Fauna felt a little overwhelmed by all the questions. She supposed she had talked about herself a lot, which was unusual for her, but it made sense that the fifth-year  boys wanted to know more so they could relate it to their own situations. Sasha had mentioned that he thought he knew what career he wanted to go into; he just didn't know what classes he needed for it. That was probably more than she knew!

"It... couldn't hurt to ask," she said hesitantly, in response to Sasha wondering if he could retake some of his exams later as well. That would be something Bombay could talk to him about, she thought.

Fauna was measuring out the sugar and paused, trying not to take offense when Sasha asked if she felt like she was admitting defeat by dropping classes just because they were hard. She'd just explained there was more to it than that. She shook her head and focused on pouring the sugar in the bowl, glancing up at Fergie's question, then Sasha's follow-up question.

"And, how do you really know you won't use what you dropped?"

"I... don't know," she admitted with a shrug, face flushing again. "I ended up dropping History of Magic, Astronomy... Potions, and Transfig after exams. Those were the ones I really bombed. But by dropping those, it also freed up some time so I could continue Divination and Care of Magical Creatures." The only core classes she'd kept were Charms, Defense, and Herbology. Fauna had no idea how Sasha took every single class at Hogwarts and managed to keep sane.

She glanced at Fergie and gave another shrug. "I'm still not... sure. I mean, lately, I've cared a lot about, well, werewolf rights and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. But... it is frustrating, because usually I feel like I'm running up against a brick wall, and just... not getting anywhere, and it's just that... I need to get somewhere. I need to feel like I'm doing some good."

Maybe only being a student and having no power was part of the problem there. Biting her lip, she glanced down. "That, and... I need to get a higher mark in CoMC to even apply, and I know that some... people don't want me there in the first place, so... I don't know."

Ugh, Bagnold. She shook her head. "The other option, well... nevermind. It'd require a lot of shifting classes around and catch-up work and... um, anyway!"

She furiously began stirring again, head bent over the bowl.

 Fergie paused momentarily in his butter stirring to look up at Sasha again, when the other boy mentioned that he thought he knew what he wanted to do. "What's that?" Fergie asked, curiously. It must be nice to have at least some idea. Well, all right, Fergie had ideas - plenty of them. Just none that he felt enough certainty or even interest in to say 'yep, this is something I'd seriously consider doing with my life'.

 But maybe when that meeting with his head of house rolled around, he would have a better idea or be given some solid guidance in whatever happened to be the right direction. He certainly hoped so.

 "I know," Sasha admitted, "I don't think I can be.Doesn't mean you just happily accept being anything but."

 The Slytherin thought about this, turning his gaze and attention back to the bowl of butter sitting in front of him. "I suppose you could look at it that way..." he said, slowly, continuing to stir. He thought the butter was as smooth as it was supposed to be, but he wanted to make sure. "But personally I'd just rather not stretch myself too thin trying so hard at everything. I figure if I give up the things I'm not particularly good at and don't think I'll use in the future, it will give me more time to improve in the areas that I will use."

 There. He thought he could say with confidence that the butter was done. What was the next step again? Fergie stood on his tiptoes and leaned over the counter so he could peer at Akiva's cookbook. Add 60 grams of confectioner's sugar. Simple enough. Fergie carefully measured out an appropriate ammount of the fine white powder and added it to his bowl. "I look at it as a choose-your-battles kind of thing. But that's just me." He shrugged and continued to stir, and listened as Fauna began answering questions.

 He really didn't know what to take from Fauna's lack of an actual solid plan, other than the fact that the Hufflepuff was as clueless when it came to her future as she was to what hats and apparel are appropriate for public, non-costume party wear. Graduation was only five months away for the Hufflepuff. She should be more prepared. Whatever his current uncertainty might be, Fergie was determined that he would figure things out by the time the second half of his seventh year rolled around.

 "You would never make it as a Slytherin," Fergie pointed out, giving his head a slight shake. Fauna sounded like she had a certain amount of ambition, just not the drive to follow through. "If you really want something, you go after it, and either work through the obstacles or find a way around them." Giving up altogether was a last resort. "What are you going to do if you don't decide on something by graduation? Do you have a back up plan?"

