It's Been a While Closed

Eloise was surprised at the sudden topic change, however not at the same time. Millie seemed to constantly be switching up topics when things became too uncomfortable for her to handle. Or odd. Just random topic changes. "I couldn't tell you. I don't really pay attention to the ministry all that much."

Eloise was unsure of why the ministry was now the topic of discussion, bu she didn't mind. Anybody to talk to was fine with her at the moment. She needed more friends at the school, and Millie was a possibility. Of course, Eloise hadn't made an effort to go up to anybody herself. But she was extremely shy when it came to introducing herself first to others. She found it much easier if others came up to her instead.

Sometimes she thought about that. How she needed to be more social. Social may not be the word for it. Outgoing? Brave. Not that she wasn't any of those things. Those traits just needed to become stronger. With some work, that wouldn't be impossible. Eloise would just have to work on it a little more. Hogwarts would provide good opportunities for that, though. Eventually she'd get some friends at the school that she actually played a part in.

Eloise nodded. "You're alright. I really couldn't tell you how it works. My dad never really told me how it worked. Just that it was new and exciting and great. So far he's been right, but I have a weird feeling that that won't be the case soon." Eloise looks down at her feet. She knew at some point during her stay at Hogwarts, no matter how happy she was with her friends here and her new life as a witch, she would begin to miss what she'd left behind. Her friends. Her family.

"My dad briefly mentioned that. He kind of tried to brief me on basic and stuff before I came. He said that he remembered being taught about it, so he didn't want to go into the details himself. Better to let the teachers here do the work, I guess." With a shurg, Eloise runs her hands over the black and white keys of the piano, being careful not to press any of them down. She didn't want to accidentally play a note and then have Millie think that she didn't want to talk to her. Eloise was enjoying their conversation, strange as it was. But she liked the spontaneity of it.

Millie hummed to herself as she listened to Eloise's reply. It was natural, of course, to not be necessarily interested in everything going on in the real world. Not to be interested, or to be persuaded out of it. She really enjoyed learning about American history. It was interesting.

There was something interesting to know Millie was going to school in the country that had once controlled her home country. The thought made Millie giggle. She could be a ruler if she really tried. However, trying was something Millie was unnaturally amazing at.

"Come on Eloise, lets be the Queens of the world!" Millie stood up and pulled Eloise up with her.

Millie let her imagination take over. Breathing in the crystal clear air, she let out a big bright smile. Millie avidly pointed to the piano. "That's our throne," She declared. She let her violet eyes roam around the room. She looked at the empty floor, tables to the side, chairs decked around. A stage at top. A perfect place to be accumulate the world. It was finally time for Millie to pick out the spots. An interesting choice for the Gryffindor.

"The tables are the different countries, the empty floor is where we train our soldiers and herd the animals. On the stage is where we fight our battles!" Millie grinned wildly at Eloise. "And right now, its um-" Millie thought of all the wars, "World War One! We've gotta save the muggles from disaster!"

Millie raised her wand and ran to the stage, waving for Eloise to join her. She pointed her wand at the tables and muttered a soft spell.

"Lumos."

Eloise was slightly confused, but she played along. Millie seemed to be really, genuinely interested in world affairs, and Eloise admired that. She could never force herself to get interested in that kind of thing, so she gave a lot of credit to Millie.

She knew little of the world wars, although she knew that the wizards had played roles in each of them. Following Millie onto the stage, she flicked her wand, casting some spells she knew, while pretending to cast some spells she hadn't yet learned. She hadn't wanted Millie to see the ones she was pretending on, though, as it seemed that she seemed very invested in what they were doing. Eloise didn't want to offend her.

Eloise admired Millie's frantic energy about everything. She had seemed so shy at first, but as soon as they'd begun talking, she had really opened up to Eloise. Not anything too large, like telling her all of her deepest secrets, but definitely broke out of her shell quite a bit. Maybe that was how Eloise acted around new people as well. Although, maybe not as high energy. But she loved people with boundless energy; they were always the best to be around.

Eloise had begun imagining a world unlike any other as she and Millie got farther and farther into their little "game." As a child, Eloise had always played make believe. What kid hadn't? Although it had been a long period of time, everything came rushing back to her in an instant. The excitement of the new world around you. The new aromas, the sights, the feelings.

"I absolutely adore it" she said breathlessly, imagining a battlefield, though the grass still stained a bright green. Brilliant spells cascading from the tips of wands, swords brandished, gleaming in the sunlight. All of a sudden, she felt like a little kid again. It was absolutely wonderful. She felt euphoric.

Soldiers were rallied all around the girls, Millie and Eloise in the center. Eloise knew that Millie couldn't be imagining the exact same things as her, however, they could be similar. She wished that she could know the world Millie was imagining. Maybe then the two could combine their worlds to make the perfect make believe battlefield. Eloise holds her wand, poised to strike.

Rain pours down from overhead. The sky is dark, and the soldiers can barely see a thing. "Lumos" she whispers, so as not to be heard by the enemies. Although, she quickly draws the light back to her wand, afraid she may have alerted the enemy of their presence. If they had even seen.

Millie let her breath slowly turn into a rhythmic pattern. Watching as statues around the room became real life. They were knights. They waited for Millie's every command. The ballroom shifted from a throne in a castle to a ruddy battlefield. However, while spells were being casted, nobody got hurt. Not even a destructive child could imagine a war.

However, Millie could feel the light from her wand slowly disappear with every thought that wasn't on magic. Yet, the world she believed in never changed once, not even when her mind was focused on Eloise's voice.

"I absolutely adore it." 

Millie nodded. Her entire body lurched foward when she saw a wand go spiraling above her head. The thought of herself being in pain made her scream a pitch that Millie didn't know she could reach.

"AH!" Her voice echoed through the room, and the minute Millie's voice echoed through the room, the battlefield went away. The statues were back to their original spot; unmoving and dead. Millie covered her head and collapsed on the ground. It was an overreaction to most, but she had grown up in a place where if something went flying over your head; you had a right to overreact.

You never wanted to get hit in the head with a football, or with any other type of object that would crush hurt your skull.

"Sorry, Sorry." Millie whispered, pushing herself up from the ground, and rubbing her head in embarassment.

Eloise fought the urge to rush to Millie's side. She seemed alright. Millie had immediately stood up after the incident, and didn't seem outwardly harmed in any way. "You're fine. A-Are you okay?" Tentatively, she took a step forward, unsure of what to do. She was terrible in these types of situations.

Intently, Eloise watched, slightly disappointed that her fantasy world had disappeared. She knew it was selfish; she should care more about her friend than any world she could conjure up again. If something were to have happened to Millie, that couldn't be changed. A wave a shame came over her, and she dropped to her knees next to Millie.

It was odd to suddenly be jerked back into reality. She'd been so immersed in her own fantasy battle that she'd completely forgetten that she wasn't truly there. The beauty of the ballroom came back to her, making her breath hitch once again. Every time she'd seen the beautiful room, it took her breath away. Her father had not done it justice when describing it to her as a child. He hadn't mentioned how ornate the decorations were, or how regal everything looked in general. Not just in the ballroom, but everywhere throughout the castle as well.