The Great Lake

Natalie was here, sitting in front of the lake. She looked unhappy. It was a bit wet on the grass, but it seemed as though she were too upset to care that the bum of her skirt was getting wet, as well as her underwear.

"Hi!"

Anthony had been wandering around the grounds for the past twenty minutes. All three of his other good friends were all occupied. Brian was hanging around with some Hufflepuffs he knew. Dianna was chasing after Josiah's heels. Jenny was probably trying to make friends with Mrs. Norris again.

So, when he stumbled upon Natalie sitting by lake, he was pleasantly surprised. He plopped down beside, trying to ignore the dampness of the grass beneath him.

"What's wrong? You look really sad?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Natalie sighed. "It doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head.

"Of course it does, or you wouldn't be sitting around by the lake, alone, feeling sorry for yourself," he replied, as he stretched all the way out on the grass. This wasn't a very good idea, as now his entire back and head would be wet.

"Did something bad happen?" he coaxed her.

Natalie shook her head. "No," she said, slowly, in a sigh. She was the kind of person who took a while to get information out. After a bit more urging, she cracked. "Well, both my sisters are here. And they're both perfect. They both have beautiful long blond hair, one could model for the highest Witch modeling magazine if she wanted, and every boy likes her both younger and older, and then my younger sister has the mind of a genius, and knows how to get everything she wants. I'm just here, in the middle, with stupid damned curly hair and nothing special about me. I'm ugly, and stupid."

"Oh, I see..." Anthony said softly. He sat right back up, and he stared into the horizon, with the light of the sun glistening on the lake. Anthony had actually forgotten that Natalie had two sisters. Sure, he knew Amber, but he never really thought of them being related. They were too completely different people; you could never guess they were related. And, now that she had mentioned, he didn't remember hearing another Conway being sorted.

"Well... if it makes you feel better, I'm pretty ugly and stupid too. I don't have curly hair, but I have freckles and braces. I think I would rather have curly hair than those. And you've seen my marks-they're no better than yours. And, I'm stuck in the middle, too. Especially since Robin was born." Anthony said, in an attempt to comfort her.

"But you're cute, and I'm sure girls like you."

Anthony snorted. "No, not that I know of. Except maybe you, though," he teased.

Natalie blushed a little. "No, I don't like you that way. But you are cute, I'll give you that."

He smiled. "Thanks... but try to cheer up, okay? Everyone feels like how you do, every once in a while."

"It's so unfair, though! I wish I was more fortunate! I mean, sure, there's less fortunate people than me, but STILL!"

"Well..." Anthony looked rather thoughtful at Natalie's words. "I think we're all a little unfortunate, then. Look at me. Look at Brian." At the thought of Brian, he looked a bit wary. "Natalie, I overheard his mum telling mine that the Healers don't think his health will be the same again after what happened. Isn't that scary?"

Natalie frowned. "Yeah, I know... It's horrible. I mean, I don't want him to remain scarred by that horrible disease."