Skip a stone or break a bone (OPEN!!!!)

[Cole Bartlet]

Cole was having one of his days. He really was not in a great mood at all. Before he left for the lake he had changed into some of his clothes from home. He had pretty well snapped at anyone who had tried to talk to him while he was on the way out. He had thrown on a pair of black cargo pants with a chain hanging on them and a black t-shirt. Cole was just out of the door when he realized he forgot a jacket to keep him warm. He stormed back inside and angrily threw on a black zip up hoody with a white wing design down the back and on the back of his sleeves. He never even bothered to zip it up all the way. He hastily grabbed his worn leather backpack where he knew everything he could need this afternoon. He didn't bother to stop for anyone but rather continued to storm away. Nobody really cares around here...I bet they wouldn't even remember if I left the school now... Cole thought. With that in mind he pulled his hood up and retreated even farther into his thoughts and attitude. If anyone comes to talk to me they had better do it once I am calm... Cole thought.

Before he knew it the lake was coming into view. Nothing relaxed him more than just sitting in nature and thinking. Cole just had a lot on his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about the girl he had met, but even worse he couldn't stop being jealous of the other guy. Cole knew Jason and Delilah weren't a couple but he was incredibly afraid that this was a battle that he wouldn't come out on top of. Cole was getting more and more mad. As he neared the lake however he began to calm down. By the time he was close to the trees his mind was clear already. It couldn't hurt him to stick around though. Cole slowed his walk as he entered through the trees.

Cole finally made his way down to the lake side and began to search for a good place to sit and reflect. He walked around for a little while starting to get frustrated with his inability to find a place to sit. He could hear the crunch of his feet pacing along the ground when finally he came across a large rock that looked perfect to sprawl out on. Cole approached the rock and jumped up without any hesitation. There he just let his body go limp over it and lay with his limbs completely stretched out on top of it. Cole felt his muscles instantly loosen up and relax. As he felt the sun warm him, he found that his back was still rather cool from the rock. This is the perfect spot.... Cole thought. There was nothing like a afternoon spent just lying around and thinking without anyone else around. However his thoughts from before continued to return to him. Slowly his rage began to return and he suddenly found himself right where he had started.

Cole lay there for what felt like an eternity. In reality it had only been about a half hour. Finally he decided to get up and find a way to let out all of his pent up emotions. Lying around had helped him to relax a lot already but he still had to get some things out. He got up and walked to the edge of the lake. He then began to pick out his thoughts one by one. For each thought he had he assigned it to a stone. He picked up a stone for each thought and proceeded to throw it as hard as he could into the lake trying to skip it and make it go as far from him as he possibly could. His eyes stared coldly at the water. There was still a lot of anger in him and he really just wanted to hit something hard to get rid of all of it. Cole was in a mood that he just could not seem to shake no matter how hard he tried. What he really needed right now was either music to be playing or to write a song. He knew exactly what he needed and decided to make it happen as best he could. He went back to the rock he had been lying on and decided to lean against it at this point.

He took his backpack off of his back and set it down beside the spot he was going to sit. He reached into his bag and pulled out the three things he would need to write a song. His parchment, his quill, and his ink. Cole's thoughts began to come out faster and faster. He ran his hand through his hair almost anytime he got a little bit stuck when writing his lyrics. It was a tedious process but if he wanted it to be perfect once he was done he knew he had to undergo the whole writing process. He wrote as if that was the only thing in the world. Scratching out what wasn't good enough and replacing it with what was in his mind a thousand times better. He continued to write. Anyone watching would have deemed him mad or just enjoyed the whirlwind going on around him. It was impossible for anyone to follow what had been written aside from Cole. He understood every single stroke of ink perfectly. He understood it in a way so intimate that words couldn't begin to describe it. This song was his own soul bared to anyone who would read this paper. Cole pulled another piece of paper out and began to copy from the first piece. He copied it so he could share it with the people who were close to him. When Cole had finished he had a sheet of paper with a song. It read:

Omen of Life

Living for everything
Just not for myself
Giving all or nothing
No turning back
I’ll never be stopped

