Studying Up

[Keagan Gerislynn]

Anyone who knew anything of this particular Gryffindor's academic history would find her current status a sight to behold for here, seated in a window seat along the First Floor corridor, was Keagan Gerislynn with a Herbology book in her lap. Seeing as the Gryffindor had all but failed her Herbology OWL, had never liked the class, and had, in fact, developed a passionate dislike of the subject by the end of last year, this was a very strange situation for her to be in, indeed. Moreover, the Lioness appeared to be enjoying her reading! 'Twas strange, very strange.

Perhaps readers would like a bit of insight into the girl's mind, and her writer shall happily give it - Keagan has recently gotten it into her head that she would like to be a Healer. Of course, with her exam scores, this seemed impossible to her for quite a while, but she had began forming a plan in her mind over the last month or so. If she could study like crazy, perhaps get some of the professors to assist her, and somehow convince the Headmistress to allow her to test at the NEWT level even though she had bombed her OWLS, she just might be able to score high enough to have a chance at doing something with her life. And having something to do with her life would be a dream come true for the girl who had nearly resigned herself to simply being a housewife and mother.

With all this in mind, Keag had borrowed all the basic Herbology books she could find in the library and had begun reading, starting with first year level studies - after all, the beginning is a very good place to start. Regardless of whether she got anything from it or not, the Gryffindor really had nothing better to do on weekdays while everybody else seemed to be in class. Today, her reading brought her to this spot on the first floor, where the light ticked off her shoulders just right and she could bask in the warmth while still able to focus on her reading.


((Very much open, in particular to those who have wanted to up their activity lately. ))

[Drew Thornton]

{I'll bite ;D }

Drew had taken to sulking in shadows and avoiding crowds... activities that didn't fare very well with his voracious appitite. Granted, it wasn't as voracious as it had previously been, but still, a boy needed to eat, right? Now that the Great Hall was not an option, he had taken to sneaking down to the kitchens at odd hours for a quick bite, weaving his way through deserted hallways and seldom used passages, always keeping one eye looking over his shoulder.

So it startled him to find Keagan there in the hall, perched on the windowsill, reading.

"Don't you have class?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He rarely pulled the prefect card and especially against his Gryffindor counterpart, the question was obviously more teasing than anything else.

[Keagan Gerislynn]

((I wouldn't have disappeared for a bit if I knew someone was going to post here xD))

"Nope," Keagan replied, finishing the sentence she was on before looking up at the male who had spoken. She was surprised to see Drew there. A rather somber looking Drew, at that. Keag hadn't heard about his kidnapping - if there was a prefect briefing, she must have missed it. Thus, she found his appearance rather disturbing considering what she knew of Drew, either from experience or the occasional rumor about his exploits.

However, she chose not to broach the subject of his appearance herself. Instead, she raised an eyebrow back at him. "Don't you?"

[Drew Thornton]

"Free period," Drew answered with a wry little smirk that disappeared from his face almost as soon as it appeared. In this particular case, 'free period' meant 'the hour we would usually be in herbology' but with the absence of a professor for the last few months, there really wasn't any point in going to class, was there. It wasn't like the plants would be helping them with their OWLs all on their own.

He came closer, stepping out of the shadows where the sunlight fell on his bruised face, smiling again and finding it easier to make it stick around longer this time. "So what's your excuse?" he asked.

[Keagan Gerislynn]

Keagan's eyes had drifted down to the book in her lap again, but deciding to take a break from her studying (she'd been reading for over an hour), she closed the book, marking her page by dog-earing its corner. She began her response before she had fully ooked up. "I'm just enjoying one of the six free periods I ha-" She began to stammer when she caught sight of his bruised features. "Ha-have. That looks awful painful."

[Drew Thornton]

His smile faltered and his hand instinctively went to his cheek when he realized what she had been talking about. "Fight..." he explained vaguely, shrugging it off as no big deal. He noticed the book she had been reading and the smirk returned. Of course the whole school was in the same boat when it came to Herbology.

