Penpals

[Olive Mayfield]

It was strange, Olive decided as she searched her dorm for a spare quill. Strange was the events of the winter; the fact that the Hufflepuff actually wanted to continue correspondence with her new neighbour; the sheer fact that everything which occurred over the winter vacation was deliriously out of character for the girl and she didn't even care. Yet here she was, her quills all disappeared already and her hair not even in it's usual ponytail, about to write a letter to some kid she'd met only to be stalked by. Yes, the personality change had the Prefect thinking. Skyler was a good kid, she knew, even with zir annoying habit of drawing less-than-appropriate images and attacking Olive with them.

Regardless, ze was Olive's first friend in years. Ze didn't care that Olive didn't measure up to the standards the girl's sister had set, or that she had ignored family tradition and moved to Hogwarts, or that she didn't even look like someone from the Lillis family. Skyler didn't judge Olive; something that the girl was more than grateful for.

Finally detaching a quill from the inside of a textbook (the girl had little but a sneaking suspicion as to how it got stuck), Olive sat down to write.

Hey Skyler,

Did I ever tell you how much being at Hogwarts can suck? Seriously, I don't get how the first years can be so darn obnoxious. And noisy. Oh god the noise. It's actually like a thousand miniature yous who have a habit of asking the most stupid questions. (Uhh, don't tell the professors I said that..)

So how's Durmstrang? It must be weird there. Do they teach you in English, or are you stuck learning everything in Bulgarian? I used to go to Beauxbatons and all my classes were in French, but I refused to learn a word so I had no idea what they were trying to teach me. Mum got so pissed off that she actually let me transfer to HNZ.. my sister still resents me for breaking tradition though haha.

Pretty sure you aren't actually gonna reply to this with anything relevant, but meh. We agreed to write letters; so here you go.

Have fun, and enjoy your parcel! d:
- Olive

The Hufflepuff checked over her letter, smirking as she wondered if Skyler would actually reply sensibly or not. Based on zir track record, Olive almost doubted it. She attached a parcel of Liquorice Wands to the note, before leaving her dorm to track down her owl.

 

[Skyler Marsh]

Swaddled tightly in as many hoodies and furs as ze could possibly pile on, Skyler loped with an uncharacteristic lack of grace up a tree, letter, quill, and paper tucked in one hand. The shift from New Zealand's relative warmth to Durmstrang's bitter cold was always a shock to the system, and this year was no different. Outside, in the trees though, ze was always less likely to be bothered. Even if anyone else out in the freezing chill did happen to look up and spot zir, it was easy enough to dump snow on them and make a quick getaway through the branches.

When Skyler reached a suitably secluded branch, zir face was red from the exertion and the chill, and the bags under zir eyes even more prominent. If Olive could see Skyler now she would be faced with almost a different person. Gone was the chirpy demeanour and bright eyes of their holiday time together, hollowed out by exhaustion and rage and desperation. Life here took its toll on Skyler hard, and even as ze reread Olive's letter, so full of life and personality, and the frivolity of their friendship over the holidays, Skyler knew it was going to be damn near impossible to reply to this in the manner Olive had grown so used to.

As ze picked up the quill to reply, it hit zir all over again just how much this place hurt, how big a toll it took on zir. How the person ze was died a little the second ze saw the looming castle doors, ready to swallow zir up for another hellish term.

Olive

Olivey Olivey Olive.

Comparing me to first years. I'm shocked. I can't be that bad, can I? Nobody should stoop so low when friendsulting someone they've grown so very, very, very close to. At least, I would hope the ickle firsties aren't making quite such inappropriate jokes as me. That would be a scandal worthy of all the papers.

How's Durmstrang? Take how much Hogwarts sucks, multiply it by five, crank the thermostat WAY down, and make everybody foreign and pissed off with each other, all of the time. It's like that. We don't all speak Bulgarian here, though. We're in Scandinavia. It'd be much warmer in Bulgaria, I imagine...

But yeah. Durmstrang pretty much sucks, and that's about all there is to say about that.

That, and I'm sick of being thrown into frozen lakes. Absolutely sick of it. Shrivels a person up like nobody's business.

Thanks for the liquorice wands, it's been ages since I had them. I don't have anything nice to send back, so I hope you enjoy the pine needles and assortment of my brilliant artistic samplings.

Love and phallic imagery
Skyler

Skyler slipped the letter, a handful of pine needles haphazardly pulled from the nearest branch, and a selection of ridiculous and lewd doodles into an envelope together, quickly scribbling Olive's name and yet another anatomical diagram for good measure onto the surface. It would have to do. Certainly not the Skyler Olive would be expecting, but it was the best ze could do right now.

