Outside for the Arts (( Dawn ))

[danika]

She never thought herself and outdoor person, probably because she wasn’t. Somehow she had never enjoyed the whole idea of it—unpredictable weather, the bugs the dirt. It was far from her idea of an idea situation. That stated, she was not quite sure what drove her out of doors on this particular afternoon. School was almost dismissed for summer, and she had to admit that the warm sunshine was hard to resist; especially with the cool temperatures in the Slytherin common room limiting her wardrobe to outfits with long sleeves and she was desperate to wear the new sleeveless tops she had bought the last time she went to Milan.

Danika walked across the crass in front of the Hogwarts castle, far from enjoying the fact that she could not hear the steady sound of her shoes on stone. It was her favorite sound, the rhythmic clicks of good heels on cold hard floor. Now she wore a pair of flat white and gold sandals, which at least complimented her rich ream strapless dress well. It was a one of a kind from a designer she had met after the spring lines had been show in the fall.

Happy to feel the sun beating down on her bare shoulders she made her way to a bench hear a tree. It was far from what she normally considered a desirable location, after all who knew what, or who had been on that bench previously and she had no intention on getting mudblood anything onto her new dress. Perhaps against her better judgment, she settled down onto the bench and spread her sketchbook open on her lap. Once she left Hogwarts and returned to her summer house in Romania, she would have lots of time to make her designs and there were final touches that needed to her sketches.

[dawn]

The ending of her last year at Hogwarts was finally arriving. Seven years of forced confined spaces with mudbloods and halfbreeds. Dawn felt like it was a roller coaster. Some times tolerating them for the sake of 'humanity', and other times loathing them to no extent and making that feeling known quite well. But today was a better day than normal. Classes have been winding down, OWLS and NEWTS exams were well underway; and Dawn was free as a bird for the majority of the day. She woke up, did her normal running/ breakfast/ morning classes routine and still had time to relax with Cole in the Common Room. He was the reason she didn't smite a mudblood if they stepped on the back of her cloak, these past few months. And several lower class men were relieved of the horrid feeling of watching their back every where they went. But the sight of them still wincing in the hall when Dawn walked by always made her smile.

Saying goodbye to Cole as he departed from the Common Room to go to his Potions class, Dawn looked around for some sort of enjoyment. Fiddling with her wand between her fingers she looked toward the passage way to the dungeon halls. "Rather boring this place is." she thought to herself as she stood up from the plush couch she was quite used to for the past half an hour. Raising her right hand to her left shoulder, she slipped off her cloak as he made he way toward her dorm. She was in the mood for some sunlight and fresh air. And a change in ward-robe was surely in store.

After going through her already packed bags for five minutes, Dawn emerged from the Common room dressed in summer attire, but still acceptable for her last few days at Hogwarts, a Grey pleated skirt with baby blue pinstripes, a white short sleeve button up collared shirt, accompanied by baby blue heels to match the skirt's stripes and a pair of dazzling hanging earing's. Making her way up the dungeon stairwell, she could see the sunlight from the windows shine on to the marble floor, putting the display of years of wear and tear on the floors. But with much distress, Dawn figured it gave her home for the last several years character. Although, at McGrogan manor she would never allow it.

Pushing through the right oak door, she stepped out into the sunlight. Quite a few students were spread through the lawns entertaining themselves. Walking into the grass, the sun beat off her shoulders and face. The warmth calmed her. It was a much needed change from the cold dungeon Common Room. Taking in the fresh air she saw a few paces away a friend of hers. She was sketching on her notebook. Dawn was a fellow lover of art, and being bothered by someone unexpected when you are doing anything can spark up a bad attitude. Pushing a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear, she walked over toward the small grove of trees together where Danika sat, sole. Fixing her skirt, and sitting down at the base of a tree Dawn tapped her wand on her lap as her own sketchbook appeared, and a piece of coal.

