Closed Balancing Act

[Sybil St. James]

Sybil was glad to be back at school. She had missed her house and her things and her father. But after being at school for a whole year it was like her life was so much bigger than it was before and she was eager to get back to it. Of course she wrote her father all the time but she had friends now and she wanted to spend time with them too. Today she was out on the lawn with the Bea and Maggie, and of course she had brought a couple of her books with her. Classes were barely getting started but she wanted to get ahead where she could but she didn't want to spend all day with her nose in her book. "Are either of you homesick yet?" she asked as she placed a bookmark to keep her place. "I thought I would be since I was last year. I guess it's only been a few days but I think I'm not as worried as I was last year." she rambled.

 

[Magdalene Grey]

Maggie was enjoying the sun as she laid on her back, looking at the book above her head. She had managed to levitate it as she read but was wary, as there had been a few times where the spell wore off and she got a bloody noise from a book/face collison. She had found a new word she didn't know when Sybil starting talking, causing her to lose her focus and the book to falter. Thankfully, she blocked her face as it fell on her arms, and Maggie rolled onto her stomach, thinking about how to answer Sybil's question.

Magdalene definitely missed home. She missed the parties and the elite activities her other wealthy friends participated in. But here, it felt like she was catching up. She was still trying to find her status within the school, and the Ravenclaw was struggling to feel confident all the time. "I'm homesick for some of my favorite foods. And my horses." she laughed, pushing herself up as she looked over at Bea, wondering if her sister felt the same. "But I don't know. Magic school is pretty cool. I think it's easier this year. We aren't as scared, you know? We have our houses and know our professors. Well, most of them, which is nice. Do you miss anything about home?" she questioned Sybil, hoping the girl wasn't totally comfortable.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Beatrice listened as Maggie started talking to Sybil. The Ravenclaw was sitting against a tree, looking out at the lake and wishing it was frozen. Sybil's question hit hard. She missed figure skating more than anything, but her aunt was concerned about her not receiving the proper education to control her magic, which meant figure skating professionally, at least for now, was out of the question. She had conditioned during the break, but she knew that unless she could continue to practice, she would lose a lot before the next break came around. Bea nodded along to Maggie, wondering if Sybil was willing to admit that going to school away from everything you knew wasn't as easy as some people made it seem.

 

[Sybil St. James]

Sybil nodded to show she was listening as Maggie spoke and chewed her lip when the question was turned back on her. She thought about it and tried to figure out what exactly she missed about home. Was it just her house that held all of her things? Or the view of the garden outside her window? She shrugged. "I miss a lot of things." she said vaguely. "But I do miss my dad a lot." she admitted, and if she was being honest, she missed him when she was home too since he was always so busy with work. But she pushed that thought away and considered part of Maggie's answer. "What kinds of food?" she asked. "Do you think you could ask one of the house elves to make it for you?" She wondered what she could miss that they wouldn't have here. "Oh, Bea! I meant to ask if you wanted to borrow this book I got over break. It's full of stories about Merlin and King Arthur." she said and turned to dig through her bag since she was pretty sure she had slipped it inside. "And Maggie you can read it too if you want." she added as an after thought.

 

[Beatrice Grey]

Bea agreed with Sybil as she talked about missing her dad. Beatrice missed her parents, as well, her mom more so than her dad, but their presence was lacking nevertheless. She was stuck pondering when Sybil addressed her directly, mentioning a book. "Is it like accurate?" she asked, still trying to understand how so much of what she grew up thinking were myths and legends had actual historical evidence to them in the wizarding world. "I'd love to borrow it. I love learning about history. I think History of Magic is my favorite class right now," she continued.

 

[Magdalene Grey]

Maggie was about to answer Sybil's question when Bea interrupted. It gave Maggie a few more minutes to think about how to answer the Slytherin's question. She missed having exactly what she wanted when she wanted it and also missed some of the family recipes, like her grandmother's lemon squares. They just had something special about them. "I miss like snacks. Junk food, I guess, which I didn't get that often, but now I get it never. There are things called Lunch-a-bles, and there's a pizza one. The sauce is so sweet and it's not real pizza but boy is it good," she laughed. "You don't have any foods you miss?"