The Start of Something Beautiful

[Caroline Beckett]

It was autumn in New Zealand which meant that it was one of Caroline's favorite times of year. The blonde loved the cooler weather that signaled the appropriate time to begin wearing sweaters. She loved to watch the leaves change colors and fall to the ground. Today was the perfect fall day, in that it was not yet too cold to simply enjoy sitting outdoors. Caroline was not scheduled for any classes today, so she decided to spend it outdoors, in the garden, watching the season change.

As a young girl, Caroline's parents had never had much time to spend with her, or so it had seemed to her. They were absent every other night at this business dinner, or that social function, and Caroline had been left alone with Nanny. While she loved her nanny, she wasn't a replacement for her parents' absences. All of the free time had allowed Caroline to nurture her artistic side. The fourteen year old had always had a natural talent for sketching.

Caroline grabbed her sketchbook off of her night stand before leaving the girls dormitory in favor of the outdoors. The blonde girl headed to one of her favorite sketching places, the Hogwarts gardens. She made it to a familiar tree where she sat down with her back leaning against the tree. Caroline's light grey eyes focused intently on her sketch pad, effectively drowning out the majority of the rest of the world.

 

[Elbio Aiello]

Days were becoming shorter and as the summer was passing the baton to the Fall but nature's beauty was remaining unmatched.
To Elbio Aiello, autumn was the most interesting season from the perspective of a photographer. He was always thinking that nature wanted to show its best colors just before its demise. The day was clear, crisp and cool, perfect for a few shots at the school's gardens. What Elbio loved about his hobby, soon to become a job, was the feeling of being an observer who was capturing the most intense moments. This was the role he had taken over for nth time as he arrived at the gardens.

It was a feast for his eyes. Deciduous trees were wearing brilliant colors of golds, oranges and reds. He used his camera strapped around his neck to put in single shots as many of those canopies and their hues against each other. A pair of playful squirrels captured his attention, fighting over a sole acorn. Looking through the lens and while pressing the red button multiple times, he smiled in content with his photos.
Afterwards, he wandered among the bushes for his next subject to win over his creativity. Not far away, he spotted a girl sitting down a tree with a pad in her hands. Elbio guessed she had been sketching there and as the wind picked up, drifted the dead leaves around her, he found his few next pictures. Without letting her know, he started taking pictures of her with the wind brushing softly her blonde hair, while swirls of golden leaves were dancing near her. With his keen blue eyes, he noticed the dedication and passion on her face for what she was doing and he decided to have a close on from the side. Elbio moved silently and positioned himself behind a shrub, really close to her location. He zoomed with his lens and focused on her fine features and grey eyes, waiting for the wind's right caress. He pressed the button when he had in his shot what he wished for but the click of the camera was audible as the wind ceased unexpectedly.

 

[Caroline Beckett]

Caroline's focus was entirely on her sketchpad. It was quite easy for her to get lost in a drawing or her own thoughts so that she effectively tuned out the rest of the world. She did not see the boy studying her with his camera. She missed his movements as he drew closer and closer to her. It was only the quiet sound of the shutter clicking that broke her focus. The blonde girl looked up, startled, to see a lens pointing at her. Behind the lens was an older, handsome boy. She wasn't sure she had seen him around, but she knew he wasn't in her year. He looked older that Caroline. His bright blue eyes were striking, and Caroline wasn't able to look away for a moment, despite her shock and slight embarrassment at being captured on film while she was unaware, if that was in fact what the boy was doing.

"Did you just take my picture?" Caroline asked curiously. In a similar situation, most people would be angry or upset about being photographed without their consent. Caroline was not like most people. There was no anger in her tone or anger visible on her face. "Why?" Caroline asked, looking up at him with her oddly colored eyes. They were a sign of what she was. She was merely curious about this strange, handsome boy in front of her. "I'm Caroline, by the way." she said. The blonde figured that she should go ahead and introduce herself. After all, he had a picture of her on his film now.

 

[Elbio Aiello]

The younger girl noticed Elbio and his camera but the slytherin was more worried about the photo he didn't manage to take. He was a second too late and he had probably photographed the girl at the moment she was looking at his lens surprised. Elbio couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed for snapshots like this one but his grin now wasn't suggesting that way.
"Yes, I did." he admitted as he walked over to the tree she was sitting down. Elbio was getting this reaction from many people. She wasn't the first person he was taking pictures of without their consent. She had reacted a lot better than what he had thought.
"Why?" he repeated still smiling. "It's my job. It's the photographer's job to capture moments before they run away." he said with his musical, Italian accent. He sat down next to him and looked at the camera he was tenderly holding. It was the most valuable object for him on earth.
"You inspired me so, I couldn't resist." he looked at her with his hooded, blue eyes smiling.
"I'm Elbio. Nice to meet you Caroline." he introduced himself but now he was focused on her sketchbook.
"You like sketching? May I have a look?" he asked. For the virtuoso he was, it was hard to ignore the masterpieces she could be hiding on this sketchbook's pages.

 

[Caroline Beckett]

Her grey eyes watched the boy curiously as he came closer to where she was sitting. He admitted he had been taking her picture, but Caroline had thought as much. The boy was smiling at her in a way that made her feel as if he was already her friend. His answer to her question intrigued her and made her feel like she understood him a little better. The blonde could tell from his tone and his words that he was as passionate about his photography as she was about her art. She felt a kinship with him. Photography was an art just as much as her sketches or paintings.

Caroline smiled back at the boy who introduced himself as Elbio and joined her on the ground. The Gryffindor girl crossed her legs and sat up a bit straighter. "Pleasure, Elbio." she said in an accent that was a mixture of New Zealand and Great Britain. "I'm happy to assist a fellow artist though I want to see the picture if it turns out well." she said, her face crinkling with her smile. Caroline hesitated slightly, before handing Elbio her sketchpad. She had not shown this to anyone else at Hogwarts. It was mostly sketches of everything she saw around the school. Her friends, random people she observed, the outdoors. She didn't know why, but she trusted him to understand her drawings even if they had just met. "What do you think?" she asked after a few moments had passed.