I Didn't Forget You I Swear

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon was many things. Annoying, hilarious, sarcastic. All the things an eleven year old could be and more. One thing he wasn't was forgetful, though it often seemed like that to other people. Nine times out of ten when Zennon "forgot" something, he just didn't care and didn't want to say that, so when he'd honestly forgotten to add Analei's name to the list of his candy cane recipients, he was mad at himself. He didn't forget his friends and he needed to rectify this situation immediately. He'd spent a lovely night with Analei and he knew she could get a little overwhelmed sometimes. He hoped that bringing her a candy cane would help. He'd ducked down to the lolly shop during the brightstone weekend and collected a candy cane specially for her. It was chocolate and mint! He hoped she would like it.

Zennon had been looking for Analei all day in places he knew their year liked to hang out and after exhausting all indoor areas, he'd moved to the outside. She surely wouldn't be too hard to spot. She had blonde hair and yellow robes, obvious right? Thankfully once he finally got outside, he noticed her by the lake. She was by herself, so he invited himself right over to her and plopped down beside her. "Hey Analei, I've been looking for you everywhere and you were here the whole time!"
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[Analei Westwick]

It was getting closer to the end of the school year, and with exams approaching, there was too much noise everywhere. Noise wasn't usually a problem for Analei, but for a young girl stressed about her first ever tests, trying to study where no peace could be found, it made her patience wear thin. She understood that people studied in pairs - something she knew she would just get distracted with. She also understood that people needed to talk, though she was happy with not having to speak every thought that crossed her mind, it was apparent that that wasn't the case for everyone. Analei had debated with herself whether she should study in the Library, or outside, and with the thought of there being a ton more students in the library due to study season, and with the sun calling her outside, the latter easily won. The young Hufflepuff was pleasantly surprised to find a spot by the lake by herself, where she tried to study, but quickly became more focused on the relaxing sounds of the water, the smooth way it moved. A voice quickly pulled her out of her daydream. "I'm studying!" Analei exclaimed, quickly pulling a book onto her lap to prove her point, to show that no - she hadn't drifted off, and yes - she was working hard. When she saw who it was, she relaxed and smiled. She really liked Zennon, he seemed like a good sort. "Why are you looking for me?" She asked, though still smiling.
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[Gwen Owens-Lee]

With the semester almost over, Gwen knew lots of people were studying in the library for the upcoming exams. It seemed like quite a stressful time for everyone, but Gwen didn't think she was really that stressed. After all, she was only in her first year and she had plenty of time to prove herself to the professors. The Gryffindor took advantage of the fact that everyone was studying however and made her way out onto the grounds, hoping not to find many people out there. She loved the fresh air and was eager to find something interesting to do rather than sit around and try to study. As the girl reached the lakefront she spotted one of her only friends and beamed before walking over to him and another girl. "Hey Zennon!" she exclaimed, smiling at them both. It had seemed like the girl was one of the stressed people studying and Gwen quickly frowned when she realised that, but figured it was a good idea to soak up some sun whilst at it. "Studying sucks." Gwen said, sitting down next to them both. "There are so many better things to do, but at least there's no rule about studying outside." Gwen picked up one of the rocks beside the lake and tried to skid it across the water. However, it didn't quite work and she had simply just thrown it into the water without anything cool happening. The girl chuckled at herself, hoping she hadn't disturbed the two from whatever they were doing.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was happy to be one of the last people active in the assassin game. It awakened her competitive spirit like nothing else. Her new target this week was the same as last week's, which also made her happy. It was a chance for another try to get her, as she had failed the previous time. As she walked outside, she noticed a group of first years by the lake. The girl's red hair stood out, and Phoebe smiled. She'd found her. "Lumos." she whispered, smiling as her wand lit up. Then she approached the girl and tried to tap her on the head while she was distracted throwing rocks at the water.

 

[Gwen Owens-Lee]

Gwen sincerely hoped her intrusion in their conversation was not too big. She always had a tendency to find herself places where she wasn't welcome. The girl picked up another rock to try to throw in the water, even though she knew it probably wasn't going to work, as she waited for an answer from them. But when Gwen felt a presence from behind her she quickly turned around, her rock still in her hand, and almost threw the rock at the person once she realised who it was. The Gryffindor jumped up from where she was sitting, dodging the girl's light at the end of her wand. She was not going to lose the game and took a sigh of relief when she realised her dodge was successful. "Sorry!" she exclaimed with a smirk, not really sorry at all.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei looked up at the new comer as she greeted Zennon and she smiled at the girl, recognizing her from their year. The smile quickly turned into a frown, however, when the girl said studying sucked. You suck was the first thought that went through Analei's head, but she quickly corrected herself. She knew nothing of the girl and she could be a very wonderful person. "Studying's not that bad." Analei replied softly. That was a good enough answer; no feelings hurt. The next few moments happened quickly, the young Hufflepuff wasn't entirely sure what happened, just that the girl she tried to defend in her mind nearly threw a rock at someone. Analei looked at her incredulously before turning to the older girl. "Are you okay?"
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[Zennon Baros]

Zennon grinned at Analei. He threw his arm around her shoulders and poked her in the cheek. "I'm always looking for you silly, when you aren't near me I crave you." He burst into laughter as he said it, unable to hold a straight face. "Ah, I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that, I just heard some upperclassman say it and I thought it was hilarious." He shook his head and waved happily as he saw Gwen approaching. "Hey Gwen! How are you?" Though, he frowned when he realised she was the second person he'd left off of his list. He sighed and facepalmed inwardly. Now he was going to have to give her two candy canes next year. Or maybe two valentine's roses? That might be a better idea. "Analei, this is Gwen, Gwen, Analei, and I'm Zennon... though you both know that. I just like saying my name."

