Unawares

[Rue Undersee]

As Rue gazed at the morning sun peeking over the horizon, she smiled and put a hand to her forehead. The shops of Brightstone Village were not yet open, and Rue had arrived early especially to avoid all the shoppers who would be arriving later on. The sky was cloudy, and, worried it would rain, Rue had brought her umbrella and coat. She loved the rain. It was clear and fresh, plus the smell of the tarmac when it got wet made her smile. She was the opposite to her family, who would lock themselves inside if they even had a tiny thought that it would rain, which Rue couldn't understand at all. Would they melt if the rain touched them? Maybe they were just plain weird - or she was.

Rue carried on walking slowly towards the village. The walk wasn't very far, as she'd just moved house. It meant a long trip to get to school, but that wasn't so bad. She enjoyed travelling as much as the rain, and could make the time pass quickly. It would have been better with a sister, though. She looked down at the ground in thought. Her mother had decided that one problem child was enough, thank you very much, and she couldn't handle another messy screaming baby. She hadn't even thought of Rue's feelings. And then, when her dad had left, her mum ignored her all together, and turned into a quiet zombie who slept all day. It was Rue who had got her up and dressed each morning. It was Rue who'd cooked her dinner, learned to look after her Mother as well as herself. That was why she wanted a sister. For company, for laughs, and yes, the occasional squabble would obviously occur, but no doubt they'd be friends again within minutes. She'd thought about the idea of a brother, too, but it didn't have the same appeal. Boys were just... Havoc making. That was her mother's opinion, and it seemed to have rubbed off onto her.

A car horn snapped Rue out of her daydream and she realized she was almost at the village. Unfortunately, the trip there was all uphill, and very tiring. The sun, by now, had risen a little way above the horizon, and people seemed to be appearing from nowhere. She often wondered where they were going. To work? To the shops? Maybe they had a much more important reason for leaving their house this morning, but she would never know. Being nosy was a habit which Rue couldn't exactly control, as words fell out of her mouth before she'd thought them through. That's what got her Mother and Father divorced. Her father... She'd never met him, and by the sound of him, she never wanted to either. He'd be getting up this morning too. Unless he was dead. Rue felt guilt stab her as she realized there was a smirk on her face. Where had that come from? Did she want her father dead? No, she shuddered at the thought, unable to explain how she felt in words. Shocked, for one thing. But if he had magically turned up on the doorstep, apologizing and willing to love and care for her Mother forever, she would have hoped she'd say no.

As Rue entered Brightstone village, the shopkeepers had just opened their shops, and the lights began to turn on inside them. She smiled, wondering which shop to go to first. After going in and out of several different shops, she had spent 50 galleons and bought herself a new quill for school, a new diary, and some hard boiled sweets. She smiled, a small carrier bag slapping at her side as she walked with a spring in her step to the nearest bench. After buying things, she had a habit of examining each thing, even though she obviously knew what she had bought. She hadn't even noticed the girl sitting right next to her due to her lack of concentration, and a tiny gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it. It was easy to make Rue jump, unfortunately for her.

Smiling, Rue tried to ignore the girl next to her. But every time she looked up, she found it hard to look away. She just seemed so... Similar. She loved seeing people that looked like herself. It made her feel like she really did have a long lost sister, if not a twin. But she never did, and this time would be no exception, so she refrained from looking back up. It was tempting, but she did look a little rude, and that was the one thing that she definitely did not want to come across as.

 

[Lysandra St. James]

It was difficult for Lysandra to manage simple things. She had to work harder just to get something that would be a piece of cake for a person of normal height but it would forever be this way, she was stuck in the body of a five year old and while everyone at her school had adjusted and not teased her for what she could not control she was scared that now she would be at Hogwarts New Zealand. Sure she could make people adore her fiesty attitude but it still hurt to know that because she was a midget or little person as her mother called her to try to be more sensitive to her insecurities that, while hidden well, were still there. There was one thing that frustrated the girl; people being nice to her and trying to help her like she was some charity or something they could pity because she was not of a normal height and weight of a child her age so she had adopted the tendency to wake with the rooster to keep away from large groups and their judgmental eyes. Rain, snow or shine Lysandra would get all of her things done in the morning and usually beat the owners to their shops and back in the small town in which she and her mother had lived, Lysandra was known for this but in Brightstone Village she didn't expect it so she took her time getting ready this morning.

After a quick shower and a comb through her curly blonde locks, Lysandra was changed in a pair of jeans, her favourite pair of Wellington's and a rain coat. She knew that she would have been fine with just a sweater with a hood but Lysandra's frustrating mother babied her constantly - as if she was actually the age she looked - and she knew it would be easier to do this instead of go through that and have her day ruined by the woman.

