2245 hours, Gryffindor Dorms.


It was drizzling outside this evening, the light pitter-platter against dormitory windows punctuating every soft step as Raine strolled into the mostly empty room, several books in hand; a cup of steaming tea floated and trailed behind her like a docile duckling. Being the weekend, most Gryffies were still lounging in their common room. But there was nothing of significance happening downstairs and the prefect much preferred time alone whenever she could get it these days.

"Don't you look comfortable." Maurice was curled up on her pillows, so indifferent to her entrance that he hardly blinked when she dropped herself on to the bed with a satisfied sigh.

Raine gathered her gangly legs and sat slightly slouched; the books were mostly class texts with one or two of them having been pulled from the Restricted Section. Animagi texts: their covers were enchanted to appear plain. She stacked the rest to the side, heaving the thickest tome on to her lap and flipping it open to the middle.

"Difficulties of Transforming in Motion" read the chapter heading and the redhead frowned delicately at the page, one hand reaching upwards to pluck her teacup out of the air. The rain pounded at the windows again, almost disguising another set of footsteps. Impulsively, she snapped the book shut. Raine glanced up and relaxed a little.

"Sophie," she greeted her dorm mate with forced politeness: "Not thinking of an early night, are you?"

Sophie had thought life could not be more exhausting than when you were a social butterfly and had the attention span of a gnat on coffee, running hither and tither trying to be all things to anyone who needed you. As it turned out it was much, much, much harder to avoid people when you'd had a spectacular fall from grace. For the first time in her entire life Sophie Flickwick was tired of talking, she was tired of being talked to. She was tired of sideways looks and whispers. Her bones felt lonely and rattled in her tiny body and she missed her bed. Guilt was an all consuming burden and the starched sheets of her bed offered a little comfort, a little solace.

It was so early she assumed she'd be alone and asleep before any of her dorm mates toddled in. It had been her hope that she could snuggle between her sheets, have a bit of a cry into Mr. Banana's shoulder, and be asleep so she could be up before anyone in the morning and back to her library cubby hole. As fate would have it she would not be so lucky. No, instead of an empty room she found Raine. She found Raine who didn't look particularly happy to be seeing Sophie. Well she could join the club, Sophie didn't like seeing Sophie anymore either. The brunette gave a tight lipped smile and a small nod as she swept her dark hair into a high bun, "I'll close the drapes so I don't bother you". 

Surprisingly, Flickwick really was thinking about an early night this Saturday.

Even with recent events in the Great Hall, Raine did not suppose that her housemate would be one to hide away in bed on a perfectly sensible weekend in. After all... this was Sophie. Talkative, cheery, almost distastefully emotional Sophie. They weren't close in any sense of the word but the prefect had come to expect a certain level of willfulness from her.

Therefore, a downcast and weary Sophie was a vaguely perturbing notion. Not to mention eerily considerate.

"You wouldn't be bothering me," Raine replied with a faintly contemplative stare. "I can just as easily do my reading elsewhere." Noting the other's witch's uncharacteristic disposition, she put down her book. Perhaps not the same sort of reading but productivity wasn't necessarily limited to a single subject.

"Is something the matter with your health?" the prefect asked abruptly; her own aloof way of trying to sensitively pinpoint the problem. "I can offer you a sleeping draught, if you need some."

Sophie had turned her back to the other girl as she pulled her pajama pants up under her skirt and a tank top over her head, with bed drapes closed the light wouldn't bother her though it would be a bit awkward to indulge in that cry knowing someone else was there. She was most startled by Raine's show of...well what passed for concern with Almasy. Sophie gave her a weak smile and shook her head at the offer of a sleeping draught, "I'm fine, really. Just... need a bit of time away from everyone I guess".

Slipping off her shoes and settling on her bed, she didn't scramble under the covers but rather turned to look at the other girl - almost sheepishly, "How's... Zel," she visibly winced and shook her head, "I'm sorry... it's just that he still isn't talking to me and I can't talk to him. not after everything that's happened". She looked down at her hands, ashamed of herself for asking Raine (who did not understand things like girl-talk) and putting her in a position where she had to answer a question that involved emotions (something else Raine didn't seem to completely comprehend).

Other than telling Fig all about himself (and apparently in such a way that he understood the magnitude of his buffoonery) Sophie hadn't talked to many people. She'd closed herself off because she just couldn't let herself fall apart. There was something about speaking to rain that kept the more emotional aspects of Sophie's nature in check, as she picked off a wayward string from her heavy wool socks, "It's all been such a mess. I don't know where to start to fix it, and I've got to find a new co-leader of SAWS. I think Reid thinks I've gone round the bend". 

Another incongruous idea- the idea of Sophie being 'away' from everyone else.

Raine nursed her teacup in one hand as she kicked of her bed shoes and brought legs up against her chest. It was still hot and the light, stringent fragrance was very gradually filling the dorm room. She stared across at the other witch, indifferent for the most part. Raine had known her for longer and, being housemates, probably better than she had known Zel... but she liked him more as a person. He was sensitive, obviously, but there wasn't a mean thought in that boy's hollow-cheeked head. And that was rare to find, these days.

