Top of the World {Victoria}

[Amina Krane]

“I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away.”

Amina’s foot tapped along with the beat as she moved around her dorm room, unpacking her back pack of all of her books and study materials. She had just gotten back from the last class for the week, care of magical creatures. Honestly, she thought it was a really pointless class, but she bore through it with a smile as usual and made her way as quickly as she could back to her dorm. Normally she would leave all of her belongings inside the bag and just drag out all of her materials when she needed them, but she happened to need the bag it in a few days so she figured, why not empty it out now and organize her things while she had nothing better to do? She had thought multiple times already that it might be a good idea to get a second bag just for the full moon cycle, but taking two bags out to the forbidden forest sounded silly, since on her downtime, she would most likely be doing homework anyways. It would keep her from having to organize everything to fit all of the things she needed, but it seemed like too much of a burden. Amina let out a groan as she pulled out the last bottle of ink and placed it next to the pile of assignments she had stacked up already. Because she would be taking Monday through Wednesday off of class, for a family reunion the Krane’s were supposedly having in the United States that Amina could not miss, she had gotten an extra few assignments so she wouldn’t fall behind in class, some she was sure were more intensive than those given to the students who didn’t have a prior engagement. So, of course, she had other things to do. It was more like she didn’t have things she wanted to do at the moment, so cleaning was her best option.

Thus far, she had put all her books in a neat stack on the desk, then torn them down to divvy out the homework amongst them, then restacked everything, and then moved it to another location on her desk to make room for the ink bottles and quills she pulled out of it. Thus far, she was pretty sure she had rearranged her desk about three times. A fourth was about to start as her hand searched the bag for any straggling items, and pulled out one last assignment that she had scrawled on the smallest piece of scratch parchment she had in the front pocket. It had gotten smashed at the bottom of her bag, while it really belonged as a marker in the book on the bottom of her stack. Sighing, she let her now empty bag fall over on the bed as she went to her desk, pulled all of the books off of the bottom one, and leafed through all of the pages until she found the one her note referenced. She slipped the small piece of paper into the crook of the page talking about Giants. The assignment was to state the type of magic to use when one comes face to face with a giant, and what not to use. Well, that one was obvious. They had thick skin didn’t they? You didn’t use magic at all because it would just bounce right back at you. Then again, there were always binding spells. Biting her bottom lip, she slid the piece of parchment out again, scribbled her random thoughts on the back, and slid it back in before closing it once more.

With one more move, she restacked the books and moved away from her desk. It was clean, much cleaner than it had been in the past week as she struggled to keep up with both prefect duties and studies. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but her extra-curricular activities were beginning to cut into her time. Any spare time she had, she spent it with her friends, trying to forget the atrocious mess her life had become. And when she was supposed to be sleeping, she was usually having a nightmare, one where she found it nearly impossible to get back to sleep. Those nights, she would retire to the common room where she would spend her time doing more research into being a werewolf and how to handle it. More so, looking to see if there was a cure. A few times she had come across some story where a guy had tried a test, but in the end, the werewolves usually ended up in a worse condition then before (which she wasn’t entirely sure was possible), or they ended up dying a very agonizing death. Luckily, her sleep patterns seemed to be changing lately so she had gotten much better at not spending her nights looking at morbid information but, instead, actually getting full nights of sleep. But there were some nights where she knew it was going to happen no matter what, so she spent those nights pretending to sleep until all of the other girls were out cold, and then sneaking down to the common rooms where she continued her research. Though it gave her little hope of ever being human again, she had read about many different werewolves that gave her optimism that this could really be something other than a curse. One werewolf had turned it into a tool to save townspeople from vampires, never harming anyone but the undead. Another werewolf told their story of how, after they finally were able to control it, they never transformed again. The latter didn’t sound half bad at this point.

As the song ended and her ear buds fell silent, her iPod automatically shutting down as it awaited the next command, Amina found herself staring. She had cleaned her bag, but had no intention of packing yet. She wouldn’t have to leave until the afternoon of Sunday and it was only Friday afternoon. She had two days to do whatever she felt like doing. It was strange. Fortunately, since she was going to have so much time in between phasing, she could leave her homework assignments until those times. Of course, that meant she had to repack her bags with everything she had taken out, but she already knew that. The whole point had been to organize it so she could fit some clothes and other items in it she may need. Even the expansion charm she had on the bag could only offer so much additional space for things. So she was completely aware that she was not going to be doing homework. Wrapping her headphones around her iPod, she plopped it on her bed and turned to walk out of the door. She needed something to keep her entertained. So she trotted down the stairs of the girls dormitory and out of the portrait hole, continuing until her feet had finally dragged her all the way down the stairs to the Great Hall. It was past the lunch hour so there were few people still left in there. Dodging in for a quick second, she grabbed the first snack she got to and headed out of the great hall, taking a bite out of the bitter green apple. It wasn’t her favorite snack, she would definitely prefer meat, but normally at this time they didn’t have much out she preferred anyways. There was no sense in searching for something that she wouldn’t like.

Looking around, Amina tried to figure out where she wanted to go. She wasn’t sure where any of her friends were. They had all been in class, and she had seen them at lunch, but then they all had to split their ways considering she seemed to be the only one who had gotten stuck in the care of magical creatures class. She didn’t know what they had done to get out of it, but she really wished they had shared their secret. Sighing, she took another bite of the apple and just began to walk. First around the school, through the courtyard, then out to the grounds, down past the path she had taken earlier from her class, and to one of the emptiest parts of the school grounds for a very good reason. The whomping willow had never been a good attraction during the winter. She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that it was too cold to sit there and wait for the tree to do something crazy, or if it more had to do with how bitter the tree seemed to be in the cold. It didn’t seem to approve of the freezing temperatures. She had heard of some first years getting too close to it and it taking a swipe at them for no reason. Of course, they had been just past its reach but, had they not, it would have been deadly. Normally it only attacked if someone was in its reach. She shivered as she remembered back to the first day she had seen it. It had tried attacking her a few times and she had managed to dodge it, but she had only made it out of there with the help of one man. Biting down on her tongue enough to draw a large amount of blood into her mouth, Amina turned her thoughts away, focusing instead on the coppery taste and scent filling her senses. He was the last person she wanted to see or talk to, despite how months ago she would have given anything to see his smiling face. Right now, it would only cause a bad reaction she was sure the Ministry would disapprove of.

