[Courtyard] No Logic

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie sat on the stone floor of the courtyard. She was dressed in jeans and a peasant blouse that flowed when the wind blew softly. Her long hair was down in curls, but pinned out of her eyes. She was Indian style but bent at the waste, reaching over her folding legs. In her hand was a large white piece of chalk. She had discovered it in one of her pockets, something left over from the summer no doubt. She had thrown it in her bag, which was now placed behind her.

The day had been quaint. To quaint if you ask Ellie. She had done nothing exciting and in a fit of boredom, she had ventured outside and took out her piece of chalk. She drew a circle and then say in it. Funny, a fifteen year old acting much like a five year old. However, it was occupying her. The last thing she thought about was how silly she looked. She didn't really care anyway.

Drawing the stem of a flower, Elie smiled. Silly. It was a simple drawing and yet on the gray stone, it seemed to liven the small courtyard up considerably. She drew the petals and her hair rustled in the wind.

[Helen Tiani]

Helen looked up and smiled, letting the sunshine warm her face. The light made her pale skin glow in an almost blinding way. It even made her squint. Helen had been reading for a couple of hours and decided to take a break. The courtyard happened to be her favorite spot, seeing as it had a fountain, which relaxed her enormously, and was quite peaceful.

Ah, here it was. Helen approached it quietly and, upon entering, took a seat on the bench next to the fountain. Deciding to lie down for a bit, she positioned her body so it was taking up the entire bench. Helen let out a soft "Mmm" of relaxation and closed her eyes. She was a bit chilly. Yet again, Helen was always cold, so this brought no surprise to her. Eventually the sun would warm her up.

The breeze carried the sound of, what was that? Chalk? on the stone. Helen's brow furrowed a bit in confusion, but she did not open her eyes, for the sun would certainly impair her vision for several moments. The sound continued to travel toward her. How strange. Finally, the girl sat up and opened her eyes.

There sat a girl drawing a flower on the stone. She looked around her age, maybe a year younger, though she could not tell what house the girl was in, for she was wearing no robes. Deciding to introduce herself, Helen stood up and walked over. Upon reaching the girl, she sat down next to her and said quietly, "That's a pretty flower you're drawing." Such a stupid thing to say. It sounded as though Helen was seven years old! But the girl soon shrugged off the embarrassment. "My name's Helen Tiani, Ravenclaw, 6th year. And you are?"

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie looked up as she heard someone approach. She smiled and continued drawing the petals. She laughed. "Thank you." She smiled and looked side way at it. "I think it kind of look as though someone stepped on it." She laughed. Ellie wasn't an artist, but chalk drawing was fun, no matter how old you are.

"Pleasure to meet you." She said with a smile, reaching up to shake, but then realizing her hand was covered in white chalk, she quickly wiped it on her jeans and extended it again with a smile. "Ellie Rook, Fifth year going on First." She said with a smile. "Pufflehuff." She smiled and motion for the girl to sit. "I miss being able to jump rope and drawing with chalk." She said, creating conversation. She looked over her drawing again. "I wish I had colored chalk." She wanted the flower to be blue.

[Helen Tiani]

Helen laughed and said, "It's not that bad. It certainly brightens up the place a bit." She took Ellie's hand and shook it lightly. The breeze picked up again and her hair was sent spiraling around her head, covering her vision for a moment. Helen attempted to tame the mass of hair, failed several times, and then gave up. She let out a small 'huffing' noise of irritation and turned her attention back to Ellie.

Helen smiled as Ellie mentioned jump-rope and chalk. "I loved playing with those when I was little. Of course, my two older brothers would step on and smear my drawings and make fun of them, but I got over it soon enough." She laughed a little, imagining her brothers now.

"I wonder what Fay's doing right now." Helen wondered out loud. She was probably up to something...and this would be no surprise if it was true.

[Ellie Rook]

"True." Ellie said with a smile, looking gratefully at the girl. "The castle is alway so...melancholy." She looked up at the dark grey turrets of the castle. She sometimes wished the stone was a pretty green color, or purple. Maybe she'll asked the headmaster if he could change it sometimes, if only for a day. It would, at least, make Ellie smile.

Ellie broke the chalk in half and extended her arm offering Helen a piece. "You have brothers?" Ellie asked, interested. "I've always wanted an older brother. I heard their a pain in the butt though." She laughed.

Ellie perked up at the sound of Fay's name. "You know Fay." Ellie realized that it was stupid question. "Of course, you're in the same house." She said, hitting herself in the head gently. "I'm going friend with Miss Locke." She said with a smile.

