19 Dec 2021, 20:43
HoM Study Buddies
Waiting for @Samantha Salwis to arrive at the Library
Once upon a time there was a student sorted into the Ravenclaw House named Samantha Salwis and a student sorted into Hufflepuff named Simon Kincaid. The two met over letters through the school's Quill Pal program and after meeting at the ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley over the Summer, had become friends.
There, the two also decided to become study buddies in the course of History of Magic. It could be a dry subject and Simon thought it was good to have a friend close-by to review the subject matter and keep it fresh in their minds for exam dates. The two met regularly to study the subject, but to also get caught up on what was happening with the other during their time at Hogwarts.
Today would be their last meet up before Winter Break. That didn't mean he wouldn't see his friend before then and certainly he'd try and catch her to say goodbye and wish her happy holidays but he still wanted to make sure he delivered her present, just in case.
He arrived first at the Library and got their usual table off to the left. There he set his wrapped present, a small box which held a dark blue quill with forest green and gold accents. It was a nice self-inking one and something he figured a Ravenclaw would enjoy. It was wrapped in brown paper, and tied off with some white string. He also tried to add a handmade white paper star for decoration.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
28 Dec 2021, 11:21
HoM Study Buddies
@Simon KincaidHer eyes scanned the library, as she slowly made walked through it. She had seen the library a thousand times before, but this would be one of the last times she would be here before her return home. Samantha was excited to go home and see her family again, but she was going to miss Hogwarts a lot too. Whenever she was home she wanted to be at Hogwarts, and when she was at Hogwarts she wanted to be at home.
After her eyes were done scanning the numerous books in the library, they found Simon. A smile appeared on Samantha's face as she noticed the Hufflepuff. Carrying her bag, which was full of books, she made her way over to the table they always used during their study sessions. "Hi Simon! How are you?"
At first, Samantha had had a hard time studying with somebody else, but after a while, she started to enjoy it. With a loud clap, due to the heavy books, she placed her bag on the table. Her eyes widened as she heard the sound and her cheeks turned slightly red. "That was a little too loud. I did not mean for that to happen." She quickly sat down, hoping she hadn't drawn too much attention to them.
Samantha spotted the present a few seconds after she sat down and a little gasp escaped her mouth. "What's that? Is it for me?" Her hands moved across the table to grab the small brown box. The present was a little far away from her, so she had to stand up and lean over the table. Once she held the present she moved it closer to herself and sat down again. She turned it around, carefully studying the present. Her eyes spotted the white paper star, "Did you make the star?"
31 Dec 2021, 13:16
HoM Study Buddies
Talk of holiday plans with @Samantha Salwis
He smiled, watching her less than graceful entrance but didn't mind it at all. Simon was one for people being their authentic selves around him and so he appreciated those like Samantha Salwis. Even back when she first learned about him being a dhampir, he looked back on it with fondness. Instead of hiding the fact that she was a bit frightened, she used her Ravenclaw curiosity and inclination to find answers and she asked questions up front.
"I did. It's pretty good, isn't it?" he beamed, referencing his star. It was a nice star, but there was more to it. "Sadly, it was supposed to originally be a snowflake but after a good nine...NINE failed attempts...well, I went for a star. Go on then, open it," he smiled, hoping she'd like the gift. He knew she liked navy blue and a dark green, and the accent in gold just tied it all together. And what Ravenclaw wouldn't like a quill?
"I've been doing quite well. Most of my final assignments are completed so I can focus on heading home for the holidays. I have a feeling those two weeks are going to fly by. I've got a lot of plans made and I'm going to try and make the most of it. I'm planning on seeing some of my muggle friends, getting to Church some, trying to track down an address for my father, spending time with Aunt Maggie, and even visiting a friend's farm for a few days - which...that last one I'm not sure if I should be regretting or not. What are you doing over the holiday break?"
