» D is for Dutiful, Private

[Ismene Swift]

Only the occasional word had escaped the Hufflepuff’s lips in the past half hour, her eyes fixated almost permanently upon the book before her, though she was feeling far too lightheaded to actually read it. How could she possibly expect to focus when Andren Lovegood was seated so close to her, in a makeshift study group? Frankly, Ismene Swift thought it a small miracle she had not mentioned ‘the children’ in the short time the pair had spent together, though that was, no doubt, only because her voice seemed to have left her entirely. Though Loretta’s presence was certainly a comforting one, that of Mr. Harvey Bauregard, to whom she had never paid much mind—after all, it wasn’t as if he played quidditch or anything—alone would have been enough to leave her wary, as the company of males (excepting, of course, Myles and her father) was never something to place her at ease, but Mr. Lovegood...

The fourth year had done little more than smile and nod, and only when required of her, when the quartet had gathered. Professor Sleptov was not one to assign particularly difficult assignments, but once in a while the students found themselves with a challenge such as the one that lay before them. Either through someone’s suggestion—though in her present state, Issie could not have said whose that might have been—or through an unspoken agreement, the fourth years had gathered in the common room to work, by and large, together.

Presumably, this arrangement was going better for some than it was for others, as the middle of the Swift children found herself, once more, wondering what exactly it was she was supposed to be contributing, for all that she had been told thrice already.

Absently, she extended a hand to reach for her quill—to at least appear hard at work—but retracted it instantly, blushing furiously, as it brushed another. A quick glance assured the girl that it was only Loretta whom she had nudged, but still, Ismene was curious as to how she was supposed to work when—

No, this was no time for curiosity, nor for work: she was with Andren Lovegood.

364 words | tagged for andren, Harvey, loretta
note ...so this is what happens when Ismene threads with boys.
template by emily

[Harvey Beauregard]

Most often when it came to schoolwork, Harvey preferred to work solo, but every now and then, by some unspoken agreement or a casual suggestion, an assignment rolled around and the fourth year Puffs rallied together to get it done. Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't his best, nor his worst class and it often required a bit more effort on his part. However, when working with his housemates, it seemed to go by a little easier. They were working on the project in the common room, himself, Andren, Issie and Loretta, rather successfully, though he was starting to lose focus. They'd been at it for a bit now and he had never been one who could sit still for long, unless under the watchful eye of a professor. Sitting here now, under their own direction, left him itching to get up, or at least call it a night and relax.

Looking up quickly, he watched the group for a moment, before turning his eyes back to the book. He was furiously scribbling down notes, though mainly he was just copying the ones Elsie had already written in the margins. Once you borrow a book from El, you hardly ever had to really read it, she underlined and wrote all of the good stuff in the margins. He once wrote an entire Transfiguration essay based entirely on her notes. He'd wondered if the professor had noticed, but nothing as ever said and he did pretty well on it.

Harvey leaned forward on the table, resting his forearms on the table, the book between his hands and a tired look on his face. "I don't know about you all, but I think I'm toast." He joked, looking around at his companions for a moment. "I cannot think about this any more tonight." It wasn't due just yet anyway, was it? He couldn't really remember when it was due, hoping somebody else might have a clue. As studious as he was, Harvey often got assignments done early simply because he could never remember the due dates for them, that and he hated to have them hanging over their head.

Oh a sigh he closed his book, folding his arms in front of him on the table and resting his chin on them. He would keep going if that's what everybody else wanted, but he was hoping to convince them otherwise.

[Andren Lovegood]

Andren wasn't quite sure when they had started rallying and having these little study gatherings, but he did know that they could be useful if people were in the mood to work. Which... he wasn't. Their last quidditch game of the season was in just a few weeks, he preferred charms or herbology, and he was in the sort of mood that led to homework being done during breakfast.

He was spending half his time scribbling randomly in the margins of his parchment and half of his time scribbling down notes. While his handwriting wasn't very good at the best of times, the further he got down in his notes the worse it became. It was lucky that Andren was pretty skilled at deciphering his own writing, although considering the fact that he had just read the same paragraph three times in a row without noticing he wasn't sure how much sense they'd make later.

At Harvey's announcement, Andren closed his own Defense book with the notes still inside. "Yeah, I'm with Harvey on this one. The book might as well be written in Spanish or something." As a member of the upper class, Andren did have some knowledge of how to speak a foreign language. That was French, though, and he wasn't particularly good at it anyways. Too many letters and rules and conjugations; his education in it had been mostly abandoned by the time he got his Hogwarts letter. Andren simply was not one of the brighter Lovegoods. He played Quidditch, and he could get by in most of his classes with just-above-average grades, and that was that.

