I hope you're having a great start into October <3
Thank you for the ask! This story features my next gen OC Cleo, and her new friend Rylie, who belongs to @thatravenpuffwitch.
When The Rain Washes You Clean
Rylie Hopper-Lee had always been interested in other countries and cultures from around the world. When her Head of House had asked for a volunteer to be an assigned friend for the new exchange student from America, Rylie’s had been the first hand in the air. Today, the new girl had arrived, and as instructed, Rylie made her way to the headmistress’ office at the end of the day’s lessons to meet her.
“Ah, there you are,” said Professor McGonagall, the headmistress, leading Rylie across the office to her desk, where a girl around her own age was sitting quietly. “Miss Hexley, this is Rylie Hopper-Lee, who has offered to help you settle in while you’re here. Miss Hopper-Lee, this is Cleopatra Hexley.”
The girl who preferred to be known as “just” Cleo turned in her seat to look at Rylie. She had dark skin and hair, and was dressed fashionably, with subtle make-up enhancing her pretty features. As her large dark eyes looked her up and down, Rylie tugged at the hem of her baggy t-shirt self-consciously.
“I’ll leave you two girls to get better acquainted. Miss Hopper-Lee, perhaps you could show Miss Hexley the castle and grounds, so that she may get her bearings?”
Having been shown out of the headmistress’ office, Rylie led Cleo down the gargoyle corridor and out to the grand moving staircase beyond. The new girl did not say much, but Rylie had the distinct impression that she was being judged by her.
“Um, is there anything you’d really like me to show you first?” asked Rylie. The new girl said nothing, just shrugged. Rylie bit her lip and glanced out of the window at the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky outside. “Well, it looks like it’s going to start raining soon, so maybe we should look at the grounds first. Is that okay with you?”
Rylie’s new “friend” was not overly talkative, and Rylie found herself speaking more and more as she took her through the grounds, pointing out anything that Cleo might find remotely interesting in the hope of starting a conversation. But, by the time they had reached the Quidditch pitch, she had gotten nothing but a few singular words, non-committal noises, and insincere smiles from the new girl. And as they climbed the steps of the Quidditch stands, Cleo became completely silent.
“So, this is the Quidditch pitch. It’s where we play Quidditch,” Rylie told her, once they reached the top of the stands, and immediately wanted to kick herself for stating the obvious. “When I say we, I mean people who are on the teams, like me. I’m a Seeker.” She smiled and asked Cleo, “Do you play Quidditch?”
“Of course, you have Quodpot in America. Do you play Quodpot?”
“Oh,” Rylie tried her hardest not to sigh. “Well, we only really play Quidditch here. It’s a pretty big deal, actually. Pretty much the whole school comes up here to watch the games. There’s one next weekend, actually. If you like, you could come with me and my-”
“Thanks, but no,” said Cleo. Her eyes were fixed on the sky above. Rylie followed her gaze to see that the dark clouds had gathered even more ominously.
A great rumble of thunder echoed through the air, and a split second later, the heavens opened. Raindrops larger than any Rylie had ever seen in her life began to fall down, thick and fast, hitting her upturned face.
“Um, Cleo, do you want to go back to-”
The two girls descended the wooden steps of the Quidditch stands and ran back across the grounds to the castle, the rain falling heavier with each passing second. By the time they reached shelter, both of them were soaked to the skin, with Rylie’s hair so wet she could wring it out, and Cleo’s mascara running from her eyes.
“Okay, new plan,” said Rylie, trying to be as cheerful as possible. “We go back to the dormitory, get changed into dry clothes, and carry on the tour once we’ve warmed up a bit.”
Thankfully, Cleo agreed to Rylie’s plan. They returned to Rylie’s cosy dormitory in the Hufflepuff basement, where the new girl’s trunk had appeared at the foot of a bed that had not been there when Rylie left for breakfast that morning. She turned her back on Cleo as she got changed, and found herself some clean clothes to wear. When she turned back around, she saw that Cleo was now dressed in jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt, with her dark hair falling in loose, damp curls. She was wiping her ruined make up from her face with cotton wool whilst looking at the drawings and photos displayed on the walls.
“Is that your dog?” she asked Rylie, who nodded.
“He’s a Crup, actually. His name’s Archer.”
“Cute,” said Cleo. “And the drawings, are they yours, too?”
“Wow. They’re good. Like, seriously good.”
“Thanks,” Rylie smiled. “Do you like art, too? Because I’m in the Art Club, and if you wanted to join that, you definitely could.”
“I dunno. I’m not nearly as good as that.”
“I’m sure you’re better than you think you are. Besides, it’s not about being really good, it’s about having fun.”
Cleo frowned as if she didn’t understand the concept of enjoying something without being really good at it, but she nodded all the same.
“I’m in the Ancient Runes Club, too. I know that’s not cool, exactly, but-”
“You like Ancient Runes?” Cleo’s eyes lit up as Rylie nodded. “I love Ancient Runes!”
The two girls grinned at each other. Neither said anything for a few moments. Eventually, Rylie broke the silence.
“So, what do you want to do next? We could carry on the tour, or if you’d rather, we could just hang out here for a bit. I have my art stuff, so we could do that, or play a game, or chat, or there might be some magazines somewhere we could read.”
“Yes,” said Cleo. “Yes to all of that.”
Rylie laughed and walked across to the door, holding it open for Cleo.
“Come on, then,” she said, and Cleo tilted her head, her neatly shaped eyebrows furrowing.
“I thought we were going to hang out here.”
“We are,” Rylie told her. “But first, we need to go to the kitchens. We can’t have a rainy day inside without snacks, can we?”
