Meetings and Messes PV Ariana Walker Closed

Interacting with: @Maria Dee

It was a beautiful day in Arianas opinion. The sun shone blissfully down onto the grounds below and birds twittered wistfully as they sang melodies front their perches among the trees. Not everyone shared this optimistic view however. Grass-stained sneaked stopped in their tracks as Ariana clumsily fastened her bag closed again, stopping to tie her laces for the second time since she had departed from the quidditch pitch. One second thought, maybe the positive weather wasn't enough to raise the gryffindors spirits as she strolled back to the castle. Her ankle was throbbing violently, lowering her spirits as she tried her best to contain the pain, gritting her teeth in vain effort to forget it. She vented her feelings by kicking the trunk of the nearest tree with her uninjured foot. Although the result was only further agony to her injury and she paused for a second to glare at the innocent tree after her misjudged kick had sent her wobbling on her painful ankle.

Now that she was to consider it, it had been entirely her fault, her reckless behavior on her broom had been a major contributing factor to her bruised ankle. She leaned against the trunk for a second, closing her eyes and letting the fresh air wash over her face, refreshing her thoughts, the irritated bitter mood slightly ebbing away. Opening them again, she straightened up, swiftly turning to continue on her way back to the castle. Little did she know in fact, that her bag had caught on a low branch in the process of standing, and as she made a step forward, it ripped, terribly, the strap now hanging loosely as she inwardly cursed herself. She stood still for a second, before stooping down angrily to collect the contents that had spilled in the unfortunate incident. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she hardly noticed anything that was going on around her. Today was certainly not her day.

So far, things were going great. Maria had been able to cast the Locking and Unlocking Charms a few times successfully, with a couple of instances of nothing happening. Everything was still calm, with the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the occasional animal noise breaking the silence. After her fifth or sixth try, going to the next Maria heard a disgruntled noise and the scraping of something against the bark of the tree she sat on. Luckily, she was only mid-incantation, so nothing happened. Snapping out of her thoughts, the Asian girl squinted and stared down the tree in an attempt to get a look at the person that had interrupted her peace. Her gaze fell upon a girl a little shorter than her, with brown hair, probably about her age. From the way she was standing she looked like she had a limp. The Hufflepuff observed quietly for a moment, seeing her lean against a branch. Once she saw that the girl was about to leave she was going to go back to minding her own business, until a rip was heard. Darting her gaze back to the girl, she saw that a branch had caught in her bag, and ripped it. Yikes.

“I should probably go help.” She decided, her thoughts briefly going back to her own clumsy moments.

”Hey!” She called as she began ascending down the tree. Leaving her things, she went down branch after branch, careful of where she put her hands and feet.

“Hey, are you alright?” She asked when she reached the ground. Looking down, she saw all the things that had spilled out. “Oh dear, this looks like quiet the spill.”

“Let me help you with that.” The girl bent down and attempted to pick up a few things, but not before shooting a look of concern at the other girl.

Looking back, randomly coming down from the tree and scaring the poor Gryffindor wasn’t one of Maria’s best ideas. If her reaction to the badger’s offer was anything to go by, she probably should have stayed in the tree. Instead of the usual thank you an hello, the other girl screamed at her. The outburst made Maria’s eyes widen and made her recoil faster than a Slytherin from a hug. She said nothing, and looked at the girl like she had two heads. Her tone was aggressive, like her actions prior to her bag ripping. Did someone spit in her pumpkin juice this morning?

Then, like someone flipped a switch, the girl’s demeanor changed. Now she was…embarrassed? Maria considered that if she suddenly just lashed out at someone who was trying to help she would probably feel the same way. Part of her thought that maybe she was having a bad day, and the other thought that maybe she was just absolutely mental. Of course she wouldn’t say that out loud, because she liked having her head on her shoulders.

“Don’t worry… I come in peace?” Maria reluctantly said, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit. The girl thanked her and began putting her stuff away. Then she apologized (as Maria thought she would) for her radh behavior. The Hufflepuff couldn’t exactly blame her, after all she had just popped out of nowhere. She gave her a smile and the Gryffindor introduced herself as Ariana or Ari.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Maria. Maria Dee.” She replied. Now that she wasn’t afraid for her life, she was able to get a good look at the other girl. Ariana was definitely shorter than her by a few inches, with wavy hair and a freckled face. She looked familiar. Perhaps she was a Quidditch player? The badger knew faces but never really paid attention to the other teams.

