Exploring the Corridors Finished

[font=big caslon]Wren walked quietly through the corridor, lost in thought. She had just sent a letter to her family, and was slowly making her way around the school. A million different thoughts were flooding in and out of her head, all based on the same question. What will my family think? She had officially been here for a week, and she still hadn't told her family about getting to Gryffindor. She'd been to worried to say anything since her mother had made such a big deal that she get in Slytherin. Only a little bit ago had she gathered up enough courage to send the letter, and now a million different scenarios were coursing in and out of her mind. Undoubtably, her brother, Merrick, would be happy for her. After all, he was a Gryffindor and would be happy that his little sister was too. Her parents, on the other hand, probably wouldn't be to pleased. Wren pushed away the thought, deciding she didn't want to deal with this right now. Looking up from the stone floor, she noticed just in time that a girl was standing in front of her. Wren couldn't help jumping a little. The girl had come from the right, her blind side.

"Sorry... wasn't even looking where I was going." said the girl. She had wavy, dark colored hair and grey eyes. Her skin was pale, and she seemed a little taller than average. A green, Slytherin crest was on her robes. Wren began to grow excited. This was the first Slytherin she'd met, and possibly her first real friend. Not taking even a moment to think, Wren quickly jumped into action.

"Hello, I'm Wren. Sorry we almost bumped into each other, I couldn't see you." The girl seemed to understand.

"Hi, my name's Scarlet." said the girl, her eyes momentarily focused on Wren's. Wren instinctively wondered if the girl was going to ask her about why they were different colors, since usually everyone does.

"So, I was thinking about going out on the grounds for a little bit. You can come if you want. There's some good climbing trees down there." said Wren, careful to keep the hint of desperation out of her voice. She didn't know if Scarlet even wanted to hang out with her, but it was worth a shot. She held her breath as she waited for the girls answer. It felt like hours before she said anything, and the silence between them only made things worse.[/font]

Scarlet was wondering whether it would be too forward of her to ask the young Gryffindor why it was that each of her eyes were a different colour, but soon realised she had been staring too long so decided to bring it up once they had gotten to know each other a bit better. The girl quickly introduced herself as Wren, before saying,

"So, I was thinking about going out on the grounds for a little bit. You can come if you want. There's some good climbing trees down there."

Scarlet was so relieved Wren had asked her to tag along, she hadn't really made any good friends yet and so jumped at the possibility of her being the first. Plus, she had yet to explore the grounds and with the days getting darker earlier, she would prefer the company.

"That sounds great, I've been meaning to look around the grounds for a couple of days now" Scarlet replied. She couldn't hide the smile she felt starting to appear on her face, "I actually grew up in a sort of woodland area and used to do quite a bit of climbing." The two of them exchanged smiles, and it was clear they were both eager to get going, "I've only really been to the owlery in the grounds, so I'll let you lead the way."

@Wren Windgazer

[font=big caslon]"That sounds great, I've been meaning to look around the grounds for a couple days now." She leaped a Scarlets words, and she couldn't suppress the smile that was beginning to appear on her face. This could be her first real friend. All earlier worry about the owl to her parents was completely forgotten.

"I actually grew up in a sort of woodland area and used to do quite a bit of climbing." continued Scarlet. She seemed to realize how eager Wren was and must have realized that she was excited too, as she changed the subject, "I've only really been to the Owlery in the grounds, so I'll let you lead the way." Gesturing to her companion, Wren started walking in the direction of the stairs. It didn't take long, and soon they were on the staircases heading down. She went a little faster than she meant to, but she hadn't exactly had a great first experience on these. Happy to get off of them, she turned in the direction of the grounds. The large, heavy doors leading out to it was open, and she stepped very happily out onto the grass. As it was getting close to the curfew, the sun was starting to set. It was just above the trees, casting shadows over the forbidden forest. Setting their direction towards a small patch of trees near the lake, she dropped back next to Scarlet.

"So, you lived near a forest? I lived really close to one. It was behind my house and went all the way to my school. I used to explore there a lot with my brother before he went off to Hogwarts and became an auror." she paused, "Do you have any siblings?"[/font]

Before long, the two girls had made their way out of the castle and Scarlet found herself strolling through a long stretch of grass, ahead of them she saw a small cluster of trees. Wren turned back to her, she told Scarlet of how she too had lived near a forest and loved to spend time exploring it, before asking, "Do you have any siblings?"

