It's Been a While

[Claire Aurelious]

Claire's excitement had not faltered from the ceremony to this moment. She still felt all bubbly insie, and felt like she could conquer anything. She had yet to really meet and interact with anyone, but that was alright with her. She would start today. She had plans to go to the courtyard for a bit, and then out to the Garden to see if anyone else was there. She planned on making at least one friend with every place she went that day. And when Claire was determined, she would make it happen. She even wore her favorite shirt to prove that she was ready. Maybe in her subconscious, Claire just sought approval, but that was not something that would even cross her mind. in fact, Claire most likely didn't even know what a subconscious was. It wasn't that Claire was stupid, it was that she hadn't learned yet. Maybe as years went on, she would become more intelligent, wise even. Claire did believe that with age came intelligence.

As she entered the courtyard, a chilly breeze met her pale skin, and goosebumps rose to meet it. Even in spring it was still a little bit chilly; not that she really minded. Anything that had to do with the outdoors made Claire happy. Rain, sleet, cold, hot; she loved it all. She looked around herself at the green grass and the trees and stone walls. There was still a part of her who couldn't believe that she was here. That part of her told her that this was all a dream, and sometimes she would even pinch herself. But, when she never awoke, she found that her excitement was only furthered by the startling reality that she was truly a witch, with witches and wizards all around her. At that moment, Claire noticed one wizard in particular, with curly locks and a tall slightly lanky demeanor. She smiled, he was sitting down, the perfect opportunity. Claire took quiet steps toward him, and then quickly covered his eyes. in her heavy southern drawl she said, "Guess who?" And then giggled. She wondered if he would be as excited to see her, since other than the sorting ceremony, they had only spoken over writing. After becoming fast friends in Brightstone, they had become pen-pals. During the weeks that they wrote back and fourth, they found out nearly everything about each other. Nearly everything. Claire giggled slightly, trying not to think about what they didn't know, and concentrate on what they did. And what she knew, was he was like a best friend to her.
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[Samual Kaster]

Samual was happy about the new year. Being a prefect was a huge shock, but it was greatly welcomed. He was grateful that Professor Kingsley obviously didn't hold the fact that his older sister was expelled against him, he didn't want to follow her example at all, and hoped that his younger family members wouldn't, because that would be dreadful indeed. Sammy wasn't sure he could stand another family member getting in trouble, he already missed Tamalia's presence, not that it was a particularly bright and cheerful presence, but she was his sister, it wasn't like he could hate her, he could never hate her, he was sure he couldn't make it a habit of hating anyone, even if they deserved it. Flipping his curls out of his eyes, Sammy made a beeline for the Courtyard, because it was really the only place he could study, considering he'd get distracted in the Hogwarts Garden or Rosebush, and he really disliked being stuck in libraries for extended periods of time. Pulling out a book for Care of Magical Creatures, though not the Monster Book of Monsters, Sammy sat down and began to read through the text. Over the holidays he had studied a little bit, but his study day had turned into a chatting day in the library, so it didn't really work out well, even though he had tried to learn with Hazel, it just didn't stick because he was too busy having fun. A minor problem that he was sure he'd grow up out, eventually. It wasn't that much of a problem, once classes started he'd be back into the swing of things.

Flipping through the pages, enjoying the quiet of the Courtyard. Sammy was rarely here, because of its quiet nature, he preferred more busier areas, filled with more people, but when studying, people became huge distractions and they had to be removed from his environment, otherwise he'd totally forget about studying and just have fun instead. Having someone come up behind him, and cover his eyes was a shock at first, because it wasn't something he was used to, and instinctively began to peel off the hands, but stopped when he recognized the voice. Claire Adkins, the young girl he'd me before she even started at Hogwarts, they'd kept in contact, like he promised they would via owl, and it was a surprised that she was sorted in Gryffindor, but it was also exciting because it was cool that he knew one First year. "Hey Claire! How are you?" He asked, totally forgetting the book on his lap and turning around to see the young girl.
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[Claire Aurelious]

When Claire covered Samual's eyes, it instantly reminded her of her seventh birthday. it was when she got Apple-Jack, a now four year old mare that she could call her very own. Her father had blindfolded her and carried her outside, all the while she was laughing. it was a fond memory. She remembered her surprise when he removed her blindfold and the little filly was standing right by her mother. It was the the best experiences of her young life. It had showed Claire that her parents could trust her, which only made her respect for them grow. When Same started to peel her hand off she laughed, not letting go immediately. "No, ya gotta guess!" She said. He would have to guess before she removed her hands. That was the way the game worked, right? That was always the way it was played where she came from anyways. When Sammy guessed correctly, she pulled her hands away. "You got me!"She exclaimed with a laugh.

