warm treacle open complete

Alina found herself exploring the castle once again. Actually, it didn't really count as exploring if she was really wandering around aimlessly, right? Because that's what Alina found herself doing most days. She had always been fond of learning and she picked up on things easily—except for that retched transfiguration, but that's for another story—and Alina usually had a lot of free time on her hands. Sometimes she spent it coloring in her books, writing letters to her family back in Wales, going through her dorm mates possessions—but that was only time.

Currently she was strolling through the corridors, possibly waiting to be told to go find a study room or library to occupy herself in. But that was so boring! Alina was good at retaining information, and easy things always got stale for her. She was starting to fear that her best bet was to listen to the constant gossip going around everyday just to liven up her life; in other words, Alina had no friends.

She was right to be surprised. Alina was good at making them back home, where she knew everyone, but she had this little fault about her that few knew of: she was very judgmental. Despite how helpful and generous she was, Alina couldn't but be skeptical of everyone and everything she encounter, from people to place to ideas; you could call her an over thinker.

Alina found most people at Hogwarts downright strange, like that girl she found in the library hanging out on shelves. It reminded her how close mankind was to the apes. Well, at least she had the electric blue hair going for her.

She didn't have a set goal while walking around the school, or maybe she would make her way back to the Snake Den, as she liked to call it, in a few minutes. Maybe she should really go back to studying Transfiguration, but things that didn't come easy annoyed Alina, like trying to get to know stubborn people who had no connection to her family. Was the wizarding world this complex?

The young Slytherin suddenly found herself outside, flinching at the bite of cold. She tugged her green and silver scarf tighter around her neck and furrowed her eyebrows, but that stubborn smile refused to wane. Alina always favored winter to any other season, possibly because it never ceased to keep her alert and dauntless.

Her pale green marbles studied the students milling about, doing who knows what in this god-forsaken weather. Just because she favored the cold season didn't mean she liked everything about it. Alina scanned the courtroom for anything exciting and was about to turn around when her eyes caught on someone.

"Sedrick?!" she shouted, pronouncing the name like see-drik. "Is that you? Why, I thought you graduated last year!"

Alina, figuring her cousin hadn't heard her, ran into the courtyard until she pulled up next to a dark-haired individual...who was definitely not her cousin. A bewildered expression flicked over her face before the answer came to her: this was not Sedrick. "Oh, pardon...but if only you had green eyes like mine!" She stuck her finger into his face, pointing at his dull brown ones.

@Alina Fridenot

At first, Gem hadn't thought he was the one being spoken to. Rather than give her any attention, he kept his eyes down on his book and pretended she hadn't made him jump a bit the moment her voice clunked into his skull like a pebble in a tin can. When he looked up, however, and saw that she was looking right at him, he raised his eyebrows and lifted a finger, pointing it at his chest.

"Who, me?" When it was clear enough that she was, in fact, speaking to him, he furrowed his eyebrows at the finger in his face. Bringing a hand up, he moved it (though it was tempting to smack it), and offered a kind, tight-lipped smile. "Ehm, right. I haven't got green eyes, I wish I did." Oh, a Slytherin. This ought to be interesting. He kept his thoughts to himself, instead cocking his head to the side curiously, brushing his fingers over one of the pages.

He set his book down, keeping one hand between the page he was on so he didn't lose it. He gave her a once-over, shortish, golden hair, and incredibly green eyes. Man, if he had eyes like that, he wouldn't mind being her cousin, no matter how loud she was.

"Sorreh, did ya say his name was Seedrick? I've never heard a name quite like that." He sat up, brushing some bangs out of his face. He wondered if her name was just as curious, Seedrick, Seed-rick. Seemingly suddenly, he held a hand out to shake, a casual formality. "I'm Gem, by e' way. Good ta meet ya." Well, as weird as their first interaction was, he could never turn down making new acquaintances.

@Gem Stuart & @Alina Fridenot

A second Slytherin had been meandering by himself, exploring the courtyard while simultaneously eavesdropping and observing his fellow students. Most seemed as mundane and dull as the majority of the muggle students he had known in his previous school - discussing things of little consequence, talking over each other in an attempt to collect the most attention, and basically stuck in their own little worlds without knowing the difference between listening to and hearing their so-called friends. Jack rolled his eyes at the lot of them, wondering if anyone or anything interesting might come along, when a shrill voice cut through the din.