I gave it all
Just to feel life
Coarse through my veins
My soul cries out
And life is what reigns

Feeling stepped on
Used up and torn
A battles been fought
My heart is worn
Cry out in anguish

I gave it all
Just to feel life
Coarse through my veins
My soul cries out
And life is what reigns

I’ll never give up
It’s more than just my word
I won’t turn my back
Rather I’ll draw my sword
Fight! Take up the slack

Never let go
I’ll fight until I win
Burning inside
You are my sin

I gave it all
Just to feel life
Coarse through my veins
My soul cries out
And life is what reigns

His song was completed. He read it over a few times to be sure he actually liked what he had written. He was still feeling the same rush that had overtaken him when he had been writing however. Cole knew once it faded away he would feel a lot better. It's one of the most honest things I have written... Cole though. He packed up his things very solemnly and just let the rush coarse through him. After writing his song Cole knew that he was in a war mode. He was all revved up but he didn't know where to put it. It was driving him insane not being able to do anything but thats why he wrote, and thats why he took off for the lake.

Cole's heart and mind had completely stopped racing when he heard a loud snap. Cole began looking into the brush. He was revved up and ready to go. "Is there anyone there?" He shouted. Cole's dark eyes narrowed as he scanned the area around him. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Oh well..." Cole muttered to himself. Suddenly he heard the sound of trees moving. He franctically looked around some more trying his best to pinpoint where the noises were coming from. Finally he heard footsteps behind him. Cole was almost afraid to look but then thought about the possibilities. He turned and looked only to see someone standing there.

(OPEN)

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Hello." said the stranger, the gentle breeze passing by making the cloak worn by the newcomer billow out behind him, the sun half reflecting off of the spectacles perched on his long pointed nose.

Henry stepped from the tree-line, the heavy black fabric of the knee length trench coat he wore under his cloak flapping around his legs as he walked. He was perhaps a little to well dressed for a simple walk about the grounds, what with his spotless black cloak, coat, polished shoes, and, though most of it could not be seen, black suit, but he didn't care. He was warm and comfortable in this attire, and, if something came up, he was ready to handle any prefects' business.

Due to the exceptional weather, he had decided that today would be opportune for a good long walk to work off a bit of the restlessness that the N.E.W.T. level studies were already bringing on strong. His nighttime patrols weren't assisting matters, though he was doing well enough managing it all, and was confident that he was doing it all quite well.

He had heard movement in this direction which had led him to believe that a couple of first years were, under cover of the wall of trees that blotted that space out of the sight of the teacher and student ridden front steps, trying to take a quick sneak into the forest for a laugh. It was only when he drew closer that he caught a glimpse of, not a group of students, but a single student; this was no first year.

He moved further out into the space occupied by the boy, took in his appearance for a moment before speaking once more.

"Hufflepuff, right?" he asked, pointing at the boy, and squinting slightly; He had seen this particular individual heading down toward Hufflepuff commons with Matty and the rest of that house after feasts on several occasions.

[Cole Bartlet]

Cole looked the newcomer up and down and did his best to catch details. He took note of how well dressed he was. The wind was blowing fairly hard now and it was definetly making the stranger's clothes swirl around him. Cole's face was grim now. He realized he didn't know the newcomer at all. He had been hoping it would be someone he knew. However he didn't mind the fact at all now that it dawned on him; he didn't have a lot of friends to start with so perhaps it was time to make more.

Cole smiled when the stranger asked if he was from Hufflepuff. "Yeah I definetly am. The name's Cole, Cole Bartlet." Cole said warmly. He stood and came a little closer. "And you are?" He asked. I wonder what brings him to the lake... Cole thought. His smile broadened as he awaited the stranger's response.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Henry Lordings Jr." said the stranger, beginning to walk around the edge of the clearing, sweeping the tree line with his eyes as he went. "So, Cole Bartlet, what brings you out to this rather remote spot on the grounds alone?"

