Running Up That Hill PV A. Jones Finished

OWL year was finally here. The stress of end-of-year exams had already started to weigh on Aaron Jones, despite them being only two weeks into the year. Professors and fellow students already talking about career paths and the OWLs that would be needed at the end of the year to pursue them. Although he could handle schoolwork a lot better now than he could back in first and second year, time management and staying on top of his assignments was still a pain point for the Hufflepuff. And his coping mechanism was still exercise.

The fifth year had filled out quite a bit over last year, and he felt better than ever in his own skin these days. It was all the more reason to keep up his training. Early morning runs were just one of many daily routines he had. Normally he'd be on the training pitch already at this time, but Chae-rin must've been out hunting because she hadn't shown up at the pitch. Aaron decided to just focus on some cardio that morning instead of their tricks. Wearing black sweatpants and a white tank-top (he'd shed his sweatshirt pretty early in the run, and now his building upper-body muscles were on display), the fifteen-year-old kept up a brisk pace around the lake.

A while later as he was running around the lake, he eventually saw in the distance a - dog? A huge dog, at that. And then a blink later, a girl. His head tilted as he jogged, then Aaron picked up his pace, curiosity getting the better of him. An animagus, if his guess was correct. He didn't recognize her from a distance, just saw long dark hair, but she stopped once she was closer to the castle-side of the lake again. She shed her sweatshirt and collapsed onto the ground. It took Aaron another half-a-minute to get close though.

"Hey," Aaron greeted, slowing his pace as he approached the girl on the ground.He'd called out his greeting so he wouldn't startle her, but perhaps she'd heard him approaching already. "You all right there?" he asked, stopping a foot or so away to give her some space. He was a little out of breath from pushing himself on the run, but tried not to let that show too much.

From this distance, he confirmed he didn't know her. She was probably a year below or ahead, and probably a different house, since he couldn't place her face. It crossed his mind that hers was quite a pretty face to not know, though.

@Illowy Magnard

Aaron is a Lovely Creature.

You are so incredibly beautiful, it is hard to take ones eyes off of you.

Aaron has a Calming Presence.

Your presence simply puts others at ease, if it is your carefree personality or the trust others have in you, the result is still the same. With you there, perhaps through your encouragement, your allies are able to better focus.

Illowy closed her eyes, quietly throwing a prayer into the universe in vain that whomever it was approaching would simply go away. When the lad spoke up, it was obvious that prayer was going to go unanswered. Ghostly pale eyes opened to stare up at the lad; her eyes being possibly her most infamous physical feature. It'd been said before that she had a stare that seemed to peer right through a person as opposed to actually looking at them. They were a stark contrast to her dark mess of confused curls and waves currently restrained in a braid, though as the sun started its climb the light brought out the red tint of her hair. Her usually pale complexion was flushed a little from the mix of exercise and chilly morning air.

In most scenarios, Illowy Magnard hardly appeared like the approachable type. She was cold, distant, aloof. However, it was difficult to give off that aire when you're still finding your breath because you've run so hard your legs have turned to jelly. Also, who in the world looks intimidating in little pink trainers and a pink hat?

Her eyes flicked over the lad, trying to place if she knew him. If they'd met before, he certainly hadn't made an impression. A pretty thing he was though, she thought to herself. He'd not let much to the imagination wearing just a tank top. Then again, she didn't have room to talk at the moment. When he asked if she was okay, she raised her arm into the air and offered a thumbs up before letting it flop back to the dewy grass, "If 'm breathin', 'm fine." she assured, still a bit breathless, hardly taking the effort to smooth out her Irish accent the way she normally would. The girl let her eyes close again as she recovered her breath, "The grass feels good."

In most situations, Illowy would have maintained some kind of a biting tone. Some quip to appear standoffish and compel a person to leave her be for fear she might make good on some empty promise to blast them into the lake so the Squid would have a fresh breakfast if they pressed her too much. That hardly seemed necessary right now. Why ruin the calm and peace of the morning with her overly defensiveness?

