Meeting By The Lake PV Lizzie Callaghan Finished

@Lindsey Springhall

Lizzie stood in front of her new dorm's mirror, glaring at the lion that was proudly embroidered into her now red-trimmed robes. The sorting hat had placed her in Gryffindor. Sean had been right. She hated when Sean was right. Unfortunately, though, he was right more often than she'd like to admit.

She gave the lion one last hateful glance before forcing herself to turn away from the mirror. If she kept her bad attitude about her house, she knew her mental health was going to plummet. Perks of having a mom who works in the psychology ward in St. Mungos; she now knew every single way to take care of her mental health and what would make it decline.

It was still hard to comprehend that her new friend had been sorted into a different house. Lynn seemed so similar to her! But, clearly not similar enough, because she had been sorted into Hufflepuff, while Lizzie found herself in Gryffindor.

A quick glance at the clock and Lizzie freaked. It was five to five o'clock! She was going to be late to the lake! Eyes wide, she sprinted out of her dorm and out of the common room.

---

Why were there so many stairs between her common room and the grounds?! She stared incredulously down the second long staircase she needed to go down. With a long sigh, she tried to steady her breath, and started to run down that staircase.

---

When she finally made it out of the castle, the sun was just about to disappear below the horizon, and she could barely make out a figure by the Great Lake. Not wanting to waste any more time, she sprinted towards Lynn, despite her legs' cries for her to stop.

"LYNNN~" she yelled between hard breaths when she got within what she hoped was earshot. "How's your house?!" Hands on her knees, she hunched over when she got near enough to Lynn and tried to catch her breath. Running was exhausting.

@Lizzie Callaghan

“Oh do rest first, Lizzie.” Lynn smiled seeing her friend running towards her, and patted a big rock beside them to let Lizzie sit down.”
“How’s your day?” Lizzie asked her.
“The Hufflepuffs are friendly, and I’ve met some nice girls too. Our common room is really comfortable. How’s your first day? Are the Gryffindors nice?” she replied, smiling.
Lynn really like their common room. It’s warm, and comfortable. The older students are nice, and they welcomed the first years warmly.
But the Gryffindor common room might be great too. She said to herself. Lizzie must have spent a great time too. Lynn had heard a lot about there from her brother.
Ah, speaking of brother…she suddenly turned to Lizzie.
“Um, Lizzie, I wonder how old is your brother?” Lindsey asked, a bit awkwardly. “I mean, since your brother and mine are both in Gryffindor, maybe they know each other…that will be really interesting if we are friends and so are they!” She laughed.
The wind blew by, gently kissing the two girls’ cheeks. Bubbles were still kept coming up from the bottom of the lake.
I love Hogwarts. Lindsey thought, sitting down beside Lizzie.
Especially when there’s Lizzie with me. She smiled.

@Lindsey Springhall

Lizzie gratefully sat down on the rock Lynn had motioned too, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to catch her breath. "Merlin's beard, I'm so out of shape," she muttered in between breaths. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually she was able to breath like a normal person, which was quite a relief to her.

She listen intently to Lynn describing the atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room. "Wow, that sounds really cozy!" Lizzie commented. "The Gryffindor common room is very... red. Gryffindors have a crazy amount of house pride apparently. Even the furniture is red! But everyone I talked to was nice, except my brother, but what really was I expecting?" Of course, Lizzie being Lizzie had talked to everyone she'd seen, and had tried to make friends with her dormmate, although she couldn't tell whether she liked her or not.

"How old's my brother?" Lizzie parroted, making sure she'd heard Lynn correctly. She'd sorta spaced and had only heard the end of what her friend had said. "Uhh he's a third year, I think..." she looked off into the distance as she mentally tried to figure out how old he was. She knew both of her siblings were two years apart from her, so 12 plus 2 is... 14! So he was either a third or fourth year. "Or he's a fourth year. He's 14 so I don't know. He could be either, really," she added after a couple of seconds of silence. "But yeah, it would be cool if they were friends and we were friends!"

