A Meeting Outside

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Back at school. A new year. It was both wonderful and strange to be here again. She was surprised by how much she had missed it, how much she had looked forward to going back. Her friend Ainsley was a big part of it, but there were a lot of other people and things she wanted to see badly as well. She hoped to see Evelyn again soon, she had missed the Gryffindor a bit. But today, she was planning to see the gardens again, her favorite part of the Hogwarts grounds. She wondered if they had changed at all during the vacation.

To get there, though, she had to cross the rest of the grounds first. it was nice to take a walk outside, to feel the crisp air on her face. The grounds looked peaceful so early in the year, and she didn't see anyone she recognized yet. She wrapped her scarf around herself tightly because it was still a little chilly and kept on walking, smiling happily as she imagined all the fun things she was going to do this year.

 

[Espen Manning]

despite the chilly weather, the danish born carried himself out of bed as early as possible for his weekly run. having promised himself the weekly run would turn into a daily run, he started out well. putting on some suitable pants, running shoes and a trademark slytherin-green hoodie he left the slytherin dormitory and eventually the castle to get to the hogwarts' grounds.

having wandered down the hill he started off near the edge of the forests, he headed towards the gardens. a proper rhythm helped him breath steadily, thoughts clear and the problems he faced last year and during the holidays put aside for now. apart from his physical health, the jogging helped him clear his head. calm him, relax and keep the anger at bay that always wandered inside -- that could easily be fueled and erupt out of nowhere.

once he arrived at the gardens, he took a small break. walking off his run, he kept his breathing steady. head leaning forward and staring down at the path he walked on. blue orbs moving at times to have a look at the beautiful flowers that were kept here.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

As Amber moved closer to the gardens, she noticed a boy she'd never met before. He had been jogging and slowed down right at her destination. He looked to be around her age, and she thought she recognized him from classes. Maybe she had seen him talk to Evelyn once or twice? She couldn't remember. Amber hesitated, she wondered if she should greet him or not. She had met a few people in her first year, but not nearly as many as she had wanted before the year had started. It turned out to be harder than she had thought to just step up to strangers and introduce yourself. Though she was very happy with the friends she did have now.

But that had been last year, Amber was older now, more confident. What was the worst that could happen? She smiled and sped up a little to catch up with the boy. "Hello." She said, giving a small wave as she started walking next to him. "I think we're both first- no wait, second years now I suppose. Are you going to look at the flowers too?" She smiled, hoping she wasn't confusing him with somebody else.

 

[Espen Manning]

side tracked by his own thoughts, the tall blond did not even notice someone else approaching. it even took him a few minutes to comprehend that somebody had joined him by his side. he only noticed when a feminine voice broke his chain of thoughts and tugged him out of his own little world he tended to fall into every now and then.

"ehh-" muttering lowly as he tried to give himself a reality check. "hey, hey-" he replied back. blue orbs narrowing slightly as he tried to remember the girl that encountered him. not sure if they had shared classes last year, or if she was a friend of his sister. "i guess we are. second year now, yes." he nodded, folding his arms over each other. "the flowers?" looking around them a little more observingly. "oh- no, not in the first instance. took a pause from my morning run- and it's a nice place to stop, walk, and regain your energy." he explained.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

The boy seemed surprised to be approached by Amber, but thankfully he didn't seem annoyed or like he thought she was weird. She smiled at him brightly. Thankfully she had been right about the year he was in, so she continued the conversation.

"I think we've shared classes, what house are you in?" She asked, tilting her head a little as she tried to remember. "I'm Amber, by the way. I'm in Hufflepuff." She knew the boy wasn't in her house, but she didn't know more than that. "I always look at the flowers." She explained. "It's my favorite spot, there are so many pretty ones. Do you run often?" She knew she was probably nearing the edge of friendly curiosity and into nosy territory, but Amber was never very good at keeping her questions for herself. She hoped the boy didn't mind. Amber herself wasn't a sporty sort of person, but she always thought most wizards just went flying if they felt like being active.

 

[Espen Manning]

question after question was thrown at him and the blond had to admit, it pretty much overwhelmed him. he never had been very talkative -- grunts, nods, and sighs were the primary things he used for conversation and communication. the girl -- amber -- was a curious thing, trying to get someone out of espen in the process.

"perhaps. i don't recall." hopefully that did not sound like a douchy response. it wasn't meant to be like, he simply did not recall the fact they presumely shared some classes. "slytherin. espen." he shrugged his shoulders. tugging at the green hoodie to show off his house colour. "i see." he commented and looked around the gardens himself.

