Viridian PV Dinah Dragensail Closed

Further down the valley, a figure stood, one hand on his wide-brimmed hat, holding it steady in the blustery breeze, the other clutching a basket filled with fresh, sweet clover. The abundance here was still enough to boggle his young mind, and he found that these days one of his most beloved hobbies was to stroll around the grounds, gathering this and that for potions, medicine, and cooking. Turned out the standard school cauldron made a somewhat decent cookpot when properly cleaned, and so with a little invention when needed, November was at last able to return to practicing the culinary arts to some degree. He still wanted desperately in those kitchens, though.

He was looking over a fresh stem of clover when something swift and blurry rolled right past him, cackling in glee. It made him stop dead in his tracks for a beat, blinking in confusion as to what it could possibly be, his head slooooowly tilting sideways as he stared at the figure in abject confusion.

Eventually, its momentum came to a halt, and he stalked carefully over, peering at it with faintly frightened curiosity like a cat would a large bullfrog. But it was only once he was standing directly over it that it revealed itself to be: None other than Green. A wide grin spread across his face as he realized this, and he lifted one foot and placed it gently, oh so weightlessly gently, atop Green's chest. "I've got you now," he declared, beaming.

Green had just started to close his eyes and enjoy the soft coolness of the green lawn when suddenly, he felt a pressure on his chest, something hard pressing against it - not enough to be painful, but just enough to hold him down. With a gurgle of shock, his eyes snapped wide, and he stared up at November with pinprick pupils. For a moment, he was utterly still, no breath, no sound; then his eyes slowly narrowed. "Traitor," he accused in mock condemnation, lips pursing. "Look at you in that hat. Practical, but adorable. It's disgusting," he sniffed. "Now where on earth did you come from...?"

It was only now that he looked around, his fingers closing slowly around November's shoe as he traced the curve of the slope with his gaze. It appeared to twist strangely, and from down here, he could see that there was a portion of the grounds he couldn't see from up above - a portion of the grounds with a girl in it, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

He froze, still holding November's shoe; slowly, his own eyes narrowed. "What, exactly, did you see?" he called out, voice as authoritative as one could muster when they were an underweight eleven-year old pinned under another's foot. "And what must I do to ensure your silence?"

Another boy had joined the other, they seemed to already know each other but from where Dinah was sitting she was unable to hear what they were saying to one another. She watched carefully as the rolling boy laid in the grass, a carefree expression on his face while the other stalked over to him, placing a foot on the boys chest. 

Enemies or friends? Dinah couldn't be sure without hearing them. She considered moving closer but decided that would probably look rather strange and so instead, she stretched her legs out and focused her attention on the lake ahead of her. She could very distantly see the tentacles of the giant squid breaking the surface of the water. Usually she would be transfixed, but the curious meeting of the two boys had consumed her curiosity and she couldn't help as her gaze returned to them.  

As if he could feel her staring, the boy on the ground fixed his eyes on Dinah's own. She seemed to vaguely recognise him from passing in the common room but the other boy she didn't know. The boy had froze, a hand on the others shoe. She assumed that another person had been the last thing he expected to see. It was a fairly remote part of the grounds and she wondered if perhaps she had interrupted a private meeting between the two.

"What, exactly, did you see?" The boy in the grass asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. This and his rather poor attempt to sound intimidating only confirmed Dinah's theory that she was here and not supposed to be. "And what must I do to ensure your silence?"

Dinah smirked, not taking her eyes from the pair. Was there an underlying threat there or was it just her overthinking? Regardless, she sensed the opportunity for some fun. She'd gotten much too comfortable in the comfort of the Gryffindor house and was happy to see that her previously established negative attitude and general disdain was still going strong. Dinah had gotten swept up in the magic and the prospect of making new friends and forgotten who she truly was. 

"My silence?...Well, that depends what you're offering." She called over the short gap. Dinah knew she hadn't actually heard anything the boys had said and as of yet all she had seen was the two interacting from afar but they didn't know that and she was more than happy to play up to that fact. "Who are you?"

"I was here the whole time," November chuckled, "you just didn't see me... I wasn't even particularly well-camouflaged. You ought be more aware of your surroundings, else something with wicked jaws might snatch you up." He grinned down at him, showing off his own wicked jaws.

However, the sound of Green calling out to a third made shock suffuse his body, causing it to startle so dramatically he tipped right over like a fainting goat, sprawling in the grass, his basket of clovers rolling a little ways from his hand. His shoe was still clutched firmly in Green's hand, the foot and leg attached to it resting neatly atop him.

Slowly, oh so slowly, his large dark eyes slid over to the third figure, a girl staring down at the two of them with the most severe of expressions on her young face, causing his own to heat up with a bright pink blush. Oh dear, he'd been caught red-handed in the act of ridiculous shenanigans. Never mind all the undoubtedly worse things he'd been up to during the school year, this was the thing he'd never live down.

