[September 15, 2016: Thursday, Week 2. It's been a very long morning for Simmie - actually, it's been a very long day and a half for Simmie, with most of her house-mates not speaking to her. She made it into Charms class late, escorted by Mark, who waved cheerily at Professor Flitwick before departing for wherever *he* was supposed to be.] [Luke was obviously surprised to see his brother, but got back to work fairly quickly, if somewhat distractedly, as he kept glancing at Simmie clutching her stuffed bear. They're beginning History of Magic now, and she seems to have put it away. Whether she's any more collected remains to be seen.] [Begin!] 06* Simmie was rather subdued in Charms (she didn't raise her hand once!) and it seems to have carried over. she's just been sitting by the window, occasionally looking out and sighing softly. but hey! she's not crying! 06* Wilkes is up in front of the class, lecturing. She does that quite a bit, though rumor has it that the previous Professor of History was much, much worse. Today's topic is Ancient Egypt as it has, in Wilkes' words, many of the earliest known instances of magic in society. [A lot of the other students do get bored of lectures. Right now the most obvious culprit is Fabian, who is grumbling in an undertone to James about how stupid and pointless this stuff is.] 06* Wilkes is relatively young for a professor at Hogwarts. Her black hair is cut boyishly short, her eyes are a medium brown, and her skin is pale. She is also wearing a relatively fashionable witch's hat, and her teacher's robes are still clearly new. "Raising the dead was quite common in Egypt," she explains as she indicates a spot on a map she had conjured up (with the help of a device). "Of course, you can never *truly* bring someone back to life, but research shows that wizards from that time managed a decent imitation of it. There is strong evidence that the Pharaoh Thesh, from what was then Lower Egypt, was raised centuries later by a wizard seeking wisdom from that ancient time..." And she goes on. 01 [Maggie is trying to plow through. Notes. Take more notes. Notes are the way to remember things. Never mind that her notes look increasingly like flower and heart doodles.] 06* Simmie appears to be busy taking notes, except she's not. she's drawing. and it is a pretty good picture, too... an ancient Egyptian witch seems to be learning to cast a spell, under the watchful eyes of a powerful sphynx which looks a bit like a particular older Gryffindor male student. 06* Luke is just listening, apparently genuinely interested. Every once in a while he remembers to take a note, but it's a bit...haphazard. [James turns to Fabian and holds out his arms like a mummy. "boooorrrrrriiiinnnnngggg" he moans softly.] 01 [Zan-Zhi is staring ahead, seemingly at attention, but his eyes are glazed over in a way that is definitely not.] [Zoe glances back at James with a faintly torn expression, but then bends back over her notes. She can't start slacking off in the second week of classes! And Professor Wilkes hasn't even been talking that long...she tries to control the incipient eye-glazing.] [Rommy would normally be the one nudging his friends to a *little* more decorum, but he can't bring himself to do it. He's imitating Zan- Zhi's strategy, and just trying to *look* like he's paying attention.] 01 [Barry's trying to pay attention! He really is! He mightily struggles aaaand oh look, that thing out the window, that's pretty interesting. How many trees are in the courtyard?] [Indra is actually paying attention, but then part of that is because he's been trying to fit the new information into his old understanding of the world. and it's rough. sphynxes were REAL?! Wha? How?] 06* Luke overhears James and Fabian's mutters and turns in his chair. "This is important!" he snaps. It's only a moment afterwards that he realizes *he* spoke loudly enough to be audible to the entire room, and now most of the other students are looking at him. And so is the professor. 06* Simmie spins the quill in her hand around her finger, when she sets it back down on the page, the ink has changed color from black to a beautiful royal blue. 06* Luke blushes furiously and looks down at his desk. 01 [Silence. Wilkes looks over at the boys.] [James quickly acts like he was stretching his arms and tries to look around like he has no idea who Luke was talking to] [Fabian's staring at Luke in surprise, now joined by Gideon. For once they decide discretion is the better part of valor, though, since Wilkes is looking *right at them* and she doesn't seem to have much sense of humor so far. They look back down at their desks, too - then sneak glances up, varyingly at Luke, Wilkes, and the rest of the class.] 