Open No Flowers Growing Yet

[Derek Tahana]

The break had been good for Derek, he came back to school feeling refreshed and ready, his parents had been happy with his grades too, since he’d actually done pretty well in them which wasn’t too surprising with all of the work that he had also put into it. The slytherin smiled as he headed outside, the rain had mostly stopped for the day and Derek was just hoping to spend some time in the fresh air. He and his father had spent a lot of time camping over the break, to help him get over Emilia and to just had some fresher air in his lungs. It had been nice, a good break from being at home and his little brother's questions. So he had come outside to the gardens, to just have a little walk. Given that it was so early in the semester it wasn’t like there was a whole lot for him to do. So he was quite happy to go for the walk. He was enjoying the gardens too, they weren’t too busy and there wasn’t really much to see given the time of year but it was nice. He had taken to learning to enjoy the peace and quiet without it meaning that he spiralled down into loneliness. Perhaps now was the time to thank Athena for all of the kindness she had shown him, her and Sapphire. Well, there would be time for that. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Marlowe was still not sure if she was excited to be back at the school or wishing she was still home. Things were different since Nixon had transferred away. Her crush on the older boy was finally diminish to near nothing as she realized more and more that he never would have really cared about her. Heck, he hardly cared about her sister and that was supposed to be his best friend. She felt bad for Jocelynn, the older girl always seemed too nice to have a friend like that. Sighing she continued down the path from the school towards the gardens. She knew it'd be too early for anything really beautiful but was curious to see if there was any life at all yet. She was surprised to see a guy from her year already walking around the girls. She wondered if she should say anything, she couldn't remember if she'd even talked to him before. "And here we have a wild Derek in his natural habitat?" She stated as they walked closer towards each other. It turned more into a question than a statement as she really couldn't picture Derek to being a garden sort of guy.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek didn’t spend that much time in the gardens, it wasn’t really a go to place for him. He might’ve come here with Emilia or maybe someone he was hoping to impress, but it was nice to get some fresh air and maybe spend a little bit of time just doing something else. The prefect was pulled from his own mind when a voice suddenly appeared next to him, he really hadn’t been paying that much attention to not notice that at all. He laughed lightly at her statement too, and glanced the girl over, Marlowe or something, they were in the same year group, different houses, but of course plenty of the same classes. Her hair in his mind was pretty wild, ”Maybe, certainly the winter gardens is more my natural habit, spring or summer would be yours right?” he said to her with a little smile, motioning vaguely to her hair, the colours were perhaps more suited to a blooming spring than a hot summer but perhaps she had different opinions. The teen gave her a warm smile, he didn’t know Marlowe, but he was willing to get to know her. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Marlowe was used to being coined as one of the weirdos in their year. But she didn't mind being called such, she knew among all the students with normal hair colors and normal clothing styles she brought excitement. Derek seemed like a pretty straight forward guy, one that didn't adventure far from the path given to him. She wondered if she was wrong about that, considering she wouldn't have thought to find him in gardens that day. "Oh, well I've been thinking of changing things up, maybe purple or blue. Blue would help me fit into a winter theme," she said shrugging her shoulders a little. She'd been pink haired since second or third year, a long time now it was time for a change she thought. "I like the winter though, the night sky is always so clear and that crisp clean air is always nice to breathe in, over the humid heated air of summer," Marlowe told the Slytherin.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek looked at the girl’s hair and laughed lightly at what she said. He couldn’t imagine himself with pink, purple of blue hair. ”I think a blue colour would fit the theme,” he agreed with a little laugh, he hadn’t ever really spent time with Marlowe, he’d always been wrapped up in this that or the other thing, he’d been playing sports, busy with Emilia, with everything else. Perhaps it was a bad thing, he knew of Marlowe, and had seen her but he’d scarcely spent the time with her. He listened as she talked about winter and why she liked it and then felt himself smile. He looked up at the sky and then back at her, ”I’ve always been more of a summer man,” he replied laughing lightly, ”I like the humid heated air, I like the longer sunsets and long days,” he told her. ”Does that mean I should dye my hair blonde?” he joked, a smile on his features as he did so. He knew she was perhaps not going to like him saying that, but he thought it wasn’t too bad. He liked the winter enough, he could see the merits in what she said, but for him, he just liked summer a whole lot more. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Mars hadn't spent much time with Emilia in the past and nor did she really plan to in the future. But she could see why the girl had dated the boy standing on front of her. He was good looking and seemed to have a pretty nice personality. She in the past had always been too focused on Nixon who had been in the year above to pay attention to those boys in her own year. She didn't feel though now as a 6th year and never having been on a date as if she was missing out on much. She nodded as he agreed with the blue fitting to a winter theme, maybe she would dye her hair blue then, although summer would be coming up sooner than she'd want, but it could be a good summer color as well, ocean like. "Summer is fun but you don't need to be blonde for summer," she said sticking her tongue out as she finished and started to walk a little ahead of him in the garden before turning back. "A bright yellow, now that would suit you, and then whenever Hufflepuff plays you can be their biggest Slytherin fan," she said with a laugh.