Sorry to bother you... ((Vanessa))

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah scanned the spines of the many books that were shelved in neat rows. "Merpeople, Metamorphism, Miniature Magic," he mumbled to himself, reading the titles that were imprinted on each book. "Ah, there we go, Ministry of Magic." Jeremiah tilted the book with his index finger and then pulled it from the shelf. He checked the date to make sure it was current. Then, he found what he was looking for in the table of contents and flipped to the right page. The chapter held information concerning all the job positions that the Ministry held, along with contact information for how to go about applying for the job. Jeremiah had finally forced himself to do something about not having a job lined up for when he finished school. A new attitude that evolved after his father's death, Jeremiah was determined that he would do something productive with his life.

Finding a few positions that interested him, Jeremiah went to grab a writing utensil from his bag, but as he rummaged through the books and parchment, he couldn't find one. Normally, he would have just checked the book out, but the big red sticker that read "Reference" on the binding of the book meant that it was unavailable for students to check out. Jeremiah looked up from the book and saw a table nearby. Sitting at the table, he saw a girl with dark hair. He didn't recognize her, but that usually didn't stop Jeremiah. Plus, despite the fact that she wasn't smiling, she seemed nice enough.

Casually, Jeremiah walked over to the table with the book in hand. "Hey," he said quietly, as it was a library, "Sorry to bother you, but I have some information here that I need to copy down, and I can't seem to find anything to write with. Would it be possible to borrow a pen or something? It will only take a second." Jeremiah waited for the girl to look up from what she was doing. He flashed a desperate smile, hoping she wasn't a Slytherin who would recognize him as a Gryff and immediately shoot some snark comment his way.

[Vanessa Baer]

"Half a week before the winter, the chill bites before it comes, and I'm a child of the pleasure, that he brings before he runs. He sits behind a desk of mahogany, he whispers dreams into my ear, and though I've given him his empire, he delivers me my fear. The unicorns are riding high, powerful in coats of white, I turn to look and burn my eyes, I carry on - I carry on a wave of empty promise. I stand swallowed by the light, a flickering above the highway, I hold my head and know the streets are mine tonight. The vampires are growing tired, the coats of white all turned to red. My heart burns with desire, I carry on - I carry on." Vanessa's hands continued to play over the the piano as her voice carried across the empty room. It was one she had practiced in many times before. This song wasn't new to the walls either, it was something Vanessa had written two years ago and something she loved to sing regardless of how mystical it was. Actually, all her songs had a form of mystic in them and that was something that set her apart from all the other singers and song writers out there. At least, that's what she was told.

A lot of her music contained piano, in fact that was practically all it contained except for some percussion here and there. But that was something her father had thought might make it a bit interesting, "not that her piano playing skills weren't interesting enough..." Vanessa didn't do much but shrug and take his advice to heart. She asked her friend Aryeh to play the drum set for her when she recorded and he did it with pleasure. Except, she hadn't recorded anything yet. Or gotten any gigs. But that was mostly her fault with how much time she spent at Hogwarts and how much time she spent sleeping while at home for the holidays. As Vanessa finished the song, her eyes drifted to her backpack. She probably should get to that essay for one of her classes. Of course, there wasn't any better a place to do just that than the library. So on the last note, Vanessa put her arm through the back pack's strap and stood up - closing the piano lid. She left the room, knowing tomorrow she would have to search for it in the opposite side of the castle. She had been in it so much she knew where it was on certain days of the week.

Her heeled boots clicked on the stone floor as she made her way to the library. She was still in uniform, and hadn't done much for her appearance in the morning so her hair was down and swaying as she walked. It bothered her, though, and would probably end up being put up once she got settled at a table in the library. Once she sat down, she pulled out her hair tie and her hair went up into a rather high pony tail. Now she had to actually start her paper. She groaned with "delight" and pulled out her parchment and quill and ink pot. As she was about to begin, someone approached her and Vanessa jumped slightly at their voice. Her ink pot was knocked over because of her jumping, "Oh!" She gasped, quickly pulling out her wand and waving it. The ink dissappeared and she sighed, looking up at who had made her jump so, "Uhm, yeah. Here." She said, as she dug through her bag and came out with a muggle pen.

