Questions and Answers PV Haley Rose Finished

"Oh tons, I'm sure," he said as he moved his piece of parchment away so she could have access to all the keys at the piano within her reach, encouraging her to keep playing. "But that's one of the things that is so great about friendship. We've got time to figure things out about each other," he smiled to her.

"What is something you'd change about me?" he asked her. That was one that popped into his head. Maybe it was because he already had the answer to that question for her, but still, he had asked it and would give her the opportunity to answer first.

"And no offense will be taken, I promise. No one is perfect," he smiled to her. "I mean, you and I...we come as close as one can get, but you know..."

He thought about what Haley had mentioned about not wanting to be forgotten and he couldn't really picture how someone could forget her. It wasn't just her fiery hair that caught your attention, but her heart. She surely wasn't forgotten by him and was on his mind a lot.

As she continued to play the song, he mimicked the same notes but a couple octaves difference. He had gotten pretty good at playing by ear and while he wouldn't be able to do the full song with her, he could add on the repetitive parts.

blushing @Simon Kincaid

Haley smiled and nodded her agreement to Simon. How right he was only with his words and she was really looking forward to spending more time with him and getting to know him even better. "I'm really looking forward to it." Simon had grown so close to her heart in that short time that she almost didn't think it was possible. And to top it off, he was her first crush, which of course he didn't know.

Haley looked at him startled at his question. What would she ever want to change about him? Nothing. He was fine the way he was, and the little quirks in a person are what really make them. Haley returned her gaze to the piano as she pondered his question. It was a good question. An answer suddenly popped into her head that she could never have told him. She had a crush on this boy, so of course she would want to change his relationship status, but she couldn't tell him that. She shook her head at this thought but had to smile broadly. She would have liked to see his facial expression at this answer but she would not have had the courage to do so.

She laughed out loud, the line could have been from herself. "Yes you are right, we are very close." She continued to think but couldn't think of a good answer. She looked over at Simon as he started playing with her and grinned at him. "We should do that more often." But she didn't want to distract from his question, "But back to your question. So first of all, that's a really good question and I really don't know quite what to answer. I mean like you said yourself, we're pretty close to being perfect." She laughed for a moment before continuing "But I guess there is one thing," or two but that part she just thought to herself, "If I could change one thing about you it would be the time you have for me." She couldn't help but laugh and didn't even want to know what Simon must be thinking now with that answer. "I'd give you an exra big pile of Haley time."

She turned her head back towards the piano and looked at the keys, even though it wasn't necessary, but she didn't want Simon to see her cheeks turn red. "But equal rights for all. What would you change about me? And just because I didn't have a good answer doesn't mean that you don'T have the chance to be really honest now." She started laughing "Come on Kincaid, what would make me perfect?"

"Oh, I had an answer before I even asked," he laughed. "And you know what? It rather mimics yours, honestly. If I could change one thing I would be that you were sorted into the same house as I was. Not so much because I'd want to take Gryffindor away from you, but the house system divides us. I know that's not how we're supposed to look at it but it does. Again, it's like the evening we spent out in the Courtyard, we couldn't just go back to to our Common Room and have a little more time."

He hoped that she hadn't found that response too pathetic. It sort of openly stated how much time he wished he could spend with her but it was only truth so he didn't regret saying it. "I guess for now we'll just have to find temporary refuge in the library and here int he rehearsal room and remember that absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Simon didn't want to get into this all too deep because what if she asked him to expand on these statements? What if he was going to have to admit feelings that weren't returned? Just as he didn't envision the corridors as the right place for their first kiss, he wasn't sure the rehearsal room was the right place for such statements. "What other songs do you like to play?"

need of adventure? @Simon Kincaid

Haley laughed at Simon's comment, it was clever to already have an answer to the question but she was curious what his answer would be. She smiled to herself as she continued to listen to him and nodded in agreement. She knew what Simon meant. Sometimes she wished they could just meet in the common room, but unfortunately this was not possible. But that was just the way it was. Things couldn't be perfect, unfortunately, and she knew that. "Me in Hufflepuff? Imagine that." She laughed now, "But yeah, I know what you mean."

"But you have to see the good in it." Haley began to speak while still gently playing the piano keys. "So we can discover the castle together." Haley knew there wasn't much the two of them didn't know yet, but she was also sure there were still things they would both discover here at Hogwarts. "And somehow that makes the time we spend together a little more valuable." Haley didn't know how to describe what she felt and left her statement like that. She was sure Simon would understand her, at least to some degree.

