Contrary to what Snape had stated, detention was in fact a very lonely affair. Filch had set Wren, Erris and Rory on separate tasks around the castle. Whilst Rory had been set to work scraping gum from under classroom desks and Erris had been instructed to polish wooden panelling in one of the upstairs corridors, Wren found herself standing at a sink soaking and peeling labels off of old potion bottles. The task was mind numbingly boring and by the end her fingernails were sore from picking at the pappy paper and glue residue.
However, she vowed that this punishment would not dissuade her from speaking out again, even though she had received a rather scolding letter from her mother telling her to keep her head down, which was rather ironic as it was her mother whom she had got this particular trait from. Delphi Novelle had never been one to stay quiet when faced with injustice or bullies so the fact that she was surprised her daughter had turned out any different was quite baffling to Wren.
She sighed as she looked at the mountain of clean potion bottles on the draining board then looked at the clock on the wall. A smile spread across her face as she realised her penance had been paid. Taking off her apron, she left the class room with a merry skip of freedom and made her way to the common room. Rosewaine had been on Chirrup duty that evening which meant she had also had no time to do her homework. It looked like a long night of team work ahead to hit their deadline of the next morning.
'Good evening, how was detention? And have you learnt anything?' Rosewaine asked, feigning a serious, wize tone.
'Dull as eating sawdust and not a jot. I do not repent.' Wren replied with a mischievous grin as she slumped down into a chair at one of the study desks.
'Oh don't let Filch hear you talk about eating sawdust. He'd think that was a good idea to punish students.' Rosewaine warned, only half in gest. The caretaker was a bitter old man who despised children and took great pleasure in watching them suffer. Why he had chosen to work in a school was anyone's guess.
'Right. One essay about the delicacies of transforming crockery, coming up.' Wren sighed as she dug out a roll of parchment and a quill.
Just then Erris stumbled through the common room door looking exhausted. His split lip was healing well however his jaw and cheek had turned a rather deep plum colour contrasting with his pale complexion.
'Evening. It seems you fared worse in detention than me.' Wren noted as she watched the boy flop down into the chair beside her.
'The polishing wasn't the problem but there was a portrait of a knight and a fat horse that constantly yelled insults at me and challenged me to fights. His voice grew so irritating that it gave me a migraine.' Erris explained as he produced his own homework from his bag.
The trio began to write their essays, exchanging notes and phrasings to help each other out. By the time ten pm came around, they were all writing their conclusions and thinking about their pillows.
It seemed that now Erris had found friends to stand by his side, the insomnia had subsided a little. He still experienced night terrors and woke up in the night but it was easier for him to return to sleep because he no longer felt like he had to slay the monsters alone. Wren and Erris had also mostly stopped their late night talks though from time to time they found themselves meeting up in the common room. It was never arranged before but Wren would hear Erris' dorm door open and his footsteps patter down the stone spiral staircase and she would follow. He would play the piano and she would listen or they would talk of their childhoods and interests but now it was simply because they wanted to be alone together rather than the only chance to speak freely. Rosewaine and Rory were wonderful friends but there were times when the two more introverted children wished to be in each other's calmer presence alone to recharge.
From the look of Erris's drooping eyelids however, tonight would not be one of those meeting nights. He looked ready to snore as soon as his head hit the pillow.
As Wren rolled up her essay ready for her morning class and began to collect her things she saw a large grey owl enter through one of the top windows and fly gracefully towards her, gliding with barely a flap as it landed on the back of an empty chair. The owl stuck its leg out to produce a rather beautiful white letter with a pale blue wax seal. As soon as she had untied the letter, the owl took off, before Wren could even offer it an owl treat.
Wren stared down at the letter in confusion. She did not recognise the elegant curly writing on the address or the wax seal of a bee with the two wings being created from mirrored capital B's. The parchment of the letter felt very expensive and heavy in her hand. She wondered for a moment whether it was a reply from one of the sanctuaries that she had contacted but realised that such fancy presentations probably wouldn't be their style.
Wren bid her friends goodnight then climbed the spiral staircase to her dorm. Once she had donned her pyjamas and crawled under the covers, she tentatively peeled away the seal to read the letter inside.
