Scent of Names [Zoe]

Outfit

Zoe felt admittedly nervous. She was surprised when Teddy had given her the password to the Prefect's bathroom, but she was more surprised at the both of them for making plans to go swimming there. Teddy had promised all sorts of bubbles and silly things that would come out of the taps, but something about this whole plan seemed a little... sensual.There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that this wasn't all innocent, and as much as she cared for Teddy she still felt a little off. She ignored her feelings anyways. Zoe knew that if she got over her nervousness, they would no doubt have a lot of fun. They always did when they were together. 

She made her way through the corridors with her bag on her arm. Inside contained her bathing suit and towel. She worried a lot about the bathing suit aspect. He had seen her in a bathing suit before, but that's when they were swimming... outside... and in public. This was all backwards. She worried about how she would look in it, she worried about everything. She knew she was fine and she was being ridiculous. 

Zoe made her way to the Prefects' bathroom much earlier than they had planned to meet. She figured if she got changed and started swimming before he got there it would be a whole lot less awkward. It would seem normal, ordinary. She struggled to believe the bath tub in there was big enough to actually swim in  - that seemed a little ridiculous. If she knew that, she probably would have strived harder to become Prefect. She thought to herself for a moment - no she wouldn't. If she had to work with her Quidditch and do Prefect duties, then she knew she would literally never have time for homework. 

She felt cold - her earlier Quidditch practise had settled a chill into her bones that she couldn't get rid of. She hoped the swimming would make it better. When Zoe entered the bathroom however, she knew there was something wrong. She heard a horrible gagging sort of noise and she realized that someone was throwing up. She grimaced to herself. She hurried off to a stall and sat inside, hoping that whoever it was would soon leave. She heard the tap running, and then there was silence. She strode out in her wool boots, making practically no sound. She jumped when she realized that someone was still there. The girl looked a little pale, and she was clearly unwell. Zoe held back rolling her eyes as she knew that she would have to talk to her. She didn't like new people very well, but she assumed that if she comforted this girl perhaps she would leave faster. 

"Are you okay?"  Zoe asked kindly as she approached the blonde. "I, uh, heard you in the stall. Do you need anything?" 

Zoe noticed the other girl's posture change immediately when she had heard Zoe's voice. Zoe recognized her as Monika from Slytherin - they were in the same year and Zoe was great with names. They had never interacted before but Zoe immediately felt herself stiffen up at the recognition. She didn't like how it sounded like Monika was merely trying to puke due to eating some sort of sweets. Regardless, she tried to not be rude.

She was surprised about how much Monika asked about her. Was Zoe so unnoticeable that this girl didn't know anything about her? "I'm Zoe,"  she said, simply. She didn't really want a conversation. She wanted Monika to go so that she could be alone with Teddy. She wasn't really looking to make a new friend. Zoe looked at the tub over her shoulder at Monika's words. She hadn't really noticed it before, but it really was humongous. Definitely big enough to be like a swimming pool. She felt excited by the thought but then had to turn her attention back to Monika. 

Zoe looked down at her shoes and then back to Monika. "I'm in Ravenclaw. We have Ancient Runes together,"  Zoe replied, a bit coldly. She didn't like not being known by someone who sound have known her. Her irritation definitely stemmed out of the fact that she wanted Monika to leave. She probably wouldn't have been bothered otherwise. "The password was rather easy to guess," Zoe answered with a shrug. She didn't want Monika to kick her out, nor did she want to get Teddy in trouble. As much as Monika was showing a kind demeanour, Zoe knew how Slytherins could sometimes just turn on you for seemingly no reason. 

"What's wrong with my shoes?" Zoe blurted. She was going to leave it alone, but the thought irritated her. The shoes she was wearing was comfortable and warm, perfect for such a cold castle. She eyed Monika's outfit. "Are you going to a wedding?"  She didn't want to be confrontational but at the same time Monika's words had hurt her feelings. She sighed. "Sorry, it's been a long day. You look lovely."  She smiled to show that no hard feelings were meant. Monika was being quite friendly, and it wasn't fair to be rude to her over nothing.

Zoe watched Monika's moves carefully, almost as if she confronting an animal in the wilderness and hadn't decided if the animal was going to be friendly or not. Zoe smiled lightly at the other girl's laugh but it was half-hearted. She knew Slytherins didn't care much about their education, and it wasn't a quality that Zoe thought was very good. She didn't understand that they didn't see that school was a commitment to their future, and that alone drove her nuts. It was probably one of the reasons that Zoe didn't have a single Slytherin friend.

She also didn't understand how Monika couldn't pay attention. She thought that Ellis' class was riveting. All of this merely made Zoe smile and say, "So what do you do instead?" If they couldn't be bothered to pay attention, what did they do? It was an idle curiousity that she had, and now that she was apparently making conversation with a Slytherin, she figured now was a good a time as ever to ask. 

Zoe didn't really believe Monika. Most people seemed to think that Hufflepuffs were the joke of the school, particularly Slytherins. Zoe didn't agree, especially considering one of her best friends was a Hufflepuff. She would rather wear shoes that a lot of Hufflepuffs wore than shoes a lot of Slytherins wore. Zoe couldn't help but look at Monika's shoes again. Who wore heels at Hogwarts, anyway? Besides, Monika's facial expression gave the girl away. Even though their conversation sounded friendly, Zoe could feel the tension between the two. Why couldn't Monika just leave? She knew some people just liked confrontation. 

Zoe opened her mouth to respond to what Monika said about the fact that it was her wedding, but the other girl gave away immediately how it was a joke, so there wasn't much for Zoe to say. She had this small feeling that Monika was putting on some sort of show.

She rolled her eyes at Monika's nosiness. She didn't know her at all well, yet she was asking such a question? Zoe would have had the decency to blush, but she was growing too impatient for Monika to leave.

"Sirius Black," Zoe said, sarcastically. She didn't know the boy at all and probably never spoke to him more than a handful of times, but he had the features of some sort of Greek God and was therefore unattainable in her eyes - besides, it wasn't like he had ever had a girlfriend that anyone knew about. Besides, she was fairly certain that anyone would see that Zoe was just joking. 

Zoe found that she didn't care whatsoever what Monika did when she wasn't paying attention to Ellis. Her answer was boring anyways, Zoe decided. Even though Monika seemed initially overjoyed by what could have been girlish bonding, it immediately changed when Zoe said the name. That alone made Zoe smile genuinely for the first time since she had this confrontation with this Slytherin. She could have easily changed her answer, she could have said 'never mind', she could have said an assortment of things, but instead she replied with, "Sirius Black."  she grinned at Monika as if she couldn't see that it was bothering her. "Oh, and don't tell anyone,"  she continued in a patronizing manner, but as if she was gushing joyfully, "I lost my virginity to him last weekend. I even missed my period! I know I can keep him now."  Zoe wanted to laugh out loud, but managed to keep it inside. She wasn't usually so intentionally irritating, but she found Monika completely irritating herself with her clear overcompensating with clothes and make-up to make up for something - probably a really small feeling of self-worth.