Common Room: Shh!

Finals were fast approaching and Madi had to study. She'd put classwork on the back burner while on the quest for ultimate quidditch glory. And while she had been doing well on he in-class assignments, neglecting her homework had brought down all her grades. So she was relying on these exams to bump up her grades.

One of her biggest issues with the placement of her dorm room was that it was very close to the common room. And the common room, for some reason, echoed into the girls' dormitory hallway. Madi needed some peace and quiet to study for her Charms exam, but every three or four seconds, there was raucous laughter coming from outside her dorm. After about thirty minutes of trying to focus, to no avail, she slipped her black school shoes on and bounded into the common room.

When she saw students gathered around, she crossed her arms across. "Don't you have anything better to do than sit around and laugh? Perhaps studying for your finals?" she asked loudly and with as much annoyance as she could manage. She didn't care that her uniform was wrinkled and she didn't care that her stick-straight hair was up in a boring ponytail instead of styled the way she liked. She didn't even care that she was in her stupid glasses instead of her contact lenses. This had to stop.

Grades mattered a great deal to Raj and an even greater deal to his father. If he didn't do well then he would be hearing about it and it wouldn't be pretty. He was always worried about crossing his father, even though he is the favorite child. He was the youngest, the baby of the family .He got what he wanted but that didn't mean he did whatever he wanted, he still had to please his parents. Most importantly, his father. He never wanted to disappoint him, he could lose his status of being favorite. There was no way in hell that was happening, he would continue to be the favorite even if it meant putting in all of his effort and then some.

Finals were coming up and Raj had done a lot of studying and stayed up a lot to study. He used studying as an excuse to spend time with Wynter, she was so worried about finals and whether or not she'd pass. He didn't know why he was so head over heels for this girl but there seemed to be no one else that caught his eye and no one grabbed his attention like her. Raj decided to take a break from studying to hang out with his friends, some of them weren't all too interested in their grades. But he was and he wanted to pass all of his final tests. He wasn't worried though he knew he had it in him.

"The look on her face was priceless when she took a bite into that candy 'apple'," some third year said. He was talking about how he had gave some first years some candy onions instead of apples. It was a bit funny to Raj but the rest of the group was laughing their asses of. Raj managed to chuckle a bit before they were interrupted by some nerdy looking girl.

Raj rolled his eyes at the girl and his group went silent for a bit before some began to laugh again. How dare some girl tell them to be quiet? "For your information," Raj started, as soon as he spoke the group stopped their giggles and began to smirk and stare. They knew Raj would have something smart to say. "I've studied. And I managed to not look like a total nerd....unlike some." He gave the girl a side eye before looking back at his friends.

Madi felt her eyes stinging at the boy's comment, but she wouldn't cry. She had been getting better about that. After all, glasses weren't a terrible thing. They helped her see. They were just another part of her.

Out of nowhere, a burst of courage hit her. Maybe her cousin had sent it to her.

"For your information, I just helped win the Quidditch Cup for our house. That's more than you can say, I'm sure. And maybe I look like a nerd with my glasses on, but at least I don't look as awful as you do all of the time."

That'll give his friends something to giggle about she thought. It wasn't that what she said was a particularly good comeback. It was more about the bravery it took to say it. After all, this was the ferret boy Minnie always seemed to be going on about that Madi had purposely avoided for the past three years. Madi knew him, had been afraid of him, but she doubted that he knew her. And now, he did.

Raj's goal in life was to make people cry, okay maybe that wasn't his ultimate goal but it was something he enjoyed doing. He embraced the fact that he was what people would call a jerk and he was perfectly fine with that. It looked like the girl was going to cry for a split second but then instead she got the nerve to tell him off. It was quite funny. He tried to keep a straight face as the girl tried to tell him off.

After she was done, he began to clap slowly and looked the girl straight in the eye. "I don't think you know who I am and who my family is," he started as he stood to get at the same level as the girl. "Me? Look awful? You're joking." He didn't believe her insult because he knew just how attractive he was. "My descendants are basically Gods."

