Nature Walk PV Hugh Lowe Finished

Rorie giggled at Hugh's concern for the bird's behavior.

"Some of them do. don't worry, it won't bite!" she said, watching the little bird fly around in circles around her friend's head. It reminded her of the cartoons in which the tiny birds would zoom around the heads of characters that were dizzy.

"Yeah, the rehearsal room would work! It's on the fourth floor by the ballroom, just in case you didn't know," She added cockily.

The two walked on, Rorie excitedly stopping at a tree near a small spring. it had a perfect branch to build a home for the little blue-bird. Not too high up that it would be injured if it fell but not too low down so that other animals could eat it. After taking a few minutes to assemble a small nest out of twigs and leaves, the two said their goodbyes to the bird and placed it in its new home with the remainder of the seeds.

"I'm going to come back and visit it soon, probably gonna sneak some food from the Great Hall for it too," she said confidently, announcing it to Hugh.

After another solid few minutes of walking, a waterfall appeared. It was very pretty, the sun reflecting off of it and creating a rainbow in the flow, and the sound of it was super calming. Rorie approached it and put her hand under the fall, letting it flow through her open fingers. She found it absolutely splendid, such a beautiful thing occurring naturally.

"What was it like for you at home back in Scotland?" she asked happily, adding on an unsure mumble of, "or at least I think it was Scotland by the accent..."

Rorie had led them towards a waterfall. Intentional or not, Hugh could merely guess. He wondered just how many secrets this place had hidden, and how many his new friend had already discovered in such a short span of time? She seemed to like it here. Hugh could tell as she softly ran her fingers through the multitude of falling drops, enjoying its archaic splendor.

"Scotland?" Hugh's mind got swung back through an entire database of memories. "Well, these are the highlands." He began softly as helooked upon the mountainous horizon. "I'm from the lows. A small village called Blackness." Hugh had always thought the village's name to be a cruel contrast to its inhabitants. "It's just me and my dad back home. Mum left in a hurry one day, don't know much else than that. She was magical, like us." His father had explained to his son as much as he had figured out himself. That the woman they both loved grew jealous of a growing bond between an initially unloving father and his magical child. "Dad didn't like me being a wizard, nor mum a witch. It took him a while, but he got around it. Eventually we grew closer and he tells me my mum felt betrayed in a way. It wasn't her fault, but it caused her to leave us at the end."

The boy's chest felt heavy as he remember his mother's loving smile. Both his father and Hugh never blamed her for anything. In the beginning, they had hoped she came back one day. But that hope remained unanswered over time. He realised Rorie's pleasant mood must've been ruined right now. Good job Lowe. She must've really loved that bit. Sarcasm spawning like madness inside his head.

His plan was to remedy his little anecdote. He began to climb a rock formation leading to the top of the waterfall, meanwhile continueing his story. "But dad's great. He's like a big bear. He hunts fish like bears too." That last bit caused him to smile broadly. His father being a fisherman, he never realised that similarity before. "Other than that I had few but great friends. I guess I'll need to speak with them in the summer about all this."

Having reached the top, he took place on a protruding rock that split the waterfall in half. Both his legs were dangling off the side. "How about you?" he called back. "Where are you from?" He had hoped to not seem intrusive. Though by now, he had a feeling she'd take no harm by him merely returning an inquiry. He smiled from above, waving her over.

𝕽orie gathered a few flowers and some long but skinny leaves and set to work weaving a little flower crown.

No, she wasn't going to pretend to be a princess in solitude sometime soon.

Or maybe she was, who knew?

Rorie supposed she had set herself up for this one. By asking about another's history, they would probably return the question. She didn't talk about what her life was like back at home often, but she felt like Hugh wouldn't be one to judge too harshly.

And besides, the girl needed a break from pretending to be a person she wasn't every once in a while.

Letting her guard down, Rorie focused intently on the pieces of nature in her hands that she was precisely working on. Less eye contact would make her more comfortable.

