I Won't Admit I'm Lost (Susan)

[Deleted]

So ... Dastan wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but somehow he was lost. He'd been studying the castle ever since arriving here, and he was normally very good at knowing where he was, but at the moment his mental map was failing him. He couldn't even figure out which floor he was on, for goodness sake! Strangely enough, no one was nearby to point him in the right direction. They must be in classes or something. So he was going to have to figure it out on his own.

Still, after wandering the corridors for what seemed like hours, he couldn't figure out where he was. Furious at himself for not being able to figure out where he was, Dastan sat down and began to massage his temples. He had no intention of allowing his classmates- or anyone else for that matter- figure out that he was lost. Finally deciding on a game plan- to just go down the stairs until he figured out where he was- he stood up abruptly and turned to the left, accidentally running into someone. "I'm so sorry," said, reaching forward to try and steady whoever it was.

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan had left the Ravenclaw common room a bit later than usual that day; her first class was Transfiguration and it was just down on the second floor. With it being her favorite class, she knew every shortcut how to get down there in time for class. What she was not expecting was the boy who ran straight into her as she turned the corner. She bounced back a few steps, reaching out and grabbing his proffered arm. “That’s alright, no harm done,” she said, slightly breathless as she regained her balance. “Though it might not be the worst idea to be looking up when you’re walking,” she added, giving the boy a small smile to show she was only teasing.

Realizing she still had a grip on his arm though she was steady, she released it and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. Taking in his robes, she realized he must be a Beauxbatons student, and was most likely lost. “Are you looking for somewhere in particular? Perhaps I can help,” she offered. He didn’t seem like the type who would readily admit to being lost, so she didn’t want to come out and ask as to not offend him.


@dastan

[Deleted]

He smiled when she said no harm done. She was cute. "I'm glad," he told her, nodding when she said he should look up, even though she wasn't exactly right. "I was looking up, I just need some magical way to see around corners so I can know I'm not about to run into someone," he teased. Dastan wasn't really sure if she would appreciate that or not, but he couldn't help himself. He was trying to be serious here, but he honestly had a more lighthearted attitude most of the time.

His smile twisted mischievously when she asked if he was looking for a specific place. "Well, I was looking for the main floor, but I'm pretty sure I'm way off. I'm looking for stairs that will lead me downward." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Where are you headed?"

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan laughed. “They really should have those reflective mirrors that show you what’s around the corner,” she agreed. This hadn’t been her first time bumping into someone coming around the corner, but it was usually her fault. It was a nice change of pace to have it be the fault of the other person. “I’m heading for Transfiguration, down on the second floor. Since we’re both going downstairs I can take you,” she offered.

She began to walk down the hall towards the main set of staircases; it would probably be best not to lead him through the hidden passageways or mystery staircases if he was already lost. He’d never find his way around that way. “My name is Susan by the way, Susan Windsor,” she introduced herself. She looked over his pale blue robes and smiled. “Beauxbatons?” she asked.

@dastan

[Deleted]

Dastan laughed with her, "I'd like to see that. It would be one of the strangest-looking schools ever," he said good-naturedly. Then she said she could help him down. "Please do," he affirmed, nodding emphatically. He needed to get to a place he recognized so he could figure his way out of that place. Then things would get better. He didn't like being lost, but Dastan did realize that it was somewhat inevitable when you were exploring a new place as big as Hogwarts. 

"Nice to meet you Susan, I'm Dastan Oscarsson." He laughed at her assumption. It wasn't much of a deduction because his robes gave him away, but he confirmed her all the same, "Yes, here from Beauxbatons for the Tournament. Are you excited?" he asked kindly. He wanted to ask if she put her name in, but he realized just in time that he had no idea how old she was. How was he supposed to find that out? She was actually very good-looking, but it would mean nothing if she was a few years younger than he was and Dastan was a terrible judge of age. "So what year are you in?" he asked, hoping that it wouldn't be as obvious as asking for her age outright.

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan gave him a smile as they walked down the first set of stairs in the large room of staircases. “The staircases move here a lot, but if you’re patient enough, they’ll get you to where you need to be,” she said, remembering her first few weeks at school. If it hadn’t been for Will, she doubted she would have ever found her way to the Great Hall, much less her classrooms on time. She had been late only twice; after that she knew to give herself enough time as to get from place to place with space for unexpected stair switches built in. “Yes, I am excited for the Tournament, though I decided not to enter my name this year even though I’m of age. My mother told me if I did she’d march right up to the school and pull me out without explanation,” she told him with a chuckle. The lie was simple and came easy to her now; of course it had been Braelynn Rousseau who had asked her not to enter the Triwizard Tournament, though she wouldn’t have put it past her mother to not have a heart attack had Susan’s name came out of the goblet. This boy was a stranger though; she would not risk telling anyone about Bay still being alive. “Do you think your name will be picked?” she asked, sounding curious.

