Begin Anew

[Kyle Martin]

The moonlight on the harbor and the magically inclined street lamps helped to guide Kyle's feet down the cobblestone to the water's edge. Soon her tennis shoes smooshed on the sand of Obsidian's beach, and the vibrant red head finally found a decent spot. For most this was not an idea way to read, but with the tip of her wand lit, and it hovered above her, she'd be able to find a great pleasure in it. Kyle threw down her blanket, the soft plaid material sinking into the dirt in some spots. Then, tucking her shorts under her better, the fresh graduate sat down, ready to relax. She worked hard for this chance to move around, away - to be on her own. Six or so years in school and she finally earned her little paper telling her she could be an independent witch.

Laying down now on the blanket, Kyle looked at the stars for a moment. Then she lit her wand, and hovered the book over her face. She felt sorry for muggles whom would have to hold their books if they wanted to lay like this. It was much more comfortable to not have to. Perhaps her arm muscles would be larger though if she did. A cool breeze lulled Kyle into security as she immersed herself into the story, a smile on her pink and chapped lips. This was the life.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey Daniels was a graduate. No matter how many times he said that to himself it still sounded strange to him. His Hogwarts experience was not at all what he expected. First he had been sorted into Slytherin, he left the the Quidditch team after a couple of years as an alternate and got no where near being a prefect. All the things he set out to achieve when he started at the school he had failed in. Then there was perhaps the biggest disaster of them all, his relationship with Alison which when all was said and done imploded in their final years. All in all, Hogwarts had been a disaster and the recent graduate was glad to see the back of the school.

Casey had been in Obsidian harbour early that afternoon in preparation for his interview at Gringotts for a position as a curse breaker. He was little nervous, some of his grades left a little to be desired but he had them where it counted so he was sure he would at least be given serious consideration. By the time he left the bank it was already dark and there was a nice cooling breeze in the air. Casey slipped on his jacket and decided to take a walk along the beech front before he apparated home. Over on the beach he spotted some light that looked like it was coming from a wand. There was someone there, Casey was feeling a little in need of a boost so he decided to approach the person to investigate. The closer he got the more it became clear that the girl was levitating a book and was reading it. "That's a handy trick, though personally I prefer to actually feel the book in my hands while I read it, but that's just me,"

 

[Kyle Martin]

Always imaginative while reading, needing to be so to block out the loud noises of her previous home, Kyle wasn't even aware that someone was approaching. Startled the red haired woman's concentration was broke, and her book fell from it's place onto her face. "Ow!" She hissed in pain, her voice not coming above a whisper - though she wasn't even sure why she was whispering. Slowly she moved the book from her face, rubbing her nose which it had thwacked pretty well. The light on her wand gave her the ability to check her hand for blood, which there was none of, and then she was able to see the body which the voice that had shaken her came from.

"Sorry!" She apologized, but frankly she was unsure why it was that she was apologizing. "I mean yeah, it's just when I'm out here I like to lay down!" The olive skinned woman had an obvious accent, mixture of Scottish and Irish, perhaps with English in the mix somewhere showing her mutt heritage as she called it. "I'm sorry, uhm I'm probably in your spot or something." She spoke, doubting that he was there to talk to her - she wasn't exactly an interesting conversation partner in her opinion after all.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey was a little taken back when he saw the girl properly for the first time, she was pretty, really pretty. He needed to focus to make sure he heard her once she began speaking. The first word out her mouth seemed to be sorry, Casey surely didn't hear her right, what had she to apologise for? If anything he had interrupted her and caused her to get hit in the face with her own book. "Wait, what are you sorry for? I interrupted you, I'm pretty sure the book in the face was my fault, it would be same if it's done any damage, it's a nice face," He smiled awkwardly, was he flirting? He wasn't sure he hadn't really hit on someone since Alison and the first time he had done that was a very long time ago.

"You're not in my spot, I don't come on the beach often so I don't have a spot, I just don't often see someone out on the sand at the time so I thought I'd come over and well, see what you were up to," He shrugged his shoulders, after saying it out loud it sounded strange and didn't really justify why he had caused a book to drop on her face.

 

[Kyle Martin]

The petite woman looked up and shrugged with an apologetic smile. She sunk her front teeth gently into her lip, tugging it slightly into her mouth. She then looked down at the dark sand between her fingers, and shrugged. "I uhm, don't know! I just thought I should apologize." Wait, did he just say she had a nice face? Kyle looked around, trying to avoid looking as flustered as she knew she did. Instead she took a few tiny breaths before smiling up at him.

