A fresh start

Beck scowled as he walked through the maze of dungeons, trying to find where his common room was. He reached up a hand to run it through his dark brown hair as he stopped where he was, trying to think things through logically. The teen had previously attended Durmstrang, though had been transferred to start fifth year in Hogwarts as his parents wanted him to stay in Britain. The only reason for his attendance at the previous school had been that his father went there before him. Otrov Markus Wood had made it clear that his son would attend the same school he had from day one. However, his mother had finally won over him when after four years Beck still hadn't settled in. He did badly in exams and his parents wanted to change that, so they moved him to Hogwarts to see if working in a new setting would change their arrogant son's marks.

Naturally, Beck had been sorted into Slytherin. He was told where to go and had refused an escort. In hindsight, perhaps that had been a bad idea, but he was sure this was where he had to go. He continued on, slouching as he made his way through the corridor. He rounded a corner and finally his brown eyes landed on the entrance; just how it had been described.

Beck lifted a hand once more, this time to adjust the piercing in his right eyebrow. He moved his fringe back into place, sloping down his face until it covered the left half of his left eye, and then stepped into the common room. He looked around, curious as to who was around.

O.W.L Herbology classes were no harder than they had been in the years prior. There was a little more pressure being placed upon the students’ shoulders but other than that there was little in the way of difficulty for Audrey Macnair to worry about. But despite the ease in which she completed the practical tasks within the lesson, the homework tasks that the professor was issuing were growing in length every time and each time the difficulty increased. That evening, after having been issued the homework earlier in the day, Audrey had set about finishing the task so as to free up the weekend that was ahead of her. In deciding to do so though, she had been to the library twice and was now traipsing back down to the dungeons with an armful of books after what felt like the one-hundredth visit, though in reality it was only the third.

Multi-tasking, though no more strictly the skill of a woman, was something that Audrey had been utilising that evening. She’d freed up one of the tables in the common room and had set up shop there, so to speak. On the table were sheets of parchment of every size, shape and colour; some written on, some not. She’d also seen fit to do some after-lesson brewing, not to impress the professor come next lesson but merely to ensure that she did not fall further behind than she already was. Audrey would never be as multi-talented as her sister but what talent she did possess would have to do and what talent she did not would need to somehow be created, hence the brewing. The near-year she had spent away from Hogwarts had done her little good. Not only had she garnered her mother’s distaste in that time but she had also lost her capabilities in the subjects Hogwarts supported.

Along with trying to get her body and her life back in order, Audrey was determined to claw her aptitude back, at all costs. The last was taking a little more time than the rest. Her slim physique had returned soon after Emmaline and Audrey had founded a new existence for herself. Her talent, or at least, passable proficiency, in school subjects was not as forthcoming. No, instead she had to work at it, just like last time.

When Audrey returned to the Slytherin common room, it was quiet. A few people were conversing quietly by the fire and a couple of younger students were agonising over Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. After her silent sweep of the common room, Audrey made her way back over to the table she’d taken for herself. Carefully she placed the books down so as not to disturb the bubbling cauldron, and peered over the rim at the turquoise liquid. She pressed her lips together and gave a heavy sigh before picking up the handful of newt tails she’d sliced and dropped them into the cauldron. It glowed a little bit brighter at the addition and Audrey twisted the stirring rod around a handful of times before taking her seat once more and picking her quill up.

She didn’t notice the entrance of another person at first but when she did look up she immediately dropped her eyes back down to the parchment at her fingertips. She did not recognise the boy and that unsettled her slightly. She liked knowing who a person was so she knew whether or not it was wise to ignore them. As a rule she ignored everyone but there were a few she knew that she couldn’t afford to ignore. This one was a wild card and she just hoped he’d ignore her long enough so she could get her work done and go to bed. That was her goal for the evening. She didn’t have the patience to do much else.

Beck looked around hesitantly, but not nervously. He was curious as to what the people he'd be spending the next few years of his life with were like. He saw a couple of younger years complaining over something in the corner and rolled his eyes, then shifted his dark brown orbs to observe the room. He slouched near the entrance as he gazed quickly across the common room. It wasn't very busy and most students would probably still be on their way back from lessons, or messing around and getting to know what their friends had done over the Summer.

He lifted his head a little to get a better look at the walls and ceiling of the underground dormitory, before he looked back at the students still in there. He noticed the colours of their robes were the same as his and felt a little better; at least he hadn't walked into the wrong place. He wondered if they really all were similiar to him or if he'd actually get along with any of them. That was, after all, how the sorting system at Hogwarts was supposed to work. Well, the Common Room certainly seemed like an alright place from what he could see at a first glance. He'd easily be able to pass the few years here just sat in the corner of the room, ignoring everyone.

