November 14
Dorms
After Lunch

Juni was glad that the weekend was finally here, and she had spent the day (except for lunch) in the common room, reading the last chapter of Magical Moral Perspective. It wasn’t one of her textbooks, but she had been interested in magical law and politics from a young age. She wasn’t sure if she ever wanted to have a career in those fields, but it was interesting. Of course, she felt like it could be beneficial to know about law as compared to ethics and where they overlapped (or didn’t overlap).

Her legs were brought up to her chest and she was laying down on her bed, propped up with some pillows.  She wasn’t feeling particularly social, but if there was anyone she wouldn’t mind talking to, it was her roommates. Knowing each other since first year and having to share a room with them had forced her to learn to get along. None of the girls were particularly dislikable, and on most days, she genuinely enjoyed being around them. Juni felt like she lucked out; she was sure that other students in this school did not have roommates that weren’t annoying or offensive in some way. 

She wished that the weather outside was nicer; she wasn’t one who enjoyed fall weather—she either preferred it to be freezing, or warm. Spring and Fall were rather annoying times of year for her, and she couldn’t wait for winter to come. When it was freezing, there was often snow, and if there was snow, she could enjoy the beauty either by looking through the window or by taking a walk (bundled up in warm winter clothes, of course.)

Harlow burst into the room and skipped over to her bed, landing face down on her pillows. She was utterly exhausted, being happy all the time took a lot out of a person, but Harlow wasn't about to complain, she loved smiling all the time and enjoyed making other people happy too. That's why, when she saw her fellow roommate laying on her bed in such a way that made her seem like something was on her mind, Harlow had to intervene. "What's on your mind, Juni?" Her voice was muffled by the pillow, but she was sure that she could hear her. "Are you feeling down? Would you like a hug?"

Harlow didn't really read emotions well, she only knew 'happy' and 'sad', but what else would you need? If you weren't smiling, you were upset about something. If you were smiling, you were happy. She didn't enjoy seeing people like this, maybe Juni was sick? Maybe someone was mean to her? Harlow wouldn't stand for it. She stood up on her bed, her hair in a matted mess and jumped to the floor, approaching Juni's bed and kneeling on it. "Juni, did someone say something to upset you?" Whoever did this to Juni would have Harlow to answer to!

As Addison entered the Ravenclaw Common Room, a smile was plastered on her face. While it was only the weekend, and she didn't normally have school work to still complete, she thought that she had been pretty productive so far this morning. She had just come from outside. More specifically, from up in a tree. From this tree, she spotted a raven in a nearby tree. Without making too much noise, she was able to draw this bird in her sketchpad. Even though the bird left before she was able to complete the full sketch, she was able to complete her work.

Not being the type that would normally show off her work, Addison liked to keep her sketchpad in her bag to keep anyone from looking at it. Of course, she was fairly certain that some of her fellow forth years have seen her doodle unconsciously in class before, but that was never anything that she actually tried to complete correctly. Nevertheless, it happened during class from time to time, especially in History of Magic or Transfiguration, her worst classes.

Ignoring her fellow house mates that were in the common room, Addie ran up the stairs to the dorm room that she shared with her fellow Ravenclaw fourth year girls. Now into their fourth year at the castle, they managed to get along together fairly well. It helped matters, as well, that most of the frequent disturbers in class were in other houses. Of course, she wasn't about to complain, since it made everything just so much nicer. Entering the dorm room, she smiled to her friends Juni and Harlow that were already in the room. "Hi Juni, Hi Harlow," she greeted each girl in turn as she sat down on her own bed and dropped her bag on the floor next to it. "So, what's going on in here?"

Juni jumped slightly, startled when Harlow burst into the room jubilantly, spilling in happiness, rainbows, and her typical Harlow-ness. One couldn’t help but be in a good mood--or mildly annoyed-- when the blonde was around. She gave her friend a polite smile and held up her hand, index finger raised as if saying, ”Wait just a moment.” Her dark eyes darted to the end of the last few pages, and when she was done with her book, she closed it with a satisfied look on her face. “I was just reading about magical law and morals.” She replied simply, tucking her dark hair behind her ear.

