[Campfire Pit] Just another scene

[Connor Manning]

It was waaaaay to cliche for Connor's liking. The whole... sit around a campfire while singing songs and telling stories. It was just too... sappy? Maybe that was a better word for it. Connor didn't know what he was thinking, letting himself be talked into going to the camp in the first place. But for better or for worse, he was there for another week or so.

It was around nine o'clock in the evening, an hour until curfew was to begin, and the sun was already setting. Most of the other campers had left already, taking their singing and story telling with them. It left Connor to entertain himself by jabbing at the embers every so often with his wand, turning the flames brilliant colors of blue and purple, pink, green and white. It was a simple form of entertainment, meant only to occupy some time until he had to head up to his bunk and tuck in for a night's sleep. He flicked his wand just so and brought the flames back up from the burning embers, the fire now standing at about two feet high or so. It wasn't a grand fire in any sense, but it was warm and kept the seventeen year old preoccupied.

He felt a bit immature actually as he played with the fire, feeling very much like a pyromaniac. Connor smiled slightly, letting the flames fall back down once again to nothing, the coals still burning hot. He sighed as he leaned back on the ground, laying down and looking up at the nights sky. At the sound of approaching footsteps Connor turned his head slightly, trying to spot whoever it was.

( Open )

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia tramped through the woods in her most sensible pair of sneakers. She never wore sneakers, not usually, but what else was one to wear at camp?

Camp. What an interesting idea. Back where Sophia lived, there were nothing but high rise buildings and bustle all around her. She'd never really gotten in touch with her inner wilderness side, but it was something she was willing to give up her summer to do. Camp, however, was turning out to be not so exciting. She imagined adventures and tie-dyed shirts and three-legged races, but all she had done was anxiously await mail and sketch pictures outside. It wasn't too thrilling, but she had become a tad bit more serious in her solitude, more introspective. Well, a little more introspective.

She had been walking through the woods, not realizing how late it truly was. She was running through the trees and brush, trying to follow the sound of singing and laughing. It died down a while ago though, and all that remained at the fire pit was a single silhouette. It looked familiar to her as it waved a wand to change the color of the remaining flame. The act reminded her of when she had thrown a package of glow sticks into a bonfire at her uncle's summer barbeque last summer. One by one they melted and a flame shot up, releasing a brilliant color.

Sophia leaned in closer to the figure and then realized that it was...

"Connor Manning, of all people! I didn't know you were staying here, too." She walked slowly from her place and sat down on the ground next to him. She smiled and wondered what he was doing all by himself in front of a dying fire.

[Connor Manning]

Connor could hear the sound of light footsteps but turned back to the fire as he assumed it was someone merely walking by - meaning he didn't have to pay much attention to whoever it was. He poked lightly at the fire, causing it to become a brilliant white color, the flames striking at one another in a seemingly never ending game. He disregarded the person at first as they neared him and his fire. He even chose to ignore the figure as it stopped just short of his fire, causing Connor to back the flames down a bit and return it to it's normal shades of yellows and oranges with hues of red.

' Connor Manning, of all people! I didn't know you were staying here, too. ' He finally looked up as he heard a familiar voice speaking to him, a smile appearing out of nowhere on his previously somber looking face.

" Sophia, hey. Yeah, I kinda got tossed in. How'd you end up here? " He asked curiously, wondering what his year mate had been up to while at the camp and on summer vacation in general. The pair were pretty close, but Connor hadn't really kept close tabs on anyone from Hogwarts as of late.

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia settled down and watched the fire burn with deep determination. Connor seemed a little glum, but she couldn't really tell due to her lack of social interaction this summer.

"How'd you end up here?"

Sophia laughed quietly. "You make it sound like a bad thing, like jail. Not that..." She stopped and thought about her stay so far, realizing that she was nothing more than a caged bird herself. She hadn't been able to leave the camp or to see her family and friends...none of it. "Never mind." She didn't have to bother Connor with all of her issues and whatnot. It was still summer, and summer meant rest and relaxation, definitely not stress.

"I was supposed to go back home and visit my old school and help out there, but my parents thought that I might like going to camp for one summer. It's kind of cool, I guess." She looked around at the trees and inhaled the outdoor air, accidentally ingesting some ash along with it. She choked for a second, then recomposed herself, noting that she could never go through one single conversation without something going wrong.

"Well, at least it's peaceful here. It's so quiet all the time...at least for me." Sophia tried to ignore all of the hubbub and hullaballoo of the other girls, which was very out of character for her. She decided that this summer was going to be about centering herself, trying to figure out what her future would hold.

"What brings you here?" She asked.

[Connor Manning]

Playing with the fire seemed extremely juvenile now that he had been caught in the act, so Connor slipped his wand into his back pocket and stretched his legs out in front of him. He looked over to Sophia, feeling energized now that he knew he had at least one friend here. He was glad to see the girl, that was for sure.

He listened to her words, watching the fire and occasionally glanced over, offering a nod or smile whenever seemed fitting. " It can be a jail. But then again, anywhere can be. " He mentioned, and although the stating of his opinion could have been taken in a rather somber manner, he related it with a light smile. " Ahh, stuck here, that - " His sentence was stopped by her coughing as Connor leaned over slightly and patted her on the back. He didn't actually know if that would help her to not cough up a lung, but that's what he had always seen people doing when someone else was coughing.

When she seemed alright, he let his hand fall back down to the ground, lacing his fingers with a few pieces of grass. " Me? " He paused, shrugging. " My bridezilla of a sister. She's a bit of a menace when all she talks about is her wedding. I needed somewhere to go to get out of there, and my parents figured this might be a good place... " He trailed off, wondering why the conversation felt a bit on the melancholy side. " But hey, it hasn't been all bad. "

[Sophia Crawford]

The girl felt a twinge of jealousy when Connor mentioned his marriage-crazed sister. Sometimes she had wished she had a sister, an older one of course, just so she had someone else to talk to, to share secrets with...although she was sure that Connor didn't really do those sorts of things with her.

