Birds of a Feather (Ariesa)

[Kingsley Shacklebolt]

He had to give it to her: when she did speak everything she said was the truth. Expect that bit about humans. That kind of confused him.

He continued to look back at her, then closed his eyes and rubbed them. All the starring was drying them out. Plus he needed a break from starring; it became strange after too long.

"Hmmm. Certainly a conundrum if I've ever heard one." Kings was unsure of what to say in response. He was really unsure about this girl overall. She seemed apathetic to everything he mentioned, and just when he though he had her figured out she would prove him wrong.

He loved being kept on his toes.

[Ariesa d'Veldrin]

Ariesa finally looked away from him again, her eyes going back down to the half eaten frog on her lap. She broke off its head and slipped it into her mouth, letting the silence surround them for a bit. She was comfortable with the silence. She never understood why people felt they had to fill it.

She only tended to speak when she had something to say. She was actually rather shocked, herself, that she had this much to say to him, even though she was barely saying anything at all.

For now, she let the quiet continue. She had already said enough. She knew she had probably made him a bit uncomfortable with her latest lines of speech. If he wanted to speak, she would leave it to him to start it this time.

[Kingsley Shacklebolt]

Kingsley watched her for a moment before turning his head to look out one of the windows. In the distance he could see some owls, still so far off only to be specks, and wondered where they had come from. Hogsmeade, only a town away? London, more than a day's journey for an owl? Even further?

He suddenly snapped back to attention, blinking a few times and refocusing on Ariesa. He put his hand on the back of his neck, rubbing the tense sinew, before turning his head from side to side to crack his neck.

"So, let's hypothetically say you decide not to join the Death Eaters post-Hogwarts," he started again. Might as well get all the information he could from this girl while he still had the chance. "What would you want to do after leaving school?"

[Ariesa d'Veldrin]

She shrugged a bit, looking back down at the frog on her lap. She messed with it a bit, and pulled the body in two, but did not yet eat it. Her eyes remained on her hands as she spoke in a much quieter tone.

"I'm not sure. I suppose it would depend on what the Dark Lord would ask."

She shrugged again. She still did not look up from her frog and seemed to be fiddling with it more than having an intention of eating it, for now.

[Kingsley Shacklebolt]

Well that one threw him for a bit of a loop. Depends on what the Dark Lord would ask? Kingsley had been under the impression that the best route to take this conversation was away from anything related to He-Who-Must-Not Be Named and his crazed minions, but here she was putting their little chat right back on the subject.

Kingsley didn't betray his shock, other than lifting his right eyebrow inquisitively. "Hmm. Let us say, then, that the Dark Lord had no control over your actions. You got to choose where you wanted to live, what you wanted to do with your life, the type of career you dream of. What would it be?"

[Ariesa d'Veldrin]

Ariesa paused, thinking. To be honest, she had never really thought about anything after school. She still had two years left of it before she would be out of the school and on her own, for good. No mother around, no teachers to boss her.

"I.. don't really know."

Her head lifted and she looked at him. It was different this time, though. It wasn't the cold, hard stare she had been giving him. It was softer, curious.

She quickly looked away again, trying not to give herself away.

"I never really thought about it. Maybe work with creatures. I tend to like them more than people."