Archive BlossomFest Bonfire

 It was a surprise to Matilda when a little blonde girl came up to her and tugged on her sleeve. With her eyebrows raised, her pink lips parted and she completely flushed at the girl's kind words. "Merci, belle," She thanked her, raising a hand to place it on the top of her head for one second before letting it come across her chest, grasping her opposite elbow. She did the same with her other arm before she decided to say anything more.  "You are kind, that is a good trait." She mentioned, her smile spreading further into a grin as she said these words.

 Her heart had been warmed by the girl, resembling the warmth that her skin felt from the fire before them. She hadn't ever really expected someone to compliment her, although it wasn't all her work. "It is not just I who worked to put this together. All of us came together to work on it." She motioned towards the other staff members in the vicinity, pleased with the outcome so far. She loved the idea of teamwork, and would do her best to constantly make things better, no matter what certain circumstances were in place. Once the suggestion was put out, there was no going back.

 A girl with wild red hair came up to them next, and Matilda recognized her from some parts of the school, though she couldn't be all too sure.. there were so many redheads in the first year now and this girl looked no younger than twelve. She greeted the blonde girl, giving away that her name was Rosie, and then greeted Matilda as well. "Hello," She nodded to the redhead, then drew her eyes back to the fire for a moment. It was growing in height now, the whole pile of branches and sticks basically ablaze. It was amazing - Matilda hadn't been to a bonfire in quite the long while.

 As the other girl complimented the bonfire as well, Matilda grinned, shrugging her shoulders just the slightest bit, "It was all of us together, darling," she mused, motioning to the other professors around the area, "Thank you, though." It was quite wonderful how far words could go, and these two girls had most probably lit up Matilda's night. Although, there was still so much more in store. The bonfire ran on until every last person retreated back to the Common Room, and anyone responsible was required to stay until then. It wasn't quite a challenge for the Divination professor, she hardly slept as it was.

Kyden didn't even want to go to the bonfire. He was going to opt out and just stay in the common room reading. However things didn't happen that way. Since he was a prefect he had to lead his fellow Slytherins out to the Grounds and where the bonfire was being held. He didn't think it would be a good idea to just lead his fellow Slytherins out there and then go back inside to the common room. So even though he wasn't ecstatic about it he was now attending the bonfire.

Once he had lead the Slytherins down to the bonfire. He stood there looking around. Okay, he had to admit it looked like it was going to be fun. Being at Hogwarts had changed him. Where he would have passed up on anything fun before Hogwarts, now he absolutely hated being left out of the fun. What could he say. He had become a social butterfly.

Looking around he spotted marshmallows and smiled. Of course he had tasted marshmallows before and they were simply amazing. However he had to admit that he had never roasted a marshmallow nor had he ever made or eaten a smore. He was actually now slightly excited that he had come out after all.

Lucy looked up at the Slytherin prefect that stopped near her. He looked nearly as excited as she had been about the marshmallows. "I was excited too," she said to him, raising her voice since she was a little over a meter away. "Then I tried to get close enough to roast it and almost burned my face off." 

She grinned as a thought crossed her mind. Would he be game to do it? Who knows. Lucy had never even seen him before, so she figured she might as well ask. She hopped up and crossed over to Kyden. "I have a proposition, though. I propose... a roast off!" She declared, pausing slightly to heighten the suspense. "You, me, whoever else wants to join. We could have someone judge who made the most perfectly golden marshmallow. What do you say?" she asked, cocking her head with a smile.

The competition, in her mind, was all in good fun. She wasn't concerned about winning, but she had come here to meet new people and have a good time, and this seemed like a good way to kick things off. She didn't want to just sit there like a bump on a log.

"Plus it's already challenging because the fire is still so hot. So that should be fun," she added on. She raised her eyebrows, waiting to see if the Slytherin boy would take the challenge.

