Just wandering ((Sierra))

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie found herself in the castle once again. She could not for the life of her figure out what kept keeping her in the castle during a lovely day, but this had been the third that she had spent in the castle. She knew she had to get out before she drove her self to the brinks of insanity. Sadie run back to the common room, being careful to dodge any prefects and professors so as to not get in trouble for running in the halls. Making her way into the common room, and up the stairs to her dorm, Sadie thought a quick change of clothes was in order before gathering her outdoor bag. Sliding into a simple pair of soft blue jeans, a pastel pink sweater, and her favorite pair of black tennis shoes, Sadie checked her bag to be sure that she had everything. "Sketch Pad, paints, brushes, pencils, erasers." Sadie didn't realize that she was speaking to her self until she heard herself say "Wand". By that time it was too late, for she was zipping up the bag and whisking it up her shoulder. The bag, a simple cloth muggle backpack that she had since she was in muggle school, needed replacing but Sadie just couldn't bring herself to replace it since it had been the last thing that Sadie and her mother had went shopping for. She briskly made her way through the castle from the Hufflepuff Common Room to the Courtyard. There Sadie was unsure of what she would do or where she would decide was comfortable, but that's where she wanted to be.

Sadie burst through the doors that lead to the Courtyard, as if it was the first time she had even been outside her whole life. She couldn't help it, she wasn't one who liked to be inside a lot. Looking around the Courtyard, she found it seemingly empty. It was usually overly crowded, but then a lot of people had been attending classes and getting over worked with Homework, that was just something that no matter how hard she tried Sadie couldn't bring herself to do. She kept up with the homework, but couldn't force herself to go to classes. She was already doing that with Professor Binns class, but that was because she hoped to learn more about the history of some of the magical diseases that could affect muggles as well. She thought about seeing Prof. Binns after class one day to ask him about these things. Or even trying to catch Madame Pomfrey to ask her about it. She needed a bit more insight to the disease that killed her parents, but she wanted more than anything to find that she had more family. Surely every one in her father's family wasn't dead. Sadie shook the thoughts from her head, before they led her down the saddened tear stained path she had already been down so many times in the past two years.

Sadie wandered around the Courtyard, looking for the perfect place, when something caught her eye. Well more like someone than something. Sadie, for the first time in her history at Hogwarts, was seeing a Slytherin girl sitting by herself. The girl looked about the same age as Sadie which made Sadie realize that the girl had to be a second or third year. Why would a younger Slytherin be by herself Sadie thought to herself, as she carefully approached the girl. Sadie wondered if she should speak to the girl, or if it was some sort of trap to catch a sensitive student for some type of prank. Sadie decided on speaking for she had held her own a couple of times against other Slytherins her age. Sadie had learned that if you stood up to them, they began to leave you alone.

"Um.. Hi." Sadie found herself saying as she neared the girl a bit more. Sadie found a soft place on the ground near the girl, and pulled her blanket from her bag. Laying it on the ground, Sadie dropped her bag on to the blanket and sat down, folding her legs beneath her.

[Sierra Greene S6]

Sierra laid on the ground, her plaid blanket spread underneath her. She rested her chin on her one hand, while writing with the other. Her legs were bent at her knees, with her feet crossed and slightly sticking up in the air. She would write a line or two, and then stop to think. It wasn't often that she wrote in her diary; mostly when she was bored or experiencing great anger or depression. Today was just one of those boring days.

... Adam has been ignoring me lately. He's found some Slytherin girl in his year to spend all of his time with. I've heard she's loony, but I think he's happy at least. But not me. This only means one less person that I actually have to talk to...

She stopped writing when she noticed someone coming. Quickly, Sierra closed the book and slid it aside, covering it with one of her text books. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the girl, not expecting her to bother coming near. However, Sierra was surprised when she did come and sit close to her and even more surprised when she spoke to her. Doesn't she know I'm a Slytherin? Sierra thought. It wasn't that Sierra was even the normal Slytherin, but usually just being a Slytherin meant she was ignored by those outside of her house. But it was nice every once in a while when someone actually did speak to her. Whether it was because they didn't know she was a Slytherin or just didn't care, she enjoyed the company regardless.

"Hi," Sierra said simply, just watching the girl for a moment. "Umm, you might want to move," she began. "I mean, just somewhere that isn't right where you are sitting. I was there at first, and the ground is a little wet still from the last rain," she finished, looking toward the wet spot on her own blanket as if pointing it out to the girl. "Over here is dry though," she said, pointing to the empty space on the opposite side of her blanket.

