Jitters and Joining of Forces

[Annamarie Rousseau]

Annamarie was finally done setting-up her new dorm and had begun to settle in. After a quick nap, Anna woke up starving and decided to head down to the Great Hall for a bite to eat. Not having the time to unpack her spring wardrobe, she wore a tweed blue and white stripped swaeter and a pair of acid washed skinny jeans. She might have to sweat a little, but atleast she was comfy and cute.

Annamarie skipped down the seven flights of stairs and arrived at the large, ornate doors of the Great Hall. The butterflies from earlier in the day had returned. Suddenly the prospect of entering the dining hall seemed daunting. The idea of entering a hall full of faces she may or may not remember…that may or may not remember her… “Merlin” she mumbled under her breath.

It's not like I am a stranger here. I went to HNZ for two years before I transferred she thought to herself with a sigh. Annamarie knew was psyching herself out. Although she had been moving and changing schools her whole life, Anna could never get use to the trepidations of the first few days of school. With one deep breath Anna put on a confident smile, entered the Great Hall, and looked around for a familiar friendly face.

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

Jennifer took herself out of her dorm room after scraping back her dirty blonde curls and changing into skinny jeans and a yellow, graphic t-shirt she had purchased back at her Canadian home before her parents had divorced. She was going to skip breakfast when her stomach grumbled, so she rolled her blue eyes frustratedly as she turned around and went down to the Great Hall instead of going up to the North Tower like she had intended.

As the Hufflepuff entered she tripped over a small boy that had the awakrd height of a first year and fell onto someone else. Jennifer's arms landed on the girl's back to try to stable herself and as she stood up straight she sighed heavily. "Sorry. A first year tripped me," she said with slight annoyance but shrugged it off lazily as she smiled at the girl, hoping she wouldn't be angry with her because she was faking happiness and surely would snap at her if she needed to.

 

[Annamarie Rousseau]

Annamarie was just about to give up and go sit by herself when she felt someone grab her from behind. "What the..." she squealed with shock. She spun around to see what the commotion was about and looked up to see a familiar face. "It is not problem. First years do have a tendency to get in the way." she joked returning the girl's smile. Anna took a moment trying to place where she recognized the younger girl. Wilkonson right? Your father teaches at Salem. I think I remember seeing you around!" she said, her smile doubling in size.

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

Jen let out a sad sigh as the girl asked if her father taught at Salem. How she missed the girls there and her father as a part of her family. She stuck that far behind in her mind and feigned a smile shyly. "That's me," she said, wriggling her nose in joy at the thought of one of the Salem students being here. "Anna.. right?" she asked, knowing that she remembered that this name was at least similar to the girl's.

sooo sorry!

 

[Annamarie Rousseau]

No problem...

"Yup...Annamarie...but Anna is fine too!" Anna gave the girl a warm, friendly smile and extended her hand to her younger schoolmate. "Sorry to just use you last name like that" she apologized. "I don't think that we have officially met." The names and faces of all the people she had met in the past year all seemed to blend together. And although she didn't directly know the girl, the fact that there was someone on campus who been through the same thing made her feel a little better.

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

Jennifer took Annamarie's hand, shyly grinning. "Nice to meet you Anna. I'm Jennifer," she introduced politely. "Oh, it is no worry. I don't mind it," she said. If Anna didn't know her name, she certainly wouldn't know that her father was going through a divorce, even if he was a Professor back at Salem. "So why the transfer?" she asked curiously. Part of her wanted to know if this girl had moved for similar reasons, because the name Annamarie did sound familiar she just couldn't remember who spoke about her.

 

[Annamarie Rousseau]

"My grandmother was Adele Rousseau, the Muggle Studies professor at Salem." Annamarie began. She did not feel the normal rush of dread that she normally did when people asked her why she decided to transfer back. Maybe she felt freed by their Salem connection. It felt like everyone there had at least heard of her grandmother because she taught for such a long time and when Anna transferred because her grandmother became ill, it felt like common knowledge around campus. "She was suffering from an illness for a while, but she died around the start of the new school year. She knew that I was happy here and it was in her will that I returned." she said calm and even voice. The only emotion that shone on her face was a flicker of sadness in her eyes which quickly faded as turned her attention back to Jennifer.