Dakota was actually quite silent the entire time he walked, the boy following after the Gryffindor prefect. His arms were crossed a bit and he breathed out softly, beginning to think if he should've actually came to the bonfire. Would it actually be fun or was it all  just some desperate attempt to get the students to bond? He honestly couldn't see anything fun about surrounding a fire, no matter how exciting it was described on television. Nevertheless, he was sure that it wouldn't hurt to try and have fun..it wasn't like he had anything better to do anyways. Once he noticed a place to sit, he silently took lowered down, the boy being oddly quiet. Sure, he was somewhat shy but he didn't say anything and his actions barely produced much sound, Dakota actually seeming distracted.

He sat on the ground rather than the bench, making sure to go on the far end of it to allow room for anybody who wanted to sit beside their friends. His head was still lifted up the entire time as students came, his eyes directed towards the stars above. Some part of him was expecting to see another shooting star while the other half wondered what it would be like to actually be among those wonderful bright, hot...mini Suns? Yep, he needed to pay attention in astronomy more. Well whatever they were, he seemed highly attracted to them in more ways than one. The thought of writing a poem about those shimmering cosmic wonders popped into his head, the boy remembering that he had a notepad in his pocket. Hmm...well, soon enough he could. For now he'd be better off attempting to start a conversation with someone.

Fire and Hogwarts. Two things great on their own, but combined together turned into a disaster. The events of the Hufflepuff Campout, which Eris blessfully hadn't been a part of, still lingered in her mind as she dressed for the event. Eris had plenty of new clothes from her trip to Hogsmade with Rhea and Serena, and wasn't exactly sure what to wear. Thus, time ticked away as the young girl picked out an outfit for herself for the first time in a long time. When on the streets, she couldn't exactly pick an outfit from her wide variety of clothes, limited to one jacket, pair of pants, and shirt. What was she supposed to do, wear her jeans on her head for variety? Like that would be appreciated by anyone who had the luck or misfortune to see a 10 year old gallivanting around with pants on her head.

Finally deciding upon a red shirt with sleeves longer than her arms, due to the way she liked the way the sleeves looked like wings as they hid her arms from outside exposure, and as a bonus, they were fun to play with. Along with the shirt, Eris had thrown on a pair of black jeans. Her hair was unbrushed, as per usual. The red waves of her hair fell to her shoulders, and on second thought, Eris hastily racked her hands through the tangled mound of ginger hair before stepping away from the mirror in the dorm. Her small body stared back at her, although clad in nicer clothing than usual. Slightly pleased by her appearance, the girl trotted away from the mirror without a backwards glance.

Stepping down the stairs, Eris only had a moment in the common room before her friend yanked her down another flight of stairs and to the Campfire Party. Behind the two girls, the rest of the Gryffindors followed their prefect, in their typical rowdy manner. Lively chatter filled Eris's ears as she promptly followed Rhea down to the campfire, basking in the faint wind that blew from the trees of the Forest. The darkness wasn't scary, as the twinkling stars shone above, looking as beautiful as the stars shining in the Great Hall. Along with the stars, the fire crackled merrily, flying sparks going in every direction, as the students crashed joyfully through the grass, crushing it under their feet as made their way to the fire.

Once they got there, Eris smiled in elation at the site of the bright fire. Carefully, the girl took a step towards the roaring flames, reaching a hand towards the flames, welcoming the bitter bite of the burning flames and the sensation that traveled up her arms, as the fire crackled. Staring, mesmerized by the orange and yellow figures and the way they danced in perfect unison, Eris took a step closer to the flames, only to feel her skin be seered by the heat. Recoiling due to the sheer intensity, Eris looked around the clearing again, eyes settling on Rhea.

Her fellow red head and dorm mate was motioning Eris over, and with a longing glance at the roaring fire, Eris walked over to her friend. Before she could even say a word, Rhea's mouth was stuffed with marshmellows. Eris had never had the sweet candy, having a mother who preferred to eat more obscure "healthy" foods. Although, she knew what it was, having seen the food in store front windows when allowed to leave her house to go shopping, on the rare occasion that her mother was feeling safe enough to let her two daughters go outside.

The party was in full bloom, other friends of Eris's mingling. Rosie was with...PROFESSOR BARROWS? Ew. That woman was horrible. Scowling in distaste, Eris looked away from Rosie and the rest of the party, opening her mouth to talk to Rhea. She didn't know exactly what to say, but any conversation was better than nothing.

