Branches, footsteps, and a bright morning's run Private

Usually, Amelia spent her weekend mornings in leisure. But today she had a mission: tree climbing. She used to climb trees often as a kid, and loved it dearly. At some point, though, she stopped, due to some changes made by her parents.

Then, yesterday, in History of Magic class, Amelia found herself looking out of the window, bored to the point of daydreaming. The grass seemed lovely, perfect for simply lounging... Just then she caught sight of a tall tree, shadowing the grass and standing proud. It had good branches, spaced evenly, perfect for climbing. It should be easy enough, right?

And so, after a few years without practice, Amelia strode through the grounds first thing on the following morning. The tree was waiting for her, basking in the sun. Amelia braided her hair quickly, tucked her dark blue t-shirt in, and started climbing.

It was just like it used to be— easy, fun, and exhilarating. At last she got to the top, and let herself rest for a while. Her limbs ached a bit from the effort, and her heart was beating fast. She wiped some sweat from her forehead and started on her way down.

A foot here... Hand there... To the next branch... Only, the next branch snapped under the pressure. Amelia let out a surprised sound and held on to the tree with all she had, one leg swinging in the air. She took a deep breath and sat back on the branch above her. Her way down was much more difficult now, the smooth way ruined. Amelia attempted to climb down, only to fail. Again. The frustration didn't help her; it only distracted her. Then, someone called out from below.

Had she been in any other situation, Amelia's pride wouldn't have let her admit it. But as it was... "Yes! Yes please! Can you help me get down?" Amelia peeked from between the leaves at the girl on the ground. She couldn't get a proper look at her saviour, with the sweat in her eyes and the leaves in her way, but her voice was still desperate.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Christina Rose | 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Grounds| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Apr 5th, morning| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 353| 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: simple black braid, plain dark-blue T-shirt

5 April, 2025 | Interacting with @Amelia Garnett| Outfit:

Reducio

After establishing that the mysterious girl in fact did need help, Christina quickly thought of her options. She may have spoken before thinking it through, as she often does, because how would she ever get the girl down? Christina didn't know any spell that could help her out, nor did she have a broom on hand. This meant there was only one option left: climb in the tree herself.

In her enthusiasm, Christina couldn't imagine this going wrong, so she shouted: "Hold up, I'm coming!", before quickly trying to climb the tree herself. She had seen the broken branch laying on the ground but didn't think much of it. Christina climbed from branch to branch, before finally making it just below the other girl. It was harder than she thought, climbing this tree. She had done this before as a younger child, being an adventurous girl, but her slightly taller body wasn't used to it. Luckily, no other branches joined the one that was laying on the ground, and the climb went relatively well. When she finally made it to the mysterious girl, Christina put out her arm while saying "Hold on to my arm! I can hold you while you climb onto that branch!". With her head she nudged to a branch that should be reachable, thinking the girl could swing on her arm like a vine.

Christina truly hoped that this would work, and that they wouldn't both fall down. What if she broke her legs, all to save this mysterious girl? Her body started shaking a little at the thought, copying the leaves surrounding them which were also shaking in the wind. "Try to be quick once you have my arm", she supplied with a trembling voice, not daring to overestimate her strength. In her head, she prayed this would work out like she wanted it to, and she wouldn't be stuck in the hospital wing or sport an injury for the rest of spring.

The mysterious girl started climbing as well, until she was on the branch right under Amelia. That was the branch she was supposed to move onto, if not for the fallen one... Could she really hold onto that hand and get down, though? It seemed too risky. And even if she assumed the girl could hold her weight with one hand while balancing herself, how would she get down with that?

Amelia looked down at the girl below her. After a few seconds of hesitation, Amelia realized fear was evident in both of their eyes. She had to be the confident one now, then. Amelia took a deep breath as she tried to think of what to do. Simply moving from one branch to another wouldn't help her much; she needed to move to the specific branch the girl was on if she wanted to get down safely.

"Alright, I got this," she murmured to herself, calculating. If the girl interlocked her fingers and made a ladder for Amelia, maybe she could put one leg on the girl's hand, and then...

"I don't think this is going to work," Amelia said loudly, referring to the girl's raised hand, hoping the girl could hear her through the wind and the rustle of the leaves. "Do you reckon you could make a hand ladder? Then you'd support me, and I'd get down to your branch?" She wasn't sure the girl would like the idea. Amelia herself certainly wouldn't like to have someone step on her fingers...

