[Lawns] Hippy & The Hufflepuff

[Via Thorn]

The day was drawing to a close, and Via had just finished her last lesson. Being Friday, it always felt good to know you had another two days to yourself to do what you wanted, and Via normally spent it out in the open if it was pleasant or helping out in the Herbology Garden. Via loved plants and animals, and took great pleasure in caring for both of them. Just like Slytherin’s liked being bullies and hexing, Via Thorn loved nature.

Scooping up her books and giving a wave to Professor Vaid, she mouthed ‘goodbye’ to him before walking out of the classroom and making her way straight outside to enjoy the last bit of sun of the day. The sky was orange and the sun was partially set, causing a glint to creep into her eyes every now and again when her vision wasn’t blocked. It made her squint and bring a slender hand to salute above her eyebrows. Cradling her books in one arm, she pushed open the heavy oak doors and slinked out of the gap before skipping once down the stone steps. Looking over the view of the lawns and the lake, she smiled. She was at the place she loved most about Hogwarts, and it was peaceful.

Taking the long walk to many, yet rather short for Via, to the little area with scattered trees, she headed towards the tree nearest the lake to relax by. Her height was good for her as she got to places a lot quicker, but also seeing a girl that tall was quite odd. Her 5’10”frame was both a blessing and a curse. Pausing at the tree, that was casting long outstretched shadows on the grass now, she glued her feet to the ground and turned the rest of her body around to see if anybody else was about. Content that she was all alone, not that she minded, she placed the books on the floor and tucked her skirt under her bum as she sat on the grass. Bringing her legs in, she crossed them and picked up a book from the middle of the pile. It was a muggle book that Professor Vaid had told her was very popular, called ‘Frankenstein’ about a scientist creating a monster. Most things intrigued Via, and so she thought she’d give it a go. The only thing she had to lose was time.

[jerry]

Jeremy ran a hand through his dark hair. Yes, dark hair. The crisis had been avoided. The pink hair was dead, and Jeremy was in a startling good mood because of it. Placing his hands in his pockets , he walked down the corridors leading to the Entrance Hall. Walking fast past the dungeon entrance, he opened the large doors and stepped outside into a courtyard.

Jeremy didn't want to run into any Slytherins, least of all Erys Grace. Jeremy's mind was tired. With her, he had little control of who he was, and that was certianly not himself. It was almost painful, though the pain didn't set in for hours later, when he realized what an ass he had been. However, thinking it was highly unlikely for the queen of the snaked to venture outside on such a beautiful day, Jeremy breathed in the fresh outdoor air.

It had been a very strange winter. It had started off quite warm, and the it had gotten bitter cold. Again in mid January, the weather seemed to be quite mild, most of the snow melting under the sun. Today, Jeremy noticed mostly brown patches of grass in stead of white snow. It saddened him slightly, the snow was so clean looking. Now the brown, muddy ground just looked dirty.

Jeremy sighed as he felt the wetness from the ground soak up into his jeans. He tried to ignore it, but every time he stepped, he felt the water. Looking up a hill, he noticed it looked drier, and he headed up.

A few feet away, Jeremy saw a tree, and by the tree, he saw a girl, reading. He smiled. She definitely wasn't a Slytherin, and definitely not Erys Grace, having blond hair. Jeremy, hands still in his pockets, silently walked over the the tree and the girl.

Easily reading the title of the book, Jeremy smiled. Perhaps she was a Ravenclaw he overlooked. Frankenstein was definitely a classic, and a very Ravenclaw read. However, he found it hard to believe that he hadn't seen this Ravenclaw before. He saw she was very tall, and would definitely stand out.

"So did the monster get away yet?" Jeremy said, hoping not to startle the girl. "Shelley's a little dry for me, but its a good book all the same. Classic." He flashed a grin at her, hoping she was friendly and not offended that he had interrupted her reading. Lord knows that some Ravenclaw's are touchy about their readings.

[Via Thorn]

Via was so consumed by this fantastic muggle book, she had wondered why she had never ventured into reading it before. So caught up in the fiction of the book, she didn't notice her surroundings, and jumped a little when a voice came from nowhere, causing her to drop the book and lose the page she was reading. Most people would be annoyed at the fact they had lost their place, but Via just gave a small chuckle. Picking the book back up that was now closed next to her, she looked up at the voice that had momentarily startled her and gave a smile.

