[Forest] A girl and her tree (Ollie)

[Rieko Daniels]

The fog that had lain thick over the grounds most of the day, seemed to have retreated into the forest, something she hadnt realized until she actually got in the forest itself. Her hand was resting on one of the tree trunks, she was slightly out of breath since she had been running, but now she realized that she didnt know what she was running from in the first place. Her head was bowed forward slightly as her blonde hair fell over her shoulders, the girl gave off a quiet sigh as her other hand went to her side to hold herself, she had managed to give herself a stitch and those were painful.

After around five minutes stood clinging to both, herself and the tree, trying to catch her breath. She looked up, everywhere she looked, looked exactly the same. Seriously, someone should put directions in this place. Surprisingly, she was still quite clean, she hadnt tripped over yet so there was no mud, except around the bottom of her jeans. The black jacket she had on wasnt doing much to keep the cold air off her skin as the fog got increasingly thicker by the second. "If I didnt know better, I'd say there were dementors around."

Lets face it.
She was wandering around aimlessly.

"What possessed you to come in here anyway? I dont know, nothing better to do. Not even cuddle upto your boyfriend, if thats what you two are of course. Well I dont know where - why am I talking to you?" She shook her head violently, hoping to send the voices back to the dark pit of her mind, or wherever they spring from randomly when she's alone. Her feet made squelching noises in the thick mud which had gotten softer due to the moisture in the air because of the fog, and yes. Rieko was lost. Well in all her years here, she had never been in the forest, it kinda scared her. Though thinking now she was in her sixth year, obviously she thought she had grown enough to deal with it she had decided to break tradition. She tripped over a tree root, but managed to catch herself in a bizarre stance which looked like she was hugging a tree. "Great, now I look like a tree hugger." she thought to herself, "You're obviously not getting enough -- if you even finish that sentence I will mentally stab you." She looked up from the tree, still hugging it to find someone staring at her, she knew who it was instantly, as she made a point of avoiding him whenever she could. Ollie. "Great..." She mumbled, "Can a girl and her tree not have some privacy?" She said sarcastically as she casually leant off it, trying to keep her balance so she didnt fall. Again.

[Ollie La'Roque]

"Y'alright squirt?" he asked smirking as he began rubbing the little guys head so his hair was now sticking up in all sorts of directions and Ollie smiled at his piece of artwork he had created. He could safely say the kid looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, his glasses sat wonky on his face, bits of grass and mud visible on his robes and slightly on his face. His knees were stained green from the grass. The poor kid had just been saved from a couple of inbred slytherin brats by non other than Ollie and Lucas. Lucas had successfully ran after them, scaring them by charming his face to make awful looking faces and chasing after them like a monkey. Ollie couldn't help but laugh as the trio disappeared out of the main corridor and out towards the courtyard.
"I...I think so mister...thanks again!" the first year smiled, pushing his glasses further up his nose with his finger, glad that he was wearing glasses as he almost poked his own eye out with his wand. Ollie rolled his eyes at the miniature disaster and pushed him gently away.

Now that he was alone, Lucas had probably continued to chase them down into the dungeons and he wouldn't be back for a while, Ollie decided to go for a walk, to where, he was unsure. Stepping out onto the lawns, a thick fog seemed to be leading him towards the forest, getting thicker and thicker the closer he went. He strolled casually into the darkness as if he was possessed. Sighing slightly as he broke a twig on the forest floor before falling forwards and landing in dry mud. Pushing himself up on his hands, his trainers began to sink in the mud and he scrambled to get up before the mud turned into quicksand.
"Bloody forest" he cursed under his breath, wiping his hands onto his jeans before pulling out his wand to light his way. He looked around the forest quickly giving it the evil eye as if it was the entire forests fault he had tripped. He trekked through it until he was nearing what he thought was halfway through the forest.

He reached a rather large abnormal looking tree, it looked new, yet it was one of the biggest. For some reason it looked more animate that the others and he pushed himself up on one of it's knots and began to climb it. Heaving his weight awkwardly up to the thickest first branch, he clambered onto it and sat there with his back against the trunk and one leg dangling over the edge simply smiling. He seemed to be there for only a matter of minutes simply enjoying the foggy glow that was surrounding the area before he felt a vibration of the tree. Looking down, it was no other than Rieko. Smirking, he stealthily positioned himself in the tree to be able to watch her better and listen easier. As she began panting and clutching at her side he simply raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head, deciding to wait until the right moment.
As he moved his foot, a small twig broke off and fell gracefully to the floor, almost hitting Rieko. She looked up and Ollie simply beamed a smile down at her.
"I'm sorry, do you want me to leave you and your tree in some privacy?" he chuckled deeply.
"You know this just proves Blake isn't doing his job properly as a boyfriend" he said dryly.

[Rieko Daniels]

"Ha ha." Came Rieko's dry response as she let go of the tree and folded her arms across her chest, she didnt have to wait long until Blake was thrown in the conversation, she never did. Ollie always had something to say concerning Blake, and when he did it usually hit a dry and raw spot as she was usually protective over him, but this time she felt she couldnt argue since she hadnt seen Blake yet, well asides from the quick hello's in the common room, her eyes darted to the ground and she shifted uncomfortably, "This doesnt prove anything Ollie, you dont know what you're talking about, Blake's a great guy." But that was all she could say, certainly not like her better comebacks. Thinking on it, she missed how she and Blake used to be, now it seemed the two rarely had time, she gave off a sound at this thought which sounded oddly like a 'hmph' as she refused to look at the Gryffindor infront of her.

