[Lake] Breaking the trend

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity grinned slightly at the desciption of Harrison's friends. Do what they like, whever they want? Sounded like a life of leasure. But, what exactly did they like? Perhaps, the trio was like so many other boys Felicity had met, and they loved girls' attention. Or, they could take an interest in themselves. Or maybe both.

"So then, what exactly do you like to do? If I remember correctly, none of you play Quidditch. Or, is my memory failing me?"

Fay believed that he friendships were a little more complex than his. In her mind, Bradyn and Felicity were the brother and sister type of friends. Ash and her seemed to be based off of a support type of system, mostly her being there to support him. Ellie was her closest friend that was actually a girl, and Fay would trust her as much as Bray. Maxi was a friend too, and she enjoyed talking with him.

There were so many other people that Fay knew, it was insane. Best friends, just friends, maybe seen some people in a hallway once or twice. It got her thinking:

How many people actually knew Felicity Locke?

Fay was brought out of her little reverie when Harrison spoke again. A smirk turned the corner's on her lips up.

"That's all just pretty words Mr. Harrison. You cannot honestly tell me that you didn't even jump to one conclusion about myself?" She glanced over to him and raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps a saint would be the only one not to, and you are no saint Mr. Harrison." Felicity smirked again and sat back up. She leaned back on her hands and let the breeze toy with her hair. It blew her dark hair away from her face, and the loose strands brushed softly against her cheeks.

[Harrison Greg]

That was actually a very good question, what did they do? Harrison looked blankly at the sky with a slight frown upon his face as he tried to think about how to word his answer better then ‘We do nothing’. His mind flashed to the many days he had spent with Blake and Toby in the common room. All they seemed to do was lounge around on the sofa’s laughing at simple things, on the odd occasion they would venture out around the corridors and on that time they would talk to the females of the school.

“We…talk and laugh.” He started not know what else to say as he stared up at the mid-September sky. “Also we save fair damsels who get themselves into situations where one could arguably describe them as being in distress.”

He gave a soft chuckle at the amount of times they has found themselves catching people before they fell or if they did not have the timing right offering their hand to bring help them get back upon their feet. It was then he realised that that had been how he and Felicity had met and with a small side ways look the Gryffindor grinned at her.

“But of course you would know all about the latter.”

It was then when Felicity made another rash statement about how she clearly thought that because of the two observations he had made and stated that he had formed some sort of opinion about the Ravenclaw. Harrison made the executive decisions never to trust rumours after hearing many crazy ones about himself, but seeing as the Ravenclaw was not denying any of the accusations he was throwing at her maybe he could have a bit of fun.

“Do you want me to jump to conclusions about you Miss Locke?” Harrison grinned, rolling onto his side to get a better look at the Ravenclaw as she mentioned about him not being a saint. She was right about that, he was far from it although he was not evil…just impure. “Very well then Fay, I think that you seem to like older men with experience as Mr Brooks has, also you go for Gryffindors because we are clearly not as intelligent as Ravenclaw’s thus making you feel superior in the relationship and finally because from time to time we have the bravery and stupidity to take actions that could make any young female such as yourself swoon.”

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity rolled her eyes at his response. Talk and laugh, isn't that what she did every day? Either he was lying, or just couldn't think of an actual interesting thing that his little group did. It was probably the second, because she didn't take him as a huge liar.

"Ah well, I guess I can't relate to the saving 'damsels' business, but I do seem to have some experience with laughing and talking. Insane I know."

She smirked back at him and chuckled softly. Fay only shook her head when he mentioned her little trip and her unfortunate fall into the mud.

"That can hardly be considered a distress situation. I probably fall at least twice a day, and usually in the worst of situations, such as that one. Ask anyone else, they know."

During her first year, at least she believed it was her first year, Felicity had made a promise to herself that she would not get worked up over people's opinion of her. They didn't know her, and that's why they said those things. 'Because they're jealous of you' was what her mother often told her.

"Oh, please do, I'm interested to see what you come up with."

Fay let out a small snort and she twisted her head back to look at him. Experience? She didn't even have any experience when it came to herself and dating. And he obviously didn't know her well enough to conclude that her intellect was part of it. She never prized herself in showing off how smart she was compared to others.

"Yes well, the Gryffindors are supposed to be brave and loyal, are they not? Perhaps I'm like every other girl and I do enjoy a man willing to protect me. Is that wrong?" Felicity allowed the corners of her lips to pull up in a small smile. She turned back to looking over at the lake.

"I do not prize my intellect as some other Ravenclaws do. Several of my friends think I should've been in Gryffindor, some others think I'm a Puff." She shrugged lightly. "The Hufflepuff I honestly don't understand, but I think I can relate to you Gryffies. Did you happen to hear of a rumor about me last year? It was pretty big with the Ravenclaws."

