thoughts alone. PV Finished

Serena was a little breathless as she was busy rushing away from the castle. Honestly, she felt a little judged. There were people everywhere that knew her from the former role as Head Girl. No one had asked her why she left - or if she had been fired - but she felt like random strangers were silently judging her for it. And it bothered her. She would much rather someone was upfront about it than just sat there, assuming things. Their assumptions, after all, was probably a lot worse than the truth. Then again, she probably could not really bring herself to say the truth to a bunch of random strangers... She had no idea what she would have said.

Perhaps, if she was wishing for something, she ought to wish that no one cared enough to ask her or even notice. She honestly just felt like she needed a distraction, to get away from the busy castle a little and get some fresh air.

Fresh air always helped. It did wonders for everything. Well... It also made you super cold when it was approaching winter. The air was sharp, causing a chill to go down her spine whenever the wind hit her. However, perhaps the cold would help clear out her clouded mind. Before she knew it, her feet had walked her to one of her favourite places: The Quidditch Pitch. She looked over the pitch, slowing down before coming to a stop and sighed, almost longingly. One day, she would be there. Flying with her friends, her housemates, her teammates. She would wear the Hufflepuff uniform with pride, representing the house to its glory. One day. That was the dream. 

Finding a bit of peace as she looked at the pitch, she decided to make her way to the bleachers. She needed some time out - and sitting in the bleachers seemed like a good idea. At least, until she saw a boy already there. She did not recognise him. She had no idea why he was there. Perhaps for the same reason as her, perhaps he was waiting for something, perhaps he was on his house team... She did not know.

She stopped near him, wondering if she ought to disturb him or leave him alone. Maybe he was waiting for something and she ought to check what it was... Maybe his house were playing a practice match here - that would be fun to see! She ought to check... Or maybe he was sad... Sighing internally, she decided to approach him. If he was in distress, there was no way she would just let him be alone. She wanted to make sure he was okay. Perhaps because a part of her wished that someone did that for her... "Hey, you alright?" She asked him, "Is something happening here?" 

Of course.

In such a large, oval place, with thousands upon thousands of seats, the person walking past had to disturb him. His bright eyes danced around at all the empty spots, all the places that would one day be full during games. This person could've sat anywhere, and yet, here she was. She. Daniel could tell the voice from those of a male, even if at eleven, his own voice hadn't changed. He traced his fingers along the hem of his shirt before letting his arms cross again. His leg jumped up and down, a sign of irritation. He swallowed his vanity. It wasn't any use to deal with people.

Another little breeze stung his face. He knew his cheeks were rosy from the autumn winds. Soon enough, winter would be there, and snow would be covering the seats. Robes would be heavier, scarves, hats, gloves would have to be adorned. He wondered if he would even fit in his new robes come winter. He already felt like most of his clothes didn't fit very well as it was. He clicked his tongue, finally turning towards the voice. How would he respond? How should he respond? Snarky? Sassy? Friendly?

No. Never friendly. Daniel wasn't friendly. He didn't want friends, or people who liked him. He wanted pawns to shift in a game of Wizarding Chess. He wanted puppets to use as scapegoats. He wanted people to fall on their knees for him whenever he walked by.

He snorted. Not to be rude, but because his thoughts were being silly. His ambitions were uncontrolled. Maybe that was why he was in Slytherin. Maybe, he figured, Ana lacked that ambition. She was too prideful, too... stupid. He was the one who wanted to watch the world burn from the safety of behind a lighter. He was the one who wanted to show the world what he knew.

"I'm fine," he finally replied to the girl. He didn't make any motion to invite her to sit next to him. He was a firm believer of if you're not invited, take a hint. Then again, his own code of conduct was rarely followed by others, and people were strange. They followed their own paths, and did their own things. He shifted, moving so at least his bag was on the seat between himself and her - a clear invitation that if she was to sit, it wouldn't be in that spot. Some distance. Some separation. Some space.

