A daydream away PV Lydia Finished

Time: after classes
Day: Apr 1, 2020

April had finally arrived, bringing with him the good weather and fresh wind that moved away the stormy clouds from the sky. Even though the weather had been nice that day, Lydia couldn't help the storm of emotions that was raging inside of her. A little more than a week had passed since the day she had found out the truth about her mother, and since then the red headed girl hadn't been doing too well: at night she couldn't sleep, she would stare at the ceiling until her body gave out in exhaustion, and when she would wake up she wouldn't feel rested at all; together with her sleeping schedule being messed up, she also had problems eating properly, finding that most of the times she just didn't feel hungry at all. At the same time, she had recently realised that she might have had a crush on Rafael - but who was she kidding? of course she did have a crush on him - especially after the whole accident by the Great Lake. So yeah, her emotions were all over the place, and the only way that she had to cope with them, was to go in the Rehearsal Room as much as she could.

Music had always been part of her life since she was little, bringing her comfort and joy whenever she needed it; musical talent was also something that run in her family, with her mother, aunt and grandmother being exceptional singers and piano players. Since she had discovered the existence of the Rehearsal Room, Lydia tried to play a little bit of piano every day, just to keep the practice going.

So that day, once all of her classes were finished, the Hufflepuff girl was headed to the music room, ready to tackle some piano sheets, and hopefully manage to move past the first page of the Goldberg Variation BWV 988 for Piano, composed by Bach, that she had been trying to learn. She did think about studying something more contemporary, maybe a pop song or something along those lines, but she had found out that classical music did a better job at keeping her mind distracted and focused on the task at hand, without having to focus on any kind of lyrics - she also didn't want to admit that, since the time she had sung for Rafael, she had been scared of anyone else asking her to sing as well, so classical music was perfect, since no lyrics meant no singing.

When she finally reached her destination, Lydia didn't think about it twice before opening the door and walk inside the room since usually, around that time, it was mostly empty. She carefully closed the door behind her, before looking towards the piano and jumping up scared; while entering, she had completely missed the girl that was sitting at the piano, and for a brief second she thought she had imagined her.

"H-Hi!" Lydia said with a small smile, as she slowly walked towards the piano; she put down her school bag on the nearby table, before focusing back on the girl. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt you. I'm Lydia!" the red headed girl said as she extended her hand, her small smile still present on her lips.

@Ariana Walker

@Lydia Cooper

Ariana watched the girl walk into the room apprehensively, she had a terrible habit of jumping as sudden things. The girl looked like a first year, a hufflepuff Ariana concluded, after surveying the color of the girls' robes. Ariana eyed the girl with curious interest. Had she seen her before? She didn’t think so? The girl had pretty green eyes, very much nearly the same shade as Arianas, and she had long silky red hair. After getting over her sudden jump she opened her mouth to respond. The girl had come over to the piano and placed her bag down before focusing back on Ariana. Lydia. That was her name. She extended her hand out to Ariana to greet her and Ariana took it surprised, smiling up at her.

Normally she would have snapped at the person for scaring her like that, but the girl seemed friendly and kind. What was she doing here in the middle of a nice day? Well Ariana wasn’t to talk, she was here herself of course. “I’m Ariana” she found herself saying pleasantly, “Nice to meet you Lydia! Umm how come you're not outside?” she asked carefully, eyeing the girl with a curious look, hoping that the question didn’t come across rude. Ariana was only here because she couldn’t focus, couldn’t focus on anything with other stuff on her mind. There was quidditch, of course. Then there was her cousin. Everything that had happened with her cousin. Shaking these bitter and stressful thoughts out of her head she looked back up at the girl, hoping she hadn’t noticed Arianas hazy unfocused expression.

"Nice to meet you Ariana!" Lydia answered, the small smile still present on her face. Now that she was closer, Lydia could observe better the girl in front of her: she had green eyes and light brown hair, with some faint freckles spread over her tan skin. She had something familiar, that the red headed girl couldn't quite figure out yet; from her robes she could tell she was a Gryffindor, and maybe even a first year, but she wasn't too sure. But it wasn't just the fact that she might have seen her in classes, no; there was something in the girl's face, something that reminded her of someone -who? the red headed girl had no idea.

