Happy Birthday to Me... Open Closed

@Illowy Magnard

The sun felt glorious on her skin as Margo ran out of the castle, more excited than she'd been all week. Amongst the many items in her cavernous pockets was a bar of chocolate, and not just any old bar of chocolate. No, this delicacy was infused with blackberries, her absolute favourite food on the planet, and quite possibly in all of outer space... astronomy had been growing on her over the past few months. She had received the delicacy in the post that morning as an early Easter gift from her mother. It had taken all of her willpower not to devour it for breakfast, but that show of inner strength was about to pay off once she found somewhere nice and quiet to-

Hey, what was that girl doing alone beneath that tree? 

Margo was never one to deny herself an adventure, so she started forwards with new found purpose, her need for chocolate not forgotten, but definitely less pressing. The girl looked to be holding a paintbrush, which only stoked Margo's curiosity further. She walked forwards until she stood behind the student, her Slytherin robes rustling in the breeze. Would she know that she was there? Quite probably, but Margo was too enraptured in the girl's painting to care. The watercolour mimicked the stone of what she assumed was Hogwarts Castle, and the way it spread over the paper fascinated her to no ends. She didn't have much of a knack for painting, preferring to stick to her skills in sewing and embroidery, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate another creative mind at work. 

Margo hastily pushed the chocolate back into her robe so sharing wouldn't be an issue and plopped down next to the unfortunate victim who was to receive her company. She discreetly shoved her hand in another pocket and felt the piece of unfinished embroidery she'd placed among her assorted collection of 'useful things'. Perfect. She could easily pretend that she'd come outside to finish her own art -- that way they'd both have something to do with their hands... hopefully whilst exchanging conversation. 

"Hope you're not averse to company. The dreary day could use some brightening, don't ya think?" Margo smirked, tilting her head upwards towards the sun. She meant well, even if sarcasm wasn't the best way to show it.

"It's a good impression." She added, gesturing towards the painting. The girl wouldn't know it, but she only complimented someone when she really believed in their talent. "Not that it isn't realistic. But art isn't always about copying what's in right front of you, not in my opinion anyway."

Now why did she feel like she'd seen this girl before... 

"Are you in Slytherin?" Margo cocked her head. It didn't occur to her that it could be considered an offence to assume someone's house, or that they might accuse her of being judgemental about it... not that she would. All of her family had been in Ravenclaw, and she didn't think many people were kinder than her mother. A person's house did not define them.

@Illowy Magnard

"Why, a fellow snake!" Margo exclaimed. "Glad I'm not the only one who values sunlight as well as the gloom of the dungeons..." She pursed her lips in annoyance. If only she could get this girl to reveal her age. Not that it mattered, but it would be nice to meet someone her own age for a change... or maybe someone older. It was always useful to have some more experienced acquaintances, though blackmail- persuading them to do anything that would push the boundaries of the rules could prove difficult. 

"How old are you?" Maybe it hadn't been clear before, but discretion was not a skill that Margo possessed. In her haste to make her questions sound less like an interrogation she threw some of her own information into the mix. 

"I was thirteen in November." She admitted happily. She was pretty sure that a deaf person would have been able to detect the smugness in her tone. Being a teenager was fantastic! She now had an excuse for her temperamental nature -- sarcasm wasn't exactly a rarity amongst adolescents, after all. She had more people to exchange harmless banter with and was moving towards adulthood in her own right. What wasn't there to love?

Unfortunately, this girl seemed much more hesitant than the average, sarcastic teen... but Margo would not be defeated! Humour was the solution to almost every problem. As was chocolate, but she wasn't ready to give up her mouthwatering treat just yet. She'd get a smile out of this girl if it was the last thing she did.

"So what does thy art queen think of the lovely castle that she has made so dreamy and impression of? What are her opinions of the noble houses replicate our temperaments -- although Hufflepuff wasn't looking so noble after we lost the cup to them -- and the grounds are so very enchanting in sunlight?  A castle like no other in the world, I'm sure... though I've actually never seen a castle anywhere else but Scotland."

