Down By the Water

Celeste was at the beach, of course. That was where she often found herself when she had too much time on her hands and too little to do to occupy it. Staring out into the waves was relaxing, calming a mind that seemed to run on overdrive constantly. She could never get enough of the way the waves moved along the shore, and she loved sitting on the sand and watching.

It was especially beautiful early in the morning, when no one else was around yet.

Renee had snuck out of the house and headed to the beach, although it wasn't quite sneaking as her father had watched her walk past him and didn't mind that she was going out for a walk. She walked along the quiet streets, that were starting to stir with life at that time in the morning and reached the beach, slipping off her shoes she held them in her hand and walked down the beach until she hit the water, walking along the wet sand with the water occasionally coming up to hit her feet.

As Celeste stared down the beach, she saw a person walking along the water. She beamed. She rarely saw people coming down to the beach this early in the day, and if this person was there, surely she was interesting! She was probably worth talking to.

Celeste stood up and skipped over to the girl, her skirt blowing a little in the wind. "Hello!"

She caught sight of the other girl on the beach before the other girl noticed her, and watched though continuing to walk as the girl skipped cheerfully up to her. As if she already knew her, rather than approaching a complete stranger. "Hello," Renee replied, slightly warily but she smiled at the other girl.

"I'm Celeste," she said, sticking out her hand. "You look nice. What's your name? Are you from around here?" Celeste stopped. She wanted to ask more questions, but her mother always told her it was rude to bombard strangers with questions.

"I'm Renee," Renee said taking the girl's hand and shaking it. She waited until she was sure the other girl had stopped talking, and wouldn't start talking on top of her before she answered. She nodded. "I live only a short walk away," she said and glanced down at what she was wearing, a floral skirt and white blouse. "Thank-you? I like your hair," she nodded.

Celeste giggled. "No, silly. You do look pretty, but that's not what I meant! I meant that you look like a nice person!" She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Thank you, though! I like my hair, too. How have I never met you before, if you live so close? I'm less than ten minutes away walking."

"Oh," she said, not quite sure what she was meant to reply to that comment, so she nodded. "Well I haven't been in France for a few years," she said, which would explain it. As before then she hadn't been out of her own very often, and she had mostly played with other pureblood children. Though she didn't know if this girl was magical or not, she could have been and Renee just might not be able to remember her.

"Oh. Okay. That makes sense, I guess! My family has lived in France for a super long time, but we just recently moved into this house. I probably just missed you!" Celeste smiled. "Do you want to walk along the beach?"

"Well, I was born in France, but we have sort of swapped between leaving here and back in England," she nodded at the other girl with a small smile. "Okay, yeah, I'd like to walk along the beach." It was why she was there in the first place, but she didn't mind walking with this other girl.

Celeste skipped over to where the waves crashed on the shore. She was barefoot, of course. She didn't even bother to put shoes on, though her mother frequently fussed at her for it. "It's so lovely out. I love the beach. There is beach in England, right?"

Renee walked over to Celeste, still holding her shoes in her hands. She giggled slightly. "Yes," she said in an amused tone. "There is beach in England, but I don't live as close to it in England as I do over here," she glanced out towards the water. "I like it though."

"What is it like in England? Mama sometimes goes there for business trips, but I've never been with her. She doesn't like England very much." Celeste made a face. "Do you like it?"

"I love England," she said with a nod, thinking of her home back in England. "It is very different to France, but I love it," she kicked at the water as it drifted up over her feet causing it to splash up into the air. "What does your mother do?"

"She is a designer!" Celeste said, her face lighting up. "She works on clothes all day. Sometimes, she even lets me help her. What does your mom do?"

"Ohh, that sounds interesting!" Renee exclaimed, thinking that it would be a fun profession to have. Not that she would be any good at it, and her Mama mended all her clothing with magic so she didn't even get to try sewing. "My Mama doesn't work," she said with a slight shrug.

"Really? Are you two close, then? Does she spend lots and lots of time with you? What do you do for fun? Do you have pets?" Celeste was getting into the swing of things, skipping along the shore, spinning in circles, and asking questions.

You ask a lot of questions, Renee thought, but she didn't say it aloud. Because that would be rude, and her mama didn't like her being rude. Renee watched Celeste skip and twirl, but she stared simply walking along the edge of the water. "A little I suppose," she answered with a small shrug. "She's very good at music, so she teaches me how to play sometimes, we don't have any animals. Do you?"

"We have a rabbit named Rabbit,"Celeste said. "Mama wanted me to name her something else, but I thought it was silly."

Renee gave an amused smile, despite the uncreative name. "Mama doesn't really like rabbits, I don't know what kind of animal I'd want if I could get a pet," she titled her head to the side thoughtfully.

"I want a hedgehog," Celeste said, smiling. "They're adorable. Mama says that someday, Rabbit will die, and then we will get a hedgehog."

A larger wave came suddenly and splashed up against Renee's legs, she jumped sideways suddenly away from the water, coming back down once it was safer. "A hedgehog?" she asked. "I dunno if I'd want one, but they are cute I suppose."

"They're adorable and pokey and I would name it Sonic," Celeste said. "Do you like cartoons? I like cartoons, even though my Mama says that I am getting a bit old for cartoons, but that's okay!"

Renee frowned at the other girl, and shook her head. "No," she said simply, because she had no idea what the other girl was talking about. And didn't want to say as much. She eyed Celeste, wondering if she was magical or not, and what she was talking about was something muggle.

"How can you not like cartoons?" Celeste asked, her eyes growing wide. "Which ones do you watch? You should come over to my house to watch them sometime!"