lucid moments ~ Benji

─────────────── ⋅ ✺ ⋅ ───────────────
Wednesday, 23 January 1924
~ 4:00 pm ~
Library Front Desk
────────────────── ⋆⋅ ✺ ⋅⋆ ──────────────────

Maevie dropped her bag to the floor with a heavy thud. A second later, she slumped into the chair beside Benji with a long-suffering sigh, claiming the free seat behind the information desk that the older boy wasn’t occupying himself. Her head tipped back against the backrest.

“Wizarding Civics sucks.”

Another deep sigh escaped as Maevie aimlessly stared at the ceiling.

The course required only for Muggleborns had ended only ten minutes ago, leaving her with the same strange feeling as it had the first time and every time since. Why only them? Why did they have to sit through an extra lesson every Wednesday afternoon while the rest of the student body could go about their day as they pleased? It left an unexplainable taste in her mouth.

She supposed she understood somewhat. Muggleborns did enter the wizarding community with barely any idea of what the hell was going on—she had been one of them not too long ago.

But that had been First Year. Maevie was fairly confident she understood how things worked by now. After all, this was her fourth year, and she wasn’t that stupid.

So why did the older students have to attend? Even the seventh-years weren’t spared. It was all a bit ridiculous.

Maevie lolled her head sideways to look at Benji.

“You’re lucky you don’t have to go,” she said with a small grin. “You’d probably fall asleep within the first half minute.”

A brief silence followed before her brow furrowed and she lifted her head from the chair’s backrest. “Wait. Your uncle is the Minister.” Still an insane thing to wrap her head around, by the way, but she had long since given up trying to imagine what that must be like. Her expression softened, and she raised her brows, humour lacing her tone.

“You should ask him why he’s making me attend a class I don’t need. Actually, better yet, ask him if he can get it cancelled altogether. I’m sure he can manage one tiny favour for his nephew, can’t he?”

Benji had a lot to prove. It wasn't just being a Laurence or having the entire family's future resting on his shoulders. It was something deeper and visceral within the boy, having been plucked from obscurity to live a Cinderella-esque life amongst wealth and status he once could never dream of. His gratitude required him to be more. To show up more.

And that had never felt so pertinent to the boy than it had over the last couple of months.

He'd fucked up. Gravely, and now the entire trajectory of his life was mid-pendulum swing. The heartbreak in his mother's eyes, the exasperation in his stepdad's, the absolute disappointment in his uncle's....it had all made Benji take a much harder look at who he was and where he was heading.

It was more than just the overall family. Benji had a lot to prove to Rae now. With the mess they had gotten themselves into, the young man knew he needed to grow up, quickly, and be the man she needed him to be. That meant studying, working hard in his classes and showing that he was serious about the future that lay in wait for them.

“Wizarding Civics sucks.”0

The thump that preceded the arrival of his younger friend, caused a dumb smile to rise across the Hufflepuff's lips, even if he didn't look up from the essay he was writing for Charms. "It sounds like it sucks, just in name," he muttered, his quill scratching carefully across the parchment. He was manning the information desk today, and while it had been busy a little earlier, it was finally slowing into a dull hum. It gave him the space he needed to focus, and he was nearly close to finishing the last two paragraphs.

“You’re lucky you don’t have to go. You’d probably fall asleep within the first half minute.”

"I don't know Marge," he quipped, finally glancing up to meet her with amused hazel eyes, "Naps aren't really on the schedule for me these days." It was one of those classes James had insisted be taught at the school, and he'd graciously laid the task at Julia's feet, certain she was the best to teach muggleborns about...their place, he supposed. How else was it meant to be interpreted?

“Wait. Your uncle is the Minister.”

"That he is." Benji was tired of hearing about it. It made him feel like one of those soft-boy Slytherins who always whined about who their father was, and how everyone would suffer when their father heard what consequences had befallen them. James was a good minister, for all Benji knew about politics, but it was enough that his family was well-known. He'd never asked for the embarrassment of being the Minister's nephew too.

“You should ask him why he’s making me attend a class I don’t need. Actually, better yet, ask him if he can get it cancelled altogether. I’m sure he can manage one tiny favour for his nephew, can’t he?”

