Weeping for Yesterday

A soft breeze flew by the Courtyard one afternoon as the students casually passed by each other, each talking about their own studies or about the latest gossip that they heard from one another. Time was utterly slow and everything felt stressed: spring time meant the era of new beginnings and that meant a lot more work. Christmas time would be felt as a reprieve from the days of constant work, and now those times would be encroaching back into their lives. Was truly a shame.

Besides the constant revival of other dead plants in the courtyard, a lone figure was lying down alone in a shaded area, a small gardening area that was left unattended to by a previous group that had been so festive about the upcoming daises and junipers. They had left some time ago, ranting on about a professor as they left, shoes noisily clattering on and about as they drove out. Fortunately for this lone figure, he managed to successfully stealth past them and find his own usual corner in an otherwise cramped and dynamic environment.

This lone figure went by the name of Gordan. No nicknames, no prior occupation, what you saw is what you got. With his casual school clothing on and his robe left behind in the common room, he was determined to have a night time outside in his own little grove. The plants were a nice touch, but the constant returns of these younger students really bothered him. Why was it that whenever he wanted to have a nice night out, others seemed to just find their own path into his own? In more than a dozen occasions, he's had to engage in small talk with those cretins. Not very bad people, sure, but otherwise annoying and persistent in their endeavors to get him to help water and nurture the plants. Gordan knew he would never have time for that, not while he was busy wallowing and tormenting himself in constant shame of something he never did. If you couldn't tell, that was actually sarcasm. He was pretty good at things like that.

Taking a large inhale of the air surrounding him, Gordan was met with the familiar smell of daises. For the last three years, this had been his spot, and each and every single year daises had been the most popular flower in the beds. Despite the fact that this 'corner' he was in was actually another entrance way into the bowels of Hogwarts and the railing beside the beds led to a very swift and messy demise into a large crevice down below, the area was quite a popular spot for people enthusing plant development. At one point, he was even sure some students wanted to drag some mandrakes down here, to keep them potted in a more airy environment. Gordan could've wept on how happy he was when that decision was turned down by the professors.

However, I am beginning to rant, much like Gordan who was lost in his own thoughts. A soft gale with a familiar sound passed through, snapping Gordan out of his daydream. Taking a moment to recover his thoughts, he slowly began to realize where he was and how he got there. The common rooms were pretty crowded that morning, with the constant echos of girls shrieking like morons being constant. He would normally sit there until the afternoon would approach, but people began trying to talk to him, cleverly disguising their intent on asking for homework help as meaningful questions to ask him, like 'How was your day?' or Gordan's personal favorite 'Who do you think looks cute?' I think your head in a blender would look cute, he wanted to reply so badly. Instead, he smiled like a dainty man and just said "I don't know, everyone here looks cute." He was sure to have earned some brownie points somewhere.

Moving his hands from the back of his head, he slowly moved himself up from his quiet napping spot and stood up, stretching out unused muscles in his lower back and his calves. Striding over to the railing, he used his arms as supports and leaned against the fence, staring down into the cavernous depths below. At least a 30 meter drop down below. The resulting fall would probably kill the person on contact, not giving enough time to register pain or the resulting pain that would come from exploding internal organs, like the stomach or the heart. He sighed remorsefully and offered a small prayer to anyone dumb enough to have fallen into their demise because of this gulch.

"I suppose they'd want a sentiment while they're at it," he softly declared to himself, and quickly fished into his pocket.

He pulled out a single knut and casually flicked it between his thumb and finger down below. He watched the knut first make contact with a rocky wall 10 feet below him, colliding off a jagged off and falling mercilessly the rest of the distance, to the point of not even being able to see the small coin by the end of its journey. He wondered if anyone happened to make the same kind of descent, a painful collision on the wall, followed by a rush of air as it filled the wounds and the final thoughts of words of a dying person. Gordan was rather morbid, and he knew it. But, he did have an idea of how to dispose of a body if he ever needed it done. Not saying he would become a professional hit wizard.

Another breeze drove by, with an echo that followed. Maybe that was the dead thanking him for his kind donation. Maybe. Gordan took one last look out towards the distance, examining the rest of Hogwarts. He always hoped he would see someone scaling the walls, but that would probably be too much to ask. Taking one last glance for anything unusual, he shrugged his shoulders and stepped back over to his bench. He named it 'Gerda', a rather archaic name that no one would ever use for their child. Not even bothering to sit down on it, he just casually let his body collapse onto the rock surface, a small thud and a slight groan being the only sounds emanating from this small grotto.