"He's currently terrorising some household" she replied with a nod. Looking back to the book, she frantically skimmed the pages to find where she had last got to before making a mental note of the page number and closing it once again. Via was somewhat of an outcast a little by the other students, however they were mostly all friendly enough towards her cheery self, she never really felt like anyone's 'friend', just someone who was an aquaintence. Maybe that was why she spent so much time with animals and plants outdoors, they were more of her friends than people were. She'd even go as far as to name Mandrakes and the Professor had even let her keep one to look after especially. She named it Sunny. Poor thing, she had gotten so attached to the Mandrake that she cried when Professor Becket was walking away with it grasped in her hand, screaming the place down. It's little root like arms wagging about as if it wanted to be back in Via's caring hands. Eventually just before it was going to be made into some potion ingredient, the Professor had given in and let Via look after it.

Looking back over to the boy, who she hadn't really been aware of around the school, she had seen his face once or twice and was sure she could remember seeing him with Ravenclaw accessories, but she couldn't be to sure, but he definately wasn't in Hufflepuff.

"So what brings you out here?" she asked with bright eyes. Placing the book on her lap, she brought her legs up to her chest. She looked over the boy for a moment, taking in small details about him for future reference. He has the most fantastic, yet mysterious blue eyes she had ever seen, and there was something hypnotic about them.

[jerry]

Jeremy smiled. "Thats not a bad part." He grinned showing his bright white teeth. "But like I said, Shelley bores me." The true Ravenclaw, of course it just wasn't good enough for him. He needed something more intellectually stimulating, Shakespeare, now that was stimulating.

"Oh, I didn't want to bother you." Jeremy said, noticing the girl was putting the book down. In all truth, he did want to bother her. He had spent way to many days wandering around alone, and avoiding certain people that he needed some good company.

"Oh, well, you know." Jeremy said vaguely, sitting down next to the girl, happily feeling that the spot he chose was dry. He brushed some mud of the bottom of his pants and sighed. "What about you? Miss...?" He said, a charming smile on his face. He almost hoped that the girl would be harder to swoon then that, he was up for a challenge, even if it was just a friendly challenge.

[Via Thorn]

Via thumbed through the pages of the book, without looking of course, it was just a habit of hers to fiddle with something, and seems as though the book was there, that would be the play thing. Normally it was with the hem of her skirt or a piece of her hair that she simply pinged out of her head. Anything to keep her hands busy, yup. That was Via all right.

Looking back down at the book as the boy spoke, she gave the smallest of nods, more to herself than anything, to agree with what he was saying. Sure, Shelley wasn’t as intellectually stimulating as maybe Shakespeare or even Harper Lee, who wrote one of Via’s favourite books, ‘To kill a Mocking Bird’, but it was a great story nonetheless and it was obviously a great classic if it had come this far down the line in history.

“I guess your right, but still, i’ll leave the overly stimulating novels to you, afterall it’s you who’s in Ravenclaw” she smiled at him with kind eyes.

“Nonsense, please sit, I could do with some company”she giggled softly. She began tracing the front cover of the book with her finger as she looked over the lake. Taking in a deep breath, she looked back to Jeremy.

“Via, Via Thorn, and might I ask who you are?”she replied, raising her eyebrows slightly in curiosity. If Via was going to have a battle of intellectuality then she would surely lose, however, it was good to talk about similar things. Nobody should get into a battle of knowledge of any kind with a Ravenclaw, unless you were another Ravenclaw. This she had learnt by merely observing a few Ravenclaws. She had places them into two separate categories, one the snobby ones who thought themselves better than everyone else, and two, the kind ones who were still Claws, but without the snobbery behaviour. She was sure Jeremy was in the latter group, or he would of been a lot harsher with her choice of reading material.

"I'm just catching the last of the nice weather for today"

[jerry]

She she wasn't a Ravenclaw, Jeremy hadn't really thought so. He was one hundred percent positive that she wasn't a Slytherin, he had learned to smell them a mile away. A gryffindor would surely be wasting time sitting beneath a tree, reading, it probably wasn't cool enough for them, and so Jeremy settled on Hufflepuff as the house of this pretty girl.

"Well, what can I say, I have a mind that yearns to be stimulated." Jeremy said, laughing slightly. Ok, it wasn't funny at all. Corny yes, but lets just say he wasn't having a good day, yeah, that was it.

Jeremy smiled as she invited him to stay. Again, it was nice to have a smiling face in front of him. Slytherins didn't really smile. They had more of an evil smirk that wrapped Jeremy around there finger. Jeremy shivered slightly, fighting the urge to be the bad boy. He smiled sweetly, keeping the true Ravenclaw on the outside and the budding snake on the inside.

