A Sanity Questioned ( Thalia / Cameron )

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Stepping into the dorm, Cameron swung his bag around and onto a couch, tossing himself lengthwise along it with a 'ooof' as he did so. While no jock, he was well rounded and thus in shape so he hit the sofa solidly. Stretching full out, he grabbed one of the pillows and laid it under his head against a few others and sighed in satisfaction. It had been a long morning and he was glad to have the first half of the school day over with. While most went to the Great Hall for lunch, he felt for once like skipping. Besides, he had a few sandwiches stashed just for day like this.

Reaching for his bag, Cameron wrapped the strap around his arm and Pushed it under the pillow. A nap sounded like such a wonderful idea at the moment, though if anyone could fall asleep in the Slytherin dorm in the common room it wasn't him. Sighing as he really didn't want to walk all that far he instead thought about his contract with Leyshell. While not his idea, the word was beginning to pass the word by now. Not that it wasn't obvious by looking at his ring finger here the emerald and white gold ring lay.

Expensive contract ring, not a promise or an engagement ring however. It's sole purpose was to make sure no one mistook the situation.

Hearing footsteps he kept his eyes closed until they came his way. With a grimace he opened them to see who it was and recognized her instantly. "Hey Thalia," he said seeing the head girl. "What's up, you been running out of books again?" Cameron had provided her access to some books that were not easily found in the restricted section of the Hogwarts Library from a source he refused to explain from back home. They cost money but neither of them had a problem with that really.

Knowledge was power.

THALIA EILEEN NOTT

[THALIA EILEEN NOTT]

Thalia missed her boyfriend. She missed her friends. She felt like it had been ages since she had last saw them; last got to have a chance to speak to them. If she wasn’t in some club meeting or patrolling the hallways, she was in the library doing her homework. Lately, Oliver had begun to meet her so they could team up and get some classes out of the way. Considering he was a Muggleborn, it was almost like he had been sent from Merlin, himself. There was plenty that she could read and find out about on her own, but she just didn’t understand some Muggle concepts. So, she’d asked him for help whenever she was assigned to the class. And, fortunately for him, she was a master when it came to Charms and Potions. She didn’t mind helping him out in those subjects in the slightest. Unfortunately, with everything on their plate, it meant that she honestly hadn’t had the time to meet up with her friends or Wallace. And, well, Thalia sorely needed to see her boyfriend. Whenever she was feeling stressed, he always managed to calm her down and remind her that he was there for her if she needed him, and she did.

So, the blonde had decided to take a break from homework and reading and try to find him in the Slytherin common room. He hadn’t been by the Head students common room and dorms anyway. It probably had something to do with the fact that she had neglected to give him the password and the direction. The dorm was pretty difficult to find if one wasn’t paying explicit attention. She had decided that, if she had to, she would drag him there by the hand. So, she had shoved all her books back into her bag and had headed down towards the dungeons. Walking there, and knowing that there wasn’t a bed in the 7th Year’s room for her was a little depressing, and the whole trip was pretty nostalgic. Perhaps she’d trade Ali or one of the other girl’s for a day. She was sure that they would have fun in her giant room all by themselves, but Thalia missed the comforts of staying with them. Of knowing that there was no way someone aside from a fellow Slytherin could break in and cause any mischief, but also knowing that her friends would be there to watch her back on the off chance that something would happen.

Unfortunately, after asking one of the younger students whom she knew would know Wallace, he wasn’t around. They hadn’t seen him in a while, and some, bitterly, said that he was off somewhere with his cousin. Now, Thalia liked Gisella, so she refrained from allowing for herself to get too jealous, and, hey, maybe she could spend time with some of her friends. She hadn’t seen much of Andrea this summer; at least, not as much as she used to. As for Ali and Kat, she hadn’t seen them outside of class much, either. However, before that, there were shoes that she recognized lying on the couch. With a hitched eyebrow, she made her way towards him and stopped only when he acknowledged her. She slid into a recliner near him and nodded her hello. “No, actually, I’ve had plenty of material to read.” Because, she had so much to read that it was more than just a little outrageous. “I find myself looking for company until Wallace gets here.” Which, as unfortunate as it was, would probably be a while. She knew her boyfriend, and she knew the relationship he had with his cousin. Just as she would have hated to leave Scorpius out in the blue like that, she knew that Wallace wanted to look after Sel.