"I was simply enjoying the night before I had to sit back in the dungeons at a stupidly early bedtime," he replied. It wasn't a lie. He hated how Hogwarts had such an early curfew - and an even earlier bedtime - for first years. It was like Hogwarts treated them like babies. When would adults realize that even if they were at school, they were capable (or at least Daniel thought he was) of handling themselves.

Adults didn't give kids enough credit, Daniel mused. At least his thoughts were keeping him occupied.

Serena blinked as she watched the boy. He snorted. Although he did not mean it rudely, she could not hear his thoughts and assumed it was because of her. She looked around, deciding it was probably best to just leave him alone as he did not seem to want the company. However, before she had the chance to move, he replied. His words were concise. The same way hers were when she was upset. The same reply she would have given to someone who asked her how she was. She watched as he moved his bag. Not out of the way, oh no. He moved it so that she could not sit next to him, if she wanted to.

Not that she did want to sit, but it was clear that he did not want this either. But Serena's mother, Kamna, was an incredibly stubborn woman. Her father was rather stubborn too, when it came to thinks he cared about at the very least. And sadly, the Hufflepuff got that trait from them both, even though she did not want it. When it came to other people's happiness, she was choosing to be stubborn - even if they hated her for it. 

The Hufflepuff did not sit down. But she did not walk away either. She stood there, exactly where she had been standing - not too far away from him. "Well... technically, no one said you had to sleep early..." Serena spoke after a moment. She knew the rules, she knew them incredibly well. Of course she did. She had spent her entire time at Hogwarts so far as a Prefect. Curfew was at ten o'clock, which was actually later than some of the other schools it seemed. "Technically the rule is that you have to be in your common room by ten, that's it." She explained. He could have stayed up all night in the common room after, assuming his Head of House did not force him to go to his dorm rooms. He could go to his dorms and stay awake all night. 

Technically, there was nothing to stop him from staying up and reading all night or playing board games with his friends. After a little while, she piped up with a question, "So, do you enjoy Quidditch too?" She asked him, given that he chose to 'simply enjoy the night' in an empty Quidditch Pitch.

He stayed quiet, glancing towards her. She stood there, framed slightly in the setting sun. He squinted, not to be agitated, but the way the sun was. It wasn't quite dark yet, but the sky above them was painted in warm hues and pastel colors. "Ten at night? That's a lot earlier than when I was told. Older students, they're stupid for taking advantage of the younger ones," he said dryly. He didn't know her - didn't bother to assume she wasn't a first year. He was told the wrong information by a group of fourth years. That was that. He'd get over it and move on.

They sat there - or, in the case of the girl, stood there - for a while before she broke the silence. He didn't want to talk. He wasn't in the mood to talk. He let his arms cross over his chest as he leaned back again, resuming his earlier position that seemed more relaxed, lost in thought. "I like Quidditch. I'm not sure if I'll try out for the team this year or not, if try outs ever open. It could be fun to ruin people's days by having my house win," he pointed out. In honesty, Daniel didn't care too much about winning unless it was in his benefit. He did like flying, though, and he liked to play Quidditch. Why not do both?

At least he wasn't a sore loser like Gryffindors. They were all snotty and filled with tears whenever they lost.

"Do you like it?" he asked, finally extending the conversation so it wasn't so one sided. He still didn't bother letting her have his previously acquired seat with his bag on it. If she wanted to sit, there were other seats. Just not directly next to him.

They weren't friends.

The conversation was a struggle for her, to be quite honest. She was feeling a little sour herself, clouded and down. Trying to cheer someone else up was hard. Especially when the person did not seem to want her to be around. But she was trying. She really was. Hufflepuffs do not give up easily. They were not afraid of a little bit of work. Grafting was what she was good at. She was determined to see it through and patient enough to keep trying to engage him in the conversation. Not that she was a very good Hufflepuff but she would definitely try her best to live up to it. 

