What I Need Is Quiet [Open]

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Today was one of those days that the pressure was trying to get to her. And Zita was honestly, truly, forcefully attempting to fight off a wave of panic because of all of the things she still had left to do before the break came. She was still even deciding if she wanted to go home for break. She needed to decide if she wanted to hold one last GSA meeting but she knew that might get tedious because she needed to come up with a good topic to discuss with her co-captain. Even then, she knew that people were starting to buckle down on studying for upcoming exams and she didn’t want to get in the way of that. She needed to start studying for her own exams as well. Letting her grades slip in her final year wouldn’t be good for her planned career. Thinking about everything had made the Hufflepuff common room feel a little too full and small for her so she’d gotten out of there, deciding to take a walk around the castle. She would have gone outside but that would have required a cloak that she hadn’t felt like grabbing. She’d needed to get out right away. The corridor she was walking down then was still pretty cool but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It wasn’t empty by any means, a few students were walking in the same and the opposite direction than her and if she was walking too slow, she stepped to the side to let them by before continued her stroll. She felt herself calming down, much more than she had been and soon she knew she’d have to return to her common room to start working again.

Tag; open

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Ophelia was coming out from the Transfiguration classroom, which was empty at this time of day, allowing her to practice her spells in peace. It was somewhat spacious, and since she always did Transfiguration in this very place it helped provide a sort of stimulus for her to focus. There was a big exam coming up for the Crinus Muto spell, and today she'd walked away with her hair still somewhat brown at the top, so that it looked as if she'd dyed her naturally blonde hair in an ombre fashion. It looked quite odd; brunette was definitely not Fi's style.

She'd decided to sit on it and rest her mind a bit, for she could feel herself getting a headache as she attempted over and over again to get her hair back to normal. She may be a Ravenclaw, but even they had struggles with spells sometimes. Afraid of accidentally setting herself on fire, or doing something else stupid in her fatiguing manner, Ophelia had stepped away to get some fresh air in the corridors.

The moment she'd placed her foot out the door, though, she almost collided with another girl who happened to be walking down the halls, and she let a surprised, "oh!" before realizing who it was: fellow quidditch captain Zita, of Hufflepuff. A year above her, Fi didn't have much interactions with her and had little beef except on the sports field. Then again, she got along with most Hufflepuffs and liked them well enough. "I'm sorry, Z," she said sheepishly, smiling a crooked smile and running a hand through her weirdly-colored locks, wand held limply in the other. "How are you? You look stressed."

Sure enough, Zita looked pretty worried, and Fi wondered if it was just pending graduation nerves, as it was Z's last year. Hand bracing the frame of the doorway, Ophelia cocked a hip and tilted her head to the other side, biting her lip and glancing at her rival curiously.

Words: 330
Tags: @zita 
Notes: Sorry it's a bit late, got sidetracked by ballroom practice, lmao. >.>

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Zita hadn’t been paying much attention to where she was walking. It took a bit of time for her to realize she’d made her way to the corridor where the Transfiguration classroom sat. She didn’t think that there were any classes going on at that particular time, but as she came upon the door of the classroom, she was shocked when someone stepped out and she almost ran into them. Both she and the girl from the doorway caught themselves in time and she took a deep breath to pass the feeling. "Oh it’s not a problem," she replied, he right cheek bunching up into a grin when she recognized who had spoken to her. Ophelia, or Fi, was the Ravenclaw captain and fellow keeper. A pretty good one too, in Zita’s opinion. Ravenclaw was an overall good team though. Any interaction she’d had with Fi had been amicable so the blonde was okay in her book. The younger girl seemed to be pretty observant too. Zita’s grin fell just a little bit at her comment on her appearance, letting out a chuckle that was a little less humor, a little more introspective. "I’m starting to think that might be my baseline now, unfortunately. Things to do piling on top of things to do." It was then that she noticed the Ravenclaw’s hair. "I was wondering what you were doing in there," Z started, "but I guess I have my answer. Need a little help?" Just by looking she knew what spell she was working on. She loved Transfiguration. And having something else to do could take her mind temporarily off of everything else.

Tag; @ophelia

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"Yeah, I understand." Ophelia smiled bitterly at Zita's words; she knew of those days, stressed and overwhelmed because of work piling up and up, never seeming to end. Sometimes, she wondered if she could see the light at the end of the tunnel and find a day to relax. Other days, when she didn't actually have things to do she found herself stressed because she didn't have things to stress about. "Now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I actually visited Hogsmeade to have a good time. Sometimes I go to pick up snacks, and then I'm back working. But I miss the taste of firewhisky." 

