I skipped a heartbeat.

[Sara Moon]

The Entrance hall was quite, there were students drifting lazily around the castle,in the corner, there was a window ledge, that came out into a bay window. That was where Sara was perched, watching the early morning comer's and goer's pass, over the top of her book. Her hair fell into her face as she watched a group of young girls passing, giggling about some boy or other. She sighed-she was over him completely, but she couldn't help missing Kayden, aside from the fact that she had obviously fancied him-he'd been her best friend. In a way she was glad nothing had happened-they definetly weren't right for each other.

She looked away as some older students saw her looking at them curiously, they were levitating their books so they didn't have to carry them. All in all the effect made them look idiotic, with books bumping into their heads every few minutes-she had an urge to tell them so, but kept quiet. Let them think it was cool-what was the harm in it?

She turned her head to look out the window. She couldn't see the lake from here, but she could see fields and trees, and at the edge of her vision-the forbidden forest. She'd gone in there before-in First Year, but it was a long time since she'd visited. Perhaps she might go later today?

Anyway with a shake of her head, she tried to concentrate once more on her book, but something was annoying her. Closing the book, she swung her legs out over the side of the ledge and flicked her hair out of her face, wondering what she would do next.

 

[Jake Simpson]

That day was an unusual day for Jake, he had managed to obtain a decent amount of sleep for a promising change, this enabled the third year to pay attention in class and actually focus on something rather than zoning out. Having his viciously realistic nightmares start to fade away to nothing made Jake have a more positive outlook on his usually dull and melancholic life. This was why the thirteen year old had chosen to stroll from the depths of the Slytherin common room and out into the Entrance hall. There were a lot of students bustling around, which made Jake's anxiety heighten a little, which is what he expected, however he could make an attempt to ignore it and keep walking. Jake bit his lip as his emerald eyes scanned the room for any signs of familiarity.

Luckily for the Slytherin, he saw Sara Moon, elegantly balanced on a window ledge, she was Kate's twin sister, he had met her only once or twice before not too long ago. It was in their first year, so Jake assumed she wouldn't remember him. He had never thought he was a memorable person, up until recently he had made most if not all efforts not to be seen or remembered due to his social anxiety. Now he was slightly different, the third year was able to talk to somebody comfortably, with ease, but he was still anxious around crowds. So, at first, Jake kept his distance from the girl and decided to spend a minute or two leaning back against a stone wall and processing his thoughts.

The stress the came along with adolescence had been plaguing the young wizard, it was one of the major things that was holding him back from being completely getting over his problems. Everything had been confusing, even the good things Jake had going for him couldn't match up to his on-going stress. After waiting for a few minutes, the third year approached Sara, trying to put on a brave smile. "I don't know if you remember me or not, but I'm Jake." Uttered the Slytherin as he ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair, Jake did want Sara to remember him, after all, there was something about her that he wanted to know more about. He just couldn't quite figure out what it was just yet. ​

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara watched a boy walk into the entrance hall, he had mid-length hair and striking green eyes. She recognised him from somewhere, but where? She frowned, sliding back to her perch in the window, covering her face with her hair and sneaking glances at him, as she pretended to be reading. His face was familiar, she'd seen him before. She found herself observing him, the way he leaned against the wall, watching people-the same as she was. She thought she saw him looking at her and flicked her hair in front of her eyes once more. That was an advantage of having long hair-it was easier to spy on people.

He had beautiful eyes, emerald green and striking. He was taller than her, and all in allhe was rather handsome. She blushed as she thought this-decidedly looking away from him, and trying to figure out why she recognised him. She was contemplating going over to talk to him, when he walked over himself. As soon as he introduced himself-it clicked. "Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed. "Jake Simpson-your Kate's friend-you came to our birthday." she grinned, glad to finally know who she had been watching. "I'm Sara, if you didn't know." she smiled, gently hopping off her perch to stand beside him. She was quite short-something about herself that both annoyed and pleased her-depending on her mood. "How are you?" she asked, her head cocked to one side, her hair falling over her shoulder, and her eyes bright as she looked into his, they really were beautidul. She desperately tried not to blush as she thought this, loooking at the ground to hide her face. "I haven't seen you since first year." she commeted, embarrassed by the colour in her cheeks, hopefully it wouldn't show too much, because of her skin tone.

