Closed A Heavy Burden

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha was regretting not taking Raafe with her to the library, or bringing some sort of cart or something. She had been a little too enthusiastic, borrowing as many books as she could. Now, she had to carry the whole stack with her to the common room. It was heavy and so tall she could barely see in front of her. She was almost there, but her arms were threatening to give out. To the side, she spotted a familiar face. "Leah!" She called as she spotted her roommate. "I'll give you three chocolate frogs if you help me carry my books to the dorm, please?" She called, trying her best to give her puppy-eyes from behind the book stack.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah stared out the window on the seventh floor out toward the forest. After her brief time out there she was a bit more cautious of it now. She wished she had a pair of binoculars or something that would make it easier to see. She wanted to learn more about it but from a safer vantage point. She had been frowning with her forehead nearly touching the glass when she heard someone call her name. Turning she saw Anisha and smiled and nearly laughed when she could barely see her roommates face behind the stack of books she was carrying. She snapped into action quickly and took a little more than half and got her grip settled. "Is three chocolate frogs the best you can do?" she teased. She would have gladly helped for free but she was curious to see how desperate Anisha really was. "Did you check out the whole library?" she laughed again after doing a quick count of the books being hauled between the two of them.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha grinned as Leah grabbed books, feeling immediately relieved. "Oof, they were heavy." She breathed. Then she turned her smile on her roommate gratefully. "You're a lifesaver, I'll throw in some Bertie Bott's beans and my eternal gratitude." She said, hoisting the books a little higher as she carried the stack. "Deal?" She laughed at Leah's comment, shaking her head. "No... but that might be a fun goal to strive for in my time here." She joked.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah could feel the strain of all the books after a few moments and wondered how Anisha had made it all the way from the library. "No kidding." she laughed and had to focus quite hard as they walked. She grinned as the other girl added some new things to bribe her with. "Hmm." Leah hummed like she was in serious contemplation. "I think that will cover it." she said finally. "Deal." She was glad Anisha laughed at her joke and she was impressed and a little intimidated by her comment. "I think my eyes would fall out before I got even part of the way through." she said grimly, before cracking a smile again. "And you really read all of these?" Leah asked dubiously. "Even the one's without pictures?" she asked jokingly.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha let out a laugh as Leah pretended to think about the offer before agreeing. She quite enjoyed having roommates, especially ones as awesome as the other Gryffindor girls. She loved Raafe, but being at Hogwarts made her realize how nice it was to have friends other than your cousin. Anisha grinned. "if your eyes fall out from reading, I'd advise a trip to the nurse." She said, trying to nudge her but unable to without dropping the books. She decided to focus on walking with them instead. Anisha shrugged. "I mean, I haven't yet, I'm taking them to the dorm because I just borrowed them." She explained. "But I intend to, yes." She had gotten a few more strange reactions to her love of reading, something that wasn't really associated with Gryffindors apparently. Anisha didn't mind, she was still glad she was with the lions instead of in Ravenclaw or something.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah smiled when Anisha laughed at her joke. Being at Hogwarts was so different then when she was at home. It felt like there were friends around or at least people who could be friends. She knew she had been lonely growing up but she still had to pinch herself sometimes. It was hard to believe all of it was real. "You think they have a potion for that?" she asked with a laugh, playing along. "Doubt I'd be the first victim." she said grimly. She knew she couldn't be the only one daunted by all the books in the library that were probably older than her grandparents. "Can you believe how much we have to read for lessons already? And we're only first years." Leah had kept up so far but she feared it would only get worse as they got older and started taking more advanced lessons. It was her turn to laugh now. "Well obviously." she said when Anisha said she hadn't read the books they were carrying. "We'd be going the wrong way otherwise." she added with a playful grin. "You'll just have to tell me which ones are worth having my eyes fall out."

 

[Anisha Khatri]

It was fun to joke around like this with someone, especially someone who wasn’t Raafe. As much as Anisha loved her cousin, she could usually predict what he’d say by now. She was sure it was the same for him. Talking to Leah was fun and surprising. Anisha grinned as she mentioned a potion. “Sure, it’s called… the eye-put-back-potion.” She decided, nodding firmly. Then she laughed again, shaking her head. She hesitated for a moment at Leah’s next words. “I mean, I don’t… actually mind.” She confessed. “But I suppose its a lot.” She added, deciding not to mentions he had done a bit of extra reading in almost all subjects. Anisha laughed again at Leah’s final joke. “Deal.” She said with a nod.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah snorted a laugh when Anisha made up a name for their hypothetical potion. "Quite a literal name." she said and was relieved when the common room door came into view. She smiled when the other girl agreed to tell her which books were actually good just as her grip faltered for a moment. "Woah!" she mumbled as the books almost went tumbling but she was able to catch herself in time. Leah let out a nervous giggle but now they were standing in front of the door and both of their hands were completely full. "Hmm, how are we supposed to open that?" she mused and quietly hoped someone would come out soon and hold the door open for them to slip inside.