This wasnt awkward at all. Rieko knew Ollie liked her, he had never bothered to hide it and because of this simple fact, Rieko did all she could to avoid him, which she was sure he had noticed but if she was honest she didnt care. Yes, her relationship with Blake seemed to hit a slow road, but it didnt mean they couldnt get over it, it wasnt as though the two had argued, they just didnt see eachother much and Rieko was fine with that, but she was nervous if she spent too much time around Ollie then eventually temptation would set in. Which, she did not want at all. As far as Ollie was concerned, he didnt have a chance with her, yet he never seemed to give up. Why was that? Rieko had never lead him on, or given him any reason to think he may have a chance, bringing her head up, her eyes un-naturally hard she spoke in a quiet voice, "Why do you have to bring mine and Blakes relationship into everything?" She unfolded her arms and let them hang limply at her side, "What goes on with me and Blake has nothing to do with you, I'm happy with him."

She stayed where she was, not wanting to close the distance between herself and Ollie, even with her friends she stands closer to them then she was doing with Ollie. She didnt want him to be able to touch her, less touch the better in her opinion. When she stopped thinking, her mind wandered back to Blake, she remembered when they had been -- no lets not go there, Rieko didnt like the fact they rarely saw eachother and only dwelling on the happier events when she wasnt happy she didnt see him anymore, might lead her to do something crazy, like take comfort in the idiot infront of her. She shuddered at that thought, and didnt even bother to try and hide it.

Now, she wasnt denying Ollie was good looking, because he was and he would be a catch for any girl, just not this girl. Rieko denied being attracted to him, she denied liking him, even as a person. People had asked her about Ollie and she had simply fuffed and said 'He's an annoying pain in my arse, if you like annoying pains, then please go right ahead.' Though, there were things that made her laugh about him, though she wouldnt laugh outwardly at his antics, sometimes a small smirk would grace her face. Of course, Blake was completley oblivious to the fact Ollie was trying to win Rieko over and Rieko wouldnt tell him because she didnt want the two of them in some kind of scuff. She knew if she did tell Blake, he would only go off at the deep end, Max on the other hand would tell her to just go for it and not get caught, well no, Jase would. Max would probably laugh so she wouldnt go to either of them. Looking back to Ollie, Rieko sighed, "What do you want, Ollie?" Though now she thought about it, it was a stupid question. "In fact, dont answer that." She rubbed her temples before adding, "You're like a Psyduck, you give me a headache sometimes..." Great, now she's comparing him to Pokemon. Maybe Bryn and Brooke were rubbing off on her, always singing Pokemon songs at the top of their lungs.

[Ollie La'Roque]

Of course Ollie liked Rieko, she was a stunner and unless she was around Ollie, she was a nice person inside too. Blake was too dull for her, and this annoyed Ollie slightly. He could imagine Rieko wanting, scratch that, longing for a more fun and fulfilling lifestyle than what Blake was giving her. He could tell even from up in the tree that when she spoke about Blake she wasn't truly happy like she said she was. Her tone revealed everything. She may of been happy in some ways, but not this one. She deserved more and as she mentioned his name again, Ollie simply rolled his eyes when she claimed Blake was a great guy as he began to climb down the tree, dropping and bouncing back up into an upright position again just metres in front of her.

As she said her next piece he smirked and shook his head and looked down to the floor for a moment.
"I find it an interesting subject, you and Blake. It's like trying to work out missing pieces of history as to why you two are still together. I just don't understand you" he claimed, looking up at her with a faint grin as he itched the side of his neck.
Giving a sigh, he sat down on a fallen branch as he dusted his hands together to get the bark debris off them. He didn't look at her and he didn't need to to tell she was scowling at him. He sat staring at his hands for a moment before sighing again and opening his mouth to speak.
"Whatever you say, peaches" he said in a condescending tone. His words sounded unfazed and he really wasn't in the mood to fight with her, he knew he was in the right and she would see soon enough. Slapping his hands onto his knees, he rubbed them on his jeans feeling the grainy pieces of mud against his jeans as he looked up at her.

As the pair stayed in silence, eyes interlocked with each other, although Rieko's more harsh than Ollie's, the only sound was their breathing and the rustling of the nature around them. After a moment, Ollie raised his eyebrows when she finally decided to speak. He simply gave a sly smirk and stood up, straightening out his jeans.
"If you have already forgotten toots, I was here first, so I should be asking you what you want with me" he said smugly. The silly girl was too focused on getting one over on him she forgot the facts.
"Psyduck? Have you been eating mushrooms in here? They are bad for you ya know Rieko...Make you...hallucinate" he grinned taking a couple of small steps towards her and jiggling his fingers to emphasise the hallucination taunt.
"I was minding my own business, but I could gladly leave you in here....alone....lost...if you wish" he said, eyebrow slightly raised, voice monotone as he began to walk away.

[Rieko Daniels]

Rieko was a nice person, she just didnt like the tension between herself and Ollie because he kept hounding her like some lost puppy dog. Why couldnt Ollie see that she was with Blake and that wasnt going to be changing anytime soon, much to Blake's fanclubs dissaproval. They hated Rieko since Rieko was the one who snagged Blake with barely any effort, yet the others had been trying for years and never got anywhere, this gave Rieko some satisfaction as a smirk played its way onto her lips. Rieko still refused to look at Ollie, she was sure he was jumping to conclusions again about herself and Blake, probably something along the lines of her not being happy but that was so far off the mark. She was happy, and she looked forward to coming back to school to see Blake, true, she hadnt known he would be avoidant but still, she couldnt help a grin whenever she saw the mess of brown hair or hear his smooth voice, a faint blush keeped over her features as she thought about him, but Ollie was right on one thing, she did miss the fun she used to have with Blake. He seemed to have settled into a more responsible role unless he was around Harri, but that was none of her concern.