[Jeremiah Baer]

When the girl looked up, Jeremiah had startled her enough to knock over her jar of ink. Feeling terrible, Jeremiah tried stopping it before it made a mess, however she was quick in cleaning it up with her wand- something Jeremiah still had yet to get used to. It was amazing that even after seven years at a school of magic, Jeremiah was still held back at times by the muggle instincts that he grew up with. Had he only known that his mom was a witch and himself a wizard, Jeremiah only began to imagine the work and time he'd have saved himself through the years.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized quickly for his alarming the girl. Kindly, she still retrieved a pen from her bag and gave it to Jeremiah. "Thanks," he said, looking at the girl and getting a first glance at her face up close. He thought he had recalled seeing her in a class before, but his memory wasn't all the best, especially when in class, so if he did see her, odds were he wouldn't remember. "I'm Jeremiah," he added, wanting to be as kind as possible in return. "I don't think we've met before, and if we have, I'm sorry to say that I don't recall your name. Forgive me if that is the case."

Trying to get the information that he needed written down quickly, Jeremiah wrote a few words between looking up every now and then to not seem rude. He was always told that eye-contact was a form of respect and avoiding it was not a polite gesture. "That should do it then. Thanks again," he said as he finished getting down the last bit of information. With a smile, he handed the pen back to the girl, hoping she might at least give him a name in return.

[Vanessa Baer]

Vanessa smiled, “Don’t worry about it, if I had a sickle for every time I spilt something on myself or on my papers I would be rather wealthy.” She looked at her now empty pot of ink and shook her head, “Which would be wonderful, because these are getting more expensive by the day.” She smiled up at the boy again and put the ink pot back into her bag. Oh well, she would just use her blue pen. As her attention returned to her paper, she heard him introduce himself as Jeremiah. Another warm smile crossed her face, “I don’t think we’ve met, though you never know with how many people are in this school. Jeremiah, that isn’t a name you hear often. Did your parents have a taste for Biblical names or does it happen to be a family name?” Vanessa was fascinated by names or human behavior in general, really. Hopefully her questions wouldn’t scare him off, which had happened to many times for her to count.

He finished writing down what he needed and handed her pen back to her, she smiled. “No problem, I’m Vanessa, by the way. Nothing extravagant about my name. My mum just liked the sound of it. Vanessa Bauer. I think it’s rather plain. And that describes me, so in the long run she actually did a good job at picking out my name, eh?” Vanessa’s eyes lit up and she returned to her paper. But suddenly she felt as if she didn’t want to be alone again. She looked up quickly and smiled briefly, “Want to join me? Maybe you’ll make for a good distraction from my paper.”


((Eh, it looked longer in Word.))

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah tried not to feel bad for causing Vanessa to spill her ink, but it was hard. At least he gained some comfort thinking that she really wasn't too upset. He'd have offered to give her the money to buy a new bottle, but he didn't exactly have the money to be doing that. Ever since his father's death, Jeremiah was looking for a steady job to increase his income. Once he graduated, he knew he would for sure need to find some source of money.

When Vanessa introduced herself and then questioned him about his name, Jeremiah bit his lip and thought about it for a moment. Truth was, he never really knew why his parents chose the name Jeremiah. He assumed it was his mother's doing. His father wasn't the type to care much about things like that. As far as his name being biblical, he thought it might be the case, since he did have a sister named Sarah. Yet on the other hand, his other sister's name was Kara, which is not biblical. "You know," he said, finally coming to a conclusion, "I really have no clue why I got my name. In fact, I don't even know what it means, so I have no way of knowing if it even fits who I am." He made a mental note to himself to look it up someday. Since Vanessa brought it up, he was curious to see if its meaning did or didn't reflect his personality. "A few of my friends used to call me Miah when I was younger, but that sort of died off when I came here to Hogwarts." Not wanting to intrude too much, Jeremiah finished talking and was about to thank Vanessa again for her help. She seemed like she was going to get back to her work again, but then she looked up and asked if he wanted to join her. "Sure, I've nothing that I need to be doing elsewhere," he replied, pulling out a chair across from Vanessa and taking a seat.

"So what exactly would I be distracting you from?" he questioned with a grin. He knew that he most likely would not be much help, so Vanessa was correct in assessing that he'd help to be a distraction.

