Sitting In Silence

[Lilyanna Hope]

No matter where Lilyanna went in this new school there were people. Back at home she could always find a place to sit and relax with no one around but unfortunately now she had to readjust and try to get along with some new people; at least that's what her sister told her. But in all honesty, Lily hated the idea of spending time with people and mainly she just wanted to be alone. Skipping breakfast she made her way up to the North Tower where she supposed no one would be at that time. When she arrived, she was quite glad that no one was there and sat on the hard ground in front of the rising sun. Hogwarts was just a beautiful place and even Lilyanna knew that, but it wasn't her favourite. She had always wanted to attend the same school as her mother in France but was unfortunately stuck at Hogwarts with some of the most ill-mannered people. It frustrated her with the amount of idiotic people she had already met but was still quite upset that she hadn't made any friends yet. She would never admit that to anyone and felt a bit jealous of her sister making so many friends before sorting even started. Sometimes Lilyanna just wished she was as social as she was.

Opening her favourite book to the page she was up to, she continued reading it in silence. If only the world just held Lilyanna and no one else in it then she could finally do what she had always wanted. Truthfully, Lilyanna had always wanted to travel the world alone despite her fear of danger. If she was alone there would be no danger and it would simply just be her enjoying herself with no one to stop her. But danger came in many shapes and forms no matter what it was you were doing and if there was no danger then there would be no living and with no living life would be boring. Many people that Lilyanna had met though did not really care about danger and simply took it as a fear. But thinking there would be danger in a situation wasn't about being scared about the situation - it was about being cautious and cautious was definitely Lilyanna.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla was loving it here in Hogwarts. She loved the people, the building itself, the ghosts and the moving pictures. Of all the things she loved, the pictures were the best. She adored pictures as it was but the fact they moved, Kayla could barely get her head around it. Sure her dad's pictures had moved but the pure scale and sheer amount of them here. It took her breath away. She had only explored a tiny portion of the building and grounds ,she had so much left to do! Another thing she liked about the size of the grounds was that she could sing away to hearts content without anyone noticing. She loved singing into the wind. There was something liberating about that feeling. It made singing feel more special, more magical. She could just sing and the wind would carry her voice. However she had heard of another place that was rarely inhabited by students. Her Dad had mentioned it also and it was in his pictures so she had decided to take a visit up there. It was near to her common room anyways.

She woke up early that day and dressed nice and warmly. She did a few quiet humming exercises as she made her way to the North Tower. As she began climbing up the stars she began to feel more confident and sang louder. As she reached the top of the stairs she was singing to her hearts content. She wasn't singing particularly loudly but there was a wonderful echo that carried her voice brilliantly. Kayla even closed her eyes and twirled. She just loved the world sometimes and she couldn't wait to explore it. Singing just brought out this happiness in her . It was due to the fact her eyes were closed she failed to see the fellow first year sitting, reading a book. If she had, Kayla would probably have left and apologised for singing, unfortunately things didn't work out in her favour.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Something had distracted Lilyanna from her reading and she quickly looked up in search of the distraction. It was a girl who didn't look too much older than her who was making unnecessary noises with her mouth. Lilyanna could feel her face burning up from anger. How could she distract Lilyanna like that? There was no need for it. "Shut up!" she shouted, snapping angrily at the singing girl. "You sound like something has died!" Slamming the book shut she noticed the girl was from Gryffindor house. She knew that people from Gryffindor house were going to be exploring the castle every day as it was in her nature which meant that they were probably something that Lilyanna was going to have to watch out for. All of the silence had disappeared as soon as the girl had entered the atmosphere and Lilyanna was definitely not happy.

After a few moments of silence, Lilyanna sighed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, hoping she had not upset the girl too much. "I was just reading this book so... yeah." She made it obvious that she didn't like the girl's presence and hoped that she would go away soon. If there was anything Lilyanna hated it was people who thought they could sing. Lilyanna didn't like singing and found it extremely annoying. Singing was basically talking but making a big deal out of it and prolonging some of the words so there was no point in doing that. It was a waste of time and, in Lilyanna's opinion, anything was better than thinking you could sing.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla nearly jumped ten feet in the air when someone shouted at her. It echoed through out the tower and Kayla nearly screamed. The only thing that stopped her was the fact she was so shocked. Firstly because she hadn't thought anyone was and secondly because someone had shouted it with such venom. She understood people liked their peace and quiet but she didn't know they took it so seriously. She could understand however someone saying shut up if they wanted quietness but she didn't appreciate the next comment. She turned to face the incredibly rude girl. What was that all about? Kayla knew what she was saying was untrue but it was entirely unncessesary. Kayla's shock soon turned to anger and indignation. Why did people have to be so mean? Her bullying years flashed through her brain making her more angry. "There was no need for that comment"She said hotly . She had to watch her tone though, she didn't want to get into an argument so early in the year.

