Going out for a walk.

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Njord Aesir

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Wand
Ebony Wand 15" Essence of Phoenix Talon
Njord left the Hufflepuff common room and headed down the gloomy corridor. Could they not get some lights in this place he grumbled to himself. Tucking his hands in his pockets and slouching down he shuffled quickly.

Suddenly without warning he crashed into something. "What the..."
 
Andromeda had a stack of books that she was taking out from the library. She hadn't learnt the levitating charm yet so was struggling to carry them. From one angle she was almost certain she was walking in the right direction.
The force of the books slamming back into her before they crashed loudly to the ground was painful.
"Ow!" she called out looking from the books scattered on the floor to whatever it was she had walked smack into it.

Andromeda smiled weakly not knowing if this was her fault or his. She couldn't remember ever seeing him before.
"Guess you weren't looking either huh?" she muttered, not wanting to play the blame game when she knew she was partly at fault.

She bent down and pulled out her wand, trying to summon each book back into a neat pile. Though it would probably have taken less time had she done it manually.
 
Njord rubbed his forehead as he realized he had walked into a wall of books. "Sorry..." he mumbled as he watched her gather her books together. Realizing he was being rude he pulled out his own wand and began to help.

"You sure do have a lot of book....Second Term only just began, are you an over achiever or something?" He said kind of laughing.
 
Andromeda looked up at him her mouth hanging open. She would never have considered herself an over achiever but looking back at the stack of books now, that's all that would come to her mind too.
She gave him a lopsided smile then.
"I guess eager more than an over achiever" she muttered, "Have a few subjects this semester that I've been dreading so kind of want to get the drop on some of them."

She stood up leaving the books in a now somewhat neat pile.
"Thanks for your help. I'm Andromeda" she held out her hand to him thinking it was probably the polite thing to do.
 
Njord stood up and shook the girl's hand. "Hi," he said quietly, "I'm Njord." Just then, he realized he had nothing else to add and scrambled to think of something so he wouldn't look like a complete idiot. "Um...so...what house are you in?" and he knew instantly how lame he sounded, but it was out there now and he couldn't take it back and try something else.
 
Andromeda smiled.
"Gryffindor 1st year only, how about you? Sorry but I honestly don't think I've seen you around before".
Andromeda would have recognised his face if she had she knew that much for sure. He didn't look a thing like the other boys around here.
 
"I'm in Hufflepuff. I transfered here from the Hogwarts in Scotland, I'm in Second Year." He knew his small stature would belie that as he looked like he was a first year. "So..." he said again finding it awkward to come up with anything remotely brilliant. It had been so easy to talk to Alice back in Scotland, why was meeting new people now such a trial for him.

"Um...so....being as I'm fairly new, can you suggest anything fun to do around here?" Okay, that was better. he thought to himself.
 
"Hogwarts Scotland? really?" Andromeda thought she must be gushing like a right fool but she was so impressed. That's where she should have attended but apparantly her fathers mistress at the time had lived here in New Zealand and this is where he had wanted her to go. The thought now sent a raw tug of fury through her and she bent down again to pick up her books. Sighing as she straigtened up she looked at Njord.

"I'm about as new as you are I guess. I tend to fly alot or just muck about on the lawn or lakefront. There's always Brightstone to hang out at as well" she frowned a little.
"It doesn't sound very exciting or fun at all actually does it?"
 
Njord gave a half hearted smile, "No, it doesn't really. Flying you say, are you on your house Quidditch Team?" Njord wasn't much of a flier but he did love Quidditch.
 
"Not yet but I hope to be. We had try outs last semester so just waiting to find out how I did" she smiled as well at him, wondering why she was feeling a little awkward talking to him. Perhaps it was just that he was new or more that it was her first time talking to him. Andromeda didn't always do good in a first conversation. She either over babbled or clammed up, trying to find the right balance was tricky.
"So... ehm..were you on a quidditch team back home? sorry I mean back in Hogwarts Scotland".
 
Njord heard the word home and his stomach tightened. While his first school wasn't home, it felt more like home then here. He remained composed and answered her question. "Actually, I'm a bit of wreck on a broom. I can fly in a straight line and make turns but Quidditch is just more maneuvering then my skill level can provide. I do love the game though." He realized he said more in the last 10 minutes then he had in the entire first semester. He didn't want to sound like a twit so at that he stopped talking and merely looked at her and then his feet and then at her again. The silence was palpable and he was sure she felt it too.
 
Andromeda felt the silence swallow them whole and felt terrible about it. She wasn't usually this quiet and it stunned her. It was always the other way really, she would babble incessantly until convinced she had bored the other person to tears. Now, now she was just boring them with her silence. She looked at the books in her hands.
"Can you do that... levitating charm Njord?" she asked perhaps if she wasnt' weighed down with all these books her mouth and brain might connect properly.
 
Njord felt relief when she finally spoke and snapped to attention. "The levitating charm? no, not really. But I can help ya carry them to where ever you are going?" he said almost a little too enthusiastically. And he bent down to pick up as many as he could carry.
 
Andromeda was so relieved, she passed him some of the books with a very grateful smile. Somehow the tension didn't seem so palable anymore.
"It's only three floors" she smiled, "sure you can handle the climb?"
 