“I’m feeling fine. Just because I don’t smile all the time doesn’t mean I’m not happy.” Her lips twitched into a slight,. amused smile as she spoke. “I’ll always take your hugs though.” Harlow was a good hugger, and a very compassionate person. Sometimes, Juni felt like she belonged in Hufflepuff rather than Ravenclaw, but often times she noticed quite a crossover between the two houses. There were plenty of smart, studious people who were compassionate. (though, there were plenty of smart people who were also incredibly rude and painful to be around.)

“No one did anything to upset me buuuut-” She reached under her bed and pulled out a box of fudge. “My dad sent me this yesterday, would you like some?” She offered, just as Addison entered the room.  “You can have some too, Addison.” Juni’s dad was always sending her treats and gifts. In the past, he often sent her foreign treats and other fun souvenirs. Now that he lived in London, he wasn’t sending as much foreign stuff as much as he was sending whatever he thought she would like. She had gotten some new harp strings as well, and she couldn’t wait to use them later.

She gave Addison a noncommittal shrug in response to her question-- nothing much was happening. “I need a new book to read, do you two have any suggestions?” She didn’t care if it was fiction or academic, she always needed to be reading something. With her current reading project completed, she was already feeling a bit antsy without a different book.

Harlow laughed at Juni's response, "Please," She said, rolling her eyes at the girl. "If you are happy then you should smile. Smiling is good for the soul, and it makes the people around you smile." A bright smile of her own lit up Harlow's face as she hug-tackled Juni. Feeling a sharp stabbing at her side, Harlow gasped and quickly sat up, digging around in her pockets and pulling out a bent fork. She looked at it lovingly before dancing over to her trunk and placing it inside. "Poor little guy, the elves were going to throw him out! I just know it, they never keep broken things."

When Juni offered the sweets, Harlow was all too quick to snatch one up and shove it in her mouth as Addison entered the room. "Greetings, Addison Rockwell!" She mumbled around the fudge and waving a hand at the girl. "We're eating fudge, it's rather delicious. Juni's father sent it. Isn't he the nicest man?" Harlow then turned to Juni as she asked for any suggestions on books to read. "The encyclopedia is a good one, it's got a bit of everything. You can never know too many things about everything!"

Addison smiled as she looked at the other two girls in their dorm room. She was glad that they were able to get along well together. It made for more of an enjoyable experience, and hopefully an enjoyable three more years at Hogwarts as well. She looked to the box of fudge that Juni offered out to both girls. Jumping off of her bed, she accepted a piece of fudge. "Thanks Juni," she responded. She nodded to Harlow's comment about the fudge, after eating the piece. "Very delicious actually. Oh yes, Juni's father is so nice, and thoughtful."

Tilting her head slightly, she tried to think of a book that Juni to read. There were just so many good ones. Being muggleborn, she knew plenty of muggle authors. But, it would probably be rather hard to find muggle literature in a magical school in the library. While trying to think of a suggestion, Harlow offered her own suggestion. At hearing the encyclopedia, she couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, encyclopedias have a little knowledge of each entry. But, books that dig deep on a few topics are much more fun!" Thinking for another moment, she thought of a good one. "Ooh, how about Magical Expressions? I always find the art of expression very interesting!"

Juni was pleased that her roommates were always so accepting of items shoe offered to them. It made her feel appreciated, and they were a good outlet for her generosity. As they spoke, she realized right then just how nerdy they all were. Of course, they were Ravenclaws so it made sense, but not everybody found reading encyclopedias to be interesting.  She took out a spare piece of parchment and quickly wrote down the title of the book that Addison suggested. She would have to make a trip into the library to get it, unless she expressed interest in it and got her dad to buy her a copy.

She beamed as they complimented her father—she was very close to him, and was glad that her friends approved. “Thank you!” She said, folding up the parchment and putting it in the pocket of her robes. The only reason she wouldn’t want to go to the library was because the librarian was a bit intimidating, but she just had to avoid eye contact and hurry and it’d be fine, right? “So.” She turned around and laid back on her bed, her head dangling off the edge. “What did you girls do today?” Her day had been pretty uneventful and normal, but she hoped they had some sort of interesting story to share with her.

