Someplace New

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph had mapped everywhere she could inside the castle, and she had moved on to mapping the grounds. Once this semester was over and she returned from the holidays, she would work on perfecting a bigger folded map that connected all of her scattered notes and pages into one.

She wandered into the garden and spent most of the morning moving from plant to plant, quickly sketching a rough outline of its shape and where it grew. By the time she was done she had maybe twelve pages in her hands. She sat herself down on an open bench and pulled out new parchment. It was time to get all of her notes together and into something that made sense.

Sapphire lost herself quickly in her work. She didn't even hear how loudly her stomach rumbled.

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

After exams, Chante really had no place to go. Or rather no place to be as all her lessons were completed. She had a few more days left until the holidays and breaks begin. That meant a couple days of nothing to do. Chante found herself wondering more about the castle. She spent her days dreaming of all the activities, Madlyn, possibly had ready for her waiting back home. Knowing her parents, they might send her off to America to visit her grandmother. Chante would love it! She missed her grandmother and aunts over there. It's been more than a year since she last visited Solen. Chante couldn't wait for the holidays.

In the meantime, her lingering brought her to a very familiar territory. Chante hadn't plan it, she just happen to end up at the garden where she loved visiting the most. Instincts brought out here. Chante went to collect something from the garden for her journal.
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[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph rubbed her tummy and reached into her bag, pulling out a few sandwiches she'd palmed from the kitchen this morning on her way out. She put away her papers so she could eat without dirtying them.

Sapph pulled her legs up under her and was about to take a bite when she noticed the girl that had wondered into view. She looked vaguely familiar. Sapph's brow furrowed as she watched the girl. Where had she seen her before?

After a moments deliberation she snapped her fingers. The girl was a Hufflepuff. She'd seen her when she swiped Oliver's scarf from his bag. Sapph was still surprised the second year hadn't notice her reach around the corner and into the bag on his waist.

She had seen the other girl going in the hallway near what she assumed was the Hufflepuff entrance. Looking back Sapph could probably have deciphered the Hufflepuff entry but she'd only been there for a quick snatch and run. The lack of a chase still disappointed her slightly, but the smug satisfaction she got from the clean getaway almost made up for it.

"Hey," Sapph spoke up, greeting the other girl. "What brings you out here?"

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Right as she went to pull a flower from the garden, someone interrupted Chante from doing so. She blushed brightly, facing in the direction that it had came from. She saw a girl sitting alone with a sandwich in hand. The Hufflepuff waved, she went skipping over towards the girl.

"Hey!" For a second there, Chante felt she was caught red handed doing something bad. She is guilty for picking flowers, here and there. But, so far, none of the professors or keeper prohibited her from collecting petals. She didn't think it was a problem on the count some of the school's potion ingredients were harvest here.

"You're Oliver's friend, right?" Chante asked. She sucked her teeth and fought back from rolling her eyes. "I don't see how he has friends." Chante thought out loud. "Well, he lucky to have a friend that can handle all the air in his head. I'm Chante." She chuckles.
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[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph smirked and nearly laughed as the girl turned beet red and turned to face her, looking like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The girl came skipping over with a cheery greeting and Sapphire did laugh as she brought up Oliver before introducing herself.

"Hey, be nice." Sapph teased lightly. "He's odd, sure, but he's sweet." Sapph held out her free hand. "Sapphire. You know Oliver?" It seemed like a silly question after she asked it, but she couldn't help half the things that came out of her mouth.

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Chante giggles. "I am nice! Like all the time." Chante went and sat down besides Sapphire. It was a pretty, lovely name. "I like your name. Does it have any special meaning?" Chante would ask. She getting in the habit of doing this sometimes. Asking anyone she meet if their name signify something special. It was weird, but she didn't care.

"Odd? Yeah, I guess you can say odd. I would say he a bit nosy!" Chante expressed, this time she did roll her eyes. "I know enough for me to keep away from him. He like the brother I wouldn't want if I had one." Chante laughs again, making a face. "Besides classes and the common room, I don't really see him that much."
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[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph smiled and offered Chante half her sandwich as she sat down next to her. "I dunno," she said honestly when the girl asked about her name. "Probably my eyes," she tapped her cheek, referring to the sapphire orbs.

Sapph snickered again at Chante's summary of Oliver. "Yeah, we did meet because he's a nosy little ****. But I like him. We went to the Yule Ball together," she said offhandedly. "Did you go to the Ball?"

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Chante declined. "No, thanks. I'm not really hungry. I actually had some sunflowers seeds earlier." She said with a grin. She was meant to be sharing the sack of seeds, but been enjoying them way too much for herself. Madlyn won't be pleased.

"That's nice, I mean if he took you and all." Chante meant to say she wasn't big on dancing, but in the back of her mind it was kinda bugging her. "Kudos to you for putting up with that boy."
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[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire shrugged and continued eating. "Sunflower seeds are alright," She allowed. You just had to eat a lot of them to feel full. Sapph wondered what Oliver had done for the girl to not like him, curious enough to win over asking about the Yule Ball. "So what happened with you two anyway?" She asked around a mouthful of food. This girl, Chante, she was easy to talk to.

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

Chante open her mouth to speak, though hesitated on the idea of tell her the truth. "Okay." Chante started up, giving her the heads up she was going to tell her. "I was trying to tell my friend that I wanted to go the forest. Apparently, I'm not a very good whisper." Chante rolled her eyes. "Oliver butt his way into the conversation and almost got me in trouble with the head of house!" Chante said, accusingly. "Long story short, he spoke out without knowing why I wanted to go there. Lucky me, our head of house was too busy with other students to take notice."
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[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire burst out laughing at Chante's story. "Oh, goodness," she doubled over, wiping at her eyes. "oh my, oh..." Sapph struggled to catch her breath. "Sorry, sorry." She sat up after a minute and took a few deep breaths.

"Sorry bout that," she grinned. "If it makes you feel better he snuck up on me in the forest and I caught him with a pebble. Felt terrible at the time but I put a hole in his shoulder."

 

[Chante Harvelle-Ateara]

"Yeah, I guess it was funny? But not really..." Chante grumbled. Maybe she was taking the situation too seriously, but getting in trouble the first week back into a new year, didn't sound ideal to Chante. "See that's the kind of stuff he does! And it's a bit creepy and odd. He was listening into our conversation. And he creep up on you, isn't that odd?! I can't be the only one that think so.."
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