Doodlin' the Scenery

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora lay back against the tall oak tree - breathing in the fresh crisp air and the the smell of the oak.
The weather was fairly sunny, and the fluffy white clouds was rolling by.
Redoing the bow on her outfit she reached over to her bag to grab her notepad and a pencil.

Looking around her to see if there was anything interesting, she found a couple of wildflowers growing at a nearby tree. Smiling, she started doodling the shapes of the flower before thinking of something else.
She put down her notepad and her pencil and grabbed her bag again - peering if she brought any other equipment.
Humming to herself, she pulled out a pack of watercolour paints and a paintbrush - putting them aside for later.

Picking up the notepad and the pencil she carried on doodling - looking back and forth, to the flower to the notepad. She wondered if there was an art club at school. Making a mental note, she carried on doodling.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

Sam whistled softly at the little sparrows pecking at the grass by his feet. He had been laying there all morning, having done all of his homework, and had his eyes to the sky watching the birds. Soon they had become accustomed to his presence, to which he responded by feeding them sunflower seeds and cake crumbs from his pocket. He named them in his mind, laughing as they pecked at his fingers.
“Come on Puck, that’s the tenth seed. Here, give some to Harp, no that’s my fingers!” Soon they were hopping all over his chest as he lay, tickling him with their tiny feet. He was laughing.
“Geddoff, you little gits!” he cried, amused as one pecked him on the nose. “Here,” he replied, pulling out another handful of sunflower seeds. The little sparrows, distracted instantly, hopped off of him and pecked up the sunflower seeds at top speed.

With a trill, another sparrow flew down to join them. “Well hallo, Scoot.” greeted Sam as he held out a hand for the bird to sit on. Sam whistled back in greeting and the sparrow bobbed its head up and down.

He was soon distracted by a scratching of a different kind. Pencil on paper back and forth, and Sam turned to see. Why, it was Sephora. “Hallo!” he called across to her, waving with the hand without a sparrow on it.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora doodled away, drawing the leaves of the flowers when she heard someone talking and laughing - a voice she was pretty familiar with, shaking her head as she couldn't figure out who it was she carried on doodling until
the voice called out 'hallo' in her direction.

Sephora turned around and Sam waving - he was literally right behind her,
He had a sparrow on his other hand, bobbing its head up and down. She smiled and waved back;
"Why hello there!" she called back.

She peered at her drawing and looked at the flower - thinking there must be more interesting things to draw where Sam was; she packed up all her belongings, struggling to put her bag on and walked towards Sam slowly - she wanted to draw those sparrows.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

"It's nice to see you again," said Sam as he beamed. Scoot, not happy with being ignored, pecked him on the nose. Soon the other sparrows joined in with the fun. "Hey, c'mon guys," he laughed. "We have a guest!" With that, each sparrow turned and hopped over to Sephora, some with their cheeks bulging with seeds. "Manners!" called Sam as they hopped up to her, pecking at her closed book.

"Sorry love, I still have to train my little friends here to be polite," said Sam to Sephora. He himself was distracted by her sketch book as the sparrows hopped to and fro. Smiling, he reached a hand over as each sparrow fluttered onto it. Behind him, another sparrow flew to perch on his should. "Glad you could join us, Marion." he said as he rolled his eyes. Turning his attention back to Seph, he asked "What have you there?", meaning her sketch book.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora laughed as the sparrows were pecking Sam on his nose as she was taking her seat beside Sam; Her eyes danced, watching each sparrow and laughing as some pecked her book.

She reached into her bag and got her small lunch bag out;
"Sunflower seeds anyone?" She laughed and scattered the sunflower seeds around them. One sparrow perched on her head and made itself comfortable;
"You can stay up there as long as you don't make a mess" She laughed and she held out a seed for it to nibble on.

