Here's A Thought

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

The castle had been impressive at first, when she had entered it for the first time. Now, she was already getting used to the enormity of it and home was far from her mind as she walked through the grounds and spotted the cliffs. Now there was some place she could sit for a few minutes, without being bothered. And if she was bothered, Athena would make sure that she seemed like a cool person to be with, first impressions always mattered. As long as it was anyone but those creepy twins she met during winter. Those two needed to be far away from the girl, hopefully for the rest of their lives.

The first year soon found a nice spot to sit, not at the edge, but close to it, under a tree which shielded her from the sun. There weren't many people outside, and Athena sighed. She had been sitting down for not too long and she was already beginning to miss her social life. If only there were one or two people her age, then she could befriend them, but it looked as if there were only older students. Athena stood up, dusted herself off and, without much thought, neared the edge of the cliff. Of course it would it downright stupid to have a look, so she crouched down and picked at the flowers. Maybe she'd send these home to her mother and godmother.

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

As impressive and beautiful as the castle was, Gabriella was always more drawn to the outdoors. She had already explored the edge of the lake and wandered around the lawn and gardens, and now she headed in a different direction than she had before. The cliffs soon became visible and she hesitated, looking around nervously. Was she allowed to go near them? Or was an angry teacher going to swoop down on her and take points away? After a moment of hesitation, her curiosity won out and she approached the cliffs cautiously. Seeing another student from her own year, she relaxed a little. At least she wasn't the only person out here. She stepped closer to the other blonde that was picking flowers and smiled at her. "Hello, do you think we're ... allowed to be so near the cliffs?" She asked her, glancing around again. "It seems odd, doesn't it? Dangerous to be so near a school."

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena hadn't been expecting anyone to approach her. She was still busy with choosing her flowers when a voice spoke behind her and the girl turned around once she figured that the other girl was speaking to her, as there was no one else around. Athena smiled as she stood up, putting the flowers she'd picked carefully in her pocket. She shrugged at her question. "Honestly, I don't know. I doubt it. But it's a beautiful place." She gestured around her at the scenery, it reminded her of her own home except this, of course, was much grander than her own garden. Athena nodded. "I know right? At least there's a lot of space and it belongs to the school. I'm happy to be here though." She glanced at the other girl. "I'm Athena."

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella looked around doubtfully, and her expression turned into a frown when the girl said she doubted it. "I wonder if we should go. I'd rather not get in trouble." She said, wondering why on earth this girl was here if she doubted it was allowed. Gabriella was a rule-follower to the core, and she felt uncomfortable when she even thought she may be breaking a rule. But she didn't want to argue with this girl, and honestly she wanted to make some friends. Athena probably just wanted to explore, and as long as they didn't get too close to the cliffs it would be okay. Wouldn't it? I was also just beautiful here, and she wanted to appreciate it for a little while longer. Gabriella gave a small smile when the other girl introduced herself as Athena, and she held out her hand for the other girl to shake. "I'm Gabriella, it's nice to meet you." She said softly. "It really is beautiful here, and I am amazed at the outside space there is. Have you seen the lake yet? It's enormous, I would love to swim in it but I'm not sure if we should. It might be dangerous." And it might go against the rules, which also stopped her. But she felt like if she said that too many times, the other girl might start thinking badly of her. In her experience, other kids tended not to like being told what to do and didn't mind the idea of getting in trouble the way Gabriella did. She didn't want this girl to think her a goody two shoes, or boring, so she smiled and tried to look at ease near the cliffs.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena could sense that the other girl didn't feel comfortable being this close to the cliffs, it was understandable as they were first years and it probably wasn't the right time to cause trouble or lose house points, it was still early in the year. "You're probably right," the blonde said as she looked once again at the cliffs and the spot where she had picked some flowers. Maybe this other girl was afraid of heights or maybe she really didn't like getting caught by teachers or older students. Not that Athena cared much about older students, but professors...that was a different story. She shook Gabriella's hand when she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you too." She smiled. Making a friend hadn't taken her long at all. "Me too. I love the outdoors." She admitted. "No, I haven't actually. Would you like to go? We can always see if other students are swimming there and that can be our answer to whether we're allowed or not," she suggested. Going to the lake didn't sound like a bad idea right now. "As for dangerous, we'll have to see." Athena grinned. At last, here was someone with whom she hopefully didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't. Her impression around Gabriella had been a good one from the beginning.

