Beckett Queen PV Anastasia Beckett Closed

Foooooooooooooooood. 

That was pretty much Anastasia's mind at the moment. Normally, she was observing surroundings, figuring out plans, thinking about lessons, all that mess. But, the girl had forgotten to eat so far that day, and she was starving. All eleven-year-olds needed to eat, and, as overwhelmed and busy as she was, Anastasia was no exception. 

Alright, food wasn't the only thing on her mind, just the foremost. As they entered the hall, her thoughts went back to the Ravenclaw girl she was walking with. Anastasia was already inclined to be on the nicer side to the girl since she was rather trying to make up for her snippiness earlier on. Anastasia had been rather horrid, and despite the fact that Cecily seemed to have moved on, Anastasia still felt quite badly about it. Still, the only thing to do was move forward, as her father said. Well, actually, his saying was "Becketts don't regret," but Anastasia liked her version a bit better. To her, it somehow sounded less cold, more motivated to do other things. That was what she thought anyway. 

It occurred to her that it might seem that she was ignoring Cecily, which was absolutely not her intention. Perhaps the older girl hadn't noticed Anastasia's quietness? Or maybe she was also a bit occupied with her thoughts?

In any event, Anastasia snapped back to the moment and focused in on her lunch companion. "Finding a spot sounds like a plan," Anastasia said brightly. "Lead the way, seeing as you've been here a year longer than I have." Anastasia was normally quite against students who were only slightly older being treated like the authority on something, but it was really more of a kind gesture than anything else. 

The young Gryffindor grinned at Cecily's vivaciousness. It was good to see the other girl in a good mood since Anastasia had only ever seen Cecily in a rather sad mood that was mostly Anastasia's own fault. "It does seem lovely, doesn't it? And I'm quite looking forward to getting to know you as well," Anastasia said, Cecily's bubbliness rather infectious. She already thought that, despite the initial animosity, the tow of them would get on famously.

Anastasia's bright and sunshiney demeanor faltered for a moment at the mention of her family. That was a loaded subject. Cecily couldn't have known that though, and Anastasia resolved to tell her the closest thing to the truth that she possibly could. First off, she felt that she owed her that much, and secondly, she really didn't want to go around starting friendships based on lies. "My family is quite alright. There's my mother and father, and then my aunt and uncle and my cousins. That's about it, I think. My mother was a twin, but her sister never married, and my father and cousin's other brother passed away a while back," Anastasia told her. While that was all completely true, Anastasia was still leaving pieces out. Pieces like both sets of grandparents had died in the Battle of Hogwarts or soon after and they hadn't been on the side of Hogwarts. That her uncle had died because of similar reasons. That her other aunt never married and swore she never would because she "didn't want to bother bringing a perfectly good pureblooded child into this muddled up mess of a society". For now, Anastasia stuck with the black and white bits. The bits that were true and not offensive. 

Reducio

OOC - I am so, so sorry I took so long to post! I drafted something up a while back but then I forgot to actually hit "submit". This is why I'm not a Ravenclaw 

Cecelia was somewhat astonished that Anastasia didn't say or do anything about her rambling. When that happened, Cecily would usually notice the person would raise their eyebrows or roll their eyes. She really didn't mind when they did it at all, because she knew that she shouldn't ramble. People doing that really reminded her to stop.

The Griffyndor agreed to finding a spot, and Cecelia gladly led the way to the Ravenclaw table as Anastasia started to talk about her family. Cecily nodded enthusiastically as she weaved her and Anastasia's way through some people entering the Great Hall.

"What are your cousins like? Oh, here, let's sit here."

They had arrived at the Ravenclaw table. Cecily found a big open space near the end of the table and sat down. She patted the seat next to her, indicating for Anastasia to sit there. While sitting down, she took a deep breath. Cecelia always loved the Ravenclaw table, and knew Anastasia probably would too. Because there were some shy Ravenclaws, the table was usually quieter. The shy Ravenclaws would either read a book or study while eating or just not talk at all. The table wasn't completely soundless, as some Ravenclaws did talk to each other, and a lot of the noise from the joyful and garrulous Hufflepuffs carried to their table, but it was definitely was more hushed. Cecily, of course, enjoyed this substantially, as she sometimes liked to read or study instead of socializing all the time. And even when she did want to talk with other people, it was easier to hear the other Ravenclaws speak.

"Are you very close to your family?" Cecily asked, continuing the family conversation.