((That's ok... mind kind of ends all at once because I've got to get to class. ))

[Vanessa Baer]

Vanessa smiled brightly at Jeremiah when he said he didn't even know if his name suited him. "Well, if I get to know you well enough, maybe I'll be able to tell you. Most of the time, though, parents do a pretty good job of choosing names that suit their children. Even though mine's pretty dull, I couldn't see me anything else. Vanessa's sort of musical, I suppose. And I'm very musical. Almost to the point of having an obsession with music." She blushed slightly and then tapped her pen on the table top, trying to think. Something came to mind and she quickly wrote it down. She looked back up, but her hand kept writing. It was a talent she had, to be able to write without looking and to write in a straight line. It was something she had picked up when she was teaching herself how to play piano. It came in handy when writing lyrics with her left hand and playing the piano with her right.

He asked what he was distracting her from and she shrugged, looking back down at the essay. "Astronomy. You know, that new professor is kind of trippy. Don't you think? Brutally strict, but I like her. Besides Foxcroft and McGonagall we don't have any uhm, strict but civil teachers around here. Snape doesn't count. He is not civil, no matter what the Slytherins think."

[Jeremiah Baer]

"You've got yourself a challenge," Jeremiah joked in response to Vanessa saying that she'd have to get to know him in order to assess his name. "I don't think Vanessa is a dull name," he said with a thoughtful look, "it sounds kind of classy to me actually." He then watched as she mentioned music and then seemed to drift away from their conversation for a moment to write something down.

"Hey! I don't think that's homework that your writing down now," he said with a smile. He wondered if her talk of music inspired some sort of song or lyric that she might be working on. Most who were obsessed with music, as Vanessa had said she was, were also into writing songs and music. "Can I take a look?" Jeremiah asked enthusiastically. He wasn't much in terms of creating music whether with instruments or his voice, yet he appreciated the privilege to listen to music.

"Well, I didn't end up having the new professor," he explained when Vanessa said that it was Astronomy that he was taking her from. "McGonagall suggested I stick with the basics and work on perfecting my overall skills. I kind of slacked off my first six years," he admitted, biting his lip. "She says if I don't focus this year and get my skills sharpened a bit, I won't be finding a job too easily." Jeremiah hoped Vanessa didn't think less of him for what he was revealing about himself. Then he wondered if the name Jeremiah had anything to do with his apathetic approach toward his school work. He truly was trying to make a turn around, yet only time would tell if he were successful.

[Vanessa Baer]

"Well, that's good, I like challenges. Life isn't anything without challenges." Vanessa's face was completely serious. She did like challenges. Challenges were what made life interesting. They gave it life. No matter what other people thought. Challenges were the things that people encountered every day. Some were more dramatic than others. Births, deaths, everything were challenges. The only way to get past them, is to overcome them and to Vanessa that was the greatest achievement of all time. Her very serious face broke into a broad smile when he said he didn't think Vanessa was a dull name. "That's good, then. It means my name isn't something that would lull you to sleep. Well, perhaps if you heard it over and over again in a monotone voice. But, then, who wouldn't that put to sleep?" She smiled briefly and then looked down at her writing. Here she was trying to write an essay on Astronomy, and her hand and mind were wanting to write songs and music.

She had drawn a staff and all along the staff were music notes in the trebel cleff. For some reason, Vanessa seemed to write Treble Cleff first and then bass. Maybe it was because she sang treble and found it easier to write. Either way, it was something she had grown accustomed to and had no intention of changing it. She jumped again, this time only slightly, when Jeremiah spoke about her not writing down homework. She grinned guiltily and shrugged. He asked if he could see it and she smiled, "Can you read music? I mean, there are some lyrics there but most of it's piano music at the moment." Underneath the staff was a line of a verse, Stand up boy, do your trick turn on the stars. She pushed the parchment toward Jeremiah slightly and shrugged again, "It's nothing right now, but in a couple of months it'll be somehting spectacular."

