La Vie En Rose

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara knew that she should have gone home for the holidays but they were a time she didn't particularly love because she felt a bit out of place at her grandparent's for Christmas and her mother never even tried to celebrate Hanukkah in a way that they could all enjoy it. She knew that she was better off with her friend and as Darcy had asked her to stay it made it that much sweeter of an option. With the castle mostly empty they had decided to go forgo their normal dorm rooms and set up camp elsewhere for the night. The young witch managed to bring a sleeping bag and two pillows (one for herself and one for Darcy in case that had slipped the girl's mind.) as well as a few sleepover necessities like facial masks and nail kits - neither of which Zara had ever really used before but suspected it could be fun to do - and brought them to an old classroom that was never in use anymore. Admittedly she was glad that her new boyfriend wasn't hanging around otherwise it might make things a little uncomfortable for her to enjoy all of her spare time without him. Or he might want to kiss some more which Zara felt weird doing even if she knew that doing that made her a normal teenage girl. Apparently Auntie Jenn had dated loads of boys in school before deciding to date a girl... something that Zara had thought would be a lot easier because boys were hard to grasp completely. Still Auntie Jenn had never been normal.

Removing the thoughts of her eccentric 'Aunt' out of her mind for the moment, Zara was able to dash down to the kitchens because she knew that Darcy was supplying a few other things and the girl could feel her stomach begin to rumble anyway so she might as well get some food to satiate herself at the same time. After gathering more junk food than necessary for two teenaged girls the Ravenclaw smiled to herself, feeling more excited with every passing moment to spend this time with her best friend. The two needed time together away from other people because there was so much going on in each of their lives and although Darcy was busy with OWLs this would be a well deserved night off. She returned to the classroom that had been momentarily transformed to their sleeping quarters and placed the food in as organized a way as she could manage, knowing it would only be a few moments before the other girl would show up.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy was glad that Zara had agreed to stay with her at the castle over the holidays. The two year anniversary of her parents' death was right around the corner and none of her family had the nerve to go back to France; it was just too painful for them. So when her Ancient Runes professor had suggested that it was in her best interest to stay here for the holidays, Darcy did not think twice about her decision. But knowing Zara was here too made this otherwise lonely time for her so much better. It was just a shame that neither of the girls were in the same house though so they couldn't exactly have a sleepover in their dorms. However, they had come up with a compromise and Darcy was beyond excited.

She had been in her dorm room gathering all the things she thought they would need: magazines, both muggle and wizarding, and her makeup bag - just typical things she figured girls used during sleepovers. She didn't know if Zara was one for make up but the Slytherin was going to try and convince the girl to let her try a new shade of lipstick on her anyway. Once she had gathered up her things in her bag, she grabbed her sleeping bag and pillow and headed up to their quarters for the night. She saw Zara was already there when she entered and she said, "Hey!" Judging from the grin on her face she was more than excited to be doing this. She looked at the spread Zara had and said, "Wow this looks great!" Darcy appreciated Zara's thought process for snacks because she hadn't thought about that. Darcy placed her things down haphazardly on the floor and then pulled out her wand. "Just a few precautionary measures," she said, holding up her wand before turning towards the door and casting a spell that would seal the door, as well as the Muffliato spell. She didn't exactly know if they were breaking the rules by having a sleepover in an abandoned classroom since it was the holidays after all, but she cast the spells just in case, and she liked the added privacy anyway. Once she was done, she pocketed her wand again and walked over to Zara, plopping herself down on the floor. "How were your exams?" she asked as she reached over for her bag and began to pull out her contributions to the sleepover.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara knew that the holiday would be tough for Darcy so beyond the excitement of their sleepover she was happy to stay behind with her friend for altruistic as well as her own selfish reasons which made it at least a little comforting that they could have this time to do whatever they wanted with minimum supervision. The girls could be girls and just have fun. Hence their decision to have this sleepover. When she was joined the Ravenclaw grinned excitedly and said, "Hi Darce." If they both didn't have their hands full she would've embraced her friend tightly however she resorted for a smile. She watched as her friend cast spells on the room and smiled, glad to have a touch of privacy because she always felt sort of on display at this school but never really with Darcy as she was sure that they were the platonic equivalent of soul mates, if that even existed. The girl took her wand out to light the candles in the room as it was a fairly dark classroom and the sun was setting quickly outside while she thought about her exams. Truthfully Zara had been distracted by different things which had lead her to ultimately scrape by but as she had yet to understand what she had been so preoccupied by entirely she decided to be as minimalistic in her response as possible. "Oh you know... Alright. How's studying going?" She hoped that they would soon get out of discussing school, not because Zara had anything in particular to bring up but because she was agitated with herself for being a Ravenclaw and not doing as well as she hoped with so much else going on in her mind.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy smiled to let Zara know she was listening as she continued to take things out of her bag. She took out the magazines which she had a feeling would go untouched because the two girls always ended up talking for hours about anything so there probably wasn't going to be time to browse through the magazines. And she also pulled out some oil paints and mini canvases for the two of them because she wanted to try and paint Zara this time around. She would have to work up the courage to ask the brunette to let her but hopefully once the sleepover was well underway the Ravenclaw wouldn't protest.

