Open It's not all over

[Leda Layton]

Leda just had to get through today without concentrating on Olive so much that she ended up tearing up. Wherever she looked she felt like she was being seen by everyone except the one person she'd aspired to prove herself too most of all and it was heartbreaking, but she couldn't deny that she was grateful to have her friends around her. After receiving her Diploma, it was Wendall that she sought out, her cousin who still had another five years of Hogwarts in front of him. When Leda was a second year, Olive had been a professor and it felt like it was only yesterday. "Did that sound okay?" she smiled to the Hufflepuff once she was close enough. She'd not been that close to Wendall until the last few months, seeing him more as another distraction of her sisters attention until she'd died, and then another burden that she would have to deal with. But now she'd come to see that he was her chance to be to him what Olive had been to her, and maybe that wouldn't be so bad. She glanced to the Gryffindor beside him, glad that he had a friend to accompany him and he wasn't being left completely alone when she graduated. Despite everything going on, Leda felt as though she still had so much she wanted to do, and so many people she needed to talk to, but at the end of the day she had to put her attention in the Hufflepuff in front of her. After all, it was what Olive would have wanted. ​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall had been surprised to hear that not just he had been invited to Leda's graduation, but Lysander had been to. He thought maybe West or Pho would have been asked, but neither of them seemed to be here. He had clapped very loudly when they were allowed to after the speeches, watching his cousin jump down and go and find one of her friends. Wendall was going to miss Leda when she left, even if they weren't that close, it was the most he'd had to a real family since moving away from his mom. "I think it was perfect," he smiled to her when she came over, throwing his little arms around her waist in a hug. He felt a bit strange about the whole Olive situation, so he couldn't really imagine how Leda had done it, with her NEWTs and her tasks too. If anyone had told him a year ago that he would be living with her he would have been a bit nervous, but he was looking forward to his summer now. Wendall was eventually swatted off by the Slytherin and took a step back. If Wendall wasn't made a prefect, it would be five whole years until he was back at a graduation and that meant he had to make the most of it since they were here. "Is there anyone we can meet?" he asked hopefully, looking around at a bunch of the adults in the room to see if Leda could use her role to introduce the second years to someone that would be extra fun.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander was glad to be attending the graduation ceremony with Wendall. It probably would have been super boring if he didn't have his best friend there to help pass the time. He hadn't expected to ever go to one, not until he was graduating himself. Alistair had graduated the year before, and he hadn't even gone to see him get his diploma, and he was about the only older family he had. Even though it was all kind of boring listening to speeches, he was happy Leda had invited him to see her off. He clapped after she spoke, and sat back in his chair afterwards, watching people go up to get their diplomas until she came over to join them. He gave her a thumbs up when she asked if she sounded okay, even if the question wasn't necessarily directed at him. Admittedly he hadn't been listening to her words too much while she was onstage. It was all stuff that only really mattered if you were older, and he'd been distracted looking around the hall, spotting all the students he wouldn't see again. Fleur was going, and Mhairi. He wouldn't get to learn any more sign language with her, or help her with the garden. It was pretty sad. "I wanna say hi to Zennon and Mervyn too." Sander chimed in after Wendall. He liked Zennon, and Mervyn was pretty alright when he wasn't looking after him and Wendall. "We're gonna miss you! I won't get to play against you in Quidditch anymore." He said sadly. His matches against Leda had been fun, and now that she was going, versing Slytherin wasn't going to be as good.​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon had not expected to feel like Leda was talking right to him at Graduation and then to have her jump down from the podium and hug him. Despite himself, he couldn't very well reject a hug and so he'd wrapped his arms around her too. He'd lost her a bit in the crowd then as he'd gone about his own duties and spoken a bit to Mervyn too. When he found Leda again, she was with Wendall and Lysander. "Leda..." he called, waving slightly to her. He wasn't sure they were 100 percent okay, because honestly, he was still angry, but he didn't want to let them separate without having a proper conversation. "I'm going to miss you... I know things have been weird between us for a while," he said, stepping up beside her to whisper in her ear, hopefully out of the earshot of Wendall and Lysander. "But I do love you and I don't want you to think I don't."​

 

[Leda Layton]

