11 Mar 2022, 05:17
Luck of the Draw
Atlas doesn't remember much about her life before the ripe age of four years old. This used to surprise her, worry her even, to the point where she once forced her mother to take her to the doctor when she couldn't recall a single thing from the first few years of her life. She remembers sitting on a little stool in one of the patient rooms when the doctor, a short old man with a very comforting smile, took her hand, bent down to her eye level, and calmly spoke to her. He told her that he, and millions like the two of them, also did not remember a single thing from their youth. He told her this was completely normal, that she will have thousands upon thousands of new memories ahead of her, ones that she will remember. His words made her feel safe, reassured, and she went home that day with a smile. The doctor later retired, right before Atlas turned nine, but the fact that the first thing she remembers happened when she was four years old never bothered her again.
This memory, one she frequently visited and was currently thinking about as she sat below a portrait hanging on the wall, enjoying the fireplace in the small hall, was of holding her younger brother for the first time. It was the day after he was born when her parents, reluctantly, caved, probably tired of hearing her beg, and let her hold the little miracle she'd spent the past day staring at. Her father had kneeled down, placing both of his hands below Atlas's in an attempt to prevent Grey from hitting the floor if the four-year-old girl, god forbid, dropped him. In any other situation, that would have bothered Atlas immensely, her parents not trusting her enough to do something as simple as hold a baby, but at that moment Atlas was too starstruck by the little boy in her arms to care. She knew that there was nothing she wouldn't give to protect him, to make him happy, and these feelings weren't something her four-year-old brain could put into words so she just stood there, utterly hypnotized by this boy, her brother.
Over the years, Atlas and Grey would grow close, and her love for this younger boy would grow beyond anything the girl could've imagined. Even now, almost seven years after that day, Atlas still didn't have the vocabulary to describe the way her world rotates around her brother. He became something stable, something Atlas could hold on to when her parents ripped her to shreds. Someone she knew would always be there and someone that would always need her. He was the one person in her family whom she actually missed, whom she would think about in the middle of the night when the quiet darkness would make her feel so very lonely. To whom she had sent a countless amount of letters, every single one of them getting a response—reminding her that he, too, wished they were together.
The last letter Atlas had received from Grey, one the Hufflepuff had brought with her to the Small Hall, arrived a few days ago. Since then, the girl had read it at least seven times and was now unfolding the very worn-looking piece of paper once again.
Dear Atlas,
I know that you know this, and I know I mentioned it in my last letter, but, since there is no harm in telling you again, my birthday is on Saturday!!
And since it would be a bit rude to not invite you, I'm inviting you. Be at our house by 5 pm on Saturday, May 22nd, or face the consequences of standing me up. Mum is making me a bunch of cupcakes that can be put together and made into a shape, and I've decided to make them into a spider and call her Lucy. We are decorating them together Saturday morning.
Also, since I know you won't be able to actually come I've made you a list of tasks to complete and I expect a detailed reply about how you completed them. If I don't get one you will actually be facing the consequences of standing me up.
Soooo, number one is to make a friend or at least talk to someone new, it sounds boring but we both know you're desperately lacking friends and this is me trying to pull my weight in getting your social life on track. And number two is to play some wizard chess cause that sounds really cool and I want to hear about it. There are only two things since I'm in a hurry a need to go but I'll write you again soon!
With 3000 kilograms of feathers worth of love,
Grey
Of course, as Grey had pointed out, there was no way the girl could have actually left Hogwarts for the weekend, so she wrote back promising to spend it completing the weird two-item long to-do list he wrote her instead. In fact, sitting in the Small Hall, a place she hoped would make it easy to meet someone new, was step one in her attempt at speaking to someone she didn't already know. Atlas despised Grey for making her do this but knew that if she tried lying about a friend she made he'd see right through her, and he did have a point—she desperately needed more friends. If her mission turned out to be unsuccessful at least she'd be able to tell him that she'd tried.
Folding the letter back up, Atlas reached for the small notebook that was in her back pocket. She had opted to change out of her robes and into a pair of dark grey jeans, ones her mother had bought for her several months ago, and a black sweater. The thing she loved most about these jeans was that her notebook, which she used to write random things, fit perfectly in the back pocket. It was about the size of her palm, with a flower print and a golden "A" on the cover, a gift from her best friend, given to her the day before she left for Hogwarts. Atlas had copied the list that Grey sent her into the notebook, wanting to have the satisfaction of crossing out what she accomplished but not wanting to ruin the actual letter. So far, nothing had been crossed out.