Njord was nearly buckling under the weight of the books and wondered how the heck this girl was carrying these and more. "Yep," he forced out of his mouth, "I'm good." he didn't want to seem like a weakling even though it was apparent he was. "Lead the way..." he added huffing a little.
 
Andromeda smiled and took a few of the books back from him and placed them on her pile.
"You had all the heavy ones" she lied smiling and leading the way as he had instructed.
"So what did you do for Christmas?"
 
"Not much." Said Njord relieved slightly from the weight of the books the girl had taken. "I went home with my mother and a friend. We live normally in Norway with my Grandparents." Njord walked a few steps faster and was now beside her. She was cute, in a girls-aren't-yucky kind of way. "What about yourself? What did you do?"
 
"You were in Norway for the holidays? wow. That must have been cool. I've never been and kind of sorry to say never paid much attention in Geography class when it came up. Sorry"
she felt as if she had insulted him by her lack of attention two years ago in school, which was a silly thing to feel as she hadn't known she would one day meet someone from Norway. It would explain the really blonde hair though and his blue eyes. Andromeda smiled sidelong at him.
"I was here. It was quiet sure but it was ok"
she wanted to turn around and say that she had done something really exciting but knew she hadn't and it wasn't likely that her changing into a hideous werewolf would be considered exciting to many, terrifying perhaps but not exciting.
 
"Thanks, it was okay I guess. Since I've lived there my whole life, I guess I don't find it as fascinating as other people. Why did you stay here?" and suddenly he realized that was probably a bit too personal. "I mean, where are you originally from." he stammered hoping to not insult the girl at all.
 
"I guess that's true of every place isn't it, I'm from Ireland but I totally love it. My mothers family is Irish and my fathers family are Italian" she said climbing the stairs slowly, "I mean it must have been good meeting up with all your friends from back home and stuff, your family."

She looked at him, thinking he had been real lucky to have made it home but then again another man's drink was another man's poison.
"I stayed... " because I had to be sheltered from the full moon she thought of a decent reason, totally hating that she would once again have to use the one her mother had given her but now it would seem justified.
"My mother began dating recently, they wanted to spend more time together and over Christmas he proposed to her."

Her sigh was weighted, heavy and tangible. She hadn't even met this guy yet and she was probably expected to call the man 'Dad'. Well they could both take a flying leap because that would never happen.
 
Njord walked beside the girl as best he could with his books. "Sorry, do you not have a dad then?" he asked tentatively..."I don't mean to to pry but....well....I don't have a dad either." Njord walked in silence for a few steps and continued. "He was...well...died when I was really young, so I don't even remember him." He hoped that wasn't too much sharing, and that the girl didn't try to run away and escape. He felt so comfortable with her, he just couldn't help himself.
 
Andromeda's foot paused on the next step when he asked her about her father. She turned and looked at him directly, not knowing how to talk about something so personal to someone she had just met. Yet, here he was opening up to her and suddenly it felt easier to confide in someone who was in a similar position to herself.
She continued walking at first until she reached the top of the flight of steps then she sat down on the very top stair. Placing her books on her lap she smiled at him.

"He died a few weeks before I started here. I remember everything about him still, how he smelt, his smile. The way the corners of his eyes would crinkle up if he was trying to play a trick on me. How he would lift me up on to his shoulders when we used to go to a quidditch game." it was almost as if he was sitting with her again and she could see all of this before her.
"At first it was too painful and I kept crying. Then I promised myself not to cry anymore, I thought it was a sign of weakness. I miss him all the time but there aren't many people here who have lost their Dad so it seemed pointless talking about it. No one would have understood the gap it leaves. I'm sorry you don't remember your father. Has your mom tried to fill in any of the blanks for you?"
 
Njord sat down beside her and placed his books next to himself. "Look, I"m sorry, I really didn't mean to bring something up so painful. I have a habit of stepping into it most of the time, if you know what I mean." He looked straight ahead, not meeting her eyes. "I only remember my dad from pictures. My mother tells me the odd thing when we are together but that's a rare occasion. I grew up with my grandparents and every time I asked about my dad, my grandfather would get uncomfortable and my grandmother would cry. I stopped asking after a while and I think they were relieved." Njord transfered his gaze to his feet and thought for a moment. "I....wish I'd known him...." and his sentence trailed off.
 
Andromeda watched him sit down and listened to him. She smiled and shook her head slowly when he was done and put what she hoped was a comforting hand on his arm.
"You don't have to be sorry Njord. I like having any opportunity to talk about him, so thank you. I'm sorry that you don't have the same release though. Perhaps in time they'll talk about him without it hurting so much, they have to realise what it means to you to know about your father. It's just selfish otherwise" she hoped she hadn't spoken out of turn or badly about his grandparents, "I mean, they had so much time with him and yours was so limited. It's only right that you find out as much as you can before ... well, before they're not around anymore to tell you".
 
Njord didn't flinch when she touched his arm. He would have normally he was sure but this time he felt comfortable, just like he did with Alice. Perhaps he had found a friend at last.

"Yeah, your right. Perhaps this summer vacation I'll try again. But no worries now, it's just too depressing and my arms are too sore to care about that any more. Tell me where are we going anyway?"
 
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