Watch the Pages Turn

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany laughed at his joke of only being up in the higher levels of Hogwarts once. It was hard to imagine only seeing the place a few brief times. After living in the castle for so long she had trouble remembering that not everyone attended Hogwarts with her. She had to completely agree with him on his description of the dungeons. Not the funnest place to be at any point in time. She wasn't sure how people hung out down there so often. However, it seemed to be a popular place to explore.

"My middle name is Marie," Brittany paused wondering how often she had actually mentioned her middle name to anyone. It was not a common question she got asked. "My favorite book is probably Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Tragic love story, sorry."

She spit out her tongue at him, having not missed the face she made at her liking chick flicks. It wasn't her fault that she was a sappy girl. She couldn't help it. Brittany began playing with Nathan's fingers absent-mindedly as she thought of her next set of questions. They were rough and calused but she didn't really mind. His hand was larger than her own and made her hand look very dainty when held up against his.

Brittany looked back up at Nathan and asked, "Do you prefer night or day time and what do you want to be when you grow up?" She asked the last part in with a slight teasing tone.

[Nathan Lee]

"Beautiful name," he complimented with a smile, "And a good book." Nathan had to admit that yes, he had read it. He'd been forced into it but found he'd actually enjoyed it once he understood it. Despite it being a tragic, sappy love story, he still managed to find it beautiful and riveting. Sort of like Brittany. Oh dude...seriously? No. Stop that. There wasn't much point in scolding himself for the cheesy things he thought of, but he did it anyways. It was more of a reflex than anything else.

Feeling her play with his hand, that smug look returned. They were like kids again, so shy and nervous with each other, but unable to keep their hands to themselves. Of course, Nathan had been a little more touchy-feely back in his dad, but he'd refrained from that with Brittany. For now. You are so bad.

"I love the night," confessed Nathan, "I always have. I'm more awake at night and I especially love the hot, summer nights in California. I miss it sometimes when I'm freezing to death in Scotland winters." Another laugh escaped his lips when she asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. He knew that answer right away.
"I want to be in the NBA when I grow up," he explained rather seriously, "I think Cooper wants me to as well."

Teasing her fingers with his own, he turned the questions back on her.
"Your biggest fear and the craziest thing you've ever done," he poked curiously, rather intrigued by what the answer might be. He had a feeling Brittany could get herself into some crazy situations.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany felt her self blush at another compliment of his. She liked them and, quite vainly, liked that he kept looking up at her in a certain way. It was almost as if Nathan was seeing her for the first time every time he looked away and then looked back. Of course, she wasn't sure he even thought her to be attractive. Such a pessimistic attitude. He had kissed her quite early in the evening. That was a pretty solid sign that he didn't think she was half bad. Her internal mind games were always amusing.

She could definitely see his reasoning for night being better than day. There were positives and negatives that pretty much equaled out in her opinion. However, the way he put it made her change her mind and decide she liked night better. As he told her of his dreams to be in the NBA she was taken aback. That was different. Not something that she expected. Brittany wondered exactly how good he was at basketball and hoped to see him play one day.

"Biggest fear is definitely being alone. I hate it. When I lived in an apartment I had to have every light on when I was there alone." Brittany informed him. There was more about being alone that she hated but she left that off. Ending up alone was a pretty obvious fear. "At Hogwarts there is no limit to crazy things. I have partcipated in a balloon paint fight, housed an illegal animal in an empty hall, was involved in the gluing and feathering of a head girl, and even almost been mamed by an evil giant, pink bear at a Valentine's Day Dance."

She laughed as all of the memories came rushing back to her. The last one had definitely been the craziest. She would gladly elaborate on any of them that he wanted her to. It was quite a list of events. "Pick your favorite."