Sierra sat up from her stomach and tucked her legs under her bottom so that she was sitting 'Indian style'. She glanced over at the girl, wondering if she would indeed move. Then, saying nothing, she pulled out her Transfiguration book and flipped through the pages rather rather pointlessly. She was usually pretty talkative, but she kind of felt like seeing if the other girl would talk first. Back and forth, Sierra looked back and forth from the girl to her book, waiting in silence to see what she would do.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie realized as she sat down, that the young girl was right. The ground was still wet under the tree. Sadie wondered how everywhere else was dry, but the spot under the tree was still wet. Sadie shrugged it off peacefully. "Thanks, I didn't notice." Sadie said as she stood and pulled her blanket back up off the ground. Sadie was a bit uneasy at what the girl had in mind as she moved her blanket just to the other side, laying it back out so close that the two blankets were almost touching. Sadie hoped that this girl wasn't trying to trick her like most of the Slytherins that she had previously incountered, but she was willing to take risk. What was the worst that could happen. It would be that Sadie would have to defend herself against yet another Slytherin if this girl was trying to trick her, but that wasn't something Sadie was unaccustom too. She had been doing it a lot lately, since she rarely had any friends around any more.

"I'm Sadie." She said cautiously. She wasn't sure if the other girl would even want company, but she was sure that it would soon be revealed. Sadie looked over everything, trying to find just the right inspiration for a sketch. She dug through her bag and found an image of a Unicorn. Thinking that she could sketch a picture of the woods, and then place the unicorn as if it were walking just in front of the wood, Sadie smiled. It would be the perfect sketching, and she hoped the best that she had done in a while.

Sadie had given up on creating good sketches for most of the time she started crying while sketching and the tear stains on the sketches usually ruined them. Sadie was sure that she would manage to not cry this time as she sketched out the wood and unicorn. Glancing over at the other girl, Sadie wanted to speak, but was unsure of what to say. She picked out her pencil, dug out her sketchpad, and quickly began to work on the sketch of the woods. "If I'm sitting too close, or you want to be alone, please just let me know. Or if you want to talk, I'm a good listener." Sadie was unsure why she felt that she should volunteer this while she was sketching. She sat wondering what the other girl was thinking.

((sorry it's a bit short. Sadie's not very inspirational still. I'm hoping forcing these posts out of her will help.))

[Sierra Greene S6]

The girl seemed willing to take Sierra's advice about the wet ground. She couldn't help but think though that the girl seemed somewhat wary about the whole situation. She had to smile to herself, realizing that, yet again, just because she was a Slytherin, people had a tendency to tiptoe their way around her. Once the girl had settled next to Sierra, she began to rummage through her bag after introducing herself as Sadie. "Sierra," she replied. Her response was short, but still she wanted to see what the girl might have to say first.

After some more silence, Sierra watched as she assumed the girl was preparing to start drawing or something. Then, she spoke again. "You're fine," Sierra said. "And I'll keep that in mind," she added, concerning Sadie's comment about being a good listener. Her reply was somewhat sarcastic, but she was still serious with what she said.

"So what are you doing?" Sierra asked, finally deciding that it would be ok to talk to the girl.

((Sorry it's short and slightly delayed.))

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie had already found her way into the hallows and shadows of her mind when she heard Sierra speak again. "Oh.. this. I'm just sketching. It's something I learned to do over the summer while I stayed in Diagon Alley. Thought I would sketch the Forest today, and then later add a unicorn or Gryffin to it. Not sure which yet" Sadie said as politely as she could muster out of herself.

Sadie was quiet again. She hated silence but was too unsure to speak. She didnt' want to start a fight and Sierra looked as if she could use a friend.

((Sorry mine's short and crappy, hopefully better next post.))

[Sierra Greene S6]

"Sketching?" Sierra repeated, tilting her head at the thought. She found art to be interesting and liked looking at what others had created. "Mind if I take a look?" she questioned Sadie, putting down her Transfiguration book and rummaging through her bag. She knew that many people were hesitant to show others something like their personal artwork. For that reason, Sierra pulled out one of her notebooks from her bag and flipped to somewhere in the middle. She turned it so that Sadie could see. The page was splashed with bright colors which formed random shapes and designs across the white paper. "You can look through my work if you want," Sierra offered. "Though most of them are abstract pieces."

Sierra sat with her book held out toward Sadie. She wasn't sure if she would agree to her offer, but she knew that she was at least being kind and trying to be somewhat social. Sierra gave a small smile as she waited for Sadie's response.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie smiled, "Sure." she said offering Sierra the sketchbook that she had in her hands. She smiled as Sierra also offered her a glimpse of a peice that she had created. Sadie liked the way that the way that the brightly colored random designs spread across the white paper. "That's beautiful." She said smiling. Sadie had never figured that she would make friends with a Slytherin, but it was happening.

