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Tweak says, "2 + 2 = chartreuse"

susan bones (_boned) wrote in refreshrpg,
@ 2015-01-12 21:22:00

Entry tags:

! log, 1998-january, character: neville longbottom, character: susan bones

WHO: Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones
WHAT: Hanging out!
WHEN: Tuesday, January 13 around 9pm.
WHERE: Hufflepuff's common room.
WARNINGS: TBD (possible mentions of eating disorder symptoms)

Susan Bones was good at studying. She was good at a lot of things, but focus and studying were way up there. She had taken on a lot of classes for her N.E.W.T year and it was starting to get to her. She just wanted to do well - really well, actually, and she took the end of the year test very seriously. Although she would never say it, she was pretty sure only Hermione Granger studied harder than she did. It was so common to see along the wall of of Hufflepuff's circular common room among books and homework, she was practically just another decoration.

Today was no different. She had finished her classes and such, eaten, and gone straight back to the common room to work on her homework. Potions had been giving her particular trouble, and she still hadn't gotten the desired results for her Draught of Living Death. It just didn't look right. Something was wrong, and though she had worked tirelessly on it with her uncle and in her extra tutoring in potions, there was still something going amiss. Everyone kept telling her it was her nerves.

So here she was again, as she had been every night since they had come back from the holiday break, pouring over her potions books, ingredients everywhere, and a cauldron brewing over a little fire. She was cutting up the ingredients in yet another new way, trying to be as exactly precise as it was absolutely possible to be without some sort of perfectly measured tool to cut all the pieces all at once. Everything was laid out in such a way that although it was a bit of a mess, it was a clearly organized one.

A first year started to laugh and Susan sighed loudly and purposefully, turning to look at them. "Would you please just be quiet for once?" She growled, her mood nearly as insufferable as it had been all year. She didn't used to be like this, but ever since year 5 she had gotten increasingly unbearable to be around. She just hoped everything would go back to normal once the semester was over, and she got a job at the Ministry.

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onesongglory
2015-01-16 12:55 am UTC (link)

Neville was just getting back into the swing of things. His classes were challenging, but he was managing to balance classes and his extracurriculars alright. Sometimes he wondered what he'd done when he'd accepted the Head Boy position, but what could you do? It looked good on the resume, and he knew it would be useful if he did end up going into the Ministry.

Meals were finished, and he'd just finished an extra set of rounds- every once in a while he liked to meander the halls, just to get a feel if anything was amiss. It was quiet, so he made his down to the kitchens, popping in for a snack and to request tea be sent to the Common Room before returning to Hufflepuff.

He'd just let the door close behind him when he heard Susan snap at the first year. He stepped to the first year, speaking a soft word of encouragement. The younger student relaxed, and he crossed over to take a seat across from Susan.

"It was just a laugh, Susan. Alright there?"

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_boned
2015-01-17 09:52 pm UTC (link)

Susan was already back to staring at her papers so hard she didn't even notice Neville coming up to her. She was about to snap at him too when she realized who it was. Giving up on studying for the moment, she sat back in her chair and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Neville, I'm just stressed out." Which was one of the few words you could consistently use to define Susan Bones.

"Could you have a look at this for me? I just can't tell what I'm doing wrong." She waved at the mess around her - the plants, the other ingredients, and the failing potion itself. It was almost right, but not just perfect. And Susan always wanted perfection.

The first year girl was staring at her like she had grown horns, but Susan just ignored it. She was used to getting those sorts of looks now, she was almost always on edge. Susan missed the first four years of Hogwarts, where it was all learning and fun. But since her O.W.L.S, that fun-loving personality had gotten hidden away.

She cleared the chair beside her off for him to sit, putting her elbows on the table now and setting her face in them, staring down at the heaps of work she had to get done, which she was dutifully ignoring in favor of trying to perfect the stupid potion. She could get sort of one-track-minded when it came to trying to get things perfectly right.

"I've been trying and trying, but I'm having a mental block about this stupid potion."

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onesongglory
2015-01-18 05:43 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, of course." Neville leaned forward to take a look at what she'd started. "Which direction are you stirring? This one was pretty particular, wasn't it?"

He smiled as a tea tray arrived, and he poured them both a cup, handing one over to Susan. She looked like she needed one. He could tell she was stressed- had been for a while. But he'd do what he could to help her out. "We'll get you sorted out, Susan. But here, have some tea- help yourself to a few biscuits, too."

