Rose was already getting stressed, and it showed. Her walking pace was faster than usual and she had a focus in her eyes that helped her to block out anything superfluous other than her goal of finding the books she needed. Oh, she would be forever grateful for the library and it's seemingly endless resources of books. She then paused in her strides and pulled a folded up piece of parchment from her bag, stroking her braid absentmindedly with her free hand. 

"Right," she muttered quietly to herself after looking over what was written again. Looking up again she continued forward, her pace a little more relaxed as she made her way towards the isles of books and began her search.

One by one she brought out books and set them on the nearby table, creating a growing pile of them. She also left her bag hanging by the chair's side she would occupy. She had come back with a quite thick tome, struggling to get it down gently and not just let it slam onto the table. What with how quiet the library was she knew that it'd startle everybody within earshot. Thankfully she managed to achieve her goal of gently setting it down. Heaving a sigh she glanced at her parchment paper again. Only one more book to find.

So, she returned to the isles and searched. She did find her book; unfortunately, it was just out of her reach shelved just a little too high for her to reach, even as she stood on her tiptoes and reached as high as she could. It was frustrating to have it just high enough that even her fingertips barely brushed against it. True, she could have used the Accio spell to bring it down, but she didn't feel that was really necessary. Rose stared up at the elusive tome, looking displeased. 

NEWTS.  A-Levels.  Applications.  Last year was the calm before the storm.  This year was the storm.  Next year...

Next year, with luck, it will all have been worth it.  That was the goal.  And that was worth a few more months of interrupted sleep patterns. 

Sasha was hunched over his usual table, tucked conveniently between two aisles of books containing specimens relating to one of Hogwarts’ least popular electives: Muggle Studies.  This helped keep the foot traffic and distractions down.  This also helped increase the chances that any passerby’s would be of the friendly and non-purist-Slytherin sort.  Those types were few and far between, but still annoying and disruptive enough that simple preventative measures helped keep study time unmolested. 

It also helped keep him close to those few, fleeting resources that might help him, should he stumble upon an unanswerable question in his A-Level preparations.  Especially with Professor Trishna off to better things, there wasn’t anyone Sasha could turn to for help if a particular projectile physics equation wasn’t behaving.  His only hope was in the odd assortment of books and magazines Hogwarts tossed into the Muggle Studies resources.

A daunting array of textbooks was strewn across his side of the table: Arithmancy on top of Calculus, Potions with Chemistry and Physics sitting off by itself.  But, A-Level studies had been set aside for the time being, in favor of a particularly exhausting potions essay.  He glanced up from the end of a sentence to give the ink a moment to dry and noticed a younger student standing at a neighboring bookcase, staring up at a top shelf.  Assuming the Hufflepuff was browsing, Sasha turned back to his essay and continued writing.  Another sentence, another ink-drying pause.  And, the Hufflepuff hadn’t moved.  Sasha watched as the Hufflepuff tried to stretch her arms up towards the book before giving up, only to drop back on her heels in defeat. 

It wasn’t a predicament Sasha could relate to, but he could still sympathize.  He set his quill down and got up to help the girl.  “That one?” he asked, pointing at one of the books.  Once she confirmed, he took it down and handed it to her.  “You’d think someone would have figured out how to charm the shelves to rearrange themselves at will.  Like one of those rotisserie things.”  He spun his hands in a circle, making a poor attempt at pantomiming his vision.

Rose was grateful for the little bit of help from this young man. A quick glance at his robes revealed that he was a Ravenclaw, and most likely a senior student in comparison to her. She opened the book just to double check the title--yes, this was the right one. But her attention was brought upwards again towards the Ravenclaw when she heard him make a comment, or possibly make small talk.

“You’d think someone would have figured out how to charm the shelves to rearrange themselves at will.  Like one of those rotisserie things.” He even made a hand gesture to try and make sure his description was clear. Rose certainly understood, being Muggleborn and all. His comment caused her to tilt her head over so slightly to the side, wondering if maybe he too was Muggleborn, or maybe a Half-blood. If he was one or the other, then he didn't seem too bad.

