Post by Liv on Sept 24, 2017 1:02:05 GMT
[Backstory to Clara and Catherine's friendship. Old one got deleted for some reason...]
Of all the Lovegoods, people thought Clara Lovegood was by far the strangest, not because she thought Nargles were real or had random things to say at random times, but rather because she didn't. She was the 'Odd Lovegood', the one that didn't fit into the already misfitted family.
Walking down the long corridor of the Hogwarts Express, Clara kept her head low and her eyes on the ground as she made a beeline to the last compartment. As she passed one of the compartments, she heard a girl whisper (quite loudly), "Is that her? The odd Lovegood?"
All her life she wanted to stay away from that word-- odd. Yet somehow it made its way back to her. But after hearing it so many times, Clara started to realized she was becoming numb to the term. It was losing its meaning-- to her, it was just word. A sound that came out of someone's lips with no meaning behind it.
Reaching the final compartment, Clara hauled her suitcase on the rack above and placed her kitten's crate on the seat beside her. From her leather school bag, she grabbed The Great Gatsby and propped it open on her lap, reminding her faintly of the times she sat in her kitchen, Muggle earbuds (given to her by her mother) plugged in her ears as she listened to the soft tunes that Muggles seemed to love so much. Although she didn't understand the concept of singing, she did find it very relaxing to listen to as she read her classic novels.
To say Catherine Clearwater was excited for the first day of Hogwarts would be an understatement. The young witch was so eager to start her first year in the magical school that she couldn’t even sleep, so instead, she spent the late hours with The Standard Book of Spells Year 1 by Miranda Goshawk propped open on her lap as she tried to make out the words in the dim moonlight.
Eventually, around midnight, Catherine fell asleep with her head resting peacefully on the window sill, the textbook still opened in her lap.
A calendar pinned up on her wall next to her bed was covered in thick red marker, exing out the days until September 1st. She remembered how giddy she was this morning, finally crossing out the 31st.
In her rush to get packed she didn’t realize the mess she made of her room, her bedsheets undone, owl feathers littering the floor, and various other rubbish strewn around her room.
On the floor beside her lay two large suitcases and a leather school bag with a gold Hogwarts symbol attached to the strap. Catherine knew she had probably overpacked, but couldn’t stand the thought of embarrassing herself by not packing enough. What if they send you home for not having enough clean shirts? She had anxiously thought and quickly went to the garage to get another suitcase.
Next to the luggage was Snow, Catherine’s snowy owl that rests in the cage, every now and then shaking herself and causing more feathers to float down to the floor.
One of the feathers landed on Catherine’s nose, causing her to sneeze and abruptly wake up. “Bloody hell,” She mumbled, rubbing her sore eyes tiredly. “What time is it?”
Reaching up and grabbing her clock that stood next to her bed on the nightstand, Catherine quickly bolted up from her position on the floor when she saw it was eight-thirty in the morning.
Hurriedly throwing on a T-shirt, jeans, and a jacket, Catherine practically jumped down the stairs as she multitasked between brushing her hair and slipping her shoes on.
Finally reaching the dining room, she looked around frantically, “We’re late, we’re late!” She shouted, confused as to why no one seemed to care it was nearly nine o’ clock and it took hours to drive to King’s Cross Station.
“Catherine, calm down, it’s only seven.” Her mother, Sarah Clearwater, tried to calm her down. Catherine bounced up and down frantically, “No, it’s eight-thirty— my clock—” She paused as her older sister, Eveline Clearwater started to snigger.
“What?” Catherine asked, confused.
By this point, Eveline was laughing so hard tears were coming out of her eyes. “Y-You’re so—” She choked out in between laughs, “I changed your c-clock, you dunderhead!”
Catherine’s heart stopped racing, and her anxiousness turned into anger as she picked up a mini baguette, preparing to throw it at Eveline. Their mother quickly intervened, taking the bread loaf from Catherine briskly.
“Girls, stop this!” Sarah said as the two began bickering, “Eveline, apologize to your sister. Right now.”
Eveline rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” She muttered, before adding, “That you’re such a twit.”
“Eveline!”
The King’s Cross Station was more crowded than Catherine had expected it to be, and trying to navigate through it with a heavy cart in front of you was terribly tedious.
When they finally made it to Platform 9¾, Charles made sure there were no Muggles looking their way before gesturing to Eveline to go first. The fourth-year ran through the barrier, followed by Catherine, then her parents and Matthew, her younger brother by four years.
