Knut For Your Thoughts

[Felicity Hjort]

Saturday May 31, 2008

With exams rapidly on their way only a few short days away, the library was more packed than Felicity had ever known it to be. Instead of being outside, enjoying the beautiful day that had been given to all that Saturday, students were crammed into every nook and cranny the library held, practicing spells and charms, mumbling potions under their breath, memorizing dates in history (though most who did this seemed to nod off), and just overall cracking down quicker than she'd known anyone to do, even Celina. And the jitters were running nerves pretty high all ready and exams hadn't even begun yet.

There were a few people here and there the blonde recognized, some she knew from classes and other years, and then even more faces she didn't think she'd ever seen before. It was as though every rat had jumped ship and was now located in Hogwarts' library...not that she thought any of them were rats, it was only an expression she thought of.

The windows in the library were slim to none as it was, being they had to be placed so light would not fade precious binds and all else, but that morning, extremely early and before breakfast, Felicity had managed to sneak in and steal a chair from one area to pull right up near a window where she'd be able to continue her research. Naught but an hour later, the library was so full she'd been thankful for waking up as early as always and skipping her run to get to the library. It'd meant her shower had been first and she'd grabbed a roll that had been saved from dinner the night before and headed on down, placed that chair and grabbed the books she wanted, or rather needed, and was cozy in her spot as the next faces milled in at an unbelievable rate.

It was nearing on two o'clock now she thought, though couldn't be entirely sure as she still didn't own a watch and often relied on Drew for such things as it was, but the brown eyed girl remained in her little corner, raising a threatening eyebrow at anyone who dared get too close to her little spot she'd claimed. There weren't any chairs near where she was, all had been taken up by other occupants, and she wasn't about to leave any time soon as she was still completing research.

A stack of multi-coloured books were towering from the floor up near the seat of the large green plush chair she'd snagged, her feet curled under her, shoes sitting off to the side, hand propped under her chin, eyes trained on the words daring to jump out at her.

Each book she skimmed through in the last week had one thing in common, well, two actually. The first was a subject matter, the second was something she was interested in taking up employment in after she left Hogwarts. Felicity figured if the graduates were kind of worried about it now, shouldn't she be slightly worried and at the same time preparing herself for at least something after school?

Her dad had all ready written her that she was to hold a job over the summer holidays to help pay for her books for the next term, which Felicity didn't mind doing, but as it stood, he'd even gone so far to obtain a job for his youngest, which again Felicity didn't mind. However, the job itself she wasn't entirely too sure of. Felicity had no balance and little coordination at times, how could he expect her to waitress? But at least he'd secured from his friend morning and early afternoon hours, though Felicity suspected her dad had refused to let her work a night shift.

But at the moment, it didn't matter. At the moment, all that mattered was Felicity was wearing shorts, a sweatshirt that was much too large for her, as she hadn't yet returned it to its owner since it still smelled a lot like him, a tee-shirt beneath in case she became overly warm in the sweatshirt, and was curled up with a large brown book titled: Feeding the Beast Within.

((Drew))

[Drew Thornton]

Drew probably should have been studying, but lately he was starting to feel like he was turning into his sister, always with her nose in a book. In a little over a year, he'd be out of school, NEWTs taken, and hopefully an appointment to the Auror Academy procured. He was pretty confident that he would ace his finals, and while there was still a year... four years... of intense bookwork ahead of him, he felt that for now, he had studied enough.

So he was goofing off.

Taking advantage of a quite, uninhabited corner of the library, he had scaled a book case. He took a moment to perch, just enjoying his eagle's eye view before seeing what else was around. Hoisting his backback onto his shoulders, he crawled along the top of the book case, unmindful of the dust that had accumulated up there. When he reached the end, he crouched and made the jump to the next case, thus working his way throughout the library.

A few sights caught his attention: a couple of seventh years necking by the History books, a firstie trying to convince another that the charm he had bought would guarentee him an O in potions, A fourth year tearing her hair out as she tried to study for her Herbology exam.

And in the very back, curled prettily in a cozy chair, Drew saw a familiar freckle-faced Gryffindor, the sun streaming through the window and catching her blonde hair in its rays. While she looked to lovely to disturb, Drew's vantage point made it impossible not to tease just a little. He didn't think the librarian would appreciate a snowing spell in the middle of the library (never mind how she would feel having a sixth year Ravenclaw traveling the tops of the shelves), but he figured a nice confetti charm might do the trick... and probably damage the books less. Carefully placing his aim just a few feet over Felicity's head, he said the spell to let a light shower of white fall over her.

[Felicity Hjort]

This particular book was proving to be interesting, and she was just starting a part where there was actual instruction on how it was done. How one was able to feed the beast within. The idea of it was quite intriguing, and even if it was considered a rather dangerous option, the blonde didn't see much other choice she had. If she wanted to stay in the Wizarding world, she needed to find something that she could do, and with the low marks she was sure to get by the end of the year on O.W.L.s what other choice did she have than to go with what she knew? What she could do without messing it up? Though, there was a strong wish that one could preform charms well enough, but it didn't say it was required on the papers she'd received about different employment options available.

