One Hopscotch, Two Hopscotch, Three...

[Felicity Hjort]

Things had dried out recently. Well, enough so that Felicity could be found sitting in the middle of the courtyard with chalk in hand making a pretty little hopscotch design over a bit of pavement she'd scouted out for herself. The chalk was a gift from her nephew Freddy for Christmas, though it wasn't an actual Christmas gift as her parents refused to allow Christmas to take place without their youngest daughter and so it was merely something out of his own stash that he wanted her to have since she couldn't be home with them for the holiday. He told her not to worry because once summer came and she was home they were going to celebrate that very first weekend, the saturday before Sunday and church. The following Monday the blonde was to take up her job again at Harry's diner, something she was looking forward to because she had enjoyed it so much the summer previous. It allowed her to make money to do things with Drew, for Drew, and for herself. She had made enough on tips alone to pay for that year's books and next year's too, what she made from her paycheck went towards what she wanted. Felicity was actually thinking of buying new robes for the next year because the one's she had were a little too short, and while it didn't bother her, she thought a new set of robes would be awfully nice.

But, there were more pressing matters on her mind, things that jus never left especially when it came so close to the end of the term. Drew promised her nothing would really change, that he'd write her as much as possible and they'd see one another all the time, but she was going to miss his everyday presence in her life. Maybe the summer would make things a little easier because she knew they wouldn't be able to spend so much time together, but at the same time, she was so used to having him there at the castle, to help her with classes, protect her when she wasn't feeling well, and everything else. But maybe, just maybe...

The sky was a clear blue, a few faded clouds beyond the horizon, the sun shining down, and the breeze so slight one didn't think it was there unless they searched for it. In Felicity's opinion it was a perfect Spring day, and she didn't like spring. Dressed in blue jeans that were too long and too baggy, but with the cuffs rolled up to her knees they didn't look so bad, and Drew's sweatshirt draped over her torso, with the sleeves pushed to her elbows and hair pulled back, the pretty blonde was carefully tracing the boxes out just so. If they weren't perfect, she'd have to start all over and she wasn't patient enough to start again.

The chalk was a blue, Freddy knowing it was Felicity's favourite colour wanted to send along something she'd enjoy and it had been a while since she'd done anything with chalk. Actually, she couldn't even remember the last time, probably the summer before coming to Hogwarts, the last time she'd spent a good amount of time with her muggle friends. That was something she needed to do this coming summer as well, catch up with all of them. Maybe introduce Drew to the whole lot, after all, she wrote them enough about him and he knew a couple of them, but not all.

Drawing out box number seven, she wrote a large "7" inside and started on the next.

(Sara)

[sara]

Was is Spring already? Sara had barely noticed. During the winter, she liked to stay cooped up in the castle, spending most of her time hiding behind books in the library. Lately, though, she'd been spending more and more time outside, something she hadn't done for months. It felt good to finally get some fresh air. Since none of the students had been able to go home for the holidays, Sara had spent most of her break just exploring the castle. Though she'd been attending Hogwarts for six years, she still had yet to visit most parts of the castle and the holidays had been her chance to do so. Now the spring was here and the weather was starting to get better, Sara planned to spend much of her free time exploring the school grounds.

With classes back in session, the girl would be spending much of her time in the library studying. Her studies always seemed to be her first priority, but in all honesty, it was because she never had much better to do. Besides, it was what would gain her family's approval and she loved to make them happy. But today, Sara had decided to head outside. She'd been walking around the castle for quite some time now. It gave her a lot of time to think about her classes and family and it was something she had really been needing. Sara was glad that the year was almost over and she would be enjoying her summer vacation in a few months. At the moment, there was nothing dear that the Hufflepuff was holding onto at the school. Unlike many of her fellow students, her departure for a few months wouldn't be as hard as many others. She wasn't the most social girl you'd ever meet, so didn't have as many friends as she really would have liked.

Her next stop was the courtyard which she'd actually visited a couple times before, but never spent much time in. In her red skinny jeans and old white hoodie, she walked around for awhile, kicking a little stone around that she had found earlier. Sara really hadn't been paying too much attention to her surroundings for her mind was focused on the upcoming summer vacation. Finally, she glanced up and noticed a girl sitting on the ground, drawing something on the concrete. She wondered how she hadn't become aware of her earlier.

Sara became curious, but wasn't curious enough to ask the girl what she was doing. Being timid and such, she was really just a looker. The Hufflepuff stood off to the side, watching the girl draw and finally realized what she'd been doing. Her lips curled into a small smile once she recognized the shape of a hop scotch game. She had always loved to play that with her neighbors and family and began to picture a little blonde girl playing with her mother and aunt. She hadn't played that since she was very young and began to wondered if the girl was actually planning to play alone.

[Felicity Hjort]

Done with eight and moving onto nine, Felicity was engrossed with her little project. She knew this would point her out with some sort of muggle background, whether muggle born or half blood, she didn't rightly care at that moment. Most of the time she tried to keep it hidden as to what she was, though she never did a very good job at it. At the moment she just wanted to have a few laughs and fun. Hopscotch was fun and she couldn't find her jump rope, it seemed to have disappeared after she took it out last term to play with it. Since then she hadn't thought much bout it, but didn't know where it was either.