Andren leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. If the girls were intent on working he'd be fine with it - in fact, continuing to work might have been good for him - but he really didn't want to. It was just one of those days , study group with the four of them or not.

ooc: oblivious andren is oblivious

[Loretta Browne]

Loretta Browne sat in her chair feeling more self-conscious and more embarrassed then she had ever felt before. She'd opened her big mouth just when she'd been in hearing distance of two of the most attractive boys in her house and year and suggested that they might start gathering together to study and help each other out on assignments. She hadn't meant for the boys to overhear - she had only been suggesting it to Ismene but... the idea had circulated until it had seemed unanimous and now, here she was, studying with the two.

It was just her luck.

Normally she'd probably have killed to be in such a group with these particular boys but this particular setting would mean that they would see how unintelligent she really was. She was absolutely terrified of saying something stupid, of writing the wrong thing or taking the wrong sort of notes that she found herself somewhat immobilized. 'this is stupid', she reasoned, afterall they'd all learnt the same stuff hadn't they? the boys were taking notes weren't they? They weren't worried about seeming stupid. She stretched, and attempted to crane her neck in the most natural manner she could manage to see what the boys were writing ever so diligently.

She almost jumped out of her skin when a hand brushed against hers. They'd noticed, hadn't they? She blinked and realised it was only Ismene. Ismene seemed so perfectly calm... if Ismene was calm so could Loretta be. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She'd known the boys now for something like four years now. She could behave reasonably... afterall, it wasn't like she liked any of them...

She let out a gush of air and stared at her book dubiously and not in any mood whatsoever to study. She stared at it some more... willing the knowledge to disappear off the paper and reappear inside her head... maybe there was some sort of spell for it. She stared at her text and almost jumped at the opportunity that Harvey, then Andren presented... afterall, if push came to shove, she could always write her essay at the breakfast table.

"I think it's time for a break." She said rather tentatively... attempting to sound dutiful and as if she had been hard at work, and probably failing miserably.

[Ceridwyn Bordeaux]

There had been a lot of homework given to the fourth years as of late. It seemed as though the year before their OWL exams was going to be a difficult one, as professors piled homework assignments on them, regardless of how much homework they had from other classes. Ceri had never been one to be able to study in a group and had much preferred to study alone and do her homework in peace. The thoughts and ideas of other people just confused her own points and made her rethink her own assignments. No, Ceri knew that for herself and for the sake of her own grades, she was better off doing her homework alone. Most of the time, she did her work in the library, pouring over book after book until she was one hundred percent certain that her assignment was right and that all of her points were backed up by facts that had been written about.

Only after several hours of being in the library would Ceri get exhausted of sitting at the same table, no window in sight, the silence pressing down on her. It was enough to drive her crazy. She waited for that point every day, and only when it hit her, did Ceri finally pack up her belongings and make the trek from the library back to the Hufflepuff common room where she would make her way up to her room and continue her homework alone. She was more than happy to help others who needed or wanted the help, but she didn’t accept help from others and she just wanted to be left alone to do her work.

It was only mildly shocking to see a group of four, two boys and two girls, sitting around together in the common room. They were all her year and looked to be doing homework. Or, rather, they had been doing homework. She entered just as Loretta Browne said something about taking a break. Ceri never took breaks, unless walking from the library to her dorm counted as a break. Although it wasn’t really in Ceri’s personality to just walk up to a seemingly well formed group of people and offer her services, Andren Lovegood was there. She had the biggest crush on him, had had it since the beginning of the school year, and she did everything she possibly could to spend time with him. He was such a lovely person… he had spent so much of his spare time just teaching her about the game of quidditch. The least she could do was offer her help to him and his friends.

Hugging her transfigurations book to her chest, Ceri walked over to the table. She smiled warmly and shyly at her fellow house and year mates. “Hi everyone,” she said in her soft, almost timid voice. “I heard that you guys were taking a break from doing work. I’m more than happy to help if anyone needs any help with anything?” Her cheeks were patched with a hint of pink, something that generally happened when she was around Andren. This time, it was because she felt as though she sounded like a snotty know it all. She tried hard not to sound that way. There was no use in trying to take it back now, so she just stood there, hugging her book to her chest.

tags: study group / words: 567 / notes: none

[Finley Prewett]

Finn had had an exhilarating night. Though he hadn't heard of any matches coming up soon, he had found himself in the mood for a good, long fly about the quidditch pitch after being bluntly turned down by the ever-fleeting Delaney Baker. As always, there was an immeasurably heartening feeling that followed his kicking off from the ground-the fresh air, the warm spring night's breeze, the rush that rippled through his body as he moved through the sky in loops, figure eights, corkscrews.

