Comforting Company PV Haley Finished

Let me dry your tears @Gia Adelard

It was a cold afternoon, but Haley spent it wrapped up in the courtyard. She had retreated to a quiet corner and was reading her book. Alice had always helped her to lose herself in her adventures and to switch off reality while reading. Since what had happened with Ian and the fact that she had trouble sleeping at night, she spent a lot of time with Alice's stories and so she enjoyed the togetherness with her book today as well. As it was very cold today, only a few students were outside, most of them spent their time in the common room, in the library or in other rooms but not outside. But that suited Haley just fine. She enjoyed being outside, in the fresh air, in nature, just her, her thoughts and the cool wind that regularly blew through her hair.

It did her good to forget the past for a moment. She was feeling better, but the nightmares still haunted her. The fear of losing someone still haunted her. The image of Ian dead in the hospital still haunted her. But out here, engrossed in her book, a protective shield formed that ensured that for a brief moment all that no longer haunted her. And that was incredibly important for Haley at the moment.

Haley was absorbed in her thoughts when she suddenly heard rapid footsteps that stopped abruptly and were followed by a quiet sobbing. Haley sat in one of the stone arches of the wall and straightened up to get a better view. And it wasn't long before she found the source of the sobbing. Not far from her, a girl sat, knees drawn up, crying. Haley quickly packed away her book and hopped onto the ground, making her way to the girl with quick steps.

The closer she got, the more the girl looked familiar and when she was only a few meter she realiced who it was. She was sure it was Gia. They had seen each other a few times before and most recently at Simon's birthday a few days ago. As Haley took the last few steps towards her, she rummaged in her bag looking for a tissue.

"Gia?" spoke Haley softly, so as not to startle her, and knelt down on the floor in front of her, looking up into her face. Her eyes were red and covered in tears. Haley held the tissue out to her without comment and looked at her with a mixture of pity and encouragement. She was now gently stroking her knee, trying to calm her down a little. "What's the matter? Is there anything I can do for you?"

It hurt Haley to see someone suffering like that and her heart ached at the sight of Gia. She didn't know what had happened, but she wanted to do everything possible to make her feel better as soon as possible.

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

Although she was caught up in her grief, the young Gryffindor heard and made note of the footsteps quickly approaching somewhere deep in her mind. Because of this, when someone's gentle voice said her name, the girl was more surprised about the fact that the person knew who she was than that there was actually a person there at all. Embarrassed that someone had noticed her crying, the eleven year old tried - and completely failed - to dry her face on her sleeve before looking up to see who it was.

"Who. . ." Gia began, about to ask who the girl was, but then stopped, furrowing her brows. "H-Haley?" she asked, slightly hesitant. She remembered meeting a red haired girl at Simon's birthday party a few days ago, and was pretty sure this was her. Hearing the stammer in her voice, the brunette bit her lip, focusing hard as she tried to stop the tears that were still falling fast. Then, seeing the tissue that the other student was offering her, she shook her head. "I'm fine," she said unconvincingly. "I'm fine."

Clearly, she was anything but fine, and the Gryffindor knew that Haley could tell. The other girl's eyes were full of pity, something Gia didn't usually like to see. But. . . there was something different about the emotions she saw in Haley's eyes. It wasn't simply pity there, although yes, there was a lot of that. There was also kindness, and maybe some empathy? When the other first year asked if she could help in any way, a fresh wave of tears threatened to flow down Gia's cheeks again, and when she tried to speak her voice sounded choked. "I - " was all she could manage to get out.

As teardrops snaked wet streaks across her face, Gia buried her face in her knees. She hated people seeing her cry, now more than ever. She was a Gryffindor, and they were supposed to be brave, and sitting there sobbing was definitely not something she should be doing. Still, tears are very hard to stop, and at least three minutes passed before the girl was able to get her sobs under control. Gia didn't want to look up again, but it was evident that Haley wasn't going to leave, so there really was no other option. No other good one, at least. It would be awkward if she continued crying with someone staring at her, wouldn't it be?

Right as the eleven year old lifted her head, a large gust of wind combined with the fact that she let her feet rest against the ground again made the crumpled piece of paper fall out of her pocket and onto the stone beside Haley. "No!" Gia said rather loudly, hurriedly bending down to grab it and stuff it back into her jacket pocket. The other Gryffindor had probably already seen what it said, however, since it had landed with the writing face up. Glancing in Haley's direction, Gia waited to see if she would say anything about it.