Sammy and Claire had met over his break, and had began writing letters to each other as soon as possible. The first letter she had ever gotten was a strange one; it came by owl. He had then explained that all letters went by owl. It was neat, an interesting way of doing things. It even seemed as if it was a faster way of doing things too. "I'm doing wonderfully!" She exclaimed. Claire was always doing wonderfully. She plopped down beside him, unafraid of dirt on her jeans, as always. "What about you, Sam?" She asked. Sammy Kaster was a lot like her, cheery and funny. Claire's favorite thing was his accent, it always sounded so funny to her. "Can you believe I'm in Gryffindor with you! And you're a perfect," She said, mispronouncing Prefect. "That's so exciting!"
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[Samual Kaster]

After a few seconds, Claire's hands finally moved from his eyes and he could see again. Sammy knew that Claire was the one covering his eyes, it was pretty easy to guess that she had covered his eyes. How many girls did he know that had that funny accent? One, and that was Claire, he didn't know anyone else with her interesting accent, infact, he'd never quite heard the accent before, so he easily remembered it. "It wasn't that difficult, so of course I got you." Moving his book to the other side of him and flipping his curls out of his eyes, he patted the space beside him, telling her that she could sit down if she wanted, which she did.

Sammy nodded quietly. It was good that Claire was doing well, as he was too and it would be easier to say that he was doing well. It was never comfortable to say that you were going great when someone else was feeling horrible, but Claire seemed to always be happy, so he wouldn't have expected any other answer, coming from her. "Oh I'm good, it feels good to be back here again for another year." Hogwarts was like home, and sometimes Sam even felt a little homesick when he wasn't here, he felt a little bad about it because this wasn't his home, but in more ways than one it was. He had family here, and friends, a bed, kitchen and all the other stuff that a home had, and it just felt right being here, while his real home was more of a war zone with Tamalia staying there now. She never did get on well with Lisa, and now was no different, especially since they were both fuming at each other. Sammy shrugged slightly, he was amazed that he was prefect, there were probably far more deserving people, he was happy for Aphrodite, though he had never really gotten to know her, she seemed really nice. Claire mispronounced 'prefect', but he got the idea that she meant to say prefect, not perfect, so he didn't mention it. "The Hat knows best. I think you suit Gryffindor, anyway. It's a great house." Though his opinion was probably bias, considering he was in Gryffindor himself, he still believed that Gryffindor was a great house. "So I guess you're enjoying being here, at Hogwarts?" He asked. Claire certainly seemed excited. It was nice, since he'd met her before Hogwarts, he was sure that she'd learn about magic quickly, since she didn't seem very educated in it
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[Claire Aurelious]

There was something about seeing Sammy that made Claire's day just so much better. He was a nice guy, he made her laugh, he had a nice accent, and he was in her house. That was a list of the reasons, though in some aspects it went much deeper than that. Though Claire had never thought it before, and would never think it to herself consciously, Sammy was cute. He was obviously smart to be a prefect, and a small, childish crush might have been forming in Claire's mind. She would never pick up on it, because even signals like butterflies were not an obvious give away to the innocent first year. She rolled her eyes. "Well why wasn't it difficult?" She asked him, pouting slightly. With as many students as there were in the school, she had thought that he wouldn't have been able to guess. Or did he just pick up on her voice that well?

