High Tower :Ceres:

[Connor Bellos]

Conner sat in the frame of the high tower, looking over the charred bits of Hogwarts that they haven't quite fixed yet. It depressed him to think of all the people that died that day. But he came up here anyways where he though if his parents demand.

He heard the click-clacking of heels walking up the stone steps and he turned slightly to see who was coming. Upon seeing a beautiful girl around his age, he immediately realized that she was new here.

He swung his legs to where he was able to climb back into the tower. "D'ya need any help miss...?" He kept it proper. When meeting a girl for the first time, always play nice. He moved to stand up, and rushed forward, bumping into her. "Oh I'm sorry." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while offering one out to her "Connor." He smiled a dazzling smile at her.

[Ceres Lestrange]

Ceres decided to head up to the Tower. Memories and dreams had been troubling her, and she wanted a place to be alone for a while.
She climbed the numerous stairs, silently chiding herself for wearing heels, of all shoes, to come up here. But it had been a spontaneious idea, and going to change shoes first would have been a bother.
She loved Hogwarts, and always had. But after the battle...she couldn't help but constantly think of the people she'd lost here, right in this building. Her father. Her uncle. Her aunt. She had barely gotten to meet them, and now they were gone forever, leaving her mother to care for three kids by herself. The twins wouldn't even remeber their father at all. She had her own memories of him, had built a relationship, but all they would know were stories and pictures. They wouldn't know his voice, would never feel his hugs, would never know the excitement of waiting for Daddy to come home.

Suddenly, a male voice tore Ceres from her glum thoughts, and a young man bumped into her. Startled, Ceres raised her head and looked at the handsome boy in front of her. She recognized him instantly. Funny that he didn't know her name, they had been in the same house for quite a while.

She smiled, a bit dazed by his smile. "I'm Ceres. I know who you are."

[Connor Bellos]

Connor smiled again. "I apologize, Ceres, I thought you weren't here before. You'd think I'd notice such a beautiful young lady." He winked at her before taking a step back.

He lifted an eyebrow albeit a bit lazily. "In a hurry?" He was referring to the fact that her clothes seemed to be slept in.

He kept the corners of his mouth from turning up at her shoes. "Are you alright?" He asked, bringing his eyes to hers, those which seemed incredibly troubled and blurred with sleep.

(OOC:I apologize, I thought your student was homeschooled bc of the class thread)

[Ceres Lestrange]

Ceres blushed at Connor's compliment.
"I'm not all that surprised you never noticed me, half a year ago, I looked like a stick insect. My mother, who is truly gorgeous, says she was a late bloomer. Compared to her, I'm really plain." She smiled.

Ceres glanced down at her wrinkled shirt and skirt, both looking rather dishevelled. One of her knee socks had slipped to her ankle.
"Merlin, I look a mess! Didn't even notice that when dressing this morning." She shook her head disapprovingly. "I really must be careful, would't want to take too much after my aunt, at least not concerning my style."
She realized Connor was still looking at her and blushed a deeper shade of red.
"It's not really an apology, but I haven't been sleeping all that well, I have had some bad dreams and memories bothering me, and I guess my appearance sort of shows my emotional state."

Ceres paused, her eyes wandering.
"This is really embarassing, having you finally talk to me and me looking like I just crawled out of bed."

Her eyes met Connor's again, looking mortified.
"Did I just say that out loud?"

[Connor Bellos]

He grinned at her, "I can't imagine you being plain in comparison or otherwise."

He noticed the frantic look Ceres got when she looked at her outfit. "It's alright, you still look quite nice." He smiled warmly at her. He cocked an eyebrow when she mentioned her aunt "And who would your aunt be?"

He motioned for her to sit down, "What sort of dreams?" He stared at her pensively before returning to his usual playboy manor.

He raised an eyebrow, "Some people find that very attractive."

He smirked at her before chuckling, "Yes, you did. But no worries, I've definitely heard... worse."

[Ceres Lestrange]

She blushed even deeper at his compliment. "Thank you." she said shyly. Ceres really wasn't used to receiving compliments, other than from her parents. Definitely not from good-looking boys.

