(Forest) Underneath it All

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity tucked her arm behind her head and looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds passed over it. Ash had been hyper lately over the whole band thing, and Bray was still a little mad at her for sneaking off to the forest when he told her not to. She hadn't seen much of Maxi either, shame since she enjoyed talking to him

Fay sighed and stood up, tucking her hands into her pant pockets. She looked off to the forest and sighed. She wanted so bad to go off there again, and just explore it. The school was closing in on her, and she felt as if she would go mad.

The stubborn girl wasn't much like her friends, who loved the comfort of home and the school. To her, the school was just another place that people sent her to so that she would stay safe. And to make sure that she didn't get into too much trouble anywhere else.

The breeze blew her hair away form her face and she looked up at the sky. Birds flew around, twisting and spinning in the air before taking off after their companions. Felicity forgot how many times she had wished that she could just sprout wings somehow and fly away. Some people just suggested becoming an animagus, but that felt so artificial to her.

Felicity hummed softly to herself and shut her eyes, letting the cold air settle around her.

"I wonder what it's like to fly so high
Or to breathe under the sea
I wonder if someday I'll be good with goodbyes
But I'll be okay if you come along with me

Such a long, long way to go
Where I'm going I don't know
I'm just following the road
For a walk in the sun
For a walk in the sun"[/b]

Fay sang, mostly to herself, because no one else seemed to be around. She didn't like other people looking on as she sang, or drew, or whatever the situation called for. All people usually saw was happy, stubborn, rebellious Fay. But, that was all she really showed people wasn't it?[/font]

[Jac Shaw]

Finally, Jac had gotten her chance in the Forest. It had been all too long and the castle's walls had begun to close in on her but finally she had gotten in. Of course with her luck, she was soon rolling out, hair filled with twigs and leave and a dark purple colour, her clothes covered in dirt and a great big tear in her jean leg on her right upper thigh. She came to a stop at the foot of a stone several feet front the treeline.

Jac jumped to her feet and shook her fist at the trees. "Yeah, you better run!" she yelled and turned around, her shoulders hung loosely. She rolled her eyes and headed up the lawn towards the castle. She had noticed when she had headed into the forest that the lawns were deserted and now, heading back, she could only see one person. Keeping her blue eyes low, Jac began to rub her hands on her stripped sleeves. Then she noticed the gigantic hole where her pale skin shone through as there was no more jean there.

"Ow!" she moaned and whirled around, "you owe me new ones, ya flee ridden dirt bags!" She huffed a groan of disdain and continued up the hill. Looking up she noticed the loan figure and she smiled a skew smile at her. She gave a small sniff before stopping in front of her. "Lovely afternoon, isn't it?" she said conversationally like she didn't have leaves in her hair or dirt smudges over her clothes.

One thing was certain, Jac had not heard the girl's singing as she had been too busy huffing about her unruly expulsion from the forest. So Jac took a step forward and turned so that she was standing next to the girl and looking over the forest, grounds, etc, with her. It was a lovely afternoon, few clouds cluttered the sky and the temperature was not too warm for May.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity blinked as she saw someone stumble out of the forest. So much for being alone right? The girl seemed to have shouted something back at the forest and trudged up the hill to where Felicity was standing. Fay took one look at her ragged appearance and grinned.

"Apparently it is." She looked up at the sky, then back over to the person. Fay noted her torn sleeves and jeans and a slight frown tugged at her lips. "You cold? You can borrow my jacket if you want." Felicity wasn't going to draw any attention to the girl's somewhat haggard appearance. Whatever happened wasn't any of her business.

During all this, Fay was trying to place a name on the girl. She looked familiar, but she couldn't seem to figure out her name. Finally, it had hit her. "Jac! That's your name right?" Felicity grinned. Jac probably thought she was nuts. "Sorry for the outburst, but I couldn't remember your name."

[Jac Shaw]

Jac brushed her hair aside before realising there was stuff in it. She flipped her head upside down and put her fingers into her hair and began to shake it about. The twigs and leave began to fall from her hair. Flicking her hair back, Jac smiled at the girl's offer for her jacket. "Naw," she said, waving a hand, "I'm actually rather warm. Been runnin' a while so I'm not a bit cold."

