I can do it too, dammit

Daniyah realized now that her prying eyes had been an ill-mannered gesture, now demonstrated by her less polite housemate, and quickly averted her gaze back down to the cup of tea following Davina's curt reply. Behind lowered big, dark, friendly eyes Daniyah's mind was ordinarily reeling with nimble thought- not an uncommon trait for those whom fell beneath the crest of the Eagle. As she listened silently to Dale's prying an immediate impression of guilt laid itself heavy upon her shoulders. It was her fault for even calling attention to it, and now Davina would have Dale Gestapo Roberts to deal with. As much as she respected her house mate, she also recognized that he was neither progressive nor spirited in thought. It wasn't particularly anyones business but Davina's, even if Daniyah thought her knickers were properly twisted.

"Oh! Speaking of transfiguration..." her thought started as she slid a cup of tea towards Davina, plain, and scooted the sugar bowl towards her in gesture of a truce. "Dale, I'm having trouble deciding on a topic for my first Transfiguration essay. I haven't the slightest idea what to make it about," she lied eloquently, sliding into a chair beside her classmate with an expression of naive friendliness. "I'm quite rubbish at that class you know.... and, well, you're not, even if you're a fourth year. Might I pick your big sexy brain for ideas?" 

Apparently some Ravenclaws had distorted definitions of personal space. Davina glared at Dale when he leaned in to her book, attempting to read upside down. She couldn't help that her answer to Daniyah's inquiry was obviously a deflection and borderline aggressive, but that was not an invitation for Dale to get in her face. "I'm going to transfigure you back into the weasel you really are so you can get lost in the Forbidden Forest," she answered sweetly, smiling brightly. She snapped the book shut, hoping to catch the end of his little weasel nose, and the book on her lap before lazily opening again, looking for her place.

Daniyah had earned herself a probationary period with her peace offering, which Davina accepted with a little smirk. Perhaps she wasn't as bad as Dale, plus she seemed to be trying to change the subject away from her. The Slytherin scoffed as she stirred the sugar into her tea, finding it impossible to describe anything pertaining to Dale as anything remotely related to sexy. But hey, whatever beats her Bludger, Davina wasn't judging. Well... maybe a little bit. Silently flipping through the book on her lap, she was thinking that tea in the Library was definitely ingenious and should happen more often. "Yes, Dale," she mumbled while she concentrated on a particular paragraph, "tell us all your ideas or whatever."

Dale glowered up at Daniyah. Oh she thought he was real stupid to fall for that. Big sexy brain. Pffsh.. Like he was going to---Well. It wasn't like it wasn't true. He was great at Transfiguration and he thought his brain was rather sexy. Sure he was a year younger but that didn't matter much, he'd always read past his level anyway out of shear curiousity. And she was some hippie dippie chick who spent too much time sitting in the middle of the common room, legs crossed meditating than actual studying.

"well.." he rubbed the imaginary dirt off his nose in an attempt to conceal the flushed redness of his cheeks. Hey! He was human too ya know. Even if he knew deep down that she was just playing him, he couldn't deny how good it felt to get his ego stroked. And he was a sucker for it every time. He turned to face Daniyah, she looked so helplessly clueless. Of course she needed his help.

"There's always 'Theoretical Principles of Conjuring Animate and Inanimate Objects' which could always address Apparition, which bleeds into an entirely different field of course but also wise to mention considering how apparition involves animate objects-- or wizards transporting from one place to another" Dale managed to utter all of this in one single breath, as if each word gave him life and vigor to his points. He looked at Davina rather proud of himself, she'd probably thought he'd stumble, or waver. Shows her right. But he wasn't done yet.. no no no..

"But then there's also 'Thorough Analysis on Vertebrates and Invertebrates in simple Vanishing Spells, where you can discuss the ways in which the creatures size and composition takes great precedence over the ability to cast the spell properly."

He took a long satisfied sip from his cup of tea, the whole thing with Davina completely washed from his brain as he basked in his almighty glory. Worship me he thought as he looked down at those commoners girls.

In all her years of Hogwarts Daniyah knew she was not the student to ever receive top marks in her classes. Her head seemed to always be elsewhere or anywhere but on her school work. Sure, there was the occasion where a topic would be covered that occupied her mind fervidly, but that was the issue. Daniyah's interests waxed and waned so one week she could excel academically and the next her grades fell flat. She never staked claim to any sort of acumen despite her clever nature, because in the world of academics she was no better than the rest of the hormone-addled masses. She was no brain despite her crest. 

But when it came to social stratagem, it was something she understood quite well, and enjoyed playing the game immensely. Her wide eyes trained themselves unblinkingly on the silhouette of Dale's features with maintained eye contact, following the movement of his hand towards his nose- disbelief, but he entertained her in contempt with his own doubts. Her head tilted slightly to the right as he spoke, engaged, alert, a simulation of enthusiasm, while the back of her mind lurked a composed girl that was not at all surprised by Dale's predictability or narcissism.

