Trying to beat the shyness

[Robbie Masters]

Robbie wandered out of the school, and headed for the one place he knew he could go to be alone, and a place where he knew he could be himself, and not have to deal with all of the shyness that he usually felt when he was around people, and he really hated being like that. He sighed, and curled up in front of a tree, with his arms around his legs, and tried to block out the world. He liked to just be alone out here, in his own little world, and he only wished that he could get out here more, but usually he had classes, and that annoyed him as well. Robbie didn't like classes in the least, and he wished that he could just not go to any of them, but he was far too scared of the eventuality of getting caught.

Robbie turned, around, when he heard a sound, and realised it was nothing but a bird fluttering out of the tree above him. Robbie hated the part of him that was easily scared, and he had been pissed so badly when he realised he had been scared of a mere colour. He hated being weaker then other people, and that kind of thing made him feel really bad about himself, and he hated that he really couldn't be out in public, without getting scared and wanting to run in the other direction. Robbie sighed, and stood up and started to walk back up towards the castle. He stopped halfway, and looked around.

 

[Annika Lansden]

Annika had adapted to this new life. That was not to say that she liked it, or in any way accepted it as there was no scientific explanation as far as she had found. That had been the only thing that had kept her busy during the sleepless nights that she spent, getting her hands on anything that she could find concerning the science and physics of magic. Now that she was able to make objects levitate, she had been experimenting and trying to work out some theory or formula that explained how a stick could make her pillow fly around the room. Lost in thought, Annika wandered out of dormitory, bare footed as she tried to escape the New Zealand heat in January.

Quite used to the regular magical occurences around the castle by now, Annika walked slowly through the castle, her large blue eyes taking in every she saw. The day was very clear and blue, weather that depressed Annika slightly. She was far more comfortable in the wind and rain. Blue was boring. The dry grass was springy under her bare toes as she walked down through the grounds, off in a different world as she tried to figure out a mathematical problem she had come across in her old books from muggle school. Not paying attention to where she her feet were leading her, Annika just saw the boy in front of her. Coming to a stop as to not run the blonde boy over, she looked unblinking at him. She wondered if he would know the answer to her problem. It was not likely, as most here looked at her as if she was a three headed centipede when she started to talk about science and mathematics. Deciding to test him with something easy, she asked "Could you tell me how a thin block of wood can make an object levitate?" still staring at him shamelessly.

 

[Robbie Masters]

Robbie looked up, and chuckled when somebody asked him the randomest question he had ever heard in his life. As if he would actually know how their wands made them able to cast spells, and such. He didn't know how the person would be able to levitate objects with only the use of a small stick. He sighed, and wondered if this person would be the answer he needed, and whether or not he would be able to talk to her or not without getting shy, and be unable to hold the conversation. He sighed to himself, and wandered over to her slowly. Being careful not to want to run for the hills.

Robbie slowly took a deep breath. "Probably the magic blood in our veins, I'd say." He said, surprising himself. He'd actually been able to get out a complete sentence to a complete stranger. He sighed, and knew it would only be short lived. He smiled at her, and wondered what her name was. He knew the best way to find that out was to tell her his, so he cleared his throat. "My name is Robbie, by the way, and it seems you've caught me on a good day." He said, still unable to believe that he was actually managing to be able to talk to this girl.

 

[Annika Lansden]

The impatience was evident on Annika's face as he laughed slightly. It wasn't a joke, she had meant it to be a completely valid question. She found a lot of people that she had talked to give her that reaction, as if she was mad for thinking about these things. However, Annika was not just content with casting the spells and being amazed when the quill floated off her desk. No, she wanted to know why. Always questioning. It was a trait that had driven her teachers at her muggle primary school completely up the wall. Annika looked him straight in the eyes, a small frown creasing her brow.

Annika's impatience built with his answer. Well that was vague. "How on earth could a chemical formula in our blood affect objects as they do? That is impossible, since if our blood was special, then it would impossible for us to survive. And we can't all have the same blood types here..." she said, the frown on her face still evident. She was not the type of person to appreciate the fact that he had really given her quite a reasonable answer. Annika was caught up on the fact that it was impossible. She blinked at him when he introduced himself, and she paused for a couple of seconds, subduing the formulas and numbers that were piecing themselves together inside her head. "Annika Lansden" she replied, still looking at him shamelessly "Why would today be a good day?" she asked. In her opinion it wasn't a very good day. The clear and sunny weather provided perfect conditions for one to burn to a crisp, particularly considering the large hole in the ozone layer above New Zealand.

