Illumination

Gisele bent over her star chart, examining the microscopic dots for any mistakes she had surely made when copying them from her textbook. Astronomy was the only class that Gisele had this kind of patience for. This was ironic because the only class that Gisele actually needed to work for was this one. Her memory, no matter how magnificent, just couldn't seem to memorize all of the stars. For this reason they captivated her, pushing Gisele to engage in her learning in ways that no other teacher or class managed to offer her. Her quill began to dance across the parchment, connecting dots with sweeping lines and occasionally scribbling down a star name when it came to her.

Gisele wasn't sure if she wanted company or not. The quiet was unusually peaceful for her and being immersed in her schoolwork gave her brain a welcome break from thought. Things had gotten even more confusing for Gisele since she had arrived back at Hogwarts this fall. The seemingly constant presence of Melissa kept her on her toes and the pressure to hide the new revelations about herself was always on her mind. Surprisingly, Franki had become a huge comfort for the brunette. Her chatty nature made her fun to be around and easy to talk to. At first Gisele had been afraid that Franki was enough of a gossip that she would be inclined to tell Gisele's big secret but that turned out not to be the case at all. Above all, Franki was just an amazing friend.

Gisele finished her page and dropped her quill back into the ink well. A few droplets splattered onto her hand, which she tried to smudge out, only to make a blurry black splotch. With a displeased click of her tongue she sat back in her chair and looked out at the view off the tower. It was clear night - a chilly autumn coolness in the air and the sun had finally dropped completely below the treeline. Stars blinked and glittered in a way that almost seemed too perfect to be real and once again did Gisele admire the beauty of where she went to school. She could almost feel the winter creeping up on them and the promise of snow filled her bones with glee. Summer had been one of her favorites in years, but winter always proved itself spectacular.

OOC: Outfit.

That particular October evening had a chilly quality to it, one that made Cerelia consider adding a few more layers to the clothes she’d donned after dinner when many had settled into the Ravenclaw common room to study or talk quietly amongst themselves to allow the others the calm to complete the former. Cerelia Avery was quite possibly the most Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw that Ravenclaw had. It was for that reason that she could not find a peaceful nook in the common room in which to sit and do her work, for the aforementioned latter were just too noisy, even though they were taking special care to not be. So just after a quarter past seven, Cerelia rose somewhat unceremoniously from her seat after putting up with nearly an hour of sitting listening to mindless chatter and she promptly packed up her bags before hurrying up to the dormitory where she added those layers she’d considered beforehand. Once sufficiently cuddled up in clothes, she departed from the dormitory with a mind to put the chatter as far behind her as possible.

The corridors were colder than Cerelia had first thought them to be and so the girl was at first infinitely glad of the coat she had donned. Yet as she climbed higher she found herself hugging her books closer to her chest. The elves had certainly not taken care to warm the castle on this evening. For a moment Cerelia found herself wishing she was back in the common room, even in her dormitory in bed – though she could barely stand it there, being as close to Gisele as she was – but upon recalling the inane conversations of the girls in her house, Cerelia pressed on towards the Astronomy tower’s east entrance, the one behind a bookshelf and the only one that did not require Cerelia to go outside and for that she was infinitely glad because Merlin knew that if it was freezing in the castle it would be a hundred times worse outside.

The aforementioned bookshelf opened quietly, without the creak of age that afflicted so many other passages in the castle. Cerelia stepped through easily, removing her wand almost instantly from her pocket, flicking it at the lamps and sending little spheres of light to them. Almost immediately the room burst into life, filling with light that crept both up and down the winding stairs that led to the other levels, notifying anyone that was also there of Cerelia’s presence. The girl then flicked her wand for a second time, to the fireplace that had neither a chimney nor any of the other characteristics one associated with a fireplace. But, just like the lamps, it too burst into life and warmth seemed to explode into the room, washing over Cerelia like a wave and warming the girls cheeks into a soft pink flush.

Taking to one of the desks, Cerelia sat her books down and opened them again, taking a fresh bit of parchment from her bag and opening up one of the ink wells that she had brought with her, relieved to find that it was mostly full. And with that, she began to work once more, allowing herself the great pleasure of doing so.


OOC: Outfit!

A cold gust of wind blew through the tower where Gisele sat, urging her to seek the shelter of stone walls below. Begrudgingly she obeyed by pulling her hand sheets of parchment together and neatly setting them in her book bag that sat alongside her. The particular organization of Gisele's bag was something that no sane person would dare duplicate or disturb. Quills, pens, and markers sat like soldiers in a perfect line across one side, sorted by colors and favoritism. Neatly printed tabs stuck up above the papers, alerting the onlooker to each subject she was taking. Gisele could unzip another zipper towards the bottom to find an expanded compartment that all of the coursebooks could neatly be stacked in. This compartment was larger than she actually needed, a result of a period in her forth year that she had attempted to lug around every novel and textbook she owned with her constantly - a personal portable library. But when the back pain proved too much she had settled for just the core subjects, leaving her pleasure reading back in her trunk.

Gisele left her ink well on the desk and, unconcerned about it's possible disappearance, picked up her bag and headed down the stairs. As soon as she was out of the open wind the tower had been battering her with it was much warmer. There was no question that fall was coming to a close and winter was about to hit them full force. In Gisele's opinion there was absolutely nothing finer than a snow day that got you tucked in bed with a cup of hot coco by a fire. As Gisele descended the stairs her attention was caught by the sudden appearance of light that appeared from a side room of the tower. Curiosity pushed her towards the light and she found herself standing at a bookshelf, the tiniest crack of light appearing from between it and the wall.

Gisele barely touched it and the shelf swung open to reveal the most marvelous of sights. A warm room was lit by numerous torches and burning fires, appearing to have been lit by none other than Cerelia Avery. Even as Gisele stood there, the heat of the fires grew stronger and Gisele's wind-chilled cheeks began to tingle as they warmed. Cerelia's back was to Gisele as she bent over a desk and scribbled with her quill, much like Gisele had been doing seconds ago. Half inspired to continue her coursework and half just glad for an excuse to talk to her summer companion, Gisele made her way over to where the blonde sat and took the desk next to her.

"Studying again, Avery? I feel as if I never see you with you locked away in the library all day. Have you been having any fun?" The slightest tint of a smirk crossed Gisele's lips as she tried to imagine Cerelia doing any of the things that she classified as 'fun'. Okay, fine. Italy had been fun. And maybe that image of a more relaxed, carefree, and frankly more beautiful Cerelia was what Gisele was having such an impossible time forgetting.