back into the swing of things -- open

[Deleted]

@open

there were certain times of a day where things were easier. studying was one of those times. he could focus on his schoolwork and not on other things that might flood his mind. he scrubbed the back of his palm over his cheek when he felt an itch and he dipped the quill back into the ink pot. it was only the first few days back and already some of the classes were laying it on thick. here he was writing out a parchment for potions, though he didn't mind. it was the distraction he was grateful for. he was tucked away in the back corner of the library relishing in the quiet that was there. he finished writing what he'd been reading and he closed the book with a thud and rested his chin down on his hands to read the next chapter of the book he had propped up in front of his face.

[Deleted]

Cecelia was so glad to have a friend. Finally. It felt like it had been years since she'd had someone who she was comfortable with, and to have that again was a relief. Of course, she hadn't expected Chantal - no one had expected any of the Beauxbatons students, or the Durstang ones - but that didn't matter. Chantal had come in with no expectations, and that was what had allowed Cece to feel so close to her. They spoke the same language, literally and metaphorically. The two of them had agreed to go to the library to start making preparations for the Triwizard Tournament, in case either one of them were selected to represent their respective schools. If Chantal was selected, there was no doubt in Cecelia's mind that she would cheer for the other girl - there was no one at Hogwarts that Cecelia wanted to succeed more than she wanted Chantal to succeed. The particular book that the Gryffindor had in mind for them to study was a tome of basic spells that had been compiled by a recent Hogwarts graduate. They were spells that the author actually used in day-to-day life and wanted every graduate to know, and it seemed as good of a place to start as any. However, when she reached the shelf, Chantal behind her, Cecelia halted in her tracks. Ranger Lloyd was sitting not far away, and she really didn't want to mess with him. It would only end badly.

@ranger
@chantal

[Deleted]

The most that Chantal had seen of the interior of Hogwarts was its Great Hall, where its students—and now the visiting students—took their meals. Cecelia Rousseau had invited her to the school's library, however, so that the both of them could do some research to prepare for the Triwizard Tournament. Cecelia, too, had entered, though Chantal didn't see any reason to worry; with so many other students, the chances were slim that they would both be representing their respective schools as Champions.

Following Cecelia inside the library and past shelves upon shelves of books, Chantal looked around. Some of the authors were recognizable; she had read translations of their works at home. Other books seemed as though they would be impossible to understand in any language. Cecelia had told her about one book in particular, one that had been put together by a recent Hogwarts graduate, and it was that book that they were hoping to find. Just when she was certain that they had reached it, Cecelia stopped suddenly, and Chantal was forced to stop short behind her.

The only other person around them, Chantal saw, was a boy from Hogwarts who was busy reading some book or another. “Qu'est-ce qu'il y a?” she asked Cecelia at a whisper, wondering why she had stopped. She looked again at the young man with the book in front of his face. He wasn't in their way. Did Cecelia know him?

@cecelia
@ranger

[Deleted]

@cecelia & @chantal

a voice took him away from the book that he was reading and when he looked up his face twisted into a frown. really? her. again? he sighed and looked down at his book again, deciding to pay no attention to her. if she wanted to start something again he wasn't going to provoke it. though he did half hope she would .. either put her in her place or let headmaster longbottom or another professor do it for him. he hated people who thought they were more important than other people .. and that was the opinion that he had of the other gryffindor. that she was a self loving pompous princess who thought everyone should pay attention to her and what she was doing. but maybe he was a little biased .. after all their last meeting a few days after his parents had died hadn't gone too well.

[Deleted]

Cecelia had to take a few moments to put breath back into her body after seeing Ranger. The terror she had felt that day in Diagon Alley had flooded unexpectedly through her at seeing him, and she needed time for it to dissipate. After letting herself calm, Cecelia turned to Chantal, shaking her head slightly. “Le garçon-là, il est dans ma classe. Nous ne sommes pas amis, pour dire simplement. C’est difficile d’expliquer, mais ce suffis de dire que nous ne nous aimons pas.” She looked pointedly at Ranger, and then turned back to Chantal. “Il est…égocentrique, on peut dire. Cet été j’étais en grand difficulté et il ne m’aide pas. C’est d’accord.” Cecelia grabbed the book off of the shelf, and then cursed internally. The only free table in the library was directly adjacent to Ranger, and after what she had told Chantal, she wasn’t sure it was the best place to be. Maybe they could just leave.

@ranger
@chantal

Translations:
The boy there, he's in my grade. We aren't friends, to say simply. It's difficult to explain, but suffice to say, we don't like each other.
He's self-centered, one could say. This summer I was in big trouble and he didn't help me. It's okay.

[Deleted]

Chantal scrunched up her nose at Cecelia's explanation of who the boy was. She hadn't exactly elaborated on what had happened over the summer and in what way he had neglected to come to her aid, but she didn't sound pleased. It was probably for the best that she hadn't mentioned his name, Chantal thought, though she made a mental note to watch out for him in the future.