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek laughed lightly at her comment, he reached up to his head and tugged at the strands. He couldn’t imagine what his hair would look like if it was yellow in colour, a bright yellow at that. ”I think I’d be worried of being so luminescent that I’d glow in the dark,” Derek retorted with a little chuckle. ”I’d keep all of the boys in my dorm up with it.” he knew it wasn’t actually possible for that to happen but it was still a rather funny thought to him. He also thought it would be a good thing to joke about. He looked at Marlowe and her hair and then decided he would ask, ”I hope you don’t think it’s rude, I certainly don’t mean it, but why do you change your hair so much, why dye it at all?” he couldn’t help but ask, he wasn’t necessarily looking to know why to make fun of her or because he thought less of her for it, but it just seemed interesting, he was interested, if there was some great meaning behind it or not. Derek smiled at her, hoping to convey that he was just perfectly and innocently curious. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Marlowe was surprised how easy it was to joke around and talk with Derek. He'd always seemed like the sport jock type that dated pretty girls and talked only to other sporty people. Here Marlowe was being not very normal or sporty at all. She laughed at his comment about glowing though she hoped he knew yellow hair wouldn't actually glow in the dark. She shook her head at his question indicating she didn't think him rude while she thought of an answer. "I guess, I choose to be different. Look around the Great Hall at dinner tonight and you'll see what I mean. I stand out, but I'm also still a normal witch as well. I eat the same way I talk and laugh. Just colored hair is part of me, it makes me feel more like myself than before I changed my hair color. And truthfully, I've only ever dyed it pink, but maybe this year things'll change and I will try blue for awhile," she said with a smile. She couldn't imagine going back to the way she was during first and second year, how dull she had felt. But seeing pictures of an older student with pink hair one day in an old yearbook had inspired her to change.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek listened as she told him why she liked to dye her hair, he found himself quite naturally curious about the mindset of looking around and just wanting to stand out. For most of his life Derek had always aimed to fit in, to do things right and always try to do them the right way, he had never looked around a room and aim to be different than anyone else in such a visible manner. He wondered if there was a certain part of himself, that if he changed he would feel more at ease. Though the question then for him became what didn’t he feel easy about. He didn’t have anything that he wanted to change about himself. The only things he could think of were his personality. He knew he could only work to change his personality. Derek stopped walking and looked at her, ”Can I ask you about something, it’ll relate to my ex-girlfriend Emilia, so if you're friends with her and rather I don’t ask, just tell me,” he told her plainly. He was thinking about Marlowe changing her hair, and feeling more like herself and how Emilia had changed, how things between them had changed and perhaps he had been in the wrong to expect things to always be the same. Had he not supported her enough as she figured out who she was. ”And fair warning, I might not come out great in this,” he decided to add. It was odd, he didn’t know Marlowe much at all, but he was almost hoping she wouldn’t mind so he could ask it of something who probably like Emilia had decided to change. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Marlowe had never minded talking about herself in such a manner. She shook her head at herself when she was younger and had been so obsessed with Nixon. She should have branched out and focused on herself and friends more than some older guy she thought was the coolest thing around. He had been her first kiss at the spin the bottle event they'd had a few years ago now and since then she had a surprising lack of kisses from anyone else. She never put herself out there for romantic opportunities, never asked anyone she was interested in to a dance. So she wasn't well versed in the dating world and dating etiquette. So when Derek stopped and said he wanted to ask something related to her roommate, who he had dated, she wasn't entirely certain what to say. Was she close with Emilia? Not really, but she thought all the girls in the their dorm and year were at least friends. Was this something she should report back to Emilia? Probably not, if this was something about them. "Feel free, I think. I mean I'm not best friends with Emilia or anything," she said shrugging her shoulders lightly. She stopped walking as well and looked up at Derek wondering what he'd ask all of a sudden.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek nodded, he went to start speaking and paused, thinking over his words carefully, ”Do you think it’s wrong or bad to break up with someone because they’ve changed so much you no longer love them as you once had?” he spoke quickly, forgoing any preamble to explain the relationship that they had been young, that she had changed, that he had changed, that he’d kept trying but he knew they were just pretending. He didn’t mention the fact that the break up had in part been caused by the whole Diana situation, which even if they were only friends he had left himself deal with. He had let himself be that close to her, when he knew she’d mind. He was sure that someone who had herself changed, who had decided to come into her own, in how she’d opted to change her hair, how she had expressed that she had really just decided to be herself. Had he been wrong in his choice. Had he just not tried hard enough to accept her. Had she not tried more for him. ​

