Fresh start *open*

[alanah]

Alanah looked a bit downcast as their conversation turned to things that sometimes she didn't want to examine. The fact that she could still hear her sister's scream rent the night air didn't help her much. Attempting to push these disturbing thoughts away, Alanah rapped her knuckles against her leg vaguely. True, Ravenclaws could be kind, but look at Devona. She wasn't the kindest 7th year you've ever met, and she was in Ravenclaw. Alanah felt, personally, that there were plenty of kind people in Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff as well. Hardly anyone in Slytherin deserved to be called 'kind', not in the most general term. Except for a select few, they were all stuck-up jerks whom Alanah believed could hardly walk without tripping over their own nose. True, she'd done her fair share of back talking, but it was because of the Slytherin's haughtiness and their willingness to believe they were better than everyone else. They all called her blood traitor for 'ruining' her 'noble' blood by mingling with Muggle-borns and half-bloods and, on occasion, Muggles. Jerks.

"I know," Alanah sighed in reply. "The pure-bloods are determined to wage a pointless war against Muggle-borns and Muggles, even. No one has done anything to aggravate the pure-bloods, but apparently they think that war is a good state for us to be in." And Alanah was sure most of the pure-bloods who thought this were all parents of those in Slytherin. Some might not even be parents, or else their children thought differently than they did, but no matter who they were, it was still a very stupid idea to wage a war against your own country. Apparently this Voldemort, whoever he was, may be clever, but he wasn't the sharpest knife in the box, either. Twirling with a lock of black hair absentmindedly, Alanah drew from a pocket in her robes a wand. Ten inches, made of holly, and a core of unicorn hair. Alanah remembered receiving her wand as though it were yesterday, and, smiling as she did so, flicked her sleeve up and pointed it at a weed leaning in a forlorn way against the bench.

"Orchidius," Alanah murmured. The weed suddenly bloomed upward and turned into a bright red rose, sparkling with morning dew. The Ravenclaw smiled and pocketed her wand again. Having found a way to improve the courtyard a bit, Alanah turned back to Indi. She had not meant to impress the Gryffindor or otherwise, so she hoped Indigo wouldn't take it like that. Patting the pocket of her robe where her wand was, the Ravenclaw grinned. Lowering her voice and glancing around furtively, she replied, "The Three Broomsticks. Meet us there on August 5th." ((IC: This is the real date for the meeting, not in Hogwarts time.)) Raising her voice loudly, Alanah exclaimed, "Why, isn't it a wonderful day today!" She winked at Indi and looked up at the sky, where the sun was peeking through the clouds and casting brave yellow rays down upon the courtyard.[/color]

[Indigo Grace]

Studying her facial expressions, a habit that was burnt into Indigo's every being, she sensed Alanah was uncomfortable with it. It was like the wheels were constantly spinning in this girl's head, and they couldn't be stopped. For a moment Indigo considered how exasperating it must be in that brain of her's, it was always thinking. Indi shook the thoughts away and came back to the present, much like Alanah had to make herself do. "Purebloods..." She began, but had to be careful what she said. Other of the pure line went to the school, not just them, and weren't at all as keen on her outspoken opinions.

"Have grown to honor their heritage. They practially...." Oh really she was being silly, she was Indigo Grace. "They think they are royalty, most of them. Slytherin in particular, though I realize that's generalizing. Haughty to say the least." She smirked, being rather outspoken about it, and why shouldn't she? It wasn't as if she as afraid. Let Bellatrix Black hex her with the unimaginable, she wasn't one to remain silent forever. Folding her legs in a very lady-like manner, Indigo was beginning to pick up on every one of Alanah's habits. She did it instictively; by the time she'd finished a conversation with even a stranger, she'd learned several things about them. It was a way of protection and security to her.

Smiling at the display the girl produced from the seemingly useless flower, she could notice that Alanah had a way of pleasing those that were around her. Indigo flipped her hair away from her face, something she did often, and chewed on her pink lip. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" She looked at her absent-mindedly and smirked again, giving away that she heard every word of it. "No, not at all!" She called out mournfully, not about to lie. "It's far too bright, and my skin is dark enough, so getting a tan isn't even a positive." She added scornfully and covered her eyes. "But....for most people, yes, it is a very lovely day." She laughed.

[alanah]

Alanah studied the lock of hair hanging very unobtrusively right in front of her face, becoming quite a distraction to the Ravenclaw who liked to focus on one thing at a time before tackling the next. She blew at it gently and then tucked it behind her ear where it belonged. Her own legs remained stiffly together with her hands clasped on her lap as Alanah listened intently to Indi while staring out into space and looking for all the world as if she had zoned out. That was very true. Some Slytherins behaved as if they were better than everyone else, as though they owned the world and everyone in it. They couldn't be more wrong. So what if both your parents were wizards? You were the same if you were Muggle-born, or half-blood, for that matter. Why couldn't some pure-bloods set aside their differences and act like normal people for a change? Alanah's brow furrowed in a frown, her lips pressed tightly together before she released them for speech.