Maybe she was being too cocky, but she thought she deserved to be. Music was her thing. She didn't do extremely well in classes but she was a decent student. She didn't like flying in the least bit and didn't know a thing about wizards chess. The piano and singing was what made Vanessa, Vanessa. She loved to just sit at the piano and fiddle with notes and chords and melt them into one thing. It was something that came naturally to her and she enjoyed it. She knew how lucky she was, and she never took it for granted. Vanessa came back to the conversation when she heard Jeremiah say he wasn't taking Astronomy. He went on to explain why and Vanessa nodded thoughtfully, "It's a good class. But not one for the easily insulted. She's a harsh teacher, but I think one of the best this school has had. As for not finding a job too easily, don't worry about it. I mean, yeah this might sound bad because we've only got so many months until we're out of here. But we're still kids. I'm passing my classes, always have, but some are barely. I'm a good student. I do well on exams. I just tend to not care about homework assignments. I can't say that I don't pay attention at all in class, though. I do. And I have an idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. But right now... a job is nothing to me."

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah shook his head in agreement to Vanessa's comment about challenges. It really showed that she was brave in a way; ready to face things that might come her way. Then he smiled when she joked about her name lulling him to sleep. "I supposed it would, if someone like Professor Binns were repeating it over and over like you said." He enjoyed the small bits of humor that Vanessa included in their chat. It reminded him of himself a few months ago. Deep down he wondered if that part of him were still inside. Surely it was, he just was not as apt to show it as frequently as he used to.

Vanessa seemed pleased when he asked to see what she was writing. "Well, I know some basics, but not much more than I learned in muggle music class when I was a lot younger." He looked at what she had written after she slid it toward him a bit. "Well, the best things don't just happen," he said encouragingly. "If it were that easy, everyone would do it." Quieting for a moment, Jeremiah scanned the lines of music and read the small portion of lyrics that Vanessa had included. "Interesting," he said simply. He pondered over the line for a moment. "As for the music, I'll admit I can't really imagine it in my head. And the lyrics; they're deep. But that's a good thing," he added quickly. "Music is just another form of art, and the best art is sometimes not easily understood." Jeremiah slid the parchment back toward Vanessa. "I'd love to hear it when you are finished," he said seriously. "What instruments do you play?"

When Vanessa moved onto the topic of classes, Jeremiah listened closely. When she finished, he felt a little better about the whole issue. Knowing that Vanessa was not worried about a job made him feel less stressed in a way. Maybe he wasn't the only one who felt that adulthood was approaching so quickly. "Thanks," he said sincerely, "it helps, knowing that there are others who understand how I'm feeling with being in my last year here at Hogwarts."

[Vanessa Baer]

Vanessa’s smile widened and she nodded enthusiastically, “Professor Binns can put anyone to sleep by just saying, ‘now, you see.’ But I have to give him credit. He is a sweet man.” Her eyes twinkled as she said this. She was really enjoying the conversation they were having. Then again, Vanessa enjoyed most conversations as long as they weren’t hostile or confrontational. She hated confrontation. But she didn’t mind deep and meaningful conversations. Sometimes, though, light and happy ones were just what the doctor ordered. Vanessa liked those more than she liked the deep thoughts.

She watched him intently as he looked over her music. She felt a sense of pride as he read it. She loved when people read her music. It wasn’t that she was too proud; it was that she liked sharing things like this with people she enjoyed. Vanessa was always very sharing about things such as that. She loved to share happiness. When he commented on it, saying interesting –her smile wilted a bit. But in a moment it shined bright again. He slid the parchment back to her and she took it once more, “Well, if you want, I have other pieces that I’ve already finished. Of course, it would be hard to play without a piano… I usually play in this one room that moves around all the time, but it moves once the person inside it leaves…and I obviously left.” She folded the parchment and placed it in her bag. “To answer your question, though, I play piano and a bit of guitar. More the first than the second.”

Vanessa smiled when he thanked her. She was about to ask what for, but he continued to explain. Suddenly she felt like she should clear something up. Sometimes she said things that weren’t really, completely, all that she believed. “Jeremiah, before you go and completely throw away your future, let me say something. I’ve always had it set in my mind that I’m going to be a musician. It’s in my heart. It doesn’t really require wizarding schooling. What you want to be might. Don’t stop studying or something. I wouldn’t want to be the cause of that. I’m just saying, don’t stress it.” She sent him a reassuring smile.