"i-uh.. used to run once every week. but i'm trying to get up early every day now, to start running every morning- apart from the weekends- i need some sleep." espen nodded, pink lips curving in a crooked smirk. "it's nice, though. keeps my thoughts clear- my body fit- how about you? how often do you come here to check out those pretty flowers?"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber deflated a little when the boy said he didn't recall her. She didn't blame him, exactly, she knew she wasn't the most noticeable person around, but she was quite sure they had shared a few classes. "I should have guessed Slytherin." She said cheerfully, hiding her slight disappointment. "But I figured maybe you just liked green. I'm in Huffepuff but I still wear blue a lot."

Her mouth dropped open slightly when he said he went running every morning. Why would someone do that? Amber was not a fan of exercise, especially because of how sweaty you got from it. But even for someone that liked that sort of thing, every day seemed excessive. "Really?" She asked, her disbelief clear in her voice. "But that's so often, don't you get tired during classes?"

His question about the flowers made her smile again. "Oh I go whenever the weather's nice and I have some free time, it's a nice place to think." She said softly. "And I go with my friends sometimes."

 

[Espen Manning]

Espen noticed in the change of the girl's expression that he hit a certain nerve. Urged to slap himself across the face, he sighed, he already was starting off the new year with screwing up. Hurting people's feelings. Hopefully it was only an off day and not the start of a pattern for the rest of the upcoming school year. "Hmmm. I do like green, but I definitely have a preference for warmer colours such as shades of red."

"I'm trying to reach every morning, this year." He nodded with a smile. "Yeah. It does tire me at times, especially when I barely got any sleep the night before. But for some things you have to sacrifice certain luxuries, don't we?" The tall blond admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hmmmm -- It's a nice spot. And the idea of having it as kind of a 'thinking place' is definitely something I like. For me, it's the spot where I take a quick break from the running. Now, I could come here to think myself -- It's quiet, it's beautiful and leaves your head clear. The goal that I have with these runs pretty much."

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber tried to picture him in red, it would probably suit him with his blond hair. She smiled at him, hoping she hadn't looked like she was staring. The fact that he ran like this every morning still boggled her mind, she couldn't imagine doing that. But it was impressive. "Sleep is important." She said quickly. "But uhm, so is exercise! It's healthy." She didn't want to sound like she was admonishing this boy, but sleep was important. Amber herself always got grumpy when she didn't sleep enough, something she hated.

He agreed with her on how nice the gardens were and Amber smiled. "Oh, you could come here to think. It's the best place for that. Maybe we'll run into each other again if you do, we could look at the flowers together." The words had slipped out of her mouth before she could consider them, and she blushed. Did that sound weird coming from a girl? She knew that girls and boys acted differently with each other because they could like each other and stuff like that. Some girls in her year probably had crushes and liked boys, but she herself didn't yet. Well, she thought she didn't, she still hadn't quite figured out what that felt like.

Near the end of last year she had been determined to find a boy she liked, like girls in books and magazines did, but she hadn't had any luck yet. To be fair, she also hadn't talked to a lot of boys. She looked at Espen from the corner of her eye. Was he supposed to be cute? She thought he might be, though she wasn't sure what to look for. Anxiety started to rear up in her stomach. She was talking to a boy now, wasn't she? Maybe she should be feeling differently towards him than she would have if she'd been talking to a girl. Did she? Maybe this feeling in her stomach meant that she liked him, but it didn't feel good. It felt a lot like dread. Her thoughts made her cheeks heat up and she looked away, not sure what to say or do now.

 

[Espen Manning]

"I agree. Sleep is very important, but I don't need too much of it if I'm honest. I can think, work and practice very effectively with only five or six hours of sleep." Luckily he did, since he did not sleep very good at all the last half year, thanks to personal issues. And if he did sleep more than five hours it included a lot of interruptions, waking up in the middle of the night covered in his sweat and his mind wary.

The blond nodded at the girl without letting the smirk that had appeared fading. When she suggested watching the flowers together, hanging out, he could not help but snicker shortly. Not to laugh at her, but her response shortly after she realised what she could have implied. "Perhaps -- You'd have to educate me in them though. I barely know any of their names, weirdly enough, I see them a lot and I've never wondered what they might be called." The Slytherin waved at the flowers, turning slightly and going down, through his knees to sniff and smell their scents. "They do smell nice. Almost like something you'd find in perfume." Noticing how she had averted her gaze from him, he frowned. Letting his brain crack, and realising she felt a little embarrassed for the suggestion of hanging out together.

"Any of them a favourite? -- I like the purple patch." Trying to keep the conversation going. He did not want to make her feel uncomfortable or regret her words from slipping. In contrary, Espen considered it rather adorable of her.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

The boy was laughing, was he laughing at her? Did he think she was acting all weird? She glanced at him, but he didn't look mean. Maybe she was exaggerating this all. He responded to her offer positively, which was nice. It hopefully meant it hadn't been too weird of her to say. "I know what a few are called, but not that many." She admitted. "But maybe I can help you with a few."

