A Long Time Gone

Her mind automatically taking in every aspect of her present company – in case it might be useful later, perhaps, but more out of habit than anything else – Amelia was pleased that Jack seemed to be unoffended by anything she said. The casual nods showed that Jack had a greater knack for knowing the right responses than Amelia did when it came to conversation, but that was to be expected. It was arguable that a brick wall might be more interesting to talk to than Amelia, for at least it had the potential to crumble unexpectedly, while Amelia rarely did anything unexpected.

It might have seemed a bit harsh of Amelia, to think such things of herself, but to be honest, she had heard worse in the hallways at Hogwarts. “Ice Queen”, they called her, though never to her face. There had been those in the past who had made the attempt to break through her defenses, to get past the façade she wore each day, but Amelia had either scared or bored them into retreat. Her sharp tongue, cold shoulder, and inexplicable affection for solitude had earned her the nickname, and though it could hardly be considered flattering, Amelia hadn’t made any effort to change the way she was viewed. On the contrary, she rather appreciated that her classmates made it easier for her to be alone by warning off potential seekers of her humanity.

Being alone was easier, or at least that was what Amelia had always told herself. Amelia had been close to very few people in her lifetime, and had learned her lesson early that putting your happiness in the hands of someone else means trusting them to keep it safe, and trust had never really been Amelia’s strong suit. It had been that way before Raoul’s abrupt departure from her life, but it was really that event which had solidified her jaded views.

Elijah didn’t help either… Amelia’s subconscious added, while her defenses were down in her reminiscings. However, her conscious mind was quick to subdue any thoughts of the boy who had come into her life so abruptly and left the same way. She preferred not think about that lapse in her better judgment.

Shaking her head to clear it, Amelia looked back at the redhead beside her. Jack was still nodding, though more hesitantly this time. She was biting her lip in a characteristically questioning glance, as though she had spotted the gaping holes in Amelia’s vague excuses, and Amelia was glad to have had the question about Jack’s house poised on her lips to keep the girl from asking any unwanted questions.

The answer to that question, complete with puffed chest and improved posture, came as no surprise to Amelia, who had already anticipated the correct answer. The explanation Jack made of the reason she came over to Amelia was unnecessary, for the taller girl had made exactly that connection when thinking about what house Jack might belong to. A Ravenclaw herself, Amelia had never doubted that she belonged among those who prized intelligence and cleverness. Gryffindor would never have suited her; she was afraid of far too many things, and not even brave enough to face her own truths, much less the situations that many of her red and gold clad classmates marched into fearlessly.

“I might have guessed that,” Amelia replied, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, though refraining from outright grinning. She hadn’t really smiled fully in months, or at least not genuinely. Of course, she plastered on a toothy smile when her mother flashed her that threatening look at dinner parties, but a genuine smile was more or less a rarity in Amelia’s case.

Unsure what to say next, Amelia’s hand rose to the back of her neck, a characteristic gesture of nervousness or embarrassment. As a minute of silence bloomed between them – it was clearly her turn to talk, but she was struggling to come up with something – Amelia’s fingers kneaded more heavily into the muscles in her neck, and it was only after much strain that she managed to think of something she hoped would be an acceptable means of continuing the conversation.

“Which N.E.W.T.s will you be taking this year?” she inquired, reverting back to the subject of academia, on which she felt most comfortable speaking. This question was harder to predict from what little she knew of Jack, so Amelia refrained from conjecturing this time, instead waiting for a response from the girl whose backside was still getting wetter and dirtier by the minute.

Jack grinned at Amelia's comment about her being a Gryffindor. Jack had never been one to be proud of things like that. In elementary school, they tried to get the kids pumped up about their age group or about being a certain class, but Jack had never gotten the concept of it. She could be proud to be on a team or something, but not proud simply because she was something.

But being a Gryffindor proved that she was all the things she strove to be. She always tried to be strong and fearless, to let nothing faze her, to loyally defend those who had earned her respect and loyalty, and to stand up for what she knew to be right. To be apart of the House that found those to be their minimal requirements, made Jack feel as though she was meant to be the person she was and had become.

Though Jack would not have minded being a Ravenclaw. She was rather bright herself; the only hitch was that she was not as timid as most of the Ravenclaws she knew. And she was a terrible procrastinator who usually skived off doing homework until the break before that class. But next in her line of respect came the House of Ravenclaw.

For merely treading water in a conversation, Jack felt that she and Amelia got along somewhat decently. Perhaps if they ever ran into each other at Hogwarts they would hang out for awhile. Amelia looked like the kind of girl who needed all of the human interaction she could get. She looked as though this was a new element that she did not quite understand.

She asked what N.E.W.T.s Jack was taking and Jack bit her lip, squinting to remember. "Ummmm. Oh, yeah. Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology." She nodded, knowing that the next year was going to be crazy. "What about you? Which classes are you taking?"

