Closed Sunshiny Days

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë was glad the weather was finally starting to get better, not sure how much more time she could have spend being stuck inside the castle. Not that she didn't like the castle, it was just that entertainment and activity options in there were limited. Out on the grounds though, there was still so much to see, do and consider. Not to mention, today was a great day weatherwise. Determined to get outside as soon as her lesson had ended she had sprinted down the stairs, only barely avoiding some other students in her excitement and possibly having caused on of them to drop their books when her shoulder bumped into that of the other student. After shouting a quick 'sorry' and making her way down the final steps and through the entrance hall she continued running across the courtyard untill she finally reached the lawn. At least that way she had gotten out some of her build up energy from sitting through her classes. Chloë took a deep breath of fresh air as she sat down, before leaning back and laying down on the grass. The gryffindor wasn't sure why her urge to go outside had been so strong today, but right now it just felt nice. She smiled as she looked up at the sky, watching as a few fluffy clouds calmly floated past and trying to let her mind get some peace before she would undoubtedly get bored and it would have to try and come up with more exciting things to do.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy stretched her arms over her head and took a deep breath as she made her way outside. The weather was warm and she had just finished up all her lessons for the day and wanted to take a walk and relax a bit before she had to start digging into her homework. As she stepped onto the grass she paused for a moment and bent down to untie her boots and slip them off. She savored the cool feeling of the grass on her feet as she continued on her way. Poppy was so caught up in her thoughts, things almost ended in disaster when she noticed just in time that she was about to walk all over someone. “Oh I’m sorry.“ she blurted out even though she hadn’t actually done anything. “What are you looking at?” she asked playfully when she noticed the girl on the ground, who she vaguely recognized as someone in her year, was doing some cloud gazing of her own.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë sat up straight as soon as she heard someone apologize, although she wasn't exactly sure what the girl was apologizing for as nothing had happened. She noticed the girl pretty close to her though and wondered if she might not have seen her. "Did I miss something?" She responded with knitted brows, but her tone was light and her words were followed by a small chuckle. "Oh, just the sky. Cloud gazing I guess." Chloë answered her question as she put her arm up, loosely gesturing towards the few clouds that drifted above them. There weren't many, but it was enough to keep her occupied for a little while. She recognized the girl and looked at her for a minute as she tried to recall her name. They had never been introduced, but the gryffindor knew she'd heard it before, especially since they had been sharing classes for two and a half years now and she was usually good with names. "It's Poppy, right?" She smiled at the other girl, confident she managed to link the right name to the right face even though she knew she had been wrong a couple of times before. Not that she felt anyone could blame her for that. After all, there were a lot of students at the school.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy giggled nervously. “I didn’t see you there. Would have been a much ruder introduction then I would have liked.” she explained and sat down. She glanced at the sky for herself and nodded thoughtfully at the clouds scattered around. “Looks like you picked a good day for it. Lots to choose from.” she said thoughtfully. Poppy wondered for a second if that was an odd thing to say but it was true. Some days were not meant for cloud gazing, for instance if there are none at all or when they’re only wisps and don’t really make any kind of detectable image. “Correct.” she said with a smile. She was never sure if people noticed her, not that she really cared but it did feel nice when someone did. Poppy bit her lip and tried to remember the girls name. They had shared classes but for some reason her name didn’t seem to stick in her brain the way her face did. “I’m sorry. I’m not great with names, though I know I’ve seen you before. We’re in the same year.” she said, hoping that would make her seem not as forgetful as she sounded.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë laughed when the other girl explained what she'd missed, why she had apologized when nothing had seemed to happen. "That definitely would've been awkward." She nodded agreeingly, now imagining what would've happened if the girl had actually tripped over her. It looked funny in her head so she was sure she would've just laughed it off anyways. No harm done. She looked at the girl for a second at her next words, before looking up at the sky again and observing it. It had been an unusual thing to say, but there was a certain truth to her words. "Yeah, I guess I did." Chloë responded as the corners of her lips curled up in a content smile. She had never thought about cloudgazing in much depth, but there did seem to be a logic for there being good and bad days for it. She felt a slight shot of confidence when she managed to link the right name to the right face, something that happened a lot when a certain skill she thought she possessed was somehow confirmed. "It's fine, no worries." She waved away Poppy's apology for not remembering her name. After all, there were a lot of kids at the school so she'd never make someone feel bad for not knowing. Especially if it was something she had never truly been introduced to. "We are." She nodded in confirmation of them being in the same year, before putting on a smile again. "I'm Chloë."

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy felt a little relieved when the girl smiled at her cloud gazing comment and she smiled back. “Oh that’s right. Chloe.” she said, the name suddenly sounding so obvious to her. “Chloe.” she repeated firmly trying to commit it to memory and sighed, letting her body relax a bit and leaned back on her elbows. “Don’t think I’ll forget it now.” she said with a laugh and looked up at the sky to see if there were any particularly interesting clouds she could spot. There was a moment of comfortable silence, or at least it was comfortable for her. But suddenly the lack of conversation started to make her worry so she asked a pretty basic question. “What classes are you taking this year? I think I’ve seen you in Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, are you taking any others?” she asked quickly and she hoped none of her words got jumbled up in their rush.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë hadn't really minded the other girl not remembering her name, but it was nice to hear her repeat the name in an effort to remember it from now on. "You better not." She joked lightheartedly when Poppy told her she wouldn't forget it from now on. Not that she'd be offended if she did, but it was nice of her to try. Chloë couldn't remember ever hanging out with the girl in their previous two years at the school but she was happy to do so now. So far the ravenclaw seemed to be a nice person to be around. She nodded when the calm silence between them was broken by a question. "Yeah, I've got those two and then I also follow Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts." Chloë answered with a little smile. She did recall seeing the other girl in half of her classes but it made her wonder which other ones she took as well. "What about you? Do you follow any others?" She returned the question, curious if Poppy took classes she had decided against taking.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy laughed a little at Chloe’s joke but couldn’t help but worry slightly. Her memory wasn’t always the best but she repeated the name a few more times in her head as the other girl spoke. “I took Ancient Runes.” she said. “I didn’t really care for Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts very much.” she added without thinking. “Not that they aren’t both interesting classes!” Poppy said quickly, not wanting to belittle the classes Chloe had decided to take. “It’s just when it came down to choosing what I actually wanted to learn, I just wasn’t as excited about them.” she explained. “I am looking forward to herbology next semester though. My father studies plants! Just muggle ones, but he has a huge greenhouse that has all kinds of things growing in it.” Poppy could feel herself rambling so she purposely bit her lip to keep from talking even more.