beautiful & faded

anka draganova / durmstrang In your eyes smoulder the fallen roses of outlived minutes.

[draganovas-blog]

james:

         “to each their own.” he couldn’t argue with her, since there have been times where instead of using his own words, james used his wand instead. plenty of times where he had hexed or jinxed when something angered him or upset him, hell, he’s still pretty quick with his wand whenever a certain slytherin is around him. so maybe that’s why he couldn’t truly fault anka for wanting to take a more effective route in order to get the group of second years out of her way. despite the small fact that he really shouldn’t be talking to anka, he was really interested to know what her opinion about him is. his ego might be a little smaller than it had been in previous years, but he still likes hearing about other people’s opinions. his eyebrows rose as anka spoke, a little surprise that she could make some of these assumptions but it isn’t like she’s not truthful. “i do have an outstanding in defense against the dark arts, though your mockery isn’t going unnoticed. and i’ll stop you before some debate starts, i hate the dark arts and i always will. you were taught one way, i was taught another.” it’s no secret that durmstrang teaches the dark arts, it’s no secret that the students all find the teaching of defense against it to be useless. but james has never seen the attraction to the dark arts, it’s been ingrained in him to hate the dark arts with a passion. it’s why he’s so wand happy when it comes to a certain slytherin, everyone knows snape dabbles in the dark arts. “but you aren’t totally wrong about me. quidditch is almost everything to me, i liked breaking rules more than enforcing them for about six years, and i’d say some professors do like me a bit considering they offered me this position. trust me, between sirius and i, we both have the most detentions earned and served at hogwarts – being head boy is still surprising.”

     up until he spoke, she would’ve gone as far to admit enjoying their conversation. it was always good to get to know other people, even if she didn’t choose to spend much time with them thereafter. his criticism of the dark arts put a nick in that, but moreso his attitude in regards to them angered her. outwardly, her expression became cold, arching an unimpressed brow and leaning away, picking up the coffee cup to take another sip, placing it before her deliberately before talking again. “if i were looking to debate, i’m quite sure i’d fine someone who knew what they were talking about. i wasn’t taught to hate the defence against the dark arts. i simply know that it is an inferior topic.” she didn’t try to turn it into an argument, true to her word that were she looking to debate (which she rarely was) she would go to someone who had some knowledge on both subjects. perhaps she would have found his dedication to quidditch endearing before, but in her newfound mood she scoffed at the statement ‘quidditch is almost everything to me’. anka was certainly a favourite of most of her teachers, but her reputation was too strong for her to be considered for head girl. she wouldn’t have wanted the title anyway. “what a nice life you must have.” on paper, the comment could be taken as complimentary, but the scathing undertones were clear as she delivered it with a smirk. she didn’t react verbally to sirius’ name, wasn’t about to give him anything to take back to his friend if that was what he was looking for. instead, she just scoffed at the comment - she could definitely see it being true.

[draganovas-blog]

alecto:

“You met my brother. Oh and I’m sure that was a taunt somehow, of course it makes sense.”

     “That I did. Actually I get on rather well with your brother, we have an agreement.”

[draganovas-blog]

alecto:

“I suppose you can try. But, of course I do, I’m Alecto Carrow.”

     “Right. Amycus’ twin sister. That makes sense.”

[draganovas-blog]

james:

       “they usually don’t. the younger they are, the more they block the halls and tables. most of the time people use their words but hey, locomotion charm works too.” james smiled, even though the best friend side of him should probably not be so smiley. it’s obvious that there’s something weird going on with anka and sirius and as a good friend, james should be hesitant to get chummy with the durmstrang girl. yet, there’s a little more sane part of james that wants to get to know anka. he felt his smile slide into a smirk as anka spoke again, as if she could get a real idea of james potter as a person with his titles alone. “oh, you are, huh? and what sort of idea would that be?”

      “i find action to be more effective.” she wasn’t about to deal with arguing with a bunch of squabbling second years when she could easily get rid of them with the swish of her wand and the muttering of a spell. she was clearly suspicious of his motives for talking to her - as if talking for the sake of it wasn’t an option, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that this was the guy who’d called sirius padfoot (whatever that meant). she assumed, from the way they’d spoken to each other, that they were close friends and she wasn’t a fan of the situation. sirius was fun. it was just sex with something else, but she wasn’t looking to become anyone’s other half anytime soon. sipping her coffee, she gave james a once-over with her eyes before speaking again. “obviously you care about quidditch enough to hold practices even when there are no official games. do there’s dedication. the head boy title could be in part due to favouritism from teachers  - i know that our head boy certainly isn’t the best option, but he is popular with the headmaster. then again, you have to have good grades to get that badge - definitely an outstanding in defence against the dark arts.” the subject dripped with mocking even as she said it, taking another sip of her coffee. “but given your chosen friends, i doubt your as strict as that lily girl.”

[draganovas-blog]

amycus:

    “maybe not a close friend but my sister has done well in potions, so maybe if i need to she can.”

