[Lawns] Momentum

[Myles Bentley]

Myles sat comfortably on the sloping end of a small hill, his shoes digging into the dirt to keep balance while his eyes, turned upward, stared at the distant quidditch players accelerating back and forth across the pitch. One of them, a large Hufflepuff beater, missed a clear shot at the opposing chaser allowing him to score. Myles couldn't help but smirk, just slightly.

Quidditch was one of the activities at Hogwarts Myles was destined to observe rather than play. He had tried out in his second year, as did most others, but despite his decent flying had made a scene. Carrying his mean competitive streak along with the quaffle, he'd elbowed one of the other chasers on his own team, knocking him into the stands in addition to giving him a bleeding nose. Needless to say, Myles didn't exactly make the cut.

Eying the players swerve above him, the Slytherin frowned. The thrill of watching eventually disappeared, and he was left alone with nothing but the timid rustle of grass.

[Dania Dahl]

The bandages were off, the blood swept away, and the metal cage slapped on; Dania stared in the mirror now at the perfect image of a girl who had just broken her nose doing the devil knows what. The gleaming silver-coloured piece of metal that wrapped around her appendage received her more than her fair share of odd looks, though anyone who had been at the last game remembered how it happened. One of the Slytherin beaters, a particularily nasty girl who was rumored to be the Dark Arts professor now had thrown a bludger her way, though by accident she doubted. Grace was known to hold a hatred for her entire house, it was no wonder why the bludger was sent hurtling into the center of the Hufflepuff stands. While she wasnt the type to complain Dania was a little discontented when she arrived at the Hospital Wing to find a very apologetic healer there, confessing that they were out of the materials neccessary to properly heal her nose. So she had to wear this thing until there was a restock, and so far no one was rushing out to buy more.

Still though Dania waited patiently, and while she talked in the manner of a person who was pinching their nose to sound like the stereotypical nerd she didn't really mind it. The countless jokes that arose from its presence had her in stitches for a large portion of her week, and what was better than laughing really?

Reflecting on this now as she stepped down a small, sloping hill near the Quidditch pitch the Hufflepuff saw the boy sitting there and suddenly found herself in want of company.. Though how she was going to achieve this, she did not know. It was unlike her to simply pop a squat right beside someone without even knowing them, that seemed rude did it not? Glancing at the bracelets on her wrist, she sneakily zapped one to appear closeby, seeming to walk by and find it there. Her eyes flashed gratefully and she said nothing, making it seem like she had found her lost piece of jewellery finally. Breathing a sigh of 'relief' she then looked to her right and saw him there, lips hinting at a smile. "Oh, hello."

[Myles Bentley]

Myles tore his gaze away from the sky, blinking a few times to recover from the blinding sun. It took him a while to pinpoint the girl, still slightly illuminated, but eventually he came to face Dania with eyes still somewhat squinted.

"Hi," He replied wonderingly. It wasn't often people approached him, especially Hufflepuffs, and Myles was sure it had to do with just being a Slytherin in general. But, after noticing her relieved gaze focused on her bracelet, he clued in and looked away as if uninterested.

"Dahl, you really are too friendly. Even for a Hufflepuff." He remarked neutrally while leaning back on his arms. "I'm sure your badger-friends don't take too kindly to you making small talk with people like me."

Myles smiled to himself, deciding his company would be, at the very least, amusing. He could always comment on her nose if he got bored, after all, but that did seem a little too easy.

[Dania Dahl]

His squinting eyes looked up at her then, and she hoped for his sake the sun wasn't reflecting off the metal band around her nose. A sudden urge to cover it up and shield his eyes from the reflected light bubbled up in her stomach, and her fingers twitched with the repressed effort. If it was bothering him, would he not say something? At his following remark she daintily shrugged her shoulders and crossed her legs to sit slowly beside him, though with enough distance in between that a breach of personal space wasn't construed. It was near-to-impossible, being too friendly. Everyone on this world is fighting a hard battle, and that little sliver of kindness goes a long way-whether to comfort or to help overcome. You had to let the monsters see you smile.

