Happy Birthday To Me Open Closed

Elodie had decided to head down to the grounds as soon as the last period had finished. She still had an excruciatingly complicated piece of Transfiguration homework to finish, but had found that she couldn't stand staying inside any longer. The Hufflepuff common room was cosy, but quickly overheated. Outside was much more preferable - the sun was out, but a cool breeze gently carried any excess heat away. The sky was very blue; there was not a cloud in it. The castle was silhouetted against it in a dark grey line, seemingly far away, and there was the noise of chattering students as they wandered around the grounds, talking with friends. Loneliness washed over Elodie suddenly, but she pushed her blues away and continued down.

Making her way down to the Grounds, Elodie paused. She had reached the courtyard, a cobbled square with patches of grass surrounding it, and tall, bat-like statues that would seem looming and chilling in the dark, but appeared harmless and still in the bright, late afternoon sunlight. The courtyard suddenly became a much more appealing place than the grounds further down, and Elodie decided that she'd rather relax here instead. Clutching her book - a battered copy of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling - she crossed the cobbled square and sat herself down on a patch of grass. A tree growing beside Elodie shaded her from the worst of the heat, and Elodie smiled, happy, content, and at peace.

Elodie opened her book to the page she had folded, and fell into its story, letting the poetic words wash over her, soft and calming. Alas, she hadn't read half a page before she was interrupted. A fly, loud and black, flew next to Elodie's ear. She waved it away with a hand, not loosing her concentration. A second time, the fly flew close to Elodie's ear, and she waved it away once more. The third time the fly returned, Elodie rose with a huff, annoyed she had been interrupted. Turning around, she searched for another place to sit - a place where no flies would bother her.

As she did, Elodie noticed a girl, sitting down on the grass, by herself. An opened box sat beside her, along with letters and a box of cupcakes. Despite the cheery arrangement around her, the girl seemed rather downcast. Curious, Elodie walked slowly over to the girl, hoping she wouldn't frighten her.

"Hi," Elodie said, her Manchester accent prominent, and her tone shy. "I don't wanna seem rude, but... are you a'right?"

Hope it's okay if I join in @Serena Bowen

Serena looked around the courtyard as she continued to eat her cupcake. She noticed some students milling about, laughing, and enjoying the nice day together. The sight only made her loneliness even worse. The first-year sighed, wishing that she had something like that.

Maybe there was something wrong with her? But what? Serena always tried to be friendly and treat everyone with kindness, but perhaps she came off too strong? Or maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough? Serena shook her head. This was supposed to be a happy day, so why was she making herself feel so down?

Serena was then pulled out of her thoughts by a girl’s voice, asking if she was alright. Serena quickly looked over where the sound came from and saw a girl who appeared around her age with dark brown curly hair. Serena thought that she might have seen her around the Hufflepuff Common Room but couldn’t be sure.

“Oh, I-I’m fine, thanks for asking…” Serena quickly stuttered out. It was very clearly a lie, but there was no need to dump her emotional baggage on a girl who she didn’t know.

Serena then glanced down at the box of her Dad’s cupcakes. Maybe… this girl would like one? Well, it didn’t hurt to ask, did it?

“Hey, um, would you like one of my Dad’s red velvet cupcakes?” She asked, holding up the box for the girl to see.

“Oh, I should probably introduce myself… My name’s Serena. What’s yours?” She quickly added. Maybe she could make a friend after all.

Interacting with:@Elodie Nyangui

The girl stuttered out a reassurance that she was alright, and although Elodie had her doubts with the truthfulness of the statement, she decided not to push it. Instead, she observed the girl carefully. Up close, she could now see the girl's appearance. Fair skin, with green, tinted blue, eyes and dirty-blonde hair. It was pretty hair, long, with gentle waves. A jolt of recognition shot through Elodie, had she seen the girl before? Elodie racked her brain, but couldn't seem to remember. Still, she was sure that she had seen the girl before.

“Hey, um, would you like one of my Dad’s red velvet cupcakes?”

The girl held up the box for Elodie could see. Inside, there lay dark-red cupcakes, looking delicious and yummy. Elodie's instinct told her to take one, but her shyness told her to refuse the offer politely. She dropped her gaze to the grass, and curled her toes inside of her shoes. Eventually, she summoned the courage to take one.

"Um, yes please - if you don't mind. They look very delicious," Elodie said softly, and reached into the box, lifting a cupcake up and taking a bite. They tasted as good as they tasted, light, fluffy, and sweet. Elodie gave the girl a shy smile. "Thank you."

