Closed Your Flowers Will Bloom

[Delilah Thorne]

It was still a little cold out but Delilah had wanted to indulge in the fresh air while she could and appreciated the sun that was doing its best to peak through the clouds to warm her just enough to be comfortable. She had known that her OWLs would be hard but she hadn't expected her assignments to pile up quite so fast. The garden provided a quiet and scenic place to study away from the stuffy and usually crowded library. She had been so optimistic that this year would be different for her. She had been so certain that her friends would all be prefects with her and they would finally be equals the the badges to prove it. But she had been the only one. She was proud of herself and what she had accomplished but she was now self conscious of it too. Did she even really deserve it? It didn't help that when she told her father he had seemed less than enthusiastic about the news. He had brushed her off to instead ask about her grades or interrogate her about why she felt she needed to get a job and how it poorly reflected on him. Her mother had reacted only marginally better and told her she had done good before floating off to do what ever it was she did to keep busy. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache that was forming. Why was nothing ever good? Why did everything seem to be a curse in disguise?

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester didn't venture out without Big Douglas often, but right now the toad was settled comfortably in his habitat, and she had decided to take a walk for herself. The beginning of the sun's return was as good a reason as any to get outdoors, and it would be nice to clear her head a bit. The holidays had been... uncomfortable, and she didn't want to linger in those thoughts more than she had to. But coming back to school wasn't all that much less complicated. While she had appreciated Brooke's attention last year it was starting to get on her nerves, and she didn't know what kind of person the Slytherin thought she was. Life just seemed to get more and more complicated, and Hester longed for the simpler days of her childhood, where the hardest decision she faced was which brother was her favourite today.

As she wandered the grounds, Hester almost jumped when she spotted one of the people making her life complicated. As soon as the thought surfaced, Hester quickly pushed it back. She liked being around Delilah, found her eyes drifting over to the Ravenclaw at meals and in classes when she wasn't paying attention, but there was a perfectly good reason for that. Hester liked Delilah being her friend, and.... there was nothing necessarily romantic about noticing a person looked nice. Ever since the game of spin the bottle in third year Hester had been struggling with her feelings about dating - all of her classmates seemed outright obsessed with who was dating who, with ways they could find a boyfriend or girlfriend. Hester didn't want any of that, she had decided after the spin the bottle game, and that was not what these feelings about Delilah were. Not at all. That didn't stop her drifting closer when she saw the Ravenclaw outside, eventually giving up on the hovering and just making her way over, plopping into a seat next to Delilah. "What's up?" She asked, giving the other girl a friendly elbow in greeting. And if that wound up with her sitting with her side touching Delilah's.... well, friends sat like that all the time.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah heard someone coming and looked up to see that it was Hester. She was momentarily stunned. For some reason, of all the people who she could have run into the Gryffindor was the last one she would have expected. But before she could say anything the other girl had joined her and elbowed her playfully. She smiled tightly and did her best to subtly put some distance between them. Her heart was suddenly beating faster and it was getting harder to think straight. She felt hyper aware of where their arms had touched and she pulled them tighter around herself. Delilah had done her best to keep her distance from Hester after their conversation after spin the bottle and at the dance last year, there was something about the other girl that she couldn't face. It was like staring into the sun or getting into a bathtub that was too hot. There was a voice inside her head that was yelling but she couldn't figure out what it was saying only that it made it nearly impossible for her to sit still. "I was just doing some reading." she said as she fiddled with her textbook that had loose pieces of parchment stuck inside filled with notes. "What classes are you taking?" she asked without looking at Hester and desperate to keep the topic on boring and neutral subjects.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Looking at a person's face when they talked was normal and polite, Hester thought firmly. And there were plenty of parts of a person's face, it wasn't all about the eyes. If her eyes slipped to Delilah's lips as she spoke, well that was... just polite, a sign that she was paying attention. So much attention, in fact, that it took her a moment to actually remember the answer to Delilah's question. "Oh, uh..." Hester paused, trying to run through her timetable in her head. She had never been the most studious even in muggle school, and magic hadn't improved her study habits any. "Transfiguration, Potions, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures this semester. What about you?" She asked, imagining Ravenclaws never had trouble remembering their own schedules.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah shook her head slightly as she waited for Hester's response. They were all in the same lessons at this point and she had noticed that they were in almost all of the same classes. "Mostly the same." she said and tucked her hair behind her ears as a nervous habit. "Except I'm taking Defense Against the Dark Arts instead of Care of Magical Creatures." she explained and stared at the other girls shoulder, which was easier than meeting her eyes.

With questions about school out of the way, the list of safe conversation topics seemed to be up and Delilah was quietly irritated. She had wanted to come out her to find some peace and somehow run into last person she wanted to be alone with. "So...what are you doing out here?' her question sounded weirdly accusatory and she winced at herself.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester nodded when Delilah explained her schedule, unable to think of any particularly intelligent responses. "Cool." She said, and immediately wished she hadn't. What was it about Delilah that made every brain cell she had ever had leak out her ears all at once? It was a relief when the Ravenclaw changed the subject, though Hester didn't have anything particularly intelligent to say on that topic either. "Oh, just walking." She shrugged slightly, trying to think of a better explanation. "Wanted to get out of the castle for a while. Brooke's been, uh...." She hesitated, trying and failing to think of kinder words. "Brooke's been a bit of a b*tch to me lately. I needed some space." She said, giving up on tact. "How about you?"

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah felt like bludgeoning herself with her book would be less painful that this conversation and her cheeks felt hot as Hester responded with a single word. But at least the other girl didn't seem to be too put off by her tone and she felt surprisingly relieved by that. She tried to look interested in her fairly generic answer. It could very well be true but this kind of small talk was excruciating. But when Hester mentioned Brooke, Delilah sat up straighter to listen. When she finished her sentence Delilah didn't even bother to respond to the other girls question and instead burst out laughing at the casual declaration that her friend was a b*tch. She knew that she should be offended but she knew she would be lying if she tried to deny the claim. Brooke was...difficult but it had been something she had learned to navigate over the years. "Sorry It probably seems cruel of me to laugh." she said sheepishly through giggles. "But I guess I'm partially hiding from her too." she finally admitted.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester wasn't often rude about people other than her brothers, and she was relieved when Delilah giggled along. She nodded sympathetically at Delilah's comments, relaxing more. "She's on a bit of a rampage isn't she?" She commented, the subject far easier than the warmth from Delilah where their arms touched, or the light floral smell Hester wasn't sure whether to attribute to the garden or her companion. "She threw a whole fit about me having Big Douglas with me for meals, like he doesn't need to eat too. So rude." She pulled a face.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah was glad her laughter wasn't seen as callous but her smile fell slightly when Hester mentioned Brooke's current state of mind. The wave of guilt was familiar at this point and she suddenly became very aware of the prefects badge pinned on her robes. "Yeah." she said softly. "I think this semester has been hard for her." she added, now sounding much more sympathetic. She expected she would agree with whatever Hester had gone through but once the other girl finished, Delilah blinked a few times as she pieced it together. "You sat at the table with your toad?" she asked, eyes wide. Caleb was always trying to get away with bringing his rat to the dinner table but at least the rodent fit neatly and discretely away in his pocket. She had encountered Big Douglas on occasion and she couldn't blame Brooke for being strict about that piece of etiquette.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester didn't know what had been going on for Brooke, and she couldn't help feeling a little guilty when Delilah mentioned the semester had been hard. The Slytherin had always been more interested in fixing what she saw as Hester's problems than talking about any of her own. And even if she hadn't felt like she actually needed it, Hester had to admit that the makeup and fashion stuff had been... fun. Mostly. Maybe she did owe Brooke an apology, though she quickly hardened against that thought as Delilah mentioned a similar concern. "Yeah!" She said firmly, drawing her chin up a bit higher. "He always eats meals with me, he's very polite. Nobody's ever complained before, it's not a big deal."

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah couldn't keep the worried look from her face as Hester confirmed that she did in fact sit with her toad during meals. She wasn't sure how she had missed that spectacle before but she was usually too wrapped up in her own world to notice much of anything these days. She noticed that Hester got a bit defensive at her question and she felt a little bad but not bad enough to apologize. If there was anything she believed it it was moderate table manners. "It might not be a big deal to you." she said, trying to be diplomatic about what she said next. "But it's likely not everyone is as comfortable around him as you." she added gently. "I'm sure he's a very good...toad." Delilah struggled to get that last bit out but smiled faintly to try and hide it.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester had to push down the frustration that bubbled up all over again when Delilah spoke, shaking her head firmly. "Nobody's ever complained." She said firmly. "Is it just because he's a toad? I don't think anyone would complain if I had a cat or an owl with me for dinner, there are owls in the Great Hall all the time. I know other people don't think toads are cute, but that doesn't mean he deserves any less than a more popular pet. He's handsome and lovely in his own special way, and he's perfectly welcome wherever he wants to be." She finished on a firm note, almost embarrassed to have gotten so impassioned in front of Delilah. She was still trying to work out why she felt so strongly about impressing the Ravenclaw, but the feeling lingered regardless, and she felt torn between wanting to be likeable and wanting to defend her best friend.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah hoped that her words would gently get Hester to understand that maybe pets shouldn't be at meals. But before she could get another word in the Gryffindor was already half way through a very impassioned speech. She opened her mouth a few times only to be cut off. If it had been anyone else she was certain she would have found it irritating but there was something about Hester that made her smile instead, until finally she was laughing. "You're right." she said with a nod when the other girl was finally done. "They should all be treated equally." Delilah added. She didn't say that she thought all pets should be kept from the great hall. Those thoughts she could keep to herself.