Summer Breeze (Daphne, Brenda)

[Heather Louise White]

Heather sat in the counselor's lounge, curled up in a large armchair. Her charges were, for the time being, off at a swimming lesson, and she was able to relax. For the most part, she had a pretty good group of girls. The only troublesome one, of course, was the one Slytherin in the group. Harmony Lippre, so far, had not even acknowledged Heather's existence. Everything Heather tried to tell her seemed to fall on deaf ears. She kept switching beds and the other girls would come back to find her in their beds. She wouldn't listen to lights out, she wouldn't help keep the cabin neat, and half the time, she didn't even go to the activities, which meant Heather had to babysit the girl, even though Heather might as well have been invisible for all the notice Harmony took of her.

Strangely, however, she'd been interested in swimming, probably because it was a "mixed" activity with the boys. So she was gone at last, and Heather was finally able to relax and think about her real problem.

Daphne. She loved her best friend, but she didn't know how to tell her. And now that school was over, soon they would be going their separate ways. Heather would be playing with the Harpies, and Daphne... well, Heather honestly wasn't sure what Daphne would be doing. Heather was worried about her. Oh, they'd keep in touch, of course, but it wouldn't be the same. Heather wouldn't be there to support her friend when she needed someone to build her up and make her feel better about herself.

Would it make it worse if Daphne knew how Heather felt about her? She wasn't sure, and she didn't know if she wanted to find out.

Sighing to herself, Heather closed her eyes. It wasn't like her to be idle, but camp and the stress of her secret were both weighing heavily on her. She thought she might be able to fall asleep right then and there. But she heard the door to the lounge open, and Heather's eyes flew open. "Who's there?"

[Daphne Brady]

Daphne was relieved that it was summertime. Going to camp wasn't too terribly bad but this was the last camp she would be able to go to. The first day of camp, she realized that she graduated from Hogwarts. She had no idea what she wanted to do. The idea of working at St. Mungo's as a healer actually sounded intriguing as did working as an auror or something along those lines. Daphne knew she was better at taking care of people, and she was practical. Maybe working as a healer was something she should try.

The girls in her cabin were not all that bad. They minded her and made her feel welcome. Maybe camp wasn't going to be that bad. For now, the girls in her cabin were off doing an activity and she took this time to rest. Reaching the lounge, Daphne opened the door. She wasn't expecting to scare anyone when she opened to door.

She jumped a little when she heard someone speak after she opened the door. "Heather," Daphne said with a smile. "Hey!" Yes, Daphne was completely oblivious to the fact that Heather was in love with her. Heather had always been there for her and she couldn't ask for a better best friend. She approached her friend and sat down in the chair beside her. Daphne could always be herself around Heather, not some shy quiet girl.

"Your girls off doing their daily activities?"

[Heather Louise White]

Heather sat up in her chair and turned halfway around to face Daphne. Some of her familiar restlessness was coming back, and she was almost tempted to start doing some situps or something, just to keep moving and give her heart a real reason for beating a little faster. Merlin, this was ridiculous. She'd known Daphne since their first year at school, and they'd been best friends for almost as long. Now that she realized how she really felt about Daphne, though, Heather actually felt nervous around her best friend, and that was a very strange an unpleasant feeling.

"Hey, Daph," she said with a bright smile. "Yes, they are, thank Godric. Most of them are great, but that Harmony Lippre is a complete terror. I actually caught her stealing things from Maxi's trunk the other day, and she ripped a page out of one of Kellie's books and used it to make a paper airplane!" She shook her head in frustration over the Slytherin girl.

"You're looking good," she continued, looking over Daphne in concern. "I think the summer sun's agreeing with you... you're not so pale. Is Brenda leaving you alone? I can't believe she came... I feel sorry for whoever's stuck with her as a counselor."

[Daphne Brady]

"Oh no," Daphne said in reply about Harmony Lippre. "I've heard horrid things about her. She seems like she is going to be more than a handful." She shook her head. "I'm sorry you have to deal with her. The girls in my cabin are actually pretty good. I haven't had any issues there. If you feel like you need to get away, you are more than welcome to visit the cabin."

At the comment of her not looking so pale, Daphne let out a laugh. "I know, I've been pretty pale. Almost ghostly." She smiled. "I think I like not being almost ghostly." At the mention of Brenda, she sighed. "Luckily she hasn't come by. Those poor girls that are in her cabin." Daphne walked over and took a chair beside Heather. "The good thing about camp is that we don't have to do any kind of school work, so she can't come up to me asking me about it."

[Heather Louise White]

Heather smiled. "Thanks for the offer. But I'm not sure I should leave the other girls alone with Harmony. They may be older than she is, but she really is nasty. She acts like she doesn't realize what she's doing, but I'm convinced she's doing it all on purpose and just playing dumb. I think she's a Brenda in training."

Sure, Maxi had been the Hufflepuff champion, and Kellie, despite being a bookworm, was no weakling. But Harmony--or Disharmony, as Heather liked to think of her--really needed watching at all times. The only reason Heather wasn't sitting with her charges in their latest activity was that this one was being led by Professor Rothschild, who would not let Harmony get away with anything.

"Speaking of Brenda, I wouldn't put it past her to try and dump her group on you somehow. Don't let her."

[Daphne Brady]

"A Brenda in training? That poor girl," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry. Although, maybe your summer will go by pretty well. At least we still get to hang out with each other a little bit." Daphne smiled.

"I'll do my best not to let her. I'm attempting to steer clear of her as much as possible. After this summer I will not have to deal with her ever again." That thought was pretty amazing and stress relieving. All she had to do was just make it just a little longer.

"What are you doing right after camp? Are you starting quidditch training?"

[Heather Louise White]

"Yeah, that's a good thing," Heather agreed. "But if she does bother you at all, or tries to get you to take care of her group for her, let me know. I'm not going to let you stand for that anymore, and I intend to tell her so."

They were Hogwarts graduates now... of age. They were adults, and there was no reason why Brenda should still be able to intimidate and bully Daphne. Heather wasn't going to let her get away with it anymore.

"I have two weeks between the end of camp and the start of training. Maybe we could do something... take a trip or something."