Comforting Company PV Haley Finished

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

The expression on Haley's face when Gia looked at her suddenly made the girl want to share everything. All of it. Hold nothing back. The other Gryffindor just wanted to help, the first year knew, and at the moment she wanted to let her help. Haley hadn't said a word for a while now, but the looks she gave Gia were enough to say it all. Just tell her, the girl told herself. Do it. Before she could, though, the redhead spoke first. And what she said, well, it finally broke the walls that the eleven year old had placed around herself without realizing it.

"I. . . I want to explain." Three words. Three, simple words. And yet, they felt like the most consequential words Gia had ever said. Swallowing hard, the Gryffindor closed her eyes to pull herself together again. Once she had done that, the words just appeared at the tip of her tongue, ready to be said. And so that's what she did. "When me and my brother, Vance, were little," she began, opening her eyes but letting her gaze fall to the ground instead of looking up at Haley, "Our grandparents used to come over. A lot. Either that, or we'd go over to their house." She paused again, risking a small glance at the other girl. What she saw there was only encouragement, so she kept going.

"They were my mum's parents, and at first I don't think they liked my father all that much. But when my mother - when she. . . died. . ." It was hard to force that word out of her mouth, but somehow she managed. "Um, after that, our whole family just grew closer. Same with when my grandmother. . . passed away. My grandfather would still come over a lot, but just not as much as he used to." Here she paused again, steeling herself for what she needed to say next. "I saw him over winter break. He stayed the whole time, and he - he was perfectly healthy then." Gia was beginning to feel like crying again, but no tears would come. It was almost as if she'd used them all up earlier.

By now, the first year was positive that Haley knew exactly what had happened, but she couldn't stop where she had left off. Just a little left, the girl silently told herself. "I - I went to the Owlery this morning and I got the letter, and - and Vance said that he. . . that he was gone." Gia covered her face with her hands. Why did this have to happen to her family? Why did so many people she loved have to die? It just. Wasn't. Fair. The poor girl wanted to hit something, to scream, but she didn't do either of those things. Instead, she sat there in silence, her mind filled once again with unanswerable questions, waiting to see what Haley thought of her story.

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

wish I could do more @ Gia Adelard

Haley tried to create a comfortable atmosphere for Gia. Not because she wanted to persuade her to tell something, but just to feel a little better. She should know that Haley was there for her, even if they hardly knew each other. But the last thing she wanted was for Gia to apologise. There was absolutely nothing the girl should have apologised for.

But it seemed that Gia really wanted to talk about it now. Haley smiled ever so slightly and put on an encouraging look, because if that was what Gia wanted, then she should do it. Haley wouldn't hold her to it or judge her for anything. She waited for the next words and then Gia started to tell her bit by bit. About her brother and her when they were little, about her grandparents and her childhood. Haley listened attentively to her words and blocked out everything else around her.

Haley's face contorted slightly at the words about Gia's mother. Haley had always been very compassionate and so the thought that Gia had lost her mother far too early hurt her too. She tried not to let it show, however, and continued to listen attentively. But next came another unpleasant part of her story, her grandmother's death. And even at these words, Haley felt a small ache in her heart. Tears gathered ever so slightly in her eyes at the thought of her grandmother dying. It's something she just didn't want to imagine. If Gia had half as good a relationship with her grandmother as Haley did, she didn't want to imagine the pain the girl would have to go through after her mother died and then her grandmother.

And now Haley feared knowing what was coming next. She didn't want to paint the devil on the wall, but she was sure it had to do with the grandfather. He was perfetly healthy... she knew that sentence would not end positively. And at that moment, Haley hoped so much that it wasn't what she feared. How much pain had the girl already had to endure and now more. Haley hoped and hoped but in vain. It didn't take long for Gia to state the obvious and for a moment Haley was at a loss for words. She felt her own pain at the thought and saw the pain of the girl next to her even more clearly than before.

It wasn't fair and there was nothing Haley could have said to make the situation better. People died, people often died far too soon but just because you were aware of that fact didn't make the situation any better. What had the poor girl done to deserve to experience so much loss and pain at such an early age? Nothing, because very few people deserved it. Sometimes it was just fate that was incredibly mean. Haley cursed it at moments like these. It just wasn't fair.

