[nov mp] river chatter ; flints and gleams • {wendy}

NOVEMBER

Billie ran the brush down Wendy’s long hair again, hoping that the sensation was calming for the younger girl. Billie had always loved when her father had done her hair, way back when, and Wendy hadn’t been well for the past few days and could probably do with the comfort. She knew that looking after sick twelve-year-olds was not originally part of the plan when she’d been assigned a SNAIL partner, but Billie felt a sense of responsibility for the younger girl. It didn’t help that she was a prefect now, either; she took the position very seriously, and was always volunteering to look after the underclassmen. She had a special soft spot for Wendy, though.

“...Yes, the first time we kissed was in Ireland,” She answered, smiling a bit. Billie was a naturally private person, and she usually felt a little uncomfortable centering herself and her experiences in conversation, but Wendy was so curious about it all, and she had so many questions… Even when she was so stuffy with the cold that had been going around that she could barely speak. “Tea’s getting cold,” she said, nodding at Wendy’s bedside table where the drink she’d brought her sat. It had a few extra things in it that should help clear Wendy’s sinuses.

Billie started separating the younger girl’s blonde hair into three sections so she could make a loose braid. “But what about you?” she asked, naturally trying to find a way to shift the focus off of herself as she started braiding. “Last time we talked about crushes you told me that you’d get back to me – any updates?”

No matter how miserable she felt, the universe would have to do a little bit better than a common head cold to keep her back, and so when her SNAIL partner, Billie, had come over bearing gifts and stories, there was no way the girl would turn her away. First of all, she was the prefect but most importantly, Billie had taken on the role of her older sister and she was the one person outside of her group of friends that she trusted the most. Naturally, the pain in her head, nose, and throat protested otherwise but those things would be over and done with as soon as she had the chance to head over to the Hospital Wing. Or at least, it was what the young girl continued to tell herself. But she was in no rush to go, especially not when Billie was brushing the knots out of her long, blonde hair, making her feel all better already. With a cup of tea and a very good romance story (a real one this time!), how could she want anything else?

Wendy looked over her shoulder in Billie’s direction and smiled. “Was it absolutely magical? Everything you ever wished for?” she asked, sniffling a couple of times to get rid of that annoying, itchy feeling in her throat. The young girl had often thought about what her first kiss might be like but only in the context of the stories that she often read. It wasn’t like she was going around thinking about what boys to kiss, unless it was the character of her favorite books she could be convinced in that case.

“Um--” she started, shrugging a little in embarrassment. It wasn’t as fun as when the spotlight was on her, “You mean outside of my favorite novels? None really, I mean I have boy friends but not that I think about like that,” she confessed wrinkling her nose a little at the thought. “How did you and Phillip meet? Was it like love at first sight?”

Billie laughed at the novels comment; Wendy was so sweet. She saw a lot of herself in the younger girl – even more than the obvious things, like her hair colour and house. “Understandable,” she said, not pressing the topic. The idea of getting to play older sister to a twelve-year-old with her first crush was appealing in a way she hadn’t anticipated at the start of this whole SNAIL thing.

Wendy was clearly more interested in talking about Billie’s love life than she was talking about boys in her own year. The fifteen year old didn’t usually enjoy being the topic of conversation – she felt too attention-seeky when this was the case (though she would never project that judgement onto someone else) – but if it was what her little second year wanted to hear about, then hear about it she would.

“We were friends for a while first, actually,” Billie answered gently. She ran her fingers through Wendy’s hair, collecting a few more strands before she started braiding. “He stopped an older boy from picking on me... I had a crush on him forever before he noticed me,” she added. The blonde couldn’t help but smile even though Wendy couldn’t see her. “Tea,” she added gently, nodding again at the full teacup she’d brought her younger friend.

Wendy liked the way that Billie laugh, it sounded enchanting much like she’d imagine a princess would sound like, which only made sense in her head because she had found her perfect prince, at Hogwarts nonetheless! Had the young witch been more interested in boys, she might have made a list of them that was her type already, Wendy liked to do that sort of planning but her experiences with boys had been varied. On one hand, there was Benny who was really nice and super sweet but he liked Tomie it seemed.

And on the other, there was JR who had made her cry at summer camp and seemed too cool to ever want to hang out with her. There were a few more boys her year but none that she spent significant amounts of time with. But the witch was usually so consumed with her books that she didn’t have the time for all that.

“Wow,” she said dreamily, turning just a little to look at Billie and wondering if her entire demeanor changed when she talked about Phillip or if she was just making it all up in her head. “That’s super romantic,” she continued. Wendy would have liked that, too, it sounded like a plot out of one of her many romance novels. She gave Billie one nod as she reached out for the cup of tea, it was cooler now but she drank it obediently. The older girl had gone through the trouble after all. Taking a few generous gulps, she put it back.

“So what do you two normally do? Like, when you go on dates and things like that?”

Billie smiled when Wendy turned to look at her, and she waited patiently for her to turn back around so she could finish her braid. She was pleased when the younger girl had some of her tea; she hoped it would make her feel a little better so she didn’t have to go back to the hospital wing. For most of the kids who’d gotten sick, it had only been a mild kind of thing, but poor Wendy had been sick for a week.

“Um,” Billie thought, her mind going very briefly to inappropriate places. “Well in the summer we went to the cinema a lot. Have you ever been?” It was such a muggle thing, but for someone whose feelings were so easily influenced by outside sources, going to the movies had been an incredibly immersive experience. “Er…” What else had they done? they’d made out a lot at the Maidstone house, and on Kendrick’s porch. He’d taken her to the estate he’d grown up on, and they’d made out on the roof of a barn there.

“It’s a bit different at school,” she admitted. “We still go on dates in Hogsmeade, eat meals together, pass notes…” She trailed off, smiling a bit. A moment later: "All finished," she said, patting her hand down the length of Wendy's new braid. She shifted back a little to give the younger girl more space to get comfortable.