Hiding the dark...

Clustered groups of students entered the Three Broomsticks, shaking snow from themselves and happily chatting together. Ava's eyes caught on them as she scanned the room. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she watched them with narrowed eyes. Her fingers played around the rim of her glass as she wondered what they were laughing about. She briefly considered a spell to be able to hear their conversations before she inadvertantly caught a snippet of it and decided that it was completely inane. She sighed and turned her attention back on book in front of her.

She flipped a few pages of the book, scanning the page briefly. The book had been sent to her by her grandfather, a guide on potions to curse. The book itself was cleverly enchanted to innocently resemble a more benign guide to potions. She pulled a quill and sheet of parchment from her bag beside her and began to write some of the ingredients she would need to try out a particular potion. The description intruiged her, it was a potion to amplify emotions. The book stated that whatever emotion the taker was feeling when they drank the potion would be magnified, blocking out anything else.

Some nearby students began giggling raucously, Ava turned to see a group of first year hufflepuff girls sat together in a corner, she shot them a glare and one of the girls who noticed immediately looked awkward. Ava smirked to herself. Being a sixth year did have its advantages, that and the general air she potrayed. To others around her she was friendly, popular, flirtatious, but not one to be crossed. And younger students definitely knew of her powers of intimidation.

Ava scribbled down the last ingredient and sat back, once again playing with the glass in front of her. She began to feel restless, she'd been so busy with the letters and books from her grandfather for the last couple of days that she had done little else.

Since the plans they had always got ruined by something, they decided to go to the Three Broomsticks to enjoy a nice butterbeer and to warm up. Originally Mariposa had planned to take Jeimy to the ice rink, but the young Ravenclaw girl was the type to get sick easily, so she decided that taking her to the rink would be a bad idea. The last thing she needed was to be called irresponsable, it could mess up her chances to adoptvthe little girl when she neared her graduation. If that happened she knew Jeimy would be devastated, the girl really loved Mariposa and she was looking forward to being adopted by her.

Ad they entered the Three Broomsticks, the two girls shook off the empecé that had gathered on top of them and Mariposa began to look around at the tables that all seemed to be full from all the students that were gathering there. She sighed as she found that there weren't any empty tables, and she turned to the bartender. "Two butterbeers, por favor." she ended in spanish trying to teaser the young man because he didn't understand spanish that much. "Sure, coming right up." he said slightly confused at her last words. "Gracias." she smiled at him as he gave her the butterbeers. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some galleons that she gave him. Mariposa lowered herself just a bit to hand the butterbeer to Jeimy.

Once the young girl took her butterbeer, Mariposa looked around once more to try and find a place where could sit. As far as she could tell, there was only one table that had only one persona sitting at it, and she took Jeimy's hand and the two of them walked over to the table. "Excuse me. Mind if we sit with you?" She asked the girl. "There really aren't any other places that have any open seats." she said. Mariposa recognized the girl from her house and that was pretty much why she had come over here to quickly. She believed they were in the same year and she smiled at the girl, waiting for a reply from her.

Ava gave her standard smile, complete with narrowed eyes. Looking perhaps sarcastic and perhaps genuine she knew it was the best way to befriend others but still keep them at a distance, still keep everyone slightly intimidated. She radiated a controlled confidence and her quick wit and charming demenour often endeared her to others, despite her penchant for often being cutting and underhanded. She knew how to keep that side of her hidden. But as ever, nobody really knew what they would get with Ava.

"Of course," Ava beamed, "us Gryffindors have to stick together." She shrugged her shoulders, accompanying the action with a wide grin. Her hand slowly moved to close her book, trying to make the movement unnoticable and nonchalant. Ava eyed the younger, Ravenclaw girl, knowing that younger students were generally fairly intimidated by her, her air of confidence and untouchability as well as her habit of reprimanding the younger years for any behaviour she didn't approve of tended to ensure their respect in her, and a little bit of fear.

"So, you two been buying exciting things? Paid a visit to Zonkos? Or the ice rink?" Ava spoke lightly, her fingers still working around the rim of her glass. She sat back after she spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the girls as though silently appraising them as she waited for their response.