Even when a sudden and entirely unexpected onslaught of rain lashed at his face, soaking his messy brown locks through, and causing his white-cotton, button up school shirt to stick to the plains of his chest, Finn wasn't discouraged; in fact, it was all the more electrifying, and it had urged him to fly even faster than usual.

Of course, even Finn's self-proclaimed 'legendary' charm wasn't enough to coax the referee into freeing the quaffle for some solitary practice rounds, and one could only prepare so long without-well, anything to prepare with. So finally, reluctantly, after a few hours flight-during which his initially lightning fast speed steadily decreased as his wariness grew-Finn landed neatly on the ground, shaking his sopping hair out like a dog.

Shouldering his broomstick, he slid through the wide double-doors and began the long trek back up to the common room. Behind him, he left a trail of mud that would make any caretaker break down in tears but, oblivious, he whistled a cheerful, easy tune as he progressed down the corridor.

When he finally reached the Hufflepuff Common Room, though, it did not present the quiet nighttime silence he had expected. Instead, a group of his fellow students were gathered together. They were chatting comfortably, and a few books strewn nearby spoke of an earlier attempt to study. Clearly, however, such studious plans had long fallen by the wayside, and Finn was glad; he'd never been one for study, and he certainly wasn't about to start now.

"Evaresco," Finn muttered under his breath, pointing his wand at his clothes and hair-which quickly became an utterly tousled mess once more-by turns until everything was dry. Then, pocketing it, he crossed the room until he had come to stand before the little group.

"Hey, there." he said warmly, nodding to Andren with a teasing grin. "What are you lot up to?"

[Ismene Swift]

The boys, it seemed, were reluctant to continue working, and Issie would hardly go against Andren’s wishes, even though she felt that the group really ought to continue plodding through. Still, even if she had thought to dispute the matter, the fourth year lacked the capability to actually speak intelligently under the present circumstances, and even Loretta seemed prepared for a break. Smiling and nodding—rather dumbly—in acceptance, Ismene closed her book rather loudly to seem as eager as her peers. Ismene wished that she had more academic skill; though in etiquette she was beyond reproach, her other classes almost always saw her working diligently to receive even adequate grades. Perhaps if she was better she might have been more help to the rest of the group, and they would not have been so hurried to take a break.

Then again, the badger realized as the others chattered, a break gave her the opportunity to socialize with Andren Lovegood.

So distracted was she by this exciting realization that she did not notice the approach of one of her dormmates until the girl was quite literally right behind her. Though Ceridwyn Bordeaux could hardly be considered a loud presence, the other fourth year startled Issie enough to cause her to jump—rather conspicuously, the Hufflepuff thought, as a blush crept upon her cheeks. Before Ismene could offer a response, the group was approached by Mr. Finley Prewett, another of their yearmates. Though he did not have quite the affect upon her as his teammate did, the presence of yet another male in her vicinity was proving to make speaking even more of a challenge than it had been previously.

“I think some help would be lovely,” she offered the witch with a half-smile, both relieved and disheartened by the widening of her group so that Mr. Lovegood might not focus as readily upon her, “once we’ve settled back to work—I suspect the boys are getting a bit restless.” As to the other newcomer, well, Ismene would let someone else deal with him; it was small miracle enough that she was saying anything intelligent at all at this point. She cast a sidelong look in Andren’s direction once more, her blush deepening ever more as they cast themselves quickly back at her closed book.

384 words | tagged for andren, Harvey, Loretta, ceridwyn, finley
note ...so this is what happens when Ismene threads with boys.
template by emily

[Harvey Beauregard]

Relieved that the urge to take a break had not backfired on him, Harvey placed a bookmark in his textbook and closed it with a satisfying thump. He should have felt guilty about suggesting the break, but honestly all of the things they were reading and taking notes on were just floating about uselessly in his head. He could always finish up by himself another time if necessary, though he was fairly positive that if they got back to it in a little while that they could finish up the assignment tonight.

