The Art Teacher (Rozalina)

[dreama azurovna nightshade]

December 31, 2016
Grandfather's House, Russia

With Orthodox Christmas occurring at a later date than Christmas elsewhere in the world, Dreama had been home from her studies at Koldovstoretz for not even a day, and New Year's Eve meant that her mother had taken her and her siblings to their grandfather's house, dressed to the nines, for the occasion.

Admittedly, she didn't fully understand why it was that she had cousins who didn't attend Koldovstoretz like she did. It was said to be the best wizarding school in all of Russia, and she knew from personal experience—in her few months in attendance there, anyway—that the education that its students received was nothing short of excellent. If her relatives were worried about the quality of the school, she was sure that their concerns were unfounded.

As the adults and some of the older children were conversing, Dreama decided to slip out of the room and head to her grandfather's library. She wasn't a voracious reader, but it was quiet there. Plus, she needed something to keep herself occupied until dinner was ready to be served later that night.

Dreama entered the library and saw that one of her older cousins, Rozalina, was already in the room. Not wanting to be a bother, though, she had every intention of turning back around and leaving again.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

December 31st, 2016
dreama azurovna nightshade

Life at the manor was never pleasant or easy. You had to have your guard up at all times, but especially so around holidays, simply because that's when the most people would be around. During the rest of the year you at least had an easier time keeping an eye on your enemies. It was a bit harder when that number tripled. Despite this fact, Rose was quite laid back currently. Why? Well, Fenrir, one of her half brothers, had caused quite the mess a few hours ago so most of the attention would be on him if something was being schemed. When you knew the target was on someone else's back, it was easier to relax.

None the less, despite the momentary (somewhat) peace of the house as the Nightshade family enjoyed the festivities, Rosewas no where to be seen. She'd wandered off to the library. She wasn't much in the mood to party and much preferred the silence of the library. Especially since she'd earned her grandfather's permission to entered his restricted section only a few months prior. She browsed the shelves, her finger tips running across the spins of the tomes, before finally finding one she was interested in. It was a book on the medicinal uses of herbs found only in Siberia. She'd been fascinated by the healing arts for a number of years now, and she'd also discovered it's utility even in her daily life as a Nightshade. For example, as she sat down and started to flip through the book she found a flower where the petals were lethal, and the root was medicinal. It was interesting how one part of the plant could be beneficial while the other deadly.

It was at that moment the door of the library opened and Rose's gaze raised. Ah. Dreama. One of her younger cousins. While Rose was 15, 16 in only 2 months, Dreama was... 11? 12? Something like that. Dreama's part of the family wasn't around too much, but it wasn't a surprise. Rose's own mother wasn't around much, nor her siblings. She was the only one of her sibligns that lived at the manor. That... wasn't a pleasant memory though. Alena had lived at the manor previously, but when she was killed last year their grandfather had decided that Rose would take her place. Not just to have a spot filled though, but because Rose's quick wit had prevented her own death (though... her older sister had paid the price instead). Again, an unpleasant memory. Because of it though, Rose was continuing her education at the manor. She wondered a bit what Koldovstoretz was like... "Getting away from the party?" she asked as her gaze dropped back down to the book and she flipped the page.

[dreama azurovna nightshade]

December 31, 2016
Grandfather's House, Russia

Before she could leave the library, however, Rozalina spoke up to address her. She asked her if she was getting away from the party, and Dreama shook her head and then slowly turned back around again. She knew that she had to use caution when she was at her grandfather's house; she had been taught as much by her older siblings. Trying to keep that in mind, she moved so that her back was to one of the bookshelves rather than the door.

"No, I'm waiting for dinner," Dreama answered, somewhat surprised to see that her older cousin hadn't looked up from the book that she was reading. It must have been very interesting, she reasoned, because most of her relatives had a habit of keeping an eye on what other people were doing at all times. (And if they weren't, the portraits on the walls were, at least.) "I can leave if I'm disturbing you. We still have some time before the food is ready," she added on then. "I think some of the boys were going to play chess." They would be playing wizard's chess, of course, with all of its… more interesting qualities that apparently didn't exist in its non-magical counterpart.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

December 31st, 2016
dreama azurovna nightshade

To be honest, Rose didn't much consider Dreama a threat. The younger cousin seemed to always be (thankfully) more distant was the more brutal dynamics of the Nightshades. Maybe it was because her aunt's family in general seemed to stay pretty distant. It was smart. No one really thought thought her aunt's kids were much of a threat. "It'll probably be a little late. Fenrir tried one of his experiments on the head butler," she answered quite casually. The man was alive, as far as she knew. But it'd cause a few delays.

