Lazing around the castle

[Lily Luna Potter]

Lily made her way down from the Owlery, a letter clasped in her hand. She hadn't opened it yet, but she knew it was from her mum and dad, considering the messy scrawl that was her dad's handwriting on the envelope! She hadn't written to them in a while, and had forgotten to reply to their last letter, so she felt a little bad. She had given Hocus, her owl, a few treats and some water, to keep him occupied for a while so she could quickly write a reply to the letter and send it back.
She had been planning to go sit by the lake, but as she made her way along the fourth floor corridor a loud rumble was heard coming from the sky outside. Stopping at a window, Lily realized it was raining, bucketing down, and the loud rumble's she'd heard was thunder, soon followed by a sharp bolt of lightning. "Sweet bejesus" she squealed, jumping back a few feet, then laughing at herself stupidly, for allowing a little bit of thunder and lightning to startle her. Deciding here was as good a place as any to write a letter, Lily slid down the wall opposite the doors to the library and crossed her legs.
Sliding a finger under the flap of the envelope, she prised it open and a smile spread across her face as her blue eyes scanned the paper.</FONT><i></i>

Lily

We haven't heard from you in a while, your mother's getting worried! How are you doing? What's been going on at Hogwarts? Hope you've been studying, your OWL's are getting closer!
Looking forward to having you home for christmas. You are coming home for christmas, right?

Take care, love
Mum and Dad xx<i></i>

Pulling a muggle pen out of her pocket, she turned her parent's letter over to the blank side and began to scribble a reply</I><i></i>

Dear mum and dad,

I'm fine, no need to worry, I just forgot to reply back to your last letter, sorry!
Nothing much to be honest, well nothing that I know about, I've been doing nothing but studying lately. How are you's, what have you's been up to?
'Course I'm coming home for christmas, can't wait!

Love Lily xxx<FONT font="verdana"><i></i>

Folding the parchment, she slipped it back inside the envelope before re-addressing it.
She would have to wait till the weather died down to send it back, though, she wasn't sending Hocus out in that!
Sighing, she pulled her knees up under her chin and began to think about Christmas. It was saturday, she had no classes and there were atleast 3 hours left until dinner. She didn't feel any rush to return to the common room either, it would be overly-crowded and noisy due to the bad wether, and she'd have about as much to do there as she did here, so she decided to stay put for the moment. <I><i></i>

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera was bored with this rainy weather. It was bringing down her mood drastically. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a cute white and black shirt. Kiera was counting down the days to Christmas break. Yesterday, James had asked her to marry him. They were going to keep their engagement secret until after their wedding next week. She was more than excited. She couldn't get the look of utter happiness off of her face. Not that she wanted to.

Kiera was bored, not having anything to do today. She had thought about taking a trip out to the Pitch but the rain had put a quick stop to that idea. She didn't want to get sick before her wedding day. Kiera was lost in the own perfection of her world as she walked down a flight of stairs. As she rounded the fourth floor corridor, she tripped over something. Looking up, she saw a younger, red-haired girl. Kiera blushed. "I am so sorry about that!" the Head Girl apologized, not realizing who she had just tripped over.

 

[Lily Luna Potter]

Lily was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear nor see someone enter the corridor, and she was brought back to the present quickly as someone tripped over her and apologized. "Oh, no, don't apologize, it's my fault, I probably shouldn't be sitting here" she replied, laughing slightly and looking up to see who it was that had tripped over her. Lily recognized the girl standing there as a fellow Gryffindor and the head girl, she could remember meeting her at the start of year party in the common room, the year before. "Hey, It's Kiera isn't it?" she asked, a smile breaking out onto her face.<i></i>

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera was surprised to hear the younger girl say her name. She shouldn't have been surprised by this point in the year. Most of the students knew who the Head Girl was and if they didn't, they knew her because of the article. Kiera smiled at the younger girl. She recognized her as a Gryffindor. She looked strangely familiar but she couldn't think of the girl's name. "No really, its okay. I can be a bit clumsy." she said with a laugh. "Yeah, I'm Kiera. Kiera Kingsley." she said, introducing herself properly. "Mind if I join you?" she asked. Kiera didn't have anything to do.