"Are you-" but Cecelia stopped dead at that sentence.

No. Not yet. Cecily was going to ask Anastasia if she was a pureblood, but did not want to get on the subject of blood-statuses. She wasn't particularly fond of this subject, as she had heard stories about pure-bloods calling muggle-borns or half-bloods "Mund-bloods". No, that wasn't it. Mud-bloods. That was the correct word. Cecily did not know much about this subject, but still did not feel comfortable asking people what their blood-status was. She was not ashamed of her own, but always strayed from the subject because she didn't want to offend someone. And if Anastasia had mixed feelings about muggle-borns or half-bloods, she didn't want to get into a huge debate or argument with her new friend. Instead, Cecelia simply pretended she had never cut off her sentence, and looked at Anastasia for a response to her earlier inquiry.

Anastasia followed Cecily through the throngs of hungry students to the Ravenclaw table. She found it humorous how much quieter it was farther away from the Gryffindor table. She loved her house, but it was nice to sit to eat and be able to hear yourself and whomever you were speaking to. It was also incredibly nice not to have to worry about impromptu food fights or things randomly blowing up. Both of those had happened more than once. 

"They're my cousins. All three of them are in Slytherin and a bit older, so of course, they're far too cool to be seen with a mere first year," she grinned at the end so Cecily would know that it was mostly a joke. Truth be told, she purposely avoided her cousins, especially Lydia after what had happened last time they'd seen each other. "Well, Elbert and Robert are alright about that, but they're too busy running around doing who knows what, but Lydia isn't exactly speaking to me right now." She decided she could tell Cecily about her detention and hexing cousin mess since that was part of the reason she had been so snippy when they'd spoken previously. "I sort of hexed her last time we spoke. I got into detention for it, which was actually part of the reason I was so nasty to you at first."

Anastasia bit her lip at the question about her family. She was definitely not close with her family. She'd been closest with Mia, but nobody spoke about Mia anymore. They hadn't in ages. Hadn't until Anastasia was sorted into Gryffindor. After Mia had been disowned, it was like she'd never even existed and it had damaged Anastasia's relationships with her family more than she even realized at the moment. "I'm closest with my mother, but I'm not very close with any of the rest of my family," Anastasia said, managing to make the words flow off her tongue. She was hardly close with her mother, but she was the closest thing to close. 

"What about you? Are you close with your family? And you said something about your mother's side of the family?" Anastasia said, eager to change the subject as well as learn more about her new friend. She didn't know much about what other people's relationships with their families, only that her family was a bit more formal than most. Pureblooded families tended to be on the formal side though, at least as far as Ana knew.  

Cecelia nodded with interest as Anastasia talked about her cousins. She frowned when Anastasia mentioned Lydia, however. Detention? Maybe that was why Anastasia was a little mean to Cecily a couple days before. Sure enough, Anastasia then confessed that was part of the reason.

Cecily already felt bad for Anastasia. Maybe to have some cousins not too close with you wasn't too bad, but not on speaking terms must have been difficult for Anastasia. Possibly. Actually, now that Cecily thought of it, Anastasia probably rarely cared given the fact she had hexed her.

She almost gasped when Anastasia told her she wasn't close with any of her family except her mom. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to not be very close to any of her family, mostly because Cecelia was so close to hers.

"I'm sorry. That's terrible. May I-" Cecily took a deep breath, unsure of the question she was going to ask. "May I ask why? I-If you don't want to answer, that is fine. I know it must be hard for you."

Wonderful job, Cecily. Poor Anastasia! I'm just asking her more questions and making her think more about her family. Cecily scolded herself repeatedly in her head until Anastasia directed the question to her.

"I am close with my family. Very close, actually. There's my dad, who is a muggle," she paused, closely looking at Anastasia's face. "a-and he is a journalist, and then my mom who is a Russian witch. She works in the Ministry of Magic. And then I have four siblings, Connor and Gavin who are in Griffyndor, and Charlotte and Savannah are my twin sisters and they are in Hufflepuff."

She hoped all the information she gave wouldn't overwhelm Anastasia. She had a lot of family members and often times people got confused.

"My mom's parents were wizards, and I am also very close to them. My grandma makes this delicious recipe from Hogsmeade. I'm not too close to my grandma on my dad's side, though. She doesn't like any of us because she doesn't approve of my dad's marriage. Her husband loves us, though."

