Closed Adventurous Astronomers

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was glad she had met Elliot over the break. It had taken a while for them to figure out a plan, but looking at the stars with someone else who seemed to hold as much interest in the subject was very exciting. Adorah finished brushing her hair and put it into a simple braid. She grabbed her Astronomy book (okay, books), and threw them into her bag as she left the Ravenclaw tower. They wouldn't be out past curfew, but she was still worried that a teacher might think it was weird that they wanted to study the stars. However, studying stars at night was really the only way to do it. She made it up to one of the higher towers, which was, thankfully, vacant, and set her bag as she took a seat on the ground, pulling out her books while she waited for Elliot.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Between Adorah and Nixon, it was nice to have someone to talk about things like Astronomy with. It helped that between Nixon being older, Elliot didn't feel so bad when he felt like he was struggling, and with Adorah being a year behind him in class, there were still a few things he could show her that she didn't know yet. Though he had a hunch she could and probably would catch up easily. Still, it was nice to get the chance to get back into stargazing without the stress of grades, so since neither Adorah or Elliot had the class this semester, they'd both agreed to spend some time trying to see what they could spot from the towers before it got too late. Spotting Adorah as he rounded the corner, Elliot spend up, catching his breath after the stairs as he stopped next to her. It made sense that Adorah had beat him here given how close he suspected Ravenclaw house was to here, but he still felt a little bad that she might have been here for too long on her own. "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. I come bearing snacks." He said, lifting a bag of licorice wands he'd been saving from the holiday break.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

After Adorah had pulled all the books out of her bag, she took her large blanket and spread it out over the space so they would have somewhere comfortable to sit. She sat back down and pulled a book onto her lap to read about the stars they were likely to see this evening. Adorah looked up as she heard Elliot's voice and smiled. "Hey! You're just on time," she said, patting the spot beside her. She looked at the bag of candy he was holding and wasn't sure what kind of candy it was. "What's the snack?" she asked.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot smiled as he settled on the blanket, grateful Adorah had thought of it. The floor would definitely get uncomfortable if they were up here for awhile. "Licorice wands, hopefully you like them?" He said, offering one to her but becoming suddenly unsure. He should have asked what she liked first, it'd be awkward if he was the only one eating them, but the idea of having to go back down and up the stairs again for something else wasn't really one he wanted to entertain if he could avoid it. Setting the wands down, Elliot tried to change the subject, peering up at the slowly darkening sky instead. Summer was still lingering and it was lighter than he would have hoped, but he hoped they could still spot something at least. "I think I can see Venus already, see, over to the left there." He said, grateful for how bright the planet was even to the naked eye.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah gave Elliot a big smile as he sat down beside her. She had never had licorice wands and wondered if they were similar to muggle candy. "Do they do anything magical?" she asked him, picking one out of the bag and taking a bite out of the wand-shaped candy. She looked up at the bright orb in the sky that Elliot pointed out. "It's so bright tonight. I think I see Jupiter, as well," she said, pointing a little aways from the star.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot smiled when he realized Adorah had never had any licorice wands before, making a note to get her some of his favorite magical candy at some point to try out. "Nah, they just taste good," He said, waving one a bit before taking a bite. "We should go check out Honeyduke's next Brightstone weekend though if you want to look at some cool stuff," He said, hoping Adorah wouldn't feel too pressured to hang out again at the offer. Elliot peered out when Adorah pointed out Jupiter, amazed they could see the other planet too. "Wow, it's really clear out tonight, that's great," He said, pulling out one of his star charts to see if he could spot what else might be visible. "You know, when I first got here, the Southern hemisphere was really confusing. Everything was in the wrong place so missing." He said with a small laugh. It was a little funny to think about now, but it was also still a bit stressful to think about.