Apparently there is schoolwork beyond CATS on Labyrinth Gardens

Lexi Stafford

April 19, 2008 8:46 PM

Apparently there is schoolwork beyond CATS by Lexi Stafford

Lexi had always believed that after the end of her fifth year, she’d surely leave the extended sojourns in the library behind her for at least another year and a half, until RATS came around. However, though she’d passed all her CATS except for Astronomy (which didn’t really count, as it wasn’t being offered anymore and she’d never been good at the subject in the first place), her father had been less than pleased with the average grades in several of the subjects. As was she, to her surprise. After all the hard work that had gone into studying, she would have thought the results would have been a little better.

So, after a summer that, while it wasn’t the best of her life, definitely had its excellent moments, she’d had every intention of returning to the library at least if not as often or as long at least a little more often than had happened in the previous years. After all, if nothing else the difference had to be good for her. Merlin knew that the way she’d allowed the last year to go wasn’t anywhere near the top strategies to stay sane, at the very least, so doing the opposite would surely mean a decisive improvement in her lot.

Unfortunately, that resolution lasted all of five minutes. Dalila had had an awful break-up over the summer, and Lexi could hardly abandon her roommate when said roommate had helped her with the same situation (twice) the previous year. And, as always, there had been first years to help, and quidditch to play. Therefore, it was a few weeks before she actually made her first venture.

She’d lasted all of ten minutes. It was just too goddamn quiet in there. It was far too nice outside just to sit in there, surrounded by books, the geeks, and the almost-overwhelming silence. Her mind simply couldn’t take it. She hadn’t given into the urge to go procrastinate entirely; she’d grabbed a few books on the subject of the moment (defense against the dark arts) and headed outside to the gardens to find a nice, quiet nook (which may or may not have looked a lot like the one she’d had the fight in last year but that was completely beside the point, and she wasn’t going to think about it. Even if it was the same, it didn’t mean anything, and there was no reason to leave a quiet spot, as they were most difficult to find at times).

Managing to finish her DADA assignment before being interrupted by anyone or anything, she was now considering which of her other classes she wanted to start on next, since she was finally in a productive mood. However, just as the decision to go for COMC was made and the necessary books and accessories were being pulled out of her bag, the sound of something rustling met Lexi’s ears. Though she considered calling out and questioning if anyone was there, after a few seconds she decided against it. If there was nothing there, she’d just feel silly, and if something was, then it could come find her if it wanted. Until then, she had serious things to work on.

0 Lexi Stafford Apparently there is schoolwork beyond CATS 0 Lexi Stafford 1 5

Lucie Dupree

April 22, 2008 12:27 AM

Is that what I have to look forward to? by Lucie Dupree

“Five kneazles sitting on a fence…” Lucie sang, as she skipped along a random path in the Labyrinth Gardens. The sun was shining, which only served to heighten her good mood. How could anyone not like this weather? Of course, while bright and sunny was her preference, she didn’t hate winter, especially considering all it had to offer. There were fun activities, such as ice skating and sledding. Not to mention, the joy of sitting by a warm fire, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the snowflakes fall to the ground forming a glistening sheet of white. But it brought about the cold, which was why it wasn’t her favorite time of year.

Besides, summer always brought about eventful things, such as this previous summer, which included her sister’s birthday/coming out party. It had been a ton of fun, or at least, she thought so. Danae would probably disagree with her. Actually, Devian probably would as well. Neither had actually enjoyed the event. She really couldn’t understand why, aside from each of their betrothals being there, but on the plus side, they were both really nice. Thinking about it reminded her that she should probably write the whole thing down, before she forgot any detail. She wanted to capture it all, so that one day when she was really old, she would have that memory.

She walked along, organizing it all in her head, because she wanted to include her personal view and style into it. Maybe she could even doodle some pictures, as well, to make the story livelier. Continuing the pros and cons of doing so, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and tripped on a crack in the path. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed at the hedge to steady herself causing it to rustle, but it didn’t help any, as she still fell and scrapped her knee.