Ah yes, Felicity's oh so famous 'smack down'. Those who really knew the story considered it an act of loyalty to her friends, which is what it was meant to be. Out of all of her morals, staying true and loyal to her friends was up at the top.

[Harrison Greg]

The Gryffindor could not help but laugh as Felicity gave her own opinion and explanation on what he had just said. It seemed to be as clear as day the divide between all the houses, the stereotypical views that were enforced upon each student, the label which they had to act up to in hope to fit in with the people in the house around them. But then there were the few like Fay who seemed to dispute this slightly by admitting that they do no treasure the qualities that put them in the house they are in now.

“Miss Locke I pay very little attention to rumours unless they circle around me.”

Harrison gave a soft chuckle, it was the truth no matter how big headed and self centred it was true. Why should Harrison care what was happening in the other common rooms if they were not talking about him…and seeing as him and Fay had only recently become acquaintances he doubted it would be about him. However he could not help feel compelled to ask what the story was about anyway seeing as she had brought it up, it would be rude to ignore it.

“But please do tell the tale; it must be interesting if Ravenclaw’s were willing to put down their books to talk about it and then on top of that to compare it to us brave and noble Gryffindors.”

He gave Felicity a coy smile as she continued to be his main focus, there may have been talk with some of the younger years about the incident but when they talked at him Harrison always went into auto pilot mode and would nod his head and smile unless they were talking about something particularly interesting, or it was someone he had his eye on.

[Felicity Locke]

"Ug, lucky. Why don't I switch rooms with you eh? Think your roommates would mind a girl? I know mine just love boys."

Felicity shuddered. Her roommates were probably the essence of all that was considered 'girly'. Gossiping, giggling, flirting. It drove Fay nearly mad. She made a face and stuck her tongue out at the sky. Of course some higher power just had to stick her with a bunch of giggling girls.

"We are not all obsessed over our books thank you very much. And I believe I can combat with you Gryffies."

Fay turned so she could see Harrison better. She wanted to watch his reaction. The rest of her friends --save for Ash because he witnessed it-- couldn't believe Fay had actually done it. Huh, maybe that's where that whole beast nickname came from. Could be.

"Well, Ashy was all depressed over the whole Maxi thing, and Bray and I were over at the courtyard with him to help comfort him. Bray just ended up getting all mad though and then Ash got mad, then that infuriated me...you get the idea. So, Bray stormed off and someone else came over by us. Apparently, it was Ash's dad. He had come to visit or something or other."

Fay took another breath and ran her hand through her hair. Now here was where the story took a turn. Depending on how people interpreted it, that would depend on how they viewed her. She paused, seemed to gather her thoughts, then continued again.

"Well, he started to get angry at Ash and was yelling at him. Ash said something back at him in French which made the guy more angry. Then he lashed out and hit Ash, probably hurt like heck."

A blush started to creep up into her cheeks and she started to twiddle her fingers. Fay's gaze remained locked on her lap, and on her hands. So maybe she was still a little embarrassed about this.

"He was going to hit Ash again, but I stepped in the way and tried to get him to go away. But he wouldn't and he tried to drag me away so he could get to Ash." Felicity conveniently left out the fact that the man had almost broken her arm. "And, well, I was still mad at Bray and now I was mad at this guy, and he was going to hurt Ash so..I punched him. Square in the jaw."

[Harrison Greg]

Harrison listened with some interest as Felicity started her story, he had heard of the people she was mentioning, Ashton and Maxi’s relationship was known to him as the girls in the commonroom seemed to find it interesting to talk about their relationship and at one point were even wondering if they could find the poor guy someone else to hook up with. Although this side of the break-up had nothing to do with the story that was being told so Harrison quickly stopped his attention from wondering and focused on the Felicity.

It seemed rather muggle soap operaesk and Harrison wanted to interrupt many times with snide remarks about Fay and Bradyn arguing and then Ash’s Dad turning up…however he bit his tongue knowing that it would not be appropriate to insult her friends let alone people he had never met (although being half British and German Harrison had learnt never to trust the French). But as the story reached the climax Harrison could not help but snort with laughter when she said she punched him in the jaw.

“That was very un lady like of you.”

He gave a soft chuckle thought it was then when he noticed that she was no longer looking at him and once again their was a slight tinge of pink on her normally place features. “However…” He said backtracking “..defending your friends is very noble…very Gryffindor.”

He gave say a small smile although it was not his normal cheesy grin, it was more of a caring smile. Harrison was pretty sure that if for some unknown reason one of his friends managed to get themselves in a situation such as that he would act in the same way, but then he doubted Blake or Toby were stupid enough to be cornered.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity blinked and looked up as she heard his snort. Well, she hadn't quite been expecting that reaction. Fay kind of expected more on the lines of shock, maybe some disgust. But he actually laughed. She blinked a few more times, still staring at him quizzically.

