Skateboarding Through Time (Elaine)

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia sighed heavily, practically gasping for air as she skated around the courtyard on her skateboard. She was all out of cigarettes again, and she wouldn’t be able to get a new supply until the next Hogsmeade visit. Of course, maybe Olivia wouldn’t have run out so soon if three entire packs had been turned into little note holders. For the past week, Olivia had to deal with little notes from her mother saying things like maybe if you had the courtesy to respect your own mother, you’d have more little poison sticks to smoke and some of them even had the nerve to say things like Maybe this is a sign, Olivia. I’m only trying to help you, you know. Olivia rolled her eyes at the thought. Laura was such a pain. Olivia wasn’t stupid. She had the guts to admit she needed Laura. She didn’t need her for the love and attention she gave, because she gave none. She practically gave out cold glares, but no love. Olivia needed Laura’s financial support. Olivia and Laura had made a mutual agreement that Olivia would have to continue to call the Dawson manor home until her seventeenth birthday if Laura continued to provide Olivia with the money she needed to get around town. On her thirteenth birthday, Olivia was provided with a number of things. After the biggest fight of Olivia’s life, Laura sat Olivia down at the family table and talked to her in a calm but cold voice. Olivia could still remember that night.

Olivia sat fuming in her room. Her hand was bleeding from the big blowout with her mother. She couldn’t believe it. They had used magic against each other. Olivia stared at her wand that lay on her bed, which had clothes piled on it as well. Suddenly, she heard someone call out her name. It was her mother. She couldn’t believe she had the nerve to call her down again. Olivia swallowed hard, grabbed her wand and walked cautiously downstairs. She wanted to be ready in case her mother attacked. Olivia cringed at the thought. She was still in shock that she had to fear of being attacked by her own mother. But Olivia wasn’t a coward. She was going to face this head on, whether she believed it was happening or not.

As she arrived downstairs, she noticed her mother sitting alone at the far end of the long mahogany dining room table. She looked angry, but her wand had been placed neatly at the center of the table. Olivia stared at her mother, wondering what the hell was going on. “Olivia, please sit. And place your wand at the center of the table, beside mine. Then have a seat anywhere you like.” Olivia raised her eyebrow. After her mother had laid her wand on her daughter, she actually expected her to follow her orders? Not likely. She sat down at the far end of the table (which was at least six feet from her mother) and held her wand protectively. Her mother rolled her eyes but spoke anyway. “You are lucky I am so kind to do this. But you must stay at the Dawson manor until you turn seventeen. Then you may screw up your life all you want without worrying about me. But right now, you are thirteen years old, and you must stay here.” She said, glaring at her daughter. Olivia scoffed. “Right. I was just packing my bags. I’m out of here.” She said with her head held high. “No you’re not. Here. Here is a key to your very own Gringotts vault, which I’ve already packed with galleons. Here is a muggle credit card under your name that you may use with your mudblood friends. And finally and most importantly, here is a muggle cell phone which you must use to contact me every day at exactly seven thirty at night. I will not have you and your muggle friends ruining my reputation, do you hear me? You may have these if and only if you agree to stay in this house as a part of the Dawson family until you are seventeen. Am I understood?” Olivia rolled her eyes but agreed. And that was how she lived her life from then on.

Olivia was awakened from her trance as she noticed the sun set over the horizon. Her stomach growled and Olivia picked up her board and walked with it to the Great Hall. Olivia looked around, making sure no professors were anywhere near. She shrugged, not caring if they were or not and hopped on her skateboard. She’d get to the Great Hall faster on a board than on foot, and while most professors didn’t approve of Olivia skateboarding in the building, they didn’t approve of many of Olivia’s other habits as well. Olivia shrugged. They weren’t going to change her, no matter how hard they tried. Olivia wasn’t looking where she was going, and before long, she found herself almost colliding with someone in the corridors. Olivia swerved out of the way just in time to dodge getting hit, but her board skidded off her feet and slammed into the wall breaking with a loud crash. She sighed and went to go pick up the two pieces of her skateboard. How lovely. “Gee, thanks.” Olivia muttered under her breath as she examined the old board, wondering how she’d put it together again for the sixteenth time. She doubted Repairo would work anymore. It barely worked the fifteenth time her board broke.