She pushed herself up with her hands, wincing, as she did so. With a slight limp, she turned the corner to see her House’s prefect. What luck! Hopping a bit on one foot to avoid any pain, she made her way over to where the older girl was sitting and plopped herself down. “Do you know a healing charm?” Lucie asked, even though it was already starting to hurt less. It still looked unpleasant.

0 Lucie Dupree Is that what I have to look forward to? 114 Lucie Dupree 0 5

Lexi

April 22, 2008 5:38 PM

Are you kidding? This is the easiest part by Lexi

It hadn’t been her imagination after all. There really had been someone out there. An incredibly cheerful someone, to boot. And one related to her ex-boyfriend (not that it mattered to her). However, more importantly, it was someone who apparently needed help, and needed it in a capacity she could give.

“Lucie, right?” Lexi asked as she closed her book and pulled out her wand. “May I?” she gestured toward the offending article, but bent down to examine it without waiting for a reply. It wasn’t a particularly awful scrape, and probably nothing the medic would have troubled himself over. Still, her dad had taught her several minor healing charms (he still thought she was going to end up a healer), and it couldn’t hurt. “This might sting a little, but I need to clean out the scrape first. Scourgify.”

She let the spell run for a few seconds while she quickly reviewed the charms she knew before deciding on which to use before deciding the episkey charm would probably work the best. Seconds later, when the skin looked as good as new, she patted herself on the back mentally. She might not be the best as far as grades went, but once she worked a spell she almost always got it right.

However, though the sole reason Lucie had come to her had been cleanly wrapped up, Lexi still hesitated to end the encounter entirely. After all, it was important to get to know younger students, and, well, if the second year happened to drop some information, who could it hurt? “So, what brings you out here today?”

0 Lexi Are you kidding? This is the easiest part 0 Lexi 0 5

Lucie

April 23, 2008 7:31 PM

Oh the joys to look forward to by Lucie

Lucie nodded in answer to Lexi’s question. She knew who Lexi was, because she was her prefect and because she was a friend of her cousin’s, but she was surprised that the older girl knew who she was. She supposed it was one of the advantages of having such a large family. She knew of nearly everyone through one relation or the other, and the reverse was most likely true. However, she could have been over-analyzing, and Lexi simply knew who she was since it was her job to take care of the younger students.

As though to prove that point, Lexi was already examining the scratches. Within a short amount of time, and with some minor grimacing, the wound was healed and the pain gone. Lucie pulled her knee up to examine the spot, her fingers brushing over the flesh. “Thanks! Better than new,” she commented with a wide grin that showed off her dimples.

When Lexi asked her why she was out in the gardens, Lucie began to chat away happily. Talking was one of her absolutely favorite things to do. “I love the outdoors. Being inside is so…constricting. There’s just something about the openness of the Gardens. It helps to get all my thoughts bouncing around. I’m working on a story about a boy that fights alien pickles. The pickles are really mean, but they used to be nice when they were cucumbers.”

It might not have made sense to most, but her stories were often equated to actual pieces of her life or to her family. She had one about Chris too. Maybe his friend would want to hear about it. “I have another about a puppy whose daddy went away. It was a very rainy day.” She gazed at the other girl, her eyes sad and said softly, “His daddy is never coming back.” Her thoughts drifted to the day that her parents had sat her and her siblings down in a row and explained the situation about her uncle, what it meant, what was going to happen next. The poor puppy.

0 Lucie Oh the joys to look forward to 0 Lucie 0 5

Lexi

April 26, 2008 12:48 AM

You should be thrilled by Lexi

Lucie seemed to be a cute little thing, though a little strange perhaps. Very animated about everything. Lexi couldn’t remember everything about when she was younger, but she was sure she hadn’t been anything like that. Probably all for the best, otherwise Ben would have killed her long before.

However, cute though she was, the second year wasn’t making any sense. Pickles who used to be cucumbers, and a puppy whose father had gone away? There was no rhyme or reason there. What was worse was that the puppy story apparently had a bigger meaning, if the significant look Lucie had given her meant anything at all. Unfortunately, try though she might, Lexi couldn’t come up with anything.