     “that sounds like a family enterprise. i didn’t know you had a sister. what year is she in?”

[draganovas-blog]

mary:

“What? Because I am a muggle-born the only thing I can contribute to our world is information to the one I was born into? Goodness, are you quite sure that you’re so different from the traditionalists here?”

     “Not at all. I’m sure that in many ways I’m very similar to the traditionalists here - much more similar to them than I am to you. Yet, I haven’t hexed you yet. My friends would have.”

[draganovas-blog]

mary:

“You say that as though you know anything about me.”

     “Mary, I came from a family with centuries of magical history and I’m top of my class in Dark Arts and Martial Magic. What could you possibly teach me? Muggle studies?”

[draganovas-blog]

amycus:

      “sounds like something useful we’ve been missing out on here. if i need a beneficial potion i’ll just have someone brew it for me.”

     “oh really? one of your close friends?”

[draganovas-blog]

mary:

“Well that is disappointing Anka, I thought maybe we could have taught each other something - that is part of the tournament after all.”

     “I sincerely doubt you have anything useful to teach me.”

[draganovas-blog]

dorcas:

Dorcas came to a stop with a very entertained grin on her face. One hand rose to her hip, the other shielding her face from the sun as she looked up at the wrought iron gate. While it was funny that Anka sounded a bit less surprised (she did catch on pretty quick) at the idea of physically climbing the gate, the ravenclaw couldn’t help but be amused over the fact that this was a trial run on all accounts. Usually she would go to Sirius if such a wild hair struck, but considering he was a bullet in the list of reasons why alcohol seemed so bloody tempting, winging it was her only option currently. “Let’s hope the only problem with it is the height.”

What would effectively ruin a rarely sunny Tuesday afternoon would be a (by Albus Dumbledore standards) hilarious charm that repelled anyone who tried to climb the gate. Though her intentions hadn’t entirely been to allow Anka to touch the gate first, that was how it played out, and when nothing seemed to happen, Dorcas smiled at the challenge offered, her foot coming to a hold on the gate as well. She was a decent climber, confident enough in her ability to catch herself should she ever slipped, but it was evident within seconds that she wasn’t a match to the other girl.

Dorcas was still straddling the top of the gate when Anka landed on the other side, which left a slightly dissatisfied pull on her lips. She climbed far enough down to drop to the ground, dusting her hands off as she shrugged. “Well, I suppose being dubbed a troll isn’t the worst comparison I’ve been in. Besides, I didn’t realize I was being baited by a half monkey. Christ.” She glanced back through the gate, still half expecting to see a gaggle of prefects and/or professors jogging down the path, which prompted her to hold her hands out to Anka. “Fortunately the hard part is over. Now we just have to walk a bit, then we’ll be there.” Then, on cue, she turned and started down the path.

     It had occurred to her that there may be enchantments on the gate, but she seriously doubted it, and she’d always been much more into doing than stepping back and thinking through all of the options. She could see why some schools decided not to teach anything in regards to physical educations, a lot of wizards decided to focus on nothing but magic, but it seemed like an oversight. Most of Hogwarts’ curriculum seemed like a mistake when it boiled down to it. 

     It only took a few minutes for her to get over the gate, dropping down once she got half way on the other side and rubbing her hands together to warm them up given that the metal had been nearly freezing to the touch. “That is definitely not the worst comparison I’ve been in.” The retort came with a smirk, turning to look down the path that she indicated. She doubted that it would be too far away, and she was always happy to take a walk anyway. “I’d recommend jogging it but maybe not.” She started off at a walk, taking a look around as they walked. It may be a commonplace location to Dorcas, she’d not seen much of the area outside of Hogwarts.

     She’d been to Hogsmeade before, but that had been a strict shopping-only venture. A highly successful venture -- with an odd ending, but that certainly wasn’t something she wished to dwell on. “I take it that’s the answer to your riddle? The riddle better stock Firewhisky.” There was a distinct lack of alcohol on the grounds of Hogwarts, she’d expected there to be at least one party - but no such luck. 

[draganovas-blog]

james:

        james watched everything happen from his spot in the great hall. it wasn’t like he was actively looking for anka but it wasn’t hard to find her, he watched the group of immovable students suddenly move from her out of her way. for a moment he almost choked on his eggs, finding the scene fairly hilarious as he watched. what sort of responsible head boy would laugh out loud at the misfortune of someone else? oh, well, the same boy who would have been the one laughing the loudest at a scene like this for the past so many years. surprisingly, anka managed to sit down at the same table he was sitting at, only james needed to slide down a few seats. “there’s a part of me that wants to tell you what you did was wrong, but the louder part of me thought it was hilarious.”

