Weekend Lunchtime PV Thora Larkston Closed

@Opeila Seilun  | 14 March 2020

Life was really taking its toll on Thora. She tried to keep busy, which wasn't hard, given the girl's drive to maintain O's on top of multiple hardcore Quidditch practices a week in preparation for the final game of the season. And that wasn't to mention the social aspect of boarding school which she'd grown to avoid, as well as the ever ongoing investigations about the Potter trial. Thora never intended to even get involved in the confusing plot involving many an event at Hogwarts and some beyond the castle, but when she agreed to help, she'd just wanted to offer her help. And being a girl of honor, she would never break her promise.

Despite everything going on and the anxiety that built itself a little stronger every day, Thora had been able to sleep the previous night. The seven hours of rest she'd been able to catch certainly improved her mood, but it didn't change anything else. After all, one's appearance couldn't change overnight. The Slytherin was still pasty pale with strands of brown hair tucked into two French braids and bruise-like shadows under rather large green eyes. Cotton was stuffed in her head after being stuck inside the castle all night and through the morning. Generally speaking, she was not doing well.

She was grateful to be alive, though, and today, like every day, was hers. Simply it being a Saturday removed some of the burden on Thora's small shoulders as she knew that she had the entire day to venture around. Sure, she had plenty of homework, but what else was new? At least, on the weekends, some time could be afforded for fun. A year--or even a few months ago--she'd never have dreamed of this. Aiming to be studious above all, Thora would spend the entire weekend on schoolwork. And when she was done? Reading. If you had extra time, what better to do than learn?

But if her second year at Hogwarts had taught her anything, it was to cherish life. Knowledge could only get you so far, however much this truth pained Thora. Following winter holiday, time had been a rarity. So even though she was still tempted to just withdraw into her shell, the girl was out and about. After a morning of a library visit and an hour of flying solo around the training pitch, she found her boot-clad feet bringing her to the Great Hall. Lunch time. Right.

Sliding into an empty length of bench, Thora performed her customary scan of the room. Since she only really knew somewhere between five to ten people well in the entire school, she never expected to be able to find any of those students. It was worth a try, though, especially when she was feeling a bit lonely after spending hours and hours on her own. Now was such a time. But then, someone occupied the seat just across from her.

Smiling, Thora raise her head to fix green eyes on the girl, who appeared younger. She seemed, familiar too, as someone who Thora had seen multiple times. But her name… "Hi, Opeila," she said, praying that she got her name right. Names had never been difficult for her to memorize, but with the number of people Thora'd introduced herself to before… Well, it was a lot to remember. "Sure, of course you can sit here. How've you been?" Normal. Normal. Normal. The words pounded in her head as she tapped her fingers along on the table.

Reducio

Sure, this is perfect!   I also dated it at the top for clarity.

@Opeila Seilun

Thora smiled, nodded along as Opeila answered her question. Tired was completely understandable. In fact, every word of that statement was one the second year could relate to. For Thora, sleep seemed to elude her as a result of anything from nightmares, to guilt, to tears. And that wasn't even to mention the late nights she often spent studying or reading. Although the quick subject change wasn't missed, she chose not to comment. She didn't expect an almost-stranger to tell her how they were actually feeling. Besides, it wasn't like Thora was honest all of the time, even to herself.

"I-I'm doing alright, I suppose," the second year answered. It wasn't a blatant lie, seeing that her mood had improved significantly since the spider event and she certainly no longer looked like a haunted zombie of sorts, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. It would be incredibly difficult to decipher the actual truth, though, as Thora's mouth would remained turned up at the corners, only a fleeting shadow crossing her mind.

Quidditch? Did Opeila know she was on the Quidditch team? Or had she just naturally assumed that Thora, like almost all of the other students, enjoyed watching the games? Nevertheless, pleasure brought a brief sparkle to the girl's eyes. She hadn't played this season and was far from a noticeable presence, so it wasn't exactly well-known that she was on the house team. This wasn't a problem to the girl, but recognition, even if just mentioning in a conversation, was nice.

"It went pretty well," Thora answered, trying to recall all that had happened in the air while she remained benched. "You should… you should see one sometime, then. A Quidditch match, I mean." Even if one didn't have a passion for the sport--or physical exertion of any type--Quidditch matches were a must to spectate, in Thora's opinion. If not for the experience, it was a perfect opportunity to display a little (or a whole lot of) house spirit.

Conversation. She had to continue the conversation. It was easy for Thora to get caught up in discussing Quidditch, but there were times for that, and this didn't seem like one. But what to talk about? She could only come up with so much small talk, and though she'd met Opeila before, they didn’t know each other very well. But the younger girl had mentioned something about… birthday owls?

Thora was perfectly aware that she'd probably sound like a complete stalker if she asked about the girl's birthday. It was a pathetic attempt at conversation, but hopefully it would go well. "You mentioned--you mentioned birthday owls, right? Was it your birthday recently? If--If you don't mind me asking, how was it?" Hopefully, her attempts at being friendly wouldn't backfire.