Sins of My Fathers

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2007-07-12

Place: Library
Characters: Charlie Ender, Amara Wolfe
Status: Private
Date: November, 1975

The pages were smooth under skin, the only sounds in the otherwise silent room being the brush of his fingers and the whisper of secrets beneath their touch. The candles flickered gently as his eyes tracked from line to line, assimilating, remembering. With the slightest noise of shuffling fabric, he reached for the quill balanced in the inkpot, tabbing the ink off the nib before pressing it to parchment. The faint scratch of bone onto paper echoed quietly as he committed knowledge to matter, recording and drawing the history of the past.

At least, that's what he told himself anyway. He enjoyed History of Magic, but Merlin, it was dull at times. He didn't know how much more he could read about Krolus the Giant King of some hundred years ago that really, in all honesty, he couldn't care less about. As far as he could see, it had no impact on any part of the course that they'd been studying this year. In fact, he could have sworn that he'd done something similar in the Third Year. Honestly, you'd have thought the guy was braindead, were it not for his encyclopaedic knowledge of goblin rebellions and elf wars. Which he related, at length, whether it had relevance or not.

Seriously, Charlie was beginning to doubt that he'd know anything on his NEWT paper. He placed the quill back in its inkpot, moving the filled notes on his parchment to one side and running a drying charm over the surface before placing it on top of a similar pile. This project was just soul crushing, and his partner wouldn't be here for a minute yet. He knew Amara in a way that you know anyone you go to school with for seven years. He'd never really spoken to her much outside of class, they just had different circles of friends. As with most Slytherings, it seemed, there were some horror stories about her. But as with most Slytherins, he'd never really had a problem. At the end of the day, he didn't really care either way. He just wanted to focus on his work now, stay out of...whatever was happening in the school in as far as he could.

The easiest way, of course, was to throw yourself into work, and he did this with gusto.

Removing his reading glasses from his robes, slung over the back of his chair as he worked, he placed them on the bridge of his nose, barely noticing as someone approached his table.

Number of posts : 15 Registration date : 2007-07-11

Amara Wolfe strutted into the library, her long, dark hair swinging across her back as she went, her head held up high as usual. She was not too happy about having to come here. The library was quite boring. She loved excitement, craved it really, and she was definitely not going to find it here. Her dark brown eyes focused on the few students she saw sitting at the tables in the room. She was looking for Charlie Ender, a Ravenclaw student that she had been paired with for a History of Magic assignment. She didn't know him well, had hardly spoken to him really, never had a reason to. She seldom ever associated out of her tight knit circle of friends. He wasn't the best partner she could have gotten, but he certainly wasn't the worse. Thank Merlin she didn't get Evans.

She spotted him sitting at a table, glasses on and a pile of papers near him. She sighed, walked over to the table and slid her black leather bag off of her shoulder and placed it on the floor. She took the seat across from his, leaned over, unzipped her bag and took out two rolls of parchment and her hawk feather quill. She placed them on the table and then looked up at him, a look on her face somewhere between arrogance and bored. "It seems I have left my ink pot back in the common room, do you mind if I share your's with you?" She attempted to give him a smile, something that she didn't do too often and she wasn't sure how she looked trying to do it.

"I can honestly say that this is the most ridiculous assignment we have ever gotten. History of Magic is bad enough, but Krolus the Giant King? What relevance is this going to have for our futures?" She shook her head and then brought up her right hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I suppose we should get started, have you read up on any of this yet?"

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2007-07-12

"Go ahead." He said, glancing up from his parchment. "Evening." After listening to her question, he sat up and reached for his notes.

"That's on the clubbing of Ulgar the Gruesome." He grimaced at the pile, shaking his hand out subconsciously. "Just that. This is going to take all year." He placed his quill back in the pot, inking his quill again. "Did you read this yet?" He asked, tapping his textbook on The Giant Civil War, Five of Five Thousand.

