flourescent adolescent

It was already the second month of the new school term. Twelve-year-old Julien Delacour had already gotten himself properly adjusted to classes, as did almost all of Ravenclaw. He was not special in that way, although he desired to be. But he was more self-assured than that. Julien was raised to believe that he was a special boy. Exactly how special, he was told that he had to learn that on his own. His mother had called it self-discovery, and the boy had eagerly tried to rush the process at every turn of his life. Patience was never his to possess.

Julien had walked excitedly with Nerissa back to the Ravenclaw common room, splitting from there to return to their respective dormitories before it was time to meet again to attend the Halloween Feast together. Julien loves feasts. It was not the food that appealed to him. Rather, it was the glitz and glamour that made him live for parties and feasts and galas. Decorations, and especially what people would wear, these made up the things that he loved. He did, however, get more of those in France though. Summers and Christmases at the Delacour House in France ... Julien sighed at the recollection of them as he lazed on his bed.

Then he sat up. It was time to get ready for the the Feast. Julien would very much like to go for a Halloween party of some sorts with a lot of animals for a costume. But of course, he merely slipped back into his Ravenclaw robes, admiring the blue crest at the left side of his chest. At this time, Julien had not learn the value of hair products. He merely had one bottle of hair wax in his trunk. He took that out now and began to fix his hair while looking at the mirror. Julien still remembered how he did not even have a single hair product in his first year, and he cringed a little.

Finally done and realising that he could actually have kept his best friend waiting downstairs in the common room, Julien lifted himself up and made his way down.

In Nerissa’s opinion, there was something rather thrilling about the idea of gathering the Great Hall on Halloween. Perhaps it was the constant buzz of conversations between students, who were just a bit more energetic during the evening of this particular, celebratory feast than during any ordinary meal; Nerissa did quite enjoy the opportunity to catch a bit of a conversation every now-and-then, and to listen as words were passed from table to table, after all. Or perhaps Nerissa enjoyed the holiday due to the fact that it almost felt natural, practicing magic and donning pointed hats on Halloween; every time that Nerissa had gone “trick-or-treating” with her muggle obsessed uncle, she’d noticed that nearly half of the children that had dressed up, had done so in the same hats and robes that the students of Hogwarts dressed in on Halloween. It was almost as though the muggles knew about the existence of magic, and had the wizarding world thinking the opposite – it was either that, or they’d gotten very, very good at guessing.

No matter what the reason for Nerissa’s excitement, the child could not help but smile softly to herself as she pulled her uniform over her head, and slid her head and her arms through the formless sheet’s proper holes. Nerissa was not very fond of the itchy fabric that all students were required to wear on special occasions such as this, but with her favorite denim shorts and a plaid button-up shirt stuffed underneath the robes, it would be quite easy for her to slip out of the uniform and run about Hogwarts' grounds the moment dinner was through with. It was almost like looking forward to a reward for good behavior... despite the fact that this reward was a complete contradiction of the obedience that it followed.

The Halloween Feast and a trip outside - Nerissa could have cheered.

Without so much as turning to glance in direction of the mirror that hung on the opposite side of the room, Nerissa swept her hat up from off of the top of her tidy bed, and headed down the stairs once more. Surely, Julien would be another five minutes; it was fact that did not require any thought on Nerissa’s part. The young Ravenclaw child had grown used to the long waits that followed Julien's decision to ready himself for a proper event, and thus she instinctively took a seat on the very last of the steps that lead to the boys dormitory; there was certainly no point in tiring her feet by standing the entire time.

Nerissa tossed her hat up in the air absentmindedly, and moved her head just as gravity pulled the hat downward, so that it landed perfectly on her head. It was quite a bit larger than it was supposed to be, as the accessory had been passed down to Nerissa by her mother. It was so large, in fact, that the hat’s floppy brim fell over Nerissa’s green eyes, making it impossible for her to see Julien as he made his way down the stairs. She twitched her head backwards, and the hat fell a bit further in that direction, allowing Nerissa to see once more. “The Headmaster is going to notice that you aren’t wearing your hat,” the small redhead informed her companion as she stood from the stairwell and stepped in sync with him. “You will be the only patch of hair in a sea of pointy hats,” she added, looking his way with an amused grin.

Julien made his way down the steps, from his dormitory to the common room, in a hurried fashion, almost as if he skipped a few steps dangerously as his feet jumped between steps in less than a second. It really did help that Julien was sorted into Ravenclaw. If not, there would not be a substantial offering of steps to play at in the comfort of the common room. Julien loved staircases. He especially loved to compete with other people using the same steps as he, ensuring that he was always the first one to reach the last step, or the first one to reach the first. It was a secret game of amusement for the boy.