She softened slightly when the girl apologised. "I'm sorry also, I didn't know anyone was here, otherwise I wouldn't have been singing"She admitted. She still had adrenaline in her system making it hard for her to lose her anger but at the moment things seemed to calming down. Kayla vaguely recognised the girl. She knew she was in her year and she was in Slytherin? She wasn't really sure. She was never one to pre judge someone based on their house but this girl seemed to be fitting the bill .

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

The girl replied back just as rudely and Lilyanna smirked. She knew that the girl was sorry and, from the looks of it, she didn't like to be talked to that way. Lilyanna didn't consider herself a bully but if someone was irritating her then she had to take a stance. "Why do you sing anyway?" she asked, wondering why a wizard would want to sing. They were magical and there was no need for them to sing. Lilyanna had never met a Gryffindor before but, from the looks of it, they were extremely idiotic and not the kind of people that Lilyanna would like to surround herself with. Thank Merlin her sister didn't get Gryffindor.

"What's your name?" she asked out of curiosity, looking up at the girl. Usually that was what people asked right before becoming friends. It seemed easy but if only making friends was easier then Lilyanna would have plenty of friends. She knew that no matter how hard she tried she could not get this girl to be friends with her after her angry outburst, which was not Lilyanna's goal. But if Lilyanna tried hard enough then maybe she could get this girl to at least like her a little bit. Gaining someone's trust was probably the first step into getting an acquaintance and that was what Lilyanna was going to try to do if she had enough patience.

Sorry it's short ):

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla was somewhat intrigued by the girl's question. Why did she sing? It was a strange one to be asked. There were many reasons why people sang. Even people who couldn't sing , sometimes just sang. Kayla figured most people did it anyway, whether it be singing along with your favourite song in the car or shower. The fact that someone wouldn't want to sing was completely foreign to Kayla. Even her mother who wasn't the best singer in the world sang ever now and again. She had been surrounded by people who sang in some shape or form her whole life. Its scientifically proven that listening to music you like boosts your mood. Kayla just thought the next step meant singing with your song. You don't have to be good, you just have to enjoy it. She looked at this new girl quizzically. "Doesn't everyone sing at some point?"She asked "I sing because I love to sing, it makes me feel better"She added almost protectively

Kayla walked over to a near by ledge and sat herself down. She didn't feel comfortable sitting near or at the same level of this girl yet. She was still getting over the shock of being shouted at so venomously. "Kayla" She admitted, she wasn't sure where she stood yet so her guard was still up. For the moment things seemed civil. "What's yours?"She asked her southern twang prominent.

Out of Character:

Don't worry about it

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna had never tried to sing before. It wasn't because she didn't think it wasn't going to be enjoyable but because she didn't think she was any good at it. She knew for a fact that as soon as she tried to sing she'd just be embarrassing herself on the first note. Lilyanna once again rolled her eyes at the girl for supposing that everyone sings at some point in their life. That was entirely untrue because Lily was just a pure example. She appreciated the fact that singing somehow made the girl feel better as she knew that everyone had different likes and dislikes so that wasn't the thing that bothered her the most. She was still trying to get over how rude the girl was when she entered the room. 'They should have a subject that is entirely devoted to proper manners at this school.' Lily thought as she watched the girl keep her distance and sit elsewhere from where Lilyanna was. Admittedly, it was a bit offending to see that she was not interested in sitting anyway near where she was. It wasn't as if Lily was just going to hex her if she sat down next to her. After all, she didn't even know any hexes to do so.

