Sight Seeing

The day was bright and sunny- much too gorgeous for Adelyn to be spending it inside the castle walls. And with weather this perfect, surely some Quidditch boys would make their way out to the pitch. So what if she missed a couple of today’s lessons? She only had a few more months left of school. How much more was there to learn? And yeah, she could be sent to detention. But that definitely wasn’t uncommon for her. Professors probably wouldn’t even assign her to it. They saw her in detention enough for her pranks, and they were more than likely of having to stay extra hours with her. So after her last class, Adelyn strolled leisurely through the grounds, entered the pitch, and climbed into the stands. She situated herself into a seat where she would have the best view if someone did make their way out for a little flying. No doubt someone had seen her slip away after class... Maybe they would join her? She rolled her eyes. Then again, maybe not.

For some reason, this week was turning out to be a difficult one for her. She didn't really have any school work due, nor was anything terrible going on in her life, but she had a feeling this week wasn't going to go well. Adelyn pulled out the pack of smokes and lighter that she had tucked away in her purse. She slipped a cigarette between her lips and lit it, taking a long first drag from it. She exhaled slowly, already feeling a sense of relief… accompanied by a feeling of shame. Smoking was something that she utterly despised. She hated how disgusting it smelled, how trashy it looked, how horrible it was for her health. But despite all that, she couldn’t deny the relaxation it brought, nor could she find anything that brought her the same type of comfort.

Adelyn thought back to last year, when she would nearly have a heart attack while smoking, for fear that a professor would catch her. A smirk played on her lips, and she shook her head softly at the memory. She had thought she looked so cool to be smoking... now she just had a nasty habit that she couldn't kick. And three years from now, she would probably be sitting in the same place, doing the same thing. She shook her head softly. "I could quit whenever I wanted," Adelyn assured herself as she leaned back, resting against the bleacher behind her, waiting for some company.

The day was far too perfect to be spent inside and despite the obviously signs that summer was coming, the evenings still drew in quickly, leaving most of Eli’s sketches unfinished because of the lack of light. If he returned the next day, things would have changed and the scene would be difference because of the rain the night before or perhaps a considerable growth in grass or birds in the trees. Because of the lack of paint at the moment, charcoal sketches seemed to be all that Eli could manage. He needed to place an order or go into London and go looking for some specific paints. He could have written to a few of his colleagues in Paris but they’d have probably told him to get stuffed or something to that effect with a lot more swearing involved. The other artists didn’t like him for a number of reasons and wouldn’t do anything for Eli even if he was chocking. They saw him as competition, nothing more and nothing less.

So, the young Slytherin was lying on the grass of the Quidditch pitch just shading in the sketch he’d done of the three rings at one end of the pitch. He’d drawn in the pair of Quidditch players that had been there earlier, practicing. It was a pretty good sketch but nothing he’d want to turn into a painting. He ripped out the page and chucked it with the others. Some were of Amelia, a few of Fauve and even some of Lily Potter for a reason that was completely lost on the artist. He’d drawn some of the Thestrals and also a few of Alice, honouring her death almost. There were a number of different ones in the pile and he was sure there were even a few of Cecilia there but he couldn’t remember now.

There was a small, silver flask of Firewhisky near the pile of drawings as well as a few packets of cigarettes hanging around, some empty and a few with a number of them inside. His uniform was pretty disastrous. His shirt was undone for the most part, revealing the slightly tanned physique that had been toned by years of Quidditch. His shoes had been swapped for a pair of converse sneakers. His tie was long gone, Eli guessed it was at least the sixth one that year, replaced by the Slytherin pendant on a chain and he had his customary chocker around his neck as well as a few leather bracelets around his wrists. He was a picture of complete relaxation but it seemed as if the young artist needed a bit of inspiration.

Eli picked up a piece of charcoal and put if down on the page. He took a cigarette from a random packet near him and lit it with his lighter. He took the cigarette from his mouth and blew the smoke out in rings. He put the cigarette back in his mouth and began to draw again. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was or who it was but it began with shading, like most of them did before they took form. Eli ran his free hand through his hair and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He ripped the page away and scrunched it up before throwing it. He picked up his pencil and his hand quickly began to move across the page, creating yet another mystery drawing. He supposed it was something from memory like the last one was of the Eiffel tower at night from the café near there. He shouldn’t have scrunched it up but it was too late for that now.

