Open Specks of the Lake

[Samantha Jacobs]

The second semester had arrived, which meant that the school year was going to be over in a flash. Samantha didn't like the idea that she was going to leave school soon, though it was only another year away. The sixth-year Hufflepuff also had no idea what she wanted to do when she left Hogwarts.

Classes weren't in full swing yet, but the girl had decided to make her way towards the lake, sitting near the edge of it, and taking in the scene of it all. She hadn't spent much time around this part of the school, but she thought it was nice. It was the afternoon, just before dinner time. It was sunny, not many clouds could be seen and only the sun shining brightly out onto the scene. Samantha sat on the edge of the lake under a tree, her legs crossed and took in the scene around her, not noticing if anyone was near her.

 

[Kiara Wood]

The break was over and going back to school meant only one thing, OWLs was right around the corner, and if usually, Kiara started to get ready for exams like a week before them, but with her aunt at school she had no other choice than to spend way more time in the library, and it sucked. She loved learning but she hated overworking, so now, instead of learning, she decided to take a break and just sketch at the Lakefront.

"Hey, can I?" Kia cheerfully smiled at one of the prefects. Samantha? Simon? What was her name? Wood wasn't exactly sure, but she sat next to the girl if she said that she can.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha looked up suddenly when she heard a voice. The girl had looked familiar to her, and then remembered she looked familiar from Heta Omega. Sam smiled at the girl. "Oh, yeah sure," Samantha says with a small smile, as she scooted over a little, giving some more room so she can sit. She then looked back at the lake again. She liked the sound of nature. It had reminded her of her home, with the big garden she had back home, that also had a lake way out the back. The Hufflepuff then looked at the girl. "Kiara, right?" Samantha says with a small smile, as she tries to remember names, hoping that was the right one.

 

[Kiara Wood]

Kiara thankfully smiled when other girl approved that she was okay with her company. She sat next to her and started to think where else she had seen her. She knew that it wasn't just the fact that she is prefect, and everything she remembered finally was just girl's name. "Yes, and you are Samantha?" She returned the question, it surely was a good feeling that the older girl knew her name. "How was your break?" She asked in a soft voice and took her sketchbook in her lap, but instead of starting to sketch immediately, she smiled cheerfully at the other girl.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles and nods. "Yep, that's me!" Samantha says with a giggle, as she nodded and pointed to herself. It had somewhat surprised Samantha that Kiara knew who she was, though she didn't mind. The Hufflepuff then looked back at the view of the lake again. She never came here that often, but after looking at the view for a bit, Samantha knew that she had to come again in the future. "My break was okay," Samantha said with a chuckle and shrug. "Nothing really special if I'm being honest. How was yours?" Sam then said, as she gave a vague explanation about her break, and then returned then questioned. The Hufflepuff only really spent time with her family, catching up with her muggle friends and doing other things to keep herself busy. Samantha then looked down at Kiara's lap and noticed that she had a sketchbook. "Do you draw often?"

 

[Kiara Wood]

And as Samantha giggled, Kiara let out a short giggle too, it was too catchy for her. After that she looked back at her sketchbook and she opened one of her old sketches, and went with finger by the lines. She lightly nodded as Samantha said that her break wasn't special and looked up at her. "My break surely was more interesting." She chuckled and looked at her finger that was a bit grey from the pencil. "I got a puppy, my uncle got married, visited friend and watched a LOT of shows." She almost giggled as she said about shows. "Wait, I remembered where I know you from. We both work in Vibez," Kiara couldn't help, but laugh at the fact how slow she was. They hadn't really talked or worked in the same time, but she was sure that she had seen her there. When Sam mentioned drawing, Kiara looked back at her own sketchbook and opened one of the drawings, where was Arthur and let Samantha take it and look at it, if she wanted to. "At least once in two days, but actually finishing. I usually go to art courses in breaks. I finished art school in the same year when I transferred here. Do you draw too?" She let in the excitement in her voice and smiled softly at the girl.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha nodded as the girl explained what she had done during her break. "Your break sounds a lot more interesting!" Samantha says with a small chuckle and nod. "A puppy? That's cute! What's their name?" Samantha asked curiously. The Hufflepuff had always wanted a puppy, but now because her parents were always busy and Samantha and Issac were always in and out of Hogwarts and home, they really had no time to look after a puppy. Maybe in the future? Who knew. "Ohhh! That would also make total sense" Sam laughed with a nod, as Kiara mentioned that they worked in Vibez. She hadn't really seen Kiara that often at work. Probably because they were always put on different shifts. Samantha gently took the book from Kiara, as she offered the book. The Hufflepuff inspected the artwork that the girl had sketched. "Oh wow! This is really good" Samantha says with a smile, still looking at the drawing. "Oh, no. I'm a terrible artist" Samantha says with a shake of her head. "But my boyfriend is pretty good at art," Samantha says with a small smile and nod. "You should defiantly continue with that art hobby. It's pretty good. Do you have any other drawings?"

