Closed Duck Walk

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan hadn’t necessarily expected or even really though that Ilija would keep his promise to come on an early morning Duck wall with her. It was just getting light on a Saturday, which meant she’d carefully rolled out of bed so as not to disturb Elio, before grabbing Matilda and heading outside in leggings and a long shirt. It was coming up to winter after all and it was getting a bit chilly. She thought about grabbing Elio’s hoodie, but it didn’t match her shoes and she wanted to at least look like she’d made something of an effort. Matilda was chatty that morning as she headed to where she’d said she’d meet Ilija which was just in the entrance hall since she didn’t want to be walking Matilda up and down the stairs repeatedly, she had little tiny legs after all. Little waddley legs. Itty bitty baby Duckie legs which really weren’t much good at walking though they were perfect for the swimming she would be rewarded with once they got to the lake. Rowan has a little bag of snacks because she was usually out for two hours or so and generally didn’t want breakfast after. She had no idea what Ilija would like, so she’d packed a small collection of carrot sticks and hummus, sliced fruits with cashew creams, nuts and grains trail mix and water, just in case. Normally she brought a text book with her, but she couldn’t be bothered to carry it so she’d gone without this time. She held Matilda casually in her arms as she waited in the entrance hall, having a pretty decent conversation with her friend which mostly consisted of Rowan lamenting on things and Matilda eagerly quacking in response. Today was a good day.​

 

[Ilija Olaf]

Ilija had never expected to get on with Rowan as much as he had, and in all honesty she was a welcome change to his lifestyle. The fifth year loved that she would often get herself caught up in her own stories, which meant he was more or less allowed to just listen, which suited him down to the ground. As long as he could keep up the questions for her, he was interested in hearing about her life and her passions, which took the strain out of thinking he always had to have the answers for everything. He wanted to keep his word about joining Rowan on a duck walk early in the morning that Saturday, although he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about cancelling once or twice. Talking one on one to someone had never been easy for Ilija, but now more than ever he was trying to push himself further out of his comfort zone, and he thought this would be a good way of doing that. The Hufflepuff was stood at the designated meeting point, doing everything he could not to overthink what was happening. Maybe Rowan was in a similar position to him, maybe she didn't really have anyone she could talk to either. Perhaps this would be the start of something beneficial to both of them. "Hi Rowan. Hi, duck," he smiled when the Gryffindor approached, animal in arms. Ilija wasn't sure why but he thought she was kidding when she told him the duck had a little lead, but he really did. ​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan waved lightly at Ilija, as she saw him and held Matilda out for his inspection. Matilda didn't move from her snuggled position by Rowan's chest, which told Rowan she seemed to be indifferent to Ilija. She'd never reacted this way to Elio after all, she'd always whipped her head around to watch him wherever he moved. Elio hated it. "She has little shoes in my bag if we get to the gravel and if it's hot. I also have a little hat in my bag for her too," Rowan said, laughing slightly. "Matilda loves her morning walks, it just takes her a little bit of time to get accustomed to the morning. I don't blame her, I wouldn't get up so early in the morning if I didn't have to." Though she'd tried to sleep in once and it had just set her day back by hours. She wished she knew how other people did that. "Thank you for doing this, by the way, I really do appreciate it. I prefer to go for walks in the morning and it's not fun doing it on my own." She said, grinning as she looked at the doors to the outside. "Shall we go? Are you ready?" Matilda would get into it soon, since she was used to this, though she would probably be unaccustomed to Ilija, that didn't matter. She liked him, well, she was indifferent to him and that was important for her walk. Rowan had been surprised with how easily she and Ilija had struck up a polite conversation, surprised, but glad. This was a step towards what she was supposed to be doing, right?​