Carried Away

[Darcy Pratt]

As much as she hated to admit it, Darcy's first week at Hogwarts had been a little overwhelming for the fourteen year old. She didn't know what she had expected of her new school, but it wasn't this, and she didn't want to tell her older sister because she didn't want her to worry or think she had made a mistake transferring them here. Darcy was a sensible person and she knew this had to happen. She just wished it didn't make her feel so restless. She didn't feel like she belonged anywhere so she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

One day after class, Darcy decided to explore more of the castle in her free time since going straight to her common room or dorm room afterward already got boring to her. She was thinking of going to the lakefront but on her way there, she got distracted and took a different turn. Darcy entered the garden and immediately saw how easy it was to get lost here, but that attracted her to the place even more. The Slytherin smiled to herself and began to explore the vast garden, finally settling on a bench beside a rosebush. It felt like for the first time she could finally get used to being at Hogwarts if she had this place to escape to.

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara had the full intent on bettering her own abilities with practice over this school year. Both academically and artistically as she had been given the opportunity to take art classes and had loved them. She had always liked looking at art and pointing out things to her brother or having him do the same for her whenever they went to museums as young kids but this was much more fulfilling. With a few galleons she had saved up from her birthday, Zara had bought herself an easel, varying sized canvases and paints which were all up in her dorm room. For now she was too nervous to paint where others could see her so she brought a small sketch book and a quill to capture whatever she would see. Assuming that the flowers in the garden would be blooming quite nicely now she went there first. The Ravenclaw hoped all would be as it should so she wouldn’t have to wait for winters almost oppressive turn to be through so she could make the most of her new found skills.

Between bunches of leaves, lavender and roses Zara saw a girl sitting down and her cheeks felt hot for no good reason. Or not any reason that she could pick out except for the fact that she had caught this girl looking like the perfect model for a Renoir. She could go up in galleries looking this way and Zara felt obligated to capture this. She knew she should ask for permission from the red head but fear that she would suddenly feel self conscious had stopped the dark haired girl from doing so. Taking a seat on a large boulder behind her, Zara began to vaguely grasp the scene before her before it was all gone. Life was fleeting but this moment she wished to capture forever as someone who loved art and wished to practice more and more. Whereas some might think the roses which, from Zara’s angle, looked to be just against the girl’s hair might wash the stranger out it did just the opposite. It made her more haunting in some ways. Perhaps after this was done Zara would ask the girl for her name so she could accurately entitle the painting or perhaps she would just leave it be. As she had heard of Vermeer sometimes people were better as paintings than they were as people.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Once Darcy had taken her time admiring her surroundings and getting settled on the bench, the Slytherin reached into her bookbag and pulled out a book she had been reading. Judging by how tattered and dogeared the cover was, it was clear she had re-read this book many times and today was no exception. When things were feeling off for Darcy - and right now her whole world felt upside down - she always read this book to keep her grounded, it was her constant. At times she didn't even pick up where she left off, she would just open the book to where she felt like it and start reading from there. But because everything in her life felt too different right now, no parents, no France, no Beauxbatons, Darcy had started reading the book from the beginning and had carefully marked her place to pick up exactly where she left off. She needed to be immersed in this world for as long as she could until she felt normal and whole again.