Ariana's question took the Hufflepuff girl by surprise; her eyes widened for a second, becoming sadder even, before she shrugged. She didn't want to lie, she hated doing that, but it wasn't like she could just pour out all of her worries onto the other girl either."Lately I've been feeling a little stressed," started saying Lydia, as she adjusted a strand of hair behind her ear, "and whenever I feel stressed I usually turn on my iPod, but since they don't work here, well... I decided to make my own music. Or at least try to, depending if I give up trying after a couple of times that I do something wrong," Lydia chuckled, before she asked the same question to the Gryffindor girl. "What about you? It's such a nice day outside!"

Only after she had finished talking, Lydia realised that her words might have sounded rude and impolite, and she blushed, the embarrassment slowly painting her cheeks red. That was something that she used to be way better at: usually her words were full of positive energy and friendly feelings, but lately, well, she had been more prone to situations like this one, where her word could have gotten misunderstood.

@Ariana Walker

Lydia sighed and Ariana couldn't help noticing the flicker or hurt reflected in the girl's eyes. "Lately I've been feeling a little stressed,"she shrugged. Ariana narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion. The girl disregarded the matter as if it were nothing, but Ariana knew that this wasn't the case. She wanted to help, but she didn’t know if she was good at that sort of thing. She could shout and yell to get her point across and yes she could defend anyone physically, a few punches in the nose would do. But this, Ariana really had no idea. She had never had to comfort anyone with mere words and gentle actions as such, not that she had tried [she’d never actually had the opportunity.] Her brothers and cousins had always put any argument down to physical resolve, Ariana had become used to this method of resolution.

She looked back up, silencing her exasperating thoughts as she considered the hufflepuff girl for a moment. The girl continued, "and whenever I feel stressed I usually turn on my iPod, but since they don't work here, well... I decided to make my own music. Or at least try to, depending if I give up trying after a couple of times that I do something wrong," Ariana stared at the girl in bewilderment, “I-Pod?” She questioned. What in the world was that? She supposed this was a muggle thing and this intrigued her even more. She was about to open her mouth to ask about it when the girl returned the question "What about you? It's such a nice day outside!"Ariana froze for a second, contemplating her options, to answer this question. She didn't want to load all of her troubles onto the nice girl, it seemed as though there was enough on the huffles mind already. Besides Ariana had never been so good at expressing her feelings, she had learnt to shut them out, finding herself more concerned for others most of the time than herself.

On the other hand, lying was definitely one of her weaknesses.“I-I...well, um why not?” She shrugged, then feeling as though this might have sounded rude she added “Im quite fond of music too, helps me too...relax, i guess” Now reasoning that she hadnt made much of an effort to be friendly to the poor girl, Ariana stood up, brushing off her robes as she pushed back the stool. She now took in the full height of Lydia and internally sighed. Ariana had always been small for her age, not too small, but still, smaller than average. Everyone else was at least taller than her, something which annoyed the brunette greatly. Although her brothers reassured her that size never really mattered then it came to power [as proved by her talent on the quidditch pitch] Ariana just couldn't bring herself to ignore the fact that she was at least a head shorter than most people in her year. “Here, I'm not using it, you wanted to play, I assume?” She gestured to the piano, brushing strands of hair out of her eyes as she shifted so that the girl could pass and sit down if she wanted.

Giving her a tentative smile, she reached for one of the spare guitars and sat on a stool not too far from the piano, tightening its strings and tuning it carefully as the girl watched her in bemusement. What was she going to say if Lydia asked her what she was doing inside? Ariana of all people would normally be outside at this very moment, she hardly stayed behind in the castle. Would the girl be able to see right through her?

"I-Pod?"
Ariana's question took Lydia by surprise, and she released that to those that had not been raised "the muggle way", that word probably meant nothing. She smiled at Ariana and nodded, before explaining her what exactly it was. "Yeah! It's a like a little box that can store thousands of songs inside, and you can put headphones, little... well, objects, inside your ears and listen to any song you want, as long as they are inside the iPod. It's pretty convenient, and I personally always have mine with me, except that for here of course. Magic would have fried it in no time," she said and gave the other girl a small smile.

