It was only the third day back from break and Zoe already felt tired of school. It wasn't the fault of any student, or professor, but that she was forced to think about what she didn't want to. Ever since Christmas, Zoe had been in a whirlpool of thoughts and feelings. Her grandfather had proclaimed her the Torret family heir, something that she had expected, but what she hadn't foreseen was the large list of requirements she had been handed minutes after the news had been broken to the rest of her family. Maybe she should be grateful that lessons gave her something else to think about.

Zoe picked at her breakfast sausages with a fork. The amulet that she wore around her neck suddenly felt heavy, growing heavier at the thought that it wasn't the amulet that she wanted to be wearing.[1] Zoe felt as if she had betrayed Alvis somehow... No, that was foolish. Ugh! She had to get herself together before class started for the day. People were speaking around her, but all the words started to blur together until all she heard was her thoughts.

"Zoe?"

Her name came out of the random jumble of sound. Zoe turned to see Addison, whom she had attempted to hold a conversation with. "Oh, uh, sorry Addison, I didn't quite catch what you said."

"... Are you alright?"

Internally Zoe cursed herself out for putting herself in this position. Externally she looked meek. "... Can I tell you something?" After all, the two were good enough friends, and she needed someone to talk about it with. Addison nodded.[2] "Ok. Apparently, my family believes that I'm, well, they're trying to turn me into a worthy heir of my family."

1.	As another random requirement I made up, the heir has to wear an old runic amulet with runes that are supposed to promote family welfare.
2.	Approved by Mouse.

After only three days back at school from the winter break, Addison was slowly getting used to waking up early all over again. Bloody early mornings. They were the hardest to get used to. Despite the slight feeling of being tired that she had maintained for the past few days thus far, she was actually rather awake for once. It certainly wasn't a resumption of her normal schedule, that was for sure. It was probably from the mug of coffee that she had downed only just minutes ago. She had hoped that it would wake her up a bit, and so far it was doing its job.

To maintain this awakened state, Addison had already poured herself a second mug and was already half way through with it. Upon her plate, laid half finished waffles so far, already half finished with her meal as well. Hopefully she wouldn't be too energetic for Herbology coming up. The energy wasn't the only side effect that she was feeling. No, the coffee seemed to make her a bit more perceptive of those around her. Namely, her dorm mate Zoe. Of course, it could have been from the fact that they lived together in the same dorm for a few years now. At either rate, something seemed off with Zoe.

After her inquiry into her friend's state of mind, Zoe seemed willing to tell her something.

"Ok. Apparently, my family believes that I'm, well, they're trying to turn me into a worthy heir of my family."

She quickly gulped down the food in her mouth, after hearing Zoe's answer. "An heir? My goodness you're going to be an heir!" she exclaimed loudly, clearly unaware of how far her voice carried. After hearing the news, it completely escaped her mind that Zoe might have wanted to keep that information a secret. For that matter, she had no idea that it was a secret. "This is wonderful news, shouldn't you be happy about it? I would be if I was told that I'd be an heir ... Wait, um, what exactly is an heir again?" she asked, her voice still carrying a bit. She had heard of the word before, but completely forgot its meaning. Being a muggleborn, she was sure that there was plenty of things that she never heard of.