She blushed as Sam spotted her sketchbook;
"Oh...its just some random doodles and such...I was sketching a picture of a couple of wildflowers before you called out...I think these sparrows make a more interesting picture" She blushed as she opened her sketchbook, she flicked past the Hufflepuff badger that she drew on her first night at Hogwarts;
"That Badger was a pain." She laughed as she tore out the picture of the wildflowers.

She could feel the Sparrow on her head pecking the seed;
"Hey, gentle up there won't you? I need my brain if I want to learn magic" She giggled and felt her way up towards the sparrow's head to pat it gently.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

Sam was somehow sucked in by her gentle nature with the birds. It took him a moment to realise that he was staring with a goofy grin on his face, and he blushed and turned his head away. He reached over gently to pick up the torn piece of paper that had been her drawing of the wildflowers and opened it slowly. Sam looked at it for a long time, forgetting that the silence had grown in his mental absence. He looked up, startled, and stared at Sephora.

"It's really good!" said Sam softly. "Where did you learn to draw like this?"

It really was as good as he had said. The flowers were drawn so delicately. He could only imagine what her drawing of a sparrow would look like. He suddenly felt the need to try his hand at drawing as well. Her sketches inspired him. In fact, if he was good at calligraphy, why not drawing? But then he couldn't steal her thunder by any means. Jolted out of his reverie, a sparrow was poking around his face and had stuck its little beak up one side of his nose.
"Scoot you crazy feather, stop that!" he collapsed to the ground, laughing.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora gently rubbed her head after the sparrow pecked it and placed another seed on her head.

"Uhh....I didn't actually learn...its more you know...the more you draw - the better you get...well, thats how that theory goes anyway." She smiled as more Sparrows flew up.

"You can keep that by the way, I have no need for it" She smiled and watched the small birds hop around them, everyone around them might think their weird but Sephora saw it as a beautiful sight - she was happy that she was spending the time with Sam than arguing with Maria.

Rummaging through her bag she had an idea and gave her sketch book to Sam;
"Why don't you draw something too?" She smiled as she rummaged through her bag and found an extra pencil and gave it to him.
"Can be anything, draw anything - you don't have to be as detailed like miss perfectionist here" she giggled at her own joke and then rolled her eyes.
"That was a lame joke Seph...Quit it." her subconscious reminded her.

She took out another Sketchbook and another pencil and started doodling a sparrow that was on Sam's foot; She thew a seed towards it;
"Now, you stay there and be a good little birdie okay?" she smiled and started drawing it's head.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

Sam was taken aback, but he took the sketchbook anyway and looked down at the blank page. He grinned at her joke, thinking to himself If anyone is a perfectionist here, it’s me. What with all my precision calligraphy. I should probably learn to loosen up. Even so, he took the pencil and began to scribble.

He smiled at the scene before him, and was suddenly intent on drawing it all. Soon he had mapped out half a page of the green lawn and the lake far away. His most intent focus whoever, rested on Sephora. Tiny little sparrows and sunflower seeds speckled the grass, and he added them in too. He was just finished her neck when a sparrow hopped onto her shoulder.
“Hey Puck, c’mere,” he said, holding out a finger to him. The sparrow fluttered onto his finger and then down onto the sketchbook, poking at his fingers every now and then as it watched him draw. Sam lifted a hand and draw Sephora’s chin gently to the side again. “Hey, do that again,” he said as he caught her smiling on the paper. Sam let go of her chin and grinned at her, trying to get her to smile again so he could continue to draw.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora blushed when Sam held her chin;
"Okay...Guess I'm the model now huh?" she turned into a harsher shade of pink and kept her intention on the sparrow on Sam's foot - Occasionally throwing a seed towards the sparrow to keep it's attention.

The Sparrow on her head flew down onto her left wrist as if it was watching what she was drawing; She placed her pencil down and stoked the bird as it ruffled its feathers, the sparrow tweeted in reply and stayed put.

