the broken crown -- teo

[PENELOPE LYNN SHERWOOD]

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Five months. Preston had made it clear what was to come, what she could expect, what was expected of her. Five months. that was how long she had to prove herself a true Sherwood, a true Scavo. In five months she would take her oaths as a true hunter. But was she ready? Penny had never had doubts about following in her brother's foot steps. Still, she couldn't deny the the nights she was haunted with visions of their animal eyes, eyes that shone bright until she brought an end to their light. She had thrown herself into training harder after the hunt, ashamed of the weakness she had so easily shown. Five months, that was all the time she had to find redemption and prove herself.

Between her extended training session some how Penny had managed to forget she still had one important task at hand, her class work. She'd forgotten all about her transfiguration essay on vanishment. She had found herself so caught up on doing the reading Preston had given her on becoming an animagus that she had neglected the essay for the past half a week. So instead of heading to the come-and-go room after dinner Penny trudged off to the library. It wasn't a place she frequented often, she had three older brothers and Ernie whom all had been through every class she was going through and they were far more useful than a bunch of old dusty books. Tonight she needed the time to herself though.

It didn't take long to find the selection of books she needed to dive into, she gathered a few and stacked them onto the floor before sitting herself beside them. The stack sat as tall as her, this was going to be a long night and she still had to write the essay after this. Grabbing the fist book off the top Penny set to reading, or more skimming. Her mind was only half on the letters her eyes glanced over. The other half was reeling over everything that had happened in the past few months, always returning to those animal eyes. No matter how deep she buried them, or how many times she pushed them aside she still felt them burned into her soul.

Consumed by her thoughts she had long since ceased her page flipping and was merely just staring blankly at the pages before her, that was until she felt the pile of books slide down into her lap. Tossing the book to the ground she shot up, furiously looking at the culprit who had - undoubtedly on accident - knocked them over.

"Watch it you clumsy oaf!" She snapped louder than one normally tended to in a library. Her blue eyes landed on the only other person near. She'd seen him before, around in the courtyards, at his house's table during meals, even in the library before, but never once had she spoken to him. Until just then. As her blue eyes so filled with fire found his eyes something about them made her stop - something about them seemed familiar. It made it hard to hold his gaze she snapped her head back to look down at the spilled pile of books. She pulled out her wand and muttered the spell to re-stack them

"Think you can try and not knock them over this time?" There was less harshness in her tone this time, but no apology for her previous snap. After all what did she have to apologize for, she wasn't the one who knocked a pile of books onto someone else.

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600 Words | @teoconroy | sorry this sucks >.<

[Deleted]

The outside air filled with heavy winter rain, each drop battering cold and hard against the windowpane. He gazed longingly through the rain-riddled glass, toward his favourite reading spot, which was anywhere outdoors, mostly; and then he stared down at the polished library desk, flawless and dead. Heaving a sigh, it looked like the old chairs and desks were not letting Teo go anytime soon. The collection of parchment by his side were not relenting anytime, either; he always seemed to have endless assignments coming his way this whole week, as if the wrinkly professors had cursed them a Gemino.

His friends had recently pointed out his self-absorbed diligence, how he had started to keep to himself while studying; while the fact remained that he could never concentrate with them around, no matter how hard he tried, because they would always end up talking and making fun of each other. Some parchments and scrolls would always be left half-empty, or half-filled, at the end of the day. Teo gladly thought them half-filled, and that had always been a good start throughout the first five of his Hogwarts years. Not this year, sadly. The N.E.W.T.s were coming next, and deep down, he knew that Sixth Year meant bucking up, and although he really longed spending more time outdoors with Asher, Teo sat himself down and tried hard to focus on detailing the results of an Amortentia infusion of the Everlasting Elixirs. Was it occupying his mind entirely at the instant? No. He only thought that he needed to set a good example for his fresh-faced little brother, and this was a responsibility that he ought to fulfil. He promised Ash that he could do better, and he would.

Three long years had drifted by, and yet the ghost of his father still haunted them to this day; reminding Teo of his extraneous identity as a halfling, reminding him to cautiously avoid bringing this up during mealtime conversations or fireside chats. As tormenting as it was, hiding half of himself from the world revealed its own story to him; that sometimes people were not who they seemed to be, and that sometimes compassion and forgiveness could go the distance. But for the moment, he was simply intent on completing his work and stepping out of the gloomy castle before nightfall, just for a breathe of fresh air.

With the last letter of his answer inked by the quill, he smiled briefly with satisfaction before continuing onto the next subject. Stack of Potions books in his hand, Teo glanced past the glorious shelves and rows of bound volumes, found the Potions row and returned the books he used. Mind sorting through which section the Transfiguration textbooks were at, and whether he could finish in time, Teo paid no attention to his surrounding–not until his shin knocked gently over a pillar of books. He muttered his apologies and started to bend down and gather them, even before noticing the storming anger expressed by the sitting girl, now standing tall, eyes fiery wide and voice vexedly seething. He did not flinch, but he stopped picking up the books, with only one Transfiguration book held in his hand. In all likelihood, he should have flinched, because the loudness of her voice blared through the empty shelves like thunderstorm. But he did not; nor did he know why.

Risking further explosion of her emotions, Teo offered her his grey smile of apology after he safely placed the Transfiguration book atop the pillar. Teo was shocked, not only by the glaring intensity of her wrath, but also by the familiarity that briefly ensued from within her. "My bad," he responded, "And I promise I'll be careful. I was just– distracted for an instant." Darting his deep-brown glance around, Teo noticed that the girl had built her own kingdom of books and scrolls where no one could see her. Now, he could understand. Perhaps she had been upset, and had wished for some time alone before he came along and ruined her sweet solitude.

"I'm sorry, truly. Had no idea you would be here, such a quiet place it is." He understood that she wanted to be left alone, but he was being his usual friendly self, and somehow curiosity compelled him to continue the conversation. And so he did. "Hope your assignments are going fine. Nasty bunch, aren't they? I'm Teo, by the way." Teo figured she would not raise a lifelong nemesis over a few dusty books, although he knew he did knock into her wrongfully. But if she wished to be left for the evening, he was sure he would find an opportunity to talk to her, sooner or later. He knew he had noticed her somewhere else.

000 WORDS

PENELOPE LYNN SHERWOOD

sorry it's long!

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY