they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 2 - 14

On one particularly boring March Sunday, Astrid was simply sitting in her room. They had had an excessive amount of schoolwork the week before and everybody seemed to be sick and tired of all the essays they had to write and all the books they had to read, and school in general. At least that was what Astrid was thinking and she was sure others shared her opinions. 

The girl sat on her bed and watched the water of the Great Lake sloshing against their small window. At the moment, Astrid wished the Slytherin House resided in some tower, not in the dungeons and that they could have actual windows with an actual view. Having speedily finished most of her homework for the next week, the stuff she had had the energy and motivation for, Astrid now sat in her bed, her hands in her lap as she merely wished she'd have some kind of a view. But it was all just a dark mixture of blue and brown. Standing up real close to the window it was sometimes possible to see some of the merpeople or other underwater creatures but that happened on rare occasions since they usually didn't like to show themselves and weren't particularly interested in watching human interactions. Or are they? Do they ever watch us when we think nobody is looking?

Either way, right then nobody was swimming or creeping by the window so Astrid was utterly bored. She had had the idea of reading up a bit about some spells but for that she felt too tired for, yet she couldn't just go and sleep because she simply wasn't tired enough.

She had tried to persuade her roommates to have a sort-of picnic thing outside to play some games but every single person in the room had refused her, even Rosier who always liked to get up to no good. That Sunday afternoon everyone was simply too exhausted for that. Pansy was out cold in Millicent's bed where Millicent herself appeared to be on the verge of falling asleep. Tracey was reading some book like she always did. Daphne was reorganizing her makeup bag and experimenting with different nail colours. Rosier, well... Astrid never knew where the girl went or what she ever did, sometimes she was scribbling something in her notebook, sometimes she was simply observing people around her (a gesture which always chilled Astrid to the bone), often she and Tracey would be arguing about some inexplicable subject, and sometimes, like in that exact moment, Rosier had been out and doing god-know-what for a few hours already.

Astrid noticed a fish swim past the window and for a moment her insides filled with excitement that she might now see a parade of some sort but the single fish had been all the lake had to offer her that day. While watching the fish Astrid had moved onto her stomach, resting her elbows on the end of her bed, resting her chin on her palms. Having seen that nothing had followed it, she had dropped her head on said bed with a groan. No one in the room noticed it.

She wanted somebody to notice her boredom and vexation and to ask about it to stir at least some kind of conversation but nothing happened. In a spur of inspiration, Astrid intentionally stood up too quickly and bumped her leg against the side of the bed, letting out a small cry of pain. She had hoped that would catch at least somebody's attention but nobody as much as glanced her way. She sat up frowning and clutched the ankle she had just purposefully hit. It had been a stupid and painful idea.

The previous week, Astrid had managed to pull her roommates out of their dorm to have a walk around the school grounds. Sitting in her room a week later she didn't understand how she had managed that. Perhaps, she thought, it had something to do with the fact the previous Sunday had been much warmer and sunnier.

At first, the girls had just walked around, involving themselves in some irrelevant chitchat, simply enjoying the air and world around them. Then, as usual, Astrid had grown bored with the lack of action and Pansy had been the one to suggest a game of truth or dare. And Astrid would have to agree that it had been pretty fun.

The most exciting part had probably been when Daphne was dared to go up to some boys and persuade them to give up their crisps. It had been primarily Astrid's stomach speaking the dare. She had started to notice the lack of available mid-meal snacks and had a problem coming up with a way to obtain any. Daphne had been terrified of doing so considering they were fourth years, weren't even in their house, and, in Daphne's words, had alarmingly striking features. Though as she strolled up to them, Greengrass didn't showcase any of her previously mentioned nervousness. She simply sat down in front of them and smiled, making the two frowning faces in front of her immediately merge into polite smiles. It had taken a few minutes of chitchat and small jokes for her to make the two boys feel completely at ease and not mind her starting to eat some of said mentioned crisps. She indeed was two years younger than the two lads but even they couldn't refuse the attention of an attractive female. Two more minutes and she was already saying her goodbyes, the chips lightly gripped in her arms. With a graceful hand movement, she gestured towards her friends, making the boys look over. None of them possessed Daphne's easy-going charm and seeing the attractive lads look over they all started awkwardly shuffling in their seats. With a laugh and a nod, Daphne was dismissed and she happily skipped her way back to her group of friends, gushing about how powerful she had just felt.