Lost in Thought

[Preston Paine]

Preston hadn't sent a letter to his parents yet because he wasn't exactly sure how either of them would take having an owl appear at their doorstep with a letter attached to its leg. His father was a little more open to having a wizard for a son, but he knew that his mother wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea. She had refused to touch his wand and wouldn't even glance at his schoolbooks. His father had delighted in hearing about how the wand had chosen his son and even mused about what kind of wand he would have had he been born a wizard. Preston knew that when he saw his mother and father, he would have to tell them both whether he wanted to stay or not. Right now, Preston was still undecided. He liked certain aspects of the school but he was really, really homesick. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate because he never spent much time at home. He was missing his other school immensely though and often wondered what his old friends were doing. He'd made some decent friends here though, and it was easy to see some of them becoming best friends with time. Whether he would remain or not to see that through was another thing though.

The lake had quickly become one of Preston's favorite areas of the castle and he'd even gone for a small dip the other day, despite the warning from some of the older Slytherins that there were creatures in the lake. He thought they had been trying to scare him. It was just as he was about to get out that Preston had noticed a really high cliff. Now that he had some free time, Preston thought he would head to the spot. As he drew closer, the entire area reminded Preston of this overlook that had been near his old school. It had nothing on this one though, which had an amazing view of the lake. The young Slytherin made a mental note to bring his sketchbook one day so he could capture the beautiful scene. Sitting on the dirt, Preston found a stick and began to quietly draw the lake into the dirt. It was something to do since he was all alone on the cliff. Soon, he would head closer to the edge to see if the cliff was any good for diving off of, something he'd always wanted to try but was too afraid to. For now, he was content to sit with his thoughts and the stick in his hand.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Ashleigh was feeling a little overwhelmed by all the homework she'd been doing over the last few weeks and decided she needed to get out of the dungeons and above ground, outside preferably if the sun was out. She could never tell down there. Luckily the day seemed fine and she made her way out to the lake. She hadn't actually been out here before, but there was something about the presence of water that just calmed her down when she got stressed. Who knew that school was going to be so demanding? It seemed that most of her classes required her to write something every lesson, and as Ash had soon found out, she was a chronic over-writer. She remembered one of the history essays she had done earlier in the semester and felt a bit embarrassed just thinking about it. She hated to think how much she was going to write in her later years at school when the grades really meant something.

Ash reached the lake, but looking around she saw some cliffs and decided she would be able to see much more of it from on top of them. Making her way up resumed thinking about the homework she still had to finish, creating a mental timetable in her head and prioritising things. Hold on, stop. You came up here to get away from all that. Just stop thinking for once. That was another one of her problems. She constantly had to lock things up behind barriers or they would smother her head for hours on end. She frowned then, she knew what - or to be more truthful who - she was referring to, but she refused to think their names and just skirted around the memories, like she'd been doing for almost a year now. Ash hadn't quite figured out what mental pain felt like yet, but she thought this might be close. Just then she found she'd reached the top of the cliffs and she was grateful for the distraction that gave her. She turned to face the lake and the corner of her mouth slowly spread into a smile as she took in the serenity of the place. She thought she would walk a little further on, but she stopped short when she realised there was a boy sitting there that she'd been too preoccupied to see before. Biting her lip, she stood there for a second, unsure of whether to leave or try and pass him without being noticed.

 

[Preston Paine]

When Preston got involved in his work, his mind was lost to most other things going on. His eyes kept darting to the lake to take another quick glance at the lines that the lake made on the far side. It was actually pretty big, surprisingly big and he already knew that it was very deep too.

Preston's sketch looked pretty impressive for someone who was only using a stick and the topmost layer of dirt. At least in his opinion. With one last glance, he used the stick to brush the picture away before he looked up again. His brown eyes glanced around and that was when he spotted the girl. He knew that she was in the same house as him, having seen her walking through the common room. He knew that they shared some classes too, but he wasn't sure if he had ever heard her voice before. She looked like she was ready to bolt out of there at any moment. "You don't have to go" he stated quietly, a small smile crossing his face. He gestured towards all of the space. "There's plenty of room. I won't bother you." He hold up two fingers in a solemn oath. "Promise" he added. The Slytherin first year wondered whether she would actually stay or if she would be even faster to leave now that he had spoken to her.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Ash had just made up her mind to go when the boy spoke to her. In a way, she was a little annoyed at him because now she had to stay or she would look some sort of strange scaredy-cat. She resisted the urge to glare at him, knowing that it wouldn't be the best thing to do, even if he totally deserved it. But she knew that she was really angry at herself. As soon as she'd seen him she'd wanted to - no, not run away. But something very close to that. It was irrational. He'd even said he wasn't going to bother her. Self-consciously noting that she was still awkwardly standing up, Ash concentrated on lowering herself carefully, and gracefully to the ground and tried to focus on what she'd came up here to see. The lake.

