Open Chitter-Chatter

[Lucy Holland]

((Open after Sarah))

Lucy had seen plenty of moving and talking pictures in her life, but she hadn't ever really gotten to spend time with any as old as the ones at Hogwarts. It was enthralling, walls covered with people, with... whatever lives they had lived before being painted. Or had they always been paintings? Had they sprung into the canvas from a painter's imagination hundreds of years ago and made their own lives there ever since? It was fascinating, and Lucy wanted to make friends as quickly as she could. She walked up and down the hallway thoughtfully, eyes locked on all the frames as she tried to decide who would fit best as her first new friend.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy was glad to be back at Hogwarts. It felt interesting to be a second year. It was all at once familiar and new, seeing the castle again. She wandered the halls, refamiliarising herself with her surroundings. Strolling along the second floor corridor, she saw a student she remembered from the sorting, though Lucy couldn't place her name. There'd been so many. Maybe she was a first year. Lucy knew she'd felt somewhat lost in her first year of Hogwarts and decided to greet the girl. "Hi! What are you up to?" Lucy asked curiously, noticing how the other girl was watching the portraits. "Portrait-watching? They're really cool, aren't they?" Lucy waved at one of the portraits and the old man in the portrait tentatively gave a wave back.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts by a voice, looking over to the girl who had spoken. "Yeah!" She said cheerfully, looking up at the painting that had waved and waving herself in turn. "It's such weird magic. Like, do they remember being people before they were painted? What if the artist just made them up? There's a painting of my mum at the Ministry, I wonder if it would recognise me. I hadn't even been born yet when it was painted..." She trailed off, the thought making her sad for some reason. "I'm Lucy." She added quickly, not wanting to be rude. "What's your name?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy listened to the girl, becoming more and more curious as she did so. They were good points, and ones Lucy wanted to know the answers to herself. "You know, I want to know all that too, those are some interesting questions," Lucy commented. She was then surprised to hear the girl's name as she introduced herself. Lucy laughed. "Oh my gosh, my name's Lucy too! How cool is that?" she said with a big smile on her face. "Are you a Ravenclaw as well? That'd be too good."

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy grinned when the other girl agreed with her questions, nodding quickly. "I know I could go look it up in the library, but it seemed rude not to at least try asking the paintings themselves first." She explained. Her eyes widened when Lucy introduced herself, grinning. "No way?!" She squealed, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "I am! We're twins!" She said excitedly.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"True, the paintings should know, shouldn't they?" Lucy didn't have anything against libraries or books but she much preferred the practical over the theoretical any day. "Oh my gosh, that's so exciting!" she said, mirroring the other Lucy's excitement. "Twins!" she repeated. Lucy thought it'd be cool to have a twin, having grown up as an only child she'd often wondered what it'd be like having a close sibling and maybe this could be something similar. "I wonder if we have anything else in common," Lucy wondered out loud. "What sort of things do you like doing?"

