The Things One Hears These Days

Naomi didn't particularly like any day of the week, but she supposed that few could be worse than Tuesday. It wasn't quite Wednesday, yet, which meant you still weren't halfway through the school week. But it also wasn't the weekend, and despite making it through Monday, you didn't have memories of lying in bed all day on Sunday to get you through the day. It was truly, truly a horrible day. She wished Tuesdays didn't exist. Or, she did until she realized that Wednesday would probably be the new Tuesday, and there'd be no fun in that at all.

Anyway, her hatred of Tuesdays meant that she was in the common room directly after class because she couldn't bother to find someone to annoy. Miraculously, this one Tuesday, it was empty apart from her. So maybe she could get some work done in peace.

Or - and this option was a million times more likely - she could lay down across one of the couches and just relax. Maybe even nap, if she trusted her housemates. Which she didn't. So there would be no napping. But she could still have some quiet time to herself, if luck was on her side and kept people away long enough.

But she was Naomi Mulciber. Luck was a figment of her imagination, but it was still a monster under her bed. No, Luck always worked against her, and today was no exception.

Today had been a good day. Kind of, sort of. It was close enough to the beginning of the week that it made her think anything could go wrong at that exact moment but she was determined to keep her hopes up. She'd gotten wonderful news just a few moments ago, shortly after leaving her class.

It hadn't exactly been directed to her, actually, but it was close enough. It definitely mattered to her more than to the people who'd been talking about it, after all. And why was that, you might ask? Well, because it had to do with Apollo Zabini. The extremely attractive Slytherin boy that a lot of the younger girls seemed to be swooning over. Yes, that Apollo Zabini. Aleksa had overheard a conversation between some girls who were second or third years, (maybe in her year too?) and oddly enough Apollo had been the topic of conversation.

That was really the only reason she'd stuck around long enough to hear what she had.

A grin spread her lips as she entered the Slytherin dungeon, into the common room, where she found one Naomi Mulciber by herself. Strange, the common room was never that empty during the week. Not that it mattered. The grin had dropped a bit but Aleksa knew that Naomi and Apollo were friends, if that was a good word for them, so she plopped herself down across from Naomi.

"Hey Naomi, I have a question. I heard something on my way back from class. I thought you might know, is Apollo really on the market again?"

Just as she splayed herself out across the cushions and started to closer he eyes, the common room's portrait swung inwards, revealing another of the fourth year Slytherins. The blonde one that stalked people or something. Naomi didn't mind her so much, since at least Aleksa had some fight in her. But the whole obsession thing could get tiring, and Naomi wasn't against telling her so.

How perfect, then, that Aleksa chose that moment to bring up the boy in question. Naomi took longer than she really need to before opening her eyes and sitting up. One eyebrow lifted at the younger girl, and she waited a moment to see if anything else would come out to interrupt her.

In the end, though, she sighed and leaned against the back of the couch as she looked across at Aleksa. "Yeah, it.. it certainly seems that way." Of course, it sounded like the blonde had no idea about the specifics, and for once, Naomi didn't feel like sharing. After all, it would be much more interesting if Aleksa found out from Apollo who he'd been seeing. An older woman, if nothing else.

"Why?" She asked, tilting her head a little as curiosity narrowed her eyes. "You should be glad. He might have more time now."

Aleksa bit her lip as she picked at the nail of her index finger with her other hand. She supposed she should be happy about Naomi's response but she was also nervous. It wasn't like her to get nervous, but that was what liking a guy did to someone.

"Oh, I am glad." She replied. She'd waited for an opportunity like this for a while. Since what had happened between her and Apollo. She knew giving up would have been a bad decision, and now was her chance to get close to him again. She couldn't give this up.

Aleksa glanced at Naomi, her eyes having fallen down to her fidgeting hands.

"Do you really think so, though?" Why was she asked? Of course he would! She was being paranoid for no reason. But even then, she felt something in her throats that she was trying to play off. An excited squeak from the happiness and hope she had about being able to be a thing with Apollo again.

"You have to help me." She said, her hands pressed flat on her legs as she leaned forward.

Naomi was not at all surprised by Aleksa's enthusiasm, though she didn't particularly enjoy having to sit through it. So she just watched as the blonde pieced her way through the things she now knew - or believed she knew - and kept quiet. Even at the first question, she merely lifted an unimpressed eyebrow.

Questioning her would not make the Mulciber girl change her response or endear the other girl to her.

Of course, when Aleksa demanded Naomi's help, that caught her attention. She sat up sharply, surprise and near-outrage waking her expression. "Excuse me? Have to? I most certainly will not. If you're mental enough to want that idiot, then-"

The door swung open again, but Naomi went on anyway.

"-you can bloody well figure it out for yourself."

"Easy there," a low, masculine voice broke her temper. Turning, Naomi frowned at Apollo, mentally cursing his timing. "You can't play nice, Mulciber?"

Naomi crossed her arms, leaning back against the couch and grimacing as he came over to drop onto the cushion beside her. "It's not my fault Aleksa's being seven kinds of barmy today."