The fifth year teen was about to move towards the door that probably led to the dormitories, to try and find his room, when his interest was spiked. There was a girl across the room who looked about his age. She was surrounded by an assortment of parchments and other objects, but what interested him the most was the cauldron beside her. He watched her slip in some newt's tails and then stir it a bit and his eyes remained on the boiling potion. He chuckled and made his way across the room. He had a talent for potions, his abilities in that making up for the fact that he was all but failing in Charms.

"You know," he drawled, leaning heavily on his right leg in the slouching position he was accustomed to standing in, "adding another newt's tail and stirring it twice clockwise would give ya' much better results." He lifted his hand to scratch his head, fingers threading through dark brown hair, before looking at the girl to see her reaction at the suggestion. He found amusement in messing with people and hated to actually be helpful, but he couldn't help trying to aid others in making better potions. He probably just didn't like seeing good ingredients going to waste.

With a frown on her face, Audrey set to work once more, changing between scribbling notes on a page of parchment regarding the potion to writing a bit more lyrically when it came to the Herbology essay she owed. Each dip of her quill into the ink well by her side was one she did not take lightly. She had to remember which page was which and focus on the tone of each one. In between doing that, Audrey was focused on a text from one of the books she’d retrieved from the library. Quickly her mind was becoming frazzled with information but she handled it fairly well considering all that she was doing. In the small space of time between putting her quill down and the entrant into the common room saying his piece, Audrey was able to check the cauldron once more.

When the words met her ear, Audrey froze and closed her eyes momentarily, hoping against hope that the words were meant for someone else. She knew no one else was brewing in the common room though so the words were simply meant for her. Audrey exhaled slowly and reopened her eyes. She turned slowly, her robes swishing around her ankles, and brought her lower lip between her teeth. Her eyebrows furrowed over her eyes and she glanced back at the cauldron, idly considering his words before turning back, aggravated that he’d even suggest such a foolish thing. Audrey played by the book. She did not deviate from the path. Last year, perhaps she would have done, but not now. She’d paid her price for doing just that and acting with such foolishness. She was not about to be made a fool again, even over something as trivial as a potion.

“Excuse me?” Audrey responded tartly, lifting her head and inclining her chin in a way that made her look much like her mother; it made her look like she thought herself above him. “Who are you to tell me how to brew my potion?” Audrey’s pride refused to allow her to concede that he might be correct in suggesting that she should add another tail. She knew what it would do but she didn’t think for a second it would do the potion more good than harm. Sure, the tail would do little to disrupt the brewing process but she was afraid of it exploding. She was unlucky with potions and was extra careful not to aggravate the ingredients. For some reason though, Audrey was leaning towards allowing him to do it. She would not touch it herself but she would feel better knowing he had done it. That way if the potion did explode or the cauldron did melt then it couldn’t possibly be her fault.

With a sigh, Audrey took a step back and gestured towards the chopping board, beside which her bottles of ingredients were neatly lined up. She swallowed and lifted her head, her eyes defiant despite her slightly cowed stance. With her hands behind her back and her feet together, she was hardly her mother’s daughter as she stood there bowing to his decision. No, her mother would have fought her corner and at one point, Audrey would have done the same; now though she was simply too weak to do so. Her desire to escape confrontation and protect herself was what made her change her mind as quickly as she had. “You do it,” She told him firmly, her tone making it sound more of a request than an order. How far the mighty fall.

Beck chuckled dyrly and without humour at her first response. Of course, he'd expected as much. There weren't many people around who trusted a stranger's judgement on their work. Much less those who would actually go through with it. She seemed almost as stubborn as he was, her tone of voice showing the obvious annoyance at him for even thinking of trying to tell her what to do. Even so, he couldn't help but look at the jar of newt's tails and wish to finish the potion off himself. He hadn't been able to work on brewing for almost the entire Summer, what with both his parents not wanting hiim to fall behind in other subjects or in understanding the school he was to be transferred to.

He shifted his weight to his left leg, still slouching, and watched her movements. She seemed almost frantic to get the work done and it was only the start of term. Was this school really so difficult and different from his previous one? He was about to push away from the table and search for something better to do when he heard her speak again. Something in her tone of voice this time sounded a bit broken and he thought that his previous thinking of her being nearly as stubborn as himself had been a poor and misinformed thought. The teen raised an eyebrow as his gaze returned to her.

"Ah," he drawled mockily, "So you do want my help after all." He gave out another dry chuckle before stepping up to the table, cloak swishing around his ankles as he drew level with the girl on the opposite side. He reached a hand to the jar and made quick work of the tail as he reached for the stirring rod with his left hand. He spun it once in the air, a sort of trick that he did absently as he concentrated, then held it still. Picking up the tails, he looked over and into the bioling cauldron.

