Summer Camp Flood Welcoming Bonfire

Dorothy stared.  She stared right on in front of her like a stone figure, arms held stiffly at her sides.  Around her, she heard other students greeting each other.  Most likely friends, talking and laughing. 



She was a second year.  A whole school-year had soared by and carried all of Hogwarts with it.  Students had made friends, done homework,  and had fun.  But Dorothy?  No.  The homework had happened, and she'd done it pretty well.  But friends?  Maybe she could tell herself she didn't have time, that school was more important than developing friendships.  Or, perhaps, that she didn't need companionship. Would that be true?  She didn't know.  Her first year at Hogwarts had been fine.  So what was making her think like this? 



Afraid of what?  What was there to fear?  "Nothing." Dorothy hadn't expected to say the word out loud.  The sound of her own voice startled her slightly, and her tall, thin frame tensed.  Nothing.  But then again, she wondered.  Would next year be like this too? Another year of homework, secluded studying, and lonely walks around the heavenly grounds?  The girl shook her platinum mane of hair.  Too many questions.



Dorothy was fine.  She was fine with this year, she was fine with being solitary, and she was completely okay with the fact that seemingly everyone had friends but her.  She didn't need them.  Her pale eyes reflected the warmth of the fire, but in them, a coldness grew.  Her poor, scorched heart hardened.  It had been tried by fire, but she would smother it with ice.  This was stupid.  A whole bonfire wasted on self-pity and reflection.  Dorothy shook her head and smiled mechanically.  She turned on her heel to leave, to go back to the cabin and be alone again.  Maybe if she slept, her heart wouldn't throb anymore.  Funny how it did that. For no reason at all, tears had sprung into her eyes. Dorothy blinked, and they were gone.

Amanda grinned when Alaska responded.

Alaska: “Umm, hi…I’m Alaska…from umm Hufflepuff. Camp is um more or less the way I imagined it to be. My mother wanted me to stay for the summer so that I could make more friends. I have to say for myself that I am very nervous around people. That’s why I haven’t made a lot of friends this year.”

“I can be kind of shy too so I don’t have many friends either. I hope that we can be friends though!” Amanda responded. She then turned to the other girl named Anastasia, who had also come up to Alaska.

Anastasia (to Alaska): "Would you mind if I joined you because I haven't been able to spot any of my friends yet and being all alone isn't very fun?"

Amanda waited until Anastasia and Alaska were done talking and then introduced herself to Anastasia also. “Hi Anastasia! I’m Amanda.” she enthused. Amanda enjoyed meeting new people, even though it was somewhat out of her comfort zone. Amanda really hoped to make more friends during this summer camp. Addressing the other two girls, Amanda asked “Are you both going to be second years next year?”

  Asteria had not attended the Bonfire during the spring festival, but she was interested in joining the camp Bonfire none the less. While Asteria had participated in the spring festival, she thought it would be best to focus on her studies more. Walking down the path,Asteria wonder if anyone she knew would be there, just how many students had signed up for camp in the first place? The sounds of bugs buzzing away came to Asteria as she continued down her path.  "Annoying." She huffed while swatting away the hungry little mosquitoes aiming for their next meal. Maybe she should have had bug spray with her; one of the things she hated about summer was the endless amount of bugs that seemed to come from thin air.

 Finally arriving at the scene, Asteria spotted a few familiar faces from both her house and classes.The professors were having their own conversation, all the while keeping an eye on the students and the fire.  With a small sigh, Asteria found an area near the fire and sat down, hopefully this would end much better that the ball.Who know,if things turned out right Asteria might even be able to have a little fun for once. She just wished some of her friends had sign up for camp, it would have been more exciting that way at least. As everyone was either chatting among themselves or doing nothing at all, Asteria wondered if she should have brought a book to read.

What was it with Hogwarts and fire? This was officially the third campfire her class would experience, and anyone with a brain should have learned their lesson after the first. After tying her hair back into a neat ponytail, the prefect lugged her belongings onto her shoulder and hoped to the high heavens that nothing would go wrong this time.

Phaedra wore a simple, floral dress that fell to the top of her knees. It was quite humid that day and she was pleased with herself for packing something light. Black flats snug on her feet, she made her way down a flight of stone stairs and found a spot on the ground to lay her duffle bag. Wiping away the sweat on her palms, she sauntered over to where the crowd was gathering to see if she could find her friends. 

In the distance, she spotted the bright red hair of her friend, Eris, and if there was Eris there was bound to be Max nearby as well - and there was. Happily, she began to make her way towards the duo until it registered that there was a third figure doing the same.

Serena Towers. The very same Serena she met at the innocent age of five and was forced to keep meeting with throughout her childhood. She wasn't surprised that Serena and Max knew each other, most purebloods did, but that didn't make it any less... annoying. Phaedra had somehow managed to avoid the Hufflepuff for most of their first year - besides those inescapable encounters in the prefects' room - but here in the open, it would be near impossible. Truth was, Serena made her feel a little insecure. Phaedra secretly thought that Serena was prettier and nicer and had more friends because of it, but even more heartbreaking - she was absolutely certain that even her sister had preferred Serena too.