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah couldn't help but laugh at Vanessa's comment about Professor Binns. "Yeah, I guess he's as sweet as a ghost could be. Much better than Peeves for instance." Jeremiah could only think of the terror that Peeves would cause had he ever tried teaching a class. He shook his head at the thought of it.

"That would be amazing!" Jeremiah said excitedly. "So how do you find the room each time you need it? Or do you only get to use the piano when you happen to stumble onto the room." He wondered if Vanessa preformed for others frequently. "I would even love to hear you play guitar," he added, when she told him what else she played besides piano. "Most of my favorite muggle bands use electric guitars, but I think the acoustic sounds nice too," he said, assuming that's the type Vanessa used for her music.

"Oh, I'm not throwing away my future," he said quickly. "Truth is, I don't know that there's much to throw away. It just is helpful to know that I don't have to let the worrying consume me. However, I guess it would be easy to be more carefree if you actually have a talent. I really would love to hear some of your music," he added, finding it great that Vanessa had such a passion that she was willing to follow for her career. He only wished he had something like that- a talent or something that he could use and that he loved to do. But the only think he could think of were the muggle sports that his father taught him, and he knew he wasn't good enough at those to make a career out of them. "I'll most likely do something in the area of magic," he informed Vanessa. "My grades so far this year have been a definite improvement since I started trying harder, but I still don't know what I'm best at. I guess I'll just have to kind of wait and go with whatever opportunities are available for me; even if it means taking up a muggle job until something else comes along." Jeremiah couldn't help but worry a little more each time he thought about it. The future was just so unknown to him, and he realized it was sneaking up on him more and more every time it entered his mind.

[Vanessa Baer]

“Don’t underestimate Peeves; I’m sure he has a heart of gold, too. You just have to get past the whole wanting to wreak havoc every where he goes.” She smiled warmly at Jeremiah and looked down at the parchment. She added another rest and a few more notes, which looped into another bar. She didn’t mean to drift off into her music world, but a lot of the time it just overcame her. Vanessa looked up when he asked her a question, “Well, the room is usually in certain spots of the castle on certain days. On a Monday it might be down near the dungeons, on a Tuesday it might be near the Gryffindor common room. It’s just a magical room. I’ve been in it enough to figure out its schedule, but there are days when I can’t find it anywhere. But, that’s what makes half of the adventure.” Her smile grew into a bright mischievous one. When he went on to tell her that most of his favourite bands use electric guitars, Vanessa shook her head with another smile on her face.

“I suppose they’re almost equal in sound, but I don’t know. I was raised with acoustic, so I’m used to the sound more than I am the electric guitar. Though, maybe that’s because I grew up with classical music and a lot of soft genres.” She shrugged and set her pen on top of the parchment, and leaned back in her chair. She cocked her head to the side, and listened to him. After she had said not to throw away his future, he went on to explain that he wasn’t even sure there was a future to throw away. After he was finished, Vanessa sat there a moment and then started to pack her stuff up. She slipped her rucksack on over her head so it rested on her left shoulder and then turned to Jeremiah, “C’mon, I wanna show you something. C’mon.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the library and down the hall. She let go of his hand once she had pulled him out of the library, but kept a gentle hold on his arm. They had just met, and yet she felt like she knew him for awhile. She led him out of the castle and toward the Forbidden Forest. It was a rather cold day, but Vanessa couldn’t feel it. A breeze past by, flipping her hair behind her. It bit slightly, but again, Vanessa couldn’t feel much of it.

She led him to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but didn’t go any further. After all, that was against the rules and Vanessa wasn’t one for breaking rules. And she didn’t think he would be either, considering he was a Prefect. Vanessa sighed and nodded, turned to face Jeremiah, a big smile on her face. And then suddenly, without warning, she opened her mouth and screamed. Birds flew from the forest as her voice rose higher and higher. Then… she stopped. And then, she began her rant; “I hate all the pressure, that you put on me! I hate all the dreams you set around me! I want to be who I want to be!” Her voice was still loud, but she wasn’t looking at Jeremiah, she was screaming at the forest. She ranted for a few more minutes, going into how she didn’t want to worry about graduation and about how she didn’t want to grow up. After she was finished, she looked back at Jeremiah, “But I have to. The screaming is just a destressor. Something that helps you forget about all the crap. It feels good to get it off your chest, and when you go back into the castle and start to plan your life, you get a clear view of things. Go on, try it.” Vanessa smiled at him and then stepped away, setting her rucksack on the ground and sitting down beside it.