 

[Olive Mayfield]

It only took a day for Olive to receive a reply; the exhausted girl relieved to have even the smallest bit of contact with the outside world. Having attended breakfast only for the mail, the Hufflepuff made the most of her free morning and returned back to her dormitory. Thanking the stars for aligning and allowing her to get a single room, Olive locked the door as soon as she could. Settling crosslegged on the shabby rug, the girl slit open the roll of parchment and began to read.

A frown grew on Olive's delicate face. In the few short months she had known Skyler, she had never heard zir so dejected. Something was up, the brunette decided. It was more than a little uncharacteristic for zir to be so direct, yet something told her ze wasn't telling her everything either.

Muttering Accio, the Hufflepuff Prefect summoned her quill and parchment, and began to write.
</FONT>

Hey Skyler,

Oh don't you worry; the ickle first years are just as bad as you (if not worse!). Honestly, kids are growing up so fast these days. You should hear what I heard in the common room..

What? Well then, someone needs to tell Riley that. Beauxbatons kids were such snobs, and my sister haaated Durmstrang. "Beauxbatons is the best la la la snob whine complain"... yeah, I don't like my sister much.

But why are you getting thrown into lakes? Do I have to come up there and kick some Scandinavian butt?

You're more than welcome; it's the bonus that comes with having a BFF who's Mother owns Honeydukes. I hope you like the Sugar Quills I'm sending this time around!

- Olive

PS: I found that picture you drew in my CoMC textbook. Veeeery funny, Skyler. Hilarious.

<FONT font="times new roman">
Olive sighed, rolling the letter around the pack of Sugar Quills. She hoped her friend was okay; she'd heard bad things about Durmstrang and hoped more than ever that they weren't even the slightest bit true.

 

[Skyler Marsh]

Olive's letter was like a breath of fresh air after a rougher day than usual, and Skyler took no shame at all in physically pressing the letter to zir face and breathing deeply, a breath of home and freedom and a life ze missed so sorely that it physically hurt sometimes. Absconding quickly to get away from the rest of the students to freedom, ze neglected proper protection from the weather, and thanked zir lucky stars it wasn't snowing as ze scurried across the harsh, icy grounds to somewhere ze could feel safe and secure.

Despite the cold, the lack of extra layers made Skyler's scramble up the nearest tree much faster, and ze was quickly able to get settled and take out the letter again, rereading it and absorbing the warmth and the happiness and the overwhelming feeling of home, so desperately needed right now. Zir eyes lingered over the word 'BFF' - sure it was Skyler who had started calling them that, about five minutes after meeting (At first it had just been a joke, teasing the new neighbour, seeing what got her goat, but to Skyler's delight Olive had actually been more wonderful than Skyler had imagined any person could be, and more than lived up to the BFF epithet.) but every time Olive used the term Skyler was delighted at the feeling of acceptance and having someone real who cared and understood, and accepted Skyler for who ze was without the regular awkward 'no, but really are you a boy or a girl you know you can tell me we're so close why haven't you told me yet' proddings. No terms, no conditions, just friendship. It was so refreshing after the dank, overbearing, aggressive atmosphere of Durmstrang, and the battles Skyler faced every day.

After giving the letter another quick skim and hurriedly wiping the tears from zir face (Skyler was wearing mascara today, wouldn't want it to show... signs of weakness were the last things ze needed.) ze pulled quill and parchment from zir bag, settling in to try and cobble together some semblance of a response, despite feeling so desperate and detached from who ze was and who Olive knew.

Olive

Firsties? As bad as me? I'll have to up my game. Be careful, you'll be arse deep in drawings of people's junk before you even know what happened. Never question my status as the master of all things debauched.

Durmstrang is a hell hole and I am quietly rotting away here. By the end of the term they'll have to scrape the moldy slush of my being from one of the castle walls. You'll be receiving me by package next holidays. (hur hur)

I don't think I ever even met your sister... how come you went to different schools? Or should I not be asking?

The lakes thing is nothing. Don't worry about it, I always at least try to get 'em back as good as I got. I'm sneakier about it too, I've hardly had any notes sent home for violent behaviour. And I mean I'm only doing the reasonable thing, you can hardly punish a person for breaking some punk's nose who took their coat and dumped 'em in a lake so cold it started freezing over soon as they cracked the surface.

I'm in even less of a position to send you anything nice this time, I forgot to even grab one measly hoodie before dashing out here to reply, I'm freezing my tootsies off for you. Here's a bit of bark. It was jabbing me in the side. I hope it's as delicious as the pine needles. If you aren't partaking of my thoughtful quisine I shall be ever so offended.