As Elodie munched on the cupcake, relishing the flavour on her tongue, the girl introduced herself. Serena. At the name, Elodie could have sworn that she had heard it before, but she couldn't quite place it. She guessed that Serena was a fellow Hufflepuff. That would explain Elodie half-remembering her face and name, and she also seemed quite friendly.

"My name's Elodie," she told Serena. Elodie lapsed into silence, but gathered some courage to ask the question that had been on her mind. "Are you a Hufflepuff? I think that I've seen you before, maybe I've seen you in the common room."

@Serena Bowen No problem!

Serena smiled as the girl took one of the cupcakes. “Oh, no problem; sharing is caring, right? At least, that’s what my dad always says…” She awkwardly trailed off.

The girl then introduced herself. Elodie…That was a nice name. “Nice to meet you, Elodie!” She said, always wanting to be polite.

Serena was then about to ask her new companion what House she was in. She wanted to confirm her suspicions that she was a fellow badger, but Elodie beat her to it.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you looked a little familiar… Yes, I’m a Hufflepuff. Are you a first-year too?” She asked. Elodie looked like they were around the same age, but Serena didn’t want to assume.

Serena took another bite of her cupcake. She debated on mentioning that it was her birthday but didn’t quite know how to bring it up into the conversation. Actually, if the first-year thought about it, she didn’t know if she had ever told anyone at Hogwarts when her day of birth was. This wasn’t on purpose or anything. The topic of birthdays had just never come up before. And well, if she was being honest, Serena wasn’t precisely in the mood to talk about it right now anyway. Because then she would have to admit that she was lonely and a bit homesick. And even if they were in the same House, she and Elodie had just met. The brunette likely didn’t want to hear about her problems.

But she figured she should say something. So instead, Serena opted to ask “How’s your day been?” That was a safe way to keep a conversation going, right? Plus, it would deflect the attention off of her, at least for a little bit.

Interacting With:@Elodie Nyangui

"Nice to meet you too." Elodie smiled. The shy, timid behaviour that normally characterised the Hufflepuff's behaviour began to wear off. The process of her warming up to a stranger was normally slow, but Serena's friendly and bubbly attitude was certainly helping the process. Elodie's speech lost some of its cold politeness, which was replaced with a more friendly tone. When Serena confirmed Elodie's suspicions, Elodie replied, relaxed and at ease, not nearly as hesitant or tentative as she had been not a minute ago. "I thought I had seen you around! Yeah, I'm a First Year too."

Serena then paused for a minute, eating her cupcake and seemingly lost in thought. Elodie copied the girl's silence, and instead focused on eating her cupcake also. A few moments passed before Serena spoke again, asking how Elodie's day had been. Elodie paused, chewing thoughtfully as she recalled the day, bringing to mind its events. Veritably, not much had occurred. There had been lessons, assigned homeworks, and that one kid in class who just had to touch her hair (which was half up, half down today). But what else? Nothing much, in all honesty. Elodie's attention instead was drawn to Serena. The girl seemed distracted, as if her thoughts lay elsewhere, and her previously bubbly personality, while still present, had waned somewhat.

"Pretty boring actually. Nothing interesting really happened, just you usual day," Elodie said cautiously, wary of stepping too far into business that was not her own. "But what about you? How has your day been, anything interesting?"

@Serena Bowen

Serena smiled, glad that her assumptions were correct. “Oh cool! I can’t believe that we haven’t run into each other before! I guess it just goes to show how big this school is.” Serena said with a chuckle.

Her mother really wasn’t exaggerating when she said that Hogwarts was massive. In fact, Serena had gotten lost several times in her first few months here. But the first-year seemed to finally be getting the hang of the layout of the old castle. Of course, now it was almost time for the summer holidays, so she hoped that she would retain the information for the next school year.

Serena took another bite out of her cupcake, which was about half-way gone, waiting for Elodie to answer. When she did, Serena gave a small smile and had to fight back a laugh. When the twelve-year-old first started out at Hogwarts, a boring day was the last thing she wanted. But the badger had learned that adventures weren’t all that they were cracked up to be, and Serena now relished the easy, dull days.

“Well, it’s nice to have those sometimes” Serena trailed off.

But then, her plan of deflecting attention back-fired because Elodie asked about her day. She didn’t want to lie and say that today was just another day. So Serena swallowed the bit of cupcake that she had just eaten and said “Well… today’s actually my birthday… That’s why my dad sent these cupcakes over…” She trailed off.

Interacting With: @Elodie Nyangui

Reducio

So sorry for the late response again!