Thankfully, Green seemed to be handling things in his usual grand, authoritative manner, so November just sat curled in the grass, his leg still on Green's chest, watching the proceedings with a cautious eye and muttering a soft "um, hello...."

Green whumphed as November fell on top of him, wheezing softly; he squirmed beneath the larger boy's leg, but refused to let go of the foot, squinting at November with a firm-set mouth as he watched him curl onto the grass. "Something with wicked jaws should be advised that I sport my own," he warned, snapping his teeth at the other boy.

Looking back at Dinah, the small, spindly boy tilted his head against the grass, looking at her upside down. He was wearing a serious expression that entirely clashed with the ridiculous position he was in, fluffy brown hair splayed against the grass, pale face flushed from the roll down the hill. "As for buying your silence... I have a shoe," he offered sweetly, holding November's foot up in offerance. "Fine patent leather, gently worn, perfect for keeping the mud out of your toes or making into a whimsical planter," he expounded, gesturing elegantly at the thing, as if he were an assistant on a game show displaying a brand new car.

His eyes narrowed at the girl, shrewd beside his playfulness. He wasn't quite sure how serious she was. There was a bit of hardness in this one's eyes, and he liked it. "But seriously, if you're off to tell a professor, why on earth would I give you my name?" he asked back. Would she believe he had actually done something worth telling about? He had been momentarily embarrassed by his own childishness, but he supposed he had little to lose. More interesting was the game - what would she do with the red herring...?

Dinah couldn’t help the small grin that fought its way onto her face as the small boy made a show of selling her the other boys shoe. The other boy had muttered a nervous hello and Dinah threw him a smile acknowledging it. 

“....perfect for keeping the mud out of your toes or  making into a whimsical planter.” 

For a moment, Dinah was unsure if he was joking and wondered if she was to say yes would he pull the shoe from the other boys foot and hand it over? 

She took a few tentative steps closer to the two boys. Interested, but not willing to give herself over entirely to the whims of curiosity she held her head high and her hands behind her back. 

“But seriously if you’re off to tell a professor why on earth would I give you my name?” The boy asked, a hardness underneath the playful demeanour. 

Dinah considered for a moment. She of course knew the two boys had done nothing wrong, nothing that could get them in trouble and there was no use pretending. She figured disturbing her peace and quiet and almost rolling into her didn’t quite classify as a punishable offence. 

She shrugged. “I’m not going to tell. I’m not a rat.”

The girl placed a foot in front of the other taking yet another step forwards, the grass brushing the tops of her boots. 

“But if you don’t want to tell me your names then fine. What are you doing here?”

Dinah couldn’t help as her curiosity of the two boys increased. They seemed to pose many questions and yet give nothing away. 

The boy's face broke out into a grin at that, sharp as shears. "I do hope you're not. A rat, that is," he clarified, eyes drifting towards the little red lion badge on her robes. "History has suggested that some people who end up in our house turn out to be more rat than lion. Though I'm not certain how much I can speak for the hat's decision, anyway," he huffed, shrugging. "Nothing against Gryffindor, but it is not what I would have chosen." He shifted beneath the other boy's leg, tilting his neck this way and that in a long, luxurious stretch that brought an alley cat to mind.

Huffing, he gently pushed the other boy's leg off from his chest. "In any case, as for what I'm doing out here," he began, eyes wandering, shifting across the soft-clouded sky in a moment of pensive pause, "I'm... prospecting," he nodded, blinking back up at Dinah with a flat, serious expression. "The grounds are quite extensive, and there's a great deal of them that we, as students, never traverse. I thought I might find some little bit of it and begin projecting possible futures," he explained at unnecessary length.

Sitting up, he looked down at November. "That's just me, though. I have no idea what you're doing," he said, flicking November's hat. He looked up at Dinah. "Or you."

November's eyes went much, much wider as he suddenly found his leg lifted up and his shoe being put on auction, a bright pink flush coating his cheeks. Green was right, he did have teeth, even if not in the most expected places! Awkwardly, his foot wiggled a little bit, his confused and mortified dark gaze blinking up at Dinah as Green put on his best pitch.

He sighed in soft relief as the girl eschewed the trade, his leg relaxing a bit in Green's grip, which was surprisingly viselike for such a small boy, before it pushed him away and free. Sighing a little, he immediately attempted to regain some of his lost dignity, arranging his body in a nice, respectable sitting position, reaching for his toppled basket to try and regather its spilled contents.

Which lead, rather conveniently, to their next question, both students' gazes directed curiously towards him. It made him wilt a bit further, seeking shelter in the shade beneath his hat. "Oh, I was, um, I was just...." He held aloft the basket, filled with similarly wilting vegetation. "I was just out picking some clover, there's so much here, and it's-.... It's rather good when you boil it like spinach," he mumbled, voice trailing off into shyness.