⫶ classroom

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：caterina sun。⁰² He would be quick to respond, only now the question she asked made him leave a soft chuckle under his breathe instead. Caterina will and still be adorable from Arthur's perspective and no one, not even her will make him come to disagree. "I use line art to make the drawing neat since my sketches are usually messy whenever I've finished on some art project that I wanted to do. Just gonna give you a brief example on the basics if you ever want to try it in the future. Although, pencil sketches are still good without line art. I've seen a few of them on instagram before." Arthur responded, biting back the nervous chill down his spine. He's unsure if what he just said was clear or not, but hoped that she understood his point when it came to art.

The Gryffindor followed, stealing a glance at the way his friend strode differently from everyone he saw so far. Was this a habit between all dancers? He couldn't really tell since he never tried to observe any dancer before. "Who? Me?" It was obvious how distracted he was, fumbling the sketch book around the grasps of his hand, he slowly registered what she asked from him before taking a seat at the table she pointed out. "Well, I only took a small bite of ham sandwich and drank some water hours ago. How about you? Did you eat?" Arthur is still hungry, but he didn't want to admit that while they're in the middle of teaching each other a new talent they have yet to delve into. Plus, it made a perfect opportunity to get away from any homework he'll have to worry in a few days. Caterina is Arthur's priority today.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：arthur hawthorne。⁰⁴ If she was being honest, not only to Arthur but to herself, she wasn't sure why she favored Arthur the most out of their friend group. Nathaniel was a tad closer to her, only because she met him first and they lived in the same country—and state, no less; Cassian had the friendliest personality, being the only Hufflepuff in their group; while Alistair was the most distant one, which made it obvious why Caterina didn't find herself "close" to him at the very least.

Perhaps it was because Arthur was the more chaotic member of the bunch (which is why it was surprising that he became a prefect), always suggesting the most ridiculous things. Caterina found herself more attracted to those types of people. That was not to say that she was chaotic herself—quite the opposite, actually. True, she was loud, social, and always put herself out there, but she wasn't a rule breaker as she was one to stick to the rules, often staying out of trouble. Which was a direct result of being raised by grandparents she cherished, whose principles she kept in mind. Simply put, Caterina was more a goody-two shoes, especially compared to her and Arthur's friend group.

Either way, Caterina always liked talking and spending time with Arthur. One could even say that she thought of him as one of her best friends (which should never be mentioned to one Dorian Evzen, who would surely go on a jealous rampage).

"Line art sounds like you're just drawing lines," Caterina said dumbly, pulling away from Arthur with a slight tilt of her head. "Why does it have its own name? Oh! I know what you're talking about. Nevermind me."

It was obvious that she was not the artist, but that didn't mean she didn't want to try her hand at it again. "Let's sit at that table over there," she suggested, taking graceful strides towards the single table at the corner of the room, placed a few feet away from the mirror, where her instructor usually liked to sit whenever she needed to handle paperwork. As she walked, it looked like she was prancing, her strides catching air as though she were dancing. It was a habit of hers, especially when she was wearing her usual dance attire, complete with the lack of shoes on her feet. "Did you eat, by the way?

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@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：caterina sun。⁰² Watching her movements upon his arrival in the classroom made his eyebrows quirk upwards in confusion. Arthur was well aware that she loved to hug him. Probably, more often than the rest of the guys from their friend group, which he never expected from the Ravenclaw. Nathaniel, Alistair, and Cassian would deserve more of Caterina's hugs in his case. It's not that he doesn't recommend himself as a good candidate for the girl's affection, but he thought she would rather give him a few kicks to his rear than a warm embrace for being the wreck less Gryffindor he is.

There wasn't an ordinary day where he wouldn't talk about potions which involved exploding their institution, out of pure accident as he would like to call it. Has he tried it once in his wizardry life? No, but if it would get some of his classmates out of a class that they hated so much then he'd love to do the honors. Unfortunately, he's a prefect now and he shouldn't cause so much trouble with the title sitting on his forehead like the crown of a king.

“Hey Cat.” His voice came in like a gentle breeze that one could only hear once they were close enough to him. Arthur wrapped his arms around her frame for a brief moment before letting go, smiling at the sight of seeing one of his best friends in the school again. “Let’s start with a few basic pencil sketches before moving on with dance? I didn’t want to overwhelm you with so much lessons today. Unless, you’re up to learn until line art?”