"What did we do today?" Harlow sighed, staring into space as she thought, "Not much, I guess. Just some reading and a bit of wandering. Nothing too special." Her day was filled with the usual, something exciting hadn't happened in a while and Harlow hoped something would happen soon. Sometimes school life got so tedious and boring. Suddenly, Harlow jumped up with a big grin plastered on her face.

Harlow's mouth curled into a sinister smile as she turned to her friend. "Juni, I know it's common courtesy to ask someone how their day has been, but that's boring! What I want to hear about, is something juicy." Giving both Addison and Juni identical looks that screamed trouble, Harlow crossed her arms across her chest. "So, who do you like?" She said in a sing-songy voice. This was much more interesting. Though, she wasn't sure if the girls would actually tell her if they even had a crush. She just hoped it'd strike up an interesting coversation to pass the time.

Blah blah blah, boring everyday stuff then BAM.

Harlow asked the question that many fourteen year olds dreaded.

”So, who do you like?”

Her dark eyes widened and she quickly covered her face with her hands. “No no. No. NO. You did not just ask that. NO.” She let out a whimper, “You know I can’t lie to you, why did you do this to me?!” Juni groaned dramatically, and then opened her fingers slightly to reveal one eye, watching Harlow closely. She wasn’t sure that she could trust that the blonde wouldn’t tell anyone. But at the same time, she secretly hoped that the particular fourth year she liked would find out and sweep her into his arms and drag her along on one of his stupid, risky, dangerous, reckless, alluring adventures.

Oh the romance.

“He’s in our year.” She gulped, and then spoke quite quickly, running her words together into one. “It’sConnorTodd.” Juni squeaked, and then covered her eyes again, “It’s so stupid I know, but he’s so cute and funny and so…” She took her hands off her face and pouted, “Confident.”

Being the budding artist that she was trying to be, it quite frankly seemed quite natural to Addison that she would like an art book. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that just because she liked something didn't mean that everyone else did as well. Considering the fact that most students at the castle didn't know that she was an artist made that all the more true. So, she had to at least try to keep her nerdy thoughts to herself. Naturally, she wouldn't suggest reading an encyclopedia to anyone but a Ravenclaw. For that matter, Ravenclaws apparently were walking dictionaries themselves.[1]

Some days at Hogwarts did seem rather boring. So, it shouldn't be a surprise to Addison that Juni was asking about their days. After all, someone had to be doing something interesting at the castle at some point or another, right? "Well, I spotted a raven outside earlier," she commented with a shrug. Apparently none of them did anything too interesting. So, it certainly wasn't surprising that Harlow was rather bored with the conversation, trying to turn it to a different topic that .... wait about who they liked?

Quite honestly, Addison hadn't been paying attention too much just yet to actually liking someone. Sure, she talked to them. But, but, that didn't mean that she actually liked anyone yet. Did it? After all, conversations could be innocent enough...

Addie could have let out a sigh of relief when Juni decided to answer the question first, so it kind of left her with a little bit of time to try to think of something to say through her mental hyperventilation.

That all disappeared as her eyes turned wide at Juni's admission. Connor was a rather eccentric fellow. At the same time, he was rather interesting at the same time. It was a rather strange combination. "Oh, how interesting. It isn't stupid. He has that mysterious air around him," she commented in agreement.

1.	inspiration:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCz0B74RiDk  from 1:30 - 1:36

Harlow was bouncing up and down on the spot, eagerly awaiting Juni's response after the girl started whimpering like a little puppy, seemingly uncomfortable with the current topic. That obviously meant she had her eye on someone. When Juni watched Harlow, Harlow did the normal thing Harlow would do, and stuck her tongue out at her friend, giggling like the school girl she was.