Of course the addition of Ceri would certainly help. She was a smart girl that one, no wonder Andren was always fawning over her. Sometimes it made Harvey sick to hear about it, but hey, he was sure if he fancied some girl, his roommate would listen. However, as their other roommate joined them, Harvey was sure while Ceri was a push toward finishing their work, Finn was just as big a detriment to completing the task at hand. Oh well, better luck next time. Finn was always a good time. It appeared their roommate had been out flying, judging by the way he'd come in soaking wet, but cleaned himself up pretty well.

"We were studying, you know, but takin' a break." He answered Finn as he joined them. Harvey leaned back on his hands, smiling up at the two newcomers. "Hey Cer." He greeted. He was perfectly at ease around the opposite gender, basically because he'd been raised in a house with more girls for company than boys. The Beauregards, by and interesting turn of fate, had three girls and three boys in the house, even odds, however, since Elsie was his closest sibling in age, it was her who he spent the most time with. Until Owen was old enough to horse around that was. Relaxed as he was, Harvey was sure that things were bound to be awkward nevertheless. With Andren and Ceri, things often were, throw in Finn, Issie and Loretta and things were bound to be amusing for him.

[Loretta Browne]

Loretta smiled wanely at the introduction of more members to the group though she was torn about her own feelings about the matter. She'd spent more than four years now getting to know the other Hufflepuff forth years (though had she been more outgoing she probably would have succeeded far better) and though she did share a dorm room with the muggleborn Ceridwyn Bordeaux she wasn't as close to her as she was to Issie... She'd* seemed off putting and in the past not particularly talkative even when it was just the girls.... though to be fair, Loretta had heard that Ceri's father had died in their second year and the badger had been unable to think of any words, of sympathy or otherwise, that could make it all okay... and though this year she seemed to be more social Loretta still felt awkward about the entire matter.

Finley, on the other hand reminded her too much of her younger sister Pruedence for her to ever feel at ease around him. She thought she knew exactly what her younger sister could be capable of and the fact that the boy reminded her very much of her did not put her at ease at all. She looked down at her lap and felt very self conscious though she didn't miss Ceri's light blush. She wished she could squeeze Issie's hand. She knew how much of a crush she had on Andren Lovegood and hoped that the edition of more people wouldn't end badly for her. This had been a rare chance for her etiquette conscious friend to at least associate with one of her numerous crushes.






[ * Lexi/Rose if you have a problem with this PM me ]

[Andren Lovegood]

Andren was pleased by the new arrivals. Ceri's gave him a strong urge to both grin broadly and punch Harvey. Instead, he smiled just slightly and followed up Harvey's greeting with a nod of his own. Finley's arrival was bound to make things at least a little bit more interesting, and Andren had to contain the urge to laugh. Four Hufflepuffs was one thing - six and they were bound for entertainment.

No one was talking, though. Andren shifted forward in his chair and waited for something interesting to happen, although he was perfectly content with the silence. Of course, with six fourth years, the silence wasn't likely to last very long.

[Ceridwyn Bordeaux]

She hadn't had time to really wait long for an answer from her four classmates, as a fifth bounded up right behind her. Finley Prewett. He was a nice guy, though sometimes Ceri felt as though he was placed in the wrong house. His practical jokster ways were far more Gryffindor than they would ever be Hufflepuff. Ceri had seen it before; the Hat had placed people in the wrong houses (in Ceri's own opinion), so perhaps that was the case with Finley? It must've been.

Ceri smiled kindly at Ismene when she said help would be lovely once they all got back to work, and her smile deepened when Harvey greeted her. The two were pretty good friends, though sometimes Harvey said or did things that made Ceri wonder if perhaps he wanted more... or if, perhaps, he just wanted to get under Andren's skin. Not that Andren cared about her like that... or, did he? Her blush got stronger as Andren nodded towards her in a greeting. Well, at least he acknowledged her presence.

There was an empty chair close by, and Ceri went off to carry it over to the table, settling down between Harvey and Andren where she felt most comfortable. Ismene and Loretta were nice but she had never developed a friendship with either, and the two seemed to keep to themselves, anyway. She was much closer with the other two young ladies they shared a dorm with.

With a look around the group, Ceri was fairly certain that they weren't going to be sitting too long. Everyone seemed antsy for one reason or another, so Ceri suggested, "Why don't we take a break- go for a walk, get something to eat, whatever- and meet back here in fifteen minutes to resume studying?" She offered everyone a smile, her eyes lingering perhaps a moment too long on Andren.

tags: study group / words: 313 / notes: none

[Finley Prewett]

Finn, who had heard his friend's talk of Ceridwyn Boredeaux on far more than one occasion in the past, knew how strongly the fact of her presence must have been affecting Andren at the moment, and he couldn't help but shoot a sly smile and a wink in his direction when he was sure the girl in question had turned away.

