Unexpected Meeting (Katie H5)

[Copenhagen]

Justin suddenly became very aware that all the eyes were on him. Then it dawned on him, Professor Flitwick had called upon him to demonstrate. Looking slightly surprised, he stood up and walked in front of the class. He was supposed to a tickling charm on another of the Gryffindors. Grinning slightly he pinted his wand at her and said " Rictusempra." The girl opposite him could hardly move, maybe it was because he was nervous and happy at the same time. Today had been a review day in the Charms class and he had done quite well. Prof. Flitwick said good job and Justin sat back down. A few minutes later the bell rang, signaling that it was time to end class.

He felt that he need te relax in the student lounge, which had sonn become one of his faviorite places to hang out. He enetered the empty lounge and took a seat on the couch and laid down. He was tired and this felt like a very good rest to him. He heard the door to the lounge open and he did'nt look up to see who it was.

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie walked casually down the hall to the Student Lounge. She had just gotten out of a very trying Transfiguration class. Transfiguration was not one of her better subjects, in fact it was the only subject she had trouble keeping her marks up in. Katie had made a quick stop at her dormitory to change out of her robes (seeing as she had just finished her last lesson of the day) and into some of her normal clothes. She had on a pair of low rise, faded jeans and a light pink, crewneck t-shirt underneath her trademark blue jean jacket. Like always, she was wearing her mood ring and cross necklace along with a pair of diamond earrings and a cubic zirconium bracelet.

On her shoulder, Katie was carrying her usual cream colored, hibiscus shoulder bag, where she had stowed her wand after Transfiguration. She rounded the last corner and opened the door to the student lounge. She strolled in and took a seat in front of the fire. It was warm and cozy in the little arm chair and Katie felt soothed. She was looking around the room, when she noticed a boy sitting in the chair just a little ways away from her. Katie kept glancing in his direction, but her shy personality was taking over. She was afraid to say anything to him, not that she knew what to say to him. Finally, she decided to just introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Katie Robbins. I’m a Hufflepuff. Fifth year,” she smiled ever so slightly as those familiar nervous butterflies began to flutter around in her stomach. She waited anxiously to see what the boy’s reply would be.

[Copenhagen]

Justin opened his eyes as a girl introduced herself as Katie. Sitting up, he said " Well hi there Katie, I'm Justin Lionheart, I'm a Gryffindor fifth year." Justin was'nt one to be shy, so talking to girls was easy for him, sorta. Glancing at his watch, he looked back at the girl and grinned. " Well, what brings a pretty girl into my midst?" said Justin. He was very flirtatious, maybe that was because that was how he met most of the girls that he knew.

Waiting for her answer, he stood up and stretched out his legs, and his arms. Then he sat back down again, wondering what the girl would say to him. Maybe she would'nt like that he was flirting with a girl that he had just met.

[kaitlynrobbins]

She felt a light tinge of blush creep across her cheeks. Katie turned her head slightly to try to cover up her flattery. Why did being shy always work against her? Katie tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat before even attempting to look Justin in the eye again. Why did she have such haywire emotions like that? Could she not be like one of the other girls: normal and carefree for once?

“Nothing much,” she managed to get out, “I’m just relaxing after a long day. You see, transfiguration isn’t exactly my best subject . . . actually, it is most definitely my worst subject.” She smiled and tried to think of something to add to that to keep there from being an awkward silence between the two of them. Her mind was drawing a blank, like it most often did when she met someone new, so she just decided to return the question, “How about you?”

[Copenhagen]

Justin grinned and said, " Well I'm in here because I am very very tired, though I must say that it did turn out to a better rest than I thought." winking at Katie. He then said" So, your worst subject is Transfiguration huh, mines Divination.'' He thought about what to say for a second, and then said " Well, hows your day been?" It was all he could think of for the second. He grabbed a book out his bag and looked through it. He was supposed to be doing a report on the uses of moon stones in potion making. Resting his hand on the top of the couch, he accidentily dropped the book, and he leaned over the back of the couch to pick it up. Suddenly he felt the couch tip over and as it fell, he did a front flip, landing flat onhis back, laughing because it was funny.

He finished laughing, then stood up, pushing the couch back onto its legs and grabbing his book, then sitting down. " Well that was fun, to bad you missed that. What do you do for fun?" said Justin, he was suddenly less tired, maybe Katie was what he needed to brighten his day.