"It certainly would make things a lot easier," she replied as she closed the book again. "Thank you, by the way." As she went back to the table she offered one more word. "Sorry if I disturbed you from your studies. I've got my OWLs coming up, and it's nearly driving me mad with stress." Her tone of voice emphasized at how bothered she was by being stressed, even giving a you've got to be kidding me expression as she spoke.

Setting the last book on the table Rose sat herself back down and began to look through each book's index to see what each one had to offer on its specific topic. Repeating the page number under her breath she quickly flipped the pages and began to read.

The Ravenclaw followed the younger student and gathered up the handful of stray books that had wandered beyond the boundaries of his end of the table.  Once they’d been satisfactorily rearranged and stacked, he settled back in his chair. 

"Sorry if I disturbed you from your studies. I've got my OWLs coming up, and it's nearly driving me mad with stress.”

Sasha waved off the apology.  “I completely understand,” Sasha assured the fifth year.  “The professors warn you about them for years but, still, it seems like OWLs manage to sneak up on you.  At least, it had seemed that way for me.”  But, then, his fifth year had been riddled with interruptions, including being dismissed from the castle for a couple months.  In the end, that dismissal had been a mixed blessing; he probably wouldn’t have been as prepared for OWLs if he hadn’t had several months to study at his own pace.

“I have NEWTs coming up at the end of the year and the stress is still there.”  In his case, though, the stress was somewhat self-inflicted.  “How many are you taking?” he asked, pointing the end of his quill towards the Hufflepuff’s book.  “Are you hoping to continue with all of them to NEWT level?"

“Name’s Sasha, by the way,” he offered with a grin before glancing up towards the bookshelves towering over them.  “I haven’t see you around these here muggle-y parts.  Pending midterms overcrowding your usual nook?”  The library’s population did seem to experience an increase towards the end of the semester; the natives had to learn to negotiate the migratory flocks. 

Although Rose was trying to read the Ravenclaw's attempt at continuing conversation was distracting her from fully focusing on what was in front of her. She glanced up at him with her mismatched eyes without raising her head, making her look threatening, irritable, or flirty, depending on how one wanted to interpret it. A moment later she brought her eyes back down and scribbled a note to herself on the top sheet of parchment she had set up beside her book. She set the page on top of the book she was reading and slid it off to the side before reaching for the next book in her stack and opening it.

When he made mention of NEWTs she brought her eyes back up, this time her expression more of genuine interest. She'd forgotten that the older students took their own tests since she's been so caught up in her own studies. So, he was either a 6th or 7th year. Part of her began to wonder which subjects he was taking...

"I'm taking practically all of them," she replied, looking back down as she skimmed the book's index for a particular page number then flipped it to said page, skimming some more. "But I'm going to focus on Astronomy and Divination once I get these OWLs out of the way."

The current paragraph she was reading held a phrase that caught her interest. She quickly reread the paragraph again to see if the complete argument there held similar ideas that she was wanting to use, and then went on to take her notes about it on a separate sheet of parchment. Because of her head being bowed, and her eyes focusing on written words rather than spoken ones, Rose didn't even notice Sasha's grin towards her when he had introduced himself.

“I haven’t see you around these here muggle-y parts.  Pending midterms overcrowding your usual nook?”

"I'm always here," she replied quickly, turning the page of her current book. "Quieter. Less distractions. Fewer people to bother me." Her quill quietly scratched against the parchment as she took more notes, occasionally blowing on the ink to help it dry faster.

If there was one thing Sasha’s acquaintances knew about him, it was this: he frequently missed subtle social cues.  After all, he’d managed to avoid noticing Ferguson was flirting with him until the other boy shoved it in his face.  Literally.  By kissing Sasha.  But, even he could see the pressure of pending exams was getting to the younger year and she wasn’t wanting to be disturbed. 

Again, he could completely understand. 

"I'm taking practically all of them.” 

“I highly recommend not literally taking all of them,” Sasha remarked under his breath with a grin before turning back to his own studies.  He carefully wrote a few more lines in the potion’s essay, gave the ink a few moments to dry before rolling the parchment up and setting it in his bag.  Back to those misbehaving projectile equations.  He tugged the Physics textbook from the stack, pulled some paper from his bag and flipped through the pages until he found his place.  Horizontal and vertical distances.

