Class #4: G&S / 6&7

[Professor Aurora Sinistra]

INTRODUCTION

Group #1: Gryffindor Sixth and Seventh Years
Group #2: Slytherin Sixth and Seventh Years
Discussion: Star Charts

It was nearing midnight, and Sinistra was seated on a small chair at the top of the Astronomy tower, as the class set up their telescopes by the windows. It was always nice to see them capable of preparing something by themselves, she mused, even if it was something so simple. She didn’t take it for granted when she still had fifth years asking her exactly how this or that part unfolded, ridiculously enough. “Please get out your star charts,” she murmured in a low voice once the majority of the class was assembled. “You may continue filling them out based on your observations of the night sky tonight and the positions of the constellations, and then you will hand them in to me tomorrow night to be marked.” Some professors claimed that it was always nicer to have older years, as it meant that they wanted to be in the class, but Sinistra was well-aware of the fact that many of her students took NEWT classes merely because it was needed for their education or employment after Hogwarts. Astronomy, however, was generally not such a class, and she found herself almost proud of this class. No, not proud, but... content. They were satisfactory. Which was much more than she could say for the group of third years she’d had to deal with last night, she thought, her lips curling unpleasantly. Much more.

[Maylene Bell]

Astronomy. Honestly, it wasn't May's favorite subject or anything, but she still thought it was pretty cool. And definitely useful for somethings, right? She'd had to choose her subjects for her NEWTS and she'd gone for Astronomy even if very few other people in her grade had done so as well. Oh, who knows, it was just sort of relaxing, or something, looking at the stars and figuring them out. Interesting, definitely. And don't ask her to give you more explanations on why she chose it cause she just went with her mood, and at least she doesn't regret it. May entered the classroom in the tallest tower of Hogwarts and surveyed the room. There were a few people inside already, so she wasn't that late, good. Choosing a seat near the back of the class, she sat down and waited for Olivia, who had this class with her.

As soon as she saw her walk in, she waved her over with a grin. They had a plan to get May to ask a random guy for his photograph or something, and supposedly they were going to set it into action today, and this was the first class they had together. May waited impatiently until Livvy had sat down beside her, then turned with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and said, "Alright, choose the victim. There's plenty a cute guy in the room," she whispered excitedly, which was true, also. She glanced around. Definitely loads of eye candy. Gryffindors and Slytherins. Most of them she knew, of course, and she knew Livvy wasn't going to pick a friend of hers...hmm...

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[olivia]

Astronomy was definitely one of Olivia's better subjects, after History of Magic of course. She loved looking up at the sky, at the wide, breath-taking, endless sky that seemed to be limitless in it's opportunities. Of course, the technical side of things - where you had to, you know, actually recognise stars and shit - that part was kind-of hard, especially since some looked quite similar and their names were sometimes complicated and what-not. But she managed, and she believed she had a good chance of getting a good grade in this NEWT, at least. Which was more than she could say about Potions, but let's not talk about that subject. It was absolute taboo, kay? Kay thanks, bye. She was particularly looking forward to this lesson, since during last period she'd dared Maylene to actually go up to someone and ask for their picture, and they'd agreed to carry it out this lesson. Olivia didn't have a doubt in her mind that May would actually do it - hello, this is Maylene Bell, people. The day she backed out of a (perfectly doable and mostly harmless) dare was the day hell froze over. She was a true Gryffindor, through and through - fearless and reckless and a little thoughtless. Or maybe a lot thoughtless. Whatever. Point was, Olivia was going to pick a boy and Maylene was actually going to ask him and it would make Livy's whole, entire day. With a bounce in her step, she took a seat next to Maylene, settling her bag on her desk and her eyes immediately scanning the room and nodding in agreement to May's comment. Yes, there was definitely a ton of eye candy around. Hogwarts never seemed to run out, lucky for May. "Hrmmm," Olivia pondered seriously, subtly - or she thought she was being subtle when, in reality, she probably wasn't at all - scrutinizing each boy. She ignored the Gryffindors since May knew most of them anyway, instead focusing on the Slytherins. Her eyes fell on someone she didn't particularly recognise and she squinted a little, scrambling to place him. Brown-ish-blonde-ish hair, ridiculously strong jaw, handsome face, serious expression, fairly quiet and intelligent-looking (especially for a Slytherin). She didn't think he was in her year, and he definitely wasn't a Gryffindor. Definitely cute - hell, he was more than cute, but nevertheless - and she didn't think May knew him either. Nudging her friend's side, she jerked her chin in his direction (please, she wasn't stupid enough to physically point). "What about that guy?"

