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nikolas vaisey doesn't need a broom to fly (besserwisser) wrote in wished,
@ 2009-11-25 00:35:00

Entry tags:

!1997: 11, !complete, lucy elkins, nikolas vaisey

Who: Nikolas and Lucy
What: Hanging about the Astronomy Tower to discuss Lucy's Animagus studies
Where: Astronomy Tower
When: Tuesday evening
Rating/Warning: TBA

As he made his way toward the Astronomy Tower, Nikolas had to wonder what exactly had gotten into him. This felt almost...silly. Since the game on Saturday, and his resulting injuries, he'd been very reluctant to do anything outside of the Slytherin Common Room unless he was required to - classes, unfortunately, and meals. As a result, he'd been lazing about for the past few days, struggling to pay attention to his assignments and completing most of them half-heartedly. As much as he was pleased to be the new team Captain, he was beginning to feel it might be a bit more trying than he would have liked. That, and he strongly suspected ulterior motives on Malfoy's part. At the very least, he had a feeling the former captain would not make the transition easy for him.

Looking for an excuse to get out of the dimly lit Common Room and entertain himself with something a bit out of the ordinary, Nikolas decided that perhaps paying Lucy Elkins a visit while she worked on her Animagus efforts wouldn't be such a terrible idea. As a matter of fact, when she'd consented to allow him to join her, he found that he was rather excited. He didn't know of any other students that were studying it, and he knew that Lucy enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures as much as he did - she seemed like an intersting person to talk to.

So, wincing a bit at first, he climbed the spiral staircase that led to the tower - where, he noted with a sense of amusement, he'd spent a bizzarre evening drinking and playing cards with Daphne barely a month before - Nikolas anticipated something genuinely enjoyable. Upon reaching the top of the stairwell, he was greeted by a door closed almost all of the way, left open just a crack. For the sake of politeness, he knocked, not wanting to just barge in and possily startle Lucy at a crucial moment. "You up here? It's Nikolas."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 03:09 am UTC (link)

"Professor Slughorn's good like that," Nikolas replied with a bemused grin. "So long as you show some sort of potential to be famous someday. Or do well in his class."

He laughed shortly; he'd done fairly well in Potions in the past, more so when Professor Slughorn had taken over. Nikolas had pondered once or twice mentioning the prominence of his mother's family to the professor, with the hope of getting an invitation to one of those dinner parties, but had in the end decided that to do so would be silly. Anyway, he'd probably have lost interest in attending them soon enough. He could only take so much of watching other people's posturing.

"That was clever. I guess not many people would just have books about this sort of thing in their homes, unless maybe they had a parent interested in it."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 03:16 am UTC (link)

It was almost surprising to Lucy that Slughorn had actually granted her the access. Considering her family was of no noble birth within the wizarding world or the Muggle world, for that matter, she had to think that it was maybe her skill with Potions. Well, that was what she hoped for.

She pushed herself up on the desk, her legs swinging slightly.

"No, well, my father isn't much of a reader," she told him, shaking her head. "He's very intrigued by the whole process, though. I write home about it all the time. Makes him feel a little bit more included in things."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 03:30 am UTC (link)

If Nikolas was to be honest with himself, he had to admit he was somewhat flattered that Lucy had permitted him to sit in on her study session, especially since it sounded like this was something she liked to keep quiet. He imagined that a lot of other people who had it in their minds to tackle becoming an Animagus would tout it all over and use it as evidence of their superior skill. Lucy's confidence and discretion were refreshing.

Still sitting on the desk, he attempted to settle back a bit without moving the wrong way. Having satisfactorily repositioned himself, he nodded slowly. "Ah. I don't know how my parents would react if I told them I were thinking of studying this. They'd probably say it was a distraction from my schoolwork and that I ought to save it til after I'm done with formal schooling." Not that I'm exactly tackling most of that with any enthusiasm.

"Was your father in Ravenclaw, then? You lot seem to be more open to the more esoteric sorts of magic."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 03:53 am UTC (link)

With her hands folded neatly in her lap, Lucy thought back to the first time she brought it up in front of her father. Truth be told, she wasn't sure he even understood. Turn into an animal? Isn't that something you all should be able to do anyway? You're magical, afterall. She had almost rolled her eyes at the time, but knew that her father was only trying to be supportive. It wasn't his fault that he didn't understand.

