Victory over the sun (open)

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

Althea huddled closer to the fire in the common room and glared darkly at the group of giggling first years. She was sure they wouldn’t be so judgemental when they had to worry about doing well in their N.E.W.Ts. She sighed as she turned the page, what cruel and unusual punishment was this? Assigning a four foot essay on the uses of goat’s blood definitely constituted as cruel and unusual. Since when had goats blood had any magical properties? Althea pulled a face and shut the heavy book, she could worry about finishing this essay later, and right now she just wanted to enjoy her last Christmas at Hogwarts.

She heaved up the heavy book and went to put it back in her trunk in her dorm, she grabbed a book to read and her cloak. There was no point looking for someone to talk to, most of her friends had gone home for Christmas. She walked through the portrait hole and wondered through the winding hallways, keeping to an old familiar route. As she walked she pulled her cloak in closer and shivered, she hated winter. It was cold and as pretty as snow was, it just made everything else colder and wet. Then once it melted all you had left behind was a wet muddy mess. The only two things she like about winter was Christmas happened in winter and it was always followed by spring.

As she climbed the stairs she pulled a pair of gloves and then in that realised she had forgotten her scarf. “Nevermind that” she muttered to herself, she was not going to go back now for her scarf. She entered the owlery and found a comfy spot where the hay that covered the floor was droppings free. She opened the book and began reading, after a few minutes just as she was getting into the story the door opened. She instinctively looked up to see who had entered the owlery. 

[QUILLAN DONNAG]

Nearly every week since his time at Hogwarts Quill had written a letter home to his parents. It was instinct to him by then and even if nothing worth writing occurred the young man still at least put something on the parchment. During his second year, for example, Quill had written almost an identical letter for two straight months. Classes are tough. Charms is my favourite. No, I hadn't need to go the hospital. I miss you. Quill chuckled at the memory and recalled how as a boy he thought if he didn't write his weekly updates his parents would never have written him. Yes, that had been his motivation to keep on a schedule. As a boy he didn't think he could go on each week without that reply from his parents, on his father's Ministry stationery attached carefully with twine from his mother's store which she used to tie off dry potion ingredients. For him it's what kept him from being so homesick, especially since the boy was an only child and had no siblings with him at Hogwarts like so many other students.

Silently, Quill sat in his common room at a table he always reserved for himself for letter writing. Of the Slytherins that knew him well, they were aware of his need to write the letter. The act was always completed in the same chair at almost the same time. Those who would usually stop and interact with Quill when they saw him instead turned another direction as to not distract him. He appreciated the sentiment from his friends. The Slytherin house had such a bad reputation for being rude but most of the students were actually pretty nice albeit to each other. The pop of wood on flame and the scratch of a dry quill were the only sounds that ever joined him.

Once he put his pen down, finished with the letter, he bolted up swiftly. His long and stretched out in front of him and then over his head. Crouching over the table for so long caused a soreness in his back. I just need to walk it off, he thought. I'll go to the owlery now. It hasn't been a plan of his to go there at that moment, when it the freezing chill kissed the air like the presence of death. Nevertheless, Quill wasn't busy with anything else since he finished all his homework, even a tedious essay for Potions that had been assigned. It would do him some good to walk around even if he disliked the cold.

Sure enough, as he exited the warmth of the castle, a strong gust of wind brushed against him. Quill clung to the inside of his cloak. To his blue eyes the owlery tower in front of him seemed so far away. His boots tracked through snow with heavy crunching as he reached the entrance of the tower. He surveyed for ice before stepping down on the stone floor as he didn't feel much like slipping and fracturing any bones. His gloved hand grabbed the door eagerly his whole body ready to leave the rough winter outside.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, Quill loosened the scarf around his head and removed his gloves. Keeping his eyes on the cages, Quill didn't notice any other human occupying the room. At this, he cursed loudly hoping to relieve his frustration the pain of the cold had caused. He voiced boomed heavy enough that some owls shook and twittered with surprise at being roused so suddenly. Messy feathers plopped from cages in the flutter.