"We are still together because we..." Rieko's voice caught in her throat and she had to clear it before continuing, "We care about, even love eachother which is a concept I doubt you would ever understand!" She folded her arms again, but when he said he didnt understand her, a dumbstruck look planted on her face, "What do you mean you dont understand me? What does that have to do with anything?"

She was amazed he could stay so calm while he was picking apart Rieko and Blakes relationship as if it was nothing. Her face turned into a scowl as she looked down at him sat on the tree trunk and felt an overwhelming desire to hex him right off it. She resisted the urge of course, she didnt want to explain why she was carrying -- no, she wouldnt want to explain where to find Ollie in here to a Professor, cause she certainly wouldnt haul him back to the school. Rieko didnt often get all wound up like this, she was usually good at keeping her temper, but Ollie just knew the buttons to push to get the best, or in this case worse, reaction out of her. "You are a pain, and dont call me Peaches, do I look like that ugly shmuck to you?" She hissed at him and clenched her fists so her knuckles turned white.

"Well you were in a tree," Rieko stated, "If I'd have known you were here I wouldnt have come anywhere near it." Which was true, even if she was lost, Ollie would be the last person she asked for help from. She hadnt forgotten the facts, like that was an important issue, Ollie often forgot facts when faced with Rieko, like she, was with, Blake. End of discussion, yet it never seemed to be the end. The two of them went round in circles and he wouldnt just give up and walk away. Hell, there were loads of girls in Hogwarts, why did he have to choose her? "I wish you were a hallucination..." She mumbled to herself, low enough that it was doubtful he would hear it. When she looked up, he was walking towards her with a stupid look on his face. She moved back instinctivly, she did not want to be in touching distance, didnt he get that? Finally he seemed to as he walked away, but Rieko suddenly realise she was lost, but too stubborn to call him back, so turning in the opposite direction she too, began to walk off. "Fine go." She half yelled, "If I get eaten though, it'll be your fault."

[Ollie La'Roque]

Rieko was the one girl in Hogwarts that continually stunned Ollie, sometimes literally. There was something about her that dazzled him about her, confused him, and always intruiged him. He wasn't sure what it was, and he could never put his finger on the exact thing that it was about her, there was just something. He couldn't resist it, she was a magnetic force not to be reckoned with, but he couldn't help but test her.
He had many girlfriends before, never finding one special enough, all were clones of each other, boring, unintelligable, dull. He got bored with them pretty quickly and it always came back to Rieko. He was sure he had seen a look in her eyes before that was something he didn't quite recognise. This girl was playing hard to get, and Ollie liked the chase.

Ollie blinked a few times at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence that seemed to stick in her throat like the words were extremely dry. This made Ollie smirk casually as he began to play with his laces on his trainers. He didn't need to see her face to see she was clearly annoyed by his presence. She was fighting it...
"Like I said, whatever you say..." he repeated, although this time with a smug tone. She could say whatever she wanted but it didn't change facts, she just obviously couldn't see them as well as an outsider could.

"Come off it" he chuckled.
"I think you have a radar to seek me out, you always seem to be where I am and in my face, you just can't resist" he winked as he flashed his teeth in a clearly amused grin. He did know exactly what buttons to press with Rieko, to him she was the easiest person to wind up it was pretty boring. She wasn't making it a challenge for him anymore but her reactions were always worth sticking around for.
"Don't play that card with me. You came in here alone, you should be able to handle yourself by now" he snipped back at her. He stopped though and felt himself sinking slightly in the mud. He looked back at her as she began to stomp off like a naughty child and Ollie smirked and stifled back a laugh.

"Your cute when your angry" he hollered after her. Looking down at his feet, he tried to unglue them and realised it wasn't the cleverest thing to stay in the spot where he was obviously sinking. As he pulled at his legs, he placed his wand between his teeth to free his hands and pushed them against the tree in order to gain leverage. He didn't notice but soon the tree was rising, roots uplifting themselves from the blanket of mud surrounding it, it's shackles. He paused, wide eyed and slowly looked up the tree stump as his arms were pushed higher and higher. Pulling his leg out with force, he felt his ankle almost give way and he stumbled over backwards before jumping back up and stumbling after Rieko. Pulling his wand from his mouth he flicked it and the light appeared at the end once again.
"RIEKO, the tree!!" he shouted warning her as he continued running, bolting towards her with speed he didn't even know he had.

[Rieko Daniels]

Rieko flicked her head around so she wouldnt have to look at his face anymore, despite the fact she had slyly looked at him through the crack in them. She was trying so hard, almost too hard, to make sure he didnt start appealing to her. She couldnt mess up her relationship with Blake, not for anybody, especially for someone with a reputation like Ollies, It was worse than Maxi, Zayne and Brooke's put together and between those three, it was saying something. She purpsoly avoided him, and in the common room if he was there, she would cuddle closer to Blake, who never seemed to realise her hostility towards Ollie. Rieko had many qualities, and she loved to watch people try and figure her out, she didnt even think Blake had her figured out yet, but she wasnt playing hard to get, that was an understatement, she was trying to tell him she was taken. She was playing impossible to get.