 

[Robbie Masters]

Robbie looked at her, and sighed. She seemed to be an impatient person, and he was exactly the opposite of that. He liked to take his time with things, and think about them himself. Mainly because he found he couldn't usually end up asking anyone else for help, because he found himself unable to speak to most of them, and he found himself feeling uncomfortable around people whom he couldn't talk to for any extended period of time. Which usually turned out to be everyone. He once again sighed, and glanced around the clearing, not sure if he knew anybody here other then the person who was standing in front of them, as if she was waiting for him to give her the answer she had been waiting for her whole life, or something stupid along those lines. Well, whatever it was, Robbie didn't, and wouldn't have the answer she wanted.

Robbie turned to look directly back at her. "Well, magical blood is different from other blood. And, also, the cores in our wand are made from the bits and pieces of different magical animals, and such. So, clearly that would give the wands themselves a magical power, and the magic in our blood is what allows us to use lesser magic, while wandless." Robbie said, finally being able to prove to himself that there was no harm in a stranger, and that they wouldn't necessarily hurt him for no reason. Robbie was a smart person, he just didn't show it to many people, so some people tended to stay away from him. "Pleasure to meet you." He said, refusing to laugh at her name, even though he did find it a little bit funny. "Today is a good day because usually I'm choking over my tongue, and unable to get out a proper sentence." Robbie said, sighing softly once more.

 

[Annika Lansden]

Annika watched him think about her question and sigh a couple of times. Was it really that complicated of a question? Annika's stubborn brain thought not. Keeping her round and almost lost looking eyes upon him, she began to think more about his suggestion. There were so many things wrong with it though, she just couldn't agree. Being Annika, she did not even think that this was one of the only people she had been able to hold a proper conversation with here at Hogwarts, however here she was, ready to argue her point. It was the reason she had never had many friends, though it didn't seem as if Annika realised this. However, there was a lot more to the blonde girl that it seemed.

Almost tempted to collect some of her own blood to test this, Annika immediatly raised her arm, staring at the veins crisscrossing her wrist. They looked relatively similar to any muggles that she had seen. However Annika knew that this was just from the outside. The scientific thoughts whirled around her head as she began to contemplate this "No... How could this chemical reaction happen without the two substances meeting?" she said. It was not question, she was convinced that she was right. Annika looked back up him, her arm still raised in front of her face. Being quite blunt, she did not sympathise with Robbie like most would. "Well you seem fine to me" she said in a disbelieving voice. Knowing that she wasn't easy to get along with, this boy couldn't be as bad as he thought.

 

[Robbie Masters]

Robbie slowly thought about the next question she had, before realising she hadn't mentioned it as a question. He had nearly came up with an answer for her, but since she didn't seem to want it he would keep it too himself. Robbie smiled at her, and wondered why she had been so curious to begin with. Robbie wouldn't pretend to know what the real answer was, but the answer he had had would have been close to the mark, and that was as good as he was probably going to get. Robbie turned to look at her again, and it was a good thing he wasn't tripping all over his own words today, because he needed to be able to talk properly here to be able to prove his point to this newcomer, that he had really only met today. And boy did she seem like a weird one.

Robbie turned to look at her again, and wondered what could actually be going through her mind now. She seemed like the kind of person to have a million thoughts going through her head at the same time, and that was a trait that Robbie thought was strange in a person, because they always seemed to be confusing him, and asking him a million questions. "Well, what brings you out here today, and thanks for the comment, but half the time I'm a lot worse off then this. I'm usually always tripping over my words, and I stutter like crazy. It drives me crazy." Robbie said, sighing softly. He didn't like to think about it, and now that he was having a good day, he hoped he wouldn't have to again.

 

[Annika Lansden]

Annika began to frown as he smiled. She really did not understand those people who just smiled and were friendly instead of carrying on an interesting conversation. And this conversation was definitely engaging for Annika. She had to admit that he had didn't have half bad ideas. Well not compared to some of the people here, who just looked at her blankly with their mouths open, before giving her the 'weirdo' look and avoiding her. It didn't faze Annika however, she was well used to it. Humans behaved in strange ways. How could somebody not be so interested in the life processes of cats? Once started, it was very hard to stop Annika from outlining the finer points of their instincts and habits. As her mind took a turn and she suddenly remembered her cat Luther, sleeping on her bed up in the Hufflepuff girls dormitories, a sudden and rare smile lit up her face. She was very fond of that cat, an emotional bond she had never felt towards an animal before. Annika didn't realise that she must look very strange, frowning one instant, then changing to a bright smile the next.

What a pointless question, Annika was thinking. Obviouly if she had the time to be having a conversation with him, she wasn't really here in the grounds with a purpose "I brought myself here, as a matter of fact. The dormitories were a too stuffy" The heat of the day turned Hufflepuff house into a sauna, something that Annika couldn't handle. Rain was her favourite. She would sit for hours fathoming the process of precipitation. Annika did not understand self pity, and certainly wasn't going to sympathise, as she had no experience in shyness "It is easy to say what you feel. You just say it" she said bluntly, unknowingly demonstrating the meaning of her words.