It stopped him. Benji glanced up again, a strange grin on his lips that showed he couldn't quite believe Maevie didn't understand the mechanisms behind this. "He won't cancel it, Marge. He was the one that put it into place." He chuckled, dropping his quill and leaning back into his seat a bit, side-eyeing the student that was approaching the desk. Great. Another question he didn't want to be bothered with.

"It's not that bad, is it? Just learning history and such?"

For a second, Maevie could do little else than blink, quite stupidly.

The Minister had put the class in place? Why the hell would he care? Well, on second thought, she supposed he had to. He was the Minister, so he probably had to care about pretty much everything. Somehow, though, Maevie had assumed the Headmaster was responsible. Therefore, logically, the Minister’s word would override MacLean’s, but that argument apparently was now void.

“Huh.” Maevie leaned back against her chair, her gaze drifting out over the library. “I suppose that makes sense.”

Only it didn’t. Not much, anyway. All it did was further complicate a thing she already struggled to understand. It had been easier to assume MacLean was the one implementing the class, perhaps because he had been the one to announce it at the Opening Feast. But thinking about it now, it made little sense, didn’t it? The Ministry decided what was being taught at school, not the Headmaster.

The tension inside her chest only seemed to grow. Maevie shook her head, about to dismiss the whole subject when Benji’s words drew her back in.

"It's not that bad, is it? Just learning history and such?"

Maevie looked around at him with an amused expression that quietly asked him if he was being serious. “History?” she asked, a little incredulous, laughter colouring her voice. “Benji, we learn history in History of Magic.”

“Uhm, excuse me?”

A frail voice caught her attention, and still smiling, Maevie turned towards the tiny student standing before them at the front table, nervously glancing between her and Benji.

“Could you show me where the books on giants are?”

Maevie’s smile widened. “Sure, we can!” Later. She wasn’t finished talking to Benji just yet. She gave a nod towards the shelves to her right. “The creature section is that way. Just give me a few minutes, okay? I’ll be right there. I’ll catch up with you.”

The student gave a shy nod of his head before shuffling off.

Maevie returned her gaze to Benji.

“Today,” she said with a raised brow and a cheeky smile that looked more carefree than it felt, “Mrs Barlowe taught us about the importance of our loyalty and gratitude towards the magical world, how they granted us access that we—the Muggleborns—wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

God, saying it out loud alone felt strange. Or were they right? Should she be thankful for the chance to attend a magical school she could have never known of? Should she be thankful the Ministry had visited and told her? Thankful for the acceptance letter? She supposed she was, but still...

“I don’t know.” Maevie shrugged, grinning at Benji. “It just sucks.”

“Benji, we learn history in History of Magic.”

Well, okay. Benji's expression rose and fell with amusement. It wasn't often Maevie corrected him, but here they were. "So what are you learning then?" The class wasn't entirely clear and Julia hadn't indicated he was required to attend, so he hadn't. He wasn't trying to fill up his last few months with more shit than he was already carrying.

Before Benji could offer the most helpful 'no' to the quiet student that had approached the desk, there went Maevie being jovial and sweet as she always was. He supposed it was a good thing. If all of them were as indifferent to the needs of the students that wandered in here, there would be no real reason for a library in the first place. In theory, it sounded good to him, but his mother would be heartbroken.

She'd had enough heartbreak this year.

“Today, Mrs Barlowe taught us about the importance of our loyalty and gratitude towards the magical world, how they granted us access that we—the Muggleborns—wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

Oh. Well. That was different than history wasn't it? "Well," Benji said, knowing his mum loved all of her students - some more than others - and blood status had never played a part in it. Blood purity rhetoric was mostly saved for behind Laurence walls, and even then it was discussed quietly and amongst the adults. The Laurences had never liked people knowing where they did or didn't stand, but his uncle was quickly changing all of that.

It certainly made for some awkward conversation.

"I mean, that's not all untrue, is it?" He looked at his friend, not meaning anything unkind or elitest about it. "Without halfbloods and purebloods, muggleborns wouldn't know anything about the magical world, because they'd never exposed to it or known anything about it. The onus is sort of on purebloods and halfbloods to educate."

Still, he'd never say Maevie or any other muggleborn should be grateful persay. Maybe just aware of what things were.