The thought of teaching someone, even if it was one of his friends made him enthusiastic and jittery at the same time. He never taught anyone that he was interested in. Educating his childhood friend, Laurent Devereaux, on potions would mean explaining a future project on demolishing Hogwarts and its thick dark walls while the other stops him. It’s no fun for Arthur since he believes that Laurent and him are on the same level when it came to that. “I brought another pencil with me for you to draw on the other page of my sketchbook.”

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：arthur hawthorne。⁰⁴ There was nothing unusual about Caterina sitting in the middle of an empty dance studio. In fact, it was the most usual thing about her. It was rare for her to have any sort of free time, given her class schedule and all other things she liked to do on a daily basis, but when she did, she liked being in the middle of this class—with the mirrors that took up one entire wall and the wood floors that had skid marks from the rubber soles on people's shoes. She was often in here with her best friend, Dorian Evzen, who shared not only dance class with her, but her love of dance. But this time, as she stretched out on the floor, reaching out to the one leg in front of her and the other bent towards the ceiling, she was expecting someone else.

Arthur Hawthorne made quite the unusual suggestion a couple of days ago, in which he—after sketching her a tattoo idea she turned down—offered to teach her how to draw in exchange for a dance lesson. What kind of dance, she had absolutely no clue, but either way, the request was both endearing and odd at the same time. See, Caterina is a dancer. She has been since she was a child, but she never really /taught/ anyone how to dance. Even after all these years, she viewed herself as the student and she was quite okay with that. In fact, she always loved learning, which is probably what got her into the house she was in. But teaching? She wasn't sure if she could even explain something well enough, no less dancing. Arithmancy? Fine. That wasn't too hard. But teaching someone how to move their body was something far more daunting than a couple of numbers and equations.

"Not late at all," Caterina answered, turning to the familiar voice that echoed into the empty room. She gave him a smile before pushing herself up with a quiet grunt, jogging over to him with open arms. "Hey."

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Pain. Shame, and pain. That was what overtook Seamus. His forehead stung, his instructions clearly fell on deaf ears, and he wanted to do nothing less then jinx the other. "You're crazy," Seamus frowned, hand over his reddening forehead. It didn't even occur to him that a wrongly aimed candy could have easily broken his glasses. Which wasn't something his mum would appreciate. "You deserve to be expelled for this," Seamus ground out through a tightly clenched jaw as he walked back towards the other's desk. He wasn't sure what he was doing, squaring up to someone like Braeden wasn't a good idea if he didn't want his own reputation to suffer, and duelling was strictly permitted only when supervised. He had no other option. He waved his wand at the books which abruptly started packing themselves into Seamus' messenger bag. That in turn wrapped itself around his shoulder. "I'll talk to Fltwick. You clearly have no problem with charms, you're just a conceited arrogant bastard that thinks he's better than all this. This session is over." With a hand stilk tightly plastered to his forehead, Seamus walked out of the classroom and headed straight to the hospital wing, his sight sort of blurry. Even the younger's grin, that seemed to have got drilled into his brain with each hit of the candy, he'd write down to the mild concussion he was most certainly suffering from.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ It wasnt until Seamus stood up that he finally drew the slytherin’s attention. His eyes naturally scanned the full length of the clearly taller man’s stature as he walked away only returning to its previously uninterested expression when he turned back around. He continued to make a show of disinterest, but behind his bored gaze, he was surprisingly attentive. Braeden listened as the older man lectured him, his amused smirk returned hearing what the older muttered behind his back, it wasnt that difficult in the quiet echo-y classroom. Still he remained silent, his eyes now trained on the foil wrapped candy infront of the older. “Oh? You watch me when I’m playing Quidditch? Didn’t know you were a fan,” He finally spoke as one of the candies were lauched towards him. Braeden wasn’t unskilled at magic, he only disliked being told what to do, which to him was the entire concept of school. He could’ve easily waved his wand to catch it, instead the slytherin let the candy hit him square in the chest, catching it before it tumbled to the floor. He popped the newly acquired sweet between his lips before lazily waving his wand at the several new airborne candies sending the flying back toward the elder b-lining for the direct centre of his forehead “Bullseye,” The boy grinned when they hit consecutively

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：caterina sun。⁰² It was never his habit to bring a black sketchbook around the thick walls of the castle institute. Arthur was one to misplace many of his belongings except for his wand, piercings, and phone. If you would consider taking a visit to his room, a pile of plain white and black shirts could be found, created to form the shape of a tiny hill situated on the left corner of his room. While all his papers and books are piled messily on a bookshelf nearby his bed. The only place he might consider to be tidy amongst all the ruckus would be the potion bottles and spells on his desk.

