Taking Shelter

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel was sat on the grass by the lakefront, minding his own business, his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay half-written in his lap, when suddenly the grey skies above him decided to open. The first few fat droplets of rain made him look upward, grimacing; ten seconds later, it was coming down in thick, angry sheets, barraging the earth and turning the lake into one ugly, slate-coloured blur. He scrambled to his feet, gathering up his textbooks and making a break toward the castle, though within a dozen paces he realised he'd never make it. The ground was already slippery underfoot, his hair saturated and his books soaked through. Spotting a small wooden gazebo nestled in a clump of trees, he turned off course and sprinted to take shelter beneath it. The bottoms of his trousers were splattered with mud, and his jumper clung uncomfortably to his back. Worst of all, though, his essay was completely ruined. After he'd spent so long on it! He dropped the sad, sodden piece of parchment on the wooden deck, twisting his heel into it for good measure, and then sat down on the gazebo bench, waiting miserably for the drumming to let up off the roof.

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

Ana knew it was going to be a horrible day. She had so much studying to do for the upcoming exams and was beginning to wonder if it was even all worth it. Better yet, she had lost her Herbology textbook again and couldn't think of where it could be. She was not in a very good mood, and as she walked through the castle in search for her book she ignored all of the dirty looks and stayed focused on what she had to do which was find her textbook so she could study. Figuring she might have left it in the Herbology greenhouse last lesson, Anastasie made her way outside to go down and find it. However, as she began making her way through the Great Lawn it began to start pouring down with rain and the French squealed loudly at the sky as the water had quickly saturated her robes and she began to shiver. Her face red and her arms folded, Ana made her way over to a wooden gazebo that someone else had found shelter under with a sour look on her face. "I can't believe it." she muttered as she sat down on the wooden floor, her head in her hands. She was never going to pass Herbology at this rate.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Great, thought Arvel as Ana arrived. He couldn't even be wet and miserable in peace - he had to be wet and miserable with her. He watched as she sat down, making the floor all damp and sulking with her head in her hands. "It's called rain," the Hufflepuff explained. "It's what happens when water condenses and makes clouds."

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

Anastasie did not like it when people were rude. As the boy decided to give her attitude, even though Ana had not done anything wrong, Ana snapped right back at him. "I think I know what rain is, ****." she scowled. It seemed that she couldn't even try to find shelter without someone being so rude. She hated Hogwarts and wanted more than anything to go to another school, or better yet be home-schooled so she wouldn't have to deal with anyone anymore. The rain was too heavy for Ana to walk away, and so she simply turned her back to him, not planning to talk to him anymore.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

"OK..." said Arvel, slowly, scuffing at the dusty floor with his foot. "I thought it was a good joke..." Turning his head, the Hufflepuff looked out over the grounds. The grounds resembled a swamp more than they did a lawn. How could so much rain fall so quickly? It drummed ever harder on the wooden roof above them, showing little sign of letting up. Arvel considered making a break for the castle. His odds of being stuck here with Ana for hours were not looking good. Standing up, he wandered past her and over to the gazebo entrance, holding his hand out to catch the raindrops.

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

Anastasie did not like the idea of a joke. Half the time she couldn't pick one out, including the joke the Hufflepuff had supposedly said. She watched as he made his way to the entrance and put his hand out. For a moment Ana wanted to state that he couldn't catch the rain to make it stop, but she didn't want to fall to his level. Instead, she apologised. "Sorry." she muttered, not really sure if she should have apologised, but opted to anyway. Apologising usually did the trick as it was a nice thing to do, and if she wanted to stay sane whilst spending time with the boy out of the rain, she had to try her best to be nice.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

The rain was so loud that Arvel almost missed Anastasie's apology. He glanced back at her, wondering if she was being sarcastic, but she didn't appear to be. Then again, he wasn't very good at telling. "OK," he said. The apology was nice. Looking back out across the flooded lawns, he brushed his sodden hair across his forehead. His mum was definitely going to insist he cut it when he went home. She couldn't stand it so long, couldn't see his reasoning for liking it that way, and he certainly had no intention of pointing out that he could hide behind it. That would have led to the Spanish inquisition. The Hufflepuff sighed. He was already as wet as he could get, so there didn't seem much point sheltering from the rain. Stepping out of the gazebo and into a deep, muddy puddle, Arvel turned around. Cold rain beat his scalp, but it wasn't so unpleasant. Actually, it was kind of fun. "Race you to the castle?" he suggested.