When Juni revealed the object of her affection, Harlow gasped, eyes wide and her mouth twisted into a smile. "Connor Todd?!" Harlow said, quite loudly, clapping her hands like a happy seal. "Oh, Juni! This is wonderful, I had no idea you liked Connor Todd!" She then turned around to face Addison, her eyes bright with excitement. "Isn't this great? We must do something about it, right away!" Harlow skipped to Juni and grabbed her face bettwen her hands. "Juni, dear! What shall we do? I think we should tell dear Connor how you feel! What good is having feelings if you don't share them with the world!" She threw her hands up in the air and giggled again, incredibly happy with the turn of events.

Harlow was excited very easily..

“No! I can’t tell him!” Juni exclaimed, “What if he doesn’t like me? It’ll be so embarrassing!” She whined and buried her face in her knees, muffling her voice. Tell the world how she felt? No. She knew very well that some people thought Connor Todd was a lunatic.  Everybody would think she was crazy for liking him that way. And what if he found out and took it badly? It’d be awful. If it got out and turned out badly, she wouldn’t be able to deny it and have people believe her. She thought she’d be teased for months!  Juni let out another dramatic groan and peeked up at Harlow over her knees, and then glanced at Addison, pouting slightly.

Juni did not understand why Harlow was so excited, but she appreciated the blonde’s… Jubilant reaction. It was better than pointing and laughing.  Addison did not react in an over the top way, and she appreciated how those two girls balanced themselves out. “I just don’t know what to do. I’ve never fancied anyone before.”

Despite knowing Harlow for several years now, Addison was definitely not prepared by how enthusiastic her friend was acting. Certainly having a crush was a big deal for their age. Yet, Connor's suggestive actions himself made the whole situation even more confusing. So, she wasn't about to start suggesting any over the top ideas, given her logical mind. Sure, she probably thought way too safely about this, especially considering how she had absolutely no one's name to suggest that she had a crush on herself. But, she didn't want to see Juni become devastated that Connor didn't like her. The riskier the action, the more you had to gain and the more you could potentially lose.

"Um, Harlow, I don't think Juni declaring her crush for Connor out of the blue is the best choice of action. Who knows if he would take it seriously enough to begin with. So, rushing too fast to tell him might not help," Addison finally spoke up. She nodded in agreement with what Juni said. Apparently Juni was thinking around the same lines as her. "Well, I think talking to Connor more might help, just don't rush it too fast," she suggested. Quite frankly, she had no idea what Juni should do either. But, she knew that what helped her with some of her decisions was an analysis of the options, before making a decision. Yeah, her mind was definitely too logical for her own good.

Zoe had come to the dorm after the other girls, being held up when Snowy met her at the entrance. She currently wasn't wearing her usual book bag, having come to her dorm to get it and load it up for Care of Magical Creatures and Potions. The supplies currently lay spread out on the girl's bed, ready for her to pick it up. She always came and lay it out after Herbology for convenience.

The Ravenclaw walked in, the white and gray cat following at her heels. "He-" Zoe started, seeing one of the girls first but quickly noticing the rest. "Well, if you were going to have a dorm meeting you might as well have gotten me from the common room," she commented with a smile. She crossed the room, sitting down on her bed. Snowy hopped up and took her rightful place on her owner's lap.

She began to load the class supplies into her red book bag, looking up at the girls. "What are we all talking about?"

She gave Addison a thankful look, happy that someone was supporting her decision to  not tell Connor immediately. Who knew how he’d react? If she straight up told him she liked him, he might reject her in a rude, mean way—and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to be embarrassed—and she had a feeling that Connor would be incredibly talented when it came to making her feel awkward and out of place.  He already did just by existing and being a total babe. She was about to reply when their other roommate came in.

Juni gave Zoe an embarrassed smile. “Hey.” She greeted quietly. Oh, she so wished that Zoe could have been here from the very beginning so that she didn’t have to repeat it.  A light blush came across her face, making her freckles look that much more prominent.  “Ugh we should have gotten you, that way I wouldn’t need to repeat myself.” Juni whimpered and leaned towards Zoe slightly. “Will you promise not to laugh at me if I tell you?” Judging was fine. Zoe could do all the judging she wanted—after all, Connor Todd was viewed as a bit ridiculous by more than some. But Juni didn’t want to be mocked or laughed at.