[Helen Tiani]

Helen nodded in agreement. "Yes, it does put a damper on your imagination a bit. But, of course, one has to struggle through and keep on going with their ideas. That's why I prefer the grounds outside of the castle to actually being inside. The different colors brighten me up."

Ellie had broken the chalk in half and offered one half to her. She smiled and accepted the small gift and began to draw along with her. Helen nodded, "Yes, unfortunately, I do have brothers. Two of them; double the trouble. Both are older than I am and both were Ravenclaws, including my parents. The Tiani family is the stereotypical bookwormy 'Claws." Helen drew four stick figures, only one having a skirt on. Pointing to the girl, she said, "This is my mother, Diana Tiani. And the one next to her is my father, Matt Tiani. Now, my oldest brother is John," Helen pointed to the figure next to her father, "He's away in France right now, researching dragons and other creatures. Then my other brother is Hugh, and he's staying at home currently, helping my father keep up the library. And there you go, that's my family." Helen finished with a little bow and laughed.

"Sure, of course brother's are annoying, but I love them just the same. They mean well with their teasing and such, but it certainly does get on my nerves sometimes." Helen was hit with a pang of homesickness. Oh, how she missed her family! Pushing these thoughts out of her head, Helen continued drawing on the stone.

The girl smiled at Ellie. "Yes, Fay is a friend of mine. She loves to tease me, but so does everyone else. Not a lot of people take time to talk to me. I think I scare them a bit with my tantrums over books and the distracted air that seems to hang around me. I'm a horrible listener and talker when I'm reading, unfortuantely. Therefore, I don't have many friends. But don't worry," Helen smiled, "I'm not trying to weave a sob story here. Just telling you about myself. And now, I believe, is your turn to tell me something."

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie listened intently and smile wildly as Helen drew the picture. She could see Helen missed her family just about as much as Ellie missed her mother and father. She missed her father coming home with presents and her mother making strange potions in the kitchen on random muggle stove tops. She missed packing and talking about their next home. She just missed them.

"Your family sounds great. I think it would be fun to have siblings. Being an only child can get lonely sometimes, but my mom is cool." Ellie said with a smile. She wondered what her mom would say if she knew she was actually seeing a guy. Ellie thought she would drop her a line sometime soon to fill her in.

"Well, lucky for you, I'm a good listener." Ellie said with a smirk. "But I'm a talker too. I love to talk about nothing. My brain just...goes." She laughed.

"About me?" Ellie thought and she drew a circle on the ground. She drew in the continents and drew dots all over the world. "I've lived all over the world. My dad sells wizarding goods, and he gets transfered a lot. My mom was trained as an apothecary, but she does whatever around where we're living at the moment. Hogwarts is the first place I've ever stayed more than a month in. I love it here." Ellie said with a smile. She dreaded the day she would have to leave the school She didn't know where she was going to end up.

The thought brought a question to her mind. "Do you know what you want to do after you leave Hogwarts?" She asked the Ravenclaw, doodling a butterfly attacking the world.

[Helen Tiani]

Helen continued doodling on the ground while listening to Ellie. As she talked about her family and where she's lived, Helen looked up at her, her eyes full of excitement. "All around the world? That's amazing! Hogwarts is the farthest I have been from home! You have to tell me all about those different places, Ellie. I've always wanted to travel, but I'm afraid I never did get around to it."

Ellie's parents sounded like very nice people, even though Ellie hadn't even described them in the slightest about their personality. Helen could just tell by looking at her. Ellie asked another question, which Helen knew her immediate answer to. "Oh, that's easy! Run my own bookstore in town. Do you know what you want to do?"

(( Kinda short, sorry ): ))

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie smiled. She never thought her traveling was so exciting. It how she lived from the time she was a small child. Ellie was sure that it sounded luxurious and cool, but she knew it was hard living and it got rather annoying after a while. Still she smiled. She knew she was luckily to have gone to the places she had been.

"Of course. Anytime, just ask." She said, happy to make a new friend. She laughed. "You're only what..sixteen? I think you have time to travel the world." Ellie smiled.

Ellie smiled. "I have no idea." She said, crossing out a butterfly she had tried to draw, but it had ended up with a disfigured left wing. "Its getting down to the time where I have to choose." OWLS were coming up for the fifth year. The work had been definitely got harder, but still Ellie didn't really know what she was good at and what she liked doing the best. "Its so confusing. At least you figured it out. Count me in as a regular customer to your shop." She said with a smile, polka dotting the caterpillar she had drawn.