How to Find an Aladren on Library

Charlotte Abbott

June 15, 2011 8:44 AM

How to Find an Aladren by Charlotte Abbott

She needed to talk to Daniel past a 'hi' in the corridor. Charlie was sure it wasn't intentional that they had missed each other at meal times thus far, nor that they'd yet to have a class together that facilitated a proper discussion. It was still the first week back, he probably wasn't avoiding her. If he was avoiding her then she'd have to be affronted, but she was still leaning towards the accidental avoidance rather than intentional. Unless, of course, James had already said something to him. She didn't think he would, but then he did share a room with Daniel, and it might have come up. Or he might have heard from someone else - Marissa and Lita both knew that Charlie had been seeing James over the summer - that was unlikely, too, but it might have happened. But then that still wasn't reason for him to stop talking to her.

Considering, then, that the avoidance was accidental, Charlie just had to make sure their paths would cross. Taking a charms textbook to read from cover to cover if she had to, Charlie went straight to the library after she'd dressed in the morning. Her hair was braided neatly and she'd gone for casual, with a black crotcheted sweater and dark blue jeans. She'd put on a spritz of perfume, too, because Daniel might not be the first Aladren she ran into. While she was in the library, she could just as easily see James, and she wanted to be her best for him. He wasn't her boyfriend - she was fairly sure about that, but she was fuzzy on what they actually were. They'd spent a lot of time together in the summer, and had a great deal of fun, but then Charlie had gone to Mexico with Lita, and now they were back at school. She should probably see him at some point, too, and see if he had any idea where he saw them going (but then again, boys were never very good at conversations like that).

So it was, before she'd even had breakfast, Charlie was in the library, in a very obvious spot in the main thoroughfare. She had her charms textbook open and was reading it, determined that someone she wanted to talk to had to come by sooner or later.

0 Charlotte Abbott How to Find an Aladren 135 Charlotte Abbott 1 5

Daniel Nash

June 16, 2011 10:14 AM

Step One: Place a book out as bait by Daniel Nash

While Daniel didn't think Charlie avoided the library - she got reasonably good grades and had not previously expressed an aversion for reading, plus this was their RATS year - but he hadn't really expected to see her camped out with a Charms book this early in the morning this early in the year. He hadn't even started studying yet today.

Ignoring the light grumbling from his stomach - until a moment ago, it had thought it was about to get fed and it didn't really like this change of plans - Daniel redirected and dropped down into the seat across from her. Giving a grin and a nod down to the book she'd been reading up until she spotted him, he asked, "Worried that much about your Charms RATS?"

Come to that, maybe he should already be cramming for his Defense exam. He'd only gotten an E in the CATS, and beyond a genuine interest in the subject, he didn't really have any natural talent for it. If Charlie thought she need to work on her Charms - which he didn't think was even her weakest subject - he was doomed. Wasn't he supposed to be the Aladren here? Had he slipped too much in his attempts to loosen up? Were his grades already a lost cause? "Oh, God, I'm going to fail DADA. I'm not studying yet." He began rummaging through his bag for his Defense book. "I knew I should have started RATS prep last night instead of taking a bike ride in MARS Two."

Finding the book, he pulled it out and looked at Charlie, an expression of mild alarm on his face. "I trust Oliver more than Holly on academics. How bad is this test anyway?"

Remembering belatedly that their crossed hadn't yet passed in any significant fashion yet this year - as Heads, they'd both kept to their own Houses for the Feast, and apparently their schedules were just different enough that they hadn't caught each other yet at any of the meals since then, and classes were busy with classwork - he added, "Oh, and welcome back. Please tell me you didn't spend the whole summer studying or I'm going to have to turn in my Aladren membership card and get resorted. I don't think I even cracked a book once. Holly got married. Street Beat wrapped up its last season. I've been trying to catch up on sleep since getting back. I hope your break was less . . . frantic."

1 Daniel Nash Step One: Place a book out as bait 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

James Anthony

June 16, 2011 11:24 AM

Step Two: Add a dose of rivalry [WotW] by James Anthony

As per his usual, James began the school year with the full intention of scoring at the top of his class. He had missed perfection on his OWLs by just one mark, and he did not intend to make the same mistake with his next set of examinations. Of course, the summer had reaffirmed his excellent SAT and ACT scores, and he had begun the applications process to a variety of esteemed schools, both magical and Muggle. The brown-haired seventh year was applying with a declared double-major in political science and Arabic; although he exceled in all of his areas of study, James had determined that he would be continuing his exceptional achievements in the political arena. Realistically speaking he was neither attractive nor charismatic enough to run for office, but James was disinterested in being the figurehead in front of the power. His plans lay in achieving actual power.

With the intention of working on his supplemental essay for Princeton (magical), James packed his bag and approached the library. It was one of his more frequent haunts, and despite a patented distaste for the young and frivolous librarian/Divinations professor, he still considered it something of a refuge.