"I've had enough with this ridiculous stereotype." Dania stated, her voice decided and final in its usual softness. "There could be two wonderful people, each a half of the other, and they wouldn't even know it because they were in different houses. Their friendship could have been so beautiful.." Why couldn't people understand? You might be missing the person you were meant to be with, if you could only just open your damned eyes. It pained her to think of all the friendships she could have made, all the memories they might have had.. If only things were different.

Her red lips pressed together for a moment, and a moment only; her version of a disappointed frown before it vanished.

[Myles Bentley]

Myles listened a bit surprised. He had similar thoughts every now and then, though much less flowery he had to admit. Not exactly lamenting over lost company, though questioning the social rules he was invisibly bound by.

"Hmm," his eyes followed Dania as she sat down, just a breath away from invading his space. His smile grew dark as he caught the briefest of frowns, and though he'd never had a chance to really study Dania Dahl, the look managed to look quite foreign on her features.

"I know we live in a world of magic, Dania," He said easily, her first name a velvety slip on his tongue. "But here's a secret," crossing that personal space she'd worked to perfect, Myles let his smile drift off his face completely. "The likelihood that anyone in Slytherin is meant to be your anything, even a friend, is exceptionally low. Magic doesn't mean fairy-tales."

The Slytherin pulled back abruptly, eyes finding the sky again and focusing on it. "Really, it just means horrible Quidditch plays and NEWTs that no one wants to study for."

[Dania Dahl]

The urge to grin thundered against the insides of her stomach and she nearly did so, choking it back only because such an outward display of raw emotion was against her nature and the idea of letting her guard down so faithfully wasn't an ideal thought at the moment. He was too close then, and she looked away, eyes falling at the harsh statement of his reality. He truly believed this, didnt he. "Friendship is as much a fairytale as you are a ballet dancer." She replied with a small smile, swallowing a chuckle away as it threatened to spill messily out of her throat. There have been cases where Slytherins have befriended people in other houses, it wasn't so foreign and uncalled for that humanity has lost its ability to seek companionship away from their norms.

When they grew older and fell into the ritual pattern of their lives in the adult world they would realise that the stereotypes of high school faded away. They withered into nothingness, and either they wouldn't care or they would regret the people they had wronged. Perhaps she was alone in her thoughts this time, but she was sure someone else out there felt somewhat similar.

At his quip on terrible quidditch plays and NEWTS the Hufflepuff shrugged her shoulders once. They were only two aspects of magic, quite insignificant to most. By the way he spoke about them it seemed he didnt hold them in the highest regards, though who did really? Hugging her knees to her chest Dania rested her chin on them, at odds on what to say. It was difficult to hold a conversation when you both were at two ends of the opposite spectrum.

[Myles Bentley]

"For you, maybe." Myles stated flippantly.

Though comparing what he said to him being a ballet dancer was most unexpected. He grinned a bit, sending a sidelong look to Dania and found, to his disappoint, she was somewhat huddled into herself.

"What you said must be significant in some way," he said finally, "Because I've never figured Hufflepuffs spent so much time thinking." It was true that her eyes had glazed over as she seemed to be lost in silent musings. Letting out an exhale that felt out of place due to the quiet of their strained conversation, Myles succumbed to a crooked smile.

"And I'd ask about what, but I can only guess it's an extension of what you were saying before." Shrugging, Myles let his tone of voice venture into a neutral gear. "Say I believed you. Could you honestly argue though, that someone like you could be friends with someone like me?"

Letting his arms spread out in front of him as if presenting himself, Myles grinned rather sinisterly. "I'm not exactly someone you should trust. And that's not a stereotype, it's an obvious fact, isn't it?"

[Dania Dahl]

He seemed somewhat surprised to find a Hufflepuff who didn't blatantly exude niceness and sparkles from every pore on her entire body, who actually spent some time thinking rather than frolicking around without a care in the world. She almost smiled at the image. The shift in his voice stirred her from her thoughts and as she listened, releasing her hold on her knees to let them rest cross-legged. "Someone like me." Dania echoed with a small smirk, the expression paired with the near-blackness of her eyes a sharp contrast to the usual loveliness that was her face. "We have no idea who the other is. We may think we do by what we see of them, but neither knows what the other's really thinking."