Sadie hoped that the stories behind her sketches were obvious. If not, she hoped that Sierra would ask so that she could explain. A Slytherin talking with a Hufflepuff was something definately unheard of but obviously possible. "So do you like to do arts often?" Sadie asked politely.


((I am so deeply sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to this. RL has kept me so busy that I haven't had time for many posts at all. I'm trying to take every free moment to catch up on posts, and even though some are forced, I am trying to get all caught up so that my inspiration returns))

[Sierra Greene S6]

"Thanks," Sierra said with a polite smile when Sadie complimented the one drawing. It was one of Sierra's favorites. It had been one of the first drawings she did when she came to Hogwarts. It was an exciting time for her, being able to get away from home which bored her. The bright colors represented a new beginning that she felt she had gained when she came to Hogwarts. It was odd to think that it had been almost two years since then. The time sure did fly by.

Sierra flipped through Sadie's book. There were a lot of pictures that included themes of nature. It must have been something Sadie enjoyed drawing. Sierra's favorite types of drawings were portraits, although she was terrible at drawing them herself. Human traits were difficult for her to capture in a realistic manner. They always seemed to end up being skewed. It was probably because her mind was more abstract anyways. She looked to see if Sadie had any pictures of people in her sketchbook. Just when she was about to give it back, she did find a picture that caught her eye. It was a picture of many people- half a dozen to be exact. It almost looked as if it had been drawn while using an actual photograph as a guide. Sierra took her time to look over the picture. It held great detail for only being a drawing. She smiled as she examined the intricacies. Sadie was truly great at capturing people.

"This looks..." Sierra began, intending to compliment Sadie, until something caught her eye. "Amazing," she finished, her voice quieting with the last word. She looked at the one person in the picture that caught her attention. Slightly confused, she had a puzzled look on her face. "This girl looks oddly similar to my mother," she said finally, pointing to the person she was talking about. Sierra didn't look up at Sadie though. She just held the sketchbook and starred at the picture. A chill ran up her spine. It must just be a coincidence, she thought. Surely it was. But then another wave of eeriness washed over her. The whole picture started to seem familiar. Unless she was imagining it, Sierra knew of a picture that was in her very house that looked almost identical to this. It had been on the mantle of their fireplace ever since she could remember, but she never really paid much attention to it. It had belonged to her mother, she knew, and she never really cared much to ever take a closer look at the photo.

A bit freaked out, Sierra pushed the book back into Sadie's hands. "They're all great," she said emptily. The thought of the picture was all she could think of at the moment. Why would Sadie have drawn a picture that Sierra was almost sure was sitting on her mantle at home. She wasn't sure if she was crazy, and so she didn't say anything else about it, waiting first to see if Sadie would explain it. Sierra thought that maybe she was just making this all up. Sometimes she did have an active imagination and she could easily just be thinking something that wasn't even true. Maybe the pictures were similar, but not the same. Plus, it had been a while since she even had looked at the picture at her house. She probably didn't even know what it looked like exactly... right?

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie looked back over at her book to see which of the pictures Sierra had come to that seemed to be shocking her so. It was on that had been done from a photograph that Sadie now carried with her in her pack. “That’s umm.. My father’s family.” Sadie said taking a bit of time to be sure that tears didn’t well up in her eyes as she spoke. Sadie carefully reached into the pack sitting beside her and pulled out the original. Pointing, she spoke again, “That’s my father, Peter. The young girl you are talking about, according to the back of the photograph here is named Tressa, my father’s sister.” Sadie took a moment before trying to go on about the picture. “This was one of the few things left of my father’s memories after my parents death. He had kept it in a muggle type of lock box, and the key had been hung around my neck on a gold chain.” Sadie said as she pulled the necklace that she never took off out from under her shirt.

Sadie was a bit shocked when the book was pushed back into her hands. She carefully opened it back up, and looked at the picture. “I’m not sure where the rest of my father’s family is. I do know that my father was killed. The muggle doctors couldn’t tell me what caused it, but I think it was a dark illness. My mother never knew my father was a wizard.” Sadie said taking the time to wipe a tear from her cheek before it reached the book that was now in her lap along with the original photograph. “I guess you could say that I’m an orphan who refuses to go to a muggle orphanage. I have been staying by myself since my first summer here. Diagon Alley really is a wonderful place to stay during the summer.” Sadie wasn’t sure why she was so comfortable as to reveal things that only her closest friends knew. They knew because they had insisted that she come stay with them, but she had refused the offers, telling them that she couldn’t be a burden on someone’s family like that. “Sierra, I’m sorry if the picture upset you. I should have warned you that it was in there.” Sadie said feeling a bit upset over its sudden finding as well.


