Ash was chilling out here, celebrating on the balcony. She had ditched her bandages that had covered her right upper arm, now to be replaced with a big and slightly annoying scar. Ahhh. Remember when nobody was trying to kill me and all my injuries were accidents? Those were good times. SHe stood against the wall, taking in the view, drinking apple cranberry cider. It might have been the event or the sugar, but Ash was strangely happy today, happier than most had ever seen her. She sung a song to herself.

"You're the perfect melody
The only harmony I wanna hear
You're my favorite part of me
With you standing next to me
I've got nothing to fear"

Today was a good day, an eye of a storm. The storm would come back in full force soon, but there were better days to come.

Beth hummed softly to herself, stepping through the balcony doors and making her way to the overlook. She was homesick. Homesick and nervous, and she had been for the past month of the school term, but for this moment she would let herself relax. There were no scary hooded weirdos or evil headmasters coming to crucio her for enjoying the weather or the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans currently taking up residence in the pocket of her robes. She took a breath and closed her eyes. No, for this moment she was allowed to feel safe, to pretend like things were just fine. She pulled out her tattered sketchbook.

She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed another presence on the balcony until she heard the beginnings of a song. Her eyes landed on a Ravenclaw girl, the same girl Rosier had practically assaulted in class. Is that where she got those scars from? Maybe some sweets would make the girl feel better. She walked toward her and offered a toothy smile. "Hi, what are you singing?" She asked, popping a jelly bean into her mouth and holding out the box in offering.

Ash smiled. A firstie! "I'm singing a cute song that I learned from a long time ago." A muggle song. And she was rather good. She took an offered jelly bean. "What are you doing out here?" What are you doing out here? Her eyes wandered off over the grounds. It was a beautiful view. If she was a bird, she could just fly away. But she couldn't. So instead she smiled and stretched her arms, because MObIliTy is an important part of recovery or something like that.

Beth nodded and bit into a questionable looking bean. She'd never heard it before, but it was rather cute. Maybe a muggle song? She liked muggle music more than wizard music anyway. She forced the soap flavored bean down with a grimace and turned back to the other girl. "I wanted to draw the grounds." She said, holding up her tattered well-loved sketchbook excitedly. She set the box of beans on the ledge and stood next to the Ravenclaw, opening the sketchbook to a blank page and looking out at the view. It was pretty, she wanted to stay out here forever and ever and ever. "I'm not amazing," she said, thinking back to the particularly botched sketch of Pandora that the little cat had definitely not appreciated. "but I like to draw, been doing it forever with my dad."

And oh, where were her manners? She hadn't even introduced herself.

"I'm Beth by the way." She said, throwing a jelly bean off the ledge. How far would it go? And how funny would it be if it hit someone? "What are you doing out here? That looks like it hurts." She pointed at the scar, frowning. She wished those people would stop hurting her friends and classmates.

NOW Ash was really paying attention. Drawing? She pulled out her own unassuming black notebook. "I like drawing too. I like to draw like, memories but also concepts and stuff. I find it mentally relaxing." Father didn't seem to care about her? Draw. She got possessed? Draw. She was being held hostage? Draw. Drawing was probably what kept her sane.

"Nice to meet you. I'm celebrating. I got like, apple cranberry cider and everything." That was actually connected to the scar. "Oh, only a little bit. I have a high physical pain tolerance." PHYSICAL Pain tolerance. Mental pain? Much less. "I got whacked with a surfboard fin a while back. But that was accidental. And then I took the bandages off today, so I decided to have a party. But the party was mostly just for myself. But now you're here, so that's better."

She paused her jellybean-throwing arm midway in the air and brought her hands together in an excited clap. SHE HAD A DRAWING BUDDY NOW? This was new. This was revolutionary. She would have to ask the girl to go to the art room with her at some point. The only other people she knew who liked to draw with her was papa and her cousin, although...she hadn't, or rather she wasn't allowed to speak to either of them since getting here.

She flipped through her sketchbook and stopped at a sketch of papa. Her heart felt a bit heavy. "I like to draw people, mostly." She said, admiring the old sketch. After a moment, she flipped back to the blank page, putting on a smile and clapping her hands again. The month had been horrible enough already, she wouldn't ruin this peaceful moment as well by going all boo hoo first year crybaby in front of an older student. Nope nope nope. She'd help the girl celebrate her...bandage removal?

She resumed her jelly-bean throwing and nodded. That was great, but what on earth was a surfboard? Her muggle knowledge was lacking and it was embarrassing. "A surfboard?" Some sort of animal, she presumed.

"Anyway, I'm going to draw you. It'll be my post-bandage-removal celebration gift!" She said cheekily, pulling out her quill and seating herself on the wide ledge. People were more fun to draw than nature anyway, in her opinion.