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan just kind of looked at her. He'd imagined she'd done some crazy things, but the things she listed weren't exactly what he had in mind. He laughed at her, hunched over on the table as his shoulders shook and he tried to catch his breath. Nathan sat up, holding his stomach as he attempted to calm himself down.
"Okay...you need to explain that," he choked out, "What kind of illegal animal? And how exactly did you manage to 'glue and feather' a head girl?" Unless the head girl was a very good friend of hers, Nathan thought that was a little much. he figured that could even end in an expulsion, but apparently it hadn't.

"And...a giant, pink bear?" he questioned aloud, falling over in a fit of laughter again.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany felt satisfied with his reaction. There was an entirely different route that she could have taken but it was only the second time she had ever even seen him. Plus, she didn't need to boost the sexual tension. She'd save those crazy things for another day. She did scrunch up her nose at him as he laughed about the Valentine's Dance incident. That was a very scary event and she still couldn't be around pink bears. It had been such a great night too up to that point. As he calmed down with his laughter she began to explain.

"Well, we weren't sure about what kind of animal it was. Never really figured that out, but we rescued it from the edge of the Forbidden Forest and kept it in the castle until it was too big to hide." Brittany told him, remembering the small black creature with huge grey eyes. She was pretty sure that they had named it Delilah, but couldn't remember exactly.

For a moment she thought on what was next and then took up where she left off, "The 'glue and feather' was hilarious. I was not involved in the actual actions, however, I was there when it happened. She was a very good sport about it and since she was a Ravenclaw, she decided to walk around like that for the rest of the day." After that she moved to the subject of the pink bear.

"In my third year I was at a Valentine's Day Dance, at Hogwarts. I remember I had a secret admirer that had promised to meet me there and when he showed up, he gave me a rose and we danced and talked. It was rather cute. Halfway through the night, he and I were crowned Prince and Princess of the dance. During our little spotlight dance, the human-size pink bear that had been entertaining guests on stage turned and started running towards me. I was pushed out of the way just in time to not get tackled by the damn thing. Then, it turned on someone else and ran towards them before it was stopped."

It was one of her most outrageous memories of Hogwarts. Of course, she didn't mention that it was the night that she had her first kiss. She figured that it didn't qualify as part of the story. Looking back at him brightly she waited for his reactions to her stories, trying to think of her next questions that she would ask.

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan continued to chuckle throughout her stories, finding all of them quite entertaining. The more he heard about the goings-on at Hogwarts, the more he wished he'd attended it during his school years. The school Nathan had gone to had been a good one where he'd made some incredible friends and met his wife, but those kinds of things would never have happened there. It had always been so calm and quiet that Nathan and his wife had actually been the most exciting thing to happen there. He frowned slightly at that but ignored the memory.

"You do know it's your turn, right?" Nathan teased playfully, giving her shoulder a light nudge with his own, "Although I'm not sure if anything I say now can top that."

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany nodded in agreement with the fact that he might not be able to top any memory of hers at Hogwarts. At least not in craziness. Sadly, it seemed that the crazy generation had ended. The castle was way too quiet nowadays. There weren't many pranks that took place or balloon paint fights that she heard about in the staff room. It was as if those days had faded with the people that floored them. Of course, now that she was staff she shouldn't want pranks to take place but she didn't really have any authorital merit anyhow.

"Yes, my turn!" Brittany exclaimed. "What's your favorite childhood memory and the spell that you use most often?"

Two completely practical questions. She had been going to ask what his favorite memory ingeneral was, but didn't want to bring up sad subjects again. It was something that she figured could stay away until he brought it up with her. That seemed to be her best bet.

[Nathan Lee]

Her second question struck him as rather odd. Nathan couldn't remember what spell he used the most; in all honesty, he didn't use much magic. He used potions and that kind of stuff, but his job didn't really require him to do much wand work. He thought about it for a moment, racking his brain to come up with an answer.
"Hmm," he pondered aloud, "I would have to say the repairing spell. Cooper breaks stuff a lot." He chuckled softly, thinking of all the things Cooper had broken and tired to hide so his dad wouldn't find it. Nathan always did manage to find whatever was hidden and fixed it before giving Cooper a talking to.