Once the lioness had all ten boxes set, each with their number written inside clearly, she pushed the blue chalk to the side and started searching for a stone to use. The game was silly, but she loved it all the same because it was fun to try and hop from spot to spot and not lose balance while doing so. As she stood, her eyes traveled over to see another blonde not far off and she gave a tentative smile in the direction of her. She looked familiar, but Felicity didn't think she knew the girl, or if she did, she hadn't really spoken to her often enough obviously.

"Hi!" she called out with a big wave before returning her attention to the ground to find what she needed. A stone, nothing too large, just one to toss on the squares so she could get a move on with her game.

[sara]

Sara stood there in silence, watching the girl finish drawing the rest of the hopscotch squares, quite curious. She cocked her head a bit, thinking about how much she used to love the game. Being muggle born, the Hufflepuff remembered playing many simple games like hopscotch as a child. She even remembered how much she use to love drawing on the sidewalk in front of her house as a child. She'd always draw silly little drawings of animals and nature and such, without a care in the world. Things were so much simpler back then. Now, everything seemed to have problems that just wouldn't disappear. Unlike back then, drawing pretty pictures and playing games of hopscotch couldn't make all your problems just go away.

The other girl finally finished drawing and stood up, finally noticing Sara. She flashed a sheepish grin back and gave a small wave. The girl averted her attention to the ground and began searching for something. The Hufflepuff couldn't figure out what she was looking for at first, but the answer quickly came to mind when she glanced down at her feet or a quick moment. A stone. She tucked her hair behind her ears, then bent down and grabbed the stone she'd been kicking for awhile. She glanced at the stone in her hand for a moment, the up at the girl. For a moment, she was hesitant to go over to her, her timidness beginning to kick in. But quickly, she shook it off and strolled over to her, the rock secure in her fist.

"Uhm, I think you may need this," She muttered in a quiet voice, opening up her fist, revealing the small black stone.

[Felicity Hjort]

The return greeting wasn't missed by Felicity and she was glad the girl answered. While the lioness knew she could be blunt and outright at times, she was pretty sure even the girl was familiar. Actually, she wouldn't be surprised if the girl was in her classes, there were a number she was realizing that their faces were familiar, but she didn't really know who they were. And this girl's face was familiar, but not enough that Felicity could say for certain if she was a Gryffindor or not. And she hadn't been a part of the school paper when that had run the year before, so she didn't really know the girl, at all.

Mind focused on finding the perfect stone, she barely heard the voice carry to her ears, but she did. It was merely a faint trickle, but the blonde looked up to see what it was she had said, then noticing what she held out to her.

"That's perfect!" she shouted, bounding right over to where the girl was and taking the stone to give it a good once over. Actually, it was near to perfect as she would ever find on the ground. The perfect shape, no sharp edges, and it wasn't too large. "Thank you," she said as she started to turn away, then paused and turned back. "Would you like to play with me?"

She figured if the girl knew what she needed, then she must know the game as well. And it was lonely playing by oneself.

[sara]

"That's perfect!"
Sara smiled, handing her the stone. Now that she had a better look at the girl, she began to look familiar, but not to that point that she knew exactly who she was. She was certain that she had a class or two with her, but nothing more.

She nodded, about to walk away, leaving the girl to play her game, until she heard her invitation.

"Would you like to play with me?"
The Hufflepuff lifted an eyebrow, not really expecting it, but then gave her a warm smile and nodded. "Sure," She hadn't played the little game in the longest time, but wouldn't refuse the chance to play. Plus, she didn't want to be rude by refusing. Playing a little hopscotch would be much more fun than going back to what Sara had been doing.

Slowly, she approached the drawing on the ground, looking down at it. The girl figured that the two would look somewhat silly, playing an old muggle game meant for little children, but pushed that thought away, convincing herself that it would be a good time. She glanced back over at the girl, realizing how awkward it would be to play without knowing just who they were playing with. "I'm Sara, by the way." She said with a smile, tucking her hands into her pockets.

[Felicity Hjort]

Yes, an absolutely perfect stone, and likely something only Felicity would obsess over. But to really play the sport of hopscotch one had to have everything perfect. Of course, if she were really that serious about it, she would've had a ruler out to measure the squares, as it was, there was a rather large slant to boxes six, nine, and two. It would just make it more interesting when trying to get a foot to remain inside the lines on that one was all.

Cheerily smiling at the other girl, Felicity bounced on the balls of her feet waiting for a reply from the other blonde. It really would be nice to have a bit of a competition.

Hearing the answer, Felicity clapped her hands together excitedly. Sure, she could play alone, but it'd be much more fun with another and the blonde didn't know where any of her friends were, other than Drew was doing something or other with a group study and as Felicity wasn't fond of others knowing too much about how horrible she was at wandwork, she preferred to let him study with his group alone, without her, and just study with him and him alone other times.

"It's nice to meet you Sara," the lioness answered with glee before making a small twirl, further making a fool of herself but not caring. She was free-spirited and it was a good way to be. "I'm Felicity, lioness, squirrel owner, prefect extrodinaire." Did she really just tack on her Prefectshipness? It was too late to take it back now.