˜”*°•Dᵤₘb & Dₐₙgₑᵣₒᵤₛ•°*”˜

WC: 307
Mentions: @Xio Arcana
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS

Bella was just casually walking around Hogwarts one September afternoon, bored and slightly restless. She didn't have homework, as it was only the first week of school, and she had no idea where everybody went after classes.

She looked around, lost for a second, before she realized that she wandered into the Viaduct. She peered over the bridge-like structure, letting the wind blow in her hair, and smiled at the beauty of it all -- before looking down.

Bella stumbled for a second and walked two steps back from the ledge.

"Oh...I was so not ready for that. Why is this so high up?" she asked herself. It might be an irrational fear for some, but out of all things she could have possibly be scared of, Bella was extremely, absolutely scared of heights.

It might have come from multiple times when she almost fell of bridges due to curiosity when she was younger, or just the feeling of overthinking "what if you fall to your doom?" But Bella was working on that problem.

Nervously, she stepped close to the edge again and looked down, taking deep breaths to stablize herself. That was when she heard it.

The tap, tap, tap of shoes made Bella look up, and there she saw a girl walking on the ledge, looking fearless.

"Oof. Wow. That's brave. I probably wouldn't be able to do that without freaking out," Bella muttered to herself. She knew it was okay, that she had her own strengths and weaknesses, but she wished she wouldn't freak out at the sight of tall heights instantly.

Upon a closer look, Bella realized she knew the girl who was on the ledge. In fact, they were friends!

"Wait...Xio? Oh, hiii! Isn't this all so beautiful?" Bella exclaimed, rushing over to her friend.

OOC Notes: Xio, the font/layout looks good! I love the banner! This is Bella just randomly wandering around whenever she has time lol

Word Count: 460

| Date: September 8th, 2026 | Time: Afternoon | Location: Viaducts, Hogwarts |
| Mentions: @Bella Light | Participation: OPEN
| Song: brown eyes - re6ce ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ | Outfit: ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ |

𝚇𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛, 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊. 𝙰 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚇𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚒𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝’𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

“𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊!” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢. “𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜!” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. “𝙱𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚜 𝚍í𝚊𝚜,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚍. “𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘? 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐?” 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍.

“𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚒𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐.

“𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍. “𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚎𝚑?” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚐𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊, 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚜 𝚞𝚙.

“𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞,” 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚢.” 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚝. “𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜…” 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. “𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞.”

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍.

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. “𝙾𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝. 𝙾𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜.” 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, “𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌.”

OOC Notes: Awee Beeeelllla you know exactly where to find me

WC: 447
Mentions: @Xio Arcana
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS

Bella watched as Xio crouched down on the ledge and gave her a wide, cheerful smile.

"I was just wandering around the castle, since I feel like every time I explore, I find something new! Like today, I found out that the Viaduct is really really high up but also really pretty. And also, I heard that this place has a lot of history so I wanted to see if there might be any secrets hidden here. Or mysteries! But then, I found you!" Bella exclaimed, shooting a look at the wall. Xio noticed and made a comment about how the wall isn't going to hurt her, but Bella couldn't help but give the wall -- and ledge -- a second glance.

"Yep. You recalled correctly. Heights are-- " Bella shuddered,"Ughh. Though I'm trying to get rid of that aversion because it's extremely inconvenient in times like these."

Then, Xio gave Bella a thoughtful and knowing smile. Bella backed away, "Oh, no. I know you well enough, Xio, to know what that smile means. You have something planned, don't you?"

Xio opened both hands to Bella, explaining that she doesn't need to come up onto the ledge but if she would like, her friend would be there to help.

"Umm..." Bella muttered. She looked down again, then shook her head.

"Sorry, Xio, I don't think ---" she sucked in a breath, looking around.

She saw one of the birds stop on the ledge nearby, looked at Bella in the eyes, then flew away. It was a very normal occurrence, as birds were everywhere, but to Bella, it felt like a sign. Even though she wasn't really superstitious (at least, she didn't think she was), the sign was more of a motivation than anything.

"Fine. I'll do it. But if I fall, I'm going to be really really...ughh. I'm just not going to think about looking down or falling. Nope, not falling! And I might as well just put my foot on the ledge, or I will consider quitting because every part of me is screaming that this is a terrible idea."

Before climbing onto the ledge, Bella shot her friend a halfway-terrified, halfway-excited look, "You know, Xio? Before I met you on that train, I would never have done something like this. You truly are something special." She shook her head, chuckling, as she reached over to boost herself onto the high ground.

OOC Notes: Lol, I was like hmm...the viaduct...what a random place! Something interesting must happen there, right? And then I found you walking on the ledge and I was like oh cool!