"At last," he spoke "Solitude."

Anger, red hot anger. The kind of anger that makes your vision turn red and your fists clench into balls, the kind that makes you either want to hit someone, or scream. That was all Aurora felt as she stamped down the Entrance Hall stairs as loudly as possible, hitting a couple of first years out of the way as she went, sending books flying and small shrieks of terror as the Slytherin drove through their tight knit group.

The girls all gave her angry glares and huffs as they went to retrieve their books, throwing her angry looks. But Airy was already long gone, shooting across the Entrance Hall and through the open doorway, out of the castle and into the courtyard beyond, nearly running into a much scarier looking Slytherin boy, but only flying past him and out of their sight.

Thudding down the stairs she skidded to a halt in the courtyard, her pink streaked hair whipping across her face as the wind hit her just right and Aurora let out a loud hiss towards nothing in particular, only succeeding in scaring a first year Ravenclaw boy who was sitting on a bench near her, reading. "What are you looking at?" She growled and tore across the courtyard, leaving only a trail of her Slytherin scarf behind her, and the faint smell of bubblegum.

Aurora tore across another little courtyard and finally came to a stop near a fence that dropped suddenly down to a cliff before her, stopping her progress with a huff of angry air and a dark green sparkle of magic that shot out the end of her wand, which she suddenly realized was still clenched in her fist, her fingernails white from how tightly she was holding it.

She held it out in front of her and watched the green sparks float to the ground, where her gaze landed on a bunch of flowers that were trying to grow, and she was stepping on. Smirking, Airy pointed her wand at the flowers and watched the sparks light on one of the stems, burning a small hole through the leaf before dropping to the ground and going out.

After standing completely still for a few seconds, her eyes trained on where the spark had been, Airy suddenly realized she was near someone else, and she quickly turned, her wand trained on the boy who was laying on a bench, small sparks shooting out of it once again, as she chomped her gum in an angry way. "Who are you?" She demanded, squinting into the shadowy corner at the boy, who she could barely make out since she was standing in the sun.

So much for solitude. What seemed to be an exact instant after his last statement, a rolling behemoth decided to take a field day on the flowers nearby. He had no love for those dying plants himself, but he was sure the people who tended those often would be at the very least disturbed. They were there tending them only a few minutes earlier, and now some troll decided to make them its lunch. What really annoyed him however was how the banshee decided to talk to him...was that really necessary? If anything, the ogre herself might've just threw her wand at his face, offering only a wicked smile and ice piercing laughter that would leave other women infertile for ages to come. But instead, she talked to him. Perfect.

With a groan, Gordan decided to think of his words carefully. He spent his constant brainpower, the thing he had come to know and love so well for the best 16 years of his life to this one task, a task so important it needed no words to describe how important it was. He shifted his head on his hands so his view was on the phantom before him and stared her down with blank eyes. On the whole, she was very attractive. Very nice facial features, slender body, nice hoo- I mean very appropriate features, things like that. The only unattractive thing right now was her face, contorted to be like some witch who had just broken her broom from the sheer weight of her.

"I'm a very angry boy who likes to smash up flowers in their spare time, who are you?" he asked blankly and very sullenly. She wasn't a threat to him as much as cancer would be to an insect...did insects get cancer? That was another thought he needed to shelve to the side for now.

Taking another look at the rather bright look flowers, he studied the dance of the flames, wondering how bad the injuries would be. He didn't see any blue, but he was almost sure those flowers would be dead anyway. A shame, really. He turned his head back towards the raving minotaur and stated "I see you have the same hobby as I have. Very good to know, especially in friends. Might I ask you out for tea and some crumpets later?"

After the amount of people who had fled at the very sight of her on the way down the stairs, Airy had to stop and stare at the boy for a moment, her anger fizzling slightly, the sparks dying from her wand and the hand holding it going slack. Her lips parted in a slight look of confusion at his words, as though she barely understood them, before she blinked and scowled at him. "A very angry girl who doesn't like the look you're giving me." She grumbled, as sparks shot out once more from her wand, landing on the growing flowers under her and causing large burn marks on them.

The cool look he was giving her was pissing her off to no extent and in her flying rage she felt her fist curl into a ball again, ready to forgo her wand in favor of a good punch to the nose. She popped her gum loudly in her mouth and took a menacing step towards him, leaving the light and into the darkness so she could see him better, looking him up and down for a moment to figure out what house he was in.