"Oh I'm reading! it's an old book I've read a hundred times!" She held out the book which was wrinkled and tattered. The authors name was still visible though not much else was. "It is a poetry book. Sara Teasdale - she was a muggle poet from a long time ago. Like two hundred years." It was evident by the smile on her face that she was excited about the book, however it faded quickly as she realized she was talking to much. "I'm sorry." She apologized and then quickly changed the subject. "I'm Kyle." She introduced, trying hard to smile once more.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Even in the dark Casey had a feeling the girl was flustered at his remarks about her having a nice face which was no doubt the reason she looked away and was looking in every direction but at him. He smiled, no one had acted like that around him since Alison and he kinda missed it. "There's nothing to apologise for it's totally ok," He couldn't believe that the girl was apologising when he was the one who had disturbed her in the first place. "In fact, I'm sorry for disrupting you, I can't imagine having a book drop on your head is a very pleasant experience," He smiled at her.

Suddenly her demeanour changed when she started talking about the book, it was a book of poetry by a muggle poet, he hadn't heard of the poet but that wasn't a surprise, he wasn't a big poetry fan and he had only read books by a handful of muggle authors so it would not be his area of expertise. "No, no, you don't have to apologise, again, I haven't heard of the poet though, its not exactly my area of expertise, I'm Casey," He smiled introducing himself as she did, she seemed to introduce herself in an attempt to change the subject from her apologising. "It's funny, I'm hardly ever here at this time, its only one of a handful of times I've seen this place in the dark, I was just coming back from an interview with Gringots," He was rambling a little but he wanted to make her feel more comfortable.

 

[Kyle Martin]

The red haired woman moved back and to the side of her blanket as if to make room for him, but had not yet verbally invited him to sit with her. "No, please don't apologize. I'm just an easy startle." She reassured him. "And my nose is fine - paperback books don't hurt that bad." She reassured him with a laugh. "Oh, you can sit if you've got time. or want."

Looking at the book in her hands Kyle thought for a moment. She was in a magical area, she'd have been more surprised if he had heard of the woman. With large brown orbs tilted upwards she watched him - Casey right? - and nodded at what he said. "Gringots. So you're from around here? I mean you don't have to be, you can probably apparate." Her voice softened as she realized she was rambling, and hadn't actually insulted him by assuming that. She felt ridiculous, always getting mildly awkward around people.

 

[Casey Daniels]

The girl insisted that he didn't need to apologise and Casey decided that he was just going to go along with her way of thinking, he didn't want to keep going back and forth on something like this with someone he had just met. He seemed to make a joke out of the book incident by telling him paperbacks didn't hurt that much, "Yeah that's true, if it was a hardback you might not be feeling so chatty," He laughed a little with her hoping she didn't take offence to being referred to as chatty.

He noticed that she had moved over slightly on her blanked and after a few moments she asked if he wanted to sit and if he had the time. "Yeah sure, there's no where I need to be," He smiled at her and took a seat on the blanket beside her. The conversation soon moved to his interview at Gringots. "Ah well, no not really, I'm from Australia, but I'm in the process of moving out of my parents place and I'll most likely be moving somewhere around here, I just like the atmosphere, much better than apparating in, what about you? Are you from around here?"

 

[Kyle Martin]

Chatty, that was a new one. Kyle had always been used to meek, mousy, quiet - geeky. Never chatty. Pushing long waves back off her shoulder the sea breeze tickled her ear, and the smell of seaweed and aquatic wonders filled her nose just briefly before dissipating in favor of the scent the man before her wore. It was nice at least, and perhaps it wasn't cologne but whatever it was it didn't smell bad. That was all the woman could ask for in a conversational partner.

"Right, you might have had to take me to the hospital. What a fun trip that would have been." The smile on her face showed that she continued to be filled with humor, rather than sarcasm. Then, though she wasn't sure what propted it, she offered up information as well. "No way i just moved out of mine!" There was an excitement in finding something in common with someone - though her family was not something she was dying to talk about, so she quickly changed her subject. "Because I just graduated. Aye, where did you go to school?" Her words crashed together in places, but the naturally nervous woman felt she had kept her cool well.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey laughed as Kyle joked about him having to take her to the hospital if it had been a hardback book. Though the image of her with a blooded nose was by no means a humorous image, somehow the idea of taking her to the hospital for it was. "Oh yeah, I'm sure it would be a great sight, you with a broken and bloodied nose and be carrying you into St Mungo's, because I'm far too much of a gentleman to make you walk in after breaking your nose," He smiled at her, it felt strange to falling into such an easy conversation with someone he had just met, but he liked the feeling.