Elodie grinned at Serena's chuckle. The girl was right, too. Hogwarts was a massive place. When Elodie had first arrived at the castle, she had been dumbstruck at the sheer size of the place. It was beautiful, of course, with a sort of ancient beauty. Elodie found it hard to imagine the creation of such a place - and yet she knew that such a place would not be build by human hands.

"That is true," agreed Elodie. It was nice to have a nice day off now and then. In face, the normal-ness of some days - students chatting floating through your window, bangs of spells going off, while Elodie curled up with a thick book - was one of Elodie's favourite things about Hogwarts. At home, there had been constant uncertainty - would her father be home tonight? Had the bills been paid? Would she have enough money to buy some food for lunch? It was nice when she could relax, and forget about any worries. And Hogwarts allowed for that. She could walk down in the morning with breakfast already made, her clothes washed, and just go about her day, not a worry in the world.

"Oh, happy birthday! Are you 12 years old now?"

When Elodie turned to face Serena, she was surprised. The girl did not seem happy at the subject of her birthday of all, but instead rather forlorn and even a bit sad. Elodie frowned, and her forehead creased. Why would someone be sad on their birthday? Elodie spoke hesitantly. "Are you alright, Serena? Is there something wrong?"

No problem @Serena Bowen!

Serena gave a small smile and nodded. She was glad that Elodie agreed with her. Honestly, the normalcy of everything was what was keeping her going throughout all of this. And whenever she would get distracted by the thought of fires or mosps, the first-year would do her best to focus. Sometimes on the students wandering around the hallways or how her favorite food was at lunch. It was nice to be able to use it to ground her when things would become too much.

But Serena also was starting to realize that she had no-one to turn to while at the castle. Sure she had her family back home, but they were all the way back in London. And yes, the letters were lovely, but she honestly needed a hug—someone to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But then again, Serena was now twelve-years-old. She was starting to be a bit too old to rely on Mum and Dad. At least everything that she’d been through this year had taught her that she needed to know how to defend herself. Maybe Serena should ask her mum if they could continue their Muggle self-defense lessons over the summer break? Then perhaps when something terrible happened, she would be ready instead of just freezing again. Because now she was confident that at Hogwarts, if something could go wrong, it would.

But Serena was pulled out of her thoughts again by Elodie, wishing her a happy birthday.

“Oh, thanks! Yeah, I’m twelve now. I guess I’ll have to get used to saying that whenever people ask.” Serena responded, giving a small smile.

But her smile faltered a bit when Elodie asked how she was doing. “Oh, it’s just…This is the first birthday that I’m celebrating away from home, and I guess I’m a bit…home-sick.” Serena trailed off.

Well, it wasn’t like she was lying. The first-year was a tad home-sick. But that wasn’t the entire reason this wasn’t as happy of a birthday as she would like it to be. But Serena felt a bit weird divulging the other reasons to Elodie considering that they had just met. Hopefully, her fellow Hufflepuff would believe the half-truth.

Interacting With:@Elodie Nyangui

Reducio

Gah, sorry again! I've had writer's block the last couple of weeks.

Elodie watched as Serena spoke. The girl seemed sad, forlorn and alone. Elodie got the feeling there might be a further problem, but she didn't want to stick her nose into someone else's business, so she ignored this fact.

Elodie understood, to at least some degree, the homesickness Serena told her she was feeling. When Elodie had been nine years old, she had moved away from her mother and siblings to live with her father. Her mother, who had single-handedly supported five children on a low-paying job in a country that was not her own, had finally had enough. She handed away Elodie, along with two of her other children, to their fathers. Since Elodie had a different father to her siblings, she had moved in with her father completely and utterly alone. The homesickness had struck her every night, wrenching her heart. On the other hand, Elodie hadn't been homesick when she arrived at Hogwarts. Her father's place was cold, empty and lonely, and Elodie was enjoying her time away from home, where there were children to talk to, and she was never alone, with nothing but the walls to keep her company.

"Homesickness sucks." Elodie paused. For a second, she had nearly begun to tell Serena of her parent troubles, of how she had once felt homesick once. But Elodie hesitated, and decided to keep her secret a secret, for now anyways. But by then, Elodie had paused for a while. The silence stretched, like the lolly snakes she and her friends would stretch as kids. Elodie fumbled with her words, eager to fill the silence. "I... sometimes Ruby and Oliver and Maisie and Elliot, my siblings... I miss them. And my mum."

@Serena Bowen don't worry about it! It is actually nice, because it means I don't have to worry about time. Take as long as you need, writer's block sucks