Oh, Merlin.

Apollo had the worst timing ever. Or maybe it was the other way around. It didn't change that Aleksa's demeanor had changed the second she noticed he was there. It also didn't stop her from rolling her eyes at Naomi. "Honestly?" she raised an eyebrow at the other girl.

"Don't go blaming me just because you're a killjoy." she crossed her arms over her stomach and leaned back in her seat, subconsciously imitating Naomi, huffing as her back connected with the seat. That had kind of ruined her mood, but it wasn't anything having Apollo there couldn't change.

It was obvious that Aleksa was always in a good mood whenever Apollo was around, and that she was usually an utter pain when he wasn't. But honestly, who wouldn't change their attitude when the person they liked came into the room? She couldn't let him see her all grumpy all the time.

But Naomi just had a way of making that side of her surface, even with him there. Whatever, she could be kind of fun when she wasn't trying to be such a hardarse. Sort of.

Aleksa shook her head. "Anyways, what's new with you Apollo?" she asked, trying to be calm.

Was it really working, though?

"A killjoy?" Naomi asked sharply. "Nice. I'm doing my job well, then."

Apollo shook his head at her, a sort of muted amusement coloring his frown. Still, he was in a rare (as of late) good mood. Their bickering merely entertained him. He relaxed further into the couch, tossing his arm across the back behind Naomi. She flinched, glaring at his hand, but said nothing. So he tilted his head to the side, his chin lowering towards his chest so he was almost looking up at Aleksa when she addressed him.

"You haven't heard?" He returned, too casual. "I'm being shunned by the kids in my year. It's great fun."

Naomi glanced at him, her eyes roving up and down in question. Why?

"You know that Ravenclaw, Violet? She lost her shit on everybody after our plan went wrong at that Valentine's party. It looked worse than it really was. So now I'm the class villain, which is well enough."

"It's more fun that way," Mulciber declared. Apollo wasn't so sure.

"Ah, so that's it then." Aleksa sighed, throwing her head back so she was looking up at the ceiling. "I've heard things about that party." She pouted for a moment. "I didn't feel like going then, but now it looks like I missed a lot so it kind of makes me regret deciding against it."

She didn't move her head while she spoke so it looked like she was talking to the ceiling. She was probably insane enough to, at this point.

"A lot of interesting things happened." she half muttered. "Wish I could've seen Naomi's sister's little outburst toward you. Bummer, though." She laughed, glancing over at Naomi. She knew she wasn't on good terms with her sister but she was sure even Naomi would have enjoyed that. "Or that truth or dare game. The Yaxleys' answers seemed pretty interesting. Podmore thought so, anyways."

"Being the 'class villian' isn't so bad, is it? Means you can probably do whatever you want and no one would bat an eye. Seems better than being a goody-two-shoes and having everyone on your case over every little thing that happens."

"You probably did," Apollo confirmed regarding her feelings on the party. "But I didn't stick around long enough to find out." And for good reason, too.

As for Naomi, her expression was as bland as ever while Aleksa explained what Freyja had told her about the party. Unfortunately for the blonde, Apollo cared just as little. Thinking about the whole ordeal just made him feel tired, if he was being honest. She did have a point, though.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I guess so. But it does mean that people are watching me more than I'd like."

Naomi smirked, tilting her head at him before sliding her gaze toward Aleksa. Then her eyes narrowed for a moment before she relaxed again and commented seemingly-casually. "You act like people don't pay attention to you regardless. You can't claim you haven't noticed, Zabini."

He frowned at her, shaking his head a little. "I don't pay that much attention. Should I be worried that you're paying too much attention, Naomi?" And, in truth, there was a bit of warning in his tone. He didn't trust any compliments coming out of her mouth. Ever.

"No, no. I'm just saying. You aren't exactly horrible to look at. And people have noticed."

Rolling his eyes, Apollo looked away - towards Aleksa. "Brilliant." As if he would want someone to want him just because of how he looked. That hadn't mattered to Lily. At least, not nearly as much as everything else. He wasn't even the sort to feel cocky about his appearance, either. But this wasn't what he wanted to talk about. It just made him angry. "Look, can just.. not? I may head upstairs if you two want to talk about the party. I've got stuff I could work on, if so."

"Oh, come on Apollo. Don't you do being a killjoy too." Aleksa quipped.

If there was one thing Aleksa didn't like about Apollo, is was surprising there even was such a thing, it was that he ran away from things. She really wished that he would just open up sometimes. Maybe not to Naomi, though. But to her, she wanted to help him.

But what if the problem was another girl? Then what would she do? She liked Apollo a lot and didn't think she could bare to actually see him with anyone else. She'd been jealous of Naomi's sister when she was around Apollo before, and even now that he sitting next to Naomi.

"Whatever," she huffed, thinking it wasn't best to upset him now. "What do you want to talk about then?" she asked, sitting back in her seat and throwing her head back to look at the ceiling for a bit.