She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking it around to get the rest of the dirt out. She decided that the dark wasn't her colour so she changed it from the dark purple to her usual bright red. When her name was almost shouted at her, Jac laughed and nodded, smiling. "Eh, that's right," she chuckled, "Jac Biggerstall." She had to admit she didn't have the foggiest idea what the girls name as so said so. "Don't worry 'bout it, I can't remember your name at all." She smiled broadly at the girl.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity watched as Jac combed all of the junk out of her hair. The forest could do that to you, ruin your clothes, mess up your hair. She was looking back out at the forest when Jac spoke again. "Running eh? Sounds interesting." Fay glanced back at Jac and grinned, thinking of all of the possibilities of things that Jac could've been running from.

"S'alright, I'm used to people not knowing me." Fay shrugged. "Felicity Locke, nice to properly meet ya Jac." She turned and grinned at Jac again, before tucking her hands in her jacket pockets and looking back out at the forest. "Can you believe that warning notice the Ministry lady placed on the forest? Don't go out there or else kind of thing." Fay made a face. "Facing the forest is better than being trapped indoors."

[Jac Shaw]

"Runnings only exercise so..." Jac shrugged, indifferently, "not anything to talk about." Jac was a very physical person who enjoyed doing physical things, like hitting things with bludgers and running away but they were rarely ever anything more then just plain exercise. "Now, don't get me wrong, exercise is great and all but not all that exciting."

"Oh, ouch," Jac said at Felicity's comment on being used to not being known. "Put the guilt trip on me any harder and I'll fall over." She chuckled heartily, her eyes turning a sea green. "I have seen you around but I'm terrible with names. Still can't remember the name of one of the girls in my dorm and I've been with her for nearing on seven years." Jac had a fantastic memory for information like the type of food a chimera ate or the best time to use a cloaking charm but names just never sunk in. "But I'll promise to try and remember yours, uh, Felicity? Just kidding." She laughed again.

Jac looked down to her leg and began to try and find a way to put the torn bit back onto the rest of her pants. Jac listened to Felicity chatter away about the notices that had popped up. "No kidding," Jac chuckled, giving up her quest as a bad job. "There are times when you just have to get out. The notice was a joke. Like a simple piece of parchment would keep us out?" Jac snorted a laugh and shook her head. "You been in recently?"

[rileybabe]

((Mind if I join you ladies?))

A broad smile lit up the face of Andrea Riley, more commonly known as Andie, as walked across the lawns of Hogwarts. She had taken a few days off from work and had decided to make a little trip to the castle and catch up with some old friends. She hadn't seen anyone yet, and so had decided to go outside.

Andie walked down across the gently sloping lawns, and saw that two girls were there as well. One was her old friend Jac, she'd know that autumn hair anywhere! The other, was a Ravenclaw, like Andie had once been. "Jac!" she called out as she ran down the hill towards them.

Reaching the two girls she stopped. "Hey Jac! I've missed you! How come you haven't come to visit me?" she asked feigning insult. Then she laughed, "I'm just playin with ya Jac. But seriously girl, you have got to get out more!"

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity stuck her tongue out at Jac and grinned. "Sorry." She laughed when Jac started to describe the girl in her dorm room. "I try to remember peoples' names so later on in life when I see them I can scream their names in a shop or somethin'." Fay smirked. "Or maybe just yell their names down the corridors, that tends to get heads to turn."

Fay snorted when Jac decided to comment on the notice. "It's gunna take much more than a piece of parchment to keep me out of that forest." She crossed her arms and stared out at the forest. "The Ministry doesn't own me, my friends or this school, so why must I listen to them from now on?"

At the mention of the forest, a grin spread across Fay's face once more. "Yea, last night." She stretched her arms above her head. "Makes you feel free when you escape the school like that, you know? Running into the forest, not knowing what might be there. It's like a whole new freedom."

[Jac Shaw]

It suddenly dawned on Jac that the big of skin that could be seen through the gaping hole in her pants showed the tousled-looking scar from her attack in the forest. Becoming a little self-conscious about her leg, Jac tried to put it behind her but when a certain old friend came over the her and Felicity Jac forgot all about her leg. "Andie?" she said, staring while narrowing her eyes. "Oh my giddy aunt, it is you." This was a surprise and Jac was beginning to think she couldn't handle many more of those today.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited you," she said, smiling at Andie, "been real busy with school and all. I haven't even gone to Hogsmeade in ages." She shrugged and titled her head, "you know how busy it gets in your seventh year."

Turning back to Felicity, and nodded. "Exactly!" she said, shaking her pointed finger, "the Ministry think that just because the run the country they can run the people too. They don't get that we're not living in an autocratic society where thinking is left to that one in charge." Jac raised her eyebrow when she thought on it. "But that having been said it's not everyone in the Ministry that are controlling." She could speak from experience.