It was no good. She was too apprehensive about the boy who she felt had invaded her space. Even though he'd been there first. She wished her brain wasn't so illogical about these kind of situations. Ignore him. Just pretend he's not there. Maybe he'll go away. But despite that thought, Ash's people-watching habits started to emerge, and she became interested in what he was doing up here. Was he looking at the lake, like her? Or something else entirely? She began running her hand through her hair, trying to casually place it in a position to shield her face as she looked at the guy out of the corner of her eye. She realised that he was one of her fellow first year Slytherins, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before. She guessed it had been the shock she'd experienced at finding someone else here, but she'd thought her memory was better than that. Her curiosity was growing, and she almost wished he would say something else, just so she wouldn't have to think of a nonchalant way to start a random conversation.

 

[Preston Paine]

When she didn’t go away, Preston took that as a sign that she would stay. His attention returned to the stick that he’d been drawing with and he began to carve his name into the packed dirt. He was aware that the girl had sat down, but he tried not to glance over in her direction, somehow feeling that she wasn’t much of a talking type of person. It was easy to just let the sounds of nature do their job in keeping the area from being too silent. The constant sound of small creatures moving around and of the students below them on the lake and lawn were more than enough to keep Preston from thinking about bothering the girl.

As soon as he finished writing his first name, Preston tossed the stick as far as he could, out into the lake. He lost it once it began its descent. Brushing his hands off, Preston slowly stood up, his eyes betraying his curiosity as they fell once more on the Slytherin girl. His hands went into his pocket and he rocked slightly, contemplating whether to break his promise. Finally, he went for it, hoping she wouldn’t mind too much. Looking out towards the lake, he spoke in as casual a voice as he could manage. “Do you come here often?” The boy took a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff, the girl now behind him. He figured that maybe, just maybe, if she didn’t have to look at him, he might get an answer. The guy still wasn’t sure if the girl was shy or just didn’t like people. There was a difference after all. “I’m Preston” he added, in case she hadn’t been able to read what he’d written or didn’t remember from class. He didn’t remember her name, so he hardly expected her to remember his.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Ash hadn't actually expected the guy to talk to her, and started a little when he did, although she was pleased. Inwardly she smiled a little at his cliché choice of words for an opening statement, but she curbed that, knowing that not everyone read a million books like her. Preston. Interesting name. There were lots of people with uncommon names here. He wasn't looking at her, so Ash felt safe in venturing an answer without having to see him judging her for it. "No, actually, this is the first time I've been outside since I got here." She'd been too preoccupied with with her lessons, and spending time in the library with all the new books around her had taken up a lot of her time. She didn't regret that, but now that she was outside in the proper sunshine again she couldn't understand why she hadn't brought her work out here.

"I'm Ashleigh, but I prefer to be called Ash." She trailed her hands on the ground around her, wondering how best to start finding out more about this guy. She realised she was being nosy, but she couldn't help it. People were interesting, and this was the first time that someone had actually started a conversation with her, so she couldn't let the opportunity go to waste. But what to say? She didn't want to admit it, but she was definitely shy of this guy. It annoyed her that she couldn't make herself form any words to say. But he was till facing away from her, so she placed her hands together and gripped them tightly before saying, "And what about you, do you visit this place much?"

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston's eyes widened slightly, in surprise, as she mentioned that she hadn't been outside yet. They'd been in school for well over a month and the weather had certainly been well enough to lure him out, not that it took much. Preston loved the outdoors, especially when the weather was warm enough to allow him to don beach wear and surf or swim, his two favorite outdoor activities. He supposed that she wasn't really much of an outdoor person. As she introduced herself, Preston turned his head slightly towards her and smiled. He turned back quickly until he heard her next question. Stopping only a few feet in front of the cliff edge, Preston glanced over his shoulder, a quick shake of his head letting her know that he didn't visit this place much.