"It's bloody colder than hell!" he roared in another outburst.

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

Nalean stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the boys statement. Obviously it was cold, that was the deal that came with snow. Cold, cold and more cold. The only snow that came without cold was that horrible spray on snow that some muggles used to decorate their windows and make their plastic Christmas trees looked ‘snowed’ on. “well there goes my childhood nightmare of hell being a fiery pit of doom” she quipped and then realised that he might not even have realised that there was someone else. Thank goodness her cheeks were already slightly pink from the cold so he wouldn’t notice her blushing slightly.



A brief akward silence followed, she closed her book and placed it on the hay next to her. “You’re Quillan, right?” she asked, realising how stupid the question might sound to him. Now that she had actually taken a proper look, she recognised him as one of the Slytherins in the same year as her. A brief embarrassing memory of her slipping on a lizard’s spleen in first year in front of a group of Slytherins during potions sprang to mind. Thankfully she had had no more incidents since the spleen incident but it still made her cringe whenever she remembered it.

“We’ve got charms together, I think” she added hoping that avoiding mentioning potions would steer away from the whole spleen incident. Most Slytherins she came across, seemed to love recounting how ‘elegant’ her slide across the dungeon floor had been. She didn’t have any issues with Slytherins per se, heck her own father and older brother were Slytherin alumni, she just hated the way most she came across would hold grudges against others for no reason other than the family they happened to come from. She had never understood that, sometimes people couldn’t control certain things about themselves. No one could change the fact that their parents were muggles, same as no one could control the colour of the sky. 

[QUILLAN DONNAG]

After Quill's ill-mannered exclamation, he slid over to a cupboard where various supplies were kept for the owls. Though he didn't have an owl of his own, he loved the birds. Before sending out his mail, Quill liked to spend time with the owls giving them treats and showing them affection. Placing a hand in a jar of feed, his mind turned to the school-provided owl he frequently used to send letters home. The creature's cage was labeled with a plaque reading "Gregory Peck." The joke going over the young wizard's head, he called him Mr. Peck instead. Mr. Peck was a Great Horned owl with bright yellow eyes. Quill knew that species to not be indigenous to the continent and perhaps that was why he was so drawn to the bird.

As he fumbled with the jar, Quill perked up as he heard a voice call to him from a corner in the room. With a jolt of surprise he almost dropped the jar but he caught it in time. He turned his blonde head with a snap, his blue eyes gaped at the girl who had spoken. Immediately guilt swept over the Slytherin student. Quill hardly ever swore and when he did it was purposely out of earshot of others, especially females. The young man was raised with manners and using improper language was very rude. He almost groaned at his discovery of the girl near him but he simply exhaled heavily. He had been caught.

A sea of apologies from his inventory flooded Quill's brain. He knew he had to undo his error and quickly. It was only right. He tossed the owl food he grabbed earlier back into the jar and wiped his hands on a nearby towel. Trying to calm his exterior, Quill brushed some of his yellow hair out of his face. Once again he let out a deep breath and then pursed his lips. It was the girl who broke the silence and Quill felt even more of a jerk for not replying to her right away.

"Yes, it is Quillan," he finally spoke. His voice came out a little bit too high pitched with a slight squeak at the end. He cleared his throat and stuttered, "I go by Quill, though."

The girl mentioned Charms and instantly he recalled her face. Admittedly, she was one of the better looking girls in that class and he had lost himself watching her once or twice. In a disappointing turn of events, she was in Gryffindor and so included in a completely different group of friends than Quill. Athena, Alicia? No. Quill wrestled his memory for the girl's name. However, her surname hit him immediately. That was all he needed.

"Charms! What a brilliant class, don't you think?" He smiled, his regret for his blunder finally leaving him. "Miss Silverstar, if you'd accept my apology, I must express my repentance for my earlier transgression. Never should such brutish words be used in the presence of a beautiful lady as yourself. My mother taught me better than that. Please forgive me."