@Lizzie Callaghan

The Gryffindor common room…Lynn listened attentively to Lizzie. To be frank, she’s really a little disappointed not be sorted there. But, glad as Ed had made a wrong prediction again.
Lizzie said that the Gryffindors were proud to show their house color. House color…Lynn suddenly realized, so was the Hufflepuffs. The only thing is, yellow, along with black, are really common and normal colors. As a result, it didn’t seemed that noticeable.
Maybe that’s why Hufflepuffs are often underestimated. Lindsey thought.
“Your common room seemed really nice! And comfortable!” Lynn said. “It must be cool to sleep in a tower. I mean, hearing the wind roars at night.”
Then, she asked Lizzie about her brother’s age. 14, as Lizzie said.
Hmm, Ed’s already fourteen too. Lynn thought. But he’s in the third grade.
“Well my brother’s 14 years old too.” Lynn turned to Lizzie, smiling. “And, I do think he’s in the third grade. A ‘nice’ fellow, though.” She laughed.
Edmund Springhall was considered quite a good friend and companion among his housemates, as someone had told Lynn before.
“A good companion”, kidding, Lynn always thought. She could accept everything, but could not go through the fact that this “good companion” had poured a whole bottle of potion their father had made on her best clothes, JUST FOR FUN. She would really prefer to stay with her two French cousins rather than him during the vacations.
Lizzie’s brother must be a true friend to her. She thought. At least, better than that Edmund.

@Lindsey Springhall

Lizzie laughed, "Are you kidding me? I've heard the Hufflepuff common room is right next to the kitchens! Who cares about roaring wind when you barely have to go anywhere to get a midnight snack?" That wasn't to say though, that it wasn't cool to hear the wind roaring at night. Not to mention the view, also. Every dorm had at least one window and looking out that window, you could see everything! Well, not everything, but a lot of things.

Now that Lynn mentioned how her brother was fourteen and in third year, Lizzie suddenly remembered that her brother was actually in third year also. "Woah I'm like 99% sure that my brother is in third year also!" she exclaimed happily. "What's your brother's name? I can ask my brother if he knows him."

Lizzie did catch the slightly sarcastic tone Lynn had used when describing her brother. Frowning slightly, Lizzie mulled over her friend's words. Would it be too prodding to ask about it? Or would it be better to just let it be? Eventually though, due to her tendency to say whatever is on her mind, the question slipped out. "Hey Lynn, what do you mean by your brother is a 'nice fellow'?" she tried to use the same tone Lynn had when she'd said it. Almost immediately after the words had left her mouth, she felt regret wash over her.

What if she was overstepping boundaries? And it cost her their friendship? What if Lynn never really wanted to be her friend and was just sticking around because she felt bad for her? Lizzie tried her best to banish the negative thoughts from her head, but they stuck in the back of her mind, nagging.

@Lizzie Callaghan

“Woah I'm like 99% sure that my brother is in third year also! What's your brother's name? I can ask my brother if he knows him.” Lizzie said merrily.
“My brother…Edmund Springhall, or Mr E.S. as he usually signs——but actually most of his friends call him Ed.” Lynn smiled. “Again, a naughty one!”
The naughty one. That’s exactly what their grandfather (maternal, of course) called Edmund. “Your two cousins and sister never act like you.” The old man usually said. But this boy is his favorite. No reason. Lynn’s sometimes really a bit jealous about this. However, Edmund could be very attractive if he wanted. He could be kind——kind!
Lynn picked up a small stone and threw it into the lake.
I still remembered my best dress, my precious book, my memorable pen, and…!
However, she smiled secretly, cause these represent their childhood, and she did not feel that bad like what she used to complain.
“Hey Lynn, what do you mean by your brother is a 'nice fellow'?” Lizzie asked.
“Oh, never mind about it! He had broken plenty of things——especially mine. But his housemates do like him. They regarded him as a nice boy——I often use this to speak sarcastically to him!” Lynn laughed.
“Um, just kidding! I’m not serious on the ‘breaking things’ issues!” Seeing Lizzie suddenly felt nervous about her previous question, she quickly added.
Yeah, although Ed’s sometimes really annoying, he’s still a brother to her. Despite keep breaking her things, they grew up quite in harmony. Be grateful——she usually told herself——to have a friend that would always support you no matter what happened.
She looked at Lizzie. Suddenly, she realized that she hoped this girl, who’s standing in front her, could always stand beside her.
No matter what happens, she said to herself, I’m always with you, Lizzie.

