A Bad Case Of Senior-itis

[Eaden Valo]

So here she was, a seventh year at Hogwarts and no real social life to write home about. Days have been wrought with homework and senior-itis. She was ready to get out and see the world for what it was, but she still had a few months of classes left. The time was going to either send her to the hospital wing with fits of anger or she would just so insane. Life was dragging by and she was stuck to the chain.

After sitting in her dorm room most of the day she decided that a little fresh air may work in her favor and change her mood. As quick as she thought of this idea she was out the common room door and down the stairs. Being a seventh year did have it's perks. A keen ability to know where the traffic jams are and also all of the not so walked hallways. Finding the quickest way out she dashed outside into the courtyard. The air was balmy and quite cool. The sweater she was wearing was just enough to keep her warm, but not make her overheat.

Once she got past the 'running-into-nature' thrill she noticed the courtyard was empty. She'd have liked it to have one other person in it but this wasn't too bad. Finding a place to sit down she did, stretching herself over two seats. This was the life, and soon this would be her life.

(Closed, Henry)

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry walked along one of the corridors adjacent to the courtyard at a leisurely pace, a book lay open in his hands as he went. The day had been a quiet and uneventful one; Most students were milling about the grounds, relaxing or studying, hardly taking notice of anything around them. The weather was chill, though not unbearable, perfect for a nice walk.

Those students who weren't milling about the grounds were likely to be found milling about the castle and it's facilities, chatting, or otherwise enjoying some measure of company. It was environments like these that made a prefect's job easy, if not pointless. The most he had done all day in any official capacity was snap his fingers warningly at a pair of first years who were using a third floor corridor as a race track.

He closed the book as he reached the end of a particularly riveting chapter, and looked out over the mountains, today bathed in a cool light. It was here that he checked his gold pocket watch quickly and turned his head toward the courtyard.

A smile split across his face at what he saw...

He stepped swiftly into the openness of the courtyard and slipped swiftly and silently around the singular occupied bench. He took his glasses off so they would not fall off and then leaned over the back of the bench and the individual laying upon it before saying, with a smile still adorning his face: "Hello, stranger."

[Eaden Valo]

"Hello, stranger."

Eaden had become so accustomed to the quiet that someone speaking made her fall off the seat and onto the ground. "Ah!" She squealed as she fell. Whilst falling her hair, which was her natural ash blond turned black, a color that came when she was scared. She put her arms out to stop her fall. Groaning on the ground she pushed herself off the courtyard ground and groaned again. "Owwwww." She inspected her hands which were cut up slightly. Brushing off her pants she turned to see who had made the ground meet her in a very painful way.

"Henry! You scared me!." Her voice was a bit shaky, but it slowly turned back to it's normal tone. A piece of hair fell into her eyes. Seeing it was black she blushed a little and focused till it turned back to her natural color with a 'pop'. Staring at him for a second her cheeks turned bright red. Why did he make her feel this way? Boys usually didn't make her feel this way. Other girls fell over themselves when they were around boys.

"What are you doing out here. On this fine day. By yourself." She spoke too quick. Chuckling quietly she glanced away to look at a tree, something else to get her mind off how nervous she felt.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry's smile broadened some more; this was a set of odd reactions coming from Eaden. The freaking out at someone sneaking up on her wasn't as puzzling to Henry as the way she acted after she righted herself; If he didn't know better, he would have guessed that she was...nervous. He mentally shook himself from this line of reasoning; Eaden was always anything but nervous. Expecting Eaden to be nervous was a bit like expecting an orange to be blue, or a zebra to have dots.

He drew his glasses out of his left pants pocket with the corresponding hand whilst he drew his wand from it's holster and performed a complicated little number which effectively healed the scratches on her hands and removed the remaining dirt from her clothes. He then replaced the wand in it's holder and his specs upon his nose while saying: "You alright?" in a tone that was halfway between worry and amusement.

[Eaden Valo]

Eaden thought about how she was. At the moment she was feeling much better then a few seconds ago. "I'm alright. The cuts are gone. Er, thanks for that.". She waved her hands in front of herself. "Just got frightened is all, nothing more.". Her voice is sweet and kind, the usual Eaden voice. She took a breath, quiet and slow, trying to regain all of her normal mannerisms. Blue eyes searched the person in front of her for a few seconds. He was the same person she grew up with. Nothing had changed between them, just age. Was age such a thing that changed people. It never seemed like such a change to her. Eaden would have to look into this.

"So, what are you doing on this fine day?". She said as she sat back down next to Henry. He was very much like her, a loner, yet still had friends who were usually around to hang with. In the past two years here they had gotten closer to each other. He was a
safety blanket to her. Their experiances growing up made them forever friends. "Shouldn't you be telling off some firsties for trying to set the whomping willow on fire?". She was if course joking.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Actually, I thought I did see some smoke over in that direction earlier..." he said dramatically, looking over his shoulder in the willow's general direction, he then leaned closer to her and whispered. "I'll let one of the other prefects deal with it this time. Last time I saved it from a burning, it pummeled me half to death. Is it just me...or does that imply that it might have a death wish?"

He straitened up, chuckling along with Eaden as they sat there, completely alone, in the courtyard.

"No, I was just out for a stroll," he said, finally answering her initial question. "I thought it'd be a good day for a bit of light reading and a walk about the grounds. What about you? Laying here on a bench all alone..."