     It only took a few seconds of observation to realise that she was at the Gryffindor table, which was typical of her luck. Taking another bite of her apple she turned to see James had appeared before her, her brow furrowing at the sudden appearance. She continued to chew as he spoke, her brows lifted at his reaction, a surprised smile gracing her lips as she swallowed. “I’m glad you found it amusing. They just weren’t moving.” Although they had briefly met to talk about Quidditch before the ‘incident’, it was only at that point that she noticed the head boy badge on his jumper, pointing to it as she reached for a cup of coffee. “Head boy. So you’re head boy and Quidditch Captain? I’m definitely getting an idea of you as a person.”

[draganovas-blog]

amycus:

      “never tried it, fiendfyre, but i’m sure i could be angry enough to give it a go. potions was a waste of time for me, along with herbology. glad we can agree on the latter, at least.”

     “as far as cursed fire goes, it’s certainly my favourite. plenty of interesting potions can be made - many which can be beneficial."

[draganovas-blog]

mary:

“You say that like it’s an insult but if anything it’s blasphemy. Are you implying that I’m not hospitable? Because I’m sure I can find at least a dozen who would disagree.”

     “Good. Blasphemy intended. Actually, I’m implying that there are some people at this school I like. The fact that you’re not one of them was implicit.”

[draganovas-blog]

sirius:

        His tongue soon slipped into her mouth and gently massaged her own as the kiss deepened. As her hand reached for the base of her neck, he had the immediate thought that he could stay like this for a while. Something that he didn’t get to relish in, unfortunately. The sound of Peeves irritating laughter rang in his ear and interrupted the thought. A growl that was all too similar to Anka’s own reached the back of his throat as they seperated.         Sirius glared icily at the poltergeist as he flew in between them. He reached for his wand, but Anka had already beaten him too it. Unfortunately, the spell was to no avail because he had disappeared again. “ Not a ghost exactly. He’s a poltergeist which is worse than a ghost if you ask me. You can’t get rid of them, ” He said. From what he knew about the non being, poltergeists just seemingly appeared where many young children were present and relished in causing chaos. Hence Peeves being something that has always been at Hogwarts and unfortunately always would be.         He immediately laughed at the fact that she was now asking him to come with her when just moments ago they were yelling at each other. The male grabbed his bag from the floor and slung it over his shoulder before he headed towards the door. As Sirius passed her, he grabbed a hold of her hand not really caring if anyone saw them in that moment. It was, perhaps, because of the daze that he seemed to still be in over the kiss that they had just shared. He walked down the hall a little ways before he turned to her and pushed her gently against the wall.         He met his lips with hers again but then a dreaded thought came to his mind. Quidditch Practice. He had Quidditch Practice to get to. For once, he was annoyed that James was so adament on holding practices even though they didn’t have acutal games. “ Damnit.. ” He groaned, pulling away and pressing his head to her forehead. “ I have Quidditch Practice. ”

     Her instant thought upon having him take her hand was that she could pull away. It felt odd, holding someone’s hand as they walked, what was the point in it? She was hardly going to get lost (not that she hadn’t already gotten lost a few times in the castle). Before she had a chance to slip her hand away he’d pressed her against the wall and she’d forgotten to be annoyed before his lips pressed against hers in an instant. It wasn’t until he pulled away to talk about Quidditch that she arched a brow, lightly pushing him back far enough that nobody would know that they’d been kissing. 

     “Well, if you’d rather ride a broom with James than kiss me then that’s fine.” Her tone was clearly teasing, she genuinely didn’t care - and would have ditched him to go to martial magic within half an hour anyway. Still, it would’ve been nice to spend that half hour kissing him instead of walking back to the ship. “Have a nice time with your boyfriend, Sirius.” She smirked, pressing another kiss to his lips, although this time it wasn’t the sweet, comforting peck they’d had before, it was deep and promised things that he had decided to ignore for Quidditch. She didn’t care, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the opportunity to wind him up. After a moment, she pulled away, walking off and looking over her shoulder to send a “see you later” his way before heading out of the main door.

[draganovas-blog]

mary:

“Honestly, I will never understand some people. Still I do hope you manage to make some friends here Anka. A big place like this can get really lonely if you have nobody to talk to.”

     “I have plenty of friends here, virgin Mary. I’ve found that some students are very hospitable.”

[draganovas-blog]

amycus:

      “if you think it’s useful. chair was the first thing that came to mind, followed by throwing said chair into a fire. i couldn’t do that. it was already bad enough that i hadn’t passed a few classes, such as potions, last term. my parents were not proud of that moment.”

     “or you could cast fiendfyre on the living person. if you’re angry enough to burn someone alive, why not do it properly? potions is simple enough. herbology is stupid.”

[draganovas-blog]

     She’d been waiting for almost an entire minute and yet the gaggle of idiots stood before her had not moved. After waiting another second, she drew her wand, pointing at them as she spoke. “Locomotor.” With the guidance of her wand, the obstruction was promptly moved out of the way and over to the side - completely unscathed - and her friends soon joined. She felt some eyes on her in reaction but ignored them, she hadn’t done anything wrong as far as she was concerned. Sitting down at the nearest table, not caring which house she was sat at, she reached out and took an apple from the breakfast feast laid out, biting into it.