He glanced up when the Hufflepuff insisted she was a frequent flyer in the Muggle Studies section.  “You are?” he asked, sounding surprised.  If that was the case, he really should recognize her.  Had he really been spending that much time in the Astronomy Tower?  Now that he thought about it, he had started avoiding the library altogether when Mr. Morgan had taken over as librarian.  For entirely related reasons, that was about the time he’d started treating the Astronomy Tower as a sanctuary (and, eventually, an alternative to the dorms). 

“Well, if you need any help or have any questions, I’m happy to try to try.”  He turned back to his own work and chewed on his lip.  Again, he was reminded of one of the distinct advantages of studying muggle classes at Hogwarts: no one could accuse him of being dependent on a calculator. 

Rose wasn't paying much attention to Sasha, since she was getting back into the grove of her study style. And because of that she was only half listening to his commentary and questions to the previous bits of their conversation. Well, he may have considered it as such, but in Rose's mind it was more of small talk and such a thing was lower on her mental To-Do list than many other things.

She was busily scratching away with her quill on her third piece of parchment, her eyes shifting back and forth between the book she was reading and the sentences she was writing. She would only pause long enough to dip her quill back into its inkwell and then go back to busily writing. But one of these pauses in her writing was enough to her to look up and glance at something odd in front of Sasha.

Narrowing her eyes Rose leaned forward a little to get a better look at the book he had. She definitely recognized that it had nothing to do with magic. It had equations! She hadn't seen that sort of thing for years, although what she remembered was far simpler in comparison to what Sasha was reading.

"Is that a Muggle textbook?" she asked in curiosity and a fair bit of surprise in her tone of voice. She rose a little from her seat to lean further toward him and get a better look at it. "What are you doing with a Muggle textbook here? How is it you're studying that? And why?" With her curiosity came the rising feeling of interest in Sasha now, thanks to that textbook. Never before had she seen another witch or wizard with muggle related books unless it was pure curiosity (like her, right now), or to complain at how strange and needlessly complicated Muggle related things were.

Rose kept leaning over, having to rise further out of her seat to do so, until she was standing while the upper half of her body was leaning over the table and her mismatched eyes gazing in fascination at what he was doing. Seeing him like that reminded her of when she was much younger and still thinking herself a Muggle, save for odd dreams and visions that had come and gone like holiday visitors.

He looked up at the fourth year, as she leaned up and over the table to look at his work.  Over the years, Sasha had encountered a wide array of reactions to his 'extra-curricular studies,' ranging from casual curiosity to general apathy to suspicious disapproval.  But, there were no signs of animosity in either the Hufflepuff's tone or demeanor, only genuine curiosity. 

"It is," Sasha confirmed, sliding the study materials a little closer to her.  "It's a Physics textbook - it's the muggle study of matter and energy.  Or, you know, those concepts as muggles understand them.  Obviously, it's an incomplete picture."  Occasionally, when Sasha's thoughts wandered, he tried to imagine what Einstein would have thought, if the man had been allowed to see a simple levitation charm.  Sasha would give all his money to be a witness to that thought process. 

On to the more complicated part of her questions: how. 

"I've been doing it since my first year," Sasha admitted, with a slight shrug then added, with a grin.  "I got used to it.  It's hard to find help, if you get stuck on something, so you're kind of on your own.  There are not a lot of references in here that are helpful," Sasha gestured to the shelves of muggle studies books.  "The resources they do have are pretty basic.  They stopped being helpful after about my third year."  There was an almost-complete collection of old Encyclopedias along one of the walls.  They had proven especially helpful during the early 'general education' days.  But, as his studies became more specific and advanced, the offerings in the Muggle Studies section became increasingly less helpful.

Again, Sasha grinned.  "Having a co-conspirator on the outside helped a lot.  If I was really stuck, I'd mail them questions and they'd google- er... look it up ... and mail back what they found." 