Beck nodded once to himself and dropped the tail in. The potion sizzled and coughed and seemed like it was on the verge of doubling in quantity and spilling over them. He quickly pushed his left hand through the smoke to dip the stirring rod into the surface and turn it twice in a clockwise direction. Almost as suddenly as the potion had gone haywire, it settled down again. When the smoke cleared, the potion was visible looking almost exactly as it did before, although the surface colour of it was a little stronger than before.

"See?" he murmered, taking out the rod and placing it on the board beside the jars carefully, "Harmless." He lifted the gaze of his brown eyes back to the girl, looking for her reaction.

Slytherins had the uncanny ability to make anyone around them feel inadequate, even if it was simply for a fleeting moment that they managed to do so. At the boy’s response, Audrey felt her cheeks grow hotter. Her lips came together and formed a thin scarlet line across her pallor and she watched with thinly veiled irritation as the boy made quick work of the task. It was more than enough to rile the impatient Macnair girl. She did not like people walking into the little world she’d cultivated for herself and disrupting things, even on the small scale that this one was causing an issue. Still, when he was finished Audrey couldn’t help but be impressed by the result. It was impossible not to be. He’d improved the potion and though there had been a few seconds of doubt, the potion had come out stronger than anticipated.

Audrey studied the boy for a few moments, taking in his appearance and frowning at the metal in his eyebrow before sweeping her gaze over the rest of him. A smirk tugged her lips upwards and she shook her head before dragging her potions textbook off of the table. “Where did you learn how to do that?” Audrey asked slowly, the hostility having disappeared from her voice. She was softer spoken now, sweeter almost. Her eyes fell to the text book and they danced across the page in search of the tail reference. Her frown reappeared and she reached up, tugging on a lock of hair before lifting her gaze to meet the boy’s. She smirked gently and watched him again, as if hoping somehow the secret would be revealed on his face. He, like most Slytherins, gave nothing away though, leaving Audrey more frustrated than ever. She was fair of mood now though as she was more amused than perturbed.

Carefully, Audrey placed the book back down on the table. She took a step towards the cauldron and brought her fingers to the rim. She let her fingers glide around the rim and she walked them down the side, thankful for the cooling charms she’d placed on the cauldron so she wouldn’t burn herself if she were to accidently brush against it while working. The inner workings of the cauldron still worked for potions. To the touch it was warm but not unpleasantly so. She’d learned much from the many burns she’d received in the past. Audrey lifted her fingers away and turned to the boy once more. She tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips before determining that the boy was not in fact a patron of Hogwarts. Audrey had missed much during her year of absence but she had regained enough knowledge to know when someone did not belong, and he certainly didn’t.

“Forgive me but...you’re not...from here are you? Um, that is to say...you’re new here?” Audrey licked her lips self-consciously before thrusting her hand forward. “Audrey Macnair,” She introduced herself. As anti-social as she had become she knew when to introduce herself and how to do so properly. A handshake was customary and so that was what she offered him. She figured she could at least be agreeable for the moment. No doubt it would be a fleeting encounter, even if they did meet again it was likely they would speak more than a few words. It would not be too long before he was wrapped up in the Death Eater world that she too was privy to. She wasn’t, however, a part of the inner circle. They seemed to take great joy in bringing the younger students into the fray lately, having gathered a choice few. They were all easy prey; easy prey for the alpha members of Slytherin house. They would either survive their presence and influence or perish due to their wrath.

Beck debated on how to answer the girl, or whether to answer her at all, as she played her hand along the cauldron. He was mildly impressed that she wasn't burnt and then realised that there was probably some sort of charm that he'd forgotten about that stopped the heat. He knew already that he couldn't tell her about where he had truly learnt the precise ability of being able to tell what was needed where. He may be greatly like these Slytherins in looks and appearance, but he was never going to fully be one of them. He had been taught and raised for the last four years at a different school and before that his father had used those methods on him anyway, having attended the same school when he was younger.

The truth was, Beck was keen on muggle sciences. When he was younger he would nestle in his room and read up on them all the time, just to avoid everyone else. He had become a borderline of obsessive on the topic, much to his father's annoyance, when his parents decided to introduce him to potions. Of course, his muggle mother hadn't minded so much that he preferred science to learning spells. It was to the eldest male member of the Wood household's great relief that Beck had picked up potions so quickly and so happily. No, Beck may be cruel, sarcastic and may look down on others all the time, but he couldn't forget about his half muggle roots.

