Amongst The Flowers

L

Lucinda Dalton

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OOC First Name
Camilla!
Wand
Eucalyptus Wand 13 1/2" Essence of Mermaid Scale
Brushing her long hair behind her shoulders, Lucy strolled along in the gardens, enjoying the peaceful and relaxing feeling that came with wandering around the gardens. While Lucy never usually stopped and admired nature - making Herbology one of her least favourite subjects - she couldn't help but admire the Hogwarts Garden. There were sweet aromas in the air and the scenery was pretty.
It was a glorious day and Lucinda Buckley was going to change her ways. No longer would she mope and complain. She was going to enjoy Hogwarts and enjoy life. She was twelve, after all. She wasn't meant to have burdens. She was meant to have fun.
 
Landon had been looking out of the Gryffindor common room windows, observing nature and the people passing through the grass and flowers.
It was a beautiful day. Warm and relaxing.
That was until Landon noticed a girl walking in the garden. It was Lucinda.
Landon leapt up from his slouched position, knocking over a table and tripping over it as he made to run outside.
A little pink from embaressment, Landon stood up, dusted off his uniform- Which he wore the most and he wore it with pride- and stroked his hair back into a neat parting.
The red haired boy smiled at some staring fourth years before running out of the common room and down the stairs..

"Lucy," Landon said, arriving at the gardens a little out of breath but smiling all the same, "what a surprise." He tried to act natural and not as though this girl was the most interesting person at Hogwarts.. For she was not only beautiful but she was also muggle-born.
"How are you? Haven't seen you in ages." Landon spoke quite fast. He was slowly becoming more and more nervous of talking to girls. Especially this one.
 
Sighing, Lucy continued to walk along, pondering to herself. How do I go about changing? What am I going to do with myself? What if people know I was involved with the Gossip Magazine and refuse to like me? she worried. Lucy had always been a fairly solitary creature. But in a boarding school, especially a school like Hogwarts, you needed friends.
Looking around at the sound of her name, Lucy's fears subsided as she noticed a very friendly face, one of only a few people she knew and liked in the school. Landon. Lucy beamed. "Hey, Landon!" she replied, happily. "I'm pretty good, how about you? It's been way too long," she chattered, cheerfully. There will always be a friendly face in the crowd, she told herself, reassuringly. She liked the boy, and was very glad of the opportunity to chat to him again.
 
"I'm alright," Landon said, glad to see Lucinda seemed almost as happy to see him.
He had never been good talking to girls. In his experience, witches seemed to like romance. Landon wasn't good with romance. He didn't know anything about muggle girls. This girl would probably be used to the way muggle boys acted. Landon would have to seem intelligent.
"So.." He started, smiling nervously and taking a breath, "Valentines ball," Landon rolled his eyes but it didn't come naturally.
"So silly that we have more than one ball a year.. I mean, surely it would seem more magical just to have the December one and then have the awkwardness for the rest of the year rather than having to renew it and relive it.."
He was talking very fast. His accent was quite English. Landon gave a slight cough and placed one arm behind his head awkwardly, pretending he had an itch but just rubbing at his neck as his cheeks pinkened.
 
Lucy had to work to suppress a giggle. Landon seemed quite worked up and awkward about something, although Lucy wasn't quite sure what. "It is a bit silly," she agreed. "And Valentine's day is such a stupid day, anyway, my mum always complained about it because it was just an excuse for companies to get lots of money from loved-up couples who felt the need to buy things to express their love for each other, while single people felt miserable and would buy themselves things to make themselves feel better," she ranted, blushing only when she realised that she was, in fact, ranting. "Um, but yeah. So, uh, how's life in Gryffindor?" she asked, hoping he would forgive her for that rant.
 