The last question, why, was the most complicated.  Ironically, it was also the most publicly known[1].  If Sasha was lucky, this Hufflepuff might have ignore the Daily Prophet, like most third years.  Or, she might have forgotten.  Or, she may not have connected the article with him.  "Initially, because I had to.  For a variety of reasons.  Once I no longer needed to, it seemed like a shame to stop.  So, I kept going?  I'm taking A-Levels in the spring.  They're like NEWTs.  For muggles."  It had made for seven very long and busy years, but he'd be finishing the year with full credentials of both a muggle and a magical secondary education.  Barring any new unforeseen circumstances that proved more disruptive than the ones he'd already negotiated.

1.	Fall 2008, Rita Skeeter wrote an article about Sasha hiding his magical abilities from his family.

At Sasha's simple wording as to what physics was, then stumbling over how to explain Google, Rose glanced up at him like she had done a minute ago. A moment later she looked back down at the textbook and swiveled it around to look at it properly, as opposed to upside-down like she had been until now.

"I know what Google and the internet is. I grew up thinking I was a Muggle, because I'm Muggleborn," she said as she flipped pages back and forth, quickly glancing at the material. "I know what all this is, in general. I just don't understand this," she continued, gesturing to the specific examples of physics in front of her. It was all equations that made no sense, diagrams and examples that looked simple enough but got complicated with the small print explanations beside them. She wanted to feel like she could understand it all, but she honestly understood little to none of it.

She flipped the book back around and slid it to Sasha, returning to him before sitting herself back down. She kept her eyes on him, her brow furrowing slightly as she thought about what he had said about continuing both types of study. She was focusing on her magical studies, having left her muggle ones behind when she started at Hogwarts, and she was stressed with her OWLs coming up. She could only imagine how stressed he must get, or must have gotten over the years. Was he constantly stressed with getting both types of study done? Probably.

"That's a lot of pressure you put on yourself." She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest, still with her eyes focusing on him. "What do you intend to do with all of that?"

The Ravenclaw offered a sheepish grin. “It’s hard to tell,” he offered, apologetically.  Even though he was muggleborn…or, rather, even though he functioned under the assumption he was muggleborn until a little over a year ago.  “We learn to blend in pretty early on.  Or, at least, try.  I was never that good at it.” 

He looked down at all the little diagrams that accompanied the practice problems as she slid the book back towards him.  The page was adorned with little arcs criss-crossed with dotted lines and italicized greek letters.  He could definitely understand her confusion.  He suspected he would have abandoned all this his first and second years like his fellow muggleborns, if that had been an option.  Had he, all of this would probably be a mystery to him, as well. 

"That's a lot of pressure you put on yourself.”

“You mean you think twelve NEWTs and five A-Levels is a lot of pressure?”  Sasha grinned.  “It’s not so bad.  I’ve learned to combine things … Chemistry with potions.  Biology with Herbology or Magic Creatures.  Math and Arithmancy.  it’s not really multi-tasking, since there’s no overlap.  I suppose, it’s a lot easier now that I’m only doing it for myself,” Sasha admitted.  Of course, the workload and complexity of the material had increased since GCSEs and OWLs, but the overall level of pressure had decreased.  “But, there used to be a lot of pressure - especially when I was doing it because I had no choice.”   With a shrug, he added in explanation.  “Studying is one of the few things I’m really good at.” 

"What do you intend to do with all of that?”

“I applied to Oxford and Cambridge Universities this fall,” Sasha explained.  “If I get in, I’m hoping to study physics and biochemistry.  Generally, just continue to keep comparing aspects of the two - magic and muggle sciences.  It’s a bit hard to explain.  How about you?  Any ideas of what you plan to do with Astronomy and Divination?” 

Rose lifted an eyebrow at him as he continued. That look on her face remained as she thought over his studying both things muggle and magical. Something he said caught her attention and she couldn't help but voice her thought about it. That was just her.

"Had no choice? You were forced to continue with both studies? Why in the world were you forced to do that? The person, or people, responsible either have way too high expectations for you, or have no idea themselves how hard that could possibly be."

“Studying is one of the few things I’m really good at.”

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, after being forced through two forms of education, you either would or you wouldn't. I certainly hope, for your sake, that you have more than just study skills to get you through for the rest of your life."