 

[Jake Simpson]

A feeling of relief washed over the Slytherin, he wouldn't have known what to do if Sara didn't recognize him. He knew he would become very embarrassed and probably just leave then and there to avoid any possibility of experiencing more humiliation in the face of his peers. Fortunately for the young wizard, she did remember him. Jake smiled at Sara, it had been a while since they had talked in their first year, that was if they did actually ever have a proper conversation at all. Even so, Jake was going to talk to her now, and get to know her a little better. The had both changed so much since their breif meeting when they were first years and Jake wanted to spend more time with her. After all, he did think she was cute and she would obviously be as nice; if not nicer than Kate was, which Jake didn't know was true, but he was going to stay with Sara to find out.

What Jake had noticed about Sara when he saw her was her long hair, it was beautiful, and it shone in the sparkling sunlight emerging in from the window. Jake did know a few basic things about Sara which he had learnt from Kate, one of the few things he knew about her was that she was in Ravenclaw. "Of course I know who you are." Said the third year, continuing to smile at his fellow student. The thirteen year old was a tad exasperated by his thoughts, he couldn't really understand what was going on in his racing mind, but one thing was for sure, he was going to continue to talk with Sara for as long as he could. He knew he wouldn't grow tired of seeing her pretty face anytime soon. "I'm great actually. What about you?" Jake replied, he was surprised with himself, the anxiety that would usually haunt him when conversing with somebody he didn't know very well had almost disappeared. A slight frown crossed Jake's features as Sara moved her gaze to the stone floor, this was nostalgic for the third year, usually he would be the one staring at the floor, it made Jake's previous expression changed to one of concern. "Are you alright?" The Slytherin enquired as he leant forward a little to get a better view of Sara. It was not unlike Jake to have concern for those around him. ​

 

[Sara Moon]

She took a better look at him now that he was closer-he had changed quite a bit, perhaps that was why she hadn't recognised him. He was in Slytherin, same as Stefan-perhaps he knew him, perhaps she could ask Stefan about him? No, that wouldn't be right-she was going to get to know Jake the old-fashioned way. There was no facebook, or e-mail here and anyway-Sara was usually a good conversationalist, but she found herself strangely tongue-tied.

Sara grinned at his response, she hoped he had, obviously he had recognised her also, and was actually brave enough to come over-the way she hadn't been, but it was good to know he remembered her name. "I'm alright. It's a beautiful day." Sara answered, the weather often put her in a good mood, today was no exception-it was sunny and the sky was bright blue.

"Oh, yes I'm fine." Sara replied, startled, she looked up, her side-fringe falling across her face. Sh pushed it back and crossed her arms in front of her-not sure what to do with herself. "So, how're you liking third year? The option subjects are great." she asked, trying to thing of something to say. Sahe cringed inwardly, what a cliche thing to ask, How're you liking third year. She hoped he didn't think she was an idiot or anything. She started to breathe calmly andsteadied herself-come on. Where was the confident, strogn, friendly Sara she usually was. The Summer had left her a shell of her former self-maybe she'd get back to normal soon, with help from her friends, and this Slytherin boy with the kind eyes.

 

[Jake Simpson]

Jake had never been the kind of person to give a good first impression, he was awkward, distant, and sometimes rude. There was nothing he could blame it on but himself, he needed to have more confidence, and to be able to talk to people without regretting every and any word he said. But this wasn't the first time Jake had met Sara, it was a good thing, but also a bad thing, because he was still a tad nervous. He could ignore it as easily as he could ignore physical pain, which was abnormally easy for the Slytherin, just thinking about it made him feel somewhat invincible, no matter how far away from invincible he really was.

Talking about the weather was something Jake never really wanted to do, he thought talking about something so insignificant showed weakness so he had never really discussed the weather. "Meh. I don't talk about the weather much." Stated the third year as he rubbed the back of his neck, insulting Sara was not his intention, and he never thought it would be, but his words had sounded unusually harsh coming from the usual composed exterior Jake showed. At times, Jake looked calm, but more often than not, somebody else would be able to notice his anxiety, those were the people he now called his friends, he didn't see as much of them as he would have liked to but there was always time to make new friends.

