It was just barely cold enough outside on the grounds that Lovella had to abandon her favorite spot to study (next to the giant tree overlooking the lake) in favor of a slightly cozier albeit less spacious deserted classroom. This, of course, didn't imply that she would go uninterrupted, but when you lived with hundreds of other people it became hard to isolate oneself. At least at her aunt's home it was easier to find a secluded place. It's not to say that Lovella was a loner by nature, but when she needed to accomplish something it was simpler to avoid the noise and distractions afforded by her infuriating classmates.

She was sitting adjacent to the nearest window which was letting in just the right amount of the fading sunlight so that she could read in a comfortable setting. Her robes lay in a pile to her right, which had been neatly folded and pressed. To her other side, in alphabetical order, of course, was an excessive stack of books that swayed precariously from side to side; the subjects ranging from self-defensive spells to magical remedies for the treatment of dragon burns. When it came to her education there was no topic she had neglected.

After finishing the last few pages of her current read, Lovella lifted her head to look outside. This particular window provided a very nice view of the lake which was currently caught in an orange glow from the setting sun. She could also see, despite the colder weather, a few students who were socializing by the water, while others (first or second years she assumed) went chasing each other dangerously close to the freezing cold lake.

Children She thought. That's all they were. They didn't know how wasteful it was, not taking their education seriously. In Lovella's mind that was simply inexcusable, but... Then again... They did look... No. There was no second guessing on this. If you weren't successful in school then how could you go on to be successful when it really counts?

Deciding it was time for a practical application, Lovella put down her book, pulled out her wand, and walked to the other side of the room. It was time to attempt the use of non-verbal spells. Even though students were generally taught to use magic without speaking only in their sixth year, Lovella never gave too much head for little rules like that. Clearing her mind of all thought she slowly raised her Hornbeam wand towards the book she had left back at the window, took a deep breathe, and thought Accio.

As passionate as Juni was about studying and learning, sometimes the library and the common room were not quite the right environment for her. The library was a quiet, designated study area—but there were just so many books to choose from that Juni knew that she would end up getting distracted by everything she could learn, instead of focusing on what was immediately relevant to her current studies. Some days were better than others, but today she knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist reading about something new that hadn’t been discussed or touched on in her classes.

So, she decided to find one of the many empty classrooms that were usually free this time of day. Juni entered the room and closed the door behind her, only to see a book start to float across the room towards none other than Lovella Stone. She opened her mouth in shock, it felt like her jaw was about to hit the floor!

Was that a nonverbal spell?!

Juni wasn’t even close to performing nonverbal spells!

Alas, the book fell to the ground about halfway.[1]

Still, the fact that Lovella was able to cause it to start heading her direction without verbalizing the spell was impressive. Juni felt like Lovella belonged in Ravenclaw at times  (but then again, sometimes Juni felt like her ambition meant she should have been placed in Slytherin).

“Do it again.” She said directly, with a curtness that bordered on rude. It wasn’t her intention to be rude or bossy, but she simply had to see it from the very beginning.   

1.	With Lovella's okay.

The book was on its way. It was a rather shaky take off, but the summoning charm was definitely workings its... well... magic. For one brief moment, Lovella felt a rush of excitement, and was that... glee? Accio was an advanced spell to begin with, few could muster the extreme focus required when casting; add the use of nonverbal magic on top of that and you had yourself a truly difficult task. She had spent the entire year practicing wordless magic with simpler spells: using reparo on a broken cup, lumos at night when reading, and a few hexes here and there at deserving pests. Just last week she had finally produced a fully realized shield charm without uttering a breathe. Now this! The book was really coming to her, true it was moving at a sluggish pace and was shaking worse then a house elf that had just been freed, but it was definitely on its way.

Lovella allowed herself the briefest smile when the book, only a few feet away, shook violently once more and dropped to the ground with a dignified thud. Immediately, the excitement that had been building up was replaced with frustration in one quick swoop. After all the hours and days she had spent working tirelessly on nonverbal magic and now this... She really thought she had it this time.

However, she wasn't allowed to ponder on her failure too long as not two seconds after the book collided with the floor she heard a voice to her left demand that she repeat the endeavor. It was simply a reaction when Lovella snapped towards the voice with her wand.

"Who!?" She started, her eyes turned to slits.  But alas, it was only Juni Zamperia  standing in front of the closed door, freckles and all. Lovella must have been so focused on her spell that she hadn't heard the girl coming in. With a sigh she lowered her wand, and relaxed her eyes. Juni wasn't anything to worry about. For the most part, Lovella never had to worry about her success when it came to Juni. Both girls understood the importance of a good education, and had plugged away many hours with their noses stuffed in books. Very rarely if ever had Lovella had a reason to squabble with the Ravenclaw which was saying something.  Still, she had startled her. Was the library too crammed full of students today?

