Hmph...Second Years (Terena)

Serenity stood in front of the black lake, her auburn curls gently caressing her face as a cool breeze floated by. Today was a lovely day to be outside, but then again any day was a lovely day to be outside when her father went on one of his tell tale rantings of the student population. Serenity hated listening to them, and she also hated when the names of her friends or classmates fell into the mix. So she left and took the opportunity to enjoy a beautifully sunny day.

Gently sliding herself down so that she was leaning against a tall willow tree she sighed. Today just seemed to be the day for Serenity to be in a good mood. And normally there were not many when she held such an optimistic view of life. That was unless Harry came by to visit or sit with her.

However today he had not done that, and for once she felt content with just being by her lonesome. At least she thought she was by her lonesome. Hearing a twig snap not too far from where she was sitting her green eyes darted over to the source of the sound and she found herself glaring in the direction of the said person that was, potentially harassing her.

"If you are trying to attack me," she hissed. "You have bad form...you are also very stupid."

She was mentally kicking herself for stepping on the twig. She stepped forward, approaching the girl. She recognized her as the Headmasters daughter. Though, she had never really learned her name. She stepped closer to her.

"Trust me, if I wanted to attack you, I wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake. I may be a Hufflepuff, and a second year, but i'm not an idiot." She pushed away a bit of hair, wondering why she was being accused of attacking. She wasn't one to judge a person by their house, but the girl was a Slytherin. That was a fairly good reason.

Serenity felt her lips purse into a thin line and she reached for her wand that was in her jean pocket. But then she remembered that if her father caught her attacking anymore students he would ground her for the rest of eternity and forbid her from seeing Harry...and when her father made threats like that they were hardly ever idle. Sighing she cracked her knuckles and turned her glare towards the girl once more.

"Somehow I severely doubt that." she hissed. "But whatever you need to tell yourself, kid."

Serenity sighed and leaned against the hard wood of the tree. Her eyes were no longer on the Hufflepuff girl. And it was not for any reason of the fourth year in front of her. It was just that Serenity had no social skills. And being raised in the Snape household how could anyone really blame her? Her father had taught her about manners and the like, but when it came to people her same age or young she just didn't give a damn.

"Should't you be in the castle," she snarled. "Doing homework...or gossiping with the other second years about something or other?"

She wondered why everyone assumed that people gossiped all the time. She preferred a conversation that wasn't about what so and so did with whoever. She liked talking about classes, the like and dislike of them usually. She liked being outside, even if she was doing absolutely nothing.

"I like the outside better, and honestly, gossip makes unnecessary drama. If you were at all interested, i'm Terena." She played with her hair, braiding it then unbraiding it, then rebraiding it again. She then pulled a hacky sack from her pocket and tossed it from hand to hand. She probably looked uninterested, but her hands were fidgety.

Serenity rolled her eyes, but decided to keep anymore snide comments to herself. Her father did always say that she needed to branch out more and make friends, part of her thought that it was him just wanting to get rid of her for a few hours. However she could not blame him for wanting some peace...she could annoy the Hell out of him if she so choose..and there were sometimes that she did. Looking at the muggle toy she was tossing back and fourth she rolled her eyes. Another stupid muggle object brought to Hogwarts.

Granted she would never let anyone at the school know that her father had actually buckled and bought a telly as well as a computer for her, but that was besides the point. Those muggle objects were relatively useful...and Serenity loved watching General Hospital during the summer evenings when her father was away doing Headmaster things.

"Serenity," she grumbled. "Serenity Snape."

Normally Serenity never had to make an introduction. Everyone there knew her, and who she was. Her father never made it known of course that she was his daughter, for the sake of her sanity. But when the teachers did role call her name usually got a few whispers and gasps...not like Harry's of course. His name usually had some praise added to it...her name got the words "Death Eater," and "Snake,".

"So," she said taking her wand and gently flicking it back and forth between her fingers. "You're a second year then? May I ask what that thing is you are playing with?"

The way she grumbled her name, made her wonder if Serenity disliked being a Snape. Either that, or she just preferred being left alone. She wasn't about to just turn around an leave though, that would be rude. Besides, Serenity had asked her a question.

"It's a hacky sack. It's basically a ball filled with... well, I actually don't know." She examined the toy for a moment. "I keep one on me because I usually need to do something with my hands and it's silent." She was watching Serenity flick her wand between her fingers. Her own wand was still in her pocket.

Serenity nodded, she was actually the same way as well. She always had to keep both her mind and hands preoccupied otherwise she would lose all sense of reality. So she used her wand and casted little spells here and there that proved entertaining when she wasn't permitted to do anything else. One of her favorites being her butterfly. Well...technically it wasn't a butterfly. It was water that she summoned from the black lake and morphed into a butterfly.

Gently moving her wand she pulled a small amount of water from the lake and began tracing the shape of a small butterfly. It formed and gently as she moved it little droplets of water began to form the wings and antennas. Showing her masterpiece to the young girl she began making it float around and flutter through the air. With each small flap of its wings her cheeks became dampened.

"I usually like something to preoccupy my time as well," she said with a small grin. "My dad taught me that trick."

Flicking her wand she watched as the small butterfly dropped to the ground and the water splashed into the grass.

She watched with interest as Serenity created a water butterfly, and moved it around. It wasn't every day someone did that.

"Well he taught you well, that's a good trick." She smiled, wishing she had at least been a half-blood. She could have at least known that everything that she was dong was magic. Maybe she could have learned something like that. The butterfly had looked so real, except for the fact that it was made of water of course.