As Julien made his way down, the clicking of his oxfords on the steps were swift, and soon enough, he found himself looking at a girl who looked like she had drown under her hat. Julien grinned at the sight of it. He had always assured Nerissa, again and again, that one day he would be early in return, and he would wait for her at the last step of stairs that led up to the girls' dormitory. Well, that day has yet to come. And honestly, it did not bother Julien, who did not even bother with an effort at it. He simply assumed that his best friend loved him enough to understand. He would, in turn, love her in other ways.

Just as Julien was about to mockingly spin himself around as if he was showing off his robes, which were just robes that everyone else had to wear anyway, he heard what Nerissa had said and scowled. He was not a fan of hats, for he was a fan of hair. At that, Julien surveyed his friend's hair and decided it was too ruffled up for her own good. He made a mental note to help her with that later. For now, he turned and rushed back up the stairs, into the dormitory once again, and made a grab for his hat. Julien made his way quickly down the steps once more, but the hat was in his hands, rather than on his head.

"Awwwrighttt," he began with a drag on his word. "We're good to go now. My patch of hair will be prettier than all the hats in the Great Hall." he insisted. "See, my hair is pretty now. If I wear the hat ... it'll all be gone!" Julien made that sound as if it was the saddest news in the world. As he said so, he began to walk with Nerissa as they made their way out of the common room, finding themselves faced with the rest of the school once outside.

Julien began to talk as they walked, as many other students were doing the same too. This made Hogwarts buzz with a lot of noise and activity. A couple of First Years ran past the duo, bumping into him on the way. But Julien did not care. He was used to it by now. It always got rowdy when everyone decide to crowd the corridors, and especially when the day was on a special occasion.

"Y'know, Riss. That hair of yours. We've got to do something about it. It's a pretty colour, no doubt, but it's getting a bit unruly these days. I can help you with it, you know. See I managed with mine!" Naively, the boy pointed to his much shorter hair, which is naturally tamed to begin with, but which the boy still found problems about it. Julien's eyes had widened in glee at the thought of his own hair management, and the excitement extended to the prospect of helping Nerissa with hers too.

“Julien, you bowsie,” Nerissa sighed when the fellow returned with his hat in his hands, rather than on his head, “You are beginning to act as vain as a daffodil.” Nerissa crossed her arms over her chest and wore a stern expression for a moment, but found herself incapable of remaining serious for much longer than a few seconds on such an exciting evening, and ended up laughing shortly after her lecture as they continued down the hall.

“Really though?” she asked when her own hair was mentioned, looking rather amused with her friend. Nerissa was well aware of the fact that her lack of concern towards her appearance troubled Julien, and thus, it did not come as a surprise to her when her untidy red hair became part of the subject. That was not to say, however, that she was not disappointed in Julien for having steered the conversation in that direction. “Must everything be about looks?” she asked him, though she did not expect to receive a serious answer to her question. Whenever Nerissa expressed any irritation towards Julien’s narcissistic behavior, he almost always replied with cheap banter of sorts, if only to avoid the soul searching that an honest answer would require of him.

With a disbelieving shake of her head, Nerissa spoke up once more, “I will only allow you to fuss with my hair if you help me move Charlotte to her new pot,” she offered, referring to her pet mandrake, which she’d only just managed to sneak into the school. The plant had outgrown her old home and was growing uncomfortable as her roots began to twist backwards, in an attempt to continue to fit within the small area. "It is not a job for one person," she added.

“Will you join me outside tonight, Jules?” Nerissa asked, sounding quite a deal softer than she had previously; Nerissa was speaking to Julien a friend again, rather than his conscience.

The buzz of conversation grew louder as the pair neared the Great Hall; a sound that caused Nerissa’s smile to widen. It was music to her ears. What purer form of excitement was there? Nerissa spun on the spot and began to walk backwards so to face Julien as they spoke with one another, tripping on others’ feet occasionally. “I have our sleeping bags packed,” she added in a sing-song voice In the hopes that this information would convince him to tag along on another evening spent outside on Hogwarts’ grounds.

"We're not vain, Riss. We're just given the responsibility of taking care of our natural beauty." Julien nodded as he defended both himself and Daffodils. "You've just not been very responsible." Julien reached a hand to sweep some hair away from his friend's face. "Or do you not think that you've a beauty to be responsible to? Really, Riss." He sounded as if he was exasperated. Still, he love his friend. He did not have a reason. Somehow, it was just comfortable to spend most of his time with her ever since first year. He adored hair, she dabbled with plants. Perhaps the two had more similarities than Julien and Rissa recognized.