She watched him flip his curls and then listened to him as he talked. She was glad he liked the school as much as she does. "Isn't this school amazin'? It's big, and fun, the pictures move!" Claire exclaimed. Everything was exciting and new to the young muggle-born. 'It's nothin' like home, and I miss mom and dad, but how could I not be smilin'. I saw some pictures actually talking. And they talked back when I said hi!" She was so excited, and it teemed in her words. it was obvious on her face too, as she let a grin that could split a normal person's face in half, lay on her lips. She looked straight into Samual's green eyes as she spoke, never once losing eye contact. Claire always made eye contact when she was talking, or when someone else was talking. "Well thank ya kindly, Sam." She said with a smile. She gave a slight tilt of her straw hat, like any country person would do. "I'm just glad i know someone in my house, it makes everything easier! So wahtcha doin'?"
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[Samual Kaster]

Samual saw Claire as a sort of younger sister, though it was difficult because he didn't really have a young sister, except Bethany, but she was far too young to be able to relate to anyone at Hogwarts, she was four after all, nearly five. So she was definitely like no-one here. Although, he'd be ecstatic is Bethany was like Claire, funny, kind and nice, because he would really love to have her as his sister then. Hopefully she wouldn't be like Tamalia, getting into fights, detentions and being expelled wasn't exactly something he wanted his family to experience again, because it ruined them once, twice would just be disastrous for his family. Laughing slightly, Sammy shrugged. "I haven't really heard your accent before, ever, it's quite unique actually. So I remembered it really easily." He explained. His own accent was mundane, to him anyway. There were probably many Australian turned New Zealanders in the school, since Hogwarts was in new Zealand, and Australia was its neighbouring country, so his Australian/New Zealander accent would probably be quite common amoungst the halls of Hogwarts. "Don't pout at me like that, it makes me feel guilty." He added, chuckling as he spoke.

Sammy listened to what Claire had to say, ad he agreed with her. "When I first came here, I was really lonely because I missed my family so much. But the castle grows on you in no time." Samual had missed his family so much that he had actually forced them to move to New Zealand so they would be closer to him, now that he looked back on that, he was being quite ridiculous, but it worked and he'd settled in quite fine in his opinion. "I love the paintings, I used to spend all of my time there because they were funny. Once I accidentally knock one over and the poor thing went flying past the border and out of sight." He recalled, shaking his head at the memory. Moving paintings and pictures were nothing knew for him, but his home pictures and paints didn't talk, something that he was saddened by, since most of them were pictures and paintings of his family members that he'd never get the chance to talk to again. It was good to see Claire to excited, it just made Sammy all the more excited to be there with her, her emotions were starting to rub off on him. It was still odd to be referred to as Sam, since people usually called him Sammy or Samual, but he was fine with being called Sam, it was something new. Sammy nodded in agreement. "I was pleased when I got Gryffindor, because my sister was in the house, so I get what you mean entirely." He commented, then looked down at his Care of Magical Creatures book. "I was just doing some light studying for my care of Magical Creatures class, I don't want to fall behind and wind up lossing an arm." He joked, though it was pretty true, if he messed up in the class at the wrong moment, he could get seriously hurt and that didn't seem like much fun at all.
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[Claire Aurelious]

Just as Sammy found Claire to be his younger sister, in the front of her mind, she thought of him as a brother. Claire had never been taught about crushes, or what to do if you like someone; her parents had saved that talk for when she was older and wiser. The didn't want to corrupt her, after all, she was only a girl, and so innocent. For Claire, though, innocent meant oblivious. if she did have the misfortune of learning from someone who wasn't going to respect her, then she would be in loads of trouble. The wrong people often time took advantage of people like Claire; and people like Claire were almost always too nice to say anything. "My accent, unique?" Claire though back. She hadn't met anyone with the same accent either. Then again, there were tons of people in the school. She wondered if she was the only one from Georgia; since she knew at least two whom were from America. She then giggled slightly at his 'feeling guilty' comment. She gave him a playful shove and said, "Oh don't feel guilty, I was only tryin' to ruffle your feathers!" she said with a grin. Claire loved to joke with people, she felt that it kept conversations light and friendly. She didn't like sadder conversations, but she would sit and listen if someone needed her too.

"it's already grown on me, like stink on a pig!" She exclaimed. "I think it's so weird how they can go from one paintin' to another. My paintin's back home never did that!" She didn't get much time to talk about much else when she heard the name of the class he was studying for. Claire reached across his lap, supporting herself by placing a slightly bony hand on Samual's thigh. Once she had pulled back she began flipping through it. Claire normally din't do something like that, but she was just so distracted by the book, she couldn't help herself. "I'm sorry bout the reach!" she said, smiling at him. Claire was innocent enough to not realize just how awkward the moment might or might not have been. She then looked back to the book, reading it, quietly and out loud. it was almost a quirk that she couldn't just read in her head. She had never been able to though. Her mother had tried and tried to teach her how to, but Claire always resorted back to reading aloud. She read much faster that way, and was almost three pages into the book, when she looked up and said. "When do i get to take this class? it's amazing. So many animals!"
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[Samual Kaster]

Samual looked up at the sky and the shadow of a frown crossed his face for maybe a second, something that rarely happened when he was happy, but in the sky was a nasty looking cloud, one that looked like it would shower down soon and force them to go inside, something that Samual wasn't looking forward to. Samual loved the outdoors, but if he stayed out when it was raining, he'd probably catch a cold and be bedridden for days. Being sick sucked and Sammy really hated it, it was hard to be happy when you were sick with the flu, and since Sammy wasn't one for medicine, so he'd refuse potions and other things that would help him heal. Although Sammy was a sweet kid, he was a very stubborn patient. Sammy nodded. "Exactly. It's unique and I've never heard one quite like it before, but I've only been to Europe and that, so I've only heard certain accents." One of Sammy's favourite accents was the German accent, which belonged to half of his family, the magical German half. Sammy rolled his eyes when she shoved him lightly. "Of course you were."

Samual laughed, some of the things Claire said sounded really odd, she seemed to have a weird sentence to describe every situation, it was amazing how differently they spoke English, even though it was all the same language in the end. "I find it funny, sometimes the settling will be of a more modern time, and then you'll find a knight sitting down, having for a cup of tea!" He'd seen that happen once, he had no idea where the knight was from, but he was there and enjoying himself greatly. "Pictures and that at my home move and that, but unfortunately they don't speak, but I guess if they ever did, there'd just be more noise in the house, and my sister is someone that likes quiet." He added with a shrug. When Claire leaned across him, at first Samual had no idea what she was doing, but soon realised and relaxed. Thankfully she didn't seem to realise how awkward the situation could have potentially been. "Um... don't worry, it's fine. Though next time you can just ask for it and I'll give it to you." Crossing his legs, Samual smiled slightly, to prove that there was no harm done. Watching her read the book, Sammy laughed slightly. "Third year, it's an elective, one of the best there is in my opinion."
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[Claire Aurelious]

Claire gawked slightly at him, tilting her head to the side. Her locks fell over her shoulder, and the hat slipped slightly. "Only been to Europe?" She asked. "You have to come to Georgia with me sometime. We can see the rodeo, and you can look at all the animals, meet all the family I got back home..." Claire trailed off a little bit, and smiled. "Sorry, talkin' a lot seems to be my thing." She giggled a little bit. Claire was a talker, and she couldn't help it. Her mother said that Claire came out practically talking, and as a baby she rarely cried, only giggled. it made Claire happy to think she was a happy baby too. it made sense, she had a wonderful family with two parent who love each other very much. "i think you would love to swim in the ocean too, but it's a bit of a drive. Have you ever ridden in a car, or do witches and wizards have other means? I mean, I know you have... brooms." She slowed down a little bit at the end, thoroughly embarrassed that she could ramble like that. Claire smiled when he responded to her joke.

It was almost amazing to Claire that he understood her half of the time. When she had traveled up north to visit her Grandma Nancy, she had a little trouble understanding the sayings. it wasn't a universal thing, after all. It was amazing that Claire was still as sheltered from the world as she was, considering she had family all over America. She had been to a few states other than Georgia, but even then, her family lived in rural areas. She smiled and looked back up at Samual. "Isn't that somethin'?" She asked in reply to his comment. Before this, she had never seen anything like that. The nights who were with fair maidens, just like in her stories. "I sent a movin' one to my Ma and Pa, and they loved it. They can't wait to see more." Claire felt her cheeks tint pink and she nodded. 'I know, it was awful rude of me." She said, and tried to laugh it off. 'this book is amazin'." Was all she could say in response. "i hope I can take this class my third year, but all the classes seem interesin'!" Claire looked up where Samual had been lookin before. There was a threatening cloud, and she took a slight breath. While Claire loved the rain, storms she hated. They made loud noises that made her jump. Claire had never liked loud noises. "Do you like rain?" She asked, looking back into his green orbs.
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[Samual Kaster]

Samual nodded. Europe had many places to it, mostly he was in Germany or France, since he had family and friends in both areas. Occasionally his family would go to Scotland and meet up with some of his parents friends, but that wasn't very often, especially these days. "Europe's no that bad." He said, shaking his head slightly, then shrugging. Obviously Sammy had never seen a rodeo in his life, he'd never had the chance to see one because he was more of a home person. But he did know of them, since Abbey had once gone to see one and wrote a letter telling them all about them, and it seemed pretty interesting. "You get my sister to let me go and sure I'll be there." He joked. The prefect doubted that Lisa would let him go to Georgia by himself, she'd probably worry far too much for her own health. "Naah it's fine. Continue chattering, I don't mind." At what Claire said next, Samual shifted his weight in anxiety. The Gryffindor had ridden in cars before, but only about three or four times, cars weren't his thing, but Claire mentioning him swiming in the ocean was what got him uncomfortable, since he was unable to swim and hated large bodies of water. "Actually I'd probably build sandcastles at beaches, it's better than swimming."

Sammy nodded, though it wasn't all too amazing for him, since he'd grown up with all of that. What amazed him was how muggles could withstand none-moving pictures, and sit in cars for long periods of time. Sam preferred walking, or flu-powder, sometimes he'd even apparate with one of his older siblings, though he always worried about being splinched, it had yet to happen. Hearing that Claire had sent her family something from Hogwarts, Sam felt a little guilty since he'd rarely sent his family anything, he never knew what they wanted since they were difficult people to shop for, except maybe Amanra, but that was because she never really complained about things and would accept anything with open arms. "Oh it's okay." He replied quietly, watching the young girl examine the book with great interest. "It is pretty amazing, and thankfully this one doesn't try to bite you." He added, thinking of his other Care of Magical Creatures book that once tried to eat his shoes. At the question of rain, Sammy nodded slightly. "I like rain, but only if it's light, otherwise I catch the worst colds. It's horrible." He explained. That was probably the same for most people. Rain was nice, but not once you caught a cold from it.
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[Claire Aurelious]

Claire looked at him and her eyes got a little wide. she suddenly felt like she had said something wrong, like maybe she had insulted Europe in some fashion. "Oh no, no, no!" She said, waving her hands back and fourth a bit. "I'm sure it's really nice, i just, well, I hope I didn't insult Europe!" She giggled a little at the end, almost nervously. Claire never wanted to upset anyone. She was a bit of a people pleaser, though that was something that didn't bother Claire to be. She enjoyed making everyone around her happy. "i'll have to convince her somehow! You'd love the animals. And you could go out to the old pond. We swing off the willow branches and into the pond!" She exclaimed. Talking about home always made her feel so much better. There was something about the country toads, and the love of her warm home. The horses, and the smell of grass and the outdoors. She giggled slightly at his comment and nodded. But then became curious. sandcastles were fun, but they weren't better than swimming. Claire had been in the water since she was old enough. "Better than swimmin'?" She asked and then laughed. "You're such a kidder, Sammy!" She said, giving him a gentle push. She shook her head. "Maybe i'd just bury you in the sad, huh?'; She asked with a slight laugh, her smile wide.

nothing about the conversation had caused Claire to become as curious as what Samual had said about the book that tried to bite. "A book that bites?" She asked, her eyes were the size of the moon, and the curiosity oozed into her voice, making her wonderment obvious. "I've never heard of a bitin' book. Back home, paper cuts were the worst things ever. Biting book sounds worse though? Did it ever bite you?" She then nodded at what he said about colds. It seemed that Claire didn't get sick very often, but when she did she was out for days at a time. She once caught the flu and stayed in the hospital for a week. She looked at Samual, and felt a light drop on her nose. She looked up a bit, the water having dripped off the tip. "I don't like loud noises. And storms are pretty loud!" Claire said, without even thinking about waht she was saying. She didn't usually talk about her fears. She felt comfortable with Samual, though. She felt like she could say anything.​

 

[Samual Kaster]

Sammy shook his head as Claire began reacting as if she had done something wrong, which she hadn't, it was obviously a miscommunication. It made him laugh slightly, letting her no that no harm was done. It was all okay. "It is nice. But I didn't think you insulted Europe." He stated, making sure that she settled herself down before she worked herself up too much. Sammy laughed at the thought of Claire interacting with Lisa, trying to persuade her to let Samual go to another country without a family member. He was sure that Lisa would have enough of her persuading, but would probably end up giving her a plane ticket back home, or getting Hayden to aparate her there. Either way, he didn't see the stubborn Lisa folding to a young, jubilant girl like Claire. He was sure such a thing would never happen, Lisa rarely let him suggest anything that involved no supervision, so he doubted that she'd allow a stranger to change her mind. "Lisa's very stubborn. She likes knowing what's going on with the family at all times, so she doesn't appreciate people meddling, especially if it means that she can't be in control." He explained, shrugging off the thoughts of his eldest sister. He loved her dearly, just like all of his siblings, but sometimes she was more of a strict mother than a controlling sister. Sammy shrugged. He didn't make it a habit to tell people that he couldn't swim, it was such a stupid weakness. Who couldn't swim? Practically everyone on the planet could swim except babies, and even some of them could swim better than Sammy ever could. "I think the art of castle making with sand is very important and shouldn't be lost." He joked, making sure Claire understood that it was a joke. "I don't think so. I've never been buried in my life, so I won't be buried by you." He protested in a joking tone.

Sammy laughed when Claire took particular interest in his biting school book. Sure, it sounded fun to someone that had not been burdened with a particularly naughty one, but once it started munching on your shoes, the hilariousness of the book disappeared. "Well, if you do Care of Magical Creatures, you'll most certainly need one." He commented, smiling brightly at the curiosity that she seemed to emit from her body. He couldn't help but wonder whether his mother was similar to Claire in her younger years, they both grew up in quiet, isolated places, and both knew absolutely nothing before their magical schooling. "I've never personally been bitten by my book, but there have been some close calls, I've lost many good shoes because of it." He explained, with a shrug. It wasn't a dream of his to be bitten by his book, so he took extra care. Claire's eyes moved to the sky, and Samual's soon followed. The clouds were very dark now and were starting to release small drops of water, nothing to be worried about. Yet. Samual agreed with Claire on loud noises and nodded. "Yeah, especially if you're about to go to sleep, and than a huge clap happens right near your window. It's pretty hard to get back to sleep afterwards." He admitted, keeping tabs on the weather in case it got worse, forcing them to move under shelter.
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[Claire Aurelious]

Claire watched Sammy shake his head, and she smiled. She really would have hated to insult Europe. Claire didn't really have it in her to intentionally insult anything; or anyone for that matter. She was a bit of a doormat, and unfortunately, this would not make her life easier as she got older. Claire wasn't quiet aware of it yet, but people took advantage of people like her. Claire had never heard from her dad, but he had went through the same thing before he'd toughed up. The niceties that Claire had, ran in the family. She smiled at Samual, and nodded when he spoke about his mom. She could understand. "Well of course she's that way. She's watchin' out for her kin. My parents have a different view; they think learnin' from yer mistakes is the best way to learn!" She nodded at the end of her sentence, her waves falling slightly in her face. She moved them aside with her hand, and kept looking up at Samual to see what he had to say next. Claire really loved having a friend like him, who was just as optimistic. Then something struck her as odd, a little late in the conversation. "Why'd ya call her by her first name?" She asked. "I'd never call my Ma by her first name, oh doggy I'd get a whippin'." Claire giggle at Samual's words. "You're so silly, Sammy." She said. Se giggled at the way he was, he really was a funny guy. Claire loved to swim, and really do anything that had to do with the outdoors. "And we'll see about that!"

Claire felt another raindrop on the tip of her nose, and looked up. She wiped it away, trying to ignore it., but felt another his her hand.They were small drops, the sign of maybe a sprinkle coming. "The book ate yer shoes!?" She exclaimed in surprise. She had never heard such a ridiculous statement. Where she came from, that would be crazy talk. She felt a little more rain come own, and the sprinkle had began. Claire didn't fear rain, not in the least bit. if it started thundering, though, she might have more issues. She felt her stomach grumble. When was the last time she had eaten? Claire was bad about eating when she was excited, and the past week or so was all about excitement. Maybe she needed to get herself some food. She shivered slightly and looked at Samual. "Rainin'. I love the rain."
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