Rain
Age 10 / 219 words
They'd stayed up for Astronomy but there had been too many clouds and when the first fat drops of rain splattered the stones around them Professor Sinistra had finally given up and packed the lesson in. Dennis lingered behind while the others scurried off to bed, ostensibly making sure all the telescopes were properly covered but actually just admiring the view. Through the steadily increasing downpour he could see a myriad of flicking lights, torches in the windows, the bright eyes of Hogwarts watching over the forest and the lake. Run-off water began to tumble in thin water-falls from gutters and rooftops that had been old long before even his grandfather was born, which stood still, which would stand long after his own grandchildren had gone. Hogwarts gleamed, a thousand, a million lights amidst the stormy darkness.
"Come along," said Sinistra from behind him. "What are you looking at?"
Dennis grinned at her. "Best! School! Ever!"
She 'hmph'ed. "Tell me that again in seven years."
"I will," said Dennis.
She smiled.
"I will," he insisted.
"I believe you." She smiled wider. "Not if you die of pneumonia first, though. Come in."
He did, but he stayed up long into the night, listening to the rain clatter on the towers and rooftops of his home away from home, smiling to himself.
They'd stayed up for Astronomy but there had been too many clouds and when the first fat drops of rain splattered the stones around them Professor Sinistra had finally given up and packed the lesson in. Dennis lingered behind while the others scurried off to bed, ostensibly making sure all the telescopes were properly covered but actually just admiring the view. Through the steadily increasing downpour he could see a myriad of flicking lights, torches in the windows, the bright eyes of Hogwarts watching over the forest and the lake. Run-off water began to tumble in thin water-falls from gutters and rooftops that had been old long before even his grandfather was born, which stood still, which would stand long after his own grandchildren had gone. Hogwarts gleamed, a thousand, a million lights amidst the stormy darkness.
"Come along," said Sinistra from behind him. "What are you looking at?"
Dennis grinned at her. "Best! School! Ever!"
She 'hmph'ed. "Tell me that again in seven years."
"I will," said Dennis.
She smiled.
"I will," he insisted.
"I believe you." She smiled wider. "Not if you die of pneumonia first, though. Come in."
He did, but he stayed up long into the night, listening to the rain clatter on the towers and rooftops of his home away from home, smiling to himself.