504 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

Understanding and patience @Gia Adelard

Haley knew that she was probably not the best person to be there for Gia right now. They hardly knew each other, but Haley hoped very much that Gia would accept her company. Haley always had a sympathetic ear, whether it was a friend or just an acquaintance. It hurt her to see someone hurt like that and she doesn't know what had happened to Gia, but she could see that the pain was incredibly big. Haley sighed softly when Gia said she was fine. It was very clear that she wasn't, but Haley couldn't judge her for that. She knew it too well herself. Being a Gryffindor meant being brave and not crying. At least that was how Haley had often thought, most recently when she had broken down in hospital because Ian was in a coma. But she realised that it was quite the opposite. It was brave to allow his feelings and not hide behind a façade. Crying didn't mean you weren't brave.

Haley didn't know what she could do to gain Gia's trust. So she was just there, silent but not leaving her alone. When the next flood of tears came, Haley put the tissue on the bench next to Gia. If she needed it, she could take it and they wouldn't have to talk about it any further. She stroked her knee reassuringly, wanting to signal that she wasn't alone. "It's okay. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. But if you do, I'm happy to be here for you." Haley knew this would be a nicer offer if one of Gia's friends had said it but currently only Haley was here and she couldn't offer her anything else.

Haley remained quietly crouched in front of her the whole time, waiting for a reaction. She would not push her but hoped for a moment when Haley could really help her. She would have preferred to take the girl in a tight hug and tell her everything would be all right, but she didn't. It didn't feel right and so she continued to wait for Gia to calm down a little.

As Gia sat up and Haley smiled encouragingly at her, pleased that she had calmed down a little, things turned out differently than expected. Suddenly panic rose in Gia's face as a piece of paper fell out of her pocket and she quickly put it back in her bag. So there we had the reason. Haley could see that it must have been a letter but she quickly averted her eyes from the writing. It was quite clear that Gia didn't want Haley to see it and she wasn't going to get over her will.

Her gaze was now fixed on Haley and she suspected she thought Haley had read it, "Don't worry, I haven't read it." She straightened up now and sat down next to Gia, "Is that why you're so upset? Do you want to talk about it?" Haley spoke in a soft and understanding voice and would accept both possible answers. She would not push the girl into anything. Sometimes it took time to get ready to talk and Haley knew that all too well.

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

Gia felt Haley place her hand on her knee as she cried, and through the blur of tears she also saw the red haired girl place the tissue on the stone bench besides her for whenever she would be ready. The first year's tears were still coming fast and hard, but she noted the kind acts anyway. Sniffling a few times, Gia reached out and took the tissue of the stone next to her and brought it to her face. This was partly to hide her tears from the other Gryffindor, but mostly because she really needed it.

When Haley told her very gently that she wasn't alone, the eleven year old wanted to tell her how wrong she was. Sure, she did have a few friends at Hogwarts, but that didn't matter right now. Her grandfather, he was gone. And right now, she felt as alone as she could ever be, despite the fact that there was another girl sitting right in front of her trying to help. She's trying to help, Gia repeated in her mind, trying to make herself open up just a little bit. But the girl was stubborn, even to herself, and so all she said was: "I said, I'm fine." Normally, it would have come out sounding cold, but today, under these circumstances, all it sounded like was that she was crying while speaking. Which she was.

Still, the red haired girl did not leave Gia's side. To be honest, it took a while for the first year to realize that Haley wasn't going to leave until she knew she was okay, but when she did figure it out, she knew she couldn't continue sitting around crying for too much longer. That would be cruel of her, to completely ignore the other first year's attempts to help out, and Gia was not a cruel girl. So, gathering what courage she had left in her, the Gryffindor fixed her position on the bench and took her arms away from her face, intending to. . . well, to do something besides cry. As she did this, however, the tear stained letter fell out of her pocket and onto the ground - right beside Haley.

Eyes wide, Gia quickly bent down and snatched the letter up again. When it was safely tucked away once more, her gaze latched onto Haley's, trying to see if the other student had read it at all. "Did you. . ." she started, and then trailed off. Luckily, the other girl seemed to know what she had been about to ask, and she answered the question anyway, saying she hadn't read it. Gia's posture relaxed slightly and she looked away again, not allowing her gaze to wander far from the stone it was fixed upon. Even when Haley sat down beside her, the young Gryffindor didn't look up. Only when the other girl asked another question did she even acknowledge that anything out of the ordinary had happened.

"No. . ." she said, her voice as soft as it could be. After saying this, she realized that it was actually true. The eleven year old wasn't upset over the letter itself, she was upset about what she thought the letter had said. "I - I don't know." Gia finally admitted. But there was a way to find out, wasn't there? With trembling fingers, the first year took the piece of paper out of her pocket, exposing it to sunlight once more. Her grip was strong, however, just in case another gust of wind came as she was reading it. Yes, reading it. . . that was her plan. To read the whole thing, no matter how hard it may become.