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie gasped as the couch Justin was sitting on tipped over. She hoped he wasn’t hurt. Katie was about to ask if he was okay, when she heard him laughing. Realizing that Justin was perfectly fine, Katie realized how funny the situation actually was and followed suit, laughing softly. “Actually, I’m not too sorry I missed that. A little flip over the couch doesn’t really appeal to me much,” Katie said, still partially giggling.

Katie crossed her legs and leaned against the arm rest on her chair, preparing to speak. “What do I do for fun? Well, I like to read. Novels mostly. And I like to write. Essays and newspaper articles are what I usually do. Not necessarily essays for school though, but over things I’m interested in. And as for the newspaper articles, I submit pieces to some magazines back home. I draw sometimes too. When I’m hanging around the stables and I get bored I’ll just pull out my sketchbook and draw something. I take my sketchbook with me ever. That and a good book. But what I really love are horses. It seems like I’m at the stables every second when I’m on break from school. I take lessons and compete in shows, but I do free riding also.”<br>
She took a deep breath. Katie wasn’t used to talking this much to someone she hardly knew, but she didn’t mind it so much. It actually felt rather good talking to Justin. He was such an easy person to talk to. “I like to listen to music. I listen to pop, country, jazz, and oldies, usually. I take dance lessons and that’s pretty fun and I play the piano, which I guess is alright too. Erm . . . let’s see, what else . . . I like shopping, but that’s the same for most girls. And I’m muggle born so I like a lot of muggle things like going to the movies. Erm . . .” Katie paused trying to think of what else to say and blushed realizing there was nothing left, “I guess that’s all I can think of at the moment. What about you?” Katie smiled and thought to herself, 'Maybe Jasmine was right after all.'

[Copenhagen]

Justin nodded and said " Thats cool. I like writing to, sorta, but I'm more of a trouble-maker than a scholar."Listening to Katie some more, he learned that she to, rode horses, but in a different way. Hearing her question about what he did fdor fun, he replied, " Well I play quidditch. In the summer I'm in the Rodeo, but then again most of my neighbors are. I love to play my guitar, and my fav music is country." He grinned as he finished this last statement and said " Well thats about all that I do, besides the fact that I cause a lot of the mayhem that goes on in this school."

Standing, he walked over to the fire, leaning on the mantle. He was thinking about home right now, and the said " What's your family like? If you do'nt want to answer it's ok." He looked at her and his eyes were shining in the firelight, bringing out his dark blue eyes into full perspective.

[kaitlynrobbins]

“My younger sister plays the guitar also. She has since . . . I don’t know . . . a really long time. And the rodeo, huh?” Katie said with a smile, “That’s really cool. I’ve never actually gotten the pleasure of going to one, but I’ve heard about them. What events do you participate in?” Katie had never met anyone that was in the rodeo before. That was very interesting. And his favorite kind of music was country? Katie thought she would never meet another person who really enjoyed country music. Even the girls at the stables didn’t really like country music and then at Hogwarts of all places she found a country music fan like herself, what were the odds of that?

Hearing Justin ask about her family, Katie had in mind exactly what she would say, but when he added the last bit she bit her tongue. Katie began to ponder why she wouldn’t want to answer the question. Was there anything that she didn’t want to speak about? She couldn’t really think of anything, but it still put her on edge. Katie thought carefully and quickly before speaking, something which she had almost forgotten to do. That was very unlike her. Especially around people that she didn’t know too well.

“Well, I live in a little house, little neighborhood, little town. My father works with computers and my mother is a veterinarian. She works at the horse farm where I take lessons. I have two sisters. Amelia is two years older and Jane is one year younger. They both used to ride horses with me, but Amelia grew out of it. She is more into her piano lessons and ballet. You see, my mother put all three of us in dance and piano lessons when we were really young. Amelia trains really hard in them, I take lessons casually during the summer, and Jane doesn’t do either. She plays football (soccer) and plays her guitar. We’re just your average, typical family, I guess.”

Katie was really at a loss of what to say. There wasn’t much to say that would describe her family. Meeting them would be the only way to really see what her family was like. It was the only way to tell how distant Amelia was from her younger sisters. It was the only way to see how hard their father had to work for them to live as nicely as they did. It was the only way to really see what a day in the life of Katie Robbins would be like. “What about your family? Are they average too?”