((I'm sorry it's short and horrible. I've been a bit sick lately, and it's not easy to write when sick. I do hope that you understand and forgive me))

[Sierra Greene S6]

Tressa. The same name as her mother. Sierra was in shock when Sadie had confirmed that the person in the pictures actually was her mother like she had first thought. Sure enough, this picture had to have been the same copy of the one sitting on the mantle at Sierra’s home. As Sierra began to process what she had just heard, Sadie continued explaining the picture and her family. Not that she was being rude, but Sierra was only partially hearing what Sadie had to say. The reality of everything was just taking a minute to sink it.

“Wait a minute, Sadie,” Sierra said gently, stopping Sadie in mid-sentence. She took the picture in her hands again and pointed to her mother. “You said that this girl… this girl is Tressa? And that this is your father?” She pointed to the guy Sadie had indicated earlier. “Then… that means… we’re cousins,” she said softly, trailing off at the end. The connection was finally starting to make sense, although it was the most bizarre thing that Sierra had ever experienced. She knew very little about her family, since her parents had raised her and Adam away from them for the most part. Plus, they never talked about it at all. She did remember her mother mentioning that an uncle who had died, but Sierra had no clue that she had cousins!

“That’s my mom, and that’s your dad,” Sierra repeated, still trying to grasp the idea herself. “And that means we’re cousins.” Sierra simply gave an empty look to Sadie. She still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about this. It was all just a shock to her. Part of her though was thrilled to find this out. After all these years, she had pretty much survived on her own, well, aside from having Adam there. But to now know that she had a cousin who was so close her age, Sierra thought it to be a good thing, even if she didn’t really act like it.

For a moment, there was silence between the girls. But eventually, Sierra’s face began to form into a smile. As she thought of what this truly implied, she realized that it was more of a good thing, even if it did come at such a shock. “Do you realize what this means, Sadie?” she finally asked.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie stopped mid-sentence as Sierra spoke. Listening to everything that was said, a wave of total shock flooded Sadie’s mind. She couldn’t help but to be in shock from what she was hearing. Could this mean what Sadie hoped it meant? Could this mean that she actually had family, and that she wasn’t the last member of her family alive? Sadie wasn’t sure how to take this news. Shouldn’t she be more ecstatic than shocked? Shouldn’t she be happy that she had finally after two years of a search, she had finally found at least one relative. Sadie’s thoughts ran so fast through her mind that she couldn’t process them all at once. Feelings of excitement, shock and sadness all ran through her at once, along with many more feelings that she couldn’t sort through to understand or describe them. Sadie wasn’t sure what to say as she listened to Sierra process the thoughts of the picture that the two were looking at.

Sadie glanced at Sierra and noticed an empty look on Sierra’s face. Sadie was so shocked though she couldn’t bring herself to say anything just yet. Her only reaction was to look back at Sierra and hope that she understood how Sadie was feeling at the very moment. Sadie had really just started dealing with the fact that she might not ever find any relatives of her fathers. She had started to realize that there was a chance that the only way she would ever live with relatives again would be to go to her mother’s family. Sadie had already known that she didn’t want that to happen, for they would never understand that Sadie was a witch and went to a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Sadie wasn’t sure what to say or think at this point. The guy she had pointed to in the picture was definitely her father, and she knew that the girl in the picture beside her father was his sister Tressa, but she could only try to comprehend that the simple fact was that it was Sierra’s mom, which indeed did make them cousins. Sadie ran this thought through her mind a million times in just a few moments.

“Umm... Ummm...” was all Sadie could get to come out as she tried to speak. Sadie wasn’t sure what to say. It was the first time that she had ever been speechless. Sadie was as startled by the feeling of being speechless as she was shocked of the new discovery. As Sadie looked again at Sierra, she noticed a smile forming on her face. This would truly be a good thing, Sadie was sure of that. Sadie was afraid of babbling when she opened her mouth to answer Sierra, but she took her chances, “It means so many different things. We’re cousins, Sierra. I honestly thought I was the last of my family in the world left alive. This means I’m not alone anymore. It means that there are still some of my father’s family alive.” Sadie’s train of thought ran off with her and she couldn’t keep up. “What else does this mean? I lost my thoughts.” She said laughing as the shock lighted up just a bit.