[/color] she asked in hushed tones, reaching for her bag to pull out her star charts.

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[Maylene Bell]

May snapped her head towards where Olivia had nudged with her head, trying to figure out which guy she meant. Well obviously it wasn't Noah, and obviously it wasn't Henry, since she knew she was buds with the guy, so it had to be the guy sitting behind them. May narrowed her eyes, trying to remember who this guy was. She'd definitely seen him around at some point, but she hadn't actually spoken to him or anything. Hell, she didn't even know his name. Well, he must have been in sixth year, then, because even she knew everybody in her year, at least by name. She turned back to Olivia, nodding approvingly. "Very sexy. And I have no idea who he is. Good job," she replied, impressed, then grinned at her, glancing towards the teacher, who had gone back to doing whatever, and really, everybody was talking anyway so it wasn't like she'd get in trouble for it, hopefully. May pushed herself up onto her feet and leaned on the table again. "Here goes nothing,

[/color]" she whispered to her friend, chuckling a little despite herself and taking out the photographic camera that Prosper had gotten her for her birthday last year, and which she'd never really used, much to Pierre's indignation, and held it slightly behind her body, and made her way over to the guy. "Hi!" she greeted him, flashing him a smile.[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[raidenrosier]

Astronomy was interesting because it wasn’t earthly. It didn’t deal with the polluted or the corrupted. It dealt with literal heavenly entities and their positions and what that meant for the little people. That was why Raiden liked astronomy. It gave him yet another excuse to ignore the world and focus on what he wanted. It also made him feel ridiculously centaur-like. He’d heard so much about those creatures, never having really met one face to face, but to possess such knowledge, such wisdom and for it to come from the heavens? It piqued his interest like hardly any subject did nowadays. He even tolerated some insufferable Gryffindors in favor of it. It wasn’t that difficult when you focused on the Professor’s voice and that only, but some days…some days it was more difficult than others. Because, see, some days, Raiden was accosted. Not by a fellow Slytherin. Of course not. That was too much to ask for. He was approached by a tiny Gryffindor who had something going on inside that sneaky head of hers, because it wasn’t natural for someone to be so openly friendly to a stranger, no matter how social and empathetic one could claim to be. She greeted him with a friendly tone and it only made Raiden even more skeptical. She was oblivious, that was for sure. Why she hadn’t continued in her obliviousness to his existence, he wanted to know. Or rather, not. As long as she left. He wasn’t interested in small talk or chatting her up. She was pretty, he supposed, but he was through—once again—with school girls. Besides, he wasn’t feeling particularly inclined to take some time out of their respective slots to flirt with someone he found only medially attractive. Any other person and the reply would’ve been a greeting in return and a friendly conversation would ensue. Any other person was definitely not Raiden Rosier. “What do you want?”

[Maylene Bell]

May had been expecting one of two things to happen. Either this guy was like some Slytherins, who, like her, could overlook house prejudice and blood prejudice and whatnot, and would smile, say hi in return and it would be easy to get a picture from him, maybe, or the second option. The epitome of a Slytherin jerk. And bless her luck, what had she gotten today? May raised an eyebrow at the snap, and took a deep breath. She couldn't lose her paitence now because she needed that picture. She was not going to go back to Olivia with empty hands. She was not going to lose this dare. Making an effort to keep the smile on her face, although decidedly less cheerful than before, May fiddled with the camera with her hands. She had a lot of ways to go for this...let's see. Fact was, she knew nothing about this guy. A challenge. This was exciting. "A picture of you." She decided at the last minute to say it, straightforward, just like that. She mentally crossed her fingers that the guy wasn't going to be impossible. She liked a challenge, but she also liked to win.

