Something More ((Cathy))

[Jeremiah Baer]

His feet propped up on a nearby end-table, Jeremiah laid on a couch in the student lounge with his hands behind his head. A few books as well as an empty piece of parchment were stacked, unopened on the floor. He had intended on taking the afternoon to finish some homework which was due in the near future, but he was unable to make himself start working. Instead, he had spent the last hour or so drifting in and out of the many thoughts that filled his mind. The room was quiet, and he couldn't stand the silent atmosphere. Jeremiah thrived on action, and without it he was a lost cause when it came to thinking straight. His mind would wander constantly when he was left alone. Often, he filled the alone time thinking of ways he could be having fun with his friends.

Rolling over on his side and sitting up slowly, he looked at the clock and let out a large sigh. He looked at the pile of homework and wrinkled his nose. It would be so much easier if it just did itself, he thought wishfully. Leaning forward, he placed his head in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. For some reason, loneliness depressed him and he hated that feeling.

It wasn't long before he couldn't take it any longer. Standing up, he walked over to a window and looked outside. He could go outside and try his homework in the courtyard, but he would be alone there too. Where was everybody when you needed them? His forehead placed against the glass, Jeremiah closed his eyes and thought- searching for something more.

[sammy]

Cathy snuggled farther under the blanket, her head disappearing under the warm cover. Her blond hair was the only thing that appeared on top. Oh, if only the blanket could cover her from her roiling thoughts. She no longer was unsure what to do with herself. The problem about Giselle was solved. Occasionally, at classes and such, she would get lonely and a longing pained her heart for her twin. But now Giselle was gone - gone to Durmstrang for good. And she was happy about it. So why could Cathy be?

The Student Lounge sounded pretty empty today. Except from a few sighs that sounded like it could rattle the bones, Cathy heard nothing around her. Sometimes the rustling of paper could be heard, but that was it. And she liked it this way. It was more comfortable, more relaxing. She didn't pop her head up to survey her surroundings; was there really any need for it? A book was propped on her lap, but it had bored her to death. Perhaps that was why she was half-asleep. A noise was suddenly made to Cathy's left, making her come out of her little den and look around. A boy - well, he looked about sixteen, so almost a man - was standing by the window. Cathy raised an eyebrow, but got out of the covers anyway. Before she left, she made sure to fold it up carefully and put it back in her bag. You never know what could happen to it if it was left out in the open.

"Um, hi." Cathy greeted the boy by the window. Catherine searched his face - or what she could see of it - for clues of his identity, but only a blank appeared in her mind. "Have you lost faith in your studies? Have they driven you to boredom?" Cathy asked with a slight grin splaying across her face. "I don't think we've met before.... Well, even so I guess we should introduce ourselves, since I can't seem to remember your name. I'm Cathy Dumas, Gryffindor fifth year. You're a Gryffie too, right?" Cathy bit her lip, hoping she had at least gotten his House right. It was pretty sad when someone thought that you were a Hufflepuff when you really were a Gryffindor. "I don't know if you were the same way, but I was practically sleeping over there."

[Jeremiah Baer]

Turning to see a girl around his age behind him, Jeremiah smiled politely. "Hi Cathy, I'm Jeremiah," he replied. "Yes," assured her, "I am in Gryffindor, and I am a sixth year. Only one more after this," he said with a sound of relief. "I think I have lost more than faith in my studies, I've lost all interest completely," he said with a sigh. The mere thought of homework caused Jeremiah to cringe bitterly. It was surely the worst part of school in his mind. Why the professors couldn't just skip the whole homework thing was beyond him. Not only was it time-consuming and boring, but also stressful and of course educational, but the pros of it were greatly outnumbered.

"So I think we have ourselves a problem here Cathy," he said sarcastically. "All of this homework is putting us to sleep as you mentioned, but at the same time, it needs to be done. What do you propose that we do about this?" he asked. "I know I have a suggestion, but it is bound to fail as it includes ignoring the homework all together." He smiled, glad to have the opportunity to socialize instead of being bored with his books.

