Play the grey away.

[Sky Eriksen]

It was winter. the kind of weather that was cold, wet, rainy, and grey, but none of them to an extreme just a dull middle ground. It wasn't as cold as home but when you got to a certain point, the details stopped mattering. in fact this kind of cold was worse it went through your soggy clothes and right through to your bones. it was also a grey cold not the crisp white of winters at home that lit up golden when the sun made its brief appearance in the sky. this was the grey of old soggy dishwater though thankfully without the bits of last night's dinner floating around unless you passed the first years practising charms at the wrong time. Niamh had been standing on the front steps of the school just about sheltered from the drizzle by the eves she had been there for a while painting sound life and colour into the world. with her bow the brush and her viola the pallet. she ad started slow a few short simple sons before picking up momentum and expanding the vocabulary. it wasn't like she expected anyone to see her or hear the music she was forming. she needed to practice and the world needed life it was a win-win situation.
eventually, she had to stop. the wind had changed direction at some stage when she had been lost in the world of her creation and she was now coated in a not-so-fine layer of rain. and she was getting to the point where she couldn't feel her fingers or the strings. she stopped and lowered the instrument the world fading slowly back to reality. she turned and entered the courtyard not entering the castle proper but instead going to the arts club. that was her space. not the classrooms for lessons she may not even be able to take any more, not that she needed them. but it was her world. she entered the room and placed her instrument on one of the tables. she would need to dry it before putting it away. but first she needed to warm up. she went to the kitchen area and started heating up some milk for hot chocolate.

 

[Ngawaiata Martin]

Being back at Hogwarts was feeling more and more like home as time went by. Ngawaiata knew it was mostly the amount of time she had spent here, but it certainly helped that more and more of her whānau were joining her at school. With Marama starting this year, she only had a couple of cousins left outside the school, and it was easy to hang out with any of them and just feel like they were having a normal family gathering. It was much easier to focus on those feelings of home than the new feelings of pressure that had come with the new year, the badge on her robes still hanging heavy as she tried to adjust to the thought of being a prefect. It was more visibility, more responsibility than she had ever really wanted, but here she was. Supposedly a good example the younger Slytherins should be looking to.

Everywhere she went Ngawaiata felt like eyes were suddenly on her, even though she knew realistically that that couldn't be true. She had plenty of favourite hiding places around the school to duck out of notice when she needed space, and right now the nearest one was the arts room. It was for the better anyway - here she could find some space to sing or play the piano, and re-center herself. There was no sound coming from the room thankfully, and she hoped the space would be empty, her heart sinking as she realised it wasn't. Thankfully the other occupant was only Sky, and she greeted the older girl with a small smile. "Hey."

 

[Sky Eriksen]

Sky supposed that she must look like a mess. Damp and she could almost feel her hair starting to frizz and her clothes were sticking to her. thankfully she was alone in the room. She hummed to herself as she got going it was the. That she heard the sounds of movement of someone else in the club rooms. A girl who if she remembered right was younger than her by a year and in slytherin. hey Ngawaiata. I’m just making some hot chocolate do you want some? she asked. Returning the smile.

 

[Ngawaiata Martin]

There weren't many people at Hogwarts Ngawaiata felt comfortable around, but Sky had always had an easy air around her, the kind of person there wasn't any pressure to be anyone else around. If it had been almost anyone else in the clubroom she likely would have just turned around and left, looking for someplace else to be alone, but this was a nice arrangement actually. "Sure, thanks." She said, making her way over to the kitchen area. "Need a hand?"

 

[Sky Eriksen]

Sky didn't know Ngawaiata well. shy sould she have. they were in different houses, different years andprobably took different classes. other than the times she ran into the girl in here. it wasn't often. Ngawaiata wasn't even a member of the club. but when thet had crossed apathy she had seemed nice and friendly. and seemed to have a level of cool that just flowed around her. not in your face but understated. Truth be told it would be nice to get to know her better. "of course you can" she said as Ngawaiata asked ifshe could help. she wasn't sure which part of hot chocolate really needed two people but it would be nice to just hang out

 

[Ngawaiata Martin]

Ngawaiata nodded as she opened a cabinet, getting a mug for herself She lived close enough to the kitchens that she knew some students sneaked around there from time to time, but it was much nicer in her opinion to just use a small kitchenette that wasn't constantly bustling to push food out to the students. "Did you just come here for a cuppa?" She asked as she did, scrambling a little for small talk topics.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

Niamh started to heat up the milk as she rummaged through the pantry to find the chocolate drops to use. there were several ways to make hot chocolate. but anyone should be able to tell you the best way wasn't hot chocolate mixes, or cocoa powder. it was in fact easy. Milk chocolate. And if you wanted to add a bit of spice or sweetener. That too.
She shivered slightly as she found the chocolate and added it to the milk. no. I was playing outside. And it started to pour down. Here was the closest place. And it means I am not going to get Maria after me for dripping all the way to hufflepuff. she said. ”were you working on anything particular?” she asked.

 

[Sky Eriksen]

Niamh started to heat up the milk as she rummaged through the pantry to find the chocolate drops to use. there were several ways to make hot chocolate. but anyone should be able to tell you the best way wasn't hot chocolate mixes, or cocoa powder. it was in fact easy. Milk chocolate. And if you wanted to add a bit of spice or sweetener. That too.
She shivered slightly as she found the chocolate and added it to the milk. no. I was playing outside. And it started to pour down. Here was the closest place. And it means I am not going to get Maria after me for dripping all the way to hufflepuff. she said chuckling slightly. Though the idea of the caretaker catching anyone dripping through the castle wasn’t necessarily a laughing matter. At least she was just wet. Not wet and muddy ”were you working on anything particular?” she asked.