wizard. Honestly, it was hard not to know who Mr. Potter was, going to Hogwarts and all that.

The trial wasn't something Thora had specifically tried to keep up with, since it had quickly occurred to her that it was just better to stay out of some things. Taking part in what one knew would result in disaster simply wasn't smart. It certainly was something she was aware of, though, being in the Daily Prophet, and rumours perpetually snaking their way around the school.

So as Evelynn continued on, stating that Potter was possibly innocent, Thora quickly closed up her sketchbook, alert. This was important, obviously. And when the Gryffindor mentioned the names of Slytherins, saying that they'd turned Mr. Potter in--to the Ministry, no doubt--Thora's eyes darted up and down the corridors. They were in the dungeons. Snek territory. Chances were, they were safe from prying ears, everyone still at their homework or whatever they enjoyed doing at this time of the evening, but the girl couldn't help but be wary of everything.

"Hold on," Thora whispered, "Let's go back in here." She slipped back into the Potions classroom, beckoning Evelynn to follow her. There didn't seem to be any other students in here, and although the professor probably was still lurking around his classroom someplace--understandably, of course--she felt quite safer in the classroom than in the hallway where anything could be waiting. Marion Davenport. She knew her. Well, Thora didn't know the girl very well, but they had been in the same dorm for a few months and she could definitely match name to face, and maybe get a word in to her if needed. So when Evelynn voiced her thoughts, she knew what she had to do. Even though something told her that it wasn't logical, wasn't safe, wasn't smart to plunge into something with so little time on her hands, she couldn't help the stronger urge that pushed her to help.

"Oh yes, I'll help!" the words tumbled out of the snek's mouth before she could clamp it shut. And just like that, she'd signed herself up for something that could result in a thrilling discovery or a suicide mission. It didn't seem like it led to much harm, though. Besides, her curiosity was demanding to be fed, and the redhead standing before her was so earnest… How could she resist?

"D'ya want me to do some research, or talk to Marion?" Reading was already one of her pastimes, so with a little extra time, research wouldn't be difficult. And Marion? Thora could only hope she could catch the girl someday in the dorm. Questioning might prove challenging, given her already shy nature, but if they needed information, well, some things just had to happen. And of course, Victor was also in her house, but it wasn't like she was comfortable approaching the older boy. But Thora snapped back to reality, glancing back at Evelynn. She was getting ahead of herself, wasn't she?