Turning from the tree, she proceeded down the way, swallowing the mouth full of blood to find her tongue had already healed. So, she took a bite of her apple as her feet followed the path. The sound of chatter and smell of cheap perfume reached her long before she rounded the corner. She recognized it quickly as a group of Hufflepuff first years who tried to make a good impression with that stench they wore. It was far too strong, even for human senses, and they were far too giggly. If they thought it was giving good impressions, they were sorely mistaken. Stop it. She bit into her apple again as she tried to block the negative thoughts from her mind, using the sweet smell from it to wash away their scents. The new side of her produced them far too often. So many times she found herself thinking the negative of everyone around her and it always took a swift kick in the brain to put herself back right. As she rounded the corner, she found they had already made it into the castle. She thanked her graces as she continued along the path, her eyes falling upon a familiar fiery tangle of curls at the lakeside. Smiling widely, Amina picked up her pace. It took her mere moments to arrive at Victoria’s side. “So I see arithmancy didn’t swallow you up,” she mused, taking another bite with an extra loud crunch for effect. A chuckle managed to make its way out as she chewed up the piece of apple. In one motion, she crossed her ankles and lowered to the ground until she was sitting Indian style. “Any interesting creatures you’re looking at for a substitution? I’m sure the lake monster could use a snack, or maybe a mermaid needs someone to keep them company under there.”

Words | 1,945
Tag | Vic
Outfit | Click

[Victoria Abernathy]

There. Applications were done. Strapping the last of the bulky envelopes to the leg of the very last school owl at her disposal, Victoria found herself fishing deep within her pocket to seek out the last of her breakfast. She had saved the toast for as long as she could, and she knew that not all of the pieces she had been giving to the owls were broken off in equal proportion, but she was doing the very best that she could. With a smile, she allowed the owl to nibble the small morsel out of her hand before it flew off in the direction that she presumed was Alzubra Alley. Victoria had applied to just about every single department within St. Everdine's hospital. Overkill? Perhaps. But, she never really had been much of an underachiever. She wanted to ensure that she got an internship, she could work for just about any department for her first couple of years and she would be perfectly happy. It was the experience that she was after, she didn't have to save lives on her first day, she might actually faint if she was given too much too soon. Well, that's what she wanted to tell herself anyway given that she honestly had no idea. She was a bit of a stress case as it was, but she always managed to get her things handled by the time that they were needed to be handled. Turning the pocket of her jeans inside out, she hastily wiped all of the remaining crumbs from the toast piece from the lining. Once satisfied that she was all clean, she jammed her pocket back into place, creating an uncomfortable lump against her thigh where the fabric was imperfect. She wasn't used to having pants that fit like this. Victoria's mother had insisted on buying her new clothing whenever Vic had been named head girl, it was a luxury that they really couldn't afford, but it had been the first time she had ever been given the opportunity to possibly fit in with the rest of the girls her age.

Only, she had no idea how to do that. Amina had been a blessing, they had only been together once over the summer, they both had been so very busy with all of the things going on in their lives. Since Amina had transferred over to the school, she had been shoving items of her own into Victoria's closet. Not because she was judging Vic, but because she had seemed like she wanted to help the girl out. Clothing was something that people chose to make fun of Vic for often, something that she couldn't control. In fact, Amina had helped pick out most of Vic's outfit today, she wouldn't have thought to put it all together herself, she had always just assumed that since she had red hair, red was off limits for her. Apparently, she had been wrong. Smoothing down the front of her white sweatshirt she skipped down the steps of the owlry two at a time, her mind already drifting off to memories of her first sight of the massive hospital in Alzubra. The fact that one of Vic's personal idols was a healer there, had only cemented the idea that she had wanted to do that for a living, to work within those impressive marbles walls for all time.

Now, if she could only manage to graduate at the top of her class like she had intended to, then she would have nothing to worry about. So she hoped. Pausing halfway up the stairs, she found herself forgetting something vital to her graduation, the book bag with all of her work in it. Grumbling to herself for allowing herself to get so distracted, she sulked back up the stairs, grabbed her overly stuffed book bag and sulked back down the stairs once again. She had almost gotten ahead in every class, which had been her goal for months now. Shame on her for choosing to take a full course load.

It was a nice enough day, cold for how bright the sun was shining, but at least she was prepared for that. At least, as prepared as she could have been. Since it didn't seem like the wind was going to pick up any time soon, she might as well get some work done outside. If she had chosen to go back to the confines of the study hall going on in the great hall, her tormenters would no doubt just attempt to copy everything that she had done, and she didn't fancy being branded a cheater. For any reason. She had learned that the hard way, back in her first year, she had turned in a paper of her own writing, and just so happened to be identical as four other students. She had been too shy to figure out what had happened or how to fix it, stuttering and stammering about how it was her paper, and she had wound up in detention with the rest of the students. Of course, it had sorted itself out eventually, but it had been a highly troubling time in her opinion. Settling on a patch of grass that was otherwise unoccupied, and dumped out a portion of the contents in her bag, attempting to sort through things by subject, and then by how long everything would take her.