 "And what about you, Akiva?" Fergie asked, giving the beginnings of his cookie dough a poke with the spoon. "How did you know what you wanted to do? And is this fluffy enough, do you think?"

It wouldn't hurt to ask.  And, it would take an immense weight off his shoulders if he was permitted to retake his OWLs, if necessary.  Professor Bombay liked him so he didn't foresee any challenges in convincing the man to let him do so.  If he needed Headmistress approval, that, of course, would complicate things considerably. 

Of course, they'd probably only let him retake the ones he'd actually flunked them.  They probably wouldn't let him do so because he got an "A" and that had fallen short of his expectations of getting as many "O"s as possible.  He sighed and shook his head at the futility of the whole situation and resumed stirring the butter. 

"That's four," Sasha tallied for everyone, without looking up from his bowl.  He didn't clarify whether he was remarking on the fact that she dropped four classes or had 'bombed' four classes.  Already, in his mind, he was trying to deduce how many classes that had left Fauna taking.  He didn't know for sure but, any way he approached it, the results were 'not many.' 

"Keine Überraschung," Sasha said under his breath as Fauna explained what she was interested in pursuing.  She seemed to be getting a whole head start with that whole SAWS thing.  Which always had seemed an interesting choice of names.  It made him think of a long row of teeth on a saw blade.  Or JAWS - the terrifying, man-eating shark of movie fame.  Probably not the associations the group was going for when discussing man-eating werewolves.  He'd been tricked into going to the first meeting but had taken his leave as soon as he was able.  It wasn't that he disliked werewolves, necessarily.  He just ... was happier if they didn't live next door.  Or in the next bed in the dorm room.  "Why not go into Healing, then?  I'd be much more happy about werewolf rights if they found a vaccine first.  Or a cure.  Or something." 

"The other option, well... nevermind. It'd require a lot of shifting classes around and catch-up work and... um, anyway!"

There.  She'd said it.  The exact point Sasha had been trying to make.  How was someone supposed to know what was safe to drop!  She'd made that decision years ago and there she was.  Sasha looked up from his bowl and looked, pointedly, across over at Fauna and then at the other two before taking his turn to measure out some sugar.  "How are you supposed to really know what you're going to use in the future?"  That was probably the difference - Sasha simply didn't know how to choose his battles.  And, warding off the regret and disappointment of having chosen wrong was probably a vastly more important battle than the late night studying.  "I don't know.  It's not that simple.  For me, at least.  I can find reasons I might use everything I'm learning." 

"I ... well, I kind of want to do research," Sasha admitted, picking his words carefully as he leaned over to watch the read out on the kitchen scale closely.  He was aware his current interest wasn't the most popular - though neither was Fauna's.  Once satisfied he had exactly sixty grams of sugar (it was a shame the scale only measured out to a tenth of a gram), Sasha dumped it in his bowl before elaborating.  "I really kind of want to use all the muggle stuff I've been doing and, I don't know really - do comparative studies between the two.  Like, you know, what is magic?  Where does it fit with, like, lightening in the pattern of the natural world.  I ... it's ... I don't know quite how it's going to work out."  A lot more school was an obvious part of the equation. 

He glanced over at Akiva, curiously.  He knew a little about what she did but was still unaware of the details.

Listening to the kids talk, Kiv was glad to have people in the kitchen.  She really liked the company, even if they were a little over a decade younger than she was, it was still appreciated.  They had a lot of concerns that put things into perspective.  Picking classes, doing well in school, it all seemed so important when it was happening. But really, after the fact, you realized a lot of things about how the world worked and seldom did you use your education the way you intended to.  Most people did not know what they were going to do, they followed their passions and life found them later, but it was so hard to understand at their ages. 

Fauna was slightly older, slightly more concentrated, she supposed, but even then, she was all over the place.  Werewolves, perhaps, maybe healing, helping people would be something she was good at, Akiva could see it.  She had a large heart and she was a smart girl, she would do great things.  All three of them seemed incredibly intelligent, very much set on doing well and making the most out of their lives.