Love and broken teeth,
Skyler

PS. Wait until you see the one I drew at the bottom of your trunk. I might tell you the charm to unstick it if you ask nicely. Or you can enjoy my masterwork. I'm ever so proud.

 

[Olive Mayfield]

Little could distract Olive from the fast-growing mound of homework she had to do, yet her ear remained tuned for the tap at the window which would announce a new letter. And soon enough, a tap there was.

Ditching rolls of parchment and two heavy textbooks, the Hufflepuff clambered out of her chair towards the window. She didn't anticipate the textbook on her floor, however, and Olive stumbled over it for the third time that day.

She offered a grimace (again) and continued on her path to the window. One hand left her side to take a handful of owl treats, the other fiddled with the latch and opened it up. The owl hopped inside more than a little used to the routine, nuzzling Olive's hand for treats. Removing the envelope from the owl, the Hufflepuff moved to sit crosslegged on her bed to read.

The letter produced little more than a frown; a niggling feeling that something was really wrong on Skyler's end. Olive was only being paranoid though, right? If something was all that wrong at Durmstrang, ze would have told her.. right?

Reassuring herself that nothing all too wrong could be happening, Olive skimmed over the rest of the letter and moved to collect a quill and parchment. Dipping the quill in the ink, Olive began to write.

Hey hey, Skyler!

Merlin's pants, how many of those things will you draw before you're bored? I'm just relieved I rarely ever dream, or I'd have nightmares. I maintain that the firsties are as bad as you, just maybe on a different level or something.

Er, how about no rotting? I want to see you in one piece over Christmas, so kindly try not to rot into mush.

I have a brother and a sister; prettttyy sure you've already met Benny but Riley's like, Queen B!tch of the family. (no actually she's the head of the family and I hate her hate her hate her!) Riley's idea of fun is skiing with her girlfriend or picking my mere existence to pieces; she was a Prefect at Beauxbatons in her seventh year, but apparently being Prefect at HNZ doesn't match up with that. *rolls eyes*

Sorry, I didn't mean to start ranting. Haha. Anyway, we went to different schools 'cos I refused to learn French and didn't want to spend my first two years of school with her.

You broke someone's nose?! Merlin, I hope you had a decent reason. Just try not to hurt too many people please? Or you might get hurt too.. and I'm not gonna push you around in a wheelchair all Summer. Just no. And I really wish you weren't being pushed into lakes, 'speshly the cold ones. I did the Polar Plunge one year with Aroha down in Dunedin, and we both frozeee. It sucked, we both agreed never to do it again but we did get some Muggle thing as a prize.

Sheesh, I'm wearing a tee and I'm perfectly warm down here. Must be cold up at Durmy. The plant matter is much appreciated and shall add fibre to my diet. (excuse me while I puke d

Wait, broken teeth? What aren't you telling me, Skyler?

Lots of cups of hot chocolate (hot chocolate = love okay?),
- Olive

PS: Chaarming. I'm almost tempted not to include these Every Flavoured Beans for you..

Biting her lip, Olive checked over the letter she'd written. It seemed concerned, nothing like how she'd acted over the Winter, but it would do. The Prefect made the efforts necessary to attach the letter and parcel to the owl, and returned to her school books with a sigh.[/font]

 

[Skyler Marsh]

Good days for Skyler Marsh when at school were rare, but they did happen. No Dark Arts class, the sun was actually shining, though the air held its everpresent chill, and not one single person had given zir any trouble all day. At the end of the day ze traipsed outside to find somewhere secluded to answer Olive's letter, not even bothering to put on any furs, enjoying the warmth of the sun through the nippiness of the air around. Ze was wearing a short skirt over jeans, and it was hard to resist a shiver as the hurried activity of scampering up a tree made the fabric swish, sending a rush of icy air up into the previously warm area. Bloody Scandinavia...

Settling in the branches in a position where ze would get maximum sunlight while writing took a while, but Skyler was so excited to respond and cap off this perfect day, that when ze finally got settled ze began writing with such vim and vigour that the first line was near unreadable.

Olive Olive Olive Olive

I have had a FANTASTIC day, just so you know. FANTASTIC. F A N T A S T I C.

As fantastic as it gets up here. And a letter from you to top it off? Marvellous. I am practically on top of the world. Well, I'm nearly on top of a tree, is that quite close enough?

I will not rest in my phallic endeavours until you see filth simply every time you close your eyes. Every single time. Not even your subconscious will be safe. I will creep right under your skin with my smut and stay there until you learn to love it.

