Depth Charge PV - Astrea N. Closed

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A splash and a cheer rose high as kites,

It seemed surreal, sitting atop the branch in the company of someone who was so foreign to her every second of life, and yet knitted so closely to her at the same time. Curiosity, interest, and that warm floppy feeling in her guts vied for attention all at once, and the longer the Hufflepuff looked into those molten eyes the more they squabbled and rolled. Julie hadn't been a sheltered child, quite the opposite if the truth was told, but everything about her company was new and exciting and though her brain couldn't process it, a little scary. Her heart thudded happily in her chest cavity as they relaxed in the dawning light, thoughts mulling through her brain at the rapid pace that seemed so common on the presence of her new friend. She'd read stories of the rich folk and how they lived so apart from people like her, but unlike most who read those stories and sided immediately with the downtrodden protagonist, Julie had been more interested in the psychology of the supposed antagonist. Of how people could skew their impressions of someone simply because they had lived differently than themselves worked both ways, in the favor and against those born to affluence. Everyone had a side, a story all their own with their own antagonists and trials and tribulations that cultivated them into the being they were to strangers, and forgoing the chance of understanding them left you with only half the book. The Shaw preferred the complete story.

"Indeed it is."

As she remarked upon the beauty of the sky, her awe both inspired and encouraged by the dazzling flash of moonlight at her side, she heard the heavily accented hum of her company, and eyed her companion through her periphery. The time she'd spent with the young girl had given her enough insight into her speech patterns to recognize what she could only hope was fondness leaking into those three words. Color rising again in her cheeks as she caught the silver glimmer of those eyes resting back on the Shaw herself, the smile on her lips curling even more as her eyes turned to lock with Astrea's. Their conversation resumed, and the Hufflepuff couldn't help but smile as the moonshine beside her received her compliments gracefully, giving the larger girl a pleasant tingle that rolled over her shoulder blades. As the raven-haired girl inspected her trainers, Julie's neck flushed with deep pride and pleasure at Astrea's approval of the design patterned in at the bottom. Back where she was from, Julie was used to people assuming only boys liked dinosaur patterned things, but how could you not love vicious toothy ancients pulled from rocks and amber? As she put her foot down to re-balance herself, a new thought entered her mind and distracted her from the practiced poise she'd been mindlessly accomplishing during the entire interaction.

She liked Astrea, a concept that until today seemed muddy and confusing through the litany of books she'd read through in her time, and her face flushed bright red as the realization toppled her off the branch. Arms flailed again to snap onto the branch as her weight kilted off to the side, her legs wrapping around it as she just barely halted herself from toppling straight into the freezing water below. Her position was perfectly parallel to that of the water, and she looked embarassedly to Astrea with a keenly apologetic expression on her face, making sure the other girl didn't also wobble off in the frantic mess that was Julie Shaw. She giggled brightly, hooking herself back upright and situating herself until she was absolutely certain she was completely stable before looking up at Astrea's eyes. She wanted to know more about the other girl, everything really, and she couldn't do that if she raced up to the hospital wing covered in freezing water. It seemed to the Hufflepuff it was out of this sheer feeling that she'd even managed to stay upright at all. "Thank ye, I like em most when they keep me grounded! Though sometimes they go fer ground tha's underwater." She joked easily, poking fun at her near-miss with the icy depths of the lake with a grin so wide it almost hurt her jaw.

Sudden soberness covered the bright child's face as she thought through all the things she wanted to know of the other girl, though the smile remained faceted in spite of itself because it just felt good to be in her company. "Wha's yer favorite thing ta do fer fun?" She hummed pleasantly, trying to quell the litany of questions that sprang through her mind, the most difficult of all the questions being do you want to be friends? She figured it would be sort of soon to just fall into someone's life and assume that friendship was a guarantee, though for the Hufflepuff that was exactly the case. Whether the other girl genuinely enjoyed her presence or was just being polite, she'd earned herself a dedicated friend no matter which was the reality. After all, the Shaw didn't necessarily need the friendship to be mutual to want to support and be there for someone who may need her, though it would absolutely be nice. Her attention remained fixed on the other girl, her gaze soft and bright, and that same smile plastered across her face. Though her hands remained firmly fixed on the width of the branch for stability. She did not want to fall into the drink, or worse yet, bring the poor girl down with her.

One puckered arm tossin' that Quaffle straight through.
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Reducio

Julie's soles look like the side of this shoe, though its hard to tell detail due to wear

“If wishes were horses,
beggars would ride.

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Astrea's chest felt warm as she glanced at Julie seated next to her, a warmth that made the rosy sky and firey sun pale in comparison, that made the scenery lit in yellow seem all the more vivid as long as the Slytherin was in the vicinity of the other. Her heart beat a little more jovially and the curious urge to learn more, more, more of this kid and what in the world drove her to have such a beautiful aura.