The Hufflepuff had spent the whole afternoon doing her homework. Atlas, when she first arrived at the school, hoped she would never find herself doing all of her homework on a Friday night but she wanted to have this whole weekend to make a friend and play wizard's chess, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Putting the notebook back into her pocket, Atlas looked around the Small Hall. It was a breathtaking place, the fire and chandelier casting a glow onto the frames on the walls. It probably wouldn't have been her first choice if she was looking for the most crowded place in the castle but the girl hoped to see at least one person who could help her accomplish part one of Grey's list.
| @Everly Charlton | Banner made by:Everly Charlton |
Last edited by Atlas Rey on 11 Aug 2022, 23:42, edited 3 times in total.
Atlas Rey
"If there is a life after this one let me meet you in it"
11 Aug 2022, 22:04
Luck of the Draw
roleplaying as lucietta mahler
When Lucietta was five years old, she'd gone into her kindergarten classroom for the first time, just like every other normal person. Though she doesn't remember much about it, she does remember that around then was when she'd first met Ellie. Ellie was, in every possible way, the complete opposite of her. Loud, rambunctious, and trouble-causing, Ellie managed to land the clip with her name written on it in large, scrawled letters in the red zone almost every other day. Their kindergarten teacher would report to Ellie's parents in an email every week on what Ellie'd done this time, but in every single email, at the very end, he'd always say, "I think Ellie's a sweet kid. She'll figure it out eventually."
Ellie did not figure it out.
Ellie entered the second grade with a reputation. Though she'd matured slightly since her crying fit days, she still demanded the spotlight, demanded to take up space. And take she did, until one day, on the playground at recess, she wanted to go down the slide. She climbed her way up to the very top of the play structure, where two boys from the other class sat blocking the slide entrance, and wouldn't let her down the slide.
"Why are your eyes so small?"
"What?"
They'd laughed, pulled at the corners of their own eyes, and laughed a bit more.
Lucietta hated how only a few mean words had made Ellie shrink so much. She'd tried desperately to befriend Ellie, and Ellie let her in. The two became close, close friends, and Lucietta had always thought that Ellie's eyes were beautiful.
Until right before the sixth grade, almost four years later, when a certain letter arrived, and Lucietta had to leave Ellie and her pretty eyes behind to New York City, where Lucietta first breached the unknown world that was magic. She was fascinated by it, and absolutely in love. The entire first year had felt like a fever dream. When she went back to Minneapolis for summer break, though, she was rudely awakened by the fact that Ellie had moved on. To different places, to different people.
So the next time something managed to feel somewhat resembling the friendship that Lucietta and Ellie'd had, she'd latched on, refusing to let another person leave so easily. Poor Henri had to deal with Lucietta never leaving his side when she could be, but he seemed rather unaffected by it. She was relieved about that, but somehow, in some way, she'd managed to lose him to the depths of Hogwarts, the Scottish school unfamiliar to the both of them. Lucietta had only been here once, around this time last year, and after so much time had passed, she too, found the entire place unrecognizable. And, as prone to getting lost as she was, she'd managed to get lost.
With a sigh, she glanced around her surroundings. She could begrudgingly admit that under different circumstances, Hogwarts was beautiful, but at this moment, she just wanted to find her blond friend. The room was far from empty, though, and she quickly scanned their faces for any sort of familiarity and found nothing. Perhaps one of them could help her?
Thankfully, over the past few months, she'd somewhat gotten over her fear of people. In some moments, it was more present than others, but nowadays, she could approach them with little internal conflict, though it always managed to peek over her shoulder sometimes when she actually talked to them and had to make conversation—the worst part that came with making friends. She pushed the feeling down to the pit of her stomach and picked a person at random, a brunette that had been looking at something in a notebook, sliding it into her pocket. She didn't look like she would make a mean comment or anything, so Lucietta decided to shove all of her thoughts in a jar and walk up to her.
"Um-" she cleared her throat quietly, summoning any last courage she had to force it all out, "Hi! I was wondering... uh... if you've seen a, uh... my friend. He's, um, a guy, and he's got, um... gray eyes, and... blond hair. And he's about this tall." She held her hand a few inches above her head. "Yeah. Thanks."
@atlas rey
21 may, 2022
i’m gonna pop
your bubblegum heart
your bubblegum heart