"I think my best childhood memory was my thirteenth birthday," he began, a smile playing on his lips as he remembered the incredible present his parents had given him, "My dad took me to Los Angeles to see the LA Lakers play the Miami Heat in the finals. The Lakers were my favourite team and he got me into the dressing room after the game and the whole team signed my jersey." He went quiet for a moment, remembering how much fun he'd had that day when it was just him and his dad and Nathan wanted more than anything to be able to do something like that for Cooper. Nathan still had the jersey somewhere, buried deep in all his other basketball shirts he owned. Maybe one day, he's give it to Coop.

"Favourite junk food and your idea of a perfect date," he asked next, feeling like a judge asking a contestant a question at a beauty pageant. He was actually rather curious as to what her idea of a perfect date was and thought maybe he could match it. Nathan hoped she would pick up on the hidden meaning behind his question.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany nodded along with his story. Having left the United States when she was nine, she hadn't really got into the sports there except for the ones played on the playground. She knew enough to be able to recognize that he was talking about two teams and that it was a terrific game from his tone. However, that was pretty much all her knowledge on the subject. For the most part her sports had been quidditch and soccer. There wasn't much else that she had cared to follow.

However, he looked very reminiscent and happy when he told her the story and she made a note about exactly how much he liked basketball. "My favorite junk food would have to be chocolate and anything that contains it." Brittany supplied that answer easily. It was pretty much the only junk food that she seemed to eat when she lived at the castle. The house elves didn't like to serve just potato chips or anything like that. They often got confused and sent you up a whole meal containing what you asked for. It was just what came to them.

"Perfect date," Brittany paused not exactly knowing what her perfect date was. It wasn't like she had been on many. The students lived at the castle for the most part, had no car, and only had access to Hogsmeade. The only time available for dates was summer and usually everyone was seperated because they all went back to where they came from all over the world. Other than that, dates were held on the grounds, at the lake, or just spent hanging out at Hogwarts. So she used her imagination.

"I'm not too particular. Dinner and then a walk outside under the stars. Maybe a moonlight swim." Brittany tried to look intriguing as she spoke. Behind the facade she was trying to hold back laughter. The whole flirting thing and describing perfect dates like a love struck girl was just not her thing.

Her manner broke with a wide smile and she surrendered, "Okay, so I'm not very good at the whole romantic seduction thing."

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan made a mental note to remember all that: chocolate and a moonlight swim. He didn't think he would have any problem doing that for her or getting her a nice dinner before.
"I'm not too good at it either," Nathan confessed with a chuckle and a smile. He scratched his head nervously again, turning his body a little more so he could face her. His eyes watched her hungrily, flicking from her eyes to her lips a couple times. Nathan bit his bottom lip, debating whether or not he was going to go in for it again and his desire to taste her again won out.

"Would it end with one of these?" the man teased, flashing her a smug, seductive grin as he pressed his lips on hers again.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany smiled into Nathan's kiss, pleasantly surprised. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that had trouble with being seductive. Although, she could see no reason why he claimed that. Nathan had the looks that went along with an easy-going, quirky personality. How could anyone not like that? Plus, he seemed to have pretty good timing with his actions. She was definitely impressed.

"Yes, please." Brittany replied without removing her lips from his.

Below, she unfolded her legs so that her feet touched the floor and remained leaning slightly against the table. Her hands moved up from his hands to his upper arms, lingering there. Brittany had been right about his muscle tone. With a small giggle, she tugged at his arms slightly trying, failing, to pull him up to a standing position. Backing away from his face by mere centimeters, her delighted brown eyes peered into his. Brittany gave his arms another light tug, smiling playfully at him.

