Grey Skies Over Green Fields
About to meet with @Charlie Jacobsen
14 June 2025
Simon didn't have any reading to catch up in his classes nor any essays due at this end of term - all professors were allowing Fifth Years at Hogwarts to be dedicated to studying for their O.W.L.s which Simon had - time and time again. In fact, he had done so much studying that his mind was like a well-worn book with pages ready to fall out from overuse.
He needed some fresh air.
Many students remained within the castle. It was early afternoon, just after lunch, but the sky was a deep gray, swirling in ominous shades. A storm was coming that much was certain but dark clouds held nothing to the storm that was brewing within his mind.
Everything was just a little too heavy, just like the air, just like his thoughts.
The end of term exams felt insurmountable. Simon had always been a decent student but this year was different than the others. This ear it felt like more was riding on these exms than just grades - like his future. He had decided earlier that year that he wanted to be a healer but did he truly have the intellect and skill? Could he pass all these O.W.L.s that would be required of him and in later years, the N.E.W.T.s?
"I just want to pass," he whispered outloud, to no one in particular. Simon felt a little lighter in vocalizing his statement and said it a little louder. "I just want to pass." It felt good getting that out - as he had been holding in such doubts and anxiety all year. "I JUST WANT TO PASS!" he screamed into the green fields of the Scottish Highlands before him.
There seemed to be a stillness before the storm, a calm before the chaos. Perhaps he needed to take in some fresh air and handle the rain one drop at a time and not worry about a downpour.
With each day of that school year he had learned a little more, grown a little more, matured a little more. He could handle life, even if something was stressful - even if seemed impossible. He only would fail if he stopped trying.
No, he wouldn't do that. He was prepared for these upcoming final exams and when it came to issues within his personal life, he had the courage, the heart, and the determination to face whatever came his way.
He couldn't let this storm get the better of him. Storms pass.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
banner made by the wonderful erendriel ravaxidor
It was finally the end of the year. Charlie's third year at Hogwarts. The teachers were piling on stacks and stacks of work to finish up before the end of the year. Charlie had like six essays to write and before she could start on the essays she had many readings to do. She felt like she was drowning. But she knew that the only way to fix it was to work on it.
Charlie made her list of things to do, very typical of a Ravenclaw, and organized her books and supplies so that all she had to do was work. She grabbed some of the books she needed to read and a piece of crinkled old parchment to write notes or scribble little doodles while procrastinating.
She made her way outside planning to look for a shaded spot underneath a tree but her plans changed instantly when she noticed the dark grey storming sky she tried to find a spot where the rain wouldn't pound down too hard. Charlie found a decent tree that she hoped would protect her. She plopped down, grabbed a book and began to read, even though she didn't want to.
Charlie had been reading for a while when she heard screaming. Sometimes Hogwarts was known for its chaos, but this was an early Saturday afternoon. Nothing crazy should have been happening. She jumped up, deciding to check it out.
@Simon Kincaid
Charlie Jacobsen | shop | | ❝Write day and night like you need it to survive ❞ |
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
Hopefully soon meeting up with @Charlie Jacobsen
He felt both better, and ridiculous, for having his little screaming fit and decided that it was enough and he needn't do anymore. Maybe that was why little ones had temper tantrums - to get out all of their frustration at once and then be done with it and feel better. He wondered if little Maeve, his baby cousin, would be having those in a year's time or so but no, not perfect little Maeve. - Of course not.
With that behind him, Simon decided to set out on a walk around the Grounds. Maybe something would catch his interest enough that he could take out his wizarding camera and take some photographs. He didn't feel too much in an artistic or photojournalist mood at the moment, but there yet didn't seem to be anyone around. On a day like today, it'd be nice to hae a friend around.
Of course, if there had been one around, they most likely would have been scared off with his little outburst just now so maybe it had been a good thing he was alone.
Alone.
Simon Kincaid didn't like to be alone. He had gotten better at accepeting that he wasn't truly alone when alone, but it still was a difficult task for someone as social and people-oriented as him.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
banner made by the wonderful erendriel ravaxidor
Stuffing her book back into her bag and beginning to walk quickly toward the sound, she listened to the sky rumble loudly. Her brow furrowed as she walked faster in the direction of where the scream came from. The person, likely a boy based on how low the voice was, had gone silent which was slightly more concerning.
