Vanilla Twilight Finished

Lorelai tried to stay on her best behavior (if not for her own sake then he mother's) but she felt stuffed up and needed to get away from it all. Schoolwork had been stressing her out, and the roof of the Astronomy tower was the perfect place to wind down. The mix of the calm evening breeze, along with beautiful view relaxed the Gryffindor instantly. Surprisingly, there was another girl waiting there. The dark haired girl hardly ever had company on her periodical nightly trips to the Astronomy tower. Lorelai saw that the girl had earbuds. Now that was something that Lorelai hadn't seen in awhile. Her squib mother had clumsily taught herself how to use muggle technology, so Lorelei had always been exposed to it. Lorelai had never been too fond of muggle technology but she understood it well enough. She never cared to have any though (not that her family could even afford it).

Lorelai hadn't really made any friends at Hogwarts yet, and was nervous to meet a new person, but her curiosity and desire for friendship egged her on.

Cautiously, Lorelai approached the girl, when looked to be about her age. She stood next to her gazing into the depths of the night sky with her. She sighed deeply and asked, "What are you listening to?"

Ami, embarrassingly enough, screamed. Like, a someone is attacking me type of scream. After all, most people didn't approach her in broad daylight, let alone pitch black midnight. She clapped her hand over her mouth and whispered, "Oh. Hi. Jesus, you scared me. Crud, I really hope no one finds us up here." Her eyes widened and she blushed. "I- uh, I mean, not in that way. No, not like that. That would be really awkward. Oh gosh, I'm prattling again."

She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's start over. Just, ignore everything I just said. Hi. Um, I'm listening to Vanilla Twilight, by Owl City. I love his music- he makes a great one-man-band. D'you... uh, d'you want an earbud?" She took one out of her ear and offered it to the girl. "I'm Ami, by the way. What brings you up to my humble abode?" Her eyes twinkled in the low light and her eyebrows twitched mischievously, indicating it was a joke. "I'm pretty sure..." she squinted, looking at the scarf wrapped around the girl's neck. (<- I can delete that part if you want) "I'm pretty sure Gryffindors abide by the rules more than the average human, witch, or wizard."

Lorelai took the earbud from the Hufflepuff, smiling at the gesture. She was never a big music person, but she enjoyed the sound of music accompanied by the subtle nightly wind. This girl seemed to be a bit of a mess, but Lorelai was one as well so she certainly had no room to judge.

"Well, I suppose I'm an exception to that rule. I've always been quite the troublemaker. My mom can confirm that I assure you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can appreciate the serenity up here. I go here quite often, it makes me feel more relaxed. Like it lifts a weight off my chest."

Lorelai leaned against the railing of the tower, looking below at the Hogwarts grounds. She couldn't see a single soul, well it was night after all. "I suppose you're not much of a rule follower either, are you Ami?"She smiled, gazing into the dark sky. "I'm Lorelai, Lorelai Brunelle, just in case you were wondering. By the way, I would try not to scream,"Lorelai giggled into her robe sleeve. "Don't wanna get caught!" Lorelai turned back to Ami and offered a friendly smile. Maybe this could be a start of a partnership in crime...?

Ami breathed a sigh of relief at the mention of Lorelai being a rule breaker. "Thank goodness, you won't rat me out then, I take it? I just have the need to wander sometimes- sleep insomnia, social anxiety, lack of the ability to close my eyes and keep them that way, and so forth. I'm glad you enjoy the view- stars are quite the scientific miracle. In fact, some of the stars we see up here tonight could be dead right now, and we wouldn't even know it. That's just how far away they are. Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Lorelai Brunelle," Ami repeated, smiling. She stepped closer to her so ther earbuds weren't super stretched out. "I take it your parents dwell in the land of exotic names, as well, Miss Brunelle? I'm familiar with Lorelei, like from Robert Asprin's Phule series, book two, A Phule's Paradise, but Lorelai, with the 'ai' combination is certainly new."

“Oh Jesus Christ Superstar- wait, that's a musical. Oh Lord, our savior, hear my prayer," Ami said, messily making a cross (she was atheist, after all). "That we, Miss Brunelle and I, won't get caught out by responsible individuals, such as Prefects, as a result of my ear-shattering scream."

Lorelai let out a laugh at Ami's attempt at begging for divine protection. "I sure hope that whoever's up there is listening."

Lorelai was used to hearing things about her name. It happened quite often actually, but it didn't bother her much. "My name is certainly unique. It's an alternative spelling of the name Lorelei. My mom swears the spellings intentional, but I think she might be covering up for that fact that she didn't know how to spell it right on my birth certificate. I mean, her English was shaky at the time, so I have a theory that the nurses at the hospital heard a different spelling than what my mom said. But that's just an educated guess, really."