He sincerely hoped that Binns didn't want them to cover the other four thousand, nine hundred and ninety five.

"If he wasn't so old, I'd kill him." He muttered under his breath, before yawning and glancing back at Amara again. "Good day?"He figured that as someone had to begin the small talk, it may as well be him. Polite thing to do and all that.

"My vote's for just getting on and doing it." He said. "The quicker it's over, the better. I think I can feel my hold on sanity slipping with every stomping."

Number of posts : 15 Registration date : 2007-07-11

She nodded her thanks as he slid the ink pot over to her. "Evening to you as well," she told him. He was polite at least, it would make this project go easier if she could get along with her partner. There were some that she would absolutely refuse to speak with, but he was alright. Her family values had taught her who she could socialize with, who she could marry and where her path after school should take her. Some of this she agreed with, some she didn't. Purebloods were, in a sense superior to others, but, and she hated to admit this, some halfbloods had earned just as much respect in her eyes. The Dark Lord...halfblood, Severus Snape...halfblood and though Severus was a bit on the odd side, he was quite brilliant in many ways. Potions, spell creation. She pushed these thoughts out of her mind as she heard him speak to her again.

"All that, there, in the pile is just on the clubbing?" she asked, her eyes growing to a widened state. She sat back in her chair and heaved a heavy sigh. "It's going to take us ages to get this done, this is nothing short of suicidal insanity!" She knew from the first week back that she should have dropped History of Magic but her father was the one who told her to keep in on the curriculum, she never should have listened to him, but not to, she would get the speech, the dreaded long, drawn out rantings on the importance of education. Screw that.

She looked to the book that he indicated. "I haven't read it yet, no, just nearly glanced at it. Honestly, I still don't get what the hell this is going to help us with. I should have taken Divination, it's all a crock, but at least it would be a tad bit more interesting."

She eyed him curiously at his statement about killing Binns and for the fist time gave him a genuine smile. It was the last thing she expected him to say. "If they were not so strict on what curses we are allowed to use, I am quite certain that a bit of the cruciatus curse might just be the thing to jolt something in Binn's brain to make him wake up and realize that all of this is complete rubbish." She laughed lightly, a slight sinister tone to it. That would be quite an interesting thing to see, or better yet, administer.

"It's been a rather boring day actually, lacking excitement as usual." She frowned at the thought. It was her last year here. She certainly hoped she would have a few memorable things to look back on.

"I agree, let's get this over with. Then, we might enjoy the rest of our evening, though, if we remain here until it's finished, I dare say, we mine as well get married, because we will have to spend an eternity together."

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2007-07-12

"Just the clubbing." Charlie affirmed, motioning again with his hand. "I haven't even got onto the Gurg deposement yet." At least she seemed as daunted as he did by the prospect of the hours of research that it would take to finish this. It made him feel less crushed by it, although he was still questioning the wisdom of continuing with the subject.

"Divination," He murmured, the corner of his mouth twitching up in the beginnings of a smile. "I don't think that I could stand Professor Hemlock's voice for one lesson, let alone a whole NEWT. Caaast yourself into the future!" He mimicked her voice, before chuckling to himself as he underlined and circled a date on his notes. "Honestly, I think I'd take the sixtieth house elf uprising of who-cares-when." He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow slightly, and grin in response as a smile lit up her face, taking away the half-scowl she'd been wearing. He watched her for a lingering moment. She was quite beautiful, really, and not just in an initial glance. She just needed to smile a bit more like that, in his opinion.

"Heh. And here I was thinking about boil powder. Outside the box, I like it." He chuckled smoothly, his tone and demeanour betraying nothing at the slight surprise he felt at her affirmation about his comment. He'd meant it as a joke, of course. He wouldn't actually kill Binns...but he supposed people just bandied terms like "cruciatus" around these days. With the war, and the dark lord, everyone just seemed out to prove themselves, on both sides. The ones obviously opposed to it were so sanctimonius and saccharine that it made his teeth feel as if they were rotting. It was almost patronising really, if they weren't showing off or trying to prove a point, half of their vaunted kindness wouldn't take place at all in the real world. And in the same vein, the other side were always going on about "blood purity" this, or "unforgivable" that.

