Never Too Late

[Octavia Pourroulis]

Octavia was back for the last semester of her school career, and she almost couldn't believe that she was here, she had made it. Although she loved going back home to spend time with her family, especially her sisters who most of them would be going to Hogwarts in New Zealand in future - one of them already was - she also liked to learn and this last year especially she had to make sure she worked her hardest in order not to be left jobless. She still had no idea what she wanted to do with her life and it was beginning to stress her out.

The seventh year decided to spend her morning reading the letters she'd received from her cousins by the sea, her favourite place. They, too, were in New Zealand. Octavia wondered what it would've been like if she'd studied there instead of here. She couldn't say she didn't love it at Beauxbatons though and she was happy here. Maybe she could visit the other part of the family after she graduated, travel there and maybe work there. She could look after her oldest younger sisters. Octavia breathed in, closing her eyes for a few minutes to enjoy the weather and the sound of the waves. Then, pulling out her ink and parchment, she wrote back to them and once she was done, folded the letter and put it safely in her bag. She took out the next thing she was going to do, her sketchbook and began to draw. Growing up with both worlds had its advantages. If all else failed, becoming a professional artist was her back up plan.​

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[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace couldn't believe she was in her final year of Beauxbatons, her final semester of school. It scared her, as she had no idea what she even wanted to do after she had graduated. She was happy right now with Dominic, the quidditch team, and the friendships she had made. She didn't feel like she was ready to graduate at all, she had so much left to do here at school. She still felt like she barely knew her classmates, and there was so much more she wanted to learn at school. It made her sad, and anxious. Especially as her parents put on the pressure more and more.

Grace was trying to avoid thinking about it too much by taking a walk outside. She love Beauxbatons and the surrounding nature. She would miss it, she knew. On her walk she noticed one of the girls in her year sitting near the ocean. She was reminded of her earlier thought, about how she hadn't befriended as many people as she would have liked. Octavia was definitely someone she hadn't talked to enough, even though they had been in the same classes for the past seven years. It was time to change that. With a smile in place, Grace sat down next to her. "Hi Octavia, those sketches look great." She told her, hoping she wouldn't mind her looking at them. "It's... nice out today, right?" Even though she had decided to talk to the girl, she didn't actually know what to say to her. Maybe she should have thought this through more.

 

[Octavia Pourroulis]

Octavia hadn't exactly been socializing much the past couple of years, though of course she'd had the occasional, easy conversation here and there with the people in her year more than others. She had kept to herself and she wondered now if that had been a mistake, if she could have made good friends by now. So it sort of came as a surprise that someone sat down next to her and voluntarily began the conversation. Octavia glanced up and smiled at Grace, a girl in her year. She was one of the people the seventh year didn't mind talking to, in fact she was quite nice. "Hi," she greeted, a little brightly. It was refreshing to be talking to someone again.

Then at Grace's compliment she glanced down at her drawing and was instantly self-critical, like she had always been. "Thanks," she said, taking the other girl's compliment to heart although she herself didn't necessarily find it all that great. But maybe Grace saw something in her drawings that Octavia didn't. "I draw a lot, it's actually kind of like a de-stress for me," she explained, gesturing to her sketchbook. "Um, yeah," she chuckled. "So how's the year been?" she asked, suddenly wanting to keep the conversation going because she was almost done with school and she hadn't exactly befriended many people. That was what she regretted. ​

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace was glad Octavia didn't seem to mind Grace talking to her, and she wondered if the other girl ever felt lonely. Grace had Jessica and Dominik, but no other deep friendships, and she didn't think she had seen Octavia hang out with anyone specifically. The end of seventh year was really making Grace feel like she had been taking some things for granted about the school, like her classmates. Graduation day might be the last day she saw some of these people, which was strange to think about.

Grace looked ahead, taking in the view. "Maybe I should take it up then." She joked with a small smile. "I never imagined how stressed I'd be in my last year. Though, I de-stress through Quidditch, mostly." She stopped there, her being the Quidditch captain was widely known, and she didn't want to bore the other girl by talking too much about her hobby. Besides, it was sort of nice to talk about something else. "My year has been alright, it's flying by." She said with a sigh. "Isn't it odd to think we'll be graduating soon?"