06* Wilkes continues on with her lecture, then! Clearly the kids have sorted out the problem themselves. After another five minutes or so, however, she suddenly says, "Let's move on to something more fun." That should get their attention. [Fabian and Gideon are incredibly dubious at the possibility that this class could be fun, but Rommy at least tries to perk up some. And Zoe looks genuinely hopeful.] [James shakes his head. "that's not saying much," he whispers. "it would be hard to be LESS fun"] 01 Make sure your books are open to chapter two. I want you to pair up in groups of two - you do *not* have to pair with your own houses; in fact, I encourage it. I'll give each pair a length of time, and you will discuss it and write a short essay - let's say... half an arm's length - on how magic was handled in Egypt. [James frowns. "okay, apparently i was wrong"] 06* Wilkes smiles. "Feel free," she adds, none-too-innocently, "to use any notes you have from today's lecture for this. Now, get to it. Pair up." 01 [The class does get to it, with varying levels of groaning and excitement. At least this isn't lecture. Zan-Zhi immediately looks for Luke, who is conveniently right by him. "Hey," he says, "You're good at history."] 06* Simmie doesn't even look up. she sighs, unable to bring herself to look at her housemates. they hate her anyway. [Indra turns to Barry. "w-would you like t-t-to?" he asks, pointing to his notes.] 01 ["Um." Barry looks at his own notes, which are a bit sketchier, but still. "Sure," he says to Indra with a smile.] 06* Luke glances at Zan, frowning, then over at Simmie. Her housemates are all ignoring her. James and his group are pairing off together, of course. Zoe's hopefulness wilted as Wilkes described the assignment, but she's turned to Maggie with an expression of mild desperation. 06* Luke looks back at Zan, biting his lip. "Yeah, but, um...Simmie's all by herself. I think...I'll go partner with her, if that's okay." 01 [Maggie's already scooted closer to Zoe and is sharing her notes. There are hearts and flowers on them! And also actual notes.] 06* Simmie spins her quill around her finger again, and when it touches the page, it writes with gold ink. she quietly colors the Mark-sphynx. it makes her feel better, which is good because otherwise, she'd be a teary mess 01 [Zan blinks, then looks over at Simmie. "Oh... yeah, sure. I'll find someone else." He grins at Luke, then heads off to do just that! This may take some doing, since almost everyone's already partnered up.] 06* Luke picks up his notes and his quill and ink - they do not do fancy color changes like Simmie's, but they're serviceable enough for him! - and weaves his way between desks to where Simmie's sitting by the window. He stops a couple feet away from her, biting his lip, and then says hesitantly, "Hey, Simmie, you want to be partners?" 06* Simmie looks up at Luke gratefully. "please?" she pleads, obviously more aware that Luke was standing there than the question he asked. 06* Luke smiles warmly at Simmie. "Of course!" he says, and sits down next to her. "Do you have notes? I, um, took some, but..." He blushes a bit. 06* Simmie looks down at her 'notes'. "um... sort of?" she looks back to Luke, blushing slightly. 06* Luke blinks at the blushing and looks more closely at Simmie's paper. "...oh wow, that's good! But um...not notes, I guess." Oh well, I think I sort of remember most of what she was saying. 06* Luke looks down at his own notes. There are a lot of gaps, but hopefully what's there will help jog his memory at least. 06* Simmie shrugs. "i'm sorry, this is more of a reminder than anything. you probably won't get anything out of it. i wasn't expecting to have to share" 06* Simmie bites her lip nervously. "maybe i can help you fill in, though?" 06* Luke smiles at her. "Sure, if you can! Do you know about this stuff already, is that why you weren't taking notes?" 06* Simmie nods. "i read a lot growing up" 06* Luke 's smile widens. "Me too! I like history. I knew some about ancient Egypt before, but not enough to write an essay about it." 06* Simmie smiles shyly. "i think we will be okay" So, um, what all do you know about magic in Egypt? hmmm... well, i read that Thesh was rather clever and correctly answered three riddles from the sphynx, Ptaemon and learned what is thought to be the existence of magic. later, Nevis found his library while digging a tomb and brought it to the Priestess Annahelis, who tried to revive Thesh and ask him questions 06* Simmie taps her picture. "Annahelis apparently awakened a sphynix in doing so... and then had to answer the same questions." fortunately, Thesh had written about the riddles and... 06* Luke writes quickly as Simmie talks. 