Quidditch was useless to the fourth year and he really didn't care who won the stupid house cup. "Quidditch isn't my cup of tea, sweetie, and I don't care for it so good for you," he said sarcastically. He folded his arms and stood in front of the girl. "Got anything else to say?" He placed his hand under her chin and smirked, it was something that a lot of the girls fell for or were intimidated by.

Madi scowled at the boy's rude applause. She continued scowling as he spoke.

Of course. It was about a superior bloodline. Bloodlines and heritage didn't matter much to her. Sure, she was a pureblood. From a somewhat important family. But it didn't make even one difference to her.

Madi listened to his quidditch opinion and couldn't help but think that this boy was awful. "First off, I didn't ask for your opinion on sports. Quidditch is physically demanding and difficult to play. Those are facts," she pointed out.

Then, she stepped back away from his touch. It made her very uncomfortable. She wasn't much of a toucher to begin with and ferret boy didn't exactly make it better. "Second of all, do not touch me without permission," she added. "I respect myself. I'm a lady." A princess, she corrected internally.

"Third off, I don't care who your family is. If you think you can catch a ride on the coattails of your name up into respect and have no aspirations to actually earn any for yourself, what's the point in being related to them? If you do nothing to make your family look better, won't that ruin your family's reputation over time?" she asked, rhetorically.

She'd read all about important wizarding families. She knew what contributions they made to their world. Madi knew there weren't many actual pureblood families left, if any. It wasn't what blood flowed through your veins, it was what surname you had. With certain names came certain expectations. That's how the names stayed important.

Madi was already so beyond all of this. Rajan was just trying to get under her skin and make her upset, but if anything, she was annoyed. He was really just wasting their time. The thirteen-year-old knew her points had been made and they were based on the truth and well-thought-out. He didn't really have a leg to stand on, but she still expected him to try. Mean people were predictable, she'd learned.

Minnie was supposed to be working on her Transfiguration homework but she saw the subject as nothing but a waste of time. Instead she chose to sit in a corner of the common room playing teasing games with her ferret. A favourite of hers being to levitate a paper bird above Angelo's head. A couple of friends were laughing with her and taking turns with the levitation charm. Any other noise going on around them, she blocked out.

Eventually, though, Angelo caught the bird and held it in his mouth with no idea of what to do with it. "You look silly," she giggled. Her friends took that as a signal that they should return to their neglected studies. Minnie stood and bent over to pick up the ferret. "Come along then. Ride on my shoulders whilst we go harass Madi into taking a break." With the ferret up around the back of her neck, front legs on one shoulder and back legs on the other, Minnie turned and her eyes bulged at who her cousin was speaking with.

"I think she needs a rescue," Minnie remarked and marched over to where they were. She only caught the last of what her cousin said and remarked, "here, here. I so agree. Who your family is doesn't make you important. My father was greatly revered by many. He deserved none of it so I won't even mention his name to anyone at all. I bet there are disgraceful things in your family you don't even know about." She turned resolutely from him to her cousin. "Madi how did you do with the Transfiguration home work?"

Madi was glad her cousin was there to rescue her. Two heads were better than one, especially if the second head was Minnie. She was much more comfortable with being blunt than Madi was. She'd be out of this conversation in no time.

She had to admit, she didn't know much about Minnie's father. Madi knew that Minnie's paternal family was from the United Kingdom. She knew Minnie's father had been a quidditch player and that was really all she knew for certain. She knew nothing of his alleged reverence. But she didn't feel like she needed to disagree with Minnie. She was making a point for Madi, after all. "Right," Madi said with a short nod.

She let out a small sigh at the mention of homework. "I knew I had forgotten something! This whole term has been a nightmare," she answered, mostly just being dramatic. Winning the Quidditch Cup had been really great. The celebrations had been fun. But Madi was beginning to regret all the fun she had. "We can work on it together, Minnie."