I Need Comfort

[Charmaine Zsigmond]

Charmaine needed to get out. She'd been closing herself up in her room for days because whenever she would head out and venture in the confines of the castle, it seems that she always ends up in some kind of trouble with the other first years. The young Hufflepuff decided that being alone just makes her more depressed that she already was and she already seemed like she was sulking, especially in the eyes of her roommates, and she was not liking how they were reacting at all. And so, here she was, getting some more suitable clothes for the outside weather as she had already decided about once again going out of the castle wherein she felt less lonelier than usual and where she could just be herself.

As soon as the young girl got out of the dormitories, she immediately made her way out of the common room. She had either been sulking in her room or in the common room and so now, she wasn't very willing to stay in the Hufflepuff rooms as well, and so she continued her way down the stairs until she managed to make it out of the castle. It was a nice winter day and she just loved the whiteness of everything around her. It was cold, yes, but it was worth it in the eyes of Charmaine. She made her way through the snow and approached the lake which was now frozen solid. The view was absolutely breathtaking as she took a seat on the cold ground and watched as others were having the time of their lives with their friends, while she, she was alone and never expected that the ones she was trying to escape from in Germany would haunt her here in New Zealand. Bullies.

 

[Jessie Vega]

Jessie loved this time of year. After breakfast Jessie pulled on her favorite coat and headed out into the snow. She knew that winter would soon be coming to an end, signaling the beginning of the school year so she was determined to enjoy the season before the snow melted away into Spring. She made her way out of the castle and onto the grounds. Jessie had spent the last few days sat in the common room, scanning through her new textbooks and watching the new first years get used to their new surroundings. Some of the first years were not having as good a time as some others. Jessie had heard that some of the first years were being bullied. She wasn't sure who the students were but he hoped that she would be able to stand up for herself and make them back off.

When Jessie arrived at her favorite spot by the lake, she found a young blonde girl already there looking out over the frozen lake. She looked unhappy, maybe she was the girl who had been bullied. Jessie made her way over to the girl and stood beside her. "Hey their, you look a little gloomy," She said with a smile.

 

[Charmaine Zsigmond]

Charmaine just absolutely loves sports and adventures, and that was the reason why it made school back in Germany bearable. Because she had lots to do and stuff that could keep her mind off of the bullies were plenty. But here in New Zealand, she was absolutely clueless. She had a German accent and had no clue about the seasons or how they work. She wasn't exactly the smartest nor the bravest but she was most absolutely one who would do anything to have someone with her. Not only was being in New Zealand making it hard for her, but also the confines of the magical world as she deemed it for she mostly had no idea what they were talking about most of the time or what exactly was going on. While others had no idea when they first arrived, they had slowly been able to keep up unlike the young Hufflepuff whom had been barely able to understand the whole situation every single time.

Sitting around with her thoughts in her head, Raine nearly jumped as she suddenly heard another girl spoke. "U-uhhh... H-hi?" the young 'Puff said not exactly knowing what to do. While she had already come face to face with many people in the castle, she had no idea what to do at the moment. The seemingly older girl was telling her that she looked gloomy and Raine could only nod her head absent-mindedly. Not only was she looking gloomy, but she was feeling gloomy as well. And now, she could only hope that this girl with her would not make it worse.

 

[Jessie Vega]

Jessie knew how it felt to feel like an outcast. When she first got to Hogwarts she didn't have any friends and she spent a lot of days feeling lonely. Jessie didn't like seeing people unhappy, especially young girls from her own house. It was easy for young girls to feel lonely and insecure, having felt like that herself Jessie did her best to help out when she saw others feeling bad. She looked on at the girl sitting in front of the frozen lake and wondered what was troubling her, was she homesick, was she muggle born and feeling out of her depth like she was, or was something deeper going on. "I'm Jessie, you look like something might be bothering you, you can talk to me if that will help," Jessie smiled doing her best to make the girl feel comfortable around her, sometimes when a person is upset they just need to feel like they have a friend.

 

[Charmaine Zsigmond]

Charmaine just wasn't one to suddenly approach anyone and others normally don't approach her for simple comfort. But right now, she was highly appreciating the presence of the older girl. She hadn't expected it, yes, but as they say 'Expect the unexpected.' She knew she should have done that, but she doesn't really know what to look out for anymore. Is she suppose to expect friends? Enemies of her own? Bullies? Or someone like the girl standing beside her. As soon as the older girl had said her name, Raine smiled. A genuine smile despite the gloom that was surrounding her moments ago. "I'm Charmaine," the younger replied as she scooted a bit to side, patting the snow-filled ground beside her. "Want to stay here with me? The view is absolutely breathtaking," she said as she turned her head looking at the frozen waters once again. Maybe Jessie would be able to help her.