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
31 Dec 2021, 21:03
HoM Study Buddies
@Simon Kincaid"Yeah, it looks great!" Samantha said while turning the present around in her hands, trying to figure out what was in it. "Nine?" She looked up quite surprised. She was not the best in arts and crafts, but she had expected Simon was better at it. When Simon said she could open the present, she didn't wait for another second.
Carefully she unwrapped the gift, making sure she didn't ruin the paper star. When she saw the dark blue quill a smile appeared on her face. When she noticed the forest green and gold accents, she loved the quill even more. "Thank you, Simon!" After she had placed the little box back on the table, she stood up and went over to the Hufflepuff boy. While giving him a hug she thanked him again. "It is perfect, the colors are beautiful."
She nodded when Simon told her most of his assignments are completed. That was a smart thing to do. She listened to the boy talk, but when he just casually mentioned his father she just had to talk. "Hold on, an address for your father? What do you mean by that, you can't just say that without explaining it further!" Hadn't the boy learned anything from hanging out with her? She always wanted to know everything, so if you mentioned something you must be prepared to explain it and answer thousand of questions about it.
"I am not doing a lot, just celebrating Christmas and spending some time with my family. Visiting my grandparents and that kind of stuff. But I am just very happy that I can go home again and watch tv. Also google, google is great. You can find everything on it. I love books, but google is just so much better. And it is nice to see my parents and sister and grandma and grandpa again. Just very excited for the holiday break!"
1 Jan 2022, 16:02
HoM Study Buddies
Holiday plans talk with @Samantha Salwis
"I found a box of stuff and uh, it had photographs of my father and my mother and letters that my mum had written to him that he had kept..." he paused. "It took me awhile but I decided to write him and the letter came back. So I'm hoping over the holiday break to go to the Delivery Office and see if there's a forwarding address." He glanced down. Samantha had been one of the first people he told about his father and for some reason it felt awkward to talk about - probably because it was such a new topic of conversation for him. "His name is Adrian Hawthorne."
He'd drop it though for now. No sense in babbling over stuff.
"I don't blame you, I'm looking forward to putting on my library on repeat in Apple Music and just letting it play the entire two weeks straight, sleeping or not," he smiled. "I've missed my music something awful being here." And it was nice, as she said, to have things like google at your fingertips whenever a question presented itself. Still, that was such a Ravenclaw thing to think about.
"I hope you enjoy your time with your family," he said sincerely. "Your sister, is she older or younger?" he couldn't remember if she had told him about her. "And your grandparents, do they live nearby? Are you close with them?" Simon had never known a grandparent. His father had been out of the picture so whether or not he had parents still alive was beyond him and his mother's died just days after her graduation from Hogwarts.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
2 Jan 2022, 16:44
HoM Study Buddies
@Simon Kincaid"A box?" Samantha listened to Simon explain what he found. The young girl wondered what she had done if she was in Simon's place. Probably the first thing she would do was go to an adult, yeah, that is what she would do. "Does your aunt know you found the box?" Simon seemed a bit awkward, but Samantha didn't notice. "Adrian Hawthorne," she echoed the name, "I have never heard of that last name."
"Yes! Music, that too! Magic is really cool and amazing, but many muggle things are too. Now we are going home we can use them too. And I can also face time with my friends in the Netherlands, instead of owling it to my dad and him emailing it." After that she rolled her eyes, it was so much work just to talk to her friends. Though she had been talking with them less since the first in the summer break.
If you ask a question to Samantha, you must be prepared for a long answer from which most doesn't have anything to do with your question. "Anne, my sister, is four years older than me. Sometimes five, now she is 16, I think. Yeah, she is. She is very old and pretty, she has also had so many boyfriends. I don't even know all of their names!" She shook her head. Samantha was nothing like her sister. Boy as friends was fine, but more than that, never. Love was something the young girl didn't want to know anything about.
More questions! "Well, that depends on which grandparents you are talking about. So the parents of my mother live in England, just a few hours drive from my house. But the parents of my dad live in the Netherlands, so we would need to take a plane or the boat and car." Samantha really missed her grandparents in the Netherlands, she loved them very much. Her grandpa looked a lot like her dad and her grandma was an awesome woman. They always did things with her and her sister. Backing, biking, coloring, playing games, talking, and many more things.