Swallowing hard, Gia opened it up and started to read from the beginning.

Gia,
I need to tell you something big, something horrible, and I'm sorry. Father is busy trying to keep his mind off of everything but work, and so the responsibility to tell you came to me. Grandfather isn't. . . he. . .

Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time she let them fall freely. She had all but forgotten about the other girl next to her, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting herself to read the next line.

He's gone. We're not fully sure why yet, but it could have been a heart attack of some sort. I'm so sorry that I need to tell you this. Father and I miss you a lot.
Love,
Vance.

It had been so. . . so stupid of her to think that she may have been wrong with her assumptions. So, so, horribly stupid. Of course he was dead! And so close to her birthday too. . . Gia's mind was full of whys and hows and so many other unanswerable questions. Remembering that Haley was beside her and had most likely read the whole thing, Gia whispered a small, short sentence to the other girl. "That - that's why." And the tears came back, and not just in a short burst; in a huge wave that made her feel like they would never stop coming.

842 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

I won’t let you down @ Gia Adelard

Inwardly, Haley was pleased when Gia took the tissue, but she didn't let on and ignored it. But it was a step forward, a small step with which Haley could win Gia's trust. But just when she thought she was opening up, a small setback came. Haley winced slightly at her words, she hadn't expected that. But she would not leave. Because Gia wasn't yelling at her, there was no anger in her voice, all Haley could hear was a lot of pain. And for Haley it was okay if she took that pain out on her but there was no way she was going to leave the girl alone at that moment. Because it was very clear that she was not fine.

Haley was still wondering what the letter was about. Most letters didn't make you cry and Haley was sure it had something to do with that. Haley's last letter had been a short note from her parents and later she had to learn that Ian was in a coma. If that had been written in her letter at the time, she would have cried bitterly. There was nothing she could have done but cry and lie on the floor. At least that's how she imagined it and her heart ached at the thought of all that past history. But that was not the point now. Still, it made Haley understand it a little better. How a letter, a short message could throw someone off track like that.

Gia was crying less and had calmed down, which made Haley happy, but she wasn't convinced that it would last long. It seemed she hadn't read the letter properly and Haley expected the worst. If the letter had been so upsetting, even though she hadn't finished reading it, Haley didn't want to know how it would end. But no matter what, Haley was here beside her and would support her in this moment.

Haley was quiet the whole time and didn't say a word. She gave Gia all the time she needed and watched her open the letter and start to read it. She could see the tears forming in her eyes and running down her cheek. And when she finished and now confirmed that the message in the letter was the reason, she started to cry again. Haley's heart ached at the sight of her and had she known what she could have done to take the pain away from Gia, it would have been the first thing she would have done. But there was nothing that could have taken the pain away. So she just continued to be there.

She now took the packet of tissues out of her bag and placed them on the bench knowing that they would need some more. She would not push the girl into anything, but she would let her know that Haley was there for her. "Listen, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. But I want you to know that if you do want to talk about it, I'm always available to listen." Haley smiled encouragingly at her and stroked her arm comfortingly.

She knew sometimes you just had to let it out and sometimes you just didn't. Sometimes you just needed to cry and be with your thoughts and Haley knew that all too well. But she was of the opinion that it was not good to be alone in such a moment. And if that was all it took, then Haley would stay by her side and process the pain with her in silence.

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

Gia could sense that her words had hurt the other girl in some way, even if that way was small. If she were herself at the moment, she would have hurried to apologize as soon as possible since Haley hadn't done a single thing to deserve being snapped at, but. . . well, she wasn't herself right now. Instead, she was someone completely unfamiliar. She didn't even feel like a Gryffindor, since in her mind, students in the house of the brave weren't supposed to cry. And yet, that was exactly she was doing.

Still, even though she had ignored and snapped at the other Gryffindor, Haley seemed determined not to leave. When Gia first realized this, the only emotion she was feeling that she could figure out what annoyance. Why wouldn't the redhead leave? It didn't make sense - the eleven year old had dropped plenty of clues signalling that she wanted to be alone at the moment, and even after all that, Haley was still right beside her. But a few seconds later, that annoyance was replaced by something else. Something. . . nicer. She still wasn't sure exactly what it was that she was feeling yet, but Gia did know that somehow, she was no longer mad at Haley for staying with her. In fact, it was almost the polar opposite: she was grateful for the company.