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[raidenrosier]

"A picture of me," he repeated slowly, enunciating each word with crystal clear quality. He thought it was bad enough that she had walked up to him with a ridiculous smile on her face, but now she was spewing this from her mouth. A frown had already formed on his brows as soon as her lips had shaped around the words, but now he was staring intently at her. What was the point of all of this? There was a point and he wanted to know it. He'd been unpleasant and, normally, that was enough to discourage any type of female, no matter how much Gryffindor-like 'courage' they possessed. Why they called it courage instead of labeling it by its given name of stupidity was obvious. Nobody liked to admit they were stupid. So courage it was. "Why would I agree to that?" he asked seriously. He wasn't bothering to dismiss her. His sole look conveyed the feeling, so injecting it into his voice would've been overkill. Looking her down from head to toe, he idly wondered what was going through her head at the moment. To approach a random stranger from your opposing House, as obviated by their robes, and ask for a picture was not the behavior of a sane teenager. However that was not an adjective that could be employed in any of the people who were currently in this classroom, so he wasn't entirely surprised. By any means, he hadn't expected it, but it didn't mean that he put it beyond them to ask for a picture in the most random of scenarios. "I don't know you, nor do I care to do so, you're a Gryffindor and I think I've seen you serving detention more often than not. That, by logical conclusions, leads me to believe that you're mischievous and as a Slytherin, I find that suspicious, because, really, practical jokes kind of run in your House." He wasn't even trying to insult at this point. He was stating the obvious, like he'd told her. He wanted an answer. Maybe that was the reason why he hadn't merely walked away.

Maybe.

[Maylene Bell]

Don't scoff, don't scoff, don't scoff. May pressed her lips together and set the camera on the desk in front of her, which happened to be the one the guy was sitting at. Whatever. And she folded her arms in front of her chest, staring down at him. She really didn't want to be unpleasant to him, hell, maybe she did want him to like her, or at least not dislike her by default. If he got to know her, and decided that he didn't like her, then fine, but prejudice? It was stupid. May took a deep breath and tried again. "Perfect. I don't care to know you, either, so at least we agree on that front." she half-smiled at him, shifting her weight onto her left side. "And maybe I do get in trouble more often than not, but I'm the last person to lie to you. You can ask anybody you want. There's no double standard, no trick of the light; nothing but a straight request. I just think you're handsome, and would like to take a picture of you.

[/color]" Seriously, what else did he want? Her subconscious reminded her that probably, he wanted her gone, but she was not going to back down from this. And she was getting that picture, even if it meant confunding him to do so. Okay, fine, maybe that was cheating.[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[raidenrosier]

"Brilliant. Apparently, what we don't agree on, however, is what keeps you here. I don't want to take a picture. How about I owl you one later? I'll even autograph it for you," he drawled as he sat back and placed one of his arms on the back of his chair. The girl couldn't really take the hint, could she? Not that he was trying that hard to drive her away. Maybe that was it. Raiden would need to up it a notch or something. "That could be considered stalking, but I don't care for particulars on your psyche. Just. No. Sorry." What? He was in the mood for being difficult. Nobody could blame him. She was a school girl who looked like a school girl and had a camera. That...sounded too much like Rita Skeeter to please him much. "Now, please leave."

[Maylene Bell]

May frowned, looking intently at the Slytherin, her arms still folded, doubtful. "Are you being sarcastic, because I can't tell." Really, she couldn't. Honestly, the idea of taking the actual picture wasn't very attractive to her either, okay? She did prefer the owling but...she wasn't sure if he was messing with her, which he most probably was, with the vibe she was getting from him.

"Look, I have no idea why you're being such an ass, but it's rude. I just want, a picture, of your face," she emphasized, her smile gone now. "Is that seriously too much to ask for? What do you want for it?" she asked him, as a last resort. She was not leaving until she got an answer.