Than Rhea started to cough, and Eris raised an eyebrow for a split second. Was she joking, or was she actually coughing? Eris had no bloody idea, but than Rhea coughed again and Eris decided she wasn't joking. Worry coursing through her, Eris stepped closer to her friend. "Uh, Rhea?"

Eris Fawley, the best at saving her friends lives in the face of danger. Awkwardly, Eris patted Rhea's back, having seen it in a movie once. "Don't die, please. We sort of have that ball thing to do, and it would sad if you died."

Parcel looked down the winding track he had to follow to reach the bonfire. He could see the flames rise up from the wood and paint the backdrop red and orange. It wasn’t too long until he would reach the grounds where the other students were, he could already hear voices from some of the more loudmouthed students.
Parcel had decided to slow down a bit when the others had walked down. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the bonfire grounds or the darkness or something. No, quite the opposite in fact, he really enjoyed the night. That’s why he slowed down to, it was hard to enjoy something with so many students blabbering about. Of course, he was going down there to socialize, but couldn’t he just have the way down for himself? Just to enjoy the cool night air and contemplate life while looking at the stars?

Thinking like this he took an extra-large breath of air. It really was crisp, the night air. Parcel found that he enjoyed night time more and more the closer they got to summer. The warmer it would get, the more he was looking forward to the refreshing chill the night would bring.
Turning his head away from the bonfire he looked out over the looming darkness of the forbidden forest in the distance. It was quite enticing really. Parcel wasn’t afraid of the dark, even though he still only was 11, such fears had long since been forgotten. So, all that came to mind when looking at the dark mass of trees was an urge to explore, to find, to discover.
Remembering how his grandfather used to chuck him into some random forest or mountain in the middle of the night, just so he could experience finding or looking at magical creatures and the likes almost made him chuckle. The first times he would be scared, for sure, even though his grandfather would be hiding somewhere around, making sure Parcel didn’t hurt himself. But the fear of darkness soon left him. Now he only appreciated the quiet calm of the night.

Feeling like he had reminisced enough Parcel put his hands in his pockets before casually strolling down towards the bonfire. He was actually wearing something other than his school uniform for a change. This time he was wearing a black and white stripped sweater. He had pulled his sleeves up past his elbows, so he could feel the night air on his forearms. Instead of his normal pants he had decided to put on a pair of shorts. Black shorts with not only normal pockets, but also some extra pockets by the sides of his knees. He had started wearing things with more pockets after the house cup party, where the Head of Gryffindor so generously supplied them with firecrackers. Now Parcel never left his dorm without some, especially the baseball sized one. Why he needed it he didn’t know, but somewhere down the line it had to come in handy.
He had a pair of well used sneakers on his feet, with a brim that went just passed his ankles, and yellow socks that peaked out just above that.

When he got down to the bonfire Parcel tried to see if there was anyone he knew already down there. He noticed a few familiar faces. Most of them crouching around either the fire, or the white fluffy stuff. Parcel didn’t find that fluffy stuff very appetizing and decided to leave them be until they where done eating it, or until something that looked good came on the table.

Parcel found himself a nice place to sit by the rest of the Gryffindor students.

Isabella followed her prefects down to the bonfire, her hair a shade of yellow. She was really excited to for this. She had been to a few bonfires before and she had had so much fun. When she reached the bonfire she looked around in awe. She had never seen anything like it. Students everywhere, just relaxing and having fun. She smiled at the sight of all the food. She had never been one to pass up marshmallows. After all, they were one of her favorite foods.

She looked around, trying to find someone she knew. Her heart dropped as she realized she didn't know anyone there yet. She wandered around, catching snippets of peoples conversations as she went passed them. She was just trying to decide on who to try befriend when she heard part of a conversation.

"I have a proposition, though. I propose... a roast off! You, me, whoever else wants to join. We could have someone judge who made the most perfectly golden marshmallow. What do you say?" Isabella smiled before turning around to see her male prefect and a Hufflepuff girl. She took a deep breath, slightly scared of these new people. Her hair turned white as she approached them. She stopped in front of them before smiling again and speaking.