"Well, marriage is an exciting thing, I guess. Planning for one can be pretty beastly." She remembered the last wedding she went to and tried to imagine how much planning went into it. It practically made her head spin. At least she wouldn't have to worry about those sorts of things for a while.

"Camp has to be better than being asked about color schemes." She remarked. She wondered if his sister was the sort who would spend hours deciding over cream or white. If so, it was no wonder Connor was overwhelmed.

" But hey, it hasn't been all bad. "

"That's good. Have you seen anyone else here?" She asked. Sophia hadn't seen hide nor hair of anyone she really knew other than Connor. It felt like she was isolated to this little camp.

[Connor Manning]

" Pretty beastly indeed. " He agreed with her, nodding along as he did so. He supposed it was alright most of the time, he got fed and they left him to his own devices when need be. But more than often it was just too busy for the boy's liking. " I dunno, sometimes it makes me wanna jump off a bridge. And other times I'm just psyched to get it done and over with. I guess it will, though, seeing as how the wedding's at the close of summer. "

He snickered slightly at her little joke, grinning. " Agreed. Maybe I could send you in to replace me. You could tell my sister what color looks good for the cake, bridesmaid shoes, and candles. " All the little details were insignificant to Connor, and he knew that if he ever got married, he would hope that the bride would be on top of those things. He didn't think he could handle it too well.

' Have you seen anyone else here? ' He nodded his head, looking over to Sophia as he responded, " Yeah. Celina Jedynak.... anyone else from Hogwarts attending that you know of? "

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia half-smiled when Connor suggested she join his sister. It probably would be a lot more fun than sketching right about now. At least she had found Connor.

"Celina, huh? I think we met briefly and awkwardly once." She bit her lip, trying to remember if she had personally introduced herself. Every time she had seen the girl, Celina always looked distressed or upset. Of course Connor would realize that she was here. "Delilah was supposed to be coming, or so I thought, but I haven't seen her around." She missed her best friend a lot, especially since summer was the time for BFFs to hang out and do stupid things together.

"Have you...hung out with Celina?" Sophia knew she was in dangerous territory, and decided that this wasn't too horrible of a question to ask for now. She didn't really want to push the subject or seem nosy.

[Connor Manning]

' Celina, huh? I think we met briefly and awkwardly once. ' Connor nodded, feeling a bit awkward but trying to move past it. " Yeah, I'm sorry... for last year and such. Not sure if I ever actually apologized t'you for all that. " He was trying to do the mature thing, but he didn't really know what the mature thing was. He thought things had worked out for the better between him and Sophia, they were good friends now and that might not have happened if he hadn't randomly hung out with her at the dance. That didn't prevent him from still feeling bad about things, though.

Connor grinned as she mentioned Delilah, a friend of both of them. " Me neither, but I'll be sure to keep a look out for her. If she does show up, we'll have to go on another little adventure in some scary forest. " He chuckled as he remembered their last time hanging out together, all three of them before the end of the year. What an interesting gathering that turned out to be.

He nodded his head, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. He didn't know how Sophia felt about Celina, whether or not she liked the girl at all. " Yeah, a couple days ago in fact. I was rather surprised to see her in a place like this, though. "

[Sophia Crawford]

" Not sure if I ever actually apologized t'you for all that. " Sophia tilted her head in confusion, not quite sure what Connor was apologizing for. He had been a good friend throughout the year, always supportive and kind.

She laughed as Connor mentioned their forest escapade. It had definitely been a memorable one, even if the two girls were a little skittish, and even if Connor found that hiding in trees was more preferable than standing on the ground.

He mentioned that he had seen Celina, and she smiled. "That's good. She seems nice." Sophia never truly knew what the Ravenclaw girl was like, but maybe this coming year would be a good time to find out.

[Connor Manning]

He paused, thinking that Sophia didn't really know what he was talking about as he apologized to her. " For the dance and all... " As he said it, though, he became acutely aware that he wasn't quite positive what he was apologizing about. He hadn't done anything against Sophia, but he thought that maybe he had given her the wrong idea or led her on accidentally. It hadn't been his intention, and he wanted her to know that.

" She is... it's always sort of stressful though. " He mentioned with a small shrug of his shoulders. Stressful was a fitting word, as was tense. He loved her, but it was hard with how different they were, although it wasn't them being so different as it was their lives and families being different.

He rubbed absently at his temples, warding off the headache that was coming on. He wasn't sure what it was, possibly that he had stayed up rather late the previous night, or that he was just thinking too much.

[Sophia Crawford]

"Oh..." Sophia elongated the word, letting the meaning sink in. She finally understood what Connor was getting at. She always felt so awkward when talking about these sorts of things. She flushed a little bit, hoping to go unnoticed. She did develop a crush on Connor since she had gotten to Hogwarts, and apparently she wasn't as secretive as she thought. She knew that deep down Connor and Celina were meant to be together, but it sort of hurt her to think about it. Celina just seemed so...she couldn't put her tongue on the right word, but it would definitely be something like 'anti-social'. Or perhaps 'withdrawn', that one was more pleasant. Celina never seemed like a bad person, but a lonely one. Maybe that's why she needed Connor. Sophia wasn't ever one to get in the way though, so she simply shrugged.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. No need to apologize though. It wasn't your fault." Whatever happened, she was sure that Connor and herself would stay friends. This was too small of a subject to even make a difference; at least, that's what she thought. She noticed Connor out of the corner of her eye, his hand to his head. "Are you feeling alright?"