To her surprise and delight, she found that the letter was from an eleven year old beauxbatons first year, written in elegant but broken English with many words substituted for French. The letter introduced its author as Clara Balnior, a girl who loved horse riding, potions and art. She had even enclosed a rather beautiful watercolour painting of her home which Wren was rather envious to find out was an eighteenth century chateau found in the Loire region of north western France. From the painting it seemed to be a beautiful symmetrical white fronted building with a turret on either side. A perfect fairy tale home in Wren's mind. As she read further she discovered that Clara's home was run as a hotel so during summer, Clara always had plenty of people to keep her company. From her writing style she seemed like a rather funny girl who had lots of friends at her school.
Though Wren was rather exhausted, her excitement had given her a new lease of energy so she took out her letter writing set and began to pen a letter back. She told Clara about her three best friends and how beautiful the Hogwarts grounds were. Her beautiful but slightly more modest home and family and her love for all the nature around her. She finished her letter with lots of questions about Beauxbatons. It was a school she had heard of, of course. One of her grandmothers had attended but seeing as noone from other countries usually got to see inside each other's schools it was rather an anomaly and Wren was burning with curiosity.
Finally, as the night was drawing to its height, Wren sealed her letter with dark blue wax and her family seal, trying to make it as neat as Clara's had been, then tucked it into her bag for posting first thing in the morning.
With the last of her energy spent, Wren rested her head on her comfy owl down stuffed pillow and almost instantly drifted off.
......................................................................................................................
'Good Morning sleepy head.' Rosewaine whispered as she shook her unconscious friend awake.
Wren blinked as she came around, a little confused as to why Rosewaine was up so early. 'What-time-is-it,' she mumbled groggily.
'Close to eight.' Rosewaine replied chearily.
'Eight?!' Wren repeated sitting bolt upright. She had been waking up around five am ever since she came to Hogwarts. Sleeping in this late was unheard of for her.
'Don't worry, I dealt with the birdie.' Rosewaine reassured her, using code so that the other girls in the dormitory didn't suspect anything. 'You evidently needed the rest.'
Wren sighed as she laid back down for a moment. 'Evidently.'
Wren didn't get to lay there much longer however as Rosewaine excitedly began to throw clothes at her, 'Come one, you got to dress up warm. We are gonna be outside for quite a while.'
Wren looked at her friend in confusion for a moment before realising what day it was. Today was the first quidditch tournament of the season. Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff and Rosewaine had been buzzing about it for weeks. She couldn't wait to see her first quidditch game. Wren was also quite excited as it would be her first too. She had seen clips in newspapers but as her household weren't particularly Quidditch inclined she had never been taken to a game before. Her excitement would never beat Rosewaine's however, who was painting blue and bronze stripes on her cheeks as Wren sluggishly donned a pair of dark blue corduroy trousers and a white jumper to match her Ravenclaw scarf and bobble hat. She decided to refrain from the face paint.
Rosewaine usually always wore shades of rich reds, greens and yellows. Billowing blouses and ripped jeans or flowing long skirts with a patterned kimono or cloak over the top so it was a rather odd sight seeing her in house colours. A deep blue cloak with a brown jumper trying to imitate bronze, it all seemed a little too heavy on her, Wren was so used to seeing her friend in the bright uplifting colours that complimented her skin town and auburn brown hair, she looked rather like a different person in this outfit.
'Ready?' Rosewaine asked her friend with a beaming smile as she approached the door.
The pair made their way down to the great hall for breakfast where they loaded their plates with a hearty English breakfast. They knew that they would need all their energy for cheering and standing out in the cold.
When Erris joined them, it was evident that he was not in the same celebratory mood. The idea of standing in a yelling crowd practically encapsulated all the elements of a nightmare to him and as he sat down, he reached for a single piece of toast, settling on it to be his only breakfast before Wren started piling his plate with sausages and hash browns before jabbing at him with her fork. 'Eat' she commanded rather forcefully. 'Your going to need energy for all the fun we are going to have today.'
'Enforced fun,' Erris commented with a rather unenthusiastic look at his plate.
'I'm afraid so,' Wren gave him a mockingly sombre expression. 'How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it.
'Instinct. The fact that I don't like crowds or loud people or being trapped somewhere I don't want to be for hours in the cold and this activity covers all three of those dislikes.' Erris listed grumpily.
'But you'll be with friends,' Rosewaine pointed out through a mouthful of scrambled egg.
'And that is the only reason I'm going along with this instead of spending a nice quiet, undisturbed afternoon by the common room fire reading a book.' Erris gave her a slightly bitter smile.