@dastan

[Deleted]

He followed her down the stairs, listening as she explained that sometimes patience was required when it came to the stairs. Dastan nodded, thinking he understood. The thing was, understanding and doing were two different things and Dastan was not a very patient person. He chuckled a little, "That's the part I do not do so well with. Patience," he told her, explaining his laugh so she didn't think he was laughing at her. That probably would not go over too well.

He smiled when she said she was of age. She hadn't directly answered his question, but she was seventeen, which meant that it was highly likely she was a seventh year. "Why would she do that?" he asked curiously. He couldn't imagine any witch or wizard wanting to pull their child out of school just because they entered their name in the Goblet of Fire. Besides, if the Goblet spit their name out, they wouldn't have a choice about competing. Dastan would have put his name in without permission, if necessary. "Doesn't she think representing your school would be an honor?"

He shrugged when she asked if he thought his name would be picked. "I hope so. I think the Tournament sounds exciting and challenging, which I would enjoy, but there are so many people entering that it is hard to know for sure. It would be an honor to represent Beauxbatons." Really, he didn't care who was picked, other than Emile. He did not want the competition to get the honor. It would be humiliating because Emile would probably take every opportunity to show it off. Still, he did not want to tell that to a complete stranger. "Since you won't be participating, are you excited to watch the Tasks?" He asked curiously. Maybe this girl just wasn't in the tournament at all. That could explain why she didn't enter her name without her mother's permission.

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan shrugged; she wasn’t surprised the Beauxbatons boy was curious as to why her “mother” didn’t want to compete, but she also knew she needed to be careful not to let anything slip. No one must be allowed to know about Braelynn still being alive; the more people who knew, the more likely Desirae would find out, and they couldn’t have that. “I’m a Muggleborn, and royalty, so when my mum thinks of tournaments she thinks of fighting to the death, and she didn’t want me to have any part of that,” she explained. She wondered what Dastan thought of Muggleborns; with all that happened last year, Susan was finding the opinions of her kind to be quite polarizing. “I am excited to watch the tasks though; plenty of my friends are entered, so if one of them is chosen I will happily root for them. I have no idea what’s in store for them since it’s so different every time,” she told him with a smile. “What do you think the First Task will entail? I know the year Harry Potter was in the tournament he had to face a nesting dragon.” Susan shuddered at the thought of facing a full grown dragon trying to protect its’ eggs; she knew how protective mothers could be.

@dastan

[Deleted]

Dastan's eyes widened when she said she was a muggleborn ... and royalty? Did he hear that right? He looked over at her curiously, but he wasn't going to ask her to repeat herself. He would trust his ears this time. If things got stranger, he might have to ask her though. She was beautiful, it wasn't hard to imagine her as royalty, going to royal functions. And she was obviously British, so he didn't need to ask where she was royalty. He smiled, "Well I suppose I can understand that then," and he could. Royal mother not wanting anything to happen to her daughter. Very logical. "What did she think when she found out you were a witch," he asked curiously, not really thinking before he asked. If she didn't want to tell him, she wouldn't. Dastan had never been able to push down his questioning nature though, and he wasn't about to start now.

He shrugged, "I think the Tasks will be dangerous. I really hope to be chosen; it would be a great opportunity to represent my school, and I think I would be able to do well." Really, Dastan was being modest. He was a skilled wizard and he knew it. That was why he was chosen to come here, after all. He shook his head, "I have no idea what they will do. It should be dangerous and thrilling to watch, but other than that, I have no clue. Do you have any ideas?" Dastan wasn't really one for guessing games. He just told things the way they were and accepted what happened in his life. In his mind, there really wasn't another way to do it.

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan gave a small smile; she remembered the day she found out she was a witch quite vividly, as it had been the same day as William.  "Well it was actually just before my first year at Hogwarts; my brother was already supposed to have been there but they er, had some trouble finding us," she started, cursing herself inwardly.  Of course now he'd ask why it took so long for them to find the Windsor family.  "She was shocked naturally, and was very hesitant on letting my brother and I go to Hogwarts.  She thought we'd be better protected with her than with a school.  But she was reassured many, many times by the representative from the school that she relented.  Though, with the kidnappings she wanted us straight home.  I defied her," she finished, a triumphant smile on her face.  She hadn't wanted to cause strife between her mother and herself, but she wasn't about to leave magic behind, not when she was entering her last year of schooling.