"Well, I was raised in a ghetto. I'm pretty poor back at home, have my little brother and sister and my mum. My dad just vanished one day, still don't know why, though. Or even if it was by his will," she shuddered, thinking about the prospect of her father being taken by the same people that had lit their house on fire. Somebody was out to get the Thompson family, and Rorie had no idea why.

She had tried to keep her explanation concise, as she hated being pitied and didn't want that from her friend.

It felt strangely relieving to share her real story with someone for once.

Vanished father? Hugh wondered by himself, giving Rorie not a look of pity but questions. Though he quickly turned his frown back up and smiled weakly. His eyes wandered off and after a split second he rose back up on his feet and came juming down from one rock to the other until he reached his friend's position. being the tall boy he was, he had to look down a bit to look at her. "I think we both know your father loved you." Hugh spoke with a firm but reassuring voice. "Perhaps he still does. What I do know, the way you describe him. Like how he taughtyou all about music. That means he cares." Hugh felt awefully wise after that. He held his smirk back this time, but he couldn't help to stand a bit more straight. Proud in the gushing wind that had come up and caused his hair to stand up even more as it used to.

He seemed to feel fine and wanted to make sure his friend did as well. In one quick move, he took hold of Rorie's crown of flowers and placed it on top of her head. "M'lady" He graciously spoke as he bowed deep with both arms wide open. As he rose back up, his familiar smirk was back. "Princess Rorie, songbird by the streams and lady of the waterfalls." He announced to the woods and fields. "Has quite the ring to it, no?" he smiled. Luckily he calmed down pretty quickly again, not prepared to embarrass himself any further. Though he had hoped his little act would've lifted her spirits somehow. He knew he could be a little crazy.

𝕽orie was glad that the boy did not ask any further questions or give her any sympathy. She just wanted to be treated normally. His words were comforting, offering a different point of view on the event and reassuring her mind about her dad.

Smiling weakly, she said, "I suppose you're right, aren't you?" Her voice trembled a little, as if she might cry, but Rorie blinked the tears away as quickly as she could.

She laughed a bit at the way his messy hair blew and stood up in the wind. As he put the creation she had made on her head and pretended to bow down to her, she laughed even more.

"It does have a nice ring to it, you're correct. Are you sure you aren't a poet as well as an artist?" She smirked at him, happy that he was a bit of a dreamer as well.

Others may have seen the behavior as overly enthusiastic, but to Rorie it wasn't. It lifted her dampened mood back into one of a peppy child like she normally was, and she silently thanked her company for that.

"Well, should we start to walk back to the castle? I'm pretty sure supper will be served soon," she suggested happily.

"Yes we should" He replied quite sure of their decision. The boy was looking forward to his next meal. Their little field trip had definitely been worth it though. And even if he didn't quite realise it yet, Hugh's nerves had barely shown up at all. It seemed young Mr. Lowe could walk without fear after all.

He grabbed his bag and swung it over his right shoulder, as they began their journey castlebound. Along the way, the boy pulled out one of his pencils again and started fiddling with it. "So, this weekend right?" He reconfirmed to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

He had to keep his longs legs from walking to fast, causing him to occasionally turn around and walk backwards along with Rorie. His free left hand tried to desperately tame the bewildered bush on top of his head. The wind not helping him complete his objective at all.

The walk back home didn't last long at all. Especially now that they cut straight ahead to the castle. As they entered the wind-free halls of Hogwarts castel, Hugh's head looked like it had exploded. As he inspected himself in a window's reflection, you could see the grin on his face slowly crawling up.

At last he turned to Rorie and realised he must've worn the most smug face in all of school by now. So proud of his chaotic look. He didn't quite know what to say as they reached the doors to the great hall, so he eventually gave Ro an exaggerated "impressed face".
"Friend is good. I like friend." Adding his two thumbs up again for emphasis along with that god-aweful smirk of his.

I was thinking the same really
This was alot of fun though! I'll send you an owl for the next chat