Skimming Stones ((Open to anyone))

[jake]

Jake whistled tunefully to himself as he strolled about the grounds, in a good mood and pretty darn happy with the world. And why should he not be? It was yet another beautiful day, spring had finally decided to show itself and Jakes view was why not thank it by being in high spirits. Another reason perhaps, was that it was a Sunday, Sunday morning infact and he could look forward to a day without the tediousness of lessons and homework, as he had, thankfully, finished it all on Friday night.

Jake stopped for a minute and looked out across the lake, which was sparkling merrily in the sun and then towards the students gathered nearby on the shoreline. A few boys, younger than him, were throwing stones out across the water, shouting in dismay or triumph at how far they got. Jake was never one to disapprove of childish pastimes as he enjoyed them far too much, and so, he bent down and gathered a few stones in his hands then proceeded to skim them across the surface of the lake.

He was quite good at it, having wasted several afternoons doing exactly the same as the boys in his first few years at Hogwarts. Despite neglecting it as a pastime he managed to get a few quite far, the stones hitting the water five or six times before finally disappearing underneath. It was like riding a bike, it never left you.

In five or so minutes Jake had exhausted his supply of pebbles, leaving his palms muddy but empty and so he crouched down again and began to collect more, until he heard a voice behind him and turned his head.

[koriwilliams]

Her ankle twisted, and she heard a 'snap!' Kori let out a wail and knelt down to tend to her ankle. It was swelling fast. And she quickly took out her wand, "Remedium!" She muttered, and her ankle immediately healed. She sighed, thinking it best to stop dancing for the day and started to untie her toe shoes. Kori had danced since she was 6, and she was quite used to the type of pain it caused. But, everytime she broke or sprained her ankle, she got more and more afraid of losing her touch. Kori packed her dance shoes into the sling bag and tied her gym shoes on, making her way out into the courtyard. She then turned a quick left and made her way to the Grounds. Her blonde hair flying out of the bun she had put it in, it was agitating her so she, in one swift movement, took it down and let it linger on her back.

"There is a lady. All in white. Holds me and sings a lullaby. She's nice to see. And she's soft to touch. She says, 'Cosette I love you very much.' I know a place where no one's lost. I know a place where no one cries. Crying at all is not allowed. Not in my castle on a cloud." Kori sang softly, thinking of her mother as she made her way down to the lake. Where she normally went to think. The clouds were passing overhead slowly, and in a dazed manner, Kori continued towards the lake. Her feet stepping at a rythymic beat. Pulsating through her blood. The music flowing through her veins so much that it made her itch and want to dance. But, she restrained herself and stepped still in rythym.

As the lake came into view, so did a few students. All of them she did not know, but she realized they were skipping stones. A few kept at it, but a few didn't. This made Kori smile with pleasure. She remembered when her and her father would do the same, his would always go farther than hers, that is, of course, he threw it so it didn't go to far. To let her win. She hated it when he did that. She sighed, tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear, and walked on. Stopping behind a guy picking up a few more pebbles. She didn't notice him, so she continued to sing, "There is a room filled with toys. There are hundreds of boys and girls.Nobody shouts or talks too loud. Not in my castle on a cloud."

((I hope it's okay I join...))

[jake]

A smile prickled on the edges of Jake's lips as he looked up to see a girl, his age but not somebody he knew, singing softly to herself and looking out over the lake as he had been some few minutes ago. She obviously hadn't seen him.

Jake had intended to stay there, crouched on the ground, listening to the girl as she sung for as long as it took but all too soon she ended her song and Jake felt it was due time to appear and introduce himself.

He straightened up, brushing the dust and dirt off his hands as he did and smiled to the girl as she realised he was there.

"You've got a great voice, you know," He praised, smiling, then remembering introductions "Oh, and I'm Jake."

He put out a slightly-less dirty hand for the girl to shake.

((Absolutley fine. There's a reason why it says Open To Anyone))

[koriwilliams]

Kori startled and jumped back, her heart fluttering with the surprise of someone before her. She put a hand to her heart, and calmed it before smiling slightly and lowering her head to the compliment. She didn't think she had a good voice, but then again you are your toughest critic. Then the boy introduced himself, and held out his hand, Kori shook it while speaking, "Kori Williams. Nice to meet you, Jake. May I ask what you are doing, scaring innocent girls?" Kori truely smiled and looked at this new person she was meeting. She hadn't seen him around before, but this wasn't anything new. Kori wasn't very social so she barely knew anyone unless they were from a wealthy pureblood family. Being from a pureblooded family, and a long line of Slytherin's. But, this really wasn't something she was fond of. Her parent's weren't cruel like most Slytherin's were, but they were respected.

"And thanks for the compliment, by the way. Though I disagree. Do you know what musical that song's from?" She asked, almost hastily. Kori glanced behind her and found a patch of dried grass. She sat down and looked out past the lake. Watching the sun reflect off the water and send the glares to her deep eyes. She tilted her head, and continued to watch it. Not really thinking, just gazing. She broke her eyes away from the prettiness of the sun and lake, and looked up at Jake. Wondering what house he was in. She, unlike a few people she knew, did not have the talent of telling which house a person was from by the way they spoke. Kori was merely talented in dancing and acting, not by dialect decription. She wondered, as always, but didn't ask.

[jake]

Kori Williams, the name didn't ring a bell in Jake's head, so she couldn't be in Ravenclaw, but Jake recalled seeing the same blonde head sitting among the Slytherin table on his usual scan of the Great Hall at lunch. Jake was very wary of Slytherin tempers but he had the good sense to judge them on their own personalities rather than that promoted by their house. Jake knew that he wouldn't like to be judged on his own.