Delicately, she took a moment to sip at her tea, weighing her options for her essay, all of which, she wasn't surprised were fantastic ideas! Removing a notebook from her bag she quickly jotted down a few of Dale's points in a lovely, albeit illegible, curly-cued arabic script of her native tongue. Although it wasn't her initial objective, she wasn't lying about the essay or the fact she was shit in transfiguration. With the heat now off Davina she was left to read her book in peace without the prying questions, despite even Daniyah's curiosity being piqued.

"Davina, which do you think? I think they're all totally brilliant ideas, although I'm inclined towards 'Analysis on Vertebrates and Invertebrates in simple Vanishing Spells'. It sounds like it might be a bit easier and more focused. And focus- is uhm- not one of my strengths I suppose. Oh! Dale, did you want more tea?"

The few moments Davina had to read uninterrupted illuminated her mind. An expression of revelation slowly emerged from her stern face while Daniyah and Dale were yapping away about their homework. She heard her name again, but this time she smiled at her fellow 5th year. Of course it was annoying that she was still talking to her, but she actually appreciated the tea and the book in front of her had opened her intellectual floodgates. It still wasn't specific enough to get the work done, but it was sending her in the right direction. Her next stop- the Restricted Section. Except that it wasn't restricted to her because she was now a Class A Student. The concept brought on a singular satisfying sensation.

"Um... that's actually not a bad idea," she answered honestly before sipping on her tea. There was no point in denying that Dale had more than a handful of brain cells. Ravenclaws had their reputation for a reason. "And you can experiment on Dale for a practical application. I'm sure that will give you a couple of extra Housepoints." Feeling much better now that her research was back on track, Davina was able to kick back and enjoy her tea. Daniyah wasn't so bad to hang around with, but Dale was more likely to ruin things.

"Ha ha" he added rather dully, completely and totally un-amused. As if Daniyah had the capability of completely vanishing a human, he doubted if she even had the capability to vanish a snail properly without missing a few of its sticky antennas. Dale glowered at Davina for a moment, she always did seem to have a way to remind him of that long forgotten hatred. Slytherin... he thought rather scornfully. They always did have to press peoples buttons didn't they?

"I'm not even going to get into the time.. no.. years it would take her to even successfully vanish one of my eyebrows, and yes. I'll have more tea." he added rather testily, feeling the old sense of frustration come upon him. Looking at Davina now he remembered just what had gotten him in a sour mood, and whats more, that she was up to something. But he wouldn't press now. No no no. For now she could act freely. Free as she thought she was. There were no prisoners in war.. well technically there were. But you know the saying. Daving was going to regret crossing him, 'A- class' or not, she was going down.

Daniyah promptly obliged, pleased to find that the conversation had somewhat placated, and poured Roberts cup of tea. Her expression remained indiscernibly pleasant, though it would be a lie if she were to say those that underestimated her abilities didn't bother her, but it was nothing Daniyah wasn't already used to. People made judgement and she had spent much of her life invulnerable to the scrutiny of others, whether it be where she came from or who her mothers were. She wondered about Kai and what he might have done in this situation, though she had only ever seen her brother become upset when others were implicated and not himself. However, this thought of resentment lessened the guilt she might have felt for so pitilessly pinning Dale's weaknesses against him only moments prior. She was not as altruistic as her brother. Dani was indulgent.

"I think I could become lightyears better at transfiguration if I had such a goal set," she responded with a muted library-friendly laugh. Gathering her things she slid them back into her bag, preparing herself for departure with the situation defused. Turning to Dale she gently touched his arm. "Careful Dale, your hubris is showing. Wouldn't want to be indecent now, would we?" With that she stood, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Ciao you two. Try to play nice. Good luck with your studies Davina," and with that, she was gone. 

tags; 
Kaimana Ohme (mentioned)

Daniyah's enthusiasm was interesting; only a Ravenclaw would get excited over homework. Davina was a great student, but homework was a necessary evil. Yes, it helped ingrained the things they were learning, but she would never admit that out loud. Either way, Dale managed to stall Dani's homework-cheer train with the most annoying word-vomit of the day. If anything, Dale should know better; Dani wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw as an experiment. She wasn't exactly friends with Daniyah, but Davina knew Dale's remarks were uncalled for.

As it turned out, Dani was infinitely more merciful than Davina would have been. She defended herself with humour and offered some heartfelt advice before departing gracefully. The Slytherin had to admire her; Davina probably would have hexed his ears. Or punched him in the face. She wouldn't have to hit hard just because physical violence was always unexpected and shocking enough.

"Way to be an asshole, Roberts." Davina collected her things, finding absolutely no reason to stay behind. At least Daniyah offered her tea. Dale only had to offer intrusions and snottiness. She had enough of that of her own. Dale could suck it. "It's fine if you don't want your housemates as friends, but you don't have to treat people like that when they don't deserve it. You're lucky she's not more like me." Giving him a over-saccharine smile. She left Roberts alone in the library, going off back to Slytherin.