A few minutes later, the tears were back. Maybe she'd been wrong before, when she'd decided to read the whole letter - it hadn't made things any better at all. Instead, it had made everything so much worse. Gia knew for sure now that her grandfather was dead, gone, and that she was never going to be able to see him again. She wasn't even sure if she'd be allowed to leave Hogwarts for a funeral or something like that. . . she'd never thought to ask someone, since she'd never guessed that anything like this would happen. It had happened though, and now she needed to find out quickly.

Hearing Haley shift slightly, Gia guessed that she was about to speak again, to try and offer comfort. The girl wasn't sure she really wanted to be comforted though. . . it was so much easier just to let herself grieve. Suddenly, a memory projected itself in her mind, and the young Gryffindor felt almost as if she had been sucked backwards into the past because of the clarity of each scene. So consumed was she in her thoughts that Gia barely noticed that Haley was saying something to her. She did notice, however, and she pulled her head back down from the clouds - if you could call such a memory that - and caught the second half of what the other first year was telling her. But she couldn't think of a response, and ended up saying an unintelligible jumble of words in return.

"I can't - it's just - why. . ." Burying her head in her arms, the eleven year old shook her head. "Never mind," She whispered. Tears were still streaming down her face, and nothing she did would make them stop. This was the problem with grief like this: you had absolutely no control of yourself. She remembered all too well the pain in her father and brother's faces after her mother died all those years ago, even though she had been so young when it all had happened. It was one of these instances that had appeared in her mind earlier, causing her to loose track of what was actually happening around her for a little bit.

When this flood of tears finally slowed a bit, Gia lifted her head to look at Haley. Although she didn't say anything out loud, there was an emotion very clearly shown in her eyes: gratitude. The girl wasn't able to say anything, her voice was too choked up for it to be understood, but everything she wanted to say was expressed perfectly in that one look. She still wasn't positive why Haley had stayed with her for so long, why she hadn't left her side, but. . . it had helped, somehow. Not in a way that you could see by looking at Gia, but in a way that only she felt. The Gryffindor would thank her later, out loud, but right now. . . right now she was going to stay quiet.

717 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

quiet comfort @ Gia Adelard

Haley knew that Gia was not convinced about Haley's presence, but she also knew that this would change. Because not once had Gia said that Haley should leave. She might have given her signs, but she had never said it clearly and Haley knew that deep inside she knew she didn't want to be alone now. Even though she probably didn't realise or notice that herself. Haley would stay and if it meant that Gia was annoyed with her, then that was okay with Haley. This was not the situation to leave her alone.

Whatever was written in that letter had to be incredibly bad for the Gryffindor girl and Haley could only guess at the reason. Had someone died? Would she have to leave Hogwarts? Had her beloved pet died? Haley didn't know, but whatever it was, it caused a pain in Gia that Haley could feel as she watched the girl. She wanted nothing more than to relieve her of that pain, but Haley knew she could not.

Haley couldn't figure the girl out. Every time she started talking, it seemed at first that she would open up to Haley. It seemed like she wanted to talk about it, but every time she blocked again and Haley was at a loss. She didn't know what to do and only saw more tears running down her cheek. She stroked her hand over her back and tried to comfort her wordlessly. And so Haley sat quietly beside the crying girl, with a comforting hand on her back, conveying to her that she did not have to go through this pain alone.

And when a few minutes had passed and Gia was crying less and lifted her head to look at Haley, she looked into her eyes. And she wasn't sure what she saw there, but it wasn't anger towards Haley. It wasn't a negative expression. She didn't know if it was gratitude but it was a positive expression and Haley smiled at her. She gave her an encouraging smile that told her she was there for her. That she had nothing to be ashamed of and most importantly that it was not weakness to cry.

Haley considered for a moment if she should say anything, but she did not. She decided to keep the silence between them. But she did not get up and leave either. She would wait to see what Gia decided to do and when Haley could be sure that the Gryffindor girl had calmed down a bit she would leave her alone if that was her wish. But for now, she would sit here with her.

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

A quiet, peaceful sort of silence descended over the two Gryffindors after Gia glanced up. Haley didn't say anything yet, but she didn't seem as if she were waiting for the other girl to say anything either. Instead, it was more of a. . . comforting silence. Gia was almost certain that the other first year knew that she wanted some quiet, and she had given it to her accordingly. For this, the eleven year old was very grateful. She wasn't ready to talk yet, to share what was going on, but. . . she had a feeling that all of those things would happen soon anyway. Soon, though. Not quite yet.