Word Count: 770

| Date: September 8th, 2026 | Time: Afternoon | Location: Viaduct, Hogwarts | Participation: OPEN |
| Mentions: @Bella Light - The beat of the song linked is a good one for this moment! Energy! | Song: Eastside - Good Kid ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ | Outfit: ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ |

𝚇𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚄𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝙰 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚇𝚒𝚘—𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍: 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚣𝚘𝚗𝚎.

𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝, 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑. 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

𝙰𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍.

𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚞𝚙𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜.

𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜—𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚇𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊.

“𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝,” 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. “𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍. “S𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜.” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛. “𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚉𝚎𝚟, 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚉𝚎𝚟 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍—𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜, 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛.

𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎—𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜—𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜, 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍.

“𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚔𝚎?” 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕. “𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗.”

𝙰 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜. “𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜. 𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍…” 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛.

“𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝.” 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍—𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚇𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎.

“𝙸𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗,” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎. “𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊!”

OOC Notes: IM SO PROUD OF YOU BELLAAAA!!
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.|Stamina ★ 5 | Evasion ★ 6 | Strength ★ 3 | Wisdom ★ 8 | ArcPower ★ 7 | Accuracy ★ 6 |. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

WC: 266
Mentions: @Xio Arcana
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS

Bella couldn't believe that she did it. And she couldn't believe that she was actually having fun! It was so scary at first, but she trusted that her friend wouldn't drop her or slip and pull them both down and over.

She took a deep breath, relaxing as she answered Xio's questions.

"I know, right? It feels like I have been here for such a long time. It feels like we have been friends forever! I can't believe that I didn't even know who you were a week ago. So much has changed. And so many things will continue to change for the next few years..." Bella looked out, the wind blowing in her hair. She tensed up when a bird surprised her by landing right next to her but sighed and waved it goodbye as the bird flew away.

"Hey, thanks, Xio!" Bella looked at her friend gratefully. "This is really pretty, isn't it? It feels so peaceful, so nature-like...until I look down, at least. But I'm not looking down!" And then, of course, Bella peeked down then quickly snapped her head up. "It's so funny that I'm only not scared of heights when I'm on a broom. It makes me feel safe. But somehow, here, it feels so much more dangerous. Crazy, huh?"

"Anyways, before I came here and totally distracted you, what were you doing on the viaduct? Just exploring, or were you looking for something in particular?" Bella asked Xio, grinning.

OOC Notes: Thanks for your help! What fun shall we have?

Word Count: 370

| Date: September 8th, 2026 | Time: Afternoon | Location: Viaduct, Hogwarts | Participation: OPEN |
| Mentions: @Bella Light | Song: Beautiful - Anyma & Joji ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ | Outfit: ˜”*°•x•°*”˜ |

𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜.

“𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚏𝚞𝚕…” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, “𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔.” 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.

“𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛, 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎—𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍.” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢. “𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.”

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎: 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

“𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘…” 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊’𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜. “𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝙴𝚗𝚗𝚘, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠.” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, “𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕. 𝙸 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝙸𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚢.” 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸’𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛.”

𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕.” 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚇𝚒𝚘 𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. “𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝!” 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢. “𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢.

OOC Notes: Ooooohh you're getting Xio Lore XD
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.|Stamina ★ 5 | Evasion ★ 6 | Strength ★ 3 | Wisdom ★ 8 | ArcPower ★ 7 | Accuracy ★ 6 |. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

WC: 344
Mentions: @Xio Arcana
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS

Bella listened thoughtfully throughout Xio's confession. This time, it was her who squeezed Xio's hands in support and understanding.

"Hey...you know what? I've been a little homesick, too. I think most are," Bella confessed. "In a way, missing home is always a part of boarding schools, like this one. But whenever I feel sad or I miss my friends, I remember that they are also probably busy, that there are more things to discover. Like here? I'm glad that you feel that this viaduct is the next best thing."

Upon hearing about Xio's friend Enno, Bella turned to look at Xio.

"You know what? I don't remember if I told you about two of my friends yet. I have...had two best friends, Jessie and Liam. They are both muggles and my neighbors, back where I lived in London. They don't even know that I have magic. And I... I miss them so much. You know, you remind of a lot of both of them. You're energetic and funny like Jessie, but also kind and thoughtful like Liam. I don't even know what to write to them, because they kept asking why I was going to a boarding school. They don't know about my magic."
Bella looked down.
"And it is a big deal! I totally understand the feeling of wondering why you haven't gotten a letter back yet. It is fair! You are just being a caring friend, and there's not too much. It may just be that the owl needed more time to fly both ways, or like you said, he's busy. We shouldn't forget or lose our friends from our old lives, but we should also make new friends, too. That's what I'm trying to tell myself right now. I'm really lucky to be your friend. I'm glad to have you."

Bella reached over and gave Xio a hug and a squeeze.

"If you ever have any worries or anything that you want to say, just find me. I'm here for you, anytime." Bella smiled.