"Ah, scaring innocent girls is a favourtie hobby of mine," He laughing, eyes sparkling as he looked down on her after she sat down. He joined her sitting on the grass not long afterwards, "And I'm sorry to say I don't know what musical it's from, no. You'll have to enlighten me, I'm a bit deprived when it comes to culture, I could never be trusted to be let into a theatre."

Jake grinned and looked at her. Something told him she was trying to work out which house he was from, it was quite a common thing to happen amongst Slytherins he decided, but he wasn't one to keep knowledge from anyone.

"Incase you were wondering, which I'm pretty sure you were," He said, "I'm a Ravenclaw, in your year. And I know you're a Slytherin, right?"

[koriwilliams]

"Les Miserables, one of the greatest musicals ever, well in my opinion anyway." Kori answered, tilting her face up towards the sun and letting it bathe her in it's warmth. She felt shivers run up and down her spine, and her breath came out in ragged spurts. She regained her breathing and closed her eyes to the warmth and happiness that engulfed her in it's flames. When Jake spoke again, it was about which house he was in. Her eyelids fluttered open and she slowly turned her head to look at the Ravenclaw, "Slytherin. Me. Yes. How'd you know? I'm nicer than most. Don't judge by what I see, or what I know." She whispered, her words wafting gently in the air, breezing around her and whispering back to her. The words felt like a ribbon, dancing around her, threatening to tie her and bound her, stop her from moving. She was still, suffocated by the ribbons of her life. If anyone else had heard her speak those words, she would eventually be shunned by all. She couldn't handle that. Her social life would be at stake.

It was then the ribbons tore, and Kori could breathe again. She clutched her stomach and drew in big gasps of air, steadying her breath and keeping her rhythm of her heart at the correct pace. Ba bump, ba bump, ba bump... The sound pounded in her ears, and it continued to pound that way until Kori grew accustomed to it and was able to drown it out with her thoughts. This happened, but rarely. She would think of doing something, saying something, and that ribbon would appear. An old form of abuse from her grandparents. She would speak ill of Slytherin, speak ill of being of noble and pure blood. And the ribbon would be around her head. Now it just came when she spoke ill and even though her grandparent's were dead, she still had that ribbon fixated in her mind. Kori broke her gaze away from the sun and lifted her brown eyes to look at Jake, "So, what are you doing out here anyway?" She asked, slowly erasing the memories.

[KelseyMattie]

Kelsey sat in the god-foresaken library and tried to read a book on Transfiguration. It was making her want to scream and run away. She hated, HATED the library. And she hated to read. Kelsey twirled a curl about her finger and turned the page. It felt like she had been there for hours. But when she glanced at the clock, she sighed, realizing it had been but 15 minutes. After another hour, or 35 minutes, Kelsey stood, fighting the urge to throw the book across the library, took the book in her hand, nodded to Madam Pince, and left the library.

Out in the corridor, she leaned against the wall, feeling much better. She slipped the book in the bag and decided to take a nice walk on the lake. She had thought, since the new her was doing so well (even though it had been only a few days) that kelsey should try and read some... bad idea. She hated to read, probobly hated it more than Slytherins!

She walked down the staircase and through the doubledoors. She walked along the grass and started to walk along the lake. It had been about three or four days since she changed herself. She went from messy, depressed, and long straight black hair, to neat, happy, and curly brown hair. She had charmed her hair to be permanatly curly and brown. She loved her new look, and new attitude. It was much better than the deppressed, eavesdropps on everyone to feel connected to people, Kelsey.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't realize it when she bumped into a boy. He was a ravenclaw, no doubt, Kelsey had never seen him and a girl who Kelsey had seen but never met. She stumbled back and apoligized.

"I'm sorry..." she said, shlyly, "I wasn't looking where i was going..."

[koriwilliams]

"Watch yourself there, Huffle. Someone's standing." Kori responded to the girl who had run into Jake. She raised an eyebrow at the girl, then shook her blonde hair full of bouncy curls. Her smile flashed across her face and she stood up from her spot on the ground, looking at the girl. Kori held out her hand, "Kori Williams, Slytherin 5th year. No need to ask what house and year you're in. Fifth year, Hufflepuff. I've seen you in classes." Kori smiled that sweet smile of hers and sat back down after shaking hands. She wound a tightly blonde curl around her finger.

"You can't simply run over people whenever you want. They have feelings too you know. I mean, how would you like it if I ran over you? You'd be squished flat as a pancake...wouldn't be a pretty sight, now would it? I mean, you sure as hell wouldn't taste like a pancake, not that I'm saying I would taste you- okay- I'll shut up now." Kori ended her little rambling there in a smooth manner and lowered her head, letting the blonde mess cover her face.

[jake]

"Well, it's a gorgeous day so that seemed like a good enough - hey!" Jake lurched forward slightly as someone knocked into him. He swivelled round and saw, not a surly Slytherin seventh year thank God, but a girl that he had seen in classes, with dark haired and with which his brain associated with the name Kelsey or something simular. Jake opened his mouth to tell her that it was okay, that accident happened, but Kori had cut in. He decided to let her speak for a minute rather than interrupt her and frowned slightly as she called the girl 'Huffle'. The frown was gone, though, replaced with an amused smile as Kori rambled off the subject, saying something about pancakes. Jake supressed a laugh but decided it was now the time to introduce himself. He put up a hand towards the girl.

"I'm Jake Hurtsner," He said, shaking the girl's hand, "Ravenclaw in your year I think. You'd be....Kelsey?"