As Gia covered her face in her hands, Haley gently stroked her back again. She wanted to take this pain away from her but she knew that was not possible. She was at a loss for words and just sat quietly next to Gia for a moment. Haley wanted to say something but at the same time nothing. She wanted to help her but didn't know how and most of all she was afraid that she would say something wrong in this situation. But it would have been worse to say nothing and so she gathered her courage to speak. "Gia, I -" She searched for the right words but could not find them. She did not want to make this situation worse.

She took a few deep breaths and shook her head, "I am so sorry." Was the first thing she said and she knew they were not good words. How were those words going to help Gia? They didn't. "And most of all, I'm sorry I don't have the words for you that you deserve. I wish I could take this pain away from you, but unfortunately I can't." Haley paused for a moment and now looked sadly at the floor. She was sad for the girl and she was ashamed that she couldn't help her.

After a short while she continued speaking, "This is all terrible and you don't deserve any of this. No one deserves this. I can only tell you again that I am here. If you want to talk about it, just want a hug, want to punch something or just want to scream. I'm here for you."

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

As she was speaking, something changed. Gia didn't feel like hiding anything anymore, at least not from Haley. She felt like. . . well, she felt like sharing even more. She had to get through this one thing first, however, and so she pushed on. She told the other Gryffindor about her family, about the deaths of her mother and grandmother, and about the tight bonds those horrible experiences had caused. When she finally got to the part she'd been both anticipating and dreading at the same time, Gia steeled herself. She couldn't keep acting like this. She needed to be brave. And so, ignoring the slight pauses and breaks of her own voice, the girl finished her story. She'd done it.

Although telling Haley about what'd happened had definitely helped in some ways, sharing everything with the girl wasn't without its faults. Telling meant reliving in some sense, for you needed to remember to tell, and reliving was not something Gia wanted to do at the moment. Still, she had done it, she had made it through, and now all that was left was to continue to be brave. All that was left was to see what the other first year thought of it all. Feeling Haley's hand stroke her back comfortingly once more, the young Gryffindor forced herself to look up. It didn't matter how much she wanted to stay hunched over like this forever and ever, she still couldn't erase all of this pain and grief away. It might never go away, Gia realized. Loosing someone was not something that could be pushed aside as easily as one might push aside loosing an object - even if it had held some importance. Things could always be replaced. People, however. . . they could not be.

Hearing Haley start to speak again, Gia wondered what the other Gryffindor student was going to say. What could she say? Even though the eleven year old was the one being comforted and not the other way around she could still appreciate the difficulty of figuring out what to say that Haley was surely experiencing. So when the girl started out with an apology for what Gia had had to go through, the brunette didn't bother saying that those words meant nothing. It was true though, and even Haley seemed to realize this, for she continued by apologizing for the fact that nothing she could say would really help the pain. During the small pause in which the redhead looked down, away from her and at the ground instead, Gia whispered a short, small sentence. A reassurance, of some sort. "It's not your fault, don't be sorry."

"I think I just - I just need to think about this all for a little while. Let it. . . heal itself, in some way." she said after Haley had fully finished speaking. Her voice was soft. "Time heals all wounds, right?" It sounded a bit pathetic, Gia could tell, but she really was hoping that the saying was correct. Then, with a hard swallow, the Gryffindor asked the question she'd been wondering about for a long time. "Haley - you didn't have to stay with me. You - you did though, anyway." There was a short moment of hesitation and then she added, "Why? Why did you stay?" Haley was acting so kind, it could be simply that she wanted to help, but Gia wanted to know for sure what the reason was.

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

@ Gia Adelard

After the two of them had sat here for so long, first in silence and with lots of tears, then with failed attempts to explain the situation and comforting hand movements, and now in silence after Gia had told her everything. The pain was in the atmosphere and neither could have denied it. Gia was hurting over the past and new losses and it hurt Haley to see her like this. To know what the girl had been through in her young years. And now she had tried to find the right words, but they were not there. As much as Haley would have liked to say the right thing, it wasn't possible and she felt bad for that.

Of course, Haley knew deep down that she was not to blame, but she still felt guilty. Why was there no formula for situations like this? Why was there no manual for what was right? Because there is no right thing. In a moment filled with so much grief and pain, there is no right. Nothing could have been said that would have made this situation better, and just as little could have been done. But everything Haley said, she meant. And so it continued to be important to her that Gia knew Haley was there for her.