“I hope Caterina isn’t waiting too long…” His sentence dragged out to a mumble while he passed through halls before proceeding into the classroom, they planned to meet in. Arthur offered to show her a few basics to drawing. When they were exchanging text messages from the phone a few days ago, he’ll admit that her imagination is quite endearing, but he couldn’t exactly come to visualize how the design of her tattoo would go. All he understood was magic and added a few details of flowers, the moon, and potions in the shape of crystals. The potion bottles represented as a little detail for her to remember him by.

“Hey, I arrived. I hope I’m not late, am I…?” A pair of onyx eyes surveyed the room, in search of the said Ravenclaw whom he thinks have beaten him to the place first.

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Now /that/ was just Braeden being an right there. Kaladin had never thought about him in any negative way - well, aside from the fact that Emerald's parents obviously preferred the other boy and Kaladin's insecurities were eating him up alive most days - but this, right here, with the third kick delivered to his chair was nothing but deliberately trying to pick a fight. A fight, Kaladin decided, he'd /not/ fall into that easily. "Oh, my God, get /ed/ or you're frustrated, Laclaire, don't take it out on the bloody chair. Jeez", he snapped, turning around to focus on their lecture, but not without (subtly) giving the other boy the middle finger over his shoulder.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁵ Wordlessly, Braeden made a show of lifting his foot and shoving it into the Gryffindor’s chair for a third time. His brow lifted in silent challenge, daring the other to retaliate. To be honest, Braeden didn’t really have a problem with Kaladin, compared to most people in the school he was tolerable, and yet he couldnt resist the urge to pick a fight whenever he ran into him.

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Ignoring the obviously mocking grin that clearly sent off a handsome alert in Seamus' brilliant mind, he rather made himself focus on the charmed books. Those, for a fleeting second, seemed like they were going to scatter all over the classroom. It was a success nonetheless. "Acceptable, but your lack of precision can be dangerous. What if the books were glass? Precision is the basic of charms, have you not learned that? Or you're just that eager to be declared magically deficient?" The sixth year snapped. The boy's lack of concern for the bigger picture angered him. Braeden seemed to couldn't have cared less, but for some reason, Seamus was not having any of it. This was not the time to show off how big of he could be. This was a question of life and expulsion.

He saw the Slytherin get exponentially bored. Seamus realized that maybe it was high time to give the guy a challenge. "Fine, let's start there. Precision." The Ravenclaw pushed his chair back and got up, watching the boy's eyelids get heavier. So this is how it was going to be? "Cocky, lazy, conceited brat," Seamus muttered under his breath as he walked over to a farther seat. He took out some foil-wrapped candy from his pocket and placed two handfuls from his apparently enchanted pocket onto the desk, and cast a spell on them. "I saw you play Quidditch, quite impressive. Let me tell you, though, having fast reflexes and instincts without precision is like having a plate and cutlery with no food." Seamus turned around abruptly. Upon waving his wand in Braeden's direction, the first candy shot rapidly across the classroom, hitting the Slytherin straight in the chest, tumbling off after the sharp impact. "Apply precision to instinct and reflexes and you'll be able to get away unharmed after a failed levitation spell on glass. Eradication charm, let's go," Seamus announced as another couple of candies became airborne, flying in Braeden's direction like bullets. This was the moment the Slytherin boy would prove himself worthy of Seamus' time or the contrary.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ Braeden narrowed his eyes slightly, an amused grin spread across his features when he thought he saw a small shiver that accompanied the older’s sudden stutter, his wand flicked back and forth between his fingers as he listened to the bird boy break down for him what he /thought/ would happen to braeden if he didn’t obey the olders teachings. He didn’t dignify him with any reaction only nodding along thoughtfully as each item was added on to the list. At the others request to see his levitation charm, the Slytherin wordlessly gripped his want loosely, giving it a natural swish and flick, watching as the older’s books raised a foot off the desk before dropping them unceremoniously back onto the wooden surface. Once done the Slytherin sat back again, his wand once again flicking back and forth between his fingers, eyes half lidded as if he would fall asleep at any moment. Through all this, he had yet to speak another word.