When Harrison spoke again, Fay let a small smile alight onto her lips. Perhaps the only reason she was placed in Ravenclaw was because of how she tended to analyze everything, perhaps too much. If that was taken away, most likely she would've been placed in Gryffindor.

"Perhaps I'm a tad bit overprotective? I guess I'd freak out if any of my friends were getting hurt at all."

Fay brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She stared thoughtfully at the lake, letting her mind drift for a moment. Not just her friends, but anyone even remotely close to her. Felicity knew that not all families were perfect, hers certainly wasn't. But, if your family made you suffer, there was certainly something wrong.

"Is it alright if I ask you a question, and I want you to answer truthfully. Don't just try to act noble or anything like that, I want the honest to goodness answer."

[Harrison Greg]

When Felicity admitted to being overprotective Harrison rolled back onto his back and just looked up at the sky in almost a vain attempt to stop himself from laughing. If her idea of freaking out was the punch someone in the jaw he would hate to be in the way when Felicity really meant to hurt someone…Harrison made a mental note not to end up in that situation.

Silence fell between them, Felicity looking out over the lake lost in her thoughts and Harrison staring up at the sky watching the clouds slowly float by. But the silence was soon broken and Harrison looked over at Felicity with a small smile on his face when she asked if she could ask him a question and then tried to make sure he would give her an honest answer. He had no trouble with her asking him anything and of course he would, on most occasions, give a truthful answer. Sitting up so he could get a better look at Felicity Harrison nodded his head.

“Of course, ask me anything you want and I will give you a brutal honest answer.”


((Oh I am so sorry this post is terrible…I seem to be suffering from serious writers block!))

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity looked back over to Harrison when he answered. She grinned and nodded. She'd probably know if he was lying anyway. When she asked most people this question they always tried to pick something that tried to make them sound good, and she knew it wasn't the true answer.

"If you could go back to anytime in your life and change one specific moment, what would it be?"

For Fay, this barely took a moments thought. She had thought of this over and over again, ever since the day her father was killed. The years after his death were the hardest she had ever faced. Her mother had sunk into a depression, and wouldn't even look at Fay's face because she looked so much like her father.

When her mother had finally hit rock bottom, she began to blame Felicity for everything that happened. It was her fault, she said, that he was killed that day. Because if Fay hadn't asked him to take her to his work, he would've still been alive.

Perhaps that was what toughened her up in the end, the fact that she had to look past her mother's words for all of those years. For a young child to do that, it was amazing in itself. Felicity never held it against her mother though, because she knew her mother was just full of grief at the time. Her mother was like a child, even when her father was alive.

[Harrison Greg]

It was an interesting question, not one he had expected but interesting non the least, it sounded like a question that would be asked by a group of alcohol fuelled mates sitting around a camp fire in the middle of no where…not by to people who had known each other for such a short space of time and then right in the middle of the castle grounds. Nether the less Harrison took the question seriously and a crease of a frown spread across his brow as the Gryffindor thought on the matter. He flicked though his memories nothing jumping out at him, nothing sensible that is, Harrison could think of a particular spotty and buck teethed Gryffindor he wished he had not kissed but he had a feeling that was not the sort of thing Fay was on about.

“Nothing.” He finally answered, looking over at Felicity “I would not change anything and by that I am not saying that my life has been perfect, it could be seen as…” Harrison swallowed hard finding it hard he was about to say the next word “…ordinary. But Grandma Harrison always said that you learn from what ever life throws at you, so if that event never happened you would never have learnt from it.”

Harrison gave a small chuckle at himself and shook his head sending his hair to flop over his eyes. He could not believe he had said something like that, thought actually went into it which was a very rare thing for Harrison and he liked to believe that it was a very sensible answer compared to that of kissing ’Spotty Molly’.
Flicking his fringe out of his eyes Harrison looked over at the Ravenclaw and gave her a soft smile as he noticed the look on her face, the look that she was thinking of a distant memory…Harrison could not resist and ask her the same question.

“What about you? Seeing as you posed the question you must have an answer for it.”

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity glanced back at him for a moment, slightly surprised by his silence. Well, at least that meant that he was actually thinking the question through. Either he was trying to think of an honest answer, or trying to think of that whole nobility crap that some guys thought girls would somehow be impressed with.

What he said next though, actually surprised her. Ordinary? Huh. A small smile tugged at her lips. Everything happened for a purpose, that was such a famous quote with her friends apparently. Everyone was going around telling her that, but that was hardly a boost in her mood anyway.

Fay had turned away after he was done speaking and placed her chin on her knees. She hugged her knees to her chest and pursed her lips thoughtfully. Well, it probably wouldn't hurt to tell him at all. But if he went with all of that 'Oh I know exactly how you feel' thing she'd have to sock him in the jaw.