“Amazing,” Catherine breathed out as she watched the red train pull into the station.
“I’ll put your suitcases away— just take Snow and your school bag, alright?” Sarah said as she hauled the two luggage cases off of the cart before placing a quick kiss on Catherine’s head. “Have a fun first year. Love you.”
“Thanks, Mum. Love you too,” Catherine said as she leaned over to give her Mum and Dad a group hug. “Bye, Dad. I’ll send letters every day.”
“We will too,” Charles said and grinned down at Matthew, “And so will Matty.” Matthew nodded enthusiastically.
Catherine chuckled, “Love you, Matt. I’ll see you when Eveline and I come home for Christmas, okay?” She ruffled the little boy’s hair before grabbing Snow’s cage and slinging her school bag over her shoulder, waving to her family one last time before following Eveline into the train.
“So,” Piped up Catherine as she continued following Eveline down the long corridors of the train.
“You’re not sitting with me, you got that? Find your own compartment.” Eveline said before entering a compartment filled with her fellow fourth years, sliding the door closed in Catherine’s face.
Thanks, big sister, Catherine thought with a roll of her eyes as she continued to look for an empty compartment. Unfortunately for the first year, all the compartments were either full or filled with less-than-amiable people who gave her dagger-like glares when she slowed by their doorway. Quickly heading to the last compartment, where she thought no one would be, Catherine was surprised to see another girl already seated there.
She didn’t seem to notice Catherine, so Catherine awkwardly cleared her throat to get her attention. The girl looked up, and Catherine thought she would have been very pretty if not for the impassive frown etched on her face. Her eyes were a dark brown, and her skin was slightly tan— everything about her seemed to be balanced out perfectly. Waves of brown hair reached just below her chest, put up in a neat half-up hairdo secured in the back by a small bun. Catherine noticed a tendril of hair had escaped the bun, hanging on the side of her face and completing the girl’s meticulous look.
“Yes?” The girl asks after Catherine does not say anything.
“I was wondering, if, um, I could sit in here. Everywhere else is full,” Catherine said, wringing her hands together nervously.
"I suppose you could," The girl said in a vague voice. And as Catherine smiled graciously and settled down her luggage in the compartment, she knew this was a start of a great friendship.
Of all the Lovegoods, people thought Clara Lovegood was by far the strangest, not because she thought Nargles were real or had random things to say at random times, but rather because she didn't. She was the 'Odd Lovegood', the one that didn't fit into the already misfitted family.
Walking down the long corridor of the Hogwarts Express, Clara kept her head low and her eyes on the ground as she made a beeline to the last compartment. As she passed one of the compartments, she heard a girl whisper (quite loudly), "Is that her? The odd Lovegood?"
All her life she wanted to stay away from that word-- odd. Yet somehow it made its way back to her. But after hearing it so many times, Clara started to realized she was becoming numb to the term. It was losing its meaning-- to her, it was just word. A sound that came out of someone's lips with no meaning behind it.
Reaching the final compartment, Clara hauled her suitcase on the rack above and placed her kitten's crate on the seat beside her. From her leather school bag, she grabbed The Great Gatsby and propped it open on her lap, reminding her faintly of the times she sat in her kitchen, Muggle earbuds (given to her by her mother) plugged in her ears as she listened to the soft tunes that Muggles seemed to love so much. Although she didn't understand the concept of singing, she did find it very relaxing to listen to as she read her classic novels.
To say Catherine Clearwater was excited for the first day of Hogwarts would be an understatement. The young witch was so eager to start her first year in the magical school that she couldn’t even sleep, so instead, she spent the late hours with The Standard Book of Spells Year 1 by Miranda Goshawk propped open on her lap as she tried to make out the words in the dim moonlight.
Eventually, around midnight, Catherine fell asleep with her head resting peacefully on the window sill, the textbook still opened in her lap.
A calendar pinned up on her wall next to her bed was covered in thick red marker, exing out the days until September 1st. She remembered how giddy she was this morning, finally crossing out the 31st.
In her rush to get packed she didn’t realize the mess she made of her room, her bedsheets undone, owl feathers littering the floor, and various other rubbish strewn around her room.
On the floor beside her lay two large suitcases and a leather school bag with a gold Hogwarts symbol attached to the strap. Catherine knew she had probably overpacked, but couldn’t stand the thought of embarrassing herself by not packing enough. What if they send you home for not having enough clean shirts? She had anxiously thought and quickly went to the garage to get another suitcase.
