A Morning Walk and Talk PV Crescent Closed

Cress needed some fresh air so she grabbed her book and continued through hallways and down corridors until she got outside. Looking for a quiet place to sit, she noticed the number of students outside. "Hmm," she thought, "could I fit under that bush there? Probably not the most comfortable place, but it'd keep me out of sight from everyone."

She squeezed under the bush and realized there was actually a lot more space under here than it first appeared. Opening her book, she found herself lost in the story until she heard footsteps approaching. Moving to get in a more comfortable position, Cress looked out of her bush to see who it was. Through the leaves, she saw a girl approach... and then stop.

For some reason, the girl was taking particular interest in her bush. Cress really didn't feel like being discovered hiding away in a bush but when the girl pushed her hand into the bush and poked around, Cress shoved herself farther to the right, avoiding capture.

Then the girl stuck her head in the bush and Cress jumped up startled revealing her hiding space and knocking heads with the girl who fell to the ground. Panicking and with an aching head, Cress leaped out of the bush. "Are you alright? Oh dear, I'm sorry!" she yelled.

Piper stared at her blankly for half a second, before bursting into laughter. She really couldn’t help herself. “I’m sorry,” she said, containing her giggle. “I just heard a noise and couldn’t contain my curiosity.”

She got up, rubbing her head. “No need to panic,” she said, smiling. “It’s really no big deal. My fault really. I should’ve minded by one business.” she offered a hand.

“I was going on a walk,” she explained. “What were you doing out here?” she asked the girl, smiling. She seemed really nice.

“Hey have we met before?” she asked. Piper had seen the girl before. She didn’t know where, she had an awful memory. Maybe she’d come upon her in the hall. No, they had talked more than that. Met in the hall, and talked for a second? Why would you do that? She frowned.

Curse my bad memory, she thought to herself. It failed her again. First forgetting the answers to your potions homework, now forgetting if you’ve met a person or not. Imagine if that happened when you were about to be kidnapped and you had to tell of this person was really a family friend? She shook the thought out of her head and smiled back at the girl, waiting for her to answer her question.

Word count: 216 words

@Piper Hargrove
Cress smiled. Luckily, the girl seemed fine. Cress wondered how much of a weirdo she was looking like right now, who hides in a bush to read? She took the girl's hand and pulled herself onto the grass, away from the bush.

"I was just reading, a bit too noisy in the common room for me right now. Apparently classes are starting to stress some of us out now that the school year is coming to an end," Cress added. Silence followed for a second before the girl continued talking and asked if they'd met before.

Now that Cress thought about it, the girl did look familiar. "I think we have, I just have to remember where." They both stood in silence trying to recall when Cress said, "Oh right! We were in the same group decorating cookies in the Great Hall a few days ago. By the way, yours were amazing!"

Cress remembered doing that a few days back and how delicious they had looked. She had made popsicle decorated cookies and donut decorated cookies which turned out rather splendid. She wondered what they'd done with them all. Great, now she was hungry for baked goods. "Were you ever able to eat any of the cookies after we'd finished?" She added curiously.

Piper smiled. Good thing the girl wasn't mad. She pulled her up, and nodded as she explained that it was much too noisy in the common room.

"Classes are kind of getting stressful," she said, scratching her head. "The stress of exams is starting to catch on, and not all of the school is taking it so great," she chuckled.

When the girl realized they had been in the same pastry decorating group, she smiled. "Oh yes! I remember! Silly me. Bad memory, you know," she said, smiling. "I never got to eat them. I headed straight back to the common room for a rest. I guess I was really really tired. Your cookies were amazing, by the way. Really realistic. How about you? Did you get any chances to eat them?" she asked. Were they allowed to? Aw darn. She had missed her chance.

"Anyway," she said, still frowning at the thought of missing her cookies. "If your not busy, would you like to walk with me? It's a bit lonely." Piper didn't really like alone time. She was a Hufflepuff after all. Not to mention an extrovert as well. She couldn't go for one minute without talking to somebody.

Word count: 201 words

@Piper Hargrove
"Oh, no, I didn't get to eat any. Wish I could have though, they looked delicious! A bit weird to admit, but I'd eat cookies for breakfast any day of the week!" She laughed. Cress watched someone's cat scamper through the grass. She got another burst of energy like she needed to run a few miles before she could tire herself out.

Luckily, Piper asked if she wanted to walk with her for a bit. "Sure!" Cress agreed enthusiastically. "I could use the company too. It does get a bit lonely around here without someone to hang out with." They began to walk across the grounds, watching students and seeing what everyone else was doing today.

Cress wondered where Piper had come from before attending Hogwarts. Was she pure-blood, half-blood, muggle-born? She hadn't caught her last name so she couldn't really tell. "By the way," she began, thinking this would be a good conversation starter, "are you muggle-born?" She thought this sounded a little blunt so quickly added before Piper had time to respond, "I'm just asking because I am and was wondering how common muggle-borns are around here," she smiled.

She knew it was a pretty cringeworthy conversation starter but was genuinely curious. Avoiding falling over a tree branch, they continued their stroll as the ground got steeper. She could see the Whomping Willow in the distance.

