I always thought we'd all be here in the end

Raine lowered her gaze at this statement, to avoid betraying how much she had once thought the same. Life too often felt like one thing after another - each coming to an end before its rightful time. She studied the grass, plucking idly while smiling at Valerie's cheerful manner. It was a reprieve from the gravity of circumstances outside Hogwarts.

"I'll miss everyone as well," a blade of grass was torn up by its roots. "But I'll come to visit. Hogsmeade and Christmas."

Neither the visit to Hogsmeade or festive cheer would retain their atmosphere without preceding lessons at the castle but she hoped - well, assumed - that aunt Ira's instruction was not going to be easier. Perhaps the break would be even more welcomed? She looked up finally and couldn't help but notice the uncertainty in Crowe's expression, laced as it was with humour and high spirits.

It was close enough to exams and end-of-term for everyone to be feeling that odd mixture of tension and relief. A mild, bottled up hysteria.

"We aren't being asked to do research, I don't think." Raine had been attentive to neither her aunt or the organisers' notes. "Although we ought to know a little bit beforehand. I'm not entirely certain what tongue they speak in Cambodia." They were still revising after all and nobody had yet taken the time to fuss over the trip; at least not extensively. "Cambodian?"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste of her own ignorance.

If possible, Valerie's smile grew even more sheepish as Raine asked about the language spoken in Cambodia. “Erm,” she started, unable to hold back a small snicker at her own incompetence. “Cambodian sounds right,” she offered with a jolly shrug, clearly clueless. There was no use pretending otherwise! “Might be a good idea to do some research after all,” she snorted gently, biting down softly on her lower lip. She never imagined that she'd get an opportunity to travel anywhere as exotic as Southeast Asia in her lifetime. She never imagined that she'd travel anywhere at all. Valerie never dreamed of distant lands. While integrating into the wizarding world hadn't hurt her in the end, it had been jarring and disorienting and uncomfortable. The idea of subjecting herself to culture shock again – and on purpose - honestly made her a little bit anxious. It was an opportunity, however. She wanted to go... as long as she was definitely, for sure, without a doubt coming back.

“Have you been many places?” Valerie asked her housemate, knowing the answer was probably affirmative, but curious about the other girl's adventures all the same. “I don't know much about traveling. I can pack a bag just fine, though, and I always imagined the rest is just showing up,” she grinned. People took trips all of the time and didn't make it out to be a hardship, so it couldn't be too bad! She had almost no expectations, and birthday money to spend, and this would be her first big adventure as an adult witch. It had to be amazing!

She remained laying out on her belly, hands under her chin keeping her head propped up. “Next time we do this it may just be warm,” she grinned, her eyes shutting dreamily, like a cat perched on a windowsill, napping in sunlight. “I wonder if I can get a suntan. I've never tried.” 

There was, she felt certain, a tome or two in the library that would help them make heads and tails of the trip. Not that she would be bothering Morgan about that anytime soon: the muggle internet was a better tool in this case.

Raine folded her arms and rested her head on them comfortably, smiling into the dark of the earth at Valerie's carefree response. There was a day of lessons ahead of her but she rather preferred the idea of simply dozing off right here. Her eyes drooped sleepily. "“Have you been many places?” asked Crowe and she turned her head to the side, curls splayed on the grass.

"Oh, you know...." Raine trailed off as she raised her brow marginally and stared past her friend. "Around Europe. Russia. Egypt last summer. It's terribly fun, even when you get lost." A light laugh. She remembered getting lost with Abby in Cairo, and how they'd very nearly gotten into trouble.

There would be no helping that. Summer trips were for making bad decisions in foreign countries.

"I only freckle," she reflected in a resigned tone. "We'll have to bring sun potions at any rate. Aunt Ira tells me that it's hot even in the monsoons. You know-" Raine drew her attention back to Valerie's face, ruminating. "- you would look excellent with a tan. And a hat. We ought to get you one of those ridiculous sun hats."

“Some places must be better for getting lost than others,” Valerie observed, “I'm not sure I'd fare so well in the Sahara!” The last place that Valerie could recall being truly and profoundly lost was... well, at Hogwarts. All it required was one wrong turn and suddenly she found herself struggling to tell if those were the same suits of armor she saw earlier... or if she'd ever seen that painting in her life. The castle could make you dizzy if you wandered for long enough. You open what you think is a  closet door on the ground level and end up at the top of the astronomy tower. It was amazing that more Hogwarts educated witches and wizards didn't have severe trust issues.

Luckily, Valerie was not headed for random Hogwarts closets, or for the Sahara – though if she was going to learn about her propensity to tan, that would be the place to do it. “I freckle around my nose in the warmer months, but only a bit,” she admitted, “I've always wanted a proper tan, though.” As the owner of the world's longest, knobbiest, string beaniest legs, a tan could only be an improvement. If her appendages were going to be glorified noodles, the least she could do was make an attempt at making them appear a touch less pasty.  “Doesn't that sound nice? A warm rainstorm. Do you think they'd let us go out in one of those?” she wondered, “I don't care how I get my tan. I'll do it while puddle jumping if I have to!” she laughed. “Won't that be attractive? A tan that stops at the top of my wellies!” she snorted. Though... packing rain boots might not be a terrible idea, she thought.

But what went better with a bright pair of boots than a ridiculous floppy hat? “I'm never sure if I look good in hats,” Val admitted thoughtfully, cocking her head to one side, “And since I'm so fashion forward, that's incredibly important to me,” she teased, shooting her friend a crooked smile. “Where do you buy a ridiculous sun hat?” she wondered. She'd seen plenty of ridiculous hats for sale – it seemed to be a staple of the wizarding world – but not ridiculous sun hats in particular.