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Elaine sighed quietly under her breath as she leaned against the wall behind her. Her crystal eyes stared blindly in front of her as her mind began to slowly wonder from its previous task. There were endless rows of bookshelves that stood before her, piled high with variety of wizarding hard backs. Some where novels, other biographies but none the less they were books; with a spine, and a hard cover front. Candles outlined the dark isle way, their flames dancing along the darkness. The enchanted books had to be careful when they flew across the room to their rightful place. There had been a instance where one novel had flew by the flame, catching itself on fire, but Madam Pince saved it in the nick of time. Elaine didn’t quite like the school Liberian. The library was like her second home, but maybe that’s why she hated it to much? Spending so much time with her nose in a book? Shaking her head at her thoughts, Elaine tilted her head to the right, staring out the window. There was also little sunlight peering in through the sun filled afternoon. Elaine’s life was dull. Boring a better word describe it actually. Well, why could she change that aspect about her life? Simple. She didn’t want to. Somehow everything that she wrote about would ever really appear in real life. She won’t find the perfect guy because he didn’t exist, or even have the girl drama that filled most teenagers’ life. Elaine led a plain lifestyle to be exact. Her family wasn’t broken, or messed up. Actually, her family was just too tedious, expect Abigail, but she was only eight. She always tried to get Elaine to play dress up with her and tell her stories. It was fun when Elaine was younger, now it was just flat out childish. Well that was what growing up was about, but she still had a lot of it to do.

Wrinkling her nose at the smell of dust, Elaine looked up in front of her as her brother pulled out a book from the shelf. “What are you doing, Noah?” she asked curiously, her eyes landing on the title of the book in fancy silver threading. Noah just hummed quietly to himself, flipping his thumb through the yellow old pages. Feeling her head get light, Elaine sneezed loudly into her arm, glaring at her older brother. “Aren’t you suppose to be off somewhere else?” she asked as she saw a smirk spread from the corners of his lips. “No. Dinner is only in 15 minutes, and I needed to get a book for my Charms project,” he retorted holding back a soft chuckle in his throat. Elaine rolled her as she reached forward, slipping out a maroon colored book on magical herbs. Elaine loved Herbology. It was her favorite course next to charms. “Anyway, you spend most of your days in this library. How could I not come to baby sit my baby little sister.” Noah glanced over his shoulder at his sister, a teasing glare dancing across his face. Elaine just rolled her eyes at him again tucking the book under her arm. “And resist my allergies to dust? I don’t think so.” Laughing she followed behind her brother toward the check out center where Madam Pince lounged in her chair. She was wearing her dark green glasses today, with a golden chain that was way too long. Noah pushed the two books forward as they got checked out. “Thanks,” she whispered as he handed her the Herbology book back. Unzipping her bag, she placed it inside with the rest of her books before walking next to Noah as they headed toward the Great Hall.

“I’ll see you later, Elaine,” Noah called as he raced forward to catch up with Chris and Weetzie for dinner. Elaine huffed quietly to herself as she walked along the corridors. Her mind was slowly starting to drift off elsewhere, her feet just taking her the familiar path she had been taking the past three years. It was until she heard the sound of wheels rolling across the ground that pulled her from the trance. Standing still in her spot, she watched as another girl swerved quickly out of Elaine’s way, crashing into the wall. Elaine was about to apologize when the girl muttered something rude under her breath. Noticing that this was a Slytherin, Elaine sighed as she ran her fingers through her thick hair. “You shouldn’t have been riding that thing in the hallways. At least I wasn’t a prefect or professor,” Elaine spoke her eyes gazing at the broken skateboard. Elaine had never been on one, but she was mainly afraid of falling off and landing on her face. “I’m Elaine by the way. Sorry about your skateboard.”

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia looked down at her board, dark strands of hair falling into her face. She’d tried tying them into a messy bun, but little strands always seemed to fall out eventually. Her hair was simply layered tat way. It was very long, reaching almost down to her chest. But her hair had survived through a lot. Its original color was a light shade of blonde. It had then been dyed dirty blonde, platinum blonde, red, brown, and now the charcoal black that it was now. It had also gone through many lengths and styles. The stylists at the Witches hair salon in Hogsmeade knew Olivia by name, as she came by for a completely different look at least once a month. Olivia was their most valued costumer. But enough about Olivia’s hair. She had obsessed over it enough already.

Olivia looked down at the two broken pieces that were once her skateboard. She had supposed the time was long past due to get a new board, but she never wanted to get rid of it. This was a bit odd, considering Olivia’s personality. She was completely open to change. Her varying image had truly reflected that part of Olivia’s personality. Olivia had enough money to buy herself a perfectly good new board in the past, but somehow, a new skateboard had never been on her Holiday wish list. She loved her old one so much, and never had the strength to replace it every time it broke. Instead, she simply fixed it and continued to use it like nothing had happened. Olivia still didn't know why she was so attached to something as insignificant as a skateboard, but she was. But looking down at her board now, Olivia realized it was probably time to replace her own board.