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[raidenrosier]

Raiden's eyebrows almost reached his hairline as he stared at her. Clever she was not, that was for certain. "I don't know. Depends. What's the color of your underwear?" Hey, if she could be ridiculous, why couldn't he? Besides, offending people seemed to be another thing he excelled at, and at this point he just wanted her to leave. He wasn't interested in why she wanted a picture anymore. She was being stubborn and he could feel a headache building up, initiated by her voice and her voice only. Where was the Professor when she was needed? "Rude? Really?" Merlin, he wasn't even trying. But okay. "I don't want anything. I just don't want you to take a picture of me. Why is that so hard to understand? I don't know you. That's creepy. Do you know the meaning of that? It's not pleasant. Do you want to be unpleasant girl? No? Thought so. Now. Shoo. Go somewhere else. Go disturb someone else's peace, because Merlin knows I'm ready to murder you." Not really. But anything to speed her steps away from him.

[Maylene Bell]

Oh, he was going to be an idiot now, as well as a dick? Fine. Fine. "Purple," she spat back at him, locking her jaw defiantly. She was not going to back down, she didn't care if he started throttling her (which he seemed like he really might) or shooting spells at her, or smashed her camera on her head. She. Was. Getting. That. Bloody. Picture. Whether he like it or not. Urgh. She was not being stalkerish or creepy! It wasn't creepy! She almost turned to Olivia for support, before deciding that that was as bad as giving up, and glared defiantly at the guy, not blinking, maybe on purpose or something. "Well, unluckily for you, I'm not afraid of you. And I'm older than you. And I'm getting a picture of you whether you like it or not

[/color]." She picked up her camera just in case he did something to it, and narrowed her eyes at him, almost daring him to do something. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but hell, since when had May done the smartest thing in the situation?[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[raidenrosier]

"Purple? Really? I would've thought you were more of a blue type of girl. But whatever. You Gryffindors are all the same." No, they weren't. But he was willing to play the part. He was always willing to play the part as long as she got the fuck out of there. Which she still wasn't doing. Oh, great. Now she was being even more stubborn. Was that physically possible? How did it fit into her compact body? So much ability to irritate. And now she was picking up the camera. Standing up with her motion, Raiden towered over her. Why, yes, her point? Invalid. "Does being older give you a right to piss people off? Because if it does, you're doing marvelously," he continued in the same sarcastic vein, but his voice had dropped a couple of tones and he was now looking down at her, close and looming. He just wanted to be left the fuck alone. This was why he didn't bother with the little people. This was why he stayed away. "You're not getting a picture of me. I believe I've made my point clear, but I could always help with the illustration." His wand was already being fisted and he was amused, really, but he was not going to tell her that, was he? The fact that she thought she could be so determined in such a light was laughable. The concept, the notions...it was all so quaint he felt he should give her a congratulatory pat on the head. "Scamper away, girl. Age, in your case, is highly irrelevant."

[Maylene Bell]

"Wrong. Almost all of it's purple or white. You shouldn't make assumptions," she replied offhandedly, thinking she might actually be making some progress until suddenly he stood up and okay he was tall. And he was trying to be all intimidating - and succeeding - which helped, okay? But what, he thought she was going to, how had he phrased it? 'Scamper off' just because he gained a few inches on her? No way. "No, it doesn't, it just makes me more experienced in general. Especially at dealing with jerks.

[/color]" Oh, what was she doing? She had to be nice. She was trying to get something from him, wasn't she? Merlin...

And then, almost by reflex, she glanced at his wand hand, which was gripping the wand, as he towered over her, ready to attack. Oh, really? He'd resort to violence? Well, she knew spells, too, and she had her wand, and could retrieve it easily if she needed too. Besides, they were in the middle of a class, and anything he'd be able to get away with was not something she should be afraid of. So instead, she held her head as high as she could and raised her eyebrow again. Her face put. "Really? And what are you going to do about it?[/color]" she asked dryly. Oh, she was pushing things...pushing him; she had no idea how dangerous he could be. But she was definitely taking the risk, and before he could do or say anything else, she lifted the camera and clicked away, then lowered it slowly, her face almost expectant.[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[raidenrosier]

Raiden had no wish to discuss underwear unless it was going to come off. And in this case, it never was, because he was not particularly interested in her removing it. She looked young. Even if she claimed to be older, she had the face of a child and it made his lip curl in distaste. Oh, look at that! She had experience handling jerks! Imagining his brothers' reactions to that statement made it slightly more bearable. Not by much, but it was better than snapping her neck. "I think, the question here, is what are you going to do about it?" he asked as he grabbed the camera from her hands and held it high above her head.