Jeremiah walked back over to the couch and slumped down lazily. He let out a sigh and laid his head back. "What to do, what to do," he muttered, musing over the few ideas that popped into his mind. All of them seemed rather boring or just plain impossible. "I'm going to let you take this one," he said, referring back to Cathy. "The fate of our boredom lies in your hands," he said, raising his eyebrows. "You better devise a good idea," he joked, "otherwise we are stuck here doing nothing but more homework." The thought sickened him as he hoped Cathy level of creativity was currently higher than his.

[sammy]

"Just one more?" She asked, surprised that he mentioned this with relief. One more year to go and then he was free of Hogwarts. Was this something to celebrate? Cathy never wanted to leave, it was more of a home then the House of Dumas could ever be, that much was certain. Even if homework was boring, teachers ranted all day, and the Slytherins pestered everyone with annoying quotes such as, "being a Slytherin is a privilege." The thought turned Cathy's stomach and made her head dizzy. A privilege to be what? A snotty stuck-up little prat? No, Slytherins have birth certificates for that. A smile crossed her face but she knew that those words would never come out of her mouth when she met a Slytherin. "I'm bored as well, but I think some interest has remained intact." She remarked. How could she lose all interest in homework? It seemed impossible, since homework was the thing that got you through to the next level.

"Yes, a very big problem." She agreed, smiling at his sarcasm. She laughed a little when he mentioned ignoring homework all together. "I hope you don't mean skipping class." She raised an eyebrow. "That would be just silly, wouldn't it?" She waited for him to agree and if he didn't she would probably laugh. It seemed amusing for someone to skip an entire lesson just because they didn't feel like doing homework. Not that Cathy hadn't been in that situation, but she had always been in class, homework done or no. Except for Snape. In his classes, she did homework whether it was boring or not. "Is it Potions homework? I can understand sleeping through that, but if I were you I'd get it together. Snape can be rather nasty sometimes."
She followed him over to the couch, but she sat down opposite him instead of beside him. She hardly knew him yet, and he appeared to be frustrated. Giselle had taught Cathy a valuable lesson back when they were younger; never get too close to a frustrated person. Putting her hands in her lap, Cathy imitated Jeremiah and laid her head back.

"Why me?" Cathy asked irritably; she didn't like to admit that she never had good creative ideas. She was always abiding the rules, always taking into consideration doing something right and boring instead of something wrong but fun. She closed her eyes, racking her brain for some solution to the problem. "Um..." Thoughts tumbled into her mind and left just as quickly. Was there anything to do besides homework? She messed around with her fingers for a little while before an idea struck her. "Is a light-bulb up there?" Cathy reached up above her head and touched the air, but didn't feel a bulb shining. She smiled. "Have you ever watched muggle shows? They usually have cartoons and stuff and whenever they think of an idea, a light bulb flashes above their head. I need one of those," she mused, carefully running her hand down her blond hair. "Anyway. I don't know if you've ever done this before, but it was the only thing I could think of..." Now that she had said she had an idea, the thought of abandoning it was irrelevant. She had to tell him, even if she was having second doubts.

"Well, since we don't know each other that well..." She needed a drum roll or something. The way she hesitated made it seem like she was waiting for something. "Care for a game of Truth or Dare?" She challenged, her eyebrows raising as she hoped that the idea wouldn't be laughed at or made fun of.

[Jeremiah Baer]

"Just one more," he echoed again. "It's not that I don't like this school, it's just that I can't wait to get out in the world and be on my own, without my father constantly treating me like I'm five. It can be a pain sometimes." The words sunk in, and Jeremiah felt a strong dislike toward his dad. He didn't want to be rude though, and he turned his attention back to Cathy.

