Bathing in the Sunlight

[Kristen Blade]

Kristen Blade still wasn't an overall fan of Hogwarts castle. Almost everything that they did could be deemed dangerous, and he knew that it would only get worse over time. Sighing deeply, he had decided that it was about time he got over his fears and after bracing himself he had headed outside and onto the Great Lawn. Who had thought it had been a good idea to name it that? What actually made it so great? He didn't see any difference to it than other 'lawns'. He said, once more, and took a seat at the base of a tree in some shade. At least the trees were great, if you could really consider a tree to be great. He heard a noise in the distance that sounded like somebody was singing, but he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to go and investigate. People that were singers often intended to have powerful personalities and Kristen was quite often overwhelmed. He sighed once more, deciding against his better judgement and heading off in search of the voice.

 

[Rose Thornhill]

Winter had ended, and with it, the bitter cold that clinged to the air. As the warmth returned, and the sun reappeared from behind heavy clouds for the first time in many days, Rose resorted to take full advantage of its newly presented opportunities. With a laid out towel across the dewed grass, and a magical wireless tuning in to Brightstone Radio, the girl closed her eyes, flicking down the sun-blocking shutters across the lenses of her glasses. Through the wireless came the sound of a pretty feminine voice, with one of the more current, popular songs for wizarding youth. Casey and the Chocolate Frogs were by far one of Thornhill's favourite bands, and despite herself, she was soon singing loudly along to the lyrics, naive in her belief that there wasn't anyone on this side of the lawn to hear her.

The sound of crunching grass cut through the music drifting from the radio. Rose opened her eyes, flicking the shades back up as she surveyed the boy approaching her. Reaching a hand out, she turned down the volume on the radio to zero. "Like a siren calling out to passing ships. It looks like I've attracted some attention." She giggled to herself, trying to hide the awkward feeling of having an audience. "I hope I wasn't disturbing you. I thought I was alone."

 

[Kristen Blade]

As Kristen began to approach the source of the singing, he noticed that it was in fact one of the students singing along to the radio. A perplexed look crossed his face as he struggled to understand how she was listening to a radio inside the wall of Hogwarts, as he knew that electronic devices couldn't work inside the school. He pushed the thoughts aside, however, summing it up the magic. It was a fair assessment, and it was so easy to make that assumption inside a school devoted to magic. He gave her a half smile, enjoying the sentiment that she at least hadn't meant to act like a siren. "I was curious what the noise was, your singing voice isn't half bad. I wouldn't say it disturbed me." Kristen said, truthfully. He had heard a lot of bad singing voices, and they had truly been assaults on his ears. Sighing at the though, he once again flashed a smile at the girl. "I'm Kristen." He stated.

 

[Rose Thornhill]

Rose's cheeks were met with a slight touch of pink and she beamed, warmed by the comment. "That is very kind of you to say. Thank you." As much as she would have liked Hogwarts to be a more musically involved academy, she herself was still learning how to be comfortable singing in the presence of others. Until then, her hopes and aspirations for one day being able to sing for the school, or during the Yule Ball, were merely dreams. "It's nice to meet your acquaintance, Kristen. I'm Rose." She tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears as she spoke, and shuffled aside once she'd finished introducing herself. "Do you want to sit? The grass is just a bit damp. Are there any stations you like?"

 

[Kristen Blade]

Kristen noticed her cheeks flush, and immediately looked down at his feet. He was embarassed, and he hoped that she didn't think he was trying to flirt with her. He was just trying to be nice, that was just the kind of person that he was and he had been raised to be a kind person. Mustering up his courage, he found himself blushing at his own comment. "Just being honest." He said drly, trying to shake any chance that he was being flirty. He didn't want to get any kind of reputation. He gave her a smile when she said it was nice to make his acquaintance. He agreed. She seemed nice enough, and he was happy that he finally had a friend. Things had been rough during his first year, and he hadn't had a chance to make any friends in that time. He had barely been able to look at people let alone talk to them though. He was glad that he had grown up a little. He was taken aback, though, when she next asked him about the radio. He hadn't even known a wizarding radio had existed. "Well.. umm.. this is awkward but I didn't even know the radio existed before now." He asked, sitting down next to her in way of answering her other question.

