Picnic for Lunch

[Merrill Piper]

Merrill couldn't believe that Christmas break was over so fast. It had felt like just yesterday was the yuleball, and now they were back to class. Of course they spent most of the day sitting in class while the summer sun wasted away outside. When she had first come to Hogwarts Merrill had been so excited not to be forced to spend all her time outside, but now five years later she actually found she missed it a little. So once they were dismissed for lunch Merrill grabbed some food, and a bottle of pumpkin juice from the great hall, and took it to the courtyard to have a picnic. It was a beautiful warm day outside, and as soon as the sunlight hit her face she felt more at peace than she had all day. The Gryffindor took a seat on a marble bench, and started nibbling away as she watched someones pet cat eye a bird that had flown in. ​

 

[November Albertson]

November loved spending time in the courtyard, it was where she had first asked Flavio on their first Yule Ball date. And a wonderful studying spot during the warmer months. She was glad they were on the North Island here at school, always got warmer here than in south where her Aunt had a house and lived. She took a few things off the table to eat while she studied outside and promptly headed to the courtyard. She was surprised to see another girl doing the same thing. On closer inspection she was pretty certain the girl was in her year, one of the Gryffindor girls she shared classes with the past four and a half years. Never did she really talk to the Gryffindor girls, other than when Evelyn had trapped her into talking about Amber after a class one day last year. That had been awkward and November strayed away from the Gryffindor girls since then, she wondered if this girl, Merrill, was one of Evelyn's friends and there also one of Amber's friends.
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[Merrill Piper]

Merrill was watching as the cat stalked closer, and closer to the bird, but just as it was ready to pounce the little bird flew away, and out of the court yard. Merrill breathed a sigh of relief. When she looked up she saw that she wasn't the only person who had planned to eat outside today. It was November, a girl who she had classes with, and very briefly talked to at one of the school events. She had never really heard anything bad about the girl, and so Merrill waved to her. "Want to join me?" she asked. ​

 

[November Albertson]

November was even more surprised by the situation when her classmate asked if she wanted to join her. At first, her first instinct was to be suspicious, Evelyn when she asked to talk had been pushy about Amber. And whenever she had talked to Amber, well those conversations never ended well, apart from once when Amber had been rather nice to her. But having met Merrill through Noemie, November thought the girl wouldn't be outright mean to her and decided to accept the offer. "Uh, yeah, that'd be nice, thanks," she said as she moved to sit near the girl. "Are you out here studying or just having lunch?" November asked curious
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[Merrill Piper]

Merrill took a sip of her pumpkin juice as November took her seat. The other girl seemed a bit hesitant, but she supposed it was just because they didn't know each other very well. Merrill shrugged when she was asked if she was studying. "I mean I should be, but I've never really been a straight O student." she said. At once point she had tried a little more because her parents had threatened to pull her out of school if her grades didn't shape but, but now Merrill didn't really have to worry about that again. "How about you? Are you worred about OWLs?" she asked November before taking a bite of the muffin she had grabbed inside.
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[November Albertson]

November nodded her head to Merrill's words. She could understand what was being said but last year she had managed to get all Perfect O's. So it was different for them, but she was certain she was struggling this year to keep up the good grades, which upset her. "I think this is a nice place to study but it can be distracting with all the bird sounds and just generally being out of doors part of it," November said glancing around spotting a bird flapping in a bush nearby. "I'm well, yourself?" November asked in return, Noemie liked this girl so she figured there shouldn't be any reason to think Merrill would be rude or mean like Amber and Evelyn, although Noemie also was friends with both of them. "I don't even want to think about OWLs to be honest, my Aunt is the Astronomy Professor so just having to take her OWl alone is too much to worry about, makes me feel nervous. I don't want to disappoint her and I know she has high standards for those who want to continue in Astronomy and she'll be disappointed if I don't meet those. I doubt she'd let me continue without getting a proper high mark," November said suddenly, she felt surprised she had let so much out. But it was all things she hadn't really talked with Flavio about and all her other friends were busy themselves, she hadn't meant to dump her thoughts and feelings onto Merrill.
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[Merrill Piper]

"Yeah, but sometimes you need a distraction. Otherwise you start over thinking things, and it gets all messed up in your head." Merrill observed. That had always been a problem of hers. When her parents were teaching her things as a child she had always worried so much about failing that she would forget the properties of even the simplest of herbs. "I'll pull through." she said nonchalantly. OWLs were an important exam, but the only thing she wanted to do after Hogwarts was play quidditch. She couldn't picture herself with some boring desk job. "Tell me if I'm way out of line here, but maybe you should worry less about disappointing your aunt, and figure out what you want to do. If astronomy is important to you then I'm sure you'll do fine." Merrill observed. People tended to do better in subjects they cared about because they were more willing to put the effort in.
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[November Albertson]

November nodded her head to what Marrill was saying. It surprised her that she hadn't spoken to the girl more but November mostly kept to herself. Afraid of the girls in their year as some seemed to come across more as bullies to her. "Yeah, the worst is when Herbology and Potion ingredients get mixed up in my head and I've been thinking we studied this one ingredient in Potions but it was actually in Herbology, all muddled up," November said in agreement with the teen. Afterwards November listened to what Merrill was saying about her Aunt. The girl was right November always worried too much about what others were going to think and say and feel than what she felt herself. "That's true, Astronomy is fun but I'm not sure if it's a career path I'd want to focus on over other subjects," November said her feet swinging back and forth.
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