that's just the way it is

Lora was sitting on the cobblestoned pavement, admiring the beautiful view ahead. She felt a sense of freedom from being able to come back to Russia after having spend one year at England. Even though she had enjoyed the school, too many things had happened and it just felt too long.

Normally she'd be with Kait or with some of her friends, but she couldn't stop thinking about Dyl. She hoped he'd get his memory back soon.

Muggle Russia. They couldn't find him here. Well, they could, but the chances - they were low, and that was all the Hrabrost cared about.

Remembering the last time he'd been here, Afonka smiled. Though he'd never seen Taryn again, it'd been nice to meet her. Caught up in his own memories, he didn't look where he was going, and promptly tripped over someone. Regaining his balance before he fell over, he looked over at the girl, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry, I - I should've looked where I was going."

Lora was startled out of her thoughts when suddenly someone nearly tripped over. "Oh um, no worries really," she replied with a small smile and waved off his apology. "You can sit down if you want," she offered hesitantly, pointedly looking at the path next to her.

"I'm Lora, by the way," she introduced herself. "You're a Durmy, right?" She asked.

Breaking into a relieved grin as she accepted his apology, he sighed softly, "Good. I would've hated to accidentally hurt you or something."

Taking the proffered seat, he thanked her, humming softly. Spending time with someone - it just made everything better. When he was by himself, he just felt consumed in his own misery.

"Hey Lora," he gave her a little wave and a nod, "Fourth year Hrabrost. Though," he paused, "I guess now that it's summer I can call myself a fifth year." Shrugging slightly, he added, "Oh, and my name's Afonka. Yeah, I guess it's a little important." he shook his head, laughing softly.

"I wouldn't be mad if it had been an accident, so no worries." Lora replied with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you, Afonka. I'm a fifth year Slushatel," she told. "Not sure if I'm a sixth year, cause I haven't got back my OWL results," she said and chuckled nervously. "I'm pretty sure I didn't flunk any, but the tension is still there."

"So what brings you out here today?" She asked curiously.

"Good," he smiled, "because some people....they'd be angry even if you apologized a million times." Shaking his head as he thought of people who were like that, he clasped his hands together, frowning.

"Are they hard?" Afonka asked curiously, "OWLs? Because I saw so many people studying in the common room for hours. It looked so intense."

Shrugging, he glanced around, "No reason, really. I just like this park. It's peaceful here."

"Ah yes, I am well acquainted with people like that actually," Lora remarked and shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I mean, it is rather annoying when they don't take your apology into consideration."

She thought for a moment before replying, "They are not hard per se, just that you need to work really hard." She chuckled at the boy's comment. "Yes, it does get rather intense because there's so much to study. Though the practicals were harder, I should say."

Lora nodded her head in agreement. "It is, isn't it? Nice place to think really. So what plans for the summer, then?"

"Same." he said with a nod and a soft sigh, "People like that are horrible."

Turning his full attention to her, Afonka nodded along to her words, taking in everything she was saying. After all, if he didn't do well on his OWLs, he'd fail. And he had this nagging feeling that his grandparents wouldn't be very happy about that. "That's good to know. Thank you!"

Shrugging, he glanced around, "I don't really have plans. Taking it day by day."

"And apparently, horrible people are quite easy to find these days," Lora told and shook her head as though she was disappointed in that fact.

"No problem," she replied with a smile. "Also remember not to slack at all, especially from beginning of the year. I mean, I guess you could always do extra credit to get your grades up, but it's always much of a relief once you realize it's just the OWL's you need to work on," she admitted.

"Oh that's good. I have no idea what to do either. Plus, it gets boring at home since it's just me and my mother," she said and played with a flower she had plucked on her way here, just because it was a purple coloured one.

"Sadly," Afonka muttered, sighing softly.

Nodding, Afonka mentally jotted down everything that came out of Alora's mouth. It was ridiculously important to him that he did well on his OWLs. "Right, so work really hard all year around. Anything else?"

Giving her a smile, he decided not to press. If she didn't want to tell him anymore, that was alright with him, "I know the feeling. Sometimes home's just - weird."

"If you don't want the professors to after you all the time, make sure to submit all your homework on time and do well on tests. That way, they'll be confident that you'll do even better on the exams," Lora advised. "Hm, I think that's just about it."

She nodded her head in agreement. "It's weird and sometimes even depressing, though my mother does try to make it nice for me," she told and smiled. "Do you have any siblings?"