Serena blinked at him. Ten was early? It seemed quite late given that most school required their students to be in their common rooms straight after dinner. Hogwarts seemed to give people more of an allowance - though she did not understand why. Who would want to be walking around when it got dark? Serena certainly did not. She was incredibly glad she no longer had to do late patrols in the dark corridors as a Prefect. Quitting before winter was the smartest thing she had done. The Summer months were good. It was light until at least half nine or ten anyway. But Winter... was different. In the middle of winter, it would be dark by five thirty, six. Even today, it would get dark sooner than she would have liked. 

The boy caught her attention, however, the second he said he liked Quidditch. Anyone who liked Quidditch, was someone she could talk to. He had given her an opening. That was enough, she would take it. She laughed softly, even though she did not think his words were a joke. A part of her believed him when he said he would enjoy ruining other people's days. "Mhm, sure, that's one reason to play." She replied with a nod, "Whatever the reason is, if it's something you think is fun and you enjoy, you should do it. Your house would benefit from your support, I'm sure." She replied with a firm nod of her head. 

Despite everything... She still had house pride, if nothing else. Perhaps now she truly understood the importance of her house and she loved Hufflepuff for it. In all honesty, Serena was a little taken back when he suddenly asked her a question. He was engaging with her and it made her happy, "Mhm, I do. I love it, I'm hoping to join the team soon too. I'd like to be a chaser, I think. Perhaps a seeker - but I feel like that might be too much pressure, you know? What would you go for?" She replied, thinking about what position she wanted to play. "Have you ever been to a national game?" She asked him, wondering if he had seen any teams actually play the sport nationally. There was something spectacular about it.

Daniel stayed silent, not particularly interested in this conversation anymore. Okay, it wasn’t like he was bored of it. Daniel oft didn’t speak to many people. It wasn’t because he was shy or that he didn’t like people, but, honestly, he preferred his own company to many other’s. Most other people were annoying. They were self-centered and only cared to talk about themselves. Anastasia Beckett was the best example he had on the fly. The stupid Gryffindor acted like she belonged in Slytherin, and bragged for years that she was so much better than Daniel. He snorted. What a weird turn of events.

He let his fingers dance idly over his thigh as he glanced towards the girl. The shadows danced across her caramel like skin, and his eyebrow raised. She was talking. Honestly, he wasn’t really paying attention. He was bored. Talking was boring. He was a boy who cared more for hands on activities and moving to keep his mind active. He tilted his head slightly as he thought about how to respond without making it sound like he lost interest five minutes ago. He leaned back in the seat slightly, thinking. How to approach the conversation? “I’m already apart of my house’s newspaper team. I guess there’s one thing about being spread too thin, but who knows. I might. I bet I’d be a good chaser or something,” he mused thoughtfully. He had been flying on a broom for ages, and so he doubted it’d be much of a stretch to play an actual game of Quidditch. It just took a little extra practice, and some hand-eye coordination…

He shrugged, more or less at his own thoughts rather than her, and allowed his fingers to scratch over his jawline. She was talking about herself, and he simply nodded. He’d allow it. He spoke about himself, he’d listen to her, even if his eyes trailed over the empty stadium. What would it be like to be a professional? He didn’t want to do Quidditch professionally. It seemed like too much work, and while he was ambitious, his ideas and brains would lead him on a different path. Inventor, maybe, or Curse Breaker, or even a metal charmer. They were all more interesting and viable options than a Quidditch player.

“Once or twice. Too many people. It’s too loud. Not a fan, quite honestly. I’d much rather read the latest news in the Daily Prophet than sit through three or more hours of yelling and screaming,” Daniel stated dryly. Yeah, okay, someone might call him a buzzkill. He liked the excitement of Quidditch games, don’t get him wrong, but everything else was… no. He couldn’t even sit through class without getting frustrated that he was sitting too close to someone. The obvious bag on the seat keeping the girl from sitting next to him should’ve been the obvious clue to that, too.

