Closed Serene Serendipity

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri had been putting a lot of energy into his Seer lessons the last few years, but the chaos in his schedule this year was making it harder than usual to calm his mind. So Kauri had set a little time aside in his busy schedule to just calm his mind. He had never tried meditation before, but it seemed the smartest way to find a bit of the peace he was needing. After skim-reading a couple of how to books he had dug out of a corner of the library, Kauri thought he had at least some idea of where to start. His dorm was out of the question though. Kauri loved his roommates, but sharing a dorm with noisy Gryffindor boys was the opposite of a relaxing environment sometimes. After giving tours around the school for years though, Kauri had a pretty solid idea of where the quiet places were, and just a floor down from his dorm was a hallway Kauri had only ever seen another person in once. So he snuck away and set up in a window seat, closing his eyes and sitting quietly, letting his breathing slow and relax. With his eyes closed though, the pressure of Kauri's busy schedule only seemed to squeeze tighter on his thoughts, a million things he should be doing instead running through his mind. He tried to let them go and keep his breathing calm and slow, but the longer he sat still, the more unsettled he felt.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia was tired. She was emotionally drained. She just couldn’t do it anymore, didn’t think that she would be able to keep up the pretence of being happy when she clearly wasn’t. How could she be? It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right that she was here, at Hogwarts, while her sister had been home sick, and now...now, Lavinia didn’t even have her anymore. It was unbearable. How did people deal with grief? She was supposed to be at home, with her family, but her parents had insisted she go back to school so that she wouldn’t fail. But the fifth year just didn’t care. She felt empty. There wasn’t a single point in her trying to do well, when all she could think about was her deceased sister, one less sibling in the family. How could this happen? Was the world cruel, or something?

Lavinia felt bitter. She didn’t want to speak to anyone, even retreated to her dorms as soon as the house meeting was over. She had barely eaten today, not that she had much of an appetite these days. She was so heartbroken. She was even dodging her best friend Eamon, which was something she never did. She couldn’t face him, not after what happened. Because she was convinced that as soon as she saw him she wouldn’t be able to fake it. She’d tell him everything. The hufflepuff was on her way back to the common room, however she had an unexpected breakdown as soon as she reached the sixth floor (having just sent a letter home to tell her family that everything was alright - of course, it wasn’t). But she was here and they were there. Almost losing it, Lavinia crouched down against a wall and began to sob, her head in her hands, not having seen the person perched by the window sill.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Chasing the worries out of his mind wasn't working too well for Kauri, and he had resorted to trying to count his breaths as he sat and rested, to see if that would help him calm down easier. In, out, one. In, out, two. I should really do that reading for Charms. In, out, three. Oops. He was having no luck finding peace at all, when the sound of someone sobbing pulled him out of his thoughts entirely. Kauri opened his eyes and looked down, shocked to see a younger girl crying. He slipped out of the window seat quickly, approaching her quietly. "Are you okay?" Kauri asked softly once he got close, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Can I help you?"

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

At first, when Lavinia felt a hand on her shoulder, her first instinct was to shrug it off and to tell the person to leave her alone, but right now she couldn’t. Maybe, she just needed a comforting hand. So she let the hand rest there and once she had calmed down a bit, she shook her head, clearly not okay and managed a short sentence. "I-I don’t think so. No one can h-help me. It’s over. She’s...g-gone..." No. There was nothing anyone could do. How could there be? She was gone. There really couldn’t have been worse timing than this to ask such a thing. Why did people ask other people who were dealing with loss if they were okay and if there was something they could do? Lavinia just couldn’t understand it. Nothing to do for her late sister. Obviously, the fifth year wasn’t okay. She wouldn’t be for a long time. But how could this boy know anything? Lavinia hardly knew him.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri didn't know this girl well enough to offer a hug to comfort her, but the hand on her shoulder didn't feel like enough. She didn't shrug him off though, so Kauri left his hand there, waiting while she collected herself. His heart sank further though as she spoke. The pain in her voice was clear, and Kauri desperately wanted to help, but she didn't really give him enough information to fully help. "Who's gone?" He asked gently, wondering if maybe she had just had a breakup. That was somewhere Kauri had been before, and he knew how much it hurt. The thought flashed into his mind for a second that part of him knew he was hurtling towards another breakup and he quickly pushed it aside, focusing on helping this girl. "Come sit with me, it'll be alright. I've got some tissues in my bag, here..." He said, offering a gentle guiding hand towards the window seat he had set up in. He wasn't going to force her to follow if she didn't want to, but this couldn't be a comfortable place to sit.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia was secretly glad that the hand on her shoulder didn’t leave, maybe, she just needed the comfort right now. Even if it was coming from a complete stranger. Well, maybe not complete stranger, since she had seen the boy around a few times, without remembering exactly where. When he asked who was gone, Lavinia’s eyes filled up with tears again and she felt a bit humiliated. She was never like this. She never cried in public. In fact, she hardly cried...ever. "M-My sister," she managed to let out, though in a whisper. The fifth year barely nodded as she simply followed him to the window seat, she assumed where he was sitting before. Had he heard me crying the entire time? she wondered as she took a seat next to the older boy, hands fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the boy. "Thank you," she said quietly, not really able to say much at this point in their conversation.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri helped the girl settle in the window seat, meeting her eye sadly. "Your sister? What happened?" He asked gently, quickly pulling a packet of tissues from his bag and handing it to her. He didn't know what he could do to help, but talking seemed like the best place to start. He smiled slightly when she thanked him, shaking his head quickly. "It's alright." He said gently.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

The last thing Lavinia wanted to do was to relive this past winter break. Actually, it wasn’t just this winter. It was the past couple of years. It was not a good memory and she desperately wanted to forget about it. But as much as she wanted to she knew very well that she couldn’t just ignore it. It wasn’t going to go away just like that. But, she was also aware that talking always helped. "She was sick," she said quietly, not sure how much she wanted to tell the older boy and how much she could manage to let out. "She was sick for two and a half years. And we thought that she was going to get better, but she didn’t," she said, willing herself not to cry again. It was humiliating crying in public which was why no one ever saw her do that. She hardly cried, too. She took the tissues he handed to her and attempted a small smile in thanks.