[rileybabe]

Andie laughed, "Oh yeah, I know all too well what you mean!" She looked from Jac to the other girl, then back to Jac. "So what's this I hear about the ministry trying to take even more control?" she asked.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity blinked as some random girl came running over to them. Andie was apparently her name. After she had gotten over the confusion of the random girl showing up, she grinned. "I'm Felicity Locke. Nice to meet you, Andie was it?"

Fay nodded to Jac. "They want to control everyone and everything. But, just because they want to doesn't mean they do." Felicity glanced over to Andie. "Just talking about the ministry being demanding as usual."

(( Shoorrtt...))

[Jac Shaw]

Jac smiled at Felicity. She was clearly passionate about this whole Ministry thing. Jac had heard much of the problems at the Ministry from her father so she knew that is wasn't everyone who wanted to control every aspect of their lives and all they ever saw was the Magical Law Enforcement side of the Ministry, the muscle of the operation. Jac had always said that knowing the muscle was not the right way to go but who would listen to a second year talking about politics?

Listening to Felicity as she explained to Andie, Jac smiled and nodded, her arms crossed across her chest. "One morning we woke up to find these notices all around the school saying that we weren't allow to go to the forest for our own safety by order of the Ministry." Jac turned back to Felicity, a thoughtful expression on her face, "you know, I met that woman, the one from the Ministry who wrote the notice. She was head strong, proud, egotistical toffee-nosed officious busy body if you ask me. She was ripping paintings off walls and nearly ate Sarie, the little second year, for breakfast."

[Felicity Locke]

"You actually met her? I've seen her around a couple of times, gave me the chills just looking her." Felicity shuddered and shook her head. Her gaze switched back to Andie. "Yea, and now they're changing things in the school. Like they own the place or somethin'."

Fay turned back to Jac then, her eyes wide. "She's the one who took down the paintings? But, why?" Her mouth had that stubborn set to it again as she continued. "What next huh? Changing the names of the houses?" She snorted and crossed her arms again. "Stupid egotistical Ministry hag." Yea, Fay was only a little ticked off.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac smiled at Felicity then laughed aloud. "Yeah," she said, still smiling, "I think she'd'ave eaten me as well if she'd been given half the chance. I've heard she eats naughty children and as far as naughty goes I'm way up there." Jac looked over the grounds around them thoughtfully, her hair turning a dark beige colour. She crossed her arms across her chest and swayed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I don't see why the ministry would be here," she said slowly, after a moment, "they've all left school already, why'd they want to come back?"

Jac looked at Felicity, her thoughtful expression still on her face. It made no sense to her, removing paintings, taking teaching positions, to what end? Jac held Felicity's gaze for a moment before looking out again, still thoughtful. "They've got to have a reason," Jac said softly, "Pappa always said that the Ministry didn't do anything without a reason, however trivial or ineffectual it may seem to outsiders. And I doubt that those who have been posted here actually know the reason but they do their jobs because it's either that or Azkaban and I don't need to explain why they'd choose to follow orders rather then question, do I." It was a retorical question but all that she had said had been rolling around her head since her meeting with the evil wench.

[Antoinette Rouge]

Antoinette wandered across the grounds, the wind tugging and twisting at her long locks. With a mutter, Antoinette yanked a scrunchie off her wrist, and, with obvious annoyance, twisted her hair up and out of her pale face.
All of a sudden, Antoinette screamed, and fell back, dropping everything she was holding in her shock. A small, brown, furry creature with a long snout was barreling towards her, black eyes glinting maliciously. With another screech, Antoinette tried to scamper backwards across the grass, but the creature was upon her before she moved two feet. As it clambered over her face, Antoinette reflexively raised her hands to swat it away, but her arms had been supporting her up until then, so she simply fell on her back with the creature on top of her.
As time went on, it became abundantly clear that the critter meant her no harm: it seemed it only wanted to nuzzle and lick her gold earrings. A smile spreading across her face, Antoinette pulled the beastie off, and cast an appraising eye across its features.
"You're a kneazle!" She exclaimed, as the little creature tried to lick her arm. Antoinette could have laughed out loud with relief.

After a few more moments of gleeful petting and nuzzling, the kneazle had had enough, and scampered away into the woods. Shaking her head, Antoinette turned her attention to the pile of things in front of her. Her sketchpad, pencils, and assorted erasers were scattered hither and yon. Muttering to herself, Antoinette knelt to begin retrieving herthings. Several words were distinguishable:
"Hair, all blustery......then a bloody kneazle....god-forsaken annoyances.....to kingdom come and back, my erasers."