 

[Kiara Wood]

Kiara was actually happy that Samantha asked her puppy's name. "Well, I absolutely love long names, so he is Monsieur Luca. I also have a cat, not really a kitten anymore, she is eight months old, but her name is Saint Coconut. Luca is three months, by the way, and he is samoyed," Kia didn't seem bothered to talk about her puppy, even if she wasn't happy about the fact that she had to leave him in Hamilton, but she knew that her uncle and his wife will do everything perfectly. She excitedly watched the older girl to see her reaction to her drawings, she felt really proud as Samantha said that it was good. "Is that bad to call it terrible?" Kia laughed at what the Hufflepuff said and then lightly tilted her head. "Who is your boyfriend if that's not a secret?" she tried to seem not overly nosey, but if she tried to deny that she was absolutely interested in that, that would be a lie. "Thank you, I surely will. Oh yes, there is more, you can like list it through, there is a lot." Kiara nodded and pointed to her sketchbook. She was using the same book for two months now, so there was quite a lot. There were drawings of Luca, of Coco, of people in school, from uncle's wedding, from actually everywhere. She had a visual memory, details were never a problem to her until it came to people's names or something she had read. "What are your hobbies?"

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles as Kiara explains the name of her puppy as well as her other pet. "Oh wow! Two pets? That's impressive. They sound cute and adorable!" Samantha says with a small giggle. The Hufflepuff had always found animals adorable. Sam laughs. "Oh, it's really bad. I enjoy arts and crafts, but I'm not really that great at it all" Samantha says, as she explains her slight interest in art and how bad her skills at it were. Sam blushes and smiles brightly when Kiara asks about her boyfriend. "It's no secret. His name is Ren. He's in Gryffindor" Samantha says with a laugh. "That's good to hear. I think you have awesome art skills." Samantha says with a nod, as she lightly pats the girl's shoulder with encouragement. "Do you do any other sort of art? Or is it just sketches and draw you do?" Sam asked with curiosity. She flicked through the pages of the sketchbook, so many amazing sketches were sketched onto the pages. "Wow, again, these are really impressive!" Samantha says with a nod and a smile. Sam thought for a moment before answering Kiara's question. "Well, I like to do photography in my spare time, whenever I can. I also play a bit of guitar, but it's not something I would do all the time. I also like to climb trees a lot" Samantha explains with a small chuckle. Samantha liked to take scenic and abstract photos. She mostly did photography outside of Hogwarts, during breaks. "How about you? Do you have any other hobbies aside from art?"

 

[Kiara Wood]

Kiara smiled excitedly with a nod. "They are the cutest! I got Coco as a birthday gift and Luca as a Christmas gift, and I couldn't be happier about it. However, these two babies literally hate each other. No, Luca absolutely loves Coco, but Coco hates him." she happily giggled and lightly shook her head, she missed Luca a lot, but she at least had her cat next to her. "Well, you like it, it's what really matters. That means you are good at it and no one can tell otherwise," she said it like she actually meant it. She had always supported any way of expressing themselves, even if it didn't look really good, it was their vision of their inner and outer world. As Samantha mentioned Ren, she couldn't help but look a little bit shocked. He was Lockwood, right? They were everywhere? Even her family wasn't as big as theirs. "Ren Lockwood? I was... I don't know how to call it.. ugh, close... with his roommate," and if he actually was the Lockwood one, then now she was close with his cousin. Unbelievable. However, she wasn't sure what to say about her and Jatin, what were they exactly? Dates, friends, or just crushes? It all was really confusing, but it was in the past now. She excitedly smiled as Samantha patted Kiara's shoulder and she even without noticing it, moved a bit closer to the girl's hand. "Thank you," she actually felt more confident as Samantha seemed impressed. "I like to do almost every type of art, but I try to mostly focus on paintings and drawings. I think like ten pages back, there is that little drawing of the Eiffel tower that I painted on my uncle's back in the break. So body art, I absolutely love it, if I had my phone, I would show it to you on the real skin. Then I am the one who designed my room and not like the furniture, but like actually walls, ceiling, floor. All the arts on clothes," she pointed on her jeans and after that smiled back at Samantha. It surely felt good to be allowed to talk about arts and the other girl actually seemed interested in that. "Thank you," she repeated as the Hufflepuff said that it was impressive, all these drawings actually held way more than just talent. All these sketchbooks were actually her diary, but it wasn't the secret one, no one would exactly understand everything that stood behind each of them, but she was ready to talk even about that. As Sam started to talk about her own hobbies, Kiara carefully looked at her as listening to everything she said, and actually, Kia was impressed by her. "It sounds amazing. Are you planning on continuing photographing? I am sure you could pursue a lot with it, and what type of photos you mostly take? Are you in Accio! team? And is there any backstory to why you started all of them?" the Ravenclaw surely was invested in the answer, all those hobbies were interesting. "I actually do. Of course, the main is arts. Then I dance, I usually dance hip-hop, but I can also dance ballroom dances such as Viennese Waltz, Cha Cha, Jive. I also danced ballet until I was ten, but not anymore. I am a skater. Also, I can play violin and piano." she lightly giggled as she said that all out. "Looks like my parents loved to send me every club for kids that they saw. They even sent me to school with math deviation until I had to start Beauxbatons." she lightly shrugged and excitedly smiled. "But currently I am just learning Spanish because my foster father doesn't sign me up everywhere he sees. By the way, is there any language that you would love to learn?"