Darcy shrugged her shoulders when Zara asked how her studying was going and replied, "Pretty good. I just wish I could take my exams already instead of worrying about them all year." She laughed a little at herself because she knew she had nothing to worry about but she stressed herself out anyway. It was no secret that Darcy spent most of her time in the library studying; she sometimes wondered why she wasn't in Zara's house and was instead in Slytherin. This reminded her of something so she looked up at the dark-haired girl and said, "Oh by the way, I met your boyfriend recently," she smirked cheekily at Zara. "He's adorable," she laughed lightly.​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

While they spoke about their studies, she nodded along. She felt bad for Darcy and how hard she had been working - leaving her very little time to do much else so this sleep over would be the perfect solution and a way to break up the semesters. Zara's cheeks turned pink as Asaiah was brought up by Darcy. She hadn't realized that she should introduce them really because she viewed them so separately and somehow she wanted to keep one relationship away from the other for fear that something might happen to it. She wasn't entirely certain what would happen and which relationship she feared for over the other but there she sat in front of the red head. "Yeah he's pretty cute," she said, mimicking what she had heard a few girls say about him when they spoke about the Quidditch players. It was never about how dangerous the sport was much to her dismay. The Ravenclaw hesitated to ask the next question as she looked at Darcy because they were really as close as two friends could be so the girl's opinion took over everything else. If she didn't approve of Asaiah that opinion would be trusted because different people saw different things and Zara trusted the Renoir girl wholeheartedly. "Did you like him?" She grinned passively, pretending that the answer didn't matter as much as it did. She wanted them to like each other but if it came down to it she knew where her loyalties really were. They were with the person who knew her heart, mind and soul. This person was not Asaiah. Not yet, anyway. Whether he got there or not was dependent upon this answer and a lot of time.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

When Darcy had called Asaiah adorable she hadn't been referring to his looks but rather his personality. So when Zara mentioned that the boy was pretty cute, Darcy felt bad for some reason for not having mentioned something like that first. She supposed now that she thought about it the boy was cute, it just wasn't something she had thought of first when thinking of the boy. Darcy smiled when Zara asked if she had liked him and nodded reassuringly. "Yeah, he was nice," she answered honestly. She had admired the boy's respect for Zara's boundaries, even if he had been a little selfishly misguided at times, so overall Darcy approved of him. Not that Zara needed her approval on who to date. "I think he's a very nice boyfriend to have, good choice," she said, thinking about their relationship logically. She knew this was Zara's first relationship so Asaiah was a good, safe choice for the Ravenclaw. She didn't understand how the two opposites could be dating, but she could tell the boy really liked her despite their differences. If she was being honest, Zara totally had the upper hand in the relationship so she knew she'd never get hurt by the boy, and that's all Darcy cared about. She wanted to ask if the boy had tried to talk to her about their taboo subject yet, but she didn't want to pry so she just let it go and tried to change the subject. "Thanks again for staying here over the holiday break, I know it's not exactly fun staying here," she shrugged. With a castle so huge and empty over the break it could get lonely, but it hadn't felt that way with Zara so far.
​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara felt relief when Darcy shared her approval because she really felt like something wasn't quite right but she knew in her heart of hearts that the Slytherin girl had her best interest in mind and so she felt glad that at least she wasn't making some tragic mistake because she hardly had any experience with boys. She knew that Darcy hadn't dated much before either but because the red head was older she trusted her opinion on the matter. She took a seat across from Darcy and fiddled with the pages of Witch Weekly absentmindedly. "I'm happy to. You know I think Hanukkah is rough and Mom wouldn't let me visit my grandparents this year," she said, letting Darcy off the hook. "I'm glad to stay. Plus we're going to have so much fun away from everybody else." She wished that it was just the two girls like this all the time but quickly pushed that thought away and hoped that she would distract her friend from that strange thought she had by saying, "So... Did you want me to paint something for you?" She had noticed the brushes and thought maybe she might want something perhaps a little less try-hard as her last painting of the girl had been a clear attempt at copying another's style.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy smiled softly when Zara mentioned her home life and nodded in understanding. The thought of talking about their parents and holidays made the redhead a little sad so she was glad Zara had changed the subject. As she brought up the paint, Darcy blushed lightly as she chuckled nervously. She cleared her throat and said, "No actually, I thought I could paint a portrait of you instead, to return the favor," she shrugged. Darcy tried hard not to be embarrassed of her proposal since they were both artists and she wanted the practice. Zara was the perfect model to try and paint, with all the stunning sharp angles in her face and the nice contrast of pale skin and dark hair. Any artist would be crazy not to try and capture all that beauty.
​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara's cheeks went hot and she felt endlessly embarrassed when Darcy suggested that she be the model. She stumbled on her words as she responded because somehow it felt really strangely intimate. "Yeah um.. Yeah sure oh okay," she said feeling suddenly under of what to do with her hands as she pulled an awkward grin. Just as in photos she didn't much like to be the centre of attention. She really preferred the background and so something like this felt very odd to the dark haired girl. "Should I do something?" Zara asked, blushing even harder now.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy was slightly nervous for suggesting such a thing, but she was quickly reassured when Zara agreed to it and her face lit up in a smile. "Great!" she said happily, noticing the blush on Zara's cheeks and feeling her own get heated in return. She pulled a canvas closer to her and pulled out her wand to set up a small easel with a flick. The Slytherin avoided Zara's eyes as she busied herself prepping everything else and finally looked up when she was ready. As Zara asked her if she should do anything, Darcy smiled and shook her head. "Hold on a second," Darcy put the paintbrush behind her ear as she reached for her bag once more. She pulled out some flowers because if she hadn't worked up the nerve to ask Zara to pose for her she was just going to paint still life. But now, she could use the flowers for other things. Darcy plucked a few from the bunch and placed them in Zara's hair, tucking one right above her ear. Now she was definitely blushing. Darcy bit her lip and moved her hand away and wouldn't make eye contact with Zara as she said, "Just act as you normally would. Talk to me or read a book or something," she shrugged, taking the paintbrush from behind her ear again and dipping it in a small dollop of paint. "I don't want you to feel like you have to stay still or anything, so movement is fine," she assured the girl nervously. ​