Open Finally the Holidays

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar walked into the beautiful Tākarokaro Park, feeling the fresh breeze blow around her, and she smiled as she felt how good it was to be in nature again. She had finally finished all her exams, and she was reasonably happy with how they'd gone, though her Potions one could have definitely gone better. But it was all behind her now, and she was happy to just be able to enjoy the outdoors and have fun for a few hours today, leaving all the stress exams had brought behind her.

She saw a stream and went over to it, sitting on a rock and taking off her shoes to dangle her feet in the water, when she saw a familiar face approach her. She noticed it was one of the Slytherin students from her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, his name began with R or B she was pretty sure. Oh yeah, and he was a twin or a triplet right? She mentally tried to remember what she knew about him from her two classes with him, DADA and Flying. But she couldn't remember anything else before he'd come close enough to be within earshot, so she just said "Hey, how are you?" thinking that being friendly and starting a conversation off like that never did any harm.
@Ruben Right

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben was wondering around the park lost in his own thoughts, he was trying to see what he could do to enjoy the break between the semesters in Hogwarts when he came across the park that wasn't too far from the school grounds.

He found a little stream and walked alongside it always looking at floor, he wished he had his phone and headphones, he had to admit that even though those were muggle things they sure knew how to invent a lot of cool stuff that could keep him entertained for hours without needing any human interaction.

He looked up when he heard a girl's voice talking, probably to him since he was the only one around, he found it a strange coincidence that one of the girls from his DADA classes were there "Hey! I'm good" he said nodding "What about you....?" he said poiting at her and taking a bit more time in the 'you' word hoping that she understood he was waiting for her to say her name.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar was pleased to see the boy answer, it would have been really awkward if she'd said hi and he'd ignored her, but thankfully that didn't happen. "Oh yeah I'm good too, thanks!" she said, before realising she hadn't even properly introduced herself. "I'm Skylar by the way, but you can just call me Sky." she added with a friendly smile. "I remember you from Hogwarts, you're in my DADA and Flying class right? Or at least you were." she finished with a grin, remembering that since it was the end of semester, they'd have completely different subjects next term. She wondered what they'd be like, and whether or not they'd actually be as much fun as some of the ones this semester had been.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben gave the girl a smile "I'm Ruben, no cool nickname unless you wanna call ke Ben or something" he said chuckling a bit.
He gave a relieved smile "Yeah! Really loved that, DADA is my favourite class from everything I had this semester. What about you? What did you like and what are you most looking forward in the next semester?" he said taking a sit next to her but not putting his feet in the water like Sky. He was going to aske her what made her decide to visit the park but he decided to wait for her to answer all the questions he had just thrown her firsts.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

"What?! How on earth is Defense Against the Dark Arts your favourite class?!" Skylar burst out before she could stop herself. "Professor Styx is terrifying!" she added, allowing herself to laugh a bit, mostly out of sheer relief that the class was over. Sure, the content had been interesting, but the Professor was incredibly intimidating and there was something off about him that she couldn't quite place, but she knew she didn't like it.

Deciding to answer the other two questions Ruben asked, she replied with "well, I really liked Flying since it's obviously just heaps of fun, but I'm definitely the best at Charms out of all the classes I take." she finished with a proud smile, thinking about how much fun it had been. "As for next semester, I don't actually know. What are the classes we're taking again? I've completely forgotten!" she said with a laugh.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben laughed, this girl probably had been traumatised by Professor Styx "Well considering he is my Head of House I need to get used to his mood. Besides a subject is more than the teacher who teaches it and I find the Dark Arts very interesting to study." he said, he was sure if he was totally clear with the last part so he decide to clear any doubts "Not that I would practice the Dark Arts, I just like the knowledge" he said giving her a smile and hoping that the girl would think he is either a nerd or a weirdo.

Ruben was excited by hearing the word charms "I'm really excited for those classes". Ruben shrugged his shoulders, he didn't knew what classes she was going to take next semester, he only knew his "Well next semester I'm taking Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration and Potions." he said hoping to help the girl but then he remembered something "Considering I had History of Magic and Astronomy this semester and you weren't there it's more than certain that you'll have those two next semester at least."