At that moment Rory plonked down on the bench next to Erris and clapped him on the back making him almost spit out the piece of sausage he had just placed in his mouth. 'All righ' mate' He greeted his friend boisterously. This was an interaction that Erris was still becoming accustomed to. 'Like th' face paint, Rosewaine. Very William Walluce.' he grinned.
'You know about william wallace?' Rosewaine asked, surprised that Rory knew of a muggle historical figure.
'I'm scottish ain't i?' Rory's tone sounded aghast. 'William Wallice, Muggle or No is a legend. Even watched th' movie at me muggle friends house.' He grinned proudly, evidently rather impressed with himself that he was showing that he new about the muggle things that Rosewaine had grown up with.
Like Rosewaine, Rory had opted for the face painted look though he had opted for a red and gold stripe on one cheek to represent Gryffindor and blue and bronze on the other to support his friends.
'I see you're supporting Ravenclaw?' Wren pointed at his left cheek.
'Course, what kinda friend would I be if I bet against me friends.' Rory grinned then added, 'Though, when it's ravenclaw against Gryffindor I'll be yellin for them to crush your team intae th' dirt.'
'Charming.' Erris said with a grin.
Once the four children had sufficiently filled their bellies, they began to walk out of the great hall, their minds on getting good seats in the stadium.
As they walked down the table, Wren spotted her cousin, Zed, sitting in his quidditch robes with his team mates, eating the last of his breakfast.
'Good luck,' She said as she patted him on the shoulder as she paced. Zed turned and grinned at Wren then said, 'get ready for a show, apparently Hufflepuff are hopeless with their new captain.' Wren laughed as she shook her head at her cousin then ran to catch up with her friends.
The group ambled across the lawns towards the stadium that dominated the landscape on one side of the castle, its brightly coloured turrets standing out against the skyline. Once they had climbed the numerous rickety wooden stairs up to the stadium's seats, they were pleased to find that they were among the first and had plenty of seating options. They decided to stand right at the front to ensure that no taller students would block their vision. Wren was particularly relieved at this turn of events seeing as she was the shortest amongst her friends though Rosewaine and Rory could only boast about an inch on her. Only Erris stood quite a bit taller, standing half a head above the rest of his class.
The friends settled into their seats, unpacking binoculars and flashs full of hot chocolate whilst the rest of the stadium filled up. It wasn't long before the crowd were present and the two teams began to march onto the quidditch pitch. One in blue, the other in yellow.
Wren looked through her binoculars to try and spot her cousin but with his back turned it was rather hard to distinguish him from the other players. With a sudden shrill blow of Madam Hooch's whistle, the teams had mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground, sawing into the air. A moment later the quaffle and bludgers were released and then finally the snitch. Wren tried to keep her eyes on the snitch for a while but it darted about so much that she quickly lost it and turned her attention to the carnage that had begun in the rest of the game. It seemed that Zed had been misinformed about how woefully the Hufflepuff captain was leading his team because within the first two minutes the Hufflepuff chasers had scored a goal through the Ravenclaw goal hoops at the end of the field. The crowd erupted into equally loud cheers and insults as the commentator cried 'Hufflepuff scores!'
Rosewaine howled an expletive that made both Wren and Erris turn and look at her in shock whilst Rory cackled with laughter. It was clear that Rosewaines blood was already running hot for the sport and Wren quickly realised that she was about to get a crash course in the irish imagination of creative swearing.
Once the first goal had been won, the Ravenclaw team seemed to change their game plan, now treating the Hufflepuffs as an actual threat and they began to play on the offencive. Wren watched as her cousin dipped and dived in between other flying players with the quaffle under his arm until he hurled it at the middle hoop of the Hufflepuff goal.
'Ravenclaw Scores!' boomed the commentator.
The Ravenclaws erupted into cheers and woops. Rosewaine and Wren began to jump up and down as Rory grabbed Erris' arm forcing him to join in. At first he looked rather uncomfortable with the excitable behaviour but after a moment he was swept up in the emotions of his friends and he too began to jump about with his friends chanting his house name.
The game was a rollercoaster of emotions, each team scoring, nudging each other off of the winning count. As the game began to drag on and the players evidently grew more tired everyones thoughts began to turn to the seekers who were still circling high above looking for a sign of the snitch. As if to answer the crowd's wishes, both seekers suddenly dived, like two blue and yellow falcons spotting a rabbit. The Ravenclaw seeker was a slight built third year girl with a light blonde ponytail. She had dived a little after her hufflepuff opponent, a fifth year year boy with a mullet, but due to her smaller size, she was faster, flattening her body to the broom, she zoomed past the Hufflepuff seeker like a bullet leaving him struggling to keep up. In a second, Wren watched as the Ravenclaw seeker launched herself off of her broom like a pouncing cat and clasped her hand around the snitch before clasping her broom with one hand before she plummeted to the ground. As the crowd realised what had happened and began to cheer, the girl swung herself back onto her broom with the grace of a gymnast and began to lap the stadium with the snitch clutched in her raised hand.