"Actually, this is the first time I've been up here. I much prefer being down there" he stated easily, talking about his preference for avoiding high places when he could and also his preference for the lake and any body of water in general. "I was trying to figure out whether this might be a good place to try cliff-diving one day...if I can work up the nerve" he added, a sheepish grin on his face. She wouldn't be able to see the full extent of it though, since he'd already turned his attention back to the lake. This was as close as he felt comfortable getting, but from this vantage point, he couldn't see any deadly rocks under him. "We're in Slytherin together, I think" he said, an afterthought, as he casually put his hands into his pocket while he turned away from the cliff and walked slowly away. His brown eyes looked down at the girl who was still seated, hoping that she was more comfortable with him by now.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Ash was intrigued by the guy's mention of cliff-diving, which was something she had never heard of before. It sounded like the kind of thrill seeking she would be interested in. She almost got up to look out over the edge to see just how high up they were, but stopped herself before she did so, still just that little bit too nervous, even though she had now stopped trying to cut off the circulation in each hand. Instead she only looked out over the lake, and tried to imagine the brief free-fall sense she thought that such an activity would produce. Well, falling from a great height wasn't too hard to imagine, Ash remembered that experience pretty clearly. But she reassured herself that it wouldn't be like that time, and decided that cliff-diving would be something fun for her to try in the future one day.

"Yeah, I'm a Slytherin." Ash grimaced slightly as she answered the guy. She'd become used to it now, but it didn't mean she had to like where she had been placed. She knew now that she'd never had a hope of getting into the house she'd wanted, plenty of experiences over the past month had shown her that, but she still harbored a grudge towards that talking cloth heap that masqueraded as a hat. "A rather reluctant one though." He had turned and walked back over towards her and Ash tipped her head up to look at him. She was still a bit unsure about the situation, but she realised that nothing bad was going to happen as a result of it, and she felt more confident about saying things that wouldn't sound idiotic... at least in her mind. "So how do you like being in the 'worst' of all houses, as some say?" Ash wondered if it was only her who felt so displaced, not only physically down beneath the rest of the school, but also in mindset.

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston cocked his head to the side a bit as he noted her grimace. He had already become annoyed to the other students who made faces as soon as they saw the stripes on his tie. He didn’t understand why students would automatically stop associating with someone because they were a Slytherin in the same way that he didn’t get why the purebloods from his house had trouble interacting with non-pureblood even though it would be impossible for all of the Slytherin to be pure-bloods. He was pretty sure there had to be a rule against something like that. A question was right on his lips, but she interrupted his thoughts with one of her own. The first year paused, his mouth twisting in thought. After a moment, he shrugged. “I think it’s ok, so far. I don’t think any of the other houses are better or worse than Slytherin” he replied honestly, taking a seat back on the dirt floor. He kept his legs bent, the soles of his feet on the floor as his arms fell back to hold him up.

“The only thing I don’t like is that some people don’t even give me a chance just ‘cause I’m a Slytherin” he rolled his eyes and looked back to the lake for a moment. “It gets pretty annoying.” He shrugged again and turned to face his fellow Slytherin. “Why don’t you like being a Slytherin?” he asked, forgetting his promise to leave the girl alone. The question he asked was a rather invasive one, but he figured that she wouldn’t answer if she really didn’t want to. She had stayed this long so he figured she wasn’t as shy as he had feared when she had first come along.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Ash listened closely to the guy's answer to her question, and was a little disappointed that it wasn't what she'd been hoping to hear. However, his opinion made her start thinking, Is Slytherin actually any worse than the other houses? Taking away her personal preference as a factor, Ash had to concede that actually, the guy was right. Apart from a few people she'd observed as being 'typical Slytherins', the others she'd seen didn't seem to be like that at all. At least not at face value. Listening to the guy's next comment, Ash realised that she'd probably been guilty of doing that, if not to him personally than certainly to others, which caused her some discomfort. She felt grateful that the guy had helped her out of her own head to understand these things, and it helped her to relax further.

However, when the guy turned to look at her directly Ash did get slightly unsettled again for a moment, and as she replied her eyes flickered between him and the ground. "It's not that I don't like being a Slytherin... it's kind of more that I didn't get sorted into the house I thought I would." Ever since she'd got her letter, Ash had been convincing herself that she'd get into Gryffindor, the house of bravery. Thinking back on that now, she had to physically close her eyes against her foolishness. She didn't know how she'd ever persuaded herself of something that couldn't have been more wrong. But it still hurt that her weakness had been thoroughly proven to her, first by the sorting decision, and then situations that had started off like this one had. Thinking a little further she added, "And I guess it's also the fact that I can't figure out why I'm a Slytherin." That one had driving Ash nuts for weeks, and if she thought if she could just work it out she might finally be satisfied with where she'd been placed.