"Well, as long as people have eyes, looks will always be important, Riss." Julien grinned at his friend as he accidentally knocked into an older student, jerking back for a moment before proceeding to walk on without an apology. His mind was a little preoccupied with what he was saying. It was a good thing the older student did not seem to take much offence to to that.

"Awww Riss. Not Charlotte again!" It seems as if Nerissa had Charlotte fill a lot of their conversations recently. It was as if she was dating the plant. Julien shook his head, but he did know that it had always been a fair exchange -- the girl would tolerate his vanity, and he would tolerate her various affairs with different plants. And so he nodded soon enough, a little cheered up by the prospect of sleeping outside. Sure, it would not be a luxurious night outside, but the night sky was something else - a beauty in itself. That would be fun, compared to the same old room every night in the dormitory with a room of messy and snoring boys.

"Well, you've packed them already, I can't say no right?" Julien made a face before running to grab for the hat on Nerissa's head, and making a run for the entrance of the Great Hall. Before he stepped in properly, though, he stopped and offered the hat back to his friend. "But it's Halloween, Riss. Will there be anything funny out in the open at night?" It was a sincere question on his part. Julien did not fancy anything scaring his hair out of its place.

Julien turned his attention to the scene in the Great Hall. It was fabulously decorated. The boy's face was eager and wide-eyed, grinning at the ceiling of the Great Hall. Then, as he suddenly remembered, Julien looked at the hat that he held in his hands. Cautiously, he placed it on his head, taking care to do so lightly, making sure that the colour of his hair peeked out from under the hair. This meant that his hat was a little lop-sided, but Julien did not bother himself with that.

With an expression upon her face that suggested a nerve had been struck, Nerissa averted her gaze from her companion, and took to eyeing the toes of her sneakers as she walked. On all past occasions Nerissa had managed to steer the conversation away from her own appearance, but it seemed that Julien was in one of his particularly vain moods. And While Nerissa did not think any differently about the lad when he acted as such, she could not deny the pang of irritation and discomfort that she’d experienced at his mention of Nerissa’s opinion of herself. “Human skin is too hard to live in,” The young Ravenclaw attempted to explain. Her voice had gone so very quiet that her words had become difficult to hear over the ruckus of the festivities. “It has never quite fit me right,” she added, only half-expecting her friend to make sense of what she’d said.

It was a rare opportunity, to catch Nerissa speaking outside of the small talk that she commonly limited herself to. In fact, so rare was the occasion that it was as though Julien had struck gold, rather than a nerve.

Had it come as any greater a relief to Nerissa when she'd successfully turned the conversation away from herself, and towards Charlotte, she surely would have fainted. “Please?” She pleaded when he began to complain. Julien was not particularly skilled in Herbology, Nerissa knew. But it took skill to manipulate his hair in the way that Julian did, and it was that skill that Nerissa hoped he would apply when assisting her with her beloved pet. Besides, she simply did not trust any of the other Ravenclaws with the secret that was Charlotte’s existence. Nerissa could not bear the thought of being separated from Charlotte – a punishment that she was certain that the headmaster would enforce, should he learn of Nerissa’s rule breaking. Each student was permitted to keep a single pet on the premises; a rat, an owl, or a cat. Those who had written Hogwarts’ rulebook evidently hadn’t spared a thought on those who preferred plants over the flee-ridden creatures the students were allowed.

Though, as Nerissa pondered this for a brief moment, she came to the realization that there were not many like her, and that she was quite possibly the only student with said preferences.

“You may not. I would have to pack ‘em up again and lug the bags all the way back up the bloody stairs. Besides, it isn’t cold for October, and I don’t suspect we’ll be getting many more evenings like these,” Nerissa informed Julien in a matter-o-fact tone, despite the smile that lingered on her lips.

A smile that quickly left her face when the hat she’d hidden beneath was stolen from her head. Nerissa searched about the area with wide eyes for the tattered thing, only to have it returned to her head when Julien stepped past her. “Oi!” She called, but made no move to get revenge. She lifted each of her hands to the brim of her hat, and folded the floppy thing over her ears. “Let’s go to the greenhouse then,” Nerissa suggested in response to Julien’s concern. “The ceiling ’ll be clear enough to see the stars through, anyway.”

Nerissa padded along behind him through the Great Hall’s monstrous double doors, and in an instant the warmth of the candles that hung in the air, and the spicy smell of pumpkin hit her like a brick wall. She paused for a moment before turning towards the Ravenclaw table, and took in the sight before her. A sea of pointy black hats – just as she’d said.