Their first Astronomy class had gone quite well. Though, the class hadn't gotten much done as it was the first lesson of the term. The professor had simply explained the work she'd set out, the class would work in pairs for this and were given the whole term for this project. They were to observe the skies moon patterns, and write up their findings which they'd then be graded on. Obviously, they were told to come to the tower on certain nights for class however they were also given permission to visit the astronomy tower to carry out extra work on a nighttime.
Alicent wasn't too worried about whether this project would be a challenge or not. The girl had an interest in astronomy, and had no objections to spending her nights looking up at the sky. However, there was one slight drawback. The class were working in pairs, and Alicent had been paired with Regulus. In the general sense, Alicent preferred to work alone and despised any group work. It seemed that Regulus too, felt this way. Though, Alicent was not discontent with her partner, only she sometimes struggled to work with others.

So, that first class was spent organising their project, when they would meet, who would do what etc. It was safe to say that the pair had gotten absolutely nowhere by the time the bell rang. As said previously, they preferred to work alone. Therefore, the two would have to work much harder on their relationship. Once the class had ended and the students had been released into the halls, Alicent admittedly felt quite nervous. She took pride in her work, and had always been very ambitious to achieve perfection with her assignments. Yet, she was not used to sharing the workload and felt a level of uncertainty. The two had not even discussed where or when they would start the project. Alicent sighed, and decided to head outside to clear her head before dinner.

|| 🕊️ ||

Autumn was approaching, and the girl could feel it as she sat there, perched upon a rock. She was sat in a small clearing, close to the forest. She'd discovered this in her second year when working on her Care of Magical Creatures project, and had been coming here ever since. It was very picturesque, even with the gloomy weather surrounding it. A few animals lived there, both magical and muggle, and there was a small pond in which few plants grew. Most noticeably, there was a family of snidgets. For those who do not know, snidgets are small, golden birds with a noticeably round chest and small rotating wings. The bird very much resembles that of the snitch, and was once used in quidditch before the enchanted ball was invented. Due to their replacement, they weren't as well known as they used to be - but at least they were safe.
Alicent had known the family of snidgets for a very long time, ever since they'd kindly allowed her to share their home as a spot of tranquility. The girl had also found out that the adorable little creatures seemed to adore pumpkin pasties, so she had made an effort to bring a treat for them at least once a week. Today was one of those lucky days, and the girl smiled as the birds nibbled on the pasty. She'd felt at comfort with animals, especially compared to humans. Sometimes she felt as if it were her duty to protect them, to look after them. She'd never felt this way about any person , she did not feel as if she had a duty to protect people, even her own sister. She knew that it was selfish to think like this, and her sister would definitely hate her for it. But that's simply how she is.

The girl still had an hour before dinner, so she decided to use this time to think. She pondered how to go about this astronomy project, should she take the lead? Or should she wait for Regulus to say something? She didn't want to wait, so decided that it would be most efficient if she approached him at dinner with a plan. Once she'd done that, she could work from there.