It was especially bad now: the transfers and the gigantic number of people at Hogwarts did not help with Fi's anxiety and she found herself easily slipping into a bad mood. Her outlet was mainly quidditch, where she could forget about her studies and focus on the game, but the Americans were trying out and making the teams and it was annoying her, them taking over what she considered their sport. 

Ophelia smiled bashfully and dipped her head, tilting it so that her hair faced Zita's wand. "Yes, I'd love some help," she said earnestly. It wasn't often that Ophelia liked to ask for help, liking to think that she could always do it herself, and although she'd never say it out loud she privately would rarely think to actively approach a Hufflepuff for assistance. But right now, she was so burned out she found herself simply touched by Zita's gesture. Badgers and their kind hearts. "Thank you. You had to do this spell last year too, right? We have an exam on Crinus Muto coming up and I was practicing."

Words: 292
Tags: @zita

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Ophelia shared a somber smile with her and she felt sorry for the Ravenclaw for knowing what she meant. The fact that she understood being overloaded with work meant that at some point, or even now, she was overwhelmed and may have taken on a bit more than she could handle. It was how Zita felt. She was going to stick it out, of course. It was almost time for break and she'd be able to relax for a little while. Being able to rest and recuperate would give her the boost that she needed to fight through until the end of the year. She could handle it. She hoped. When she mentioned firewhisky, Zita gave another grin and shook her head. That sounded delightful actually, a sip or four of firewhisky to loosen up. Zita didn't drink often at all, she was forgetful enough as it was so losing her executive functioning wasn't the smartest of ideas. She reserved it only for celebrations, like quidditch wins. She couldn't help but think that it would be fun to loosen up for a while, because she definitely more than loosened up when firewhisky was shooting through her veins. She nodded and smiled, pointing to the inside of the Transfiguration classroom when Fi excepted her offer of help. "Here, I'll have you sit down so I can make sure to get all of it turned back evenly," she gestured before sliding past her into the empty class room. Luckily enough the Ravenclaw wasn't much taller than her; it was still much better to have her sit so that she could see all of her hair. "Yeah, Crinus Muto is one of the more difficult ones especially when you have to perform it on yourself. " she said as she walked over to one of the desks and pulled a chair out, "And it's not a problem at all,"she added with a smile. This was something she could succeed at, and feeling successful would help with the dark feelings that'd come over her.

Tag; @ophelia

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Zita had gestured to the Transfiguration classroom again, and so Ophelia ducked her head and smiled, a bit shyly again, before turning back to follow the Hufflepuff captain and sat down in one of the chairs at the desk. Good thing it had been someone she got along well with who'd caught her in her distress, or she might have spent the rest of the day arguing and exchanging verbal fire with whomever she'd bumped into, too frustrated to be courteous and too embarrassed to lose again. 

Fi puffed her cheeks and rolled her eyes in agreement at Z's words. "Yeah, I envy the Metamorphmagi," she nodded. Sometimes, she realized that she took magic completely for granted, and would remember, with some satisfaction, that the majority of the world didn't even possess an ounce of magic in their bodies. She had to give Muggles some credit for being so creative, inventing all the things to do things that they couldn't, without wands. Well, the gift of magic didn't come easily. 

A Hufflepuff helping a Ravenclaw. THAT's a role reversal, she thought to herself in amusement and took out her ponytail to shake her hair out, her back facing Zita. "Ready when you are." 

Words: 203
Tags: @zita  

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Zita watched and waited for Fi to come in and sit down in the chair. When she had, the Ravenclaw shook out her hair so that Zita could see the extent of the color change. "Pfft, yeah I definitely understand that. That would definitely make it easier, " she laughed at the other girl’s comment about Metamorphmagi. She liked her hair as it was; she much rather preferred changing her shoes every day as she did rather than her hair but for someone who liked changing their hair a lot it would be convenient. She moved left and right around her to get a better view. It wasn’t bad at all. Well, the fact that it was blonde mixed with brunette could be seen as bad depending on the observer’s taste but her spell work hadn’t been bad. She’d gotten a decent amount of her roots changed to brown while also having the spell travel down a few more of the strands in the back. She imagined what her hair would look like fully brown and she smiled. "For the record, you chose a good color. Brown would look super cute on you," she commented, pulling her wand out of her pocket and running her fingers through some of the strands, still looking over the amount she had to change back. One of the things that made the Transfiguration spell so difficult to cast on oneself was the fact that it required a few specific wand movements. She pointed her wand then and went to work immediately."Crinus Muto." Light shimmered from her wand as she moved it intricately, watching as her hair became the uniform blonde she recognized the Ravenclaw normally having. When she was finished, she stepped back. "All good," the smile in her voice was evident.