 

[Jessie Vega]

Jessie was happy to see the young girl welcome her and was even happier when the girl gave her a genuine and warm smile. The smile warmed her chilled body, "It's nice to meet you Charmaine," She said as she took a seat in the snow beside her. "I don't often meet people out here when its like this, not that many people chose to leave the warm confides of their common rooms," She smiled, she remembered on her way out seeing a lot of people huddled in front of the fire staying inside and staying warm. Jessie remembered getting some funny looks as she made her way to the main doors of the castle and let herself outside onto the frozen grounds. "Of course, I'll stay with you, I love the grounds like this, its beautiful and scenes like this aren't common in this part of the world," Jessie could have waffled on for hours about how much she loved snow and ice and winter weather but she knew that Charmaine was out here for a reason and maybe Jessie could help her. "Are you ok Charmaine, you seem like something is bothering you," She asked.

 

[Charmaine Zsigmond]

Well, it was a nice feeling that Charmaine wasn't alone anymore. The presence of the girl named Jessie just seemed to take all the gloom away. After all it was much more fun to be with another person without a care in the world. "It's nice meeting you here too," Charmaine said, a smile gracing her German features, especially after what Jessie told her about not meeting people outside. "I don't usually meet people," Charmaine admitted. Well, it was certainly true and when she does meet someone it would always have a fifty percent chance of a bully. "I love the outdoors no matter the weather or season," the young Hufflepuff said as she transferred her gaze back to the view offered to her by the snow-filled surroundings and no matter how many times she looks at it, she never gets tired of the beauty it's offering her. "That's great then!" the girl said energetically as the older girl told her that she'd be able to stay with her. The young girl could only continue looking on to the frozen lake as she shook her head a bit in response to the girl's question. "Well, you see, I don't come from a magical family. I grew up like any other normal, non-magical humans," Charmaine explained as she missed her family more as she rarely even had the time with them before she came to Hogwarts and now it just seemed impossible that she'd still be able to see them during vacation with their hectic schedule. "I was glad to come here because I thought that I could escape from the bullies from school," the younger continued explaining as she remembered he old school but upon remembering she could only utter, "But it seems that there are scarier people here."

 

[Jessie Vega]

Jessie knew what it was like to feel different, to feel like you no longer belong in the world you grew up in. That's how she felt when she got her Hogwarts admission letter and every time she went home during the holidays. On the outside her family continued to accept her and love her but she couldn't help but shake a nagging feeling they saw her differently, maybe even feared her a little because the truth was she was different now. Jessie could happily look out over the frozen lake all day and enjoy the scenery of the snow covered grounds but she knew that wasn't the reason she had sat down. "I know how you feel, I was bullied when I was at Muggle primary school, I started to show magical ability and I couldn't explain it so the kids picked on me calling me weird and saying I was a freak, I suppose I got lucky when I got here because for the most part it stopped," She tried to smile, it wasn't fair that sweet girls like Charmaine were bullied, it was one thing for it to happen in the muggle world, they were different and people didn't always understand, but there was no reason for it to continue at Hogwarts.

 

[Charmaine Zsigmond]

Charmaine had next to no idea of what her family might think of her now since she was not considered normal anymore in the eyes of the non-magical folk. She had received her Hogwarts letter while the rest of her family was away on business trips. The hotel chain was steadily growing and so she couldn't blame them if they were too busy. And so, she had just given her brother a call since she trusted him the most. Raine figured that it would be better if it was her brother telling their parents the news. She didn't know how they reacted though since she didn't receive another call since then and before heading off to New Zealand. Her train of thoughts were suddenly stopped as soon as Jessie had begun to speak. She was glad that they shared almost the same memory, but difference is, bullying hasn't stopped yet. For some unlucky stroke of the wheel of life, Raine somehow ended up below continued to being bullied by those who thought they were higher than she ever was and probably ever will be. "You're really lucky, Jessie," she said pertaining to the fact that the bullying had stopped when she reached Hogwarts. How the younger wished that the bullies she met would cut it off as well. She was not really a threat to anyone was she? She wasn't the prettiest nor the smartest! They're magical and know magic for crying out loud while she knew nothing about it!