[Deleted]

There were a lot of things about this relationship which were going to be hard to manage. Mainly Leyshell herself, who he thought could become quite a handful. And somehow he had to manage her and his parents and her parents all at the same time? He was glad he had gotten good at tactics, but he could see himself using it alot before they ended up married.

He had been told over and over that fifth and seventh years were the hardest because of the exam preps. They wouldn't be near those yet but if she was already saying she had too much to read he could imagine she would feel bloody panicked by the time the NEWTS got closer. A sympathetic look for that part of her response alone. "See, this is why I never wanted anything like a prefect post. I have enough with my own stuff I want to research to want to go stand duty somewhere too."

Cameron shrugged. "Feel free to sit and talk, I'm not going anywhere if I can help it. What I'd love is to go to my room and crash for the rest of the day, but it'd only cause problems. Even now I can feel sleep taunting me..." He shook his head as he gestured towards the dorm, forgetting a second that the ring on his finger stood out (how anyone could hide a ring which had emeralds along the entire length of it was beyond him).

In fact for all he knew she would be the one sent after him!

He made a face, but dropped it a moment later to let himself sink back into the cushions more."But don't worry, I stayed out here so I didn't get too comfortable. I'll be a martyr and go to my next class..." He snorted once imagining if she got sent to to drag him to class how much of an argument that would bring! "I think I'd put up a fight if you got sent to drag me out though."

THALIA EILEEN NOTT

[THALIA EILEEN NOTT]

Relationships were hard and often difficult to maintain. That had been, after all, part of the reason that Thalia had been down here. She never really spent much time with her fellow Slytherin outside of classes, and, even then, she was always rushing off to the next one. It meant that she hardly had time to socialize. And, when older students had claimed that NEWTs was awful and they weren’t going to have time for much, it was extremely likely that they hadn’t expected her to take the amount of classes that she was. So, her priorities were a little skewered up. How Wallace managed to put up with her was way beyond her, but at least he tried. It was for that reason that the blonde tried her hardest, as well. She had heard rumors about…Cameron, actually. Part of her had hoped that they weren’t true, but, even if they were, she was raised better than to comment on them lightly or even negatively. That would be against her nature. Still, when he gave her a sympathetic look, her mouth twitched upwards in a slight smile.

“There’s more to being a Head student than just patrolling and residing over the prefects, Cameron.” Although, she couldn’t think of very many off the top of her head. It did look extremely well on applications, however. She was certain that she could get into any career she wanted without having to overly rely on her classes, though it wasn’t like she was wanting for anything on them. As far as well-rounded students went, she only had to figure that Oliver was her only other competition. Luckily for her, the Ravenclaw Head Boy didn’t heave nearly as many clubs as she did, and she, somehow, managed to balance them all. “I’m pretty good at managing my time between everything, I think. I haven’t had to visit the hospital wing yet, so I think that speaks words of wonder for me.” She was absolutely going to take him up on his offer, however. Thalia very much enjoyed the classes where all that was expected of her was to sit down and take notes on the lectures the professors gave. Maybe other students didn’t, but her quill took most of the notes down quickly, and filtered out the useless ones she probably wouldn’t need. Besides, it gave her a much needed break from being on her feet.