Lydia took her time observing Ariana's reactions, and she wondered if everything was okay; she seemed kind of pensive, and Lydia felt the urge to ask her if she was alright. She didn't yet, as she let the other girl answer her question, before she moved away from the piano to let the Hufflepuff girl sit. Lydia gave her a smile and a thank you, before sitting down, as her eyes followed Ariana; apparently she also played the guitar, and Lydia felt the smile on her lips grow: she always loved surrounding herself with people that shared her interests, and it looked like Ariana did as well.

The red headed girl started playing the intro of the song, starting from the start once she had reached the end of the first page; by now she basically remembered it by heart, not really needing the music sheet, so she let her eyes close for a little while, as the lovely notes filled the air.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Lydia said after a while as she opened her eyes, her hands still playing the same page of the music sheets, "but, are you alright? I couldn't help but notice you look a little... pensive? You can totally tell me to mind my own business, I just can't help it, when I get curious my common sense just goes out the window," She really hoped that her words did not come too hard on the other girl, and that she would not get too upset with her being that noisy.

@Ariana Walker

@Lydia Cooper

“Are you alright? I couldn't help but notice you look a little... pensive? You can totally tell me to mind my own business, I just can't help it, when I get curious my common sense just goes out the window,"

Her pleasant, good-natured manner seemed to startle Ariana a little, and she paused, her brain working slowly, processing the words Lydia had just said. “Me?” She started, separating the word slowly into two syllables. It was as though she were learning the simple yet effective words for the first time. The reverberated slowly around her head as her mind failed to grasp them hopelessly into its depths “Oh I- '' But how was she to phrase her worries? Besides the girl looked slightly troubled herself, did Ariana really want to breach the girl’s disquiet feelings even further? She shook her head slightly, stretching her bemused expression into a tentative smile, “Family stuff” She shrugged, yet something in the back of her mind told her not to leave it as that. Something about the red headed girl intrigued her, there was something familiar about her kind presence, her tentative nature. She screwed up her brain in concentration, tilting her head to the side slightly before letting out a sigh.

Standing up she slung the strap of the guitar carefully over her shoulder before, walking over to the piano and resting her elbows on the polished, glossy surface. “My cousin…” She began, and it was almost as though she was retelling the story to herself, the words floated lazily around her brain connecting to each other slowly and she paused, hesitating, trying desperately to hold on to the now distant memory that seconds ago had been tremendously hard to forget. “She died when I was young, although I didn't know that until a few days ago, I always thought she was just ill, staying with relatives. Turns out my parents kept the truth from me for years” Her words lacked the energetic bouncy tones of her usual self, yet somehow they still carried the soft, gentle tones that would allure anyone to listen. Nevertheless they strung wistfully from her mouth in dreamy tones, coming to a halt as she breathed in and turned, unfixing her gaze from the seemingless space she had been staring into. “I guess its strange really, how I could have been so naive.”

She was on the verge of asking the red-headed girl if she had ever felt this way, but decided not to, she didnt want to seem as though she was pressuring her for advice. At any rate it felt like a weight had been slightly shifted off her shoulders, the marks were still there, but being able to tell someone comfortably, it felt as though someone cared. Cared, not for how many bludgers she could beat or how many fight she could win, or how many boys she could lure, no. It was different, and it made Ariana feel slightly happier. “What about you Lydia, you dont at all seem well collected either, what bothering you? Since we are both giving therapy lessons-” She chuckled slightly “The least I can do is hear what's troubling you, what about it?” As much as she wanted to help she didn't want to intrude on the girls privacy, “If you want that is?”

The sound of the piano was filling the room, the notes vibrating into the air and creating lovely melodies all around. Lydia listened to Ariana talk, her hands moving swiftly over the keys, hitting the right notes at the right time, and starting the same page again once she had reached the end; she didn't know if this was way actually the proper way to learn a song on the piano, but so far she had found it quite easy to concentrate on one page at a time, instead of trying to tackle the whole piece in one go.

