Closed Calm

[Jacinta Ingo]

Jacinta sat next to the lake, tossing her wand up into the air. She looked at her school books and sighed. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with the whole magic thing. Her parents had opened up to her in a letter, and while it wasn't much, it was the first she'd heard from them since being at school. Don't worry about the whole magic thing, they had said. We preferred when you were normal. This hurt more than Jacinta would've liked to admit. She picked the letter up, gave it another read, before tearing it into pieces and throwing them in the air. She watched the gently fall to the ground, feeling surprisingly calm. Maybe she could make it work, doing magic and seeming normal to her parents.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper wasn't one to spend too much time outside, but seeing as the weather was relatively nice today, she decided to go down to the lake to see if she could find any cool rocks or stones to use in her art projects. She walked along the river, picking up a few rocks that might be interesting if she were decorating a chest, as well as geode. She placed them in her satchel as she noticed a girl nearby. She recognized her from classes but didn't know her name. Juniper watched as the girl tore up a letter and littered the paper everywhere. As she walked forward, she picked up another rock in her hand and tossed it in the air. "You know, littering the lake with paper will probably not go over well with the merfolk."

 

[Jacinta Ingo]

Jacinta looked at the girl who spoke to her."You're probably right. I guess we'll see, right?" She gave a little smirk. It was a fair call. She recognised the girl from some of her classes. Then she saw the rock in her hand. "Collecting rocks, are we?" She didn't want to admit it, but she used to do that when she younger. Her room always had stones and pebbles hidden in corners and on bookshelves."Do the merfolk care about them too?" She didn't really think about that remark, and after she'd said it, it sounded silly. Great, now you look like a litterer and an idiot. She turned red, but held out her hand to cover it."Jacinta. I've seen you in class."

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper was surprised by how the girl didn't seemed to care about the creatures living in the lake. Even though she was opinionated, there was a difference between defiance and just being rude. She looked at the rock in her hand as the girl made a snarky remark. Juniper squinted her eyes and placed the rock in her satchel. "These rocks don't effect the quality of their water so I'm sure they'll be okay if I take a few," she responded just as the girl introduced her. She had an interesting name, something Juniper hadn't heard before. Then again, so did half the people at this school. "Juniper. You're in Slytherin, right?" she said, reluctantly shaking the girl's hand as she quickly withdrew it and looked down at the ground, spotting a rock that had gold flecks shimmering near the water.

 

[Jacinta Ingo]

Juniper had a nice name. Jacinta wondered if she had a nice family too."Eh, Slytherin. Unfortunately, you are correct. You're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Jacinta thought about what that house would be like. A lot nicer than Slytherin, she would imagine. Though, she thought that any house would be better. Maybe except, her house back home. This brought her back to Earth. Did her parents even care? What was the point of sending her that letter? Now she regretted tearing it up.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper was surprised by Jacinta's response to her house. Most Slytherins she had met were rather enthusiastic about belonging to the snake home. "I am. You don't sound too fond of Slytherin," she suggested, walking closer to the girl and actually looking her in the eye as she spoke. She didn't completely blame her. Juniper wasn't sure she exactly fit in Ravenclaw, but she far from hated it. The other students seemed nice enough, and she actually enjoyed her roommates.

 

[Jacinta Ingo]

Jacinta shrugged."It wouldn't have been my first choice. Not that I knew much about the houses before coming to school." She had been quite happy with her roommates, or most of them at least, but the house was different."It's too dark and miserable for my liking." She gave a short laugh when she thought about the attempts in the dorm to make it lighter."We tried decorating the dorm to make it nicer, my roommates and I. It looked alright, but you can't do that to the entire house." She looked closely at Juniper, who had come a little closer to her."I suppose you're happy with Ravenclaw? Everyone else seems to be happy with their houses."