Serenity smiled and nodded. No one at the school thought so, but her father did teach her well. He was a good father, of course he had his flaws but every parent did. And she would never judge him for them, mostly because most of the flaws he owned had been passed down to her and were encrypted in her DNA as well.

"I could teach it to you," she said rather stiffly. "If you would like...it's pretty easy...you could probably choose a different animal if you want."

Serenity's had taken the form of a butterfly because her father said when she was little that was all she focused on. She loved them and would chase after them in the park when he took her out to play.

"I can make a snake too," Serenity continued. "But the larger the animal the more complicated it gets...the more you have to focus."

"If you don't mind, i'd like to." She had moved closer to Serenity by now. She took a seat on the ground, not right next to her, but close enough. She pocketed the hacky sack again, and took out her wand. She placed it in her lap, and looked at Serenity. If she planned on teaching her, she'd need to watch what she did.

Serenity took out her wand and held it out so that the girl could see what she was doing to a T. This spell wasn't particularly difficult, but it took a great amount of concentration. Serenity when she had first done it got a headache because she tried to hold the bond with the water for far too long.

"Okay," she said gently. "It really isn't all that hard...and their isn't an incantation. I like to think it kinda runs on accidental magic. You have to feel it to do it."

She knew that she was not good at explaining things. But that was basically it. If the girl wanted to be able to do this spell than she would have to feel it in her very bones. Non-verbal magic was so much harder than just normal everyday magic, and it took a lot out of a person to be able to do something like that.

"Then...once you are completely focused on the water itself...it will come to you and you take your wand and just mold the shape...if you want it to fly you will have to think of it as a real butterfly...or snake...or whatever it is you are making. All the while maintaining your absolute focus on the water."

Putting her wand down she motioned to the girl.

"You try."

She nodded and picked up her wand. Focusing on the water, she tried to get it to form above-water. The water rippled and she focused harder. The water continued to ripple, but not much else. She didn't get discouraged though, and continued to concentrate. A little water came up, but not much. She was determined to get it though. She thought about the water forming above the surface.

The water formed above the surface. She continued to concentrate and tried her best to form the waters shape. She had always been more of a bird person, and tried to make a small bird. The magic seemed to be draining her, but she was determined. The water had started to look like a bird but it fell back into the water. She turned to Serenity.

"Draining."

Serenity nodded, she usually could only perform the spell a good five times before it became too much and she had to remain in bed for the rest of the day. There had been one time when her father had found her in an empty corridor, passed out and shivering from the cold because she had not been able to do this spell. Serenity could not accept defeat. She was a Snape through and through when it came to that. Her father had made her sleep in his quarters for a week and would not let her out of his sight until he was certain that she would be okay.

"It's okay," she said, smiling softly. "It's going to be...Hey...I'm sorry about before. I'm just used to everyone kind of hating me, so I retort by being mean to other people first."

Serenity knew that people did not like her, and it just seemed to be easier to hate them before they could hate her. Her father said that was a stupid way to look at things and if she continued on like that she would have a really bad school career. And of course her father was right, she was just far too stubborn to admit it.

"Don't try it more than once a day, until you can start doing it without feeling so exhausted...you could overdo it like I did and wind up in the hospital wing for a week."

She nodded, she didn't want to be in the Hospital Wing for a week. Listening to Serenity explain her behavior early, she couldn't help but feel bad. Why would she be hated? Wouldn't being the Headmaster's daughter make it the total opposite? She really didn't understand people sometimes.

"It's alright, it makes sense, even though it's not really fair. I mean, people should have no reason to hate you." She leaned back into the tree, exhausted. "You know... I don't feel like getting up." She laughed, wondering if it was against the rules to sleep outside.

Serenity smirked, that did happen. Her father had been forced to carry her when she had performed the spell, but there was no way Serenity would carry Terena up to the castle. She would help the girl walk, but that was about it.

"Life isn't fair," she sighed. "I've come to realize this...but I can understand why people don't like me. I'm a lot like my dad."

Of course not many people knew just how wonderful Severus Snape could be. He was a great father and a very compassionate man. She wasn't going to try and prove it to people that wouldn't believe it to begin with, but it was true...her father loved her dearly...people would eventually just have to come to accept her for what she was...a Snape.

"You'll feel better in a bit...you only did it once..."

"Yeah, but I kind of just like sitting outside. The castle is full of drama, and honestly, just too large." She gave a laugh at that, and sat up. She really didn't have a choice, she had to go back to the castle. She leaned back again though, relaxing. It was just too nice out. She watched the sky. "It's too nice not to relax."

Serenity nodded, it was a lovely day outside. She supposed that was the main reason she was out in the open as well. Serenity usually did not venture out unless she was with Harry or Draco...or someone that could assure she would not be gained up on by the other students. However today had just been to irresistible to give up...and her father was turning out to be a real pain in her ass.

"Yeah," she said nodding in agreement. "It is really nice out."

Leaning against the tree she had chosen to perch herself next to. She closed her eyes briefly. She wished she knew where Harry was. They had only just started dating officially and already she missed him like the blazes.

"You wouldn't have happened to have seen where Potter got to?" she asked, somewhat coldly. "I need to talk with him."

"No, sorry." She shook her head. She knew who Potter was, mostly because a good amount of her housemates tended to talk about him a lot. She was feeling much less drained now, but still didn't feel like getting up.