Daniel was definitely a strange child.

Serena was certainly struggling with the conversation and trying to keep it up, without it getting awkward. She did not like sitting in an awkward silence. The Hufflepuff was far too talkative to be quiet. However, even with her talkative nature, she needed someone who responded in return to keep up the whole conversation. It could not be an one sided thing, after all. But every time the Slytherin boy spoke, she managed to find something in his words that she could ask about or comment on. Enough to keep the conversation going, even if it was just a little. That was all she needed. Perhaps he would feel better soon enough. "That's cool, I'm on my house newspaper too. Though we're always struggling with getting things out..." She admitted, as most of the team were incredibly busy, "Have you guys managed to stay on top of it? It would be good to share tips or stories or something... Perhaps we could work together?" Serena continued, mostly just thinking out aloud. 

It was hard to cope with studies and keep on top of the newspaper. Education always came first. That was something she learnt the hard way, having learnt the importance of knowing spells first hand - when she almost died from the lack of knowledge that she had. She was definitely struggling keeping on top of things as there was just far too much to do. Serena giggled a little at the boy's reaction to national games and nodded, "Yeah, there's certainly a lot of people. You get swamped by them and get to enjoy the stench of armpit sweat for most of the game." She joked. As a Londoner, she was pretty much used to living in crowds even from a young age. People were everything. And she was short enough to be armpit height on people, getting to smell the scents of their armpits in her face on a daily basis.

Eurgh, it was gross. There was something she loved about Quidditch games, however. Her love and passion for the sport was the only thing she really enjoyed in the world. She loved Quidditch, more than anything. It was amazing to watch the game and so much fun. The excitement and buzz of the stadium was one thing that she adored. There was something very different about reading the results or watching the game live and that was purely the atmosphere.

The atmosphere made or broke the game. Players would win or lose based on their team's support. Player morale meant everything and with good support, morale was boosted higher. Serena wanted to be in the stadium, on the first row, cheering her heart out for her team. She wanted them to win and she wanted to be there when they did. Her support and cheers would help them get there. She loved Quidditch so much. Seeing the end results of '360 to 120' meant nothing when you couldn't see how the beater whacked the bludger out of the area or the chaser dodged past everyone to score. It was the skill and the moves that they did that made the game - not the end result, after all. Quidditch was fun because the game was fun. She did not care much about muggle sports, for example, because they were boring to watch. But Quidditch was a game that she loved through and through.

Who did not love the idea of flying, after all?

"Will you be trying for chaser then?" She asked, going back to the boy's earlier words of betting he would be a good chaser. "We should practice against each other, if we both end up on the team," Serena continued, having no problems whatsoever helping out a student of another house. She wanted Hufflepuff to win, of course. However, she wanted them to win because they were the best - not because everyone else was terrible. She wanted everyone to be good and yet Hufflepuff still to win despite that. Because then, it was given that Hufflepuffs were the greatest house and that was something that was undeniable at that point.

Daniel shrugged at the question about the newspaper. It was nice that he and this girl shared a common similarity of both being on the team for their house paper, but it wasn't the same. He tapped his fingers, thinking to the interview he had with head of house. Nora Jensen was definitely an interesting professor, and Daniel was more interested in getting to know her. He tilted his head a little as he thought before he answered the older girl's question, "We have several articles written, but haven't really pushed the paper out recently. We're quite busy with the adjustment of the new head of house and everything, although I guess you got one too?" he turned his attention towards her. From what he understood, most of the head of houses changed either before he got there, or just after. He wasn't entirely sure what house she was in, but that didn't mean he wouldn't ask about it.

He hummed quietly at her point about sweaty armpits and he let his fingers tap idly against his thigh. If they were able to go see a championship game, he wouldn't quite deny it; it was one of those once in a lifetime things. He glanced towards her and allowed his shoulders to shrug, "There's certain situations I'd allow. I guess if the chance for going to a professional game was ever offered, I wouldn't be one to stupid to pass that along, you know?" Dan wasn't much of a talker, so the fact that the conversation was lagging didn't surprise him. He twisted his fingers in the fabric of his clothes before he relaxed them. There was really no reason to get wound up about it.

