Closed Get Away

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Maybe hiding out here with the roses was a lame pun. But Rose needed to get away from everything going on. And no one ever seemed to visit the memorial for the Rose that had passed on ages ago. So she should be safe here. She sighed as she sat in front of the rose bush, watching the wind blow through its leaves. "What was your life like?" She asked quietly. "Did you have to protect the people you cared about? Even when they were too stubborn to listen?" She shivered as the wind blew through her short hair. She didn't really expect an answer. But the quiet was pretty nice.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott was proud of the work he had done during his first semester, but it definitely didn't come without the tears. Learning magic was difficult especially when he had never known it existed outside of fairytales and fantasy novels. The castle was large, but a lot of it was dark and creepy to Scott. He tried to spend as much of his free time as possible in a cozy corner of the Hufflepuff common room or outside getting fresh air. Today had been rather uneventful, but he was feeling the encroaching feeling of homesickness. This was the first time he had been away from home for so long and with it all being unfamiliar, some days were harder than others.

Deciding to walk alongside the lake, Scott put his hands in his pocket and looked around. There was a lot of beautiful scenery at Hogwarts and he hadn't really explored all of it. The forbidden forest was completely forbidden, so he hadn't even gone in there. He could only imagine the sort of punishment he would get from the school let alone his mother, who wouldn't be happy at him even thinking about going in there. Turning away from the lakefront, he looked around some more. Scott spotted a rose bush and looked at it quizzically. He hadn't noticed it before.

Roses, like most other plants and flowers, reminded Scott of home even more. His grandmother had very large, beautiful gardens that she was quite proud of and spent most of her time in. A bittersweet smile formed across his cheeks as he made his way to the lone rose bush. The bush was just like his grandmothers and he reached out to touch a petal on a rose when a quiet voice sent a shock through his body and his hand retreated from the bush. With a furrowed brow, he walked around to the front of the bush to find the source of the voice. It's a rose bush. I don't think it protected anybody. Maybe it's a magical rose bush?

Scratching the back of his neck, Scott gazed down at the girl who he recognized from his year. "Hello." He said anxiously, he didn't like interrupting people. Looking back at the bush, he examined it, wondering why there was just one rose bush. Maybe it is magical. Scott didn't like asking about magic to other students for fear of being made fun of. "It's a cool rose bush." He stumbled his words, hoping that was a normal thing to say about the bush.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose was irritated as some boy from class came stumbling out. She opened her mouth to snap at him to go away, but stopped. Hold on, he was familiar. She looked at him a moment. Oh, that was it. "You're Lily's little buddy." She stated. Her sister had pointed him out and pretty much ordered her to play nice. She sighed. "I don't remember what she said your name was. I'm Rose," She introduced herself. If Lily liked the kid, she needed to see if he was the decent sort. He was kinda small in size though. But that could just be because Rose was so tall. Almost as tall as Lily.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. He felt silly for needing somebody to help him with stairs and his fear of heights. Lily had been kind enough to guide him to his classes and help him practice deep breathing. She also made some really awesome muffins. The girl introduced herself as Rose and Scott exhaled a small sigh of relief. At least it's her sister. He was worried for a moment that he was going to get teased. "Hi, Rose," Scott said with a shy smile. "I'm Scott." Lily had warned him that Rose could be difficult sometimes, so he was nervous as to what to say.

Looking around the school grounds, it was rather quiet. Students seemed to be elsewhere or inside, either way out of earshot. He shifted his feet and scratched his neck. "Is the bush, um," Scott could feel a ball forming in his throat and lowered his voice. "a special bush?" He winced at his own words, he sounded ridiculous. Letting out a sigh, he lowered his head to the ground. I sound stupid. Scott looked back at the rose bush.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose nodded. "Scott, right, that was it." She watched. He seemed just as shy as Lily was. She softened a bit. She knew how to deal with that. "Yeah, but I don't think it's magical." She said. "It's a memorial to some girl that passed away." She shrugged, turning to look back at it. "I wonder what happened." She yawned, covering her mouth. She would let Scott get comfortable before she started chattering with him. She reached into her bag, producing a banana nut muffin. She broke it in half and offered the other half to Scott.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott wasn't sure if knowing the bush was a memorial made him more or less uncomfortable. He scratched his arm and sat down in the grass beside Rose, making sure to give her plenty of space. Death was strange for Scott to think about. He didn't know anything about his father and it was the one thing his mom didn't like to talk about. Scott wasn't sure if he was alive or not. "I guess baking is in the family?" Scott asked taking the muffin half. "Thanks."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose shook her head at his question. "No, Lily just bakes all the time. Even when she's mad at me I still find these in my bag. I don't know how she manages that." She chuckled. "She really is a sweetheart." She bit her lip, sighing. "Not everyone can see that, though." She shook her head to clear it, struggling to come up with a topic. "Soooo... you're in Hufflepuff too?" She asked lamely. Lily was still better with people than she was. At least, better at being nice than she was.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott nodded, he loved the baked treats from his friend. Lily always had them fresh and ready to help walk with him to class. He was lucky to be friends with her. "Lily is really nice." Scott took a bit of the muffin, tasting the familiarity. Definitely Lily's baking. He wondered who rose was referring too, it was hard for him to imagine anybody not likely Lily. Scott furrowed his brow and thought about that quietly for a moment while chewing on his muffin half. "Yeah, I am a Hufflepuff. I don't really get much of the house stuff, but some people seem really proud of their houses." Scott worried it sounded like he didn't like his house. "I like being a Hufflepuff though." He felt like he needed more school pride. One thing he liked about the common room is how often it was full of plants. It reminded him of home. "The common room reminds me of home."