 

[Rose Thornhill]

Listening to the boy, Rose's jaw dropped open in shock. He hadn't known wireless radio existed? How could he have gone so long without it? "You don't know about the Wizarding Wireless Network?" No way. She couldn't believe it. He was missing out on so much! All of the live news and daily updates, the sorcerous songs channel, the gardening station. She couldn't go a day without tuning in. "Brightstone Village has a radio station that broadcasts every day. There's all sorts of channels you can tune into. Listen." She tried to explain, turning up the volume dial a few notches so it was audible once more. The song she'd been singing before she was interrupted was just coming to an end, and one of the radio presenters was discussing the band's latest album. "Have you never heard wizard music before? " She questioned. Music was such an important part of her life, as it should have been for everyone. It was uplifting, inspiring. Hogwarts was in dire need of it, and this boy proved it.

 

[Kristen Blade]

Kristen froze all of a sudden. She seemed to be scandalised that he knew nothing about the Wizarding radio, and now seemed to be attempting to force it upon him. He wasn't sure what was happening, and wondered if this was an important part of friendship. He wasn't sure he liked it. "I.. uh.. well.. i grew up with muggles.. so I didn't know it existed.." he said, truthfully. He wasn't a muggle born by any means, but his parents had decided that he hadn't been worth looking after and had placed him in foster care with another one of his brothers. He sighed at the memory; if they hadn't been able to look after kids, they should have stopped having them. "The first lot of wizard music I heard was just now when you were singing.." He said, embarrassed by this entire exchange. He felt so behind the times now, and he could already tell that he was about to get caught up quite quickly. Be gentle with me.. he thought, a little bit scared.

 

[Rose Thornhill]

Rose slowed down, leaning onto her elbows as the boy visibly tried to keep up. It was still difficult to comprehend how sheltered he was from wizarding music. "There's always a first time for everything. Magical music is different, it's enchanting." She said, humming softly as the radio presenters stopped speaking, their voices replaced by the start of a new song. Her eyes turned skyward as she listened, watching the clouds above slowly drift across the sky. "What about your muggle music? What do you like to listen to?"

 

[Kristen Blade]

Kristen relaxed as she seemed to fall back and settled in. He hoped that one day he would be able to be a lot more relaxed around people with much more dominant personalities. He was a lot more submissive and that would always be a leading part of his personality, but at the very least he wanted to be able to stand up to them. Giving her a smile, he took in the music. It was very soothing, very relaxing. As she had put it, it was magical. It wasn't something that he had heard before, but he could see himself growing to like it. "I haven't really listened to very much music, not since I was little. I've never really had the chance." He said, with a frown on his face. He thought back to her singing, and wondered if that was a regular thing that she did. "Do you sing very often? You certainly have the voice for it. Maybe I'll hear you on the radio one day." He said, giving her a smile.

 

[Rose Thornhill]

Thornhill bit the bottom of her lip in silent contemplation, trying to imagine herself in Kristen's shoes. Growing up, not having the chance to listen to music. She didn't want to begin questioning what sort of upbringing he had, but it sounded awful. While he questioned her, she pushed the thoughts aside, instead turning her head to face his. "Whenever I can." She responded honestly. More accurately, it was whenever she was alone. Her dormitory, the corridors, the gardens. It all depended on her mood, or what song she had stuck in her head at the time, bursting to get out. "That's the dream. One day, hopefully. After I've graduated, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do." She continued, falling quiet for a moment in thought, imagining as she did frequently, the life she dreamed of having. Realising she couldn't just talk about herself, she moved on. "Is there anything you want to do after school?"

 

[Kristen Blade]

Kristen smiled when she seemed to calm down, and quite a lot at that. She seemed to be in quiet contemplation about him, and he hoped that she wouldn't ask him about his childhood. It hadn't been the best of times, and he'd love to have forgotten all about it if he could have. He'd made a friend, Anthony Jackson, and he'd heard that he also attended this school but he must have been sorted into a different house because he hadn't seen hide nor hair of the person. Bringing himself back to earth, he smiled. "I'd love to watch you sing one day." He said, truthfully. She was already a good singer, and he was sure she would only get better. Truth be told, her next question really stumped Kristen. He didn't know what he wanted to do after school. Maybe an Auror? "I don't know yet. An Auror might be cool. Maybe own a book store." He said, knowing full well those two professions were as far apart as you could be.