Having already spent part of his approach checking her out, Aaron's gaze was actually focused on the girl's face when she opened her eyes. He was caught a little off guard by the striking color contrast to her dark eyebrows and hair. Pretty eyes, he almost spoke the words aloud, but held his tongue. Her expression suggested she wasn't exactly pleased to be interrupted after her run, which was understandable, and he didn't want to push his luck with an out-the-gate flirty comment. There were a lot of personalities here at Hogwarts, and he'd encountered his fair share of negative ones.

He relaxed a bit when she didn't immediately tell him to get lost. In fact, since the Irish girl reassured that she was fine and that the grass felt nice, Aaron decided to take it as an invitation to join her. He definitely could've kept running, but there was a pretty girl lying here and seemingly open to conversation. He couldn't just leave.

"I agree," Aaron said, a slightly-crooked grin on his lips (though she probably wouldn't see it considering she'd closed her eyes again). He stepped over to her left, just outside the reach of her hand since she had both arms spread wide in the grass, and laid on the ground too. Instead of spreading his arms out, one hand laid behind his head supporting it while the other laid on his abdomen. The dewy grass did feel nice against the skin of his arms and the back of his neck.

His brown eyes took in the giant expanse of sky above them - since it was dawn the sun wasn't gonna be blinding him anytime soon, which meant he could search the blue for cloud formations. He also saw some owls heading towards the Great Hall for deliveries or towards the owlery so they could go rest.

"Is it cool running in an Animagus form like that? I can't imagine what that feels like," Aaron suddenly said, remembering part of the reason he'd been so curious about her. He turned his head slightly to the side so she was in his view. She had to be a year ahead, maybe even two, now that Aaron was actually thinking about it. You had to be at least fifth year to be an animagus. "I'm Aaron by the way," he quickly added, so they didn't continue without knowing each other's names. "I'm a fifth year, so while I have the option now to train for it, I don't think I'll ever have the skill to master it. I bet it feels amazing, though, to have a whole new form." A subtle compliment thrown in about the skill she must posses, but also truth in his words because Transfiguration was one of his worst classes.

@Illowy Magnard

She listened quietly to his steps, listening as the grass shifted as he laid down next to her. Illowy certainly didn't recall inviting him to join her quiet morning, but so long as he wasn't going to bug her, what was the harm. After all, as much as she liked to imagine that these kinds of mornings and this space belonged to her and only her, that wasn't exactly true.

In the silent moment, Illowy kept her eyes closed, still listening to the world around her waking up and lazily starting it's own morning routine. She could feel herself regrounding as the grass cooled her skin, her breathing slowed to baseline and her heart fell back into its normal rhythm. She supposed this would be the meditation that some of the Muggle Born students twittered about occasionally with their friends in the halls; quieting the mind and allowing one's self to refocus on calming whatever storm was on the inside to be able to function better on the inside.

Of course, that peace was once again short lived when the lad to her left spoke up. Though his topic of conversation startled her a moment. She hadn't even realized he'd seen her long enough to have seen her shift. It wasn't a secret, I mean she obviously had to be registered as an Animagus, but it wasn't something she went about proclaiming. Truthfully, it was a very small handful of people who even knew.

Illowy eyes opened once more to gaze up at the slowly brightening sky. The witch listened silently to him as he yammered on his thoughts and introductions. Aaron. A Fifth Year. Explained why she didn't recognize him. He must've been from a different house, "I...suppose I never really thought about it." she spoke thoughtfully. Which was true. In the last two years, she'd never really thought about how it felt in her other form beyond the freedom it supplied. Of course, when she'd first transformed, it felt strange how everything shifted, it felt strange to move in the slightest way, but now it felt like second nature to move from one form to the next; like the different between going from sitting down to standing up.

It still felt odd when people commended her for even managing to achieve Animagus. Even when Ruby complimented and praised her, it felt weird. Illowy committed herself to the spell years before she was able to actually train for it, spending obscene amounts of time to research and collecting what items she could for the spell. Everything after that boiled down to sheer willpower. In a way, she supposed it was a massive achievement because of the intricacy of the spell, but at the time, Illowy had felt like if she failed, it would have been as embarrassing as failing to preform Lumos, especially since she was so advanced in her Transfiguration studies. She couldn't have fail. It was success or nothing.