Landon nodded in agreement.
Valentine's day was such a silly day.. Yet, the next year he would not think so. It would be a day for opportunity to get his feelings out in the open.
"Oh, yeah, it's cool.. I'm sharing a dorm with some very sugar-filled first years who think studdying is a silly idea.. so they ripped up my notes.." Landon muttered the last bit and seemed almost sour for a moment. He looked up into Lucinda's eyes and there he was again, smiling brightly at her.
"I can always do more notes.." Landon realised he was muttering a lot.
"Quidditch season." Landon said suddenly, hoping this could be something to boost conversation.
"I hear Ravenclaw are against Slytherin.. they seem to be behaving quite well so far this year, though... Slytherin, I mean. Ravenclaw are always brilliant.." Landon looked down at the flowers. In his head he was slapping himself.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP!
 
Lucy couldn't help but gasp. A Ravenclaw to the very core (although sometimes she doubted that), the idea of someone interfering with study appalled her. "They ripped up your notes?" she repeated, incredulous. "That's...that's just...wow." Lucy shook her head, unable to believe people would be stupid enough to do something like that. "Yeah, you can, and I've still got all my notes from last semester, and this semester, so if you need to borrow them, you can," she offered, kindly.
Lucy beamed at the mention of Quidditch. "Oh yeah, Quidditch is great," she started. "Think I might have to get a broom of my own so I can practice. I thought I'd hate flying but I really like it," she gushed, before stopping and turning back to the conversation. Urgh, you can't even converse properly, Lucy. What on earth is wrong with you? "Yeah, that should be an interesting match. Ravenclaw have a pretty big team, I think. Gryffindor are playing Hufflepuff...my neighbour is playing for Hufflepuff, so I guess I'll have to support her. I can probably spare some support for Gryffindor, though," she added, with a smile. Goodness, girl, don't you ever shut up? she reprimanded, silencing herself.
 
Landon smiled, "Thanks," he said when Lucinda offered to let him borrow her notes.
She was very much a Ravenclaw.
Landon liked smart girls. Much more interesting than the ones who were only interested in blood status and money.
"I'm not great at flying. I was raised in a pu-.. All Wizarding family," Landon narrowly avoided saying pureblood family.
He wasn't proud of what he was. Blood status was not important to him.
"I had a tiny broom when I was young.. It couldn't go too high but it was fun.. I still fell off all the time."
Landon laughed, looked into Lucinda's eyes and falsely coughed into his fist.
 
"Any time," she responded, with an earnest smile. She couldn't help but grin when Landon mentioned he wasn't great at flying. "I'm sure you're a decent flier, though. My neighbour - not the Hufflepuff, her little brother - he's terrified of heights. Can't even get on a broomstick, the poor thing," she said, with a shrug. "I'm not very good, but I suppose I just need to practice. Kind of wish I'd been brought up by wizards," she admitted. Lucy had never really thought this before, but now she could see the bright side of magic. "It sounds like it would have been so much cooler than being brought up as a muggle," she mused. "Oh, are you okay?" she added, when Landon coughed in to his hand. "You seem a bit off...do you need to sit down or something?" she asked, hoping she hadn't offended him by stating that he seemed a bit ill.
 
"Wha..? I.. No.. Well, yes, I suppose." Landon looked to the nearest bench and sat down, gesturing for Lucinda to join. "I personally think it would have been more fun to be brought up as a muggle," Landon said honestly, "We lived right near muggles so I had to stay inside from about seven years old so no-one saw I was starting to show magical powers." Landon shrugged. "At that age, I wanted to be out with my friends- Going to the lake like them and swimming in the murky water, playing hide and seek, going to school.." Landon smiled at Lucinda.
"You look very nice today." he said before he could stop himself.
Landon's face froze the moment he realized what he'd said. He didn't look away straight away.
 
Joining Landon on the bench, Lucy listened as Landon spoke about living as a wizard. "Oh, I guess that wouldn't have been much fun," she said, a little sadly. Having to stay inside...that would not have been enjoyable. Not having known anything about the magical world, the seven year old Lucy had been happily going to school, playing netball, spending time with the couple of friends that she had, and basically having fun being out in the world. She couldn't imagine how hard it would have been to live hidden away. Instinctively, she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, sympathetically. "It's okay, you're here now and now you get the chance to live your life...even if that life is school," she said with a shrug.
Lucy turned bright red at Landon's next statement. Nobody, except for her mother, perhaps, had ever said she looked nice. Especially not a boy. "Um, well, ah...thank you," she mumbled, her face the colour of a tomato.
 
