Apparating

[Leah Winters]

Leah apparated directly onto the sand. She had no idea where she was, having yet again seen this beach in a travel magazine. It was nice sometimes to just go to a random place and know nothing about it when you get there. Her trip to Europe was very successful so far, and she was not quite done with this place as of yet.

The wind blew gusts of air at her, not quite strong enough to knock her down, but getting close. Leah had brought nothing with her, except the clothes on her back, and of course her wand which was securely in her hand. The beach was deserted, and she knew why. It was cold, and a weekday. The muggles would be at work and school.

Leah went to the water and stared at the waves crashing down, wondering why she had waited this long to visit a beach.

 

[Benjamin Carla]

Benjamin scolded his friends for the idea of coming cliff diving today. It was so cold to start with, the water was freezing and to worsen matters they had sneaked from their break to a near by village. They had been here on this beach for the past hour doing nothing else but cliff diving and apparating back to the cliff and taking another dive. It was a once in a life time experience and it was his last month at Dumstrang before he graduated. It was true, the words his friends had used to emotionally black mail him into coming.

However he had the time of his life today. He still had an hour more before they would be sneaking back into the village and go back to school. As one of Benjamin's friend jumped from the cliff, Ben's sharp eyes noticed a figure that had appeared on the beach out of no where. Ben could make out that the person was a female and she could only be a witch.

Excusing himself from his friends, he ran down the beach towards the girl. It would be fun to find out who she was and what was her job here and where she came from. He could faintly hear his friends' teasing voices far behind on the cliff. Realizing that he was completely drenched in water, he quickly dried himself however he couldn't avoid but stay shirtless. "Hey" he greeted her with a smile his northern accent clearly showing in the single word.

 

[Leah Winters]

The sky was gray and filled with clouds, it was such a dreary day. The waves crashed down even harder, hinting that perhaps a storm would soon cover them. Therefore, it was very surprising to here the sound of a male voice behind her. Although it was heavily accented, it had youth vibrating through it. Leah whipped around, her wand sticking out at the approaching man. She rolled her eyes, as her guess of being no threat to her at all was true.

Leah lowered her wand, still holding it loosely in her fingers. "Hello." She greeted, somewhat coldly. "Nice day for a swim?" She observed seeing his naked chest and the obvious wetness covering his body.

 

[Benjamin Carla]

Benjamin noticed the way the young witch had pointed out her wand at him and then lowered it. "Yes" he said with a smile. "We like to swim just before the storm" he told her. As a matter of fact there was going to be a storm today. It had been announced by the muggle weather station and had even made its way into the wizarding news. "I am Ben" he said introducing himself and giving out his hand for a shake.

"Do you live in Bulgaria?"he inquired. It didn't seem so because if she did she would certainly be knowing about the storm and wouldn't risk coming out alone on a beach. Even her normal accent suggested that she was a traveler but what she was to do here still remained a subject of mystery.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah nodded at his introductions, still wary about this new face. He had appeared out of nowhere, and she had to wonder if this was only a mere coincidence to brush off, or leading to something greater. A storm! I knew it. It did not take a genius to figure out that a storm would be headed here soon. By the looks of the choppy water, and the blueless sky a storm was most obviously coming. "Ben." Leah repeated, determining to engrave his name and face into her mind. "I'm Leah, and it's nice to meet you." She took his hand, grasping it softly, and gave him a brief shake before releasing it, allowing her hand to fall back to her side.

Now, when someone asked her where she lived she had no idea what to say. Technically she still lived in New Zealand, but where in New Zealand? After dropping out she had realized that perhaps a bit more thought on where to live wouldn't have hurt her in the least. "No, I suppose I don't." Leah looked at the sand beneath her feet, thinking on what to say. "I live in New Zealand." She looked back up and smiled. "Your accent is heavy so you must live around here?" It was more of a question than a statement. "Is this Bulgaria?"

 

[Benjamin Carla]

Ben looked at the girl who now looked a bit confused after he asked if she lived here. Hearing her say that she lived in New Zealand he easily guessed that she would be attending or was just graduated from Hogwarts New Zealand. "Yes, I live here" he said when Leah asked him. "I attend Dumstrang so technically I live here but my family is in New Zealand" he addded with a smile. He wondered why Leah had come to a place which she didn't know at all.

"If you didn't know about this beach in Bulgaria, how did you come here?" he asked curiously.Thinking it was wise to ask one question after another rather than building a mountain of questions which by the looks of her, she would refuse to answer he kept quiet allowing her to reply.The wind started blowing with more urgency and the waves became stronger. "There's a cave right there" he said pointing to the area right below the cliffs. "We could go there for a while" he suggested.

It was good that Ben knew this place and his geography well. Cliffs and caves went together as they were both features formed by waves. Caves were very helpful in such storms in Bulgaria especially when you didn't know where to apparate to.

 

[Leah Winters]

Ah, a Durmstrang student. If only I could have attended school there. Leah thought wistfully, eying Ben with greater respect. It was obvious that his education had been a tad bit higher than hers had been. Although, she knew she was not stupid at all, Durmstrang was known to have higher quality classes and teachers. "But why Durmstrang if your family is in New Zealand?" She asked him with growing curiosity.

Leah thought over his question before answering. She was not entirely comfortable sharing her plans with a complete stranger, but what was the harm? Most likely she would never see him again. "I saw it in a muggle magazine and wished to visit it. I sometimes prefer to go to strange places blindly. It makes it a lot more exciting." She suddenly had the feeling of stupid wash over her. "It's stupid." She paused. "Yes, I let's go." With that, Leah began to walk towards the cave.

 

[Benjamin Carla]

Benjamin led her to the cave which was dark but it gave them shelter. Replying to Leah's question, he said "Well because when I started Dumstrang we lived in England. My parents wished for me to attend Hogwarts England however most of my friends were trying for Dumstrang and so I said I wanted to go there and they agreed". Ben looked around at the cold cave and waving his wand he started up a good fire on some pieces of wood. The fire emitted a orang-ish glow in the entire cave, Ben quite like the cave this way. Producing two chairs out of thin air, he motioned Leah to sit.

Her answer on how she came to the place was very interesting and not stupid. "Thats very adventurous" he said with a smile. As she said that she lived in New Zealand, he wondered curiously if she attended Hogwarts there. "So are you still schooling?"he questioned her.