The fourteen year old heard a rustling nearby and glanced over her shoulder to see what it was, and saw that it was another girl exploring the garden as well. Darcy smiled politely in acknowledgement but the girl ducked her head so fast she wasn't sure if she saw. Darcy could tell the girl had blushed given how pale her skin was in contrast to her dark hair, a killer combo Darcy wished she could pull off. She didn't dwell on the subject much longer because she wasn't sure the girl had even noticed her so she turned back around and continued reading her book. As Darcy turned the pages of her book and got lost in her favorite fantasy world again, the Slytherin began to get more comfortable. She pulled her legs up to sit criss-cross style on the bench with the book in between. Every once in a while she couldn't help but break out in a smile as she read her favorite passages, and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear whenever the breeze would pick up occasionally. However after a while Darcy began to feel like she was being watched. At first she looked up around her and couldn't find the source of her gut feeling, so she would go back to reading. But when she felt it again, Darcy glanced over her shoulder and saw that the girl she'd seen earlier was carefully hunched over a notebook working on something. She was going to dismiss it as another student simply choosing to do their homework out on such a nice day, but at the same moment that Darcy was watching the dark haired girl, the girl looked back up in Darcy's direction and they seemed to lock eyes, confirming Darcy's suspicion that she was being watched.
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[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara chewed on her bottom lip while she focused on each scratch of her quill, careful not to let the ink bleed whilst she worked away. She periodically looked up to the focus of her artistic pursuits, glad that she didn’t seem to have been caught just yet because that would be a very uncomfortable conversation. Zara wouldn’t even know what to say as an excuse to what could be thought to be so intruisive. It made her feel bad but she really couldn’t help it. The girl didn’t wish to paint this or draw this from memory when she could as easily capture the small smile on the red head’s full, pink lips or the way the breeze dared to push strands of hair into the stranger’s face. It was some sight, really. The dark haired girl couldn’t help but look back up as well and to her distress she met the eyes of her subject. Oh Merlin, she thought as her cheeks burned hot again and she looked down at her drawing. The girl raised her writing hand with her quill still in it and put her hand on her face as if that would make it less obvious that she had just been caught starring. The pretty Renoir girl made her feel a little sick to her stomach now and wished that she had just decided to work on a nature piece rather than do this. At least that way there was no way she could’ve been called out or have things inferred from it. She wouldn’t know what to say if someone had accused her of liking girls the way boys did because it was so preposterous but this stranger could think she was being strange for just being enthralled by art work. Rather anxiously the Ravenclaw flicked her eyes up without moving her head just to see if she was still being watched in return because if she wasn’t she would continue working away. However Zara’s dark eyes peered into the lighter ones of the other girl again. She was, indeed, caught in the midst of her attempt to be sneaky. She knew this made her look more suspicious and so she shifted in her seat and uncomfortably smiled at the girl, hoping that her smile would be enough for now just to save face. At this point she would try nearly everything just to have the ability to return to where they were. Strangers. Still without a time turner she couldn't see it happening try as she might.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy could tell she had caught the girl off guard judging by how startled she had been to discover Darcy looking back at her. But just like the dark haired girl decided to smile, the Slytherin gave a small, polite smile in return. After the small gesture of acknowledgement was exchanged, Darcy was going to return to her book, thinking perhaps the greeting would've justified for the reason the other girl had looked up a few times. But then the fourteen year old noticed that the notebook the girl had in her lap did not seem to be for school. Besides, the school year had just started so she doubted there was much to study just yet. Darcy couldn't make out exactly what she was working on, but she knew there were no words, and after a quick second she put two and two together. The garden was not just a serene, quiet place uninhabited by hyperactive Hogwarts students, it was a beautiful place full of magnificent flowers and unbelievable plants that seemed to have a life of their own, like magic, which they were. So the girl must've been sketching something in the garden which is why it seemed like Darcy had been watched. Darcy looked back over her shoulder and decided to say something. "Um," she cleared her throat as she spoke up to be heard. "I'm sorry, but am I blocking your view?" she asked. "I can move somewhere else if you'd like," she offered with a polite smile at the girl.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

The Renoir girl had broken Zara’s allusion and instantly she felt humiliated. She’d been caught and there was nothing she could do now but hope for the best. Perhaps hope that she wasn’t a particularly mean person who would force her to give up her work before she could paint it properly or at the very least before she could put it to memory. “Uh,” Zara struggled for words as her cheeks warmed again, darker this time. She didn’t want the girl to move, no, although she had no doubted that she would still resemble the girls in other paintings too if and when she did. There was something about her face and her hair that made Zara think this. “No… you’re fine,” she said hesitantly because she didn’t know what to say. “I uh… Yeah you’re ok,” she said, hardly looking up from her sketch book as she spoke because she knew that if she looked into the girl’s eyes now she might just run away from the sheer embarrassment of it all. Although she could hardly form words fast enough right now there was a reason she was in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor because she would never be brave. The twin wouldn’t even know how to be if she had to so she hoped that maybe it would be left at that because how could she explain to this stranger that she wanted to paint her likeness later? If someone asked her that she would likely give them a very firm no.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy looked curiously at the dark-haired girl but tried not to let her confusion show on her face too much in case it made the other girl more self-conscious. She couldn't figure out what she had done to make the girl feel so afraid, or at least that's what Darcy had decided the emotion on her face was, but perhaps it was just shyness or nerves. Then Darcy began to worry that perhaps her tone had come out a lot meaner than she had intended. It had taken her a few years to realize sometimes she came across rather blunt or harsh, and she often had the effect of leaving people speechless, unable to retort out of hurt or indignation.

Not wanting to start off on the wrong foot at her new school, Darcy had to remind herself to watch her mouth during new encounters. Although she hadn't particularly said anything rude to the other girl, but perhaps she wasn't used to people like her just striking up conversations without introductions first. Darcy carefully dog-eared the page she was on and gently closed her book. Then she turned her body slightly just to face the other girl better and said, "I'm Darcy, what's your name?" She didn't leave her bench just yet because the girl seemed rather skittish from their earlier interaction, so Darcy didn't want to scare her off by coming over. Perhaps keeping her distance but remaining friendly would ease the girl and she could find someone to hang out with at this school. As nice as it was to read whenever she liked, it did get rather lonely after a while.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