Adelyn caught notice of something move in the corner of her eye. She turned her head, following it, until she narrowed her vision to land on something towards the center of the pitch grounds. She focused in on the subject. There was no indication in his attire that suggested what house the student was in, but considering the detrimental state of his uniform, Adelyn felt safe to confirm it as Elijah. From here, he looked unmoving, but she could occasionally see little white balls come flying away from his side. Nutter. What was he doing?

Adelyn made her way back down from the stands quietly. Well, more carefully than quietly. She had her cigarette in one hand, and the other was holding her purse to her side. So she essentially had nothing to catch herself with if she busted ass. Adelyn finally stepped foot on the grassy field and approached Elijah silently. Sketching, he was sketching. A white ball flew from his side again. He was sketching, crumpling them up, and throwing them away. She stopped behind him, peering over his shoulder and allowing her shadow to fall upon him. "Oi, shouldn't you be in class, Krum?" she teased, a sly smile playing at her lips.

Elijah’s muse or lack of seemed to have disappeared. Soon enough he found himself sketching out a decorative boarder and song lyrics were flowing onto the page. He bit the end of his pencil in thought before the elegant script began to appear on the paper again. He looked up when his sun was blocked out and he looked over his shoulder to see that Nott girl standing over him. He turned back to his sheet of paper and continued to write. He had never been good at writing his own lyrics, preferring to use whatever new material the bar supplied him with. They generally wanted him to sing their songs and he appreciated the help but he seemed to be writing his own and that both shocked and excited him.

“I could ask you the same thing Nott.” He said, lightly shading the outline of the boarder. “I could easily put you in detention. Give me a reason not to and I might think about it.” He wouldn’t put her in detention because he wasn’t exactly using the authority he had. He couldn’t be bothered for one thing and it wasn’t his style to just plonk people in detention. He flicked his cigarette away and continued to write.

Adelyn's face fell a bit at Krum's response. He had practically spat her name. Rude. She sneered at his turned back. Pleasure as always, she thought sarcastically. Breathing in slowly, she gave herself a moment to brush it off before sitting down in the grass. Adelyn sat cross-legged, leaning back on one hand, facing Krum's side; just close enough to annoy him, but just far enough to be out of his reach. Pale green eyes found interest in his sketches, but struggled to advert their focus elsewhere. Not that Adelyn cared if Elijah thought her obnoxious, no, on quite the contrary. She found it thoroughly enjoyable to bother those who allowed her, especially those that let her get to their emotions. Because of Elijah's current attitude, Adelyn was actually dying to see if he would hover over his sketches & turn away from her like a four year old if she asked him what he was drawing. But it was much too early for her to appear interested in whatever he was doing.

"I could easily put you in detention." Raising her eyebrows & nodding her head, Adelyn looked to the sky as she mocked consideration. "Perhaps..." She drew in another hit of her cigarette & exhaled a long cloud of white smoke. She dropped the mock. "Wouldn't be anything new to me," she shrugged. At Krum's next request, Adelyn smirked. "Because you're doing the same thing I am," she said simply, her eyes following the cigarette that he flicked. He timed it perfectly, as if he had planned to emphasize her statement.

Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe he had been a little too harsh. He sighed and continued to write, deciding it best to let her to reply to his... poor wording before replying himself. The words still seemed to flow easily and his elegant script soon began to fill the whole page up. He put his pencil down and sat up. He glanced at her and had at least the decency to look slightly apologetic. He smirked a little at her statement and flashed a small smile in her direction. He ran a hand through his dark hair and took a sketch book out from underneath the mass of paper. He picked up a pencil and lightly began to guide it across the page, occasionally looking up at Adelyn to check he was getting the shape of her face right. After a while he settled on looking up, letting his hand expertly fly across the page.

“I dunno.” He chuckled. “I don’t think you’re covering the Quidditch Pitch in paper unless you’re doing in the other end.” He smiled and glanced down at the page before reaching over to grab some chalk and charcoal. He began to darken the picture with the charcoal and looked back up at her momentarily. “What brings you out here, then?” he asked, interested. He smudged the picture a little with his thumb and added a stroke of chalk before rubbing it lightly to smooth it in. He continued to darken and lighten certain parts of the picture for a while and soon finished it. He ripped it out of the book and quickly signed his name at the bottom before handing it to her. He smiled. “Voilà .” he said easily.