"Oh, Juni. It's just you." She said, striding forward to retrieve the fallen tomb off the ground. "What are you-" She began, but stopped herself. At the beginning of the year she had made a mental note not to be as hostile to everyone, only those who really deserved a good rattling. After all, if she wanted to get anywhere in the ministry she had to learn proper conduct. Juni was usually quite cordial to her even when you considered Lovella's reputation. "I mean", She started again, "Can I help you with something?" Playing against her mostly cold nature, the words didn't sound altogether natural, but at least she was making the effort.

“Just me? What did you expect, a lion?!” Juni replied almost sharply, as if it would be preposterous if someone else had walked in on this. Besides, the caretaker was actually a lion, so there was a chance that a lion would indeed walk in. Still, that was something that Juni would rather forget—if someone was foolish enough to get stuck in the body of a lion, then they were someone that wasn’t worth remembering in her rather harsh opinion. “Touchy, touchy.” She made a little tsking noise, and her dark eyes focused on the book, sitting quite pathetically in the middle of the floor. “I was looking for a place to study—“ She tilted her head to the side, as if motioning towards the stack of books and notes in her arm, “The library has too many distractions right now.” Along with the other distractions she had thought about, another reasons he wasn’t in the library was because someone was so rudely sitting at her favored library table.

"Can I help you with something?"

The words sounded unnatural coming from Lovella’s mouth. Juni raise her eyebrows. “Are you trying to be nice? But I’m so used to your… Snark.” She gave Lovella a small smile. “But something you can help me with—teach me how you are doing that!” She motioned towards the book. “I saw you use accio nonverbally. Many people in our year can’t even do it verbally!” Of course, Juni could—but it didn’t mean she had the same skill as Lovella! She wasn’t a natural, but she worked hard to get the grades and the results she wanted.

“And maybe, by teaching me what you know about nonverbal spells, you’ll be able to perfect it.” Juni always seemed to learn the inner workings of things better after explaining it to someone.

"A lion? Don't be ridiculous, I just saw it prowling alongside the castle walls not long ago." Lovella snapped out of instinct. "And I assure you... My "snark" is still in top condition. I was simply trying to be less abrasive... for once."
 
Sometimes it was hard to control the naturally icy tone in her voice which had many times inadvertently struck the wrong nerves on her peers. It wasn't entirely her fault. As a child Lovella didn't have any friends, and forget about spending time with her parents. She was lucky if they offered her a "Hello" in passing. When she started at Hogwarts she had had absolutely no idea how to behave in a friendly manner, and she was so inept at connecting with other students that she never got much practice.

Gently brushing off dust from her book, Lovella walked over to the teetering stack of literature and placed it at the top. It swayed dangerously once more then came to rest, now balanced with the weight of the final tomb. Spinning on her heel she came to rest facing Juni, one hand on her waist while she left her wand hand hanging at her side.

"And you mean that pathetic attempt at non-verbal magic?" She sounded positively disgusted at herself. "I'm just sorry you had to see that." Lovella was incredibly too hard on herself, it was true, but was there really anything like being "too hard" on yourself when you were going for perfection? "I've been practicing wordless spells since the beginning of the school year and I can't even summon a book to myself perfectly." She pursed her lips in a curious manner. "But you want me to show you again anyway?" Sighing she raised her wand arm until the tip of it touched her right cheek. "I suppose it couldn't hurt could it?"

“Well, I don’t think you need to be less abrasive. There’s nothing wrong with it.” This was probably not the best advice, as Juni was known to be a bit abrasive and blunt at times as well. She never meant to hurt people, but she thought that if someone was honest and blunt, then she didn’t ever have to wonder what they were thinking. She hated wondering what was going on through people’s minds, or what others thought of her. To her, abrasive folks were usually much easier to be around than those who tip-toed around issues and never faced their problems directly. While some people may have had an issue with Lovella’s abrasiveness, Juni took no offense, unless she particularly felt like taking offense.

That sort of mindset was not necessarily the best if she wanted to go into politics, which was, of course, what Juni wished to do once she graduated from Hogwarts.

“It wasn’t pathetic.” Juni frowned, “But you didn’t complete it. Doesn’t mean you’ll fail again. Show me.”Juni watched as Lovella got prepared. She was impressed, and somehow felt very far behind—she hadn’t even started on nonverbal spells! She knew exactly what she was going to crack down on over the next few weeks—when Juni wasn’t doing schoolwork , she would spend her free time researching the techniques behind nonverbal spells.