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

It was surprising to Gabriella how easily this conversation was going, she had half expected the other girl to laugh at her obvious reluctance to break rules, or mock her for it. But she did neither of those things. Instead she agreed with her and asked her if she would rather go to the lake. She smiled and nodded gratefully. "I could show you where it is. Nobody was swimming in it when I was there, it may be too cold. Though there was a girl that just stood in the water for a while, she's a first year too and in Hufflepuff like me." The smile on Athena's face at the thought of danger was hard for Gabriella to understand, though she gave a weak smile in return. To her, danger was something to avoid. As much as she sometimes dreamed about the sort of adventures kids had in books, she knew that in real life anything adventurous was more likely to get you killed or injured. "I'm sure that if it is allowed, it won't be dangerous. They seem to value student's safety, as they also made the forest off-limits." As she said it, her gaze drifted to the forest in the distance. As much as she knew she would never set foot there as long as it was called 'forbidden', a part of her was really curious about it and wondered what was in there. But she knew better than to go somewhere that was forbidden. She shook her head slightly. "Shall we go look at the lake?" She asked the other girl, hoping she hadn't spaced out for too long.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena nodded enthusiastically at Gabriella's suggestion. "Sure! When did you go?" Athena had only been there once, but it had only been to look for her brother and therefore she never actually got to enjoy being there. She wasn't there for long enough and it had been the first or second day at Hogwarts. "We could just put our feet in the water then, if it is too cold. We're not obligated to do anything in the water," Athena sent what she hoped was a reassuring smile to the other girl. As tempting as being in the lake was, she didn't want to lose the opportunity of befriending the hufflepuff. She nodded. "That's also something to consider. Though to me the forest seems much more dangerous than the lake." The first year hadn't seen anyone enter the forest, it could be exciting but then again every time she thought of the stories her godmother had told her she had no desire to test her fate. There was no way she was entering the forbidden forest anytime soon and taking the risk of dying. "Yeah let's go. I wonder if we'll see a creature, like a mermaid or something," she said. Because she'd also found out about secret creatures living in the lake. Athena sincerely hoped that hadn't been a lie.

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella smiled at the interest Athena showed. "I went on one of the first days." She admitted. "I've always loved water, so I couldn't resist that lake," she talked happily as she walked with Athena, slowly relaxing. The other girl seemed lovely, even if she didn't seem to share Gabriella's complete respect for the rules. She was still not a troublemaker, at least not as far as Gabriella could see, and that was good enough for now. The idea of putting their feet in the water was a nice one, and after a moment of hesitation Gabriella nodded. "I think that could be okay." She said slowly. "As long as it's not too cold." Cautious as always, Gabriella already imagined reasons why it would be a bad idea, though she kept them mainly to herself. It wouldn't do to seem too scared or nervous, as she wanted Athena to like her. The forest did seem more dangerous than the lake, and she was glad the other girl didn't seem tempted to go there either. "Do you really think there could be merpeople in the lake?" She asked, as she had no idea if that was true or not. It would be amazing to see one, though she was also worried they wouldn't be entirely friendly.

