swings and roundabouts

As Elizabeth walked outside of the castle, her eyes immediately lifted upwards. Thick blankets of clouds covered the sky creating an overcast. Thin slivers of sunlight burst through small openings in the clouds. It was rather beautiful really. She had always been a fan of overcast weather; the sun was beaming down on you trying to give you a heatstroke. The Ravenclaw hated hot weather. She made her way down towards the lake with her bag slung over her left shoulder. The sixteen year old had already caught up on her homework and was now rewarding herself with a bit of leisurely reading by the lake. As she neared her favorite tree, she dropped her bag beside it and sat underneath it, her back resting against the trunk.

It took a little bit of rummaging around in her bag before she found her book. This was something her father had recommended to her quite some time ago and she was just now getting around to reading it. It was a historical fiction book, focusing on one of the Goblin Rebellions...she couldn't remember which one it was. It had sounded interesting when he had summarized it for her; she was a bit of a history nerd. After getting herself into a comfortable position, she began reading.

The wind was still rather cold as it blew towards Albus as he made his way down to the lake from the Quidditch Pitch. It was late afternoon, yet you could hardly tell that, as the clouds were covering nearly all of the sky, allowing only a bit of sunlight through. Albus had had a busy day. He probably might have managed taking 8 classes if he didn't have quidditch practice almost daily now as well. His captain, Aminia, was going a bit paranoid, even though it was only the second match of the season and Slytherin was the most favoured team.

He was headed to the lake because Albus knew the lake would not be too crowded at this time. Albus was always one who liked to stay away from most people, preferring to remain in the shadows really. Unfortunately, wherever he went, people always seemed to want to talk to him. His brother usually thought that them being famous was a blessing, Albus thought it was a curse. Especially in the mood he was right now, he felt lonely, so he decided that he would read a little down by the lake, one of his favorite past times.

The first person he saw by the lake was Elizabeth Eplee. He knew her a bit, she was in his year and took about the same classes as him. But he didn't know her too well, and had rarely talked to her before. "Hey Elizabeth," he greeted her, managing a small smile. Those came rarely lately. The stress of all the classes, quidditch practices and his best friend and cousin, Rose Weasley, avoiding him was making him in a rather melancholy mood.

Before Elizabeth knew it, she was swept away into another world. The Goblin Rebellions had been a time of such chaos and tragedy. It was one of those books that just grabbed you right from the first page. It had been a while since a book had done that to her. But then again, the only books she had been reading lately were ones for classes and those could hardly grab anyone's interests. As she reached the end of the chapter, a tiny spray of water hit her.

The Ravenclaw's eyes narrowed as she looked up, trying to find the culprit. It wasn't until she looked out at the lake just in time to see a large tentacle slip back underneath the water that she knew what had gotten her. That stupid squid. Grumbling a bit she repositioned herself, sticking her nose right back into her book. Because she had been so entranced by the book, she hadn't even heard anyone coming near her.

She jumped slightly when Albus greeted her. Hopefully he hadn't noticed. Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair before returning a small smile of her own, "Hey Albus, what's up?." She closed her book, setting it down on her lap before looking back at him. "How was practice?" Libby only knew this because the Ravenclaw team had attempted to get the Pitch that afternoon but it was already taken by the Slytherins.

Albus almost laughed as she jumped in surprise as he said her name. He recognized the expression she had been wearing before he had spoken, it was one when someone was so immersed in reading that they totally forgot what was happening around them. Being quite an avid reader, it had happened to Albus a lot too. Still, he had felt like talking to someone.

"Practice? It was... dull," he informed her, with a shrug. "The same thing again. I think I'll just skip the next one." Of course, he wouldn't, unless he wanted to risk being killed by Aminia. Still, they had been doing the same thing again and again for the past week. Passing the quaffle to each other. Albus took quidditch seriously, and he loved flying, but Aminia was just going paranoid.

Looking around further down the lake side, it was actually quite crowded, so Albus decided just to stay there. So he put his bag on the ground and sat down next to Elizabeth. On the few occasions where they had spoken to each other, they had got along well, so he hoped that she didn't mind. "What are you reading?" he asked curiously, looking at the large book on her lap.

Elizabeth involuntarily quirked an eyebrow at him when he mentioned skipping the next practice. However, once her mind processed that he was joking she let out a chuckle. "Oh yeah, I'm sure you're captain won't miss you. Sounds like a good idea," she teased. Quidditch was one of the greatest things in the world. There was nothing like it in her opinion. She felt bad for all those muggles who didn't have the slightest clue that such an amazing sport was out there. Now Elizabeth wasn't particularly interested in muggles but she had done a bit of reading on their so called sports. They were dreadfully boring, all land-ridden of course.

As Albus sat down she scooted over, just in case he wanted to lean against the trunk of the tree as well. It was a little odd to randomly be sitting outside with him. It wasn't that they didn't get along or she had any aversion to his company but they had never really spoken all that much. But since the handful of conversations they had shared before had been enjoyable, she was pleased with the situation even if it was a little random.

She turned towards him, giving him a soft smile when he asked about her book. The girl definitely had a soft spot for anyone who asked questions about her books - which were prized possessions to say the least. "It's this historical fiction book that my dad got me. It takes place during the Goblin Rebellion of 1612," she replied, trying not to sound like a complete and total nerd. "It's actually pretty good," she added. Her fingers began absentmindedly twirling around one another as she tried to think of a topic of conversation. Before thinking about it she blurted out, "So, uh, who is the lucky lady you'll be taking to the Valentine's Day dance?" After she said it she wanted to smack her forehead. Hopefully he didn't think that was her coming on to him...just trying to make conversation.