"Nothing wrong with it?" Lovella stared at Juni curiously. She knew that the girl by nature was often fond of what had been referred to as "Snark". Still, it wasn't everyday that a student encouraged the Slytherin's behavior. Mostly, she found that her peers were willing to offer her money and other services if she would stop the verbal bashing for a few days. Of course, she never accepted the offers. As she always explained to them, if they would simply mind their own business in a respectful, quiet way so would she; however, they never really listened to the respectful and quiet parts.

She casually walked over to the window to view the last, fading rays of the setting sun. "Of course, I completely agree with you." She said matter-of-factly. Outside, most of the students had returned indoors before nightfall leaving Lovella's tree to rustle its branches in peace. She took a breathe and turned to face Juni. "But no one else thinks that way you know." Allowing herself a brief smirk she remembered all the horrified faces of students who had felt just a portion of her wrath.

"You must know about all the things people say about me, I mean, we did start school in the same year after all." Lovella still remembered the sorting ceremony. The hat had been decidedly torn between Ravenlaw and Slytherin when it was placed upon her pulled back auburn hair. It hadn't been particularly important to her where she ended up in the end as she would excel no matter where she was put. "You've even seen some of my work, I'm sure." By work, of course, she meant the victims who had had the unfortunate of landing on the wrong side of her wand.

Juni still insisted on seeing Lovella attempt the non-verbal summoning spell once more, however, so she walked back to the middle of the room. In the corner of the room sat an extraordinarily dusty suit of armor, its hands wresting comfortably on a rather large, rusty sword. "Alright then," she raised her wand, "I'll try it again. But this time..." She pointed at the statue's sword. "This time I'll try something a little more challenging. I mean, after all, what's the point of practice if you're afraid to push yourself."

“I know what they say about you.” Juni shrugged, “And I think, sometimes people can’t handle having things told to them how it is.” She looked at the sword, trying to mask her nervousness. What if, what if Lovella made a mistake? What if her accio spell was too strong, and the sword hurt somebody? Namely, herself! Juni had a strong sense of self-preservation. She put her hand on her wand, placed in the pocket of her robes. She made sure she was out of the line between the statue and Lovella, and watched.

“I do think that we need to learn how to interact with people so that they don’t get uncomfortable…” She shrugged, “Especially if we want to pursue political careers.” It was no secret that Juni hoped to one day be the minister of magic. She was nothing if not ambitious. “But if it’s just me? Don’t put on that polite, nice act. I prefer it that way. I don’t care if people think you hate me, or I hate your something. Direct communication is best, even if it looks rude.”

Like Lovella, the hat had to choose between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. It seemed like they were the same coin, but different sides. If the hat was right, Lovella prized ambition just a bit highly, while Juni prized education. That’s not to say they both didn’t appreciate the other, but that was how the hat worked, right?
Now, all Juni had to do was wait, and be prepared for whatever movement the sword had.

"Hmm... Well" Lovella was pleasantly surprised by Juni's ideology. "Quite right you are. After all, if we can't speak what's on our minds where are we really?" The bit about the political career resonated deeply within her. Her parents were both extremely successful ministry employees (which was the reason they never had time for her) and Lovella had it in her mind to outshine them in every possible way imaginable.

She wasn't surprised when she saw Juni take a few steps back cautiously. Who knows what could go wrong? After all, she had had enough trouble with levitating a book across the room, and now she was attempting to summon a rather heavy, rather large, rather sharp piece of metal. Enough with the fretting and useless fragility though; confidence and focus were key in this situation, and Lovella had both (not to mention months and months of practice).

"Well, shall I?" She said pointedly leveling her wand on her target. She took a moment to clear her mind of all thought, the only thing she now saw was the blade, and the only thing she felt was how much she wanted it in her hand. Outside sounds such as the wind blowing against the slightly shaking window ceased to exist. Juni was no longer standing in nervous anticipation by the door. It was such a simple task in context, so simple... Taking in one last deep breathe she swished her wand through the air with one graceful flick and thought,

accio sword!

One rather long second passed and nothing happened. For a brief moment Lovella was sure nothing would happen. Then, however, the sword shook violently underneath the knights resting hands, making the whole statue rattle like a poltergeist had inhabited the suit. It came to a pause then, and suddenly without warning shot out from the armors grip toward the awaiting Slytherin, spinning through the air much faster then the book had. She was so overcome with excitement about how well the spell had worked that she almost didn't realize exactly how fast the blade was moving in her direction.

At the last second she lowered her wand and made a quick snatch with her other hand hoping that her fingers wouldn't be cut to confetti... But, no! She felt the hilt of the sword smack against her outstretched hand and gripped it tightly. Stumbling for a moment in surprise, partly out of shock that she had actually caught the thing and partly because of how heavy it was, she lowered it level to the ground and took a moment to admire her accomplishment. How interesting. Had Juni's presence actually helped Lovella succeed in this case?