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Christina Rose| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Grounds| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Apr 5th, morning| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 254 | 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: simple black braid, plain dark-blue T-shirt

5 April, 2025 | Interacting with @Amelia Garnett| Outfit:

Reducio

Even though it was a little windy, Christina managed to hear the girl speak loudly. After some second thoughts, she had to agree with her. Even though she had some strength in her upper body, holding an entire person while trying not to fall herself would be quite the task. Perhaps she overestimated her own strength. However, the other idea wasn't great either. She didn't want to hurt her fingers after all.

Christina did some quick brainstorming, hoping to come up with a better idea. She didn't want to wait too long however, since it was a little windy and other branches could snap at any time. She didn't have much experience climbing trees after all, so she had no idea what would be the determining factor. Worst case scenario, they would both fall before she had gotten one step further in getting the other girl down the tree.

After a while, Christina realised she didn't have any other ideas, so she decided to go along with the other idea. "Alright, hold up!", she shouted. 'Alright Christina, you can do this..', she thought, adrenaline kicking in. With that thought, she interlaced her fingers, and held up her hands, waiting for the girl to use it to get onto her branch, before hopefully getting to the ground safely. "I'm ready!"

The wind rushed through Amelia's braid, messing it up as she watched the girl in front of her considering her suggestion. Amelia crossed her fingers, hoping the branches wouldn't snap in the meantime. Oh, it'd be so embarrassing if she fell on this girl!

Amelia was shaken back into reality by the blonde girl's voice, calling her. Amelia settled immediately, positioning her body in a way that would allow her to step down. Then, praying nothing would go wrong, she put her right leg on the other girl's interlaced fingers. Amelia waited a brief moment, making sure she was stable, exhaled gratefully, then held onto the branch she was sitting on with all her might.

Okay. One leg down, another one to go. Amelia had no idea whether she'd done this quickly or slowly— she was so focused on moving her legs safely to sit beside the girl, that it felt as if time had slowed down.

Amelia attempted to distribute as much of her weight between the tree and herself, so the girl below her wouldn't drop her or get hurt, as she kept moving down towards her destination: the other girl and the branch she was on. Then, as she reached it, at last, Amelia looked up from the branch to meet the eyes of her saviour.

Panting, she said, "Thanks, I was so stressed! I had no idea what to do." Amelia smiled, trying to breathe regularly again. Her heart was thumping, and the adrenaline was rushing in her veins. If she'd managed to do this, what else could she do? Amelia felt as if any physical barrier she'd had before was broken now, the adrenaline driving her to do more crazy things. But first, who was that girl?

"We did well, didn't we? I'm Amelia," Amelia gave another smile, a proud one this time. "And, you are?"

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Christina Rose| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Grounds| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Apr 5th, morning| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 311 | 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: simple black braid, plain dark-blue T-shirt

5 April, 2025 | Interacting with @Amelia Garnett| Outfit:

Reducio

While Christina was looking up at the girl, holding up her hands, she saw the other girl position her body so that she could get down. It felt like time had slowed down, every second feeling like at least a minute, before she finally felt the girl gently putting her leg on her hands.

Once the girl seemed to stabilise herself, time seemed to go much faster. Before Christina could count to 10, the other girl sat beside her on the branch. This was the first time Christina was able to get a good look at the girl. Her hair was in a braid which looked a little messy, possibly from the wind, and she was wearing a dark blue T-shirt. Christina looked into her grey -- no wait, green, eyes, and tried to guess how the other girl was feeling. She seemed okay, somewhat excited even. Although that could just be the adrenaline talking.

Christina herself was glad the girl made it out okay. She felt safe, being sure that they would be able to climb down from here, and she actually felt quite excited herself. How often is it that you save a random girl from being stuck on a tree? Christina loved adventure, and this was one of them. Overcome with the feeling of pride and accomplishment, she barely picked up the fact that the other girl was speaking to her.

"..didn't we? I'm Amelia, and you are?". Christina didn't exactly hear the first part of her sentence, but she responded eagerly, carefully holding her hand out for the other girl, who she now learned was called Amelia, to shake. "Hi, I'm Christina!". She had so many questions for Amelia, but she mostly held herself back, not wanting to seem like she was 'too much'. However, two quick questions slipped out.

"How did you get stuck here? What were you even doing in a tree this early?". After giving the other girl time to respond, she subtely glanced down, before finally asking: "Let's go down, shall we?".

The girl was quick to answer, and soon Amelia was repeating the name 'Christina' in her mind, memorizing it. She still listened to what the girl— Christina— asked next, though, not wanting to miss it by accident.

