Changes

[Benson Thacker]

September had rolled in again, bringing with it a bunch of innocent first years, newly appointed prefects and in Benson's case a fresh batch of hormones. Over the long Winter, Benson had grown quite a bit, his chest had finally filled out making his broad shoulders look less broad which ultimately effected his once gangly appearance. But apart from his actual body shape, nothing had really changed with the sixteen year old Gryffindor. His flaming red hair still sat stubbornly messy on his head, a natural fringe falling over the pale skin of his forehead. Freckles still speckled lightly over his nose and his Irish accent was as strong as always. So really there were not much changes with Benson Thacker except maybe, he was carrying a whole pile of books. As much as he hated to admit, it was his OWL year and being friends with Clara for the past four years of his life meant he sat through many of her rants on the OWL exams and it seemed to finally take effect on the boy. It was rare to see Benson looking so studious especially coming out of a long Herbology class.

Benson entered the courtyard that was bustling with students flowing in and out of the castle, how he missed all of this over this Winter. A teenage boy like himself could only spend so much hours with parents and unfortunately for Benson, he had spent weeks of it. He didn't even get to see Clara that much as he went back to Ireland for a few weeks. Come to think of it, he barely even seen his best friend since arriving back at school. Partially because he was either sleeping or unpacking (mostly sleeping) and had never really gotten the chance to go look for her. He had spotted her in class though and slipped her a note telling her to meet him in the courtyard afterwards. He suspected she wouldn't be so happy with distracting her like that in their OWL year but he hoped she'd forgive him once they saw each other again. And so plopping himself down on one of the stone benches, Ben waited for Clara, his eyes scanning as much faces as possible in search of his best friend.​

 

[Clarice Herrington]

Clara’s loose ringlets bounced around her face as she made her way down the marble staircases with the small bounce in her step allowing the curls to be more active today than they usually would. Clara couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off of her face that she had every time she knew that she was going to spend time with her best friend, Ben. The two hadn’t caught up in so long, almost just before the holidays began before they went their separate ways for the holiday period. It was always so quiet and boring during the holidays when Clara couldn’t see Ben everyday but these holidays had been an exception. She couldn’t wait to tell her best friend about her holidays, they had been great and of course she couldn’t wait to hear about his in turn but this was big for Clara. She had never had a boyfriend before. Of course she felt bad at times like this when she got excited to see Ben because it made her feel like a bad girlfriend, when the crush she had on Ben was almost completely gone – or so she thought.

Clara didn’t like to be late for anything she didn’t have time to plan meeting Ben today as they had only planned it in one of the classes after he passed her a note saying that they should meet up. She had intended on spending her free time tonight studying, almost like every other night but she figured she could squeeze in sometime for Ben – although it didn’t take her much persuasion. She was running a little late though because she had to run up to the Prefect’s Common Room and find out if she was doing any duties this week and when she was doing them. Clara still couldn’t believe she was a Prefect but she loved it and her pin remained proudly on her chest for all to see. Dropping off her books in the Prefect’s Common Room because she had to go there later on anyway she made her way down to the Courtyard, where it had been decided she would meet Ben. With her curls still bouncing slightly she arrived at the doors of the castle and scanned the courtyard for the unmissable red hair of her best friend; it wasn’t long until she found it. Bounding over to him she was about to greet him the way she would any other time until she saw what he had with him. “You have books? Five years of nagging finally work?” she asked joking with a small laugh lacing her words.

 

[Benson Thacker]

Benson's eyes trailed down to his fingernails that were speckled with bits of dirt from his Herbology lesson, it usually took forever to get that damn compost out, partially because Benson never really bothered to get it out. After five years of this, he didn't get fussed about it and so he just resumed his search for Clara. But his search was cut short as right in front of him, was his best friend hurrying towards him. While her loose curls got caught in the Spring air it didn't stain her beauty, in fact, it might have added to it. Her smile as she hurried towards him was something that he had craved to see over the Summer and while all these thoughts were kept locked away alongside his Herbology book in his closet during the past few months. Seeing her again, properly, unleashed them all in a fury. So much so that, he actually had to turn his gaze away from her. Benson had yet to admit to himself why he was thinking like this and the truth was, he probably never would, so, in times like these he just completely and utterly obliterated those thoughts from his mind. Pushing them so far away that when he looked at Clara again, they were gone.