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar felt her cheeks flush a bit as she realised it was probably dumb to hate the subject due to the teacher, but she still felt pretty justified in her reasoning for not liking the subject. "Well, I still think the type of teacher you get can make a pretty big impact on how much you like the subject! Like for example my Potions Professor was incredibly boring, so I don't really like the subject, whereas my Charms Professor was amazing and heaps of fun, so I guess I liked the subject more." she finished with a grin, the thought of Charms always made her happier.

She laughed as Ruben clarified on what he meant by liking the knowledge of Dark Arts, even though she obviously hadn't thought he meant it in the 'evil wizard ready to take over the world' kind of way. But now the fact that he had to explain himself made a flicker of doubt cross her mind, but she quickly dismissed it, thinking it was probably just her unhealthy prejudice against Slytherins, though they weren't all bad, as she'd learned throughout her first semester with them.

As the conversation turned back to subjects she smiled as Ruben said how excited he was for certain classes. "Oh I'm sure you'll love Charms! Not so sure about Potions though..." she said with a laugh, remembering her previous experience with it. "Oh yeah, that'll be cool!" she said as he suggested which two subjects she might have. She had to admit she wasn't all too thrilled with History of Magic, thinking it'd probably be boring, but she especially would have to learn it due to being a Muggleborn. But at least Astronomy sounded cool, she loved the outdoors and seeing as the stars and solar system were part of that, she hoped she'd like that class too. "I think I'll probably be taking Transfiguration and Herbology as well, since those are the other two you said which I haven't taken yet so it makes sense for me to take them." she added, thinking it was probably logical enough reasoning. "It's cool how we eventually got to find out which subjects I'm taking though! Almost like an elimination game I suppose!" she said with a chuckle as she realised she'd just found out what subjects she'd be taking next semester, through teamwork and process of elimination.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben had to agree with that, a teacher was no reason to hate a subject but they had a pretty huge impact on how we learn and if they make it fun, students are more prone to like their subject. He got excited when the girl talked about the Charms Professor since this was one of the subjects he was most looking forward too next semester. "Did you brew any potions? Was it a poison? Maybe sleep potion?" he said trying to figure out how could the potion classes be so boring.

As Sky told him she was have Transfiguration and Herbology he presumed that she would be on his classes too "Kinda excited for Transfiguration. Not very into Herbology to be honest but...it might surprise me, History of Magic certainly did. We went to the Smithsonian! A museum in Washington D.C." he said excitedly remembering about the geodes and gems exhibition he visited and where he saw tons of minerals and jewellery.

Ruben laughed, it was certainly funny to guess since he also didn't knew what she took or didn't took besides DADA and Flying. He didn't knew about her but he was more ecited about the second semester than the first.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

As Ruben asked about what they did in Potions class Skylar had to stifle a laugh, he seemed so excited, but if he got the same Professor as her... his excitement would probably leave him very soon. Or maybe it was just her not liking the subject in general... “Well... I won’t spoil it for you but all I’ll say is it was a lot less ‘hands on’ than you might think it’ll be.” She said, not wanting to spoil the details, but also not wanting her new friend to go into it expecting something amazing, only to be disappointed.

“Really?! I’m not excited for Transfiguration AT ALL. Or Herbology for that matter. I’m really bad at keeping plants alive...” she trailed off with a laugh remembering how back on the farm it was always her brother tending to the plants, and she looked after the animals instead. As Ruben told her about what they did in History of Magic, Skylar did have to say it sounded slightly more interesting, but not by much.

Deciding they were probably done with the conversation about subjects, Skylar suggested, “hey, do you want to go walk through the park? My feet are freezing!” She laughed as she pulled her feet out of the water, shaking them dry before putting her shoes back on. It was nice by the stream, but she’d just seen a large family with kids come near them, and she had no doubt that soon enough there’d be so much noise and shouts of laughter that she’d barely be able to hear Ruben.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben chuckled when Skylar said she was bad at keeping plants alive, hopefully they didn't need to keep any plant alive and they would just need to care for it during class time.
He nodded "Yeah, sure" he said getting up and looking at the river. That was exactly why he didn't touch the water, he is more sensible than most people. When Ruben goes to the beach or to a pool he usually doesn't stay in the water for more than ten minutes as he starts to shake uncontrollably due to the cold. People often told him to move or swim so he's get warm but that didn't work. Putting his feet on the river wasn't exactly the same as putting the whole body in the water but it had the same effect on him.
Sky did seem to have a great sense of opportunity as a family had just arrived and the Slytherin boy was thankful to leave. Young kids usually mean he'd get wet and again, he would become a human block of ice if he got wet "So you are not going home for the holiday break?" he asked while walking alongside with the girl, that he presumed to be a Gryffindor, "By the way, do you have somewhere where you wanna go?" he added as they were walking but he didn't exactly knew where they were going.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