"That wasn't my fault at all! A branch just snapped when I tried to get back down," Amelia said quickly, making sure to clarify; she couldn't let Christina think she, Amelia, wasn't skilled enough!

Amelia's cheeks were still flushed from the physical activity, but the colour started to fade as she explained, "I just kinda missed climbing, y'know? I used to do this a lot as a kid, and it's been a while," Amelia took a breath, then continued, "And I just had to try, I mean, I couldn't just let this chance pass, could I?" Amelia was still panting, but at least the wind was cooling her down now and drying the sweat.

"You see, there used to be a tree right outside my window, so I really love tree climbing," Amelia could still feel the energy flowing— she couldn't just stay seated right now, she had to keep on moving, talking, something, anything!

Wiping sweat off her forehead, she listened to Christina's suggestion. "Yeah, let's go down!"

Looking carefully underneath, it was clear they could simply jump from here; they weren't too high up. "On the count of three!" Amelia called loudly. "One... Two... Three! See ya down there!" Amelia jumped, landing on the soft grass in a mess of limbs, then straightened. "That was fun, wasn't it?" she smiled cheekily, and then added shamelessly, "By the way, did I interrupt you, when you helped me? What were you doing?"

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Christina Rose| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Grounds| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Apr 5th, morning| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 279 | 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: simple black braid, plain dark-blue T-shirt

5 April, 2025 | Interacting with @Amelia Garnett| Outfit:

Reducio

Christina was surprised to hear that Amelia loves tree climbing so much. While she herself also felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins, she wouldn't say she loves it. She may have forgotten her fear of height in the excitement of saving an -- earlier -- unknown girl, but she had been shaking slightly throughout the whole climb. "I get it, this honestly looks like a great tree for people who love climbing", Christina responded to Amelia's story, not wanting to show her own nervousness.

After this little conversation, Amelia took the initiative to jump down. Christina saw her landing in the grass below, seemingly unharmed. Even though she wanted to slowly climb down, jumping honestly seemed quite fun. She did get a little nauseous though, looking down. Perhaps Amelia miscalculated the jump. Finally, after some careful deliberating, Christina jumped down, screaming a little in the process.

When she felt the soft grass underneath her feet, she knew she made it down. Thanks to the cat like grace she acquired from being a bit of a naughty child, she actually fell down quite gracefully. "Yeah, that was fun!", Christina responded -- and perhaps bluffed -- when Amelia spoke up again. "Oh, don't worry! You weren't interrupting" , she quickly added. "I was just going on my morning run when I saw you in the tree!".

The newly acquired adrenaline-like high made Christina really want to continue on her run. Perhaps it would be nice to ask Amelia if she wanted to join, have a running partner.. but what if she didn't want to? Christina decided to just ask Amelia along: after all, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. "Hey actually, would you like to join me? I, for sure, have some energy left! What about you?

Amelia looked up, squinting in the face of the sun as she waited for Christina. What was taking her so long? Did she not know how to jump? Whatever, it gave Amelia a second to catch her breath and gather her thoughts about the blonde. Brushing dirt off her hands, Amelia decided she liked the girl. She seemed nice, and was helpful.

There was a whoosh of air, and then Christina was back on the ground. As they chatted, Christina said she liked tree climbing, too. A grin spread on Amelia's face, satisfied with the outcome of the morning. She managed to climb a tree today and make a friend who liked doing it too! Sure, it was a little hot and she definitely needed a shower, but the young climber was too full of energy to care, shifting from foot to foot restlessly.

"Oh, that's great," Amelia said quietly, relieved to know she hadn't disturbed her saviour. As Christina said she liked running, Amelia had to admit to herself she wasn't particularly good at that; out loud, though, she just grinned and said: "Damn, you can run, climb trees, and save people stuck in them? Impressive!"

In truth, Amelia was more impressed than she let on. She always had a hard time directing her energy towards specific things such as running. Just like how she was struggling now, still moving non-stop since she dropped from the tree, moving her arms around— crossing them, dropping them to her sides, or playing with her shirt's hem.

"You know what? Yeah, let's go!" Amelia smiled brightly at Christina's suggestion. Even if she was just being polite, maybe she could also learn how to channel her energy. "Where we running to, boss?" Amelia asked, teasing. Her excitement was building up again, although already high from the adventurous morning.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Christina Rose| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Grounds| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Apr 5th, morning | 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: simple braid, plain dark-blue T-shirt