Noon On A School Day

Bridgette came tumbling down the Ravenclaw tower, having just grabbed the potions essay she had forgotten that morning. With her anxiety from missing an assignment due date gone, her hunger had returned, propelling her towards the Great Hall. She was trailing towards the end of the large crowd of students when she spotted a 5th year Ravenclaw. She recognized his face upturned towards the ceiling, but couldn't quite place a name. He looked like he had given up on the day. She knew that feel. A nagging at the back of her mind told her that a kind person would check on him. As she paced closer, she tried to come up with reasonable excuses to ignore him. Just as she was about to walk past him, her conscience got the better of her and she turned to him. Not sure what to say, she stared at him for a moment, fighting with her sarcastic nature.

"So you're rocking the hobo look today?" She asked. Okay, can't take the sass out of the redhead. She shifted from foot to foot, hoping that would be enough to spark a short conversation. Although it's not like you don't have the time, selfish bitch self. 

Looking down from the ceiling after being called out, he saw a redhead ravenclaw who was a year above him. He didn’t know her name which meant she might actually be interesting to talk to, and meant she definitely wasn’t a pureblood. Bloody purebloods, and their bloody superiority complex. However her first comment was to insult the lack of care he’d put into his clothes for the day. Sizing her up she didn’t seem to come from money. At least he didn’t recognize any of the brands she was wearing.

“My slippers cost more than your entire outfit,” he replied dryly, “And don’t knock hobos. The kids with the guts enough to run away from home are way more interesting than any of the prissy ass purebloods here.”

He sighed, he didn’t have the energy for this. He could have just left it at the insult but his thoughts went to Alex. Why did they always have to go to Alex? Whatever, he could probably walk to Hogsmeade later and pick up some fire whiskey. Or travel farther and pick up some muggle alcohol. He really wanted something hard hitting and he missed muggle spirits.

"My slippers cost more than your entire outfit," the boy scoffed. Bridgette glared down at him, getting her hackles all raised like a lion ready to pounce. She loved arguing. She opened her mouth to criticize his choice in spending more money on hobo slippers than she would spend in a week, but he interrupted her thoughts.

"... than any of the prissy ass purebloods here." While it was a weird way of saying it, she couldn't help but agree. Looking down the hall, she counted at least four of them with their chins held high. "Good eye candy at least." Bridgette grinned to herself. She liked to piss them off for a giggle sometimes. Who didn't? They were usually lousy lays, too. 


"Bridgette by the way," she nodded at him, forgoing a handshake and choosing to cross her arms instead, "Half-blooded Ravenclaw book whore," Bridgette giggled, looking down the hall again, showing her minimal interest in the current conversation, "Not that you would know. I don't think I've ever met a Ravenclaw that skips class," she looked at his slippers again, "Or at least I assume you did nothing productive all morning." She grinned at him, holier-than-thou mixed with a fire to start a fight. 

He rolled his eyes at her comment. Yeah some of them could be attractive but the stick up their asses kind of outweighed that, especially when all they did was look down their nose at him. As she grinned after introducing herself he frowned at her. Really. What was there to smile about in this world.

"Zayn," he replied, "Pureblooded realist. Something that no one of the others seem to be."

As she giggled he had half a mind to hex her. Really, what was there to giggle about here. Maybe she was just another one of those vapid people who laughed at nothing. As she continued on to remark on his missed classes he rolled his eyes. Of course he was getting the Ravenclaw lecture.

"We're not all studious goody two shoes," he replied, "and it's the Hufflepuffs who never skip class. I mean, the amount of times I've seen someone get so involved in a book or experiment or whatever in Ravenclaw tower and then not move until they were finished be that hours or days... We Ravenclaws have a habit of being intelligent. But no one said we were smart."

He sighed at that. What was the quote Alex always said. Common sense is not so common? Personally he agreed though he took it a step further. Common sense failed to take root in nearly any human mind and those who had it were forced to suffer by seeing others fail to see it.

Zayn clearly did not agree with her comment about them being attractive judging by his eye roll. Or maybe he did, and he was just annoyed with the conversation. "realist... Something that no none of the others seem to be." he replied. She frowned. He clearly hadn't met the people she had then.

Bridgette laughed again at his comment, "no one said we were smart." There was his intelligence. He was right though, every Ravenclaw was so wrapped up in their interests and pursuits that they all seemed to prioritize things a little differently.

"Very true," she replied, "Our motto is about wit, not intelligence." She scuffed her shoes on the ground as she spoke, "So what do you get wrapped up in for hours or days? Is that why you weren't in class?"

“The futility of life,” he replied, now glaring at the ceiling, “Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

He quoted Shakespeare comfortably. It enraged his parents to no end that he could remember word for word lines said by dead muggles but not a single line of his family tree past people he’d met and sometimes including them. It wasn’t like they made much of an impression anyway. Why was he supposed to care that he was related to the Greegrasses and the Blacks. Most purebloods in Britain today claimed the same. Bunch of inbreed viruses with shoes.

“They don’t actually look like that,” he told her, letting her in on the secret, “Most of them are fairly ugly, considering all their inbreeding. Our family’s just use magic on us growing up so that we always look their version of perfect.”

He always wondered what he’d look like without the magic face shaping. Probably like some of those homeless muggles with no teeth and odd body proportions. Maybe he would look like a vampire. That would be cool, maybe he’d go seek some out after school. It would piss his parents off to no end. Though they might disown him if he actually let himself get turned. The conversation was getting exhausting however. He always got tired when he had to talk to people, and he was tired already.

“Is there a reason you stopped?” he said casually, returning to staring at the ceiling.

Bridgette stared at him as he spoke. She was halfway between walking off and ignoring this emo kid, laughing him off, and joining in the merriment with him. She had seen her share of family appearances shoved on her, so she kind of saw the pureblood problem, but didn't know the depths of deceit that went on.

Instead, she did not laugh at his insult of purebloods like she usually would. He was definitely being a buzz killer. Instead of replying like a smartass, she took a seat next to him, oblivious to whether he wanted her there or not. She took a deep breath, leaning back and also staring at the ceiling.

After a long moment of stretched silence, in which she debated what to say, she ended up saying quietly, "Sounds like you need a good smoke," with a grin.