It was a bizarre method, but it worked. Looking down at the three large books held against his chest, he smiled sheepishly, "I guess so.." He looked back up at his friend, his modest smile breaking into a much more natural one of his, "Partially because I know you'll kick my butt if I fail these OWLs." Although his tone was banded with humour, there was no joking in what he had said. Because, Clara would kick his butt if he failed these exams. And after all her help over the past four or five years, the least he could do was pass the damn things. He put his books beside him, and with his palms face down on the marble bench he was about to push himself up. When something stopped him. He couldn't really pinpoint what it was inside him that just clicked. It would be extremely awkward hugging Clara. Well, more awkward than usual. Relaxing, subtley, back into his sitting position, hoping she didn't notice anything. "You got Prefect!" He stated obviously, trying to create some sort of conversation. He couldn't understand why everything was so difficult today, but it was, and it bugged him. "Knew you would." He continued, a small smile pulling at the very corners of his lips as he looked up at her. It was true though, as much he was just trying to create small talk, he did know she would get prefect. Just like he knew she would get Head Girl when the time came.

 

[Clarice Herrington]

Clarice was trying to tell herself that there was no reason to feel uneasy about meeting up with Benson today all because of the fact that she now had a boyfriend. He was first and foremost her best friend so he would be happy for her; wouldn’t he? She couldn’t think why he wouldn’t be happy for her, surely best friends were happy for their best friend when they found someone that they liked. She didn’t know to be perfectly honest. Clarice was the type of person to know everything that there was to know about books and theory, plain things that were easy to read on paper. Although when it came to matters of the heart she was completely hopeless. She was still a young teenage girl with hormones messing up her body and while she understood it all she still didn’t know the solution to any of it. This was something that annoyed her greatly; that she didn’t have the answer to something and no matter how many books she read she couldn’t and wouldn’t find the answer. Clarice was the type of person that had to know the answer to everything and not knowing, well it sort of scared her. Stopping short a bit before Benson she shook her head lightly. She was starting to over think things again when she knew that there was no need to over think things. She knew that she was only feeling uneasy because she still wasn’t sure that the small crush she had on Benson was completely away and it made her feel like a bad girlfriend to Josh, but she just took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was with Josh and not Benson and that’s all that really mattered.

Clarice’s laugh stopped and her mouth formed a soft smile as she looked down at Benson. It felt weird for her to not have any books to carry as she normally had at least one textbook with her but today she decided that she wouldn’t need them during her catch up with Ben so leaving them in the Prefect’s Common Room would be just fine. She laughed softly but it was short, almost awkwardly. Clara couldn’t be sure but something felt off right now, she just hoped that she was only over thinking things again. The only problem with an over active brain was the over active imagination that came with it. Seeing the smile on Ben’s face made Clara relax some more, she didn’t know why she was making things awkward for herself, it was just Ben after all. The same Ben she’s known for about 5 years and could talk to hours too, no reason why today should be different. When she heard his partial reason as to why he was carrying books around. She couldn’t help but laugh at his words, while she knew that his words were true she found the way he put it amusing. “And I would enjoy kicking your butt but, lucky for you, I’m not going to let it get to that point.” she told him with a soft wink. She would never forgive herself if Ben failed his OWLs, she wouldn’t help but feel guilty about it. She awkwardly stood over Ben for a few more seconds, she got the feeling that he was maybe going to give her a hug after he had set his books down, or maybe he expected her to give him a hug, she didn’t know.

Although after a few seconds of standing there awkwardly she figured any window that was there was now long gone so she sat down beside Ben, her hands on the marble bench below her and she turned her body slightly so she was facing him just a little. When he brought up the matter of her getting Prefect she couldn’t help but beam brightly. She was so happy and proud of the fact she had been one of the lucky few who got chosen to be Prefect for the school. She saw it was such a great honour. “Thank you so much, Ben. That means a lot.” she said sincerely, it did mean a lot to her that he had faith in her. “How were you’re holidays? We have so much to catch up on. I feel awful for not have written all holiday but things just got so hectic.” she said, trying to bring some normality back to the awkwardness that they had experienced already.