To his surprise, as James approached the area in which he usually worked, he saw a familiar face. His surprise—he immediately corrected himself mentally, consequence of six long years of living with Quentin—was not due to seeing someone he considered familiar. Rather, his surprise was due to who the person was. Not only was it before breakfast (James did his best work before breakfast, and Princeton was, admittedly, a difficult school in terms of admissions), but the person sitting there was Charlotte Abbott. Although Charlie was certainly pleasant enough company, James considered her primarily useful in terms of the somewhat hormonally-driven interactions they had over the summer.

She was not looking her most attractive today; it was a fact proven by study that most males preferred loose hair to hair that was tied back, and James did not think that black was a particularly attractive color on her either. Regardless, he supposed that it would be appropriate for him to work at her table; after all, they hadn’t spoken since her trip to Mexico. Obviously Charlie was less important than his college applications, but since she seemed to be taking a responsible course of action (one fairly uncharacteristic of her), James straightened the blue-and-white striped polo he had on, adjusted his forest-green backpack, and began to stride over to his yearmate, fabric of his khakis rustling against itself as he did so.

Out of nowhere, Daniel Nash appeared and plopped himself down in the seat in front of Charlie. Partially hidden by bookshelves, James gritted his teeth and paused, debating what method would be most effective to either dispose of or humiliate his enemy/roommate/usurper of his coveted administrative position. He had some things up his sleeve, but James intended to wait before pulling out all the stops. No, for the time being--

Coolly walking up to Charlie, James slid into the seat next to her before carefully removing his backpack and very obviously slipping an arm around her waist. It was a movement that was extremely uncharacteristic of him, but hopefully one that even Daniel—who seemed to have some sort of impairment that affected his mental facilities, rendering him unable to comprehend the concept that others might have an ownership over specific things, such as titles—would understand.

“Good morning,” James greeted both of them, sending a blankly distasteful look Daniel’s way. “Would you like me to assist you with your work, Charlie?” It went without saying that his marks in all of his classes were exemplary. “I intend to achieve the highest marks in our courses again this year, but I would not mind if you achieved the second-highest.”

Not to mention that if someone like Charlie outscored Daniel Nash, he would be further discredited. What sort of Aladren would stand for someone like Charlotte Abbott outmatching them in academics?

0 James Anthony Step Two: Add a dose of rivalry [WotW] 126 James Anthony 0 5

Charlotte

June 16, 2011 3:45 PM

Step Three: Diffuse the situation by Charlotte

She hadn’t anticipated becoming engrossed in her studying, but Charlie found herself keen to read to the end of the sentence before she looked up to see who had joined her. Discovering it was Daniel brought a smile to her face. Her venture had been successful! She closed her book with a laugh as Daniel asked if she was worried about her charms exam. It was probably the one about which she was least concerned, but ‘worried’ wasn’t a term she would apply to any of them. Currently she still didn’t know what to do after school, so currently her exam results meant nothing to her but her pride. She was feeling like she ought to get something sorted soon. Midterm, she supposed, was the deadline by which she should have made her mind up. Just a few short months to go...

...An opinion Daniel obviously shared as he started panicking about not having begun studying for his Defense exam. It was funny to let him squirm, but Charlie wasn’t cruel enough to let him really think she was exam-prepping okay. “Don’t panic, I doubt they’ll throw you out this late,” she commented on his status as an Aladren, tilting her head towards the back of the library from whence Daniel and his Housemates had a tendency to appear. “I was just using it to pass the time while I waited for you to show up,” she smiled. “Oh, and for the record, I believe Oliver’s words were ‘easier than expected.’” That might not have been much reassurance, though, considering quite how much her older brother had been panicking about not doing well in his exams. She wasn’t sure Daniel knew that.

“Oh, and welcome back. Please tell me you didn't spend the whole summer studying or I'm going to have to turn in my Aladren membership card and get resorted. I don't think I even cracked a book once.” Daniel said, and then continued to explain his hectic summer. Charlie nodded, but was distracted from commenting as James came over and sat down beside her. Okay, then, so this could be interesting. The fact that James and Daniel didn’t really get on was widely acknowledged, and while Charlie’d never let this affect her friendship with either one of them before, she hadn’t been in a scenario outside of class with both of them before now. “ I hope your break was less . . . frantic.”

“Somewhat,” Charlie replied to Daniel, and then interjected a cheerful, “Hey,” following James’ greeting. She was surprised when he put his arm round her waist. It wasn’t the first time he’d executed the motion, but in front of other people? This was new. Charlie couldn’t help feeling a little flattered that he was apparently comfortable to show some affection to her in public, and she was doing her utmost to ignore the portion of her brain that was trying to doubt James’ motives. He offered to help her study, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at his comment about her achieving second highest grades. She supposed that sharing a room for six years would have given them ample opportunity to work out how best to wind each other up; she’d just never seen it first hand before. She should have brought popcorn. Catching Daniel’s eye, she managed to tone her grin down to an acceptable level of cheer as she replied, “I could definitely use your help,” – he was the best in their year group, nobody would disagree with that - “but even your tutoring couldn’t haul my grades up that high,” she said.