The girl introduced herself as Kayla and Lilyanna was glad that she did so. She didn't seem like she was lying about what her name was so at least there was a little bit of trust there. "Lilyanna." she replied when Kayla asked for her name. Usually she would introduce herself as Lily but she didn't want to be referred to as Lily by someone she didn't have a great feeling about. "What brings you to this tower? Have you been up here before?" The attitude was still in her voice but it wasn't as if she was going to get rid of it any time soon. The girl whom Lilyanna could now refer to as Kayla was giving off a bad vibe but for now Lilyanna was going to keep things civil until she lost her patience which she knew probably wasn't going to last much longer.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla had never considered singing being rude before. It seemed utterly stupid and strange. Music was so beautiful. The voice was just another instrument, another conduit for music. She did acknowledge interrupting someone's peace and quiet with singing could be considered rude but to be fair she hadn't realised anyone was around and it hadn't warranted such a animated response. She had just been so frightened and shocked, totally unexpected such a loud voice. She had quite literally nearly jumped out of her skin, it was only by chance she hadn't screamed. Some Gryffindor she was.

Kayla smiled "That's a lovely name". It really was and Kayla visibly relaxed. She was ready to throw up her guard at any moment. It wasn't her fault, it was just from experience. She had learned that you can't trust everyone and you can't let your guard down with everyone. "No, I've never been, I just wanted to have a look around"She hesitated before adding "I'm sorry again". She felt guilty but she had apologised now, there was nothing more she could do. "What are you reading?"She asked curiously

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna felt a very small soft spot form for Kayla when she said her name was lovely. She had never thought about it before but it really was. Her mother had given her it in hopes that she would be different just like her name. Her father wanted to keep it as Lily or spell it with an I instead of the Y but her mother was insistent on spelling it the way it was spelt and Lilyanna was thankful for it as she didn't want a name like everyone else's and was happy to have her own unique one.

Kayla just came to the tower to explore and it couldn't be more obvious that she was indeed a true Gryffindor. She kept apologising which had slightly annoyed Lilyanna and had tested her patience a bit. She managed to keep it in though and was very pleased when Kayla asked her what book she was reading. "It's a book my mother gave me. The odd word is written in French but it's easy to understand. I'm not really fluent in French but it's helping me I guess. I've had it ever since I was a small child." she said, glad that the subject had now changed to something she actually enjoyed talking about. "It's set some time in the future and the world is ruined. There aren't many people left and supplies is running low. A little boy ends up running away from his family and coming across a French army who are trying to help the world repopulate. It's really interesting." she said, trying not to give away the plot in case Kayla ever wanted to read it. She didn't seem like the reading type but her father had taught her not to ever judge a book by its cover.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla had spent so much of her life singing and focusing on that part of her life she had kind of forgotten one could have more than one hobby. She realised now that she had limited herself somewhat. She couldn't really use her singing her in Hogwarts, she would need to find some other way to entertain herself. Maybe Quidditch was an option. Kayla loved being outside and often went for long walks. It seemed her Dad has played Quidditch which motivated her also. She was looking forward to their flying lessons, she wanted to see did she have a knack at it and would she be good enough to try out for the team next year. It was then she remembered her dancing. She had no way of playing music out loud for her to dance to but she had the music in her head. She made a mental note to look out for empty classrooms in which she could practice.

Kayla had never learned French. She knew some from various musicals and plays but she was more confident in her Spanish. That being said she wasn't exactly fluent. For the last number of years she hadn't gone to a traditional school. It wasn't viable when you were in a Broadway show or even because of the amount of practice one had to do. She had been home-schooled , not very regularly. It meant that in an place like Hogwarts she was at a slight disadvantage when it came to general knowledge and basic school skills. She could read and write very well obviously but in areas like maths, history and geography among others, she lacked slightly. She hadn't really taken up reading either. She regretted this as the book Lilyanna described sounded really good. "I wish I was into reading, that book sounds really interesting"She exclaimed, moving to sit on the floor opposite Lilyanna. "All I've ever had is music, I didn't think I needed anything else but I think that's going to have to change"She muttered, almost to herself.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

She knew that Kayla didn't like to read as it was written all over her. How would she have time to read if she was wandering around and singing all the time? There would be obviously no time for it at all which indicated that the girl probably wasn't very intelligent either. She watched as Kayla came to sit opposite her and smirked slightly, realising that she was now starting to gain her trust a bit more. She was talking to her normally too which was a good start. Lilyanna had still disliked the Gryffindor ever since she entered the tower so the trust for her definitely wasn't gaining at all. "Music?!" She scoffed. "I'm pretty sure there is more to life than that." she said, rolling her eyes once again. Lilyanna had barely ever listened to music but it was sound and sound had always been unpleasant to her ear no matter what level of sound it was. Sure, some songs were catchy but it was even difficult for Lilyanna to read whilst listening to music which meant that listening to it was a waste of time.

