Adopt the Pace of Nature PV Aemadall Z Fin.

Interacting with @Alina Rosier

From the corridors to the pitch, from the pitch to the lake. I was gonna go everywhere on my own like I always did but, meeting Alina was great... even though it was entirely accidental. But hey, that was always my style, just go with the flow and everything was gonna be alright. We had different philosophies. I had "just wing it" and she had "lemon drops".
We were gonna break from here and meet up tomorrow at the entrance of the great hall. I was about to go in but she hugged me and said something in French like she always does when she gets emotional. I made a mental note to learn some French when I got back home. We then parted ways. She went somewhere, probably to Hufflepuff and I went back to my Gryffindor dorm room for a well deserved nap. Besides, the guys were probably wondering where I was.
The next day, I went to the entrance of the great hall after dinner, just as we planned. I saw here sitting along a stone wall. I smiled and said,

"There you are!"

I walked closer to here to get a better look. As I approached, I saw something in her hand. A book.

"Reading I see. Hope you aren't gonna turn this into a study session."

I said, smirking, as I sat down next to her.

"Oh, Merlin, No!" she said as she laughed and gave him a bit of a playful shove. "That's the absolute worst part of school...the schoolwork," but then again it was a necessary evil for the establishment that it was. She closed her book, welcoming his company over that of her textbook.

"I mean, some of it is beneficial and all, at least depending on what we do once we leave this place. Have you given it any thought? I know it seems a lot of the students come Day 1 and instantly have a plan in place." She hadn't, not at the beginning of last year. But now that she had been exposed to some classes and figured out which ones she seemed to gravitate to and that interested her, she had an idea now.

Alina slipped her book into her bag and then popped a lemon drop into her mouth, offering one over to Logan if he'd like before hopping up. "To the lake, my dear," she said and offered out her hand to him as if she would really be able to help him up. She was short and had a petite frame and he had such a strong build but that didn't mean she wouldn't try.

The two headed out of the Entrance Hall and onto the Grounds that evening, blessed with perfect weather on their venture to explore the Lake. The sun was still blanketing the Scottish Highlands and Alina smiled upon feeling it hit her face.

"I don't know if you'll find the Lake as exciting as quidditch," she said to him, having the feeling that she didn't know enough about her new friend but that all came in time. She would need to be patient. She was the spill it all type about herself but not everyone was like that. Most weren't.

"The Lake, like the castle of Hogwarts itself, perplexes me though. Sometimes I can come here with heavy thoughts and it feels like a massive open darkness and other times it can seem shimmery, welcoming me with peacefulness. Maybe it all depends on my mood and it's just how I perceive it. That, or maybe somehow the Lake just KNOWS what we're thinking, what we're feeling." And she was curious to see how it would look right now with so many thoughts heavy on her mind.

"But it's always a place to sit and reflect or to calm down. As Ralph Waldo Emerson says is, Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." That was one of her favorite philosophers and she tried to quote him often even if he himself, back in his life, did not favor quotations so much. She found he was one of those writers that you took with you on life's journey. She found that through his words, nearly all the questions about life could be found upon the pages of his writings.

Interacting with @Alina Rosier

Thankfully, she didn't meet up with me to study. But she also said that a lot of students come Day 1 and instantly had a plan in place. I figured those were wizard-borns. I was a muggle... or at least I thought I was. I had a muggle dad and a witch mom. All my life, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a living, now coming here, I felt more unsure than ever. I wanted quidditch but was that what I needed?
I was about to go deep in thought until Alina pulled me back to reality with a lemon drop. Of course, I obliged. Even if I didn't like it, I'd take it anyway.
Together, we went to the Great Lake. The weather was nice but it made Alina look even more beautiful. "Had she always looked like that?" I asked myself.
According to Alina, she had a theory that the lake could see your thoughts and feelings. I raised an eyebrow and said,

"I don't know. I've read about a lot of stuff like that. 9 out of 10, it was trying to kill you"

I then realized how dark I could get at times. But, its presence alone seemed to calm me down. I wondered if every inanimate thing or object had some magic properties. She ended with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience."

"I've heard about him from my sister before. She has a quote for just about anything"

I realized that Alina and I had a lot of differences, like class, patience, craziness, etc. But that didn't stop us from getting along.

"I don't understand philosophy. I'm more of an active type and I guess you're passive"

"Sometimes. Sometimes I take action. When I first got sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin I was so upset that I replaced one of the portraits of the Headmaster with a Troll. I'd say that was taking action. I also hunted down a bunch of cornish pixies."

But she understood more of where he was coming from. "How much older are they? Your siblings?" They unfortunately either didn't seem very close or didn't seem very close anymore. She could relate but she didn't need to share any more stories about her family with him. He had grown tired of hearing them...even if it was always on her mind how crazy everything had become and she felt such loneliness within her.

She didn't want to think about that though. She looked up to the tree that her, Bella, and Clifton had climbed last year and smiled. She did love climbing trees and this was one of the best climbing trees there was at the school. Alina walked over to it and grabbed hold of one of the lower branches and pulled herself up to sit upon it.

"And what got you interested in mythology?" and it didn't seem to be the normal mythology like greek mythology, but then she didn't know all too much about any kind. It sparked her interest though and she loved hearing him talk about it and reference it when he did.

Interacting with @Alina Rosier

The weather was nice. Perfect for strolling or thinking. It created this calm atmosphere that seemed to clear my thoughts... or maybe that was Alina. The sunlight ran and hit her hair and I used all my willpower to resist the urge to touch it. She climbed up the tree and sat on one of its branches. I couldn't understand why she did that but I couldn't say anything. I like to listen to vintage heavy metal like Led Zeppelin while I draw. I decided to just enjoy the day and sit at the base of the tree.
She asked me about my siblings. I remembered that the only thing I said was that they were far away.