She returned back to her drawing;
"Isn't it relaxing? You know...you draw something something so serene and you just go off into your thoughts and next thing you know you came up with a masterpiece." She smiled - just like she was asked.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

He laughed, slightly embarrassed. “Well I don’t think masterpiece is the right word for what I have,” said Sam as he handed her the sketchbook back. He’d managed to capture her smile, and even though he wasn’t sure about the drawing he’d produced, he smiled back genuinely.

“I should probably stick to calligraphy,” he laughed. One again, Scoot had his beak all around his face. The other sparrows leaped in on the fun, and soon he was covered in hopping and scratching sparrows. Sam collapsed onto the grass, laughing at how ridiculous he must look covered in sparrows. Marion however stayed on Sephora’s shoulder, watching all the while.

“Halp!” cried Sam in mock terror. “I may not make it out of this alive!”

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora laughed as she watched Sam being completely owned by the sparrows;
"Go on Marion you know you want to peck Sam" She laughed as she nodded in Sam's Direction.

Instead of the Sparrow flying over, the sparrow started to peck.
"Hey! said Sam not Sephora!" She laughed as she glanced at the notebook of Sam's Drawing.

His drawing of course wasn't like hers, but he captured the gentleness of the scene - Sephora blushed;
"You know - your drawing is actually really really good, better than mine when I first started actually" She quickly tossed the sketchbook away as more sparrows started flying towards her and pecking her.
She fell on the ground beside Sam and started laughing hysterically;
"Hey! Your...your should be pecking Sam...not me...not there...that tickles!" Sephora felt she must have looked ridiculous.

"You know....it was a bad idea scattering... these seeds around!...Hey!" as she said between laughter as a bird started pecking her ear.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

“You think so?” said Sam brightly as she complimented his drawing. He couldn't get a word out edgeways after that, for the sparrow redoubled their pecking. Sam could see Marion getting in on the fun for Sephora, and had a wicked idea. He whistled softly at the sparrows, and together they descended on Sephora, Sam included.

“Tickle fight!”

Sephora was engulfed in sparrows, and Sam joined in on the tickling as well. He was on a slight high from her approval of his drawing and he became a bit more daring. “These sparrows have the right idea,” said Sam with a wicked grin as he got her in the most ticklish places. Hopefully she wouldn’t discover that he was probably more ticklish than anyone else possibly could be.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora's eye's widened when she heard the words - "Tickle fight!"

All of a sudden she was surrounded by Sparrows and one tickling boy;
"Hey! Stop it! no!" She giggled as she rolled around the ground as if she looked like she was having spasms.
Sephora thought in her head;
"Nothing says fun like a tickling fest" as she went into another wave of laughter.

Thinking it was pay back time she clicked her fingers to signal the birds it was Sam's turn as she pushed him over.
"PAYBACK TIIIIMEEE" as she tickled his face.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

“Oh crap,” said Sam as the smile fell from his face. No...not the face! Not his arms! No tickling anywhere! Gah!
Sam writhed on the ground away from tickling fingers and beaks, gasping for air. “No! I surrender, I surrender! Argh!” he cried with laughter. Birds flew everywhere as he grabbed Sephora and held her back, still laughing. “Nooo!”

Eventually they collapsed on the ground, just like the time they had wrestled on the sand, crushing each others sand-castles. “You are too much,” he panted in amusement, hands still at her wrists. “Okay, you win” sighed Sam. A spot of colour caught his eye just left of her face, and he leaned over her to look. It was one of the sweet purple flowers that she had been drawing before. Plucking it out of the ground carefully, he poked it into her hair, blushing slightly. “There, that’s nice.” Sam lowered himself back to the ground on his back beside us. The sparrows tweeted at each other as though mocking him. He gave them a look.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora laughed as the sparrows we're swirling around them and she grinned as Sam tried to hold her back from tickling his face any longer.

Sephora sat back and whistled to the birds as the sparrow (which she presumed was Marion) landed back on her shoulder. She scatted the last of the Sunflower seeds around them.

"Hey what are you doi--" Sephora faced Sam as she felt him stick a wildflower into her hair,
She blushed and faced downwards and smiled;
"Thats very sweet of you" She smiled even harder, she could feel her cheeks burning with the smile stuck onto her face.