“So I see arithmancy didn’t swallow you up,” jumping nearly out of her skin at the sudden sound, Victoria snapped her head around to look at the sound of the voice. Amina. At her curls settled around her head she smiled, clearing away a bit of the circle of books that surrounded her small frame rather effectively. “Not for lack of trying” Slowly, she tucked a couple subjects worth of material back into her bag, already knowing that if she attempted to do homework now, Amina was just going to call her a bookworm, or something else silly. “Any interesting creatures you’re looking at for a substitution? I’m sure the lake monster could use a snack, or maybe a mermaid needs someone to keep them company under there.” “Definitely not” she mused, shaking her head. Swimming was not her strong suit by any means. Bringing her legs out in front of her, she crossed them at her ankles, being careful that she was out of nabbing distance from the lake, just in case. “What brings you out here Ames?” Allowing her arms to fall behind her and support her slight weight “You've been AWOL a lot lately...”

---

Wearing:This|Words:1101|Notes: Sorry it took so long!

[Amina Krane]

As Amina sat down next to her roommate, her eyes took in the sight in front of her. Books upon books, no doubt each one linked to its own homework assignment. Or maybe even more research into her letters that she had been sending out regarding jobs after graduation. She had been doing so many of them, Amina was sure she had applied to ever job position, open or not, within the entire country. Job hunting was one thing Amina hadn’t even considered doing yet. With everything going on in her life, job hunting was the least of her concerns. Too bad graduation was coming up soon… Turning the apple in her hand, she took a survey of how much was left before taking a bite out of a previously untouched reason and going back to look at the books surrounding Victoria. Most of them looked like school books so she wondered if her friend had finally ended her application phase. She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Victoria without a book in tow, and lately it had seemed to only get worse. She could never understand how the woman studied so much and yet didn’t get migraines the size of Texas. Then again, Amina could imagine Victoria saying the same thing about her training habits. The spring was going to bring her back into full swing again, probably bringing with it peoples comments about her insane addiction to run and jump and do crazy stunts across the grounds. At some point, she even had another American student ask her if she was into parkour. While at the time she didn’t even know what it was, and even after looking it up, Amina didn’t see herself doing such things in her lifetime, she was starting to reconsider it. Being a werewolf may not have only downfalls. She could probably find some way to have some fun with the fact that she couldn’t stay hurt for long and her extra speed and strength allowed her to do more things than she previously could. Then again, if she could hardly find time to have a life right now, what would happen when training came back into play? Adding parkour to it? Probably not the best idea.

“Not for lack of trying.” Amina chuckled as she took another bite out of the half-eaten apple. Arithmancy had definitely not been a consideration of Amina’s when choosing classes. Though she could do the coursework, it wasn’t her fancy. She preferred charms and defense against the dark arts over everything. Her only regret was that she wasn’t better at potions. If she could improve her potion making skills, she figured she would be a well-rounded student who actually had a life too. No offense to Victoria or anything. “I’ll make sure to drop a note to the professor to try a little harder next time.” She grinned and placed her hand to the side of her mouth like she was trying to keep someone from hearing her, despite there not being anyone around for at least fifty feet. “Little known secret, I’m trying to knock off all my roommates one by one so I can have the room all to myself,” she added, chuckling softly as she dropped her hand from her mouth. It wouldn’t be too hard. Her and Ridley went running on occasion so she could just knock her out and leave her in the forest to be eaten by whatever was hungry. For Victoria, if class didn’t work, knock over a stack of bookshelves while she was in the library and crush her to death. Cringing at her sudden off-track subject, Amina shook her head and bit her lip. Even just thinking of doing it gave her the creeps. How had she fallen so far from what she used to be to what she was now? Imagining harming someone hadn’t even been possible in the past. She couldn’t do it even if she wanted to. Now? It came far too easily for her liking.

“Definitely not.” Turning to look at Victoria, Amina smiled and took a large bite out of the apple, leaving behind only a quarter of it. After chewing it to bits in a few seconds, she swallowed and ate off the last bit before tossing the core into the lake water, making it farther than she probably should have. She really needed to watch how she acted in public. But from what she heard, no one noticed so she didn’t even bother to change her attitude. Swallowing the last bit again, she looked at the ripples in the water and back to Victoria. “Yeah, looks like no one is at the surface waiting anyways. Wouldn’t want to have you going hunting for something to help end your suffering. Would look too desperate in the eyes of everyone else.” Amina grinned before placing an elbow on her knee and her head in her hand, her eyes remaining on her friend who was now leaning backwards. “What brings you out here Ames?” Cocking an eyebrow, Amina looked around at the books. “Obviously not the same thing as you,” she inferred, not bothering to take it any further. Victoria was already aware of Amina’s distaste for the amount of studying she did. There was a point of being a student, but a line was crossed where it became obsessive, debilitating. She was pretty sure Victoria had crossed that line a long time ago. ”You've been AWOL a lot lately...”

Amina’s stomach churned at her friends comment, her eyes quickly diverting back to the now calm lake surface. She had told Victoria about her incident the same day Gavin had found out, merely because she felt the day had already taken a turn for the worse. Why ruin another one down the line? Despite Victoria already knowing, however, she still didn’t just come out and talk about it with anyone. The only person she had done any talking at all to about her experience had been Tobias. Why she talked to the one she knew the least was baffling, but it was mainly because out of everyone she knew, he was the most versed in the werewolf lore. He seemed to spend most of his time studying it, which made her feel oddly comfortable being around him. Her other friends? Not so much. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she muttered, moving her head from her hand and using it to brush a stray piece of hair aside before looking back over at Vic. “I’ve been trying my damndest to juggle life but apparently not so hot at doing it.” She offered a smile, the best she could muster which was surprisingly rather good. Despite not wanting to even think about it, she had found ways around her discomfort over the last few months. It made it harder when it was so close to the cycle, but she had some spare time and she needed to make the best of it.

“Speaking of, I’ll be disappearing again this week, full moon cycle and everything,” she added, waving up at the sky. She wished she could just put a blanket over her head which would keep the moon from hitting her, but apparently there wasn’t any hiding. “Hence why I’m out here!” Her smile grew as she fell backwards with a thud onto the ground, spreading out in the longest stretch she could muster before putting her hands behind her head and mimicking her friends crossing of the ankles. “Wanted to come see how my best buddy was doing and catch up. You know, see if I’ve missed anything while we’ve both been cooped up.”

