February 10th, 1891 - Library

When Lester got to the library, he played the game he always played: namely, he tried to spot someone he knew so that he would not have to find himself stuck with a stranger. He was, accordingly, relieved to see Alice Dawson already there - even if there was some whole weird thing going on with the girls and then with Cameron, too, he would much rather spend time with her than with a stranger. It wasn't even a contest.

Lester strode over to the table, and cleared his throat. "Can I sit with you?" he asked, shifting his weight from side to side; he wasn't as confident with most of the girls - (exception: Sloane, who he'd known for reasons) - as he was with his roommates, and thus was not self-assured enough to just sit down next to her.

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Alice Dawson Melody Crouch

  

Although things with Sloane were better, Alice was still maintaining her distance from her friends. Her rationale remained the same: she didn't want to force any of their group into a choice between Cameron or her. So, like the self-sacrificing big sister she was, Alice removed herself from the choice altogether.

It was a very lonely way to be.

She was neck deep in her potions homework when Mr. Hatchitt approached her table. "Of course," she nodded and began moving her books to make room for him. He was closer to Cameron than most of their other friends, which had her senses on high alert. "What are you working on?"

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

Lester stopped shifting his weight as soon as she said yes; he was much less nervous, now, and once she'd moved her books he sat in the vacated space. "Herbology," he said, "I want to review some plant anatomy that might be on O.W.L.s." They were approaching, and while Lester had always done pretty well in his classes, he was - nervous. He wasn't sure how well he'd handle the pressure, to be honest.

"What about you?" he asked, taking out his herbology textbook as well as parchment and a quill. Lester very much believed in annotating.

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set by Fallin!

"Need help reviewing?" She offered instinctually. While she wasn't as knowledgeable about herbology as Calla, she was still capable enough to be a study partner when needed. "My potions stuff can wait a bit if you do," she explained. The homework wasn't due for a few days yet.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

Lester blinked at her offer. "Oh, sure," he said; he slid the herbology textbook across the table at her. "As long as you don't mind. I just want to make sure I can identify all the - planty bits."

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set by Fallin!

She packed up her potions work into a neat pile and slid the open herbology textbook closer to her. "It's no problem. I miss quizzing our friends in a big group." She'd stopped doing that after the awkward study game between Sloane and Cameron.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

They were edging dangerously close to what Lester liked to think of as 'the weird amorphous blob of drama no one would explain to him,' and so he just made a neutral humming sound. "I can return the favor when we're done," he offered instead, "So that you aren't the only person doing the quizzing. Never too early to start studying for O.W.L.s, I've learned."

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set by Fallin!

"Sure," she agreed easily, noting the allusion to the tension with a hint of a flush on her cheeks. She hadn't meant to bring up that conversation, it was just becoming more difficult to suppress. "That would be great, thanks. And no, it definitely is never too early." Especially when OWLs were the only exam she would likely ever take.

Flipping through the cards, Alice read out the first plant name and waited for his response.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

"So - belladonna, both the leaves and the flowers are poisonous on their own," Lester replied, after the beat, "It's purple and has black berries."

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set by Fallin!

She nodded, pausing only to add, "the flowers are purple, the leaves aren't typically. What uses does it have as an ingredient?"

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

"Umm," he paused for a beat, drawing out the sound. "The Oculus Potion. And then a lot of poisons, including the — baneberry poison?"

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set by Fallin!