Although Lysandra did love her mother, they did not get along well and she often dreamed of having other family members but it seemed that it would forever be a dream unrealized because her father had run out on their little family only a few months after her birth and she knew nothing of him. She could have known his name if she had been curious but the little girl did not want to care about someone like that because she knew it would only lead to her little anger problem to be brought to the forefront. So she just imagined what it would be like to have a big brother or sister that she could play with on a day like this when the rain was lightly drizzling and all was right in the world. The eleven-year-old had always been fond of rain and how empty even the busiest places seemed to be because people were sheltering themselves from water. While they thought she was loony for going out of her way to be outside in this type of weather she would just smirk in amusement at their fear of nature before going on her way. It just tickled her to see people who could do such powerful things run away like children from rain.

While it would have given her enough amusement to be in the sweet silence of an early morning storm, Lysandra had to do some shopping for school because she knew that once it got closer to sorting everyone would be in the stores and she would just be overwhelmed and have to rely on her attitude to keep people from treating her differently because of her height. Although it was stubborn, she did not want anyone to help her do something that she should be able to do, it would just take a little bit of elbow grease and a keen eye but everything physical could and would get done eventually. So she walked to the first few shops and saw that they weren't open just yet and with a bit of frustration that they were not on her own schedule so she found the nearest bench and sat and waited as the rain fell on the hood of her brightly coloured coat and the tips of her blonde hair that refused to stay inside.

Waiting was not something that Lysandra particularly enjoyed and as much as she was told that patience was a virtue, she could not bring herself to have any of it. The stores and their owners were taking too long and it frustrated the girl, so she wriggled her nose and just as she was about to stand up to leave someone else sat down beside her. A quick glance in the girl's direction was given before Lysandra's gaze went forward and she thought of standing up and leaving but imagined that might be perceived as extraordinarily rude, like she was disgusted with the girl. So Lysandra stayed and smirked in amusement as she heard the gasp but still said nothing.​

 

[Janey Pascot]

Wrong person. One mo

 

[Rue Undersee]

The drizzling rain caused Rue to pop up her hood and fold her arms, trying to keep as much warmth inside her jacket as she could, and protecting her recently blow-dried hair, but she knew the real reason she had put her hood up, as she didn't mind the rain. Rue was exceptionally shy, and she didn't feel like talking to anybody else, not on this occasion, not ever. She enjoyed the calm and peacefulness of being by herself, or simply standing in an empty field and listening to the sound of nothing, something she rarely had the opportunity to do. It always seemed that way - The things she loved doing, she was rarely able to do. But that was the way life went, and Rue accepted that with a little difficulty and put it behind her, as those things still came round every so often, and she enjoyed them even more that way. Now, as the rain somehow managed to seep through tiny gaps in her jacket, and the wind seemed to be blowing in her direction on purpose, she glanced at the girl again. She hadn't walked away either, which was a plus. And there was one thing that she couldn't help noticing about the stranger. She was small.

Sure, lots of people were small, but she was small small, and not in a nasty way for that matter. Dainty, petite small, like Rue. Another part-goblin, perhaps, she guessed without giving it any more thought, swinging her legs which didn't touch the pavement when she scooted to the back of the bench. She smiled. Being small had it's difficulties, as this girl could probably understand, but you got used to it eventually, and she didn't really think about it much any more. It was a great way for people to tease her though, when she struggled to open doors, they would point and laugh instead of doing the kind thing and helping her. Rue would never do that to somebody, and couldn't get her head around why they would. Wondering whether this girl had ever been teased about her height before too, she smiled, just a little, at her. To show that she wasn't trying to be ignorant or rude. The girl could have reacted in any way, by frowning, smiling back, or simply walking away. Rue hoped that it wouldn't be option C.

The wind blew unkindly into Rue's face, bringing the raindrops with it as she seemed to get covered in a layer of moisture. The raindrops were small, but there were many, and they stung as they hit her face, causing her to look down at her lap to shield herself. A passer-by looked in their direction, staring without caring that he looked rude. From the opposite side of the street, he yelled 'Titches!' Before smirking. Rue's head snapped up as she glared back, making a rude gesture. She wouldn't have anyone insulting her, and was not going to be polite back. The passer looked surprised, though he tried to hide it as he went out of sight. Rue sighed sadly. Her day had been fairly good up until this point. Somebody always had to ruin it, by teasing, bullying, or even physically harming her. It was unfair, being so tiny, and she wished every night she could be as tall as everyone else, as strong as them.

Suddenly, Rue remembered the girl next to her, and made sure she hadn't disapeared. The passer by had been talking about her too, and Rue expected, just as she was, the girl was used to that kind of abuse. Rue could choose to ignore the idiots who thought they could make fun of her, but she didn't feel it was right to let them get away with it without at least some sort of comment or gesture back at them. She tried to force a friendly smile to prove that she wasn't usually all that feisty. In fact, it was the complete opposite of Rue's friendly nature. She started to regret what she did, and hoped that the girl would understand that it had been a one off. Now what would she think of her? Rue mentally kicked herself, but held herself together and didn't move. The rain began to lighten, and a peep of sunshine even poked through the clouds, lightening Brightstone village like a fairytale. In the distance was a rainbow, that went all the way across the horizon.