Her eyes trained on his tie, which bore unmistakable blue of Ravenclaw, and her anger turned into amusement as she smirked. "Don't you have books to go read Ravenclaw? I was unaware you people ever left your tower, or did they kick you out cause you weren't smart enough?" She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, popping her gum again loudly and sticking her hip out to the side, her Slytherin scarf falling down her front and hanging limply, almost as though it had died with her anger.

His last comment however had her bristling again, her anger renewed she turned on him and pointed her wand at him, hissing. "Listen here punk, I don't care if you think you're all high and funny, shit like that doesn't go down with me, okay?" She popped her gum again and smirked, twisting her wand in his direction, her head tilting as well, hoping he'd get his wand out and duel her at least to get this pent up anger out of her system.

Gordan laughed. He actually laughed at what she was saying. Who did she think she was anyway? Some kind of boogieman that liked to taunt and torture the little kids rooms that she invited herself into? Really, this had to be some kind of class act, a front put together by the other kids in the common room to try and spark some kind of emotion inside of Gordan. If it was, it most definitely worked. He sat there for a good 15 seconds laughing his heart out before finally returning her gaze. Still angry. How funny.

"I wasn't aware Slytherins allowed such heinous B**** into their realm either, but I think that's actually just a given," he said callously, preparing himself for any physical retaliation he may face. He wasn't stupid, he knew this girl had to be hot headed as hell, just the atmosphere around her alone could probably kill sperm cells. He prepared himself for any punches given, starting to analyze her body language. This wouldn't be the first fight he'd gotten himself into...although it'd be the first with a girl. He wondered if he'd get detention for hitting her. "Actually, even if I was dropped out of Ravenclaw for being stupid, I could probably still hit Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Slytherin's kind of a backwater area in terms of intelligence, y'know?"

Taking a moment to sigh, as if out of inevitability, he picked himself up from the spot and stood close in front of her, her eyes clearly visible to him now. He could even see his own reflection if he looked hard enough, a scary thought to think about. He merely just put on a wicked grin and extended his own gaze, this time one physically trying to pierce her own, a stare that often made others look away. This woman was interesting, what with her flamboyant hair colors, her angry features, and her overwhelming sense of 'I'll hurt you' definitely sparked Gordan's interest. Her body also sparked another interest of his own, but that's for another time.

"Okay, now that you've told me your thing, let me tell you one of my own: I don't like to be disturbed. I try to keep that fact under wraps, but right now, you are interfering with MY time."

He opened his arms up to envelope the area around him and made clear notice of this. "See this? This is MY spot. When it's just me in here, I prefer to keep things QUIET and ORDERLY. Instead, I get myself a raving lunatic burning down flowers like an arsonist. I don't care if you've killed someone, and are looking to extort a quick buck from me, this is my spot!"

With an emphasis on that last point, he took a step back and folded his arms over his chest. He produced a glare of his own, legitimately angered by her own display of arrogance and violence. Times like these were strange, what with the marriage law and all, but now with harpies roaming the schools, who knew what would be next? But still, he prepared himself for a punch of two coming his way, he was even hoping to maybe deflect one and throw one of his own. He wasn't biased, if someone wanted to punch him, he'd be more than glad to return the favor, regardless of gender.

"Now, if you'd please leave my area and go back to whatever dream you're deciding to haunt next, I would greatly appreciate it." To emphasize this point, he waved his fingers over towards the staircase she came in from, the only means of leaving that area "I asked nicely, now will you please go?"

Airy had to hand it to the kid, he had guts, and not only that... he was funny. First he laughed at her, which was a slightly sobering moment as she watched him half roll on the ground in fits of laughter. Before insulting her, that was when she started to laugh, dark chuckles from the pits of hell inside of her, she grinned like a madwoman who had been given a lollipop. His insults were adorable, better yet they would have made her punch him if she had been in her right mind, if he had said them point two seconds before laughing himself, she would have punched him into next week.

Instead she was amused, highly amused, more amused then she had been in a long time. He was preparing himself for a fight because her wand was still sparking like mad, sending green and now silver sparks to the ground at his feet, a true show of her Slytherin pride, she couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly he got angry, and Airy's smile disappeared, her hand clenched harder, her jaw set hard and she felt the anger start to grow again, another ravage wave of hotness and the color red. The smell of anger was the best smell, it was the smell of red, the wash of hot metal, the coolness of a firework, it was hot, and scorching, and red.