And then he mentioned he had applied for Oxford and Cambridge. "What?" Her tone of voice was a clear mixture of surprise as well as a hint of irritation. "So you intend to become some expert on the difference between the two? Or was that the path you had to take after being forced along a road you didn't really want to go down in the first place?"

"How about you?  Any ideas of what you plan to do with Astronomy and Divination?”

Rose folded her arms across her chest, leaning back a little in her chair as she kept her mismatched eyes focused steadily on him. Part of her was wishing she could be seeing a glimpse into his future, even just a hazy one. But when nothing came she then wished she at least had her crystal ball to look into. Occasionally staring through that at the person of interest would help her to see ghost-like figures glide about and reveal a small moment of a moment yet-to-be.

She shrugged. "Be a fortune teller would be my first choice. Finally get a hold of my power and make it useful. But that's a rare thing to accomplish so I'm going to focus a little more astronomy. Ancient Runes is pretty cool too, so there's another option for me." She looked off to the side, catching sight of a rogue book hovering just out of reach of another student. "I have my options, but I've yet to fully decide on what."

"Why in the world were you forced to do that?"

"I suppose, technically, I had a choice.  I could have ignored my magical abilities and stayed at my muggle boarding school.  But, if I wanted to learn to control my magic ..."  The Ravenclaw hesitated for a moment.  "My parents didn't know, you know, that I was going to Hogwarts.  They didn't react well when I got my letter, so their memories were modified ... and they might have had the impression was attending boarding school in Switzerland?"  In hindsight, it was hard not to feel a little guilty about the lies, even if they had been necessary.  "Over holidays, they'd always ask me what I learned and...you know...I needed to be able to answer.  If they every got suspicious, then...who knows." 

"So, I suppose, there was a choice." Sasha offered, with a slight shrug and an awkward grin.  "To be honest, very few people knew I was doing both.  I was always afraid of either side finding out so I kept it to myself." 

"I certainly hope, for your sake, that you have more than just study skills to get you through for the rest of your life."

The Ravenclaw blushed and chuckled, slightly, shrugging his shoulders.  "Riding.  Horses.  That's it, mostly." 

"Not ... the differences as much," Sasha offered, rubbing his forehead.  "More...how they interact?  Overlap?  We tend to segregate the two.  Magical plants and mundane plants.  Magical animals and mundane animals.  But, that's a human construct - the natural world doesn't segregate them.  Obviously, wizards and muggles interbreed, so biologically, muggle genes and ... whatever magic is ... interact.  Magic disrupts electricity ... but, obviously not completely.  Our bodies are powered by electricity, but our hearts and brains keep working, even though we're in Hogwarts.  And, muggle parents of muggleborns can go to Diagon Alley without seizuring so, obviously, it's not just about magic."

Sasha shrugged and leaned back in his chair.  "Science strives to quantify how things work.  I guess, I want to figure out how magic fits into what we understand of the universe, scientifically.  Even something as simple as defining what magic is, from a naturalistic or quantum perspective?  And, then, maybe - if magic can be integrated with technology without violating the statute of secrecy..."  The Ravenclaw grinned apologetically.  "I could go on forever.  Which, is usually why I don't start." 

"You're a seer?  Hopefully, you don't see just doom and gloom in me." Sasha grinned and leaned back against his chair.  She was muggleborn and a seer?  Interesting - and prompted a number of questions, none of which were likely polite in casual conversation.  "Divination is, easily, my worst subject.  Luckily, you have time to decide.  I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do until this past summer, really." 

His explanation as to why he kept going with both types of studies didn't help with the scrutinizing expression that Rose had on her face, although it did help to add in interest to the mixture. There was a bit of confusion in there as well as he kept talking, and she felt her eye twitch as she realized what he had been put through just to keep what he was a secret from his own parents. Sure, her own parents were unsure how to feel towards her being a witch, but they did have slightly more open minds. It was, at least, some way for them to explain her behavior since her early youth.

"Are you bloody serious?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair with her arms still folded across her chest. "Your own parents can't handle the truth of you being a wizard?" She huffed as she leaned back again, now clearly irritated. "They're both fools. Just because they may get angry and deny it won't mean you'll suddenly change to fit their reality."

