(Lake) Blooming wind

[richard]

Richard walked down to the lake, his bad full of books and spare slips of parchment and he was ready to enjoy the warmth of the sun and begin his research for next years subjects. In his mind it was always best to get a jump start and he saw this as the only way forward. No point wasting time running around the castle, getting into fights and practising sports, that would get him no where in life although sometimes he thought he would enjoy the break.

Sitting on the grass he pulled out his books only for a gust of wind to fly across the grass bank off the lake. The grass rippled around him, the trees of the forest rustled and soon some of his parchment was up in the air flying away. Making sure that non of his other section were lost he shoved them in his bag and turned over his shoulder hoping that someone may help him.

“Please….anyone. My work is flying away!”

[Maria Turolia]

Maria watched the boys parchment flying away, and pulled out her wand. "Accio parchment." The parchment that had been being carried away quickly changed direction and flew to her. She grabbed it and headed over to the boy.

"Here you are," she said handing him the papers when she got over to him. She smiled sweetly at him. "The wind can be a bit of nuisance, huh?" She thought she had seen the boy around the school before, but didn't know his name. "I'm Maria, by the way."

[richard]

Richard let out a sigh of relief and he saw a girl take hold of his parchment and as she walked over he stumbled to his feet to greet her properly. As she handed the parchment very Richard managed to give her a smile of thanks. Then she mentioned about how annoying the wind could be and his only response was to huff loudly before starting his own mini rant.

“Oh it truly is. How is one supposed to study outside in the supposedly lovely weather if a huge gust of wind arrives every few minutes to send you work flying, ink pots tumbling over and pages in the text book turn over. Make same wonder sometimes why I even bothered to leave the common room.”

Folding his arms Richard turned to look over the lake and excepting to see the same thing happen again, but instead it was tranquil and almost peaceful apart from the first years throwing stones into the lake. It was then he heard the girl introduce herself, looking back around at her he nodded his head just to show he was listening.

“Well Maria I am Richard, Richard Leons. My friends call me Rich, well at least they would if I had any.” He gave a small laugh while he bent down and placed the piece of parchment that had been retuned back into his bag.

[Maria Turolia]

Maria laughed at the boy's little rant. "Well, I don't see why a little nuisance such as the wind should stop you from coming outside. Maybe, you just need to find something better than studying to do while you are out here," she said with a friendly smile.

"Rich, it is lovely to meet you," Maria said in her usual cheery manner. "What do you mean if you had any friends? Surely, you have at least a few." Maria looked at the boy waiting for an answer. Most people had at least one friend, even if they weren't very close.

[rhaeder]

Rhaeder who was floating up by the main doors saw the boy struggling with his papers, she would have helped but a girl managed to get them, Rhaeder smiled at the generosity and decided it was about time to introduce herself to the students of hogwarts.
Rhaeder floated over, her greyish robe fluttering in the wind.
She came to a stop by the people and waited for them to stop talking, she did have manners.
"Im terribly sorry I didn't help only this young lady seemed to have it quite under hand" she smiled at the girl, she looked back and forth between them "I hope you dont mind my intrusion, Its just having been here a while, I thought Id better introduce myself....Im Rhaeder"

[richard]

Rich looked at the girl with a tiny smile playing on his lips. This poor kind Hufflepuff actually seemed to care about the people in his social circles. He really did not know how to put that he personally felt better knowing that he did not have any close friends, no one to please or worry about, he was quite content with his own company however on rare occasions the presence of someone else was a pleasant diversion.

“Oh I have what most people would call friends. We talk, laugh and play explosive snap. So if that what you believe accommodates for a relationship then yes. I have friends.”

Richard beamed at Maria believing that his explanation had summoned most of it up, however he could not help but feel like he had acted a bit to proudly. The snob almost him had come out, the personality that would suit the ministry to the ground. His father always believed that knowledge resulted in power and friendships. You should know both your enemies and friends weaknesses, although sometimes he wished that his fathers views had not been pushed into him so much.