Kyle seemed thrilled by the idea that the two of them were in a similar boat, as it were, having just moved out of their parents place. "Yeah, it's a very strange feeling to be moving out of the house I've lived in my whole life, but its time to move on right," He smiled. "Yeah I just graduated too, I went to Hogwarts New Zealand, was in Slytherin, don't judge me," He raised his eyebrow and grinned at Kyle. "But seriously, what school did you go to? Because I know you weren't at my school there's no way I would have missed you,"

 

[Kyle Martin]

Th crashing ocean waves set great ambiance for the laughter that the two near-strangers exchanged. It was odd what ease of a smile slid onto Kyle's face as he sat next to her, and her heart was more than honest with her about the fact that her talking to someone like him was weird. "Carry me? Doubt you could lift me." She joked. It wasn't that she was fat, but she felt she was a solid girl.

Kyle's head nodded along, showing that she too knew what it meant to move from where she lived all her life. Though the memories of her house weren't always good ones, she knew deep down that she was going to miss some of her family - most of them really. "You might not have noticed me." She offered him quietly, her voice once more just above a whisper - it was her normal talking voice. Kyle rarely got excited in conversation, fearing her overzealous nature would scare someone off. Thus she spoke quietly, her voice paced. "I went to Hogwarts Scotland. I was a Hufflepuff." She said, trying to hide her embarrassment for her often forgotten house. All eleven of her siblings had bullied her for being the only one in the family to not be in either Slytherin or Gryffindor. They were proud representatives of those houses. Kyle's hands now took place in her lap, clutching the book and toying with it's tattered edges - waiting for Casey to continue as conversation was never a strong skill of hers.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey seemed surprised by the girls comments, even if she was joking, which he hoped she was, it strange to think she couldn't be lifted. "Hey I played Quidditch in my youth, not only could I carry you in my arms, I reckon I could pick you up and sling you over my shoulder, quite easily I might add," He winked at her, even without his athletic experience there was no way the girl was difficult to lift to look at her, no matter how she saw herself.

He shook his head softly as he listened to the girl tell him that she could have gone to his school and that he could just have not noticed her. "No there's no way, I think I would have noticed you if you were at HNZ, there's no way I wouldn't have," He smiled at her hoping that she would take it as the compliment that it was meant to be. When she told him that she went to Hogwarts Scotland and was sorted into Hufflepuff there was something about the way she said it that seemed a little strange to Casey. "You say that like it's a bad thing, would that be the school or the house that your not totally sold on?" He asked cautiously.

 

[Kyle Martin]

The non-observant Puff alum hadn't noticed the surprise, and half the time she didn't notice the things that often left her mouth. Kyle simply though they were after thoughts, no one would pay enough attention to catch them. However she felt though he made it clear that she was heard and another faint tinge of pink fled from heart to cheeks - lit up barely by the wand she held farther and farther away from her face. "Oh I didn't mean you were weak!" She reassured, trying with great difficulty to prevent from apologizing again and once more returning to a loop of sorries.

Kyle was shocked that he insisted he would have noticed her, and even though she wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not, she still managed to turn just a few shades lighter than her hair. Quickly though, as if an expert at trying (and most of the time failing) to hide her embarrassment, the girl spoke up about her house. "I just, wanted a different house." She spoke, carefully placing the words into a sentence that was most definitely not the whole truth. "Why did you think I would judge you for being a Slytherin." She wanted to finish with the fact that half of her family was Slytherin, but refrained. That was too much information too soon.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey raised his eyebrow at the girl as she seemed to reassure him that she didn't think she was weak. He couldn't keep it up though and he eventually smiled at her, "I know I know, I'm guessing you were thinking more along the lines of you being unliftable, which is ridiculous of course, your a tiny little thing," He smiled and nudged her gently. He was feeling very comfortable with Kyle which he found strange as the pair were practically strangers but there was something about her.

At his insistence that Casey would have noticed Kyle her face seemed to light up brighter than her shimmering red hair, and it was clear even in the dark. He didn't want to mention it at the risk of embarrassing her even further. He just nodded as she talked about her sorting at Hogwarts and that she just wished that she had been sorted into another house, that was something he could relate to. "Yeah, I understand that, I wanted to be in Gryffindor like everybody in my family was, being sorted into Slytherin was just, a disappointment that's all, I never seemed to take to it, it never felt right you know what I mean?" He figured she would get what he meant seeing as thought she like him wanted to have been sorted in a different house.

