A Helping Hand

[Kate Archer]

Kate was sitting on the window sill of the the window on the seventh floor. It was raining outside, the rain was pelting against the window and the wind was howling. Kate was sitting crossed legged. She had a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. she had brought it up from the kitchens, she needed it, the castle wasn't that warm with the current weather. The hot chocolate and marshmellows was warming her up considerably. She was enjoying just sitting by herself. She had met some old friends. She hadn't seen Alexia since first year and it had been nice to see her again. She had also saw Tara and Sammy again. It was nice to talk to her friends, catch up with what had happened over the holidays. As much as she loved friends though, she did like having her own time. Time where she could think over what has happened in her life, what is happening and what will happen. She usually preferred doing this while eating ice-cream but with the current weather outside, she had a feeling hot chocolate would be the best option for today.

She took a sip and started thinking. She was worried about her family. Things had started getting better and then Sara. Now the atmosphere in the house was nasty again. Her parents were arguing, blaming themselves for their children's problems. They were a pretty messed up bunch. Well not all at the moment, throughout the past seven years the once sold foundation they had had, was completely gone. Relations between them all were shaky at the best of times. Things weren't the same at all at home. She couldn't remember the last time they had a proper family dinner. She doubted things would ever be normal again between them all. Sure she and Sara would be leaving soon, leading their own lives. Star and Ryan weren't far behind. Kate wasn't really sure who was going to inherit the estate. She doubted anyone wanted to take over from their Dad. They hadn't had the conversation yet and Kate was dreading it. Things in the family were difficult as it was and that conversation would probably just be the breaking point between them all. That would not be fun and Kate was not looking forward to it at all.

Kate looked away from the window. She thought she had heard footsteps. She was right, a young girl was walking around and she didn't seem to know where she was going. Kate's heart went out to her, she was probably a young 'puff. "Hey, there"She said standing up and walking towards the girl. "Are you okay?"She asked a friendly smile on her face.

Out of Character:

After how many hours I finally finished

 

[Jasmine Smith]

Hogwarts was different to how Jaz has imagined it. She had dreamt for weeks of a fairytale castle somewhere where she would have freedom, be allowed to relax and finally enjoy herself without looking over her shoulder for her father. But it wasn't quite like that. There was still an order, a structure to the life that she had missed in her thought process. Not to misunderstand her, she loved the school, but it wasn't like she dreamed. The castle was brilliant though, with the moving staircases, the different levels and halls that moved with different sounds. The students, the older ones relaxed from the break, and the younger ones hyper at the excitement of a new school. Jaz had joined in with this excitement in her own way, a quiet but thrilled excitement. Her mother had written to her once, but not of anything exciting, just to check that Jaz had arrived safely and reply to her letter about being sorted into Hufflepuff. Her mother said they were all proud of her, but Jasmine doubted that greatly. Her father wouldn't ever use the word 'proud' when talking about Jasmine, and she knew that the only house that would have pleased her father would be Slytherin. Her mother may have been pleased that Jasmine was happy, but she would suffer at home without the young girl's help around the house. And her brothers, well they would find some reason to mock Jasmine for any house she was in, and so for her, it was better to try and forget about them. They weren't with her now, instead they had gone to Durmstrang to learn darker arts. Her sister was at Beauxbatons, and hopefully, when they all returned for summer, her siblings would have so much to say about their own schools, that she would be forgotten. She didn't mind being ignored, in fact, she welcomed the occasional freedom when she was forgotten. It was a single reason why she enjoyed being a child of many. She was not the 'special' one in the family, and rarely strayed out of the normality, so to not draw attention to herself.

The young brunette was wandering the corridors, almost absentmindedly. She was dressed simply, nearly ready to go to bed, but her thoughts were too foggy. It was nearing the curfew for first years, and so Jaz began to turn around, to look for where to go now. But she had wandered too far this time, and she found herself in a corridor she didn't recognise. Spinning around again quickly, she looked down both ends, trying to remember which end she had come from. She began to walk, a little quicker than before, but found herself again in a new place. Panic started to rise inside her and she gulped, looking around anxiously. Suddenly, from no where, came a voice. Turning to find its owner, she found herself looking at a pretty brunette sitting on a window sill. The girl looked vaguely familiar, and Jaz began to recognise her as a Hufflepuff she had seen around the common room. Pulling her jumper around her, she looked around again before wandering a little nearer. "Um, well, I think I'm a little lost." She murmured, her voice barely audible in the large hallway. It was cold up here, Jaz realised, grateful for her jumper and slippers. "I'm trying to get back to the Hufflepuff common room." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. Worry started to settle in again as she began to doubt her judgement that the girl before her was actually a Hufflepuff. What would happen if the girl wasn't, and Jaz may give away the house's secret. "Well, I'm looking for the main staircase." She corrected, trying to backtrack from giving away the location that she protected.

 

[Kate Archer]

Kate remembered when she had come to Hogwarts first. It had all been a huge change. She had only recently found out she was magical and she had gone all the ways over to New Zealand. The furthest she had gone on a plane before was Majorca and that had only been around two hours. Now she had crossed the world numerous times since coming to Hogwarts. Now so much had changed since then. There was still a lot of the old self in her but she had changed too. It was clear in her weight and the changes in her family. But not all those changes had been bad. Kate quite liked life now, there were still a few bumps she had to get over but she knew she could deal with them. Life was much better then it had been in years. Even with Sara's new lifestyle things were much better at home. Ryan was on the mend and he was starting to regain Star's trust. The two could talk for hours sometimes and it was lovely to see them getting back together in a way she and Sara never did. She was happy for them and now things were much better at the dinner table.

The girl was very shy, Kate's heart went out to her. Being shy could hold you back and Kate hoped this wouldn't always be the case with this girl. She had gotten lost so many times when she had come to Hogwarts first. So many staircases leading to so many different room, it was easy to get lost. Kate had a head like a sieve she was still getting lost up till third year. In fifth year she and Sammy managed to get lost in the Dungeons, luckily they had found their way to the kitchen because the dungeons were not a nice place to get lost. They are cold and dark and just uninviting. Not an ideal place to stay the night. Kate's thoughts were confirmed when the girl asked for directions to the Hufflepuff common room. She seemed to change her mind though and Kate smiled. "Don't worry, I'm a 'puff too"She said smiling reassuringly "Well we are currently on the seventh floor so if you just head down this corridor you will see the staircase on your left and just go down the next three flights of stairs"Kate said smiling. Kate looked at her almost empty cup of hot chocolate. She shivered slightly, the common room would probably be a lot cosier now. "I'll show you the way sure, I was going to be leaving in a few minutes anyways "Kate said, this was strictly true. she probably would have stayed there another while but now she was up and the window sill would probably be cold now and the hot chocolate was almost gone so it didn't seem so attractive anymore. "I'm Kate by the way, Kate Moon"She said smiling at the girl.