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

Althea stood up with a small smile on her face and brushed the hay off her pants. She looked at the horned owl he had clearly picked out to send a letter home. “I’ve always wondered how do muggles cope without owl post, their system seems so time consuming” she mused looking around at all the owls that occupied the owlery. The owlery was one of her favourite places to come, with or without her friends. The gentle hooting of the owls was in a way soothing, plus few students knew what a great hangout the owlery actually made in summer especially when it was raining.

“Quill, got it” she said smiling, Quill seemed friendly enough. Thankfully he didn’t appear to have the stereotypical stuck up Slytherin. “Charms is definitely a brilliant class, one of my favourite classes” she said still smiling.

Althea couldn’t help but laugh at the apology Quill gave her. It was totally unnecessary; she doubted many students sat in the owlery reading. “It’s fine, I doubt you were expecting someone else to be up here” she said managing to get herself to stop laughing. She couldn’t help but like Quill, he was definitely a likeable person and he wasn’t too bad looking either. “Especially not someone randomly reading in the owlery, and it’s Althea. The only people who call me Miss Silverstar are the professors” she added. Althea looked at the poor owl that was next to Quill looking at the jar that was still in his hand. “I think you have an admirer” she said nodding at the Great Horned Owl. The poor owl was almost attempting to stare a treat out of the jar, “I think you should give him a treat before his eyes pop out or he opens the jar himself”. She glanced around the owlery at the other owls. “Of course there’s always the third option that he’ll lead an owl rebellion in order to gain ownership of the treats” she said grinning, “but that’s a bit of a long shot with all these sleepyheads”.

[QUILLAN DONNAG]

Usually Quill was collected when he conversed with others. Small talk wasn't foreign to him in the least bit. He was strongly Slytherin in that sense. His naturally charming personality stemmed from his dreams and it was necessary for the path he chose. His ambitions led him through school; he yearned to be a ministry official like his father. It was his goal to never let anyone be a stranger.

Most students in his house stuck together with snobbish attitude. The major belief among Slytherins was that they were better than everyone else and to mingle with the lesser, well, that just got you trouble. Quill wasn't like the others, though, he loved getting to know people and he didn't care about social positions. Respect was given before it was received in the Donnag household and the younger Quillan spread that principle throughout his life.

So, while Quill often was talkative, warm and personable, at that moment he found himself at a loss for words. There was something about Althea that intrigued Quill and took his voice from him. He didn't know right off hand what it was. Perhaps her looks, how her blonde locks were like golden satin and it reminded him of his mother. It might have been because she was sitting in hay when so many other girls let dirt bother them. Probably, it was that Althea had been reading to pass the time, something Quill did himself. But whatever the reason, he was enthralled by the young Gryffindor woman and simply couldn't find the courage to be his normally chatty self.

Silently (and he hoped he didn't come off strange as he did it) he watched her move. She rose from the hay and he lost his breath. Like it was nothing, she swatted straw from her clothes. Quill never thought he'd be so interested by any female and he was picky when it came to dating. He wanted someone who exceeded normalcy and the trite clichés of what defined teenage girls.

She pondered aloud about the inefficiency of Muggle post but the tongue-tied Quill only shrugged and nodded as if he hadn't a clue about the subject. On the contrary, his mother was a Muggleborn witch and once or twice Quill had to use non-magical postal services to convey with some of his uninformed relatives. Quill actually had many opinions of the poorly executed system but his mouth stayed closed.

Althea laughed and it tore Quill's mind into two reactions. The first was hurt as he raced through negative ideas. Had she thought him a complete idiot for apologizing? He flushed with embarrassment and regret. On the second hand, though, the sound melted inside him. Internally he admired the laugh as it was just as beautiful as the girl who made it.

The only people who call me Miss Silverstar are the professors.

After she cleared the stiff air with her escaped laugh, the previously felt shyness left Quill. "I hope your friends don't address you so formally! I only did to be polite," he said with a smirk. Smoothly, he continued with, "Althea, really? I'm sure you have a nickname amidst mates. C'mon, I gave you mine. What's yours?" then not so subtly, "What does your boyfriend call you?"