He went to sniff the flowers and Amber watched him quietly, she still wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel different or not. She liked Espen, but she didn't think she liked him. She would need to talk to another girl that knew about these things. Maybe Prudence from Heta Omega?

He kept the conversation going, and Amber appreciated it. "My favorites are a bit further along, they're pink." She said softly.

 

[Espen Manning]

"Hmmmm -- Okay and if not, there are a bunch of books in the library about plants. Pretty positive we can found the remaining once in there." Even though he wasn't sure if they were all magical, since they did grow non-magical flowers around the castle as well. Not everything had to include magical aspects after all.

"Pink ones?" Blue orbs observing the garden and trying to pick out those colours. "Where are they? We could walk to them. Since I do not see them. Anywhere." Getting back up, he turned around to wait for a respone. She was still a little uncomfortable, but there was some of that enthusiasm and spontaneous spark returning.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber smiled, starting to feel more at ease again. Espen was nice, and he probably wasn't thinking she was weird. If he was, he hid it well. "Getting books is a smart idea!" She said happily. "We could do that and figure out what kinds of flowers they have here. It sort of sounds like something they would do in that Wild Patch club, maybe? I never joined because I don't really like digging around in dirt and stuff. I just like looking at flowers and maybe picking them for a friend." She said, shrugging.

When he asked about her favorite flowers, she pointed ahead. "Over there, I'll show you. You can't see them from here. We have to walk a bit more first." She said, eager to show him.

 

[Espen Manning]

"I may run a lot and work-out -- But there are definitely some brains in my head." He said jokingly. Apart from the bad first year he experienced, Espen did have a love for reading and studying. Ambitious he was, he simply needed a kick in the ass at times to make sure there would be motivation included. "Not a clue what that is -- But yeah, I do not like getting down on my knees in the mud and my hands dirty. Although I don't really dislike Herbology that much, it isn't my favourite." Shaking his head a couple of times.

"Lead the way, flower girl." He smirked as he gave her a little nickname.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Espen cracked a joke about having brains despite being sporty, and Amber worried if she had let him think she thought differently. "Oh, I never doubted you had brains." She said with a smile. "You seem rather smart."

It was nice that he agreed on getting dirty and she nodded. "Wild patch is a club, there are a few. I'm part of Heta Omaga which is like... a sisterhood, for girls. There's a boy club too, though it seems a bit less popular." She said, a small proud smile on her face. "And Wild patch is a club for people who really like Herbology and plants and stuff." She nodded in agreement. "It wasn't my favorite either, that was Potions last year. Though I do worry if I'll still like it as much now that we're going to actually brew things. Professor Pendleton is just really nice."

She started to walk and he called her flower girl, it made her blush again. Was that something boys did to girls they liked or just to anyone? Why didn't she know these things? She was sure other girls just knew these things. Was she supposed to be more excited? She thought so and tried to make herself excited but it just made her anxious. She kept her smile on her face though and nodded. "It's right over there." She said, leading him to a different patch of flowers.

 

[Espen Manning]

"Thank you -- Last year's grades would tell you otherwise. But my father has always told me, intelligence has nothing to do with grades, which I of course believe to cover up the mistakes I made last year." He chuckled and shook his head. "Although, thanks again, you seem pretty smart yourself."

Espen cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly as she introduced him to a couple of clubs. It surely seemed interesting to perhaps make some new friends to hang out with, or whatever, although Espen did not want to participate in some silly brotherly bonding. Espen desperately needed alone-time, to have solace with himself and his mind and if he would be member of some group that would be all up in your face. Things could pretty much kick off, especially in regard to Espen's temperament. "Yeah. Potions is great, in contrary to you, I much prefer the actual practice of it."

"I can see it, yes. It definitely looks nice." He nodded and let her lead the way. Nodding his head and noticing how her cheeks heat up yet again. It was cute.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber nodded in sympathy at his remark about grades. It would feel terrible to get bad grades, and Amber worked very hard not to. It did take up a lot of time and energy, though, and she sometimes wished she could work a little less hard with the same result. It didn't seem like a good time to tell him about her own grades, though, as they were pretty good and she was rather proud of them, so she just smiled. "Thank you."

It was nice that Espen liked potions too. "I hope it won't be too bad, I mean, I can wear gloves and maybe then it won't be too bad to touch things that are gross. I just still would rather not do it." She smiled at him. "Is potions your favorite, or is that something else?" She asked, curious about him.

She gazed at the flowers, nodding in agreement as he said they looked nice. "They do, don't they?" She said softly. Something about the flowers made her think of her friend Ainsley, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe she would tell her about this talk with Espen. That's what girls did, they told each other about boys and stuff. She didn't think Ainsley would be too interested, and she wasn't sure if there was much to tell anyway. But it felt like the thing she should do. She smiled shyly at Espen, wondering what he thought of her.