She felt nostalgic for a moment, thinking about the dreams she had when she was younger.  She had always wanted to do something with astronomy or arithmancy, maybe even runes, it had always intrigued her and teased her mind.  It had been the track she was set upon since her fifth year, she had known what she was and was not good at.  Wiping her hands, she was content that the dishes were cleaned and was surprised that when she turned she was being addressed. 

Wiping her hands on her apron, she smiled and basically floated over to the island, taking a cursory glance at everyone’s bowls.  “These look great, everyone,” she encouraged with a bright smile.  It was true, the mixes were looking good – maybe not perfect, but they were beginners.  “You can put those to the side for now,” she added, “dry ingredients come next – far easier.” 

That was an easy subject to breach though, the harder one, the one Fergie brought up, well, Akiva sighed softly.  “I can’t say it’s easy,” she said honestly.  “I always thought I would be doing something with astronomy or arithmancy – math and science were the languages of my childhood,” she laughed softly, smiling with the memory of her father schooling her in basic math and moving her along that track very quickly.  “My father is a professor and all of his friends are in the math or science faculty, I grew up around them.  So, that’s what I always really wanted to do, and I took all the classes I could about thosetypes of things at Hogwarts.  I thought about going into healing, as the more practical career choice,” she looked at Fauna, since it had been suggested to her earlier. 

“But,” the ever present, lurking piece of vocabulary that could stop a good story in its tracks and turn it completely around in one syllable, and here it did not less damage than it had before, “with the war and having to leave Hogwarts after my sixth year, I didn’t get to finish.”  Her face was empty for a moment, eyes cast downward, but she shook her head and raised her eyes, smiling despite her own disappointment.  “So, I took advantage of the connections I had made and my experience, finding work in Flourish & Blott’s, I helped restore some of the Hogwarts Library,” she was proud of that fact, it was quite the accomplishment, “and through that, I ended up getting some contacts and working at the library.” 

“So, you never really know what you’re going to do and what you’re going to use.  I think the most valuable thing you all can do is do the things you love.”  She nodded earnestly, “Learn what you love and when your opportunities come to find you, they find you.  You never know what’s going to happen, so you just have to figure out what lights your fire and take advantage of it while you can.” 

She leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest, “That’s the best advice I can give any of you.”   

Fauna was officially offended. She had been able to ignore whatever Sasha had muttered in German, likely because she couldn't understand it, and she'd let his mention of '4 classes' sail over her shoulders. Okay, maybe less 'sailed', more like hit a few rocks along the way. But she'd tried to let it go!

However, Fergie's unhelpful comment about the Slytherin House succeeded in ruffling her feathers, and Fauna frowned, dropping the spoon in the bowl and staring at him. No, she did not have a back up plan. She was just trying to help, and she felt criticized and belittled.

When Sasha suggested she go into Healing, she turned her frown on him, taking it to mean that he thought everything would be solved if they just found a vaccine and a cure. And maybe it would be. But those weren't Fauna's strengths. She didn't have those kinds of smarts for intense research and discovery, and she wanted to help the situation as it was now. Now, werewolves faced discrimination every day.

At least the subject began to change so less of the focus was on her, and Sasha talked about what he wanted to do. It was interesting and valid, and she thought he could definitely achieve it, and tried to ignore her slight flare of jealousy over the way his mind worked. He had the smarts for finding a cure for werewolves, or whatever he put his mind to.

As Akiva shared her own experience with them, Fauna pushed her bad feelings into the corner of her mind and focused on the woman, getting caught up in her story and the circumstances that had shaped her personality and goals. She couldn't help but wonder if Akiva was still happy at the library, or if she ever wished that things could be different or that she could try something new. Fauna was scared of feeling stuck.

But when she said the most important thing was to focus on the things you loved, and take opportunities as they came, Fauna gave her a small smile, warmed and encouraged by her words. Akiva almost always made her feel better. She admired how she'd adjusted and helped restore the library after the war, and how that had helped her find a place.

"So sometimes... even if something seems really bad, there are ways to get something good out of it," Fauna commented, speaking mostly to Akiva, though Akiva had explained it much better. She could see some of the good things (like knowing Akiva) that had come out of horrible events in her own life.