"You say that, and yet you never listen." Rieko snarled, "Why cant you just accept it's me and Blake? Not me and you!" She huffed and flapped her arms, "There's no third person in a relationship Ollie, you're wasting yours, and my time, trying to win me over it wont work!" Of course, whatever she said Ollie wouldnt listen, she was willing to bet the only words Ollie would listen to would be something along the lines of 'fine, me and you, I'll finish Blake.' Which of course, were the only words which would never leave her mouth. She was adamant she was going to be with Blake, not with Ollie. Her mind was confused. Before Blake had shown an interest, Ollie had been too busy faffing around with the other girls, now she was taken it seemed Ollies eyes were intent on her. Rieko had never had this much attention before of guys, and she wasnt sure if she liked it or not.

"Oh yeah," She snipped sarcastically, "An Ollie-Radar." She fuffed again, "Too bad it doesnt work or I could avoid you easier. I dont need to resist something I have no want for, you have nothing to offer me which I would need to resist. I. Dont. Want. You." She tried to spell it out, again. She had done so many times before and usually he just laughed, waved it off and said 'we'll see about that,' in his arrogant voice, which irritated her even more. She ignored his next comment as she wandered off into the darkness trying to put as much distance between herself and him as humanly possible, would it be possible to trade houses to get away from him, she wondered. Though it would cut her and Blake time down even slimmer as she only saw him in the common room now. She let out a soft sigh. He wasnt following her, so that was a good thing. However, she heard his shout of 'your cute when your angry,' and to this, she stuck her hand up and made a rather nasty gesture with it before letting it fall back to her side.

"RIEKO, the tree!!"

"What?" She asked as she turned around, and to her horror, she saw what he meant. The tree she was leaning on only moments before was making a beeline right for her. Rieko wasnt sure why she did it, she usually handled pressure pretty well but right now her mind was all over the place. She covered her head with her hands and let off a scream, sort of like she was rooted to the spot. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of something she could do to stop the tree's advance, but her mind was drawing a blank, when she thought she had something she stood up and went to get her wand but something crashed into her, sending her flying to the side and pinning her to another tree, her eyes shut tightly. So much for keeping distance. She opened her eyes and Ollie was stood over her, pinning her to a tree protectivly, her mouth hung open slightly. They were arguing moments before and now he was saving her life. Well this didnt put Rieko in a predicament. When the tree idled past, Rieko placed her hands on Ollie's shoulder and pushed slightly to try to move him off her, but her strength failed her slightly and she couldnt budge him.

"Yeah... Uh thanks and everything but the tree's gone now..." She sort of mumbled, "You can uh... Let me up now..."

[Ollie La'Roque]

Women. The single most complicated species on the planet. He dared not understand them in fear of finding out how truly complex they really were. He knew women were like human labyrinths. Ollie had a minor reputation sure, but as far as he was concerned he had to try before he buyed, and his previous girlfriends just didn't make the cut. He wasn't satisfied with the goods and so he simply returned them, that's fair enough right?
That was the problem with most girls, they were all how they percieved themselves. Dumb blondes, Boring Brunettes, Rude redheads. They were all just dull and lacked any sort of substance, but Rieko was different, but Ollie couldn't put his finger on what it was about her. Of course she would give any Veela a run for their money, as Ollie thought she looked much more beautiful than they did, and she did it without force.

As he scrambled to get up, the mud spread in between his fingers, attempting to keep him rooted to the spot. He struggled to keep his balance and looked like he was playing twister in the mud. After forcefully yanking his feet from the mud, slightly helped by the uplifting roots, he fell forward and onto his chest, missing his face by centimeters. Scrambling up once again he began to sprint toward Rieko, jumping over branches and stumps on the forest floor. The run seemed like it was a mile long and he struggled to stop himself, but managed somehow to grab Rieko and pin her against the tree, forcing his form over her to protect her.

Standing squashed together for a moment, he watched as the tree passed but it wandered around unsure of how to get to them next. Ollie was in awe at the tree and forgot he still had Rieko pinned up against the tree until he heard her speak. Looking down at her he pulled himself off her and took a small step backward, not wanting to get in the line of fire of the tree again. The bangs and creaks it was making were still easy to hear and as it brushed past it's fellow trees, the leaves crushed and began falling to the floor.

"What the hell was tha--" he got cut short as the tree seemed to hear where they were and headed straight for them again, but this time, the entrance to the forest was blocked and they had no choice but to go deeper into the forest. Without her consent, Ollie grabbed her hand pulling her away from the tree and back deeper into the forest...He flicked his light on his wand again and began pulling at her hand in attempt to get her to start moving.
"I hope your a fast runner" he said, not helping but to smirk.

(Sorry it sucks dan, Haha)

[Rieko Daniels]

Well that was a problem Rie never had. She didnt percieve herself in anyway at all. She was who she was and Rie wasnt the type of girl to car about what others thought, sure half the time the blonde could be a bit dense, but that wasnt her fault, not really. Though unlike the typical blondes who gave all other blondes a bad name, it bugged Rie when she didnt know something and she would do everything in her girlish power to make sure she found the answer. Rie knew she was beautiful, but she didnt flaunt it and she didnt try, but giving a Veela a run for their money, Rie doubted that somehow. Rie rarely worried, one of the only times this girl worried was when Ollie was in her company, she always wondered how things would turn out if she allowed him to stay with her instead of usually leaving him standing in the middle of the common room or a corridor somewhere.

That wasnt what she was worrying about right now though. For once, in Ollies company she wasnt worrying about the outcome of those events, she was worrying about the tree that was making its way with heavy force towards her. She couldnt keep her eyes off it, she was rooted to the spot like the tree should be, both out of fear and fascination. Rie wasnt even paying attention to where Ollie was, until she felt something hit her, the air rushed up out of her lungs as her back was flung against another tree. She did, however realise she wasnt yet dead which seemed to be a good thing but there was still plenty of time for that to happen in here.

