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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 18, 2009 15:02:43 GMT -5
Emma was in a particularly chipper mood. It was the weekend, she had survived almost an entire month at Hogwarts, and met a few people. This whole ordeal wasn't turning out so bad. Not to mention the fact that the food was terrific. She wondered exactly how the kitchens could produce so much food for every single meal. There were more courses than the Wickhams had at their annual Christmas party. Now that was saying something.
The young girl found her self in an area of the castle that she was not too familiar with yet. Emma had been too hyper to stay up in the Gryffindor common room all day. The sun had been shining through the window calling her name. So she had ended up escaping down the flights of stairs to the crisp air outside. There were benches lined around cobblestone pathways and it was just off to the side of the front doors of Hogwarts. It looked like a courtyard of some kind. A few students were hanging around here and there enjoying the sun and their free time.
Not seeing anyone she had met, Emma took a seat on one of the vacated benches. Absent-mindedly she drew random figures in the dirt with her shoe. There had to be something to do. It was a huge castle full of conflicting personalities and magical happenings. Where was the fun?
Then, she heard a loud bang from behind her.
[Jeremy/Open]
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 18, 2009 15:38:50 GMT -5
Ah, the weekend. Jeremy was sure he wasn't the only kid who enjoyed those two days without school, but for him it meant so much more. Not only was he free from wands and teachers, but it was easier to avoid those who liked shoving him in broom cupboards and dunking his head in the loo.
He had gone down to the courtyard early, not exactly what had prompted him to bring the basketball instead of a book. He'd never admit it out loud, but he supposed it had to do with missing his cousin who had left the ball behind when he graduated school. Jeremy wasn't as good as shooting hoops, but he kind of understood the draw to playing the game. Even if he didn't sink it, the act of tossing the ball up and then chasing after it was kind of relaxing.
There were others in the courtyard, but he paid no mind to them, hoping that they'd do the same. Time after time, he threw the quaffle-sized ball up to the apple bucket that acted as a hoop, and while it went through every once in a while, more often than not, it would bounce off the wall and he'd have to chase it down. He tried a few from around the key, tried a few from right under the basket, and even went for a backwards shot, craning his neck to look upside down and aim properly.
It didn't work as well as he had planned. The ball missed its mark, slamming against the wall and shooting off in another direction. Jeremy, who had over extended his reach, fell over backwards and could only watch helplessly as his basketball ricocheted off a tree, and crashed into a large flower pot by one of the benches. Scrambling to his feet, he ran over to grab the ball, avoiding the eyes of the people nearby and hoping he didn't get into any trouble for breaking the pot.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 18, 2009 15:57:29 GMT -5
On her feet in an instant, Emma's eyes searched for the source of the noise. She couldn't imagine what had happened. Just as she lept up, she spotted a boy running in her general direction. Looking down, she was confused as to why he would be running towards her. Then, she saw the broken pot a few feet away from her with an orange basketball sticking out of the broken remaints. He looked no where but his destination, as if he were concentrating very hard on the mission of walking to get the ball back.
Smiling, she walked over to the now-shattered flower pot and picked up the cause of it's breakage. Wiping off the dirt that it had collected, she bounced it once as a test. It came right back up to her and she caught it with ease. Her brothers had went through a stage of being glued to the television in order to watch basketball, mainly the international channel so that they could see the United States games. It was just one of the many sports that she had picked up on when they had played it. Although, Emma hadn't been too great at making shots since they purposely elongated the pole that the basket sat on when she lined up for a shot.
"Here you go," Emma balanced the ball on one hand and held it out to the boy.
He still looked a bit nervous about the whole incident. She tried not to laugh so that she wouldn't upset him. Even though it was pretty funny. Complete silence. Then, crash! Looking past the boy, she noticed the home-made court that she guessed he'd been playing on. Indicating the apple bucket basket and it's court Emma asked, "Did you come up with this?"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 18, 2009 16:11:36 GMT -5
Before he could get to the ball, some girl grabbed it up. Jeremy was about to yell at her to give it back, but surprisingly, she handed it over without being asked. He bit his lip and looked at her with narrowed eyes, wondering if she was going to toss it over her shoulder just as he went to reach for it. He grabbed at it anyway, snatching it from her hands and clutching it close in case she changed her mind.
"I didn't do it... it was an accident... it's not even my ball!" Jeremy rattled off quickly, determined to stay out of trouble for breaking the pot. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have tried to pin the whole thing on her, but he wasn't exactly sure how that would work.
He glared at her a little more, mulling her question over in his mind before answering, trying to figure out if an illegal basketball hoop could be pinned on him. "It was like that when I got here," he announced, figuring that was a safe answer. If he had to, he'd rat out his cousin. Drew couldn't get into trouble if he wasn't there anymore, right?
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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 18, 2009 16:24:23 GMT -5
Emma's forehead creased at the boy's sudden rudeness. She couldn't understand what she had said to him that would cause him to get defensive. When the boy snatched the ball away as if she were going to take it back, she hadn't flinched. There could always be a reasonable explanation for doing that. Plus, he hadn't snatched it from her since she was handing it out to him. That part didn't bother her. How he spoke to her. Not good. For him.
