Open The First of Many

[Valentine Addington]

Val had plans today, and it didn’t have much to do with the quidditch game that would be happening that day. It seemed everyone was too distracted and excited for the game, because no one had noticed Val slipping away from the crowd of Gryffindors. As they all went to the pitch, he took a detour, going behind a couple of people and walking towards the forest. He had agreed to meet with Jordie at the edge of the forest, and hopefully he would show. Val didn’t think that Jordie would bail on him, they were going to explore the forest and maybe see some cool things. It was very sunny, and to him, the forest looked as harmless as could be.

He walked towards the forest, with a backpack full of things that they may need, including food and water. No one seemed to be following him so that was good. He yawned as he reached the edge of the forest, leaning on a tree as he waited for Jordie.

@Jordan Harris

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie had very much been looking forward to this- he was excited to be out with a friend, excited for the adventure, excited to be just a little bit unruly. He had slipped to the forest earlier, heading out before the game. He smiled, watching from his hiding spot as Val came out and leaned against a tree. Jordie waited until he wasn't looking, before slipping over quietly. He waited a moment before jumping out right in front of the other boy. "Val!"

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val jumped, “Aah!!” He shouted, startled by the boy who was infront of him.” “You scared me!” Val exclaimed, getting himself back together. He didn’t expect the other boy to be there already. ”You ready to head in?” He asked, with a glimmer of excitement in his voice and a mischievous grin on his face. The quidditch game must’ve started already, because he could hear the cheering all the way from the forest.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie laughed at Val's reaction, practically wheezing from laughing so hard. He pulled himself back together, straightening again. "Ah, sorry, I couldn't resist," He caught his breath, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Yeah, yeah I'm ready," He brushed his hair back, still chuckling a little. He pulled his bag a little higher on his shoulder. "After you," He gestured for Val to lead the way.

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val didn’t find it as funny as Jordie seemed to have, but he still laughed, rolling his eyes playfully. “Ok, let’s go.” He said, entering the forest. You could see how the sun shone through the leaves, it didn’t seem very dangerous at the very least, instead it felt pleasant and kind of relaxing. “It doesn’t really look.. dangerous.” He said, Val’s guard slightly lowered.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie jogged to keep up with Val, shaking his head. "The forest itself isn't. It's the creatures that live further in." He explained, enjoying the breeze in his hair. "We just need to watch where we go, and try not to get into any real trouble." He shrugged, linking his fingers behind his neck. "Easy,"

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val nodded, he hoped they could see something. He didn't particularly want to see something dangerous, but there had been not much thrill in hogwarts and he didn't really enjoy learning the theory stuff about magic. They walked deeper into the forest but so far saw nothing. The occasional birds and bugs but nothing too interesting. "Wanna rest here?" He asked as they came across a small stream.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie was looking around, though when he heard Val speak again he looked up. "Ooh." He smiled brightly. "Yes! Let's look around," He dropped his bag, bouncing around near and around the stream to see if he could find anything interesting. Other than a few pretty pebbles, though, he didn't see much. He gathered them up and put them in his pocket before sauntering over to his friend. "Are you having fun?" He asked, smiling brightly.

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val leaned against a tree as he watched Jordie play around the stream and collect stones. Well, with the lack of danger at least it was relaxing. Maybe he’d do this often. It was quiet and it gave him some time to think straight. "Hm? OH Yeah, This is fun." He said. Honestly, Val could probably stay here forever if he could. He opened his bag and looked for some food he had sneaked off the breakfast table. "You know, You're probably the only friend I've made here." He said, half laughing, as he reached his hand out, offering the boy some food. It was true, the hufflepuff was technically his only friend, not that he minded.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie paused as Val said Jordie was his only friend. "What?!" He asked, sounding shocked. "No way. I can introduce you to people if you want!" He offered immediately, bouncing back over to Val and grabbing his hands. "Or if you want a pen pal I have a really cool pen pal in France! She doesn't speak English though, but I could help you write to her." He nodded, already eager for the task of being a translator.

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val jumped a bit as the boy grabbed his hands. Val wasn't really a peoples person and he didn't want to burden Jordie. The pen pal thing was interesting, he did speak a little French from his family's travels there but he wasn't good enough to actually converse with other people, and he wasn't the type of person to send letters. He didn't have anything against Jordie's proposition, "I really appreciate it.. Maybe I'll think about it." Val said, pulling his hands back, "So food?" He asked, offering the boy some food and changing the subject.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie smiled brightly, moving to sit down on a nearby fallen log. "Food sounds great!" He looked over to Val, "What did you bring?" He asked, thinking maybe he should have thought to bring something, too. Jordie had been caught up enough in thinking about how he was going to sneak up on Val.

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val smiled, glad he was able to change the subject succesfully. "I brought some cookies and fruit." Val had been thinking of getting more food but took less food than intended in case someone would ask him why he was bringing the whole breakfast table with him to the quidditch pitch.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie laughed. "Ooh, something healthy and dessert to follow," He joked, taking what Val had offered and patting the log next to him. "This place isn't really all that scary," He mused, biting into some fruit and munching quietly. "I thought it was going to be like... dark and spooky," He looked around. "This spot is really nice,"

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val took a cookie and nodded, "Yeah, the name forbidden forest doesn’t really live up to this place.” They could probably have a picnic here and not get in danger. “It’s a tad bit welcoming.” He added

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie shrugged. "We should come out once a week," he murmured. "It's quiet and nice here, and I doubt anyone will bother us," he nodded to himself. "So?" He asked. "How are you doing?"

 

[Valentine Addington]

"We could do that." Val definitely liked the forest better than the castle so far, and there was no one interrupting them as of yet. "I'm doing alright, I think I'm getting slightly better at the whole magic stuff." He added. Val wondered if the game was still going on, they hadn't been gone for very long, so he assumed it was still happening.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie munched on his food, completely comfortable where he was sitting. "You're new to magic, aren't you?" He asked, tilting his head a bit. "You're handling it very well," He complimented, smiling brightly at his friend. "You didn't know anyone with magic before this?" He asked, confused by the concept. He'd always known about magic, pretty much as long as he could remember. He couldn't imagine not knowing.

 

[Valentine Addington]

"Yeah, uh thanks." His sister was probably doing much better than Val, she did catch onto school and stuff better than he did. "Nope, only sly tricks that normal people call magic and things on the television." He never really did believe in all of that stuff until he received his letter, to him, "magicians" always had a trick on how they did their "magic" and everything on the TV was always some kind of cool editing effect.

 

[Jordan Harris]

Jordie looked surprised. "Oh, wow," He murmured. "No wonder you've always had so many questions," He ran a hand through his hair. He thought about it a minute, before looking to Val. "Hey, do you want to come over to my house when first year ends?" He asked. "My uncle runs the house with a bit of magic but with technology too, so it's like the perfect halfway house," He grinned. "I mean, he uses spells and stuff sometimes but otherwise its mostly muggle, my brother and I watch tv a lot," He offered.

 

[Valentine Addington]

Val was surprised by Jordie's offer, "Oh, Um. I'd have to ask my parents, but that would be cool." He did want to go, but he wondered if Lenny would be alright without him during the break. He hadn't been able to hang out with her that often due to school either. Val would have to ask her later.

From the far distance, loud cheers could be heard, it seemed that the quidditch games had just finished. "We'd better hurry back before anyone sees us." Val said, getting up quickly and putting his things back. "Let's go?"

(AH, sorry for this, I didn't read it until now, BTW on Jordie's offer, I have to check with Maria first with it since her character is twins with Val)