Turning the page, she thought her brown eyes were seeing sun spots on the pages for a moment, and only a moment shorter later she felt something touch her nose. Bringing her hand up to brush it away, she realized it wasn't just sun spots, nor was it just one thing. Brushing her hand along the top of her hair, a few more little papery like things fell out, and immediately she turned around to see who was behind her dropping something on her head. There wasn't anyone.

Chancing a glance upwards, she saw the little storm above her, but didn't look too long, for fear of getting something in her eyes. Turning around in her chair again to get a better look around the area, she didn't see anyone she really knew, but since they all seemed to be studying, she wouldn't put it past someone to be practicing a charm on her for the fun of it...and the practice.

"Would you mind getting rid of that charm?" she asked kindly to a group, only to receive a look of bewilderment from all of them. If it was someone's trick to get her to move from her spot, it wasn't going to work. She wasn't leaving.

[Drew Thornton]

He snickered to himself as he watched her try to figure out what it was, and snorted a little as she asked someone else to cut it out. The group she spoke to obviously didnt' have a clue what she was talking about. Drew could tell from his lookout spot that they were reviewing Divination notes.

"You have another one you'd prefer?" Drew asked from above, letting the psuedo-snowfall go on just a moment more before stopping the charm. Very carefully, he peeked over the edge of the bookshelf and grinned down at her.

[Felicity Hjort]

While the looks from the group closest to her were odd since she was sure they were the ones playing around, she tried her best to ignore the whole thing and get back to her work, only to imagine she heard Drew's voice. When she'd been looking around she hadn't seen him, so it couldn't have been him. It must have just been some sort of withdrawal she was feeling as she hadn't set eyes on him that day, and the only chance she would've had was at breakfast and since she'd skipped, the only conclusion was she was imagining things.

Though it was nice to note she had his voice down pat in her mind. It would definitely make the long summer months more bearable.

And it was only a moment after hearing him the stuff stopped falling on her. Glancing over to the group of students, she noticed none of them were even looking in her direction. All right, so maybe it wasn't them, but who?

And then it didn't matter. There was the quietest of creaking noises coming from one of the bookshelves and Felicity turned her attention toward it. Were the books finally going to get revenge and fall on her? But a light shadow cast and her eyes turned further upward to spot a rather familiar face...much higher up than she all ready had to tilt her head back to see his face in full when she was near him.

"Drew?" she asked, feeling as bewildered as the looks had been on the faces of the group of students. "Don't you all ready get a good look over people as it is? Do you really need to be another few feet up above everyone else?" A small smile was on her face, but at the same time, what was he doing up there?!?

[Drew Thornton]

"I was bored," Drew answered with a wide grin and a small shrug, answering her unasked question. Of course, now that he had come across Felicity, there really wasn't any need to be up on to of the book shelves, so, checking to make sure the Librarian was still on the opposite end of the room, he carefully swung himself over the edge and climbed down, jumping off the bookcase a few feet before he reached the ground.

He was covered head to toe in dust and he sneezed three times before grinning at her again. "So what are you up to?" he asked. "You looked so cozy, I wanted to say hi, but I didn't want to disturb you too much."

[Felicity Hjort]

Rolling her eyes, Felicity grinned back at the boy. Boredom meant it was time to climb on the library bookshelves, she'd have to remember that one. Of course, with her luck if she dared trying something of the sort, she'd be caught quicker than anything. Especially with all of the things she'd done this term, she was lucky to still be at Hogwarts.

"Bless you," she answered him when he was done sneezing. "And don't forget to make a wish. Three sneezes means one wish." Last time she could really remember telling him that was when he nearly choked on a piece of blue candy she'd offered him that day in the tree.

"And raining confetti down on me isn't disturbing?" she teased him with a wide smile, holding her hand out to him, wanting him closer. While there weren't really any chairs around her available, she most definitely didn't mind the idea of sharing hers if he wanted to sit. "I'm just looking up some stuff about jobs for after graduation."

The papers had gotten her a little worried, the graduates were making her nerves on nerves, and she wanted to see what options were currently available, at least those available with her expected O.W.L. scores in the wizarding world. Felicity also wanted to see what those jobs entailed.

[Drew Thornton]

Drew grinned back when she told him to make a wish. He remembered her telling him that before, even remembered what he had wished for that day, but he couldn't think of anything else he really wanted right then.

He took her hand and linked his fingers through hers, just noticing how dusty he was from being up on the book shelves. She didn't seem to mind too much, but he still used his free hand to slap some of the dust off of himself. "I figured it was quieter than fireworks and less destructive than rain or snow," he told her.

"Looking for jobs?" he asked, interested in what she had come across. He knew she had been trying to think of something to do, but hadn't known she was actually concerned enough about it to do research. "Did you find anything good?"

[Felicity Hjort]

When he brushed some dust off, Felicity took her own turn to sneeze and wrinkled her nose at him. Were the bookshelves really in that bad of a condition? Wasn't it up to the librarian...or someone...to keep the place clean? There was, of course, expected to be some amount of dust, but that much was a bit ridiculous.