Charlie just longed to have a talk with someone who wasn't putting on pretensions, for once. Of course, that was a rare thing in a House like Ravenclaw. They all thought that they were better than everyone else.

"Oh, trust me. You'd go mad." He half-joked, half-muttered at her quip on marriage. "We'll see how long it takes. I don't know about you, but if it's going to take all night, I'd rather not spend it here." He glanced around the library with a sigh. He loved the place, he really did, but he just felt as if he were spending his life here. It would be nice to perhaps experience fresh air outside of those precious fleeting moments where travelling between classes entailed a trip out of doors.

Number of posts : 15 Registration date : 2007-07-11

She sighed heavily, eyeing the pile of paperwork that lay in a neat stack before him. "The Gurg deposement, yes, how lovely it will be to spend, waste rather, time divulging into that. I can't wait." Her tone was quite sarcastic, but for the work that lay ahead, not towards him in any way.

She looked up at him as he gave his shot at imitating Professor Hemlock's voice. It was surprisingly, almost dead on. She laughed lightly, her lips curling up in a slight smile. "You're right you know, suffering the year with that woman would be possibly a bit worse than History of Magic. How about we just say both classes are utterly useless."

She really had no clue where to begin on this assignment. He had gotten a bit of the work done already it seemed but she was going to have to know a bit on the subject if she was going to pass her N.E.W.T. with a decent grade. Though she loathed the subject, she always did her best to achieve the highest grade possible. Her father was adamant about it and to displease him would end up in a lecture, something that she didn't want to have to sit through.

"Boil powder. That would definitely work." She said to him, she possibly went a bit too far mentioning the cruciatus curse in front of him but in all honestly, Binn's did need a bit of something to jolt him into realizing how dreadful his classes were. "You know, if Binn's would teach on the history of spells, wizards that were famous for more than getting along with giants, the class might actually be the slightest bit enjoyable."

She took the roll of parchment she had previously set before her and unrolled it, dipped her quill in the ink pot and proceeded to write her name on the top of the paper. She looked up at him "I agree, if we do have to work on this all night, it would be better spent in a bit of more comfortable surroundings. We can't very well go to either of our common rooms, where we are in different houses, so I guess we are stuck here, unless you have somewhere else in mind?" She looked at him with an inquisitive expression, her hand coming up to once again tuck her hair behind her ear. She really didn't want to do any of this, read up on the dreadful subject and do the writings that they were assigned but she had no choice in the matter. "Where do we even begin Ender?"

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2007-07-12

"Yeah, they get funny about that." He said, referring to their common rooms and their lack of respective entry capability. "I was thinking, outside perhaps? It's fairly mild...for November...if you have a suggestion for anywhere indoors and in the warm though, I'd be open to it."

"I'm not sure really, I think there's just too much to cover in detail. We'd be better off splitting up into time periods...but...that's just dull." He grumbled, scratching a sentence onto the parchment as he spoke. He inked his quill once more, setting ink to paper before he glanced back up at her momentarily, lingering for less than a second.

"Charlie." He said simply. If they were going to be working together, there was no point having a last-name basis. That, and she seemed amiable enough. He certainly liked her more than most people from the small amount of conversation they'd shared so far.

"At least it's not another goblin rebellion." He offered. "Small mercies."

Number of posts : 15 Registration date : 2007-07-11

She eyed him for a minute pondering the question of where else they could go. There were a few places that she could think of that would be a bit better than in the library. "We could always work on it in the garden, it's quite beautiful this time of year, or on the skirts of the Black Lake. I really do rather prefer the outdoors but if you want to stay here, that's fine as well. If we have a bit of better surroundings, however, it might be a bit more bearable."