"I might. I haven't quite decided if I want to be a chaser or a beater. On one hand, beaters get to physically harm other players, which is really fun when you're protecting your own teammates, but it seems chasers are the ones who get the glory for scoring points. I don't want to be a seeker, because they're job is relatively boring. Catch the snitch too early, and you basically don't have any margin to win, but find it too late, and the opponents might have too many points to bring it over to the win," he mused, thinking about it, "Course, I think there's always the chance that you could catch the snitch and still end up winning, even if the other team looks like they're ahead. It really is too dependent on the time frame." he shrugged.

When the try outs were open, he'd definitely attempt to get something, even if it wasn't his first choice. He was okay with trying new things, that was for sure.

Serena nodded in reply to his question. She completely understood his position, being in the same one herself. The house newspaper was in shambles right now, they were struggling under the constantly changing leadership. They even had a Head of House for the shortest time, he was a weird one. Three different Head of Houses in such a short time was worrying for her, especially when she could not actually guarantee any of them were actually good at their job - or even capable. She had stepped down but these people seemed keen to continue allowing students to get hurt under their watch. She was not sure if she trusted the administration of the school but that was another matter entirely. 

Nodding, Serena looked over at the boy, "Yeah, Hufflepuff just changed for the third time in uh like three months..." She replied with a light shrug of her shoulders, deciding it was not even worth her time bothering trying to explain that. There was something seriously wrong. Perhaps the reporter in her ought to find out but a part of her also simply did not care anymore. She just wanted to leave. A part of her just wanted to stay away from everything and everyone.

Shrugging lightly, "Everything's just changing right now... It's a bit crazy." She admitted, knowing full well that a part of that was due to her too. Her stepping down as Head Girl at the same time as all of these changes probably did not help. But the truth was, there was nothing she could do. She was just a little student. She was a second year, unable of actually helping anyone. If the Professors could not protect the students, how could she? No one cared that she left. She made no difference to anyone. Stepping down made no difference to anyone. All it did was spread gossip and start rumours for the gossip and rumour hungry students. That was all. The losers that had nothing better to do than spread lies about other people...

"Yeah, professional games are very different to the ones here... You should definitely go if you get a chance," Serena agreed, recalling her fond memories of watching the games with her own father. They were a lot better than the student versions, which she still enjoyed but just not to the same level. A part of her hoped that they got to go to another match sometime soon. Perhaps she could ask her father to take her over the summer holidays or something. From what she knew, the Quidditch World Cup was coming up soon. Perhaps they would be able to take a weekend off and go visit their families. Serena would love to go see a live match at the world cup, that would be truly amazing.

She paused, listening to his explanation of the different roles. It was an assessment that she agreed with, for the most part. Beaters were often underappreciated. They were the ones responsible for protecting the team and taking out the opposing members and yet, they did not get enough credit for that. Chasers certainly got more, based on their scores. However, what annoyed her was that it was only the scoring goal that counted. It did not matter how many times you 'assisted' a goal, it was the scoring goal that actually counted and was credited. Seekers, however, got the most credit in her opinion. They had the chance to make or break the game. If they caught the snitch early enough than it did not matter what anyone else did, they would have won it for everyone. "Actually, I think the seekers get the most credit. Even if the chasers scored lots, it's possible to still win if you catch the snitch in time... So the one seeker could instantly beat the efforts of all of the chasers or keepers..." Serena explained, not sure if she liked that, to be honest.

The girl was a team player for definite. She fell into thought, wondering what position she would be good at. She did not want a position for the fame or glory. She wanted the one that she would be best at, where she was needed. The one where she could help Hufflepuff win that Quidditch cup...