She stretched her arms out contemplatively, looking back to him. "So I could really be a murderous psychopath with a house elf fetish, and you wouldn't even know it." Dania stated matter-of-factly, her face breaking into a smile as the humorous comparison burned happily in her stomach. "I will never know if I shouldn't trust you until I try." And that, in her eyes, was fact. People put so many walls around themselves it was hard to remember who they really were, not to mention difficult for other people to see it.

The wind tickled her face then and she raised her hand, tucking vivid orange locks behind one ear.

[Myles Bentley]

If there was one thing Myles was not expecting that evening, it was a Hufflepuff companion - one with some semblance of insight. Instead of replying right away, he studied Dania for a moment and took note of who she was.

Eventually he broke out into a wide smile, not dark or sinister, but quite frankly amused. "All right," he conceded, his arms dropping to the ground again. "I have no idea who you are. Every word that comes to mind is absolutely prejudiced." He said the last part somewhat ruefully as he refused to let his gaze travel back to her form.

Then, feeling the smile curl just slightly so that it was more of a smirk, Myles ran a hand through his hair. "But, one that seems to be quite true is naive. Yes, we could possibly have something in common, and probably do - house-elves for instance..." Myles looked at Dania through his peripherals, the mirth apparent once more. "But, you're naive to believe that just because you want to get to know someone, that they'll want to know you back."

They weren't nice words, yet Myles continued. "In fact, I have all the confidence in the world that if you decide to trust me, you'll suffer for it." With a bit of edge in his voice, he added, "You see, all the Slytherins I know pride themselves on cruelty. And in case you haven't yet understood my warning, you'll soon find out that I am very capable of being much the same."

[Dania Dahl]

The smile, so fresh and completely unlike him, was a pleasant surprise, despite spanning mere seconds before it twisted into something sinister. Though even afterwards there hinted mirth in the backdrop, and the Hufflepuff found herself at an odds of how to interpret him. On the one hand he seemed the typical Slytherin--damn her for using the stereotype, but as he mentioned earlier he did possess the token qualities for it--yet on the other it seemed they were having no problems with their conversation. Neither of them had tried to rip the other's throat out, so that must be a good sign. Just the fact that they were speaking on equal terms here was enough to brighten their outlook, if only a little bit.

The jab at her naivety was met with nothing more than a calm smile, eyes open and watching with an almost intense look to them, as if they were staring right through the walls he put up. "Who said I wanted to get to know you?" Dania countered, her voice cool. Despite these words being entirely falsified for her benefit she knew that, if she allowed herself to be stepped on, he would trample her. "I dont underestimate your abilities to tear me apart." The ability to destroy was nowhere near a bragging right, and he very well knew it.

Sooner or later people will realise that there is only one race--the human race, and that they are all a part of it.

[Myles Bentley]

"Don't you?" Myles responded, all traces of an expression completely wiped off his face. He knew her type well... or at least he thought he did. The amiable one, ready to give anyone the benefit of the doubt even if all signs pointed against it. But even Hufflepuffs didn't exactly hold Slytherins to the highest esteem, and none had tried to provide Myles with a second chance. Or a first one, really.

And Myles had spent all seven years at Hogwarts denying he needed anyone to interpret him differently than a Slytherin. He was cunning, even sly - surely it was reason enough to stay away.

Myles nodded, but it was more to himself than the spectacle beside him. "I want to get to know you, Dahl, as much as I want to tear you apart." He said flatly, his relaxed posture tensing almost immediately. He didn't like feeling threatened in any way, and that included her theories jeopardizing his perception. "Not in the least bit."

Because tearing apart Dania Dahl seemed too easy, and getting to know her... well that was too difficult.

[Dania Dahl]

Her eyes, blackened by the blunt question that was to come, continued to follow his. The obvious answer perhaps wasn't so obvious after all.. What he thought he truly felt might not be as concrete as he assumed; she had kneaded her way under his skin without even trying, without even realizing it herself. "Would you deny me if I tried?" Perhaps a tiny part of her did want to know him, though one did not need to unwind the strings that bound the heart and mind to simply speak with someone. Maybe all she wanted was just someone to talk to in that very moment. If that someone chose to forsake their conversation afterwards, well, so be it. They would go on their merry little ways.. She would remember that which he determined himself to forget.

