am i coming out of left field? [indiana]

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It was a hot June day, and Hallie was dressed in fashion that was atypical for her. Instead of wearing jeans and a button-up, she was wearing a black dress that her mother probably wouldn't have let her out of the house in. It was okay, though, because neither of Hallie's parents actually knew that she was in Diagon Alley. They were both gone at work for the day - thankfully her dad hadn't chosen to work from home that day, because then Hallie wouldn't have been able to do anything fun! For all of the adventures her father wrote about, Hallie was certain that he was trying to keep her from any real adventure in her life. That was why she hadn't mentioned anything that had happened at school. They'd want her to withdraw, blah blah blah, boring boring, ruin her fun! Hallie had left a note for her parents so that they wouldn't think that she had been kidnapped or something, but she kind of wished she hadn't. If she had let them think that she was kidnapped then she could make up a story about how she was able to outsmart her captors and flag down a taxi to escape in, and - Hallie let out a dramatic sigh. They never thought things through enough! Luckily, Hallie had remembered to bring something with her to do at Diagon Alley, since her parents would definitely notice if any money went missing, and Hallie was not about to get grounded for the rest of the summer. They wouldn't mind as much if there was a comic book or two missing - they had about a billion at her house anyways. Hallie had found a good place for basking in the sun, sitting on a bench and pretending to read the comic while really just imagining how much better the story would have been if she was the heroine.

@indiana

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Indiana was supposed to be making friends this summer. Right. Okay. That was... easy? She had a lot of friends back in America and most of them would be at Hogwarts, too... but she was panicked about that. She was afraid that they would all be put in different houses at their new school and she would have no one to talk to and completely loose all of her ability to socialize and her life would be a walking nightmare! Oh dear, she just knew that was going to happen. She was walking down this diagon alley thing place pouting now as she thought of the horrors her future would hold. She would have to be married to her books, even more than she already was!

She should have brought one of them with her... or at least a comic book or something! Maybe this alley had a store - no, did wizards even have comics? They should, with the moving pictures and all-

She saw one about twenty feet away. A comic book, that is, in the hands of someone on a bench. Without thinking, she ran forward, stopping suddenly in front of them. "Do you know if there is a comic book store around here?" she said excitedly.

@hadley

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Hallie heard the scuffing of shoes against the pavement, but didn’t look up until the owner of said shoes stopped right in front of her. Hallie smoothed down the pages of her comic book before looking up to see the girl that was talking to her. The question was about a comic book store, which, naturally, made Hallie sigh dramatically. “If there is one, I haven’t found it yet.” She lamented. “But my dad already has like, thousands of comic books, so it’s not that big of a deal.” Hallie could also have the newest editions of her favorite comics mailed to her home and then have her parents send it on by owl mail, so it wasn’t like not being able to go to a store was that big of a travesty, except for Hallie not being able to find a comic book on accident. She always had to be searching for them. The Gryffindor moved over so that there was room on the bench for the other girl if she wanted to sit down. “You’re a comic fan.” Hallie said. It should have been a question, but Hallie wasn’t good at those. “And you’re not from here.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the girl’s accent wasn’t English.

@indiana

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They sighed dramatically and Indiana slowly frowned, already knowing what answer was coming. Her frown grew and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. No store! At the mention of thousands of comic books, though, Indianas eyes widened, "wow! I have a small collection but nothing like that. It's hard to get them delivered to where I used to live and we didn't have an official store, the bookstore sometimes ordered them if I asked-" she stopped, she was talking to fast. Indiana nodded as it was guessed that she was a comic book fan and grinned, "I'm from Alaska -- America. I'm transferring to Hogwarts this fall," which most people knew already about the American students, but she felt weird just assuming everyone knew her business. "Do you go there? I'm Indie, Indiana," she offered.

@hadley

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The girl said that she had a small comic collection, but nothing like Hallie’s father’s, and Hallie shrugged it off. “Most people don’t. He writes comics and he’s a bit self-centered, so of course he has a copy of all of his own stuff.” Hallie rolled her eyes. That was one of her father’s greatest flaws – though it was really cool to be able to see the comics that her father was written, if only to get some ideas for adventuress of her own. The girl kept talking and talking, and Hallie found herself somewhat amused with all of the words, even if she had zoned out halfway through. The girl said she was from Alaska, which didn’t click until she added that she was from America. Right – they had states and stuff there. The girl – oh, Indiana, that was a cool name – asked if she went to Hogwarts, and Hallie nodded. “Yeah. I’m going into my sixth year.” Hallie answered. “I’m a Gryffindor, so I’m basically the best.” She said with a nonchalant shrug. “Oh. You can call me Hallie for now.” Who knew if that would change? The Gryffindor certainly didn’t, but it was rude not to give her name or something like that.

@indiana

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The girl said that most people didn't have her fathers collection, and mentioned how he wrote comics and was self-centered, Indianas eyes widened. "What... what's his name?" she wanted to know if she had ever heard of any of her fathers comics and, heaven forbid, if it was one that she really loved. A fangirling Indiana was a dangerous thing to witness as a first impression...

