Certain Responsibilities to Escape [open]

[chloiewhite]

Chloie stepped into the garden and breathed in deeply. It smelled absolutely beautiful there. Her backpack slid down her shoulder, and she dropped it beneath a tree as she walked toward the fountain in front of her.

I cannot believe I just decided to leave History of Magic...but I would have failed that quiz anyway. The T.A. doesn't seem to know how to teach a class, really, or how to capture anyone's interest. But I hope this will not affect my grade. I would hate to be held back for something so small.

The second year stopped at the fountain and sat on its edge, dipping her fingers in the water. She drew pictures through it and watched as the ripples traveled across, growing larger. Lost in thought, she closed her eyes and felt the breeze against her face.

I wish days were always like this...

[aquat1cf1sh]

Avery strolled through the Enchanted Garden; it was rather nice in here, even if he wasn't a big flower person. Well, he liked plants from the magical world, they had always interested him. Then again, everything from the magical world seemed to interest him. Being a Muggleborn, he wasn't used to all of this spectacular stuff.

Looking at a plant about five times as tall as him, he thought about how Miss Kohn was keeping up with this large garden. He could imagine her yelling at all the plants, telling them not to do anything unless she told them to. Avery could almost smile at that thought. Perhaps the actual Herbology Professor handled the Enchanted Garden. Or maybe they both did. Avery didn't really care, because whoever did handle the garden had done an awfully nice job with it.

He peeked around a corner towards the water fountain; all throughout his walk through the garden he had heard the water falling. Blinking, he looked twice at the fountain when he saw a girl sitting there. Avery walked closer. Judging from the banner on her robes, she was a Ravenclaw. "Er, hey!" he said to her, forcing himself to be sociable. "Mind if I sit here?"

[chloiewhite]

aquat1cf1sh said:

"Er, hey! Mind if I sit here?"

Chloie was jolted out of her thoughts by the voice, but not disturbed. She opened her eyes to see a Hufflepuff boy about her age. He seemed to approach her a little nervously, as though he didn't talk to a lot of people, and she could relate. The Ravvie wasn't very social at all; she had maybe three real friends at Trio's.

Realizing that she had just been sitting there not answering him, she blushed a little.

"No, of course not." She smiled and skimmed over the garden. "Isn't it beautiful out here? I wish we didn't have any classes today."

[aquat1cf1sh]

Avery sat down next to the Ravenclaw girl and listened to the pouring of the fountain. He was grateful for her kindness. Although, really, most students at Hogwarts were very kind. Although some weren't; Avery recalled a memory of a Gryffindor girl being snobby to his History of Magic teacher. Avery wouldn't have thought so low of her, except for she performed a jinx on him during Defense Against the Dark Arts class. And she had never apologized for it.

"Yeah, it is really nice out here," he said in response to the Ravenclaw girl's statement. "Nice and peaceful... Say, what's your name? I don't think I've seen you around any of my classes, what year are you in? I'm Avery, by the way."

[chloiewhite]

"Chloie." She made a slight nod. "I'm a third year. What about you? You look a little familiar to me, even if you are a different year...Are you taking Care of Magical Creatures? Or Muggle Studies?"

She dipped her fingers into the fountain again and dragged them back and forth through the water. It felt soft and cool, flowing against her hand.

Chloie thought about all of the students in her classes that she noticed but never talked to. There were a lot of them. If she didn't talk to people before they talked to her, she didn't have to come out of her shell, and she wouldn't make more friends than she could keep up with. The third year could barely keep up with Sammi as it was; she hadn't seen her best friend for a while.

She laughed a little, softly.

"I generally notice the other students in class, but I don't really talk to them."

[aquat1cf1sh]

"I'm a second year," Avery said. He thought about how his first year here had flown by. Because, almost literally, it did. He didn't feel like he had learned much between his first and second years, he still had that feeling of being a Muggle who wasn't good at using magic yet. "Yeah, I take Care of Magical Creatures," he said in response to Chloie's question. "And Divination, too. I think Care of Magical Creatures was where I've seen you before the most."