His train of thought was lost when he suddenly noticed a haze next to him, and after close inspection he noticed that it was a ghost. Slightly taken a back Richard gave a small jump, not by the fact that it was a ghost but that she had suddenly appeared. After a few calming breaths he gave a small wave at the ghost wondering why in all his years in the castle he had never seen this one before.

“Oh no, do not worry about interrupting I imagine a ghost does not have the best social life in the world. Must be worse for ones stuck in muggle castles, people will just run away screaming at the first sight of you.”

[Maria Turolia]

Maria noticed the pride that the boy displayed. She couldn't help but reflect a bit of snobby behavior herself when someone acted like that. It had become a force of habit. She had become so used to having to behave like this in front of her family, that when someone acted in a proud manner, her manner changed as well. It wasn't something she really had control over. If she had it her way, she would never be the snob her family had tried to raise. However, she had quickly learned that when they were around she had to act like them or face the consequences.

She sat down on the grass, and looked at the boy thinking. She hardly noticed the ghost who had floated up until she saw Rich jump a bit. A small smile played across her face at this. "Yes, it really is no intrusion at all, Rhaeder. I'm Maria." She glanced over at Rich and then back to the ghost. "And since he was so rude and did not introduce himself," she said gesturing toward him. "This is Rich." As she finished she looked over a Rich with a small, polite smile.

[richard]

A smile erupted over Richards face as he watched Maria introduce him to the ghost. It took everything he could not to laugh out load as the Hufflepuff proclaimed to Rhaeder that he was rude. The only thought that past across his mind was that Maria knew him already, however when it was needed Rich liked to think that he could be polite when he needed. With another glance over at Maria Richard turned to the ghost and dropt into a low bow and with a rather hammed up British accent Rich continued.

“My humble apologies for my ignorance. Richard Leons at your service, but you already know that. Alas the slender of my introduction had dramatically been affected.”

Placing his hand to his head Rich fell backwards on to the grassy bank. On many occasions his mother compared his acting to that of a very bad muggle actor. the type that normally do Shakespeare and think that they are amazing.
With a small laugh Richard looked up at the summer sky before pushing himself into sitting position. He gave apologetic glances over at Maria and Rhaeder for acting in such a away, he did not know what came over him. If his father had seen him do that in front of people he knew he would have been scolded. But his father was not here and he could not tell him how to behave and for once Richard was actually enjoying himself.

[Maria Turolia]

Maria couldn't help but laugh at Rich's entertaining performance. It really had surprised her to see him go from seeming snobby and proud to just joking around. Seeing his apologetic glance Maria tilted her head to the side a bit and looked at him curiously.

"What was that for?" she asked. She didn't see why he had been apologetic. "That look," she said clarifying so that he would know what she meant. She actually found his behavior somewhat amusing. He might be an interesting person to get to know.

[richard]

Richard raised an eyebrow as Maria questioned his look and at first that someone would even ask such a thing. He was not used to people reacting like that, although to be honest he was sure they were not sued to someone apologising for simply having a laugh. He was used to it back home, if he made a snide remark or acted under younger then eh was then his father would come down up in him. His farther seemed to want to make him grow up faster then Rich wanted.

With a sigh he knew he needed to explain to Maria why he was acting like an idiot but just like before he felt the urge to overact and in essence make a total idiot of himself. Moving so he was on his knees he waddled over towards the Hufflepuff and reached out for her hand. Holding it closely with both of his he looked up at her and gave her the most dazzling smile he could muster.

“I was apologising for acting like a fool, but since I am doing it again I will apologise again and then apologise for apologising then and then as I just apologised for that apologies I will have to apologise again. And so forth and so forth until the end of time.”

Letting go of her hand Richard pushed himself self up out of the kneeling position and brushed the grass off his trousers to make sure that there were no stains on them. He would never be able to forgive himself if a harmless bit of mucking around damaged a good pair of trousers.

[Maria Turolia]

Maria giggled at the boy's exaggerated behavior. When she finally stopped he was brushing off his pants. "You are forgiven," she said with a smile. "...as long as you promise to behave like a fool whenever I'm around. Because, personally, I find it quite entertaining."