Lorelai sighed and listened to the lyrics coming into her ears.

When violet eyes get brighter
And heavy wings grow lighter
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again
And I'll forget the world that I knew
But I swear I won't forget you
Oh if my voice could reach back through the past
I'd whisper in your ear,
"Oh darling I wish you were here"

The lyrics were poetic and somehow relatable to Lorelai. She closed her eyes to savor the peaceful moment. It almost made her think of her father. She knew it was silly to think about him so often. After all he never wanted a part in her life, why should she care? Yet, her thoughts always seemed to go back to him.

The song suddenly ended and Lorelai handed back the earbud to Amy, thanking her quietly. "Do you like music?"

Ami had watched Lorelai's face out of the corner of her eye as the song played, observing the far-off look Lorelai's eyes took on. So Miss Brunelle related to this song on a personal level- not unusual, a lot of people did. But the look on Lorelai's face indicated that this was deeply personal- interesting.

The song ended, and Lorelai handed the earbud back to Ami. "Do you like music?" Lorelai asked. Ami laughed softly. "Well... yeah. Yeah, I like music. I play piano, and some other instruments- I liked piano the best, though. I also love to listen to music, quite obviously. I don't take it- music, I mean- seriously, though; my mother says it should be a hobby, and that it's not a good enough job." Why was she sharing so much of her personal life with this girl she just met? Ami mentally chastised herself for doing so, and redirected the conversation back to Lorelai so she wouldn't seem pushy. "And what's something that I should know about you, Miss Brunelle? Are you a musician, as well? Are you a professional nighttime explorer? Or is there some secret, hidden skill you're just simply dying to let out?"

"Oh, I wish. I would hardly call myself a professional nighttime explorer. I'm more of an amateur really. I'm not all that sure. I'm clearly good at breaking the rules, but I guess that's already quite obvious. Well..."Lorelai trailed off, digging into her brain for any information that might prove useful in this conversation. Suddenly something came to her. "Well my mother didn't really have all that much money for sweets and such when I was little. So I got into a nasty habit of stealing candy from drugstores and such. Never been caught. I feel bad about it but I bet you I'm still hella good at it."

Lorelai would usually feel uncomfortable telling this kind of stuff to a near stranger but she figures Ami wasn't the type to go and tell so she didn't mind. If her mother ever knew she would probably die of horror. She was too pure of a soul to even imagine her daughter stealing. Thinking of her mother, Lorelai felt homesickness rush over her. Her mother was really her closest friend and it hurt to be away from her for so long. The Gryffindor made a mental note to go and send an owl to her mother in the morning.

Ami raised her eyebrows, impressed. A smooth pickpocketer- that was new. Externally, however, Ami wagged a disapproving finger. "Miss Brunelle, only use your powers for good, not evil- and within evil, I also include selfishness. If you do that again, I fully expect you to give away the candy to some poor soul who desperately needs it. You could be, like, a drugstore Robin Hood!" Ami laughed. "I'm not encouraging you to steal, though. Just to be clear on that."

Lorelai really was a nice girl- hopefully, she'd show up in the same classes as Ami; it would be nice to have a familiar face. She'd just have to cross her fingers and wait- only five more days to go until she received her schedule. Ami mentally filed Lorelai away under the label of "Look into- potential friends, definite allies".

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew across the Astronomy tower, and Ami shivered, ill-prepared for any cold; she'd only come out here in her pajamas, which were shorts and a thin tank top. Rubbing her arms, she forgot that the motion would bring attention to the thin white lines up and down her forearms. "Geez, I thought it would be at least a little bit warmer up here," she complained. "I guess I was proven wrong."

"Miss Brunelle, only use your powers for good, not evil- and within evil, I also include selfishness. If you do that again, I fully expect you to give away the candy to some poor soul who desperately needs it. You could be, like, a drugstore Robin Hood!" Ami laughed. "I'm not encouraging you to steal, though. Just to be clear on that." A smile found its way onto Lorelai's face with that. She really liked this girl's sense of humor. She hadn't stolen so much as a lollipop in almost three years, so she didn't feel all that and about it anymore. The ravenette knew it was wrong and didn't plan on taking anything else in the future.


After hearing that the other girl was cold, Lorelai looked at her own clothing. She had never actually changed out of her robes that she had worn that day, she was a bit chilly but easily warm enough. The girl felt bad that her new acquaintance, and possible friend, wasn't feeling comfortable.

Lorelai had always been very well adapted to the cold (with the downside of dying anytime it became even remotely hot) and felt she needed to do something to help. "Oh, it is cold, isn't it? It seems like you didn't really prepare for that, huh? If you like, you could borrow my robe, or maybe my scarf, I'm pretty warm already. You clearly need it more."