His glare at her would have made a sane person blink and hide under the fury of it, but she glared at him right back, rising herself up in an effort to make herself look bigger, with him standing he was actually quite a bit higher then she was, and even though she was taller for her age, she was still below him, but she would rather stand on her tipy-toes then back down from the fight.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see your name written on the wall!" She gestured around the area with a smirk before standing up on her tip-toes, looking him in the eye. "You know what.. I think I'll get my revenge by doing the exact opposite of that.. I like you, you have spirit, and I'm going to stay right here and annoy the shit out of you." She grinned like a madwoman and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she went to sit directly on the bench he had just stood up from.

Airy wasn't normally one to make friends, nor did she care to have friends at all, but this guy had pissed her off, and she was ready to do anything to annoy him, he kept repeating how he wanted her to leave, so she crossed on leg over the other and rested her head back, her school skirt cut a little shorter than was appropriate by a pair of scissors, for the ends were ragged purposefully, showing off her legs in a way that screamed "You can look but can't touch".

"So what's your name angry loner man?" She asked with a grin, flicking her pink-streaked hair over her shoulder again and making another loud popping noise with her gum before blowing it into a huge bubble and popping it, sucking it back into her mouth with a grin.

Gordan was astonished, absolutely baffled by this gorilla's response to the situation. Was she really going to try and fight him like this? He was a master at being passive-aggressive, she would merely be toying with things she didn't deserve to even play with. Some basilisk like herself should know that once you start playing with fire, you get burned. Gordan gritted his teeth together harshly, as if imagining the space between his teeth contained her head. Having her pass by him and sit down on his bench drove him insane, who was she to try and pull something like this off?!

But he knew he'd be falling right into the palm of her hand if he were to get too worked up over this. Allowing himself to become annoyed and doing something stupid was what she was planning for. No, this needed to be won by either walking away or making an example. He wasn't sure how this would play out, but someone like her needed to be taken down a notch. Especially since she was intruding upon his own time.

Clicking his tongue loudly at her, he merely watched as she 'attempted' to put on some sort of 'seductive' pose. Right, let me get right on kissing your feet, your majesty he thought to himself bitterly. He figured it would've been easier to get into a fistfight, but he did have a reputation to uphold. Instead of addressing her further, he walked over to the now burnt down patch of ash and shriveled flowers and grabbed a rock that fit in the palm on his hand. The rock was rather oval, but it had a dull tip that would be perfect for skipping if he were down at the lake. With that in mind, he squeezed the rock in his hand and walked back over to her.

Standing in front of her, he leaned down and stabbed the rock against the wall, about a foot above her head, a loud clunk reverberating throughout the area. There, he started etching out a large G in a rather sketchy manner. Following that, he proceeded to write out the rest of his name in thin capital letters.

GORDAN GRAY.

"There," he said, tossing the now useless rock to the side "now my name's on the wall. Now, if you will excuse me, I will be going now since you have decided to taint the rest of my perfect evening. Enjoy scaring little girls and boys kiddo, that's about as far as you're going in life apparently."

Grabbing his bag that was next to the bench, he slung it over his shoulder and did an about face towards the staircase, walking rather briskly as he made his departure.

Airy watched without moving from her seat as his face contorted with anger, his teeth gritting loudly and his annoyance showing clearly on his face. 'Oh this is too much fun..' She thought, grinning from ear to ear now as he clicked his tongue at her as she struck a pose on the bench for him. Her anger had dissipated almost as quickly as it had come upon her, and she was feeling rather happy now that she had someone to annoy. Just the look on the guy's face was enough to keep her from wanting to punch a wall.

She kept her pose on the bench as he bent over and grabbed a rock, examining it. At first she nearly thought he might throw it at her head, and she almost prepared to duck, but he stormed past her instead and she relaxed on the bench, watching as he started to carve into the wall with the rock. "Oh please.. that's such a childish thing to do, your name isn't on it, so you put your name on it.." She laughed, grinning from ear to ear and leaning over so she could read his name. "So.. Gordan Gray is it? I'm Airy, Airy Daniels."

Airy jumped to her feet as he started to storm away and she half flung herself next to him, trotting along with him at a quickened pace as he headed away, her shorter legs moving faster then his longer ones. "Aww, but I thought we were just starting to get to know each other Gordan Gray.  I mean... I nearly hit you, and you seemed so friendly." She tormented, walking just behind him now, her scarf swinging behind her wildly as she went.

"Don't you think so? I mean.. I've always been curious as to where a Ravenclaw would go for solitude, I guess I found it, I might just hang out there now, seems a very nice place, and such pretty flowers, though of course those are all gone, so maybe we should plant some more? I'm sure a couple Hufflepuff's would gladly grab some spades and help us dig in the dirt like Nifflers, or maybe we could just get a couple of those." Airy rambled after him, grinning from ear to ear while she spoke, avidly happy with the annoyance she was giving the poor Ravenclaw boy.