She had to restrain herself from actually growling in frustration. But she blinked and focused back on Sasha as he spoke up again. He started going off about his studies into both muggle and magical, explaining his understanding and forming theories as to why things are and could be. Rose's eyebrow rose up as she continued to listen, intrigued. Part of her began to wonder if Sasha could, given time, really begin to understand the differences between their worlds and somehow bring it together through magic and science both.

"You're a seer?  Hopefully, you don't see just doom and gloom in me."

Rose shrugged. "Haven't seen anything yet. I really only have a basic grasp of my power. I can't control it, and I can't determine when or how it'll take over. Sometimes I see things in dreams, in visions, or through my crystal ball." She narrowed her eyes at him, her gaze steady. "Yes, I see things in my crystal ball. You can go ahead and laugh, most of my previous classmates already have."

Her gaze suddenly broke and her expression changed from its previous hard one to a far more casual one. She stroked absentmindedly at her braid. "Although, to be honest, I did have something recently." She looked off to the side. "Was it a week ago? or two?"

The Ravenclaw dropped his gaze and awkwardly ran his fingers over the binding of one of the plastic-bound muggle textbooks.  No.  They probably couldn't have made his magical abilities go away, though whether or not they could succeed had been a secondary concern.  "Doesn't mean they wouldn't have tried to force it to change," he admitted, with a shrug.  "Even if it was just an act."  His father... well, Gerhard Schlagenweit, had been willing to try just about anything to rectify that little family reputation blemish.

Sasha chewed his lip slightly and shrugged.  It made him angry, of course.  But, any anger was easily overpowered by guilt.  For better or worse, it was no longer an issue. 

Not only was Divination by far his worst subject, he simply couldn't wrap his head around the concept.  It was easy enough to learn the motions of a given class exercise.  To actually have it come to any believable fruition was another matter entirely.  He couldn't imagine having visions coming at you randomly.  How did one go about differentiating them from, you know, normal thoughts and day dreams? 

"I'm typically not one to laugh at people.  I've had enough experience with it."  Even though he didn't get Divination, he wasn't liable to laugh about it.  Or, certainly, someone struggling with it.  After all, he was still taking the class.  "What did you see?  Unless, you know, you can't talk about it?" 

Rose couldn't help but heave a sigh and roll her eyes at it all. It was ridiculous! Having magic in your blood wasn't like a disease. Being a witch or wizard didn't suddenly make you a horrible person, or a crazy one, that needed to be locked away. They were simply different, and it frustrated Rose that a lot of people didn't understand that different didn't have to mean bad.

And, of course, the kind of person that she was, her thoughts had to come out her mouth. Trying to keep what Rose was thinking in her head was like trying to patch a cracking dam, and with each crack fixed a new one would appear.

"It just bothers me how some people don't understand, or don't bother to try. Yes, we're different, but that doesn't make us bad people, or somehow wrong to society." She leaned forward a little again, looking straight at Sasha. "I can already tell that you're brilliant." That was a given, since he was a Ravenclaw. But, in her opinion he seemed exceptionally so. "And what you plan to do might actually do a lot of good. Maybe more than either of us think." She shrugged. "Well, unless I get some vision to some Utopian future where all things are in glorious harmony, brought about by your research." Rose couldn't help but laugh at the idea, partly because it was a silly one and she doubted she would ever see such a vision.

Speaking of visions, Sasha had gotten curious and asked about her recent one. She remained leaning forward in her chair, but her gaze didn't stay focused on Sasha, instead looking down at her parchment paper and still open book. "I didn't even know it happened until others around me said so. It dealt with something about a lamb, darkness, and a moon path or something. I didn't get a good opportunity to write down what it was I had said, and everyone else was so weirded out by it that they didn't quite remember with perfect clarity either."

Rose paused to let her words sink in then sighed again, rubbing her eyes. "That's the main thing I want to focus on with my ability: be more aware of myself, even when having a vision. It would make recording what I See that much easier. I mean, what if I See something that could have a huge effect on the world around us, and I don't manage to record it somehow?" She shuddered at the idea of losing possibly precious insight.