"Sedrick?! Is that you? Why, I thought you graduated last year!"

The owner of said voice was soon revealed to be a green-eyed girl in Slytherin garb. The girl rushed over to stick her finger in the face of a Ravenclaw who had appeared to have been minding his own business reading a book. Upon listening in, Jack discovered that the whole situation had been a case of mistaken identification, but he decided to intervene nevertheless.

Firstly, he couldn't abide a housemate of his behaving in such a rude manner right before his eyes. As if he didn't have enough to deal with combating the Slytherin stereotypes. Secondly, the gentle nature of the patient Ravenclaw boy intrigued him. So far, in his opinion, nearly none of the Ravenclaws that Jack had encountered seemed to exemplify their fabled traits. This young man, however, seemed different somehow.

Hope swelled in his chest as the redhead gradually drew nearer to the pair, not wanting to interrupt their ritual of first introductions. But then he caught wind of the boy's name and froze.

Gem? Gem Stuart?

The muggle-born student may not have been familiar with wizard and witch names, but he was betting there weren't too many boys named Gem attending Hogwarts. Hesitant, he paused, silently weighing the pros and cons of the choices he had available to him. Should he turn around and leave while he still could, or did he dare try to find out more about the Ravenclaw? Well, at the very least, Jack still felt inclined to give the other Slytherin first-year a piece of his mind, if nothing else.

Opeila was focused on her book like nothing for a long time. The past days she had spent on going through every potions book she could find, but after being unsuccessfull all the time she decided that she had to take her mind off things. She was sitting on a long branch that was bent to the ground by the weight of all the students that had sat on it before.
Opeila looked bad. She was pale, had dark rings under her eyes, signs of many sleepless nights and she had gotten even thinner than she had been before. After a little mental breakdown in the library she had decided that something had to change. When she got up she made herself eat something and then she went outside. She didn't take any potions books outside with her and because of that she had to fight her bad feeling already. Her mother wouldn't want her to get ill because of her stupid mistake, she told herself, over and over again. But there was this mean little voice inside her that kept repeating that her mother could have gotten herself into trouble because of depressions. And that maybe, Opeila played a big part in it.
But today, she wouldn't allow that voice to make her feel bad. It was enough.

"Sedrick?!"

Violently Opeila was pulled back into reality and fell off the branch. Her head hit the tree trunk. "Ow! What the hell?", she grumbled, turning around to look at the girl that had shouted.

"Is that you? Why, I thought you graduated last year!" 

Well then of course it wouldn't be him, Opeila thought annoyed. And even if it would have, that was no reason to yell through the whole courtyard. The girl seemed to figure that as well.
"Oh, pardon...but if only you had green eyes like mine!"
The girl stuck her fingers in the face of the boy, pointing at his eyes.
Opeila wasn't sure if it was just her opinion, but it seemed like very weird way of greeting a stranger to her.
She was surprised that the Ravenclaw boy just camly removed her hand, she would have smacked it and probably told that girl something about yelling at her through the courtyard.
"Ehm, right. I haven't got green eyes, I wish I did."

Well, he seemed like the opposite of that dramaqueen Ravenclaw from the abandoned toilets. He calmly asked about that guy she was speaking of- if one could call that speaking.

"I'm Gem, by e' way. Good ta meet ya."

Unusual name but she couldn't say that she remembered it from the feast or somewhere. Neither could she remember the girl, what surprised her. With that volume she should at least be able to remember the face...
She hadn't yet noticed the other person watching the kind of strange encounter. Him, she certainly would remember.

@Jack Burnett, @Opeila Seilun & @Alina Fridenot

Gem liked to think he was perceptive, but when he felt the unsettling feeling that he was being watched. A quick once-over at the crowd proved that wrong, right up until he met another pair of sneaky, green eyes. Another Slytherin, one drawing closer to him and the girl beside him had him narrowing his eyes, furrowing his brows as if he were trying to recognize whoever the redhead was. Still, as expected, he didn't know him at all. So what was bringing him over? He didn't resemble the girl pointing a finger at his face at all, they couldn't have been related, so... what, was he gonna get his wrist broken today or not?

