down time [FoY]

[Vanessa Harrison]

Vanessa had finally ventured out into the world once again, the real world where actual people lived. It was shocking, yes, but it was also true. A tad on the frightening side, but Nessa knew she'd have to face it all again eventually and it would be easier to do so now and get it out of the way. The Festival seemed like the best place to do so, she might even see someone from school that she actually wanted to associate with. But that was probably asking too much.

Wandering the Alley, wrapped up in a hooded sweatshirt and some warm pants, cloaked by her Hufflepuff scarf and winter cloak, Vanessa looked around at all the sights. The performers, the music, the food...she wished she wasn't doing this alone. Then again, she'd made no effort to contact anyone to meet up with so it was her own fault that she was alone. Maybe she'd come across someone. Maybe...

[closed]

[Guy Styles]

Festivals weren't really Guy's thing. Sure, they were fun if you were with your crew and the goal of the night was to cause some trouble and have fun, but he hadn't really made any good friends at Hogwart's so far. Sure he had met some interesting people, but he just hadn't had it in him to keep up with contacting them. He had been suprised with himself when he asked his dad for permission to go to the Festival of Yule mostly because he wasn't quite sure of who he would hang out with once he got there. He was slightly worried about having to go the whole night along but felt pretty sure that he would at least run into someone.

Clad only in his black hoodie and worn leather jacket Guy wandered around for about a half hour and was growing rather bored with himself. He glanced down to the ground as he walked and then looked up just in time to catch himself from running into someone. " Sorry about that.. " He said to the girl, and then with a smile, he realized he knew her from school. " Hey Nessa, how've you been? " He asked her with a slight grin.

[Vanessa Harrison]

Nessa actually yelped slightly when someone just about ran into her and then apologized. The voice sounded familiar and when the Hufflegirl rounded on the boy, she flashed him a smile.
"Guy?" she asked, knowing full well it was him, "I've been alright. What about you, I haven't seen you in forever!" Vanessa's hand found it's way to his arm as she spoke to him, like she needed to make sure he was actually there. Guy had seemed like a pretty nice boy when she'd first met him and she was really glad she'd met up with someone. It'd give Vanessa a chance to get to know him a little better.

[Guy Styles]

Guy nodded slightly as she said his name as if to reassure herself the he actually was there standing next to her. " Yeah, I've been kind of in hiding. " He joked. " But I've been pretty good. Bored, to be honest. My little brothers and sisters are annoying during the hols. " He tols her with a laugh. He was relieved to have found Nessa because even though they didn't know eachother very well they seemed to get along fine and Guy was in need of some company. He just then noticed that Nessa had extended her hand to his arm and he smiled slightly at her and said, " So are you here alone? " He meant friends or boyfriend, whichever.

[Vanessa Harrison]

Once she realized what she was doing, Nessa's cheeks flared up and she slowly pulled her hand back, resting it in the back pocket of her pants. She laughed along with Guy when he joked about his siblings, understanding how annoying they could be even then they were older ones.

"So are you here alone?"

Vanessa's cheeks flared up with colour again at the question and she nodded her head, trying to think of a reason why she would be alone. She had nothing.
"Yeah, just felt like it'd do some good," she lied quickly, before finding herself confessing the truth, "Although, it was a bad idea. Got sort of lonely after a while. Are you here with someone?" Nessa figured he'd be here with his girlfriend or something. He was fairly cute, so it seemed natural that he'd be with someone.

[Guy Styles]

The fact that Vanessa blushed when she realized that she was touching Guy's arm only made him think it was that much more cute. He didn't say anything about it except just to smile at her. Guy turned his head slightly so he could hear what she was saying, the festival was a bit loud with everyone running around and having fun. He nodded understandingly, " Yeah, it tends to get a bit lonely just wondering around. " Even though he had just asked her the question of being with someone when she asked him he was caught slightly off guard. " Hm, no actually. For some strange reason I asked my dad if I could come here but didn't have anyone to hang out with. Lucky you came. " He told her with a playful grin.

[Vanessa Harrison]

"Yeah," Vanessa chuckled, unable to keep the smile off her face, "Lucky me." Turning away from Guy finally, the idiotic grin was still on the Huffle's face. She did her best to wipe it off, but she was fighting a battle she couldn't win. Looking at Guy again, she blurted into speech again before she could stop long enough to think.
"Youwannalookaroundwithme?" she asked him, although it sounded more like one big long word that wasn't even English.

