A Little Escape PV Raizel Reopened

Hogwarts had always felt so busy during the weeks before Holidays. Exams were being held with the students cramming every piece of knowledge they could get their hands on in their mind in hopes of passing. Others are rushing assignments and projects so they won't have to worry about those while they enjoy their vacation, free from the responsibilities that they have in school. Raizel understood those for she is one those students. She isn't rushing her assignments, she is almost done with all of them having only a few more left, probably the ones that she didn't feel like doing and had been procrastinating on them. She found a place in the library, a place that she doesn't usually hang around but this is the only place where she could study without being disturbed.

The first year Gryffindor leaned back on her chair, stretching out her arms as she felt the stiffness creeping in, giving her shoulder a couple of twists. Her back was starting to ache, making her wonder how long she'd been studying and doing homework. She got lost track of the time, got too focused once again which she hated. While being focused does benefit her, it was mentally draining and she hasn't taken a break. Just as she turned her head upon hearing footsteps, the sight she saw wasn't something she expected. Someone just passed by with blankets and a big backpack, making her wonder what they were up to. Curiosity was getting the better of her once again, urging her to check what is up. It had taken full grasp on her like a devil's snare's tight hold and was unable to free herself from it. This curiosity of her will surely get her into trouble someday.

Raizel stood up from where she was, picking up her notes and books and stuffing them all into her satchel. Quickly but quietly, she went to find whoever was carrying those blankets, wanting to satisfy her craving for answers and who knows, it might be something interesting. She reached the corner of the library and was just in time to see the one carrying those blankets settle her things, her dark brown eyes filled with curiosity.

After carefully considering the place for her fort, Samantha started to unpack her backpack and soon the floor would be covered in multi-colored pillows and blankets. Letting out a little giggle, the girl took in the amusing sight. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this. Usually, her dad would always take the lead when they made a fort but now it was all up to herself. Nevertheless, a little help wouldn't hurt, preferably from somebody taller than her. Elsian would have been perfect to assist her and he probably would have loved to build the blanket fort. It didn't take a lot of imagination to see her friend take a nap in the fort once it was done either.

As she was about to start building, the brunette noticed another student in the corner of her eye. A quick turn, her long brown hair swinging behind her, was followed by a smile. "Hello," she greeted the other student. "Am I in your way?" she asked as she started to gather her blankets in a hurry. "Do you need a book from here?" It took her just a few seconds to clear the path, or at least try to. "I am sorry for the mess," she said sheepishly.

Despite her best effort to clean the floor, there were still 2 pillows scattered beyond her reach, and her navy blue blanket covered a lot of the path. As she used her feet to keep a pillow and 2 blankets from escaping, her arms were locked around another pair of blankets. "I was- I wanted-," she stammered, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the student. "I wanted to make a blanket fort," she explained as she nodded toward the blankets and pillows at her feet.

"Oh no no no, don't have to clean it up!" Raizel quickly told her while waving her hands in front of her, letting out a sheepish smile. She felt bad that the other student had tried cleaning up what she had set up. From what she could see, she was making some kind of blanket fort. That was amazing considering where they are. She was surprised that they were even allowed to do that. She didn't know it was possible and maybe l, she could've made one. That'll be a great place to take a nap after hours of studying or doing assignments. "I was just curious really. Saw you carrying a bunch of blankets and just can't help myself but to follow you. Sorry about that." Raizel apologized with a nervous chuckle, scratching her cheek lightly.

Taking a closer look at the student now, she doesn't recognize her, not from the classes that she's in that much is sure so perhaps an older student. "A blanket fort seems fun. Would you like some help in setting it up again?" She asked and since she is the reason why she needed to clean up what she had set up, she'd like to be of help in building it up again. "Ah, I forgot. I'm Raizel Voltrouz, a first year student. Raizel is fine." She introduced herself with a friendly smile on her face, holding onto the strap of her satchel while looking at the other girl.

After the other student said she didn't have to clean the path, the two girls smiled at each other sheepishly for a moment. When the other had explained why they had followed Samantha, the confused look disappeared from her face. "Oh," she said relieved. "Don't be sorry, it's okay. I can only imagine how weird I must have looked with my blankets." Giving the other student a small smile, she dropped all the blankets again. If she didn't have to hold them, she wasn't going to.

A sparkle appeared in her blue eyes when she was offered help. "Yes please! That would be amazing," she replied enthusiastically. "I didn't start building it yet, I was just about to though, so you came at the perfect time!" While talking, the brunette started to sort the blankets from the pillows to make two piles. "Nice to meet you! I am Samantha Salwis, third year Ravenclaw. I am also a prefect and dueling captain so you might have heard of me before. I hope only good things," the girl started rambling. "Also, feel free to call me Sam or Sammy. It is a quite bit shorter than Samantha, but Samantha is fine as well if you prefer that." The third year talked pretty fast, as always.