0 Charlotte Step Three: Diffuse the situation 0 Charlotte 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 16, 2011 7:56 PM

Step Four: Engage in Paranoia by Daniel Nash

He'd seen James approaching, but had attempted to ignore it. They weren't far from James's Spot, so Daniel didn't think it was overly hopeful that the other Aladren would keep walking and continue their ongoing War of Silence. This, unfortunately, was not the case. James not only didn't leave them alone, but he sat down next to Charlie and put his arm around her.

Daniel stared at that arm just a little.

He wasn't dating Charlie. They had talked about that quite clearly last year and there was no part of his brain that was even remotely confused about their lack of a relationship. He could even remember saying (or at least thinking) something to the effect that if she wanted to date someone else, he wouldn't have a problem with it. If it had been Quentin (not that he thought Charlie could tolerate Quentin for long periods of time) or Juri or Jose or Andrew or Anyone Who Wasn't James, he probably could have easily smiled and congratulated the happy couple. Any rogue twinges of jealousy that may have occurred would have been fully stomped out with the self-admonishment that he'd been the one to say no and stop any budding relationship that may have existed between them, and therefore he had absolutely no right to get upset when she inevitably moved past him.

The problem wasn't that Charlie was dating another guy.

The problem was that she was apparently dating James &!@@*% Anthony.

He didn't hear most of what either of them said after 'somewhat'. Narrowing his eyes and scowling at The Arm apparently did something to his ear canals because all he could really hear was a muted rushing sound. Even the remark about the RATS being 'easier than expected' that had been said previously got pushed to a far back corner and did not get its proper amount of mulling over. Most of the mulling going on Daniel's head was of the 'Why James Anthony?' variety. And mulling probably wasn't the right word for that.

Wailing was probably more accurate.

He got from body language that James had said something cutting and Charlie was trying to make light of it, and honestly he didn't really need to hear the words to guess it was about academics. It was the one area that James did consistently outshine him. Daniel was better looking, better dressed, more popular, more charismatic, and higher ranked. James had one little prefect badge and a perfect report card, so his avenues of attack were limited. He also had undisputed sanity, but Daniel didn't think his minor breakdown last year had garnered too much notice. Surely if James had found out, he would have made sure the Headmaster knew, and if the Headmaster knew, Daniel would not be Head Boy again this year. Therefore, James did not have Daniel's mental instability as part of his arsenal.

Except now, James apparently had a girlfriend as well as prefect and grades, and Daniel didn't.

And, double fudge, he was going to need a date for the ball at the end of the year. James was obviously doing this to mess with him. He just wasn't sure why Charlie was going along with it. She could do way better than James Anthony.

Daniel shifted his scowl at The Arm up to a glower at James's face. "You hurt Charlie, I'll have my Quidditch Team and hers make sure you regret it." A dig that he had both leadership and friends. Or at least more leadership and more friends than James did. He hoped it was an adequate rejoinder to whatever it was that he had missed verbally.

Deciding that was enough acknowledgement that James Anthony existed, Daniel turned back to Charlie and asked, "Did you have fun with Adelita this summer?" His face displayed only a curious interest now.

Internally, he hoped the answer to that wasn't among the verbal things he'd missed as well.

1 Daniel Nash Step Four: Engage in Paranoia 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

James

July 10, 2011 10:42 AM

Step Five: Activate Weaponry by James

It was apparent that James’s appearance had pleased Charlie. The brown-haired Aladren would have noted any relief if it had been present in her expression, but it clearly was not. This indicated that while Charlie clearly did not mind Daniel’s company—a clear sign of her questionable taste in some matters—she did appreciate the apparent territorialism that was always prominent in interactions between himself and this particular roommate of his. To his (extremely well-honed) memory, he and Daniel had not previously interacted with Charlie present before, which explained why she seemed to be particularly entertained at the moment.

“You don’t have an entirely large amount of competition,” James pointed out logically, in response to Charlie’s insistence that her grades could not be elevated to the point where she could be considered the second most accomplished student in their year-group. “Many of our peers began to slack off last year, presumably preoccupied with other, less important concerns.” For example, the theft of his own anticipated position of Head Boy.

Of course, James had not been unobservant, and he had noticed the surprised with which Daniel regarded the arm he had placed around Charlie. He had been enjoying that surprise quite a lot. Of course, then Daniel presumed to threaten him with physical harm at the hands of the Quidditch team, and the younger Anthony couldn’t prevent himself from snorting in pure derision.