"Oh, me? I'm just Jeremy Wheller." He said with a nice little smirk, running his hand through his hair, making sure it was sufficiently messy. Strange thing about Jeremy. He needed to have his appearance perfect, face it, hes a major pretty boy. But no matter how sharp he dressed in his button down shirts and preppy sweaters, his hair was an exception with always had to have a touch of messiness about it.

Jeremy looked up at the sky. The purples and pinks and oranges of sunset were starting to show. He thought it was quite pretty, but he wasn't about to become the sensitive prick too soon. He smiled. "Mild for this time of year." He said. They were talking about the weather. How typical.

[Via Thorn]

Via couldn’t help but feel Jeremy was trying to work her out. She pondered for a minute wondering as to why. Maybe it was what house she belonged too, or simply just her. She was the kooky one of Hufflepuff, and everyone saw her as a little odd, the fact that she obsessed over Herbology was enough to send most people running. Still, after a moment, Jeremy’s voice changed as he obviously realised she was a Hufflepuff.

Smiling back at him as he laughed, she soon broke out into a giggle. It was good to hear the sound of laughter, and it was even better to hear it coming from someone other than herself, or a fellow Hufflepuff. Her eyes gave off a twinkle and she turned to look forward for a moment before turning back to him.
“Well, you’ll have to let me know some good books I can read, I’m sure you can find something for me to enjoy reading” she said, flashing him a toothy grin. Truth was, Via was a geek inside too, although she enjoyed stories of a fantasy kind, classics and the such. She wasn’t one to like gaining knowledge of something trivial. She liked the escape that books could give. It was a good way to leave reality behind, not that reality was bad, but in books, anything was possible.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Jeremy” she said, tilting her head slightly before nodding it. He seemed to be perfectly preened, yet his hair was stylishly messy. It suited him, and Via couldn’t imagine him looking any different that he did now. His eyes were the sort that stared deep into you, yet they weren’t demanding as such, or vicious. They were ones that could bore into your soul, yet not tell a single soul your inner most feelings. She gave a small smile before looking away and out onto the lake once more.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look up into the sky before mentioning the rather colourful sky which was diminishing before their very eyes. Moment before it was so vibrant and had been casting rainbows on the water’s surface, now it was beginning to fade to grey. With a nod at his statement, she looked back to him.

“It’s quite depressing really” she replied and left a moment’s silence between them. It didn’t feel awkward however, which was a good sign. Plus it gave Via time to collect her thoughts.

“So what would you recommend for good reading material?”

[jerry]

Jeremy smiled awkwardly, leaving a silence that he wished could be filled. "Depressing?" He said with narrow eyes. "I was thinking more along the lines of Inspiring..."he said, thinking that maybe he didn't have a spark with this girl.

Jeremy had already found out that not every girl was the one for him. Yes, he loved flirting, and he loved the chase, but in the end, there was always going to be that one person you connect with. Jeremy wondered if he had already found it.

Jerry smiled, trying to fill up the space with something. Nothing came to his mind, so he kept the dashing smile on his face, Luckily Via filled up the space with a question.

"Oh, well, good stuff that makes you think. L'Engle, Shakespeare, King." Jeremy said, listing his favorites. Now that he thought about it, they didn't really hold into one category, they were sort of all over the place. "I've spent most of my time studying lately." Jeremy said, running his hands through his hair again, a nervous habit. "NEWTS coming up." he said with a grin. He was sure he was ready for the tests, but were the tests ready for him? hmm.

[Via Thorn]

Via realised she was thinking in a backwards way when she said ‘depressing’, surely anyone who could think this weather was inspiring had a heart of gold, after all, you’d never catch a Slytherin saying the weather was beautiful would you? Via thought on this for a moment, and tilting her head to get a better look at the sky, she could see on one side of the horizon was showing signs of an orange skyline breaking through.

Leaning back on her hands, she outstretched her legs and looked back to Jeremy as he gave a list of what sounded like his favourite authors. Making a mental note of L’Engle, she gave a small nod in acceptance of the names.

“Well I’ll have to look up that first one, I’ve never heard that name before” she said simply. He began to mention studying and the up coming NEWTS, in which Via was a bit nervous of.
“Oh, I know. I just can’t get the concept of a few things. That’s why I was out here actually. I’ve been in the common room all day studying, I needed a bit of fresh air” she smiled sweetly. With Jeremy being a Ravenclaw, she doubted he needed to study, however Ravenclaw’s always seemed to anyway. She hoped she would excel in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, her two favourite lessons. If she failed in Herbology she would be devastated, that was the main one that mattered to her, and if that was taken away from her, she didn’t know what she would do.

“So what are you hoping to become once you leave Hogwarts?” She asked, looking at her feet as she tapped them together.