You could never be someones everything, not your loved one or your friend's. Your family will slowly begin to die, and then you will follow them. You cannot save someone from themself. But perhaps you could simply speak raw and unhindered in that moment with another human being, without having to worry about what is yet to come. Without having to know who they are or their favourite animal or where they've been. Friendship doesn't have to be defined by days, months or years, but simply moments in which people had connected, even if it was for the smallest of time frames. Even if the foundation of that connection was as brittle as an aged piece of parchment, a broken shard of glass; the toy at the furthest end of the shelf that nobody played with anymore.

His cunning could be his courage, if he chose it.

[Myles Bentley]

Myles felt discomforted by her stare, and shifted.

It would only take a single remark. Something scathing, harsh and hurtful to send Dania reeling. He'd seen it happen repeatedly - a Slytherin delving into one's innermost insecurities, finding the cracks in an individual's self-esteem and then playing on it. He'd done it himself countless times during his younger years; he had proven himself by manipulating others.

He answered her question in his head a dozen times, before stumbling on his answer. The hesitance surprised him, and after a minute of trying to match her intensity, Myles looked away. "Maybe not," he said finally.

Though Myles felt it was a task that she would eventually grow tired of. He wouldn't make it easy, whether purposely or not, because really - Myles didn't know himself. And he had begun to think that perhaps Dania was at a loss for answers too - how could she be so sure of herself? For a brief moment, Myles wanted to exploit it, find any doubt she held about not only him, but herself, then use it against her.

Stubbornly though, he stared back at the sky. "Most people deny themselves of that privilege," he said, the colour of spite accenting his words. "Not that it isn't warranted."

[Dania Dahl]

You were nothing if you didn't constantly prove your worth, and she would be foolish not to accept this as a daily tradition in the hierarchy that was humanity. To survive one must harden themselves to a point of indestructibility; to craft themselves of metal and iron and steel. But in creating this armor for our tender bodies who would stop to love? Who would remember to feel? He could peel away the layers of flesh that were her insecurities, he could toy with her and cave her very world in if he felt like it.. But did he? In all those years of pain he had caused others had he truly, in his heart, desired to destroy them? Or was it simply the means of which to assure himself a place? To fashion himself bulletproof in the eyes that were his prison, the thoughts that were his cages.

Dania untangled her fingers before tucking another orange tendril of hair behind her ear, blinking for the first time since he had looked away. There was something in his eyes that whispered to her, little things he could not possibly confess or ever admit to feeling. His vulnerability, however buried or denied, made him seem that more human.. That more beautiful to her. It was different than what she had known of him, even what he seemed to be when she first sat down. His loss for words left her anticipating a responce, for who else would she speak to? Her housemates were as intellectually stimulating as a pair of tube socks.

Finally he spoke then, voice quieter now as it was directed away from her. Slowly she stretched her arm towards him, fingers fluttering hesitantly against his shoulder as she placed a comforting touch there. Soft, but solid. He knew she was afraid. She knew he could twist and break her to the point of unrecognizability. But perhaps she had reached him enough to prevent this, at least for a little while. "Most people are too wrapped up in themselves to care about the rest of the world." Many failed to realise that they were all they had in this life. That while they may possess the ability to mold the existence of another there would always be someone else who is capable of so much more damage, and someone who will always be there to pick up the pieces afterwards.

[Myles Bentley]

Whatever Dania felt she was doing - comforting him, reassuring him... to Myles it was purely destructive. His eyes lowered from the sky at once before his gaze landed straight ahead, unmoving. He felt a bristle of annoyance stem from where she touched him, and though he did not pull away, his muscles stiffened.

She provoked him to question things that were set in stone and embodied everything he didn't want to think about. Was it so hard for her to believe that he was as treacherous as he said? Wasn't his reputation of turmoil and grief enough to persuade her?

Myles shook off her hand from his shoulder, his lips a thin line. Dania looked at him with a penetrating gaze, intense despite the lack of understanding in them - because how could she understand? Her world didn't collide with his - her knowledge was based off fairy tales. And Myles was once again regarding her as naive, his breathing disjointed as he stared at her intrusive hand.

"I prefer it that way," He said, his eyes dark. He was overcome with a desire to teach Dania about the real world - to actually see it through a snake's eyes - but it fell away as soon as it came. "I wouldn't reciprocate any care given to me," he stated honestly. "People like me crave it, bask in it, and then discard it."