So even if it wasn't apparent, she did have some small misgivings about SAWS and its members.

"Yes," Raine replied bluntly. "Everything really has been a mess. I'm not surprised that Professor Reid is experiencing doubts." The Runes teacher was a rather sensible woman after all.

And Merlin knew how it was that Sophie's ragtag group was even glued together. Even for a school club, it lacked any sense of proper structure or political agenda. All she ever heard on the rumour mills led her to believe that they were a haphazardly sentimental crew.

But expressing concern for Zel had been appropriate and the redhead's voice softened slightly as she added: "I wouldn't worry about Zel. He's resilient," her gaze met Sophie's steadily as she recalled her last meeting with the Hufflepuff. "And he has real friends to pull him through any difficulties."

Raine took a sip of her tea.

Sophie was, despite all appearances otherwise, sensitive - more so lately than usual. It was easier to be loud and out going than to admit you felt the way people looked at you, felt the way they judged you. Raine was not a cuddly person, she was blunt and to the point, one had to have a thick skin and spend a lot of time convincing themselves she wasn't just a judgmental wench. Most of the time Sophie could do that, she could be reasonable about it but there was something about the other girl's tone that felt cutting. Sophie couldn't take anymore slashes to the underbelly tonight, for the next fortnight really. She just wasn't strong enough to keep trying to bear up gracefully, "Not Professor Reid. Headmaster Reid, he thinks given the situation with my mother... I need a counter balance to lead SAWS".

The jab that hurt the most was probably the bit about Zel having real friends. Raine hadn't even meant it to be hateful, probably, but it felt hateful. It felt like she was telling Sophie to mind her own business before she ruin the boy's life further. Never mind that Sophie had carried around his big bad secret for him, that she had tried to help in every way possible, that despite how hard it was to talk to the people she had known at the Ministry she had done her best to get him into contact with those most likely to help him, to give the case a real look rather than dismissing his tale because it was less paperwork. Twisting the ring on her finger she sighed and closed her eyes, head resting against the post of her bed frame, "The problem with all that is no one in SAWS, at the moment, is level headed enough... or they're Josh and I just... the first time he talked down to me I'd break his nose too and then I'd get expelled".

It was very difficult for Raine to see past actions into intentions and this was one of the reasons that she rarely mingled with Sophie. The other witch always meant well but her undertakings did not always reflect her feelings- recent events in the Great Hall seemed like a culmination of efforts rather than aims.

"A counter-balance..." the prefect murmured thoughtfully as she listened. A rock, essentially, was what SAWS needed. Not that she cared, or wanted to care, or even gave much thought to the Lycan issue outside of what was in the papers. Only right now the issue was staring her in the face and not just here but with most anyone who'd ever had a stake in it. Housemates, classmates. Zel and Sasha.

"No, I suppose Josh isn't what you're looking for. He has far too much on his plate at any rate, with the tournament." Raine smirked as she tried to imagine Sophie swinging a right hook at the other Gryffindor. Somehow the image made her more likeable.

"You know.... I don't really like SAWS. It's rather unfocused and your political agenda is unsystematic but I know you mean well, Sophie." Or at least she knew that this was the general understanding. "You're trying do something good." Raine paused, drained her cup of tea and placed it aside before leaning forward, expression suddenly deliberate.

"Have you tried asking one of the seventh years?" she asked. "One of the prefects perhaps. Someone with an existing sense of authority." A name floated in her head as it was but she wasn't sure yet if her housemate would be so inclined to welcome a leader who would be graduating in the next two terms.

It was hard not to feel like Raine was being a patronizing prat, it was equally hard not to get defensive because at least she cared about things and threw herself into making change rather than watching the whole world pass her by. Raine wasn't even right! They had been focused, they had made a difference. They had been loud enough to get the attention of the people who mattered to get Ollie back into school, to allow Lexi and Zel an education. There were schools in their world that still didn't take muggle-borns for Merlin's sake! She took a deep breath and gave a small shrug, "I suppose it depends on how you choose to look at things. No cause is every without casualties, but that doesn't mean you just give up and stop trying to effect change. I think it's highly presumptuous of you to assume anything about SAWS when you've never even bothered to sit in on a meeting. You shouldn't judge something you've never actually seen in action".

So maybe she wasn't so good at keeping her mouth shut, "The problem this year is that we got to our original goal; Werewolves have been allowed back into Hogwarts. Change is happening and we had a hand in it. The thing no one can seem to agree on is how SAWS needs to change in lieu of the political climate. What happened to Zel is terrible, on all fronts - but the very reason it's terrible is the reason groups like SAWS have to exist. There have to be better regulations, better ways of testing Wolfsbane. After next year we have to go out into a world, Zel has to go out into a world where he will be punished for something he had no choice in. The Registry does what it can but it is always understaffed and the people working there do not always have the Weres best interests at heart. I spent most of my life watching my mother work within a flawed system - a system that eventually got her killed. So you can think that SAWS in unfocused and scattered and has no real political agenda; but every day when I wake up I'm putting one foot in front of the other in the hopes that by the time we graduate, even if he still hates me, Zel goes into a better world than the one my mother left behind".

