Disenchanted. (Tag: Brianna)

While Brianna loved to... play about, that did not mean that she was a natural party girl at heart. Nor did it mean she was an extrovert. Quite the contrary, getting away from the world and isolating herself had become a weekly habit of hers. She generally slept during these times, but she did have schoolwork, occasionally,, and during others she would simply retreat into her mind. This was one of these occurrences.

One of the bad things (out of a long list of them) about Hogwarts was the fact that there was really not much privacy in the dormitories - in the common room, friendless first years were always twitting about. Upstairs, her dorm mates continuously gossiped about social rumors and fashion trends (not to mention they kind of hated her guts after she stole one of their boyfriends. Having a mass number of female enemies could be tiresome, at times). The library was an ideal choice, but the current librarian had this weird notion that if you were not reading or studying, then you should not be there - this keeps Brianna away, for she had no intention of doing either. That left the prefect lounge.

Brianna was only one of the many people who was surprised when getting the prefect badge - some girls had even cried about it, she believed. Teachers did not see her enough to develop any particular liking to her, but it was not like they had ever caught her in any acts outside of class, either - she made sure of that. A lot of people had thought that she would abuse the title, but that ended up false - she kept her nose of out trouble that would bring legal consequences, for the most part. She just... didn't follow up with the rest of her job too well.

The prefect lounge was a perfect place for solitary, however, seeing as her peers... well, they actually did their prefect-ly duties, so the room was not often occupied as they did their rounds. She entered the room, cradling a stack of books and pushing at the door with her hip. Scanning the room stopped her in her tracks.

... Great.

"Perhaps." Her tone ran dry, and the door clicked shut with a tap of her foot. She sank into the couch opposite her... Dein, placing her books on the table before the both of them. The Daily Prophet lay all too conveniently at the top of her stacks, and she resisted the urge to smirk - there was no use in riling up a fire that that had already been stoked. Yet. "Edrins."

The fact they have rarely communicated since that event was part happy coincidence and part her intention - it was not often that Brianna was bested, and that unpleasant scene had been embarrassment at its finest. People moved on, however, and it was naught but a memory in the past - the worst thing about it being that it was her past, and she would remember it all too clearly until a time long to come.

"Why thank you, darling." She pushed aside the newspaper, reaching for the first book - an old, artifact of a thing written in some Slavic language - and thumbing through its worn pages. "You didn't seem to miss me too much, though - how is Miss Nurse?"
Choi had done well, she had to admit. He'd done his role and brought himself into the papers with one stone, the crafty man that he was. Her eyes flickered towards the slandered boy - he seemed unperturbed, as usual. Then again, it was most likely a mask - she surrounded herself with people of layers, of multiple facades that never revealed their true selves. That way, it was worth the reaping when she finally got to unpeel them.

"Kill you?" The surprise in her voice seemed evident, whether or not the 7th year believed it. "Why would I want to kill you? Don't be so dull, dearie." Brianna offered him a gracious smile. "Try again."

The first comment was easy to shrug off - she'd heard that directed towards her often enough, through petty little girls that thought they knew better than her. They did not realize, though, that if she wanted her charms to work, they would work against a love potion itself. She would not stoop to fighting for a boy, however - they were moments of interest, nothing more, and clinging herself to one would be bringing herself down to normal standards.

But that condescending smirk... Brianna knew better than to let her smile stiffen, but she hated it all the same. It triggered memories from the Kyler Manor - never a good thing to look back on, full of patronizing looks and sympathetic murmurings. She, not one to be taken lightly, despised it all.

She remained silent, crossing her legs and rubbing her hand at a burn that no longer existed. The girl had never actually gone to get it checked, afterwards - it'd healed well enough with her own treatments, anyways, and had served as a reminder in its own, twisted way.

The entire Durmstrang ordeal had been unpleasant at its finest. Sure, there had been some shining moments, but she was eager to steer clear of both the school and its headmistress for as long as possible.
Brianna glanced back up at her fellow prefect - Dein looked far from amused, as if the time for jests was over. She could only offer him a small shake of her head.

"You would not have died."

Brianna stood up abruptly, gesturing widely in the air. "I don't..." A short laugh forced its way out of her as she exhaled. "You wouldn't have died." She spun sharply on her heel, facing away from him and running a hand through her hair. Why did she even bother to try and explain herself?

As inattentive she may have seemed during that time, Brianna had watched all three of the tasks with acute attention - she remembered watching as the champions fumbled to figure their way through the pool of wands, had laughed as they struggled with the thestrals... she had also, with the rest of the anxious audience, watched with a mute, fascinated horror when the sick mutations of creatures had appeared to try their very best in slaughtering the three. So that was what the Ministry really spent their fundings on.

Having grown up in a very pro-governmental household, one would expect at least some of that respect to rub off Brianna. Quite the contrary, however, her parents' approval to the Ministry had repelled her away from those views like oil and water. It did not take this outlook to have been dismayed by the mutants that bore at least some resemblance to human. That had not been the first time she found out there were such abominations, however. Rumors, however outrageous they were, always contained some kernel of truth inside them. Brianna has heard many, many rumors.

She turned back towards Dein, face impassive. When he had nearly bled out to death in the arena, she had almost regretted her decision. Yes, it had been out of spite - that, she could not deny. Brianna had never been one to forgive and forget. Still...

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Edrins." She spoke slowly, offering a lazy smirk. "And as contrary as it may seem, sometimes, you are not as well. Give yourself that much credit, if nothing else."

Brianna had always been fine with her perfectly average height (167 cm, thank you very much) but it wasn't until tall men had started to make a constant appearance in her life that she wished she had just a couple of more centimetres or so, or could at least wear higher-heeled shoes at Hogwarts. Whenever people like Dein got into close range with her, she would have to look up at them and bring herself down onto an inferior level. She kept her stance, however, refusing to showcase her insecurities aloud.

He threatened her in such a pleasant, blasé attitude, they could have been speaking about the weather for all that it counted. She had no doubt he would follow through with it, too, if it were necessary - Slytherins had a knack of keeping their promises, and Dein would, no doubt, not disappoint.

She watched Dein make his way to the window, twisting at the bracelet clasped to her wrist. They had argued a lot, that was true — she could hardly recall a time where they'd had a normal conversation, never mind get along well. That had been the catch that had kept Brianna interested for so long, though - the challenge he posed that managed to both infuriate and intrigue her was the only reason that they had clashed for so long.
"So we both agree, then." Her voice was flat, eyes staring unseeingly into the fire. "The game's finished, play time's over?" She shifted subtly, crossing her arms. "Who ended up winning?"

"You know... you know I enjoy my games." She gave an indifferent shrug. "I'm a lass who loves to dicker, after all, I'm not infallible." The Slytherin's insults rolled off of her — a while ago, she would have bristled like a wronged little kitten. Now, it would have been even stranger if he hadn't said anything.

"Yes, I suppose it doesn't even matter all that much, now does it?" Brianna began to pick idly at her nails. "You'll graduate soon enough and be able to do whatever it is that you wish to, and I will be stuck here." She sank onto the armrest of her couch, briefly looking up to meet Dein's bored expression. "Try not to miss me too much, will you?" He had never spoken much of what he'd do post-Hogwarts, but then again... it wasn't like they were on speaking terms. She wondered what he would do once outside — he didn't seem to be one who supported the Ministry, but it wasn't like there were many jobs out there that didn't involve the government in some form, anymore.