» Judge a Book, Open

[{Odira Browne}*]

As a sixth year, and as a female, Odira saw little need to addend the job fair as so many of her classmates had seen fit to do; after all, even if she were to graduate that May, and were to take interest in finding an occupation—not, as her sisters had done, in finding a husband—the Ravenclaw would no doubt seek employment with her father, an environment with which she was already familiar and comfortable. As such, the prefect had found her way into groups with younger students, those interested in taking in Hogsmeade the same way as they always did: a chance to get out of the bloody castle and escape the assignments they should be doing instead (mind, Odira’s assignments had all been completed in the days before). She had been, however, quite disheartened when it became evident the horde of fifth years in her company had little more desire than to spend the afternoon at Honeydukes, and a particular stroke of luck that she had bumped into her brother on the High Street. A quick word with the group’s chaperone and Odira found herself under Sampson’s less-than-stringent eye, making a beeline for what was, doubtless, her favorite shop that the street had to offer: Whizzard Books.

Her brother left her not seconds after stepping foot inside the store, assuring the sixth year that he would be back in an hour to return her to a chaperone. Sampson was not one to linger overlong in a book shop, and Odira had never been one to require much supervision—particularly when there was at least a handful of customers already present, and a large portion of them were female, so as not to suggest anything untoward—and so such an arrangement was not an unusual one for the half-siblings.

Odira made her way not, as usual, to the selection of muggle literature, but to a display of new books in the open area near the shop’s ground floor window. Idly, she bent slightly, eyes skimming over the titles. While pocket money was not something she had ample quantities of, the shop boasted enough seating for her to spend her designated hour reading quietly—which the girl firmly intended to do. Really, she realized as she passed over Dragons of the East and Magic of the Americas, she could have simply spent her afternoon in the Hogwarts library.

[Etana Asperhand]

her tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom

Etana had been set to find herself with distraction. What sort? Etana truthfully wasn't overly particular. She simply wanted to forget the fact she had now been 'dumped' twice by two possible husbands and put the eerie sensation that she was cursed in love behind her. So it was that the young witch had gone along to Hogsmeade with the others, initially intending to go to the job fair but found herself wandering another way.

Whizzard books was a type of sanctum, much like the library had become at Hogwart's. It was a place where the world could melt away as words on pages came to life in her mind. This was the hope of Etana's visit to Whizzard books but as she scanned the aisle of shelves, she couldn't help but pick out a familiar face from the corner of her eye.

"Odira?" Etana glanced quietly toward the girl who, in Etana's eyes, was somewhat of a friend. Of course, Etana did not have many people she thought herself to be alike but Odira had some most admirable qualities. Her intellect the tops amongst them and natural beauty as well. Though Etana herself had become somewhat introverted after the ordeals of 'losing' both potential suitors unexpectantly, she thought that maybe Odira wouldn't be so hard to talk to. They could talk books or studies.

"What a lovely surprise." Etana said, addressing Odira directly as she walked up along side the girl and idly picked a random book, opened it and began to flip slowly through the pages. "...did you come to Hogsmeade for the job fair?"

template by Emily

[{Odira Browne}*]

Her fingers loitered briefly on the spine of Pixies: A Cautionary Tale before they pulled it from the shelf, the newness of the volume causing it to make a soft cracking noise as she opened it and began to skim over the first pages to see if it was of interest to her. The sound of her name, however, distracted the Ravenclaw from this endeavour, and grey eyes cast themselves about the immediate area to properly identify the familiar voice. As they stopped on the Slytherin, Odira smiled in recognition, the book snapping shut in her hands as her attention shifted accordingly.

“Hello, Etana!” the prefect greeted, her tone much more certain than that of the other witch. Though the two were not bosom friends—of the Asperhand twins, Odira had always been closer to her housemate Evangeline—she had never seen any reason why they should not get along, a friend of sorts that circumstance had provided for her, rather than one she had needed to seek out. That the sixth years were comfortable doing without the Miss’ and the surnames was, in and of itself, evidence of this, though Odira had always tended towards the less formal side with the girls of her year.

To the other girl’s question, the Ravenclaw offered, “Surprisingly, I did not—no doubt few, if any, of the careers open to me would be at all to my interest, and I imagine it would be quite overcrowded for my liking.” Unlike Gideon, whose sights had been set on the healing arts seemingly from infancy, the hospital had little allure for her. Nor did the Ministry; she was not so unorthodox as to be interested in the more ‘exciting’ careers of hit witch or auror, and while Odira had little doubt she would be suited to secretarial work, it was not something she thought would be interesting long-term. “Sampson—that is, my elder brother—was kind enough to see me to the bookshop for the afternoon instead, though I cannot imagine for the life of me where he might have gotten.”

The last was more for show than anything; while she doubted Etana Asperhand would care overmuch about her seeming freedom from supervision—she was, after all, related to the unconventional Evangeline—the prefect still felt the need to say it nonetheless, for appearances sake. “And yourself? What brings you to the village this afternoon?”