Out of Character:

I thought I had responded to this already. My apologies!

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose listened as Scott described being a Hufflepuff and how he liked it. "I wanted to be in Hufflepuff," She admitted softly. "So I could stay close to Lily. But I ended up in Gryffindor instead." She shook her head. "I'm still... pretty angry about it. Lily doesn't like it. I think she worries about me." She offered the rest of her muffin to Scott, not really hungry anymore. "It's stupid for her to worry. I'm more worried about her. She's so soft and sweet. She's going to get hurt again." She scowled, aggravated.

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott looked at the ground as Rose talked about Lily. He was starting to get a better understanding of the two sister's relationships. Gratefully, he accepted the rest of the muffin and began to chew on it. "Maybe Gryffindor was the right place for you," He said, trying to reassure her. "You seem very protective of Lily." Loyalty was definitely a 'Puff trait, but protectiveness seemed more like bravery to him. Scott always saw Lily as being strong, brave even. "How are you worried about her getting hurt?"

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose shrugged. "I don't like being so far from Lily," She admitted, hugging her knees to her chest. "Of course I am." She sighed. "Before she came here, the kids at home bullied her. Stuck gum in her hair, threw her things in the river. A few of them pretended to be her friends and got her out behind the school and doused her in water. I spent a lot of my time cleaning up the mess and trying to keep it from happening again. I was so worried when she came here. I can accept that the cinnamon roll- er, Elliot- might be okay for her, but her other friend, Jasper, he took her into the forbidden forest. It's dangerous out there, they could have been hurt. I mean, he was, I punched him in the face, but he was an idiot and he deserved it." She bit her lip, staring at the rose bush. "I just wish she would listen to me and be more careful."

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott was upset to hear that his friend had been bullied. He raised a quizzical brow at her mention of Elliot and Jasper, he made a mental note to mention them to Lily next time they talked. "She went into the forbidden forest?" His face was full of surprise, that wasn't something he expected of his friend. "Sounds like he deserved to be punched." Scott wasn't one to usually agree with violence, but he had taken a liking to Lily.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose smacked her hand on her leg. "Exactly! We both know Lily would never have done it on her own, she only went in because he was stupid enough to take her." She sighed. "Of course, Lily is mad that I hit him." She shook her head. "Her loyalty to her friends- it's unreal. I just wish she had better taste in friends." She ran a hand through her hair. "Anyway, I've probably rambled on way too much." She looked to Scott. "I don't actually know a thing about you. Tell me about yourself."

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott shook his head in shock and finished off the baked good. "Why would he want to go in there anyway?" He peered over to the looming forest, taking in the lingering haunt. Goosebumps ran down his arms as he wondered if he would ever adventure in there. Lily was a very loyal friend and that's part of what made her so special. He was caught off guard when she asked about him. "I like astronomy, a lot. I mean I don't know much about the magical side of it yet." Scott hoped that would change soon. "Card games are fun too."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose shook her head. "He's one of those idiots that thinks they're hiding some amazing adventure in there." She scowled. She adjusted in her seat, turning to face Scott better as they turned the conversation to him. "Astronomy, huh? That's pretty cool. I don't really know a lot about it, but the stars are beautiful." She ran a hand through her short hair. "What do you like about it?"

 

[Scott Baker]

Scott didn't think that sounded fun, exciting, or amazing at all. He didn't understand some of these other students that seemed so fearless. Before going to Hogwarts, Scott was full of fears about day to day things. Finding out he was magical changed a lot of his feelings. At first, he thought this gave him an advantage to his fears, but he never expected it to open up a bunch of new fears. Scott smiled as she mentioned the stars were beautiful and he nodded. "The thing I love most about astrology is looking up at the stars and realizing how massive the universe is. We are so small in comparison. It's always pretty to look at and there are so many cool celestial events." His face was lit up with a bright smile and he stopped himself. Scott's cheeks flushed red and his gazed dropped back to the ground. He didn't want to get teased for going on about how much he liked the stars. "Lyrid meteor shower is coming up in April. I'm looking forward to that." Scott said quietly.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose listened as Scot went on about astrology. It sounded really interesting when he said it like that. She scooted a little closer, giving him a wide smile. "That sounds really cool!" She told him. "I... haven't been paying much attention in any of my classes. Do you think... maybe you could catch me up on Astronomy? I'd love to learn more. If... I mean, if you wanted to tell me, anyway. Then maybe we could both watch that meteor shower." She offered.

 

[Scott Baker]

((Edit, I totally meant Astronomy the whole time))

Scott scratched his arm once more nervously but was relieved when Rose seemed actually interested in what he had to say. He was a little surprised that she even cared. With a smile and a nod, he looked up her. "Yeah, of course. We can partner up in Astronomy if you'd like." Scott was excited about the meteor shower and even more so knowing that he would have a friend to watch it with. "I'd love to have you join me to watch it." He said before his cheeks flushing a bright shade of red. Not wanting to appear too excited, he dropped his gaze back toward the ground.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose gave him a nervous smile. "Are you sure? Everyone tends to avoid me. I don't think being snappy up to now helped my case any." She chuckled nervously. "If you don't mind though, I think I would really like that." She leaned forward and held out her hand. "I see why Lily likes you. Friends?" She offered. He would be her first friend at school, though she wasn't sure she should say that out loud.