Closed A Sad Knight Made Sadder

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie missed Xinyi. She didn't know why she seemed to miss him this much, but just being at school without him around...she just wanted to be able to sit with him or chat with him, but she couldn't. She had to just not have him around. Of course it helped that she had Aurora around, who was able to just be around her, help her feel better and just be a good sister, but Rosie was still moping about a little. She had come to the library with Aurora and Branson and the two were working on something - Rosie had no idea what the semester hadn't even started really - but Rosie didn't want to do that. She didn't want to study, so instead she'd grabbed some books from her dad and was slowly putting them away. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine swept into the library on a mission. She had a lot of things to study for. What she'd start with, she didn't really know, but there was a lot of things to look into if she wanted to succeed this year. What she wasn't to succeed at, she didn't really know either, but she wanted to keep her options open. She felt so far behind, and the gulf between her and the rest of the magical world just seemed to keep widening. Mumbling to herself, she traipsed between the shelves, stopping when she saw a familiar face. Aine was trying very hard to get along with people better, at least. "Hi, Rosie," she greeted, quietly but enthusiastically. "Or should I say m'lady," she said, giving a mock bow - and then noticed Rosie seemed kind of down. "Um, are you okay?"

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie had barely noticed Aine until she was speaking. The gryffindor glanced at her, and small smile graced her features. Aine was fun. She had played that game with her, the one she was referencing. She gave a little curtsey in return, even if her heart wasn't fully in it. Aine was being nice so she should be too. "Oh yeah," her tone did not convery what she was saying, and Rosie knew it. She just shrugged a little. "But it's okay," she assured the girl. "How are you m'lord?" she leaned back into their joke but wasn't sure how much it was convincing her. Playing and messing around was usually fun and usually Rosie was very up for it...just today...now...she didn't really want to. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine may have been painfully bad at expressing herself appropriately and saying the right things. 'May have' in this instance of course meaning very definitely, but she wasn't so hopeless that she didn't know Rosie was obviously not in the mood for joking around. Although maybe it would help? It didn't seem like it would. Maybe she'd just try and be upbeat and hope it helped. "Are...you sure?" Aine asked, as gently as she could. "Um, it kind of seems like maybe something bad happened." She internally winced, but apparently her mouth decided to keep going anyway. "Um, it's okay though, uh..." she thought for a moment, before slapping her fist into her palm as a thought crossed her mind. "Well, we're third years now, that's pretty exciting. Maybe we could throw a party in an abandoned classroom or something to celebrate? Could invite people in other years?" Aine didn't know if Rosie had friends in other years but she may well have done. Plus, she wanted to push Valerius into making other friends. That had to be something fun to think about, right?

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie nodded slightly at the question, she really wasn't too fine but she wasn't particularly keen to keep saying she was fine. Especially given that she really was okay, she just missed a friend that that wasn't that important in the grand scheme of why someone could be feeling down. After all, it was just temporary. He was coming back. But before Rosie could assure her, or try to say anything, the girl just kept speaking. Having a party seemed like a fun idea, but she was just reminded of the fact that Xinyi had hung out with her and her sister at parties, seemed generally nervous at them. And would he go to some of them at his other school. She frowned slightly more. "That sounds like it could be fun," she was trying to agree with Aine, but her tone probably did not indicate that at all. It probably seemed like she didn't agree at all, but it wasn't really about the event, just her already lingering thoughts on it. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine felt like a bull in a china shop. Or, she supposed, an erumpent in an apothecary, if she were to use a more magical analogy for the metaphorical depiction of her attempts to be helpful. It wasn't as though she didn't realize she was doing a poor job of things - indeed, it was a fact of which she was very painfully aware - it was more that she just didn't know how to make it better. She winced at Rosie's tone and expression, feeling completely awful. She liked Rosie, she was a nice person and had been friendly to Aine, so she was desperate to try and help in some way, to try to be a good friend. But everything she said just seemed to make things worse. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry," she said, hurriedly. Maybe the idea had just offended her. "I didn't think...I mean, it's probably a bad idea, we don't have to celebrate or anything, we can always save that for OWLs..." she blathered, trying to run it back.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie felt a bit bad as Aine hurrued to apologise to her. She just shook her head, "No it's a good idea," she replied, even if her tone wasn't in it, Rosie didn't think it was terrible. "I've just been a bit down, but a party would be good," she said, thinking that perhaps if she just said a little and agreed that would make things a little better. they would have many opportunities to party and a third year party, Xinyi couldn't have even gone, because he was a fourth year. It made her think of her seventh year when she was doing her NEWTs and Xinyi would already had graduated. Who knew what they would be like then but she hoped they'd still actually be friends...she didn't want to not be friends with him. But that just led her to realising that Xinyi might make new and better friends at the other school and what if he decided to not come back. She knew that this could happen and she'd have to accept it because she needed to be a good friend and before Rosie even knew it, her bottom lip was shaking and she felt like if she said anything else she'd just burst into tears. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine bit her lip, wringing her hands a little and holding them over her mouth, willing herself to just shut up and think for a second. Clearly, there was something up with Rosie, like something had happened, and it wasn't really her business, she wasn't close enough a friend to know what it was and Rosie didn't have to tell her if she didn't want to. Aine just felt awful seeing Rosie so upset as she was a nice person and Aine considered her a friend at least, and she just wished she knew how to actually help. All she ever knew how to do was ruin things or make them infinitely worse. "Oh God. Um," she mumbled, pressing her hands against her chest nervously. "I can leave, I uh, didn't mean to make you feel bad...or worse I guess." Aine looked at her shoes, not wanting Rosie to feel like she was gawking. She wasn't often around people who cried and it was awkward whenever she was. "If you need to um, scream or vent or something, I can, um, help you find a space for it." She closed her eyes, begging her mouth to stop moving.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie shook her head a little, she was basically crying, and could see that it was maybe not a good thing for Aine. "No it's okay, you didn't make me feel worse," she said between wiping her eyes. And she didn't want to make Aine feel bad because the girl would've had no clue about what was wrong. "This isn't about you," she tried to assure her quickly. She nodded, "I'm just gonna sit down," and Rosie moved to sit down with her back against the books. "My friend's just gone to a different school, and I miss him," Rosie knew she cried easily and at anything. "I cry over everything," she said, between tears hoping that the explanation would make Aine feel a bit better about it. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine frantically looked in her pockets to see if she had a packet of tissues or something, but no luck. She shrunk down a little, worried about Rosie but not sure what was up. She was thankfully able to shut her mouth and instead just crouched down nearby, listenimg to her explanation and tilting her head. Aine didn't really have anything to draw off of, but she knew if Valerius left the school she'd probably be hurt and upset by it. It made her wonder about kids whose friends had to go off to magic schools. Nobody was too bothered by her leaving, she knew, but if she had a friend up and leave with no real explanation she knew it would hurt a lot. She drew in a breath, thinking for a moment. "Sh*t," she mumbled, under her breath. "That really, really sucks, I'm sorry." She wondered if it was permanent or if it was temporary. "Um, maybe you can catch up with him on the break?" Aine offered, not sure if that was helpful but wanting to try and offer something that could help.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie wondered if perhaps she should just ask Aine to go get her dad. She knew he was working, and wouldn't mind that, but she knew it wasn't the thing she was supposed to do. If her dad wasn't a librarian he wouldn't currently be here. So she had to learn to not lean on him at everything. She glanced up at her friend and noted that she had moved a little closer but hadn't like sat with her. She could figure out why, it seemed that Aine was not comfortable with this, and that was fine..."Yeah," she said, she shrugged a little. "I know its not the end of the world or anything, I just...I miss him,." she knew it wasn't the worst thing that could happen and he was coming back...so she would be fine..."Yeah, that would be good, I don't know if he's coming back to New Zealand, but I could go out of my way if he does," she was still crying, but it was settling a little. She didn't know what his plans for the break were, so this was a good idea. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine shuffled a bit on the spot, wondering if maybe she could find Aurora or something. She hadn't really gotten to talk to Aurora as much, especially since Aurora was a Quidditch player and the thought of being in mid air precariously balanced on a broom was one of the absolute worst things she could imagine. "Nah, I mean...yeah, sure it's not the end of the world, but he's your friend and of course you're gonna miss him and feel upset about him being gone," she reasoned. It wasn't something Aine had ever experienced, but she supposed she didn't have as many close relationships. Valerius always seemed unhappy with her and maybe wanted something she didn't, she wasn't sure. It was a bit strained. And her siblings were so much older - seeing Siobhan was more like catching up with an aunt you saw at Christmas and maybe the occaisional birthday, rather than her sister. Though there was a 16 year age gap there, as opposed to someone who was beside you constantly. "I, um, hope he comes back," she said, meaning it. He obviously meant a lot to Rosie, and him being back would cheer her up. "And if he doesn't I'll find out where he is and write him a very stern letter telling him off."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie gave a little smile at Aine, it was nice to be reassured that perhaps she wasn't being too ridiculous. She did still think she was being a little ridiculous but it was reasonable in parts for her to be ypset about it. She gave a little nod, "I'm sure he will..," she said with a little sigh. She wiped at her eyes the tears were slowly fading, she knew that he would be back, everything else was here for him, but perhaps he would find lots to love about the other school. "I wouldn't stand in his way of staying away," Rosie replied with a little sigh, "If that's what he needs and wants then I'd be a bad friend to stand in his way," she reasoned. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine relaxed just a little, leaning back against the shelf and accidentally knocking a couple of books over as she did. She wasn't sure what to do, just carefully picking up the books and placing them in her lap without really looking away, only eventually looking down to see what they were as though she was very interested in...advanced Gobstones tactics. Aine tried not to make a face, and focused her attention back on Rosie, who to her great relief seemed to be a liittle calmer. "He'd be missing out a lot if he did." Aine simply said, giving a very awkward smile. "You're very kind to him. Offer remains open for the angry letter, indefinitely. I can even work out how howlers work if he hurts your feelings." Probably not helpful. She looked back down at the books, silently wondering why anyone would play such a ridiculous game and trying not to step in it further.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie glanced at the books that fell and she held out her hand to take them, and would when she got up again put them back, or get her dad to do it. "I'll get my dad to put it away," But she was feeling a little calmer, it did feel like her emotions were a little all over the place. She wasn't sure how much he'd be missing out on. but she gave a little shake of her head. She didn't think she was more kind that anyone else. "Howlers are pretty horrible," she said with a little smile, she would never imagine that it would be good to send a howler, "I wonder how our voices would sound in a howler," she said with a little laugh. [/B]​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Sometimes Aine forgot that Rosie and Aurora's dad was the head librarian, and for a moment an ugly feeling of envy twisted her stomach. It wasn't specifically that she would have wanted family to work at the school - that would be more annoying than helpful, she thought - but that her own family was so disconnected from her. She'd been able to talk to them a little more than usual this break, but even before the magic thing she felt so far removed. Now she felt more alone than ever, like it was just her and her cat against two worlds where they didn't belong, no familial bonds to see her through. She took a deep breath, handing the books over with a small smile. She didn't need to make it worse. "If you're sure..." she started, not wanting Rosie to feel burdened. "Oh god, I hate hearing my own voice on a video recording, let alone a howler, that would be the worst!" She winced at the idea, finding that as something to focus on.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie just nodded, she didn't mind taking them. She knew she'd go to her dad anyway, and he'd be able to put them away in the right place without an issue. She frowned a little, she knew vaguely what a video was because of muggle school, but she'd never been recorded or heard her own voice on a recording. ”I've never heard my own voice on a recording,” Rosie admitted with a little shrug. ”I bet I sound weird,” she added, since she was sure all voices ended up sounding a bit weird. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it, but it could be interesting. "Do you wanna come study with my sister and brother?” she didn't think they should remain on the floor of the library, and maybe let Aine get back to what she was doing. ​