Maria pulled her knees up and rested her chin against them. "However, I do wonder, why exactly it is that you feel the need to apologizing for behaving like a fool," she said using his choice of words for his behavior rather than her own. "Most fools are quite content with their foolery." She looked at him curiously. She found it strange that someone would apologize for just having fun and joking around.

After thinking about the question she had asked she realized how rude and nosy it was. While it was common for Maria to behave in this manner, and normally she wouldn't apologize for it, she didn't want to make Rich feel that she was too nosy. "I'm sorry. It's really none of my business, so if you don't want to share I completely understand," she said looking at him with her sincere face.

[richard]

Richard looked at Maria and grinned stupidly at her, he had actually found someone who thought he was actually enjoying his company and him how he truly was. Feeling rather content with himself Rich was suddenly taken a back by her next question as he had no answer for her although there had to be one and it was one thing that Richard hated was not being able to find the answer to something that would be clearly obvious.

Shrugging his shoulders Richard sat down by Maria and looked out over the lake as he collected his thoughts. He heard briefly her rabble on about something that was not her business but he did not care, the question had been asked and it was going to be answered. It was the way Rich worked.

“I have always been told to grow up and act my age, and it has become second nature for me to apologise every time I act that way. If I say something wrong, act in the wrong way or simply make a complete fool out of myself then I apologise mainly for the trouble it has caused.”

He carried little emotion in his voice and only turned to look at Maria when eh had finished. Studying her face he wondered if his answer to her question was good enough for her. He could think of nothing else to say or do. He could jump around and act like a fool but there was no reason to. With a sigh he turned back to her and grinned.

“looking forward to the summer. No matter how much I love this place it is always nice to get home.”

[Maria Turolia]

Maria watched Rich as he explained. When he had finished she considered what he had said. It did make sense to her. The fact that he changed his normal behavior because he was told that he was supposed to be a certain way. She understood. She had always had to act a certain way with her family. She smiled slightly at him when he grinned.

However, as soon as he mentioned summer and going home her smile faded and she turned her face from Rich and looked out at the lake. She never looked forward to going home. She didn't particularly like her family, although they didn't know that. She was also expected to behave a certain way, which she didn't really believe was her.

The only good thing about summer was that she was going to visit her hometown of Barcelona. That thought allowed her to smile a little and she turned back to Rich. "I'm going to Barcelona for the summer, so I'm a bit excited about that," she said with a faint smile. Even though, she was going to a city she loved, she still wasn't much looking forward to summer and couldn't pretend to be too happy about it.

[richard]

Although Richard was a man and had very little experience when it came to the female of the species he knew when someone was upset or feeling uneasy talking about a certain subject. And this was one of the situations that Rich knew they were in now. Rubbing his nose nervously Rich gave Maria a small smile as she mentioned going to Barcelona. It was something at least, the thought of being able to get away from Britain and its rain, going somewhere different and by the look in her eyes it seemed like Barcelona meant something to her.

“Well that is something then. I bet my farther will drag me into work with him saying that experience is everything and will get me places.” Richard gave a groan which was slightly mixed with a laugh. “We may pay a visit to my Grandparents in France but that is even more dull then my dad work.”

The one thing Richard could not work out was why family life was so dull and uneventful, well compared to Hogwarts it was. He would send everyday of the holiday wishing he was back at the castle but as term grew to a close he would sit wishing he was at home. He just wish he had something to compel him to either stay or go, and with next year being his last one at school he was running out of time to come up with something.

[Maria Turolia]

She turned and looked back out at the lake. She could tell that Rich had noticed her behavior. Sighing she smiled brighter and turned to Rich. "France, huh? How exactly can going to France ever be boring? From what I hear it's beautiful and fascinating there." She allowed herself to forget her family as she spoke and focused on Rich.

She thought for a moment before adding,"And your father would be right, the experience would help you to get where you want to be." She smiled brightly. That didn't sound too far off from what she would be doing during the summer, working to make sure that you would be successful in the future. Her parents made her do more work during the summer than she had to do during the school year.