Why couldn't summer last any longer? on Labyrinth Gardens

Elizabeth Lavine

January 23, 2006 7:39 PM

Why couldn't summer last any longer? by Elizabeth Lavine

It was nearing sunset a few days after the start of term, and Lizzie was out in the gardens. She was walking slowly with her right hand out grazing the side of the hedges absentmindedly as she re-read her latest letter from John for what seemed like the thousandth time. It was a strange and yet somewhat thrilling summer, she had to say, especially with the most recent developments in her social life back at home. Yes, it was true. The once tomboy Lizzie Lavine had finally gotten a boyfriend over the summer, and man had that changed everything in the new teenager's life.

John Phillips was his name, and helping out his father's new quidditch team in New Orleans was his game. That was, until he noticed the slightly changed Elizabeth that watched nearly every scrimmage the Hurricanes had played that summer. After one practice, she had come down to the field level and they had started talking. The rest, as they say, was history, and Liz finally had a boyfriend. He was a year older than her, and a student at a wizarding school in Georgia, so it really came to no surprise to her that the two of them had to kiss their last goodbye only less than a week before.

Lizzie was indeed, a changed girl. Ever since her summertime with John, she noticed that though her hairstyle and clothes had not changed, her body sure had. Without her willing it, Liz became taller and a bit more rounded in certain places. She still retained her strength and ability on the quidditch pitch as well as her agility on a broom or on the ground, but physically she looked different. But not a bad different, just... different. Maybe she would one day become more comfortable with how she looked, but the change was hard to adjust to for the rather sporty Lizzie.

She sighed, taking a few more turns in the gardens and finding herself at a small gurgling fountain with a bench at it's base. There Liz took the time to sit down and re-read John's letter.

Dearest Elizabeth, it read in his block-like hand,
How are you? I hope that everything is going well for you at school. Gosh Elizabeth, I miss you. Everything is so boring at the stadium without you there to liven the mood. I'm still here in New Orleans with Dad, getting ready for the start of the Quidditch season, but I'll be back in Georgia in a week or so for our start of term. I'll try to write you as often as I can, just to see how you're doing, but I think what we talked about is going to be best. You're a wonderful friend, Elizabeth, and I know all those guyfriends of yours at Sonora would kill me for taking you away from them. I wish you the best of luck, however, and I suppose now you won't be just the 'scrawny little blue-eyed kid' to them anymore. ;) You're beautiful, and don't you let anyone tell you otherwise.

Lizzie laughed at that part, and when she did, it unblocked the cork she had put on her emotions. Laughing lead the way to tears, but they were quickly wiped away, destroying any evidence of her residual feelings for John. He was her friend, and he always would be, it just seemed like it would be forever until Liz would see him again. Then again, it might have been all the better- she needed the time to get over her first crush and her first boyfriend.

I'll see you as soon as you get back in town for mid-term- my whole family is coming to New Orleans for that week to see the holiday tournament, and I can't wait to see you there. Best of luck in your House Tournament as well- I know you and your team will dominate. Afterall, you watched one of the best all summer!

Your favorite friend,
John

Lizzie sighed and put the letter down on the bench, looking around the gardens. The wind picked up around the long corridors of earthy green leaves, blowing her straight black hair around her face, revealing features that had gained much more definition in the past few months. The slight chub of childhood had finally dissipated, and now her facial features were full of the straight lines and curves of most teenaged girls her age. A sudden sound from her right, however, made her gaze change direction to follow the approaching noise. \n\n

0 Elizabeth Lavine Why couldn't summer last any longer? 53 Elizabeth Lavine 1 5

Catherine Raines

January 23, 2006 9:33 PM

Because we were enjoying ourselves too much. by Catherine Raines

She tried not to flaunt the fact - she had even succeeded in convincing herself that she loathed going to Care of Magical Creatures because of this instead of the dirt and bugs and dangers inherent with magical species - but Catherine liked being outdoors. It was unfeminine and inappropriate to her station, but she had even enjoyed climbing trees until she was seven and began to work out why Grandmother Raines didn't like her as well as her cousins. Since then, she had kept her home ventures to the sedate paths in the garden and had settled on the Labyrinth as her hideout here at Sonora. Her normal base of operations was the courtyard closest to the entrance she used and the paths leading off of it until the next set of courtyards, but, for some reason, had chosen to go wandering on the first day she had found time to slip out of the common room.