The thirteen year old tilted his head to the side as Sara spoke, to him she was interesting, he felt like he could talk to her for hours about the same thing never grow bored of it, except perhaps maybe the weather. "Third year has been boring, not much has changed." Said the Slytherin, showing his negative outlook on schooling, this would be an obvious contrast for the two if they ended up becoming friends, or something more than that. Jake wouldn't have minded the idea, Sara was cute, and seeing more of her wouldn't be a bad thing in his eyes. "You have changed a lot since first year." Stated the teen, as he managed an awkward smile, he had meant for that to be a compliment, but Sara's reaction could have been different to the one he wanted, he just had to wait and find out. ​

 

[Sara Moon]

"I know, it's the most deadpan subject on earth, but I'm just in a better mood when it's sunny." she laughed, looking out the window then back to him. She was silently chiding herself. she wasn't usually this boring was she? Clearly he must think she was boring-she sounded like a half-wit. This was one thing Sara definitely wasn't, but she was doing a good job of acting like one. "How were your holidays?" she asked, searching for a safe topic of conversation. she really hoped Kate didn't come up-that was just the kind of thing that would throw her-having to explain why they didn't talk to each other anymore. She knew why, but it didn't really make sense. they'd let stupid lies get between them, but it didn't really bother Sara anymore, her and Kate were a thing of the past.

"It depends on what you make of it." she smiled breezily. she'd really been enjoying her third year. she was on the quidditch team again, different position this time, she'd joined Heta Omega and the Hogwarts Monthly, also she had re-started the Glee club, so all in all, her first semester had been a success.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" she replied, in fact he'd changed quite a lot, she didn't know how she'd changed, she thought she looked pretty mush the same, but she'd been told she'd changed a lot. She supposed it must be true, but she just didn't see it, and no one had told her whether it was a positive or negative change.

 

[Jake Simpson]

The third year let out a chuckle at Sara, she was picking topics of conversation which were unsightly common, Jake did not have a huge problem with this, asking simple questions like the ones Sara had been asking were an easy way for them both to get to know each other better, and have some form of social chemistry. "My holidays were nothing special; I just travelled over to London to see my grandparents like I do with every holiday." Said the Slytherin, he was not and had never been close to his mother, or father for that matter, for obvious reasoning and his grandparents were the closest family relationships he had, even if they had never paid much attention to him. Jake's grandparents would never notice if he didn't arrive back to their house for a few days and needless to say, Jake liked that freedom. He liked to do what he wanted, when he wanted, just like most people.

Overall, Jake hadn't thought his third year was any different from his second or first years attending Wizarding School, the time he spent in class was wasted as he could not focus at all on the school work he was given, due to the insomniac trait he had grown to develop. During the day, everything was like a dream somehow, it never felt real, like he could murder another student and it wouldn't have a single consequence, and during the night everything was disturbingly vivid, in the hour or two he did end up sleeping every night, his nightmares would render their ugly head into his sleeping mind. Even though Jake's nightmares had become lesser in recent times, they were still vivid. "I guess so. You must be liking third year then." Replied the Slytherin, removing his emerald eyes from Sara and out the window they were next to, Sara was right, it was a beautiful day.

The change in Sara was a positive one, because Jake found it hard to keep his eyes off of her, before he knew it himself, he was no longer gazing out the window, his eyes back on the Ravenclaw as he managed a small, yet polite smile at her. "Believe me, it's definitely a good thing." Jake said, he was trying to sound like a nice guy, which in fact he mostly was, however, Jake was starting to take after a few of his fellow Slytherin students and show more evil personality traits. Some of which allowed him to wish harm on people, people that would not know otherwise or deserve any harm he desired them to experience at his command. It was confusing, battling between the innocent, kind side of him that he had been his whole life, and the side that was stereotypically Slytherin-esque which had only emerged into his anxious personality in recent months. ​

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara smiled at his lauh, coouring slightly, but not looking away this time. He was a nice guy, she knew that-so why was she embarrassed. She'd only ever felt like this with Kayden before, Kayden-her first crush. Maybe? No that was unthinkable-she barely knew Jake. "I love London, it's such a beautiful city." she smiled, she'd been living in England for around three years. she spent a lot of time in Londone, shopping, going to shows. It was her city. Or at least it was in her mind, however she liked New York also. Her Father had taken her there this Summer, he ws on business, but they saw the statue of liberty together and she had gotten some amazing Abbey Dawn clothes.

Sara didn't get the idea that Jake liked school-she could understand that. She liked knowledge. She liked to do weel, but she didn't like school. The studying part of it anyway. "Yup, parts of it anyway." she smiled, looking up at him. She felt tiny down there, so much shorter than him she was shorter than everyone by now. She didn't mind it most of the time, but when she was lost in a cowd she wished she had a few moer iinches, just enough to be able to hold her own and push her way through the crowd.

