Catch The Snitch

Nautica set her things down in the Slytherin common room with a sigh. With it being the year she had to take her O.W.L.s, she seemed more stressed than ever to make sure she was doing well in her classes. Her sister had just finished the year before with impeccable N.E.W.T scores, placing more weight on Nautica to live up to her sister's scores, even if she had no intention of following in her footsteps of being an Auror.

She sat on one of the couches in the room, leaning back and rubbing her eyes. She still didn't know what she wanted for herself and she felt like she was going in circles at the moment, "I need a break," she muttered, but just let her hands fall to her side and stared up at the ceiling of the room, not moving off the couch. She didn't know who was in the room at the moment, not that she could muster the energy at that second to care. Not only was she living under her sister's shadow, but there was also that damned Valtoris girl in her year that seemed to be as impeccable at everything as her sister.

She ground her teeth, taking deep breaths to try and master her emotions, never showing them in rooms like this. There were very few people if any that she showed all of her emotions to. And one of them, she wished she could talk to at the moment, but she wasn't sure where they were or if they were busy themselves...

Percival hated that his parents excepted so much of him. Even as they doted upon their daughter, his sister, he knew that they were always watching him. Waiting to see where he would mess up and the fact that he was 'spending too much focus on quidditch.' They wanted him to excel in his studies so he could work in the ministry. That was their dream, not his. He sighed as he tossed his books on the floor of the common room and sat back in a chair in the corner. He didn't want to be bothered and just wanted to get lost in his own thoughts. He had let his eyes slide close and was almost in full dream mode when he heard a voice. He turned his head toward the girl and perked a brow. She seemed rather stressed, almost as much as he was.

He didn't normally offer his two sense when it came to things like this. On a normal day he probably would have just barked at her and told her bugger off. Today was different however, he was feeling, well he was feeling and that was different for the Slytherin all together. He sort of turned his body towards her and waited for the right time to speak.

"Rough day?" He muttered in a sleepily sort of way. He just let the words sort of fall out of his mouth as he slowly sat up and eyed the girl sitting near him. The Common room was fairly quite in the moment, but he knew as classes ended it would get louder and they wouldn't be able to talk as freely. Mostly because Percival didn't talk to people unless it benefited him. This moment however, he didn't care about benefit and he cared about what was going on in the girls mind. Why. It was a question for the ages.

Nautica had covered her face with her hands to try and regather herself before hearing the voice not far from her. She hadn't been looking around when she came into the space so she hadn't even realized she'd sat near anyone else. She looked over once she was sure she'd schooled herself enough, "Just a bit," she said, forcing her voice to be even, "Feel like I'm drowning in parchment and ink, frankly," she motioned to the stack of books as she slid the strap of her bag over her head and let it hit the floor with a thump.

"But I'm sure you hear 5th years whining all the time, don't mind me. I have to get it together whether I like it or not, can't embarrass the shadow that already bloody left," she grumbled a bit before shaking her head, "And what of you?" she looked over at him, "It seems I might have disturbed your nap. My apologies." It was a genuine apology. She definitely understood the desire to just sleep and pretend this weight wasn't threatening to drag her down, "Though other students will be returning soon, if you want a quiet space, I'd suggest seeking refuge elsewhere."

"Ah, yes the dreaded homework. You'll get used to the workload. Most people do..." He looked at her stack of books and frowned. "Any one particular you have you stumped or just overall?" He leaned into his knees and sat forward a bit more. Eying the girl in front of him. She was younger, but that didn't matter. She seemed genuine and had an air about her. A small smile played at his lips as she watched her. He was curious, she was curious.

He scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. "You're not wrong. You're lot do complain a lot...However, I was in your predicament once." She mentioned a shadow that left and he perked a brow. "Ah, an older sibling you are having to live up to?" He shook his head. "No, not a nap. Just relaxing before the common room becomes a bloody rave. At that point, I will find myself elsewhere." He shrugged. "I have nowhere else to be right now...Tell me about it. I have time."

"It's not just the workload, that's whatever," Nautica waved her hands, "It's that I despise some of the courses, but I can't even slack in those even when I cannot retain nor care to retain the information," she muttered, "I feel like a spring wound too tight, but I'm not athletically gifted enough to be able to join the Quidditch team to take my anger out on someone with a bludger and even the dueling club was somewhere she managed to impress everyone," she held her hands up in front of her like she was strangling someone before letting her hands fall into her lap, "Yes," she answered the question about the older sibling, "Rhysln Anderson is such a perfect person," she scowled, her sarcasm biting, before standing and starting to pace a bit.

"The idea of having to live up to the expectations of those who come before is such a useless sentiment," she muttered, "Should the goal not be to find your own successes?" she looked at him, putting her hands on her hips, "What good is it to be carbon copies of parents, siblings, cousins, what have you?"

He leaned in to hear what she had to say. She, so it was someone close to her that she had to live up to. A sister or a cousin that was here before her. Someone she felt she had to live up to or be better than. A small smirk graced his lips. "You know, you don't have to show her up. Believe me when I say that. I have a little sister who is the apple of my parents' eye. The cream of the crop, the one they are putting all their faith into now because I told them that I am not a tool they can use and abuse whenever they feel like making their friends jealous of the things they have. We aren't... possessions." He shrugged and leaned back once more.

"Mine is younger than I am. Because is willing to let them mold her into the person they want her to be." He nodded in agreement with her statement of her own successes. "Of course you should. You aren't her, you are your own person and should be allowed to be as such." He pursed her lips. "It is a pointless outcome. But parents want us to be what they want us to be. Let's show them that we aren't going to allow them to control every aspect..." He stood up and walked over to her. "Come on, live a little." He could see the opportunity to have a little fun.

As Percival told her she didn't have to show her up, Nautica stopped like it was the first time the idea had ever been suggested. She looked over at him as he told her about his own situation and as he agreed with her thoughts. When he approached her with the idea of having fun, she tilted her head a little, "Oh? What are you suggesting we do to "live a little"?" she asked, doing the air quotes. It wasn't a dismissal of the invitation though. She needed a break. Needed for a moment to not be Rhysln Anderson's little sister. Not have even the professors be disappointed when she couldn't do as well as her in subjects that she just hated.

"Honestly, I'm down for just about anything. I'm so tired of trying to be perfect," she scowled a little, "Let's get into some mischief then," a mischievous smirk bloomed on her face. She normally would scoff at such a thing, ask whoever it was if they were trying to join Gryffindor, but she just needed to do something fun.