"With my oma and opa, which means grandpa and grandma in Dutch, I am very close, even though I barely see them. They always call when I am home and they send food, giving Samantha food was a great way to win her love. "With my grandma and grandpa from my mother's side I am not so close. My grandma is strict, but she is also nice. She always gives us lots of presents. Most of them are clothes and make-up." It was clear Samantha didn't like those things, due to the look on her face and the way she said it. "And my grandpa is nice, he just doesn't talk that much."
"Do you know the parents of your mom? Or aren't they alive anymore?" the brunette asked hesitantly while playing with her new quill. She didn't want to hurt Simon's feelings by saying something wrong. Subtlety and emotions weren't Samantha's strong suit.
9 Jan 2022, 15:41
HoM Study Buddies
Talking with his friend @Samantha Salwis
Simon always enjoyed having Ravenclaw friends. They had a way of asking a lot of questions and naturally seemed to be curious. Simon didn’t mind the questions, if one never asked anything, a silence would fall and then where would two people be? Not wonderful friends like he was with Samantha Salwis.
“My aunt, no…she doesn’t know anything about the box or the man that brought it. I mean, I don’t like keeping things from her but something tells me that…well, this needn’t be brought to her attention just yet.” But when? He had already attempted contact with the man again to have the letter returned, and now, he was planning over the holiday break to find another address in hopes of getting ahold of him. What did he really want to achieve? Answers to some questions? A relationship? Simon wasn’t sure.
Simon listened as Samantha said some of the things she was looking forward to over the winter break and he smiled, glad to see her excitement for it. She talked about her sister and how she was very pretty and Simon wondered what she looked like. Hey, the boy did like a pretty girl.
“Sounds like you’ve got a lovely family,” he said when she finished telling him of her grandparents as well, although he could tell she favored one set a little over the other. That was human nature, nothing to be ashamed of. Then she asked of his.
“Oh, no. My mum’s parents died in a car accident literally days after she graduated from Hogwarts. It was all quite a whirlwind for her. She had to deal with losing both of them and gaining custody of her fourteen year old sister. I think her meeting my father was a way of trying to escape all that responsibility but instead she got more with me. She loved my Aunt Maggie though and she loved me.” He paused, realizing he was going on about his mother instead of the grandparents. Still, that was just it, he had nothing to go on when it came to them. “Aunt Maggie has said good things about them though. They seemed like a pretty close family and supportive. I can tell where my aunt gets it from.”
He didn’t mind the personal questions, although when it came to family, he didn’t always have the right answers. “So I didn’t bring my books to this study session. I thought we’d just hang out a bit and we could meet back after the holidays and you can tell me all about your ventures and that pretty sister of yours,” he teased.
OOC: I was thinking if you want, your reply could be after they come back from holiday break if you want to keep things more in 'current time' for them.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
21 Jan 2022, 09:52
HoM Study Buddies
@Simon KincaidThe disapproving look on Samantha's face made clear how she thought about the fact that Simon's aunt didn't know about the box. "You should tell her," she said determinedly. She knew that it sometimes was easier not to tell your parents (or in Simon's case aunt) everything, but in the end, it was the best thing to do. "But it is up to you not me," she quickly added. "I mean I can't tell you what to do." After all, she hadn't told her parents that she was cursed in the beginning. She had only told them after a couple of months and even then she hadn't told them everything. She had no right to say what Simon should or shouldn't tell.
"Yes, I do! My family is great, I miss them a lot sometimes," she said with a sad little smile. When Simon started talking, the story sounded familiar to Samantha. Simon had talked about his grandparents before. She was annoyed at herself. She always praised herself that she had a great memory and now she had forgotten what happened to Simon's grandparents and forced him to tell the sad story again. "It's sad that they died, but it is nice that they were close and supportive."
