We Are Okay ((August))

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

“Blasted day and blasted Charms and I’ve got so much to do” Gavin said in a low singsong voice. OWL year was turning into quite the handful, and Gavin’s friends really weren’t helping all too much… they always wanted to do something, be somewhere, and always got snippy when he said he couldn’t. Well they didn’t all get snippy, mostly just Eric, but that was who mattered because Eric was his best friend. His best friend at school at least, at home his best friend would always be Jheylon, his twin brother. His bother wasn’t here though and so at school Eric was his best friend, but of course Jheylon always got snippy when Gavin couldn’t come… Jheylon and Eric were a lot alike; they would really get along… Gavin really didn’t want them to meet, otherwise they would be best friends and poor Gavin would be left in their dust with the small insistence “I have to study!”.

Brushing his bangs out of his eyes Gavin looked around the crowded Student Lounge… he was waiting for August to get started on their assignment, but Gavin had come 10 minutes early and really didn’t expect him to be there yet. The fire was crackling, perpetually, in the grate. The students were milling about or sitting around in a lazy fashion, no one would realise it was the beginning of spring and therefore crunch time before exams. People just didn’t show it like he did… maybe people didn’t get it like he did… Or maybe he was just a head case… except that he was not a head case, he couldn’t be… he just took his studies seriously. Too seriously… well enough to do well and that was what mattered…

He found a table in the corner, away from the too warm fire. Spreading out his charms books Gavin looked around again, he was still waiting for August, it was still early but not too much. He didn’t know August too well, they had been in classes together for five years but they were in different houses and had never worked together before so Gavin really didn’t know what to expect from him. It wasn’t like Gavin was anti-social really… he just really enjoyed spending time with his friends… first Jheylon and their muggle friends… then Sita, Ingrid, and Aaron… now Eric, Nathan, and Reed… That was probably why the professor put him together with August, the professors always seemed to feel Gavin needed new friends…

[August Reid R7]

"Sorry.... sorry... SORRY! ....MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!" August finally yelled at a group of first years blocking the corridors. They stopped talking and looked at the older boy a little hurt and a little scared. He just glared back and indicated with a nod of his head that he wanted to get past them. Understanding finally dawned in their heads and they moved apart so that he could move past them. August made a mental note to apologise to them in the future but right now he had to get to his destination. He was meeting Gavin in the Student Lounge and he didn't want to be late. It was August's habit to be late but he didn't want that to be Gavin's first impression. This was the first time that he recalled the two boys ever having to work together so he wanted to make it work as smoothly as possible.

In his hands he carried a copy of Mastering the Elements: You and the World; Vol I that he had recently checked out from the library. It was a thick text and August couldn't even imagine that there was a second volume or even a third. Was there really that much to learn about the elements? Rushing into the Student Lounge he looked around the crowded room and spotted Gavin sitting at a corner table. Making his way to the Hufflepuff August had to squeeze between two very dumb but very brawny Slytherins. They gave him a mean look but August continued on his journey before they could stop him. "I hope I'm not too late," August said to Gavin as he sat at the table. "Several other students wanted to check this book out and they are only four copies. I don't think Professor Flitwick thought this one all the way through."

Their assignment was an easy one or a hard one depending on who you asked. They were asked to cast simple spells but work together to cast a more advanced spell. They were to create a fire tornado. This was accomplished by casting a very simple air spell and a very simple fire spell. But getting the two spells to work together was going to be the hard part. August wasn't sure if Gavin was in the mood to small talk and August had a tendency to take small talk to deep talk and never get the assignment done. Opening the textbook to the first chapter he read, "There are four elements in the world: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. They serve as a worldly push and pull. Air is the opposite of Earth likewise Fire is the opposite of Water." August paused and looked up at Gavin. "Fascinating..." he rolled his eyes.

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

((So, I was thinking, if it’s okay with you we can just change the timing to the new school year and keep this post going?))

Gavin smiled as August came over, sat down, and got right into the assignment. A fire tornado, sounded pretty cool but the logistics of it were fairly dull. However, Gavin was excited to brag to his brother back home about how he could make a magical fire tornado. “Oh yes, enthralling stuff really. Five years of magical education , and yet they always manage to make it sound like we’re starting at the beginning over and over again. At least it will look pretty cool at the end. Hey! I was thinking, what if we added a bit of floo powder in for effect during our presentation? Turn the fire green and all that. I mean, we can’t really connect to the network so… we can’t really go anywhere but… Green fire! Green fire that looks like it could take you out of that super boring class full of presentations and bring you somewhere else, somewhere cool, somewhere you really want to be. Could go for some floo powder right now, eh? Zoom out of the lounge and into… I don’t know where… a theme park! Have you ever been to a muggle theme park? They’re pretty cool, I could go for a roller coaster right about now. Ha! I think they would confiscate my prefects badge if I suddenly buggered out of school and took you to a theme park! Sorry, I am babbling… fire, right.” Gavin tried to recover, blushing, realising he was babbling to the other boy who hardly even knew him. It was okay to babble to his friends, they were used to his jumping from one topic to the other, they knew how to ignore it or keep him on track or play into it depending on the day. Today they would likely try to keep him on track, they were supposed to be working after all.

Gavin looked around him nervously, trying to be cool, trying to stop himself from looking like a spaz in front of August. He noticed a few of the other students were looking at the curiously, especially some of the new first years who were apparently not used to being around boisterous older students who didn’t know how to stop talking. He smiled politely at them then looked back at August, hoping the other boy didn’t look scared or something, you never know really. But now was the time to be working, they had an assignment to do… hopefully August wasn’t thinking he got paired up with some loony…

[August Reid R7]

In their years at Hogwarts August and Gavin had never really spent a lot of time together. It was always refreshing to get to know someone new. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff got on brilliantly so August had no real worries about the assignment. If Gavin was taking Charms in his sixth year he must know what he was doing. One would hope. August himself barely knew what he was doing in Charms himself. He had no inkling of what he wanted to do when he got into the real world and thus had continued to take the classes that he already was. He had no desire to sit in an office doing paperwork and he was not quite so adventurous to be an Auror and risk his neck dealing with dark magic and all that. Professor Flitwick and he had spent a great deal of time talking about the future to no avail. August just wasn't decisive enough.

August listened to Gavin with interest. Floo powder? Green fire? That would be pretty neat. Might earn them a few more points. He opened his mouth and took a breath to respond but Gavin continued talking. Defeated, August closed his mouth and waited for another pause. A muggle theme park? The Reid family was a pure family and the thought of muggle themed anything would make his father cringe. His mother would probably be more open to it. If only his mother actually knew what was going on. Again, August opened his mouth and drew and breath to speak but Gavin continued. August closed his mouth and just waited. Was this normal behavior for his partner? or was he just nervous? He couldn't be sure. The Hufflepuff seemed to realise what he was doing as he abruptly stopped and blushed.

He was nervous. That definitely took the edge of for August. August could never be sure how a new partner would work out so he was glad to see that Gavin was normal. "Wow," he said as Gavin returned his gaze. "That was... a lot." August smiled to let Gavin know that he hadn't done anything wrong. "I've never been to a muggle event. My family is pure and my dad would be appalled by the thought of muggle anything. As for the floo powder, I think that would be an idea to explore but for now I think we should try to first create the bloody thing." August wasn't trying to dismiss Gavin's idea so he hoped that he didn't come across that way. "Would you rather be fire or wind? I think I would like to be wind."