Leda grinned at Wendall and Lysander, given the latter a smirk, a little surprised when the Hufflepuff went to hug her. She wasn't and never had been a huggy person, and didn't wait too long before pushing him back as gently as she could before looking to her cousins friend. "Well I suppose Gryffindor has to have a chance at winning at some point," she shrugged, although she still had confidence that her team would be able to thrash Gryffindor for years to come. They'd already proven they were the strongest for a good while. Leda looked up at the sound of her name to see that Zennon had joined her, and leaving the boys for a moment to talk to Zennon, she realised in that moment that it might have been one of the very last conversations they had while she was still at the school. "I know.." Leda agreed, although she couldn't really think anymore that any sort of disagreement would have been worth them not staying friends. "I never meant to make you feel like I wasn't supportive of you." she said honestly, "I just, I'm fed up with people arguing that's all. I'm always on your side Zennon," she didn't know whether the Slytherin would believe her, especially after it had caused such a rift between them for the last couple of weeks, but Leda couldn't not be honest with her best friend, and make the most of the chance she had to fix things before it was too late. ​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Even though Wendall thought that there was a lot of competition between his best friend and his cousin about Quidditch, Wendall often thought that Hufflepuff should really have been given their time to shine too. He was glad that he had Lysander to share the experience with too because he was pretty sure that they were some of the youngest people in the room at the moment, and at least Wendall didn't feel too out of place next to the Gryffindor. Now that Leda was graduating, he wouldn't be split between his support for teams either, especially when it came to Gryffindor vs Slytherin in the future. Wendall nudged his friend when Zennon came over, "Say Mervyn a few more times, maybe you'll summon him too," he said, although Wendall would have been secretly glad if he never had to speak to Mervyn again. It had been over a year and Mervyn still hadn't apologised for kicking Wendall into the lake. "Look, Emma and Iris are here too," he mentioned, spotting them near one of the Ravenclaw boys. Maybe they wouldn't be the littlest people here after all. ​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon looked at Leda, trying to gauge her words against her features and figure out if she was lying. He'd never really known Leda to be a liar, but he'd felt really attacked at that point especially and he'd hated her not having his back, since he'd always had hers. She seemed genuine though, and he really had no reason to believe otherwise, what would be the point. Surely if she didn't want to be friends anymore she wouldn't have bothered to make an effort to try and make up with him. "It was... my fault too... I guess in the back of my mind I was looking for a fight, you know... because it sucks that you're leaving me here and going off on your own and I guess it didn't really hit me until right then you know? So it's just been... it's been a bit of a sh!t couple of weeks... I'm sorry." Obviously it was just as hard for her too, but at the time he hadn't stopped to think about that.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander grinned at Leda. She wasn't wrong, and he hoped now his team would have a chance to play against one of the other schools. as long as the Beauxbatons students weren't so crazy next time. He turned his attention to Wendall after Zennon joined them, and nodded his head, chanting 'Mervyn' over and over under his breath. He stopped when his friend pointed out the van Houtens, and sat up in his seat to try and spot them. He hadn't seem Emma and Iris in the hall before, and was glad it wasn't just himself and Wendall. If the ceremony went on for too long and got boring, he'd have to go over and say hi. Speaking of greetings, Zennon still hadn't said anything to Sander yet. He cleared his throat. "Hi Zennon!" He said pointedly, happily interrupting whatever conversation the two of them were having.​

 

[Leda Layton]

Leda knew what that felt like, leaving someone. Or at least having someone leave her. Zennon still had an entire year left at school while she had to try and make her home life work for her, although she was feeling increasingly on edge about that. All she'd known of how to handle the real world was what she'd seen from Olive, now she just had to work it out for herself. "It's only temporary. And you're welcome to come and see us whenever you can," she smiled, eyebrows raised and hoping that she'd get a visit from her friend every now and then too. "Mervyn's coming to live with me, and of course Wendall will be there during the holidays. Bring Saopphire too, we'll make it party," Leda was trying to keep the mood light mainly because she knew that if they got into a deep conversation right now, that she'd end up being distracted and not being able to give it her full attention. "Obviously that's open to you too, if your dad lets you," Leda glanced over to Lysander who seemed excited to see the Slytherin. "It's not your fault Zennon," the Head Girl patted his arm, feeling a little awkward with physical encounters, but she meant it, and she didn't want her best friend to feel more distance from her then they were already about to have. ​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall was giggling when Lysander started chanting, genuinely hoping @Mervyn Strangewayes would turn up at that moment to make the Gryffindors attempts a reality. Coincidence or not, it would have been funny. Wendall didn't really know why they were apologising, although Wendall also hadn't really know there was a issue with the Slytherins friendship so he was just watching them talk when his best friend interrupted them. "YES. You should come too." The Hufflepuff still had a whole stack of movies he needed to show, and.. now that Olive wasn't around to stop them.. maybe they'd be able to get through a few more of the scariest ones. Wendall had been giving his own room at Leda's house, so that he had a permanent place to stay during the holidays, which he was more than relieved at when he'd heard. "I'm going to be there all summer. For all summers," the second year added proudly, hoping the Lyander would agree even if just for a little bit.​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon knew he was going to really miss Leda. He'd grown so accustomed to having her around that the thought of not having her expert advice on the daily had sent him in a frantic tailspin, one which he was sure was going to actually hit him even harder when it came time for him to graduate too. "Yes," Zennon agreed, when she said it was only temporary and he could visit. It would be hard, since he lived in America a lot of the time, but he would come back for her, absolutely. "Going to be a little snug in that house, huh?" He asked, laughing lightly as he turned to realise that Lysander had come to interrupt the conversation. Zennon laughed slightly and waved to the Gryffindor. "Hey, Lysander, how are you?" He still had Sapphire to cheer for in Quidditch, but he was sure he could make an exception and cheer for Lysander during games that Sapphire wasn't playing. "Do you still have that super cool sword?" Lysander had been like a real adventurer and Zennon had totally been onboard for that. He looked back at Leda and nodded. "I know. I'll write to you. Besides, I'll have to invite you to my graduation too," He added grinning. He would have to see how many he could invite though, because he felt maybe the twins would be a little upset if they weren't invited and Grace was going to be there as well, lord that was a lot of people he had to invite!​