Something was pressing her to the tree, holding her there in a protective type manner. It took her a moment to realise the form belonged to Ollie, she had managed to delude herself for a few seconds that Blake had come but her delusions were cut short when she recognised the form which was protecting her from the tree's rampage. Rie closed her eyes as she listened to the tree getting closer to them, her heart was beating at a rapid pace and she wasnt afraid to admit she was frightened. As the bangs got closer, Rie flinched and balled her fists up, clutching hold of Ollie's shirt and burying her head in his chest. She forgot all about her discomfort about being this close to him while the tree had been rampaging,

When he spoke, Rie let her hands fall, she moved her head from his chest, opened her eyes and looked up at him. Though he was cut short as the tree did a circuit and made its way back to them. "No way can a tree hear, thats just stupid!" She panicked, not bothering to hide the fearful tone in her voice. She felt him grab her hand and for a moment thought about pulling it away, this was getting a bit weird for her liking, well it started to get wierd a long time ago but this was taking the cake. He pulled her hand, and she moved from the tree. Within seconds the tree was back near them and Rie didnt wait for Ollie to pull her again, her hand still in his she began to run with him. She was a decent runner, but in the thick mud that threatened to have Rie fall, and the fact a tree was behind them chasing them, the girl was panicking, making her breaths short and uneven, with the added strain of running too, Rie couldnt control her breathing.

"Ollie!" She said, pointing forwards, there was a cave in the side of a mound of mud and rock. It was the only way they could go anyway, the mud was too slippy to be able to climb over it. Rie just hoped that it had an exit on the other side, she didnt fancy her chances, or Ollies, against a tree. "Come on!" She yelled in a panic driven voice, pulling him into the cave just as the tree took a swing for them with one of the roots. It connected with Rie's back a bit painfully, but it only skimmed her making her fall into the cave. She let go of Ollie's hand in that moment and used her hands to shield her from the floor, her hands landing palm down on the stone floor. Rie stood up slowly and looked around, "Ollie, are you alright?" You could tell they were in a life and death situation, Ollie and are you alright in the same sentance never left Rie's mouth, ever. Not to mention she wouldnt have let him touch her if they were in a normal situation.

[Ollie La'Roque]

In many ways, Ollie and Rieko were total opposites. In fact, when Ollie stopped to think about it, they had barely anything in common, but did any male and female if you really thought about it? It was all down to the basic nature rules of attraction wasn't it? But what attracted one person to another? And why did some characteristics appeal to one person yet not another? People in general and hormones confused Ollie too much to ponder over to much, it literally made his brain ache just mentioning it.

Rieko however, she was just Rieko. She was stunningly beautiful to probably almost anyone, and the thought of someone calling her ugly angered Ollie and think they were going to end up in a nut house. To Ollie, Rieko was probably appearance wise his perfect woman. Now what made her different from other perfectly appearanced women was her personality. She wasn't dumb, nor did she act it. She was herself all the time and with that you could always rely on Rieko to be. She never pretended to be someone or something she was not. With Rieko, what you saw was what you got, like it or not.
'Warts and all. Oh god, if she heard that she'd slap me' Ollie thought as he snapped out of his glacier eyed daze and began running.

Just moments before he had protected her from getting crushed by a walking tree and all he could think about now as they ran hand in hand was how warm her hand was even in the cool damp forest as they raced through the forest, wading through vines and mud. This was not cool. Ollie La'roque obsessing over one girl. As he became slightly frustrated, he gripped her hand tighter in his frustration forgetting for a second that Rieko's hand was still attached. Through the noise of the tree parading after them and the noise of both his and Rieko's irratic breathing, he only just heard Rieko shout his name and pull him forcefully into a nearby dark entrance. His grip slipped out of hers and the tree whacked Rieko in the back, causing her to fall into the cave and Ollie ducked from the tree and quickly rolled into the cave after her. Springing back up automatically, he hobbled over to Rieko realising he had hurt his ankle as he entered the cave.
"Rie, Rie" he said breathlessly.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a concerned tone. His eyes searched her face before he looked at her back and then faced her once again. Looking around, he pulled out his wand and cast Lumos to shed some light on the situation.
"What the hell was all that about?" he asked to make some conversation for the few moments silence the pair had caused to gain back their breath.
"Killer trees in the forbidden forest. Out of all the times i've been here, never once have I worried about a tree!"

[Rieko Daniels]

No, these two had nothing in common with eachother at all, except for the fact they were both Gryffindors who had a tendancy to find eachother wherever they went, even if they didnt want to. Though, on some subconsious level, the two must want to find eachother to always end up finding eachother, its the way it worked. No matter how much you told yourself you didnt like someone, they're bound to grow on you in time the more time you spend with them, and the fact Ollie had now saved her life, she felt as though some form of connection was there, of course she always knew it was she just didnt want to admit it, until now. There was something there between the two of them, it was obvious there was, Ollie appealed to her in a way she found both strange, and exciting. It was nothing like she'd experienced before, it was different than it was with Kieran, and it was the total opposite to what she felt with Blake too. It was new, scary, but new.