Next to the luggage was Snow, Catherine’s snowy owl that rests in the cage, every now and then shaking herself and causing more feathers to float down to the floor.
One of the feathers landed on Catherine’s nose, causing her to sneeze and abruptly wake up. “Bloody hell,” She mumbled, rubbing her sore eyes tiredly. “What time is it?”
Reaching up and grabbing her clock that stood next to her bed on the nightstand, Catherine quickly bolted up from her position on the floor when she saw it was eight-thirty in the morning.
Hurriedly throwing on a T-shirt, jeans, and a jacket, Catherine practically jumped down the stairs as she multitasked between brushing her hair and slipping her shoes on.
Finally reaching the dining room, she looked around frantically, “We’re late, we’re late!” She shouted, confused as to why no one seemed to care it was nearly nine o’ clock and it took hours to drive to King’s Cross Station.
“Catherine, calm down, it’s only seven.” Her mother, Sarah Clearwater, tried to calm her down. Catherine bounced up and down frantically, “No, it’s eight-thirty— my clock—” She paused as her older sister, Eveline Clearwater started to snigger.
“What?” Catherine asked, confused.
By this point, Eveline was laughing so hard tears were coming out of her eyes. “Y-You’re so—” She choked out in between laughs, “I changed your c-clock, you dunderhead!”
Catherine’s heart stopped racing, and her anxiousness turned into anger as she picked up a mini baguette, preparing to throw it at Eveline. Their mother quickly intervened, taking the bread loaf from Catherine briskly.
“Girls, stop this!” Sarah said as the two began bickering, “Eveline, apologize to your sister. Right now.”
Eveline rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” She muttered, before adding, “That you’re such a twit.”
“Eveline!”
The King’s Cross Station was more crowded than Catherine had expected it to be, and trying to navigate through it with a heavy cart in front of you was terribly tedious.
When they finally made it to Platform 9¾, Charles made sure there were no Muggles looking their way before gesturing to Eveline to go first. The fourth-year ran through the barrier, followed by Catherine, then her parents and Matthew, her younger brother by four years.
“Amazing,” Catherine breathed out as she watched the red train pull into the station.
“I’ll put your suitcases away— just take Snow and your school bag, alright?” Sarah said as she hauled the two luggage cases off of the cart before placing a quick kiss on Catherine’s head. “Have a fun first year. Love you.”
“Thanks, Mum. Love you too,” Catherine said as she leaned over to give her Mum and Dad a group hug. “Bye, Dad. I’ll send letters every day.”
“We will too,” Charles said and grinned down at Matthew, “And so will Matty.” Matthew nodded enthusiastically.
Catherine chuckled, “Love you, Matt. I’ll see you when Eveline and I come home for Christmas, okay?” She ruffled the little boy’s hair before grabbing Snow’s cage and slinging her school bag over her shoulder, waving to her family one last time before following Eveline into the train.
“So,” Piped up Catherine as she continued following Eveline down the long corridors of the train.
“You’re not sitting with me, you got that? Find your own compartment.” Eveline said before entering a compartment filled with her fellow fourth years, sliding the door closed in Catherine’s face.
Thanks, big sister, Catherine thought with a roll of her eyes as she continued to look for an empty compartment. Unfortunately for the first year, all the compartments were either full or filled with less-than-amiable people who gave her dagger-like glares when she slowed by their doorway. Quickly heading to the last compartment, where she thought no one would be, Catherine was surprised to see another girl already seated there.
She didn’t seem to notice Catherine, so Catherine awkwardly cleared her throat to get her attention. The girl looked up, and Catherine thought she would have been very pretty if not for the impassive frown etched on her face. Her eyes were a dark brown, and her skin was slightly tan— everything about her seemed to be balanced out perfectly. Waves of brown hair reached just below her chest, put up in a neat half-up hairdo secured in the back by a small bun. Catherine noticed a tendril of hair had escaped the bun, hanging on the side of her face and completing the girl’s meticulous look.
“Yes?” The girl asks after Catherine does not say anything.
“I was wondering, if, um, I could sit in here. Everywhere else is full,” Catherine said, wringing her hands together nervously.
"I suppose you could," The girl said in a vague voice. And as Catherine smiled graciously and settled down her luggage in the compartment, she knew this was a start of a great friendship.