"My sister said she was in first year when I was born. So they're way older than me"

I remembered my sister. She was the popular girl that still found the willpower to be nice to everyone.

"My sister Aila is simply an artist. She got me into drawing. She moved and I never saw her again. Mainly just calls, texts and emails. Apparently, she's in Arizona, for some reason."

I decided to move to the subject to my brother. I made a crooked and mischievous smile as I remembered all the pranks we used to pull.

"My brother was the ultimate prankster. He got me into pranking. He's in Glasgow getting his first muggle degree. He's crazy and smart like a mad scientist. He comes from time to time. He last came to help me pack and take me to the Hogwarts Express"

She asked me about my interest in my interest in mythology.

"I got interested when I visited the library out of boredom and accidentally read the Iliad. I like all kinds of mythology, Olympian, Egyptian and Norse."

The sight of the lake made me happy. It reminded me of the lake in the park where my friends and I hung out. I felt sad inside but I had to make friends here. I knew I was gonna see them again.

"I've never read that but I've read The Oddysey." She knew they were from the same ancient poet. "Other than that I don't know much mythology except for a bit connected with Astronomy."

She looked out to the waters and glanced down to him, hoping he liked it even though this was a more low-key moment than quidditch. "The Scottish Highlands are beautiful, aren't they? I think someday I could maybe live here. I like my home in Surrey, it's pretty neat but I don't really feel drawn to staying there always. Even the land around my home in France was more picturesque."

She was doing a lot of talking and hope she wasn't disturbing him. She hoped out of the tree and walked the couple steps over to where he was. "Guess that's still something we've got time to decide as well." That and career paths. She was glad they still had lots of time to still figure that out. "I can barely decide what color ink to use on my homework assignments at this point," she said with a smile and glanced up to him.

"So I know it's no quidditch pitch," she said as she watched the small waves move across the top of the water from the breeze that fell around them, "but what do you think of the Lake?"

Interacting with @Alina Rosier

I was a bit happy Alina had an idea about mythology. Usually, no one liked it but me, not even my friends. She got down from the tree and walked towards me. She asked what I thought of the lake,

"Usually, I like vibrant places. This is calm. It reminds me of the lake near school where Leo, Travis and I planned how we were gonna prank the heck outta bullies before summer started"

I took my gaze away from the lake and look up at the horizon. I knew I was gonna get used to its beauty sooner or later.

"The Scottish Highlands. It is more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined. It's not as normal as my neighbourhood back home. I can't decide which is better."

I missed my home. Part of me wanted to go back. The other part wanted to stay here.

"I guess that's the common half-blood problem. Not knowing where you belong. I still wanna go home but I wanna stay right here. I stand by my original point. It isn't quidditch but even adrenaline junkies need to chill. This lake is nice."

I decided to stop my ranting and relax. If I went on, I would get dark and emotional like what happened at the pitch. As I leaned my back against the tree, I remembered a poster that said something about a dance. From what I know, in the muggle world, guys were supposed to ask girls out. I wondered if the same worked here. I decided to test my theory and asked the nearest one. Alina.

"Um... Hey, I-I was w-wondering if maybe you would, by any chance, want to go to the dance w-with me?"

Naturally, I figure any girl would be mad at me, but deep down, I knew this one was different. It was better to ask early like a weirdo than to ask late like a hot guy on a motorcycle. I let out a sigh and waited for her response.

She felt like he missed his family, friends, and so much of his past life. "That's one of the greatest things about Hogwarts," she voiced her opinion. "You a family you never knew you'd have...at least that's how it was for me last year. Maybe I don't have my father as much as I'd like and my sister is distant, but I now have a lot to add to that family. The trick is just to not let one person become too important," like she had with Clifton.

"I've got Rose and Bren and Alexa and Lucia. They all make everything so much better. And now I've got you, too," she smiled to him. "I don't know, maybe it's a Hufflepuff thing," but she hoped for his sake it wasn't because he deserved that too.

Then he did something rather unexpected. His strong self seemed a little timid as he asked her to the dance. It was sudden but she liked that he was planning ahead. After all, he did say he was a man of action and it seemed Logan was just that. It was nice he wasn't waiting until the very last moment. "You want to go with me?" she was a bit surprised. Surely there were a lot of Gryffindor girls he could be asking or others he had met on the boat ride over and such. Her bright smile showed that she liked the question though. "Why yes, Logan Zarcovich, I'll go to the dance with you," she said and slowly lifted herself up to lay a gentle kiss upon his cheek.

Interacting with @Alina Rosier

Everything was going great. Alina got to show me around some parts of the school, we became friends and I also found new friends with a dramatically short period of time. I decided to ask her about the upcoming fall dance. Maybe, the only similarity is that guys had to take girls and you had fun. With all this magic, you can never tell.
When I asked her about the dance, she said "You want to go with me?". That was usually the first time girls said, so they would have a lot of extra time to think of how to turn me down in creative ways. I wanted to run before I got the answer cuz Alina must have already been asked by someone else. She was too amazing. She smiled and said she'll go to the dance with me. I was speechless. Right now, I wanted to run a victory lap around the entire castle. What she did amazed me even more. She lifted herself up and kissed my cheek. Talking was one thing, but her kissing me was a whole new thing entirely. It was a kiss on the cheek but a kiss nevertheless. Right now, a meteor could smash into the castle and blow up my dorm and I wouldn't even care. I hugged her tightly and said,

"Thanks, Alina. You won't regret this"

I felt so happy I could literally explode.