Painting the Roses Red

[Natalie Wolf]

Natalie folded her arms as she stepped back to admire her masterpiece - as the red paint dried it weighed down the petals, deforming them. She frowned as her eyes followed the trickle of red that flowed down the rose's stem, and she chewed on the paintbrush between her lips, trying to decide whether or not to water down the paint. She let her eyes drop to the small, vivid red paint pot at her feet, and with a small sigh, withdrew the brush from her mouth and opened the paint again.

She picked a bigger rose this time, and applied the paint in thinner layers, giving the white rose a pink complexion. 'Never mind', she thought, 'I'll just add another layer when it's dry.' While she worked she smiled and sung to herself...

"Painting the roses red
We're painting the roses red
We dare not stop
Or waste a drop
So let the paint be spread
We're painting the roses red
We're painting the roses red"​

 

[Estrella Drage]

After her little conversation in Brightstone a few weeks ago with her father and his new wife, Estrella had not had much enthusiasm lately. Although she didn't like it she had noticed an increase in her irritability. Usually, she ignored the first years, but just moments ago she had found herself snapping at a group of them for wandering a good distance near the forest. The Ravenclaw girl had taken to roaming the school as of late, considering she wasn't wasting away her weekend buying things in Brightstone. She found herself in the garden, noticing that some, but not all, of the flora and fauna was wilting with the oncoming winter. She took precarious steps along the narrow pathways. The girl had her eyes peeled for gnomes, her hand clutching her wand in her pocket.

She was trying to push her irritation out of her mind, replacing her constant mulling with ideas of how she was going to burn off all of this excess energy that she possessed as of late. Quidditch didn't seem too appealing right now. She sighed exasperatedly, not sure what to do to curb her boredom.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted another girl in the gardens, who was painting something, of all things. The girl had to be older- a fourth or fifth year perhaps? The Ravenclaw girl was still baffled by how many transfers they had gotten this year. With a smirk, she approached her, not entirely sure what else to do. "I take it the roses here aren't red enough for you?" Her dark eyes flickered with amusement. She had yet to get acquainted with this girl, and had absolutely no idea what house she was in.