"What else do you like, other than music?" she asked, curious to know whether or not they shared the same interests. She doubted they did but it was worth a shot. Lilyanna was trying her best to steer the conversation away from music but it just kept coming back which was starting to annoy her. Perhaps Kayla had appreciated the stars past the sky above or perhaps she was interested in something more than that? Astronomy had always interested Lilyanna and the stars and planets were just too pretty to not want to look at. She was glad that she was going to be taking that subject this year and thought that it would be her favourite one. They were going to be looking at the world beyond their's so fun it will be.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla was of the attitude that there was only so much one could learn from school. She did not regret missing some years of schools. She had lived experiences many her age wouldn't live for some time. She wouldn't change the past few years for anything. Her one regret was not diversifying her interests. She had almost become obsessed with her acting and singing. She was so focused on becoming the best she could be she kind of forgot that she could in fact be good at other things. Her mother had tried to get her to try new things but Kayla had just been too stubborn. But better late than never. She was intrigued by the contents of this book, she made a mental note to ask her mother for some books. She doubted there were any general reading books in the library. But maybe she could start there? She wasn't a huge fan of history so that ruled those books out but she was sure there were many other books. She could learn all she could about magic in the process. She would therefore by killing two birds with the one stone. Kayla shrugged her shoulders "Of course there is. But you could say that about a lot of things"She reasoned. Life wasn't made up of just one thing, that she knew. But for a short while, she believed music was going to be her whole life. She worked hard because she loved what she did and it was an integral part of her present and future. She didn't bother explaining this though, somehow she figured Lilyanna wouldn't be too impressed and probably scoff at it.

"I like being out in nature, looking up at the sky, films, travelling , among other things"She stated. Kayla was a huge lover of nature. She loved taking long walks in forests especially. She just thought trees were so beautiful. She loved looking out for local animals as well. She had a huge appreciation for the world and she wanted to see it all. In a way she also wanted to do it for her father. His life had been so tragically cut short and she wanted to see the world for him. Lily, her mother had showed Kayla pictures of their travels before she was born. They had intended on taking her when she was older. Touring with a musical would have been a lovely way to see the world. She could do what she loved and keep her father's memory alive. She had heard some students talk of something called apparation. The ability to 'appear' anywhere at any time. She couldn't wait to learn how to do that. It would make life so much easier. "What about you?"She asked curiously.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna silently agreed with Kayla about there being more to life than many things, more than just music. But life didn't always give you what you wanted and Lilyanna had learnt that the hard way, hence coming to this school. Life was supposed to be unfair and hard to live and there was no way that anyone could ever fix that. Lilyanna knew that there was more to life than the things that she loved too. Reading doesn't always solve her problems but it distracted her from them and took her into a whole new world of new problems that she didn't have to live. She wasn't sure why but she felt great listening to other people's problems and not having to live them herself. It gave her a sense of confidence that she couldn't quite explain, something along the lines of "I'm lucky to not have to go through that and thankfully it's none of my business but good luck trying to beat life."

In some ways, the things Kayla had liked to do reminded her very much of her sister other than the fact that she needed someone's hand to hold along the way. Eleanor was never able to do things on her own which had slightly annoyed Lilyanna who was one of the most independent people she knew. It was one of their opposites. After all, they are sisters and no two sisters could ever be the same. "Oh, ummm..." Her thoughts were distracted when Kayla asked the same question. Usually Lilyanna loved talking about herself but when it came to things like "What do you like to do?" and "What's your personality like?" she couldn't quite answer it without hesitating. Truthfully, she had no idea about herself which was slightly embarrassing. Nonetheless, Lilyanna tried to make up for it by pretending she actually knew. "Oh, well I like reading." she said as if it wasn't obvious. "And I quite like the stars." She was mumbling now and wasn't sure if she should keep going on. She had no clue what to say but hopefully Kayla would take that as a suitable answer.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla knew life wasn't fair. No one had a perfectly happy life. Well Kayla had certainly never met anyone who had. She was only eleven but she knew pain. Lots of kids have been in her position. It's horrible losing a parent. She always felt so cheated. She never knew her father. It killed her that she didn't know him. She just knew what she knew from stories and hazy memories. She knew he was occupying her mind too much these days. She should be focusing on making friends and learning magic, instead she was wallowing in sadness and exploring in her father's name. She was going to continuing the exploring but she knew she had to try and move on . She had to find a way to escape from the memories. Maybe reading would help? She would push herself harder with her dancing also. She needed to throw herself into something or she would go mad in this castle and ruin her Hogwarts experience.

