Sunshine and Daisies and Everything Yellow

[Maggy Harrington]

Maggy Harrington was not a shy kid and she was known between her elder cousin's friends. The one she knew the best of course was Flavio since he often visited during the breaks whenever November was there too. But Amber and Ainsley she also knew and she knew they were dating and also in the same house as herself. She hardly said ten words to them before but something about them always drew her gaze. They were both girls and a couple, they acted very similarly she saw November and Flavio. She'd asked her mother about girls dating before once November had briefly mentioned the two dating but Professor Harrington had brushed the subject off to the side saying she did not know as she'd only been attracted to males and really only had been interested in her father. Looking at the Rosebush now she saw Ainsley alone, it made her wonder if the girl would talk to her about such things, since she would know dating a girl and all. "Hi Ainsley, picking flowers today, or just tending?" She asked approaching the older girl finally making up her mind to ask the girl about liking girls.
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[Ainsley Lynch]

Although the Wild Patch was the part of the castle where Ainsley spent most of her free time, and the gardens were her favourite part of the castle all together, strangely she hadn't spent much time amongst the roses. Although it was well and truly autumn by now, some of the latest blooming roses were still in full flower, and it was a pretty place to be. Ainsley had brought a book with her intending to spend some time reading, but she found herself distracted by the plants, crouching down to carefully pick a couple of dead branches off one of the most vibrant bushes. Ainsley hadn't spent much time around roses before coming to Hogwarts, but with all the work the Wild Patch put into providing flowers for Valentines Day, she felt quite the expert with them now. Standing up again to inspect her work, Ainsley's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name and she looked over, giving a smile to the unexpected company. Ainsley recognised the girl as November's cousin, and greeted her warmly although they had never spoken at length. "Just enjoying the garden." She said with a smile, holding up the book she had failed to open entirely. "I can't help wanting to look after the plants though. Roses are fun to tend, they all smell so nice..." Realising she was beginning to ramble, Ainsley cut herself off, giving Maggy another quick smile. "Did you come out here to enjoy the garden too?"

 

[Maggy Harrington]

Maggy moved closer to the older girl looking at the pile of dead branches nearby and realized Ainsley must be a very careful person to not seem to be bleeding at that moment. She didn't like roses very much for the fact that they would hurt you if you weren't careful. She thought the Valentine's day roses were a nice idea and pretty, but the ones on the bushes still could hurt a person. "Oh, yes, the weather is nice outside and I know my mother wouldn't want me to be in the stuffy library all day like November," Maggy said giving a smile back to the older student. She was careful to avoid the branches with thorns and moved to one side of Ainsley glancing at the book the girl had seemed to not having been paying attention to, despite showing it to her. "You're dating Amber right? The girl November used to hate," Maggy asked remembering the days when she was a first year and November would talk at length of the frustration Amber was and how she feared her crush liked Amber more. That hadn't been true they all discovered not long after as Maggy showed Flavio a poem written about him and he ran out to find November.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Ainsley laughed softly at the girl's comment about November. "Well, the fresh air is good for you." She said cheerfully. Ainsley loved the stuffiness of the library sometimes, reminded of her mum's expansive shelves of books at home, but too much time indoors couldn't be good for anyone, and she wondered if she should make a point to drag November outside for a while soon. They could read together in the sunshine, surely. Maggy's question surprised Ainsley, and she laughed a little awkwardly. It was a strange thought to Ainsley, that people outside her friend group would know about the things that went on inside it. "Well, Amber and November are friends now. But yes, Amber's my girlfriend." She smiled brightly, enjoying the little rush of happiness she felt every time she said those words.

 

[Maggy Harrington]

Maggy nodded when the older girl mentioned the fresh air being good for you, it sounded something like her mother had said before. The young girl of course knew a lot about the older students in her cousin's friend group having read the older girl's diary many times. Now November seemed to have a better hiding spot and she hadn't found it in a few weeks. But she was also busy with classes and hadn't the time to really go snooping for it. She noticed how quickly the older girl's face changed as she heard Maggy's question and then proceeded to answer it. "Do you only like..uhm..people like Amber?" Maggy asked trying to phrase her thoughts in a way she thought wouldn't seem too obvious of what the young girl was feeling inside. She'd begun to notice that girls were pretty and while they were talking and gossiping about boys in their year Maggy didn't seem have the same interest in the boys which concerned her a little. But Ainsley and Amber didn't like boys, they liked each other, so it must be something that was okay. The young Hufflepuff didn't feel as though she could approach her mother about the subject however. "I mean, you like girls, just girls?"

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Ainsley didn't really understand why the younger girl was asking about her relationship, but she was never upset about an opportunity to talk about Amber. Maggy's next question confused her a little though. Ainsley had only ever liked Amber, but she didn't know what the younger girl meant by people like her. When the girl clarified, though, a switch flipped in Ainsley's mind. She remembered her own struggles at around the same age, trying to understand why she felt different around her best friend than she did with other people. "Oh! Well... I like everyone, I guess. It wouldn't really matter to me what gender someone was if I liked them. Amber only likes girls, though. And we both like each other the most." Ainsley added with a reassuring smile, trying to figure out how best to have this conversation. "Is this... something you've been thinking about?" She asked gently, wondering how much easier it would have been for her to figure herself out if she had had someone older to ask questions. If there was anything Ainsley could do to help Maggy, she wanted to do it.

 

[Maggy Harrington]

Maggy hadn't mentioned to anyone what her thoughts on boys and girls were. Her mother and sister had teased her about there being cute boys in her year or if there was any boy she fancied. But truthfully Maggy could say she did not think any of the boys were interesting at all. She had caught herself a few times staring at Analei whenever they were all in a group of the second years. Her blonde hair seemed to compliment her face in a really pretty way. But Maggy didn't know if that was something she was jealous of, since her own hair was much more of a dirty blonde, or if that was the feeling people meant when they asked about boys. So Amber was the one who only liked girls, maybe she'd be a better person to speak to, but from her view of her cousin's friends, she'd thought Ainsley would be better at knowing to not say anything to November about their conversation. "Oh no, not for me I mean. I just I didn't know, until I saw you two together that you could, that it's alright for you to be a couple together," Maggy said her face flushing a little. Everyone pressured her about boys it almost seemed like she shouldn't like a girl, she should like a guy. She did make a mental note that she should mention this topic to Amber since it seemed like Amber would probably understand her better.