[danika]

Both Danika's wand and her charcoal lay on the bench beside her and she took turns using them to alter her sketches. A bit of shading here and there, and then her wand to alter colors and remove anything not to her taste. There would be summer parties to attend, and she had a few cocktail dresses she had designed she intended to wear to them. As she changed the empire waisted of a calf length dress to silver she heard approaching footsteps, but did not bother to look up and see who they belonged to. It wasn't until she was finishing adding the silver touches to the particular dress she was working on that she caught a glimpse of Dawn from the corner of her eye. Her fellow Slytherin had summoned her own sketch book and was starting to work on a piece of her own. Danika had long decided that she approved of Dawn. The older girl came from a good pure blooded family, and she had a respectable view of those less than worthy in the magical world.

"I see I was not the only one who wanted a bit of sunshine" she said, glancing over at her sketchbook, once she was certain that Dawn as not too concentrated in her work to be disturbed by a few pleasantries. "I enjoy the common room a great majority of the time, but its far to damp and drab there for a dress like this." After she spoke, Danika looked back at her sketchbook at a moment, taking in the over all picture of the dress she had just finished. It was a very classic design, with deep dark colors and a longer hem line than most summer dresses. She always found that the average summer dress became a bit dull after a while. They were always some bright or pastel color like pink or aqua, and trimmed with white. She for one has a more sophisticated idea of style.

[dawn]

Picking up a peice of coal, she held it in her palm. Wondering what she should draw, or sketch, or create was the next matter of appointment. Turning her head, she skimmed the grasses for something entertaining. A Ravenclaw boy was catching a ball bought from the Weasley brothers. As he caught it, the ball exploded on impact in his hands and a puff of dark smoke errupted from the ball. As the smoke began to clear, a few friends and aquantances surrounded the young one. His skin was now a pecular shade of green with orange defiant circles. "Idiodic." she spoke and turned back to her sketch book. Danika began to speak; as Dawn raised her head to greet the farmilar voice. Danika was two years younger than her, but as a friend; an aquantance- Dawn liked her. She was a 'spit fire' of sorts. Which Dawn surely liked. And being brought up with a family of whom sharied her views surely gained her points.

"I am quite fond of the Common Room myself." Dawn paused as she motioned towards the boy who was now discolored. "But that is why most Slytherins are more likely found inside; in our own space." With a snark grin she went on. "The weather is gorgeous today. This morning I went on a run; and even in the morning hours the day was lovely." Dawn looked down at her sketch pad and had an idea. This summer, she knew she was going to be going on plently business meetings. Meeting up with lawyers, the Ministry, Old family, and so on and so forth- she would definatly need something to wear. A dress suit seemed to fit the bill for the meetings with the lawyers, but a few dresses were needed for the family meetings. After her father's death; Dawn seemed to be on her toes with her own personal schedual since Rachel was now disowned. Dawn was now the eldest born, in her family's eyes.



((sorry, this is short, I'm in a hurry. Promise my next post will be better. ))

[danika]

Thankfully she had finished with her sketch before she the sound of an explosion spread across the grounds. The sound was subtle, but just enough to be annoying, and had her charcoal been on her paper, just enough to possibly create an unwanted line. She let her gaze drift over to the culprit only momentarily before she looked back to Dawn who had addressed her previous comment. After Dawn spoke she paused for a moment, thinking back to their common room. While perhaps there were members in their house with hardly the brains to keep them standing upright, nor the true feelings of a Slytherin within them, but out here there was no filter for the obviously far to lowly. Sighing she glanced back over at the boys who had caused the distraction earlier. "One would think it was possible to provide some sort of play pen for those types. Obviously they are in need of constant supervision, preferably to be done somewhere in the middle of the woods where I don't have to see them or smell the muggle they reek of." Letting out another sight she looked back at Dawn, this time not pausing to glance down at her sketchbook, but instead flipping the page.

"I do find this weather can be rather inspiring, especially when I'm working on some designs. I've decided to officially start my own label this summer--completely exclusive of course. That way I'm able to keep it small while still trapped here, not that I've learned or will learn anything truly useful, and had expand after I graduate. There are so few pure designers these days and I refuse to buy from anything other." After she spoke, her gaze lingered on Dawn for another moment before she glanced back down at the sketchbook. It was another dress, this one with a slightly more professional look to it than the last. Dawn, while they had not exactly progressed from acquaintances with similar outlooks to friends, was already well aware of her fashion based ambitions. Dawn had even been one of the first to be given a Yakov original, as she had given a rather formal dress to the older Slytherin the year before as a birthday gift.