 

[Kyle Martin]

Something between a snort and a laugh escaped Kyle's mouth and she covered her face with one hand. To hid her embarrassment and also to laugh into. "You think I'm tiny, should meet me mum." Her accent was more noticeable it seemed with certain words, and the faster and louder she talked the more apparent it became. Kyle moved her hand back to the sand, toying once more with the texture, as it still remained slightly moist from high tide hours ago.

It struck Kyle as Odd that he would say the things she felt and she nodded. "Try being youngest of twelve, and the only one not in Slytherin or Gryffindor." She admitted - and immediately regretted. She knew little to nothing about this guy and was giving away information freely that could be used against her - she wasn't sure how but she knew it could be. Kyle's brown eyes danced over the water and then finally looked at Casey. She wondered what time it was, and as if her brain was signaling her she felt tired. She was sure it was only because she thought of time - she'd not been out there for more than ten minutes. "Sorry." She apologized as she finished her yawn. "So you don't look like a goblin, what'll you be doing at Gringotts?"

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey didn't know what to make of the sound that came out of Kyle's mouth, she was quick to cover her mouth with her hand but the damage was done and Casey wasn't able to hold in his laugh. "What? What was that sound you just made? It was so cute," He laughed quietly hoping he didn't make her feel more insecure. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't help it, it was funny, it was cute, but it was funny," Casey smiled at her, there had been a lot of apologies thrown around between the two of them for how long they had known each other.

As Kyle told him a little more about her family background, he was a little surprised, it was one thing to be the first family member not in Gryffindor. But to be one of twelve siblings and not sorted into the traditional family pattern of houses, that was strange and he couldn't imagine what that must feel like. "Wow that must have been, a difficult adjustment for you," He didn't really know what else to saw on the matter. That was the word he used to describe himself getting used to being in Slytherin. Not that he ever did. She quickly changed the subject and Casey found himself glad that she did. "Well I'm glad you think so, I was interviewing to be a trainee curse breaker, far cooler than counting galleons or whatever it is goblins do in gringots," He shrugged his shoulders.

 

[Kyle Martin]

His laughter in reaction to her snort-laugh (snorlaugh? Laughort?) only furthere along the heat that rose into her face. Her ears were on fire, though they were covered by crimson strands. It had been some time before anyone had complemented her - and even longer since she'd accepted it at truth. Looking up through a few waves of disheveled hair she gave a quirked half smile and answered. "It was a laugh!" As if trying and failing to defend herself.

Regardless she wasn't being defensive, rather playful. It was the most free she had been in a while. "It was different." She answered, not furthering that information too much though. "I wouldn't tell the Goblins that. They can be angry little devils sometimes." She whispered, as if afraid that they might hear her from their homes. "Uhm..." She thought for a moment, trying to continue the conversation. "I'm sorry." She then fed another apology to him, this one for not being able to think of anything interesting or funny - often she thought she was such a boring person.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey shook his head in response to her conclusion about her laugh as she called it, though he had a different word for it, at the very least it was half a snort and half a laugh. "I think we need to compromise, you think it was a laugh, whereas I think it was more like a snort, so its gonna have to be a snorlaugh, what do you think?" He grinned trying his hardest not to laugh, though she seemed to be getting more playful so maybe laughing at her snort wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

He smiled broadly as he noticed her cheeks remaining dark and perhaps even darkening if that were even possible at this point. She seemed to skip over her experience of being sorted into a different house than her family, clearly it wasn't something she wanted to discuss, or perhaps it was more about her family. The two had only known each a very short time after all. "Don't let the Goblins let you refer to them as little devils either, they don't take too kindly to such nicknames, or any nicknames for that matter, just don't talk to them if you can help it," He smiled. The conversation seemed to trail off as Kyle struggled for something to say and she apologised for not being able to think of anything. "Ok, ok, I'm going to travel the world kick curse a$$ and taking names, so what are your plans now your free from school?"

 

[Kyle Martin]

The revelation of his words only made her laugh a little harder. "Okay, can we just agree that it's weird you thought the same thing?" She asked before sighing and returning to a more relaxed demeanor, realizing her voice had become louder in her chatting. As a child she was always one of the loudest - and she knew she needed to be careful so as not to offend others around her. Her family was often very reserved and quiet after all. Not at all like the children she had gone to school with - she thought.