She looked back down at her parchment that only had her name written on the top briefly. They had so much to do, so many chapters to cover and it was only November. How she was going to survive the entire year of this class she had no clue though it appeared her partner, at least for this lesson, had the same thoughts she did on a few things, that made it interesting. She really didn't know him too well, never really socialized outside her tight-knit circle but she could honestly say she enjoyed conversing with him. He didn't seem to have the 'Oh God I have to work with one of them bitchy Slytherin girl' attitudes.

"Time periods are dull but I think it might be the best approach, at least we will have the chronological order correct." She sighed once more then glanced up at him. "Charlie it is then, and call me Amara." She looked into his eyes briefly then back down to her paper only to look back up at him with his Goblin rebellion comment. "That was quite the chapter wasn't it? The most intriguing thing I have ever read about," she smiled at him, her tone taking on obvious hints of mockery. "Very small mercies indeed... Let's get out of here, somewhere a bit more private," she turned her head, her eyes glancing around the room then back to him. "Unless you are afraid to spend the evening with a notorious Slytherin." She flashed him another smile, this one a bit more mischievious than the others. It was quite rare for her to be smiling, the few times she did while in his presence, but in all honesty, he was quite easy to talk to.

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2007-07-12

"Oh, yeah." He replied with equal sincerity. "Stayed awake the entire lesson. And I actually like History of Magic. Says something." He scratched in another line, before putting his quill down and screwing the top onto his inkwell, moving to gather the various pieces of detritus that littered the table, mute witnesses to the torment of giant wars.

"Notorious Slytherin?" His mouth quirked in a grin. "I'm afraid I'm less auspicious. Equally unafraid though, lead the way." He added onto the end, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stood up. "I just need to check these books out."

They moved off from the table, keeping a slow pace with each other as they walked up to Pince's desk, voices dropping in volume appropriately. It was widely known that the new librarian had little patience for anything about whispering, and even that was shaky ground as far as that hag was concerned.

"Amara." He said, trying the word out as they walked. "Nice name." He cleared his throat as Pince assigned the books to him, piercing him with a glare that seemed reserved only for those who did little wrong. As a Ravenclaw, he was afforded a little leeway with her, but not this time apparently. He wondered if it had anything to do with the Slytherin girl.

"So where are we going, Amara?"

Number of posts : 15 Registration date : 2007-07-11

"I can't say that I like it honestly. Certain aspects yes, but not the class itself. Defense Against The Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, now those are classes that I can get into, actually getting to see yourself gain something from the lessons, you know?" She asked. She looked back down at her paper that still had only her name on it and shook her head slightly in frustration. Taking a glance over at him she saw that he was replacing the top to his ink pot and gathering items around him. She followed suit and neatly started to pile her things back into her bag that she had pulled out earlier.

"Yes, quite notorious, so I have heard myself being mentioned by a few students at this school. The funny thing is, of all the ones I usually associate with, I am the most calm, easy going. That is until you give me justifiable cause, then I might just live up to that notorious title. It takes quite a bit to get me there though. It’s just funny where I am already stereotyped simply by who I associate with and who my parents are. I shall be totally harmless around you anyway, you seem likable enough." She flashed him a slight grin.

She followed him as he went to check the books out that they were going to need for their assignment, watching Madam Pince carefully. The woman had always struck a nerve with Amara, always giving herself and her friends looks of distaste on the few rare occasions that they came to the library.

"Thanks, I like my name actually, as I do yours, Charlie. Let's go to the Black Lake, the east side, it's less popular."

She paused for a brief moment and wondered what exactly it was about him that was making her so socialble. She really didn't know anything about him except for what house he was in and that he was dreading this assignment as much as she was. She knew he wasn't one of the ones who continually preached how dreadful the war was and how the good ones were destined to win. That, in her eyes, gave him an advantage, at least to get to know her a bit better.