He didn't know Ceridwyn very well himself, nor was he well acquainted with her two friends, though he had known them long enough to recognize them, and their names. Beyond that, he knew very little of them, though they seemed good-natured enough, if not rather shy.

"Studying?" Shoving his hands in the pocket of his trousers-which, thanks to his nifty little spell, were now crisp, clean, and pleasantly warm-he raised an eyebrow. "Is there a test coming up, then?" In all honesty, Finn wasn't entirely sure whether or not there was-except...alright, that was a baldfaced lie; he was positive that he had no idea. Whatsoever.

It wasn't as though Finn didn't try to pay attention in class-except...that was a lie too, because he didn't-much to his mother's chagrin (which, unfortunately she most often chose to express in the form of howlers). It was just that there were far more interesting things to do-and besides, why bother paying attention when it was so much simpler to cram all of the information in his head the night before? It wasn't, after all, that he had no desire to do well-but rather that he wasn't at all inclined to achieve his grades in a healthy, diligent manner.

And so, for that reason, Finn was relieved with Ceridwyn's suggestion; he was in a wonderful mood despite the rather depressing weather, and very much looked forward to the prospect of socialization-though not at the cost of bending over a book all night, squinting at words he didn't really care about. "Sounds like a good plan to me." he agreed easily, nodding his agreement.

[Loretta Browne]

Loretta Browne shifted in her chair uncomfortably as she realized that whilst the group (plus two) had decided to take a break it seemed (if she thought she followed Ceri's line of thought correctly) that they might have it separately and meet back up later which whilst sounding like heaven for her nerves she didn't particularly like the sound of it. She wasn't sure that was what Ceri had meant but the idea made her uncomfortable and she wondered if perhaps it was too structured...though she suspected that the idea that the others might just go off and do other things instead of returning might be an equal issue.

She knew that the only way that she could go back to study would be for probably the boys to be elsewhere but she'd wouldn't of minded just being there while they talked about random things instead of work but ... well... perhaps Ceri's idea was better. She seemed to be gaining agreement from the others so perhaps it was.

"We don't have an exam." She said softly in reply to Finley's question, though she realised a little belatedly that she'd answered it probably far too late for him to probably be paying any attention any longer to the fact. She looked down at her hands and wished she could just disappear.

It would be a preferable outcome.

[Ismene Swift]

“You all go ahead,” Ismene insisted. No doubt if she wandered too far afield she would have even more difficulty concentrating when the time came to return to work. Besides, though only fifteen minutes were proposed, even a quarter hour without the anxious distraction provided by Mr. Lovegood’s presence might do her academics some good. At the very least, the badger thought, it could not hurt. “I shall stay here and see if I cannot puzzle out anything we might have overlooked.”

It was not at all that Miss Bordeaux’s idea was a bad one—particularly where the boys were concerned, no doubt. Unfortunately, the group had proved to have a difficult time enough with the focusing part of schoolwork that Ismene did not wish to push her luck. A break to refresh was one thing, but a break to briefly do something else sounded, to the fourth year, like a recipe for trouble.

154 words | tagged for Loretta, Harvey, Andren, Finley, Ceridwyn
template by emily

[Harvey Beauregard]

It seemed everybody agreed to the break, but how to take it was the question. Harvey imagined there were quite a few different ways each of the fourth years were imagining just how to spend their break. He could not imagine what the others were thinking, well, he could imagine what his roommates had in mind, but Harvey, well Harvey was thinking it was time for him to back to studying alone. He was pretty sure he'd get it done faster on his own. While working with his friends was fun, it didn't always get the job done.

They didn't exactly have a test coming up, but Harvey, being far too much like Elsie in the fact that he liked to do well in school, was perfectly capable of walking away from a good time when he wanted to. It wasn't any fun to go do the assignment on his own, but it would go better if he did. "I think I'm going to head up to my room and read a bit more." He admitted, standing from where he was seated, gathering his books and notes alone with him. "Enjoy your evening everybody." With a little wave and a nod, he left his housemates to their own devices. Who knew what shenanigans they could get into, but at this point, Harvey was ready for bed.

Exit Harvey, unless you need him :]