Lucinda

Eleonora certainly hadn’t been expecting an…apology from the girl anytime soon. Or rather…ever. She’d seemed like someone far too prideful for such things. But seemingly change of heart was rather intriguing. “What’s in the past is…past. But I appreciate your apology, Lucinda.” She watched as the girl put her face in her hands. “I’m sure she’ll come around, Lucinda. Though I wish at times Leila was less forgiving to some…you’re her good friend. And you can’t take all the blame.”

Eleonora’s brow furrowed a little but as she considered the girl before her. One who had apparently had something of a change of heart. Or was that simply what Lucinda wanted her to think? “How do you mean?” she asked with her head titled curiously, not wanting to say anything before she fully understood. “I’m going to find her and talk to her as well. I don’t want this to have a lasting negative effect for her.”

He wasn’t exactly sure who she was watching, but she certainly seemed rather interested in whoever it was.”Well we all have our own attitudes towards superstitions.” Was she just going to begin being condescending once again? Perhaps she was teasing but— it was something he took rather seriously. “What do you mean? No- it’s bad luck not to kiss underneath the mistletoe,” he clarified. He shrugged before saying, “I’d probably take it. I don’t usually turn down dares, and I’m not fond of bad luck.” It was difficult, being caught between his wish to not kiss her and not have bad luck.  

Roland was not bothered by her coldness. It was nothing compared to what he’d endured from his mother. If he let himself think of it, he’d hate it, but right now, he had other priorities, namely, protecting both of his sisters.  “Even if you don’t like it, I am going to look out for you. This man -Did you say he shot at you!?” 

Turn my knife back.” Tomas interrupted, barely holding onto the snake. “I didn’t shoot at you, I shot near you. So you would look where you walk. I don’t care about you. I need my knife to stab him if he tries to kill me.” Of course, he had other weapons hidden on him, but that wasn’t important. Tomas had very little that he owned, to have something taken away from him was something he’d always fight against. People like her would never break him, he’d proven that. 

“Lucinda, you are not the only reason I need to teach this man a lesson. But of course, we will take this outside." 

"I’m paying your sister for sex, that is not a reason to hate me. She is very satisfied with the arrangement.” Tomas wasn’t bothered by Roland’s noise of disgust. 

“You men are such....men!” Lucinda said angrily. She pointed her wand at Tomas. “You’re lucky I didn’t turn you into a snake, especially since I’ve been studying human transfiguration. And shooting near someone is dangerous no matter the reason. You want proof I can handle myself, I’ll duel you any day. And by the way if you can’t fix your knife, then it’s your own fault for creeping around the woods instead of studying!” 

“You do deserve love, and you are young still.” James insisted. “You are the same age as my brother, and he is unmarried, as are both of my sisters. One of which is two years older than you. Neither of them have done anything grand with their lives, except bring happiness to those who meet them. Unlike them, you will have the chance to do more if you wish. You have magic, they do not.” He tilted Lucinda’s chin up to make her look at him. “You have a good heart and a sharp mind. Even if you do not marry, and I beg of you, only marry if it is what you wish, you are still never a burden. If Roland - wait, do you mean Roland Kesser?” He offered her a small smile. “I’ve met him. Army and Navy may have a rivalry, but we do not hold it against each other. He’s a good man, and I know family is important to him. You will not be alone. If I am mistaken about him, than remember, you still have Melanie, and you still have my friendship.” 

She knew Lucinda was right, apologising would be the best thing to do. But it didn’t make it any easier. “I can’t do this. I made a fool of myself, and I hurt his feelings. I don’t deserve his forgiveness.” It hurt to even think about George, the idea of talking to him just made her feel frozen in place. She was a coward. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I came to Hogwarts to focus on learning, it was silly to get distracted from that.”

“You shouldn’t let it stop you, especially in a moment like this. Everyone is having so much fun they don’t care about how they look, and they don’t care about how other people look. You only start caring when you are on the outside, but it’s not so bad because you had a great time.”

He hadn’t been expecting her to sit, and he was slightly confused for a moment, unsure of what she wanted. “Three hours?” He frowned. It felt like he’d been trying this spell for longer. Magic was still foreign, if a little scary for him, and perhaps that was the problem. It seemed so easy for all the other people but him. “Oh, I guess… I should keep practicing and.. focus.” 

He wasn’t sure why she was apologizing either, but he simply let the moment pass. “I suppose it had something to do with us being twins,” he said with a little shrug, fondness still in his voice. It was nice. “Well it’s my people’s superstition so…yes.” He didn’t want to seem like he was pushing things, though. Especially since there was a rather large part of him that was simply willing to take the bad luck over what the mistletoe wanted them to do. Then he frowned defensively with crossed arms. “I talk to you if the occasion calls for it. That’s not ignoring you. If I was intent on ignoring you I wouldn’t be talking to you even now.” He simply hadn’t gone out of his way to speak with her. Why would he?

“I don’t think it’s possible to have a lot of fun here if you don’t participate in the fight.” tilting his head to the side, he shook her hand, smiling gently at her. “Did we look ridiculous? It was a lot of fun, but I think we all looked a bit silly running around, trying to pelt each other with snow.”

Seeing her linger in the doorway, Eleonora simply said, “Come in, if you’d like.” Certainly she didn’t think of Lucinda as anything such as a friend, but she was more…indifferent at this point. Her tone was as regulated as always with Lucinda as she waved a little dismissive hand. “Oh— of course. It’s what any decent person would do. And it was no imposition. I’m glad I could help. How is she, by the way?”

Gunnarr nodded in response, not particularly having much to say on the subject of her mother besides, “Yes, I remember you talking about her before.” Before they’d gone on to have their little disagreement. He could relate to longing for a mother, though. But he’d tried to stop doing that when it had become clear his wasn’t coming back. He did give a little chuckle at her comment of Sigfrid, “Somewhat, and yet— we’re still two sides of the same coin. We still match.” He gave a little sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, already dreading the line of bad luck it seemed he would be getting after tonight. “If that’s what you wish,” he said with a little shrug. To be fair I wasn’t ignoring you, though.”

Eleonora hadn’t seen Lucinda since the entire confidence potion debacle, though she’d seen Leila looking exceptionally distraught around the castle. She’d wasted no time in making sure to talk to her at every opportunity, and try and help her through the aftermath. But seeing Lucinda at her door was a little unexpected, and part of her had the irrational fear that Leila had taken to a change of heart and tried for another confidence potion. However, Lucinda seemed to be alone. “Oh- Lucinda-” She supposed they were at something of a neutral ground now, in a way. “How can I help you?”

Freddy waved her hang at Lucinda, a small note of relaxation in her shoulders, tension slowly melting away in the curled up warmth of Luci’s body. “It’s not a chore… its just duty, things I have to do.” She was supposed to lead Haxon, she was born for a reason, and she loved her village, her forests, her cove, her druid family and her comrades. “I don’t know…” Freddy wasn’t a pretty girl, she was hard and boyish, softness was not something found in her face, nor in her manner. The small warrior flushed and pouted, “Of course I like you,” she looked away, “I don’t hate you, you’ve been… kind.” her skin was warm, not crawling and sticky like when people got too close. She coiled a little closer, a small bud of happiness in her chest. “Good, I like you here.“ a smile on her face, gentle and true, no smirk or reckless grin, or a bloodthristy beam.