Creepy grin goes here.

Oh, I remember your brother. Yikes. Your sister sounds... interesting. If she ever gives you any trouble, feel free to introduce us. I'd just love to meet her...

Creepier grin goes here.

I've only got a half sister... I don't know if you ever met her. She's alright. We don't talk much. I think she's starting at Hogwarts next year or something. No Family Honour for her to uphold in the castle of the damned like I had to. Lucky sod. I should write to her or something.

Of course I had a good reason to break that jerk's nose, he threw me.in a frozen.lake. It was cold. The least I could do was shatter a few bones. Haven't had much trouble since, which is just dandy, though I know it won't stay this way for long. And believe me, if anyone tries to give me trouble, it'll be them spending christmas in a wheelchair, not me. Pinky promise. No wheelchairs for me!

The broken teeth are yours, for eating tree bark, goober. I feed you so well. Look, this time I included some twigs from a bird's nest. I'm so thoughtful and caring. I should adopt you. I would be a loving parent. You would never be short of delicious plant matter and phallic masterpieces.

Love and love and happiness (see my most cheerful of grins? =D)
-Skyler

 

[Olive Mayfield]

[Oh dear god. I babbled. My apologies..]

Easily stressed was an understatement, Olive mused. The end of the week brought extra homework; something to fill their time, as if there wasn't enough to catch up on by the weekend to fill it already. And this particular Friday seemed more hectic than usual, the girl having arrived to class ten minutes early only to discover that she had picked up the wrong textbook. Retrieving the book left Olive late to class, and half a page of notes behind.

What had been a long day had manifested into a weekend of long nights; something to be procrastinated on then completed in a rush at the last minute. The fact of the matter remained, Olive desperately needed some form of a break and had endured several long weeks of school only to slip closer to some form of a meltdown from the stress.

Olive knew she had worked hard, and was left attempting to reason with her own mind for one night's rest. And even that would be complete with it's activities; a letter to reply to, for one. The parchment envelope had arrived by owl that morning, only to be tossed in the Prefect's bag with an apple. And now that there was a chance to take a break, Olive rushed through crowds of other students to replace the textbooks and homework with some light reading of sorts.

Upon completing the small tasks, Olive began to wonder with a hint of excitement. Where would she go? The most the Hufflepuff ever escaped her dormitory was Prefect Duty and classes; and she hadn't left the castle doors in a good few weeks. Looking out her window gave her an idea, leaving Olive to find a sweatshirt and a woollen hat and put together the things she needed for what she considered a momentous occasion.

Out of the Hufflepuff House, past the doors to the abnormally rowdy Great Hall where dinner was being served, through the enormous wooden doors.. Olive hesitated a little. Her conscience still advised against a night off, reminding her of the work that was stacked on her desk. Yet the great outdoors still shouted louder and more insistently than her homework, causing a grin to play across Olive's mouth as she broke one of her own rules.

Head held high, Olive took the step out of the castle and let the door shut behind her. The Prefect trained her eyes on a park bench near the lake and followed a path towards it, noting how the moon was hidden behind clouds again. She reached the bench with a hand now clasping the envelope, and sat down to read.

The grin that had been playing on her mouth grew wider; here was the Skyler she had first met. Olive quirked an eyebrow and moved to sit crosslegged on her bench, whispering Lumos so that she could write her reply as she read.

Well well well, Skyler.

It looks like you've cheered up nicely, I'm glad your day was fantastic.

Mine, I have to admit, was less so. But you'll never guess what I'm doing right now; I took a study break! My first in three weeks! You should be proud of me. If only I had a tree to climb, but I hear that there are Werewolves and things in the Forbidden Forest so I wouldn't dare.

That's.. eww! I hate you right now. *shudders*

Oh no, you'd hate to meet her. She's stuck up and a huge snob and ugh. No. You'd hate her.

I think you definitely should try writing to your half-sister. Perhaps you could get some inside info on your parents that you can use for blackmail?
I don't know why I wrote that. Feeling rather rebellious tonight.. hence the abandoning of regularly scheduled bookwork.

My mistake; forgot that being turned into an icecube gave the victim instant permission to break a few noses. You just keep up that standard.. and don't get caught!

You're avoiding my question, I can tell. Why do/did you have broken teeth? You can't mention these things and not explain them, or I'll get worried! I appreciate the sentiment though; I'm sure you've found the Acid Pop I included and I hope you enjoy my revenge. You aren't going to get decent candy by sending me plant matter! Ahahaha.

All of the love and numerous grins in return,
- Olive.