31 May 2022, 17:58
Windy Days Bring Nice Surprises
Nick was glad that Hogwarts was nestled in a cooler part of the country, it meant that the long robes they were generally required to wear were great for the general weather and today was no different. It was cool outside, and even though Nick was used to dressing up underneath his cloak even he had decided that today was going to be one of those rare lazy days. He had been sent yet another book by his father and was ready to snuggle up on a blanket in the grass and read away. And so he decided to dress in the only lazy pants he had, some black athletic joggers he used to wear while running for baseball, followed up by a nice white sweater and he was ready to sit on the grounds of Hogwarts and get lost in a story. Nick laid a blanket out carefully, the wind casually jostling the blanket as he attempted to make it as neat as possible. It was a bad habit the boy had, unable to deal with wrinkles in a blanket or bed that he laid on. And while he himself loved the wind that brushed across his cheeks this evening, he disliked how complicated it made getting a blanket to be flat. After a minute of attempts, the boy finally gave up and decided to simply rest on the blanket and ignore the issue.
Laying his head back he looked up and around. To the distance in the east, he could see the Forbidden Forest, a place he was unable to go to for some time sadly. It looked like a dark place, somewhere light almost ran away from if that was even possible. But it also somehow looked peaceful on the edge, the wind swaying the branches slightly almost inviting Nick to make his way in. Maybe that was part of the Forest’s issue, it invited one in to never let them go. To the south was the lake that Nick had also yet to visit, the students were not banned from visiting it, only swimming in the waters. Nick had never questioned why the lake wasn’t allowed to be swam in, only accepting that there was probably a good reason. Plus when it was only 10 degrees (celsius 50 Fahrenheit) outside the lake was probably an unenjoyable place to swim anyway. The west was a view blocked by the quidditch arena, somewhere Nick’s attention was pulled to the least actually. Nick felt far too lazy to look behind him and acknowledge whatever existed to the North, but he already saw it before anyway.
After one last look around at the trees throughout the grounds, and the kids roaming about with their books in hand to study, brooms to go play or whatever other activities they were up to, Nick decided to take out the book finally. Don Quixote. From what was left in his father’s note he Knew it to be a story about a man’s incredible life filled with ups and downs and plenty of lessons. After all, to his Father, there was never a reason to read a book if something was not to be learned by it. Holding and opening the book Nick could tell it was old. The book itself seemed to be older than Nick easily, and simply the way it was written gave away it was no modern book.
Nick began to lose himself as always, holding the book above his face to block whatever sun poked through the clouds as his eyes scanned page after page, casually having to flip a page back every once in a while as the wind caught a corner. He did not mind spending his free time like this, trapped in a story. Though he hoped someday he would be able to replicate this feeling himself, build his own story that he would one day be proud to share.
@Nia Greenwood
Live every day like your last while making promises to last forever.
My door is always open for new stories!
31 May 2022, 19:00
Windy Days Bring Nice Surprises
It was official: Nia hated Scotland’s weather. It was too cold for dresses, too humid for makeup and too windy for it to be worth it to even try and style her short hair in any special way. The wind was especially annoying today, too, and it was doing a number on her as she walked through the Grounds of the castle. Although her bangs were too short to go into her eyes, she could feel them writhing and tangling on her forehead, making her usually neat hairstyle look like a bird's nest. It was going to be a pain in the ass to get rid of those knots later that night.
But it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice, really. She needed to find some Asphodel plants for the Wiggenweld Potion she wanted to brew to get extra credits in Potions, since she’d been slacking off so much during the year that she was now having trouble passing the class. Some older students had told her that she could find the flower somewhat easily around the grounds of the castle, and she had immediately gone out to look for some.
However, she was now beginning to think that easily might have been a slight overstatement on their part. She’d been looking at the grass for what seemed like hours now (although, realistically, couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes), and nothing. Nada. She was beginning to think she had been pranked.
Her nose was red and numb from the cold air, and she was seriously thinking of giving up when she finally spotted it.
Right next to a boy that was sitting on top of a cosy looking blanket reading an old book, the white, lily-like flowers of the Asphodel swayed with the wind.
Jackpot!
She approached the area with a relief so deep it actually felt like it was warming her cold skin. It looked like she might just have a chance of passing Potions after all.