She eyed him somewhat, eyes narrowing just a little fraction. This was the sort of attitude that she expected from Ali and Wallace, maybe even Albus if she squinted, but it hadn’t been one that she had really been expecting from Cameron. Probably because she didn’t spend much time with him, and, on the moments that she did, she didn’t really bring up classes much. She would have been blind to neglect the amount of times that he toyed with that ring on his finger, but she let it go. She let her arm rest on the seat before laying her cheek down on the palm of her hand, looking a smidgeon bored with the conversation in retrospect. “Honestly? I think that, if you went to class and fell asleep, I’d be on your case more than if you want to damage your own education by remaining here.” By the time that it settled on him that he needed to attend class or fail, Thalia would already be out in the community doing…whatever it was that she decided to do. She should probably work on coming up with some sort of plan; perhaps speak to Darrius and Cole about the decisions she made before asking her parents, aunts and uncles to finally decide. “They probably wouldn’t send me anyway, though; the idea of you putting up a fight is funny. As if you’d stand a chance against me, but it’s nice to entertain the idea.” She was teasing, of course. She had never dueled against him, and hadn’t actually dueled anyone in a while. Perhaps it was that her skills were rusty, or maybe she was above par.

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As she defended her choice he held up two hands, smirking and trying not to. By the time he had finished responding he had his face back under control. "Hey now! I didn't say it was a bad choice nor did I say you shouldn't bother, I said it wasn't for me! I spend my extra time doing my own research in the Library while I can. We can't exactly return after we graduate so to me that's far more valuable then a position like yours. You can keep all those authority things for yourself." And by the time he graduated he'd have enough he could handle a duel with a Head Boy or Girl quite easily he was willing to bet.

And that was because he was picking up on things most people never had time to.

Oh it was possible a Ravenclaw might, but they weren't looking into all the darker aspects of magic either, tucked into more innocent books scattered throughout the place, a tidbit here, a tidbit there if you followed up the references. "Glad to hear you have your time down then," he grinned having seen her moving fast between classes a lot, "you certainly look like a busy bee! I never see you sit this still most of the time..." He shrugged as she spoke to him about his classes. Education was important and his grades showed he was doing well enough.

"My grades are good for my state-sponsored education," he chuckled, poking fun at her own work with a wink, "No worried about that! I've just been doing some heavier digging in the older books recently and last night was a late one." Sitting up slightly he patted her on the leg lightly in a friendly manner, not romantic at all. "There there, Thalia, don't worry. I wouldn't want to show off what I could do to you or anyone else here in the first place. I'd just make you work for it a bit and then let you win."

With a grin he sat back and then chuckled.

THALIA EILEEN NOTT

[THALIA EILEEN NOTT]

It wasn’t as if Thalia didn’t have time to do go about doing any of her own research. It just so tended to be that everything she wanted or needed to look up tended to coincide with whatever it was she was doing for class. It hadn’t always been that way, and that had been part of the reason that she had gone off and cornered the younger Slytherin boy into getting her stuff for her. It was why she hadn’t been, exactly, surprised when he had asked her if she had come to see him about getting anything else. Luckily for her, there were hardly books around in Hogwarts that she couldn’t easily access nowadays. Perhaps it was wrong of her, but it was also kind of fun to use those horrid patrols in order to get into the library and snag a book or two for her own reading at a later time. “I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have chosen someone like you, anyway.” She offered, somewhat sympathetically and somewhat teasing. “You’re a bit of a trouble maker.” Besides, any book that she might have wanted that Hogwarts offered…well, she had probably already read them. As for getting her hands on other books, the Nott family library wasn’t exactly wanting for anything.

Her ancestors had always been big on hoarding books and writing down every single little detail about this or that. It was why all the original pureblooded families knew just which lines had remained pure. Someone had filled out a nice little record of them all. And, while Thalia didn’t exactly care for blood superiority or anything like that as much as she probably should have, she could, at least, appreciate that they had taken the time to gather information. That had been one of the deciding factors of whether or not she should go into Slytherin or Ravenclaw. She might have liked learning for the sake of learning, but she only cared about the subjects that would, ultimately, be useful to her in some way or for. Classes such as Care of Magical Creatures and Divination had been dropped from her scheduling as soon as she could. “I sit still.” She defended herself, although it was more of a joke. “I sit in class – I sit when I don’t have the floor in club meetings. I sit when I do my homework. I’m sitting now. Although, I do pace when I’m stuck on a particular essay.” At least the blonde could admit that she did.