He turned to get his candy cane out of his pocket when suddenly Gwen was lumosed by an older girl and rocks were thrown. Zennon scooted away, so as not to be in the danger zone and laughed. "Gosh, I turn my head for like two seconds and it's like someone let the doxies loose!" He clapped at the development and presented Analei with a candy cane. "Analei, I am so graciously sorry I did not send you a candy cane. Truly, please accept this chocolate and mint one in apology." He held it to her with two hands and his head down, hoping she would understand how truly sorry he was.
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[Gwen Owens-Lee]

Gwen beamed when she was introduced to Zennon's other friend. "Hey Analei!" she exclaimed, waving over at her. She didn't quite understand why Analei was defending studying and pursed her lips, not really bothering to argue against it. Sometimes people just had different opinions and Gwen wasn't going to shut someone down for what they thought. Besides, her and Zennon seemed to be really good friends and Gwen didn't want to have Zennon conflicted if an argument were to start.

As Analei asked the Ravenclaw girl if she was okay, Gwen rolled her eyes slightly, not quite getting why the girl was asking. They were obviously playing a game, and if anyone were to be asked if they were okay it should be Gwen as she was the one that could have potentially been assassinated. The Gryffindor stood back however, not really caring for the girl's response before deciding she would pick up another rock. "Hey, do you know how to do this?" she asked, turning to Zennon. "You know, make the rock jump across the water?" Gwen threw the rock again in another attempt to skid it but it simply landed into the water with a loud splash just like it did before, and the girl shrugged, hoping she'd get the hang of it soon enough.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Though Analei enjoyed the arm being thrown around her (it definitely showed that they were becoming close friends), she looked at the boy incredulously at his replying about craving her. Luckily he quickly rectified it with a laugh, because she had no idea how to respond to that. Did she want to be craved? By Zennon of all people? She enjoyed his company but what did that even mean? She was only eleven after all. Analei laughed and shook her head at the boy. "You're crazy." She responded.
At being introduced to the girl she now knew as Gwen, she smiled at the girl, giving her a tiny wave in response. "Hey Gwen." However she didn't say much more, especially when Zennon grabbed her attention again, and apologized, giving her a candy cane. "Awh! Zennon, this is so sweet! That's fine though, I didn't get you one-" She said, before taking the cane from her friend, with a giggle. "You are very sweet." Again, there wasn't much more that could have been said - not even a hug of thanks before Gwen interrupted asking Zennon something trivial. But she didn't care. This was even better than what Jacob got; hers was specially delivered by her friend himself. Analei turned her attention to Gwen, before giving a small smile to herself. She took out her wand, cast Wingardium Leviosa on a rock, and pointed it to the water, making it jump around the lake; showing off. She was proud of how she had mastered the spell, and was sure she'd be able to keep it going even if she lost concentration.
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[Zennon Baros]

Zennon laughed slightly when he looked back at Analei, he was glad they seemed to have a similar sense of humour at least, it made things so much easier to get along at least. He liked spending time with Analei in a different way than he did with Jacob. Of course that made sense though, they were different people. He was going to have to come up with a nickname for Analei though, calling her Analei all the time was annoying. He loved nicknames. He had to spend more time with her to figure it out. His nickname from Jacob was about their first meeting. Jacob's was a comment on his name. Analei's had to be something unique to her too. He was glad that she liked her candy cane and he was about to pull her in for a hug when Gwen spoke. She was asking about skipping rocks. Zennon frowned at one of the rocks for a moment before pulling his wand out from his pocket and pointing it at one of them. "Wingardium Leviosa." The spell wasn't one he'd learned yet and he frowned. It was clearly a charm and he laughed before standing up and walking over to the rocks, picking one up and throwing it out over the water. It skipped once and sunk. "I need to learn that spell."

*We can probably wrap this up soon.​

 

[Gwen Owens-Lee]

Gwen was somehow bothered by the fact her only friend seemed to have another friend, but she did not show it. It would be wrong of her to intervene in the friendship and so she simply picked up another rock after asking Zennon, waiting for him to have a go. But Analei quickly showed off, levitating a rock and making it skip across the water. The Gryffindor balled her hands into fists, giving the girl a nasty look. Luckily, Zennon's attempt to make another rock levitate made her chuckle, and therefore reduced the risk of any punches being thrown. Gwen did not like people who showed off and so decided to ignore the girl from then on instead to prevent anything else from happening. With the rock in her palm, Gwen took out her wand with her other hand and pointed it at it. "Wingardium Leviosa." she said. She watched as the rock lifted off her hand and attempted to flick it into the water. However, it didn't skid how she wanted it to and simply dropped into the water again. Gwen sighed. "It seems like rocks just don't like us. At least yours skidded a bit." she told Zennon, before picking up another rock.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei giggled when Zennon attempted the spell as well, before dropping her rock and putting her wand away. She would have gladly taught him, but probably not with the other girl around, who seemed to not like Analei, probably because she had been studying. Analei never knew that it was easier to meet people you didn't like than it was to meet people you did, but she had experienced it a lot of the last few weeks. The blonde watched as Gwen tried the spell as well, before speaking to Zennon. Analei hated being ignored, and even though she had gotten a candy cane from Zen, her afternoon seemed to be ruined. She started packing up her things. "Okay, well it was nice to meet you Gwen. I'll see you around Zen. Thanks for the candy." She gave him a smile, practicing her breathing so she didn't freak out as she walked back to her Common Room.
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