After leaving the family of kids behind them and walking into a more peaceful section of the park, Skylar felt a content smile spread across her face. She missed this kind of raw nature, just being outside with only the sounds of the environment to accompany her. Oh and Ruben, but he was pretty nice, so it didn’t matter that he was there with her. And just as she was daydreaming about the nature back home on her farm, Ruben asked a question that was related to it, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. “Oh yeah, I’ll be going home, but only for the second week of the holidays, so I’ll be catching the train later.” She said with a smile. She was glad it had worked out this way, since she got the best of both worlds, a chance to spend a part of her holidays in the wizarding world, but a chance to spend them with her family as well. “I’m super excited to see my family again, and all the animals too!” She couldn’t help the grin spreading on her face, she missed them all so much. “What about you?” She asked, curious as to what other students were doing during the holiday break.

“Oh and no, I guess we can just keep walking and see where it leads. Unless you have a different idea?” She said with a smile, looking over at him, in response to his previous question.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben kept walking alongside Skylar as she kept talking. Ruben thought that Gryffindors would be more loud and energetic, not sure why he thought that, but Skylar didn't seem like that. Maybe deep down she was like that but right now she seemed very collected and quiet.
"Oh I'm spending the whole break here. Couldn't be bothered with so many trips back and forth. Besides our parents didn't really mind that" he answered. He had just noticed that he had used the ours pronoun, he was so used of talking about him and his siblings that sometimes things like that slipped from his mouth. Skylar wouldn't probably even notice but if she did she would probably think it was a bit weird since she doesn't know his siblings.
"Fine by me" he said. He actually loved that. Talking and see where their feet take them. It was pretty funny to see where they would end up in as they probably wouldn't notice due to their conversation, that happened to Ruben quite a lot.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

As Ruben said he’d be spending his whole break here, Skylar couldn’t stop the gasp of disbelief coming from her. “The whole break?! What about your parents though? And your family? Don’t you miss them?” Even though he had just said he couldn’t be bothered with all the trips back and forth, to her it was still something she could never do. Maybe because her twin brother was a muggle, so she missed him twice as much, or maybe she just missed her whole family and the familiarity of it all that made her want to go back.

But as she was thinking about her family, she realised she actually didn’t know much about Ruben’s, except for the fact she was pretty sure he had a twin in Hufflepuff, since there was a boy who looked just like him who she remembered from one of her Charms classes. But she could be wrong, since to be fair, she was pretty bad at remembering faces. “So what’s your family like?” She asked with a smile, curious to learn more about him, but hoping she didn’t come off as too intrusive at the same time.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben didn't knew what to answer to Skylar, he didn't exactly felt like opening up and tell her his whole family background as it would take too long and it would also be to painful for him to tell her the details "Let's just say that my parents are not the easiest people in the world. My siblings came out pretty great" he said with a small chuckle "We are all the same age, triplets, but our parents treat us differently. It honestly sucks but I can't really blame my siblings for that so I just get upset at my parents, a whole drama starts and to be honest that's the whole reason I stayed for the holidays. I'd stay for the summer break if i could too" he said again with a chuckle. Ruben wasn't sure why but laughing helped him with the situation, it probably give him some kind of weird comfort saying this laughing like he was trying to deceive himself and pretend that it was a lie. "What about you? How's your family like?" he said with a smile and trying to change the topic.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar was a bit surprised as she learned that Ruben must have had a tough time back home, he seemed like such a cool and easy going person, she had no idea he had such difficulties back home! She regretted asking a bit, but on the other hand, she learned he was actually a triplet! “You’re a triplet?!! That’s so cool what the heck! And I thought me being a twin was special!” Skylar said with a laugh. “What’re they like? And what houses are they in? And what are their names?” Skylar said with an eager smile. She knew she was probably starting to get slightly annoying, but she couldn’t help it, she thought the idea of being a triplet was amazing and she wanted to learn so much about them!