"No one's accusing you of anything," Emma pointed out, eyes narrowed at him. Her hands went to her hips defiantly as she stated matter-of-factedly, "Unless you're guilty of something?"
The boy had annoyed her with his attitude. And she hadn't done anything wrong! "Stupid boy..." The girl thought menacingly. Well, she could be just as stubborn as the next boy. That was how she had grown up being, so she was an expert at it. Rivaling with her was not the smartest idea. She was as hard-headed as the next. The Gryffindor description entered her mind and she felt a bit proud that she was living up to the house she'd been assigned. They had warned her that the characteristics might rub off on her. Living with them and all.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 18, 2009 17:24:04 GMT -5
No, she hadn't outright accused him of anything, but he was positive she would have if he hadn't stopped her. She probably would have broken the pot and then blamed it on him anyway.
"I'm not guilty of anything, which is why I said I wasn't... duh!" he answered back, making a face and rolling his eyes at her stupidity, but noticing the slightest tint of red in her hair where the sun hit it. Of course, she had a point. Guilty people tended to pronounce their innocence rashly... much as he had done with breaking the pot.
"The ball... it just got away. It wasn't on purpose," he said a little less harshly, but still looking at her with suspicion in his eyes. He still want to stay out of trouble, but knew that pissing her off might only make things worse on him.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 18, 2009 17:40:25 GMT -5
"At the sound of the duh, please leave your insults," Emma thought with entertainment.
She had prepared to spout off a backlash from hell, especially after the eye roll he gave her. Who the heck did this kid think he was? The young girl watched him carefully as he shifted gears. His motives were questionable now and she wasn't about to just back down. It wasn't in her. Raising an eyebrow as he explained the situation, she felt her blood pressure decrease. He seemed to be being nice now but still had a look about him that made her not want to trust him just yet.
"Okay, no problem." Emma shrugged, letting her hands drop to her sides. The question of what he had been doing entered her mind. Obviously he was not playing with anyone else since no one was standing near the court. Plus the fact that no one came running up next to him to see what was taking so long. He was playing alone? For a moment she entertained the idea of askin to play with him. She vetoed that, figuring she might ask later if he was in a better mood.
With a cautious tone Emma asked, "So if you don't mind my asking. What were you trying to do?"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 18, 2009 18:58:59 GMT -5
Jeremy stared at her blankly for a moment, wondering if she was going to smack him or something. Instead she shrugged it off and made it sound like she wasn't going to rat him out for breaking stuff. Then again, she was probably setting him up for something huge, so he knew he still needed to watch his back with her.
He almost snapped back that he actually did mind her asking, that it was none of her dang business what he was doing, but something kept him from sounding so bitter. Careful, but still civil.
"Nothing. I was just shooting hoops," he said carefully, doubting that telling her Duh, what did it look like I was doing? would help either. Now, of course, she would tell him how much he sucked and then tell on him.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 19, 2009 0:37:53 GMT -5
“Thank goodness. I was starting to think that the castle was a brainwashing facility.” Emma stated that with actual honesty. It was just too strange.
Seriously. What did they do to people here? The idea had crossed her mind more than once in the past few weeks. After all, she hadn’t been down to the dungeons yet. Plus, she had heard some outrageous stories about the green house and their mischievous actions. Those were yet to be proven. It was beginning to seem like all anyone ever did at Hogwarts was sit around and do homework or read. Where was the fun in that? She had thought that coming to a school where everyone had magical abilities would have been more exciting than it had been. Even if they weren’t technically legal to use, people should still get the practice in.
Emma smiled at him, excited by the fact that someone was doing something active. ”There is life on this planet!” She thought with relief. Her frustration with the boy seemed to deter with this thought. The young girl was glad that he seemed to be acting less suspicious of her. She kind of liked the fact that he hadn’t backed down from her in the beginning. At least he had a backbone. Even if he was just a boy.
An idea came to her to ask to play ball with him. Emma wondered curiously how he would react to the question. If he said no, he was most likely backing down from a girl. That took him way down on the backbone meter. If he said yes, she had something to do. It was a no lose situation for her.
“Mind if I shoot a few with you?” The Gryffindor watched him carefully, trying to decipher what he was thinking by the look on his face.
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 19, 2009 19:19:37 GMT -5
Jeremy wasn't exactly sure what she meant by a brainwashing facility, but it sounded like she thought he had done something kind of good just by playing basketball. He didn't know why. He wasn't very good and wasn't even tall enough to fake it very well.
When she asked to play, he was tempted to tell her no. He knew he was in the middle of the courtyard, but it wasn't like anyone ever asked to play with him. He liked being alone... and he still wasn't sure where this girl's motives were.
