may blessings and smiles be yours [tabby]

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Unsurprisingly, Arya was reading. Now that she had successfully opted out of flying class, she had a free period 'round lunchtime. While the weather was warm, sitting by the Black Lake was a nice place to be. In fact, Arya heard it was a make-out spot, but now, in the glaring daytime, no one was around. Which was good, because if Arya had been surrounded by couples, it would have felt awkward.

Occasionally, she glanced up towards the Quidditch feild where her former class was taking place. She wondered if the professor noticed she wasn't there, and then scolded herself for such silly, schoolgirl thoughts. She didn't want to be "that girl". Every girl at Hogwarts and her mother was "that girl". Besides, although now she had no reason to talk to him ever, it wasn't really a loss. Arya imagined at the pain, humiliation, and sheer horror she was missing. Yep, not a loss at all.

Besides, while she craved his attention (and his smothering gaze), he made her nervous. He seemed perfect but there were parts of him that actually bothered her, and Arya wasn't sure if that meant there was something wrong with her. So being around him was just confusing and exhausting (particularly because her heart beat faster in his presence.) So, altogether, everything was better this way.

She was reading a book about The Magic Behind Letter Writing. It was filled with spells that could enhance letters with cool effects. And it also included practical, non-magical advice. Such as examples of various ways to end letters:

May the road rise to meet you,
Over the river and through the woods,
May blessings and Smiles be yours,
Be Safe, Be Healthy, Be Happy,
It's been real..It's been nice...It's been real nice,
Peace and Progress,
My time is up and I thank you for yours,
Here's to always having loving ways and perfect days,
Happy Trails to you,
Stay as you are,
Be well, do good deeds and keep in touch,

Arya laughed out loud, thinking how corny it would be if she ended a letter to Anon with "May blessing and Smiles be yours."

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby had a free period, being a 7th year and a prefect had its advantages after all. She didn't really want to stay inside the castle, all cooped up in stone. Especially not when the weather was nice. So she headed out onto the grounds. Thankfully the ground wasn't too muddy, as Tabby never wore anything but heels because she loved feeling sexy and tall and flat shoes were for quitters. True, they weren't regulation for the dress code, but she'd live, no one had stopped her yet. And the ones she had on now were more conservative than some others she had.

Tabitha raked her hand through her hair as she looked out onto the lake. Hogwarts was almost over, her last year... It was an intense thought. What would she do in the real world? Would she ever get married and have a family or would her sexuality keep her from it. She still felt embarrassed about her secret. Friends knew, her past lovers knew, but she kept it all very much under wraps.

She was very lost in thought when she heard a laugh from nearby. Tabby blinked and looked around, her eyes settling on a Ravenclaw sitting on a bench under a tree. Tabitha realized the laughter had nothing to do with her but walked over anyway, she could use a pick me up.

"What's so funny?" She asked kindly, curiously peering at the book cover.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Arya almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice asking her a question. She had thought she was all alone. But (and while this was clearly biased) when Arya saw the Hufflepuff colors on the girl's uniform, she immediately felt relief. Were she a Slytherin, Arya would've assumed that the girl wasn't actually interested in why she was laughing, but just looking for a reason to make fun of her. Were she a Gryffindor, Arya would've been on guard because Gryffindors had a way of annoying her with their forwardness. But Hufflepuffs were harmless. This girl was probably genuinely interested in what she was reading. And probably very friendly.

Arya smiled, slightly embarrassed. "The Magic Behind Letter Writing." she said, closing the book (but keeping her thumb on her page) so that new girl could see the cover. "I know it doesn't sound funny, but some of these sign-offs are really cheesy."

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby read the cover as the girl held it up and nodded politely. "Oh." She was right, it didn't sound funny but when she mentioned sign offs, Tabitha smiled. "Those can be funny, my grandma always writes sunshine and sparkles, my grandfather just writes, regards." Tabby laughed softly and shook her head. It was a musical sound she'd been told. Her grandmother had been quite the bubbly Hufflepuff in her day, her grandfather was rather auster and worked at the ministry.

"Does it have a section on enchanted letters? Like howlers or those ones that sing? I've always thought those would be fun to make." She offered, trying to make polite conversation. Tabby sat down beside the Ravenclaw on the bench, figuring she had just as much of a right to sit, but she wouldn't over stay her welcome in the girl's bubble.

"I'm Tabby by the way." She said.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

This girl was really pleasant to be around. It was an immediate sensation that Arya got. The way she held herself, the way her golden hair fell gently around her face. And her laugh was endearing. The girl was simply lovely, and Arya's first thought was: Wow, I want to be her.

