Lonely Thoughts (OPEN)

Auden was twirling her straw, thinking aimlessly. Auden was staring blankly at her drink. She felt sort of hallow and she needed to snap out of it. Auden didn't feel like doing anything, she just felt like sitting at the bar. Ever since last summer, Auden hasn't been herself. She's been cold and reserved but Auden doesn't want to be. She just doesn't know what else to do. God, I need to snap out of this pity party.... Auden thought to herself.

For the past couple of weeks, Auden has been avoiding everyone and just hanging out with herself. It's been sad but she's been dealing with it. The mood she's been in even stopped her from doing her favorite activity: photography. This all needed to stop! I need to get out of this funk and have some excitement in my life, Auden thought to herself. The only problem: she didn't know how.

After spending the day working at the Three Broomsticks, Ryland was so tired of that environment. Taking a trip down to the Hog's Head might alter his boredom; always seeing the same faces, the same everything. He entered the place only to find it half empty. "I guess not many people visit it this time in the evening." He murmured to himself. It was to be expected, it was late enough for only adults to be around, but Ryland still wanted to check the place out and get a new experience.

His green eyes scanned the room for an open seat, finding one next to a girl he knew relatively well. Auden sat by herself at a somewhat secluded part of the pub. Ryland glanced around to see if she was waiting for anyone, maybe Aylee or Sydney. Either way, if it was any of the two girls he wasn't going to join her. He walked to the bar where he asked for only pumpkin juice; he hated butterbeer. As he turned around he realized that Auden was still sitting alone, playing with the straw on her drink. Unsure if it would be wise to approach her, he walked towards the other end of the pub. However, the concerned look on Auden's face made him realize that she was most likely going through something, emotional maybe, and he didn't want her to feel alone. Especially since he considered her a nice person, a friend even. Quickly, he made his way towards her and smiled at her, "Hey Auden. Mind if I take a seat?"

Auden looked up at the sudden noise. It was Ryland. Thinking back on her desire to get out of this funk, she smiled in response.

"Sure. Some company would be great." She replied. Auden moved her purse from the seat next to her and put it in her lap. She looked at Ryland and smiled.

"Free seat now." Auden joked.

Grinning, Ryland took the seat next to Auden. It was a familiar spot, next to the girl, and thoughts of the last time he sat next to her surfaced again, sending his brain into another spinning turmoil. Ignoring them, he turned to Auden, "How has your holiday been?" From the look on her face, he guessed it had been...not so good.

Auden's smiled dropped at the question. She didn't really want to tell anyone but maybe she could just say something vague. "My holiday wasn't that great. I've been dealing with some intense stuff." Auden said. She hoped that it would be enough.

Raising an eyebrow, Ryland asked, "Really? But it's summer!" In all his years, he had always loved the hottest season. Give that he wasn't a fan of winter, or snow or anything wet and cold, he greatly enjoyed sunny days in which he could play soccer with Phoenix and read in the backyard with Lucy. "I bet it'll get better." He added as he gave her a kinder smile, not his usual happy-go-lucky one, but his actual sympathetic one.

Auden noticed the pity smile. She was used to it. "It wasn't like it was horrible or anything. I went swimming and did the typical summer time stuff but I just had this dark cloud over me." Auden replied after sipping her drink.

It suddenly seemed as if this was meant to have been handled by a girl, and not Ryland. Still, he didn't want Auden to feel like she was alone, because he knew exactly what that felt like. ''Sometimes it helps to talk about it...and I'm here if you want to use me.'' Okay, so maybe that wasn't his best choice of words, but he really did want to help her as he could easily tell she was having a hard time.

Auden could tell Ryland felt out of place. He must have felt weird talking about this girly stuff. Auden decided to lighten the mood. "So tell me about your summer." Auden said with a smile.

"Okay, so talking about it is out of the question, then." He murmured as Auden changed the subject. Though she was a friend, she was a little complicated sometimes. "It's been great, I suppose. I'm just glad it's not snowing." He grinned, trying to follow her cheery mood.

Auden held back a smile when Ryland murmured about the past topic. She just wanted to get away from the topic at hand and focus on something that was fun.

"I'm glad it isn't snowing too. I really only like the first snow and then I'm over it." Auden replied with a grin while thinking back on her childhood snow ball fights.

"I hate snow!" Ryland exclaimed. "It's wet and cold and I don't like it. Not one bit." A smile spread across his face again, feeling as carefree as he had when he was younger. "I'm more of a summer person. You know, I like the whole thing about sunny days and family vacations to the U.S.."