Tag; @ophelia

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The Ravenclaw bit her lip and smiled shyly again at Zita's comment about her current hair color situation. Her hands felt nice through her hair. "Thank you," she said, hoping that the Hufflepuff couldn't see her getting a bit red. She had an urge to reach up and tug on her hair, an idiosyncrasy that arose whenever she was flustered. Normally, Ophelia was all confidence and self-assurance, but she felt strangely vulnerable in this situation, being the helped instead of the helper. Plus, she had nothing but respect and affection for Zita.

"Yeah, brown was easiest to picture on me. I wouldn't dare try ginger," she added, laughing. 

Ophelia sat and waited patiently for Z to do her work, forcing herself not to drum her fingers or hum while she did so. "Crinus Muto," Fi heard Zita chant, and a moment later: "All good." 

There was a mirror in the room, having been placed there a couple years ago for students to check up on their progress for all their bodily transfiguration spells, and Fi stepped forward to examine her hair. "Wow, thank you so much," she exclaimed again. Indeed, all her locks were back to normal, and she ran her hands through it. "I hope I didn't take up too much of your time?" she asked politely, knowing that even though it literally took Zita a second she'd still stole some of the seventh year's minutes beforehand. Didn't she say she was stressed? 

Words: 244
Tags: @zita
Notes: stop getting fi all bashful >.> I love it. 

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Fi had mentioned not daring to try ginger on herself as far as changing her hair color had went and Zita’s face lit up with momentary amusement. Not because she necessarily agreed with the thought that a red would not have been her color but because she actually began imagining the blonde with strawberry blonde hair instead and it didn’t look bad. She didn’t mention it though, thinking it was unnecessary to mention the point considering she already seemed so adamantly against the color. "Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal. I love Transfiguration anyway so getting a chance to practice it is a good thing for me." Not to mention the small task had definitely made her feel better than she had when she’d left her common room. She slipped her wand into her pocket and sat down in the chair that the other girl had just stood up from, watching as she ran her hands through her hair, checking out her handy work. She felt proud of herself that it had come out as well at it had; she didn’t get a lot of practice using that spell but her talents with Transfiguration still bled through. "That took no time at all Fi," she chuckled, "I wasn’t doing anything important. Just roaming the halls to get out of the common room." She placed her elbow on the desk, resting her chin in her hand as she continued to watch Fi look at her hair."Are you still going to practice? I can hang around and help if you want me to?" Anything to keep her from going back to the Hufflepuff common room. Also anything to keep her from wandering the corridors and stressing herself out more.

Tag; @ophelia
((OOC: Hahahaha! Just adorbs))

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Ophelia let out a chuckle. "Transfiguration... admittedly isn't my favorite subject. I'm sure it is for a lot of people, because it's cool and all, but I love charms much more than anything else. Changing something into something completely different is pretty scary." She'd been startled when she caught a glimpse of someone changing a desk into a pig, and then back again; it was frightening for her to see something instantly spring into life, and sometimes she got the sense she was being watched, spied on, especially by her parents, both of whom were very adamant that she remain in their clutches until she sorted herself out. She was determined to be armed with her charms spells and counteract anything her mother and father dare throw upon her.

She nodded at Zita's explanation of her in the hallway. "Yeah, I was coming out of here to clear my head too," the now-blonde Ravenclaw said. "My whole head was brown, and the hair was a darker shade too, but I had to gradually work my way back to my natural color. First by toning the brunette down to a lighter tone and then for some reason the spell wasn't working too well anymore and I guess I just got tired, so I decided to take a break before I did something dangerous to myself." She'd always thought that she might accidentally Vanish herself, or do something equally ridiculous, in a state of fatigue, especially now when they were learning nonverbal spells and anything could happen if she happened to focus on it in that instant. The possibilities were seemingly endless. "Sure, hang around if you want. Like I said before probably not going to do much for a while, just rest before I try again. What's going on with your life? Seventh year keeping you busy, yeah?"