"With my mom gone and all, my father does his best to be supportive," she told him before she brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

His question startled her for a moment. She had never told Nikolas she was Muggleborn. But how could she? Him being in Slytherin, she wasn't sure how he would react. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she quickly thought of something to say.

"My father didn't go to Hogwarts," she told him. "He went to a small school on the South African cape."

She wasn't lying, exactly. Prior had spent quite a bit of time schooling there, just not exactly at a wizarding school.

"What about you? Your family mostly in Slytherin?"

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 04:11 am UTC (link)

"Ohh, all right. That's funny, my mum didn't go to Hogwarts, either. Her family's all up in Sweden, actually...they all either went to the wizarding school in Kiruna, or else to Durmstrang, which is where she went."

All this talk of his mother, Nikolas paused and realized he'd forgotten that Lucy's mum wasn't in the picture. He was fairly certain it had come up once before in one of the occasional conversations they'd had during casual meetings in the halls between classes, or on walks back to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures. He'd never asked how she'd died, as he didn't think it was particularly polite, and now didn't seem like the time either. Not that it even really ought to matter.

Instead of dwelling on this and letting the silence become awkward for no reason at all, he continued. "Buy my dad's family, yeah, there were a fair few Slytherins. Always a few odd ones out, of course, but I guess there is something to be said for these things running in the family."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 04:17 am UTC (link)

"Must have been interesting to see Durmstrang during the Tri-Wizard Tournament," she mused, not really sure if it was interesting for him or not. She, on the other hand, was completely enamored with the other schools during their stay at the castle. Silly Lucy was even surprised that there were other schools than Hogwarts.

She nodded her head in response to Nikolas continuing on. It was a curious concept. Most families tended to stick within the same houses, she knew that. She always wondered about it. If Grayson had been able to be sorted, she knew without a doubt he wouldn't be a Ravenclaw. She shrugged inwardly.

"That Sorting Hat is a curious thing. I'll never understand it, really."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 04:28 am UTC (link)

"It is strange sometimes, you're right." Nikolas agreed, with a bit more enthusiasm than he intended. "I mean it does make sense that families might pressure their kids to be in the same house as their parents, keep it in the family and all. Especially Pureblooded families, for some reason, as though the blood weren't enough. But I know lots of people who've said the Hat thought about placing them elsewhere."

It had happened to Nikolas himself, even. He remembered when, as an over-eager first year, the sorting Hat had debated whether or not he would fare well in Slytherin as opposed to some other house. Strangely, it hadn't actually said where else it would have considered placing him. This was something that had bothered Nikolas for a while, until he decided that he'd been well-placed after all. Slytherin was a good fit for him, in his opinion, even if most of his housemates were rather annoying.

"Seems more divisive than anything else, sometimes. Gives people an excuse not to interact with people from other houses."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 04:39 am UTC (link)

At the moment, the idea of studying had completely flew Lucy's mind. She was having far too nice a time just chatting with Nikolas. It was rare that she could actually sit and be so comfortable around another human being, but she generally chalked that up to her socially awkward troubles. She chuckled softly as she remembered her time under the Sorting Hat.

"That hat wasn't on my head for five seconds before I was sorted," she told him. "Suppose I wouldn't do anywhere else."

At his comment, Lucy found herself completely in agreement.

"It's more trouble than anything," she said. "You should be able to deduce how you feel about another person based on themselves, not on what house they're in."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 05:00 am UTC (link)

It occurred to Nikolas that he had come up here in part to find out about what Lucy's studying had taught her, and to perhaps learn a bit of interest himself. Yet, after barely a few minutes of staying on the topic, they'd both managed to go off on a completely different vein. Not that he particularly minded, as Lucy was an interesting person to talk with. He found it amusing that he always seemed to gravitate towards Ravenclaws when given the option - perhaps that's where the hat had considered placing him?

"It must be a good feeling to know that that is exactly where you were meant to be," he observed. "But it's a bit of a shame, because I would say that some of my better friends I've had here haven't been in Slytherin. And I think that if you're too much around the same 'types' of people it only takes those traits to an extreme. House loyalty is all well and good but it gets to a ridiculous level."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 05:12 am UTC (link)

Lucy had an inkling that he might have been talking of her when he mentioned his better friends, however she knew that he was particularly friendly with Dingle. Now he was a curious boy. Rather strange, but always an interesting conversation. She always did get along with the boys better, but she figured it had more to do with growing up in a house of boys than anything else.