When Ariana mentioned that she had some trouble in her family, Lydia nodded and couldn't help but sympathise with her, understanding how much family problems could affects them, even with everyone else far away. When she told to the red headed girl about her cousin, Lydia stopped playing and looked up at Ariana; she didn't know what to say, it was such a personal and delicate topic that all the red headed girl could do was nod. "I'm sorry about your cousin, I can only imagine what you're going through," she said, her voice low in sign of respect. She wanted to offer her more comfort, but she didn't want to overstep and make her feel uncomfortable.

When Ariana asked her if she was okay, Lydia was tempted to tell her that nothing was bothering her; after all, she had just told her that she had a lot going on, and the red headed girl didn't want to weight in on her with her own problems. But there was something about Ariana that made her talk anyway, it was probably how comfortable she felt with her, that and the fact that she knew how it was, to believe everything that your family told you, and to see that world that they have crafted around you suddenly collapse.

"I've got some family stuff going on as well," she shrugged and gave her a small smile, as she tried to lift the mood a little bit. "I've recently found out that my mom is a witch. You see, me and my sister have been raised as muggle kids, and I knew nothing about magic until I got my letter for Hogwarts. My parents acted so happy and surprised, but it turned out that my mom actually attended Hogwarts. I'm not sure about my father, or anybody else in my family anymore, they might all be wizards and witches. I actually found out about my mom on accident,"

As Lydia talked about all of that, the memories of the events in the trophy room came back to her, followed by her mental breakdown at the lake. "I saw a picture of her in Ravenclaw robes, with her name written and all of that, in the Trophy room. It was quite a shock to be honest; next thing I know, I ran out of the castle into the pouring rain, slipped on some rocks by the lake and woke up in the Hospital Wing. Luckily a boy had brought me there, or I might have gotten pneumonia or worse..." Lydia continued, but chose not to say that it was Rafael that had brought her in the infirmary.

"You shouldn't feel bad, for feeling naive and having trusted your parents. After all, they are supposed to protect us and we just trust them, it's only natural..."

@Ariana Walker

Interacting with: @Lydia Cooper

-Interacting with: @Ariana Walker -

Ariana's words were kind, gentle, her voice warm as she offered Lydia a shoulder to cry on and, hopefully, a friend she could count on. It would have been nice to have Ariana as a friend; she sounded like a nice person, someone that cared about people, and they both shared the same passion for music; also, if Lydia was being honest, she missed having a girl friend: Aaron, her best friend, was amazing, but sometimes she felt like she needed another girl to talk with.

Nodding gently, Lydia gave her a small smile, before she spoke again. "Thank you, that means a lot. The same goes for you! I'm a good listener, and people tell me I give good hugs as well," She smiled again, and then concentrated back on the girl's words.

She thought about her question, and about her relationship with her cousins, but they never had a proper close relationship; on the contrary, she has always felt as if they were competing to see who was the best at everything, so when she had gotten her letter for Hogwarts, Lydia thought that her sousing would have never been able to beat that.

"I have a close relationship with my sister; she is younger than me, and a little pest, but I love her more than anything. I'm usually pretty calm, but she is always able to make me loose my patience in a heartbeat!" Lydia said and genuinely smiled at Ariana, "As far as cousins go... I would say we hardly have any relationship of the sort; we usually hang out together for Christmas and Easter, but during the year we don't see each other, and whenever we do it becomes a competition to see who is the best at what. One time, we almost ended up in a fight, because we wanted to see who was the best at doing pirouettes. My younger cousin, Claire, ended up pushing my sister and making her break a front tooth, and I remember that I pushed her in revenge."

The memory brought a sad smile over Lydia's face, but she shook it off before continuing. "Our moms had to break us apart, and as punishment we had to clean our Grandma's garden from all the leaved and dead plants for the entire duration of the holidays. It wasn't nice, but I'd do it again," She looked back at Ariana, crossing her legs over the stool. "What about you? Have you had fights with your cousins as well, or do you have a nice relationship?" she asked her, genuinely curious.