Wobbly Grace

Smoothing out the creases in her robes, Audrey took each step in descent as hesitantly as the last. It was from the Owlery that she was striding. The twirl of stairs that took her out onto the grounds was dangerous enough without having to worry about any traps or pranks that the Gryffindors had set up for an unsuspecting Slytherin. Audrey had slipped down the stairs many a time when the rain had slicked them. Her heeled shoes did very little to keep her upright and even now, when the stone was as dry as the dirt from which the rose up out of, Audrey walked with wobbly grace. Her books were clutched to her chest, both of her arms curled protectively around them. Her right hand however was clasped around a yellowy envelope that bore the emerald Macnair seal. Audrey had recognised the handwriting immediately upon releasing it from the leg of the Hawk that had transported it there. Her mother rarely wrote now and Audrey was curious as to whether she should be fearful or anticipative of the content.

Thankfully there were no fatalities today and so once back on ever-so-slightly-uneven ground, Audrey picked up her pace and strode confidently across the grounds, passing easily between a group of Hufflepuffs laughing and dancing around as if they hadn’t a care in the world. It was breakfast time, or there abouts, and they looked as if they hadn’t even been to bed yet. Audrey couldn’t blame them really, seeing as from what she’d heard the Hufflepuff common room lacked about as much control as the Gryffindor one. Audrey did share one thing with them though - she too had barely slept the night before and so once the first stretches of light appeared over the arcs of the hills in grounds, Audrey had thrown the sheets back and swung herself out of bed.

Now it was just a case of working her way through the day until she could climb back into her bed. She could hide there, exhale for a few moments and perhaps even cry. Until then she’d have to put up with members of her house and the rest of the school. They didn’t bother her as much as she liked to think they did but it was enough to make her anger flare. Audrey wasn’t in the best of moods today, admittedly, but it was better than usual and she was eagerly looking forward to slipping into the classes so as to wheedle away the hours. She wanted to go back to the common room desperately but she knew it would be a few hours until she could do that. For now she’d have to put up with breakfast and so it was to the Great Hall that she went from the Owlery.

Upon entering the Hall, Audrey spared little more than a glance to the other tables before heading over to the Slytherin table where a few people were already sat, working through their breakfast between reading the Daily Prophet and talking amongst themselves. Audrey picked a space near the very end of the table and placed her books down on the bench before taking her seat. She reached forward and grasped the handle of the jug and lifted it, supporting it with her other hand as she poured some pumpkin juice into the goblet to the right of her. She then placed the jug back down and took an apple from the fruit bowl before heaving one of her books up onto the table. She thumbed through it and settled quickly on the page she had been reading earlier and bit into the apple. A smile teased the side of Audrey’s lips at the sweetness of the fruit but did not allow it to form as she was already reabsorbed in her book.

Beck held up his hand to stifle a yawn, face scrunching up as he slouched into the common room. He was settling in fairly well, though was admittedly still having trouble finding his way around. Hogwarts wasn't vastly bigger than Durmstrang, but the layout was completely foreign to him. The teen shivered a little, the effects of sleep still heavy on his body. It seemed that a fair few of the Slytherins were early wakers, more so than in the other houses from what he had gathered. Well, at least that was one way he fit in. Although he hated waking up early and was always tired for at least an hour or two afterwards, his body didn't seem to want to let him remain in the blissful state.

He adjusted his tie so that it sat properly, green stripes standing out and marking him with a personality to all who glimsed him. The same could be said with each of the four houses. Should he glimse a Hufflepuff uniform, he had already learnt that a lot of the house ignored them or taunted them for their lack of brains. A bit unfair, really, but that was the harsh reality of school; especially when social standing in the outside world came into consideration. Beck drew his shoulders back, pushing out his chest and he leant back slightly to click his back bone before crossing the common room and exiting the sanctuary he had found in Slytherin. Outside those rooms he was at the mercy of others' judgement about him. Not that he minded, what with the way that he tended to ignore most people.

The fifth year headed in the direction of the Great Hall. It was not too far away, for which he was glad. Perhaps the reason a lot of Slytherins arrived for breakfast before other houses was simply the shorter route. He chuckled slightly at that thought as the large wooden doors came into view. They stood open and alert, both inviting and intimidating to any looking in that direction. As he walked through them, he couldn't resist moving dark brown orbs to glance upwards at the enchanted celing above his head. He had never seen anything like it and it had captured his imagination in the short time he had been at the school. The fact that it could mimic an exact replica of the outside sky, and yet none of the weather affected them whilst in the hall, was one of the easiest ways of proving how stunning magic could be.

Beck hesitated a moment, glancing towards the tables of the other houses and at the few students sat along them. He always wondered what went on over there; how those in the seperate houses behaved around each other. Certainly, Slytherin at least changed when there were no prying eyes watching. It was not always obvious on the outside, but he noticed that they felt much safer talking amongst themselves and put up walls when surrounded by others. The hall was fairly quite, faint murmering and the occasional turning of a page were all that could really be heard. It wasn't until later that breakfast became a louder occasion. Trudging towards his assigned house table, Beck sunk onto the first available part of bench he found, close to the end of the item of furniture. He held in yet another yawn, hand clasped to mouth, before reaching out for a slice of toast. Settling himself properly, he took a small bite before looking up to see who he was sat near, and if he knew any of them.