Closed Thunderous Approach

@Kyra Banuelos

Thunder. Lemon had never really been afraid of it. They loved the way it would thrash about, going from a loud booming to a subtle rumble as a storm died down. Lemon had never been like other kids, who would be terrified of the loud bangs and flashes of light streaked across the grey sky. Storms were somehow comforting to Lemon, it made them feel safe as she would look out their bedroom window at home, wrapped up in a blanket and watching the clouds dance.

Lemon was, like they often were when they weren't in class or in their dormitory, sitting in a corner of the library, huddled up and reading the book that her mother had just sent to her at breakfast that morning. They felt content, and smiled to themself as the thunder rumbled in the sky.

Putting down her book, Em turned to look out the window that was just behind them. Little droplets of water were running down the glass, and Lemon put her finger up against the glass and traced the path that one of the drops had taken. Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the sky and hit one of the trees in the forbidden forest, accompanied immediately afterwards by a loud crash. The sound made Lemon's entire body feel as though a cold shock had run through it. Smiling, she stood up from the floor beside the window when something caught their eye - no - someone.

There was a girl sitting at a table a few metres away from where Lemon was standing. They'd never seen this girl before, at least not in any of her classes. She had dark brown hair and caramel coloured eyes. She had two scars across her face, adding to her mysterious appearance. She was sitting, reading a book filled with drawings of large and dangerous plants. Without knowing what she was doing, Lemon found themself moving slowly towards the girl.

Word count: 327

Kyra continued to scan through the pages of the Herbology book with ease, trying to find one specific plant that may have been involved in the death of her parents. Their time in the library was the best time to research and hopefully find out how and why both parents were targeted. Finding out who would be the final answer and one that would not soon come for the young girl.

After Kyra Banuelos flipped the page and started to read about the Mandrakes and their deathly screams, the sound of thunder rumbled the castle once more. This time Kyra was unphased by the sound because of just how focused she was on the book in hand. Kyra had no idea that she was not alone, which was normal within the library, but the young girl tried their best to make sure she was as far away from everyone as possible.

That was not the case, though. There happened to be another student, sitting by a window, glancing out at the storm every so often. Kyra loved storms, but she did not like the unexpected thunder that would cause her to jump nearly every time it happened. Either way, the young girl wasn’t prepared for conversation because of how deep into the book she was.

As Lemon rose and began to walk towards Kyra, she noticed the girl coming from the corner of her eye, so she quickly shut the book, and began to smile warmly, glancing at Lemon as she approached. A flash of light appeared, then BOOM! The thunder sounded once more, rumbling the very floors of the library. The Slytherin girl flinched and instantly felt embarrassed from the fright she showed. ”Dear, Merlin! Every. Single. Time.” She muttered, looking up at Lemon from the chair Kyra was currently sitting in.

Kyra was embarrassed, to say the least, and she couldn't help but smile at the girl who approached her. ”I'm sorry, the name is Kyra Banuelos.” She introduced herself officially, hoping that Lemon would do the same because Kyra wasn't very good with remembering faces.

@Kyra Banuelos

As Lemon moved closer to the girl, she spotted them out of the corner of her eye and shut her book and smiled at Lemon as they continued to wander nearer and nearer to where she sat. Just then, another flash followed closely by the sweet crash of thunder caused the girl who had just noticed Lemon’s slow advances to flinch. Visibly ashamed at her fright, the girl spoke under her breath. “Dear, Merlin! Every. Single. Time.”

Her gaze drifted to focus upon Lemon’s face and she smiled as she began to speak again, this time with a clearer and more relaxed tone. “I’m sorry, the name is Kyra Banuelos,” she said. Lemon stuttered, something they’d never been known to do before this moment. “Lemon. My name, I mean. Lemon Goldfinch,” they replied. It was so odd, Lemon had always been a very good talker, even if others didn’t want to listen. Trying to brush off this moment of panic, they made another attempt to regain their usual confidence. “I always say this, but I know it’s a strange name. But I’m just a strange person, I guess.” Were they being to open? What if this was too much, what if it put Kyra off? “I’m guessing you don’t like thunder,” they said, sitting down on the floor beside Kyra. Another example of Lemon’s oddness, no matter how comfortable the chair or sofa they would settle in at first, they would always find themself migrating to sit on the floor instead.

Lemon made to stand up suddenly at realising that they’d just intruded without invitation. Despite so many strict reminders and telling offs from teachers and adults throughout their life, Lemon had never learnt these social skills that came to others so easily. “Sorry,” Lemon looked almost guilty now, “I’ve just intruded, haven’t I?”

Word count: 308

Kyra continued to smile warmly at the student who approached. She may have been a little busy at the moment, but the young girl was always open to meeting new people, especially those who were not in the same house as her. The fact that Kyra had a rough upbringing made it hard for her to trust anyone, but recently, the young Slytherin broke out of their shell and started to make some friends, which would hopefully be the start of a much brighter version of Kyra than before.

When Lemon Goldfinch officially introduced themselves, Kyra smiled brightly, showing their pearly white teeth in the process. Before Kyra could respond to the young student, Lemon began to go on about how their name is weird along with themself. This was not exactly how Kyra felt because she thought the name was unique and very cute! The thunder, though? Not so much! ”I adore the name! It is so different and super cute! When it comes to storms, I do love everything about them. On the other hand, I am not much for being startled while reading. ” She admitted to Lemon, looking down at her since the student decided to sit on the floor instead of a chair, which was totally fine by Kyra.

For a second, Kyra thought that what she said may have pushed Lemon away, thinking that she may have thought Kyra wasn’t very happy about being bothered. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Kyra was looking for something she may never find, and a break was starting to sound good regardless. ”You are fine, I promise. My eyes were starting to hurt from reading so much, anyway. What brings you into the Library? Dumb question, I know.” Kyra pushed the chair back and grabbed the book from the table before finding a spot on the floor next to Lemon. ”This is a book on dangerous plants. You can glance through it if you’d like!” Kyra was trying to find ways to keep the conversation going, even if it meant sharing information with a stranger.