An Amazing View (Char and Char)

Charlotte had decided that she would come up to the abandoned tower and she would try to finish the painting that she had been making last year when she had been doing her paintings with Parker, the view was slightly different but she felt that it would add a different layer to the picture if she used different vantage points.

Sucking on her lip piercing as she looked around the tower, Charlotte set up near the open balcony and was glad that it was a mile spring day, after all, British weather was unpredictable as it was.

When she had set up her easel, Charlotte smiled happily and she ran her hands through her short pixie crop, frowning gently as she gazed out of the window and began to use her paints to finish of the sky on her picture, the hippogryff already being done.

[[Char and Char, hehe!]]

Charity stared down at her hands as they shook violently, sobs shaking her body. She bit down on her bottom lip and curled up in the corner of the abandoned tower as she heard footsteps. Her instant reaction was to hide away in the dark, and she did so. She slid along the floor until she was hidden by the darkness and immediately her sobs stopped as she forced them to.

She liked it at Hogwarts, the teachers were nice here... the adults were nice... but she was still so scared. Whenever she was alone, she feared someone coming up and hurting her, whenever she was surrounded by people she felt closed in and like they were going to surround her.

She watched as the beautiful girl with lovely, pixie cut hair that was blond and shimmered in the light that came through the window. She set up her gear without noticing Charity's presence, and she looked completely friendly.

Shyly, quietly, Charity stood up and crept out of the shadows, her tail hanging low behind her, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She sniffled lightly and looked at the girl after moving into the light, staying still so she could jump away if the girl tried to hurt her.

Charlotte heard something shuffling in the corner and she turned her head quickly around, she was a little startled because she didn't think that there was anybody in here, maybe she had interrupted something that she shouldn't have?

Her eyes fell on what looked like a very very nervous girl, and she gave her a large smile, of course, with her crimson eyes and various piercings she wasn't exactly the most comforting of sights, however she was a little worried about the girl in front of her, what if she was hurt or something and needed her help?

"Hey there, sorry if I interrupted something, I didn't mean to." she smiled gently, stepping a little bit closer to her, she reminded her a little bit of what she had been like when she was smaller.

"My name's Charlotte, what's yours?" she asked in a quiet voice, this students looked like if you spoke too loudly to her she'd cry at the moment.

Charity curled up against the corner, feeling the darkness shield her from the girls view like a blanket. She felt safe in her corner, secure, as if nothing could harm her. Because hiding in the shadows was what she did.

But, she stepped out of her comfort zone because Maria had told her that was what she should do. Be more bold, talk to people, just be nice. She smiled timidly back at her, noticing the lip piercing and the crimson eyes. She would've called her devil if she was still christian.

Charity shook her head, taking a moment to steady her breathing. She shuddered slightly as the girl moved towards her, but held her ground. "No." She muttered.

She flickered her eyes up to Charlotte's again, then back down to the floor. "I-I'm Charity, Charity Jeeves. N-n-nice to meet you," she replied, equally as quietly.

Charlotte tiled her head to one side when the girl in front of her seemed to be so very nervous of her, she looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment, maybe someone had bullied her, thats why she was up here all alone in the tower?

Although she seemed quite timid, Charlotte didn't want to stop talking to the girl, now known as Charity, she seemed like she just needed someone to talk to, even though Charity didn't seem to want to have anyone interrupt her solitude.

"It's nice to meet you Charity," Charlotte replied, stepping a little closer, a warm smile on her lips "What are you doing up here all alone? It's not a very nice, warm or comfy place to hang out, the student common room is much nicer." she smiled happily.

Charity could feel her breathing become short and sharp as she panicked and envisioned several scenes with her pinned to the floor, feeling the sharp blade of a knife in her back. She winced and pushed the memories away.

Charity stared at Charlotte for a while, before she focused on relaxing each of her limbs. Charlotte seemed friendly, and her mentor had told her that lots of people were nice if she gave them a chance. She smiled a little more genuinely.

Charity stared down at her hands as Charlotte asked what she was doing up here, before she took another step forward and looked up again. "I don't like all the people in the common room. It makes me feel tense. And it's very bright in there." Charity looked back to her dark corner, and then at Charlotte.

Charlotte nodded her head a little and smiled gently, she knew what Charity meant, as sometimes she didn't really like sitting in the common room either, Slytherin or the general student one included, after all it was so busy and noisy with students acting like idiots with practical jokes...

It was much nicer to be on her own in her dorm room or up here, considering that she needed concentration to paint, the common rooms were not the ideal place by any stretch of the imagination.

"I understand that, I don't go in the common rooms that often, because I find that I can't concentrate very much while I do my homework or I try to paint." she grinned,

Motioning to her easel Charlotte asked; "Do you like art? You could watch me paint if you wanted to, or we could just talk, painting can always wait for another day."

There was too much noise in the Hufflepuff common room, let alone the inter-house common room. She didn't like the way the people all bunched together, didn't they feel scared? Claustrophobic, even? Or were they all fine with it? She shook her head in disdain.

She could slowly feel herself beginning to relax around Charlotte, as she was the only person who'd talked to her without looking at her like she was weird when she went quiet and timid.