@Lindsey Springhall

Edmund Springhall. Lizzie tried to commit the name to memory so she could ask her brother next time she saw him. How long would she have to remember the name for? When was the next time she'd see Sean? I'll probably see him once I get back to the common room, she thought, hoping she'd be able to remember Lynn's brother's name for at least that long. Maybe she'd even see Edmund around herself.

But maybe she didn't want to meet Edmund, she decided as Lynn explained how her brother tended to break things and how... weirdly... she said that his housemates liked him but she didn't particularly. Or maybe Lizzie was just reading into the situation too much and Lynn did actually like her brother. That happened occasionally... or more times than Lizzie would like to admit. Although, she didn't really tend to realize it, seeing as she normally just kept talking and her mind would move on from that moment quite easily.

She raised an eyebrow --or tried to-- when Lynn suddenly backtracked and said she was kidding about her brother breaking things. "Are you sure?" she asked, partially kidding, partially wondering why Lynn was basically taking back what she'd said. Did I say something wrong? she wondered in her mind, pushing back the ever-present negative thoughts.

"Anyways," she started. "What do you think is going to be for breakfast tomorrow?"

@Lizzie Callaghan

Actually, Lynn got regretted after saying “kidding”. She’s the sort of “sensitive” person and looking at Lizzie, she knew that she did not explain things clearly.
“Are you sure?” Lizzie asked.
“Um, I mean that I’m kidding on my negative feelings on Ed.” Lynn said, trying to make things as clear as possible. “You know, he’s…well…quite a companion to me when we were young…so although he’s quite annoying sometimes, I do love he deep down in my heart.” She blushed. “But I do recommend you do not meet him!” Lynn laughed.
“Anyways, what do you think is going to be for breakfast tomorrow?”
Lizzie said, smiling.
“Good question though…” Lynn said “Guess I’ll have an really good meal and start the day!”
“But,” She said after a while, “most of the Hufflepuffs got up really early and well you know…I’m quite a lazy person on sleeping issues!
Yeah, she could sleep up to 10 o’clock if no one warned her. And, their dormitory was too comfortable to get up early!
She smiled.
It’s getting dark now and Lynn felt that it’s the time to go back.
“Time for dinner!” She said happily. “Let’s go back. I’m quite looking forward to it!”

Lynn left this thread and moved to here!

@Lindsey Springhall (even though we're moving to a different thread...)

Although Lizzie thought Lynn's explanation for her words about Edmund was... off, she didn't push further. It was sorta strange, in her opinion, how Lynn was skirting over the matter and generally not giving straight answers. Like she said one thing, but then went back on it, like she was hitting "backspace" but in a real-life conversation. Very strange. But Lizzie, easily distracted, almost completely forgot about the matter when Lynn started talking about breakfast.

Like most kids, Lizzie was extremely food-oriented, and her thoughts often were when's the next meal? breakfast? that's sorta far away. what's for breakfast?? and then she'd spend most up the time leading up to the meal obsessing over what there could possibly be to eat.

She could feel the disbelief on her face as Lynn told her how most Hufflepuffs got up really early. "That's insane!" she exclaimed. "Do they wake you up with them?"

She never got an answer to her question, though, as Lynn started to head back to the castle, saying something about dinner. "Dinner?!" Lizzie nearly shouted. How could she have forgotten about dinner?! That was so unlike her. "I'm coming!!" and with that, she hurriedly got up off the rock and found herself sprinting wildly, for the second time that day.

What was with her and running? Was whoever's in control of this world trying to tell her to run more?

Lizzie is leaving this thread!