Mr. Peck wiggled and shifted next to Quill and Althea commented that the owl was going to rebel if not treated soon. Quill chuckled, imagining the birds taking over the owlery like seamen in mutiny, something he had read in one of his mother's Muggle novels. With a grin he once again retrieved a snack from the jar whilst this time removing his hand and giving it to the owl. Mr. Peck cooed and gladly accepted the gift.

"We can't let this little guy go Long John Silver on us," he spoke in a sing-song as if addressing the bird and not necessarily Althea. He didn't expect a witch to understand a reference to Muggle literature anyway.

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

Althea couldn’t help but notice Quill simply shrugged and nodded at her comment about muggle post. She figured that maybe he was still a bit embarrassed about being caught unawares by her presence in the owlery. He seemed to be someone who had been raised to have good manners, she decided to put it down to that as Quill seemed like a very sweet and genuine type of person. Althea was a pureblood so had next to no need for using muggle post but had learnt to use it for sending letters during summer to friends who were muggleborn. She didn’t understand it but their parents never did appreciate owl post so she had learnt quickly muggleborn’s parents were more likely to warm up to someone who used their form of post instead.

For a moment after she laughed she thought she might have seen hurt cross quill’s eyes. Had he thought she was laughing at him for apologizing? She brushed the brief thought aside, one thing she would never do was laugh at someone apologizing. Althea rolled her eyes at his explanation, “I really wouldn’t be offended if you just admitted that you forgot my name, you won’t believe how many times my name has been mispronounced” she said shaking her head. She still had a strong memory of a professor in fifth year reading her name out as Athel and then arguing with her on pronouncing her own name. She smiled at his next few words, boyfriend? In between everything she had on her plate, Althea had just never really worried about getting a boyfriend. “My friends call me Thea and no boyfriend” she said still smilling.

Althea gave Quill a quizzical look, “I have no idea what you just said but I’m going to guess going Long John Silver on us is a bad thing”. Althea had read very few muggle books growing up so unless some popular modern fantasy books or books she had read in Muggle Studies were referred to, she would miss the joke. “Besides, I am not running down those steps in this cold” she said nodding towards the steps that lead up to the owlery. Althea knew with her luck she would find the one icy spot and go flying, she did enough flying to not need extra practise. She also did not want to make a complete fool of herself infront of Quill.

[QUILLAN DONNAG]

As Althea came off more interested in what Quill had to say, he did finally lighten up and relax. His initial thoughts of fancy toward the girl still lingered within him. The sense of nervousness, though, did not and he suddenly found himself powered up with energy. Happiness spread through him but it was the adrenaline that excited and roused him. As if he couldn't fail, Quill gained a new outlook on life in seconds. Never had any female had him going like Althea did. It was like he was alive. Before he had been too stiff and only thought about his studies and plans for after he left Hogwarts. Now, something tugged on his heart like it was more important than any of those other things that usually plagued his mind.

Instead of worrying about NEWTs and the possibility of an apprenticeship with a ministry official, Quill wondered what dreams Althea had for her future. She, like him, was a seventh year and bound for graduation and admittance into the adult work force. He counted off question after question in his head of what he would ask her about herself. The most important thing in the room to him at that time was her. What were her hopes? What were her fears? What did she like or dislike? All at once he wanted to know it, but to ask her everything right then seemed like a bad idea. Things like that were personal. Quill would have to learn it over time. He had to befriend her first if he didn't want to scare her away from him.

"Long John Silver is a menace of a villain from a classic Muggle story. Mr. Peck here is harmless, though, look at him." Quill explained with a smile. He pointed at the owl noting the vague expression the bird gave. Sure, magically bred owls were more intelligent than wild ones but Quill doubted that they could arrange a rebellion against their human masters. He almost giggled imagining it but held his laugh at a bright smile, which he gave Althea as he glanced into her eyes.