"No... I am an only child. I didn't really mind when I was growing up, I had a cat, well he was my mum's cat, called Ashur, and I used to do all my exploring with him. I was homeschooled too, so the only other kids I got to know were the ones that lived close by, well that was when we were living in London." Scarlet paused, she looked to Wren who, smiling, seemed interested in what she was saying, so she continued. "We used to live in the city, but when I was quite young, about five I think, we moved to a house in New Forest in the south of the country, closer to my uncle."

By this time, they had reached the closest tree that formed the small cluster. Scarlet looked up towards the tree's taller branches, the last of the evening's sun shone through the leaves, creating odd shadows up the trunk. Spotting a short branch within arms reach, Scarlet turned to Wren, "Let's give this a shot," and proceeded to make a grab for the branch, pulling herself higher up into the tree. From the ground the tree must have looked much higher becuase within a minute she had found a sturdy branch near the top of the tree to sit on. Looking down at the base of the tree, she called out to Wren, "I'd love to here about your family, are both your parents magical?" Just then she caught a glimpse of the setting sun over the Black Lake, "wow, you should see the views of the lake from up here," Scarlet moved further along the branch, waiting to see what Wren would do next.

@Wren Windgazer

[font=big caslon]She listened intently as they continued to the path of trees. It was interesting hearing about Scarlet, and the more she heard the more she liked the girl.

"Let's give this a shot." said the Slytherin as they came to a large tree. There were a couple shorter branches in reach, and she wasted no time in climbing up. Wren watched as her companion worked her way into the tree and finally settled on a sturdy looking branch.

"I've love to hear about your family, are both your parents magical?" called Scarlet, then paused for a second, "wow, you should see the view of the lake from up here." Now excited, Wren grabbed a hold of the first branch and began pulling herself up. She loved the feeling of the wood beneath her hands and the forest-like smell that lingered. She had forgotten how much she missed doing this. Grabbing onto another branch, she worked her way up the tree with great ease. The world below her grew smaller and smaller and she grew closer to the top. Finally reaching the spot where Scarlet was sitting, she stopped climbing. Holding onto a higher branch with one hand and placing her feet on the branch with her friend, she leaned out to the side to get a look at the lake. The sun was reflecting off of the dark water, giving it a mesmerizing effect. Suddenly remembered Scarlet's question about her family, Wren, still hanging from the tree, turned to her.

"Yes, my mother is a pure-blood and my dad is muggle-born," she started, not really sure of what to say, "I have a brother named Merrick, who's actually an auror. Before that, though, we would go exploring in the forest near our house every day. We would climb the trees and swim in the small lake that was in the forest. We even met the hippogriff that lives in the forest, once." She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She didn't really want to talk about her parents if she didn't have to.[/font]

Scarlet watched as Wren made her way up the tree with ease, she had clearly been climbing many times before. She sat near Scarlet and told her about her family, her own interest peaked when Wren mentioned that her brother worked as an auror, Scarlet's father being an auror also.

"Wow, really," Scarlet couldn't hide the amazement when Wren told her about the hippogriff she had met in a forest once. Scarlet noticed Wren seemed a bit distant when speaking about her parents, and when the young Gryffindor didn't pick up the conversation about her family again Scarlet thought it best not to dig deeper.

Looking down at the vast grounds leading up to the castle, towards the quidditch stadium Scarlet saw a group of magpies pecking at what she assumed were little insects in the ground and in the other direction a group of older Ravenclaws were making their way back towards the castle.

Looking over her shoulders, Scarlet saw the Forbidden Forest, the majority of it's trees at least the double the height of the one she had climbed. She thought back to the headmasters warnings about the dangers within, this of course only made her more curious.

"I wonder what kind of magical creatures are in the forest?" Scarlet thought aloud. "I wish we were able to start Care of Magical Creatures classes sooner, I think it's third or fourth year we have to wait till though." Bringing her gaze back from the shadowed forest to turn to face Wren again, "as much as I love creatures, going off the few classes we've had I think Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favourite. Which class is your favourite?" Scarlet loved going to all her classes and hoped Wren wouldn't mind her enthusiasm for shcoolwork.

[font=big caslon]"I wonder what kind of magical creatures are in the forest?" said Scarlet, looking over at the forbidden forest. Wren followed her gaze, wondering if she had spotted something. The trees stood dark and secret behind them, shadowed by the setting sun. The leaves rustled softly in the wind, and the trunks let out nerve-racking creeks. A noise could be heard in the distance, though she wasn't sure what type of animal sounds like that. Looking closer at the trees, she could pick up signs of movement. There's something in there, but I can't tell what it is. She remembered when her brother was taking Care of Magical Creatures. He had said that there were all sorts of creatures in there, from bowtruckles and nifflers to centaurs and thestrals. Wren had seen all of them before, minus the centaur, and she wondered if it would be possible to see some of them from the tree.