She smiled and nodded towards the boy in greeting as she approached him, just out of politeness, but he didn’t seem to have noticed her at all. He was completely engrossed in the book he was holding, not lifting his eyes from its old pages once, even when Nia stepped right next to him to reach the flowers. Nia had to admit she was impressed by the boy’s focus. Good for him.
She bent down to grab the flowers, making sure to pull gently firmly to get the roots of the plant to come out as well, since they were the most important part for the potion. The earth reluctantly released the Asphodel and Nia smiled to herself, triumphant. Easy-peasy.
She was about to get up and leave when she, almost unconsciously, directed one last glance towards the boy and saw what he was reading.
“Don Quijote!” she exclaimed before thinking, the unexpected surprise of seeing a book she recognized taking over her. This time, the boy seemed to react to her presence, finally noticing she was there. Nia shrugged, a bit embarrassed by her own slip. “It’s a Spanish book, you know?”.
| "𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐫-𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬." |
STA:5 | EVA:7 | STR:2 | WIS:6 | AP:7. | ACC:8 | |
1 Jun 2022, 03:24
Windy Days Bring Nice Surprises
Nick didn’t notice at all as a girl approached him, or at least approached near. Even as she bent down and pulled a flower and its root out he didn’t notice. Instead, he was lost in the story of Don Quixote who he had so far concluded was one interesting character. Slowly he thumbed the pages carefully of the old book, making sure to treat the book delicately so as to not end up sending back a broken book to his father. Only whatever being existed above them knew if the boy would live if he sent his father something broken. The boy was midway through the seventh chapter when he was startled out of his entrance. Quickly steeling himself as he almost fumbled the book narrowly avoiding it crashing into his face below. He didn’t mind turning the old pages, but there was something nauseating about having to smell such old pages if the book would have landed on his face. Not to mention the pain of having a book fall on your face, that would be no fun by any means as well.
“Hunh…Oh yeah. The book says he lived in a place called La Mancha but it also mentions someone facing justice in Spain at a point and it sort of made sense. Then in the most recent chapter, there are more mentions of Spain too.” The boy replied casually after catching his bearings. He looked at the girl who had almost caused the boy to drop the book, possibly even causing a rip or tear that would end up with the boy having to explain to his father how a girl he didn’t know did it by accident. Nick looked at his watch and realized he had been laying down for a little bit longer than he thought, acknowledging that he had as usual gotten lost in the story and forgot about anything and everything around him.
A quick look at the girl showed Nick that she was taller than many their age, a theme the boy had come to find rather common with those around the school that he had met so far. She had short brown hair that clearly had been having a wrestling match with the wind as she had walked through the grounds. Not that Nick minded, he found it humorous but also adorable. Immediately after noticing her hair, he noticed the eyes that had a similar color to his mother's, something he quickly glanced away from, avoiding the eye contact but also trying to not think of being away from his lovely mother. But what caught his eye as well as the nose that was noticeably more red than the rest of her skin. Nick had grown up fairly used to cold weather, and also had more layers on than most probably did and didn’t really feel the cold the same way she probably was at the moment. Despite the fact that the boy had managed to get over his blanket being rustled he decided that some things were more important than whether or not he was comfortable with a rustled blanket on the ground.
Nick got onto his knees off of the blanket before grabbing it and airing it out, a few blades of grass flew off the side that had been facing the ground as he handed it to the girl. “Your nose reminds me of my mothers when she forgets to bring a coat. Wrap up in that if you want, it's warm.” Nick held the blanket out to the girl hoping she would take his offer, he was thankful to enjoy the cold but he also knew how uncomfortable it could be and he would feel bad not offering at least. And it was a nice blanket, a gift he had gotten for Christmas one year from his parents. It was by far one of the softest things the boy had ever touched, an expensive blanket from what his father had told him, and something he often buried his face in whenever he was mad or sad to scream or even just feel comfortable. It was a piece of home he had carried with him to Hogwarts.
“Have you read the book, or are you from the country...or both?” Nick would follow up after the girl accepted or declined his offer, curious if the girl was maybe as much of a reading nerd as he was or not.
@Nia Greenwood
Live every day like your last while making promises to last forever.
My door is always open for new stories!