Bah, she had gotten private tutoring, and she still had cared for her grades as deeply then as she did now. If the ‘state’, as he put it, was going to fund their education, the youngest Nott didn’t really see a point of not taking advantage of that. In the long run, it would save them money that could have been put to a better use in the future. For a second, when his hand brushed against her knee, her first reaction had been to pull her wand at him and demand what he had been doing. Then, she realized that he had only meant to be friendly. Since returning from Greece, she found herself a little jumpy at unexpected contact with others, the exception being Wallace and her close friends, of course. “Make me work for it?” The words sounded teasing, yet she couldn’t help but hear somewhat of a darker tone underneath it. She was all for ‘joking around’, but not really when it came to dueling. That sort of thing was meant to be taken seriously, at least in Thalia’s opinion. For too many idiots winded up hurt or dead because they hadn’t paid any sort of attention to protocol. “It’d be fun to see you try, I suppose.”

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With a chuckle, Cameron just nodded at her response, though he had rarely been caught or singled out by anyone. "Maybe so, but you've never seen me get caught either I would bet." It was one of the major reasons actually that he made friends outside of Slytherin. There were several people who believed him to be one of the few 'good' Slytherins and had already defended his name to others who had automatically assumed he was trouble being in the house he was. And that was the point; his manipulations were meant to cover him with a protective shield for those few times he really did get in trouble. His character was, at least outside the dorm, fairly spotless.

And he knew she didn't have anything, but she knew better too. He could see it in her eyes which is why he didn't bother to cover up that there had been anything.
No one needed to know what he worked on, that was his business and others would have been very interested in probably where he was headed. Let them wonder. His family had never collected dark magic books being far too smart for that stuff. Cameron though had been doing digging and had gotten connections to several who did have access to the more off the wall and unusual books. Those were the ones he kept transformed in his dorm carefully hidden away while he made notes in Arabic and then stashed those notes in his classwork stuff.

As she joked about sitting he rolled his eyes. "Okay point taken. You never seem to be sitting outside of the school required times; there, happier? " The smirk on his face was in his eyes as he gave a little bow of thanks for the oh-so-important clarification followed by a tongue stuck out at her and then gone. Of course his own teaching was under his parent's thumbs with their special tutors, but only Leyshell knew about those so far and he planned to keep it that way. Those who didn't know to watch out were easier to deal with by far, the same way he kept his wealth quiet and out of sight amongst his fellow students. Let them make assumptions he could exploit later.

"I wouldn't put myself in a situation where it would happen, Thalia, you just stay a nice distraction for those looking for the most competent students. I like being in your shadow. If it ever came down to a duel in front of other be assured I'd be throwing it on purpose. No sense advertising." Let her and the rest think what they will; Cameron knew that not only the adults were watching; all of them were under observation in different ways and he wasn't giving anyone an easy opening as far as that went. A glance around before he spoke again changing the subject before she got too interested. "Thought you said you were waiting for Wallace? Is he that busy?" Craziness.

THALIA EILEEN NOTT

[THALIA EILEEN NOTT]

No, she would give them that. As far as she went, she had never given Clarke any detentions. Not that she knew he wasn’t getting up to mischief – because she was aware that he tended to do in his own free time, even if she wasn’t really allowed to judge him for it – it was just that he was careful never to get caught. This was especially true when she was on duty, though most of the patrols she took ended up being on the upper floors. There were normally Ravenclaws down in the dungeons so that the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins couldn’t get away with anything, as well as having those who normally resided in the dungeons patrol up top. The only exception to this, she thought, was Oliver and herself. They tended to go wherever needed covering. “No, I can’t say I have.” Her nose wrinkled a little at the thought, as if she would be more than just a little irritated at his getting caught. Cameron tended to do things on his own, which wasn’t bad, but it was enough to get a couple of days of detention. And, if anyone managed to discover that he was getting illegal, dark books into the school via some sort of scheme involving the black market, she was sure to never get a career that she wanted…in whatever division she eventually decided on going into.

