Growing Up Sucks.

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna lay stretched out on Lawn, enjoying the end of summer. It was still hot everyday, but the days were getting noticeably shorter, and after a white and snowy holiday, Arianna was soaking up all the sun she could. Her thoughts were wandering back to her holiday. She knew that something was definetly up between her parents. Every moment had seemed tense, and the normal Christmas happiness had been forced. Arianna pushed it out of her mind; She would deal with it in the next, longer holidays. I'll be a fourth year soon... she thought, a little wearily. Ever since she had come to Hogwarts New Zealand, life seemed to have sped up, and she felt like she was growing up way too fast. Her fourteenth birthday had been and gone recently, which had freaked her out a little.

I wish I was a kid again Arianna thought sadly to herself, closing her eyes to the memories of childhood.

 

[Artemis Tuuri]

Artemis headed out to her favourite place at Hogwarts; the wide open spaces of the Great Lawn, and Summer had brought the wildflowers back to carpet the green plain. Seeking out a patch of clovers, Art flopped face first into the grass without a second thought as to where she was, and sighed. It was a time to ponder. Apparently she had become a 'woman' now, and could bear children because of her new change. "Fat chance," she mumbled to herself, giving herself a mouthful of clover. She spent the next few minutes picking leaves and white flowers from her tongue in disgust, then lay back down, gloomy once more. She felt that she hadn't a chance in heck of finding anyone, and from her minuscule frame she found it hard to believe that the prospect of children was even possible. It frustrated her to no end ... how did those sort of things work?

Suddenly there was a rustle to her left, and Artemis lifted her face from where it was pressed into the clover patch to see another girl lying stretched out among the flowers just as she was. Artemis scrambled up, her little Santa overalls catching every daisy in the buttons. "Having a rough day?" she greeted her with a merry smile, before recognising her as another third year. The girl was in Hufflepuff, she remembered, though Art could not place her name.

 

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna opened one eye when she heard a voice next to her. A tiny girl, who she had a feeling was a fellow third year, had just gotten up from the grass. Arianna hadn't even noticed her when she'd come down to lie here.

"No" she said, smiling faintly "Just a normal one" she finished, with a sigh. She picked a little clover flower and twirled it between her fingers. "Have you ever been scared that you're growing up way too fast?" Ari asked the girl suddenly. She didn't know why she was asking a stranger that sort of question, but knew for sure that she needed to get it out of her head.

 

[Artemis Tuuri]

Artemis practically gaped at Arianna when she commented on growing up. Soul mate! she laughed internally, as though Arianna could hear her very thoughts. "Aye, 'ye can say that again!" was all she was able to say, still stunned into silence. Art thought about all that had changed that day. She did not feel any more like a woman for bleeding like a stuck pig. Instead of making her feel more grown-up, she just felt icky and heavy like never before. Apparently it was a time to celebrate, but Artemis just felt like a bar of chocolate instead. "I'm glad 'ye had a normal day," sighed Art to Arianna, picking at a clover between her thumb and forefinger.

"Well, even if I get to eighty years old I'm going to be looking exactly the same. Maybe ye're lucky," she finally smiled as she began tow eave the clovers into a hair wreath. "I'll be perpetually small, even if I have fifteen children. I'll never feel like an old woman." To her surprise, she had twisted it not into a wretch but a little woven broach. Smiling, she handed it across to the Hufflepuff girl. "I'm Artemis."