"I think it's rather nice, you being able to think outside of your house," she said. "We see the same people everyday! We live with them, eat with them, take class with them - it's all a little daunting after a while. It's as if you're expected to just be this giant mass, all dressed in the same colors and whatnot..."

She took a breath. Perhaps she was going off on too big of a tangent right there.

"But um, yeah. You get my point, I think."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 05:24 am UTC (link)

Nikolas smirked and chuckled a bit at Lucy's small tirade. "Well, to be fair, I think a lot of it is just because I find a great deal of my housemates to be incredibly irritating, so I sort of have no choice but to look elsewhere. I mean Harper and Urquhart are all right, and Millicent Bulstrode's pretty great. But I don't really find my housemates very...pleasant to be around. Most of the time."

His mind settled on Daphne again, and how that situation, of all things, was one of the most troublesome that he currently associated with his house. Admittedly, they'd been getting on quite a bit better lately. They certainly weren't glad of their families' agreement, still, or even friendly to one another. But they had at least been able to interact civilly, and Daphne had even done him a favor the week before with that potion. Progress, right?

"But I do understand what you mean, absolutely. I'm just glad it's only a year and a half until we finish here, and we can start our careers or do whatever it is we've been working towards."

Nikolas made a teasingly apologetic face. "Actually, I've been counting down the days until we graduate on this calendar I have since last year. I hope that doesn't offend your studious Ravenclaw sensibilities."

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 05:39 am UTC (link)

"I understand you, there," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not sure you would enjoy sharing a dorm with the rest of the girls in my year. So much talking Mostly I keep my curtains closed and a silencing charm around my bed..."

She sometimes felt very bad for blocking the rest of the girls out. But keeping herself out of it was much better for Lucy. Partly because she didn't quite hold an interest in all the gossip and partly because she couldn't keep up. How could she? She had much bigger things to worry about than Mandy and Michael hooking up in the Astronomy Tower or some such things.

The idea of Nikolas marking down the days until their graduation made Lucy smile in a weird sort of way. It was a weird concept, wanting to leave a wizarding school. But she supposed it was because this was something she hadn't been used to all her life.

"Well I think I'm supposed to disapprove," she said, scrunching her nose. "But I mean, there is only so much you can learn within these walls."

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besserwisser
2009-11-28 05:48 am UTC (link)

"Right. See, I figured this out my third year or so. And I don't think this reasoning could really apply to everyone but this is what I thought."

Nikolas stood as he began speaking, having grown weary of sitting and feeling the need to move. Besides, he was explaining himself, might as well do it the right way. He paced a small trail down the aisle of desks. "There's an awful lot of things we can learn here, and no possible way we can learn all of them. Add to that the fact that only certain bits of the things we learn are going to apply to what we do when we graduate. Obviously some people have to take specific classes to be able to have the careers they want, but I for one don't have that problem. It might be lazy of me, but as my future is all but settled, I don't see much point in putting a lot of effort and stress into a full schedule of classes...and now I'm just rather bored of the whole thing."

Nikolas stopped speaking when he realized he had probably just made himself sound like a self-entitled prat. Which he wasn't, at least he didn't think so. Still, he had a point, right? What did he need with trivia like Divination and History of Magic when he'd known what he was going to do for over half of his life?

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lucyelkins
2009-11-28 06:03 am UTC (link)

Lucy stay in her seated position on top of the desk, her legs swinging back and forth and her hands propped behind her as she watched Nikolas begin to pace back and forth. Her eyes followed him, taking in his appearance and the expressions that flickered across his face. There was something slightly mesmerizing about him when he talked. Especially so passionately.

She tended to agree with him. Although she was fairly certain she wanted to teach, she wanted to teach Care of Magical Creatures. But how could she ever know what she was talking about if all she ever did was read out of a book? She needed to get out in the world and see them for herself.

"What exactly do you want to do with your life, Nikolas?" she asked him after he had finished with his small speech. "Or, um, what about your future is so settled?"

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