"Okay so," she started as she scanned her surroundings. "I have never made a blanket fort on my own before, usually my dad helps. He is really tall, so that's really handy," she shared while looking for the perfect place to start her fort. "Have you ever made a fort before?" she questioned Rai, chatty as always. "Okay, I think we can use the books to keep the blankets up and we have five blankets. That should be fine, right?" Head slightly tilted to the left, Samantha looked at the other with a questioning look in her eyes, waiting for confirmation of her plan.

"Maybe just a bit weird but for me, I was more intrigued than weirded out." Raizel admitted as she walked closer to the girl and began checking out what she had with her in building this blanket fort. "Although I was quite surprised that they allowed you to build a blanket fort here." She was kind of relieved to hear that she hasn't started building the fort yet. When she accepted her offer of helping out, she couldn't help but smile. It has been a while since she had made a blanket fort. She was way younger then.

What got her more interested in the girl was when she introduced herself to her. Samantha Salwis, a name that's familiar and after hearing her say she's a prefect and a dueling captain, it made perfect sense to Raizel on why she thought she might've heard that name somewhere before. A duel captain, she had been meeting a lot of duelists nowadays, upper years, and she didn't mind at all. More people ask for dueling tips if they'd like to teach first years. She does aspire to be in the dueling team of her house but that might take a while to happen. Her eyes were filled with awe when she knew who she was. She had always admired any duelist, even from different houses. "Woah, that's so cool." As she didn't want to get kicked out of the library now, she did her best to contain her excitement and kept her voice down when she spoke. The smile on her face is enough to show it.

"If it's okay to call you Sam, then I'll do that." It did feel weird addressing her so casually. Maybe she should've settled for Samantha. Then again, she agreed to call her Sam, can't take it back now and she'll have to get used to it. "I do remember doing a blanket fort before." She looked at the shelves, agreeing with a nod to Sam in using the books to hold the blankets. "And five blankets should be enough, I think." She is no expert on blanket fort making but even one blanket was enough from what she could remember. Then again, that was when they were younger.

Samantha was relieved when the other explained that intrigued was a better word to describe how she felt than weird. "Yeah," she nodded in agreement. "I asked the librarian very kindly, I would never do anything without permission. I am a great student and I promised not to make a mess or bother other people. I am also going to make sure that everything will look just as it was when I came here!" Her rambling went paired with grand gestures with her hands to add some dramatic effect.

The admiring look she got from Rai, made the brunette glow. She liked this kid. Anybody who called her cool and looked that excited, big grin on their face, would earn points with her. Most of the time Samantha was already a tad arrogant and when a younger student looked up at her like that, she only became more confident. Honestly, it wasn't good for the young girl, she could already be an annoying little know-it-all.

Giving the younger student a small nod, she showed that it was okay to call her Sam. "Great!" she replied cheerfully after being informed that Rai had made a blanket fort before and thought 5 blankets were enough. "Maybe we could use the books on the shelves to keep the blankets in place?" If they placed enough books, the pile should pin down the blanket to the shelves and stop it from falling. "If we place one corner of this blanket here," she pointed to her right as she walked around, 'And the others here, here and here," she gestured at some random places, "we can use this blanket as the roof?"

Permission, a great student and not wanting to be a trouble to other people. Yup, sounds like what a prefect will do. Strict and all for doing things by the rules. Not like she minds, that is their role as prefect. Well, guess it can be a bummer when you get caught while doing something fun but not for them. Anyway, Raizel can't imagine herself as a prefect. While she does try to follow the school rules, she won't deny the fact that she is willing to break a couple of it if she thinks it was necessary or simply, to have some fun, or quickly resorting to reckless acts when people starts stepping on her like that willingness to start a fight to make them regret messing with her. Someone so ill-tempered and a rulebreaker like her could never be one of the prefects. Perhaps being a troublemaker is a heritable trait since her father was kind of a menace during his school days based on what her mother told her.

Her dad seems like the type who would be so willing to break any rules just to have a good time. Sneaking around to get to places that students aren't even allowed on, walking past prefects and professors patrolling the school ground. The ability to take the risks just to have fun even if he knows that it might be dangerous. While her father doesn't talk a lot about how his school life had been, her mother keep giving her some ideas on how it must've been with how she always tells her that her father loved the sense of freedom in the castle and that she would often come across places where the boy would be serving detention.