@Illowy Magnard

Okay, so she might have failed to coax a smile out of the girl, but at least she hadn’t been shooed away. Margo on a mission was like an undeterred puppy — she demanded attention. Fortunately, her goals were a little more sophisticated than those of a canine, not that she had anything against the species. Her family’s dog, Mimi, was her favourite creature on Earth, and she had often bonded with the puppy in the mud and rain before coming to Hogwarts. The only issue was, dogs didn’t speak sarcasm. Margo sometimes questioned if Mimi ever understood her at all; she wasn’t the most obedient of pets. No, Margo had to result to humans for communication — the reason she was currently with the girl underneath the tree.

“So do you share my love of all things teen? Or do you not like being perceived as moody and temperamental?” Margo asked curiously. It was hard to tell what exactly this girl was thinking... but wait! Stupid. She had  forgotten to ask for the other Slytherin’s name. 

“It’s Margo, by the way.” She met the girl’s serious blue gaze with interest. Hopefully she would give a reply in return, but that in itself was a little social experiment. The quiet girl had not been very forthcoming with her information so far, but then again, Margo wasn’t very forthcoming with her affection, so who was she to judge? No, this little experiment wasn’t so she could judge the girl, it was to see where her interests lay, and if she deemed social etiquette more important than her own individual beliefs. If that failed, well, then she’d just have to ask for her answers.

“Really? Which castles have you visited? I actually prefer the ruined ones — leaves more to the imagination than filling drab rooms with the occasional pointless objects.” Did she sound too cynical? Maybe her tone was a little condescending for someone with such a lack of experience... then Margo decided she didn’t care if the other girl judged her. She lived to be different, after all.

“Judgement.” Margo hummed. “Yes. I don’t like being judged upon  my house either. But honestly, anyone who has something against us because of their stereotypical beliefs can go...” Her voice trailed off as she saw the mark on the other girl’s neck. She had heard about the spiders that had infiltrated their common room — of course she had. She had slept through the incident herself, but it hadn’t lessened the horror she felt at the sight of her weakened housemates the next morning. Since then, Hogwarts had seemed a little less safe and a lot more uptight. Seeing the reason for this change right in front of her eyes was eye opening. She couldn’t stop the pity she felt from trickling into her gaze, but she didn’t know if the other girl would like it.

Yanking her stare away from the poor girl’s mottled skin, Margo forced herself to continue her speech. “They can go dig themself a hole because it just ain’t a Slytherin’s issue. We,” She swallowed. “We can be brave. And I wouldn’t change my choice for the world. We may not be lovable, but being a snake is in my heart now.”

@Illowy Magnard, @Willow Nelson

"Temperamental? Moody?" Margo laughed. "Why I think my parents have the same idea 'bout me... perhaps on a little more mischievous front though." 

She gasped when Illowy mentioned Paris. "I've always wanted to go to France." She confided. "I thought I flooed there once, but it turns out I was just in a strangely sunny corner of England. The witch's house I accidentally flooded to was not a very chatty sort, and seemed rather affronted at my efforts to speak French, which I thought was a perfectly sound deduction... do you speak the language of love?" She comically raised her eyebrows at the last word. Personally, Margo didn't see what was so lovable about a language, especially the language of people who found eating frog's legs and snails to be a delicacy. She did like to have some nice Scottish Haggis occasionally though, so who was she to judge?

Margo tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know if people see Slytherins as cowards or big bad snakes... maybe both. Kind of a twisted point of view, don't ya think? Besides, self preservation doesn't mean we always think of ourselves, just that we think of ourselves before giving out our hearts freely. I thought a Slytherin's loyalty was supposed to be something rather fierce once won? Hasn't that been proved throughout history too? However misguided the Dark Lord was, nearly all of his Slytherin followers were eternally loyal, and I don't think the things he asked them to do were particularly self preservative. Maybe that's why Gryffindors were followers too - their loyalty was strong and unwavering. We're not too different in that sense, I suppose."

Illowy seemed much more animated when talking about history than anything else, which was why Margo decided to expand that aspect of the conversation. However, before she could say any more they were interrupted by another girl with a pretty name. Willow. She seemed very upfront about her desire to be friends, which was not something Margo could easily relate to, but it did inspire her curiosity.

"Hello Willow. Feel free to jump in." Her tone remained happy. Now she had two people to analyse!  "We were just discussing Hogwarts houses and their prejudices." 

She hoped Illowy didn't mind her being so open about their conversation, especially since they were both Slytherins. But then again, she tried to stay by her word, and she'd just told the quiet girl that anyone who judged them wasn't worthy of their attention. It was time to test that theory.