Haley didn't answer Simon's question with words but suddenly started to play another song and smiled broadly at him. She knew he would recognize the song after a few seconds and she found herself dancing with Simon in the corridors while she played "I Swear". She listened to a few more bars of the music before continuing to speak, "Speaking of exploring Hogwarts together, would you like to join me discovering the chamber?" Haley hoped very much that Simon wouldn't say no but she could understand if he didn't want to do it. But she didn't want to go alone and the only one she would really like to have with her the first time was Simon.

He smiled at recognizing the song. She then spoke of the Chamber and he remembered her first mentioning it when they were in the library and she discovered it in a book. Simon didn't really know much about it or how it might help Haley in any of her discoveries more into herself or her ventures as a parselmouth, he knew that only parselmouths could open it.

"Yes, I'd very much like to." He wasn't sure he was her best choice. He wasn't a parselmouth himself nor was he the most valiant - at least in his mind. Simon had never really fallen into predicaments where he was in danger and had to help save someone but it was something this boy needn't worry about - he had the heart to WANT to save people and the strength, speed, and courage to save others.

"That brings us to our next question. When do we go?" Truly though, her response to this question didn't matter at all. It wasn't that Simon didn't do anything in his free time around the castle, but rather that the one person he'd always want to shift his plans to spend extra time with was the redhead who was right there before him.

"It's rather crazy that the place actually exists, you know?" but it really didn't surprise him. Not with the way Salazar Slytherin acted all those many years ago as Hogwarts was being founded. He had read a couple books in the library about the school's founders. One of them held rather different viewpoints than his counterparts.

Haley was very happy that Simon would go with her. She knew that this place was not dangerous, at least not anymore, yet she did not want to explore this place alone, at least the first time. And she couldn't have imagined anyone better as an adventure partner than her secret-keeper Simon. Haley had been practicing language control ever since she learned that she was a Parsel. She always practiced during her free time when she was alone. At first it seemed hopeless and Haley would never make it, but after a few weeks she could see the first signs of progress.

She knew that she would need some time to open the chamber and find the courage to take this step but she also knew that it would not take much longer. In the meantime Haley had come to terms with her new knowledge and began to enjoy it. She rarely had the thought that this was a bad thing and was getting more and more involved with it. Haley couldn't estimate exactly how long it would take her to perfect her skills, but she assumed a few weeks. "Hmm, I think a weekend would be good. I need some more time though." She glanced sheepishly at the keys of the piano, "Let's say two weeks from now, if that's convenient for you?"

Haley chuckled at Simon's comment, "Yeah, I thought so too. I could never believe this place really existed, but it does." Halley had read a lot about the chamber since then and had come to grips with the whole story. Of course, the creation and the original idea was horrible and Haley would never have been able to identify with it, but of course that was in the past.

He knew that it had been a journey already for Haley. She began to unexpectedly speak a language she didn't know she could speak, then wanted to learn to control it. There was lots of stigma behind this all - some fact, some fiction. He remembered Henry Knight in their study session talking about werewolves and how he said a lot of it was more exaggerated fiction than fact. There was nothing wrong with being a parselmouth and he was glad that Haley was starting to realize that.

Still, he somehow knew that although this didn't affect him personally, that this was going to be a hard personal journey to take. Standing in the footsteps of past parselmouths, trying to open a secret passage, well, that was acceptance of sorts. It was accepting what one was, what their kind had been, what one could be, and explore a part of the castle that others didn't get to see.

He was thankful that Haley had chosen him to come with her. This meant she valued him, trusted him, and wanted to share her ventures with him. It also maybe meant that she relied on him for emotional support, which he would definitely be there to give.

"You just be sure to tell me when and where to meet and I'll be there," he reached his hand over the piano. Her playing was nice and he didn't want to interrupt it but he still took her hand into his and squeezed it softly. "We should be heading out. It's unfortunately nearing curfew."

Gotta love all the rules and regulations.

And the curfew just got shorter and shorter with each weird thing that went on at this school. Sometimes Simon wondered how it was allowed to stay open with all the craziness that occurred and the danger that happened to students. "Come on, I'll walk you to your Common Room."

[Thread finished.]