So-Called Peace And Quiet ((Katie))

[jake]

Jake leant back on his hands and raised his head, staring up at the sky, a beautiful blue that day but specked with dangerous looking grey clouds. It was cold out, the arrival of March hadn't resulted in any changes to the weather as Jake hoped, but a chaotic first two lessons had sent Jake outside onto the bankings that looked onto the lake, in search of fresh air and, unusually for him, some peace and quiet.

His peace was being spoiled slightly by the amount of other students that seemed to have shared his idea. What seemed like the entire second-year population of Hogwarts were lolling on the grass around him. Jake sighed and took up his bag from the grass beside him and delved in it, pulling out a bottle of water.

He unscrewed it and took a glug, then looked around. No-one he knew was there attall and he could have done with a friendly face...

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie had woken up somewhat early, as usual, but after spending much of the day reading in her dorm she happened to glance out the window. It looked like such a beautiful day outside. She hadn't done much exercise so, Katie figured that she would take a jog around the lake. She changed into a t-shirt and a pair of sweats before going outside. There were loads of people out on the grounds, including practically every Hogwarts student under the age of thirteen. Katie felt a little unsure of running in front of all of these people, but she forced herself into self confidence mode and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

After finishing two laps around the lake Katie was walking across the grounds to cool down. She had her hands on her head taking deep, slow breaths at first, but now she had taken them away from her now messy ponytail and was breathing normally once again. Although, her throat was extremely dry. Coming to an area on the bank of the lake, Katie spotted a boy with a bottle of water. He looked somewhat familiar, but she didn't really know who he was. She was so thirsty though, that she could hardly care less if she knew him or not. Katie walked up to him and pulling all of her confidence together she spoke to him, "Hello, um, would you mind lending me some of your water?"

[jake]

Jake's eyes had just about settled to watching a group of Gryffindor girl's sitting under a tree when a voice from nearby made him turn his head. A familiar-looking girl was standing on the slope, dressed in sweats and with her blonde hair scraped into a ponytail. Jake gave her a friendly smile and listened as she asked for some water.

"Sure," He said, screwing the cap back on the bottle, and throwing towards her, "Have you been running or something, or are you just suffering from an abnormal bout of thirst?" He grinned, "Either way, pull up some grass if you want."


((Sorry it's so short! Both the posts on this have been pretty pitiful so far. I promise to improve them! )

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie caught the water bottle, unscrew the cap, and then began to pour the water down her throat. It was like heaven and she would have drank the whole thing, but that would have been awfully rude. Once her thirst was quenched she took Jake up on his offer and and took a seat next to him on the grass. "Thank you, for the water. And yes, I was running. I haven't taken a jog in a while, and today seemed like a nice enough day." Katie took a deep breath of fresh air, which made her think of something that made her feel a bit self conscious. She had put on extra deodorant this morning so she shouldn't smell, but what if she did? Katie surely didn't want to suffocate the boy who had given her water. "I'm Katie by the way. Katie Robbins."

((Don't worry about it. I know the feeling. It seems that every time I'm the mood to post something nice and long I have loads of homework. *shakes head annoyed*))

[jake]

Jake gave a friendly smile as the girl sat down on the grass beside him, glad to have made a good-enough impression for her to stick around. She introduced herself as Katie Robbins and confirmed his theory that she had been out jogging. Jake was, admittedly, not much of a fitness-freak. He preffered less sturctured form of exercise such as football to athletics, but anybody that had the stamina to put up with it had a definite talent in his eyes. He cocked his head, an impressed look on his face.

"Nice to meet you Katie," He said, "I'm Jake."

"Hurstner." He added, thinking, "Ravenclaw in your year, I think. I've seen you in classes, right?"

[kaitlynrobbins]

As soon as her insecurities hit in Katie almost instantly regretted coming up to Jake. She could only imagine how messy her hair must be and how awfully the jog had turned her cheeks red. But only seconds after thinking this she remembered what Dana had said a while back about self confidence. She figured that if it worked so well for Dana then it might work okay for Katie. All she had to do was act like normal, but for her that was easier said than done. "Likewise," Katie said, with a smile. "Yes, I think I've seen you in classes as well. You're a Ravenclaw, right? Fifth year? I'm the same . . . except a Hufflepuff."

She mentally cursed her spoken mishap. That was what she got for trying to be over confident she supposed. Nevertheless, she couldn't give up. She just needed to smile and act as if she didn't care. That's what Dana would do, right? "So, what brings you out to the grounds today Jake? Are you just enjoying a bit of fresh air or is there something else?"

[jake]

Jake grinned and chuckled lightly as Katie blundered slightly at the end of her sentance. His head told him she might take it the wrong way, as if he was laughing at her in a mean way rather than the reality, which was quite the opposite but he made no change to his expression.

"Fresh air," Jake replied to the question, "I'm an out-doorsy sorta guy as it is and it was so stuffy in our Common Room I just had to get out of there. It's going to be torture when I've got to get back inside, and we've got Divianation next," He grimaced at the thought of Trelawney's room, which was over-heated even in mid winter but relaxed his face somewhat and turned back to Katie with a grin, "I would ask the same question to you but obviously we know what you're out for. Do you jog a lot?"

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie shook her head. "No, I hardly ever jog. I don't really care too much for running. I find it to be pretty boring actually. But here at Hogwarts I don't really do much exercising, unless of course you count walking to Divination class, so I have to do something to make sure I stay somewhat in shape. Back home I take ballet lessons, but I can't really do that here." Katie thought back to what Jake had said before and found that she absolutely agreed with him. "I like the outdoors too. Other than ballet lessons, I ride horses at the stables where my mother works when I'm at home."

She smiled dreamily as she thought of Shadow. If only Katie could be with him more. That was one of the things she disliked about Hogwarts. No stables. No horses. No Shadow.