Rose paused her book skimming to look up at her cousin again, who looked rather tense, back to a bookshelf. Hearing her cousin's words, Rose couldn't help but smile. It wasn't warm, exactly, but it was definitely more relaxed and genuine than most smiles you'd see at the manor. "You aren't disturbing me, you can stay if you want." She flipped the page of her book, glancing back down at it. Ah, this one was the many uses of one of trees founds in the forest. At the mention of chess she glanced back up. "Oh, that's probably where Levin and Aleksandr are,". Her two full blooded brothers (as both her sisters were already dead). Now that she thought about it, Aleksandr and Dreama were around the same age, weren't they? "They're probably in the red lounge, if you're looking for them?" She added, slightly questioning if Dreama had brought it up because she'd been looking for them. The red lounge happened to be the sitting room reserved for the grandchildren. A rather dangerous space, to be honest. It was one of the only places in the manor where their grandfather had no eyes or ears and he let the grandchildren have full reign.

[dreama azurovna nightshade]

December 31, 2016
Grandfather's House, Russia

Per Rozalina, dinner would be later than expected because the head butler had been the subject of an experiment gone wrong. Dreama didn't feel the need to question what, exactly, had happened to the man. A lot of questions like that went unanswered at her grandfather's, and it seemed as though many of his household staff members changed from one visit to the next. Nobody had ever made a fuss about it, so she didn't, either.

Luckily for Dreama, it didn't sound as though she had any reason to worry. Rozalina said that she could stay in the library if she wanted to, though she also commented that her brothers Levin and Aleksandr were probably involved in the game. "They're probably in the red lounge, if you're looking for them?"

Dreama hadn't been looking for them but nodded her head anyway. The red lounge was the sitting room designated solely for the grandchildren. She had never had any issues there, but she knew that the room was such that the older generations weren't able to enter it. It was a more dangerous set-up than she realized at that age, yet she wasn't interested in heading out that way. Chess required a lot of concentration to be enjoyable. The boys? They might have been in it for the violence, though.

Cautiously, Dreama stepped away from the bookshelf by which she was standing. "You would like Koldovstoretz, you know," she pointed out. "The library there has even more books."

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Rozalina Antonina Nightshade]

December 31st, 2016
dreama azurovna nightshade

Rose only kept one eye on her cousin, if only out of habit, as she went about her reading. She didn't actually consider the younger girl a threat, but it would be stupidity to at least not know what she was doing in a shared space. Their grandfather hadn't put a ban on any... aggressions towards each other today (that would be during dinner), so anything could happen in the hours before. Again though, Dreama's side of the family tended to keep their distance. So at least she could be reassured Dreama had no true motive to do anything against her. That and Dream was still a pre-teen.

Rose flipped through the remaining pages of the book and set it aside at the table, reaching for another she'd grabbed. As she started flipping through the second one, a book written on all the uses of an Acromantula, Dreama finally spoke again. Rose had almost thought the conversation was over between them. The words, however, made Rose freeze momentarily. Koldovstoretz. The school she knew Dreama and her siblings attended. A luxury that Rose hadn't been granted. Her mother had been adamant that all her children be homeschooled. No doubt because of Rose's father's insistence. Rose's father was... a cruel man to put it simply, and no doubt the next head of the family once Rose and Dream's grandfather passed away. Rose's father would never let one of his favored children attend a school that wasn't fully under the family's influence. No doubt a school would undo the years of "training" he was instilling into the next generation.

Once Rose's initial surprise passed she didn't bother masking the melancholy smile that touched her lips. "I'm sure I would. The classes must be interesting too, and having peers to learn with." Rose, for obvious reasons, preferred to study alone and not with any of the other Nightshade children staying at the manor. "What sort of classes are you taking there?" She couldn't stop her curiosity of what an actual school might be like.

[dreama azurovna nightshade]

December 31, 2016
Grandfather's House, Russia

Rozalina agreed with her that she would like it at Koldovstoretz—not only for the library, as Dreama had mentioned, but because she would have other students with whom to learn about different subjects. At their grandfather's house, she didn't get that experience, either. She still got to meet people, though they weren't from different walks of life than their family. Excluding the household staff, there wasn't exactly mixing and mingling with anyone who might be seen as below the Nightshades in status. At Koldovstoretz, there were students from different cities, even some of them from outside Russia, and not everyone came from established wizarding families.

"What sort of classes are you taking there?"

Dreama didn't know where to begin, so she went through her school schedule in her head for a moment and then responded. "We learn a little bit of everything. History, Potions, Charms, Astronomy, Herbology…" The academic subjects were all interesting, but what Dreama had to report back on Koldovstoretz wasn't too different from what she imagined her cousin anticipated hearing. In general, witches and wizards needed the same sorts of basic skills no matter where they were being educated.

"Oh! And there are sports," Dreama added with some more enthusiasm. She had taken to that element of the curriculum quickly, though she hadn't struggled in any regard. "I'm learning how to play Quidditch," she shared, "except they use trees at school instead of broomsticks." While Dreama was pretty sure that she would have preferred riding on an actual broomstick to riding straddled on a tree trunk, that didn't put a damper on her excitement; she guessed that she would just have to work her way up to one. "It's very good for developing reflexes and coordination."

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade