It's Been An Age

[Kate Archer]

Kate walked down to the common room and sat down the couch by the fireplace. There really was no need for the big fire as the sun was shinning outside but it was still comforting and gave the common room a nice feel. Kate was feeling happy these days. It was nice not having to worry about anything. She was finally free from all the worries that had plagued her since second year. She had none of those problems anymore. She was living her life like a proper sixteen year old. She and Stefan had spent their first Christmas together and it had been wonderful. Definitely on of the best Christmas' yet. It had been nice to spend Christmas day with the person she loved most.She hated leaving him as she always missed him and worried about how he would be while she was gone. She hoped her present helped him. She was looking forward to when she could see him again. She was planning on making more process with his family. She really had a gut feeling that he and Tybalt were related. To get things going she had to find Tybalt to show him the picture Stefan had given her. She still had it in her bedside locker in her dorm room.

Kate got up from the sofa and headed for the Great Hall. Her shoulder was a bit sore. It was still a bit funny after the combination of her falling of a tree and getting hit by a bludger. The magic potions had been great, it had certainly eased the ,pain and she had recovered in jig time but there were moments , especially if she had slept a weird way that her soulder complained. Her legs and ankle were pretty much okay, she had been pretty beaten up after the quidditch match and after falling from the tree. Falling from teh tree was really something she hadn't expected. She had just been bored and had climbed up the tree by chance, she had just been curious as she had never climbed many trees before and funnily enough Sammy had had the same idea as her. Unfortunately her brain hadn't liked the distance between her and the ground, resulting in her fainting and knocking both herself and Sammy out of the tree. Kate sighed as she entered the hall. She was hungry and the sight of all the food made her stomach rumble. She quickly walked over to the table and sat down. She then began making her breakfast.

 

[Tara Sitara]

Life in the castle had changed for tara over the last year.she had gone from engaged to single and spent a lot of time on her own trying to work out what she was meant to do next. she knew Praneil had promised to look after her family but she still felt like she should do something, he had his own wife now and she was sure he had more use of money. she had spent her free time preying, meditating, painting and cooking. finally she had decided that she needed to sort her own job out. She had written to Praneil and he had suggested one for her. it sounded like a really good job for over the holidays as the job was as a cook for a wealthy family and she had come to the conclusion she wanted to cook when she left school, open a cafe as she knew art wold not pay well enough to keep her supported and her family back home.
this morning she headed down to breakfast dressed in a simple grey dress ready for breakfast. she looked down the table and saw sitting at the hufflepuff table Kate moon. the girl had been her best friend over their earlier years but they hadn't been as close recently as Kate had gotten into her music and tara her art. She sat down next to her. "Hello Kate, I feel like we haven't spoken for ages" she said in greeting as she sat down next to her and helped herself to some cereal for breakfast.

 

[Kate Archer]

Kate's circle of friends had changed a lot over the years. Now it was Sammy and Stefan who were her closest friends. She had no girl friends other then Tara but she had spoken to her in ages. She hadn't seen Sapphire since the beginning of the year either and she missed having the girl confidant she could tell anything to. Now that her life was back on track and normal for once she wanted to get back in touch with some of her friends. She was amazed that herself and Tara had not spoken in so long. They were room-mates after all. They had just kept missing each other and she had always been going to bed late, after trying to finish homework that she should have done weeks ago. She really was terrible for doing projects. With homework that had to be done for tomorrow or the day after she was usually good but when it came to things that had to be in next week or after a few weeks she was hopeless. It was a failing of hers that she had hoped to get rid of by now but sadly it seemed it was sticking with her.

She assembled a breakfast of some cereal and two slices of toast. Kate was never one to eat small amounts of food. Ever since she had been unable to eat she tended to not take food for granted. Plus she needed to keep at the weight she was now or she would go back looking like a stick again. That was a place she never wanted to visit again. She was happy with her current weight and she was sticking with it. She looked up when she heard a familiar voice. "Hey Tara"She said smiling, glad that she was finally getting to talk to her best friend. The two really had some things to catch up on. "I know. How have you been?"She asked wanting to catch up on all the chat they had missed out on.

