Daydream

[Druscilla Grace]

"Druscilla Grace, Dru if you like," she answered, smiling and holding out her hand. "And yours?" She wondered briefly what else she could say that would confuse the girl, but didn't think too hard on it, if she said something, she said something, she would just have to explain it. But why did the girl have such different views and limited knowledge?

[Adara Snow]

Adara returned Dru's smile and took her hand, clasping it lightly. "I am Adara Snow," she said. She tried not to let her disappointment show. She had hoped that she would meet Emilian's friends, but Hogwarts was so large, and she was not sure that she could find him, let alone three strangers. "Do you know many people?" she asked. Perhaps Dru knew one of the other girls, if not Emilian himself. Now, more even than before, she longed for the company of those who would protect her, those with whom she could feel safe and cared for.

[Druscilla Grace]

"If I don't know them I've heard of them. Where I work I hear pretty much all the rumors," Dru said after letting go of her hand. "What about you?" It was pretty obvious that the girl was new. She wondered if the question was trying to network them together somehow with someone Adara had already met.

[Adara Snow]

Adara shook her head. "No, I know very few people. Only you, and Annabelle, and Ryan, and Emilian," she said, listing off the names and ending on something quite near a sigh. She looked down at her hands, hoping that Dru could not see the unnatural interest she had regarding the last name on her list. "I am looking for Pandora, Savannah, and Storm," she added. She hoped that Dru knew at least one of those names.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru knew every single one of them, save Pandora. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember ever talking to the girl. The way Adara said Emilian's name startled Dru, and it showed on her face when the other girl said it. But before she could ask about it the other names were listed, "I know all but one, why are you looking for them?" she asked, though she knew that those three were all connected to Emilian.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's eyes lit up, and she raised her face to look at Dru. She knows them! "They are Emilian's friends," she explained. "Ryan is my friend, and he said that I should speak to them." She chewed her lip a moment in indecision, debating whether or not to continue, and unable to come to a decision.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru tilted her head, "Who told you they were his friends?" She knew for a fact that Ryan wouldn't use that term to describe their relationships. It seemed as though Adara had spoken to Emilian, but left him unharmed. It made no sense.

[Adara Snow]

"Emilian did," Adara answered patiently. She went on, telling her story to save Dru the effort of having to ask, since she had shown interest. "I met Ryan at the Quidditch stadium, and we were friends. Then he met me at the lake, over there." Adara raised one pale hand and gestured not far off, just a bit closer to the water. "Emilian came, and Ryan said things that I cannot repeat, but Emilian was kind, and comforted me. Ryan said that I should ask Pandora, Savannah, and Storm, and since they are Emilian's friends, it could only please them both for me to do so, should it not?"

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru looked mortified, Emilian was playing her. Why he hadn't just done what he normally did, she didn't know. "I highly doubt Emilian would want you to talk to any of them." She didn't know what all to say, Adara seemed to like Emilian, and Dru didn't know how to put it so that she didn't get angry with her.

[Adara Snow]

Adara laughed lightly. "Why would he not want me to meet his other friends?" she asked, as though Dru had only been teasing her. "If I met them, then we could all be friends together." She paused a moment, in thought. "You are his friend as well?"

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru shook her head, "I would never be his friend, he would have to be a completely different person for that to happen." Granted Michael had been the same in the beginning, but she hadn't known that, and he had changed. She didn't see Emilian changing.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's face fell at Dru's confession. "Can some people not be friends with others?" she asked worriedly. She liked Dru, had hoped that they could be friends as well, but if Dru could not be friends with Emilian, did it mean that she could not be friends with Adara?

[Druscilla Grace]

"I can be friends with nearly everyone, but not him," Dru said, sighing, "He's not a good person." That was putting it lightly. Dru ran through things to say in her mind, hoping to have something to say in response to whatever Adara said.

[Adara Snow]

Adara smiled again, sure that Dru was mistaken. "I have spoken with him, Dru. He is kind and patient, and very polite." She did not mention the unthinkable way he made her feel, but at the thought, she averted her eyes, hiding the guilt written on her face. "Are you Ryan's friend?" she asked softly. She hated to think that Emilian was right, that Ryan wanted to make him look bad, but it seemed more and more likely as time passed.

[Druscilla Grace]

"Yes, you could say that." Kind? Patient? Polite? That didn't sound like the Emilian she had spoken to and heard about. "I've spoken to him as well, he's my ex-boyfriend's old friend." And purely by that fact she knew how Emilian was. She could see the obvious like in Adara's eyes when she spoke of Emilian, and it made Dru immensely uneasy.