Indiana felt her cheeks redden, "I'm only a fourth year," she said, a little softly. At the mention of 'Gryffindor', Indians eyes widened. Then the girl, said she was called Hallie for now, which was a strange way of phrasing that. Did she have other names? Other personalities? A superhero identity? The possibilities were endless, and Indiana imagined them all in a split second. "A Gryffindor is the lion house! I want to be in that one," she said, her tone giddy. A house of heroes and whatnot? That seemed like an amazing place. "Do you... Hallie," she paused, "is Gryffindor really the best?"

@hadley

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Hallie’s new friend asked her what her father’s name was, and she sent up a quick prayer to whatever deity was listening – hopefully Thor was one of them – that Indiana had heard of her father before. If she hadn’t, that would just be plain embarrassing. “Stanley Barbados.” Hallie replied, affecting a bored tone while internally being quite the opposite of bored. She just didn’t want to show her hand too early – and superheroes had to be good at faking their emotions sometimes.

“Fourth year’s still good.” Hallie responded when Indiana said she was only going into her fourth year. At least someone who was fourteen could know what they were getting into. Hallie had gotten into trouble before because apparently first years couldn’t make their own choices and she was a bad influence or something. At least she was an influence, Hallie thought. That was more than some of her professors could say. “Hell yeah you want to be in that one!” Hallie responded, a wicked grin spending across her face. Indiana asked if she really thought Gryffindor was the best, and Hallie just laughed. “Would I have said it if it wasn’t?” She asked.

@indiana

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When Hadley said her fathers name Indiana paused for a moment. She loved comics, but she hadn't read every single one. "What's one of his series called? Sometimes I forget authors," she admitted. "Does he write AND illustrate it?" she always wished she could draw like the amazing comic book artists.

Hadley said fourth year was still good and Indie blushed. She felt like she was being complimented, even though it wasn't really exclusive to her. "I hope so," she said a little softly. Then Hadley got excited about Gryffindor and Indiana beamed, hoping even more that she'd be in the lion house. "Well, you sure are confident! I like that. Ooh, I can't wait to get to Hogwarts!" she geeked.

@hadley

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Indiana asked what her father’s series was called, and Hallie didn’t hesitate before answering. “Copper Sparrow!” Truthfully, she thought the title (which also functioned as the superheroine’s name) was a little lame, since it was just a metal and a bird, but Hallie wasn’t sure she could really judge, since despite her voracious consumption of comics, she had yet to write one, let alone one that was as commercially successful as her father’s. “Yup! He didn’t want to risk someone else ruining his vision, I guess.” That would have sucked – to have a great story ruined by a crappy artist.

Indiana didn’t seem all that confident in her being sorted into Gryffindor, and Hallie shrugged. If she wasn’t, they could figure out what to do then. Indie commented that Hallie was confident, and the Gryffindor shrugged. “What other way is there to be?” Second-guessing herself just seemed like a waste of time to Hallie. “Hogwarts is great! But we still have the whole summer to do cool things.” Summer was even better than school, because no one was trying to reign Hallie in. Rules were stupid, and summer didn’t have as many of those.

@indiana

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Copper Sparrow... it sounded vaguely familiar, like she had heard the name at a comic con or something. "Well, that is really cool!" she said, her grin wide. Hallie also said that her father did indeed to the drawings as well and Indiana squealed. "That is so amazing! I wish I could draw the way these amazing people do. I mean, they are so talented!" she could draw, sure, but she honestly didn't work on it that hard. It was much easier to appreciate someone else's work than try to do her own. People were meant for great things, and she could admire them,

Hallie was indeed confident, and just punctuated that by saying there wasn't any other way to be. She said Hogwarts was great and Indiana leaned forward a little more. "What cool things do you do during the summer here? I mean, I'm sure it's not that different from America, right?" she guessed.

@hadley

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Hallie’s smile was bright as she continued to look at Indiana, who was just as enthused at the idea of Hallie’s father being a comic book artist as she was. Indie said that she wished she could draw the way those people did, and Hallie let out a loud laugh. “Why draw out adventures when you can go on them yourself?” Hallie asked. They were witches, after all, and that meant they could do a lot of things their favorite superheroes could do, without any of the weaknesses! It was a pretty sweet deal, the way she saw. She just needed to work on controlling her magic or whatever. That was the boring part. She’d get to that eventually.

The younger girl asked what cool things they did in the summer in England, and Hallie shrugged. “I’ve never been to America so I have no idea what you guys do.” She responded. She couldn’t say if they were different or not without having anything to compare to. “I mostly do random stuff. Some physical training, since I’m gonna be a superhero and everything.” Hallie shrugged. “We could race to the end of the alley or something.” It probably was the sort of thing Indiana was thinking of, but hey, she had asked.

@indiana

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As much as Indie liked the idea of going on adventures, she wasn't sure if she was entirely equipped to handle them. She did enjoy stories more than real life danger. Hallie... maybe wasn't that way. At least, she seemed to be pretty serious about the comment that going on adventures was better than drawing them. "I guess that's true," Indie said, not entirely buying it, but still enthusiastic. It was a cool idea!

Hallie said she had no idea what they did in America but then described that she basically did physical training and that she was going to be a superhero. Indie grinned at that. Was she really planning on using her magic to... save muggles and be a real superhero? That seemed... illegal. And awesome. "Racing is always fun," Indie said. It was kind of an odd suggestion, but she'd do it! But then she heard her name and she spun around, her brother was waving her over. She turned back to Hallie. "I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you in Gryffindor!" And she ran to her family.

@hadley
(the end)