"I know. And it's not like they are better than everyone else... Just introduced to magic sooner than others." By 'others' Alanah meant Muggle-borns and half-bloods. She assumed Indi knew that, though, so Alanah didn't spend much time on the finer details. "In fact," she hesitated before going on, "Most Muggle-borns I've seen are better witches and wizards than any pure-blood. My mother, for example." Yes, her mother had been a Muggle-born, and now look at her! Working for St. Mungos, earning a decent wage, and the mother of five children! She was a very fine witch and very kind-hearted as well. Glancing down at the newly magicked rose, Alanah smiled. Her foot traced a path in the bright green grass, marked with yellow patches, as she wondered what her mother was doing now. Probably attending to some patient or other at St. Mungos.

Alanah glanced at Indi as she spoke and saw that she had cottoned on quickly, judging by the smirk she flashed at the Ravenclaw. Noticing that some first-years were staring at them, she flicked her hand at them, beckoning them to be off. The three first-years, not daring to contradict a sixth-year, quickly turned back to their game and acted as if nothing had happened. The smile still on her lips, Alanah mused, 'It's actually fun being a sixth-year sometimes.' "It's not that bright," the Ravenclaw said defensively, but winking at Indigo as she did so. "Why, how could you even think of getting a tan with all these clouds!" She waved her hand dramatically as she said it before lowering her shoulders and heaving a sigh. "And please don't tell it to anyone!" Alanah pleaded in a much lower voice.[/color]

[Indigo Grace]

Finding her own hair frustrating she could relate to Alanah's current situation. First she stared at it, then she blew at it, and finally she settled it once and for all by putting in back behind her ear so it wouldn't obstruct her view. Indigo loved her own long and thick hair, but, as everything good does, it came with it's downpoints. Like in charms class, and someone didn't know what they were doing. Lit the tip of Indi's hair of fire. I must say, she definitely wasn't pleased. Snuck up to her dorm room and broke the girl's wand. Late, she had to get a new one. Well......she liked her hair. You just didn't mess with it, or Indigo.

As for Indigo, it hardly mattered that she was a pure blood, and it became very obvious to her as Alanah said her next words. Indigo didn't have proper introduction until coming here in her third year. To magic, that is. All she ever got to do was wave her pretty little hands around and pretend she was doing voo doo. "I'm sure they are, I would hardly know. I can't usually tell what a person's blood line is, I haven't grown up around here to know the families." Unless they told her, she had no idea. With the small expection of the Blacks, Malfoys, and Lestranges. Everyone knew with them.

"It's possible! Didn't you know that clouds give a person an even more severe sunburn then a sunny day, cloudless?" It was a fact that she had picked up awhile back. The clouds reflected and all that junk. She couldn't help but share information, the other girl a Ravenclaw or not. Indigo smirked and rolled her eyes playfully. "Why you have no idea how many secrets I keep. The secret is forever safe with me."

[alanah]

((I'm sooooo sorry this took so long! Won't happen again, I promise!))

Alanah moved a bit sideways to get into a more comfortable position, clasped her hands together, and gazed off into space, still marveling at the fact she was having this conversation with a Gryffindor. Certainly not one she could have with James or Sirius. With Lily, maybe, but not Ethan, either. Possibly a few other Gryffindors, but mainly she contained her list of people who had interesting conversations to those in her own House. Alanah wondered why Indi hadn't been Sorted into Ravenclaw, but then figured that she obviously had other virtues that contributed more to a lion than a raven. She smiled a small smile and titled her head upward to gaze up at the sky, unclasping her hands to finger at the certain dangling lock of raven-black hair that was causing her so much trouble. Giving it up as a losing battle, Alanah's brow twitched and her mouth fleeted upward for the briefest instant. She was startled out of her wonderings by the screams of the first-years as they tackled and chased each other. When had she grown out of their childish habits? The things they were doing now she usually associated with far younger children.

And they were taking a long time doing it. During the entire length of Alanah's and Indi's insightful conversation, and most likely even before it, they had been playing. Boy, if she was a prefect... But she wasn't, and didn't want to be one. That was for people like Lily Evans who their mere presence emanated quiet authority. Alanah respected people like that, who others looked up to and held their own against narrow-minded people like Bellatrix and Narcissa Black, who believed only those of wizarding blood who did not consort with those of other lineages were worthy to be wizards. Which was why the Ravenclaw despised them for their refusal to see sense, and maintain their same belief the entire life. It was not exactly the belief itself (though that was a large part of it) that led to Alanah shunning them; it was more of their close-mindedness, like the Christian Muggles who believed Jewish Muggles were demons and drove them out. Perhaps this thinking process's of the sixth year led her to be Sorted into Ravenclaw.

Alanah glanced up sheepishly at Indigo, but pretended she hadn't been lost in her thoughts. "Most wizarding families around here know each other. Most of them. My family was one of the few who decided they didn't want to be like the others. And it's true, you can't usually tell what a person's blood line is unless they out-right tell you what it is." She hardly knew any of her friend's blood-lines, incidentally, with the exceptions of her seventh-year Gryffindor friends, the last people you'd expect Alanah to know best. Sirius, of course, being related to Bellatrix and Narcissa, is a given. James, she knows from Sirius, though she doesn't know if James gave him permission to do so, and Lily, well, Lily is fiercely protective of her Muggle heritage and she lets everyone know it, even those who most despise her. And Ethan - in one or two of the conversations they've had he's told her, after she agreed to tell him. Alanah grinned to herself and glanced at Indigo. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," she said, smiling brightly.[/color]