 

[Preston Paine]

"Let me guess. Gryffindor?" he asked, only barely holding back the contempt in his voice. It wasn't that he hated Gryffindor House or anything. He actually had a very good friend who was in Gryffindor. It was more the way that other students spoke about Gryffindors as if they were amazing and outstanding and everything that other students should be. It was one of the more annoying things about that particular house. It was as if the Gryffindors, because of their supposed bravery, were the elite members of the school while Slytherins, because of their presumed evil whatever, were not. As she continued, Preston looked down at his hands, surprised to discover that they had tensed up against the dirt. He frowned, forcing himself to relax as she continued speaking.

Preston had no real answer for her, seeing as he was trying to figure out why he'd been placed in the house as well. He knew that many of the Slytherins were purebloods and he definitely wasn't that. Far from it actually. Sometimes, when he was in his dorm, Preston felt a kinship with the other guys though, like they got him in a way that no one else had. It was in those moments that he wasn't confused about being a Slytherin. "Does anyone really know?" he shrugged his shoulders. From what he had heard, the sorting hat was never, ever wrong. "I guess we both have to figure it out. I don't know why I'm a Slytherin either." He gave her a friendly smile. "One thing's for sure. I know I'm not a Hufflepuff. One of my friends actually thought I was gonna end up in that house" he added, a laugh in his voice as if he could never see himself there.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Although surprised that he had guessed correctly, Ash tried not to let it show. She would never admit to anyone how she'd managed to delude herself so thoroughly when she really ought to have known better, and her main concern was how she was going to dance around the answering of the question. Ash tried to never tell lies, as she valued honesty above almost all other qualities, but of course she wasn't going to tell him the truth. She decided to go with the simplest option and just avoid giving him a straight answer. "Well, it doesn't matter now does it? This is what happened, and so life goes on." She smiled at him then, although it was more of an attempt to convince herself to stop with the melodramatic thoughts rather than anything else. She'd just have to accept her situation and get over it, and sooner rather than later. That way, she could focus on the important things.

Ash was relieved to find that she was not alone in being unsure of the reasons for her sorting. It bothered her when she didn't know certain things, particularly so when it was some part of her own personality that she couldn't decipher. However, she was surprised at his next statement."A Hufflepuff, really?" Ash smiled at that, despite feeling that it might look like she was making fun of the house. "Why on earth would they think that?" She hadn't actually met anyone from Hufflepuff of course, so she really had no proper idea about those students, but she didn't know quite what to make of them. The general impression she'd got was that while they were sweet-natured people with endearing qualities, they couldn't be taken too seriously in anything they did. Ash suddenly realised where she'd gotten all these ideas from and had the revolutionary thought that maybe she'd been reading too many books.

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston paused for a second, his eyes drifting up to Ashleigh’s as she spoke. She sounded bitter to him, bitter that she hadn’t been placed in some other house for whatever reasons she had invented for herself that made the house great. He didn’t know her well enough to call her out on it though, so he just let it go, a small nod of the head to show that he quite agreed that life did go on. “ You’re right. From what I’ve heard, the sorting hat has never gone back on its decision.” He was curious about why he had ended up in Slytherin, but that didn’t mean he was upset by the decision. In his opinion, all of those things that were thought of as negative about Slytherins were really in the eye of the beholder. His father was a businessman after all, and being driven, cutthroat and a leader were qualities that he had always admired in the man and would like to develop in himself.

“I dunno. She mentioned something about me being good at finding things. I guess that’s a good Hufflepuff quality?” he responded. He didn’t know many Hufflepuffs nor did he know much about the house, other than what he saw in the classes he shared with that group. They didn’t seem particularly great at finding things to him. Preston left out the other reasons why Indiana had thought he would be a Hufflepuff. No guy would want a girl to know that another girl had called him sweet. It would ruin the reputation he was going for. “Hey…you know what I just realized? I haven’t had any trouble understanding you. You’re from New Zealand, right?” he stated quickly, a genuine smile growing on his face. “I am too.” If she was from New Zealand, which he was sure she was, she would be the first Kiwi he’d met at the school besides himself. Most of the other students were from other parts of the world. Often, he had to listen really closely or ask people to repeat themselves. It was nice to not have to do that for a bit.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

"Yeah, I did hear somewhere that Hufflepuff's are particularly good finders. Can't remember where though." Ash shrugged. Well they have to be good at something I suppose. One of her aunts had been in that house, and she hadn't done anything especially spectacular in her life. Well, if Ash was going to play the glad game about this, she was glad she wasn't in Hufflepuff. She couldn't imagine what it would be like knowing that there was nothing for you to aspire to in life. Just a job where you scrape by doing hardly anything, but you always have to be sent away overseas all the time and - Stop. Ash couldn't believe she'd done it again. Somehow, this place always made her start thinking about them, and she really wished she could barricade those memories off from the rest of her mind. It would make everything so much easier.

