Ellederflower Smith had not been on Hogwarts soil all of two minutes, before she dumped her bags in her dorm and had headed out inot the forest, destination unknown. It had been a good while since she had seen the old familar building and it's inhabitant, and of course, she knew she had to look around. But a moment to herself wasn't much to ask, was it? A little alone time. Elle almost laughed, she had had so much 'alone time' during the two week break that her body was craving for human interraction. Oh, sure, her parents had been there for Christmas Eve- they got in at 11:30pm, not much of a christmas eve- and they were there on Christmas day - They left at 7pm to go to a dinner party, dragging Elle along behind them, playing happy families. And they had also been there boxing day - from 9am till 2pm, they had to work, apparently. It wasn't like her parents didn't care...It was just- They had to occupy their time somehow when she was at Hogwarts for most of the year and a bit of the next, and obviously, their social lives seemed to have run into their family time. Elle often wondered if they ever had a moment to themselves anymore.

But in her heart of hearts, she knew why she needed alone time. A couple months back, a new student had started. They had become instant friends, and admitedly, Elle noticed that her old friends seemed to shy away from the new student, to back off and let the two have space. Elle didn't understand at first, she thought...Well, truthfully, she didn't know what they thought. She only had eyes and ears for the new student. It had been a long time since they had had a new person, and honestly, this new student intrigued her to no avail. Regreatably, her old friend, Cameron had been one of the one's to shy away from her new friendship choice. And whenever she said old friend, she meant old friend. More like Best friend really, although she wansn't so sure anymore.

It had been a long, long time since they had spoken. And, instead of shying away from her new friendship, Cameron had seemed to make like scissors and cut at the ends. Specifically her ends. He remained friends with all of the others. At first she was hurt, then annoyed and finnally down right mad. Although her anger seemed to have simmered out over the Christmas Holidays, settling as a warm annoyance. If she was truthful to herself, she'd know that she felt guilty about the whole situation. Yes, she missed her best friend, but it shouldn't matter that much. He should have just assimulated, just as she had. He should have-

She stopped her thoughts, at this rate she'd be turning around and heading right to his dorm to knock on his door. And no one would want that. She sighed as she came to a clearing, not knowing where she was she peered out onto the black earth. Wait, is earth supposed to be black? I'm sure it isn't...And there it was. A ripple. A single ripple on the black earth. She wasn't at the world's end, or a herbology experiment gone wrong, she had finnally arrived at the Black Lake. She couldn't remember when she had been there last, it had really been that long. This is why she needed some alone time. That new friend she had made, yeah, turned out to be a little bit demanding and clingy if they didn't get their way. Elle needed space to breathe. To think. To feel like herself again.

And so she found herself, dusting off a stump of an long forgotten oak, sitting down, staring out into the choppy waters of the Black Lake, lost in her thoughts.