One man's art

Julian Kapur managed to be in good spirits even after an hour stranded outside of the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady took her job seriously and, despite the fact that she had seen him for the previous six years, was not going to budge for him without the password. He had sworn it was 'pukwudgie' but... apparently not. He had exhausted a resource of similar sounding words and weird enough sounding passwords but she remained unimpressed and, in all senses of the word, unmoved.

He wasn't worried. He wasn't hungry and he didn't have to piss, so he wasn't exactly in a rush. He supposed he should have. The Headmaster had already assigned an essay and Julian had noooo idea what it was about. Perhaps it was the procrastinator in him that let him take this situation with ease. The longer he was out here, the less time he spent on that stupid essay.

Merlin, he was going to fail his NEWTs.

The summer had been an odd one. He and Peter had arranged to hang out but, like most summers, Julian spent it mostly on his own. The low point had been his family trip to India, where his uncles and aunts commented further on how he was a scrawny little boy. He was starting to believe that was what he would always be too. A bag of bones with rocks for brains.

Maybe he ought to just embrace it.

So with his back against the wall and his legs crossed comfortably, he turned and began to draw a pair of boobs in the dust of the stoney floor.

She'd heard mixed things about the seventh year at Hogwarts. Some said it was easy, others that it was hard. A few that it was painful. She couldn't say she had the slightest clue about what the year could have in store for her and her friends but one thing already seemed certain.

The work load was going to be hell.

Anabelle Mulciber had always been a good student. Just good, though. She never wanted to go above and beyond, but she also didn't want to be known as a slacker like some people were. Though thanks to her internship at the Ministry, she had begun to care more about her grades. And she knew she needed to have good scores on her NEWTs. Her family had stopped expecting certain things of her, so now if she was going to push herself even more to succeed, it would be for herself.

Not for them.

The first week of classes already included two essays and while she wasn't surprised, she was annoyed over it. Being a good student meant that she was going to have to take the time to seriously think out the things she was going to write down in her essays. She couldn't bs her way out of them like she had multiple times before, not this time. So while Freyja and the twins had decided they were going to hang out right after their classes, Hit told them she was going to head up to Gryffindor Tower to get started on her essays. At the very least it would make things easier to have them started if she decided to procrastinate later on.

As she climbed the final set of stairs that would lead her to the common room entrance, Hit had been playing with her nails until a familiar figure entered her line of view. She dropped her hands and tilted her head to the side. "Julian?" She asked, stopping once she felt close enough to him. "What're you doing out here?" Her eyes moved down to the floor in front of him, her eyebrow twitching at his drawing but choosing to ignore it for the most part.

He was, obviously, absorbed in his work and had not heard the approach of his fellow Gryffindor. So when Hitame spoke, he jerked in surprise and lifted his head. A lopsided smile unfurled across his face, pleased not only to see someone who could end his watch, but to see a face he had come to genuinely enjoy. It didn't smile often and it wasn't always so pleased to see him, but it was a nice face. And right before that face he was drawing-

A hand coolly swept over the ground, sending the dust sprawling every which way and disfiguring his drawing beyond recognition. "Hitame," he chimed back, his voice sing-songy in his inability to be serious. "Oh, me? I'm just... hanging out. Looking cool. The usual." He tilted his head. "You wouldn't happen to remember the password would you?"

The Gryffindor sighed, shaking her head at her housemate. "Were you just planning on sitting here until someone happened to come by?" She asked him, moving toward the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower not too far away. He'd gotten rid of his drawing, but Hit's eyes still found themselves being fixed on the spot where it had been when she glanced over. She forced herself to keep her arm from reaching up to her chest as she cleared her throat and faced the portrait of the Fat Lady. She spoke the password softly, but loud enough to be heard, then waited to be let in.

"Alight, cmon." She motioned for Julian to follow her into the tower. Hit wasn't much for conversation but she felt like not saying anything would be really awkward. Then again, she lived for awkward. And it wasn't like Julian was like her, so he would probably bring up a conversation subject for them. But for whatever reason, she found herself not wanting him to start the conversation. She felt her stomach start to turn from nervousness. Why was she even nervous? It wasn't like he was a complete stranger, and even then she didn't feel like that around strangers.

Maybe it was because she wanted to start a conversation for once, even though half of her didn't want to. She licked her lips before starting to chew on the bottom one. "So, how was your summer?" She asked him, her index finger pushing her lip into her teeth.

It was hard to play the situation cool when a second look would reveal the obvious - what else could Julian do but wait? It wasn't like he could pry the portrait open and he had not other plans for the night. Walking the halls would prove just as boring and potentially force him to wait outside after curfew, and he had no desire to sleep outside of the common room. He stood up instead and stretched, reaching his arms high above his head and lifting on his toes as he did. "I mean, I tried to charm The Fat Lady but apparently she's impervious to it."

Julian grinned at Hit's words and fell into step with the other Gryffindor, angling for the portrait as his legs creaked, a little sore from sitting so long in one position. There was something clipped and uncertain about Hit's question, but he paid that no mind. "Okay, I guess," he said with a shrug. "Family drove me bonkers - my sister to be specific. Glad to be back." He paused. "It doesn't seem like this is our last year, does it? That in a year we won't be here."

Oh yeah. That was a thing.

Hit winced at Julian's words. He was right, in a year they wouldn't be in that castle anymore. It was rather bittersweet, in her opinion. She would finally be finished with her schooling, but she wouldn't be able to return to the castle that had provided so much comfort to her for the past seven years. She brought her hand to her chest and held the fabric of her shirt tight in it. Hit looked at her feet as she walked, shaking her head at him.

"I'd.. rather not talk about the right now." She muttered. Disdain for the very thought of leaving was evident in her tone of voice, though it was mixed with sadness.

"Besides, we've only just begun the year. There's still a lot to look forward to." she was trying to reassure herself more than anything else. She was sure that if she didn't have to return to Mulciber manor at the end of the year, she would be a little happier about graduating. But maybe she could change that at some point before the year ended, the having to return home, that is. "I'm glad your summer was okay, though. Even if your family drove you mad." She tried to change the subject, a soft laugh escaping her lips.

"I spent most of my time at the Ministry." she added as an after thought. "So no real vacationing or anything, I'll bet you went somewhere fun?" she asked, turning her head to look at him finally.