Suspiciously, even after he knew who was staring at him, he had the feeling. He hated it all right, but he didn't say much about it - what could he have said? He'd never met any of these people in his life, except maybe around the library or in class. Rather than shut up, he sat straight and made eye contact with the redhead, blowing the other Slytherin off for him, instead.

"You all right, mate? Spacin' out?" It didn't look like he was spacing out, not a single bit, but he figured it would make for some right conversation - not only that, but get a peek into his intensions. You didn't stare unless you were in La La Land, or unless you had something to say, do, or think about the person or thing you were staring at.

Maybe he was just looking into this too much.

@Gem Stuart, @Alina Fridenot, & @Opeila Seilun

"You all right, mate? Spacin' out?"

Just as he opened his mouth to say something to the dirty blonde, Jack found himself being addressed by the very boy he had been wondering whether or not to avoid. Well, at least that decision had been made for him. A crooked grin grew across his face as he found himself amused by the irony of the whole thing.

"Oh, uh...yeah, thanks," he answered, embarrassed at having been caught by surprise for a moment. "I'm sorry. I had been about to tell off my rude Snake associate here when I heard you mention your name. You aren't Gem Stuart, are you?"

He dipped his head in greeting. "I'm Jack. I've heard of you in passing, but I didn't know you were a Ravenclaw. Good to finally be able to meet you face-to-face. I hear you have quite the reputation amoung us first-years. Talented and flamboyant, the rumors have said, but I don't like to make assumptions based off of second-hand information."

Hazel eyes regarded deep brown curiously. "Speaking of...I hope you'll pardon my fellow Slytherin," he continued, gesturing at the shrill-voiced girl from before. "I promise we aren't all as...uncouth as she may have been to you."

As if on que, a commotion behind Jack caused him to turn and see Opeila on the ground where she had fallen from her branch. His brows rose in a brief moment of astonishment before turning back to Gem with a sheepish smile. "One moment, please," the redhead said before hurrying to the dark-haired girl's side.

"Seilun, are you alright?" he asked her quietly once he had drawn near enough, doing what he could to pull her back to her feet. "What were you doing? Are you sick?" He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, as if to check her temperature. "Merlin, you look terrible. When was the last time you slept?!"

It was going to be shorter but things happen!

Oblivious to the attention she had drawn, Alina burst into a beam. She loved talking about people she cared about, especially her relatives. Sedrick was a special person in her life, or had been before he graduated. Now that he was an adult working for the ministry he hardly had time to entertain little Alina, but the memory of the fun times they had together would never leave her.

While they two surely looked alike, with their long, dark hair, comely looks, and prudent demeanor, the lack of green eyes made Alina realized how very wrong she was. Sedrick was well know for how clever he was, but also how much of a witty boy he was. He could make anyone, anyone, laugh, and that always pleased Alina, who was usually bombarded with complaints about how much of an impulsive and absent-mindedly little girl she was.

Her grin faltered for a second as not so pleasant thoughts crossed her mind. While some students found Alina decent, none of the people she'd met so far really considered her much of a friend material. She had to admit that she could be more than a little bit obnoxious—given how calmly Gem had removed her finger from his face—but it was just how she was. Alina liked to present others with as much energy as she could everyday because why would she do otherwise? She hated being down in the dumps.

Alina shook his hand and laughed, at the act of actually giving a handshake to another student probably her age and because he had commented on her eyes, saying he wish had ones like hers. “Trust me, it gets annoying after a while. They're all people notice when they talk to me. Next to that is how small I am,” she sighed.

She glanced away, her eyes falling upon a girl near a tree. Her eyes furrowed a bit in concern; the girl was both looking at her and she had a strange look about her, as if she had just hurt herself—or perhaps she was sick? Alina figured it was just the winter weather playing it's part on the students and went back to talking to Gem.

He asked about her cousin, and his name. “It's actually not that unusual; his parents had to come to a...compromise over it. His dad loves the sea and his mum liked Cedric.” Her tone was more than a little defensive, and it didn't help that she added, “Your name is a bit peculiar; are your parents mineral collectors?”

“My name is Alina Fridenot,” she proclaimed, smiling. Her eyes then darted down to the book near him. She wondered if all Ravenclaws were bookworms like the rumors said. Alina couldn't sit still long enough to read more than two chapters at a time, unless it were poems. Those always calmed her down, but she hadn't had time to read any lately. “Say—what ya reading there? Any good?”