When Gia responded to her words, she gave her a small smile as a sign that she valued her words. But even though it wasn't her fault, Haley felt useless. Haley hated the phrase Gia said. She hated it because it was one of the worst statements you could make to someone in a terrible situation, yet in the end it was always the truth. It was actually far too simple to be true, but time healed wounds. It wasn't time alone that did it, but if you wanted to simplify the formula, it was true, time heals all wounds. "Yeah, I guess so." she agreed with Gia now and it made it seem like they both knew it was true in a way but both were still sceptical.

Haley looked at Gia's face in wonder after she asked why she had stayed. Haley couldn't really understand the question, wasn't it obvious? With her eyebrows slightly drawn together, she now looked at the floor and thought for a moment. "I couldn't leave you alone like that." She shrugged her shoulder briefly, fearing that this was not enough of an answer for Gia. But that was the way it was. Haley had always been a helpful person and surely she couldn't just ignore it when she saw someone in such pain.

Before Gia could say anything, Haley tried to explain. "I could just see how bad you were and I didn't want you to have to go through this alone. If your only wish had been to be alone, then I would have left you alone after a while for sure but I wanted you to know that someone was there for you." Again, she could not find the right words for her actions. It was simply in her nature to be like that. She had always been like that, but that would not have been a good reason.

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

Gia could tell that Haley didn't exactly love the phrase "time heals all wounds" by the look that appeared on the other girl's face and the expression that came with it. The eleven year old herself had some mixed feelings about it too, if she was being honest. . . she knew, from the death of her mother, that it was true in some sense, for neither her nor her brother nor her father ever burst out crying at random moments anymore when they thought about her. And yet. . . well, it just seemed like such a cliché-ish sort of thing to say when someone was upset or hurting. Even though she herself was the one hurting this time, it still helped just as much as it would if she'd been the one to say it to another person in need of comfort. And that was not at all.

A soft sniffle escaped her mouth and Gia turned away again, embarrassed. She didn't like crying in front of others—why these feelings only emerged now was actually kind of curious. Usually she would have tried much harder to stop her crying and convince Haley everything was absolutely fine, but. . . well, that obviously hadn't happened, and it was much too late for it now. Swallowing hard, she turned back to face Haley again. This time, though, it was a question that escaped her lips, not a sniffle. Why did you stay? It seemed like such a simple question to ask, but Gia felt as though it was much more important than it appeared to be. It was a strange feeling, and one that the eleven year old had no idea how to explain. But it was there. And so she waited expectantly for Haley's reply.

While the other first year mulled over her answer, Gia wondered what was taking so long. If it was a simple question, there had to be a simple answer, right? But a few more seconds ticked by before the redhead finally spoke up again. When she did, it was short. Still, that one small sentence gave Gia a brief glance at who Haley really was—for the Gryffindor was almost positive that not many of the other students would have stopped to make sure she was alright. It wasn't the most satisfactory answer, however, or at least Haley seemed to think so, for she continued on in an effort to explain what she meant. When she was finished, it was Gia's turn to stay quiet for a little bit. When she did speak up again, her voice was soft.

"You were right that I needed company, I guess." For some reason, Gia wasn't able to look the other girl straight in the eyes anymore, and so she looked up at the sky instead. They'd been outside for a lot longer than she'd thought, and the sky was already growing dimmer and dimmer. Suddenly, not really knowing what she was doing, the brunette stood up, leaned over, and hugged the other girl tightly. "I know I've already said this, but thank you." she murmured. Haley's act of kindness had really helped her out, and she was definitely not going to forget. It wasn't as if she wasn't sad anymore—she definitely was—but the way she'd been comforted, well, it had done something more than a simple pat on the back would've.

After she let go and stepped away from the redhead, Gia put her hands in her pockets. Touching the letter brought a fresh wave of tears into her eyes, but she forced herself not to let these ones slip out. Not now, at least. . . she'd done enough crying already. "Um, Haley? Would it be alright if. . . if we went back inside? It's starting to get kind of chilly." Her voice sounded slightly choked in a way, but she hoped that the other first year wouldn't say anything about it this time. Biting her lip and rocking slightly on her toes, she waited for a response as she tried to keep the new tears at bay. She hadn't cried everything out after all, it seemed.

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

Reducio

Sorry again for how long this took, Haley!

@ Gia Adelard

Haley assumed that wasn't the answer Gia was hoping for but it seemed like she would settle for it. Too often, simple questions just didn't have simple answers. Be it the question of a person's motives, the question of whether there is a God, or the question of how one is doing. Sometimes the questions and answers are more complex than they seem at first glance, and Haley often struggled to put her feelings and thoughts into the right words. But she was sure she could explain it reasonably well, because Gia didn't ask further and agreed with her.

