Sister Time [for Arwen]

It had been a few days since Seren had broken up with Hunter. And those few days were some of the most difficult she'd had to go through. Of course, being wealthy and generally spoiled, there weren't many other hard times to compare it to. Seren considered herself a relatively strong person. Someone who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, and someone who was not easily broken. Which was why it was such a terrible feeling, wanting to do nothing but curl up in her bed and cry for the past two days. She'd even skipped classes the first day, something that she'd never done before on purpose. It made Seren feel weak and pathetic. And she truly hoped that it wouldn't last long.

Day number three was a weekend, and that meant that there was nothing to distract Seren from her sadness. It wasn't like Hunter was much of a boyfriend for the past few months, but she still missed knowing that she could spend time with him. At first, Seren stayed in bed, preparing to completely ignore Victoria and spend another day curled under her covers. At least her roommate, though they weren't really friends, was kind enough to leave Seren be. But when the clock struck noon, Seren found that she just couldn't lay about anymore. It wasn't helping anything, and she was becoming restless. So, slipping on a pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, she escaped her room and headed down to the kitchens.

Seren only knew where the kitchens were because of Hunter. She hoped that he wouldn't be there. But it was empty, and she could ask for a mug of hot chocolate in peace. As the house elves promptly handed one to her, and she began to head out of the door, she hesitated. "Actually, could I have one more?" she asked. Casting a quick charm on both mugs to keep them warm, Seren went back upstairs. It was a long walk, but for once Seren didn't mind. She was only wasting time after all. When she got back to the common room, Seren didn't head for her own dormitory, but rather the first year dorms. She kicked lightly at the door with her foot before, both hands occupied. "Arwen? You in there?" Seren couldn't be by herself any longer. And who better to spend the day with when she was sad than her sister?

Arwen sat on her bed, reading a book. It was a book about magical creatures. She suddenly couldn't remember the title and turned the cover. Ah. Newt Scamander. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Arwen did like creatures, but she didn't take CoMC. She thought it would be a scary and physical class that she'd be too embarrassed to take. So she stuck with the books for now, and she could learn everything about them, and when she then did decide to take the class, she could surprise everyone in her class with it. They would probably adore her. Just like they adored her sister. She would be just as smart as Seren, and they could have intellectual, adult conversations together, and she would understand everything. It would be so cool!

She was so lost in the daydream of her standing on a rock with golden light shining down at her and all her fellow students, like Ari, Matthew and Derek, would be looking at her as if she was a goddess, that when a knock came to the door, she stopped breathing for a second. But then she frowned. Who would knock on her door like that? It wasn't with a fist. It was a foot. Definitely. Much too thumpy for it to be a fist. So she rose and walked to the door. What if it was an ax-murderer? She hoped not. She slowly opened the door and a grin spread on her face as the magnificent and bushy hair of her older sister came into view.

Arwen was about to tackle her when she saw the mugs in Seren's hands, so she stopped herself. "Seren!" she said happily and opened the door fully, letting her sister come in. She was so pretty. And she'd brought hot chocolate to her! She was so nice! Arwen beamed at her sister. Whenever she was around Seren, Arwen wasn't shy. Because she knew Seren, and Seren would never embarrass her like other people might. Arwen accepted the cup and walked over to her bed, sitting down and motioned for Seren to sit next to her. "What's up?" she said, her energy being the only thing that made her sound un-cool and childish.

Yes, this has been a good decision. Seren couldn't help but smile at the enthusiastic look on her little sister's face. Seren stepped through the door as Arwen opened it, gladly relinquishing one of the mugs that was occupying her hands. "Hey lady," she said with a slight laugh, turning to close the door behind her. Then she went to join Arwen on her bed, sitting cross-legged across from her. When her sister asked her what was up, Seren didn't answer right away. She wasn't sure that she wanted to burden Arwen with her problems, and in the end decided not to. "Oh nothing," Seren lied, raising her mug to her lips to take a sip of her hot chocolate. "I just thought that we could use a bit of sister time, that's all. We haven't hung out in a while, have we?"