"There are a lot of creatures in there," she said, remembering that Scarlet was there, "Nifflers, bowtruckles, thestrals... almost everything lives in there."

"I wish we were allowed to start Care of Magical Creature classes sooner, I think it's third or fourth year we have to wait till though." Scarlet looked back at Wren before continuing, "As much as I love creatures, going off the few classes we've had I think Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite. Which class is your favorite?" Wren responded almost immediately after the Slytherin asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, definitely." She had always found and interest in the class, and the interest had spiked since she came to Hogwarts, "Have you learned any spells yet?"[/font]

"Nifflers, bowtruckles, thestrals... almost everything lives in there." As Wren spoke about the variety of magical creatures that may call the forest home, Scarlet thought back to looking through her mother's sketches of the of the different creatures she had studied - she wondered if the thestrals were as big as she imagined.

It was great to hear that Wren's favourite lesson was Defense Against the Dark Arts, just like her, and she seemed just as enthusiastic about it too. Scarlet made a mental note that Wren would be a great person to come to if she felt like chatting about the classes, and she would look out for the Gryffindor during her next lesson.

"Have you learned any spells yet?" Scarlet thought back to the evening she spent in the Slytherin common room after her first charms class practising the Reparo charm on one of her glass potion vials. "Yeah a couple, I literally spent ages in my dorm trying out the first one I learnt, I was so excited! It will be useful knowing Lumos for heading down to the dungeons in the evening, that's in one of the next lessons though I think."

Wren bringing up lessons lead Scarlet to think about different extracurricular activies that were also on offer. Although she loved riding her broom at home she wasn't really planning on trying out for the team, at least not yet, though she had heard something about broom racing amongst other students that had interested her. Scarlet's father had spent hours with her going over all his old moves from when he was at Hogwarts, and even though she had only grasped a couple of the basic techniques, it was the time he had been able to spend time with her away from work that Scarlet loved the most. Seen as though she hadn't even learnt any spells or jinxes for duelling, let alone practise them, Scarlet was pretty convinced that she wouldn't be much help in the Slytherin duelling team.

"Have you thought about trying out for any of the school's extracurricular teams? I'm assuming you are Irish from your accent, could you see yourself playing for the Irish team?" Scarlet said smiling to Wren before continuing with a light-hearted tone, "I mean for all I know, you could be Gryffindor's key to the quidditch cup, I'd need to warn my own house then!"

[font=big caslon]"Yes, I'm Irish." Wren clarified before continuing, "I haven't seriously considered joining the Gryffindor quidditch team. It might be fun, but I don't know how good I'd be."

Wren had always liked flying on a broomstick, but she wasn't sure how well she'd do in an actual game. There were so many rules and other players, it was just easier to fly around on her own. She really didn't care much for competitions like that anyway, unless she was watching it. One on one activities were more her style. Besides, who wants a partially blind player on their team?

"Maybe a dueling club would be fun. I like casting spells, so it could be fun." she said, picking a leaf off the tree they were in. She twirled it in her fingers for a minute before letting it drop to the ground. The wind had picked up a little bit, flowing underneath the leaf and carrying it into the sky. The sun could be seen setting over the horizon now, and the few clouds in the darkening sky moved away to reveal the moon. It wasn't full, but it still shone brightly through the treetops. Probably should start heading inside, she noted. They would have to go back in a minute if they didn't want to stay out past curfew. She herself didn't mind sneaking out, but it didn't feel right to potentially get Scarlet in trouble.

"So this was fun," Wren said, beginning to slip down the tree trunk, "We'll probably get in trouble if we don't head inside, but maybe we can see each other another time?"

It was rare that Wren found someone she liked and was aware of it right off the bat. She truly was a loner through and through, but every once in a while it was nice to have some company. Mom and Dad would approve at least.

The ground was littered with shadows by the time they reached the castle. As they were in different houses, Wren waved goodbye and went on her way. Not many students remained in the halls, so she was able to reach the Gryffindor common room in a matter of minutes. Thank goodness I finally learned the way around the school. The room had much more activity than the rest of the school. Rubbing her eyes, Wren climbed the small flight of stairs and spread her books and assignments on her bed. She had an exam the next day and she didn't feel like failing it, but too many thoughts were flowing through her mind. It had been fun talking with Scarlet, and she sincerely hoped that they met up again.[/font]

Reducio

[font=big caslon]Interacting with @Scarlet Salvatore
Sorry that took a couple days to send. But now we can start our new roleplay ![/font]