As their names were exchanged, Zara smiled. Darcy. What a lovely name she had and the Ravenclaw repeated it to remember and noticed how comfortable it was. Like they were meant to be friends whether it was because or in-spite of their meeting. "Zara," she said and hesitated briefly. "Uh Darcy... this might be weird for you but there is this muggle painter. He was amazing and painted all of these very classic looking people, normally in gardens and I uh..." she laughed uncomfortably and shook her head because this was the most tragic she'd ever felt in her entire life. Nothing could really top this to the second year. "So would you maybe mind just staying still for just a minute more? I don't want to recreate this from memory." She hoped that the girl would be bright enough to connect the dots here and would, even more so, not feel violated because there was nothing worse to the second year than that. As much as she wanted to create she didn't want people to feel as if she'd hurt them or infringed on their lives when, in her belief, it was the highest of compliments. Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't but to Zara she couldn't see how it might be a bad thing, even if her skill was still being formed.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy smiled as the girl replied back and introduced herself, thinking it was a lovely name. Some people had names that suited them perfectly and looking at the dark-haired girl, the name seemed to suit her so well it was a miracle Darcy hadn't just guessed it correctly herself by chance. The Slytherin was just about to ask if the girl wanted to come over and sit beside her since the bench was big enough and she could have a better view of the scenery behind Darcy, which she assumed she was sketching. But when the girl spoke again, Darcy was taken aback, apparently she was the scenery.

"Oh, um," she faltered, a little flustered at the comparison. Then she realized the girl had been so nervous to ask her, she didn't want to make her feel even more uncomfortable by thinking Darcy was upset with the idea. She wasn't really, it was just surprising was all. "Sure," she replied, giving the girl a friendly smile, hoping she didn't suddenly look nervous herself. Darcy looked back down to her book in her hands and opened it up to her bookmarked page, but didn't even bother to read any of the words. She laughed nervously and said, "Do I just...sit just like this?" she said without lifting her head and trying to remain rigidly still as if that was natural. Her cheeks had gone pink and she couldn't stop smiling in embarrassment which she wasn't sure was ruining Zara's artistic vision or not, and she couldn't take it anymore and looked up again. "Sorry I didn't mean to move," she said quickly but laughed anyway, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked back down at her book, dog-earring the page again but not closing it, just running her hands across the page since she figured that motion wouldn't jeopardize Zara's drawing. "What did you mean when you said you didn't want to recreate this from memory?" the Slytherin called out, still staring down at her book obediently but now relaxing into her position a little more comfortably instead of being unnaturally still. ​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara instantly regretted asking Darcy to revert back to her position as she was so entirely embarrassed, she should have just left it at that but of course she had to be such a perfectionist even if her skill was no where near Renoir who she wanted to emulate with this scene that had just come to her. “Yeah I -“ she faltered, laughing nervously with Darcy because it was such a strange position she’d put them both in. All is fair in love and art, right? If a little bit of embarrassment is what she had to suffer through for this piece she was a bit better than most of her favourite artists who had truly been through hell and back. “It’s okay, just relax,” she said, in attempt to sooth the older girl with the softest voice she could manage. It made her feel a bit like the yoga instructor that her grandma sometimes visited with because of they way she talked but she hoped it helped in someway. At the very least she would be able to get this done and perhaps run away or even die in some dark cave if she were lucky.

“Oh, I’m just drawing this now as a draft so later I can paint it,” she said, blushing. If only she’d lied or kept her mouth shut she wouldn’t feel so damn hopeless now as she rambled on, almost incessantly. “It won’t be one of the portraits all around here. I don’t know how to do the spells so I can always change it so it’s not really you if you want?” Zara knew that if brevity was the soul of wit, she had none just like her dear friend Polonius. At least she’d have a nice painting to show for it after if she didn’t get frustrated with herself and give up. These were certainly the problems she faced as she was improving her skills and finding her own style. The shiksa continued on, periodically looking back up from her work to the living embodiment of a Renoir painting and to attempt to make her feel a bit more calm she asked the girl, “What book are you reading?” She knew this couldn’t be easy to feel like a spectacle or nothing more than a subject but like with books, Zara felt subjects in paintings often must have their own stories. This was possibly due to her extremely close ties to the wizarding world over her whole life as opposed to some people she knew who were certainly more foreign to what she’d always known.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy took a deep breath when Zara asked her to relax but she felt her shoulders sag a little in response. Really she shouldn't be so nervous, this was rather flattering. And when the girl said she was going to paint it later, Darcy's interest was piqued. "You like to paint?" she asked with interest. She kept her head down as she asked, "Is it portraits of people you usually like to do?" She was only guessing because of her currently being posed for Zara's sketch. Darcy was envious of the girl's discipline with her craft, she too painted but she was not comfortable enough with her skills to admit that to others, and definitely not enough to go out and sketch others for it. But perhaps if Zara had been bold enough to ask her to sit still for this potential painting, she could be bold enough to show her some of her own work soon.

Darcy contemplated saying something about it before Zara asked her what book she was reading. The Slytherin's cheeks went pink again as she shrugged her shoulders self-consciously and said, "Wuthering Heights." She glanced up at the dark haired girl quickly but then looked back down at the words on the pages in her lap. "I know that sounds really cliche," she laughed a little at herself, "and there are probably millions of books that are so much better than this one, but it's a classic you know?" Darcy looked up at Zara again, this time holding the gaze for a little longer, smiling. She felt that somehow Zara would understand what she meant and not judge her for her bland taste in literature. Darcy then returned her gaze to her lap and asked, "Which Muggle painter were you referring to, earlier?" She was curious as to what type of painting she seemed to resemble.​