Arya laughed appreciatively along with her. "My parents run an apothecary and they do a lot of deliveries. And sometimes my mom accidentally signs off personal letters with "Happy brewing from the Camberley Apothecary."

"Yeah. It's got all those spells. There's color changing, too. And you could make them sing with accents." Arya described, flipping through the Table of Contents in case she was forgetting anything else particularly funny.

"I'm Arya." she replied, with a friendly smile. Because Arya didn't know Tabby, and Tabby definitely didn't look younger than Arya, she had to be older. Arya revered her already.

"Nice socks." she said, noticing, clearly impressed.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabitha smiled. "That's neat, my dad is an Auror and mom is just a homemaker... she was a Ravenclaw too," She said. Of course, now that her little sister was in Hogwarts too, her mother was thinking of getting a job while they were away. The house comment was just as a mode of connection. Tabby didn't know too much about Ravenclaw, except she'd met a few nice ones over the years.

Tabitha chuckled. "Accents? That's fantastic." She admitted. Tabitha had brown up mostly in England, but she'd spent some time in the American South as a baby, sometimes she missed that accent, it was comforting to the baby in her.

Arya was a pretty name, unusual too, she'd never met anyone named that before. "Pretty name, nice to meet you.... oh thanks." She added brightly, as Atya complimented her socks. She sometimes liked to stretch the dress code rules with socks too, there was just far too much room for fun, those muggle stores sold the best socks.

There was cheering from the pitch and she caught a glimpse of some students flipping through colored hoops and shivered a little. "That looks so terrifying." She admitted. Tabby didn't mind flying, but she was a low to the ground flyer, reasonably distances off the ground, safe ones. But tabby was deathly afraid of heights and as such, she didn't enjoy flying much.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Arya replied with a shy smile for most of what Tabby was saying. When they heard cheering, Arya turned, too, so she knew exactly what Tabby was referring to. Arya responded way too loudly, "THANK YOU! Finally! Someone else agrees!" It was such a relief to hear. Especially since Paulo's skepticism over her fear made her feel like a complete idiot. And meeting Brett the other day made her feel like everyone was in love with flying, but her.

"Sorry." she apologized for her exclamation. "It's just that I would've been in that class right now had I not escaped." Hopefully she didn't scare off Tabby, because this had the makings of a beautiful friendship.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby chuckled at Arya's outburst. It wasn't common to find people who didn't like flying much. Just like it seemed to her most muggles loved driving a car, but there had to be a few who didn't right? "Well I'm glad you escaped," She offered brightly, not sure what else to say on that.

"I don't mind the actual flying part, I just have to stay low to the ground, I'm terrified of heights. I don't even like to go up in the stands to watch the games." Tabby admitted with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. Those towers seemed fickle, and unsteady to her. But occasionally she'd go show support, but she'd really have to focus on the game. But she didn't feel so bad because this girl didn't like flying either and wouldn't judge her. Tabby could hover and maneuver up to two feet off the ground but after that, she just didn't like it. Heels were different, you were at least on your own feet, though she'd hate stilts for sure.

"Everyone thinks the new coach is so handsome, but he seems a little sleazy to me." Of course, Tabby wasn't into guys, but she didn't make a habit of admitted that, and lesbian or not, the guy was a little off putting.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

"I'm not scared of heights ... I just ..." Arya tried her best to explain. "I just can't fly. I don't feel right on a broom and I can never control it the way I'm supposed. It's like a spell I can't master." She looked down, embarrassed. That was hard for Arya to admit, especially as a Ravenclaw, because she found pride and accomplishment is doing well in whatever she set out to do.

And hearing Paulo called sleazy was slightly sobering. Every other girl had only good things to say about him. Arya thought that he was just really charming and any bad vibes she got were a misunderstanding on her part. Sleazy made sense, but Arya was reluctant to think so badly of him so quickly.

"He's ... interesting." she said. He behaved in unexpected ways, but he was also a foreign international althlete who missed home. There had to be good things about him.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

OUTFIT w these instead

Tabby nodded in an understanding fashion, "I'm sorry you feel that way, it must be rough." She said, fighting the urge to pat Arya's shoulder as a form of comfort. She might not like the physical contact. Tabby did notice she had nice shoulders though. It made sense though, it was a little bit of wood your life could depend on. Made sense to Tabitha.