The thing with Rieko is, she knows she is beautiful yet she doesnt bother flaunting it. She is who she is and usually she knows what she wants. Or at least, she used to know, then of course Ollie appeared in her life and threw everything to the dogs, sending her own world in her bubble into complete chaos. She did all she could to straighten it out, make it all make sense again and try to give a reason to why she was trying so hard to make her relationship with Blake work, even though it was obvious to anyone it was failing miserably. Rie tried to make the best of what was given to her, though sometimes, no matter how much you want it, sometimes there are certain things you just cant fix. Somethings are usually destined to collapse and fail before its even begun. If she had the power of a seer she would use it to help make important choices. She didnt like choosing wrong, but it happens, and when it does she deals with it in the only way she can. She doesnt think about it, she doesnt talk about it, and she avoids the root of the problem.

As the two of them ran, Rie kept hold of his hand. Usually she would have let go but for some reason she felt safer holding onto him. Almost as though if she let go, he would be squished and she didnt want that. She, though strange, was worrying more about him that she was about herself, and usually this wouldnt have happened. Rie felt Ollie's hand tighten, almost crushing her small delicate hand, she squoze back trying to tell him without telling him he was hurting her. There was so much noise around the two of them, she couldnt think, she could barely hear and all she wanted to do was collapse in a heap on the floor. Her heart was pounding, causing massive pain in her chest and her lungs were beginning to burn, though she kept pushing herself onward, tonight was not the night she died.

When she was whipped on the back, forced into the cave by the tree, Rie hit her head off the stone wall and felt the blood trickle down the side of her face as she lay on the cave's stone floor, her eyes open and fully concious, but now she had stopped she felt it. Every bone in her body just shrieking with pain, her blood pounding in her ears with adrenaline. If it wasnt so scary, Rie might have said this was fun. She allowed her eyes to close and took a few deep breaths, trying to regain what little of herself she had left when she heard Ollie's voice ringing out to her. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up, her hand resting on his leg as both sat on the floor. She gave a small nod of her head and looked at him, "I'm... fine I think." She answered, using her sleeve to dab the blood on her head which was oozing out of the wound. "Jus' a cut. No big deal." The light from his wand illuminated the cave and she could actually see him now, mud covering his usually clean and rather beautiful features, she must have a head trauma. "You look... awful." She laughed and brought her hand up to his chin, moving his head around so she could see if he was hurt. "Well... I always said trees would get their own back, trees have feelings and they're alive, but when I was told trees were alive, I never thought... by alive... moving and killing and stamping and.. and.. being a general nuisence." She shivered, and instinctivly she moved closer to Ollie, trying to wrap herself in his warmth and share what little she had with him. She was shaking, both out of fear and out of being cold. "Well, you have to worry about them now." She said softly as she looked up at him. She could still hear the rampaging of the tree outside but it seemed quieter in the cave. She moved her head off his chest and moved herself to sit on his knee, she put her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, she knew by now he'd probably be thinking she was going completley crazy, and maybe, just maybe she was. "Thankyou." She said in a shaky voice, "I.. thought I was going to die out there.. and then you.." She lifted her head up and looked at him with a sad smile, "You came back and you.. you saved me when I couldnt even help myself. All I've ever done... Is be mean and hurtful and... well just mean to you. I've never said anything nice about you and I've never given you the time of day." She took a deep breath which shuddered, she wasnt very good at this but she was trying, "I... I didnt... I dont..." Another deep breath, "I'm sorry Ollie. I should have been... different with you. You deserve different. You're a great guy and I never saw it." She was officially crazy, never in a million years did she think this was a possibility. Slowly, her hand went to his face again, running her hand down the side of it. Slowly, and with no reason why, she leaned closer to him, her eyes on his the whole time, "Thankyou." She mumbled again before closing the distance between himself and herself. Her lips planted on his, her arms wrapped around his neck as she, for some unknown reason, kissed Ollie LaRoque.

[Ollie La'Roque]

Ollie’s head was a total mixture of feelings. What his head was telling him was conflicting with his heart and both organs were telling him a million different things all at once. It was all a big jumble of mess about how he felt about Rieko and how he previously lived his life. Ollie was not known to stay with one girl for too long and none of his previously relationships had lasted longer than a month or two but he never felt any sense of connection with them let alone anything near the feeling of love. He was so frustrated with himself that he was throwing away all his previous morals and even slightly obsessing over a girl more than usual. He had changed, and he did not know why except it was because of Rieko.

They ran full pelt, the speed that could match the speed of even the newest model of broomstick or so it felt and it seemed Ollie’s legs didn’t want to stop running no matter how strained his legs were or how his lungs seemed to be on fire in his chest. A sudden pressure was felt on his hand and he realised he had been gripping onto Rieko’s petite and delicate hand a little too hard, his protective nature present even when he wasn’t conscious of it. He was in Gryffindor for a reason he supposed, and even though he was brave it could be considered as stupidity sometimes...to other houses at least. Whatever it was and whatever it was shown as however did not matter right now, all that mattered was that neither of the Gryffindor’s got crushed to death by a rampant raging tree that had somehow uprooted itself and started attacking the pair. The mere thought was perplexing and was something you would only think of in some sort of muggle horror film. ‘Death By Wood’ or something hideously titled that was similar. Death by Pine? No, it wasn’t a pine tree. Evergreen? Maybe. Hell, what did it matter! Trust Ollie to be thinking about what sort of tree it was to make the correct muggle film to fit.

As the pair rolled into the cave with such force that Ollie was sure he heard Rieko’s head crack against something, he pulled himself up somehow and hobbled over to her to check on her. As he sat down again his back against a bumpy stone wall, the tree stomped around outside as Ollie clutched at his ankle and winced at the pain slightly. It wasn’t until Rieko sat next to him did he notice her head bleeding.
“Rie! You’re not fine your bleeding!...here” he said struggling to pull his jacket off and handing it to her making sure her arms were in it.
“Put the sleeve up to your wound. It will hopefully help” he continued. A minute’s silence passed between the two before he looked back at her and gave a small hint of a smile.
“Besides, I don’t want to have to carry your body back. I may just leave you here” he said jokingly, and he made it obvious he was joking by responding to her closeness by wrapping his arm over her and pulling her closer.