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah listened to Vanessa talk about her magical music room and guitars. He was really glad to have her company. Her carefree spirit and kindness was something he really appreciated. It helped him to get away from the stress that had overtaken him lately. It was nice to just sit and enjoy a random conversation with someone.

Suddenly, Vanessa began to pack her stuff. Jeremiah gave her a confused look. Had he angered her? Surely not, as she didn't seem upset. However, he watched as she finally flung her bag over her shoulder and then looked at him. His face was confused, wondering why she seemed ready to rush off in the middle of their conversation. Then, before he knew it, she grabbed his hand and told him to go with her. He wasn't necessarily opposed to it, however, he was awfully curious as to where they were going. Apparently she wanted to show him something, but what, he had no clue.

Silently, Jeremiah followed Vanessa who led him through the castle and out onto the grounds. They approached the Forbidden Forest and he thought she surely wouldn't take him in there. After all, he was a prefect, and he wouldn't want to get caught dead breaking the rules. Finally though, they stopped. Jeremiah's face was still riddled with confusion, however he noticed Vanessa flashing a large grin as she looked at him. Then, from nowhere, she began screaming at the top of her lungs. Jeremiah flinched at first, wondering what the heck she was doing. He listened, as she seemed to simply shout her feelings into the wind. Slowly, a grin worked its way onto Jeremiah's face, and by the time Vanessa was finished, he was smiling at her, shaking his head. "I don't know how I can't give it a try," he said with a small laugh after she told him that it helped to rid her of stress. "You made it look so fun."

Quiet for a moment, Jeremiah still was getting over the initial shock of Vanessa's outburst. Before he started, Jeremiah glanced back down at her sitting on the ground. Giving one last grin, he then looked up and started shouting toward the sky. "I'm tired of thinking that I have to be something I'm not! I am who I am and I'm not changing for you! From now on, I'm just going to live my life doing my best- I'm sick of worrying that I always have to do better!" His voice echoed through the trees in the Forbidden Forest. Finished, he turned back to Vanessa and smiled again. "That did feel good," he said. "Hopefully though, I still have my voice tomorrow," he joked.

Jeremiah took a seat beside Vanessa and looked up at the sky. The sun was just starting to disappear beneath the horizon. Its rays cast an orange-pink hue that covered the sky. "It's almost dark," he said, in a slightly disappointed tone. "We should probably head back up to the castle, leaving our worries behind," he added with a smirk. "Uh, Vanessa," he added, before getting up to start the walk back. "Are you doing anything this Saturday?" he asked. "I think that there is a Hogsmeade trip. If you wanted, we could hang out or something." Jeremiah smiled as he waited for her to respond. He really had enjoyed spending the time with her. His happiness level had increased so much, just in the small time they were together. He even had managed to forget some of the things that had been overwhelming his mind for the past few weeks. Vanessa made him feel free, and he really liked that.

[Vanessa Baer]

Vanessa smiled brightly as Jeremiah stated she made it look so fun, well, at least she was doing something right. She sat quietly, and waited for him to yell. And he did. She listened intently, picking up as much as she could about him. When people opened up and let out some of their secrets, or their deepest and darkest thoughts – they let out a little piece of them that they normally wouldn’t. He was yelling that he was tired of being someone he wasn’t, and Vanessa’s smile softened but was still there. When he was finished, she clapped, “Bravo! Bravo! And don’t worry about having your voice tomorrow, if you don’t that’s fine. Just drink some hot tea and you should be fine.” She smiled brightly at him and watched him take a seat beside her. She grinned and then turned her attention the setting sun.

They sat in silence a moment, and then he spoke the thing she had been dreading for the past couple of minutes. She sighed and nodded in agreement. Vanessa started to stand when he said that, but he started to say something more so she sat back down and tilted her head in slight confusion. When he asked her if she was doing anything this Saturday, she raised her eyebrows in surprise and shook her head just as he continued to explain there was a Hogsmeade trip and he wanted to know if she would like to hang out ‘or something.’ Vanessa’s face brightened with a smile, “Sure. Sounds lovely, uhm, would you just want to meet somewhere or do you want me to owl you?” She scratched the side of her head in slight wonder and then grinned, “I mean, I might just have another surprise up my sleeve…” she trailed off and then shook her head, “Nah, I don’t.”