She took a deep breath and slowly unclenched her hands that had made tiny fits as she had been... in the middle of a minor rant. It wasn't that her voice had gone up in pitch but she was definitely tense. There was a reason she didn't often associate with the Prefect. Sophie didn't understand how anyone could live their life so passively, so removed, as though a giant wall stood between the rest of the world and the redhead. She just watched, never seemed to partake, to experience. Maybe Sophie felt too much too often... but she'd take that any day over the blase way nothing ever seemed to trigger Raine. It was very easy to sit in judgment of people when you weren't getting  your hands dirty. Maybe Sophie wasn't perfect, maybe she'd made big mistakes along the way, but she had the courage to stand by her beliefs even when it was exceedingly hard and unpopular to do so. "There aren't many seventh years left. Church maybe, but he hasn't taken a vocal stance on anything. I guess that might not matter if he's really just there to keep order," she gave a shrug and laid back on her pillows, not looking at the other girl. She was mad but she couldn't really say why Raine's comments had felt so hurtful.

That was quick. Raine quirked an eyebrow at her housemate's defensiveness- there was yet some fight left in the seemingly exhausted Gryffindor. She shrugged at the response in the same way she did most remarks about her indifference. People read into her words in whichever way they wanted and it often said more about them than it did about her.

So she let Sophie talk, which sometimes felt like all the other girl ever did. Her story wasn't an unfamiliar one. Anyone with a ear to the rumour mill or the Hogwarts pulse knew how important Werewolf rights were to her after all, and it wasn't like she ever made a secret of her opinions. That had never been Raine's issue with the group... and she could hardly say anything about the good that it had achieved, except that now it appeared like they were floating about with no real direction.

On a strictly objective and rational level, perception was one of the most significant factors with political clubs. And SAWS was not being perceived in the best of lights now, not even by people who knew that the fight in the Great Hall could hardly have been helped.

"I can judge as severely as I want," Raine finally broke into the conversation with a put-out line set into her lips. "That's what people do when they aren't involved in a political agenda. It isn't fair but it's how the world works. You do one good thing and then everyone forgets because they've already moved on to seeing what you'll do next. Your problem is that SAWS doesn't have that. Nobody knows with assurance what is next..." she brought her legs up again, hugging them to her chest, gaze thoughtful.

In another reality, the prefect realized she might have rather enjoyed politics. It was all strategy and keeping even-tempered.

"I'm very sorry Sophie," her voice softened as it occurred to her now how unfeeling she was being. Perhaps not the comfort her dorm mate enjoyed. "I... I think you're too emotional about SAWS. Ask Church to help, even if it's only to keep order. He's more interested in the group than you would think." Raine would have liked to help, she would have liked to be there for Zel. But her views on Lycnathropy were not what they needed and her emotions was invested elsewhere... this wasn't her fight, as much as she wished it.

Sophie sighed and closed her eyes, a part of her knew that Raine was right. They were being judged not by what they had accomplished, to the rest of the world that just meant now show me what you've got, but the implication that she wasn't a real friend, that she hadn't been putting every little bit of her sixteen year old self behind the movement... it went back to that fear that no matter what she did she'd never be good enough. She'd never be able to do exactly the right thing. It was good to posture and give rally cries, to make speeches and stand on her soapbox... but a storm was coming, something in her bones told her everything was going to get uglier before it got remotely better.

And, really, Raine was just being Raine - they were the counter to one another. Sophie did feel too much, SAWS and werewolf rights, the system had all had multiple impacts on her life. She was still grieving in her own way, trying to continue her mother's work as though she weren't gone. Sometimes she did wish she could just be more clearheaded about it... but everything Ollie went through, the things that had driven her away from school voluntarily this time,
what had happened to Zel, what would continue to happen to Zel... it caused a physical pain in her chest. She made herself be responsible when she wasn't really. For Sophie there was no ignoring the human element to the problem, that they weren't talking about numbers or statistics... they were talking about people she knew, people she loved.

Sophie sighed and rolled on her side to look at Rain, head propped on her arm, "I know you're right... about all of it, about what people are thinking and the fact I'm too emotional. I just don't know how to turn it off I guess. It is and it isn't about politics for me. I think about Ollie and Zel and I want to be able to protect them from the half truths and outright lies people are going to tell. They're not an agenda, they're people I love, people I want to have happy lives full of all the things we get to experience and take for granted," she stopped herself, realizing she was rambling again and let out another long breath, "I'll talk to Church soon. Maybe the group just needs to lay low for awhile. I'll see what he says". When she looked at her dormmate her smile was tired and a little sad, "Thanks... for listening, I mean". She waited a few more moments before pulling the faded gold sash that held back the bed curtains and let the dark silence envelope her. Tomorrow as another battle to fight, and she'd need her rest.