Nothing New

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

It'd taken some convincing but Zara had coerced both her mother and her grandparents to firstly let the twins go to Ireland for a few weeks over the holiday and then luckily to invite a friend each to stay for a small portion of that trip. She didn't like to use the father card much with her grandparents but she really wanted to do something fun for the holiday and as much as she loved Lennon he wasn't as interesting as her best friend was and more than that the neighbour boy was dreadful so she thought a fair belated birthday gift was a sleepover with her best friend. It wasn't as if Zara ever caused any real trouble, anyway. So she eagerly waited for Darcy to arrive while she swung her legs listening to a song through the Wireless while she doodled flowers in her journal in contrast although she didn't love to draw still life whenever she thoughtlessly put pen to paper it was always what came onto the page. The barefoot girl chewed down on her lip while she hummed to the tune, adding unnecessary details until she fell bored of it and closed the book hoping that she could catch up to Darcy face-to-face soon because she was feeling a little impatient and excited.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy's stomach was in knots as she walked up to the address she was given. A huge part of her was nervous because she had finally figured out something about herself and now she was afraid to be around Zara. But then getting to hang out with her best friend won her over which is why she was now hitching her bag over her shoulder and knocking on the door. She greeted the older couple who answered the door and followed them inside as they led her to the room Zara was in, making polite conversation with them until they reached the room. Darcy watched as Zara sat there humming a song and grinned at the sight of the dark-haired girl so natural and carefree at home. It made Darcy's heart flutter with how comfortable she looked and recognized her own comfort she felt whenever the girl was around. Darcy knocked on the panels of the door to announce her presence and said, "Hey!" ​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara looked up as she heard a familiar voice and her face lit up as she saw Darcy standing there. For some strange reason her chest felt a little tight but she put that down to excitement as she stood up to greet her, "Hi!" She had hoped that her grandparents hadn't made things too awkward for Darcy but she couldn't help but be eager to see the red headed girl who she now excitedly wrapped her arms around, jumping and wiggling as she spoke eagerly as if she hadn't seen Darcy in months although it felt that way with how busy they had both been coming to the end of the previous school year. "Merlin I'm so glad you're here!" she said as she pulled away but realizing she had made her friend's hair a little messy brushed it away from the girl's face and behind her ear without much thought about it and then did the same for her own black locks, most of which was in a loose bun. "Are you hungry or thirsty? I can get you anything!" she said, feeling excited about having a friend over for the first time and also a little nervous playing hostess. While she waited for an answer Zara motioned to take Darcy's bags so that she could show her to her bedroom which they would be sharing where there was a bed and a cot. The cot was really just for Darcy's sake because Zara for the most part presumed they would just share a bed but if for whatever reason that made Darcy nervous Zara would be happy to sleep on the cot. Discomfort really wasn't so uncomfortable to the young girl but she knew that their upbringings were slightly different and that luxury probably came a lot quicker to her best friend even if she never acted like it was a necessity - for which Zara was grateful. "We can share or I'll take the cot," she explained when they had entered the room which was her aunt's old bedroom and Zara had only barely redecorated so some of the posters were out of date, peeling and generally didn't reflect her personality but it felt like home to the girl so she never bothered much with it. There was a bed, a large window, and an easel. What more could she really need?

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy laughed freely as Zara hugged her tightly and she jumped up and down with her, feeling equally giddy to be here. She smiled nervously as Zara brushed her hair behind her ear but didn't focus on it as Zara then took her bag. Darcy walked around the room looking at the old posters which she knew probably weren't the Ravenclaw girl's, but she liked them all the same. She turned to look at Zara when she explained the cot's presence. "We're best friends, we can share the bed," she shrugged, trying to remind herself that this was normal. Girls who were best friends always had sleepovers and shared a bed, this was no different. Zara was her best friend and what Darcy knew about herself now didn't change that. "Some tea would be nice?" she said and let Zara lead her toward the kitchen. Darcy wanted to hear all about Zara visiting her grandparents and semi-growing up in this house because it was so different to what her childhood was like. Darcy sipped her tea as she got a mini tour of the house until eventually they ended up back in the bedroom. She peered out the bedroom window and then gingerly took a seat on the bed at first, nervous to get too comfortable. But before long Darcy was chatting with Zara like they normally did, catching up on things, laughing about her ex-boyfriend Cato and how dumb Darcy had been to date him. She never kept anything from Zara but there was one secret she was afraid to tell the Ravenclaw because she didn't want it to ruin their friendship so instead she just kept it to herself.
​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