Offering the bird another treat, Quill dug into the pocket of his trousers. In it was the tiny rolled parchment on which he wrote the letter to his parents. They entered his mind and he fondly thought of how they could be doing. He hoped his mother's business still thrived and that his father continued to enjoy contributing to the magical government system. Too many great men went on to regret choices they made while in office but Quillan the Senior, having been a Hufflepuff during his time at Hogwarts, was a fair and kind person. Everyday Quill worked to be like them, which not many teenagers could express about their own parents.

"I regret not remembering your name, but I can admit to it." he mentioned to Althea. "I don't ever want to be a dishonest man. You are a breath of fresh air, how laid back you are. Some girls are just so high maintenance. You don't let much bother you, do you? I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend. It's mysterious. You're also quite beautiful. It radiates from you like the sun's beaming warmth. Night comes in, like a victory over it, and puts us in darkness for hours. But I bet you'd still shine even if the brightest star couldn't."

He surprised himself with the words escaping his mouth. Was it wise to say those things to her? She might think him mad! A cough escaped his lungs stopping him from saying anything further. Slightly uncomfortable at how open he got with Althea, Quill turned and distracted himself with Mr. Peck once again as if ignoring what he just spoke would make the words evaporate away into the atmosphere. He tied his parchment to the owl's outstretched leg.

"You remember where to go, right?" The office of Mr. Magnus Donnag, Ministry of Magic, London." He fed the bird one last piece of dried meat before it croaked in affirmation of his request. Quill's blue eyes never left the creature as it flapped to the nearest opening and took off into the winter sky.

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

“Ahhh okay, I haven’t really had the opportunity to read many Muggle stories” Althea said smiling. She had taken Muggle Studies but had decided to drop it after fifth year. She had done fairly alright in it but had decided it would be better to focus on her stronger subjects as she hoped to either be a healer or Auror after completing school. As both careers demanded good academic performances, plus strangely enough had similar subject requirements for NEWTs, she had decided Muggle studies would just be an awkward fifth wheel. It was a pity though as she had heard muggle literature was studied indepth for NEWTs. “Poor Mr Peck” she said smiling fondly at the owl. “No hope of ever going on an adventure” she added still smiling. 

Althea gave Quill a quizzical look at his next words. No one had ever given her so many compliments at once, she took a moment to absorb his words and think of a response. She liked Quill and something about him made her want to know him better. “Ummm thanks?” she said with a slightly confused smile. “I don’t think anyone’s ever complimented me so much in such a short amount of time” she added laughing. “Thank goodness I’m not high maintenance, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was”.

“Of course my brother may disagree with you, although he may then hex anyone else who disagreed with you” she said with a thoughtful look on her face. The age gap between Althea and her brother was fairly large so by the time she had arrived at Hogwarts he had already finished his schooling career, most professors upon meeting her were surprised that they were even related at all. The two looked completely different and while Althea was in Gryffindor, Caleb had been in Slytherin. 

Althea watched Quill send the owl off to deliver a letter, to what she guessed, was his father. Should probably send dad a letter again, she thought to herself. She had never been particularly close to him but he was the only parent she had left, even if he did have a tendency to get lost in his head most of the time. Absent-minded wouldn’t be the best way to describe him, as her brother put it he spent too much time in his mind for it to be absent. She could do that at another stage, she was fairly certain her father would respond in his typical way wonderful, don’t forget the eggs. She cared about him and she was sure he cared about her in his own way, she just wished sometimes he was more aware of what was going on outside his own mind. 

[QUILLAN DONNAG]

Quill didn't like the way Althea responded to his comments. The uncertainty in her voice was obvious and he was reassured that he took it too far with the compliments. In his head the words sounded graceful enough but once again his confidence killed him when he executed his thoughts. A foreign emotion came over him, one of doubt, and he didn't like it. Quill was always sure of everything, especially himself. He knew what to do and why he did it but with Althea everything was precarious. For once he couldn't read the clues on someone's face or in their actions to predict the next move. He was so good at reading people and had become a social butterfly because of it. Now, he struggled to find his footing with the girl even when he really wanted to. Merlin, did he want to!