She looked up from the broken mess that was once her beloved old board and shrugged. The girl standing in front of her did not seem to want to be here at all. It was almost as if she expected Olivia to lash out and start insulting the girl. How judgmental of her. This girl; who Olivia recognized to be a Ravenclaw in her year, obviously didn't know about Olivia. If she had known her, she wouldn't have run her fingers through her hair like she was now. She would have known that while she didn't exactly take care to follow the rules, she wasn't your normal average Slytherin. In fact, she hated the pureblood mania that most people in her house lived by. It was stupid, and it wasn't worth her time.

"It's fine. I was going to get a new ride anyway. And I don't really care for the rules around here. It wouldn't make a difference to me whether or not you were a prefect or a professor." She said calmly. She wanted to make it clear that she was a free spirit. She did what she wanted, no matter what others said about her. "And my name's Olivia." Olivia said, once again purposely leaving out her surname. She liked to avoid having any kind of connection to anyone; especially the Dawsons. Olivia promoted all forms of individuality, and hated being compared to anyone.

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Elaine stared down at the broken pieces that lay in the girl’s hands. She felt horrible for destroying something like that. It wasn’t all Elaine’s fault though. Yes, she should have been looking where she was walking, but this girl shouldn’t have been using it in the school. Still, it didn’t help the burning regret that was rising inside of Elaine. Looking at the girl in the face as she spoke, Elaine was relieved as she was calm about the situation. Most of the Slytherins that she had bumped into would bite her head off, even the younger students. Maybe that’s why Elaine was always so judgmental of that particular house. Even though she believed in not judging others, Elaine still did it. She hated that aspect of herself, but it was human nature to do just that. There were only a few rare souls out there in the world that seemed to have that kind of power over themselves. “I really am sorry,” Elaine apologized again, chewing nervously on the inside of her cheek. As the girl introduced herself as Olivia, Elaine sent the girl a small smile. “I’m Elaine Bentley,” she greeted tilting her head to the side in thought. Elaine stared at the girl wondering where she had seen her. There were words going on about her around school, but Elaine liked to stay out of the whole gossip grapevine that grew around Hogwarts. There wasn’t anything pleasant about gossip, and nothing good came from it. Though, Elaine still heard things, but she just chooses not to believe them. “Your last name is Dawson, right? I think we have a couple classes together.”

Looking back at the girls hands Elaine frowned at the shattered skateboard. Maybe there was something she could do? Even though Olivia said she was going to buy another board, Elaine could probably help? “Here,” Elaine said looking at Olivia for a second before taking the wood from the girl’s clutched arms. Holding it up, she watched it dangle on its last end. Tucking it carefully under her arms, Elaine took out her wand from her robe pocket. Setting the board on the ground, she fell on her knees pointing the tip of her wand directly at the center. “Repairo,” Elaine muttered in inaudibly under her breath moving her wrist in the familiar motion that Professor Flitwick showed them during Charms. Elaine watched as the wood ensemble together magically looking almost brand new. Grinning, Elaine picked the board up but frowned as it broke in half again. Why wasn’t it working? Repairo always worked. Maybe this was beyond repair? “Um…I thought it would work. How many times have you broken this board?” Elaine asked, looking up at Olivia. Standing up straight, Elaine handed the skateboard to the Slytherin, a small still plastered on her lips. “I think it is time to get a new one.”

As the girl took the broken wood, Elaine dug her hands into her pockets as she glanced down at her feet. It was dinner time, but she wasn’t all that hungry. Elaine didn’t eat much, but when she was hungry she ate a lot. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to skateboard,” Elaine finally spoke pointing to the pile in Olivia’s hands. “I remember learning about it in Muggle Studies, but my parents don’t quite agree on buying me one. Their purebloods, but not the kind that hate muggles. Actually, their quite opposite. My father is a wizard but works in the muggle world.”

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia shuddered slightly as the girl, who had introduced herself as Elaine Bentley, asked her if her last name was Dawson. Olivia purposely had left that part of her name out for a reason. She hated having any relation to Laura or even little Brian Dawson. Laura was a well known woman, and most people around school who had gotten in minor trouble with the Ministry knew how truly evil her mother was. Some of the younger students knew Olivia as Brian Dawson’s scary sister. Despite the fact that Olivia wasn’t all that bad of a person, people still backed away knowing Olivia was related to evil little Brian. Although, Olivia’s appearance didn’t help things much either. She often walked around with a cigarette in her hands, a tattered up skateboard, and the grungiest hair and makeup the world has ever seen.

Most little first years ran at the sight of Olivia as it was. But then, when they found out Olivia was a Dawson, they just ran faster. Olivia’s little brother Brian was nothing short of evil. Even though he was only a first year, he was still dreadful. Brian, much like his parents, ignored Olivia completely. They shunned her and treated her as if she was not even family. So Olivia treated him the same. She hated being related to the Dawsons. In fact, she hated having any relation to anyone. She absolutely hated being compared with other people. Olivia was Olivia. She was not punk, she was not grunge, and she was not a troubled teen. She hated being labeled as well. Olivia almost felt bad for any thick headed idiot who lacked the sense not to label Olivia.