Words | 1,284
Tag | Vic
Outfit | Click
Note | Now it’s my apologies for taking so long! Like Amina, my life caught up to me!

[Victoria Abernathy]

Despite her persistently pale skin, Victoria really did enjoy the out doors. Though the book worm side of her would object to it, the fresh air really did her good. Kept her head level and her thoughts clear. Plus, It tended to smell just a little bit better than the library...not that she would trade the smell of a good old book for just about anything. Turning her eyes back to her halo of study materials she carefully stacked the corresponding texts with the order that she wanted to get to them and date that each assignment was due in order to make more room for Amina to stretch out. Yes, Victoria was well aware of the fact that her study habits were a little out of control. She couldn't help that the world that she had been thrust into amused her so very much. So loved everything she had ever learned about magic. Luckily for her, Victoria had been fortunate enough o make friends with a group who could manage to pull her out of her own head every now and again. They didn't share her study habits, and that was even more fortunate. At least it ensured that she had a modicum of social life and experiences outside of school. The whole social thing just didn't occur to her as easily. Not like it did to Amina. Victoria found herself envious of her friend on more than one occasion. She had just come to the school last year and managed to make more friends and more quickly than Victoria had in her full seven. She could count the people who could tolerate her awkward clumsiness on one hand. “I’ll make sure to drop a note to the professor to try a little harder next time.” Smiling to herself she finished stacking up the books. She would just have to try to cram them back into her bag a little later. She was very particular of how they were placed in her enchanted bag...and it could take some time. Folding her legs closer to her body Vic leaned forward, giving Amina more of her attention. At least, as much of it as her rapidly thinking brain would allow.

“Little known secret, I’m trying to knock off all my roommates one by one so I can have the room all to myself,” Vic's lips parted in shock for just a second before it registered that Amina was joking. “As if It doesn't echo enough with all of us in it...alone...that would be unbearable.” shrugging she rotated her body again. “How would you do it?” hopefully, Vic's was a little more creative than a book induced, super paper cut or something. It was only the five of them in the room now, after they had that drop out from last year. Nobody knew for certain what had happened to her, but she just had to assume that it was the Ministry gossip, curfews or something. It couldn't possibly be true that the Dark Lord had gotten to her. What would he want with a seventeen year old girl anyway? Either way, that was still a lot of women to take care of, and Amina was a very slight woman, which might make things more difficult. “Obviously not the same thing as you,” She was doing that a lot lately, skirting giving a straight answer for anything serious put to her. Victoria's brows pinched together for a moment in confusion, but decided not to call her friend on it. She was entitled to her secrets, but Vic had to admit, it only made her that much more curious. It had to be more exciting than what Vic did with her days. Uncrossing and recrossing her ankles she waited for why Amina had sought her out. She knew that Amina didn't have the same penchant for her studies, but that wasn't it, here was something else that Amina had been filling her days with...and Victoria had no idea what it was.

Well, that wasn't entirely true, she knew what it was. She just didn't know enough about it to understand. Of course she had checked the library, and there was more than one of the books in her stack dedicated to Amina's condition. Victoria just had no idea that it would effect Amina's moods and personality as much as it did. Vic was still adjusting herself. The raven haired girl next to her looked entirely human, and attended classes just like everybody else. She just couldn't understand, but she wanted to. Amina still tended to keep that entire part of her secret. “Yeah, sorry about that,” Shrugging at yet another nonanswer she pushed her hair back over her shoulder. She was fidgeting, why did she feel so very awkward? She lived with the girl for Merlin's sake. That meant that she knew her better than most of the other people Vic called friends...and sill she was fidgeting. What Amina was didn't bother her. Not really, she still had a hard time believing that it was even true. Outwardly, there was no sign, other than the mood swings. “I’ve been trying my damndest to juggle life but apparently not so hot at doing it.” I had to of been something more, more than just the accident. It had to of been something else, or just a part of the story that the girl had left out. “Speaking of, I’ll be disappearing again this week, full moon cycle and everything,” As far as that was concerned, she just wished that she could help. Her gaze drifted over to the stack of books, and quickly back over to her friend. There had to be a deeper cause to her own discomfort. The full moon was only a weekend, at most. It's your own fault Vic, you're always stuck in the library, no wonder you never see your friends. Was she really jealous that her friend had something new and exciting in her life? Was it really something to be envious of? Given the horrible pain..she should think not. “Hence why I’m out here! Wanted to come see how my best buddy was doing and catch up. You know, see if I’ve missed anything while we’ve both been cooped up.” Grinning, Victoria lay down and rolled onto her stomach next to her friend, letting her arms stretch out ahead of her. “Other than the fact that apparently, every time I see Marcus I loose the ability to speak...nothing.” Sadly it was true, she had always had a crush on the boy, but now I was getting out of control. Quickly, Victoria clasped her hands over her mouth. “Sorry.” she knew that boys was still a sensitive subject for Amina, even if she didn't know why. She was still loathe to talk about it most of the time.

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Wearing:This|Words:1142|Notes: Sorry it took so long!