She was a bit startled. He thought she looked nice? Wow. Hard to believe, but it was so wonderful to hear that.
"My aunt is...was...Bellatrix Lestrange. She married my father's brother, so she's not a blood relative. I don't...didn't really know her, she spent most of my life in Azkaban, along with my father and uncle. I met all three of them two years ago, when they broke out, but...well, like I said, I never really had the chance to get to know her."
Ceres looked at Connor, curious how he would react. Some people had turned away from her upon learning that Rabastan Lestrange was her father, making Rodolphus and Bellatrix her uncle and aunt. Everyone knew they had tortured the Longbottoms and supported the Dark Lord strongly.
But, really, to Ceres, those three weren't the monsters others saw.

"My dreams...I've been dreaming about the battle and my family since returning to Hogwarts. And that's not always so great."

She laughed. "I don't know, the Pyjama-chic is not really what I want to live."

"Hm, I'm not sure I've said worse...but enough about me, what are you doing up here? Did I disturb you?"

[Connor Bellos]

He smiled. This girl was something else. "You're welcome. It's true."

Connor was shocked to hear that she was related to that witch. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said the only thing that wouldn't sound horrible.

Honestly, Connor had no room to judge. His parents were going to force him to become a death eater for Merlin's sake. Connor didn't want to, but refusing would mean unforgivables.

He nodded solemnly. "It was horrible. No one should've had to go through that."

He cracked a smile at her comment.

"Oh, I meant from other girls. There was this Hufflepuff..." He pretended to shudder and grinned.
"I... I get this horrible flashbacks from the battle. And my parents... let's just say that we want different things." He grimaced.

[Ceres Lestrange]

Hm. He didn't flinch when she mentioned Aunt Bella. That boy was something else. Ceres felt a flutter in her stomach that she couldn't blame on lunch, since she had chosen to ignore that meal today.
"Thank you." she said, lowering her eyes. At the mention of loss, tears once again threatened to overflow. Why couldn't she just get over it?

"Wars are always horrible and useless. The ones who cause them usually have the least loss, their followers do all the fighting and they just wait to see who wins." she whispered.

"I know what you mean...I saw my aunt die and found my father's body. I have no idea how I managed to survive the whole thing. I...I honestly didn't know who to fight for. It was family against family for me."
So much for keeping the tears at bay.

Quickly, she pulled herself together again. She was getting quite good at pushing her emotions away, she had definitely had enough practice lately.

"What do your parents want that's different from your wishes? If it's not too bold to ask." She smiled a wobbly smile at the gorgeous guy she had so often watched in classes and in the common room. Ceres couldn't believe she was here, having this conversation with him. She was probably dreaming and would wake at any moment. No matter, it was a nice change from seeing her loved ones dead on the floor.

[Connor Bellos]

He nodded, thinking about the family that he was supposed to love. "Except in this case." He smiled weakly. "Man died. Killed." He blinked and took a breathe.

"My family survived, but I'm not sure if they should've." He trailed off. Wincing from his memories from the last month. He took another breathe and grinned crookedly. "Bloody wankers that lot."

He pulled his hand to the back of his neck again. "They... My folks want me to join the death-eaters. They say that there's a new man in charge, and if I don't..." He run a hand through his hair. "If I don't, I'm a goner." He winced. Did he really just tell someone that? Someone he just met as well?

"Merlin I must be tired. I was given explicit instructions as to not say a word about it." He groaned.

[Ceres Lestrange]

"Don't worry, I won't tell on you," Ceres said quietly.

"A new man in charge? That's interesting. I guess there were enough death eaters left to form a new group around someone strong." She sighed. "I had hoped that this good-bad thing would be over."

"So you really don't have much of a choice, do you?" She shrugged. "I have to admit that I don't see death eaters as the monsters that most others make them. Half my family and a good number of close family friends are death eaters or related to them, so I grew up with those so-called monsters around me. They were the ones who played games with me, read my bedtime stories, and made me laugh."

She paused. "But I can understand you not wanting to join. I mean, they do have a very bad reputation, and that does come from very horrid things they have done."