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy beamed with excitement, pleased to have made a new friend under such exciting circumstances. "Ooooh, true!" She said brightly, thinking. "Well, I've just moved from Niffler Scouts to Phoenix Scouts, I like gardening with my dad, and building things out of Lego, like, inventions and things. And I like to draw and knit sometimes!" She smiled. "What kinda things do you like?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh, that all sounds fun! I love taking walks outdoors a lot, and I like to read, and I play violin," Lucy said, listing the three things off with her fingers. "I'm actually trying to get into gardening - I really enjoyed herbology last year and it's an excuse to be outside so I enjoy it! Plus flowers are pretty, I like watching them grow. I think you'll enjoy herbology this year if you like gardening," Lucy said cheerfully. "The Professor's really nice too." Lucy had really enjoyed herbology herself, she just wished her grades were a little better.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy listened as Lucy introduced herself, nodding in agreement. "Oh, we do have lots in common!" She said brightly. She nodded to the advice about Herbology. "Yeah, I've been looking forward to it! Is it still Professor Carter? I heard very different things about him from two of my sisters." She added.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"We do! That's so cool," Lucy said with a big smile. She was happy to be making a new friend. "Yes, it's still Professor Carter. Hmm, what sort of things did your sisters say about him?" Lucy was very curious; she'd had a great experience with him as a teacher and she was intrigued to hear what other opinions there could be. "And do you have a few siblings then?" Lucy wondered what it'd be like to be part of a big family. It was something she'd never know, so she was very curious about it.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy shrugged, thinking about Professor Carter with some concern. "Well Alice had him as her head of house, she liked him, but Rose said in Herbology he made them kill the mandrakes they had raised, so she tried to break in and free hers." She shrugged, wondering how much of that was actually true. It certainly sounded like something Rose would do, but she didn't think Alice would have liked him so much if he had made them kill things in class. She nodded in response to the question, relieved to have something easier to talk about. "Yeah, I'm the youngest of five. All of my sisters have graduated already." She smiled. "What about you?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh no!" Lucy said when she heard about the mandrakes. "I hope that isn't what happens." She didn't like the idea of killing something - even if it was a mandrake, which weren't exactly well-known for being beautiful by any stretch. Lucy liked pretty things, but she liked living things too. "The youngest of five?" Lucy repeated, incredulous. "That sounds amazing! I'm an only child, so I don't know what it's like. Is it nice to have siblings? I have a cousin, younger than me, but that's about it." Lucy loved her younger cousin, but she knew it wasn't exactly the same as growing up in the same house as others.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy nodded, giving an uncertain shrug. "It might be. I think my other sisters would have mentioned it though... at least Alice." She added, quickly realising that Phoebe would mostly have been curious about the process, and Diana likely wouldn't have cared. She nodded when Lucy mentioned her family, smiling. "It's great! My sisters are all way older, the youngest was in fourth year already when I was born so I basically only remember them all being adults. They all love me though, means I can get away with loads of stuff and I always get tons of birthday presents." She grinned. "I think they get a bit competitive about who I like the most, so they're all really nice to me." Lucy had often wondered what it would be like to have siblings closer to her own age, the way her sisters had, but when all was considered she was happy to be everyone's baby, rather than having to share the attention.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh, that's interesting," Lucy commented, hearing that her siblings were all that much older. She felt a pinprick of envy, but it wasn't strong enough to dull her interest. "That does sound great! Though I wonder what it's like to have siblings closer to your age," Lucy pondered aloud. "Sometimes I hear about siblings not getting along and it makes me kind of sad. If I had a sibling, I'd do my best to get along with them," Lucy declared.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy nodded in agreement, heart clenching a little at the thought. "I know! It must be different if you're closer in age, but I can't imagine just... not liking one of my siblings." She paused, thinking. "My sisters are all very different, but they get along. I mean, Diana can be... difficult sometimes, but she loves everyone secretly."

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy nodded. "That's good, I'm glad you guys get along," she said with sincerity. "Are any still of your siblings still at Hogwarts or are they all graduated now?" Lucy asked with interest. She liked learning about new people, especially family details. She felt like family was important, even though she only had a small one. Lucy secretly wished her parents felt the same; sometimes they could be more absent than present in her life. "My cousin is hopefully coming here next year, so I'm excited for that," Lucy added, genuinely looking forward to seeing how her cousin takes to Hogwarts life.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy shook her head, giving a small shrug. "They're all adults, Alice graduated like seven years ago. She's the youngest." She added quickly. "Before me, of course. They're all pretty much one after the other in age, I'm the exception." She smiled. Lucy nodded when Lucy mentioned her cousin, excited. "Oh, cool! What house do you think they'll be in?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Oh right," Lucy said, nodding. She was a bit sad to hear that, imagining it'd be fun to have someone from your family in Hogwarts at the same time as yourself but knowing better than to say that out loud. This other Lucy seemed like someone who'd take it in their stride though. "Oh, that's a good question. I think they might end up in Ravenclaw too but that might just be because that's what I want," Lucy said, a little self-aware. "But maybe she'll be a Hufflepuff. She likes gardening too, so you two might get along as well!" Lucy would like that; to see her cousin getting along with those she got along with.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy nodded thoughtfully when Lucy talked about her cousin. "Awww, nice! I hope she's in Ravenclaw, the more the merrier." She said brightly. "You should introduce us too, I bet we could work in the gardens together!"

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Yes, Ravenclaw's the best house," Lucy said sincerely, really feeling like she'd found a home amongst the other Ravenclaws. "Are you liking it so far? And I'll make sure to introduce you two, I'm excited for you to meet." Lucy did feel excited, but felt a fleeting worry that maybe this new Lucy would get along better with her cousin than with her. She shook it off, but the thought still lingered there in the background.