The sky rumbled again, this time louder, which motivated Charlie to walk faster. She squinted, and realized that there was someone walking towards her in the distance. She slowed down her pace, because the dark sky left a shadow on their face. As she got closer, she recognized the person as a fifth year Hufflepuff, Simon. Charlie smiled softly and said "Hey Simon. How's it going?" She hadn't seen her fellow dhampir in a long time, almost over a year. He was a fifth year now, probably doing his best to pass his OWLS. "Are OWLS happening now?" She thought about her own finals, which had been one of the most stressful times in her entire life. "Are you still broom racing? Or did you swap to another sport?" She asked, then glanced at the sky, wondering when it was going to rain. This year had been difficult for her, and she was so close to wrapping up her third year. She just had to finish the year strong.
@Simon Kincaid
Charlie Jacobsen | shop | | ❝Write day and night like you need it to survive ❞ |
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
Literally and figuratively allowing @Charlie Jacobsen to catch up with him
His thoughts had been focused elsewhere and his gaze more on the sky than anything, appreciating the dark clouds. It was the sunny days that got to him the most because it limited how much time he could spend outdoors and he likes the fresh air and the breeze and the sounds.
Hearing his name from behind, Simon turned to see a friend that he just didn't see as much as he'd like. "Charlie, good to see you," he said, feeling a little relief almost instantly. He wasn't alone. "It's....going. A lot seems to be happening as this year wraps up," he said honestly but also not yet going into details on the matter. No need to bombard her at the start.
"Yea, OWLs are finishing up - thankfully. I was expecting for them to be a lot but oy, were they a lot," he said and smiled softly. It wasn't his intention to scare his friend for her future endeavors there at Hogwarts but at least she'd have some insight. He was a fairly good academic and studied often enough but found the OWLs to be quite a lot - some subjects more than others. Still, he wanted to be a healer so the OWLs weren't a choice for him. "Crazy to think we're jumping from that craziness to the craziness of summer here soon."
"Still broom racing too. I've done some pick up games of quidditch and its fun and all but I just can't see myself swapping it for broom racing. There's nothing quite like it. I wouldn't be good for the dueling type. Something about that seems so.....I dunno. You're trying to attack the other, in a way. That's sort of how I think about it and I'm a lover, not a fighter."
He'd surely go into more details if she wanted him to go into more details and he stopped his walking so she could catch up with him. It was just then that a few raindrops began to fall but nothing too tragic - yet. "What about you? How did this year go for Charlie Jacobsen? What's in store for the summer?"
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
banner made by the wonderful erendriel ravaxidor
If Charlie was the type of girl to smile, she would have smiled upon seeing her friend Simon. He seemed relieved that it was her that was approaching him and not someone else. THe two began chatting about how the year was going, and Charlie definitely agreed with him. “Yeah… definitely. I don’t know if your professors piled on the readings and essays at the end of your third year, but I have so much to do…” Charlie replied. “Though I assume that your workload is much more difficult than mine, with OWLs and everything.”
Their conversation slowly shifted to OWLs, which slightly freaked Charlie out. She had no clue what she wanted to do, she honestly didn’t even knew her options. “Yeah, I am definitely not excited for my OWLs.” she responded, unsure of what she would even need to do for her OWLs. “How do you think yours went?” What classes are you hoping to continue with?” She asked, trying to find the balance between bombarding him with questions and asking too little. “Summer is so close! Do you have any fun plans for it? I don’t even know what I plan to do.”
She listened to her friend Simon talk about his love for broom racing, and how he could never swap over to quidditch or dueling. “I feel the same about quidditch. I love the sport and there is no way I could switch.” Over the past 2ish years, she had shaped into the perfect a good enough keeper for Ravenclaw’s quidditch team. She had poured her heart and soul into her training, and she could never give up all of her hard work.
She felt the rain but ignored it, and continued catching up with her friend. “The year went… interestingly? It was fine, could have been worse.”