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Seamus rolled his eyes, arched his back to feign stretching. For a reason, there was an ugly, numbing shiver running down his spine as he heard the foreign language. Not because it sounded strange or bad, definitely not, but because he just could not learn how to speak it. To this day he thought he couldn't stand it, but his current reaction was atypical. Being the target of the French onslaughter, he completely forgot that he didn't understand a single word and the Slytherin was most likely insulting him. "I-I know what I'm teaching, I just don't know what you at," Seamus tried to retaliate, but he didn't really find a reason why. Because of the French that was taunting his genius, or the confusion of the shiver? He cleared his throat quickly, regaining composure, because if the heat from his spine reached his face, he would never be able to live down the embarrassment in front of this rude, smug, bratty Slytherin. "If I don't, you'll be kicked out of school, bring shame on your family, become a wizard bum, and will most likely have to carry more than just a handful of items without having a wand," Seamus listed, counting on his fingers. "Which brings me to the next point, can you even make things levitate, I wonder? Demonstrate the levitation charm for me, would you?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ Braeden's eyes hardened, glaring up at the sixth year before diverting his attention back to the textbook in front of him, "merde, c'est nul que l'prof m'attribuer ce type" he muttered rolling his eyes, deciding already that a summer of nagging by his grandmother would've been better than to suffer the likes of the overeager student before him. "You’re the teacher, arent you supposed to know what you’re teaching” Braeden scoffed, “And if you deem me unworthy?” he challenged, he wouldnt allow himself to fail the class, with or without the bird boy’s help. but bird boy didnt know that

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Kaladin had never minded Charms that much. The class was easy enough and he always liked to think that he picked up on the lessons rather quickly, meaning that he was mostly lazing around after completing whatever task Flitwick had given them at the beginning of the class. And today was no exception to that, his wand twirling lazily between his fingers as he stared off into space, trying desperately to pay attention to what their professor was talking about - and he did talk a lot, sadly - only for him to nearly slam straight in to his desk when someone kicked his chair. "What the fu-", he started with a gasp, whirling around in his chair, ready to give the person behind him a piece of his mind - only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw that it was none other than Braeden. Apparently this idiot was the bane of his existence at this point. "Are you /insane/, Laclair? Do you want to get jinxed or something? Merlin."

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Seamus beamed in the most dishonest way, clapping his hands once. "That's what I call progress! Alright, Braeden," the sixth-year articulated, testing out the name. He twisted around in his chair, bringing both of his legs up to sit in a lotus position. "Based on what I've learned, you might as well have," he commented in a by-the-way manner, shrugging slightly and making a pained grimace just to taunt the other. He was gauging for reactions, he realized. "But enough of small talk, let's get to work!" Seamus brought his wand out and up. "You're a fifth year, am I right? You picked the wrong time to mock about, Braeden. Not to worry, I'll help you. If you prove yourself worthy of my help, that is," he smirked mischievously.
Of course he wouldn't let him flunk his exams, not when Professor Flitwick was the one asking. This fifth year Slytherin, Braeden, had one luck, that the charms' professor took such a pity on him. Had it been up to Seamus, he would have kicked the student out the moment the boy's icy dark eyes laid on him.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁵ Charms. Not only was it Braeden's least favourite class, it was also his worst subject. Flitwick was nice enough, but his voice sounded like a mosquito buzzing incessantly in your ear and boy did he like the sound of his own voice. As it was, last semester Braeden hardly showed up to class resulting in an unfortunate near failing grade that was only saved by his promise of ‘putting in more effort’ in the coming year. Try as he may, it was the first week back to classes and the Slytherin, back in his spot favourite spot in the back of the room, with his legs propped up precariously on the seat infront of him, was already falling asleep. He'd already forced himself to sleep before the sun rose, and yet the constant drone of the professor's voice was like the perfect lullaby sending him off to the dream world. It was only the loud thud of his foot shoving the chair in front of him sending the poor occupant lurching forward that jerked him awake, "Oh sorr-" He began to apologize monotonously until he recognized the unfortunate red and yellow tie, "Nevermind," He smirked, kicked the chair again for good measure.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ Braeden raised his brow, "Why?" The Slytherin laughed humourlessly, "You have magic, why would you use it," He couldn't understand the question, it seemed like a basic concept; when you have too many items to hold, wouldnt a simple charm (ironically) suffice in making life easier. Although the older's following remark allowed him to understand, "Ah, I see" His eyes grazed the other from head to toe then back up again, muggleborn, he didn't say out loud. "Flitwick assigned you as a tutor, no one said anything about being in charge," Braeden voice hard as he stayed planed in his seat, "and if I wanted a refresher of my etiquette lessons I would've stayed at the estate." He stated although he followed up simply with his name "Braeden," he introduced barely.