But for some reason, before he could even think of a snide comment to tell her to buzz off, his hands were out, offering her the ball back. He looked at the orange sphere with a hint of disgust as if it had betrayed him in some way.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Jan 20, 2009 0:42:45 GMT -5
As the boy standing in front of her pondered what she had asked, Emma seized the opportunity to put her hair up. Like every tomboy should, she carried a hair tie on her wrist everywhere. For times when hair was just too annoying. She remembered the time that she had decided to play haircut. It was after her older brother Christopher teased her all day and pulled her hair. Deeming that she had no use for so much hair, she had found the place her mother kept the scissors and began to snip. Only getting to the third chop before her mother started freaking out on her in Spanish, she just managed to achieve bangs. Uneven, botched up bangs that caused a less entertaining haircut later that day.
Grimacing inwardly at the memory, her attention was shortly called back to the boy. He didn’t say anything, but simply held out the ball to her. “Thanks,” Emma told him as she took it out of his extended hands. The weary look on his face made her move slowly so that he could watch her movements carefully. She didn’t want him to get angry again and accuse her of trying to run off with the ball.
Dribbling it a few times, Emma walked on to the court that he had been playing on earlier. At about where the free throw line should be, she took a shot remembering the angles that her brothers had taught her. Propelling the ball with both hands, it went through the basket with ease. Luck. She was not great at basketball. It had only occupied her brother’s interests for a couple months so her skills were only sub par.
Catching the ball back she turned around, dribbling towards her new acquaintance. Bringing the ball to her chest she tossed it to him lightly and mentioned, “I’m Emma by the way.”
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Jan 26, 2009 23:22:06 GMT -5
He didn't even consider the possibility of her stealing his ball until after it was in her hands. If she had run off with it, there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. He wasn't the best runner and sucked at wand work, so he wouldn't be able to even curse her to get it back.
But his worry was all for nothing. The bounced it up to the free throw line and took the shot, sinking it way better than he ever could. Jeremy made a face as it went through the hoop. He didn't have the talent to do that nor the height to fake at being a decent player. She got her own rebound and passed it back to him. He tried not to flinch as it hit him in the chest and was thankful he had enough sense of mind to actually catch it.
"Okay," he answered before realizing he was probably supposed to answer with his own name. He considered giving a fake one, but the only other name that came to mind was his sister's... and there was no way he was giving that. "I'm Jeremy," he finally said just as he realized he could have given his cousin's name or even his dad's. Oh well. Too late now.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 2, 2009 23:28:54 GMT -5
Emma looked at him curiously when he just replied with an okay to her introduction. He was a strange boy. Indeed. However, he was sharing with her so she couldn't necessarily complain. The boy standing a few yards away was just a tad taller than her with slightly lighter brown hair than her own that seemed to stick out every which way. She was sure that she had seen him in classes before but he never really seemed to talk much. Not even to the teachers.
Jeremy seemed like he was conceding to a war he seemed to have been having in his mind as he told her his name. Emma nodded, not having much to respond to with that. She realized that he had not done anything with the basketball she had tossed him. For a moment, she thought he was going to take it and run away from her.
"You're shot," Emma egged him on and motioned towards the hoop.
The girl sauntered back a few steps in order to clear a path for him on the court. She didn't want to get in his way. Especially after the crashing incident beforehand. Backing up to where she supposed half court would be she asked, "Been playing basketball long?"
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Post by Jeremy Taylor on Feb 7, 2009 21:04:57 GMT -5
She prompted him to take the shot, but he wasn't sure he wanted to in front of anyone else. It was one thing to toss up a bunch of stupid bricks when you were by yourself, but it was something else to do it withe Emma standing there watching him. At least before, he could pretend he was alone in the courtyard, because really, who would notice him anyway?
He looked at the basket and contemplated the shot when she asked him a question. He wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to imply or even how to answer. He had been fooling around with the basketball as long as he could remember, but he wasn't exactly sure what he did could be called "playing."
"No, not really," he finally answered, chucking the ball at the basket where it made a spectacular thunk against the wall. At least his answer was obviously an honest one. He flinched as the ball shot back towards his head and as it whisked past him, he ran to get it, avoiding her eye for fear of seeing what a total loser she thought he was.
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Post by Emma Wickham on Feb 21, 2009 21:56:26 GMT -5
Jeremy had looked like he was lining up to throw a quaffle through a quidditch hoop. At first she began to say something, but didn’t want to come off snobby or look like a know-it-all. She allowed him to take the shot as he had lined up.
Emma watched the ball ricochet off the wall and fly back past Jeremy. Carefully, she kept a composed face trying not to reveal her astonishment. Up until then, she had never met a boy that was not good at sports. Of course, she had grown up with two extremely athletic brothers but even all of their friends had played well. Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions. It was just one shot after all. “That he lined up for totally wrong and overshot to the extreme...”
Beating back the pestering voice in her mind, she tried to think on a more positive level. Besides, being good at sports didn’t make up a person’s character.
“I like the game. But it’s not my favorite. Definitely more fun to play than it is to watch.” Emma expanded, even though Jeremy had not asked her a question or said anything for her to really talk about. She never seemed to have a problem making conversation with a stranger.
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