She always ran from her personal problems and was raised to even bottle those weaknesses inside; so why should this summer be any different? Just because her parents weren't here to see her didn't erase what had been so successfully ingrained in her upbringing. Phaedra wouldn't dare ruin the event for her friends and risk being known around school as another Charles York, but she still couldn't bring herself to approach Eris or Max while they were talking to the Indian girl. She couldn't. The bonfire was intended to be there for "fun" but such a thing would be hard to have when every glance towards Serena reminded her of her own stupidity and past mistakes. Often she was tormented with guilty thoughts, like how Pavlina would probably still be around if she were more like her. Her once carefree expression fell and she clenched her hands into fists so tightly her nails dug into the palm. 

No. This wasn't the right time nor place for such recollections. Lips straightening into a thin, serious line, Phaedra backed away from the trio and turned away on her heel to hurriedly make her way the other side of the bonfire and take a seat on a wooden bench. Her hands now relaxing to clasp together in her lap, she took a deep inhale and kicked gently at the green grass below her feet. Hiding wasn't how she'd imagined she'd start out her summer, but for now, she would keep her distance and pretend she hadn't seen. Her hair was up so she couldn't hide behind it like a curtain - maybe the flames could be useful for that instead.

Rosie was practically bouncing from foot to foot in excitement for this camp. Sure, she had a pretty rough month, and things were not the greatest, but hey! Maybe this wouldn't be bad? Hopefully not, some people were just... Angry. All the time. She looked around for someone she knew, there absolutely had to be someone. Her eyes lit up when she saw one of her friends, Max! And hey, Eris was near him. Maybe she could talk to them both at once! She ran up behind them and started hopping on her feet. "Hey!" She called, hopefully getting the attention of both of them. Probably getting some stares for being loud. "Are you excited about camp? I am! I might not be the same cabin as you guys, but I think I'll be able to see you. Who's your professor? Are they nice-?" Rosie continued asking a bunch of questions until she was quieted down, hopping vigorously from foot to foot.

As for her and Max's friendship... That was complicated, considering he bullied her for the first half of school. Then there was isolation. But Rosie figured, she liked Eris, which meant she needed to like everyone else too! There were only a few people that Rosie disliked, but she didn't wanna cause a rift in the friendships she had. So... They were friends. But Max and Eris were a special type of close. Sometimes Rosie was scared Eris would jump her for being so nice to Max. But what was she supposed to do? Be mean? Be neutral? She didn't know. All Rosie knew how to do was be nice.

But there was also Serena near them. Oh, Serena. She confused Rosie. Everytime she acted like the leader she was, Rosie felt her face heat up in admiration. Serena was amazing as prefect. And an amazing person in general. She wished she knew more about her, but hey, she was going to camp anyway, right? There would be plenty of opportunities to talk to her. Maybe Rosie would figure out what Serena had that made Rosie so nervous and flustered. There was going to be a lot to discover, and Rosie stood up tall and figured she had to be strong to get through this camp, not the blubbering mess that she had been over the past month.

Once he got to the bonfire with his backpack, filled with one or two changes of school clothes and some books, Hengist looked at the seemingly gargantuan fire with wonder. He had never seen a fire so big, it was almost a little frightening. A fire that big should be putting out far more heat than it was, but he figured it was because of some kind of spell that was still beyond him. After getting used to the fire, he looked around and saw a few groups of people talking. No one he knew well, with the exception of the teachers by the fire, but he wasn't going to bother them. He did see some Ravenclaws he vaguely recognized, but they mostly seemed busy talking to friends.

Hengist decided he's sit on one of the open benches and open up one of the books he brought with him. While there were a number of people about, there didn't seem to be nearly enough to be everyone who signed up for camp. He figured he'd start catching up on work he was behind in while he waited for more people to show up. And if someone he knew saw him and decided to strike up a conversation, that'd be fine with him.

Lucia walked to the bonfire area wearing a black cloak and slightly heeld shoes of the same color. She had her bags with her as she sat next to Hengist. She tried to ignore that he was next to her. He hadn't seen her wear a cloak before. She didn't know why but she had always felt burning from sunlight and tried to not sit in it. It was dark out but she didn't care. The sun wasn't down far enough for her to take it off. She took a quick look and smiled at him reading. She enjoyed doing that too. She decided to take out her sketch book and a pencil as she began to draw the bonfire area. She stayed in complete and udder silence as she drew every detail. She had a couple close friends around at the camp. none of them knew the sun burned her since she either kept the room she was in dark or she had her bags next to her blocking the sunlight. She couldn't do that this time. She knew a couple of her friends were in the same cabin with her. She was glad about that. She had heard rumors that her cabin had separate rooms for each camper even though it looked small on the outside. She couldn't wait to get to her cabin and look for her room. She continued her drawing in silence as she waited for it to begin.
She ended up getting up and walking away with her bags to the cabin as it seemed like it would be awhile until the bonfire started.

