Overdue Meeting

[Amber Chou Wilson]

A trip to the Hogwarts Gardens was always a part of Amber's back to school ritual. She didn't spend as much time here as she had in her first two years at school anymore, but it still felt nice to wander around before the term started and she got too busy to have quiet moments like this. It was tinged with some pain now, as it was here that she had told Ainsley about Wyatt asking her to the Yule Ball, something which had hurt their friendship a lot. But the two seemed to be getting better, so Amber decided to think positively and focus on the future. A part of her wondered if she should invite Wyatt here for a date, assuming he would be allowed to leave his common room this semester. She hadn't had the chance to talk to him about that yet, or about anything really. It was a little odd to think about him, as having a boyfriend wasn't really how she had expected it to be. The idea of walking in the gardens with him was fun, but not as appealing as she felt like it should be.

With a small sigh, she sat down on a bench and looked absently at some of the flowers. As much as she liked to be here, not even the cheerful colors around her could distract her from her many thoughts. She was worrying about her future, her classes, her OWLs, Ainsley, Sophie and the situation with Wyatt and his friends. All these things warring for attention in her mind at once. It had been quite a blow to realize Wyatt's best friends in the world didn't like her. As silly as it felt to even think, Amber wasn't all that used to not being liked, she tended to get along with most people, and she had honestly expected that she would be accepted by them without a problem. Propping her chin up on a hand, she sighed, wondering if this year would be better than the last. She hoped so, as her third year had been quite hard for the Hufflepuff. Things seemed to get more and more complicated the older she got, and she wondered how difficult it would be to be a seventh year.

 

[Stella Finch]

Since Stella was only a second year, she felt like she was still getting to know the Hogwarts grounds and everything it had to offer. She just waited impatiently for the school year to start up again because she enjoyed being here and couldn't wait to explore more of the castle and its surroundings. Today Stella was heading towards the gardens because she'd heard you could find fairies though, but she didn't know if that was just a myth or not. She couldn't be sure what was real and what wasn't because she'd grown up as a muggle so she decided to check it out for herself, unaccompanied so she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of anyone else. As she slowly walked through the garden, getting distracted by all the magical flowers, she saw someone up ahead that looked vaguely familiar to her, though she'd never met the girl. Stella looked around for Wyatt, expecting him to be here with the girl, but when she didn't seem to find her brother, Stella decided to take advantage of the girl's solitude. The Slytherin walked up to the girl on the bench and said, "Hi! You're Wyatt's girlfriend aren't you?" She'd seen them at the dance together and saw how they sometimes had lunch together when he couldn't go anywhere else last year so she was fairly certain she was right. She really hoped her brother wasn't around because he'd probably kill her for talking to Amber right now.
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[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber was starting to think about her upcoming schedule and how she would rearrange her planner, trying to move her thoughts away from Ainsley and Wyatt and everything else she was concerned about, to put her worries into more productive things instead of wondering about problems she couldn't do much about. She looked up when a girl approached her and talked to her, blinking in surprise as she took in her question. She looked younger, and vaguely familiar to Amber though she didn't think the two had ever talked or really met. "Yes I am." She said, her tone careful as she tried to figure out what this was. This girl clearly knew Wyatt, why else would she approach someone to ask about him? Amber decided to just ask. "You know him?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. The girl looked to be about Sophie's age, maybe she was a second year? She couldn't be sure, her blond hair was very pretty and the girl looked cute. She also seemed sweet, which was a far cry from Amber's grumpy and angry sister.

 

[Stella Finch]

Stella smiled when the girl confirmed she was Wyatt's girlfriend but then burst out into a laugh when she asked if she knew him. "He's my brother," she said through her chuckles. "I'm Stella Finch," she introduced herself to the girl brightly, holding her hand out for her to shake it. "I see Wyatt doesn't make it a habit of telling people about me," she said with a playful roll of her eyes. She thought perhaps she might have come up in conversation but she didn't think he'd go as far enough as to point her out to anyone because he probably wanted to avoid an interaction like this. "Truthfully he didn't tell me about you either but I've seen you two together," Stella said with a playful chuckle.
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[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber felt a little awkward when the girl laughed in a way that made it clear she should have known who she was, and she soon understood why. She thought Wyatt might have mentioned his sister at some point, but she couldn't recall hearing her name and she definiteley didn't know the face attached to the name. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I knew he had a sister, he told me, I just didn't know it was you." She hoped it wouldn't make the girl angry at Wyatt if she thought he hadn't mentioned her to his girlfriend. "It's nice to meet you Stella." She said with a bright smile. Amber didn't know how she felt about Wyatt not telling his sister about her, but it wasn't like she had talked about Wyatt in detail with her own sister either. Then again, her own sister was Sophie. "Are you a second year?" She asked the girl curiously, wondering if she really was in the same year as her own sister. "Do you know Sophie Wilson perhaps? That's my sister, she is a second year." She didn't seem like the type to be Sophie's friend, but you never knew. She smiled at the girl, she seemed very cheerful and bubbly, different from Wyatt for sure.

 

[Stella Finch]

Stella smiled and waved a hand dismissively when she apologized for not knowing who she was. "It's okay, it's not your fault, it's Wy's," she said with a laugh. Stella took a seat beside the girl without asking and replied, "It's nice to meet you too!" She nodded her head when Amber asked if she was a second year. "I'm in Slytherin," she added for clarification. She cocked her head to the side in thought when she brought up her sister who was also a second year. Stella had kept a relatively low profile after her brother and his fiends had gotten caught for the mess in the Ravenclaw common room because people had said some not so nice things about them so she didn't want to be solely associated with that. "No sorry I don't think I do," she said with an apologetic shrug. "Should I get to know her?" she asked with an excited bounce, "you know, since our families will be close and all," she said playfully, nudging the girl. She knew the probability of Wyatt and Amber ending up together forever at such a young age was really slim but it was fun to joke about because she'd never had a sister so she would love one to look up to. All she had was Wyatt and she could use more family members that weren't so moody.
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[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber was glad Stella didn't seem upset Amber didn't know her, or that Wyatt hadn't mentioned her. She knew Sophie would have minded if Amber didn't mention her, as this had actually happened the first time Sophie met her friend Ainsley. Stella seemed very friendly, though, and Amber was happy to sit with her for a bit. She was surprised to hear the girl was a Slytherin, as her image of that house didn't fit with the cheerful, cute girl in front of her. "What's it like in Slytherin?" She asked her, hoping her surprise didn't show too much. Amber didn't have any friends in that house, though she had met a few nice people from there. The house mostly reminded her of Rory, though, who was her least favorite person in the school. Amber laughed a little awkwardly at her words about their families, feeling guilty as she didn't think she would be seeing Wyatt that much longer. The two hadn't even written each other over the break. It made her a little sad to finally meet someone supportive now when she felt like it was nearly over. She hoped Stella wouldn't dislike if she broke up with Wyatt, though she wouldn't blame her for it either. "Only if you want to." Amber said quickly, though she felt a bit conflicted. Sophie would probably be rude to the bubbly Slytherin, but Amber could hardly tell her that as it would be speaking ill of Sophie. But was it speaking ill if it was the truth? "She's not always in the best mood, she can be a bit grumpy." She said, figuring it was a fair warning. "Do you visit the gardens often?" She asked to change the subject as she looked around at the flowers.