[Nathan Lee]

Her tug peaked his curiosity. He opened his eyes again when he felt her pulling away from him, raising an eyebrow. Her smile led him to wonder if she had something up her sleeve and he wasn't about to pass up the chance to find out. This was crazy. Nathan had never been this rash before and he'd had it in his mind that he was going to take things slow with Brittany. Nathan hadn't really dated in the last few years so when this was sprung on him, he really didn't know what he was doing. But all reasoning had appeared to escape him as he stood off the table and allowed Brittany to take him whenever it was she was going.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked her, glancing around them even though he knew they were alone, "That mean old librarian might catch us."

[Brittany Garland]

"Then, you better be quiet." Brittany warned at the sound of his joke.

She ignored his question and instead held up her hand, signaling him to wait. Brushing against him softly, the young woman slid around him. Walking lightly, she made her way around the room turning the lights of the library. The candles placed around the library had been burning down and were starting to make long shadows on the wall. Brittany realized what Nathan was probably thinking of her but she pushed the thought away from her mind. It was not her intention.

There was no real thrilling intention behind her actions. It was just something that she briefly remembered she had to do. That just happened to seem creepy. For a moment she thought about relighting every single one of them. Her effort was shot down by wanting to go back to Nathan. Returning to his side, she took his hand and lead him back around the library counter that stood near another door. Entering her office, she lit the torch on the wall in an attempt to lift the pressure she had just placed on her self.

Moonlight shined in on the random things within the office. A small desk stood in the corner facing a short couch that she had at one point tried to move out of her office. Books were stacked against another wall in rows and a few filing cabinets finished up the major objects in the room. Brittany avoided even looking at the door that led to her own personal chambers. She figured she had probably excited him for nothing enough. Or wigged him out. There was no telling what he was thinking at that point.

Flopping down on one cushion of the couch Brittany explained, "I had to turn down the lights in there. I figured that this would be a bit more comfortable than the edge of the table." She had struck down the first words that came to her mind about being in room, in a dark room with Nathan. This was safer. She hoped.

[Nathan Lee]

Like a lost puppy, Nathan's eyes followed her as she left and proceeded to dim all the lights in the library. It excited him more than it should have. When she returned to his side, Nathan was about to speak but stopped when she started to lead him through the aisles and into the office. The man followed Brittany to the couch, sitting slowly next to her. He didn't bother to make any distance between them and realized his hand was sitting on her knee. The groundskeeper's lips seemed to have a mind of their own when a moment later, they'd found Brittany's again. He only lingered for a moment before he pulled back and just looked at her. The moonlight shining and shadowing her face gave her such a beautiful and elegant look that Nathan had to stare. Then he realized that must look a little creepy.

"You want to continue our game?" he asked, finding her hand once more, "It's your turn again. And technically, I asked three questions that time." Nathan smirked a little triumphantly when he realized he'd gotten away with breaking one of the rules and she hadn't noticed.

[Brittany Garland]

”Damn,” Brittany thought with some dejection. Although, she wasn’t sure if that was from him breaking a rule or him backing away.

The young woman watched Nathan for a moment, unsure if she really wanted to finish the game. After all, she had found out a lot of random information that she would most likely not remember tomorrow. Plus, she was running out of questions. There wasn't that many things that she could really ask without stepping on thin ice. The last thing Brittany wanted to do was upset him. She liked him all happy and bubbly. Not to mention that lopsided smile. That did her in every time.

However, she figured that he would decide when he didn't want to play anymore. There was no way she was putting her self in a line of fire. She didn't understand why but she was too comfortable around Nathan. It was too soon to be like that. He could turn out to be a total hot-head or something. Yet here she was, kissing a guy she'd seen twice. "What am I thinking?" Nathan was great. He had apologized after kissing her the first time. Apologized. Obviously he wasn't a physco or anything.

"We can play some more," Brittany told him then proceeded to ask her questions. "What is your worst quality?" She paused and thought "if there is one."

"And why?" Brittany finished. Technically she had asked two questions.