"Well, I'd probably go back to the day my father was killed." Felicity glanced at Harrison, then back at the lake. "My mom and I had a rough few years after that. She wouldn't talk to anyone." Especially Fay. "She didn't like to remember him." So she didn't look at Fay. "And she was just all around sad." Try depressed and angry. Christi Locke hated her own daughter for a lot of the time after her husband's death.

[Harrison Greg]

Harrison could tell from the mere body language of the girl that she had some form of answer simply by her body language, and he could not help but feel that it would not be as simple as his ’nothing’ There fact that she pulled her knees up towards her chin and her arms wrapped around them showed that it was a matter of some delicate emotions, she was trying to comfort herself and as her words floated over towards him the rest of the world around him feel silent and all he could hear was Fay.

His heart sank in pity and he did not know whether he should smile or not in hope of comforting her. He decided not to smile and he looked at Felicity intensely, his eyes darting from one feature of her face to the other feeling a very strange emotion inside of him…Harrison Greg was feeling uncomfortable around a female.
When she had finished telling him about the moment she would have changed a silence fell between them and slowly as if the volume had been briefly turned down the other students around them sprung to life once more and the sound of their laughter and screams made it impossible for Harrison to think.

“I…” He started to talk but quickly stopped himself making sure he thought it over carefully before he opened his mouth again. “I am sorry Fay, no one should lose a parent at such a young age…I do not blame you for picking that moment.”

Harrison could not look at her, he felt so inadequate, he felt he should comfort her in some way but what could he say? He hardly knew the girl and it was not like he could turn back time and stop it from happening, it was in the past. Harrison had never suffered death in his family even his Grandparents were still going strong so he could only imagine the pain and he knew the real thing would be ten times worse, especially to lose a father.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity could feel his eyes on her, most likely because she had shocked him. Stupid! She shouted in her head, though the emotion on her face remained the same as before. Fay mentally scolded herself for telling him. You don't just go around telling people things like that.

The silence had become uncomfortable, but she didn't know what to say. 'So yea, my mom hated me for the rest of the time. Isn't that great!' Yea, that's a real conversation winner.

"Why are you sorry?" Felicity turned back to look at him. "It's not your fault it happened." She hesitated, then leaned back on her hands. Fay stretched her legs out and tilted her head back, staring up at the sky. She didn't need to hold herself together anymore.

"It was hard for a while, but we got through it. I know that everything happens for a reason, but I can't help but wish it didn't happen. I'm only human right?" She looked back over to Harrison then, the corner's of her lips turned up slightly in a small smile.

[Harrison Greg]

“You know what I really do not know.” Harrison stated as he watched Fay lean back onto the grass. “I thought it was just one of those things people say when you hear bad news. ‘I am sorry you have a cold’, ‘I am sorry your cat got run over’. You might not actually give a dam but it is politeness to pretend to care.”

With a small shrug he looked out over the lake and took a deep breath. A group of Gryffindors had managed to steal one of the school boats and where rowing out over the expanse of water shouting abuse and shooting spells at the Slytherin’s on the bank. Harrison remembered the days when him Toby and Blake used to do things like that…well they still did but not as publicly as that. They liked the attention but not the eyes of hundreds of students upon you at once.

It was only the words of Felicity that forced him to tear his eyes away she was describing more about the strain of her father’s death had on the family. Harrison could tell that the whole ordeal had made her strong and wiser and for that he respected her that she could come out of such a tragedy a stronger person and still smiling.

“Oh I do not know…” He said with a mischievous grin on his face when she stated that she was only human. “…the rumours of you being a Veela are spreading fast. So you are not quite like us mere plain folk.”

He could not help that the mood needed to be lightened a little bit after such a reality striking moment and the question of their own mortality being thrown into open…but they were only students after all who needed to worry about death…how morbid would that be?

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity pursed her lips throughtfully for a moment. "Well, they shouldn't say that. Because sorry usually implies that you had something to do with the matter." Fay rolled her eyes. "I think there should be a new phrase."

Turning back to the lake, she noticed the little group of Gryffies rowing away in the school boat. There was a certain line that defined whether one 'just liked the attention' or if they had become dependent on the attention. This group of Gryffies had certainly crossed this line. And yet, no one made a move to stop them.

"Oh yes, because me being a veela makes me suddenly not a 'plain folk' as you so interestingly put it." Fay rolled her eyes again. "And I thought you didn't listen to rumors? Where have your morals gone now?" She smirked.

People were always so weird when it came to veelas. Apparently, the veela stereotype said that they loved to trap men in their webs or whatever. The only way Fay would ever charm someone was either on accident, or if they really made her mad. And anyone else who thought different needed a reality check.