Words: 307
Tags: @zita

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She could understand why Fi felt the way that she did about Transfiguration, nodding along as she listened to her explanation. However, that wasn't what she thought of when she did pondered Transfiguration. She wanted to be a mediwizard, the first witch on the scene of a large accident who was supposed to help heal those who sustained injuries, get them stable and get them to the hospital. She always thought of how practical it would be to be able to turn anything into bandages or splints to stave off bleeding and set broken bones when she wasn't able to fully close wounds or apply special salves to save someone's life. She could turn something into anything to help her help her patients. And if that wasn't cool, she didn't know what was. "It's good nothing bad happened then," Zita smiled and nodded after she finished her explanation. Something must have gone wrong with the spell if it'd taken her that long to get back to her natural hair color. "Ravenclaw might have a hard time without you." The words were said with a smirk on her face in an attempt to lighten the mood. Being that she was the Captain of her house's quidditch team the words were true in a sense but she didn't wish anything bad to happen to the Ravenclaw. Her eyes had began to wander around the classroom as she continued listening to Fi speak and the girl had mentioned that she could stick around the classroom. It wasn't until she'd innocently asked about how her year had been going that her eyes didn't travel back to the girl. Little by little all of the things she needed to do began seeping back to the front of her mind and she took a deep steadying breath to keep the panic at bay. "Quidditch captain, GSA captain, on top of all of the classes I'm taking. Not to mention preparing to graduation and hoping that my marks are good enough so that I can become a mediwizard." She ran a hand through her hair as she ran those thoughts over and over in her head. "Busy is an understatement. I'm just glad break is coming up soon so I can get some rest." She probably needed to make more plays too soon for a future game.And she still needed to decide if she was staying at Hogwarts or going home. She took another deep breath, shutting her eyes as she did so to maintain her calm.

Tag; @ophelia

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The blonde chuckled and returned a smirk of her own, leaning back against the the chair she was sitting on and slinging an arm over the back. "Oh, I'm confident my team would triumph even without me. I've been pumping out drills during practice, mind you-- you can forget even trying to get close to the goalposts, my Chasers will keep you so far from them that I might as well sit back and eat popcorn on the sidelines." In fact, she was beginning to feel restless and almost wished that the upcoming game would come soon, despite all the work she had for classes. She was proud of her team and always would be, and they always put in their best efforts in every training session. They were ready to win, damn it. 

Ophelia cooed in sympathy as Zita talked about her overwhelming load of labor. "Well. You deserve it. And now I won't hold up your time any longer with Quidditch banter so you can get some of that break you came for in the first time." she stood up and held her arms out for a hug. 

Words: 190
Tags: @zita
Notes: Are these two paired for dates?

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The smirk that spread across Zita’s face as the blonde bragged about the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was downright smug. She liked the confidence, honestly truly, and as a captain she admired the fact that a fellow captain had so much faith in their team. "Hufflepuff will most definitely test out that claim because our chasers’ teamwork is so put together. It’s a beautiful sight, one I’m sure you saw in the Gryffindor game if you went." She was of course, referring to Hufflepuff’s victory last month against the Gryffindor Team. She wasn’t sure what it had been but they’d run away with the game, defeating the lions with a 190 point margin. It was a great game for them, their defense and offense had been tight and every had done their job well and they’d celebrated after it was over. ”You’ll have to beat Slytherin of course first it seems and I know Edmund is good for it when it comes to getting his team together." Edmund Windsor was Slytherin’s team captain and he was yet another great player. She knew that whatever Slytherin brought to the field, it would be good under his care. Ophelia stood then, holding her arms out for a hug and mentioning not wanting to hold her any long from her break. She felt a bit sad at the dismissal because she was enjoying the company, the Quidditch banter easily taking her mind off of the reasons she’d come out of the common room in the first place. ”I am always good for Quidditch banter," she held her arms out and hugged her lightly. ”Thanks for talking with me though and giving me something to do." The words were spoken in jest but she still meant them honestly.

Tag; @ophelia
((OOC: Yes they are~ ))

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Ophelia smiled, remembering the game. Of course she'd went, at the very least to assess any new strategies her future opponents might have developed, and also to cheer on those friends who played Quidditch for their respective houses. "It was a work of art," the blonde replied smoothly, accenting the compliment with a smile. Truly, it had been quite good, and it had lead to a terrific victory. Deep down, she knew she would pick Hufflepuff over Gryffindor; though she was tight with some of the scarlet-clad students she simply preferred the down-to-earth, trustworthy Hufflepuffs as company in any situation. 

"Oh, I'm sure we have a good chance of beating Edmund's team," she said, thinking of the upcoming match against Slytherin. Now, she respected the hell out of the serpents and she was actually looking forward to playing them. If anyone besides one of her fellow Ravenclaws could give her a challenge to work with, it would most definitely be the Slytherins from the dungeons. It would be a fun match, even if they lost. Not to say that the other teams weren't good, but she secretly liked the driving attitude of the Slytherins the best. 

Fi returned the hug, and smiled when she pulled back. "Of course. A battle of wits is always a welcome," she chuckled, and tucked her wand back into her pocket, and pulled open the door to leave. "See you on the field, Fernandez. Or hopefully, sooner." 

Words: 242
Tags: @zita 
Notes: So, like me, it looks like Ophelia just doesn't like Gryffindors. xD 
We can end this thread here and I'll go join our date thread if you'd like!