“See that you don’t get in trouble; ever.” She hummed lightly, rubbing at her neck to get rid of some of the tension she had there. “Or, if you ever have to get caught, make sure that I’ve actually graduated.” Although, if she had to think about it, she really doubted that he would get into any sort of trouble at all. It might have been that Thalia never really spoke to Cameron Clarke on a daily basis, but she had spoken with him enough to know that he had a pretty good head on his shoulders. Everyone else around the school seemed to think he was a decent enough person. She had never actually seen him around with anyone she would have found distasteful, although she had heard some rumors. Thankfully, Thalia had always found herself above such things; it was not ladylike to gossip, and so that particular trait had been stomped out of her by her tutors when she had been younger. She didn’t think he would ever be daft enough to get himself in trouble. So, she chose to let it go and move on a little, smiling when he rolled his eyes at her. It was always refreshing to be able to tell a horrible joke. It would make some people laugh; more commonly in Slytherin, they would roll their eyes. It was the equivalent of, which was why she was amused.

“Oh? Is that what you meant?” She smiled a little innocently. The look almost looked perfectly out of place on her face. Thalia was a great deal of things. She was conceited and creative, impulsive and observant. Of the many things that she was, one of the things that she wasn’t was innocent. She had done too many things to ever be considered innocent. For example, though she didn’t have many enemies, she was malicious to the few that she did have. It had been lucky enough for her that she had been as intelligent as her parents had been. As much as the blonde loved her brother, she would have never have pegged him as an automatic Slytherin. He might have been ambitious and cunning, but he had also been loyal, trustworthy, and a dreamer. She had nothing against dreamers, but she had always wondered where they were going to get the means to back everything up. Sometimes, and she generally felt bad for thinking it, she wondered how her brother hadn’t managed to get himself sorted into Hufflepuff like Rosalie had been. “Who has time to just be sitting around? I like to be up and moving, doing something; achieving something."

Her eyebrow hitched upwards. ”Did you just call me a distraction?” It was true that the majority of their house preferred to work from the shadows. That was how they won. They weren’t flashy; that particular stereotype happened to go to the Gryffindor. So, it was funny that he suggested that she was out there advertising. As far as Thalia was concerned, there was nothing wrong with pride. The problem was having too much of it, and that’s where people tended to fail. Besides, it might have been good to hide in the background, but she preferred to show people her skills. That way they realized what they were getting themselves into when they messed with her. She wasn’t going to lie around and let them think that she was weak. Even if she could use it to her advantage later, what would be the point when her strength enough would be enough to deter them. “I’d hate you for it. If you were going to throw a duel, I’d make sure to embarrass you beyond anything. I’d rather be beaten than given a match.” She wasn’t sure if she would actually attack him for it – especially because, while she had some sort of vague idea at how handy he would be with a wand, she wasn’t sure the extent of what he could do. The youngest Nott wasn’t much for having a lot of honor. In fact, she wouldn’t say that she had a strict sense of integrity that she followed to the core. She broke some morals – she didn’t’ know very many people who didn’t, but she hated those that gave up. She hated those that wouldn’t take her seriously, and, if Cameron threw a match, she couldn’t imagine respecting him at all for it. “Nah. It’s just hard to sync our schedules. It’s like you said. I’m never sitting down for long, and Wallace likes to wander around. I decided to just stay down here until I find him. I don’t have any clubs to be waiting for.”

OOC: Is that better? (:

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He nodded to her words, knowing she had better not ever hear about it if he had his way. "Good. Cause I try to keep a lid down on that one with clamps." She shouldn't worry about him being the problem, the problem would be the other in his house who were not nearly so clever or careful. While he wasn't in a dorm of serial killers, some of them were pretty heavy handed about things. "Mind you, we live with some real idiots aroud here. They make a good cover." He rolled his eyes, knowing she would understand what he meant.