Landon felt Lucy's hand on his shoulder.
It was nice and comforting. He rarely had people being nice to him.
The ones who knew his blood status assumed he would be snobby and stuck up. That was not Landon.
He smiled at Lucy as he watched her turning red.
Landon's own cheeks were burning. This could not be more awkward.. Surely?

Landon felt like something was changing a little between him and Lucy.
He found it hard to talk to her because they were more like strangers but that would change in time.
One day Landon would pour his heart out to Lucy, tell her how beautiful and brilliant she was and ask her a very important question.
Landon shuffled a little.
"There's a Yule Ball every year, isn't there?" Landon asked, less red and trying to stay calm.
 
Wow, this is awkward, Lucy thought, cursing herself. Why'd I have to react so badly? How was I meant to react, though? she wondered. Lucy was never paid compliments. She didn't think she deserved them, anyway. She wasn't exactly beautiful, or anything. And she always kept to herself at school, people thought she was stuck-up and a snob. And then people who knew about her home life were worse, because they knew it was just her and her mother, she was born out of wedlock and she wasn't exactly wealthy. Still, Lucy always composed herself well. She'd been seen as a bit of an icemaiden at primary school because she'd never let anything get to her.
Not until she started at Hogwarts, of course. Here she had felt misery, shame...but now she was beginning to feel hope, and happiness. For once in her life, she had a friend.
"Um...yeah, I think so. Oh yeah, my neighbour's a fourth year, she said there's been one every year she's been here, so I guess there is," Lucy shrugged. I'll probably never go, she nearly added, but held her tongue. At Hogwarts, she had often, for the first time in her life, been wrong. Sure, she didn't think she'd ever go to the ball, but maybe she would in fifth or sixth or seventh year or something. She could not see the future, and Lucy had learnt it was wrong to make assumptions pretty quickly.
 
Landon nodded.
Silence fell for a moment and he began to shuffle nervously.
"So.. erm.. I was thinking of going to the library.. I've been meaning to break into the restricted section."
Landon laughed. But it was true that he had considered going where no student.. Well, maybe a few, had gone before.
"I've always wondered what could be so bad in a book that they'd have to lock it away.."
Landon sat there for a moment in thought.
"I've heard a lot of rumours about the restricted section."
 
Lucy's interest was piqued. "What sort of rumours?" she asked, quietly. She wondered what sort of books were held in the restricted section...and why they were restricted, anyway. What sort of secrets would be held within those books? Suddenly, Lucy had an idea. Smirking, she looked at Landon, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Well, if you want to break in there, that's where a Ravenclaw comes in handy," she giggled. "Maybe I could...oh, you know, charm a professor in to giving me the password with my dazzling intellect," she joked, tossing her blonde hair back in a concieted manner. Lucy was far from concieted, but she could act the part if necessary. Not that it was necessary now, but Lucy just liked to be playful around those she felt happy and comfortable with. So why not with her one and only real friend?
 
Landon laughed.
He did not doubt Lucy's charm for a moment. If anyone could convince a Professor to let them in the restricted section, it was Lucy.
"You know," Landon said, thoughtful for a moment, "That's not a bad idea."
He brushed a hand through his red hair in thought.
"One of the rumors was something about cursed books, dark magic and all sorts of bizarre things.. I have a library.. dad locked several of the books away and told me never to even attempt to take them... I did try, of course." Landon laughed lightly, "But dad's very good at magic, especially protective charms such as one to stop me reading those books."
He sighed slightly before smiling at Lucy, his green eyes wide. "We could go tonight," Landon said suddenly, "I mean, even if we can't get a Professor's permission, there's always another way.."
Landon smirked. A bit of excitement was just what he needed. Maybe it would bring him closer to Lucy.
 