Ash smiled. "Drawing people is so cool. I usually have to draw them from memory and pictures though, and that makes it a million times harder." SO much harder. She had to redraw it like a million times.

Ash realized that the girl probably didn't know what a surfboard was. "Surfing is when you stand on a board in water and try to ride waves on it, if that's helpful for context. They have like, fins on the bottom, and I got smacked with one." She quickly sketched one. "Like this."

Well. The girl was drawing her. "Um okay. Can I draw you too?" She started drawing the balcony, "A drawing party is way better than a sit by yourself and drink sugar party."

"OH. I never would've thought that. When you said fin I just kind of assumed it was an animal of some sort or something." Beth said, scratching her arm awkwardly and nodding at the drawing the girl had shown her for reference. "I went to a muggle primary school when I was little but I don't know much." She said sheepishly. Her grandparents hadn't been too keen on keeping muggle things in the house when they had lived with her family either.

Anyway...

She relaxed against the pillar of the balcony and continued to sketch the outline of the girl's hair. "And yeah sure, nobody's ever drawn me before." She nodded excitedly. She was happy she had at least made one other new friend. Better than cooping myself in my dorm, she reasoned.

It had been a lonely month and truly it wasn't how she had expected this whole first year thing to go.

"You're a second year, right?" She asked, maybe the girl could tell her some things. "Is Hogwarts usually like...this?" She whispered, not looking up from the sketch. Beth had been wondering this since the first night. She had so badly wanted to ask about the headmaster because apparently, according to her sources also known as the older students, the man wasn't the real headmaster. But she wasn't sure, she'd never seen the headmaster before this year and the curiosity was killing her.

But the intelligent part within her, however small, had realized that it probably wasn't a good idea. Rosier was terrifying and so were his...cronies, and if they heard a name drop it would probably mean a hex being sent their way. She wasn't that stupid. She would really like to see her twelfth birthday.

Ash drew the girl happily. She was quite glad she was in a good mood today. Most of her friends had been made while Ash was in a GOOD mood, and they couldn't well back out at this point. "Yeah I'm a second year. It's different than it was last year. Last year I burned down a forest, so it wasn't great, but this is... a different level of sad." ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY. "It sure is nice out here." But it might just be the sugar getting to her brain.

Dahlia was having one of those days. The ones where nothing seemed to lift her spirits and she hadn't wanted to get out of bed. Given it was the weekend she should be thrilled, all of her homework was already finished and she had two days wide open for fun. Or well... as much fun as she could manage without getting herself into any trouble.

The Ravenclaw had slept in a bit, had a hot shower and put on her favorite most comfortable clothes, had her favorite breakfast and even visited the greenhouse and barns/sanctuary. A trip to the library had been taken and a gathering of her siblings and cousins was meant to happen in the afternoon.

She still felt off though. Lia folded her arms on the ice cold balustrade of the balcony and stared out into the distance over the grounds of Hogwarts. Despite all of the tents belonging to the vile minions of the evil melty-faced NOT Headmaster, it was still a beautiful sight. She inhaled a deep breath of icey fresh air letting it fill up her lungs before exhaling slowly. It was freezing out but that meant nothing at all to her. So lost in her own thoughts she didn't even notice.

Minjae was glad that it was weekend . Two days of not learning about how terrible muggles and muggleborns were was a blessing in this place. He had left his homework untouched (he would do that sunday evening) and instead decided to walk around.

Even at the ugly sight of the Alliance taking camp on the grounds and he had heard from a few students that Rosier’s followers had also occupied the sixth floor , he was still mesmerized by the view outside as he walked past the balcony on the fourth floor.

He wrapped his Hufflepuff scarf closer around him and stepped closer to the edge of balcony. It was only then that he realized that he was not alone. ”Oh…” he said awkwardly. ”Didn’t realize someone was already here. I’ll leave you alone if you prefer that” Then again, the balcony was for everyone but he was too emotionally exhausted to argue in case she was one of those LOUD kids.

Constant vigilance was something she was still working on. It wasn't easy when her back was to the doorway of the balcony. Add that with being completely in her own thoughts and she noticed nothing. Most definitely not the much older boy that had seemed to join her.

"Merlin's soggy underpants!" Dahlia exclaimed startled, her hand flying to her chest where her heart was racing as she spun around. When had he showed up out here? How long had she even been standing here?

The first year gave herself a moment to calm down. "Sorry... you startled me. I didn't think anyone else would come out here." It was cold and to be standing here doing nothing was strange. "You can stay if you like. I'm not doing anything special."

Oh no. Ohnononono. He hadn't meant to startle her! "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that" Actually, he hadn't even noticed that the girl had been lost in her own thoughts and had assumed she had been aware of him earlier.

He hadn't planned on coming here and had instead wanted to wander around aimlessly when he had gotten distracted by the view. He was about to turn back around to get inside when he was invited to stay. Cool.

"You should be more careful though, being alone these days is not a smart thing to do" he said, meaningfully looking down at the tents of the Alliance on the grounds. "Ah, i'd love to set those tents on fire" would magic reach from the balcony?

If she wasn't in such a 'mood' already, Dahlia normally would have stood there and laughed. He had startled her but it looked like she in turn had startled him with her reaction. Any other day this would've been hilarious to the eleven year old but not today. "It's okay, I'm pretty easy to scare when I'm lost in my own little world." This was a well known fact by family and friends, her siblings and nieces and nephew occasionally going out of their way just to do so. She was working on getting better at not being so jumpy but this term wasn't making it easy to do.

"I know," she hummed softly in response to his words. Being out and about on her own wasn't the smartest thing in the world but it happened often. Blue eyes shifted from the older boy with the really soft floofy looking hair, another to add to her imaginary list, to out on the grounds. The tents. Now that she was really looking at them, the tents kinda reminded her of the ones at the shop her Papa sold. Her nose wrinkled up a little. "If those aren't of the magical kind they likely would." She didn't think the Neo Alliance would be using anything that wasn't magical though so the chances that those tents didn't have several strong protective charms on them was slim to none.

Minjae pulled his Hufflepuff scarf closer to his nose to protect himself from the cold. He felt bad for startling the kid earlier so he was glad that she accepted his apology. He stood beside her, hands in his pockets to protect them from the cold and then looked down at the tent area again.

The sight was sickening to him. There were so many of Rosier’s followers already at Hogwarts and they hadn’t gotten any help yet. Then a thought came to him and he was careful not to voice it incase it might scare the kid. What if help hadn’t arrived yet because they had somehow taken control of the ministry?

But that was absurd! ‘You’re thinking too much in to this, Minjae' he told himself and looked at the girl as she spoke. ”Yeah…they most definitely used protective spells on the tents “ he sighed and stepped away from the balcony edge ”Bunch of cowards, all of them” he scoffed as he sat down in the opening leading in and out of the castle. ”I’m Minjae by the way”

Dahlia couldn't help but stare out over the grounds, her mind doing it's best to remove the tents from sight. Paint her own vision. See what she wanted to see. If only for a few short moments. If she tried hard enough it was possible. Anything was possible, that's what her parents had always told her and her siblings. When there's a will, there's a way. Even the smallest person could make the biggest change. These thoughts were always so loud and present in her mind... but the issue continued to remain. How. How could she change what was happening right now?

By the time the older boy had spoke again, Lia was lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet and had her hands shoved into the pockets of her robes. She was slowly starting to feel the chill of being out here as long as she had been. "That doesn't surprise me." It was half-way through her first year and she already learned that nothing should come as a surprise around here.

"Yeah, they are," she hummed in agreement, turning around and walking over to sit on the ground near him. "I'm Dahlia."

Instead of depressing himself by looking down at the Grounds and seeing the tents near the Lake, the Hufflepuff looked up at the sky. It was grey and somber yet it made him feel a bit better. He wished he could live in the clouds, far away from this place. His mother had always told him that humans were the most fearful beings. He never wanted to believe her but he was beginning to think that maybe there was some truth to her words.

”I’m glad you agree” he said with a laugh before he looked back down, he noticed that Dahlia as she had introduced herself as, was bouncing on the balls of her feet and he wondered if she was feeling awkward talking to a seventh year. A cold breeze blew over the balcony and Minjae shivered. "You're a first year right?" he asked as he looked at the girl as she sat down as well. "This is probably not what you had envisioned Hogwarts to be...." he truly felt bad for the girl.

"I have no reason not to agree," Dahlia hummed quietly, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. The action might have seemed childish but it was a way that she sat quite often and maybe it would help keep her a tad bit warmer. "Anyone who paid any sort of attention at all would be able to see that." So how this was all still going on was beyond her. If an eleven year old like herself knew all of this was wrong... why couldn't the adults down there staying in tents see it too?

She nodded. "Uh-huh. Ravenclaw. Just like a few of my siblings but my Lily is in Hufflepuff." The trio had been split up for the first time since they were born. It wasn't something she liked to think about even if it was constantly on her mind. "Nope but nothing really does go the way you've envisioned it to." They all had to take the good with the bad... and this term was full of the bad.

Lia tipped her head back to look up at the dark sky. "Do you think it's going to snow?" Snow always made everything look prettier.

”You could have been for the Alliance” Minjae said with a shrug of his shoulders as he watched the first year hugging her knees. ”Not everyone here is against them, you know...” he added. This was probably the main reason why she had to be careful not to be alone. Not just the Alliance and its Leader were to watch out for.