He glanced at Cole as the question was asked in order to better judge the boy's reactions. As a prefect, it wasn't easy to avoid treating everyone who behaved in an unusual fashion as though they were breaking some rule. Henry was no exception to that fairly basic fact. His obligations to the school demanded he get answers for why a student was so far out here along the lake, apparently by himself. Friend-making could wait till the business was dealt with.

[Cole Bartlet]

Cole couldn't help but realize he might be in a little trouble if he didn't explain himself at this moment. He looked up calmly and replied "I came out here to get away from it, just sit and think...everyone needs a break sometimes, this was one of those days for me..." Cole trailed off; his mind going back into his thoughts. He remembered at that moment that there was someone here that he was talking with. Weird how he came out here alone too though... Cole thought.

He continued to hold his gaze one Henry Lordings Jr. as he waited to see what it was Henry was looking for. "How about you?" Cole asked. He was slightly curious yet also wanted to see what would happen if he put the other young man on the spot.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"How about you?"

"Same as you, I suppose..." said Henry flatly, still examining the tree-line.

In truth, he had satisfied himself that there was no one else present long before that moment. He had an incredible sense of sight, and could pick out movement in dark spaces and at distance that many others would be hard pressed to detect. It was the short ranges that got him, but nobody was perfect.

In reality, he was really more interested in the Hufflepuff's interest in him. It wasn't an ego thing; the boy had deliberately put Henry on the spot, and Henry knew it. It was a tactic Henry was most familiar with, though he had never personally had call to use it. Most students that got caught in the middle of some wrong doing would try, in some way, to catch their captors at something too. The idea being: they let you off, and, in exchange, you don't tell anyone that they were doing something wrong. It wasn't a bad plan, really, unless, of course, you got caught by someone with nothing to hide...

"Still," he said, looking around at Cole and ceasing his patrol of the perimeter. "seems an odd place to be hanging out. I can't deny that it is quiet, but, why go quite so far out of the way; there are plenty of spots closer to the castle that afford plenty of privacy..."

[Maya Castillo]

((OCC:hope you don't mind, I need something to do.))

Maya was well hidden in the tall rushes by the side of the lake. It was fairly easy for her to stay obscured because she was so tiny. The whether in England had always been an issue for Maya since the moment she had arrived. It was never warm enough and always too wet, today the sunlight had some consistency and the wind hadn't been buffeting her around so hard when she had first come outside. Still, despite the nice day Maya was still dressed for warmth. Before she had come outside she had stuck her head out her window, careful not to look down as always, and decided that it was cool enough for long sleeves. She had decided on a worn pair of old work jeans, her favorite brown hoodie that had 'I'd rather be in the barn' stamped across the chest, and a comfortable pair of paddock boot like Kidd's. With a ratty paperback copy of Sound and Fury clutched in her tiny hand she had wandered around the grounds until she found a nice quiet place by the lake on a small patch of grass that was big enough for her to curl up on. After half an hour or so of reading Maya had drifted off into a peaceful slumber and had been curled into a ball sleeping for the next half hour.

It was the sound of voices and the tall rushes whipping around hr in the wind that caused Maya to stir. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her quizzical mahogany eyes and took stock of herself. She was shivering. Anyone else would have been boiling she supposed, but the wind had picked up and she was now cold. She rubbed her face and yawned, stretching like a cat before she peeked through the rushes that obscured her to see who had woken her up.

She recognized both boys; Cole was both in her house and in her year so she knew him more than she knew most of her other huffle peers, and Maya was more pleased to see him than the other boy who was present. Maya had nothing against the boy himself, but she knew him for a Gryffindor Prefect whose name she always thought was somewhat of a mouthful on her foreign tongue, and Maya tended to avoid Prefects as much as possible because for some reason they always got the wrong impression of her.

Maya listened to the conversation for a few moments before deciding to join in to aid her house mate. "Well yes there are those other places," Maya said as she stood up casually as if she had been part of their conversation the whole time, "but then other students who need privacy go looking for them and interrupt a quiet moment. It seems easier just to be well out of the way." Maya gave the two boys a friendly smile, her white teeth flashing against her dark complexion and nervously flicked a few strands of auburn hair out of her sparkling eyes.