"Animagus forms are extensions of who you are at your core, represented by an animal. So, in a way, it just feels natural?" it came out more of a question then a statement, "But I suppose, for myself anyway, stronger? I can run harder and faster when I shift, and sometimes it feel like flying." the girl mused toward the sky, trying to decide if she was placing the right words to explaining herself. After a moment, she turned her head toward the uninvited lad at her side, "I'm Illowy Magnard. Sixth Year."

Aaron watched the girl ponder his question before answering, though she didn't turn to face him right away. He contemplated her words of the animagus being who you are at your core. If that could be represented in an animal, could it also be represented in a color? A flavor? Wizardkind had unlocked the representation of their core as an animal, but he wondered why exactly they had an animal representation when humans themselves were already animals.

This internal speculation - brought on by the hyperfixation he sometimes experienced - was quieted when she did finally turn to look at him. "Aaron Jones," he replied, since she included her last name and he had not originally done that. "Nice to meet you," he added, offering a smile with his words this time.

"Strength and speed sound enticing," he mused, using the hand closer to her and flexing his arm in jest. The building muscles there were a point of pride for the fifth-year, since he had been working out for years and now had started focusing on actually bulking his upper body. He thought he was making pretty good strides for being fifteen-and-a-half. "The feeling of flying even more so," he added, letting his arm fall back to his torso as his gaze went back to Illowy. "I think I'd be some sort of bird, flying is everything to me," he told her.

His brown eyes turned away again, back to the sky, as he contemplated being a bird. The whole animagus thing was so far out of his reach, but of course he'd thought about what he'd be if he did it. It seemed like something everyone did when they learned about animagi. And flying had always been so integral to what he thought he'd be, so some sort of bird was always the logical answer. What kind? No idea.

"Did you think you'd be a dog?" Aaron asked after a moment, keeping his eyes on the sky. "I mean, if that's what you are. That's what it looked like from earlier, but like a giant one - is your form a wolf, actually?" His sudden realization that he had no idea what her form actually was had him stumbling over his words a little as his head turned back to her, offering a slightly apologetic look for his assumption and hoping he was somewhat right.

@Illowy Magnard

Illowy wondered sometimes what it might be like to be a bird. To coast about through the skies and feel nothing but the wind lifting her up and up until nothing could possibly reach her. Then again, she wasn't much of a flyer. Granted, yes she could fly a broom decently now, but that had been out of necessity. Prior to the need, she'd been terrified of flying. Most of her time at Hogwarts, Flying had been her worst class, despite her friends' best attempts at tutoring her. She'd always had a crippling fear of falling ever since a broom accident when she was little. To a degree, she was still terrified of flying, however now she had enough skill under her belt and enough faith in herself not to fall off and plumet to her death. Learning to fly had also given her some level of connection to her still missing cousin since he'd always been so fond of flying. Once upon a time he'd even Captained the Gryffindor quidditch team. She understood better now why he'd loved flying so much, the freedom and ease it granted when you were so high in the air and nothing matter other then the clear sky in front of you, the wind surrounding you and the broom beneath you. To this day, the broom she used had been his.

A small smile leaked onto her lips and she rolled her eyes as the lad beside her flexed his muscles a bit as he chittered about the appeal of added strength and speed. Such a show off, as all boys this age seemed to be. Eager to show off to any lass with two decently working eyes. Not that she thought of herself as a lass worth trying to impress. As she'd gotten older, she could admit she'd come into her looks, and she was about as vain as any other girl her own age. However, that didn't mean she thought more of her look in comparison of any other girl near her age. If anything, she thought herself more or less average at best.

She followed suit after him, shifting her gaze back towards the sky after he'd mused about being a bird, "I thought I'd be a bird. I dunno know why. My cousin, he used to call me 'Magpie' because it sounded like m'last name an'he thought I could be as annoying as a magpie. I guess, somehow, I thought that would be what translated over when I did the spell. But it goes even deeper then what people compare ye to or what ye think ye'd be."