"Beck Wood," he smirked, reachign his opposite hand out to meet hers in a firm handshake, "I guess I jus' picked it up quickly." He gave a shrug of his shoulders, as if saying it was nothing, and found himself wishing he was out of the robes and in his own clothes. They felt more comfortable and when he felt uncomfortable he would just reach for the thin belt chain he had created as a belt for his dark trousers and fiddle with it between the fingers of his right hand.

"Sharp, aren't you?" he drawled, once again shifting to lean on his right foot as he withdrew his hand, "Guess what they say 'bout this house is true. I just transferred here from Durmstrang." He gave another shrug to give off the impression that he didn't care, everything about his lax posture showing that. Inside, however, he knew that he'd miss his small group of close friends there. He didn't trust easily, but when he did he remained constantly loyal.

With the customary exchange of names out of the way, Audrey retracted her hand. She flexed her fingers absent mindedly and brought her teeth down around her lower lip. Not a moment after, Audrey pulled her chair out from under the table where she’d left it upon departing for the library and slipped her robes off. She removed her arms and draped the emerald trimmed material over the back of the chair before leisurely lowering herself down into the straight backed chair. Audrey released her lower lip and licked it before letting her left arm fall onto the gold arm of the chair. She traced the patterns inlaid in the gold with her finger nail before bringing her other hand up to her face and letting her cheek fall into her palm. Her finger continued to move idly across the patterns in the arm and her eyes returned to the cauldron as thought upon thought drifted through her mind.

“Beck...” Audrey repeated slowly. “Is that short for anything?” She had encountered many a nickname in her time with the same small cluster of letters. She knew a few people who introduced themselves preferring their nicknames over their birth names. Those people were usually not a part of the Pureblood circles the Slytherins were born into. Audrey thought of Mira and Pricilla and Athena, making a dotted line between all of them and bringing up something common between them. Not only were they all Slytherin but they all had a place in society. Audrey’s place was at odds, as ever. Emmaline’s conception had not put Audrey in her mother’s good graces. The loathing the young mother felt for her own mother at the loss of her child had threatened to consume her on more than one occasion. Audrey was unforgiving at best but there was a certain line that ought not to be crossed and her mother had done just that, earning her daughter’s near eternal scorn.

Audrey lifted her head, a smirk settling upon her lips, and allowed a short laugh to pass through them. “I pride myself on it,” She responded, arching her eyebrow at Beck as she did so. “Durmstrang...the students came here for the Triwizard Tournament last year didn’t they? Were you among them?” Audrey frowned thoughtfully for a moment before shaking her head. “Of course not...how foolish of me. You would have been far too young. Having said that though, a few of the younger years were here if my knowledge supports me as I think it does. Is the backdrop to the school as idyllic as they all claim?” Audrey had never pegged herself a talker but Durmstrang was a school that her father had spoken fondly of in the past and she was eager to learn more, even if it was from someone who had attended the school years after her father had. The information was worth something, she was sure.

"Nah, not that I know of," he drawled in response to the queery about his name. The thought of using a nickname was stupid to him. There wasn't any point in being given a name if you were just going to change it anyway. He pursed his lips as he watched her go about her business for a minute or so before she started speaking again.

Beck listened to Audrey firing questions at him with slight amusument. He remembered Durmstrang and it's grounds. They could be described as picturesque, especially in the Winter. Many students there had spent their free time roaming the grounds, enjoying the simple view of the lands. His father had always descriped the looks of Durmstrang to him as he was a young child and he had had high expectations of the school. He had not been disappointed. Everything his father told him, from the snow topped trees waving in the wind to the large structure with the background of a mountain, had been true. A particularly fun past time was when the older years were allowed down to the nearby ocean to swim and mess around. He had been fond of the school and, although Hogwarts was stunning to look at, this new place just didn't feel like home right now.

He was about to answer with a simple yes; it was everything that people had spoken about, when another voice interuppted. Beck turned his gaze upon another boy, about his age though perhaps a bit older. The first thing he noticed about him was the unusual green colour of his eyes, not quite a natural shade. He wondered how the other came to have eyes that shade and then spotted the mirror and wand. He'd probably been doing some sort of charm, the teen guessed.

Beck gave a half shrug with his left shoulder at the question and a wonky half grin appeared on his face. "Mother never wanted me to go to Durmstrang," he told the other, giving him a basic outline of why he was here, "I get terrible marks in most subjects. She finally won over father last year and they pulled a few strings to get me here." It was a simple explanation, but it'd probably do to satisfy the other Slytherin. His mind was reeling with questions about this place and about the two he'd struck up conversation with, but there was a time and a place. He was new here and for now he was going to follow common sense and shut up and listen to what the others had to say.

(I'm working on improving my rp so sorry if in places it's a bit vague. I learnt to rp on sites that only used a few sentences and I really want to get better at it ^^)