May 27, 1892 - 5th Year Gryffindor Girls' Dorm
Alice Dawson

These OWL exams were going to actually end her. She had failed some of them miserably, she just knew it. At least this last day was her electives and those she was pretty good at. She hadn't been too worried about Muggle Studies in the first place, but she wanted to excel in Creatures, so she had put in the time and effort to make sure she was going to do well.

When it was all said and done, she thought she had done just fine. It was a good thing she had studied outside of class, but she thought she got the necessary E to keep the class for next year. The afternoon sun had been criminally bright and Sloane was hot and a sweaty, wishing there was something else she could have worn for her Care of Magical Creatures exam aside from this Merlin forsaken dress. She was filthy and it was smeared in dirt and she was ready to peel it off and wash off. If there was one thing she would miss about Hogwarts it was the ease of having her things washed, including her person. The washroom was glorious with its large washbasins and endless hot water.

Feeling the pink of a sunburn on her cheeks, Sloane was barely through the door before she started to undo the buttons of her dress, halfway down the bodice when she realized the dorm room was not empty like she expected it to be. "That was merciless," She said for lack of anything else better to say to Alice, hands paused, hovering over the fourth or so button. "It's so hot out there." She should have just jumped into the lake to cool off.

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Alice had retreated to bed as soon as her exams had concluded. The exhaustion she'd been avoiding for months had slammed into her like a fast moving train, leaving her limbs feeling as though they were full of lead. Truthfully, were it not for the blistering hot temperature of the dormitory Alice might've been able to sleep for a week straight. Not even being only in her chemise could keep her cool enough, though, so she had summoned a large pitcher of water as the door opened.

Alice wasn't sure when she stopped taking note of Sloane's dressing habits (perhaps when the final push towards OWLs had begun?) but as she caught sight of her friend's half opened bodice a deep blush spread across her cheeks. Mercifully, this blush could easily be explained by the heat, but Alice still felt the too-familiar confusion their Christmas kiss had gifted her. A few more weeks and they'd never have to face this situation again. Sloane could continue on doing ... whatever she was doing with Cameron, and she could focus on whatever profession she settled upon.

"You should've brought a parasol." She chastised gently. "Your cheeks will sting later."

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Amazing set by Bee!

Did she even own a parasol? The absurdity of imagining even carrying one had Sloane making a face. "Hard to wrangle chupacabras with a parasol in hand." It was accompanied by a chuckle, but Sloane couldn't even wrap her brain around it. Maybe the sun and the studying had finally fried it.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She shrugged, unsure as to what was happening here. How had they even gotten here? Sloane wasn't even sure what had happened this time. Things had been fine between her roommates, at least she'd though so. She and Sisse had been getting along fine and there had never been any issues with Maddy or Alcyone, but it seemed like something else had happened here and she simply hadn't the time lately or the understanding to try and tackle it. The keep sting of growing up was back and she had to wonder if this is how it was going to be over the course of the next two years?

Moving further in the room, Sloane instead moved to take off her shoes and stockings. "I should have just jumped in the lake, but I think Moony would have had a heart attack." After her last dip in the lake to rescue Splash, she was pretty sure Ned had outlawed her even thinking about swimming.

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Right. Sloane was planning to become a magizoologist after graduation. Of course she couldn't grow accustomed to creating shade for herself when faced with large magical creatures. "I suppose so. I'll leave you a list of charms that'll help for the future just in case." She shrugged and inched back on her bed in favor of grabbing her pillow to pull over her lap. The fraying edge would provide a decent distraction at least.

"He'll move past the incident eventually." It was still difficult to think about Edison in the long term. After how close they had grown this year, losing him would ache more than anything else. "Just be nice to him next year. He'll have his NEWTs to worry about."

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Amazing set by Bee!

Charms. Sloane nearly snorted in response, one of  her worse classes. "I think I should just invest in a good hat." That had to be the most practical answer to the problem. It wasn't exactly a long-term problem either. Sloane spent enough time outside that her skin darkened enough to where it no longer became a problem. Too many years of endless quidditch practice. Plus the sun made her freckles stand out more, which she liked. Maybe if she really concentrated she could just will it away with her metamorphmagus abilities, but she wasn't quite sure it worked like that. More than likely she could make the pink on her cheeks vanish, but it would still be there, even if it wasn't obviously visible.

"It's not like I go around purposefully worrying him, he comes by it naturally." She shrugged again. Ned's uncanny ability to act more like her father than her own father was amusing most of the time, and the thought of disappointing him was somehow worse than upsetting Papa too, but she didn't intentionally go about giving him grey hair at seventeen.

Unable to handle the heat anymore, she moved around the room toward the washroom and returned to the buttons of her bodice, needing to shed a layer. Maybe a cold bath would be almost as good as a dip in the lake.

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"I know he does." Alice sometimes thought she was the only one of the group he hadn't tried to mother, or was that merely wishful thinking? Edison was too caring of everyone for his own good, and without her to help with the burden next year she was nervous for how he would do on his NEWTs. The auror program held higher standards than most, if not all, other professions. Edison had to be at his best.

She grabbed her hair ribbon from her nightstand and set about tying her hair up as Sloane stepped out to change. "I'm just worried about him for next year, is all." Alice then added. "Just try to take it easy on him if you can."

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Amazing set by Bee!