Raizel was brought back to reality after a while of letting her thoughts wander off into ideas of how her parents' Hogwarts life was one she heard Sam speaking on how they are gonna do this. She then began to wonder about the whole permission thing. If Sam had gotten permission from the librarian, she must be a good and trustworthy student. Well, she's a Prefect and a dueling captain. Two big reputations in one, that's something right there. Raizel takes hold of a blanket as Sam tells her how they are doing this, looking at the shelves and checking the books, lifting one up before trying to pin down the corner of the blanket with it. "Like this?" She asked Sam, turning her head to face the older student, waiting for her response before making sure that the book was lodged tightly in between the books. With the shelves so packed with them, it'll manage to hold down the roof of their pillow fort.

"Do you do this often?" The first year Gryffindor asked Sam. Maybe she doesn't do them in the library. Maybe in their common room, outside or wherever she could build a pillow fort. She was curious if the older student had built pillow forts somewhere else. "Pillow forts I mean, in school. Do you build ones often?" Imagine wanting a place to rest so you just build a pillow fort anywhere. The castle is big enough for someone to find a spot that not many people go and just build one there much like how one would build a tent.

Samantha watched Raizel's movement like a hawk as the other pinned the corner of a blanket between the books. "Hmm, it looks good," the young prefect said thoughtfully. "Let me check something." Taking a step closer, she gently tucked at the blanket to see if it was good enough or if it would fall. After it passed the test, she gave the other girl a thumbs up. "It's perfect!"

Following the student's example, the brunette pinned another corner of the blanket between some books, already creating something roof-like. When she heard Rai ask her a question, she turned around and focused her attention on the younger girl. "Well, I never made them in school before," she smiled softly as she remembered the many forts she had made before going to Hogwarts. "I have made a lot at home and one of my old friend's houses," she explained. When she and Amber were at Lexi's house, they would always make a blanket fort to keep Lexi's little brother away from them.

While picking up the third corner of the blanket, she continued her story. "Usually we made a fort in the living room or in my friend's room, so this is my first time in a library," she giggled. "I just thought it would be a cute place. I won't be going home during the break," suddenly a darkened look appeared in her blue eyes and she spoke softer. "But I was looking forward to spending time with my dad and we often make blanket forts." A small smile was accompanied by a hurtful look in her eyes before she talked again. "So I thought, why not make one myself? And now I am not even alone anymore," she smiled, this time genuinely. "Now you are helping me!"

"Sweet!" Raizel responded with a grin when the older girl confirmed that what she was doing was okay. She took a couple of steps back to see what they had made, that smile never fading as she did feel somewhat satisfied that she had helped Sam make this blanket fort and that it had turned out well. Sam then answered her question, catching back the Gryffindor's attention and prompting her to move closer to where she is to listen.

Friends back home. That made her wonder if she even had any back home. She can't remember most of her childhood, not like it was that memorable aside from a couple of mean kids and she did briefly went to a muggle school. She never had any close friends to visit though and not like she always mingle with other people either. That was when her shyness was in full control, making it hard for her interact with others and also what drives other people away as they do find it a bit weird. Well, she learned how to ignore those and perhaps, in a way, she does agree with them, she is weird.

She is learning to overcome that shyness of hers and she's pretty sure that she succeeded this time for here she is, helping an older student that she just met build a blanket fort and conversing with them rather easily. Maybe it's just because Sam is easy to talk to much like the other people that she met. "Sound like you guys had so much fun making forts. Your friends sounds like they are pretty cool people." Raizel said to Sam, finding her giggle rather contagious. She is happy to see others feeling happy. "Let's make this library pillow fort memorable then."

The sudden shift of expression however made the younger girl pause and observe the older one, her eyes on her face mostly as she mentioned not going back. If she was looking forward to making blanket forts with her father, why is she staying here in Hogwarts during Spring Break? Would it be okay if she asked? She was about to but Sam quickly bounced back to her happy self and then told her that she's not alone in making the fort now. She smiled softly at her then. "I am staying here for the break as well. If you need company, I'll be around by then." She told the older girl. Hope that wasn't creepy. They just met and all after all but for some reason, she can't help but offer it. "Maybe we can build more forts or just have fun hanging out."

Sam looked rather sad earlier, hurt even for whatever reason, maybe even related to why she is staying despite stating that she's looking forward to spending her time with her father. These are all just assumptions though, basing it on what she had heard from the older girl. Her reasons could be anything really. Well, whatever it is, Raizel is a bit determined to at least help ease the pain that she's feeling. The only way she could think of how is by offering her presence if she ever needs some company.

"Of course, that is only if you want to." She added shyly in the end, touching the back of her neck while looking away. Sam would probably prefer her closest friends as company but hey, never hurts to try and offer it. "Just something if you ever feel lonely or if you like, we can do some practice duels." Sam is a duelist, dueling is fun. Surely a practice could help in cheering her up and she's willing enough to be her sparring partner or practice dummy. She volunteered once, she could do it again.