"Hi there! I'm Isabella Hills. I heard you say something about a roast off before? Is it ok if I joined?" She asked, smiling at them hoping to be accepted.

Amadea smiled again at the people she was standing with, listening as Professor Barrows accepted her compliment but made sure to point out that the professors had all worked together on the event. Looking around, she tried to look for more people that she knew since more people were coming to the bonfire. She was surprised to realize that she recognized a lot of people.

There was the Gryffindor prefect, Rhea, whom she had met...in the not so greatest circumstances, but she was pretty sure they were friendly. Then there was Mia Alexander, Slytherin, whom she had first met in the Leaky Cauldron and then again in the study room. And lastly, there was her good friend Kyden Goodlow, prefect of Slytherin. Out of the three, she figured she should talk to one of them. She looked kind of stupid just standing there not talking to anyone. 

She drifted over to where some students were gathered and decided to just sit down and wait for someone to approach her. She wasn't great at starting her own conversations, and she didn't mind just admiring the bonfire from afar. It was a pretty great sight after all. Seeing all of the students gathered here and the teachers silhouetted by the flames, it made her love her school. A swell of pride and admiration for it came out of her heart, surprising her, but also making her very happy to be there.

Verla ran down the path, and when she reached them she panted "am I, am I too late?" She hoped not, and she kept her bowtruckled stuffed inside her pocket, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for having him. She hoped she wouldn't.

She saw a few of her friends there and smiled at them. She hadn't met the others, or the professor. She'd brought a bag of marshmellows, hoping it was okay. She really didn't know. She shivered, and snuggled clsoe to the fire, finally she could be out here with some warmth at least. She smiled at the others. She hoped this was a fun bonfire, if it wasn't, she'd probably leave. Unless there was an invitation, though she'd never heard of it. She hoped she was right, she didn't need to be embarrassed in front of other people, although, no one does.

She looked up at everyone who watched her, then she blushed, hopefully they couldn't see. Then she stood up, "maybe I shouldn't have come, o-oh b-boy." She was getting nervous, and she was about to have a nervous break down. She was breathing heavily. She needed to get out of there, but she felt she couldn't move. Then she just froze, wide eyes, her breathing back to normal, what in the world just happened?

When Rosie tugged at the professor's sleeve, it had seemed she immediately got her attention. With a warm smile, Miss Barrows gently complimented her, and to Rosie's surprise, patted her head. The affection made Rosie's heart flutter and she felt her smile widen. Head pats always made Rosie feel happier. It reminded her of her mother's lullaby while she ran her hand through Rosie's brown hair, or when she burst into sobs in the corridors and Anatole ran his small hand through her hair until she calmed down.

"It is not just I who worked to put this together. All of us came together to work on it." The professor explained, glancing down at Rosie on the occasion before turning her attention Amadea. Oh! She remembered her. The Pillow Fort Fight. Iconic. This gave Rosie time to realized people were starting to arrive. Phaedra, the Ravenclaw's female prefect voice could be heard from a distance, and Rosie laughed a bit. Rosie hoped Adam would be coming too, he was someone he wanted to get to know better.

After seeing them, her eyes fell on the incoming Hufflepuffs, and she spotted Verla. She was... Okay. A little annoying, hard to talk to. Then again, Rosie had never tried to engage with her. Ever since she had seen Verla just strolling the Quidditch fields like it was nothing during her try-outs, she was a bit confused with her.

Anyway, Rosie felt herself gasp when she saw the Gryffindor prefect, Rhea, a friend. Was she... choking? Oh my god. She was choking. Eris was next to her, another friend of Rosie's, and she looked a bit concerned. Rosie excused herself from the professor and skipped over to the red haired pair, a concerned, and nervous small smile on her face. "Rhea?" She asked, coming up in front of them. "Are you okay?"

Rosie also noticed that... Everyone seemed to follow their prefect. While the young girl, on the otherhand, had sprinted down to the grounds as soon as she heard about the bonfire. Oops. Rosie shrugged. She didn't figure her prefects would be too upset.