“I’m related to the Dawsons, but I’m not exactly a proud family member.” She said simply. She didn’t like telling people more than they needed to know. In her opinion, it was none of their business. She normally gave simple yes or no answers and moved on. It was an act of self defense. She was defending her heart. Deep down, Olivia was weak. She was easily hurt and easily wounded. But she was good at protecting Olivia had always pictured giant electric fences surrounding her heart, guarded by rabid guard dogs. Not many people could successfully break through that protection of hers. Only one person had managed to do that throughout her entire life.

Elle was not only Olivia’s sister, but it was almost like she was a daughter to her as well. Laura and Martin obviously weren’t doing their job, so Olivia had stepped in. Elle was inside. She had defeated the dogs. She hopped over the giant electric fence. Olivia was confident that Elle would never do anything to hurt Olivia, but if she did, Olivia would never be able to survive it. She sighed. She didn’t want to think abut her heart and her defenses. Elaine Bentley was just some Ravenclaw girl who had accidently bumped into Olivia. She probably wasn’t even going to try going near that imaginary fence of hers, so why was Olivia thinking about it so much lately. Because someone else might. Olivia answered silently to herself.

Olivia tried to tell Elaine that Repairo would never work on her board, but she took it anyway and performed the spell. The board looked brand new for about a second, making the girl smile. Then, her face fell as the board snapped in half once more. Olivia smirked as she took the broken board back. “It’s been broken about fifteen times.” She said, glancing back at the board. Olivia was barely listening when Elaine started rambling about wanting to learn how to skateboard or something, but Olivia caught the gist of it. “It’s not as bad as it seems. Once you learn the basics, the rest is cake.” She said with a casual shrug. “I learned when I was about nine. I’ve lived on this board ever since.”

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Olivia’s comment caught Elaine off guard, causing the fifth year to raise her eyebrows. Why did this girl hate her family so much? She didn’t come right out and said that, but tone when she said those words. Not everybody’s family was perfectly put together. Elaine was just lucky hers was. There weren’t any lies between her parents, or any kind of rivalries between her siblings. Noah wasn’t that kind of an older brother. He had his jerk moments, but most of the time her was pretty much cool. Abigail was too young to even be jealous of anything yet. Elaine’s youngest sister loved being home with their moment while her older brother and sister were off at Hogwarts. Though, why did that last name seem so familiar to Elaine? Maybe Elaine had seen this girl before through her father? Lance Bentley was a respected pureblood, though the higher in society didn’t accept him for his fascination with muggles. “If you don’t mind me asking,” Elaine began reaching a hand up to her thick hand and twirling a small segment between her thumb and forefinger. “Is there any particular reason why you aren’t quite so…proud of your family?” It was a long shot, but it was worth asking. Elaine would understand if the girl would brush the question off. She would have done the same if being asked the same thing. Though, Elaine didn’t have anything really to hide. She loved her life. If there was one certain item that she wanted more of, were friends. That was mostly her fault though. She needed to be more outgoing, which was working on. “You don’t have to answer that question. Was only curious.”

Watching Olivia’s delighted smile turn into a sad frown; Elaine bit her bottom lip glancing down at the board. “I don’t know how many times I will say sorry, but one more wouldn’t hurt. I’m sorry.” Offering a small smile toward the girl, Elaine nodded her head as Olivia went into an explanation about the skate board. The thought of just getting on one made Elaine want to laugh. She could almost picture her mother shrieking at her daughter to get off the ‘thing’. Sighing, Elaine just shook her head at her mother’s constant worries. “I really would like to learn how to skate,” she said sending Olivia a quick glance before walking over toward the window where there was a small tan cushioned place near the glass. Jumping up from the ground, Elaine pushed herself onto the seat, her blue eyes meeting Olivia’s gaze. “Then again, I don’t think I’ll like falling on my but the whole time. Though, I like watching the pros do all those awesome tricks on their boards.” Nodding slowly, Elaine smiled as she remembered seeing a skating magazine in a muggle store. There were guy’s suspending in air doing all kind of flips and outrageous stunts. Elaine didn’t know if she would be brave enough to do that. Yet again, she played on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as chaser.

“You can take a seat if you want. Or were you just going to head to dinner?” Elaine asked with a slightly tilt of her head. Her blue eyes never left the Slytherins girl’s face. “I’m not all too hungry. My brother was the one who was trying to make me eat today.” Rolling her eyes at the thought of Noah, she smiled slightly before kicking her legs back and forth.