[Amina Krane]

Amina couldn't help but grin as Victoria stacked up all of her books and focused her attention elsewhere. It wasn't very often that Amina could force Vic to stop studying. This was maybe only the fifth or sixth time. Every other one before then hadn't been nearly this easy, but at those times, Vic had been so deep within the books, she was nearly lost to the world. On those occasions, Victoria had needed saving. Today, however, she had rescued her from the books merely for recreational purposes. It was time for girl talk since they hadn't talked in so long and she didn't mind interrupting for that reason alone. Amina chuckled, amused at how her roommates facial expression had first been that of shock and then finally she had understood. "As if It doesn't echo enough with all of us in it...alone...that would be unbearable.” Pursing her lips, Amina looked up at the sky in thought. "Well, I hadn't thought about that part. Guess I'll just have to find other things to insulate the room with," she replied, nodding after a second and looking back down at Victoria. “How would you do it?” "Ah, now see that's the real question, isn't it? I could make it look like your unnatural amount of textbooks buried you," she began, motioning to the large stack off to the side. It wasn't the only one Victoria had. Amina was pretty sure there were two to three more identical one's in the dormitory. "I had also considered explaining how you sleep walked right into the path of the whomping willow and how I was just too late to save you…" Suddenly an image of Victoria beaten and bloodied by the tree popped in her head and her entire body shivered. "Ok, maybe not that horrific," she added, letting out a shaky laugh as she pressed her palms into her eyes to rid herself of the image. Once she was rid of it, she let out a little bit stronger of a laugh before setting her hands back behind her head.
Sighing softly, Amina's eyes roamed the sky before falling back onto Victoria. She had come out here to see what had been going on in the girls life, but somehow, she felt as if Victoria was hoping for the opposite. It wouldn't be surprising. Everyone had been wanting to find out how Amina was, but she had held that answer close to the chest for a long while. Ever since this summer, she really hadn't been truthful to many people about how she felt. Marcus and Osiris were really the only two that knew what she was going through, and unfortunately, that was because she couldn't keep them out of her head. Otherwise, she didn't put her problems on others. It was too much of a burden for anyone to bear. It was bad enough they even knew what had happened to her, but that was too big of a secret to keep. Her closest friends had needed to know, if only for their own sanity when she disappeared every month. She just wished sometimes that she could unload everything, tell everyone everything she knew. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. She had made a promise to people, more specifically to a certain male whose name made her heart ache. It was a promise that she wouldn't spill certain secrets. And she had kept that promise as well as possible. She wouldn't break it now, even if it meant keeping her roommate and best friend in the loop. Even if it meant letting her in and not having to see her curious as to what was going through Amina's head. Maybe someday she would get to let her in. One day, maybe she wouldn't have to have so many secrets.

“Other than the fact that apparently, every time I see Marcus I lose the ability to speak...nothing.” A half smile snuck on Amina's lips. Even though boy talk was the farthest thing from what she wanted to talk about, mainly because it reminded her of her own broken and burned bridge, Amina couldn't deny the fact that she was curious. How often did Victoria talk boys? And how often did Amina have the chance to hel pout her friend with making such a perfect match happen? "Sorry." Furrowing her brows, Amina turned over onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. "For what?" Of course, Amina knew what. Boys had been a touchy subject for quite a while and Victoria had been kind enough not to push her. But it was about time Amina move on. She needed to find some way to get around what had happened and live. Gavin had… he had Lucinda now. The thought brought an ache to her heart, a dull throb that often came when she thought of them, and grew into a burn when she saw them together. Somehow, she needed to find a way to move on, and maybe talking about Marcus with Victoria would be what she needed. Pursing her lips, Amina pulled in her legs and pushed herself up into a sitting position, indian style. "I know I've been moody lately and I really am sorry for all of it. I'm also sorry that I haven't told you why and, before you ask, I can't tell you. I made a promise," she added, hoping that would be enough for Victoria not to question her further. A promise was not something Amina took lightly, not something she would ever break without a life or death scenario. "But that doesn't mean we can't talk about your problem with Marcus," she added, a wide grin appearing as she propped her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. "So tell me, butterflies? Knots? Or is it just a lack of a voice box when he's nearby? I want all of the details."

Words | 988
Tag | Vic
Outfit | Click
Note | Now it’s my apologies for taking so long! Like Amina, my life caught up to me!

[Victoria Abernathy]

Victoria had had more than her share of crushes over the years. It was just so easy, to admire from afar. Just about half of the boys in her year, she would have guessed. Not that her studies allowed her for such things. Yeah, right Like her disposition and general awkwardness would have allowed for her to get much farther than a deep and nervous blush before running in the opposite direction. She was so much more at home inside of her books than attempting to force conversation on people. Even more so whenever the person was male. "Ah, now see that's the real question, isn't it? I could make it look like your unnatural amount of textbooks buried you," At least with some people, she found it easier to be comfortable. Perhaps because Amina was so honest, she didn't need to try to hide things to spare Victoria's feelings. Truthfully, if somebody was going to make it look like she had killed herself, that would be a good way to do it. Though, it would have to be some very, very large textbooks indeed. "I had also considered explaining how you sleep walked right into the path of the whomping willow and how I was just too late to save you…" Vic laughed in mock horror “Leave my face for my mother!” she pressed her palms to her cheeks. It would just be horrible to have to be identified by dental records. "Ok, maybe not that horrific," What a kindness. Shaking her head and allowing her body to stretch out just a little further on the grass, careful not to stain her outfit with green. It was too new to ruin.

Today seemed to be one of Amina's better days. Even whenever she had caved and told Vic about what had happened down in Somerset a while ago, she had been down for other reasons. No amounts of pestering or chocolate bribes seemed to make her feel better. If Amina wasn't going to bring it up, then neither was Vic. "For what?" She had thought that it might have been obvious, she was sorry because Amina didn't seem to have any entanglements of her own. While Victoria had been just about bursting to have somebody to talk to about it, she didn't want to make Amina sad. like anything would happen with you two anyway it was the truth, for all of the years that she had been friends with Marcus, he had made it obvious that he didn't see her in that way. Even after her self claimed 'ugly phase' their first three years at school. Not that she viewed herself as all that much of a catch or anything now, but it was better than before. He had even encouraged her to attempt to go after a few of the other boys that she had liked in the past. Why would he have done that if he had liked her himself? Yes, she had experienced her share of crushes, just none that left her quite this crippled. He was going to catch on sooner or later, and then the dreaded 'letting her down easy' speech would happen, and then she would just die. It would have been so much better if she had just managed to move on to a simpler crush already. Once again, her body was not doing as it was told.