"So what about you? I remember my grandmother saying something about your brother being sick as well. Is he ok?" Annamarie asked in a genuinely concerned voice.

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

When Annamarie said who her grandmother was, Jennifer frowned. The Hufflepuff remembered the kindly old lady and had grown up knowing her because of her father, when she received word of her death she had been very sad about it. "Dad told me she died," she said with a tone of sadness hinting in her voice. "Sorry," she murmured as an afterthought.

When Annamarie mentioned Owen her stomach twisted and just as always she felt nauseous and like the wind had been taken out of her from a blow to the solar plexus. "Owen is..," she began unsure how she was going to finish her sentence, "fighting his illness with success, but he is weakened by the chemo." Jennifer let out a sigh as she looked down to the ground but back once more at the Salem Transfer. "The divorce isn't exactly helping him emotionally but my parents don't care about anyone else but themselves," she said with bitterness and hurt in her voice and soft blue eyes. She was not handling the divorce as gracefully as she should but what did she care? She was fourteen and her family was breaking apart.

Do you mind that I added that first bit? I will take it out if you want.

 

[Annamarie Rousseau]

Its no problem...That works fine

Annamarie nodded in appreciation for Jennifer's sympathy. This seemed to be the difference between her Nanny's death and her mother's. While of course she loved them both dearly, at least with her grandmother she never felt alone in her sorrow.

Annamarie smiled, at first, to the good news about Owen, but it quickly faded once she noticed the change in Jennifer's demeanor. "So I take it you are leaving with your mom?" she asked referring to the fact that Jenn was now living in New Zealad rather than the States. Anna continued to listen to the emotion behind the words of her young counterpart and could relate. Her relationship with her father had been strained since her mother’s death for the exact same reason. "I know what you mean..." she said softly. "It has pretty much always been me and my Dad. And especially now, he is so into his own mind and sadness that he can't even picture the idea that I could possibly be hurting too." she said with a quiet intensity. During her time at Salem, Anna realized that she had spent too much energy taking on the burdens of others, especially her father's, and she was quite frankly tired of it. It was about time that she put herself first, emotionally speaking.

Anna gave Jennifer a small and reassuring smile. If she was this passionate about the state of her family, then she would surely be able to find the courage to handle things when the time came around. "Parents...what are we to do with them?" she joked. She hoped the girl dind't mind her sense of humor. Annamarie has never felt comfortable lingering in strong emotions and often felt the need to diffuse them with a small joke or smile.

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

ZOMG I so thought I was waiting for you to post. SORRY!!!

Jennifer went to nod her head at Annamarie's question about her mother but blinked instead. She smiled gently at the ex-Salem student, she appreciated that for once someone could understand what she was going through. She loved her friends but they didn't really know, none of them did. Scorpius, god love him, he had a great family and Sam's uncle was great, the rest she really didn't know much about their home life but she knew that their twin brother was not fighting off death every single day or that their parents weren't in an awful divorce.

Jenn opened her mouth to respond to Annamarie's joke but decided to leave it be. She could sense her discomfort, it was one she often had and so she nodded her head understandingly and added in a false but happier tone, "Want to join me for breakfast? I don't know about you but I'm starved." She chuckled, once again fakely, as she patted her stomach lightly.

 

[Annamarie Rousseau]

It is no biggie...I have been kinda busy lately anyways Since we are kind of behind anyways do you just want to wrap this one up?

Annamarie studied Jenn for a second. From her previous comments, she could tell that young girl was hurting but also that she wasn't the type to open up easily. Anna understood and could relate, but natural state with empathy took over and felt the need to reach out her. "Yeah, a breakfast would be nice." she replied to Jenn's offer. "Hey Jennifer..." Anna began with a soft smile. "I know you don't me very well or anything...but if you ever need anyone random to vent to or whatever you can talk to me." she said sincerely. "Us professor kids and Salem chicks got to sick together right?" she said in another attempt to lighten the mood. Anna didn't know what Jenn would make of her offer, but at least she tried.