She paused, thinking, and then went on.

"Er, now that I think of it, my mom's side isn't that interesting. They're all Russians, so I guess that is neat." Cecily looked at the floor in embarrassment. She often said things without thinking which happened most when she rambled. That was partly why she always scolded herself repeatedly when she rambled.

OOC: I'm so sorry I didn't reply sooner! I just got back from vacation so I'm just trying to get back on a good schedule with school and everything!

Anastasia bit her lip when Cecily asked why she wasn't close with her family. The list went on and on - her father was cold and harsh, her uncle just as bad. Her aunt and her mother were both weak and submissive, both of them pleasant enough on their own, but following their nasty husbands' orders completely. Lydia was perfectly horrid, end of story. Her twin cousins weren't the worst, at least they hadn't been at first, but as they'd aged, they'd become more and more like their cruel father. The only person she'd ever really been close with was Amelia. She'd had been her best(or more accurately, only) friend until she'd disappeared. In the Beckett family, being close with people was perceived as a weakness. Her parents had both been students in the battle of Hogwarts, who were still livid to have been deprived of the chance to fight alongside Lord Voldemort and their parents. Even now, her parents were just waiting for the next Pureblood Supremacist to rise and give them a chance to rectify that. 

Despite the fact that she was eager to please her parents, she also had a stubborn streak, which was part of why she was in Gryffindor, and why she was starting to question her family's entire worldview so readily.  She had never fully accepted it since the entire pureblood pyramid placed high-status pureblood male over all else, regardless of their achievements. Anastasia was incredibly hardworking and aimed to be the very best. End of story, no modifiers. That was why it was tough for her to swallow the idea that, no matter what she achieved or how hard she worked, her idiot cousins would always be considered better than her. 

"I don't really know. I suppose that just wasn't how my family operated," Anastasia said, twisting a strand of her hair. Oddly enough, despite how uncomfortable it made her, she didn't mind telling Cecily about all this. Cecily seemed like a gentle soul, and it was nice to speak to someone who was removed from the situation. 

"Oh, your family really does sound quite interesting. Most of my mother and father's friends all sound exactly the same - rich and pureblood as far back as they can trace it and that's about it," Anastasia said, smirking a little bit as she said it. She hoped she didn't sound completely and utterly pretentious to Cecily. 

Cecelia looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Anastasia to reply. She knew it was not good of her to ask her why something probably very sad to her happened, but it was definitely too late. She awkwardly looked at anything but Anastasia, knowing Anastasia was probably doing anything to get out of the conversation without being mean.

Time passed, what it felt like hours, and Cecily almost started to say something, but just then Anastasia replied, telling her that it wasn't how her family operated. Cecily looked directly at the Griffyndor, trying to be understanding and comforting, but hardly knew if it was helping.

"I-I'm sorry," the Ravenclaw said, looking at the floor now. She wanted to say more, but knew it would be best to keep quiet. Cecily wasn't particularly good at comforting people, and usually it was better to keep quiet, for if she kept on talking it would usually make the person less comforted.

Cecily was relieved, however, when Anastasia directed the conversation to her family. It was easier to talk about her own family, and Cecily started smiling again.

"Yes. And I'm sure my mom would have married a wizard if she hadn't been working in the Ministry of Magic, but because she was she was able to meet my father through a certain mission and..."

Cecily's eyes were big and dreamy now, and her smile was even wider. "and well, the rest is history." Cecily sighed, as images of her parents came rushing back to her.

"They really are very happy together, and we all love one another. I can't imagine life without anyone of them, my siblings included. If I didn't have them I would probably not be here. Instead, I'd be up in a corner of my dormitory wishing I was home or something."

Words came out faster than Cecily knew it, and after giggling a bit, she became serious. It hadn't hit her that Anastasia might be very hurt or sad that she didn't have a family like that. Frustrated at herself, Cecily silently scolded herself, wishing she could start all over.

"So... erm," Cecily began awkwardly, trying to think of a question "do you like Quidditch?" She hoped Anastasia could relate to this question a little. She knew lots of Griffyndors liked Quidditch, and she personally loved it. Cecily hoped if they could start on about Quidditch, maybe they could forget the whole family talk after all.

OOC: Lol! No problem at all! I'm so glad we are continuing the thread!