Word count: 228 words

Piper frowned when Cress told her she didn't get to eat the cookies, but her smile quickly turned when she said she would eat cookies for breakfast. She couldn't help but laugh along. "That's too bad. But at least we got to decorate!" she said. She always liked to see the bright side of things.

Luckily, Cress agreed to walk with Piper. "Great!" she said, clapping her hand together. "This'll be so fun!" happily, she walked, but it evolved more into a skip, down the path.

Halfway along the path, Cress asked if she was muggle-born, and stated that she was one herself. "You are? That's great, I'm a muggle-born as well. I don't think they're that common though. Not as common as pure-bloods and half-bloods. If you have wizard blood, you have a higher chance of becoming a wizard. I don't a drop of wizard blood in my family, so I don't know how I got here," she chuckled. "Most muggle-borns have at least one wizard ancestor. I can't recall any, though." She frowned, but smiled back so she didn't seem upset.

The continued to walk, comic upon a steep trail. Piper even had to hop over a log or two. They weren't in the courtyard anymore, that was for sure. But they at least were still on castle grounds. In the distance, the Whomping Willow shone in the bright sunrise.

"The willow's amazing, isn't it? It really catches your eye. There's a willow in the Plant Palace, but I've never seen one as big as this," she said, astonishment clearly in her voice.

Word count: 265 words

@Piper Hargrove
Piper seemed really sweet and energetic. She listened intently as Piper told her about being a muggle-born and how she didn't have any magical blood in her family line. "That's pretty cool actually. I haven't met any muggle-borns that I know of. I also haven't asked anyone though so it could be more that than anything else. My uncle was a wizard but no one else in my family is. He passed away a few years ago, so I didn't know him too much, but my family talked about him every now and then. I should write home and ask them where he went to school."

A thought came to her. "Wouldn't it be cool if he also went to Hogwarts?" The thought kind of shocked her, Cress hadn't considered it before. "Anyway, that's the only family member I can think of."

When they both saw the Whomping Willow, Piper mentioned there being a willow in Plant Palace but since Cress was in Colorful Quarters, she hadn't seen it. "That's cool, I'm in Colorful Quarters, so I haven't actually seen it," she mentioned. "I heard there's a passage, or used to be a passage, that leads to the Shrieking Shack that can be accessed through the tree. I wonder how we'd access it though. I don't have the kind of courage to walk up to that tree!" She laughed.

"Anyway, since you're muggle-born, do you have any experience with computers? I used to love playing with them before I left, I kind of wish Hogwarts had them. It's cool if not though, what do you like doing for fun?" She added.

Word count: 272 words

Cress explained that her uncle was a wizard, and when she said it that way, even Piper wanted to discover what school he went to.

"It would be super cool if he went to Hogwarts. You would following in his footsteps. If your family is from around here, he most probably did. Hogwarts has been here since, well, like, forever. But you should write home to make sure," she said, nodding.

Then, Cress explained her dorm was in the Colorful Quarters, and talked about the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack. "I've heard about it. Rumors spiral in the Hufflepuff Common Room," she giggled. "I'm pretty sure you can calm it, with a spell. Or a potion. Maybe just talking to it. It is alive after all. I also heard it lets animals through. If you were ananimagus, it would probably let you through," she said, offering her ideas. She wanted to get through the Whomping Willow too. Though there was probably only an old, dusty shack on the other side, she assumed beating that thing would give you a feeling of pride.

As they moved on, Cress asked about her interests. "I used to love computers and technology. I played online games like, all the time. My sister always hogged the technology in the house though, so I have like, 5 good memories of spending time on technology. It is sad that Hogwarts doesn't have any. Its a really old school. It was around before technology, so, I don't think they had time to install any. Besides, we have magic, so why would we need technology? I also read, write, do art, a lot of that stuff for fun. It interests me. If not, I'm studying. I don't really do anything other than that," she said, making a mental list of interests in her mind.

Word count: 306 words

@Piper Hargrove

Cress nodded. It would be cool if her uncle had gone to Hogwarts as well. What if he was sorted into Hufflepuff house? No, she hadn't known him, but still, it'd be nice to know she wasn't the only oddity in the family. "I guess being the only wizard or witch in your family might feel the same way as being the only squib in a magical family. Though maybe the emotions would be different, the person still has to adapt to different worlds," she added.

"Ohh, I'll have to look into that," Cress said when Piper mentioned the possibility of being able to calm the Whomping Willow. As they got close to the tree, Piper mentioned her own interests.

"Yeah, computer games are fun I guess, I never really played them though because my mom wouldn't let me. My cousins and I would play by the ocean a lot because we lived in a neighborhood near the water. I spent a good amount of time on the computer though, mostly learning to code. See, that's what I wanted to do before coming to Hogwarts. If all else failed, be a programmer," she giggled. "I also like knitting, graphic design, a lot of running and swimming, and whatever else I pick up along the way. I guess I'm interested in so much I can't really pinpoint an exact list," she laughed. "But I guess we're all like that."

They had finally reached the Whomping Willow and Cress looked up at it. She wasn't much of a daredevil at all, but she was genuinely curious and the tree didn't look all that frightening at the moment. "Do you think I should get closer to it? See if I can touch it?" She asked for Piper's opinion on the matter, grinning the whole time.