Ignoring the woman like the plague, Gordan merely continued his stride, processing the new information in his mind. Apparently, this woman was named 'Airy'...must be a nickname for something. Although, he'd never heard of that word being associated with any name...except for maybe an airhead. Well, she was an airhead, but that was besides the point. At any rate, this woman was now following him, even when he was trying to be so kind and allow her a free pass this once! What a shameful woman! Groaning as he walked, he passed by the wrought iron fence that protected the staircase and proceeded to head back towards the main entrance.

Even as he stepped quietly, no words being shed at all, she continued to talk! On and on, she would never cease?! Did she want to confess her love or something too?! Trying his best to keep a straight face on, he merely continued his casual stroll, his mind starting to wander away from the conversation. Just focus on the sound of the wind and not on this blast-ended skrewts voice he reminded himself, the wind passing by his right ear as he continued his motion. Closing his eyes, he tried to find something else to tune into ANYTHING to drown out this woman! Christ, drown her, he wouldn't care!

He was better than her, that was a fact! He didn't go around trolling for new victims, he was just a relaxed and casual boy who enjoyed his private time! Nothing wrong with that! Instead, he was rewarded for his good efforts at being a good boy by being followed, he never had anyone follow him before, not like this! Who did she think she was either, to be following someone like him, a perfect example on how to be a self-reliant and suave individual and assume they were good friends?! She had absolutely no right to do this, and the moment he told her this, she'd probably understand and go away, because she was BOTHERING HIM! WHY WON'T SHE LEAVE?!

Turning around on the spot, he instantly stared into her eyes and did so for about a minute, not blinking once. His brow twitched a couple of times as he did so, almost making him look like a bombshell ready to blow. In a rather strained and hushed voice, he said "Please...just go...I do not like you. I will not give you money. I will not even offer you a kind word." His face started to contort and his voice began to rise "Just leave me alone, I have no time for pointless endeavors like yourself, and even if I did, I would NEVER associate with the likes of you!" Now, he was grinning rather creepily, his pupils dilating "So just go, and never speak to me again, just pretend I don't even exist. Because if you did, it would be mutually devastating for the both of us, you CANCEROUS TOAD!"

A split second afterwords, he realized his voice had just risen to a near yell and his face suddenly pulled a 180 on what his expression was. Instead of being some psychotic lunatic, he was now rather confused and disoriented, it was almost as if a big question mark had just appeared over his head. Did he just yell at a girl? Must less a bloodsucker like her? He blinked a few times and then realized people were gawking at the pair, some looking absolutely awestruck at the sight. Some were even laughing, but on a hushed note. The wind blew silently with a shrill whistle. A moment of enlightenment hit Gordan. He realized something.

He just messed up.

Airy was just getting started as they strolled along, gathering looks from people passing by, but she was having far too much fun to care, she had found his weak spot and was prepared to poke it till it bled, and started to make little whining noises. "Oh come now, I'm sure you don't mean to be so mean to me, I mean really, all I did was point my wand at you! It's not like I hurt you or anything, and what's so special about that bench anyway? There are like, a million others all ove-"

She froze midword as he suddenly turned and stared her in the eyes, she was leaned back slightly, a strand of hair sticking to her mouth as she stared him right back, suddenly silent as she waited for him to react, her insides jumping with glee over this new reaction from the Ravenclaw. His voice got louder and louder until he yelled rather loudly, causing everyone in the area to stop and turn to stare at the odd pair.

Airy's scarf fell back behind her back just as his face turned back around to a confused and concerned expression, but Airy was having the time of her life, and all she could do was grin at him, her cheeks flushed with how happy this was making her. "Gordan Gray I am ashamed of you." Airy said in a voice as motherly as she could make it. "Yelling about Cancerous toads where everyone can hear.. that's not very nice of you... now you're gonna have to do something nice to me to make up for it." She grinned and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him pointedly, knowing it would annoy him to no end to have to owe her.

She could have gotten angry, and she contemplated it for a moment, and almost felt the anger rise at the embarrassment he was causing her in the one place she avoided the most, but the look on his face was just too priceless, she was ready to annoy the life out of him for a glance again at the face he had just pulled. "Didn't you invite me to Tea and crumpets later? I mean, that would work fine, I think everyone here would agree that you owe me something at least.. cause that was very mean." She tried to look stern and failed dramatically at it, her face only splitting into an even wider smile.