"The tasks will most certainly be dangerous.  I have no idea what they could entail," she said with a shrug.  "I do hope you get chosen though, you seem to be well up for the job," she added, giving him another smile.


@dastan

[Deleted]

Dastan noticed her hesitation after she said they had a hard time finding them. He assumed she was talking about the recruiters for Hogwarts, but couldn't be sure. A part of him wanted to ask why, it was the obvious question after all, but something kept him quiet. He nodded as she continued. He could only imagine how difficult it would be for a muggle to send her family off with witches and wizards. Then Susan said she defied her mother and his eyebrows rose in pleased surprise. So she fought for what she wanted, did she? "You refused to go home," it should have been a question, but Dastan stated it more like a comment. The girl was obviously proud of herself for defying her mother's wishes. He smiled, "That takes real strength," he told her with a smile.

He grinned when she said that she wanted him to be chosen, "Thank you. I hope I get chosen as well. It's an amazing opportunity." He looked at her curiously before asking yet another question. "So how does it feel to have so many strangers in your castle?"

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan nodded at him. “I did. I didn’t think I’d be any safer with Muggle security than with the security of Hogwarts. I mean, a wizard doesn’t need all that much to disarm Muggle security guards do they? My brother disagreed though; it was a pretty bad fight,” she said, pausing. She and Will had made up of course, but their argument had been probably their worst one ever. He hadn’t told her about Isla until she saw it in a tabloid, and she had lived in the Leaky Cauldron all summer. “I actually worked at the Leaky Cauldron on the outskirt of Diagon Alley all summer; it’s the threshold I guess you could say of the magical streets that sell all the wizarding supplies in London,’ she explained. “It was actually pretty fun; I got to see how more normal people lived and worked, and made some new friendship I definitely wasn’t expecting.” She certainly never would have expected to develop a friendship with Raleigh Flint, that was for sure.

“I’m used to strangers in my castle, to be honest,” she said, laughing a little. “Being the daughter of a royal, there’s always so many random people coming in and out,” she added. “What about you? How different is Beauxbatons from Hogwarts?” she asked, curious about the French wizarding school.

@dastan

[Deleted]

Dastan nodded, understanding how difficult it would be to fight with a brother. He and his brother got along quite well most of the time, but they did have the occasional squabble. It didn't sound like their issues with one another were anywhere near to the arguments that Susan had with her brother. "I am sorry. Fighting with family is never easy," he lamented. "But good that you were able to explore and find more of yourself, right?" Did that make any sense? Dastan wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to say anything if she didn't.

He laughed when she said she was used to strangers. He nodded to show he agreed, "That makes sense. Growing up, did you normally do a lot with those people? Or did you just do your own thing?" It was interesting, this conversation they were having. For the first time since coming to the castle, Dastan was distracted from what he was doing here (the tournament) and focused on something else. He smiled when she asked about Beauxbatons. "It is very different. I can already tell that it gets very cold here, but at Beauxbatons the weather is normally very nice. We have a castle as well, but different animals are found on our grounds than yours, naturally." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I am glad I could come here for my last year. It is ... nice to see another school and get to know the students." He thought for a moment, searching for a particular word. "Refreshing," he added with another smile. 

@susanvictoria

[Deleted]

Susan nodded in agreement. “I agree, it certainly was an eye-opening experience,” she said with a small smile. “I would have loved the opportunity to go to Beauxbatons, but obviously being a Muggleborn in England meant Hogwarts was the only school we found out about until we got here and learned a bit of history of magic,” she told him. She agreed that it was a great opportunity to be at a different school for a year, she knew Phil was at Castelbruxo and relished the opportunity it presented for them all. Hopefully if she worked with the Department of International Magic Cooperation she’d be able to travel to all of the wizarding schools of the world, just to get the opportunity to see the different magical cultures.

They stepped out from behind a tapestry, in front of the room Dastan was looking for. “Well, here we are,” she said, guesting to the door with a smile. “If you ever get lost again, I’d be happy to help,” she added with a light laugh.


@dastan

[Deleted]

Before he really realized it, Susan brought him where he needed to go. He'd been so wrapped up in their conversation, in learning a little bit more about her, that he forgot to pay attention to where he was going. So he didn't learn what he wanted to in the first place, more of the layout of the school. Still, he got to meet someone knew and he believed that he made a new friend, which was a good thing.

He smiled at her, "Thank you for helping me Susan." Then, when she suggested that she'd be willing to help him out again, Dastan laughed. "I will remember that. If I ever see you and I'm lost, I might make you help me find my way again ..." He winked at her before turning away. "Until later," he said before walking away.

@susanvictoria (end, yes?)