Mariposa smiled at the girl, "Thanks." she said, and gestured for Jeimy to sit down before her. She noticed a certain hesitation in Jeimy when she was sitting down and she was slightly confused. Of course it wasn't because the other older girl intimidated her, it was just that the young Ravenclaw was very shy around other people. Mariposa had thought she was pretty much over it, but she had been wrong. There were only a few people Jeimy was actually comfortable around, that was mostly only Mariposa's family and a few students at Hogwarts. The young girl wasn't afraid of Ava because she had been through things that have taken fear away from most things that could happen.

Mariposa merely smiled down at the Ravenclaw girl and she looked back up at her fellow Gryffindor. "You're name is Ava, right?" she asked her. Mariposa had taken it upon herself to learn the names of all the Gryffindors because of her being the female Gryffindor Prefect. She had of course started with those of her year and the seventh years and she's been slowly working down through the years.

"Oh, this is Jeimy by the way." she said, putting her arm around the young girl and laughing slightly at the surprised jump she gave. "And I'm Mariposa." she added, continuing to laugh at her jump. Jeimy looked down and brought the butterbeer to her mouth and she began to drink some, glancing up at Mariposa at times.

There was to be only one more trip to the Post Office in Hogsmeade upon returning to Hogwarts in the New Year. February was now on the horizon and it was only now that Athena Goyle had chosen to don her thick winter cloak and take a Thestral-drawn carriage down into the small village that was not half a mile beyond the Hogwarts perimeter. Athena hadn’t paid much mind the Prefects that had flanked the doors of the Entrance Hall. She’d heard them call the name of her house’s founder in reference to her but she had not thought it necessary to turn around and make her destination known to them. She was a Death Eater in training as far as they were concerned, an enemy, but that didn’t make her their priority. No, Grindelwald was more worried about the other students were up to. He was naive, certainly. Far more naive than Athena had first thought. He allowed her to waltz about the castle as she pleased without so much as a question as to what she was up to. He allowed that in exchange for unyielding loyalty. What loyalty she had to him was certainly not unyielding. She had no trust in a man whose position was so unstable. No, Athena Goyle would do as she pleased and would allow people to believe what they wanted.

Athena wished, as she made the journey down into the village tucked up into the corner of the carriage she’d chosen to sit in, that she had the same amount of control of her life at home. Her father had been particular. She was to find a man to be betrothed to by Christmas or she was to face the consequences. Just as she’d thought, Gregory had dropped the ‘D’ word. Disowned; bastardised in a second. Athena hadn’t been particularly moved by his threats when she didn’t appear at home on the arm of a young Pureblood wizard. No, she knew he couldn’t afford to disown her. Where would he put his money, after all? But he was cutting her off. She was to receive one last payment and that was it, she was out on her own until she informed him and Apolline that she had chosen someone. Athena had not been entirely sure of the idea at first but she was beginning to warm to the freedom being cut off from them gave her.

However, she still wasn’t comfortable with the lack of support.

The Post Office worker that couldn’t have been anymore than nineteen stared blankly at the wall behind Athena’s head, his gaze fixed anywhere but her. She hadn’t been particular about her state of dress, just throwing her robes on over the top of a low-cut cerulean sweater that she’d pulled over her head that morning before beginning the ritual of combing out her dark tresses. Once his gaze finally fell to the creamy flesh displayed by the ‘V’ of the sweater, Athena lifted her own eyes away from the money that had been tucked into a yellowy envelope. She straightened up, squared her shoulders and tucked the envelope into the pocket of robes. She bid the man a rather reluctant goodbye and hurried from the shop, emerging onto the snowy high street still littered with decor from Christmas.

Athena counted the spare change in the pocket of the jeans she’d poured herself into that morning. She had enough for a few Butterbeers, she was sure, and made her way up the road and into the Three Broomsticks where it was significantly warmer inside than it was out. Athena rubbed her gloves hands together and glided towards the bar where she placed down her coins and received a bottle of Butterbeer in exchange. Athena picked it up off of the mat and took a swig before making her way through the bar in search of somewhere to sit. It was as she walked through; Athena overheard some idle conversation between two Gryffindors. Athena stopped by their table and turned towards the girl she knew to be some sort of Spaniard - one of the many foreign students that refused to give up their heritage despite being in Scotland for the majority of the year.

“Cruz,” Athena spoke slowly, the disdain evident in her voice. “Where’s Wilson been? I haven’t seen that pitiful excuse for a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in months.”