Zara simply nodded in agreement, admittedly glad that Darcy didn't mind because the cot was really uncomfortable. It wasn't like it was weird for two best friends to share a bed at least in pictures she saw that. As her situation in life was well... complicated so the girl had actually never had a sleepover before but she expected that was the case. It wasn't as if she was sharing a bed with Asaiah - that'd be weird. The younger of the two girls made them both tea as they caught up, speaking and listening to their shared stories, giggling at their jokes like they were secrets. Somehow it had been decided that with the beautiful weather that they had somehow been graced with that they would go to the nearby beach. She grinned eagerly because she was glad that this summer was proving to be a good one so far so she grabbed her suit and without much thought of privacy - simply because after living in a dorm room with many other girls for months on end there really was no such thing as privacy - she began to get changed - only turning away from Darcy to allow her to change as well.

While Zara slipped off her dungarees she told her friend, "The beach is a little bit of a walk from the house but it's not too bad." She would not just wear her bikini to the beach because of this. She would just grab a pair of shorts to wear over it and a pair of shoes but it was easier than attempting to change in the public toilets. Slipping on her bikini top discretely Zara could really see now just how fair she was as her black bathing suit was a strong contrast to her fair skin as she peered into the mirror but then realized that Darcy was in her line of sight thanks to the large mirror and her cheeks went hot feeling suddenly embarrassed and perhaps voyeuristic. The girl looked down immediately at this realization and without another word changed into her bottoms quickly pulling on shorts too but her gaze pulled back to the red hair of her friend.

 

[Darcy Pratt]

Darcy had known there was going to be a beach nearby Zara's grandparent's house so she had packed a bathing suit, but she didn't know if the weather would be nice enough. Thankfully the weather gods decided to grant them this wish and the day was too nice to pass up such an opportunity. Once Zara suggested the idea, Darcy jumped up from the bed and reached for her overnight bag to grab her suit. She was going to excuse herself to the restroom for some privacy, but before she could say anything, Zara had turned away from her and began changing. Darcy gulped, having lived in a dorm room now with various women for several years now to know that this was normal for friends in close living quarters to do, so she tried not to be too thrown off by it. With one last glance at the girl changing, Darcy turned around and began changing into her bathing suit. With both of their backs turned to each other, Darcy figured they had privacy from each other so she carefully took off her shirt and began changing into her green bathing suit. She had used this suit two years ago when she first transferred to Hogwarts New Zealand as part of her Halloween costume when she dressed as Poison Ivy and won an award for the costume. She wanted to tell Zara this anecdote because she found it somewhat amusing but as she turned to tell the dark haired girl over her shoulder, Darcy caught sight of her looking and her cheeks flushed.

Darcy quickly turned back around, embarrassed, and stood still for a moment. When she looked up at the mirror in the room she saw that her reflection could still be seen even if they had their backs turned to each other, but she didn't know if Zara had noticed so Darcy just continued to get dressed in silence, not daring to look up at the mirror. Now that she knew she was attracted to girls (and a frightening chill ran through her body just even thinking those words), Darcy knew she was absolutely not allowed to look at Zara because that was her best friend and she couldn't develop feelings for her otherwise it would ruin things, so she forced herself not to look up and see if Zara was still looking. Once she had finished putting on her bathing suit and slipped on a dress as a cover up, Darcy finally turned around slowly, clearing her throat in the process to indicate her movement, and looked up at Zara with her cheeks still pink. "Ready?" she said in what she hoped was a casual tone.
​