((I am glad you're not leaving for good. *clings*))

Lucy held her breath, awed, as Landon mentioned what books were in the restricted section. "Curses? Dark magic?" she replied. Dark magic and curses frightened her, but that wasn't something she was quite willing to let on. She really didn't want Landon to think poorly of her, or anything. Besides, she was an inquisitive Ravenclaw. She couldn't deny she was curious to see what sort of books the Restricted Section held. "Um, tonight?" she repeated, impressed by Landon's boldness. She paused for a moment, thinking. Lucy had never been one to break the rules - but to hell with the rules. Books were in the library to be read, were they not? And the students were there to learn. And the students were told to use the library to study by reading the books... "Let's do it," she grinned, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Maybe breaking the rules would be a bit of fun. It would certainly help to create the 'new Lucy'.
 
((Aww :hug:couldn't leave Lucy without her Landon xD))

Landon's face lit up when Lucy agreed.
He had half expected her to tell him that 'rules were there for a reason' and that they were 'not to be broken'.
But she hadn't. Instead, Lucy seemed to glow with excitement. Landon was almost tempted to tell her to turn down the excitement or she'd glow in the dark.
"Brilliant." Landon said. He had no idea how they were going to do it but tonight they would be in the restricted section.
 
Lucy grinned. "I've never broken the rules before," she admitted, a little shy and embarassed to be admitting such a thing. "But it should be fun," she added, with a shrug. "Besides, books are there to be read, why bother putting books in the library if nobody's allowed to read them? Surely they're just waiting for us to open them?" she asked, thoughtfully.
"So," Lucy began, a little more practical. "Shall we go to the library after dinner tonight, then?"
 
Landon nodded. "My thoughts exactly." he said.
He listened to Lucy suggesting they go after dinner, "Great," Landon said, "We could hide when the library is being closed and wait until it's empty.."
Landon smiled. He felt confident until he made a very awkward comment which he meant as a joke-
"It's a date."
Landon turned bright red. So much for subtlety..
He stood up and gave an embarrassed cough. "Right.. well, I er.. should be getting off to.. prepare."
Landon tried a quick smile and started walking backwards from Lucy.
Someone had conveniently left a huge bowed root to grow an inch from the ground and Landon did not notice this.
As he stepped back a little further, already embarrassed, he tripped backwards and fell over the root.
 
"Good plan," Lucy agreed, before Landon commented 'it's a date'. Giggling softly, and blushing a little herself, she noticed that Landon had turned bright red, and hastily stood up to walk away. "Okay," she replied, smiling serenely as Landon walked backwards - before falling over backwards. Quickly, Lucy stood up and rushed over to him. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?" she asked. It had been amusing, but Lucy wasn't the type to laugh at others misfortunes. Usually, she hadn't even been the type to help. Playing sport at school, if others fell over, Lucy would either stand around awkwardly or just keep playing. But this was different. "Here, let me help you up," she stated kindly, offering her arms to him.
 
Landon gladly accepted Lucy's help getting back up.
If it was possible, he was even redder than before.
He stood up tall and brushed himself off.
"Yes.. Thank you.. I.. erm.." For a moment he pointed towards the castle, his eyes still glued to Lucy's.
STOP IT! You'll scare her! Landon immediately averted his gaze to the root.
"What.. what a silly place to grow.." Landon wanted to hit himself for this comment. He was sure Lucy would start avoiding him soon.
"See you tonight." Landon smiled, giving a slight wink before practically running to the Gryffindor common room where he bashed his head against a wall and shouted "Stupid! Stupid!"

((I PMed Nick about Restricted Section thing. He said he's put it up in the admin section. Fingers crossed.))
 
"See you then," she replied, sweetly, returning the slight wink he gave her. Humming to herself - a little off-key, of course, Lucy wasn't the most musical person around - she sad back down on the bench, slipping her shoes off and bringing her legs up underneath her as she opened up her novel. Anticipation for the night was hard to quell, but Lucy was trying her best to absorb herself in the world of Charles ****ens, and not to get worked up thinking about the fun she and Landon would have breaking the rules.
 
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