She also nearly laughed when she asked where she came from. It was a legitimate question. After all, just basically popped out of nowhere. But being the witty and sarcastic girl that she was she gave a different answer.

“Hillingdon, West London. Second largest burrow in England and right by Heathrow Airport.” Maria replied without missing a beat. Deep inside she was trying not to laugh. She wasn’t sure if the Ari was familiar with the area or if she even understood what she was saying, but she thought it was funny. At this point, she decided that maybe some light hearted joking wouldn’t be too bad.

@Maria Dee

“Hillingdon, West London. Second largest burrow in England and right by Heathrow Airport.”

Ariana blinked. She had no idea what the hell the badger had just said, or Maria, as she had introduced herself. Growing up in Argentina, she wasn't quite familiar to most parts of England yet. She was still getting used to everything, well whatever the girl had said was definitely a location though. “I dont-” It was a second before Ariana realized that Maria was messing with her. She gave a wry smile, halting her speech and laughing as she eyed the hufflepuff with curiosity. So sass was the way she wanted to go huh? Intriguing.

“Very funny,” She commented, sending the girl a smile as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “I'd say you could be a ravenclaw if you weren’t a dear ‘puff, you certainly have enough wit. Nice to meet you.” She ginned and sent a smile in her direction. The joke had certainly done a great job obliterating much of her bad mood. In any case, upon noticing Maria’s initial startled expression, Ariana wouldn’t have been certain whether it was her that stood in her place or a venomous monster that looked as though it hadn’t eaten in days.

Green orbs strayed slowly to the tree she had prior been leaning against and the gryff looked up, eyes flying between Maria and the tree branch on which she had evidently just vacated, her possessions being strewn across the bark. A smirk played knowingly on her lips as she realised where Maria had been all that time.

“Hillingdon, West London, huh? Pretty leafy up there.” She mused, joking around in response. “Do you come out here often to sit in trees and spy on people?”

The question was teasing, yet she meant no harm, for the girls presence was most welcome. Yet the inquiry had made the action sound a lot sillier than it would initially look. Ariana often did climb such branches; not often, but overall climbing trees was quite a welcome pursuit to her, she had become accustomed to doing it a lot back in Argentina.

Without a second though, she was climbing the tree swiftly, her bag hanging loose from her shoulder, the contents in constant danger of falling out again. She reached a comfortable branch, noting Maria’s possessions that had been left up there as the girl had come down to meet her. It was overall a brilliant spot, Ariana felt quite satisfied. “Hey!” She called down happily, “there is room up here for two!”

@Ariana Walker

Ariana’s initial reaction made Maria doubt if her “joke” was the right thing to say, because the former clearly wasn’t getting it. Maybe the comment just went in over her head? Given the new girl’s earlier temperament the Huffle wondered if her sass might get her in trouble this time. Needless to say it might actually have before. However, it was soon apparent that really, she had nothing to fear. A smile graced her companion’s face and she made her own witty remark. A Ravenclaw? Was that supposed to be a compliment of sorts? She thought better than to question it.

Truth be told, the tree that she formerly sat on did give her a vantage point to spy on people. But then again, who does that? While the Asian girl did enjoy observing the occasional interaction between people, her moments alone was precious time spent with herself. Not that this strange girl would probably know that of course.

Speaking of the girl, up close there was something familiar about her. A familiar glint in her eyes resembled a look she had seen on someone before. She couldn’t quite place it, though. Before she could warn her, the girl in question started climbing up the tree.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” She asked, recalling that Ariana was limping before. Her bag that failed her earlier on was precariously dangling from her form, probably close to bursting again. Luckily, the she was able to get to the top without a hitch. She even invited her up even though technically Maria was the first one there .

With eyebrows furrowed and her hands on her hips she pursed her lips and actually thought about it. Did she really want to climb up the tree and sit with this girl?

“Oh no, that’s fine, I’d honestly just stay here for a bit. The last time I sat in a tree it ended up with me in the lake.”