She smiled again and stood, bringing him up with her. “Yey, now I have something to look forward to at the end of the week. My week has brightened just this much,” she held up her forefinger and her thumb about an inch apart, “I’m sure me not turning in my paper tomorrow will brighten it even more.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she took one last look at the setting sun and then sighed before heading toward the castle. “I’m blaming that on you, by the way. If my teacher asks why I haven’t turned it in, it will be your soul responsibility and I will tell her so.” Vanessa nodded as if that settled it and then grinned as they entered the warmth of the castle. “So, about that meeting place?”

[Jeremiah Baer]

Jeremiah grinned widely. "No, I'll be the one with something up my sleeve," he replied with a quick laugh. When Vanessa said it had brightened her week, Jeremiah was tempted to say that it had brightened his a lot more that what her showed with her fingers, but he kept silent, at least for that moment. He didn't want to scare her off and make it look like he was some obsessive freak. Plus, he didn't want to get caught up in the moment, or did he? Still, he just smiled when she joked with him and made his way up to the castle with her. He looked forward to getting to see her as well, when the weekend came around.

"Hey now," he said in reaction to her saying she would shift the blame on him for her uncompleted homework. "I'm not the one who drug you out here," he teased, thinking that he was glad she had though. "But I guess it's a fair price to pay for your kindness to help me see things a little clearer. I really do feel a lot better now," he explained.

"Oh yeah, where to meet," he thought for a moment. "I can stop by your common room, if you want. And then we can just go together to Hogsmeade. Or whatever you think would work best is fine with me." Jeremiah was thinking more on the fact that he would just get to spend some more time with Vanessa. The way they met didn't matter much to him. "How does two o'clock sound?" he asked.

[Vanessa Baer]

Her smile, which she had been told was contagious, appeared once more on her face. “Well, I’m glad I could help with something. Sometimes I feel so useless because I can’t do anything but sit still and look pretty.” She rolled her eyes and rubbed her hands together, trying to get the feeling into them again. It was too bad that summer was already over and fall was well into it’s swing, soon Winter would be creeping up on them… just like in her song. Vanessa smiled at her thoughts and looked at Jeremiah. “You know, you can go out there anytime you wish… except for after curfew, and I promise you no one will be able to hear anything you scream. Only the trees and they don’t tell a soul… well… most of them.” She sent him a mischievous smile. She hadn’t encountered any talking trees, but she didn’t doubt they existed.

When he gave an idea as for a meeting place, her smile went back to her calm and gentle one and then she nodded, “Alright, I don’t mind that. Saturday’s usually my ‘relax and write day’, so I shouldn’t be anywhere besides my dorm. Plus, you meeting me at my common room means I get to make you wait…” She trailed off, “Nah, I won’t make you wait. I’ll probably be ready by the time you get there. Well, I should probably split. You have a pass to being out past curfew, whereas I do not.” Her face brightened with another Vanessa smile and she quickly made her exit, stopping when she reached the end of the corridor and turning around, “Goodnight, Jeremiah. Remind me to find out your last name on Saturday,” She waved and then rounded the corner, heading toward her common room.


((Another one of those posts that looked longer in Word. :-\))

[Jeremiah Baer]

"Who said looking pretty was a bad thing?" Jeremiah asked, raising his eyebrows a bit. "And I just might have to try that sometime again. If I hear any other people screaming on the grounds, I'll also have a good indication that they were either stressed, or they must have ran into you and received a good dose of your screaming therapy." He smiled at Vanessa as she said that the plans sounded fine to her.

He glanced at his watch when she mentioned that they had better hurry. "That's right," he said as she made her way toward the Hufflepuff common room. "You'd better hurry, or I'll be forced to report you to Filch!" He gave her one last grin as she walked down the hallway. "Goodnight Vanessa," he replied, just as she walked around the corner. "I had better get one in return," he added, but she was out of sight. He watched the empty hall for a few moments before turning and smiling to himself. Saturday had better come pretty darn fast, he thought as he made his way happily back to the Gryffindor common room.