'Ravenclaw has caught the snitch! With ten points in the lead, RAVENCLAW WINS!' The commentator bellowed excitedly.
Rosewaine threw her arms around Wren as she celebrated as Rory whooped and hollered. Erris stood there grinning wildly, an expression that suited his elegant and often serious face more than Wren would have imagined. It made him look younger, younger even than his tender age of eleven. Carefree and untouched by the sadness that can come with life. He let out a joyful hollow alongside Rory who began a rather rude chant that prompted the rest of the stadium to join in with.
Once the friends had yelled and jumped and celebrated to their hearts content they began to descend the stadium stairs, exhausted and thinking of warming themselves by a fire.
'Congratulations on Ravenclaw winning, Erris.' A voice issued from behind them on the stairs. The friends turned in surprise. No one talked to Erris other than them as the rest of the year still didn't get much of a response from him.
On realising that Prudence Fletcher had been the speaker, the friends' celebratory mood soured. It was evident that Prudence was trying a different angle to ingratiate herself with Erris as sheer bullying and malice had not worked in her favour.
Prudence pushed past Rosewaine and gave a pointed shove to Wren as she looped her arm around Erris's stiff arm and said, 'I was rooting for Ravenclaw myself. Join me up to the castle.' It didn't sound like a request but a demand and as she began pulling Erris down the stairs his friends looked on in confusion and repulsion at the scene before them. Wren was about to step forward to try and save him when Erris took matters into his own hands. He clamped his free hand onto the bannister and refused to budge. Prudence turned to him in confusion as to why he wouldn't move.
'Well, come on.' She huffed impatiently. 'Don't you want to spend some time with your best friend?' her indignation was palpable.
'You are not my friend.' Erris replied loud enough for the people around them to turn and look as he yanked his arm away from her grasp.
'Don't be ridiculous, we've been friends our whole lives. Now stop playing around.' Prudence replied, embarrassed at the scene he was causing. She attempted to grab his arm again but he dodged and stepped away.
'These are my friends.' Erris started looking around at Wren, Rosewaine and Rory who all nodded defensively, stepping forward to support Erris.
Prudence rolled her eyes then said in a loud, condescending tone. 'Oh, Erris. You're in one of your moods again, aren't you. Come find me when you have finished sulking.' and with that she turned, flicking her bob hair cut as she walked away with an air that she hadn't just been rejected.
'You know that banshee?' Rory asked a little aghast.
'Unfortunately.' Erris grumbled. 'She was my enforced playmate as a child. Needless to say, we didn't get along.'
'She seems to think otherwise.' Wren observed, looking at prudence's back as she strutted away.
'Delusion and denial.' erris muttered to her then added, 'But i'm afraid i have just put a target on all of your backs by proclaiming that i choose you over her.'
'Meh, we can take her,' Rory shrugged in an unphased tone.
'I'm pretty sure that I have had a target on my back ever since the train ride here though I'm not entirely sure why.' Wren seconded with a little more apprehension.
'You threaten her.' Erris explained as he began to walk down the stairs again.
'Threaten her? How do i...' Wren spluttered. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what he was saying. She had known that there was some jealousy about her being a Novelle but seeing how Prudence had amassed quite a following of adoring cronies, she would have thought that would have died down.
'She perceives you as having the same status as her. Rich, well connected family. Educationally gifted but unlike her you are likeable. Without resorting to fear and bullying. People like you for you. If Prudence had one off day where she showed any less spitefulness, her friends would leave her, looking for a stronger leader. She sees that you don't have to try and she's threatened by that and now, the cherry on the cake, you have me. A friendship that she has been trying to acquire for her whole life.' Erris explained in a soft tone to Wren.
'Acquire?' Wren repeated, cringing away from the word.
'Prudence doesn't see people as people, simply chess pieces to collect. It's not her fault really, it was how she was raised. She wishes to own me.' Erris said with some trepidation. 'I don't know what she will do next but she won't take this lying down.' he warned with a weary look to his friends.