@Simon Kincaid
Charlie Jacobsen | shop | | ❝Write day and night like you need it to survive ❞ |
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
"OWLs were....a lot of work," he put it nicely. He didn't want to scare Charlie into worrying about them sooner than she needed to but he also didn't want to dismiss them because they had been a LOT of work - so many hours of studying, so much stress. Even now, he worried about his grades. He had gotten a few back, and most were perfect grades. On one, he had misunderstood the question, causing him to do even more work than it asked, but then got deducted that full mark - but still passed, luckily.Catching up with @Charlie Jacobsen
"I'll be taking a full set of classes from here on out. I've decided I want to become a healer," he said. That meant he would also have to take the NEWTs in almost the full set of classes but at least he knew that and could prepare for it. "I'm going to be doing an internship this summer with St Mungos," and he was looking forward to that. He just hoped he could do more than take out the trash or get coffees and teas.
"Other than the internship, just want to spend more time with my family, more time with my muggle friends, and then at summer's end I have to go to my father's," he didn't realize that his voice hinted at being irritated with that last part. He made no mention of AngelFyre either. She was part of his big summer plans unfortunately which was breaking up with her. It was something he tried to avoid thinking about.
"What do you have for summer plans?"
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
banner made by the wonderful erendriel ravaxidor
The two continued talking about OWLs. Charlie could tell that Simon was doing his best not to scare her just yet about how scary the OWLs were for him. She knew they were going to be a lot of work, but she still had time. “Yeah, I bet. They sound like a lot of work.” She said, not knowing what else to add.
They moved on to the topic of their futures, Charlie asked about what classes Simon wanted to take in the future. She listened to him about how he would be loading up his schedule with classes designed for him to become a healer. He added on about his summer internship at St. Mungos, the magical hospital. “That means you have to take the NEWTs, right?” She asked. She was relatively new to the wizarding community, and was just starting to hear about the OWLs and NEWTs that were upcoming. “An internship! That sounds super cool! What do you think you will be asked to do during your internship?” She asked, hoping that he would be able to learn a lot.
Their conversation slowly turned into summer plans. She listened to what Simon had in store for his summer, internship, time with family and friends, and spending time with his father. Hearing his plans made her realize, she didn’t really have any plans for herself. “Honestly… I don’t really have a ton of plans, I’m not going to summer camp, not staying with my father, so hopefully I will spend a lot of time with my family.” She responded. “Are you going to see AngelFrye this summer?” she asked him, knowing that according to the school gossip, they were still together.
@Simon Kincaid
Charlie Jacobsen | shop | | ❝Write day and night like you need it to survive ❞ |
Grey Skies Over Green Fields
Hard talks with @Charlie Jacobsen
"I still can't perform magic outside of school so I suppose the internship will be a lot of observations and busy work, to be honest - but you've got to start somewhere, right? I'm going to try and learn all that I can and make some connections with some of the staff. Maybe I'll work there someday," Simon said with a smile and a shrug. That was sort of his dream job. He didn't want a small little practice where he made housecalls to pureblooded families with children who had coughs and minor ailments - he wanted to be in the craziness of the worst, helping at the biggest, and hoping to perform miracles. The work would be fast paced and rewarding.
"I hope it goes well with your father and family," he said to her, truly hoping that for Charlie. "What do you think you'll get up to?" He hoped her experience with a father was much different than his own. Much different than his own who was controlling and manipulative and trying his best to marry him off..... Simon wasn't still quite sure if that was legal or not, but he wasn't sure how vampire law coincided with wizarding law. He was of age to legally marry as a wizard and wizards were allowed to have arranged marriages so maybe it wasn't something that could be prevented.
He'd find a way. He had to.
"Uh, well, we're going to see each other uh, on the first day of summer break when her parents come get her at the train station but that'll be....that'll be probably....it," he said, his voice now suddenly choppy and unlike his normally confident self. That would be it, unfortunately. He would see AngelFyre then, that was no lie, and it would be then that they would orchestrate a 'break up' with their families as audience. His father had threatened AngelFyre's life and therefore they needed to be apart for now - anything to keep her safe.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)