The summer had not been heaven, but, after the drama of her first year, it had been close. Her father was still looking strained and even more nervous than usual and her grandmother was still proving what a hag she was by picking fights with him, but things were much as they had always been. She loved the stability of it, and the perk that her long absence meant that she got two parties held in her honor, one to welcome her back in June and the other to observe her twelfth birthday in August, had not been unappreciated. She would have liked to have been back there now, but had restrained herself from even complaining where her father could hear. He had his own problems and didn't need hers.

It hadn't been long since her return to school, but she was already scanning the air at breakfast every morning for signs of an owl. Letters from her father, one of which he had written himself instead of dictating to Lorenzo and signing, and mother had arrived every day for the first week of her first year, but so far the only correspondance to reach her was a short, rapidly scribbled note from her mother and nothing at all from Charles. She knew he was busier than he had been at this time last year - his vague mutterings about trouble with his associate in Boston on most occasions she had tried to speak to him had gotten that point across - but she would have liked something just to show her he was all right by virtue of being able to dictate letters on the importance of upholding the Raines dignity to his tall, storklike secretary.

No point in wishing for what she couldn't have. She was sure even her mother would notice if he died and would have enough sense to send some kind of word, and nothing else was severe enough to warrant immediate attention. Her position as the Raines heir made her important no matter where she was, of course, but being here at Sonora made her...less important. She couldn't be showed off at parties, couldn't be shown the ropes of managing the family, and couldn't do anything of significance besides try to dazzle her classmates, not fail anything so badly she was kept back a year, and try to maintain the friendships she had made last year as well as she could in the hopes of them someday providing alliances.

Irritated by the feeling of being kept in the dark, she kicked at a stone and paused a moment to let it roll to a stop. Walking over, she kicked it again, repeating the process several times before she reached the end of the pathway she was walking down and accidentally sending the rock into the adjacent courtyard. The clatter of stone on paving caused the occupant of the bench, a girl Catherine thought she recognized vaguely as one of the third years, to look around. Seeing nothing for it - she could hardly make a run for it, after all - she stepped out into the courtyard and tried to look surprised upon noticing the presence of another. "Good evening," she said, nodding acknowledgement. \n\n

0 Catherine Raines Because we were enjoying ourselves too much. 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Elizabeth

January 23, 2006 10:29 PM

I suppose it's true... by Elizabeth

It was a few seconds until the answer to her mental questions came in the form of a younger student kicking a stone down a path. Lizzie watched as a girl she recognised to be in the year below her stepped out from the direction of the sound she had heard earlier. The younger girl bid her a good evening, and Liz couldn't help but be reminded of all the pureblood nonsense that she was supposed to adhere to. Well, that she used to adhere to. But there was no reason to be impolite to the girl, especially if she wasn't aquainted with the 2nd year.

"Good evening to you as well," she said, suddenly aware of the letter still seated next to her. With a quick movement, the crinkled parchment was out of sight, tucked safely away in her jeans pocket. "I'm Elizabeth Lavine, 3rd Year Pecari. What brings you out here this evening?"

The idea to go outside to get some time to think had come to Lizzie in a sort of spur-of-the-moment thought, so she was rather dressed down. A classic pair of jeans paired with a warm jacket complete with her tennis shoes finished off the look of someone who obviously didn't expect to be in the company of others. She had, however, left her naturally dead-straight hair hang on its own with a side part, which looked fairly presentable. Lizzie's light blue eyes were still faintly outlined with redness, but it was a temporary look that would fade given time.

