"You are an Alinac....that means you have power, ambition and the capacity to change the world. But a name is only a name, Leila, unless you make it something."
Two young rivals are headed into a war they know will change them forever. The question...
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Still slightly sweaty, from a morning of quidditch drills, Leila headed to the library to meet with the Ravenclaw girl Daphne to begin working on their essays for Monday. In the morning atmosphere, the walk up the castle was torturous, and the cold bit relentlessly at her cheeks. Upon reaching the library, she spotted the blonde in the back corner, her books on the table illuminated the light streaming through the windows.
She flinched upon hearing Leila's arrival, making her frown. Shrugging it off, she sat down on the opposite end. "Sorry that I am a little bit late, the walk here took far longer than expected." Daphne didn't respond, just quickly began flicking through her notes again and scribbling away. "Also, Rosier apologises he couldn't make it but I'll catch him up."
Again, Daphne merely blinks and continues on with her work. Okay then. Leila pulled her advanced potions textbook out and followed suit. While she didn't care if she was ignored, the prejudice against all Slytherins did sting, more so when it was unprovoked.
After nearly an hour of writing, Leila's mind was bursting with ideas. A small smile rested on her face as she connected them all on the page. Fuelled by her natural desire for competition, she pictured James' face. It made for quite the motivator.
"I was thinking...." Daphne began, coughing slightly to even out her voice. "If we combined Golpallot's third law to the discussion section of our report, we could argue that to strengthen a wound-cleaning potions you need to balance the severity of the wound with the strength of the charm used to cast it."
Leila's mind began working, processing what she had suggested. Her face broke out in a beautiful smile, as it all came together. "That's brilliant Daphne, I say we go a step further and incorporate a real-body example in our presentation, we could argue that research needs to look beyond a generic wound-cleaner and start creating tailor-made remedies."
Daphne seemingly relaxed into the conversation, and Leila was incredibly impressed. While she may need to be the best, she knew to recognise when you have to depend on others to get you there - something she was laughing at Potter for in her mind, picturing him having a tantrum over his 'difficult' essay. The two girls theorised for another hour or so before heading off to lunch, and their mirrored smiles didn't leave their faces for the rest of the morning.
---
"Someone's in a good mood", Meredith noted as Leila joined her for some lunch. Meredith herself had a few books on music theory out on the table, flicking through as she ate her sandwich.
"I just get shocked sometimes at how incredibly talented, smart, intellectual and brilliant I am" Leila shrugged, digging into her own food. Meredith beamed at her friend, and they broke into fits of laughter.
"Well, I'm glad you dont need me to remind you anymore." Meredith replied, "However, I may have you beat. I started working on some originals for the 'band'."
