Katarzyna walked quietly into the Hogwarts library, books stuffed into her beat up shoulder bag. She stopped in the middle of an aisle, and stared at a group of second years taking up her favorite table. She glared long and hard at them with her intense Polish eyes until they caught her sight.

They were Hufflepuffs.
She was a Slytherin.
They were twelve.
She was fifteen.
Done.

Within the minute the little whimps were gone and out of her site. Some may think this may just be normal Slytherin behavior, but with Kat it was just one of her mood swings - -bad day. Everything - - everything - - had gone wrong today and there was nothing else she could do to calm herself down other than study. Because it would help her fall asleep. Hopefully.

Katarzyna sat down in the chair, laid a transfiguration book out and opened it to a random page. Before she looked down to start studying Kat crossed her thin legs and looked around the library. All the other tables were full - mostly with fifth years studying for OWLs and the other students for NEWTs. If someone else came into the library they might just have to sit at the same table as her. And she was in no mood for social contact at the moment. She began spreading her textbooks out across the table to make it look full....

Finn sat down across from a familiar face. It was his final year and he needed to buckle down. He had to decide what he wanted to do with his life and how he was going to accomplish that. "Kat," Finn said giving her a slight nod. She seemed to be preoccupied with something... Then again, who wasn't... The new administration was all about academics... All and all, it was fine with Finn... He didn't need distractions... He tried to keep out of the line of fire after his past terrible years. Fly under the radar... Do only what you must to fly under the radar... Don't be noticed, don't do things to get you noticed... His mother had successfully ingrained her voice into poor Finn's head. He loosened the straps on his satchel, and put his books on the desk.

He had a paper due for just about every class tomorrow... He supposed he should do the paper for his herbology professor... He didn't need to make the Headmaster's list for accomplishments, or failures.

His attention turned back to Kat. He didn't know that much about her, other than her name... Then again, he didn't really know anyone in his own house... He had made it a habit to only get to know wholesome people... After his experiences with Harshing... He had become mistrustful of the entire human race... He could sense something was wrong, and even though every fiber of his being told him not to, he opened his mouth.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, "Are you doing okay?"

When Kat realized it was another Slytherin, she cooled down slightly. Atleast it wasn't a Hufflepuff, right? She knew his name, but only that - nothing else. She briefly nodded to Finnigan as he sat down, then went back to her over sized textbook and it's moving pictures of mice turning into owls.

"What? Oh, no, nothing," she said quickly. but of course there was something wrong, when is there every anything not wrong with someone's life? Kat had received a Howler from her foster parents in London about not telling them she wasn't coming home for the holiday... after the holiday had passed. She'd been fighting with her every day battle of bulimia. And now there were OWLs to top it all off.

"Damnit, I hate studying..." she muttered, sinking back into her chair and scratching her head. She crossed her arms, and looked straight at Finn. "Is it just me, or has Hogwarts really cracked up on the curriculum lately?"

Finn smiled, he could tell he was being lied to... Part of his empathic ability... He didn't know why people called it an ability. If you asked him, it was a curse. "This new headmaster... He seems a bit overzealous about studying..." Finn looked at her pile of work. It seemed larger than his... "I only do the work I absolutely have to... Everything else seems like a waste of my time." Finn ran his fingers through his hair. It was time for a haircut once again. Lately his hair seemed to be doing whatever it wanted... It was fine with Finn. He didn't really care what other people thought anyways... "I suppose the headmaster is trying to erase the bad reputation the school had previously... When Harshing was headmaster... All anyone heard about this school was blood purification this and unforgivible curse that..." He paused, "I suppose the headmaster is interested in putting those bad stories to bed... One way to do that is through rigorous academic courses... I hate it..." He absolutely hated it... He could sense something was wrong with this girl... Something painful...

"I bet Ravenclaws are just having a field day with all this work," she said, rolling her intense eyes towards the high ceiling. "I've never, ever, been one for studying, ya know? But... Well my parents. They always told me about their school days, right? And I just wanted to impress them ever since I was little," she said, though didn't really know why she was sharing that information. She never talked about her parents.

In fact, Finn just like every other Slytherin probably never heard her speak of her homelife. Or her old homelife with her paretns. Of coruse now she resides in London with foster parents. "But that makes it worse... When you force yourself to do something you hate."

And suddenly, her last sentence had a double meaning to her. Sure, the education topic but the forcing yourself and hating it part...

Eat.
Throw up.
Bulimia.

Katarzyna fingered the pages in her book, making a loud rustling sound and she received some looks from other students but just stared back at them. "it's funny, isn't it? How if your a Slytherin... All you have to do is stare back at them." She said, referring to other students.

Finn smiled. "It helps if you grow your hair out and style it over one eye too... That helps keep people away..." Finn hated learning about the family lives of other people. It usually made him feel obligated to do something... Not that his life was perfect by any means, it was just usually less problematic than other people's... "My parents want me to do well also... My mum was a teacher a while ago before she had me... That's what she wants me to do... My dad... He's a muggle doctor..." He paused, believing he had made a mistake telling a slytherin that his father was a muggle. His adoptive father was anyway... He never found his real father... Milo, his half brother, left his life too.

"I don't really know what I want to do... I just know I want to make money and not have to go to school for a long time..." He paused, "I hate being forced to do things I don't want to either... I just want to be happy..." That seemed obvious enough. Didn't everyone want to be happy?

Kat's interest was deffinetly sparked when Finn said his father was a muggle doctor. She didn't know any other Slytherin who had even mentioned a relative who was a muggle. She'd always assumed that everyone was pure blood who was in SLytherin. Then again. she never really thought about that. Maybe it was just a silly myth. Maybe there were students who weren't pure blooded but in Slytherin.

"Yah, same. When I get outta HOgwarts I wanna be DONE. I mean, I actually like this school. Or I've come to like it - i don't know but more schooling - like they do in the muggle world- I'd die... Just die," Katarzyna admitted shaking her head to the thought of being in school till her thirties. How could people survive that? Maybe muggles do have some special abilities.

"I'm not to keen on what I wanna be either. Just as long as it provides for me, and a family if I end up having one" - she hoped she would - "And...yah. I guess makes me happy. Atleast happier than I am these days," she said, letting the last part slip out. Because only God knows how miserable she really is.