SEA, SWALLOW ME, remus lupin

sia deug, a helping hand

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
a helping hand

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THE FIRST FEW MONTHS BACK BLUR together in a flurry of boring classes, impending exam stress and the dreich weather of the Highlands. Cove finds that her life has been eclipsed by the storm clouds outside, afternoons spent gazing out the stained glass of her classroom windows as the school year begins to sputter out for good. With the coursework growing duller and her imagination widening to engulf any traces of normality, she finds her mind wandering onto the prospects that await her after school — what leaving Hogwarts after all these years really means.

It's a bittersweet feeling. Leaving, that is. She's first struck by how freeing it'll be to delve into the magical world at her fingertips, to pursue a career in the conservation and protection of the magical creatures that are her kin. She can finally shift a world warped by prejudices into one where the people in power are more open minded. Her daydreams could soon become reality — all she has to do is work her way from the ground up.

   On the other hand, she feels reluctant to leave the school that has housed her for the better part of her teenage years. She could call this castle a home whenever her father's house wasn't one; this is where she flourished into the person she is today, where she met some of her best friends and learned everything she now knows. Cove isn't sure that she's prepared to become an adult so soon, stumbling headfirst into the world on her lonesome like a foal that's found its footing at last. The world isn't as simple to navigate as the winding corridors of her school, her home away from home. It'll take some adjusting, that's for sure...

   She's been fretting over it, as she does. The stress suffocating her hasn't gone unnoticed by her friends, so as a distraction tactic intermingled with a personal errand, Fallon and Mary have decided to whisk her into Hogsmeade to go dress hunting with their leaver's dance in mind.

   Cove would be lying if she said that she hadn't forgotten all about it, her priorities jumbled up and out of order amidst all the other things that have begun to change in her life. Despite the word relaxation having lost most of its value in her mind, her friends don't seem to be taking no for an answer.

   "You need to take your mind off of it somehow," said Mary the other morning, reapplying lipgloss to outline her perfections in ruby red. "Mellow out, y'know."

   Fallon nodded. "Forget exams, forget essays, forget leaving. This can just be another weekend trip to Hogsmeade, yeah?"

   She relented eventually.

Cove doesn't know if she's been able to catch a break since Valentine's day just over a month ago, when her and Remus had gone out to see the thrilling and not at all repetitive sights of Hogsmeade. ( There's only so much for someone to do as a student in the middle of nowhere, you know. ) She's been holed up in the library for as long as she can remember, her revision notes engrained into her eyelids until it's all she sees when she spares a moment to blink. The odd distraction here and there is healthy for her, she knows this, but that doesn't mean she'll actually take her own advice. No chance!

Though, in spite of all her stress as well as her reluctance to take breaks, her relationship with the water and her transformations is slowly but surely being repaired, even if she feels a nipping dread after every switch between worlds — one that Pomfrey speculates will crescendo into agony in a few years time. Cove's planning to use the time she has left with that duality to the fullest, so that's exactly what she's doing now.