[Eaden Valo]

Eaden giggled as he said this, snorting once or twice, which set off another round of giggles from her side. "Best you didn't do anything then. Give the other prefects something to do Mr. Superprefect!" Her giggles subsided and she leaned back, letting her head rest on the stone behind her. It wasn't the most comfortable headrest, but it worked. "Now about the death wish...I'm not so sure. Maybe? Let's not try anything too dangerous. Don't want to find out how true the death wish is." Speaking with her usual smirk and a glance toward Henry.

"Perfect day for a stroll, no doubt." Lifting her head again she pulled her legs up close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. A new resting place for her head was her knees. "Me? I was going crazy inside the dorm. Made a mad dash for the courtyard," She said sighing quietly. "I just want to get out of here. I love Hogwarts but I just want to get out and live in the real world. A serious case of seventh-year-itis."

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Well, that works too." Henry said with a nod as he looked down at the book which he was currently shrinking down to the size of an American quarter dollar so that he could stuff it into his jeans pocket, and get it out of the way. He then leaned back and looked out across the deserted courtyard.

"It's funny..." he said in a thoughtful tone. "A year ago, I didn't think I could ever feel the way about Hogwarts that you do. Now...well now I find myself thinking just how great it will be when I do finally get the chance to go out and just...explore."

He didn't really feel that way, did he? He turned it over in his mind a dozen times, trying to tell truth from lies, but what he found surprised him. To spite loving Hogwarts with every fiber of his being; loving being there; loving everything from the company right down to those dingy old bathrooms, he found himself realizing one startling fact about what he just said...

...it was true.

The more he thought on it in that instant of time, the more he came to realize that this wasn't the first time that thought had come to mind. It was a bit like having the same breakfast every day for a long period of time. It holds it's magic in your mind for awhile. Weeks. Months. Years, maybe. In the end, however, you wake up one day and, during breakfast, you suddenly realize, you don't like it anymore...you reach for the cereal box instead.

It was all too familiar to him; The halls, the classes, the grounds, even the library had become yesterday's desires in his mind without him even realizing it. How could it be possible? How?

It was a moment before he realized that he had been staring blankly at the hall beyond the courtyard door with a vacant expression for several minutes. He looked around at Eaden quickly, made a valiant play at a cheerful smile that he was sure looked more worried than anything, and began examining the ground, waiting for her to say something.

[Eaden Valo]

"Mmhm..," she said whilst nodding her head in agreement with Henry. she loved everything about this school but was ready to get out and actually do something with her life. The only problem was she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life after Hogwarts. She could follow in her parents footsteps and become an auror. It was something that interested her very much, yet she still had her reservations.

"Do you know what you want to do...after Hogwarts?" Henry was always the type to know what he was doing and when. Eaden wished she had that in herself. "I'm thinking about Auror, but I don't know. You know how parents are. They want me to be everything I can....except an auror."

Her arms started to hurt from holding her legs up so she let her legs drop down to the ground. With that done she had nothing else to do with herself. Glancing Henry's way again she felt her insides get fluttery and her cheeks heat up again. Why was this happening? Was she getting sick? Should she excuse herself and go up to the nurse? Not wanting to freak Henry out anymore she quickly turned her head in the other direction and waited for the heat in her cheeks to fade.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry belted out a single wry "Ha!" in answer to her question. There hadn't been a day that had gone by for a very long time during which he hadn't accounted for how much closer he was to his most desired goal. Becoming an Auror. He hadn't even looked in Eaden's direction while she spoke and thus had missed everything she was doing.

"I can't remember ever not knowing what I wanted to do. It's been so long since I made the decisions that I...well I can't even remember making it. At least I don't think I remember it..." he paused for a moment before realizing he hadn't even truly answered the question. "Like you, I'm go...considering becoming an Auror."

It was here that he turned his head to face Eaden, but found her looking the opposite direction for some unknown reason. He leaned forward a bit to try and catch a glimpse of her face, but was unable to do so.

What is going on with her today???

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked uncertainly, still trying to peer around her curtain of hair for a glimpse of her face. "Have I said something?"

[Eaden Valo]

"Am...I..alright?" Eaden asked herself quietly. Thoughts were running through her head as she wondered what answer would be right. Should she keep her lips shut and just say yes? Or should she say no and tell him how she felt? Eaden didn't like the first one. She hated lying and most of all to Henry. He could always see right through it, ever since they were little kids. If she told him the truth he may run away screaming like a banshee. She also didn't want that.

Pale blond hair hung around her face as she contemplated her action. Yes or no? The possibilities seemed endless.

"I'm....fine. I have a question." Nervousness bubbled in her voice. She just had to power through it. "Hypothetically, if someone you knew well liked you, in the romantic way, but you didn't know...would you want them to tell you?" After it last word came out she wanted to take it back. She sounded like a simpering idiot. Not able to turn back time she had to go with it.

(ACK. Sorry it's so short. I promise the next one will be better! My life is sohectic right now. )

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry raised an eyebrow at this; it was possibly the most random question Henry had ever heard Eaden ask. He looked right into her eyes for what seemed a long time, as though he could see into her thoughts by doing so. This was something that was, for Henry, ridiculous; he couldn't read minds, and didn't have the urge to very often.

This was, nevertheless, a question that needed a bit of thought; and so he afforded it some. It took a surprisingly short time for him to come to his conclusion on the matter, once he had gotten onto the matter of considering the matter itself.

"...Well..." He said, leaning back and gazing up at the sky as he tried to translate his thoughts into words. "...I suppose, if there was someone who wanted to tell me something like that...I'd...well I'd want them to tell me, I guess. There's no use in hiding something like that anyways...at least...I don't think there is."

(It's no problem.)