The HideAway Closed

He took the hug, not because he was distraught over the breakup with Amy Rose Mason, but because Simon was a physical person who liked connecting with people on many levels. "Eh, I'm alright with it. She was one of many. Well, when I say many I don't mean like MANY many, I just mean..." he paused a moment to try and think of a count. Quickly he could tell it was too many. "Okay, so maybe many but uh, that's not really the point here," he said and laughed nervously. Hey, he had been doing good so far with his run with Haley Rose who was a Second Year Gryffindor as far as relationships went. Well, she was avoiding him and not talking to him at the moment but that was another story for another day.

"I'm Simon and from a Biblical standpoint, the name means one that hears or one that obeys. My middle name is Ezra and that means help. I think those both go pretty well with my personality. Kincaid means battle leader and as far as that, I dunno. Maybe I'll be leading someone to their freedom someday," he said with a laugh. He didn't see that happening. Still, maybe it just meant he'd fight for a cause for social justice or something. The future would tell.

"So if it weren't raining right now, what would you be doing?" he asked. He knew when it rained at Hogwarts, a lot of students did other plans than their normal because their normal was being in the Courtyard, heading out to the Grounds, or even visiting the Black Lake or the Quidditch Pitch.

Crystal was a bit shocked to find out that Simon wasn't that bothered about Simon's break up with Amy Rose Mason. "I don't think I ever had a boyfriend so I wouldn't really know how a break up actually feels " Crystal felt a bit dumb not experiencing a break up let alone a relationship, it is like all her friends have been through a relationship apart from her.

Crystal thought that Simon's full name was a pretty cool name and she felt like his first name and middle name suited him well as he definitly did help her stay happy during the stormy weather and he definitly was listening to her .

"If it was sunny weather out there ,I think I would of been out at the grounds or at the quidditch pitch as they are 2 of my faviourite places in this school , How about yourself ? " Crystal then thought she loved watching others play quidditch but she then wondered why she never taken part in a quidditch game yet. She then suddenly realised that she not parcipated in a quidditch match as she felt that quidditch would be too tricky for her to parcipate in."Have you ever taken part in a quidditch match ? " She asked Simon

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"Quidditch. No, no, never played. I'm a fan though. I like to swim and play squash and hockey and as far as Hogwarts goes, I do broomracing. There's some shade from trees in broomracing that quidditch just doesn't allow for. Too long out in the sun and all," he said and paused, realizing he just said that. Maybe if he didn't place much emphasis on what he just said it would breeze over in the conversation and wouldn't become a sticking point.

He didn't need that. He was in the process of making a new friend here and helping her through her fears of the storm raging outside. It wasn't the time to bring up the fact that he was a dhampir, or half vampire. Especially with the latest school newspaper, the Hogwarts Headliner, putting in that rubbish about halfbreeds at the school being a danger to everyone else.

"Someday I'd like to go to a professional quidditch match," he smiled. That would be crazy cool. He had gone to professional football game back home in London. Several of them. "I can only imagine what their stadiums look like." The Quidditch Pitch at Hogwarts was already magnificent and he was sure it paled in comparison to the major leagues.

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" I have never taken part in a quidditch match yet either but maybe I will try to one day as I really do enjoy watching other people playing quidditch . "Crystal paused whilst she sat and thought about her parcipating in a quidditch match , How amazing it would be to say that she actually parcipated in a quidditch match ? How amazing it would be knowing she could actually do something else instead of classes to help her house team get as many points as they possibly could achieve ? She then thought even though she would love to be involved in a quidditch match , Would she be able to parcipate in the match as she knows that when people are parcipating in a quidditch match they have to be as fast as they possibly could be. She felt her parents would be so proud of her.

"I have never seen any sports played to be honest apart from watching a quidditch match , I think it would be amazing to see another sporting match espically tennis . When I was back at home I used to love playing tennis with my best friend . "
Crystal then paused and thought about all the times when she used to play tennis with her best friend which she quite often used to win.

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"Tennis," he repeated her words. "I played squash back at my muggle school in London. Kind of like tennis," he supposed. Kinda, sorta, and in some ways not at all. Wasn't that how all sports were though? They were somewhat related and somewhat not at all.

"I like broomracing. You get to be high and go fast," or at least as fast as one's broom would allow them to go, "and maneuver around stuff. There's a lot of kinks to get worked out though probably before the season begins. We had that preliminary game over Summer Camp and it was fun, but there was a lot of spellcasting and not all of it was legal."

Again though, sports.

Lots of penalties and rules being bent in one's favor. He couldn't say he didn't expect it. "There's also a duelling club. Each house has their own team," he wasn't sure if Crystal knew about that. "It can get pretty intense, so I hear. LOTS of fire." And why the student population at Hogwarts could set others on fire deliberately was beyond him. At any other school in the entire world that probably was something to get someone expelled but when at Hogwarts - eh, go for it. Weird things went on at Hogwarts.

Crystal was a bit surprised when she heard Simon mention a sport called Squash , “ Squash? Squash ? What actually was squash apart from a sport obviously “ Crystal thought to herself feeling rather puzzled as the only squash she has heard of was when she was in class learning the subject Potions where she had to squash certain ingredients to make a potion . Crystal decided to ask Simon what squash actually was “ Urm Simon , I appoligise if this makes me sound silly but what actually is squash as I have never heard of squash being a sport before ? “ Crystal asked Simon whilst being interested in finding out more about the so called sport called squash .
Crystal felt like broomracing sounded a pretty fun sport to parcipate in which she felt she would definitely would like to try and parcipate in one day . “Broomracing sounds pretty fun , How do I find out more about the sport and where can I put my interest into parcipating ? “ Crystal asked Simon whilst wanting to find out more about Broomracing so that she could maybe parcipate in the sport one day. Crystal definitely liked the sound of broomracing.

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"I think there's a sign up sheet in the Common Room. I could show you where it is. Come on," he said and stood up. He offered out his hand to help literally give her a hand up. There was no need to be hanging around by the window in the Library where the storm outside was beating down. At least - not when you are afraid of storms. "And how about tomorrow we meet at the Quidditch Training Pitch at the grounds and I'll show you a bit of the basics of Broomracing?" He'd offer quidditch too but honestly he didn't have the skillset or knowledge to teach someone that - he was just a beginner of learning that sport, plus he had never played. At least broomracing he had the smallest bit of experience with.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to the Common Room." He helped her up and then began to pack up his bag and gave her the chance to do the same. He was glad that she was in the Library that day, not because she was scared, but because he was able to make a new friend. The library today, the Quidditch Training Pitch tomorrow.

The two walked back to their Common Room. HE was glad to make another friend with a fellow Hufflepuff because unlike other houses, he could still see them after curfew within their Common Room. There really was no rule against how late you could stay there and for someone like him with abnormal sleep patterns - he was in the Common Room. A lot. Especially late at night.

"Alright, Crys. Glad to have met you. See you after supper tomorrow at the Quidditch Training Pitch on the Grounds. Don't worry about bringing anything. They've got school brooms to use," he said as he gave her a smile and then headed up to the Boys Dormitories.