“Really, Daniel,” James said, before Charlie had the chance to respond to the question about Adelita. It wasn’t as though Adelita was particularly worth speaking of, at any rate. She wasn’t nearly as intelligent as she would have had to be to rank among those who interested him, and the seventh year also found her considerably less attractive than Charlie. Adelita was, of course, ditzy enough to be friends with Charlie, but James himself didn’t see the point in bothering with her. “I am especially disappointed that you have resorted to threatening me with physical violence perpetrated by those under your command. Perhaps you should spend less time squandering your attention on other pursuits and more time emphasizing your priorities in your personal life.

“That is,” James said, pushing his glasses up his nose with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Charlie. “Assuming you understand the importance of such priorities.”

0 James Step Five: Activate Weaponry 0 James 0 5

Charlie

July 10, 2011 5:59 PM

How to Lose an Aladren once it's Found by Charlie

Everything that had been said since James' arrival had been apparently lost on Daniel, which may have been a good thing, especially considering the words that he uttered were, "You hurt Charlie, I'll have my Quidditch Team and hers make sure you regret it." If Charlie'd had anything in her mouth she would have undoubtedly spat it out at that comment, so it was fortunate that her reaction merely consisted of a couple of seconds of almost comical blinking as she was suffering surprise. She knew Daniel didn't like James, but to threaten him with a couple of Quidditch teams on her behalf seemed excessive, especially as one of them contained Edmond Carey (actually, aside from Renée in her crazier moments and Nic's height advantage, Charlie doubted the Crotalus team would pose much of a threat to James, but particularly not when compared with what Aladren had to offer).

Trying to keep the conversation controlled, if amicable was impossible, Charlie was all prepared to tell Daniel more about her stay with Lita and her family, when James instead retorted with a further jibe. This was hopeless. She obviously wasn't going to be able to talk to them both at the same time - she'd been overly optimistic to think it possible - and it might only be minutes before one of them stormed off in a dramatic huff, anyway. "Actually I would be really grateful of some extra tutoring," Charlie said suddenly to James, placing her hand on his knee to draw his attention back to her. "Maybe we could plan out a study schedule over breakfast?"

She stood, hoping that James's hold around her would mean that he'd be inclined to rise, too. Catching up with Daniel would have to wait a little longer. She wanted to ask him about his sister's wedding, and about the finale of Street Beat (she'd been in Mexico so hadn't seen the last few aired over the summer), and tell him a little about her stay with Lita, too. However, she also wanted to catch up with James, and as he was the one with his arm around her, Charlie would be making him her priority that morning. She was sure Daniel wouldn't begrudge her for removing him from the library, anyway.

0 Charlie How to Lose an Aladren once it's Found 0 Charlie 0 5

Daniel Nash

July 21, 2011 5:13 PM

Step One: Leave the library by Daniel Nash

James Anthony did not handle Being Ignored very well and interrupted the conversation Daniel was trying to have with Charlie for the second time that day. Not only did he not let Charlie answer the question about her summer, but he went so far as to presume that Daniel's priorities were skewed. James Anthony might have marginally better grades, but Quentin was really the only other person in the school who could consistently outscore him. No college would have any objection to accepting Daniel based solely on his academics and he had far better extracurriculars than any other Aladren in his year.

And even if he didn't have a large number of close friends, he still thought he was relatively more popular. She might not be shoving away James Anthony's arm (for reasons that remained inexplicable to Daniel), but he was fairly sure even Charlie liked Daniel better. She'd told him he was her favorite person, after all, and Daniel doubted she'd been counting Adelita in that, so James Anthony couldn't possibly rank any higher than third. So who was he to advise Daniel to emphasize his personal life goals? Daniel didn't have a girl on his arm because he didn't want one right now. He had good and solid reasons for that, not least of which was his continuing doubt on the subject of whether he even liked girls that way.

Forcing himself to unnarrow his eyes and stop glaring at James Freaking Anthony, Daniel took a deep breath and gave Charlie his full and undivided attention as she took her turn to divert James Anthony from speaking any further with Daniel. This was the clear and obvious point of her self-sacrifice to have breakfast and study sessions with the other seventh year. Daniel was grateful, he was, but he hoped Charlie understood that he could handle himself and she didn't need to do such terrible things on his behalf.

But Charlie was clever when she had a mind to be, and Daniel trusted her to lose James at the first opportunity if he became too unpleasant. And since she hadn't told him off for sticking his nose in her business by acting the overly protective friend with the less-than-ideal apparent boyfriend, he was going to accept her attempt to protect him with equal equanimity.

"Have a good breakfast, Charlie," he told her. "We'll catch up some other time. See you around."

Saying anything to James Anthony would only be wasted breath.

1 Daniel Nash Step One: Leave the library 130 Daniel Nash 0 5