Kyle's smile did not fade from her slightly-chapped lips. The woman glanced at her own petite tendrils, the sand drying around them, and she pulled them from the minuscule grains, before dusting them off with her other hand. "I'm a metal charmer. I interned a bit between my sixth and seventh years. Now I make charmed metal objects. Like snitches." She offered the information up almost mindlessly - though kept any businesses she worked for out of the equation, unable to tell him such things. What if he decided to follow her to work? What if he was a member of that new group - the one like the death eaters? Another hush fell over them and her smile slowly faded to a complacent look on her face. In the moonlight she noticed the boys eye color now, as clouds moved from in front of the bright crescent in the sky. They were dark like hers - darker even. Different from the blue eyes of the boyfriend she used to know. Absentmindedly she stared for a moment before looking away. "But, anyways, have you found uhm, a place yet?" She asked, to try and diffuse the awkward feelings she was sure only she felt between them. It wasn't that she liked him - no and it wasn't that she didn't. It was that Kyle was not used to making friends. She knew little of how to converse if she were honest. Outside of her ex and her family she hadn't continued much contact, and now she didn't have that.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey smiled at Kyle, the two seemed to be on the same page, at least about her little laugh/snort. She asked him if it was weird that they were thinking the same thing on what to call her noise. He just shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, I mean we just met but clearly we've got some weird in sync stuff going on up here," He grinned pointing to both of their foreheads. "Could mean something don't you think?" He asked speculatively, if nothing else to see what she might say on the matter.

As Kyle described her job she kept vague about where it was she worked, which was fair enough. If what she did was secret then she should keep her details vague, but the information she did tell him sounded very interesting, she made snitches, that was pretty cool he had to admit. She seemed keen to move on from her job almost as if she was worried he would pry or she would let something slip, it was like there was a moment of mistrust while she talked about her job. Although, they barely knew each other, mistrust should be a given at this point. She then asked if he had found a place yet, Casey took the chance to talk about something more comfortable, "Actually yes, though its not confirmed yet, I'm just waiting for either this job to come in or a different one with a bank in England, either way I'll commute from here, like you said I can apparate, you said you've already moved out right? Do you live near by?"

 

[Kyle Martin]

This guy was flirting. Kyle had come to the conclusion a bit ago, but wanted more evidence. The way he said that it could mean something made it obvious and for a moment the red haired woman clammed up. Her mouth was closed in a tight line as she thought, almost not hearing his next question. She took an extra moment to process it and then finally swallowed to speak.

"Yeah I uhm do." There was another pause before she asked a rather assuming question. Kyle didn't want to make this awkward - she didn't want to make him feel awkward anyways as she already did. Finally after a moment of thinking she brushed off the thoughts. No, he couldn't be flirting with her. "It's not much, all I could afford." She spoke, the one bedroom flat was a mess. But she needed this, to get away for a little while. It would be good for her. "Were you just now hitting on me?" Kyle had thought she had her mouth under control, but that obviously wasn't the case.

 

[Casey Daniels]

It was now a waiting game, to see if his lame attempt at flirting would even be registered by the girl. At first it didn't seem like it. She acknowledged that she did indeed live nearby and seemed to take a pause before she said anything else. That wasn't as good sign, was she using the pause to try and think of something to say so she could get out of there? She talked a little about her place, how it wasn't much, by that Casey assumed she meant small and that it was all she could afford. He could relate, the flat he was looking at renting was no palace, one bedroom and barely enough space to fling a cat. Trainee anythings don't exactly earn the big galleons.

What Kyle said next Casey never would have seen coming. She asked him, point blank if he had just been hitting on her. Casey pulled at the collar of his shirt, it wasn't exactly a question he got asked and what was the saying, if she has to ask your not really flirting. He obviously wasn't doing a good job if she had to check. "Yeah I was, what was the issue, too obvious or not good enough game over?"

 

[Kyle Martin]

Kyle could see, even through the clouded darkness of the night, and by the dim light of a wand, that the question had either made him uncomfortable or shocked him. The way he tugged at the collar of his shirt, she knew his answer before it even left his brain to make it's travel to his mouth. Kyle shifted slightly on the blanket when he spoke, though didn't quite look at him - rather at the tide that rolled smoothly onto the beach.

"Listen it's not that." She finally answered. Though she hardly knew the guy she felt she owed him something. He was attractive no doubt, he was rather nice it seemed to and they had similar senses of humor, but this wasn't a good place nor time. "I just got out of a thing and uhm, it was like a big thing you know?" She looked back at the blanket and then at him. "But I uhm think if this isn't a thing, we could maybe be friends?" She asked. She didn't want him to feel bad - but right now was not the time for a new relationship.