Anastasia shrugged a bit at the Ravenclaw's apology. For Anastasia, it wasn't something sad or awful, it was just how her family was. Sure, it felt lonely and stiff at times, but that was how most of the families she knew were. The ones who weren't were considered odd at best and simply disgraceful at worst. 

Anastasia's eyes widened a bit at the idea of Cecily's parents being so insanely in love that her mother was willing to deal with all of the difficulties that came with marrying a Muggle. Anastasia's parents weren't quite an arranged marriage, but their story was that they had grown up together, started dating when they were in school together and been married pretty soon after. By the look in Cecily's eyes, her parents had something special. Anastasia rather wondered what that was like. Her parents got along alright most of the time, but they were closer to roommates than lovers. 

Anastasia giggled at Cecily's words. Her family sounded perfectly delightful, if not a family that her parents would approve of. Whenever they heard about a wizard marrying a muggle, they would always scowl and mutter things about "dilution of blood" and "those poor parents", as though it was something absolutely horrible. The way Cecily described it didn't sound awful at all. In fact, she seemed far more comfortable with her family than Anastasia could ever even imagine being. "That's so wonderful that you and your family are so important to each other," she said, genuinely meaning it. Sure, it was different than anything Anastasia was used to, but Cecily seemed to like it just fine. 

At the mention of Quidditch, Anastasia's face lit up. Did she like Quidditch? More like she lived for Quidditch! She had known the sport since she was a child. Even though her mother's career had wound down by the time Anastasia was old enough to walk, she still had told Anastasia all about it. That had been back when Anastasia's mother had still had some fire in her. Now, she seemed content to just be a little, docile housewife and do most or all of what her husband said. Anastasia knew that was not for her. 

"Quidditch?!" she said, barely containing her childish excitement. "I bloody love Quidditch!!!" She bit her lip at her use of the word 'bloody'. It was quite improper and her mother would have disapproved. Cecily didn't seem like she would be as rigid about that though. "I want to play professionally when I grow up!"

Cecily was relieved when Anastasia didn't seem the tiniest sad about the difference between their families. She thought she had gone too far, but was relieved Anastasia wasn't bothered by it. Relieved, she took a bite of her mashed potatoes, and smiled as she swallowed it. How could food be so good?

A few seconds later, however, she raised her eyebrows as Anastasia used "bloody" to describe her love for Quidditch. It wasn't a terrible word, but Cecily wasn't expecting it. She was never really expecting any strong words. Cecily grew up in a house where they never liked to use language, and Cecelia didn't argue with it. She didn't find a point in using bad language to describe various situations. Cecily was a big fan of vocabulary, and made a choice herself to use bigger vocabulary words instead of bad language to describe something or someone.

She shook it off though, for she would have rather not gotten into an argument with Anastasia about using that word. Instead, she smiled when Anastasia told her she wanted to play professionally.

"Wow, do you really! I have to agree. Quidditch is absolutely exhilarating. I've never done it, although I really want to. My mom was a famous Quidditch player, actually. Well, you may not have heard of her. She wasn't terribly terribly famous but she did play professionally! That's another reason why I absolutely adore Quidditch," Cecelia paused, grinning as memories of her siblings and mom played with her magical brooms with her at home. Then memories of her watching Ravenclaw play against Hufflepuff in her first year came rushing back to her.

"Anyway. Just the thought of flying is just simply magical. Because, well it is," she giggled. "I would love to try it out some day, and maybe even try for the Ravenclaw team. I doubt I would make it, but even trying out would be fun."

More memories came flooding in, this time of Cecily watching different Ravenclaw games against the other houses. She speceficially remembered one against Hufflepuff, because that was the first ever game she went to. An image of a very young, blonde haired girl wearing all blue made Cecily smile. It made her just want to go to another game right then. Cecily finally snapped back to reality, and looked at Anastasia with glee.

"Are you on the Griffyndor team? If you are, I'd love to see you play. I'm sure you're marvelous." Cecily suspected if Anastasia wanted to play professionally, she was most likely on the Quidditch team, or had at least tried out for it. "Speaking of which, do you know when the next game is? Just thinking of Quidditch makes me want to watch a game right now." Cecily looked at her mashed potatoes, took another bite, and then waited for Anastasia to reply, hoping she would say that there would be another game soon.

OOC: Sorry this post is really bad and it took me so long to reply! I've been super busy and tired lately... :\

also.. i hope the gif isn't too creepy... I was originally trying to find a food gif but found that one and I just had to use it