There was a mention by Althea of her brother. Quill watched her as he attempted to find any sign of emotion behind it. Sure enough, there was something, just a hint in her eyes that he could tell that the girl meant more than what she spoke. Various scenarios came to Quill's mind. He had no siblings himself but he was aware of the relationships built around them. He imagined the kind and open Althea with a protective older brother, one that kept her out of trouble and away from blokes. He almost shivered at his thought, curious as to what the older Silverstar would do or say about Quill. How would Quill react if he had a younger sister, just as beautiful and special, pursued by a lanky, mind-wandering Slytherin? In actuality, he didn't and he couldn't know.

"Oh, so your brother is protective, huh?" he mumbled. "Is he the kind who speaks with his wand? Act now, take names later?" Nervous laughter escaped his mouth as he stretched his arm to the back of head and scratched an itch building from a patch of sweat in his hair. "Bet a bloke like that keeps Slytherins like me away from a Gryffindor like you."

The Romeo and Juliet like story grew in Quill's mind. As a hopeless romantic he saw he and Althea with the potential to be star-crossed lovers. The emphasis there was "potential" because Quill hadn't yet won the girl's heart. Unrequited love didn't look good on him. The ambitious side of his Slytherin personality would make him seem like a stalker. He had gone, in words Long John Silver would have used in the situation, overboard with his feelings for Althea. Quill was hit hard by infatuation and it had been such a long time since he actually dated anybody. He was rusty and it showed. It was almost pathetic the way he swooned over her when they never had such a long conversation with each other in the seven years they'd gone to school together. If he told her then that he fancied her, she'd definitely think of him as a creep and avoid him. He didn't want that. This had to be a secret.

"I don't have a brother," Quill added, trying to sound more friendly and less flirty. "Or a sister. Just me. I guess my parents didn't want anymore or didn't try. I mean, not like try try, but like try to prepare themselves for another. Children can be a handful." Now he just sounded like an idiot. It was official: smooth-talker Quillan Donnag was a bumbling mess around pretty girls. Hormones had caught another fly in their elaborate web in the dangerous and harsh world of adolescence.

[ALTHEA SILVERSTAR]

Althea smiled at Quill’s words. “Protective is putting it mildly” she admitted her mind drifting to her older brother. He was not a typical Slytherin alumni, she suspected his need to prove himself was more stubbornness than anything else. Althea burst out laughing at Quill’s words. She immediately stopped and felt bad about laughing at what he had said. “Sorry, it’s just I found that funny because when Cal was in Hogwarts he was actually in Slytherin” she explained. She really hoped she hadn’t completely put him off her, she liked him and definitely wanted to get to know him better. 

Althea was curious about Quill, she wasn’t sure why but he just seemed like someone she had to get to know better. Why haven’t I spoken to him much before? She wondered to herself. He was friendly enough but then again, she reason they technically speaking moved in different circles from one another. Before now there hadn’t been much of a reason for them to have a real conversation. She had dated but none of the guys had really interested her in the way Quill did, to be honest the last time she had dated had been in fifth year. Althea was a bit hesitant about dating at the moment, with NEWTs she already had a lot on her plate. Althea wasn’t even sure how Quill felt about her, she didn’t want to say something and sound stupid. Then again she also didn’t want to rush head first into a relationship. So much for her being a Gryffindor, clearly she needed a fix in the forbidden forest again with her friends.

Althea smiled at Quill, “You’re not missing out on much” she said. “When you’re younger they’re always moaning about how annoying you are even if they’re the ones annoying you, then one day they suddenly get it in their heads they’re older therefore more responsible and can mess in your business.” She explained, “Children can be a handful, maybe that’s why there’s a seven year age gap between my brother and I”. Althea smiled shyly realising she had said a lot about her relationship with her brother to someone she honestly didn’t know that well. She loved Cal, really she did. Althea just wished sometimes he would relax about her interacting with any member of the opposite sex. It really got annoying that she couldn’t even order coffee without him glaring at the poor guy just taking her order.