Truthfully, Seren had probably been neglecting her sister, who was particularly shy around anyone else, a bit TOO much. Between Seren's OWL classes and everything that had been going on with Hunter, she hadn't given herself much time for anything else. Including her little sister. "How have your classes been going?" she asked Arwen. Her sister was quite like her in that respect, so Seren expected that she was well on top of her school work. "I do HOPE you've been getting to your lessons on time," she added a bit chastizingly, remembering when Arwen was late for Muggle Studies. "You wouldn't want to miss anything important, after all." But then Seren smiled, because she hadn't really come here to lecture Arwen.

"So, have you made any friends?" she asked, changing the subject. Arwen had been so worried about being around new people at Hogwarts. HONESTLY, Seren had never met ANYONE who was so shy! Seren couldn't imagine not telling others how INCREDIBLY STUPID most of them were, but her little sister could hardly say hello to someone without stuttering. Seren had of course assured her sister that she would make friends, which was perhaps a bit hypocritical being that Seren clearly had no real friends of her own. She had only had Hunter, and now she had nobody. Just Arwen. But there was a difference. Seren didn't NEED anybody. Everyone else obviously just didn't see how INCREDIBLY PERFECT Seren was, and people who couldn't understand that she was wonderful and better than them weren't worth their time. Arwen, however, would do much better with friends.

Taking another sip of her hot chocolate, Seren asked Arwen, "Can I braid your hair?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, Seren shifted so that she was kneeling behind her sister, reaching out to grab one of her golden locks and pulling her wand out so that she could tame it enough that it could be braided.

Lady! Arwen giggled at her sister's choice of nickname. She looked back at Seren when she said that they needed some sister time. Arwen couldn't possibly agree more. Even though they had hung out some times, it was far less than Arwen had hoped for during her first year. But she somehow felt like that was gonna change this year. She'd be walking up to her sister's dorm more often this year, just to bring her cocoa. That was a promise to herself. "We really haven't," Arwen agreed, trying to not look sad about it. Truth was, she had missed her sister a lot the past four years, and to then return to being around Seren so much, it was sad that she hadn't taken that opportunity. However, she grinned. "Sister time is the best!" Arwen said happily, bouncing a bit in her bed, but managing not to spill her chocolate.

Arwen thought back at her classes. She had done really well. Not in Quidditch, though. She'd been bloody awful in that subject. She couldn't even get on her broom without having a panic attack. She didn't want to tell Seren this, though. Even though her sister knew of her fear for heights. She blushed a bit about Seren's comment about being late, and shook her head. She wasn't late for most of her lessons, and she really wanted to keep that the way it was. "I'm on top of my class," she said proudly. Not that this was necessarily a good feat. Her classmates weren't always as bright as she could hope for them to be. Some of them did seem to be on her own level, but others were weird and asked dumb questions.

Taking a sip from her deliciously hot chocolate, Arwen didn't quite know what to say. Did she have friends? Sure, she supposed she could call Matthew and Ariadne and maybe even Derek a friend, but she didn't think she'd stop stuttering around them anytime soon. She was getting better at talking with Ariadne, as the Slytherin girl seemed decided upon being a good friend. But she didn't trust any of them to not suddenly get up and leave her alone, leaving her to her own insecurities and fright. She should really get over her trust-issues. She didn't understand where they'd come from, because her family obviously loved her, and they showered her with love and she was never miserable. Yet somehow, she had gotten the misplaced belief that people who weren't family could never be trusted. Maybe she was just shy... "I have a few people that I can talk to. If I want," she said, the last part a bit quieter than the already quiet first part. She wasn't ashamed or afraid to talk about it with her sister, but she didn't like admitting her own shyness to herself, even though she knew it was there. She could ignore it when she didn't say it aloud. But whenever she did, she always felt even more conscious of her shortcomings.

Before Arwen got the chance to say that, yes, Seren could braid her hair, she'd already grabbed it and cast a spell. Arwen giggled and took another sip of the beverage. She loved when Seren braided her hair. Firstly, because her hair was out of her face. Secondly, because it felt so good, it was almost as a massage to her scalp. "Yes please," she said jokingly. She sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the rustling of her hair with closed eyes and both her hands on the cup. She really did love her sister. "What about you, Seren?" she asked curiously, "How's sixth year? And your friends? And are you having fun?"