Kayla was slightly puzzled by Lilyanna's pause. She thought her question was one to expect? She let it pass however, maybe Lilyanna hadn't been concentrating and Kayla tried not to be annoyed by that fact. But she supposed everyone got lost in their thoughts, it was natural, she did it all the time. So she brushed her annoyance away and listened to what Lilyanna had to say. "the stars are beautiful"She agreed. She couldn't count the amount of times she had looked up at the stars and sang to her father. She liked to pick out and star and she would imagine that was her father and every time it twinkled that was him acknowledging her. "There are so many, I could stare at them all night"She sighed,looking out at the sky.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Stars were indeed something that Lilyanna liked and she gave Kayla a small smile as she commented nice things about them. She wasn't sure if Kayla enjoyed them as much as she did but she was glad that she didn't say anything bad about them nonetheless. Lilyanna was used to getting bad looks whenever she said she liked something that others found unusual and found it very comforting that Kayla respected her because of it. Truthfully, she could see that Kayla was a well-mannered person but was probably also rather impulsive which Lilyanna didn't tend to like in a person. But manners were definitely something Lilyanna had appreciated and perhaps that was one of the reasons why Lilyanna hadn't started telling her off or anything yet.

"A star is actually a large sphere of burning hot gas known as Plasma which is held together by its own gravity. There are about 200-400 billion of them." she said matter-of-factly, following Kayla's gaze to look at the sky too. "I guess they would look pretty from far away, which they do, but when you think about it, it's only just a ball of gas which is nothing, really." She continued to look blankly up at the sky, wondering how exactly gas could ever look so good. She wasn't really sure what had made them interesting but learning about them was always enjoyable. In fact, learning about anything was enjoyable to Lilyanna which was probably the only good thing about going to this school.

 

[Kayla Sheridan]

Kayla frowned. She did know that stars were actually made of gas but that was about all she knew. "Oh, well that's interesting." It was intriguing however and she felt herself walking towards the top of the tower. She wasn't doing it consciously, she just wanted to get closer to those beautiful, shinning stars. Space was so huge, her mind sometimes struggled to comprehend it. There was so much they didn't know about it. One particular star grabbed her attention. She wasn't sure what it was about the star that drew her eye to it but she knew at once it was the star she always sang to. The one she believed was her father watching down on her. She knew it wasn't possible. After all Lilyanna had just stated it was a ball of gas but she sometimes she liked to push that logic out of her head and just imagine. She felt herself start to sing quietly. It was the same song she always sang. Ever since the first year her father had died she had looked to the skies at some point and sang it.

"When you wish upon a star.."

She almost whispered it. Not because Lilyanna was close by but because it felt wrong to sing it out loud. It was special to her. She would usually never be doing this in public but once she had started looking at the stars, her mind had immediately drifted to memories of her father and it made her melancholic and sad. The wound was open and it was why she was acting this way. She couldn't help it.

Out of Character:

So sorry for the lateness!

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna could easily see that Kayla didn't think that what she said was as interesting as Lilyanna thought it was, but she nodded at her comment nonetheless. They both obviously didn't have much in common and Lilyanna was starting to get bored of her presence. They had already talked enough and Lilyanna just wanted to continue reading again. It wasn't until Kayla stood up and walked towards the top of the tower that Lilyanna stood up abruptly, not knowing what it was she was doing. She started singing and Lilyanna simply rolled her eyes at her. Did she not understand how much Lilyanna hated it? She wasn't that bad at it but it was unnecessary noise and Lilyanna was starting to lose concentration with the whole situation. All she wanted at the moment was for Kayla to leave so she could finish reading the chapter in her book so she could get some rest. Besides, they were probably up far past curfew and Lilyanna didn't want to get into trouble because of some silly singing girl.

"Why are you singing again?" Lilyanna asked subtly, sitting back down on the bench. At least it had something to do with stars and wasn't entirely off topic. She didn't know that there was even a song about stars so perhaps the song wasn't really that annoying at all. After all, she wasn't even singing as loud as she was singing before so hopefully she'd finish singing soon. Nonetheless, Lilyanna had the impression that she was slightly loony but there wasn't really much she could do about it. Usually Ravenclaws were the ones that were loony so maybe Kayla wasn't as Gryffindor as Lilyanna thought?

Out of Character:

All good!