"Oh, well you've changed too." Sara smiled, a good change. That was nice to hear. she was surprised by her thrill of happiness at those few words. She smiled up at those beautiful emerald eyes. "And it's a good thing too." she spoke smoothly, and with confidence.

 

[Jake Simpson]

The move from London had effected Jake immensely, he wasn't so antisocial before he moved, however the move wasn't the cause of his antisocial behaviour, he knew very well why he acted the way he did around crowds and people he didn't know, he just couldn't stop it, it was out of the thirteen year old's control and it angered him that he couldn't keep a handle on it. If it were up to him, it would have all stopped by now and he wouldn't have to worry about anything, but that had never been the case. Although, the possibility of moving back to London was still on the cards, which left some sort of positive light to everything in Jake’s life, no matter how faint that light really was. It was safe to say Jake had been slowly progressing from nice to malicious over the last year, it was a pity he was the only one that could notice it, if the change was a bad thing in the first place, that is.

The thirteen year old shook his head, he was over thinking himself, an exasperating habit of his, just something else about himself that he wanted to change but couldn't. In fact, there were so many things about his personality he wished he didn't have, like his anxiety, or his annoying habits, that Jake couldn't even make sense of them anymore, there were just too many to count. Putting all his self-loathing aside like he usually would, Jake focused his attention on Sara, a third year like he was, and a pretty one at that. "What's been your favourite part so far?" Jake asked, moving the conversation along, so he could get his mind off of his troubles, which was surprisingly easy that day, probably because of the company he was keeping, Sara must have just had that effect on him, which was never a bad thing in Jake's opinion, it relaxed him in the least.

Jake scoffed at Sara's previous comment, he had never once thought that any change in him was a good one, maybe the less nightmares he had been having, and the descent in anxiety he had around strangers had been a good change, but nevertheless, Jake could only see the negative side of things. Jake had grown accustomed to seeing the negative in people, it made it easier to ignore them if he thought they were rude. It did make him smile a little though; at the way Sara seemed to see everything more positively than he could. It meant there was an opportunity for Sara to show him the good about the world, that was if he saw her again after that day, which was something the Slytherin hoped would happen. "You've changed more than I have, and your change has been better than mine, way better." Said the teen, as he stared down at his shoes, showing another habit he wished he could change, but just somehow couldn't. ​

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara loved London, and England on a whole. Still, she missed Ireland. Ireland had been her home, and she had friends there-they'd been her friends. her whole life, but she had lost touch with them since she started at Hogwarts. She'd seen one of them this Summer, but it hadn't gone well-in fact it was the reason her and Kate had grown apart.

Sara frowned as he shook his head. He looked like something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking up into his face. He was a puzzle. She couldn't make any sense of him. a mystery-that she wanted to figure out. Her brow was creased and she looked puzzled, comically so as she looked up at the taller boy.

"I like that we have more free time, with less subjects now." she smiled, she had joined lot of clubs and started the Glee club again. Things were pretty busy at the moment, especially when she was trying to fit in meeting up with her friends. She had lots of friends here, Willow Autumn and Stefan Archer were her closet friends though, her relationship with Stefan ws strange though, at all times they either hated each other or were getting along, luckily at the moment.

Sara raised an eyebrow as he scoffed. He obviously didnt think he'd changed, or else that it wasn't a good thing. She smiled, at his response. "Thank you." she smiled, gently, looking at the floor. She'd never been good at recieving compliments. She always thought people were just saying it to be nice, they couldn't really mean what they said. She was nothing special.

 

[Jake Simpson]

</COLOR>

<COLOR color="#2F4F4F">The sun beamed into the entrance hall, it was awfully bright that day, and the Slytherin squinted as the sun got brighter, it was evident Jake didn't like it when things got too sunny, which was fitting as his common room was conveniently situated in the dungeons, where it was mostly dark, and dank, a place where you could do almost anything and not get caught depending on where you were standing. It was a possibility Jake had yet to explore, hiding by himself in the dungeons until somebody found him. The third year knew it could have taken hours, and the thought brought a sinister smirk to Jake's pale features. It would have been amusing, to trial how invisible he really was to others, and see how long it took for another student to notice him. The thirteen year old's effort to not be noticed over the past year or two needed to be tested in one way or another, and hiding in the dungeons for that long was a more than adequate idea in the mind of the Slytherin.