 

[Marlowe Moors]

Marlowe flashed Derek a side glance as she looked away to think on his question. She hadn't ever been in love, her crush on Nixon had just been that a crush. But she knew when Maggy told her that she liked girls and not boys her love for her sister only grew with that change. But for someone to change and you stop loving them...that wasn't something she was really familiar with. She had to think about her words carefully because it would be easy to say yes or no but without a justification to her words she didn't think that'd be very fair. "There's that saying if you truly love a person to let them go and they'll come back if it's meant to be. But, I don't think there's a saying for when you stop loving someone," she finally said firmly. "I know you're looking for an answer to justify actions from the past and the alternative is something you fear might be what you should have done..." Mars said pausing for a moment to rethink her next words. "You grew apart, even if she doesn't think so, you did. Maybe you didn't accept her for who she was becoming because it was different than before, that wouldn't be a good reason. But if it's truly a loss of love it's better to not pretend for anyone's sake and move on." Mars wasn't too sure if her words were really very good or the correct thing to say but she attempted to give Derek some advice on love.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek listened to her answer, he was quite surprised but thankful for her honest words. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but he was quite pleased that it was true. He knew that he had been wrong, he had acted rashly when breaking up with Emilia, that he perhaps hadn’t tried with her, but they hadn’t been talking about things, they hadn’t been talking, she’d changed so suddenly and so drastically and he hadn’t been able to keep up with it. He had tried, done things on his own, formed his own friendships, changed in his own ways. He hadn’t thought they would ever break up when they were together at first, but by the end he knew it was the way they had to go. It was unfortunate that it had happened in the way that it had, with Diana right in the middle, but even that he had been angry because she hadn’t trusted him, not because of the changing, it had just been the end of it. That had been the tipping point. He just nodded. ”Thanks,” he said with a little honesty in his tone. ”I did try, but I was younger, I didn’t know what I was doing, i thought romance would be this fantasy thing, princesses and princes and in reality, relationships are messy,” he could admit that they’d been young, and that he hoped as he moved forward he should attempt to do better than he had, to be better, to learn from his mistakes. ”Should I reach out? Ask her to talk, try and settle things, make things better,” The boy asked her, he wasn’t sure why he was asking, but everyone he knew involved in it, either knew her or knew him. ​