"Well, you can't really do homework with so much noise, can you?" She said quietly. "I've never painted before... I've only seen paintings at church."

She moved closer to Charlotte, and very slowly she came and stood near her, yet not so close to her. She looked at the painting with interest. "I would like to watch," she murmured.

Charlotte smiled gently and she nodded her head, she thought that the noise and all of the things going on really did distract you when you were trying to do things, it was a place that you could only go when you had no work to do, then you could enjoy the atmosphere.

"No you can't, you end up trying to listen to other peoples conversations and you keep getting distracted, what lessons did you take?" she asked happily "I haven't seen you around Hogwarts before, have you transferred?"

Tilting her head to one side, Charlotte looked at her painting, sucking on her lip piercing as she picked up her brush again and started to repaint the sky, to make it a slightly darker colour of blue;

"I love going into churches, they're so pretty, and nice to draw, especially the stained glass windows." she smiled "You would like to? Thats awesome! I'm always worried in case I'm boring people when I paint."

Charity much preferred to be in a quiet area with soft voices to ensure her that she wasn't completely alone then to be absolutely surrounded by loud voices. She liked having Charlotte's company though, the girl didn't seem to pose any threat at all to her.

"I- yeah," Charity agreed, nodding her head. "I hate trying to focus with noise around me," she said in a less timid voice. "I haven't chosen my subjects yet. I think i'll do care of magical creatures for sure."

At the question if she transferred, Charity's face paled and she immediately looked down, no words coming out. She wasn't one to just swiftly lie and say 'yes', but rather her mind went blank and she recoiled slightly from the conversation, not saying anything in answer to the question.

"The stained glass windows are very nice," she would never step foot in a church again though, for she was convinced that a devil such as herself would not be allowed. "You're very good at painting."

Charlotte smiled gently and she hoped that she would be able to share some classes with Charity, after all she seemed like a really nice person and she was sure that in a few weeks she would have settled into Hogwarts and come out of her shell a little bit more.

Who knows, maybe she could help her fnd her feet here? It was the least she could do for a fellow student, maybe even a future friend, lord knows she needed more of those.

"Well I used to take that class but I dropped it, there were so many different professors it just got so confusing, so I ended up leaving it alone." she smiled gently. "I hope you take some of the same classes as me though."

Guessing that it was a sore spot, Charlotte merely smiled gently and moved onto the next point of conversation, of course, looking as she did when she was younger got her into a lot of trouble with her parents who often insisted she changed her appearence, and punished her when she refused.

"Thank you very much, I have had a lot of time to practice when I was younger." Charlotte smiled "Do you have any hobbies?"

Charity could only hope that Charlotte might have a few classes that Charity would take, because she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to cope, trapped in a room with all those other students and an adult that she hardly even knew.

Charity shivered at the thought, but pushed it away from her head and smiled slightly at Charlotte. Maybe this Slytherin girl could be her friend? She'd never had a friend before...

"Really? Maybe I won't take it. What classes do you take, cause we could maybe sit together if we had the same classes?" She said softly, looking down. She wasn't sure if a question like that was appropriate or not.

Charity was grateful that Charlotte didn't press the subject of her life before coming to Hogwarts, and she didn't intend to indulge her on the details any time soon. In time, Charity would learn to trust the Slytherin, but for now she was a little wary.

"I always wanted to paint," Charity murmured softly. She shook her head at the question. "Not really, mother and father-" She stopped abruptly. "I didn't go out much." She offered lamely.

Charlotte could tell that Charity was rather nervous about school, especially about being in a class with a bunch of strangers. And Charlotte couldn't really blame her for being nervous if she was honest. The school was famous for 'accidents' and 'mishaps', who knew what could happen! She smiled,

"I take Transfiguration and Infiltration and they're good subjects I know that much." she giggled slightly, "Always keep you on your toes those lessons. I'd be happy to sit next to you in them!"

Charlotte, considering her own life before school, was not about to push to know Charity's if she didn't want her to know,

"Well there's nothing to say that you can't." she told her brightly before reading the sober mood and becoming more subdued, "Ah right... I didn't either. Hence the painting and not some sport or something..."

Charity could only hope that nothing overly bad would happen to her whilst she was at classes. She was incredibly nervous about it, and several times she'd begged her mentor to get her out of Hogwarts, but luckily Lucinda had been firm and insisted that Charity at least give it a go. She hoped it would pay off.

"I might take them, they sound interesting." Charity said softly, nodding her head. "I also might take charms." She continued. She smiled as Charlotte said she'd be happy to sit beside her. "I'd like to sit next to you."

Charity was glad Charlotte just let it go. Most people would insist, like that one other girl she'd talked to on the train. She didn't like her at all.

"Well, I guess we have a little bit in comment," a small smile crossed her face, before it dropped and she looked down shyly. "Charlotte, would you - I mean if you don't mind, could you teach me to paint?"

Charlotte was very happy that she might have another person in her lessons with her, they were very good and she would be able to introduce Charity to some more people, maybe steer her clear of Humphrey, he was a little too forward and loud in his friendship, and she wans't sure Charity would be up for that, just yet.