Auden looked at Ryland's huge smile. It seemed like he was in his happy place or something. She smiled in response. "Its fun when your throwing it at someone or your skiing or snowboarding. I remember when my brother and I would have snow ball fights that would last for days. Now that was fun..." Auden said with a smile.

"But it's cold!" Ryland complained, imitating a five-year-old. His silly mood suddenly became serious and mature. "I didn't know you had a brother, but the next time it snows, I'll fight you and prove that summer is much, much better than winter." he had been in a snowball fight once, and he had lost terribly. After all, it was when he was only nine and he was a weak, lanky, little boy with big green eyes and a bowl hair cut. Ryland shook his head. "I'd definitely win." This last time, his silly side came back.

"Its not that bad if your bundled up." Auden said, smiling. She felt good and it had been awhile since she felt like this. "Yep I have a little brother. He's four years younger. His name is Matt." Auden said. She didn't really talk about Matt much because of the age difference and because he won't be coming to Hogwarts so whats the point in talking about him if no one is going to meet him unless the come over for the holidays. Auden then made a face at Ryland's challenge. "Don't be too sure about that bud. I've won like every snow ball fighting contest in my life. I'm just that awesome." Auden said while laughing.

"Matt Mayer." Ryland repeated. It sounded nice, like the kind of name a celebrity would have. "Is he coming to Hogwarts?" Ryland wondered if Auden ever felt alone in the castle; it was much too big for him, and he couldn't even imagine how big it must look to Auden.

Ryland laughed loudly, "Okay, maybe you have." He grinned, suddenly realizing that Auden's mood had changed from gloomy to happy. This made Ryland instantly happier. "But I'm bigger and stronger than you."

Auden then felt a bit of pity for her brother. "Um no he won't be coming to Hogwarts. He didn't inherit any magic. That's why we aren't as close as we were when we were little." Auden replied. She felt bad for her brother sometimes. He would never experience magic first hand by his own hand. It was like he was stuck in limbo or something. He knew of a world but he would never fully fit into it. And it was the same for the muggle world. Auden snapped out of it when Ryland said that she probably won some. "You may be bigger and stronger, but I'm quicker and have a great arm." Auden said with a smirk.

Ryland shut up when Auden said Matt wasn't coming to Hogwarts. "Does he feel bad about it? That he didn't inherit any, I mean." He couldn't imagine having a sibling who wasn't magical. He couldn't even imagine not having his magical abilities himself! He was too proud of it and made him feel bad for Auden's younger brother.
 
"We'll see when it comes to that!" Ryland exclaimed happily.

Auden expression was sad. "He hides it. But I'm certain that he feels bad and left out. Thats the reason we aren't as close. I try to not talk about Hogwarts with him but he doesn't want me not to talk about it. He hates pity but I just feel bad. I wouldn't know how to deal with not having magic but being part of a magical family." Auden said. She really didn't really know what to do with her brother's lack of magic. She didn't want to show off but magic is apart of her and its who she is. She left her thoughts when Ryland spoke. "Well maybe we'll have a snow ball fight sometime." Auden responded.

Ryland didn't know what to do with this, he'd obviously never been good at taking advice, let alone giving it. Instead, he smiled and took a sip of his drink, out of words to say.

Auden noticed that the conversation has gone stale. And she wanted to fix that because she hasn't felt this good in a while. "So how are your classes going? I've been prepping for them so much." Auden said. It was true though, she has been studying and reading ahead to soak up all the information. Her nose has practically been living in the book, after all it was an important year.

Looking up, Ryland thought about his answer. "Um, they're all right. They're not very hard." Most of his classes were relatively easy, they didn't really assign as much homework as he thought the professors would do. "And we have Career Advice this year, so I'm excited for that!" he grinned. "What do you want to do after graduation?" he asked the biggest question on his mind.

Auden fell silent. The future scared her and she didn't really know what she wanted to do. And she needed to find out quickly. "I don't really know. I like working with kids so maybe I could be a Professor. What about you?" Auden asked.

This time, Ryland didn't even think about his answer. "Okay, don't laugh. I have three options. One, a Healer. Two, take over Professor Vega's job, so Magizoologist. Three, I can open up a bakery." He let out a small laugh at the last one. His job for food had come from his father and that was something he didn't want to let go. "But you know, if it's the last one, mostly everything will end up having meat in it."

Auden nodded at Ryland's response. He was lucky that he had an idea of what he wanted to do. She didn't know squat. "Those are some pretty cool choices. But I didn't know you baked. I don't really know how to bake. I can only make brownies but I almost burned the house down so I'm not allowed to use anything other than the microwave." Auden said. She was really a bad cook.