She waited as Cecelia grabbed the book that they had intended to find, happy to see that it hadn't been checked out. There were some tables, she noticed, farther away from where they stood, though all of them appeared to be occupied. For as much research as they planned to do, standing would become tiring, though it seemed as though she and Cecelia had taken notice of the one free table nearby at exactly the same time. The only caveat was that it happened to be right beside the very student whom Cecelia likely hoped to avoid.

Looking between Cecelia and the unoccupied table, Chantal smiled and approached the young man. “Excuse me,” she addressed him politely, flipping her hair over her shoulder. As much as she disliked how she sounded in English, Chantal had to put her trust in the fact that the allure of her French accent might help to smooth things over. Still smiling, she gestured to the empty table. “We can sit here?”

@cecelia
@ranger

[Deleted]

@cecelia & @chantal

“Le garçon-là, il est dans ma classe. Nous ne sommes pas amis, pour dire simplement. C’est difficile d’expliquer, mais ce suffis de dire que nous ne nous aimons pas. Il est…égocentrique, on peut dire. Cet été j’étais en grand difficulté et il ne m’aide pas. C’est d’accord.” he frowned a little as he heard the french coming from cecelia. so he was self centered was he? if she was trying to hide what she was saying she probably should have made sure he couldn't speak french. it had been his mother's idea to teach her kids different languages. if they wanted to explore the world they needed to speak how others did. so she'd drilled french into them as they grew up, as well as italian and some polish. he wasn't what he would call fluent but he knew enough to understand most of what she had been saying. "if you're going to make something up about someone cecelia .. make sure they don't speak the same language." he said as he looked up from his book at her. "i didn't even know you were in trouble, i can't help someone if i don't know they're in trouble" he asked as he leaned back. clearly she assumed that he'd seen everything and hadn't been bothered to help her. not that she'd given him the chance to tell her he hadn't seen, what with her trying to hex him and all. “Excuse me, We can sit here?” he glanced at the beaubaxtons student as she walked over and asked if they could sit down. as much as he wanted to say no, he couldn't really. he was a prefect and needed to help make a good impression of the school. "sure." he said, letting a small smile slip onto his face at her. "i'm ranger lloyd. i hope you're enjoying you're time at hogwarts?"

so google translate wasn't my friend while trying to find the french words for him to say lol

[Deleted]

Cecelia had never been more grateful to have Chantal with her in her life – which was saying a lot, since practically every minute she found a new way that Chantal was making her better. Cece didn’t know why she hadn’t done this sooner. Breaking from the flock that Desirae had shoved her in was the most freeing thing. The people she cared for actually cared for her in return, instead of seeing her as competition for the spot of top dog. Desirae hadn’t been shy in her desire to move up in the ranks, and Cecelia was always tugged along, which meant that people either respected her completely or not at all. Friendship was so much more than mutual respect or mutually assured destruction, and Chantal had been teaching her that, even though school had just barely started.

“I’m sorry, Ranger, for speaking in the language that my friend is more comfortable in. If your precious baby ego can’t understand that not everything in the world revolves around you and your comfort, you would know that I don’t give a damn whether or not you understand French.” Cecelia replied, turning Chantal with a pointed look. Ranger was just proving her point in assuming that everything she did and said was to inconvenience him or make him look bad. “I’m sorry, did you not hear me screaming for help? I could see you on the edge of the crowd, and I know you saw me, too.” Cecelia said, putting her hands on her hips. “I could’ve died, and from the way you acted, you didn’t give a damn.” Cecelia rolled her eyes, and then turned to her friend. “Chantal, veux-tu bouger?” Who cared if Ranger spoke French? Chantal did, too, and it was obviously more comfortable for her than English, and Cece wasn’t going to change because some idiot egoist wanted her to.

@ranger
@chantal

Translations:
Chantal, would you like to move?

[Deleted]

Able to pick up words here and there as Cecelia and the boy conversed, Chantal tried to follow along with what they were saying. She watched them, using their body language to fill in what her relatively limited knowledge of English could not. “Enchantée,” she nodded at the boy, who had introduced himself to her as Ranger Lloyd. “I'm Chantal.” She would have added that, yes, she did like Hogwarts, but she didn't want to say anything that might accidentally escalate the conflict between Cecelia and Ranger.

For Chantal, the situation had become thorny. The other two students were visibly angry with one another, which made sense, given what Cecelia had told her in French, although Chantal had no idea how to respond when Cecelia looked at her. What did she expect her to say? She could have told them both to shut up before the librarian came to scold them for their behavior, but she was the visiting student.