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles when Kiara talks more about her pets. The girl again, wished she could have a pet of her own, but again, her father was allergic to cats, so cats were a no for her at the moment. The Hufflepuff looked at Kiara confused as she spoke. "Yes, Ren Lockwood," Samantha says with a small laugh and smile. "His roommate? Ooo who is this you speak of?" Samantha says teasingly, as she joked and laughed a bit. She knew of the Gryffindor boys in her year, but not many, so Samantha wasn't really sure who Kiara was speaking of. Sam nods as Kiara explains what sort of art she's into. "That's really cool! Painting and drawing are awesome! Again, I reckon you should continue with that hobby. You would do amazing!" Samantha says with encouragement. Sam looked down at Kiara's jeans, only just realising now about the unique design on them. "Oh wow! That's so cool! How long did it take to make that?" Samantha asked curiously. Samantha honestly wouldn't have the patients to do art like that. The Hufflepuff thought for a moment. "I'm not sure if I'd do it as an actual career. I don't even know what I'd like to do after I leave Hogwarts. But my cousin studied photography at uni, for a couple of years" Samantha said with a shrug. Samantha wasn't sure what she wanted to do once she finished but she knew she wanted to speak to her head of house about it. The Hufflepuff's eyes bulged out of her sockets as Kiara explained all the other hobbies she does. Samantha was surprised by how talented this girl was, she wouldn't be able to do all that. "Oh, I would love to learn maybe some french. Like I know bits and pieces because of one of my grandparents, who is French. But I'm up to learn any other languages really"

 

[Kiara Wood]

Kiara chuckled as she saw Sam's confused look, and couldn't help but look a bit lost as she approved that she was dating Ren Lockwood. Awkward... but she tried to act as nothing happened. "Well, we're not close anymore, but Jatin," she let the girl's teasing end with a win and getting the answer she wanted, but Kiara blushed as mentioning her previous crush. It felt like a whole life away from this moment even if it was only a year ago. And as she heard Sam's encouragement, she again couldn't help but smile proudly and feel thankful, and as she wanted to thank her again, the Hufflepuff already talked again and Kiara felt even prouder. "Thank you! Well, it took me about three or four hours to get it done," the girl confessed. Art on clothes always took her way more time than body art or painting, but not as much as more detailed sketches. They may take her even around 7 to 8 hours in a day. "Oh, maybe you have some dream you want to achieve but are not sure that it's possible? But gosh, I think that working as a photographer would be so cool! It's so cool to have a talent like this," she let out a sigh, she had always wished to be good with gadgets but her knowledge ended up on knowing how to turn them off. And at Sam's look, Kiara looked satisfied as remembering everything that she simply wasn't able to do. She absolutely sucked at history, ancient runes, divination, basketball, and a lot of other things. "No way, one of your grandparents is French? I can relate to that," Kia would nudge Samantha a little bit but remembered that they had just met and it probably wouldn't be the right thing to do. "From all these bits and pieces, how good you'd say you know French?" Wood was kinda in the mood to switch to French, but she wasn't sure that it was the best idea too. But she didn't try to immediately tell off that she speaks French and German, but she didn't really count that as a hobby or a special talent, because it was required to actually speak with mom and grandparents.