The redhead answered Amelia’s question easily, though Amelia found the hesitation in her voice to be perplexing. Amelia would have had no trouble listing the classes she was taking this year, for she had been preparing for them for several months now and it was with high anticipation that she greeted her N.E.W.T.s. Amelia had always reveled in academia, for it was there that she truly flourished, unhindered by her lack of tact or social skills. Her barbed tongue had actually earned her points in Professor Wilson’s classroom, and no professor could doubt her skills with a wand. Her studies were something Amelia was good at and relished in, a success she could bring home to her parents that they could be proud of.

Amelia was aware that she placed far too much stock in what her parents thought. Having been raised under intense parental pressure and scrutiny, she had sort of been molded to be that way. Antoinette and Frederic had always had high expectations of Amelia, expectations they wanted to be met or exceeded. Bringing home an O in Transfiguration or agreeing to be a part of the Imperium Squad was done as much for her parents as it was for herself – sometimes it was done for her parents in spite of herself. The fake smiles at dinner parties, the dates with men she would never see again, even the agreement not to mention Raoul anymore – all of this was done on account of her parents’ approval, from which much of Amelia’s sense of worth stemmed.

Amelia nodded politely in response to Jack’s answer, noting the number of courses she was taking and approving of her choices. Care of Magical Creatures had never been one of Amelia’s favorite subjects, though she had done well in it, and thus she had not chosen to pursue it further after her O.W.L.s had been completed. When the question was turned around on Amelia, she cleared her throat lightly before responding.

“I will be taking Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions,” she said curtly, unsure whether or not she ought to elaborate, and instead taking the route she thought safer and just ending it there. If she said anything else, she was likely to be either offensive to Jack or embarrassing to herself.

Jack was puzzling to Amelia, whose opinion of the girl in whose company she now stood was still undefined. She seemed pleasant enough, though under any other circumstances Amelia would likely have found her to be far too chatty. Perhaps it was the desperation for contact outside her family that had made Amelia so amiable to conversing with a total stranger, which she usually would have avoided if at all possible, or perhaps she was finally beginning to gain a bit of that knack for conversation her mother had been honing in her – unsuccessfully, she might add. The former seemed more likely, but Amelia couldn’t necessarily write anything off just yet. Five months of false imprisonment with no-one but family, staff, and invited guests could present any number of changes in one’s persona.

But it appeared that this temporary change in Amelia’s willingness for conversation was beginning to wear thin, as she realized once again that it was her turn to ask a question or make a comment that would be appropriate for continuation of the conversation. It had been enough of a struggle thus far, and though Amelia poked at the grass with her thoughts, the green blades were not full of answers this time around. A minute more passed, Amelia alternately looking at the ground and back out toward the lake, before the Ravenclaw girl decided she had exhausted her dismally low stores of social ability and should best get out while she could.

“I suppose I ought to be going,” Amelia said, her words sounding abrupt after the silence. Something of a segue might have been nice… her subconscious – sounding very much like her mother – criticized, but there was nothing for it now. Taking her wand from the stone on which she had set it, Amelia summoned her shoes to her and dusted a bit of sand off the top of her right foot before turning with a nod to Jack, who was still seated beside her.

“It was pleasant to meet you this afternoon,” Amelia said in a dismissive sort of way, trying to extricate herself from the situation with enough time to get back to the gardens before her mother realized she had been gone, “Perhaps we will cross paths at Hogwarts.”

“Goodbye,” she said lastly, with a tone of finality as she turned and began to walk back up the slope toward her family’s summer home, shoes in hand. She would have to put the dreadful things back on when she got near to the house, and a good Tergeo charm would be necessary for removing any remnants of dirt on her feet, but if she hurried she ought to be back in time to disguise the fact that she had ever left.

Only one more month… Amelia thought ruefully, not looking back as she strode closer and closer to her temporary penitentiary, though her thoughts lingered with Jack during her walk – mostly because it was difficult to forget so quickly someone who had stepped so firmly out of Amelia’s comfort zone... a very muddy place.

((See you at Hogwarts Just let me know when you start up a pranking thread you would like me to interrupt.))

Jack nodded and smiled. So they may have a few classes together. That was good. At the rate she was going, Jack was going to need new friends. Tensions with her other ones were growing... Perhaps it was a good thing she had decided on a spontaneous walk this morning. It had not been a bad day, after all...

Her musings wer cut short when Amelia said that she would have to go. For a momemnt, Jack did not completely comprehend this because she was busy staring across the wonderful lake in thought, but suddenly, Amelia was standing next to her saying something in a very business like tone. Jack jerked her head upward. "Huh? Oh, gotcha. Yeah it was fun just having a nice casual conversation." Half the time, the conversation had been rather formal, but Jack could tell it was as casual as Amelia would get.

Amelia said good bye and Jack nodded. "See you later, maybe," she called, waving a hand as the girl turned and walked away. Jack watched her for a moment before looking back across the lake. Amelia was going farther and farther...Jack's hand went down and touched a flat rock. She grabbed it and stood, turning it over in her hands. She glanced back at Amelia and then turned to the lake. She threw the rock and it skipped once, twice, three, four times. She smiled.

With that she hitched up her knapsack and continued on her way. She brushed the mud off the back of her pants, turned on the spot, and was gone.

Not a bad day.