He gave her a slight nod and a two fingered salute about the graduation. "Don't worry, I won't let anything backfire on you. I'm good at hiding my tracks as you should be aware of by now." As she pretended innocence he pursued his lips as he tilted his head slightly to stare at her a moment. It was nothing to call another out on, but for a moment he was tempted. Shaking his head he said finally "Why yes, that was what I meant, silly one." Gods, she sounded like Leyshell when she did that, and that made him hesitate a second. When had he started to use her as a reference for behavior? Bizarre.

Chuckling at her he responded in the exact same tine as she had just used "Some of us are just as active with researching the stuff people don't expect." He dropped the tone smirking; he didn't exact imitate her so much as joined in on her comment and now that it was over, he stopped easily. "In any case, yes I stay more the active enough, but you are nearly a bouncy ferret sometimes. You ought to chill down a bit more and enjoy the time you have left here. Soon you won't be able to come back." Except as a teacher for sure or one of the Ministry doing a job, but he doubted that was what she wanted.

"Sorry dearheart, but if I want to succeed, I can't leave any other impression on people. I will throw any duel you put towards me. That's a fact. It doesn't matter to me if you make it bad on my end. It's only a bunch of kids who will remember it only a very short time once they are out." And he didn't give a damn about that; let them think he was weak, soft. he'd clear the floor with them all the easier later when it actually meant something, not in a school with adolescent hormones running loose. "Nothing personal, but I do have my own plans to carry out. Don't try and back me into that corner, I'm slippery."

Smiling with confidence, he winked at her. If nothing else, he would be sure she knew what he was after was big time. "Tackle me outside of school and I won't be the same way, mind you. But the witnesses will be far fewer and less around. I'd simply prefer to remain friends and for that there is no need for duels, is there?"

THALIA EILEEN NOTT

[THALIA EILEEN NOTT]

Well, he certainly wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t that everyone who passed through the Noble House of Slytherin was real idiots – not all of them were. In fact, there were several people who were a little too clever. She considered herself and Cameron in this category, and she wouldn’t count out any of her friends. It just so happened that some of them tended to have a knack for getting themselves in trouble. How Ali had ended up in Slytherin as opposed to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, she still wasn’t entirely sure. Thinking of the Slytherin girl, she frowned just a fraction. It had been a while since she had seen Wallace, true, but it seemed like it had been longer since she had seen the other Slytherin. “Thankfully, I never had to worry about it. No one ever expected for me to do anything remotely bad. Not with Scorpius, Cole, and Darrius watching my every move. And, now, well…I’m Head Girl.” She was, at least in her opinion, too responsible for too many things to be doing anything questionable nowadays. Keeping in mind that she rarely had time to read her actual texts, let alone any of the books she would have normally gone to Cameron for. She crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged, letting the innocent façade fade away. It was never really her style to tease like that.

“I think I’ll take it upon myself to see if I can’t uncover one of your supposed tracks.” Having done it, she felt a little uncomfortable at the look he had given her and the way she had sounded to her own ears. She was definitely going to have to do something about making up for doing that later. Thalia resolved to only really tease Wallace in the future. It was just too…out of character for her. “Merlin, don’t call me silly. It makes me sound daft.” Although, realistically, the blonde had never heard anyone use the word to describe her. If they had, she’d only need to point at the amount of O.W.Ls that she had to prove them wrong. She had been aiming to beat the record set by Hermione Weasley nee Granger, but she hadn’t succeeded in actually doing so. Had she been frustrated? Extremely. Had it made her parents any less proud of her: probably not because she still had double the amount that Cole had had. “That reminds me; I’m supposed to be looking into the meaning of those words in regards to my family. My father once used those words to describe my Uncle Draco – he didn’t enjoy it very much.” She shrugged off the rest of his comment. Hogwarts might have always been like a home to her, but she wouldn’t miss it when she did eventually graduate.