Instead of answering her, Gem questioned a boy near them, which startled her. Alina turned to look at him; it was another Slytherin but a boy. And he had the audacity to call her out for being rude. She was genuinely surprised. She guessed putting a finger in his face was rude, but it wasn't that serious for anyone else to interfere. She didn't do it in a menacing way, she had been smiling. Also, Alina didn't even know who this boy was!

“Well, pardon me, but I'm not sure how that bothered you that much! Besides, it's equally rude to be just standing there eavesdropping on other people's conversations.” Alina didn't liked be talked about like that, especially by some stranger. It was the one and only reason why she didn't like her housemates that much, they could be so condescending to their own, where they were supposed to be empathetic.

This new boy left to go help the girl near the tree that Alina had seen before, although she felt like it was far too late now. The girl didn't seemed that bothered. Or maybe everyone was annoyed by Alina, at this point. She sighed but kept her expression cool. “I'm going to see if she needs help.” And Alina followed the boy.

Opeila had stopped eavesdropping just after the Ravenclaw had introduced himself. She looked at the book, checking if it had been damaged when she dropped hit. For herself she wasn't surprised about the headache, the punishment for not resting and for the fall. Sighing she brushed some grass off it.

"Seilun, are you alright?

Startled by the sound of her name, she winced. "Burnett! Where- Where did you come from?" Opeila stopped for a second by the sound of her hoarse voice. She must just look as bad as she sounded, the Slytherin guessed. Burnett pulled her back to her feet. "Thanks..." She ran through her hair, trying to get the grass out.
"What were you doing? Are you sick?"
She raised a book a little. "Actually I was reading. Getting my mind off things." Just after she spoke the words, Opeila thought of what she told him on the Astronomy Tower. Would he connect that? She wasn't sure if she'd want that. "And I am fine.", she added, pushing his hand aside. At least her body still looked better than she felt.
"Merlin, you look terrible. When was the last time you slept?!"
"Uh. Thanks, man.", she said in a sarcastic tone. About the question when she slept the girl had to think. "Ahm... Two days ago I fell asleep in the library. For two hours or so." She sounded like she had a bad conscience and she did. But not because she didn't sleep enough, but because she did sleep when she should have read.
She hadn't slept properly since she received that letter.
She saw the other Slytherin walking towards them and sighed. What would she want?

@Jack Burnett, @Opeila Seilun & @Alina Fridenot

Gem felt himself smile a bit at her response to the whole eye thing, something he certainly understood - he'd always had a gawky look on his face, big ole eyes, so getting comments about that, and his nose especially, brought him to some kind of middle ground with her.

"Alina, what a pretty name." He nodded respectively, sort of like he was bowing his head in a sense - not a good move, since all the hair around his face got in his mouth and over his eyes when he looked back up. "Naw, actualleh. Me dad named me after the guitarist Gem Archer, he wos in Oasis for a bit? Great guitarist, I think, but... yunno, I guess bein' compared to an actual gem inn't so bad either." Except it totally was, it was the only thing people thought to compare him to. 'Oh, Gem, you're such a gem! Haha get it?' It was sweet, the intention and all, but by God could they get another joke?

Furrowing his eyebrows at the redhead again, he felt a bit of nervousness when his name was recited to him. No pun, just some random Slytherin who happened to know his name and claim he had some kind of infamy around the first years - he hadn't considered that, but the idea that it may be true made him a bit uneasy. Even then, he didn't have much time to speak before both the Alina and Jack had skidded off to go help a girl he swore he'd seen before. He considered staying in his place, but his concern got the better of him and he stood up, following both Slytherins to go and help the... well, other Slytherin out.

"...Merlin, you look terrible. When was the last time you slept?!"
"Uh. Thanks, man... Ahm... Two days ago I fell asleep in the library. For two hours or so."

"Is everythin' all right here?" Gem asked, taking a short glance at the girl who'd looked like she'd been given a Glasgow kiss by sleep deprivation and bad luck. "If you're that tired, I could brew ya up some draught of livin' death, heard that works like a charm." A measly attempt at lightening the air, sure, but he figured anything could work - she really did look run down, but he didn't think that was any of his business.