The fact remained, however, that the girl was a member of the elite class, her class, and the question of how to deal with the situation lingered in Lizzie's mind. The past term she had sworn off all the "severing ties with the unworthy of blood" business, and most of the other silly things her Aunt Rose had desperately tried to impose on her. However, Liz decided that she was her own person, and that she was free to do exactly what she pleased, and that was just fine for her. So if this other girl had a problem with her being a "blood traitor" or whatever, well, it was just that- her problem, not Lizzie's. \n\n

0 Elizabeth I suppose it's true... 0 Elizabeth 0 5

Catherine

January 26, 2006 5:02 PM

Still, there's always Christmas to look forward to. by Catherine

Catherine hid a flash of irritation at not being able to brush the other girl off and continue with her walk with a polite smile. Her mother would probably have a mild to moderate stroke if it got back to her, as such things always seemed to in the pureblood world, that her only child had managed to antagonize a Lavine. She knew exactly enough about them to know that they had once had a Wizarding Governor among their number, had someone running for something, and were from Lila Raines' own home state of Louisiana. The other girl was dressed rather oddly, but surnames were what coutned. Catherine might have acted it sometimes, but she wasn't stupid.

"Catherine Raines," she said, returning the introduction by route. "Second year Crotalus." Maybe - just maybe - the old reputation of the first-year Crotali had either stayed with the new group or at least not been transferred from year to year with them. Small chance of that happening, but there was nothing wrong with wishing, so long as she remembered what was real and what wasn't. The question about what brought her out here was the one that caused a hint of a rueful smile to cross her face. There was one question she wouldn't be answering honestly,at least.

"The first years," she said simply, fairly sure that Elizabeth would know what she meant if she had been giving the real reason for being outside. "It's quieter out here...easier to think...at least until the firsties settle down." She really had no idea what the first years in her House were like, having paid little attention to their antics. Her own year had enough drama for anyone's taste even when the factions weren't involved in open warfare or whatever the Loser Crew liked to call it. \n\n

0 Catherine Still, there's always Christmas to look forward to. 0 Catherine 0 5

Elizabeth

January 27, 2006 11:58 PM

I guess so... by Elizabeth

Lizzie watched the younger student's face as the tell-tale signs of a highly calculated thought process emerged. It was slight, extremely slight, but Liz had spent far too much time in her life with just the kind of people who reacted like that to introductions, especially surnames. Clearly, the other girl had gotten the picture that she was not someone to be messed with when Lizzie had mentioned the name Lavine. Elizabeth almost laughed at the idea- finally, the stupid pureblood ways she despised had come to work in her advantage. She imagined the sort of heartattack some mother would have gotten upon reaching news of messing with a Lavine, let alone one so closely tied to the old English Noire and Zucchero Families.

As Catherine introduced herself, any doubts in her mind about the 2nd year and her motives were erased. She was a Crotalus, meaning that she was most likely one of the infamous 1st years that Jen had told her about. Lizzie had no real desire to talk to the girl. With the weak lie Catherine told about her reasons to be outside, Liz figured that it also wasn't worth her time or effort to really be overly nice to Catherine. Afterall, she had come outside to be by herself, or possibly talk to one of her friends. Needless to say, the timing was not great for entertaining other younger students.

"Well, Catherine, enjoy your walk," she said, standing up and making to walk down another path, "Have a nice evening."

Lizzie calmly walked out of the area, and continued down another gravel trail into the vastly unending gardens, hands stuck firmly in their jacket pockets. She really wanted to be alone, and if that wasn't possible, at least with one of her friends, and not some little rich girl that Lizzie would have to worry about.

Perhaps it was a little rash, and perhaps it would get back to her aunt, but even so, the feeling of not caring about all that empowered her step, bringing her faster to another small section of clearing. Looking around, Liz had to laugh and realize that she knew exactly where she was. It was the fountain area where she and Ash had talked last term. She sat again on the same fountain rim, and just looked up, watching the fading sun cast a rainbow of colors across the slightly cloudy sky. \n\n

0 Elizabeth I guess so... 0 Elizabeth 0 5