She didn't really want to talk about the flying instructor, he just seemed a linked topic, but it hadn't led anywhere so now was time to move along to something else. But what? Silly small talk? What else was there really? But that seemed so dumb, what year are you? what's your favorite class? Like bad first date questions.

Tabitha lapsed into silence and looked out over the lake, the wind making small ripples in the glassy surface. "Do you think you might teacher one day?" She asked.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Arya shrugged, although glad someone pitied her instead of thinking she was a complete freak. "Not rough, just humiliating." she said was a small smile. Especially now that she suspected that Paulo thought she was a leper, the whole flying thing was a sore spot for her.

And there was a moment of silence. Which wasn't bad actually. With someone people it could've been considered awkward, but the wind was blowing and small waves of the lake were lapping against the pebbled shore. Arya got the feeling that Tabitha was someone like her - thoughtful. And there was some special peace that came with a nice atmosphere and pleasant company.

Arya thought about the question. "I never thought about teaching, actually. Strange, huh? You'd think since I like learning ... but no. Whenever I pictured myself finding what it was I wanted to do, I always imagined that it was somewhere out there, you know?" Arya gestured towards some yonder direction. "I feel like I haven't found what I wanted yet, so that must mean it's somewhere I haven't been." This was an interesting thought - she'd have to write it to Anon.

"Do you want to?" Arya figured she brought it up for a reason.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

OUTFIT w/ these

"Humiliating is rough," She said with a little smile. She knew it was hard sometimes to feel like everyone was looking at you and finding fault with you or finding you incompetent. The following silence was nice, and not awkward. They were just sitting quietly together feeling the world around them.

Tabitha liked what Arya had to say on the topic. "That makes perfect sense." She said. It was hard to find out what you wanted to do with your life, and it made sense that she figured she would know when it hit her. Tabby nodded lightly and shrugged when Arya returned the question.

"Dunno, I like Herbology but I don't know if I want to teach it. I'd like to be a wife and a mother one day, but..." She trailed off realizing this dream was harder for her than it would be for most, especially given the fact that she didn't run around shouting that she was gay.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Arya listened attentively, with a friendly smile upon her face the entire time. "A wife and mother are good things to be." she said, smiling. "Go for it." Why not? Tabitha seemed capable, thoughtful, kind, and attractive. Arya studied Tabitha's profile before declaring -

"I bet your kids would be super adorable, too. Especially if they get your blonde hair and fair complexion." There was something about blonde kids, especially if they were chubby, as all kids should be (Arya's grandmother always said,) that Arya thought made them look like cherubs. Of course, all children were precious and Arya got along well with them. The ones that always tugged at her heartstrings though, were the shy ones with wide eyes. She also liked the mischievous ones that caused trouble because they were inquisitive - you had to give props for their spirit. Life, at that age, is supposed to be exciting, filled with discovery. If they weren't getting in trouble, they weren't appreciating the opportunities and being inventive as they should.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabitha smiled at Arya, glad that she thought so. She would love to have kids that looked like her, but that seemed unlikely, unless she went to a muggle sperm bank, unless there was some spell to help two women conceive, but she hadn't heard of one. She was a little sad at the thought but tried not to show it. Arya didn't need her lesbian saga, though she was tempted to say it. She'd hate to make the other girl uncomfortable, but it applied here.

"I may have to adopt," Tabby said softly. "Or go to a sperm bank or something..." Tabby acted like a half blood, but she was a pure blood who just knew a lot about the muggle world, due to the fact that she had grown up near muggles. Did wizards have a sperm bank? How had she not researched this? In any case, Tabby didn't didn't know if she had to explain what one was or not.

"I'm a lesbian," Tabitha admitted a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck and looking out over the lake. So being a wife and mother was just that little bit harder.

[ARYA GILLYWEED SPORE]

Arya wondered why someone as pretty as Tabitha would have to adopt. She was about to say that any man would be extremely lucky to have her. Men were probably already tripping over themselves to ask her out. But then Arya was stumped at the word "sperm bank" - she had absolutely no idea what that could be, and any images popping into her head were strange and unpleasant to think about. She mentally shook herself out of that, and that's when Tabitha made her confession.

Arya's mouth made an circle, as though she was saying oh, but she didn't quite make a sound. She looked towards lake, the sunlight glistening off the water causing her to squint. "You could always adopt." Arya agreed after a moment. There were plenty of children out there in need of love, right? [Juniper would've said, yes, there are lots of us.] "I think you'd make a great mother, so any kid would be far better off having you." Arya added, giving Tabitha and encouraging smile, trying to convey that things would be alright. Good even.