Ash focused all of her attention on the conversation, determined not to be distracted by those thoughts again. However, she was confused when Preston said he could understand what she was saying, and then asked her if she was from New Zealand. "Of course I'm from here," she replied in a slightly baffled manner. It seemed to her an odd thing thing for him to say, and she was curious as to why. If there was anything that bothered her more than not knowing something, she had yet to find it. "Is that unusual for some reason?" She figured that most people in the school would be New Zealanders, considering that the country was so far way from everywhere else. So to her, meeting another Kiwi was just to be expected. He seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it though, judging by the grin that had just spread across his face. This amused Ash, and she couldn't help smiling back in response.

 

[Preston Paine]

He looked at her, eyes widening as he assumed that perhaps he was the only one who had not heard about this specific Hufflepuff skill. He figured the 'Puffs needed to be good at something, but he still didn't see how he fit that mold because he didn't think he was any better than anyone else at finding things. You don't fit the mold, dummy , he thought to himself, that's why you're not a 'Puff. Happy with this realization, Preston smiled at Ashleigh who seemed to be lost in thought.

The smile quickly turned to a smirk as she came back to the conversation and spoke. He was surprised that she hadn't seemed to notice and wondered if most of the Slytherin girls were Kiwis like the two of them. "Yea, it is. Haven't you listened to everyone?" he asked her, his head cocking to the side as he wondered how observant she was. Maybe she likes to be in her own world, he mused before continuing to speak. " I have a roommate who is Scottish, I think. And another who English, and another who lives here now but is from Bulgaria. And do you know Indiana? Night?" he asked, "She's from the States." He wondered what this girl would think about him being friendly with a Gryffindor, knowing that it was always a risky thing to bring up. Still, the Slytherin was surprised that she hadn't noticed that even though the school was in New Zealand, most of the students and some of the staff even seemed to have migrated to New Zealand just to be at the school. He had overheard one of the older students saying something about this branch's reputation and how people hoped that their children would end up on the list for this school and not one of the others. It made Preston wonder exactly how many wizarding schools were out there.

 

[Ashleigh Thorn]

Thinking about it, Ash realised that she had heard a few accents around the school, but had shrugged them off in her unwillingness to pay much attention to people she felt uncomfortable around, which was just about everyone. She simply preferred to be on her own, often leaving places where she had been reading because someone else had turned up and many times she'd been disappointed to find people in places she had expected to be alone in. So it didn't surprise her that she'd never noticed how many people in the school were foreigners, as Preston seemed to be suggesting. The places he mentioned seemed so far away, and Ashleigh wondered who in their right mind would want to travel to the bottom of the world just to attend school. It seemed like a lot of wasted effort to her.

In response to his question, she answered, "Indiana Night? No." Ash was pretty aware of each of the Gryffindors, having enviously eyed them all during their joint lessons at the very start of the year. Although now used to being in Slytherin, Ash was still curious about the other house, and she willingly took this opportunity to talk about it and find out something - anything - new about it. "Isn't she a Gryffindor? What's she like?" She was probably really nice to everyone and ready to risk anything for those she cared about. Of course, Ash was only comparing her to the sole other Gryffindor she'd ever really known about, the grandmother that she'd never known, and she thought that was kind of unfair of her to do so. Ash was quickly learning that she shouldn't assume anything and expect it to turn out the way she had thought it would. I mean, look how great that's turned out for me so far. Case in point right now. She hadn't left when she'd seen Preston sitting here, although to be honest it was because he'd seen her before she could make a run for it. She was even talking to him without any of the trouble she'd been expecting. No, it was definitely better not to assume anything anymore, so she just waited to hear what Preston would say.

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston was rather surprised that Ashleigh didn't know Indiana. It seemed like everyone else did. She was a social butterfly of sorts. As she asked whether she was a Gryffindor, Preston nodded. "Yup" he replied quickly. The boy found the other question a bit harder to respond to. He nearly responded with a quick 'She's awesome' but then paused. That would make him sound too eager and like they were a couple. After a beat, he shrugged his shoulders. "She's cool." He said it pretty casually and then continued, figuring that wasn't enough to answer Ashleigh's question. "She's pretty smart, so I'm not sure why she isn't in Ravenclaw" he added, "and she's funny too." The Slytherin liked spending time with her, but found that it was more difficult than he had thought it would be. Being in a different house didn't help and she had other friends, Gryffindor friends.