[Cole Bartlet]

Cole was completely dumbfounded when Henry Lordlings Jr. continued to question him about what he was doing out by the lake. In fact it made Cole slightly angry when the other young man didn't believe him as to the reasons he was out here. Cole was generally pretty good at reading people and he could tell that the other young man was assuming that Cole was up to something aside from sitting and thinking. Some people just need to let go... He thought.

Standing there he was completly shocked when Maya appeared from the middle of nowhere and started speaking for him.BAM!...wow she just totally grilled him... Cole thought a large smile spreading across his face. All that he could think to do was just nod and agree with her. "I must say that she definitly said it how it is." Cole said with a smirk. He looked over to Maya and mouthed a "thank you" and gave her a wink. Cole stood there and slid his hands into his pocket waiting for the awkward silence to be over.

The smile slipped from Cole's face when he realized that what him and Maya had done probably had only resulted in upseting Henry. Uh-oh...I have no idea whats going to happen next but this could get messy.... Cole thought. With everything going on Cole really didn't want anymore drama in his life, but he supposed he would take it as it came.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

((OOC: Don't mind at all, the more the merrier ))

"Well yes there are those other places, but then other students who need privacy go looking for them and interrupt a quiet moment. It seems easier just to be well out of the way."

Henry was rather surprised that he hadn't seen the girl on his way in, but then, she was rather small and had been in quite a good hiding spot. He had raised an eyebrow at her sudden appearance (a show of surprise that he had begun to favor more recently), but lowered it almost as soon as she had finished her piece.

"True enough," he said with a slight smile. "true enough, indeed."

He looked back and forth between the pair in front of him for a moment, then realized that he didn't even know the girl's name...

"May I ask what your name is, Miss..." Henry asked curiously.

[Maya Castillo]

The corner of Maya's lips twitched in a crooked smile and gave a cheeky shrug of her slender shoulders. Maya turned her attention to Henry as she read the slight surprise on her face; girl sleeping in the bushes wasn't something you stumbled across every day. Shaking her head slightly in amusement Maya bent down to scoop up her book before she pushed her way through the rushes that were almost as tall as her and stood next to Cole. "You're welcome," she said softly tilting her head back so she could smile up at him.

Maya glanced back over to their Gryffindor supervisor and she took a step forward with one tiny goldenbrown hand outstreached. "Maya...Castillo," she said with a charming smile. Maya's subtle spanish accent was always noticable to those who were paying attenion, but it was painfully obvious whenever she introduced herself. "Fith year Hufflepuff, same as Cole here."

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry accepted the hand that the girl preferred to him, and nodded once in acknowledgment of her introduction. This stroll about the grounds was quickly becoming much more interesting than was normal...even for Hogwarts. One of the things that caught his attention, however, was her accent; he had a fairly good ear for accents, and this one was fairly familiar to him.

"Spaniard?" He asked curiously, squinting at her very slightly as though to appraise her. He had a mental bet going on that he was wrong, though it wasn't because he thought he wasn't so good at picking out accents. His idea about the origins of this particular accent was more along the Mexico/South America line, but that region was so large that asking if she was a Spaniard was just simpler.

[Cole Bartlet]

Cole continued to watch the two interact. He was rather impressed that someone had actually come to his rescue, it wasn't very expected at all. When she went to Henry and shook his hand though Cole was kind of curious as to why. What is she doing?...Maybe she is trying to smooth things over a bit? He thought to himself. It didn't really make that much of a difference though when Henry accepted her hand. Still finding himself at a loss of words Cole just stood there and continued to watch.

"Spainiard?" Henry asked. Cole didn't realize right away that Henry was asking a question and not making a statement. He started to get a little bit more tense until he realized it was more of a question than anything. I need to learn to loosen up and let go a little... He thought. If you really took the time to look at it though this escape to the lake was a little less private than Cole had expected. It didn't matter much to him anyways however, he really had wanted some company.