Without even looking, Max's lips curved up and he kept his eyes on the fire as a familiar voice spoke from beside him, alerting him to one of his best friends' presences. "I was talking to you, duh," he joked, crossing his arms and arching a brow at the fire as his eyes continued to tear up from the smoke. It smelled good though - it was the opposite of overly saccharine or cloying, closer to the neutral smell of dirt but with less of that earthy scent. He could get used to it, used to this whole thing if he ever chose to go live on his own with only a fire and some cats to keep him company. It took a moment to shake himself out of it, blinking rapidly to clear thoughts that had bordered on so peaceful he could've fallen asleep.

"I knew you'd be around. You just can't go on day without me, can you?" he asked with a long, dramatic sigh that turned into a snicker at the end. "Kidding, please don't hit me. I'm not a Huff - " He was cut off when one of the very House he'd been about to defame approached, a girl he recognized well from a party of what felt like years ago. Serena Towers, the girl he'd been scared to attempt to befriend at a party. So much had changed since then. He'd changed since then, and he was sure she had too, but...

"It's good to see you, Serena," he said with his own grin to answer hers. They'd been scared kids together once upon a time, and despite his disgust with most of the yellow House, he still considered her a friend. "I was happy to hear you made prefect - I'll bet you're a great one. It's a shame we couldn't catch up earlier, but it's nice to see you on this trip." His voice and tone may have gone more formal since that was the setting they'd met in, but anyone who knew him could tell he was speaking with obvious warmth. He might've went on had he not caught a glimpse of Phaedra, looking as if she were about to walk over to speak to them. His expression remained open and eager, but she seemed to shut down all of a sudden and left without saying anything. His brow furrowed as his eyes followed her until she got lost in the smoky haze and crowd. What was that all about? He'd have to ask her in the cabin tonight, if talking was permitted.

Dragging his gaze back, their little group that was growing bigger by the second expanded to four as none other than Rosie Parker came over and began to bubble over with questions. Max's eyes widened as he frantically glanced around to see who was hearing all of this, worry making his heart leap into his throat because Serena certainly was. Things had changed between him and Rosie a lot due to a mixture of guilt, his seeing that she knew more pain than he'd expected, and their similar friend circle, but it didn't mean he wanted to be seen laughing with a mudblood in front of everyone. He didn't dislike her anymore, but if anyone thought he liked her...

"Yes, we're very excited," he managed to get in between her questions, settling for a more formal tone. It would make sense not to try to start a fight here no matter who was watching; he was no Charles York, about to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. So he'd keep it civil and formal, and hopefully that would be enough to appease everyone.

Bonfires were beautiful. Or at least, that's what Isabella thought. Although she'd never say it out loud - she didn't want to be thought of as crazy - she had to admit that they were one of the most gorgeous things in the world. Fire had never scared her and she had often found herself way to close to it in her earlier years. The memory of burning half her hair off was still vivid in her brain, but it didn't bother her the slightest. She still loved fire, no matter how dangerous it could be.

Shivering slightly, she made her way towards the fire. As she looked around the crowd she realised she knew next to no one there. Either her friends had gone home for the summer, or they were hiding from her again. There were no familiar faces in the crowd that she felt comfortable going up and talking too. A few students were by themselves, either waiting for someone or alone. She was unsure whether or not she wanted to talk to one of them, she hadn't made an enemy yet but she didn't want to risk it.

At the edge of the bonfire area a girl sat by herself, looking as Isabella felt. Lonely. Coming to a decision, she started making her way through the throng of students and professors. If the girl didn't want her there, then she'd leave and go find someone else to talk too. There was no harm in trying, right? Plus, she hadn't met anyone who was mean or rude yet. Everyone at Hogwarts had been nice enough so far.

Reaching the bench, she dropped her bag onto the seat before sitting down next to the girl. "Hello! I'm Isabella, Isabella Hills. Are you alone too?" She held her breath as she waited for an answer. The question could come off as rude, but she hadn't intended it too. Some people took her questions the wrong way, interpreting them wrong. She never meant to come off as rude. It was just something that happened with her.

Sitting down on a log, Mia grew nervous. Since her experience with fire-and her subsequent burn on her leg, she had grown even more cautious, avoiding going too near something that could burn her like a tiki torch. It was almost-Hufflepuff-of her, but Mia knew that being cautious paid off in the long run. Others did not.

Inching farther away from the flames, Mia studied the groups. There was the obvious big one-full of the so called 'popular kids'-or the kids Mia didn't mind. At Hogwarts, there were some kids who were more active in a way, and they were mostly nice and happy go lucky. Mia didn't go for those types of kids.

Turning her head, Mia saw a girl approach her friend, Ami. Mia decided to walk over there as well. It was better than being stuck alone, afraid. She didn't want a reputation for being a scaredy cat.

Hello! I'm Isabella, Isabella Hills. Are you alone too?

The girl looked at Ami, and Mia stood in front of the pair, smiling. This was Isabella! A fellow writer, and a great person. She had chosen the right people to talk to.

Hello Isabella, Ami.

Nodding, Mia moved her hair out of her face and gestured at the open space next to Ami casually, flicking her wrist in the slightest.

May I sit?