As Ruben then asked what her family was like, Skylar gave a smile, “My family’s pretty great, we live on a farm so I’ve grown up as quite the country girl!” She said with a grin. “That probably explains why I’m so quiet now, I’m just enjoying the nature.” She added with a smile. “Well anyway back to my family, I have a mum and a dad obviously, they’re pretty cool, but I also have a twin brother like I said before!” Her face lit up at the thought of him, she missed him so much... “he’s a muggle though, so he couldn’t come to Hogwarts with me...” she gave a sad smile, she wished with all her heart he’d been magical too, but she knew it was hopeless. “I also have a very cute dog!” She finished with a grin, determined to end on a positive note.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben laughed at Sky's excitement, she definitely didn't knew what was like to grow up with two more people that were like him "They are the worst" he said laughing not meaning it a bit "Valentin, he was a Hufflepuff, he is our parents' favourite. He transferred to Ilvermorny God knows why" he added rolling his eyes a bit "Veronica is a Slytherin like me and she is the daddy's girl. I'm kind of the forgotten one. On the bright side I get away with a lot of things" he finished saying. It was unlikely that she had met either one of them, probably in classes but not outside of them a Valentin transfered as soon as he got to the school and Veronica didn't get along with everyone.

Ruben was glad to hearthat Skylar's family was nothing like his and that she could get to be normal, he was a bit sad to hear about her twin, it would have been fun to meet him. "I don't like dogs" he said when she finished giving her an apologetic sm.ile

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar listened with excitement, it was so cool hearing about Ruben’s siblings! She was surprised when he said his brother transferred to Ilvermomy though! She was about to ask why before Ruben added that he didn’t know why, so she kept quiet, instead listening to what his sister was like.”Aw, well at least you get away with things!” She said in sympathy as Ruben said he was kind of the ‘forgotten one’. Skylar and her brother had always been pretty equal with how they were treated which was good, but who knew how that would change after she got home later these holidays? Would she be treated better since she could do magic or would she be treated worse? She gave a small shudder at the thought, she sincerely hoped it’d be the first option.

Skylar laughed as Ruben plainly stated at the end that he doesn’t like dogs, but she didn’t know how anyone could hate them! “Why?! Dogs are the best!! They’re so much fun to be around, you can play with them and they’re simply always there for you!” She finished with a happy smile. “Well if you don’t like dogs, what’s your favourite animal then?” She asked, curious to learn more about Ruben.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben arched his eyebrow while Skylar talked excitedly about dogs, from his point of view that was not like that "I just don't like their energy and excitement. They start going crazy jumping around everywhere and running around and, I don't know, my nonexistent anxiety gets triggered" he said with a laugh. "The part where I dreamt about a dog eating me might be cause of all the trauma" he added, he was aware that a dog couldn't physically eat him whole but he still didn't like them.
"Cats obviously" he said with a bit of an ironic tone "Way lazier, independent and smarter than dogs. Dogs will die with you, cats will help avoid dying." even though most people thought dogs were smarter for Ruben dogs were just blind followers while cats were more of independent thinkers that would usually point the right direction.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar laughed as Ruben described why he didn’t like dogs and why he thought cats were better. To her dogs were still better no matter what someone said (but maybe she was a bit bias due to having her own dog) but she had to at least admit that cats were alright too. “Well, let’s drop this debate for now, if we kept going we’d probably end up arguing and I don’t want to ruin a perfectly good afternoon.” She said with a light hearted grin. It was true, she’d really enjoyed her time with Ruben, he was actually a really cool guy!

In fact, she’d enjoyed talking with him so much that she hadn’t even realised that the sun had begun to set! If they didn’t hurry up, they wouldn’t make it back to the castle before it got dark. “Guess we’d better head back though, it looks like it’ll get dark soon! And I don’t know about you but I definitely don’t want to get caught out in the dark like this.” She said with a smile. And even though it was summer, she was starting to feel a bit cold, maybe from her previous act of dipping her feet into the freezing cold water.

 

[Ruben Right]

Ruben looked in the horizon as Skylar mentioned that it was getting dark, he hadn't even noticed that time had went by so fast but as much as he hated it he had to agree with the girl "Yeah you are right we should head back." he said with a pause "We should definitely hang out sometime soon though" he added.
The truth was that he hadn't met a lot of people at Hogwarts besides Lily and a few older students, so he would appreciate someone to hang out and someone to share thoughts and opinions, especially since Skylar seemed to have different views on stuff and he liked that they could debate their ideas and points of view like the "cats versus dogs" discussion.