She leaned forward and gave Sam a hug;
"You know - those sparrows won't stop tweeting now"

 

[Samuel Sykes]

Sam could only blush harder, but he returned the hug warmly anyway. "Cheeky buggers,'" he mumbled to the sparrows, knowing Sephora could heard him.

Sam started again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so-" Stupid. Lovey-dovey. "-intense." he finished. Think of something else to say! "Actually, do you mind if I keep that picture of the wildflowers that you drew?" It was a bit crumpled from their tickle fight, but nothing he couldn't fix. Sam wished he had that little vial of anti-blush serum right now.

The sparrows twittered at each other again as they watched Sam and Sephora. "Alright, cut it out!" he laughed, shooing them away with a hand. Instead, they circled their feet and started to peck up the loose sunflower seeds that had spilled from his pocket.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora smiled as the sparrows were tweeting while Sam could only mumble to the sparrows.
Laughing, she broke the hug and blushed;

"No, it's okay - I'm cool with it...and sure, keep the picture, I don't know why you want to keep such a thing but knock yourself out I guess" Sephora smiled as she remembered Sam's drawing. She got up and retrieved the tossed sketchbook and grinned;
"Silly Sparrows have been pecking at your picture" she sighed and hugged the sketchbook.
"This is my picture now" She smiled as she stared at the picture.

She looked up at him, her eye's glittering in the sunlight and she started to wonder out loud;
"I wonder when we're stop going to blush everytime" She gave a small laugh as she contradicted her own statement as her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink - she was sure the wildflower in her hair complemented her pink cheeks. She sat back down beside Sam and rested her head against his shoulder;

"My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing too much" as she stared at the pecking birds, but something else was moving into her mind.
"No. No Sephora...he's just a friend..."

 

[Samuel Sykes]

“I need to make more of that stuff,” he agreed as he too was cherry pink. On impulse, he threw an arm around her shoulder as she lay her head there in a side-hug. This was friend behaviour, right?This is what friends do? he questioned.

The sparrows disagreed as they danced and fluttered around them both. “Alright feathers, clear off,” said Sam, only half joking. It was embarrassing enough how they had responded to his putting the flower in her hair. He had to reaffirm their relationship.

“It’s good having a friend like this,” he commented, hoping it would be enough. Contrary to that, he leaned in, once again on impulse, and smelt the flower hair hidden in her hair. A memory washed over him at that moment, and he was taken back to the seaside where he had leaned in and kissed Siobhan on the cheek. This isn’t the same, thought Sam firmly. But it was. At least, the feeling was. It seems I’m in a bit of a pickle, he thought sadly. Even so, he couldn’t help but smile just like she was with his arm around her. He knew what other people would think if they saw this moment, but it wasn’t like that... was it?
“No, it’s not,” said Sam out aloud involuntarily. “Er-” he tried to cover, but there was nothing else to say.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora watched the birds fluttering and still tweeting; it was then she realized how embarassing the situation was;
"Alright you lot - why don't you guys go off and and be love birds for once" She blinked as she said the word.
"Love? Are you serious Seph?...Oh you have some explaining to do missy." Sephora snuggled her head against Sam's shoulder and continued the argument against her head.
"No. He. Is. Just. A. Friend." She told herself firmly but she didn't want to think harder if it was more than that.

Sephora looked up at Sam, his light blue eyes we're glittering and she stared at awe before she remembered what she was going to say;
"No, it's not what?" She had the incredible urge to hold his hand, but she decided against it.
"Your pushing it missy."

 

[Samuel Sykes]

"Oh, I just thought I heard the bell. Thinking out loud, you know." he said sheepishly, turning redder by the second.