06* Simmie looks up at Luke and trails off... "im sorry" im going too fast, aren't i? 06* Luke shakes his head, though he's still bent over the parchment and scribbling for his life. Or at least for his history class. "No, no, it's fine!" He looks up after scrawling down the end of his sentence and grins at her. "You must've read a lot." 06* Simmie nods. 06* Wilkes stops by. "Luke and Simmie? Good, you're branching out of your houses." She nods approvingly. "I want you to focus on the Old Kingdom, mostly the third and fourth dynasties, all right?" 06* Luke was about to say something to Simmie, but he jumps when he hears the professor's voice beside him. "Oh! Um, yes ma'am!" 06* Simmie nods. "yes, professor. is Hiesku too early?" 01 Yes, he is. 06* Wilkes moves on to give the other kids their assignments. 06* Simmie bites her lip nervously. 06* Luke watches Simmie biting her lip. "Hey, it's okay. I don't even know who that is." He grins at her. she knows i wasn't paying attention 06* Luke blinks at Simmie a bit. "Well, maybe, but loads of people weren't paying attention." He adds a bit sheepishly, "I think Indra and me were about the only ones." 06* Simmie nods. 06* Luke tilts his head to look at Simmie and says cautiously, "Hey, um, me and my friend were going to go explore the library this weekend. You want to come with us?" oh... um. okay. are you looking for something in particular? 06* Luke shakes his head and says more energetically, "Nah, we just thought it was really cool and wanted to look around more!" oh. well since you like history, there are a number of good stories on the seventh shelf. about halfway down. second shelf from the top. i can show you if you like 06* Luke blinks. "Have you already looked around a bunch? Or did you ask the librarian?" 06* Simmie shakes her head. "no, i found them. and ive read them all, so i know where the good ones are. 06* Luke is *really* confused now. "...how'd you...you didn't read all of those since school started, did you?" oh no, of course not i started when i was little 06* Luke starts putting basic facts together. "Um...you've been in Hogwarts since you were little?" 06* Simmie nods. "i grew up here" i've been to Hogsmeade, too 06* Luke thinks about this for a bit. "Hogwarts must've been a neat place to grow up, but..." He pauses, trying to think how to approach this. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" 06* Simmie shrugs. "its okay, i guess" but it was just me. and i had to stay out of the way of the students. ...I would've gotten lonely by myself. 06* Simmie nods, sadness starting to show in her eyes. it can be 06* Luke hugs Simmie impulsively. "Well, you're a student now, too, so you don't have to stay out of the way! And I guess if you know everything about the library exploring there wouldn't be much fun for you, but...we can still hang out this weekend, if you want." 06* Simmie suddenly looks worried. "no!" she blurts out. "no no! i don't mind! maybe i can show you things!" she adds desperately, almost pleading. 06* Simmie realizes she grabbed Luke's hand and bites her lip, letting it go and turning away. "im sorry," she says softly. 06* Luke frowns, confused and then worried. He doesn't want to upset her in the middle of class, though. "Hey, it's okay. I didn't mean we shouldn't hang out, just that it'd be better to do something that's fun for you, too." He smiles reassuringly at her. 06* Simmie looks back. "it will be fine... anything, really. i just don't want to be alone anymore" 06* Luke frowns a little more before realizing that that'll probably just make Simmie worry again. He looks around at the other Gryffindors. "Well, I dunno why they're being mean, but they're dumb. You can come hang out with us instead - eat lunch at the Hufflepuff table, and then...you have Transfiguration with the Slytherins this afternoon, right?" 06* Simmie nods. Maybe I can meet you after class or something. Would you want to do that? okay hopefully i won't be as bad as i was at breakfast by then i am so sorry about that, by the way i'll make it up to you if you'll give me a chance. i promise! 