The was a large part of her that had even tried the spell because she'd read once that werewolves like her cousin responded better, less aggressively, towards other animals compared to humans. She'd wanted to be able to be with him during transformations, to keep him company and try to ease his loneliness. However, he'd gone missing before she'd even formally started the training. She'd only chosen to keep going with the goal in the event that they found him, and she could still be that pillar of safety for him. It felt silly now as hope dwindled that she would ever seen her cousin again after over two years of him missing. Now, it's only use to her was for escapism; to forget for a moment that she was a human witch with actual problems and imagine that nothing human Illowy had to deal even mattered. Of course, that wasn't the case and the time would come that she'd have to turn back and face reality. But sometimes she couldn't deny the appeal of just shifting into a dog and never shifting back... or at the very least allowing her escapism to last more then an hour or two. After all, she still had things she had to get done and one couldn't play puppydog forever.

Aaron then he began to inquire further about her Animagus, fumbling around a bit trying to place what kind of canid she even was. Not that she took offence to his unsureness. Even if she'd never clearly seen her own reflection in her other form, she knew enough that it wouldn't be hard to mistake her from a distance, "A wolfhound." she corrected gently, "So I guess a bit of both..." she pulled one arm back to herself to rake her fingers through her messed hair before she tucked beneath her head, "I dunno know why it was a dog, but I've also not given it much thought I guess." she spoke, "Never really made sense t'me, though. I thought maybe a cat, or a bird, or something cunning an' small like a fox or a snake or a hare... I don't think I share a lot of traits with a dog. But spells like a Patronus or Animagus tend to reveal things about ourselves that we might not entirely realize. People tend to do a shoddy job of actually understandin' themselves an' who they are at their core." she mused before shrugging, "Its just a spell. An incredibly pain-in-the-ass spell." perhaps an overly simple way to describe one of the most complex spells students are given the opportunity to train for at Hogwarts, but Illowy struggled the acknowledging that such a spell took any level of actual skill or commitment, "An'it lets me just be something else for a little while so I don't have to think, an'I like not having to think so much sometimes."

The reference Illowy made about being called Magpie made Aaron smile a bit, since it sounded like she was recalling a good memory. She corrected his guess of a dog or a wolf to a wolfhound, though, which the Hufflepuff knew was a big wolf-like dog. So he was sorta right, which is what she followed her correction with. He nodded pleasantly, "It's a pretty cool form."

Illowy went on to speculate about the form, but overall she seemed unsure about the dog aspect. Maybe it was because she was a loyal person, was Aaron's immediate thought. Dogs are all about loyalty to family and such, so maybe she was a really good person to. Not that he knew her whatsoever. Still, he thought a dog was a good animagus form. At least it wasn't something limiting like a fish.

The Slytherin's comment about not having to think so much in her other form struck a chord with Aaron. He could relate to that feeling, where sometimes he just wanted to lose his thoughts for a while. Just turn it all off. Sometimes when he was running or flying, he could achieve that. "Do you want to race?" he asked, a grin appearing on his lips as the thought crossed his mind. He sat up all of a sudden, the breeze sending a slight chill down his back thanks to the grass dew on his skin. He ignored it though, eyes locked onto the Slytherin girl a few feet from him. "I think you've been running longer than me, though, so if you're too tired, that's okay, but like - maybe the wolfhound form would even us out?"

Aaron got to his feet at this point, stretching slightly as he did. "It could be a fun way to turn off our minds. I could summon my broom for round two if the first round is too easy? That way we're each channeling our animagus forms." The suggestion stemmed from the idea he would be a bird. It was interesting to him to picture himself flying on a broom or even just running alongside a wolfhound. How fast were they even? Was he getting in over his head? He would find out if she accepted.

"Up to you," he said, to ensure she knew he wouldn't be upset if she wasn't interested. He offered her his hand though, to help her stand if she wanted to join.

@Illowy Magnard

Her eyes flicked to him as he made his sudden suggestion, apparently pleased with his idea as he sat upright with such a boyish grin that she was startled out of her musing state; and she was made to remember that in truth, despite how rarely she felt it, that ultimately they were just two kids -well, teenagers- and that not every experience had to be quite so looming and serious, "A race?" she echoed, blinking as the Hufflepuff rose to his feet, twitting his thoughts out loud.