Haley could see that it was good for that moment. Although the pain would not go away and the next days and weeks would not be easy either, it seemed that the worst was over for today and it made Haley happy that she could be there for Gia in this difficult time. Even if she couldn't help her as much as she would have liked to.

Haley looked over at Gia and smiled softly to herself as the girl looked up at the sky. But Haley didn't expect what Gia did next and was surprised for a moment when the girl took her in a hug. But Haley didn't have to think about it for long and returned the tight hug, murmuring softly into Gia's hair, "Don't worry. You can always come to me if anything comes up." Haley had always been an open-hearted person but sometimes she was unsure of herself in situations like this. Was this weird? They barely knew each other and yet Haley offered to be there for her in the future. She didn't know but she would never ask either. She liked that way about her and was secretly afraid of the answer to that question too.

"Yeah, sure!" replied Haley and quickly stood up. It had been some time by now and it was getting dark and cold. "I'd rather read this now in front of the fireplace in the common room" as she spoke she briefly lifted her book and started laughing. She had almost forgotten why she had actually been here. To distract herself a bit and to read her book. But that was not all, that was what she wanted to do to forget. Until now it had all worked out, even without a book, but at that moment all the feelings came back as if in one fell swoop. Not only the feelings, the fears and the bad conscience, she also felt the sleep deprivation.

It was clear to Haley that something was wrong and when she had gathered her thoughts again she made her way to the castle with Gia and smiled weakly at her. She didn't want to talk about it and so she ignored her own behavior and tried to distract herself and Gia a bit. "Crazy the time. Sometimes it doesn't seem to go by and sometimes you don't even get to see how dark it gets in the sky." And at that remark, she directed one last glance at the sky before walking away and into the castle.

"Hey Gia, I have to go somewhere real quick. But maybe I'll see you in the common room later. If something's up, you can really come see me anytime." She gave her new acquaintance one last encouraging smile before they parted ways. Haley didn't look back and with quick steps she was gone. Her way led directly to the toilet where she splashed cold water on her face. She couldn't go to the common room now, she couldn't be around people now. She would take a few more minutes to herself and her thoughts before finally making her way to the fat lady.

Haley left the thread

@Haley Rose

17 February, 2021

Gia could tell that Haley was surprised at the sudden hug she received by the way she stiffened slightly, but that stiffness went away very quickly. Feeling Haley hug her back and hearing the other girl's comforting words, Gia nodded and stepped away. "You can come to me, too, if you need." she said softly with a tiny grin. The smile was nothing like her usual room-brightening one, but it showed that she truly meant it, since the other first year would be able to tell that just that one simple act was actually a lot harder for her right now than it seemed. The eleven year old wanted to say thank you again, but she'd already said it so many times in the past half hour or however long they'd been outside together for, so she held off from doing so. . . for now, at least.

When Haley quickly agreed with her suggestion to start heading back inside, Gia nodded gratefully. Both the Gryffindors were standing now, and it was easier for the first year to see the other girl's face. When Haley lifted her book and gestured to it, Gia couldn't help giving her another quick little smile. "Yeah, it's kind of cold out now." she agreed. Seeing the flicker of. . . fear? Anxiety? Gia wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she was positive that there had been something different about Haley's expression, even if that strangeness had lasted for less than five seconds. She didn't ask about it, though, knowing that sometimes it was better to wait for the other person to decide to tell you—if they even wanted to tell you at all. Their encounter had been proof of that.

As the two of them walked back up to the castle, the first year made sure that her hands didn't touch the letter in her left pocket at all. Glad when Haley brought up another subject to talk about during the short walk, she hurriedly gave an answer. "I hadn't realized how dark it had become either," Gia said, glancing up at the sky. "Time is such an odd thing. Sometimes it flies by, like you said, and other times it seems to slow down." added Gia, before shrugging and walking into the castle a few steps behind Haley.

"Okay. See you in the Common Room then, I guess." she replied, giving the redhead another tiny smile and a brief wave. When Haley was out of sight, and she'd made sure that no one else was around to see her, Gia swiped a hand across her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tears that had welled up once more. Sometimes, just having good company really did help, she thought to herself as she began her climb to the fourth floor. Right then, all she wanted to do was lay down on her bed and sleep.

Gia Adelard has left the thread.