Another student who had family at school . To be honest, it made him feel jealous. With everything going on and being the only one in his whole family currently at Hogwarts (his brother would attend next year ) and with no means of communication with them he felt truly alone. Sure, he had his friends but family was different. He used to dislike it when his mother told him to ‘write to us every week Yoon Minjae!’ but now that he couldn’t do that anymore he missed it. He missed his parents so much. When this was all over , and he had to stay positive that Rosier was going to get arrested or killed some day, and when he saw his parents again he was going to hug them for a long time and cry. Just cry.

He felt like crying right now... Blinking his eyes rapidly because he didn't want the first year to see and he didn't cry in front of people only in empty classrooms, Minjae looked up at the sky.

”Snow?” he repeated as he got out of his thoughts ”I hope so. I like winter, its my favorite season” he said with a small smile that did not reach his eyes. ”Though i don’t think we can have snowball fights this year them around”


Big SIGH

"I-" Lia began but paused letting out a deep sigh. "You're right. I could've been but I'm not. Some of my year and house mates are muggleborn... an-and I know lots of them and muggles too." Was raised to respect all people magical or not. Her voice was kept very low, barely at a whisper as she didn't want them being overheard.

His utter silence when she had given some information about her family kept her from continuing on about them as she normally may have. Family was everything to her and without them being present at Hogwarts right now, Lia knew she would've crumbled completely a long time ago. As much as talking about them saddened her, well those back at home did, it also made her happy.

"Uh-huh," Dahlia nodded her head. "Spring is my favorite season but winter is next. There's so much to do." And it gave her the best reasons to wear all her super warm fluffy clothes. "Mm... maybe we still can. If we're careful about who is around." Hogwarts grounds were really large, there had to be somewhere that was safe to have a decent snowball fight.

A small smile played on his lips as she began to explain the reason she wasn’t for the Alliance. ”You mean Quinn , Eden and Ashley ” he said , wrapping his Hufflepuff robe closer to his body as another cold breeze went over the balcony. ”I’m Muggleborn as well” he added as he took out his wand and with a complicated wave he non-verbally casted the heating charm on his robe. Much better. ”You need to warm up too?” he asked, pointing his wand at the Ravenclaw but not doing anything yet.


There was so much charm about winter season. Sure, it was cold and gloomy but he loved spending christmas with his family, opening up gifts and drinking ..hot….chocolate….. The Hufflepuff’s trail of thought came at an abrupt end when he realized that he could not have that this year. ”It’s sad though. Had the Alliance not been bad people we could have had a snowball fight together. Imagine a massive snowball fight between the students and the Alliance” he laughed , knowing that that would never happen. EVER.

"Yes," Dahlia replied simply. Them and every other person that she knew and didn't know. Never ever, even in her wildest dreams would she ever willingly support the Alliance. A small knowing nod of her head was given. "I know.. I-.. this isn't right." She had been able to figure out that fact from lessons and things, being observant helped. "Yes, please," she whispered at the offer. "Can you teach me that?" How to cast the heating charm, that is.

A massive school wide snowball fight?! Now that would've been epic! The thought alone brought a small smile to her lips. "That would've been awesome. We all would've won, no doubt about that." It sounded like so much fun. It was really sad that this couldn't happen for them all. Could it?

She was right. This was not right. Being treated like you were nothing, even less then vermin was something no one should be going through. And the Hufflepuff hoped that the little first year stayed out of trouble for her own sake.

Minjae was about to cast the spell on the Ravenclaw to warm her up from the cold when she asked to be taught how to do it. He looked nervous for a moment, even looking behind me to see if anyone was there. "I won't get in trouble right?" he asked in an unsure tone. A Muggleborn teaching a halfblood? pureblood? he wasn't sure which of the two she was but either way it made him feel uneasy. "Ok" he finally answered after gathering up some courage. It wasn't as if he was going to teach her anything that complicated. "But...just don't tell anyone i taught you this okay?" he motioned for the girl to take out her wand and waited. "Promise, okay?" he added just to be sure.

Clearly Lia hadn't thought about what she was asking, before she had asked it. Well, she HAD as she wanted to be able to learn how to cast as many charms as she could on her own BUT she also hadn't, in the simple sense of considering that they could get into trouble over it. Seeing the look of nervousness on Minjae's face quickly brought that thought and all possible repercussions of it to the forefront of her mind.

"I- I'm not sure?" she muttered honestly. If he got into any trouble for teaching her, it would be her fault for having asked him to. She didn't want anyone getting into trouble, not for any reason. Especially not because of her. "It's okay if you don't want to. I-I completely understand." The fear of anything bad happening was strong.

Maybe it was for the best anyway. If he didn't teach her. She was a smart girl, strong-willed and more than capable of learning on her own. Minjae surprised her though by agreeing. Doing the very same as he had and glancing around first, the firstie pulled out her wand. "I won't. I promise. I'll even pinky promise if you want." The strongest of promises and she would never break one.