Such purity drove deep into the SunStroke's heart. A great part of Astrea wanted to tuck this girl under her metaphorical wing and protect Julie from all that could taint the white mind grey. She was getting soft, already feeling this sense of protectiveness over the sun child. As if a friend- The more Astrea thought of it, the more she wanted Julie as a friend. She hadn't even gained a "friend" outside of family ties, even supposed colleagues from other countries and heritages were always children of family partners that had once been laid out with their consent for her to choose from for a spouse. Yes. She would like it if Julie became her friend. If Julie was willing to, of course. Even so, the Neptune heir would consider the Star a companion internally.

Astrea could see Julie's brilliant cerulean eyes upon her form from the corner of her eye, and the heir amused herself by deliberately locking eyes, the corners of her mouth pulling up in a shadow of a mischievous smirk. As she admired the Sunchild's interestingly patterned shoes, she snuck a peek up just in time to see Julie's neck and face creep up with a nice pink that made Astrea's mind feel pleasantly soothed. She did that. Astrea made Julie feel nice. It made her feel floaty with pride, a light euphoric taste of her companion's minded interests. Her mouth curled up into a wholly innocent near-grin, perse grey eyes sparkling with accomplishment and showcasing just how childishly proud she was. A foolish move, but Astrea couldn't have cared less at that moment. She made someone enjoy her presence. She made Julie just a bit happier. The ebony-haired girl could notice the other's frame teeter slightly upon the branch before rebalancing itself. Then suddenly the calm posture the other held was broken and Julie was reeling back and Astrea was about to lurch forward with the full intent in mind to caTCH HER-

Yet the terrible presence of dread was never answered with both the SunStroke and Astrea being dipped headfirst into depth-blackened chilly waters and the elaborate scenario her mind had conjured within that split-second was not fulfilled. Instead, her vision was filled with Julie, satisfyingly dry and suspending herself backboard straight directly above the water, apologetically sheepish face completely flushed a bright cherry red for some reason unfathomable to Astrea's still racing mind. Within the short period in which Julie whipped herself back up with a bright giggle, Astrea had regulated herself to the point of near cool and elegant indifference, though it was clear how alarmed she had been from her previously wide eyes. How her breath was quickly coming back from unsteady bursts of energy to steady in and out, in and out. From how her right hand was very prominently- and firmly- planted upon the thick wooden branch the duo were seated upon.

"Thank ye, I like em most when they keep me grounded! Though sometimes they go fer ground tha's underwater."

Julie joked merrily with an easy giggle, surprisingly not as affected from her near-hit as Astrea portrayed. “Quite troublesome shoes, they are. Are you sure we would not to stick them upon some surfaces to guarantee their grounding?”

Astrea quipped back, her smile splitting larger once more and showing off a sliver of brilliantly white teeth. The Neptune heir would be a fool to miss how Julie’s eyes subdued slightly, brilliant blue dimming ever so slightly with unknown prompt even as the SunStroke’s brilliant smile still remained. The Slytherin found herself at a loss, eyes flickering darkly for a split-second, inwardly frowning because look at what she did. She didn’t know what she did exactly, but she did something. "Wha's yer favourite thing ta do fer fun?" To this question, Astrea had to think. Embarrassingly, she had to think about it seriously, had to draw her vision down and away from the Scot to ponder over this for a second. What she enjoyed? Ah well, that was straightforward enough, she had been asked that question by partnered adults for as long as she known, adults that she knew didn’t really care about her answer in the slightest and were trying to pry her upbringing and find any chinks in her walls. She liked to dance- Ah, but did she? When she thought of dancing, she thought of endless ballroom dance lessons, of practices with contemporary ballet music playing in the background that she had to time perfectly on every time because these were the easiest practices her instructor had eve are given considering her age and Astrea should have gotten them. She liked to play chess- except it was only fun when she was first learning because even though she never win a single game against her father, still couldn’t, she was in his study and sitting in a chair in his study across from him actually interacting with him as he explained in an even voice which piece was which. As she thought over the matters of “buts” and exceptions more and more, she was all-too-aware of the seconds slowly ticking by, her the tips of her ears and cheeks turning a pretty cotton candy blush in her embarrassment. “Er-“ Astrea broke the polite silence with a cough, eyes brushing even further toward the view of the lake the opposite way of where Julie so the SunStroke couldn’t see the full extent of her pitiful existence. “I like to ice skate. I have a few pairs of skates at the family residences. I like to ride horses too, my favorite horse I own is named Socrates. I don’t really have a favourite thing. I usually don't do many significant, reoccurring activities.” As she spoke, Astrea was distantly aware of how choppy her sentences were with awkwardness and how sad her last two sentences were. Even if you were to observe even her statements about ice skating and horse riding- which were both things she genuinely enjoyed doing- held a hint of wistfulness to it. After all, she never gained the same kind of contentedness riding or skating alone, only with her French companions. And even then, she either saw them little or all the time, never an in between. “Ah, but no matter about me. What about you? What do you enjoy?” Astrea changed the topic well, if not for the abrupt jarring aspect of the segway. She turned back to face Julie once more, forcibly pushing down her own thoughts in favor of the other.

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“If turnips were watches,
I would have one by my side.