"That makes sense." Afonka said with another nod, beginning to feel like a bobblehead. "Thank you by the way. This'll help a lot." But despite the smile, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that he'd rather be having this conversation with Ophelia. His face a mask, he pushed the thought away. She was dead. Thinking about her wasn't going to bring her back.

"I have a sister." He said, brightening up at the thought of Deina, "She's six."

Lora laughed softly at Afonka's eagerness. "Like I said, no problem. I hope some of my advice becomes to be useful to you. After all, each one of is strong and weak in different areas, but mine was just the general comments."

"Aw, how cute," she told with a grin, though it faded slightly as she thought of her own sister. Her dead sister. Pushing it away from her mind, she said, "I wish I had a sibling; definitely would have made life a bit easier at home. So what's your sister's name?" She asked.

"I guess that's true," Afonka said with a slight shrug. "But even just the smallest little tips and pointers can help, right?" And he'd do practically anything to do well on his OWLs. Anything.

Grinning at Alora, he said, "Deina. Her name's Deina. And she - well there are times when she can be a bit annoying, but I guess all siblings are like that from time to time."

"Yeah, they can actually," Lora admitted. "Are you under any sort of pressurized obligation from your parents that you need to do extremely well?" She asked hesitantly. "I wouldn't suggest succumbing to that because it'd tend to make you more nervous."

"That's a really pretty name," she complimented and grinned at Afonka once more. "Well, we wouldn't love our siblings if they weren't a bit annoying actually," she whispered and laughed lightly.

Looking at her for a moment, he nodded, mumbling, "Yeah, pretty much. But from my grandparents, not my parents. My parents are happy as long as I do my best and try hard." It was so weird how different his father was from his parents. But he liked that. If his father was like them, he probably wouldn't exist.

"Aww, thank you," Afonka said, grinning at Alora, "I'll tell her that when I get home. She'll love the compliment. It's true," he said with a nod, feeling momentarily wise, "if we weren't annoyed by them, we wouldn't realize how much we cared."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Lora told in a quiet voice and hugged the boy tightly. "Don't think about it too much, just do it fully upto your potential and capacity, and you'll definitely make your grandparents and parents happy with the results," she assured the Hrabrost and grinned lightly.

"Good, you should tell her cause kids these days don't get the compliments they deserve," she said and smiled. "I had an older sister, and honestly speaking, we never fought or annoyed each other that much actually," she admitted. "She's the one I'd always go to whenever our parents fought."

"Oh, it's alright," he said softly, hugging her back. "I mean, sure, I'm not used to it, but there's only three years left of Durmstrang. Then I'll be free, right?" But he wouldn't. He'd never be free. Even once he graduated, because the mafia wouldn't ever loosen their titan grip on him.

Had? What had happened to her sister? Looking at Alora curiously, he reached over, hugging her, "I'm sorry your parents fought."

"I think once we leave Durmstrang forever, we'll miss it more than anything," Lora told with a small grin. "I mean, where else are we going to find crazy students and murderous Professors?" Something about the boy's tone indicated that 'being free' wouldn't be so simple as it sounds. "What do you plan to do after graduation?" She asked curiously.

On noticing Afonka's gaze, she looked away before she replied, "My sister was killed when I was seven. She was working as an Auror. One night, some death eaters showed up at our apartment and they wanted some information from her, but she wouldn't give in." She confessed, her voice growing quieter. "She hid me, but I could still see everything and I saw..." she trailed off. "It's okay, I was getting used to them fighting anyway."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug, "I'll miss the people most," he decided after a moment's silence. "Who knows how often you'll be able to see your friends once you graduate?" At her question, he shrugged, "I don't know, but I'd like to travel the world. That'd be nice."

Biting his lip, he reached over and hugged her again, "I'm so sorry. That's terrible. No one should ever have to go through that."

As Afonka mentioned about their friends, it suddenly hit Lora hard that it was true. How often will you get to see your friends, she wondered sadly. "I'll miss it all, Afonka," she murmured with a small smile.

Her face brightening a little at his response, she smiled wider. "Travel the world? I would love to do that as well. There's so many things out there to see and do, yes? It'd be amazing."

She chuckled forcefully and hugged the boy back. "Don't worry about it, it was a while back anyway. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump that on you." She apologized and smiled sheepishly. "I normally only make my boyfriend, Dylan, go through that torture," she joked.

"I don't know," he said softly, rubbing his head absentmindedly, "there are some things I won't miss. Like tests and exams and everything like that."

Nodding, Afonka grinned, "There are so many great things out there. The world is so huge. There has to be something out there no one's discovered."

"Oh, it's alright." he said softly, patting her shoulder. Laughing, he said, "Well then, I hope he can handle it."