A small smile played at her lips as he wondered if her dog form would even them out. Not that it would. She would leave him in her dust given wolfhounds were bred for their speed for the sake of hunting big game. He'd stand a better chance on his broom, she decided, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a game of it. That was essentially what a race was right? A game to play? That's what kids do, play. She wasn't so ruined by existential dread yet that she couldn't still play. And even her bitter heart had to admit, the lad had an ease about him that made to prospect not so dreadful to consider.

Pale eyes looked him over once more as she sat up in the grass, weighing her thoughts a short moment as he offered his hand. What an unruly thing to be a young witch of her age and background to accept such a suggestion of physical ability in the name of play, her mother's voice spoke in the back of her mind. Unruly and improper indeed, she thought.

Her thin hand slipped into his offered one before she rose to her feet, "S'long as yer not one of those boys that fits because he lost t'a girl." she teased lightly, taking her hand back to brush off lingering bits of grass of dirt stuck to her from the cold dew that was quickly causing goosebumps on her skin. Not that that would be a problem once she started moving again, "Because unfortunately, I'm not one to curb my competitive nature to spare a pretty face." the snake smirked, smoothing some stray wisps of hair from her face that had fallen from her braid. She could feel her demeanor slip into a shadow of that which was normally reserved for duelling. Though quite a deal less cold and serious compared to when she was on the piste, but no less proud and self-assured. She really was someone who could be quite competitive. This was to be a game, however, so there was no need for the stony brutality one needed for dueling. This was fun and light. Illowy Magnard could be that.

Permission to lightly godmod given between participants of this thread

Although her tone implied disbelief at the idea, Illowy accepted Aaron's offer of the race. He kept his grin as she spoke of him not throwing a fit when he lost. "I would never," he assured her, releasing her hand once she was on her feet. "And all I'm hearing is you think I have a pretty face," his grin morphed to a smirk. "Don't let it distract you," he teased as he took a step back. He just couldn't help himself when the flirty line fit so perfectly.

Aaron's brown eyes turned to the lake and to the stretch of grounds in front of them. A smaller stretch of a race - a sprint - would be a better choice than a whole loop around the lake area... right? There was a huge tree in the distance, seemed like it was a hundred meters or so. Probably a bit less, but it would still be a good stretch of a run. "To that tree there?" Aaron pointed it out and they both agreed on the endpoint. Aaron found a hefty rock a few feet from them and marked a starting point so they stood on either side of it. "Okay, I'll count us down after you've changed," Aaron said. He didn't know if it was appropriate to watch as an animagus transformed, but he found himself looking away for some reason, as if it was a private affair. It was only when he heard the four paws on the ground that he looked back and found himself standing next to a huge black Irish Wolfhound.

This was Illowy in animagus form. It was really odd knowing that the huge canine in front of him was normally a really cute Slytherin witch, so he tried not to think about that too much. Instead, looking at the dog's size and four strong legs made him realize he'd probably bitten off more than he could chew. He would definitely need a broom to go up against this beast. Regardless, he shook it off and embraced the competition ahead of him. He would give it his all and maybe he'd pull off a win.

Aaron counted them down and off they went. The Hufflepuff embraced the wind against his skin, glad it was pushing the hair out of his eyes. He tried to lose himself in the rush of the run, but seeing the wolfhound beside him pulling ahead so easily was a little frustrating. Yeah, he'd definitely underestimated her. She was at the tree before he'd even made it three-quarters of the way. And he wasn't that used to sprinting like this, he was more of a long runner, but he thought he'd have more of a chance in a shorter form. Less time for the four-legged Illowy to catch up, but that was clearly the wrong thinking pattern to have. Aaron heaved as he finally made it to the tree, one arm leaning against the tree trunk as he caught his breath.

"Wow, that was-" Aaron stopped and focused on catching his breath, a small laugh falling from his lips. "That was- Well, you're pretty impressive. But let's see how you do against a broom, yeah? Clearly I need it for round two," Aaron laughed a bit heartier this time now that he'd caught his breath. He used magic to summon his broom, and just a minute later it was clutched in his hand. A Moontrimmer. It wasn't exactly a racing broom, but it was his broom. "I've been saving up for something faster, but I think this'll still help," he said with a grin. Even though his broom wasn't known for being the fastest, it was still a decent broom. He was an excellent flier and he could push it pretty well.

"Ready?"

@Illowy Magnard