"I know I've been moody lately and I really am sorry for all of it. I'm also sorry that I haven't told you why and, before you ask, I can't tell you. I made a promise," Promises promises. Lately, they had just been making her feel left out. Why bother saying anything if she couldn't finish. Because she doesn't trust you, duh smothering the negative voice in her head, she forced herself to smile. “It's alright” it wasn't the first time Amina chose not to tell her something, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. ”But that doesn't mean we can't talk about your problem with Marcus," Red flooded her cheeks, it was a good distraction at least. Rolling onto her stomach she buried her head in her crossed arms for a moment, bringing her face out and turning to rest on her outstretched arms. "So tell me, butterflies? Knots? Or is it just a lack of a voice box when he's nearby? I want all of the details." Rolling her eyes playfully in an attempt to make herself more calm she shrugged “How about all of the above?” sighing she shifted her head again so that her chin wouldn't get sore so quickly. “I mean, I dunno, I think he might have held my hand the other day....It's stupid, but” she was starting to talk too fast again, but she couldn't slow down. “I got an E on my last herbology essay...” she had only ever gotten that mark once before in her second year, a Slytherin boy had actually asked her out, so blinded by his handsome face she didn't have the wits about her to know that he was making fun of her until it was far too late. Inhaling to steady her chest she continued, though her tone was just as fast “He kept me from classes to go painting, random, but you know how he is” it was just so fortunate for her that Marcus and Amina had become friendly as well. “I just...my mouth stops working until this stupid laugh comes out...”

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Wearing:This|Words:917|Notes: Sorry it took so long!

[Amina Krane]

“Leave my face for my mother!” Amina grinned widely at this sentiment. Victoria. Oh Victoria. In the beginning, the two had been just roommates. It had been a little difficult to get a conversation going between them, mostly because Amina was the new girl and Victoria seemed to be a little shy. Okay, a lot shy. Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to start talking and they had hit it off so quick after that. Best friends was the way to describe them only after a month. It was amazing how quickly they had become friends, and it was apparent as they were here on the lawn. It had taken Victoria a moment to catch on to the sarcasm at first but now that she had gotten it, she had no problem throwing her own humor into the mix. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind when the end finally comes," she replied, her grin fading into a smile. The end wouldn't be coming for a long time if Amina could help it. Though she wouldn't be able to do much in the way of natural death, Amina would for sure be there to prevent unnatural deaths of her friends if she could. It was always her goal to protect the people she loved. Her hope was just that she could be there for whoever needed her, whenever they needed her. Of course, chances were she would outlive all of her friends now, natural or unnatural circumstances. Unless something severe happened to her, Amina was going to live as long as her body would allow. Some werewolves actually lived for a century and a half from what she had read, rumors even going out to two to three centuries. What a lonely life that would be in the end. But not exactly a topic of discussion. Why was she thinking of it again?

“It's alright.” Shaking her head, Amina disagreed. There was nothing alright about how she had treated Victoria lately. Ignoring her, shunning any offered help, not regarding her whenever Victoria tried to be helpful. The list went on and on of the things that Amina hadn't recognized. It wasn't like her at all, but she hadn't quite been herself since that summer, had she? But her best friend was just too kind to say otherwise. Amina wouldn't deny it though. She had been a horrible friend and she deserved everything that Victoria chose to dish out, even Victoria would never actually say anything aloud. Victoria was far too sweet to let her know if Amina had done something wrong. Her friend was nice to a fault on most occasions. "No, really. It isn't alright," she responded, grimacing. "But it will be. I'll make it better." Little did she know, she would make it better for another month but then she would go spiraling down once again. This time farther, deeper into the recesses of her own mind, her entire body physically shutting down. Little did she know that Victoria was going to be fundamental in Amina both being alive and graduating after her next bout of depression. She would owe the woman for the rest of her life, owe her not only for all of the things that Victoria had done for her, but for the lie Amina had just told. She would tell her though. Somewhere down the line, Victoria would find out everything. No detail would be left unturned. It wouldn't even begin to make up for all of the times Amina had withheld information, but it would at least be a stepping stone to mending the friendship. But that was the future. In the here and now, Amina was making promises she wouldn't be able to keep. Not quite yet.

“How about all of the above?” A grin crossed Amina's lips again as she waited for an elaboration. It was weird to talk to Victoria about boys, but it was exciting to see that she had finally found someone to be interested in. “I mean, I dunno, I think he might have held my hand the other day....It's stupid, but.” The words came out quickly, but not too quick. Amina could hear the inflections in her voice, smell the nerves, and physically see the effect it had on her friend. It was cute. “I got an E on my last herbology essay...” Quirking an eyebrow, Amina tilted her head to the side. So many things wrong with that statement. For one, that wasn't a mark normal for Victoria. Two, that was more of a mark reserved for Amina as of late. And three, how did that effect how she felt about Marcus? How did that even begin to affect the fact that he had possibly put his hand on hers? Biting the inside of her lip, Amina tried to make the connection but could not quite see it. “He kept me from classes to go painting, random, but you know how he is.” Smirking, Amina nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right," she responded, knowing full well that Marcus would do something like that. He wasn't as strict as Victoria, about attending every class. Amina had never been able to convince her to skip a class before, but she hadn't ever really tried. Amina wondered how hard Marcus had to work to get Victoria to skip class. "You know, one E isn't going to ruin everything. You're still going to be top of the class, there's no question about that," Amina replied, shrugging at the end of her words. There was no way it wouldn't happen like that. “I just...my mouth stops working until this stupid laugh comes out...” The smirk widened into a smile. "Sounds like someone is really caught in Marcus' web," she mused. "So what I'm hearing thus far is Marcus sort of held your hand, makes you turn into a giddy little girl, and you like him but you can't talk enough when around him to inform him of this. Am I right?" Her eyebrows raised in a knowing expression. She didn't need a response, because she knew she was right, but she wanted to give Victoria a rundown anyways. "Sounds to me like someone needs a lesson in how to talk to a guy. Who better than the girl whose friend base seems to be so highly concentrated with the male species?"