Avery sighed and thought about all the homework he had to do for class. He wasn't particularly fond of homework; especially when he would rather explore the castle and get used to its many places. "Yeah, I'm the same way, I don't usually go up to talk to people. Although," he added thoughtfully. "Sometimes I do. But I remember you in Care of Magical Creatures, you weren't talking at all, heh." He looked from the fountain to a medium sized plant sitting right next to the fountain. "Man, how do they keep up with this place? The Headmistress must go batty trying to keep this huge castle under control... But then again I haven't actually seen her in person since my sorting... Have you ever seen her besies then?"

[chloiewhite]

Looking around at all of the amazing plants in the garden, Chloie shrugged.

"I think the Herbology teachers take care of these plants, but I don't know how. It is pretty amazing..."

She stood up and walked over to one of the big, green plants. Rubbing a leaf between her fingers, she thought about her mother's garden back home. It was pretty amazing, too.

"My mother has a garden like this, except a little smaller. She works in it all the time."

The leaf felt smooth and rubbery against her skin. The third year thought it was strange that something so natural could feel so plastic.

"I think I have seen the headmistress a few times in the Great Hall, maybe once in the hallway." She shrugged and nodded. "I'm sure she stays really busy with everything. There are a lot of students here."

She was happy to be making a new friend...a little surprised at herself for talking so much, but Avery seemed like an interesting person to her.

"Avery...that's a nice name. Um...are you the only one in your family here at Trio's?"

[aquat1cf1sh]

Avery smiled at the thought of his mother. She, too, had always been a flower-lover. Avery remembered the large garden she had out front, it always made him sneeze. But he didn't mind, it was what his mother liked to do. Although he would never tell anyone, he missed her a lot. Both of his parents he missed. He had grown up with them as, well, his best friends in a way, and now he was here in this new world that he was unfamiliar with. "A little smaller than this," Avery said, repeating Chloie. "How much smaller?" Avery couldn't imagine anything close to this size outside Hogwarts.

"Yeah, she must be really busy," he said, in reply about the headmistress. "Especially since she's a mother now and all." Avery looked around the garden, and thought about how much it reminded him about a jungle. Hogwarts seemed to have a sample of every terrain around the world. His face went red slightly when Chloie talked about his name. "No, but I'm glad!" he said, thinking about his younger cousin Xalvadora and how she was such a troublemaker. "I have a younger cousin though who's been showing signs of magic, though, according to the letters I've been getting from home. I come from a Muggleborn family, it's all been a unique experience for us... What about you, has it been the same from your family? You mentioned you take Muggle Studies, I'm guessing you come from a Wizarding family?"

[chloiewhite]

Chloie listened to the disbelieving tone in Avery's voice as he said "a little smaller." Her eyebrows knitting together slightly, she thought about it, looking around again.

"Well...actually, I guess my mother's garden is just a little over half this size...and a lot of it is made up of muggle plants. She has to keep the magical plants in a covered greenhouse, so our neighbors won't see. There is a lot of time for things like that at my house, while we are waiting for the candy to be ready." Realizing the boy would have no idea what she was talking about, the third year explained herself in a sentence. "My parents own a candy shop."

She pictured her mother walking from the kitchen to the greenhouse and back, constantly trying to stay busy. The only time the woman stepped away was to go to the candy shop or take care of the family. Chloie imagined the headmistress to be the same way as her mother, always staying busy.

She watched with interest as various emotions flitted across Avery's face as he thought and spoke, and she nodded in response to his questions, smiling.

"Yes, I came from a wizarding family, but I grew up in a muggle neighborhood. My father went to Hogwarts...before the war, of course...as did a lot of his family before him. But I'm the only one to go to Trio's, so far; my sister and brothers decided to go to other schools."

The Ravvie smiled a little to herself, picturing her family. She missed all of them, especially her brothers, but even if she were home, she wouldn't ever see those two.

Coming out of her thoughts, she focused back on Avery, trying to think of something else to say.

"How old is your cousin?"

Not quite the question I was searching for, but I guess it's still conversation.