“Nice to know you think that Daniels, You don’t look so hot yourself” he smirked before sticking his tongue out in retaliation to her ‘compliment’. Her face was muddy and on one side the blood from her head had started to dry.
“You’ve looked better but I think on this instance you can be forgiven...just this once mind” He playfully nudged her before she moved even closer to him, and Ollie began to feel a little awkward, part of him wanting to stay right where he was and the other part wanting to inch away from her.

As she began to talk about worrying about the trees, he heaved himself up slightly so he was straight against the wall and sucked in through his teeth at the pain of his ankle.
“Yeah well it seems to of done us some good doesn’t it?” he said sarcastically as he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked back down at his limp ankle and then to the cave entrance in which was now blocked by the trees trunk dimming the little spectrum of light it gave into the cave. It was a good job they had wands. It was then that it dawned on Ollie to make fire.

“Hold on a mo” he said as he picked up his fallen wand and shot it at the tree. Pieces of bark flew from it and Ollie scrambled on all fours to pick up the pieces for firewood. Perfect.
“This should do the trick” he said, looking back at Rieko triumphantly before setting the few splitters alight. Shimmying back to his former position, Rieko soon cuddled up to him again and then sat on his knee. Ollie was take aback by her actions and gave a slight nervous laugh.

“Rie are you sure your alright? I think you may have concussion or something” he smirked before she blurted out a speech that would make even Dante blush. Ollie looked away for a split second out of sheer embarrasement but as soon as he turned back, his eyes were on hers and within seconds she had run her hand down his face and was kissing him.

Wait. Rieko was kissing him? Never in a million years would she do that surely? For one, she had a boyfriend, two she hated his guts, and three...well for three, she just had a head injury so maybe it was concussion after all, Either that or a mild form of amnesia.
Ollie stayed frozen for a moment unsure of what to do. Of course if she kissed him any other time he would be well up for it, but the fact of them being alive, maybe it was the adrenaline rush making her do crazy things.

As she pulled away obviously concerned as to why he had not kissed her back, he gave a gentle cough and ran his hand through his hair once again, looking at everywhere but her eyes. Eventually after a few failed words, he looked back at her.
“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, what about Blake? And what about your head injury?” he voiced his concerns with her. It was too late, he was hooked. As soon as she locked eyes with him again his hand instinctively ran through her hair and down her neck as his lips met hers.

[Rieko Daniels]

The crack that Rie's head made off the wall was sickening in her ears. She didnt know if Ollie had, or could have heard it. What with the tree outside and their still irratic breathing. She sat up, her hand on her head as she felt the warm liquid that was supposed to stay inside her body, slipping out. She was grateful that there were no Vampires around, that would just about put the icing on the cake for her. As the two were sat together, obviously dealing with their own pain while trying to help with the other persons pain, she heard Ollie speak again, and once again he was being protective. Seriously, how had she not noticed his gentle nature?
"And you're broken." She retaliated, pointing to his foot, but it was too late to argue, he was already shoving her inside his jacket which smelled a mixture of him and the forest. She did as she was told though, and lifted the sleeve to her head, wincing visably as it touched the tender area. "You wouldnt have to carry me back, I have a cut on my head that may need a few stitches. Im hardly going to die, especially here." She spoke confidently, but if she was being honest with herself, she didnt quite believe it. How could she be sure she wouldnt die here? That they would both not die here? She snuggled closer to him when he wrapped his arm around her and let off a low sigh.

"Oh I so do." She replied with a laugh, "Blonde, muddy and bloody, who could refuse that?" Her eyes were closed as she concentrated on remembering how to breathe. Rie did not like caves. Caves meant bats. And bats were bad. She had had a mild childhood trauma, when her and Max went to the zoo and into a batcave, a lot of the bats flew wild in there and many landed on her. She had been scared ever since, but she was only young. She was lost in her thoughts, and only Ollie speaking then nudging her brought her back to the very harsh real world. "I'll try not to make a habit of being beaten up by a tree then." The joke was dry and had no tone to it, this was an exhausting experiance. 'What did you do last night Rie? Oh you know, went in the forest, got beaten up by a tree, cuddled upto Ollie...' "You're uncomfortable with me being so close?" She asked looking at him, she could see it in his face that he was, it wasnt easy to hide that feeling. "Which of course I find ironic."

She watched him move out of the corner of her eye. She heard him suck in through his teeth and wince at the pain in his ankle. The situation was bleak, she had a cut on her head which wouldnt stop bleeding and he had a broken ankle. They were god only knew where in the forest with a killer tree standing guard outside waiting for them to come out, not to mention every other creature in the godforsaken place. It didnt look good, and Rie couldnt see a way out of it. "I didnt mean it like that." She spoke, flinching back at his sudden sarcasm. Was he mad at her? Her eyes drifted down as she tried to ignore the throbbing above her left eye.