[Guy Styles]

For some reason Guy was feeling a bit giddy. He didn't know if it was a random burst of excitement or finding Nessa and talking to her that made him feel that way, but he felt it. As Nessa turned slightly away from him he took the time to look around, seeing if there was anything interesting that they might want to do. He was just about to say something when she started talking, except it was almost unrecognizable as talking at all. He smiled at her and said, " Wait, what? Didn't really get that. " All he had been able to distinguish was ' You wanna... ' from there it was just hard to tell what she had said.

[Vanessa Harrison]

"Sorry," Nessa chuckled nervously, her eyes wavering from Guy so that she didn't have to look at him. Oh this is so inconvenient, Nessa thought to herself. She wasn't quite sure what this was that she was feeling, but it felt familiar in a way. Sighing, Nessa hoped it wouldn't turn out the way the last two had.
"Sorry, uhh...I was just wondering if you wanted to check out the Festival with me," the Hufflepuff girl asked again, slower and in a more coherent version of English.

[Guy Styles]

Guy tilted his head slightly while looking at Nessa as she apologized. " Eh, that's okay. " He told her with his reassuring grin. He jingled the change in his pocket of his jacket as he stood there, a habit of his. He smiled slightly as Nessa asked if he wanted to check out the festival with her. Sounds good to me.. He thought to himself and then answered to her, " Sure, that sounds like fun. Where to first, then? " He asked as he took a glance around them to see random vendors selling anything you could possibly think of. It wouldn't be too hard to find something interesting.

[Vanessa Harrison]

As Guy looked around, Nessa took a moment to try and breathe again. She realized she hadn't been doing so. Looking around as well, trying to find something for them to do. It wasn't as if there was any shortage of sights to see.
"Um...I'm not sure," Vanessa confessed eventually, "Is there anything you wanted to see?" Biting her lower lip slightly, Nessa wrapped her cloak around herself more as a shiver shot through her body. It had suddenly become a lot colder as a gust of wind brushed past the, blowing the Hufflegirl's hair out of hr face.

"Maybe a stop at the Leaky Cauldron for a warm drink would be a good idea," Vanessa suggested.

[Guy Styles]

Upon being asked if there was anythign he wanted to see Guy only shrugged because he hadn't really been sure what actually would be there before arriving some time ago. " Not really, I mean, I'm not sure what there is to see, you know? " He said, wondering what they should do. Walk around? He shot that idea down when Nessa shivered slightly. He smiled warmly when she suggested they stop in the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. " Yeah, it's a bit chilly out here. " He said as he flipped up the hood on his hoodie to block some of the wind from his face.

[Vanessa Harrison]

When Guy flashed her a smile, Vanessa felt a little warmer again. She smiled back and nodded as he accept the idea and started off in the direction of the pub. She reached for his hand, pulling him along with her as she started making her way through the crowd.
"So have you got any plans for the rest of the holidays?" she asked him curiously, striking up a conversation.

[Guy Styles]

Guy grinned a little to himself as the Huffle girl grabbed his hand and the two of them started working their way to the Leaky Cauldron. He didn't really mind. Upond realizing that he had been asked a question Guy snapped back to reality. " Well I'm not really sure. Usually i would visit my mum in the States, but I'm not sure if I want to travel all that much. Might just stay with me dad for a while. " He cast a glance over to Nessa then asked, " What about you? Any exciting rendezvous going on? " He grinned mischeviously at her as they walked along.

[Vanessa Harrison]

Vanessa just shrugged. She wasn't sure how "exciting" her plans were, but she supposed it would be worth getting excited over.
"On an excitement scale of 1 to 10 it's probably a 4," Vanessa laughed as she told him, "But I think I'm having a girl's day sometime in the near future. My mum and my brother's girlfriend are determined to make me have a good time and I finally caved." She couldn't even count the number of times the two of them had harassed Vanessa into doing stuff like this and she always caved. The Huffle just couldn't say no to her mum.

As they walked, some scruffy old wizard pushed rather viciously past Vanessa and she stumbled back a few steps.
"Lemme just get outta your way there!" the Hufflegirl yelled angrily as the wizard hurried on without turning to apologize. Realizing that she wasn't alone anymore, Nessa turned back to Guy and apologized.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I get a little...angry."