"Charms huh? I'm useless at charms, but I think we have a new professor for that, she's very nice." she smiled softly "We have so many new professors lately, it's a little disorientating!" Charlotte sighed, but put ona goodnatured smile.

Nodding her head, Charlotte gave Charity a warm smile, it was strange the way that she reminded her a little bit of herself when she first came to Hogwarts. When she heard that Charity wanted to learn how to paint she beamed and nodded her head once more, placing her brush back down.

"Oh of course! I would love to help you learn how to paint, I love teaching people, although...the only person I tried to teach before kind of gave up." she pouted gently "But yes, I would be extatic to teach you."

Charity was glad that she'd be able to share some lessons with Charlotte - because she was going to choose Infiltration and Transfiguration for the sole reason that Charlotte did them. She hoped Charlotte might be able to help her catch up, as she'd missed quite a bit.

"I hope she's nice, I don't want to be with a mean teacher. She, too, i'm not used to - I mean, men scare me more than women." She admitted, her eyes trailing down to the ground.

Charity could feel a smile grow on her face as Charlotte seemed to be pleased that she wanted to learn how to paint. Charity wanted to be able to paint like Charlotte did, because her painting looked beautiful.

"Thank you, Charlotte. I want to be able to paint like you." Charity told her. "I've always wanted to paint, actually, but my parents didn't really care for it. They said it was pointless."

Charlotte blinked a little bit and she nodded her head, she could understand that, but she really didn't have anything to worry about, those two professors were wonderful, although she might be a little bit bias since she was related to both of them.

"Don't worry about them." she reassured "I'm kind of related to both of them and they're real sweethearts, but the Charms teacher is really nice as well from what I've heard."

Her mouth dropped open when Charity said her parents thought that painting was pointless, it was definately not pointless! It was a way of expressing emotions and it was very good for when you were stressed or pent up, it was beautiful to express yourself through different art mediums.

"Well I think it's the furthest thing from pointless!" she exclaimed "But...what kind of things would you be wanting to paint? People, places, things? Or all of the above?" she smiled gently.

Charity decided she would trust Charlotte's judgement on the two professor's and believe that they were fine. Considering that Charlotte had close ties to them both, and she was already beginning to place her trust into Charlotte, she was pretty sure they would not hurt her like her father had.

"I'll trust your judgement and see you in the next round of lessons," she smiled softly. She was also glad that the charms professor was rumoured to be nice.

Charity felt a tiny giggle escape her - and was surprised she was even capable of a noise that resembled laughter - at Charlotte's gob-smacked expression over her confession of her parents thinking that painting was pointless. They did though, preferring to spend their time reciting the bible.

"I always thought so too, but mother and father were all I had so I did whatever they told me," Charity shrugged lightly. "I'd like to paint from my imagination. And places. And maybe people. All of the above." She smiled softly once more.

Charlotte grinned when Charity said that she was going to give those lessons a go, she would love to see her in them and just hoped that Uncle Richard didn't have anything dubious going on for next lesson, he had thrown knives at them in one of them...which surely would not be a nice experience for anyone, let alone Charity.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed happily "I'm sure that you will enjoy them, and if not, you can always drop them and take other lessons that you like, apparently Duelling isn't too bad."

Hearing Charity giggle made Charlotte smile in return, it was a nice sound, and one that she had the feeling, she didn't make that often, so she hoped that she might be able to draw more laughs out of Charity in the time they knew each other.

"Painting from your imagination huh?" she asked with a grin "Well that's always the best place to start, although it's hard for me to help you if I don't know exactly what you're thinking about...what did you have in mind?"

Charity could only hope that Charlotte's judgement of the professor's wasn't biased due to being their relative. Though she was fairly sure Charlotte could be trusted, there was the fact that in her mind - witches and wizards were still slightly considered devils and so she naturally feared the professor's.

"Duelling? No, I wouldn't do that! I'm still not really accustomed to this whole magic thing. I was raised to think-" She stopped and shook her head. "Nevermind."

Charity was a little surprised that Charlotte had managed to get her to laugh. Lucinda had never once been able to achieve that, only ever coaxing a smile out of Charity. There must've been something special about Charlotte.

"I would like to start out with just painting something material first, so I can learn how to do the strokes and such," Charity said softly. "Then I could move on to painting from inside my head."

Charlotte blinked a little bit and she couldn't help but wonder what the last part of Charity's sentence was going to be, she hoped that maybe in time she would open up more to her but she wasn't going to push her right now, whatever she wanted to reveal, she would do in time and that was good enough for Charlotte.

"Well I guess that makes sense, you're not really a violent person either, I couldn't imagine you trading blows with anyone." she smiled gently "So just stick with me, I'll be the mean one for you." Charlotte grinned, trying to look mean and failing.

With a nod of her head, Charlotte took a look around the room and got some of the vials and instruments that were laying around, placing them on a table in the light so Charity could see what she was drawing properly, and she grinned.

"I know its not the greatest of muses, but it's all we've got at the moment, will they do?"