 

[Tara Sitara]

Tara gave her friend a hug in greeting. she realised how in her own little world she would she had been in the last year trying to figure things out and in some ways turning back into the girl she had been in first year. spending much of her time in the grounds drawing, she had sketch pads full of pictures of the lake, the forest (from the outside) plants flowers, people who she either sketched from a distance or got permission to draw closer up. the best ones of the pictures papered her edge of the dorm wall along with photos of her family and friends. She spent the rest of her time in the kitchens practising what her mum had taught her over the holidays, it was now more important than ever as it may be her cooking that would get her a job. her new find was a watermelon curry that was actually not as weird as she knew it sounded. the coolness of the fruit contrasted with the heat of the source in a delicious explosion.
She looked a kate, she looked really well, both physically and also emotionally, no nightmares and she hadn't seen her upset all year. "I've been pretty goo same old, same old really, drawing cooking, studying" she said, it was true though she didn't realise that she may have changed a bit. the reason for this could be seen just by looking at her hands, the rings that had been on her left hand the start of the previous year had gone, one, the claddagh ring she had got from Kates sister sara for her birthday in her first year was nor comfortably on her right hand, and the engagement ring was in a safe box in her dorm given to her as a token of thanks for breaking off the engagement. "How have you been? is everything alright?" she asked hoping that her friend was as happy and healthy as she looked.

 

[Kate Archer]

For Kate the last few years had been hell. She had never in her wildest dreams imagine what had happened to her. She had always been the one to look at the glass as half full not empty. She had always tried to look at the brighter side of life. She had believed that there was no point thinking of all the negative things when there were many more things to be positive about. This attitude had helped her through some rough patches in her life, that and Stefan. Two essentials things that had really helped her. Some people may wonder how Stefan had helped her as she ha quite a few bad memories of him. A Lot of the rough patches had been centered around him and his stubbornness but the happy memories with her were so much better. Easier in her mind to focus on. It made life happier when she only thought of the nice memories between the two. It's one of the reasons she didn't give up on him. Even when he had said things to her that had hurt badly she just remembered the good times. It had turned out well in the end. They were now a couple, a happy one at that.

Kate gave Tara a tight hug in return. She had missed her best friend and now they had plenty to catch up on. "Glad to hear" She said smiling. Tara was really good at art and cooking. Art was Tara's thing and music was hers while they both enjoyed cooking. Studying was something that she wasn't entirely fond with at all, she had to be pushed to do studying which always caused problems. "Things are great actually" She said smiling. Te last time she had seen Tara, the letter had arrived from Praneil causing all sorts of panic. Kate looked down at her friends hand and grinned "I see you have no wing"She said wondering how this had happened "It all turned out well in the end I hope" She said giving her friend another tight squeeze. She was grinning wildly. She had never liked the whole engagement thing and she had secretly yhoped something would happen.

 

[Tara Sitara]

Tara knew that kate had been through a lot recently and now wished that she had spent more time with her friends. she would try and do so in the future she promised herself. she had briefly lost site on what was important for her obsessing over her family, who were one, but neglecting her friends, who were a close second, and going through a lot when she knew her family was being looked after where her friends may not have been.
When kate noticed that she had no engagement ring she nodded. "yes, it happened october over a year ago." she said it had been on the brightstone weekend "he is now married to the lilith and they are happy" she said. she wasn't sure on if she was happy with the break up or not, she was she was sure, she hadn't wanted to be in the marriage but she had wanted it for her family. "yes i hope it did work well. he promised to help my family which is what I wanted" she said. wanting to turn the conversation she though of another friend who she had been thinking about a fair bit as he had vanished. "Have you heart from Stefan at all?" she asked. Stefan had been one of the first people that she had met at the school and she knew kate had been close to him.

 

[Kate Archer]

Kate smiled, she had never liked the fact Tara was in an arranged marriage.She hadn't wanted to say anything to her as she hadn't wanted her to feel any worse, she had just tried to be supportive and be there for her friend when she needed it. Unfortunately she had been going through her own problems so she hadn't been able to be there as much as she wanted to but now she was delighted that things had turned out for the better in her mind. She hoped Tara felt the same way "That's great, but how are you feeling?"She asked her friend worriedly. She felt terrible that it had happened a year ago though, some friend she was. "That's good of him"She said meaning it. She hadn't liked Praniel after she had found out he'd been with Lilith and Tara. But things seemed to have worked out in the end. "Ya, we spent Christmas together. We're finally a couple"Kate said happily.

 

[Tara Sitara]

Tara was glad that she could count on kate whenever she needed her. "I am happy about it. I liked him and everything, but he was like my brother." she said. she had never felt like they were in a relationship like she had been before she had found out about the arranged marriage. "I am happy I am not being forced into it, but I do feel like I am letting my family down" she said. taking a mouthful of her breakfast. "that is why i am trying to do as best as i can to make up for it" she continued.
when kate said that she and stefan were finally a couple. the two of them had always been perfect together. and although she had not celebrated christmas properly growing up she did know it was the main holiday in new zealand. "that is great news. you two were always cute together. How is he?" she asked. she had been worried for him when he vanished from the school.