"Okay?" It was more of a question than a statement, wondering what he was planning on doing. She made a large gasping sound when he shot at the tree, Yeah, way to go. That will make it hate us less... She thought sarcastically as she watched him build a fire, when he spoke, all she could do was try to smile, except it came out more of a dissaproving grimace. However, she didnt fight like she would have done when he sat down next to her, she felt like she had no more fight left in her so instead, she settled for cuddling upto him again, resting her injured head on his chest and listening to him breathe, it comforted her, the slow thump, thump, thump sound of his heart, and hearing him inhale and exhale slowly. She was on the other hand inhaling and exhaling quickly and her heart was racing. She closed her eyes and concentrated on matching her breathing to his, using his breathing sounds as some form of guideline for her own. After a few minutes, they were breathing simultaniously and she mumbled, "Thats better."

"Im fine.. seriously. No concussion." This was her final sentance before she blurted out the big long speech about how she had got Ollie wrong, how he wasnt the devil. How maybe she was the devil for thinking he was the devil. It was a big devil speech without the actual word devil, and no matter how she tried to put it, it never came out right and she wasnt saying exactly what she wanted to say. The only other, well you wouldnt call it sane if you knew Rie and Ollie, option left was the one she went for, and it surprised her too, she was kissing the guy she had tried so hard to loathe. Was it because they were in a life and death situation where death looked more like the probable outcome? No, she knew that was a lie.

What she didnt expect was his reaction. Well, we should say lack of reaction. He didnt reciprocate the kiss and now she felt like a complete moron. She stopped and pulled away from him, she was feeling something, though she didnt know what. Of course she felt like a grade a moron, but on top of that she felt... hurt. Rejected. It was weird. After all this time of him trying to get to her, he finally has his chance and he does nothing about it. She shuffled away from him, the obvious closeness now after that embarrassing episode she couldnt have. So she unhooked his arms from around her and shuffled away from him, sitting next to him, but not quite near him, and her eyes on the trunk of the tree waiting outside. Maybe death wasnt such a bad idea after this.

He gave a cough and Rie's eyes instantly shut. However he wouldnt see it considering she was turned away from him. Of all the dumb things she could have done, she had to go and kiss the one guy, the one guy she tried so hard to avoid, the one guy she tried so hard to hate, the one guy, no matter how much she tried, she couldnt avoid, even less hate. The way things were, how hard she tried to hate him, exhausted her constantly. It was hard to hate someone you didnt hate and it was tiring too, which was the reason she tried to avoid him, so she wouldnt have to go through the exhaustion of trying to hate him. Now, she had obviously all but given up. Rie had surrendered, waved the white flag. She could no longer be bothered to try and hate him when it was obvious she did not.

He spoke. She flinched. "I... You." She tried, but her voice was weak and she still felt like a fool. "I thought you knew that. I dont do anything I dont want to do." That didnt justify what she had done of course, and it wouldnt play well in Blake's eyes either but, she couldnt help it. Them two were falling apart, he was hardly around and she knew this wasnt his fault but even so. The two never hung out, they never talked, they never did anything. It was like they werent a couple anymore, but just holding onto that status, and slowly, Rie had lost the feelings for him. "One. Blake... He's a decent guy he is. And I do care for him dont get me wrong, but... Its... not the same as it used to be. He's not there anymore. You know that as well as everyone else does." She sighed, she knew her head injury would come up in this, "Two. I have a cut, its bleeding. Im not concussed and I've not gone cra---" She didnt even have time to finish her sentance, as soon as she turned her head to look at him, his hand went to her hair, ran through it and down to her neck which made her shiver, she closed her eyes for no good reason for a moment to try and remember.. something.. which she was having trouble remembering, and as she nearly had the thought, she felt his lips press on hers once again, "Mmmph!" Came the noise from Rie, showing clearly he had taken her by surprise this time. For a moment, she pulled an Ollie on him, she was taken aback now by his forwardness and stunned into place, but after a moment, her hands went to the back of his neck and pulled him closer to her, almost hungrily.

[Ollie La'Roque]

Ollie was a good looking guy, and he had an ego to match, but he could never quite put his finger on something about Rieko. This factor annoyed yet mystified him like some sort of siren trance. Still, he was here now with her in his arms in a dimly lit, saturated and slightly spooky cave with a monstrous killing tree outside waiting for them and they were sat here kissing. Could life get any better?

Ollie shifted to be able to kiss Rieko better when he forgot for a second about his broken ankle and winced in pain, breaking off the kiss. Clutching at his ankle, he strengthened his grip around it putting pressure onto it giving some sort of pain relief. Looking back at Rieko, he gave an odd expression which was meant to be a smile amongst all the pain he was feeling.

He gently nuzzled Rieko’s head into his shoulder and held her hand as he drifted off into unconsciousness. He dreamt of the tree, of Rieko and of Hogwarts. Somehow his quidditch broom had a life off its own and had come to rescue them from the evil woodland overgrown plant before whisking them away to somewhere new and exciting not to mention sunny and sandy. Rieko looked so at home there as the pair basked in the sun’s glow late afternoon simply listening to the sound of the gentle sea waves lapping at the beach. For some reason Rieko was in a red and white striped bikini and Ollie figured it was to do with Gryffindor pride while he wore a pair of black sunglasses and a pair of long white shorts with deep red striped down each leg.
As she turned to him she smiled and her gleaming white smile made Ollie’s eyes open.

It was then he realised that the tree had gone and the way was open, the morning light shining through the opening. Scrambling to his feet automatically, fighting through the pain, he shook her slightly and hauled Rieko up as he began stumbling towards the entrance.

“Come on we have to go now before it comes back, quick” he encouraged her as he began to exit the hole waving his hand behind him for Rieko to grab hold of.

As they began walking through the forest once again but in slow motion, he couldn’t help but think back to the last few moments he had just had with Rieko and the tension between them finally being lifted off them like a dark blanket only to be replaced with the morning sunshine and birds twittering...