Jake looked up from his feet to see Sara, a girl who he had not paid much attention to the past few years, spite the fact she was the twin sister of one of his good friends. He did not know how long he had been showing one of the most typical signs of insecurity by staring down at his shoes, it was so easy for Jake to zone out, and forget about his surroundings, it was mostly due to lack of sleep, however he wasn't going to let Sara know this. "I'm fine." Jake said. Smiling back at the third year Ravenclaw that was standing in front of him, and had been for most of their conversation. He wasn't really focusing on his ever darkening thoughts anymore; he was supposed to be having a conversation with Sara, not ignoring her because he was half asleep most of the time.

The Slytherin pursed his lips together as the thought it was about time for him to start studying for the day crossed his lethargic mind. He was not sure and had no way of telling if it was really time for him to study, Jake was quietly wishing he had at least a few more minutes to converse with Sara, although with Jake's luck, he was already late. His negative thoughts seemed to be on an overdrive that day, but the third year still pushed most of them into the back of his mind. "I think I might have to go soon." Were the next words that escaped Jake's mouth, as he remained smiling politely at his fellow third year, it was quite flattering to the thirteen year old really, how Sara was shorter than him, he wasn't the tallest person in the world, he wasn't the scrawniest either, but Jake wasn't used to being taller than somebody, he was of average height now, due to the grown spurts he had been having in the first semester, and he was still growing taller, something Jake knew he had to get sued to, he just needed to adjust to it first. ​

<i></i>

 

[Sara Moon]

Sara smiled as the sun streamed into the hall. She closed her eyes and tilted her face toward it. She loved the sun, the sky. She especially loved the sky. A clear, flawless day like this was perfect for flying. Part of her longed to be outside right now, gliding among the azure sky, herself and the world entertwined, living in unison, part of the same being. The world was her oyster. She needed quidditch. She'd never been into muggle sports, except soccer and basketball, but flying, quidditch-that's what she was built for. She loved it, and she was good at it-that was the most surprising thing.

She looked up at Jake as he said he was fine. She didn't think he was, obviously the conversation was boring him. She was boring him. She had never thought she was boring before, a little excentric maybe, but never boring. People always said she was a bit crazy, but good crazy. Obviously, she wasn't portraying that very well today. Somehow she just felt nervous, around this Slytherin, whom she barely knew. She had always been a little shy around strangers, over-compensating a little, but never this bad.

Sara's smile wilted slightly as he said he had to go. "Oh." she replied, a forlorn sound in the crowded hall. Her face remained bright, but now she was pretty sure he thought she was boring. And why wouldn't he? He probably had loads of much cooler friends than her, why would he even look at her. She looked at her shoes, praying that she would be thrown a lifeline, anything. She didn't know what to talk about with him, he was so alien. She'd never known someone like him, and most of her friends were so much more talkative.

Out of Character:

Ugh, soory for rubbish reply. :/

 

[Jake Simpson]

The Slytherin didn't want to leave his conversation with Sara one bit, it was what he needed to do though, go and study either in his dorm or the library. Jake needed to enforce the routine he had worked so hard in creating the past year, it had been the reason he had been getting a more significant amount of sleep in recent weeks. Braking his routine would make for a relaxing change, which had the possibility of letting his mind focus even more in class the next day. The idea of spending more time with the Ravenclaw was a great idea, one that let the Slytherin show remnants of a genuine smile, no matter how small the smile really was. It was barely noticeable, especially since Sara was no longer looking at the third year, but at her shoes again. It was still nostalgic for Jake, having to see another staring at their feet.

The thirteen year old ran a pale hand through his brown hair, oblivious to the parallel effect it had, as he had done the exact same thing when he had approached Sara earlier. The irony was obvious, yet Jake couldn't see it, he was focusing on how to say a pleasant goodbye to Sara without making it seem like he wanted to leave, the Slytherin had a gut feeling it was inevitable. "I'll see you around sometime. That's a promise." Jake said, managing to make his smile widen, while his features showed a genuine sense of kindness, it was easier to show some form of compassion than Jake previously thought. The third year then turned around and made his way out of the entrance hall, only turning around to face Sara as he walked backwards out the door, and waving to the girl, while continuing to smile before turning around again after what seemed like hours, to venturing off to the library to study.

Out of Character:

Mine's worse

​