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_boned
2015-01-18 11:57 pm UTC (link)

"Clockwise for the first two stirs, then counter-clockwise for the next seven." She said, sighing. That's what the instructions said, anyway. She was definitely attempting to follow the directions exactly, but she felt like she was always missing a different step every time she started it afresh.

"Thanks." She replied, staring at the biscuits briefly before settling on just having plain tea. She didn't blatantly refuse the biscuits but she didn't take one, instead sipping the tea before setting it down, focusing back on her potion. "Maybe my asphodel root isn't powdery enough..." She shrugged. "How are your classes going?"

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onesongglory
2015-01-19 12:31 am UTC (link)

Neville nodded slowly. "I think you only needed six for this one." He picked up a cup of tea- with milk and sugar in his- and took a sip.

"You're welcome." He did notice that she didn't take any biscuits, but he said nothing. She was probably just not hungry- what'd he know? He looked over her ingredients. "How old is your asphodel root? It's looking a little brown."

He sat back in his seat, reaching for a biscuit. "Classes? They're alright. Keeping me busy, of course, like everyone else. I'll be glad when the school year's over, though. How about you?"

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_boned
2015-01-19 12:47 am UTC (link)

"But it says seven." She said, pointing out the directions in her book. She sighed and was ready to give up on this stupid potion again. She knew what she put out would be at least acceptable, if not Exceeds Expectations, but she wanted an Outstanding.

"I bought it brand new before coming in. It's only a few days old." She poked at it, wondering if maybe the pieces were still too big. She had bought it fresh and powdered it herself, instead of buying it already powdered. She thought that might help.

Taking another sip of the tea, she stared at her ingredients for another second before closing the book. "Classes are keeping me plenty busy, obviously. On edge, too." She said, smiling. "My dad says I don't know how to relax."

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	onesongglory 2015-01-21 12:46 am UTC (link)
	"Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong potion," Neville replied quietly, biting his lower lip for a moment. "Odd. I don't know, Susan. Maybe you're overthinking some of it? I know it's a science, but there's an art to it, too." He watched as she closed the book. "I can see that. And we'll have to work on that, Susan. The relaxing, I mean." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-21 01:17 am UTC (link)

"I'm terrible at art." Art wasn't quantifiable, not in the way that sciences and other things were. She was capable of learning every spell in the book, but this potion was eluding her. It was very frustrating.

Seeing as she was giving up (again) for the moment, she just sat back and had her tea. When Neville said they would work on that, too, she looked up at him with a smirk. "Neville, are you going to give me lessons on relaxing?"

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	onesongglory 2015-01-21 01:36 am UTC (link)
	"You probably overthink it," Neville teased gently, not trying to be mean, just trying to lighten the mood a little. He laughed at the look she gave him. "Depends on what kind of lessons you're wanting." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_boned 2015-01-21 01:45 am UTC (link)
	"You're probably right." She agreed, laughing. It felt nice to laugh. Susan was nearing her wit's end with this school year, and she wasn't sure what else to do at this point but act a little silly and maybe a tad hysterical. "You're the teacher, I can't relax at all how do I know what sort of lessons I should have?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	onesongglory 2015-01-22 12:26 am UTC (link)
	Neville smiled as she laughed- it was good to see her smiling, at the very least. "What other hobbies do you have? I mean- besides your schoolwork, if you have time to do anything you'd like. What do you like to do?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_boned 2015-01-22 12:32 am UTC (link)
	"Hobbies?" She asked, staring into her tea. "I like to read?" Susan wasn't entirely sure that counted, since a lot of what she read could be considered schoolwork. "I like - well it sounds silly, don't laugh okay?" She said, blushing a little. "I like mystery games. You know. I like to solve mysteries." She laughed. "Not a lot of that to do around here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	onesongglory 2015-01-25 05:07 pm UTC (link)
	"Reading is good." Neville paused, offering a small nod of encouragement as she asked him not to laugh. "There's nothing wrong with that. And surely we could find you some? Or books or games with mysteries to solve?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-25 10:40 pm UTC (link)

"Maybe they have something in Hogsmeade like that. I don't know, I guess I've never looked." Of course, she'd been going to Hogsmeade for years but she was always sort of ashamed of her obsession with mystery things. It seemed a silly thing to like so much, but what would you expect from someone wanting desperately to be an Unspeakable?

"What do you like to do, then? In your free time?"

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