She had very few friends and acquaintances staying behind. Those that did could easily be met over the summer. “Good. The less I have to harass my classmates to do their work and keep up our amazing points, the better off I’ll be.” Looking at the house points between them and the second place house – Ravenclaw with 6060 – she felt pretty confident. There were nearly 2500 points separating them. It was nothing to cough at. Mostly, Thalia was proud that she was, probably, going to finish out the year with beating Gryffindor by nearly 5000 points. It wasn’t that she disliked all of them – quite the contrary. She got along with most of them. Still, house rivalries were slow to die. “It’s not like I’m going to challenge you to a duel anytime soon, Clarke.” She threaded her hand through her hair, but kept her narrowed eyes focused on him. She wasn’t the type of girl who went into a duel, anyway. If she had wanted to, she would have joined the club. There had been a reason, however, that she had neglected to. “I wouldn’t consider you a very good Slytherin if you were shabby at getting yourself out of situations. It is only worrying that you willingly throw a duel to keep anyone from getting in on your tail.”

It was suspicious, after all. However, knowing that her father had done something similar when he was in Hogwarts meant that there was very little to actually be concerned with; there was a beauty in going through your Hogwarts career with very people knowing who you were. Thalia had never played the game that way – neither had Cole, but she could appreciate Cameron’s want for it. “I suppose you’re right, though I’m not very happy about it. How is one supposed to better themselves if not for practice? It’s not like I could ask Katrina or Ali for a duel, and I’m almost positive that Andrea and I are on par that neither of us would gain much.”

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It was hard not to smirk, but Cameron knew no one was keeping an eye on him specifically. He had toed a very careful line about appearances and what he would allow people to see; she had a different situation indeed from his own. Nodding at her comment he let it pass knowing there was little he could add to that. However, she made an off handed comment about tracking down one of his trails and his eyes narrowed, not stopping at her uncomfortable look. "Well I would never threaten the head girl clearly because I toe a certain line of behavior nor would I mess with a friend" 'offically' he didn't have to say "but I don't see the point in risking it really. You never know how valuable a source I may be one day to have access to still."

Warning enough. He wasn't one to be tricked into reacting so easily.

Daft eh? "I seriously doubt anyone who works half as hard as you would ever sound daft, Thalia, nor be described that way. Anyone can sound silly without being silly at any given time of their lives so don't flinch at it." He lifted an eyebrow at her, wondering how she had missed the reference. "Ah, I think it was referenced in that book Potter wrote about the war business, or was it by someone else about him? Anyway I remember reading about Draco and a ferret somewhere in there. Probably in the Library, just ask for it." He remembered the reference, of course, who would miss the idea of the Minister being bounced around as a ferret? It was in a few biographies he was sure. However it was one thing to hear the rumor and another to read about it; he'd rather not be the one to tell her the story.

Cameron chuckled softly as she spoke about duels. "That's lovely, much easier. If it really ever bothers you that much we can discuss what our tactics are some time and see how different styles are if you want." He winked at her, knowing she was smart enough to figure out his trick and if she couldn't, oh well. "But with all of you faces drawing attention at the forefront of the students I'm nicely placed to be missed entirely. That suits me perfectly. Less records, less path to trace later on when they come looking. And they will." No more need be said on that note.

Duel him for practice? She was nuts. Seventh years had plenty to fight with in their own year of various talents, coming after a sixth year who would "supposedly" have not the same chances at spells or that polishing edge of NEWTS threatening to end career hopes. Besides, his tactics were in using spells which didn't trigger the dark magic wards and the few unknowns hidden away in the depths of the Library's restricted section. he was hardly going to use those for practice! Once in a lifetime might be too much! Besides, her digestive system operated just fine right now. He wasn't out to kill her.

THALIA EILEEN NOTT