Her sniffling carried throughout the whole courtyard, and the first year was happy that there didn't seem to be many others around the two of them. There weren't that many people that she could see, anyway, but there were plenty of places around the stone area that other students could be doing other things in. Gia had always felt so self-conscious about when she was crying, ever since she was a little girl. After her mother had died from cancer many years back, the young girl had been surrounded by mourning people for a long time. She wasn't bothered by this all too much, for she was sad as well, but at school when she would sometimes cry to herself in the classroom, she would always try to hide her face.

Taking a tissue from Haley's pack, Gia wiped at her face (still doing it partially to hide it from Haley) and was surprised to find that it was almost completely dry. When she had stopped crying, the girl did not know, but it seemed that she had. That didn't mean that she was done being sad though - Gia knew it would be a very, very long time before she got used to this strange emptiness she felt. Maybe it would even last forever, she thought. But for now, having the tears gone was a bit of a relief, for this meant that she could actually talk if she wanted to. And the very first thing that came to mind to say, was, "Thank you."

At first, the eleven year old wasn't sure if Haley had heard her, as she had said it in a whisper. Had she been too quiet? But when she received some sort of recognition at her statement, Gia relaxed slightly. She felt like she needed to expand on why she was thanking the redhead, but wasn't quite sure how to go about doing that. To explain, she would need to tell her what was going on, why she was crying, and why having someone with her had helped, but. . . the young Gryffindor hesitated when realizing this. Gia knew that Haley deserved to know exactly what had happened, but she still didn't feel entirely comfortable sharing.

"I - " she looked down at the ground, embarrassed. Why was it so hard to say the truth out loud? Right after thinking this, an answer came to the front of Gia's mind: because once you say it out loud, it becomes more true. That's how she felt, anyway. It had been the same thing earlier, with reading the letter. If she read the full thing, she would know for sure that her grandfather really was. . . gone. . . but now, even though she knew it, the first year was using the same sort of excuse. If she said it, if she told Haley what had happened, then. . . then there was no going back.

More time had passed, and now that her tears had dried, Gia was becoming increasingly aware of the silence. She had never really liked the quiet, but it had felt good when she was crying. Now, though. . . she wanted someone to say something. "Haley - " she started once more, her voice only a tiny bit louder than it had been earlier. "I'm sorry," she eventually murmured, not exactly positive what she was apologizing for. Maybe for crying? Or for ignoring her earlier? Or for - there were endless possibilities, honestly, when she thought about it.

682 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

I'm here for you@ Gia Adelard

The two sat quietly next to each other. Neither of them said anything, but they didn't need to. Haley had always appreciated the quiet moments, no matter how contrary that was to her personality. Perhaps mostly for that reason. But she felt that was just what Gia needed too and so the two of them just sat there for a while. Just the presence, the silence and the wind.

Gia took another tissue, but Haley paid no further attention. She didn't want the girl to feel uncomfortable about it or feel compelled to comment or thank her. She took it for granted and it seemed that the silence was doing Gia good. Nevertheless, Gia thanked Haley and so she turned her head to look at the girl. She gave her a warm smile that said that she was happy to do so.

She started to say something again, but Haley knew she wasn't ready. And she should be right in her thought, because she fell silent again and didn't speak any further. But that was not a bad thing. Haley knew that sometimes it took time to speak the truth out loud. Often it had to be processed in silence before one could really speak it out and thus not be able to undo the words. Regardless of the fact that it didn't change anything about the actual situation, sometimes it made you feel as if you were confirming it when you spoke it out. Like you were waiting for an okay and that okay was to say the thing out loud.

She tried to convey to the girl that it was okay to say nothing but wordlessly. Haley didn't go into the attempt to say anything, the last thing she wanted was to make Gia feel even more uncomfortable than she already did. So the two of them just sat there in silence for a while. Haley didn't know how much time had passed when Gia started talking again and this time didn't stop after the first word.

She turned her head towards her and gave her full attention to the girl whose pain could be seen so much. Haley ached at her words. She could see how bad she was and she could feel the pain. Her eyebrows drew together, not into an evil look, but one that showed she understood and that she was sorry. But this time Haley would not continue to sit there wordlessly, she now decided to say something.

She turned her upper body slightly towards Gia and spoke to her in a low and calm voice. "Gia, you have nothing to apologise to me for. Nothing at all. I just want you to know, no matter what, I'm here. I'm here for you. And you don't have to talk about it either, you don't have to explain anything to me. If there's anything I can do for you, tell me and I'll see how I can make it happen for you." She gave her a warm smile and hoped that Gia knew that Haley sincerely meant it.