When Cecelia asked if she wanted to move, Chantal thought about taking her up on that offer. She didn't want to have to physically restrain the two Hogwarts students, but she would if it came to that. They were all adults, though, and certainly they could behave like adults long enough to finish up what they were doing in the library. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she went ahead and pulled out one of the available chairs, intentionally placing herself between Ranger and the other open seat.

She looked to Cecelia. “C'est bien. Assieds-toi.”

@cecelia
@ranger

[Deleted]

@cecelia & @chantal

"i don't care about you talking in another language, i care that you're making up lies about me" he said as she sprouted off about him being egotistical and childish for him having a problem with her talking in french. "maybe it was self centered of me to be thinking more about my family and what was happening with us than to be thinking about someone else. but there were plenty of people in that alley who didn't help you, though i didn't see you trying to hex them. now i'm sorry that you've deluded yourself into thinking that i saw you and ignored you. though accusing me of being self centered because of an issue you're having that's all about you .. well to me that's that's what's childish and egotistical and what did you call it .. self centered. so clearly it's a pot meet kettle situation." when she accused him of not giving a damn, well she couldn't fault him there. at the time he probably would have cared and been apologetic about it but with the way she had acted afterward, well he thought he was pretty justified to not care. "tell me, how clearly were you thinking in the day's after someone murdered your sister?" he doubted she'd been thinking clearly and if she turned around and told him that she'd been thinking clearly, he'd know she was full of it. or unfeeling. which was actually more the likely situation in his view. he turned his attention to chantal as she sat down, taking the seat that would probably be the one between him and cecelia if she did decide to sit down. "so how're you finding hogwarts?"

[Deleted]

Cecelia didn’t process a single word that Ranger said, because four words were ringing in her ears. Someone murdered your sister. It was so much worse than that, because it wasn’t just someone – it was Desirae, the one person in the world she thought she loved just as much as Bay. It was so much worse than that, because then Desi expected her to smile, to congratulate her older sister on purging the traitor from their ranks. It was so much worse than that, because the very next day, when Cecelia awoke, she was led into a room and forced to make an Unbreakable Vow. It was so much worse, because every day, someone just had to remind her that her sister was dead. Slowly, Cecelia picked up the book that she had placed on the table. She looked at Chantal, her lower lip beginning to quiver, and shook her head almost imperceptibly. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t do any of this. She had thought that putting her name in the Goblet was somehow going to fix everything, but it didn’t. Her twin was still dead and her elder sister was still a murderer, and she was still alone. She was stupid for even hoping that anything would change, because Cecelia had died at the same time that Braelynn had. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. She clutched the book to her chest and turned away, the first of many tears falling down her cheek. She could feel the pressure of devil Desirae sitting on her shoulder, cackling out insults as Cecelia did the only thing she seemed to be good at anymore. She ran away.

@ranger
@chantal

[Deleted]

“Cecelia? Cecelia?!” Chantal’s chair clattered to the floor as she stood, dumbstruck. Instead of sitting down beside her, Cecelia had run out of the library, taking the book with her. It would have been foolish to try to follow her. She had no idea where Cecelia could have gone, but she knew that whatever Ranger had said to her had gone too far.

Trying not to draw attention to herself or the argument that had caused Cecelia to leave in such a hurry, Chantal stared at Ranger as she picked up her chair up again. Chantal had seen the look on Cecelia’s face before she left; she had seen how utterly distraught she was. How could Ranger live with himself after watching one of his classmates run away in tears because of what he had said to her? ”T’es content maintenant?” Chantal asked him, anger in her voice. “You have made a girl cry.” She shook her head in dismay. “Pourquoi donc? Parce que t'es trop stupide de savoir quand se taire.”

Still standing beside the chair in which she had been sitting, Chantal watched Ranger with growing impatience. “Elle a raison,” she told him simply. “T’es égoïste.” Pausing, she added, “Excuse-toi auprès d’elle.”

@cecelia
@ranger

Dialogue translation:

^{_{“Are you happy now?”
“And why? Because you’re too stupid to know when to shut up.”
“She’s right. You are egotistical.”
“Apologize to her.”}}

[Deleted]

@cecelia & @chantal

“Apologize to her.” ranger frowned as he made to stand up from the chair. he could ignore what else she had been saying. she seemed willing to judge him on this one experience, well that seemed a bit unfair. he hadn't been the only provoker in the room but it seemed that the false victim face cecelia seemed to have on at the moment was doing it's job. "no. i won't apologize for asking a valid question. she expected me to be thinking clearly enough to help her in the days after my parents murders, so i wanted to know exactly how clearly she was able to think after bay's death" he said as he took the books from the table he'd taken out from the library and stuffed them into his book bag. there was no point in staying around the library now, he wasn't in the mood to study. "aren't you going after her? you're her friend after all. aren't you?" he looked at her. they were painting him as an asshole so why not act like one to them. he'd spent so long being nice to people that being a jerk was a change.