Words | 1,062
Tag | Vic
Outfit | Click

[Victoria Abernathy]

Her mind kept soaring back to that day not too long ago. It had been totally spontaneous, like almost all of her encounters were with Marcus. He wasn't the predictable sort. He wasn't even predictable in the fact that he wasn't predictable. He just liked to show up and throw her whole day off course. Not that she ever really regretted spending time with him, not that she was every upset about how her day had been spent after she had spent it with him, because she always enjoyed herself. Even if she didn't feel like doing whatever it was that he had said to do. He got her out of her head, and always whenever she needed it most. It was just one of the things that she liked about him. "Yeah, sounds about right," Most recently, they had spent some time out next to the forest, painting the foliage. She had gone back after the fact and reversed the whole thing, because she didn't want to have the guilt over defacing public property. But it had taken some time, she had stared at all of the marks and colors for far longer than was needed. Reliving, examining. Even the pool of orange and beige paint that had been squirted into two pools whenever she had thought that he was going to kiss her. But you had been wrong the more that she thought about it, she was able to convince herself that she had been wrong about all of it. That nothing had happened, that they were friends. She just wanted it to be otherwise so badly, she confused herself sometime. Like you would know what to do with anything other than a friend. Her inner voice mocked her. It did have a point.

Victoria had never had a boyfriend before, not since elementary school, and that didn't really count did it. She had always told herself that there would be time for it later. That even though she wanted those things now, she would be glad that she hadn't bothered whenever she was older. Well, now she was older, and faced with these things and was wishing that she had a little bit more experience under her belt. No doubt Marcus would. She'd never seen him with anybody else, not really. But she wasn't with him all of the time, and she hadn't been friends with him the whole time that they had been going to school together. Just the last few years. She had been too shy to even think about talking to boys before then. "You know, one E isn't going to ruin everything. You're still going to be top of the class, there's no question about that," Victoria knew that the girl speaking knew what she was talking about. At least, she was making Victoria feel a little better. She just hoped, that Amina would be able to help her out, at least a little. She hadn't seen the girl dating, but Amina had hinted to seeing somebody enough times to know that she didn't tell her 'best friend' everything. Perhaps in time, whenever the excitement of whatever it was being a secret wore off a little bit more. As far as the schooling went, it was enough to threaten her otherwise spotless grade point average. If that was enough to separate her eligibility from some other well qualified candidate from another school, her thoughts were interrupted. Thank goodness. "Sounds like someone is really caught in Marcus' web," Color flooded her cheeks, the heat moving up to the bottom of her ears. That was putting it lightly. She didn't even know why, of course he was handsome, and he had a wonderful smile. There was just, something about him that she couldn't help. She didn't know why he was the one that she was attracted to, but she figured that if she was going to be attracted to anybody, why not him? She knew enough about him to know that she was a good man, that he was kind and funny. He seemed to tolerate her well enough at least. He didn't tease her in a negative way, like a lot of the other boys in this school tended to.

"So what I'm hearing thus far is Marcus sort of held your hand, makes you turn into a giddy little girl, and you like him but you can't talk enough when around him to inform him of this. Am I right?" She nodded. Well, whenever Amina put it like that, it made her sound as pathetic as she felt. Why was she so hopeless at stuff like this? "Sounds to me like someone needs a lesson in how to talk to a guy. Who better than the girl whose friend base seems to be so highly concentrated with the male species?" That would be perfect actually, as her face no doubt showed. She could feel herself straighten, and the compulsion to take notes something that was hard to squander. Yet she managed. For now. “Yes, please oh yoda” the fact that she wasn't likely to get the reference dawned on her well after the fact. “oh wise one,” she corrected so Amina wouldn't be lost either way. If she could in some how, make Victoria a little less ridiculous, then it wouldn't be wasted.

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Wearing:This|Words:892|Notes: Sorry it took so long!

[Amina Krane]

It was adorable really, just how little experience Victoria had with the opposing gender. She had friends who were male, of course, but Amina was willing to bet that Vic hadn’t kissed a guy in her lifetime. And if she had, it was either a relative, or it had been just a peck and nothing more. Granted, that was just speculation. They hadn’t really talked about the subject since it usually seemed to make Victoria uncomfortable, but also because Amina had so many boy problems lately, it had become somewhat of a sore subject. But no longer. She had to be there for her friend, especially if this was the first time she was getting close to someone she was attracted to. Amina could not let her go out on her own without some sort of help. The blush that crept up in Vic’s cheeks as Amina called her out only made her look that much more innocent. Even after a wardrobe change, getting her out of the baggy, unattractive clothes she had worn all of last year, Amina still could see the innocence in Victoria. Even if Amina were to shove her in a tube top and mini-skirt, she wouldn’t be able to see her friend any other way. Amina had been that way once. Until she had been corrupted. Corrupted was actually putting it lightly. Amina had been completely demolished and rebuilt by Austria and everything it had to offer. The rebuilt Amina might have the same looks (less the monstrous scar that was hiding underneath the salve on her shoulder) but she was no longer the innocent little thing she had once been. She had been drawn in by a male who obviously hadn’t been good for her, but yet she couldn’t help but love even as he broke her heart over and over. She wasn’t human any longer. And she had probably become one of the worst friends in the history of the world. No, she wasn’t innocent any longer. It made her envious of the girl lying in the grass next to her. What she wouldn’t give to be in her shoes right now…

The good thing was, innocence or not, Amina could finally be of some use to her best friend. She could finally help right all of these wrongs that she had been doing since the year began. Because if there was one thing Amina did well, it was talk to guys. The majority of her friend base was male and always had been. The only real female friends she had while in Florida had been in her gymnastics class, and even then, she tended to stick more with the guys side of the gym. Their equipment was always so much more fun. Sudden nostalgia washed over her as she remembered the first time she had tried her hand at the rings. Oh and the parallel bars. And the pummel horse. So many memories, so much fun. She suddenly couldn’t wait to get back into the gym. But one matter at a time. “Yes, please oh yoda.” Amina was brought back to reality at the sound of Vic’s voice. No more walking down memory lane. She had a job to do here. And one that apparently required muggle movie references. She cracked a smile as she recalled the one and only time she had seen Star Trek. Or was it Star Wars? Star Fleet? Something like that. Her brother was the one who had been into those movies despite their horrific special effects. But she did know the reference. “Oh wise one.” This made Amina chuckle out loud as she shook her head. “I get the reference,” she replied with a smile. “My brother used to watch those movies in the living room. I was forced to sit through it once. Not to mention I was friends with muggles back in the states.” A pureblood who had no problem with muggles. A fact that would knock pretty much any Slytherin down on their ass.

