Fresh Air and Flower Chains

[Charlotte Owens]

The new year had started and Charlotte was very excited. She was growing up now and, after a lot of arguments with her parents, she had successfully chosen the subjects that she wanted and hoped that they would not put any extra pressure on her this year, especially after the lecture she managed to get about improving her grades. Despite this, she was confident that she was going to do much better than last year and couldn't wait for classes to start. She found herself skipping away outside of the castle for some fresh air in the most comfortable clothes she could find. She wasn't sure where she was going but there was no better feeling than the wind blowing through her hair. It made her think of quidditch - something that she had really enjoyed last year. She wondered if she would be able to get on the team again, especially considering the slytherin captain had graduated, leaving the team in new hands this year. It made her very nervous to think about but she smiled a bright smile as she skipped along, not really caring where her feet was taking her.

It didn't take long before Charlotte had made it to the cliffs and she sighed, breathing in the air, as she plopped herself down onto the grass at the edge of the cliff and lay down on her stomach, making herself comfortable. Staring out past the edge made her think of the last time she was at the cliffs. Her and her friends had never really found what was at the bottom but she didn't think that was at all necessary now and there were probably far more important things to think about now that she thought of it. Charlotte began to pick out small flowers growing in the ground and started to play with them, attempting to tie them together to make a long chain. Unfortunately, she had managed to run out of flowers before she was even halfway done and just continued to lay there, enjoying the peaceful sound of nature as it did its thing.

 

[Cristian Kyle]

The new year brought more than adventures for the young Hufflepuff, sometimes more than enough. Cristian Kyle did not appreciate the school as much as the other children, seeing as he thought that the feasts were overdoing it, and whatnot. Everything here was fancy, and he felt out of place. Cristian found himself walking on the grounds, finding himself to be fitted better out here than indoors. Everything in nature was just neutral. It was more of a survival of the fittest, and he knew all about that game. He often won. Cristian wondered around, ignoring those around him. He was not exactly what one would call nice to others. It took him ages to warm up to anyone because he did not want to have those around him, only for them to hate him for not being able to give them things during the holidays or invite them over to his small house. There was not much he could do about that, so he thought that he should focus more on school and trying to make a better life for him and his family.

The first year eventually found his way to the cliffs, where he looked over the edge. It was a long way down, and knew why it was forbidden to come up here to begin with. People could very well get hurt. Not that he could say much, since he was here too. His eyes looked over to see another person up on the cliffs. He frowned. She looked like an older student. He approached her, and folded his arms across his chest. He looked as intimidating as a puppy. He said in a low tone, yet polite, “No one should really be up here, miss.” Cristian looked over the side, before taking several steps back. He did not want to slip and fall. The last thing he wanted was to be sent home because he did not follow the rules.​

 

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte smiled as she rolled over onto her back and began to watch the clouds in the sky. One cloud in particular looked similar to a dog and the girl began to trace it with her finger. It wasn't everyday that Charlotte found herself looking at the clouds. She appreciated nature and found it quite relaxing to just spread herself out on the grass and live with it. It was so relaxing that she felt her eyes begin to droop and almost fell asleep until a voice made her sit up abruptly, wondering where it had came from. Looking around, her eyes lay upon a smaller boy standing over her telling her that she wasn't allowed up on the cliffs. Charlotte just smiled at him and chuckled. "Then what are you doing up here?" she said playfully, wondering how he could tell her such a thing when he was being just as naughty. He obviously wasn't a professor and so he had no right to be telling her what to do.