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ A witty one, this student. Seamus pushed his thin framed glasses gently up on the bridge of his nose, begging the mighty Merlin to give him strength. "And why would I do that?" his forced smile, tightened, his cheeks going numb. He started at the smug Slytherin, while he leaned against the desk. "The laziness of pure-bloods, I suppose. It would only make sense if you're failing charms, the most basic subject of all," Seamus returned the smirk, but he was well aware how this could backfire. "He told you to be here, but put me in charge," Seamus himself sat forward, challenging the other. "If you think you have the upper hand here, you may see yourself out," his eyebrow raised tauntingly. He sat back and finally dropped the painful smile. He sighed, "If you listen, learn, and improve, you won't get expelled or whatever he threatened you with. Got it? It's simple as that. First, let's work on your manners. I greeted you, told you my name, now it's your turn."

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ Braeden leaned back in his seat extending his legs out comfortably, a small smirk graced his features as he watched the older painstakingly walk each stack of his unnecessary materials over "Flitwick said you were his best, but even I know you could've just charmed this," he gestured vaguely to everything on his desk "to follow you. See, now I can't help but question your competence" the Slytherin taunted, completely ignoring the others greeting as well as introduction. "Flitwick told me I had to be here, and therefor I will be," He deadpanned, not bothering to explain the professors not so mild threat of failure which would result in a very difficult to explain letter home. "However," his smirk returned as he leaned toward the other, "if you dont think you can handle it, there's the door," he nodded toward the door behind him, his eyes daring the other to take the bait.

@－ ❛ s ❜：braeden laclaire。⁰⁵ Seamus didn't mind doing this favour for his favourite professor. Although, had he known what an actual nuisance the Slytherin would be, he might have had considered a little longer. He'd heard things about this specific one, but he couldn't make up a solid judgement.
The student himself proved Seamus' feeble theory to be right. Regardless of the actions, Seamus forced a smile, exhaled through his nose, and wore the rigid smile all throughout moving all his books, writing tools, and other necessary instruments over to the boy's desk.
"Good afternoon to you too," Seamus ground out passive-aggressively through the same smile, dropping an armful of charms study equipment on the surface. "I wouldn't expect you to appreciate the true brilliance of charms, but it is really unnecessary to be an arse, alright?" Seamus pointed out the other's lack of manners and pulled a chair over to sit opposite.
"My name is Seamus, I'm here to tutor you on charms as a favour to Professor Flitwick, and if you don't plan on showing up or actually trying, I might as well tell him to turf you out," with the same upbeat, falsely cheerful tone, Seamus said and gently placed a book of fifth-year's charms in front of his student. "So, what exactly is giving you trouble?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：seamus byrne。⁰⁶ Braeden huffed in annoyance as he approached the door to the dreaded charms classroom. Professor Flitwick had graciously (to Braeden’s dismay) arranged for some sixth year to tutor him as a condition of allowing him to pass charms in the previous year. Fortunately, it prevented an owl home that would’ve made his summer vacation all that much worse, unfortunately, he was now stuck with an extra wasted afternoon with some stuck-up from the bird house ‘assisting’ him with his charms curriculum.
With one last longing look in the general direction of the slytherin dungeons the fifth year shoved the door open to be greeted by an all too eager looking ravenclaw. Braeden resisted an eyeroll as he plopped himself down in his usual spot at the back of the room, far from where the other had set up. Not that he cared, it was /his/ time that was being wasted.