[Copenhagen]

Justin grinned and said " Your sis plays the guitar, thats cool. I've been playing since I was about, ummm, around, about since I was three or four." Thinking of his latest ride, he remembered the song, "Hooked On an 8 second ride". " Oh yeah, I love the rodeo, around my town, it's the only way to fit in, other than hunting, and fishing of course. My events are Bronc riding, and team roping., but in that area, the best team is Speed and Rich." He thought for a second, nobody had ever asked him about the rodeo, at least someone seemed intersted in his life.

As Katie finished her sentence, Justin said " Well, you rfamily sounds pretty cool, from my perspective at least." He reflected on hos thoughts for a second, then he heard Katie's question. " My family, well let me gather my thoughts on this subject." he replied, already calling up his not so average family memories.

After gathering his thoughts, he answered her question, saying, " Well, back in Texas, we own a ranch, but around these parts we own a house. My father and my mother are both Aurors. Both are pretty cool. My brother, he's a Seeker for a semi-pro quidditch team. Then there are my cousins, one goes here, and two of 'em had gone their before. Actually, we're a pretty mischievious family."

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie listened to Justin talk of his family and of the rodeo. "That sounds really cool. I hope I can go to the rodeo someday. From all the things I've seen or heard about it, it seems totally cool. And your brother is a seeker, huh? Do you go to a lot of his games? I go to a lot of Jane's football games during the summer . . . and some of Amelia's recitals too," Katie added the last bit hesitantly. She didn't really want to get into the subject of her older sister, but she had to say something about her. Sighing, Katie released all the tension that came with thinking about Amelia.

"So, Justin, what have you been up to lately? I’ve been trying to prepare for a couple of weddings that I am going to. It’s been taking quite a bit out of me. There’s one which I’m just attending, but the one that is really killing me is Julia’s. She was my horse instructor when I first started to ride. Anyway, she became one of my best friends back home and now that she is getting married, I’m in charge of planning the wedding, so I’ve been quite busy. It’s nice to just sit and relax for a bit.”<br>

[Copenhagen]

Justin nodded his head and said " Well that sounds cool. Yeah I go to a lot of my brothers games.", though he did notice her reluctance to talk about her sister. As he listened to what Katie had to say next, he became very disgruntled. " Man, you have to plan a wedding, that has to suck, or if you like it, that's cool, but I could never deal with the pressure of planning a whole wedding." said Justin. He thought for a second, then said " Well glad I could help you relax, I feel a bit more relaxed now to, but maybe that's cause my back has stopped hurting." grinning more broadly.

Looking around, he started to wonder how his parents were doing, maybe he was ready to forgive them. He looked at Katie and decided to answer her question from just a while ago, he said " Hmm, what have I been up to, well lets see, so far I've been meeting a pretty girl, but yesterday, I've been schemig up a brilliant new prank. Other than that, it's about normal, or as normal as Hogwarts will ever be. Say, I hope you do'nt mind my asking, but do you have a boyfriend or something, just wondering, you do'nt have to answer if you do'nt want to."

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie nodded, "The wedding planning isn't so bad. It's just . . ." she trailed off shaking her head. How was she supposed to explain this? There had to be a proper way to put it. She sighed, string her words together, "I don't know, it's hard to explain. I'm just always put in charge of things, because everyone expects me to be able to handle them," she said, trying her best to keep calm about the subject,"I'm sorry, that probably sounded horribly selfish of me. I really do like planning the wedding, sometimes. It's actually quite fun when I'm not having a very busy day. I'm just afraid that I'm going to lose it when it gets closer to the wedding day."

Katie was able to keep her cool, like usual, but the more stress there was the harder it was to do. She continued to listen to Justin and blushed a deep crimson at the mention of a pretty girl. She was a little surprised at the question of a boyfriend. That wasn't something she was asked very often. "Um, no," she spoke softly, twisting her fingers as her hands lay on her lap, "actually, I don't. That's uh another problem. I'm supposed to have a date to both of these weddings. If I had a boyfriend that would be solved loads easier." Katie let out a slow breath, proud that she had handled her uncertainty in discussing this subject. The thing now, was what to say next. Something she had learned from Cotillion classes was that when in doubt, return the question. Which is exactly what she did. "What about you, Justin? Do you have a girlfriend?"