“Alright, first thing first,” she began, moving around until she was sitting indian style with her arms in her lap. “I gotta know. How long have you liked him? I don’t even know when you guys first met since I haven’t been here the whole time. Is this something that spans back to first year or…?” Amina raised her eyebrows as a smile spread across her lips in anticipation. Honestly, it was more for her own knowledge than to help Victoria, but in the end it would do some good. It would help figure out just how far back her problem with talking to him went. Not to mention if it had always been this way or if it was just since Victoria started realizing that men were good for more than just friends. Something told her it was more recent, though. Had they been the type of people who always walked around, not noticing one another until one day they fell magically in love? Merlin she hoped so. Someone needed a fairy tale ending at this school since it obviously wouldn’t be her. “And have you always had a hard time talking to him? Or any other guy for that matter?” Had she really talked with other guys? Maybe she had, but Amina hadn’t really ever noticed. Of course there had been Wilhelm. They had talked quite a bit before the falling out that caused them to hardly ever see him anymore. He hadn’t been the happiest when he learned about Amina’s relationship with Gavin. In fact, he hadn’t talked to her or even looked at her once since he found out. Unfortunately, Victoria had been inadvertently shunned in the process, yet another reason Amina was a terrible friend.

Words | 961
Tag | Vic
Outfit | Click

[Victoria Abernathy]

Merlin this whole thing was just a touch ridiculous, she was laying on the grounds of Galaxia blushing her face off. It was just Amina, after all. She should have been far more comfortable than she was. This was supposed to be the one person that she could say anything to, that she could bring all her problems to. Of course, that was only partly true since Amina did have her own life and was generally busy with something or another these days. If nothing else, Vic knew that she wasn't going to be judged for whatever she had...no matter how foolish it sounded. Even now, as the words came pouring out of her mouth she could feel herself wanting to take them back. To never have brought up the subject in the first place and just go on over thinking the things that had happened with Marcus the other day. As if she hadn't already done enough of that. She was just a silly girl, for all of her book smarts it just couldn't be helped. Whenever she had been a young girl, she had always just assumed that once she turned sixteen, or a teenager whatsoever she would just blossom somehow. All awkwardness would be washed away and she would become a real girl. Good as fashion and talking to boys, like some sort of magic. Of course, now that she was seventeen and knew that magic was in fact real, and that she was fairly good at it, she didn't know any of the rest of it. She wasn't sure if she liked that she seemed only to have one or the other. Alas, this was going to be her lot.

Not that she had no experience with men. But fairly close to none. She had been on a few dates...to the dances hosted here at school. The closest thing she had ever had to a kiss with a boy had been Marcus, the other day. She just assumed that she wasn't the sort of girl that boys were attracted to. They tended to like girls like Amina. Marcus, no doubt, was the same. In hind sight, he probably hadn't been trying to kiss her at all. She was just playing it up in her head because it was something that she wanted so damn bad. “Alright, first thing first,” Victoria's head lifted, tilting her body so that she was in the best position in order to pay attention. She wasn't going to take notes. She just wasn't. “I gotta know. How long have you liked him? I don’t even know when you guys first met since I haven’t been here the whole time. Is this something that spans back to first year or…?” Merlin there was his face again. His scruffy jawline and mussed hair, there was just something about him that set him apart. She had known Marcus since third or fourth year, whenever it was that he started hanging around the common room all of the time with Tobias, that felt about right. She couldn't remember liking him instantly, either she was too nervous to think of him like that or she was wrapped up in one of her other many crushes. Either way, those had faded away with time. She had just assumed that this crush was going to fade away, but it never had. It was sticking with her and given that the school year would be over before she even knew it, she really needed to figure out what to do, one way or the other. Shaking her head once, her red curls bounced around her face. “No, just this last year I think...last Christmas...around there.” now that she thought about it, that was the first time that they had really been alone together for any amount of time. That had nothing to do with school work or prefect duties. He had gotten her a present, it was just a pair of gloves, 'because she didn't have any' he had said. They certainly had been nicer than anything that she would have thought to purchase for herself, and a dark shade of red. She knew that the color was to poke fun of her and her blushing, but she hadn't cared for once. The first thing any male outside of her family had ever given her.

“And have you always had a hard time talking to him? Or any other guy for that matter?” Oh, of course she had always had a hard time talking to him. She had a hard time talking to any boys, they just made her jittery. If Victoria was very, very lucky then this conversation would somehow cure her. She did want to be a healer after all, and she wasn't going to be a gender specific healer. That would just never work. There were a few boys in their year that Victoria could consider her friend, Wilhelm, Gio but those had never shown any interest, and she was still just as nervous. She knew that the look on her face was enough of an answer that she didn't need to verbalize anything for Amina. “How do you do it Amina?” he gasped, knowing full well that the shorter girl had no issue with it. “And don't tell me that 'they are just people too' obviously, I know that...it's just, well, THEY AREN'T! Not really, they are tall, and smell good...and are just...” she sighed exasperatedly, stopping her rambling.

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Wearing:This|Words:913|Notes: Post City!