He could still smell her hair from here mixed with the sweet scent of the purple flower. It was muddling his head. Everything was instinct, and he subconsciously ran his hand through her hair lightly. No more intimacy, hissed his mind. This is too far, Sam. His hand railed down and rested in her palm. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

The sparrows were long gone of course, giving them their privacy. This little scene right in the middle of the lawn so privacy wasn't much of an option. Sam was falling head over heels. You can stop this, said his mind. Think of something else! His face was pressed into her hair. Think of Siobhan! Those were the magic words. His mood darkened in angry protest against his thoughts, and all mention of Sephora fled. "I'm sorry." he repeated with much more firmness and clarity than before. "Here, do you want to go inside?" Sam added softly, drawing back from her. Without realising it, he still hadn't let go of her hand.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora closed her eyes in the moment, she could feel Sam stroking her hair and suddenly placing his hand on her palm.
"It's okay...I don't mind" She said quietly.

The place was deserted, the few sparrows came to get the seeds and flew off again - a few students gave them stares or smiles. She ignored them and concentrated in being in Sam's presence.
She was confused, she didn't know what to think.
"ooooh Seph has a cruusshh!" the voice in her head told her.
"shut up!" she muttered before she realized what she said;
"Sorry...my mind is telling me...stuff" she said as an excuse. A lame one in her opinion, but completely true.

She felt un-easiness from Sam and she look down as he drew back from her, her hand still clutching his hand;
"Did I do something wrong?"

 

[Samuel Sykes]

"No," said Sam gently. "It's just the same as you, my mind is...telling me stuff." he laughed. "Pay no attention to me, I'm being a goof today."

"Here," he said as he swapped the pictures back around. Now Sephora's had Sam's, and he had hers. "They're good enough not to cringe at, wouldn't you say?" said Sam, his normal cheerfulness restored. Even so, he couldn't help but keep a hold of her hand as though it was a guilty pleasure he was indulging in. Even so, he resolved not to get that close to her again lest he do something out of line and entirely stupid. Although... she hadn't drawn away. No! That's no excuse. You'll know better next time. Next time...would there be a next time? In the back of his mind, Sam could only wish he would have her that close again.

"And you guys didn't help," he gave the watching sparrows a grumpy look and peeked out from between the branches of a tree.

 

[Sephora Finette]

"heh" Sephora only managed to say as she let go of his hand.
Her hand suddenly shuddered without the warmness of his hand and because of that she felt rather embarassed.

Sephora bent down and picked up her belongings, her mind talking to her a 1000 times worse than it was before;

"Sephhhyyyy yyyooouu *like* Saaaaaaaaammmm!!!! Oooooohhhh!"

Sighing in reluctance she frowned as she picked up her bag;
"Keep dreaming silly subconcious as He could like someone else"
As she thought that, another more gentle reply came through -
One she wasn't expecting to hear; "Wishful thinking might never work but talking about will."

"No" Sephora said outloud before saving her self with a hasty cover up "you sparrows were no help" she emphasized the no again before facing Sam. She couldn't feel more mesmorised as she looked into his dreamy eyes. "I....li.." idiot! Say something else!
"I like the idea of going inside...too much sun heh" she held her hands together and blushed.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

One again, as soon as she turned to Sam his mind went blank. He reached out and cupped his hands around her chin, thumbs on her cheek. The moment was frozen in time, and it was the perfect moment to...

"Yeah, you are a bit warm, Come on, let's go inside."

Victory! screamed his head. No! screamed his heart. He ignored them both and took her hand once more, helping her to stand as they began their way back to the castle. The sparrows continued to twitter to each other as the began their walk, and he resisted the urge to go back and do a silencing charm on them all. They were not helping his situation, and they knew it! Little did he know that Sephora was thinking on similar lines about their problem (and I don't mean the birds).

He wanted to hold her again, and the memory of her warmth haunted him for some time.

 

[Sephora Finette]

Sephora felt her own hands against her face, the lustrous light blue eyes looking right back hers.

Sephora placed her hands back down and smiled;
"I guess we're gonna have to find something else to do huh?" She sighed.

She really loved being in Sam's company, but she found the tension horrible.