06* Luke hugs her again and smiles. "That's okay! You don't have to make up for anything. It's their fault, if they're being mean to you. You seem nice to me, anyway." 06* Simmie smiles and nods. "thank you!" 06* Luke smiles more on seeing Simmie smile. "You're welcome." if you don't mind me asking, which one is your friend? they all seemed very nice Huh? You mean, in Hufflepuff? Well, I'm more friends with the boys I guess, because we share a room, so I kind of see them more. But the girls are nice too! 06* Simmie shakes her head. "no, no... i mean which one is the one you were going to explore the library with?" i want to make sure i apologize for breakfast to them now so that everything is okay when we go 06* Luke blinks. "Oh! Um...Eliana, Eliana Casale. She's in Slytherin." He squirms a bit when he says it, then blinks at Simmie. "You don't need to apologize, I'm sure they'll understand." 06* Simmie blinks. oh maybe i shouldn't 06* Luke bites his lip and looks away. "She's really not that mean or scary...she only got mad at James because he called her a cheater..." she didn't cheat 06* Simmie looks down at her lap. 06* Luke looks back at Simmie, surprised. Um...so...do you still think she's scary...? 06* Simmie keeps looking down. "no," she says softly, her voice starting to waver. 06* Luke has no idea how to handle this. He was trying to make Simmie less upset! "Well, that's good..." he says slowly, trying to figure out what to do. Then he smiles and adds, "Gryffindors are brave, right?" usually 06* Luke watches her worriedly. He still doesn't know what to say. "Maybe you're brave and just don't know it yet," he offers. 06* Simmie looks up at Luke, a few tears running down her cheeks. "it’s not her," she says softly. "it's them." she points to James and his gang. i tried to stand up for her. that's why they hate me 06* Luke 's eyes widen in dawning understanding, and then he looks over at James and frowns. "Oh." Then back to Simmie. "Well, they're wrong. Anyway, I doubt they *really* hate you, they're just mad. Doesn't mean they should be mean to you, but they'll probably realize it's dumb and stop soon." 06* Luke hesitates, then says really slowly, "I guess...if you don't wanna hang out with Eliana because of them...I can sort of understand..." 06* Luke shakes his head and smiles a little. "But you can still hang out with me and eat lunch with us at the Hufflepuff table." 06* Simmie tries to wipe her eyes with little effect as she shakes her head. "no. i want to. it’s just... they... i..." she takes a deep breath to try to calm herself. "i don't want to be alone anymore. it's been too many years." and they... they have ignored me for over a day now. 06* Luke scowls. "Well, they're wrong," he repeats. "And if they're going to be jerks you should just ignore them and hang out with other people." 06* Simmie nods. you don't think she would mind, do you? Hu - Eliana? yes 06* Luke tilts his head. "I dunno. I should probably ask her, at least." He's quiet for a little while, apparently thinking about it. 06* Simmie nods. "okay," she says. she bites her lip nervously and is quiet, too. 06* Simmie waits a little bit and then adds. "if she says no, i understand" 06* Luke watches Simmie unhappily. He doesn't say anything immediately because well, Eliana is sort of difficult and unpredictable sometimes, and he doesn't want to make promises he can't keep. "...you did stick up for her. That's gotta be worth something. But even if she says no, I know the other Hufflepuffs are really nice and they'd be happy to hang out with you. Zan-Zhi really likes Gryffindors, especially." 06* Luke points out Zan, sitting not that far away partnered up with one of the Gryffindor boys not in James' immediate clique. 06* Simmie nods and sighs. its okay 06* Simmie tries to smile, clearly hoping she can make Luke feel better. "i can manage. it's okay." 06* Luke is not buying it, but he still doesn't know what to do. "...come have lunch with us, at least?" 06* Simmie nods. "if i'm not intruding" 06* Luke says teasingly, "If I didn't want you to come, I wouldn't've invited you. Anyway, it's not like we're supposed to be friends with only people in our house. That's just silly." 06* Luke smiles cheerfully at Simmie. 06* Luke WILL cheer Simmie up! 06* Simmie smiles. 06* Luke looks up and suddenly realizes they've been talking for a *while*, and they still have an essay to write. "Eep! We have to write that essay, or we'll get in trouble!" oh... well, we should get started i guess [And so, they do! The end, for now!]