 

[Lily Luna Potter]

Lily laughed at the girl and smiled as she asked to join her. "Sure, it's actually surprisingly comfortable down here" She laughed again, she would have expected to have a numb behind by now, sitting on the cold, hard, cobbled floor, but she didn't and was actually feeling rather relaxed! "I'm Lily by the way, Lily Potter" she added, realizing she had forgotten to introduce herself.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned as she sank to the ground opposite the girl. She laughed as she said it was comfortable down on the floor. "Thanks. Its been an awful boring morning." she said with another laugh. Then, the red haired girl introduced herself. Now, she knew why the girl looked so familiar. Kiera blushed slightly. In front of her, was her future family and the younger girl didn't even know it. "Oh you are James' sister." she said, the realization on her face. She couldn't help but wonder if the younger girl had seen the article and photographs of the her brother and Kiera. "It's nice to meet you Lily." Kiera said honestly.

 

[Lily Luna Potter]

Lily smiled as Kiera sat down opposite her. "For me too, and what is with this storm, is it not supposed to be summer?" she asked, shaking her head slightly in disbelief as another roar of thunder erupted outside.
"Yep, that's me" she laughed lightly, she was used to being referred to as James' sister and Harry Potter's daughter and all that now. "You know James?" she asked, before realizing it was a rather stupid question. Obviously the older girl knew james or else she wouldn't have asked if she was James' sister! Plus, James had only just graduated Hogwarts and was only a year older than Kiera, and they were both in the same house so they were bound to have met.
Lily was currently oblivious to Kiera and James' relationship, she hadn't picked up a magazine or newspaper in weeks, she hadn't spoken to James in a while either. "It's nice to meet you too" she returned Kiera's compliment with a grin.<i></i>

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed as Lily made a comment about the storm. Kiera just shrugged. "The grass needs rain to stay green so I guess I can't complain too much even though its really inconvenient. I wanted to go out and fly today." she said, slightly disappointed. Kiera blushed as Lily asked if she knew James. "You could say something along those lines." she said, her cheeks heating up. It was obvious that she hadn't seen the paper and James hadn't told her anything about Kiera. Kiera didn't think it was her place to tell the younger girl about her relationship with James. He should be the one to tell his family about their upcoming wedding. Kiera looked at this as an opportunity to get to know his family before they received the shocking news.

 

[Lily Luna Potter]

Lily laughed at Kiera's remark about the grass needing the rain. "So your into Quidditch then?" she asked with a smile, Lily herself loved Quidditch, but she'd never gotten very serious about it, perhaps she would get in some practice and try out for the team next year! Noticing how Kiera's cheeks went slightly pink as she asked if she knew James, she guessed they'd probably had a fling or something, but Kiera didn't look as if she wanted to talk about it, so she just raised her eyebrow and grinned slightly before pressing on. "You leave this year don't you, what are you planning to do after Hogwarts?" she asked, wanting to get to know the older girl a little. It was the first time she'd had a decent conversation with anyone since transferring to Hogwarts New Zealand.<i></i>

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera nodded her head with a huge grin. "Oh yes. I love it. Actually, James has been trying to get me to play for the Harpies." she said with unconscious fondness when she spoke of James. Kiera blushed a bit more as Lily raised her eyebrow at the girl. It was hard not to gush about her engagement to James when she felt so happy about it. It was better to stay away from James altogether. The temptation to tell the good news would be too much. Kiera smiled brightly at Lily as she asked about Kiera's plans for the future. It was a thin line to walk since her future was so closely twined with James. "Well, I'm a gymnast in the muggle world. This summer are the Olympics. I'm hoping to make the team and win a few medals for team USA. " she said, knowing that is was a strong possibility. "But after the summer, who knows what I will be doing?" she said with a shrug.