"I am the least worried about Ned next year." Sloane called from the washroom. She rather thought that because she wouldn't need as much help and he was a natural genius, not to mention hardworking, she knew he was going to go places and do big things. Then he was off to the real world along with Hatch and Cam and that was that. The girls would be left and they would have to get Sloane through NEWTs. Hopefully with a drastically reduced timetable, she would be alright too.

She turned the cold water on the tap and reached for a clean washcloth. Letting the tap run over her wrists for a moment, Sloane finally felt her body temperature start to come down. She dragged the cold washcloth over her neck and arms, leaving it on the back of her neck for a moment longer before she stripped down completely to put on her clean chemise and drawers. Her hair was a lost cause she she knew she would have to spend far too long brushing it to plait it again before bed.

"He's going to be fine. Next year won't be so bad. It'll be the year after that without him and Hatch and Cam—" She didn't know what to think there. Things were still weird and she didn't know what next year or even this summer held at all in that regard. "That'll be the weird one." She sighed as she returned to the dorm room, tossing her sweaty dress into the laundry hamper before flopping down on her bed.

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Alice grimaced. The trouble with keeping secrets was the fallout that was bound to happen upon their reveal. There was so little time left, though, and Sloane still thought they would be sharing a room again next year. She still believed they would move beyond this strange, tense patch they were in and be friends once more.

It would've been easier to reveal had Sloane remained in the washroom. Aside from Edison, every time she admitted to not returning after summer in person it hadn't gone well. Cameron had insisted she would find a way to stay. Calla was furious that Alice had so readily accepted her fate. Mr. Wildsmith was constantly belittling her for the choice last year. Alice didn't want to tell Sloane — she didn't want to tell anyone.

But, she had to.

"Or me." Alice added, flinching as she did so. "I won't be here, either."

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Amazing set by Bee!

From where she had flopped down on her bed, Sloane had started to study the canopy of her four-poster. This was the whole part of getting older she hated. Relationships, even her friendships always felt on edge. These days she truly only felt like she could be herself around Hatch and sometimes Ned, but for some reason, Ned's presence always made her want to do better and that was sort of tiresome.

She'd almost zoned out when Alice's confession hit her ears. Sitting bolt upright, she looked at Alice with wide, alarmed eyes. "I'm sorry what?" Her voice wasn't much more than a whisper, but the undertone was one of fear and she didn't like it at all.

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Alice couldn't meet Sloane's eyes. Instead, her gaze was locked onto a loose thread of her comforter as she plucked uselessly at it. "I'm not coming back to school in the fall. That's why I've been working so hard." It'd been a means of distraction, too. There was no time for feeling angry or upset when she was studying.

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Amazing set by Bee!

Sloane was processing the information in slow motion. "But why?" She asked dumbly, the shock evident on her face perhaps a bit numb from the sheer surprise. She truly did not know how to react. Why? Had she told anyone else? Was she going back to her family home? Would she be around this summer? Was she going to get a job? They were only sixteen! Sloane couldn't wrap her head around it. They weren't supposed to be adults yet.

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"There are a lot of reasons for it." Alice replied lamely. She had no choice but to tell everyone now, but the constant battling over the decision with Calla had tired her. "My family can't afford to have four children in school at once, for one. The academic scholarship isn't enough, not when my help on the farm could help them more." The thread came loose from her pulling, leaving a noticeable track in the blanket.

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Amazing set by Bee!

Head still swirling with emotions, Sloane could hear the explanation given, but still couldn't quite push herself to understand. "My parents can help," Of course they could. "There was supposed to be two of us anyway." She said in a rush, forgetting that Alice knew nothing about Sawyer. Her parents should have been paying for two tuitions at this level anyway. Surely they could still afford to do so?

"You can't," She said breathlessly, on the verge of tears and unsure as to why. This was never her normal reaction to anything. Ever.

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Perhaps it would have been better to tell everyone all at once. A friend group meeting where she revealed the secret and scurried off like a frightened deer in the woods. They could have all processed their feelings about the matter together, and Alice wouldn't have been left feeling so terrible about a decision that was entirely out of her control. What was she to do? Deny her siblings their chance at school and a future? Allow her family's farm to fail and watch as her family sailed off? She didn't have a choice in the matter, and having to explain it time and time again was bloody exhausting.

"No, Sloane. It isn't only money, though I appreciate the offer - truly. My family needs help on the farm and OWLs are perfectly respectable. I can do a lot with them. It's already a finalized decision."

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Amazing set by Bee!

"But, but," Her lower lip quivered and if she were looking at herself in such a pitiful state, she probably would have slapped herself. This was not how normal people reacted. Alice sounded so certain, so resigned that Sloane couldn't even come up with any other arguments. Her parents needed her help, OWLs were perfectly respectful, she could do a lot with them if she wanted to, but Sloane still didn't like it and she wanted nothing more than to fix it. Why was everything in her life sliding away without any way for her to stop it? Growing up was miserable.

"This sucks." She said after a moment of sniffling, looking down at the hem of her chemise briefly before back up at Alice, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "I'll miss you."

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Sloane's final reaction was so entirely unexpected that tears of both sadness and relief sprung instantly to her eyes. Finally — finally! — someone aside from Edison wasn't forcing the issue and creating an argument. Alice wouldn't have to avoid the dormitory at all hours to avoid facing Sloane and her questions.

"I know. It really does." Alice muttered, swiping at her eyes to rid herself of the tears before they fell. "I'll be fine, though. I'm thinking to train as a mediwitch."

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Amazing set by Bee!