She watched Lovella carefully, anxiously. Juni fiddling with her hands revealed how nervous she was, just watching her. Still, she tried to hide it—and would have been grotesquely embarrassed if that nervousness was pointed out. She would have appreciated the honesty, yes, but it still would have stung.

Juni inhaled and kept her breath in as Lovella flicked her wand.

She exhaled—nothing happened.

The sword began to wiggle. Moving slowly, then violently. Then it shot out of the armor and towards Lovella! Juni pointed her wand at the sword, ready to knock it out of the way if it seemed like something was going to happen—like Lovella was going to be stabbed or impaled against the wall or disemboweled.

But then it was caught.

She gasped, and then covered her mouth and laughed—who knew this could cause such an adrenaline rush? “You did it!” Juni exclaimed, practically bouncing towards her peer. She was so excited that she was quivering. It was akin to a happy dog whose tail was wagging so hard that it was a blur.

“I can confidently say, you are the top witch in our class.” Juni said seriously, then gave her a sly smile. “But I will catch up .” She had to. Her competitive streak was beginning to show.

Still slightly overcome with shock from her miraculous catch, Lovella showed none of it on her face. That isn't to say she wasn't happy to some degree, but she had never been as expressive as her giddy classmates. However, she was more then inclined to accept Juni's rather sparatic reaction and compliment. After all, Lovella was hard pressed to deny that she would still have been able to do the spell without Juni's presence. A strange thought, but at least the day hadn't ended up in a total loss.

The exuberant Ravenclaw was positively beeming in front of her. It was strange to Lovella. Her accomplishments rarely rendered such a jubilant response from those around her. A memory of her parents scoffing at her when she showed them how she could make the furniture move on its own flashed across her mind. As such, she wasn't entirely sure how to respond to this type of praise.

"Oh." She started. "Well, uh... Thankyou... Juni." Her words came out very slow and awkwardly as if she wasn't quite positive as to what she should say in this situation. "And, of course, you should always try to catch up. That's the whole point of drive after all. If there wasn't anyone else to compete against and measure one's skill level  then what's not to say some idiot squib might become the minister of magic?"

"And..." She said tentatively. "If you really wanted... Seeing as how eager you were to watch me practice. I could help you with some of your spell work." She then added quickly. "If you want."

She blinked once. Twice. Three times.

Did Lovella thank her? That was odd. But then again, Juni had never really seen people rushing to complement her either. It seemed that Lovella was not used to being complimented or acknowledged by her peers in a positive manner. 

How sad and frustrating that must have been, though she wasn’t the sort to show it. No. She was the sort to stuff those thoughts and feelings away until they disappeared, lest they affect her performance.

Juni highly doubted that a squib would ever become Minister of Magic. There was too much hesitation and stigma attached to them.  Squibs were less deserving of this stigma, she thought, though she didn’t say it out loud.

“I, would love it if you could help.” Juni said cautiously, “But what do you want in return?” She felt like she needed to give her something in exchange for her help-- it wouldn't feel right. Juni wanted to make sure that they were even, that she didn't owe Lovella anything?

"Why would I want anything in return?" Lovella stared sharply and curiously at Juni. "I'm offering you my help, not a trade, unless I have otherwise made it that confusing of a concept?" Now there was the Lovella everyone had come to know; showing off her blunt sarcasm.

"It would be enough for me that you take what I can help you with and use it to further yourself because, like I said, if there's no one worthwhile to compete against then how can I justify my own efforts?" Juni was an excellent witch for Lovella to measure herself against too: smart, resourceful, and almost as ambitious as herself.

She could understand why she might show some apprehension towards her offer, though. It wasn't like Lovella to go around giving off free advice and help to those around her.

"If you don't want to I can understand." She said shortly, and turned to look back outside against the failing light. "It was just a thought."

Juni looked at Lovella carefully.

“So it’s a gift.” She said. She understood wanting to give without expecting anything in return. However, Juni also didn’t think that most people were that way, and she often looked down on them and judged them for it—even if it was a perfectly normal human thing. She didn’t vocalize those opinions much, but it didn’t change how she thought.

“I’d like to.” She said finally, “I really would!” But she also had other things she needed to study. Her current obsession was regarding werewolves—their dangers, how to protect yourself against them. “Right now? I’m focusing more on offensive and defensive spells. Sort of like dueling, but not.”  Juni looked down at her bookbag, crammed full of rented texts from the library regarding defensive spells. And plenty about werewolves and their history.

“I do, I do want to learn from you. Maybe you can explain to me your technique, real quick? And later, another time, we can go in detail?”