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena was enjoying talking to Gabriella, she seemed really nice and she hoped she would be another good friend she could trust, even if and when they were with a group of people. She was happy that she came across as a good person because she wasn't in the mood to fight with anyone today. "I used to swim when I was very young," she told Gabriella, "except it was in the sea rather than a pool. I always used to go to the beach," she glanced at the Hufflepuff. "So I understand your love for water." There was another thing they shared in common. As they walked and the more they spoke, Athena couldn't help but notice that Gabriella was a stickler for the rules. She couldn't blame her, though she also couldn't say the same for herself. "Don't worry, we won't do anything extreme," she said as gently as possible. Whatever would jeopardise this friendship the first year would not allow. There was a bit of silence, Athena was kind of having fun. It wasn't anything exhilarating but it was something to do in her day. She shrugged when Gabriella asked about merpeople being in the lake. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "That's what my parents said. Who knows though, maybe they were...making it up." She was slightly unsettled by the idea of her parents lying right to her face, and she didn't want to think about that. So instead she asked, "Do you have any siblings here?" Knowing the school, and from what she'd heard from distant relatives there were many students who had siblings, or cousins that did or used to go to school here.

 

[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella was pleased to hear she had another thing in common, and a first truly happy smile graced her face as she turned to Athena. "Really? I swim too! Or... I guess I used to as well, it's going to be impossible to keep it up while I'm in school. I do tend to swim in a pool, as I live in London, but I do love the sea whenever I get to go there." She said, her passion for the subject loosening her up a little and making her less uptight and proper. Her smile was nearly a grin as she talked about it as they walked. There fell a bit of silence between them until Athena talked again about the merpeople. "I would believe it." She said with a small shrug. "I suppose, we will probably never find out unless they decide to come to the surface. I've never seen a merperson before, but I don't think they would make a habit of surfacing. I know I wouldn't if I were one of them." She could imagine living underwater quite easily, and she thought she would very much enjoy it. It was always quiet underwater, and everything seemed peaceful.

Gabriella had already opened her mouth to tell the other girl she didn't have siblings at school when she remembered that she did. It wasn't like she had ever forgotten about Francesca even when they spent most of their lives apart, but she had never expected to see her here at Hogwarts. It was still so surreal, and she guessed it hadn't quite hit home yet. She also felt awkward explaining the situation, as it was convoluted and uncommon. Athena might look at her oddly, but she didn't want to lie either. "Yes." She said, her voice more clipped once more. "A sister. Her name is Francesca, she is in Gryffindor in our year. Though we aren't twins, she is nearly a year older than I am." She paused after that trying to think of how to say this discreetly. "We didn't grow up together, however," she said eventually. Eager to change the subject, she turned the question on Athena. "What about you?"

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

Athena's face brightened at Gabriella's mention of living in London. She'd never been there, or to anywhere else really. "That's really cool! I've never been to London. Is it nice there?" she asked curiously, maybe mentally adding it to her bucket list of places to visit. Athena had only ever been in New Zealand and her parents barely had enough time to go all the way to another continent and across the world. She knew about apparating, but she doubted her and Antonio were old enough for that and she had never taken a muggle plane before. "That's true," she agreed easily. "Merpeople and other creatures will be found when and if they want to be found. I suppose you just need to be lucky," she shrugged as they continued to walk and talk. Despite the rarity of seeing creatures here at Hogwarts, Athena had a small spark of hope that she would get to meet one before her seventh year. "I don't know if I'd like living under water my entire life. Then again, that's their world and ours is up here."

Athena then wondered if she'd been wrong to ask Gabriella about having any siblings here. For one thing, she didn't reply immediately. But eventually, she did and Athena was relieved to know it hadn't been that big of a deal that she'd asked so openly about it. If the girl hadn't wanted to respond, the Slytherin wouldn't have blamed her. Athena knew what it was like to feel a little unsettled by your family members. "Her name rings a bell," she stated, squinting her eyes as she tried to remember. Maybe she'd have to look out for Francesca more - and see if there was a resemblance. "Oh," was all she could say as she got told that they hadn't actually grown up together. Athena couldn't imagine living without her twin brother. "Yes, I do as well. A twin brother." She paused and glanced at Gabriella. "His name is Antonio and he's in Slytherin. You might have seen him around."