"Six? How'd you mange to get six free periods?" he asked, wondering how that was even possible.

[Keagan Gerislynn]

Drew might have noticed that she was reading a Herbology book. However, it would seem that he had failed to notice that it was a primary book, of the sort you'd use for review before the OWLs, perhaps. Exams she had taken a full year ago.

Keagan blushed a bit at his question. "Erm," she started. "I didn't do so hot on my OWLs. The professors have only let me take two classes." It wasn't the most flattering information to reveal, but Keagan wasn't one to lie about her mistakes.

As for Drew's vague explanation of his visible injuries, Keagan had no reason to suspect that Drew was being anything less than forthright with her. Of course, he really hadn't lied, either. Her lips formed a silent "Oh" in response to that, for once not feeling like the curious cat she usually was. Maybe it was all the studying.

[Drew Thornton]

"That sucks," Drew answered, wondering if he was going to be in the same boat for next year. He had been fairly confident about his OWLs up until about a week ago, but was finding it hard to concentrate on tests lately. "You can take them over, right?" Merlin, he hoped so...

[Keagan Gerislynn]

Keagan's mouth opened to give a negative response to his question, but it closed as she considered the question. She had just assumed she couldn't, but nobody had ever said she couldn't.

"I really don't know; I wasn't given that option,' she replied. "I was just hoping to be given special permission to take some of the NEWTS anyway. Most of my OWLs weren't all that bad; the instructors here require Es and Os, though. It's kind of a pain. It would be cool to be able to retake them, though."

[Drew Thornton]

The only professor he had ever heard of giving that kind of special permission had been Shaw, and he was... well... he wasn't about to be doing them any favors in the near future right? Davenport had made an arrangement with some of the students to repeat the first half of fifth year and if they showed improvement, the could rejoin their own class. He hadn't heard of any of the other professors cutting deals though.

"You should ask," he told her. "I mean, they can't keep you back forever just because you had a bad time with the tests, right?"

... right?

[Keagan Gerislynn]

"I planned to talk to Ticloon or Raynor. It would definitely be a pertinent question to ask," Keagan replied, not sure if her bubble was bursting yet or not. She certainly felt less sure about the point of her efforts, now. "If not, I'm going to just have to hope that at the least they let me independently study stuff and let me take at least a few of the NEWT exams for the OWLS I got As in. Otherwise, I'm doomed. What could I possibly do with just Transfiguration and Arithmancy?"

[Drew Thornton]

"Teach..." Drew answered with a snort. There were a ton of fields that needed both of those subjucts, but just those two subjects? The choices were limited. "Do you know what you want to do when you get out anyway? Maybe just really focus your efforts on those classes."

[Keagan Gerislynn]

"I really didn't have an idea at all until a few weeks ago when someone said that I'd make a good Healer. Now I feel driven to get at least far enough to help out in the hospital, just to give my life a purpose or something, you know?" Keagan said with a sigh. She had considered teaching, but didn't think that she could be assertive enough to get the students to do anything. "I had nearly resigned myself to being some sort of housewife."

[Drew Thornton]

"I could see you as a healer," Drew told her, leaning against the wall nearby. Keagan always struck him as a person with a nice, calm demeanor that he thought would do well helping other people. The only problem was two OWL classes wasn't going to get her far.

"You need help studying? I'm kind of good with some of that stuff," he asked. Sure, he hadn't had much luck concentrating on his own studies, but maybe he'd do better helping Keagan out.

[Keagan Gerislynn]

"Studying won't do me much good if it's all for naught," Keagan replied, looking down now at the second year textbook in her lap with a forlorn expression. Soon after, though, she returned her gaze to Drew and gave him a half smile. "But if you think it's worth a shot, I really could use some help understanding this material. Well, this and History of Magic, but I've pretty much given up on that as pointless."

((Just a note : the modifications I just made to past posts was only because I mussed up on Keag's OWL scores in them. Doh! They're worse than I thought. ))