"Hanging out sounds nice." She had already done quite a lot of her schoolwork, so there was no reason to do anything now. Samantha rolled her eyes when Simon mentioned her sister. "Anne isn't that interesting at all, except if you are interested in the thousand, no millions, of boyfriends she had, or the make-up she wears." Of course, her sister was more than her boyfriends and make-up, but in Samantha's eyes those were the things that defined her sister. Jealousy played a big part in that. Her sister was a lot prettier than her and Samantha didn't like that, but she would never admit that.This part is after the break:
Wearing the school uniform and with her hair in the usual low ponytail, Samantha waited on her study buddy. She had placed her book on the table but wasn't planning on studying right away. There was a far more important thing, she needed to know what happened with the forwarding address and Simon's dad.
As soon as she would spot Simon, she would start talking. "Hi Simon, how was your holiday? How did it go with the delivery office and forwarding address?" Right away she asked what she wanted to know, there was no reason to beat around the bush. She had always been very direct, just like her father.
25 Jan 2022, 15:20
HoM Study Buddies
Meeting back up with @Samantha Salwis
He smiled. What was with Ravenclaws and their direct questions? Clair Fernandez was a lot like that and Samantha Salwis shared that trait. It was a good one though, one that made him smile. It just meant that they were inquisitive and that they cared - and that they were hoping for a direct answer. "Good to see you too, Sam," he smiled widely to her. She did greet him, but he was just playing around a little with her persistence.
Simon placed his bag down onto the table and gave her a hug before sitting down in the chair across from where she had her things. "I got an address. I think I'm going to write him tonight and maybe even try to mail it out by tomorrow." If he waited, he might not do it. When you waited on something as big as this, that's when doubt would creep in and prevent you from finding the courage to send it. No. The sooner - the better.
"I'll keep you updated on it," he assured her. "Although I'm not entirely sure he'll even write back. Even when he came to the house last Summer, it was really to see my mum. It wasn't as if he was expecting him to even have a kid to meet the kid."
"How was your break?" he asked cheerfully, ready to hear an update about her days away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
18 Feb 2022, 09:31
HoM Study Buddies
@Simon KincaidSimon placed his bag down, while Samantha waited for an answer. She had been patient all break to get to know more about Simon's journey to find his dad and she could feel the burning need to know the answer grow inside her as she hugged the boy back. A spark of curiosity could be seen in her eyes as her friend told her he got an address.
"What are you going to write him? What are you going to tell him? What even do you want to ask him?" she fired questions Simon's way. "You can't just write: Hey, I am your kid, how is life treating you?" When she told the boy what he couldn't write, she had lowered her voice to make it sound more like his. In her normal voice she continued, "I mean, you probably could, but that would be really weird. To be honest this whole thing is weird. I am not the best at writing letters so I can't really help you, but if I could I would help you!"
"Good," together with an approving nod was her reaction to Simon telling her he would keep her updated. Not that he had a choice. If he didn't Samantha would ask him every time she saw him, as she wanted to know what was going on in her friend's life. "Even if he doesn't write back, you still tried. And also he didn't know your mom is dead? Isn't that weird? And he didn't know you are his kid? How is he so clueless." Samantha didn't understand clueless people. How didn't you want to know everything that was going on? She could never live in ignorance.
"My break was good, I got to see my grandparents again and we even went to the zoo. It was even fun to see my annoying sister again. She said I didn't grow at all and I am still as tiny as I was when I left, which isn't true at all. My grandparents said I grew a lot and my mom and dad did too! So she is just stupid." It was clear to see that Samantha disliked the fact that her sister told her she didn't grow and was very proud of the fact that her (grand)parents said she did. She had always been the smallest at home and she didn't like it at all.
"Overall my break was good," Samantha said as she stopped herself from rambling on too much. Her mind moved to the letters she had sent Vivian without any reply over the break. The happy look on her face faded away, and she could feel the pain coming back. She hated that Vivian ignored her over the summer. She shook the feeling off and looked up at Simon again. "How was your break, except the dad part?" she said with a little smile, clearly fake.Sorry for my late reply