“Poor…puppy,” she finally replied, slowly. “Does it at least get a happy ending eventually?” It was a safe thing to ask, and maybe an elaboration would follow. Or, of course, the story could be complete fiction, and the ensuing telling would make that obvious as well. Either way, it was a win-win situation for both of them.

0 Lexi You should be thrilled 0 Lexi 0 5

Lucie

May 01, 2008 4:39 AM

I actually am by Lucie

Lucie watched the older girl, waiting for her to say something. When she finally did, she asked if the story had a happy ending. She thought about this for a moment, her tongue sticking out slightly to the side. Did it? She didn’t know the answer to that, so instead, she answered, “It could, but that’s up to the puppy.”

She toyed a bit with her shoelace, before continuing, her hands moving along with her to animate the story. “The puppy had a very strong daddy. He was the leader of all the other puppies and even some of the other dogs. There are six puppies. One of them went away and none of the other puppies are supposed to talk to her, so now there are only five puppies. There are six dogs, but only two of them wanted to be the leader. Now, that the sad puppy’s father is no longer…” Lucie paused for a moment, regrouping her thoughts and realizing that she might have lost Lexi.

“My daddy says that Chris’ daddy’s soul went to Heaven, but his body doesn’t know it yet,” she worded very carefully, trying to explain what she had been told, and as a result, she had switched out of the story and into what the story was based on. She didn’t really understand what it meant, except that her uncle was very sick. “So, see, the sad puppy’s father is no longer,” repeated what she had said. Her eyes looked at Lexi, expecting her to make the connection since to her view, it was obvious.

Another pause to allow the prefect to catch up. Her finger curled into the blonde locks and twirled one around. “Anyhow, there’s a new leader until the puppy becomes older, but this dog wants his son to take over one day, not the other puppy. Right now, though, in the story, the puppy is sad, because his sister and daddy went away. I bet if they came back, he would be happy. What do you think?” Little bits of knowledge spread throughout the story, bits that Lucie didn’t even know were important.

0 Lucie I actually am 0 Lucie 0 5

Lexi

May 04, 2008 9:04 PM

You're far too optiminstic, you know that? by Lexi

Of all the things that Lexi had been expecting, Lucie’s revelations were not among them. Things were starting to sound familiar at the beginning, but Lexi had told herself that it was just because she was thinking Duprees because that was of whom she was talking to. That made sense, right? Projection and that sort of thing. Or guilt by association. Or whatever the hell it was called.

However, once Chris’s name was mentioned it was hard to miss what was going on. She was actually somewhat ashamed of how she reacted when she’d heard it—she’d jolted, almost, stiffened unintentionally. She’d forced herself to relax within seconds, and she didn’t believe Lucie had noticed, but it was still embarrassing and uncalled for. Yes, she’d loved him once, but that was behind her, and so was the rest of their relationship. There was no reason to act embarrassed or shocked when he came up in conversation. She was being silly. Again. Funny how Chris had that effect on her.

She almost missed the rest of what Lucie said. She got it in the end, though it took her a few minutes. So, Chris’s father was…ill, or something, and someone else was in charge, at least for the moment. It sounded almost outrageously complicated, and Lexi thanked God that she didn’t have to deal with any of the ridiculous pureblood things like that. Still, while she could fault her ex for that with regards to her, it was cruel not to sympathize with him at a time like this.

“Yes, I think he would,” she agreed, reaching out to push one of the curls that had fallen into Lucie’s face back behind the girl’s ear without thinking. The second year just seemed to inspire that kind of response. “I think Ch—the puppy would like it a lot, though from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound very likely.” She grinned ruefully. “Still, it doesn’t seem like the puppy has very good luck with that sort of thing, even before this part of the story.”

She wasn’t softening toward Chris again, she told herself fervently. She was just…feeling sorry for him again. It didn’t change anything important. Maybe it was a good sign, even. After going through all that, there was no way she’d still register on his radar anymore. No more call to avoid him, in that case, which made life easier. He had enough things on his plate—one casual acquaintance meant nothing.

0 Lexi You're far too optiminstic, you know that? 0 Lexi 0 5