"Mmhmm," she hummed when he asked his question. Research is what she always did on a subject of interest, just how much had she conducted about California? Of course, she couldn't really do any good amount of research, but she thought maybe during the holidays she might stay a few nights with Meredith and use their computer to research a little more about some things she hadn't been able to get much of a grasp on.

"A few things, actually. Not anything that sounds really too bad. A couple of exciting things I should be able to take into serious consideration, but not really a whole lot. Though, I suspect they don't really list all of the available jobs." Shifting over in the chair to make room for Drew in case he wanted to sit, she wasn't sure there was really enough room in the plush chair to sit side by side, but it was offered. "I mean, they're basically a bunch of Ministry positions, Quidditch spots, and a lot of banking things."

Though, she really shouldn't be thinking about it as a bad spot light, after all, what she was thinking of was in the banking career, with the Goblins.

[Drew Thornton]

"Bless you," Drew answered her sneeze with a small smile. Sure the librarian kept the shelves dusted, but who ever checked the tops especially when Drew couldn't even see up there without a climb?

She pulled him to the chair, but he really didn't think there was enough room for both of them unless she planned on having him on top of her. Probably not the most comfortable or appropriate. Instead, he took a seat on the floor, leaning his head back onto the open spot so he could look at her. She was upside down now, but still awfully cute.

"So like what were you thinking of?" he prompted, thinking they all sounded pretty neat. He just wasn't sure what she would find interesting.

[Felicity Hjort]

Felicity was a little surprised Drew didn't actually just sit down on her, even if just for a minute for a good laugh and to squash her, but at the same time she was glad he hadn't. If he had done that, she would've been likely to start laughing and making a ton of noise, which would've ended them out of the library faster than you could say "Quidditch".

Pulling her feet up in the chair with her, she crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees, held her face and looked down at him.

"Well, this book," Felicity started, pulling the brown book out and holding it over him so he could see the cover, "and all of those," she pointed at the pile next to him, "are about dragons."

Setting the book down, Felicity put her hands on Drew's shoulders and began massaging lightly. "There's a job for Gringotts called Dragon Feeders. Apparently they have dragons guarding vaults in their bank, and since the dragons need to be fed, there are Dragon Feeders." It was a simple explanation, but she knew she'd have a much harder time trying to sell something like that to either of her parents. "But there are also Dragon Breeders," the blonde continued. "And since I think I'll have good marks in Care of Magical Creatures, it's something that I should be looking into."

[Drew Thornton]

"Dragons?" Drew echoed. He hadn't really thought Felicity might be interested in dragons. And a dragon feeder at Gringotts? It really didn't sound very exciting.

But a breeder? Now that was interesting... and pretty dangerous. He wasn't too keen on the idea of his girlfriend being burned to a crisp, but if she knew what she was doing, then of course that wouldn't happen.

She had the patience and while dragons weren't known for needing a lot of nurturing, she had that too. "I think you'd be really good at breeding," he answered, grinning up into her freckled face, not even realizing how it had sounded until after it came out. Hopefully she wouldn't realize what he had said and just go by what he had meant.

[Felicity Hjort]

"Yes," the blonde answered. Dragons were interesting. Their skin was something really special, and so were other bits and pieces of their body, used for wands and in potions and whatnot. Not to mention, they were pretty exciting all on their own. But there was also the option of a dragon keeper, though she was pretty sure one would have to be really good at wand work in order to do that one. She was all ready pretty sure she'd have troubles with the other ones because she wasn't very skilled at wand work.

Felicity caught what he said, but decided not to say anything about it. After all, there wasn't any way she was willing to talk about that yet, not for a very, very long time.

"I don't know about that though. Apparently Dragons are very mean with babies on the way, and something their care providers should be good at is wand work, so if I decide to go that way, I need to practice a lot more."

Keeping her hands massaging his shoulders, she smiled down at him wondering if he really thought she might be able to do something like that.

[Drew Thornton]

Her hands on his shoulders had been nice, buthe hadn't really expected the back rub. He wasn't exactly sure what he had done to deserve it, but he sure as heck wasn't about to argue it any.

"So we practice more," he told her, closing his eyes and enjoying her touch. He hadn't even been aware of how much tension he had built up there until he felt it melt away under her hands.

[Felicity Hjort]

Different sized circles with different pressures, that's all she really knew about massaging. Her mum had taught her that much in order to relieve quick stress for a little while, and while she didn't know if Drew was really all that stressed or not, she thought it might be nice to do. And she liked when her mum started rubbing her shoulders randomly at times, she figured Drew wouldn't mind too much if she did it to him. And all he needed to do for something like that was be right there where she could actually get her hands at his shoulders.

When his eyes were closed, Felicity smiled to herself, at least he seemed to be enjoying it. Slowly creeping from his shoulders up to his neck, she worked gently at the little circles. "And if I still don't make the grades, I don't get to be a Dragon Breeder," she told him. "But I think a Dragon Feeder sounds kind of neat. I mean, I'd get to be in those Gringott mazes they have. They're pretty neat. And there's always other stuff too. I could work at a menagerie, or go into some far away study and research kind of thing..."

But even that didn't sound quite right. "Although, if I did that, I wouldn't be London..." Where she was hoping he'd be.