"No silly, I don't mean skip classes. I just mean that for now I really don't feel like even thinking about my homework, so I think it's best to just forget about it. Otherwise, the constant thought of knowing that it still needs completed would prevent me from having fun at its fullest potential, and that would be bad!" he explained.

Listening as Cathy reluctantly mused over the situation, thinking of what they should do, Landon waited anxiously. Then, when the words 'truth or dare' left her mouth, a large grin appeared on his face. "Are you crazy?" he asked, his eyes widening with excitement. "You do realize you just challenged the master of all masters when it comes to truth or dare?" he said boastfully. Sure that wasn't an official title that he had acquired, but everyone who knew him knew that he was very daring, and was willing to share whatever anyone asked to hear. It was the perfect game for him.

"In all seriousness," he said, toning down his arrogance, "that is a brilliant idea, as long as you are up for the challenge. I'm not going to take it easy on you, and I expect you to bring it!" he exclaimed, all the while smiling from ear to ear. "So if you still want to play, I will ask you first... truth or dare?"

((sorry it's not the best and also late.... i will make up for it tho in the next one!))

[sammy]

((*pokes* I already like this post, even if we haven't started the game yet. So your post was perfectly fine with me, just as long as this post doesn't die, I'm happy! ))

Cathy gave him a small smile as he explained his reasoning behind it. She still couldn't understand why he wanted to get out so bad. The real world, something dangerous and uncertain. Especially with everything going on. She wasn't sure if the real world was something she wanted to enter or not. Even if Hogwarts wasn't the safest place around anymore, she still felt completely at home here. She wouldn't give it up for anything, especially not a different school. Giselle's face washed up in her mind, but Cathy pushed it away as quickly as it had come. Giselle was not something she wanted to think about right now. "It must be very antagonizing." She agreed. Daphne treated her like she was to blame for everything, and Giselle pretended to be Cathy's role model. You could say she knew what it felt like to be treated wrongly.

She couldn't help a smile as Jeremiah called her silly. She almost never heard the phrase from anyone, but she liked it. You could call it refreshing, or that Cathy was in a shockingly accepting mood today, I wouldn't know. "Just checking." She said easily, propping her feet up on the couch she was currently sitting on. Not many people were in the Student Lounge. Just enough for Cathy to feel a little uncomfortable. "Do you always like having fun?" She asked him a little later, her eyebrows raised just a little to put emphasis on it. She wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing, because it made her jealousy. People who could take life as it comes and enjoy it was the center of her jealous. "You can forget about it then. For now." Cathy gave him a smile. "I think I will too."

She giggled a little at his wording, which was a rare thing coming from Cathy. "Well, master of masters, I hope you aren't all talk and no walk!" She told him with another little laugh to follow. His arrogance was amusing to her. Not at all like the Slyths, but just being proud is a virtue. Cathy liked the prideful. They had attitude, but being too proud wasn't exactly a thing to worship. "Do you think I can't handle this, Jeremiah?" Cathy asked with a grin. "I wouldn't have challenged you if I wasn't the best as well." What a white lie. She couldn't stand little lies, especially when someone could figure them out easily. But this was different; she was going to prove that she wasn't lying, but showing what she could do. Proving it to herself, more like.

"Dare." The word was out of her mouth before she could even comprehend what she was thinking. It made her a little weak at the knees; if he really did have a walk, then she could be in trouble with a difficult dare. The word brought Darien Fletcher's' face to her mind, which made her smile a little more brightly. She thought him funny, especially remembering the day on ice they had had together. Interesting and amusing at the same time, and all together sweet to the heart. Although maybe too much of a flirt. Cathy brought her mind off of Dare and on to Jeremiah. She didn't want to look like an air head.

[Jeremiah Baer]

((well I promise it won't die, but I can't always guarantee a quick reply ))

Showing no signs of backing down, Cathy quickly chose dare. Jeremiah, a bit surprised by her sudden response, was taken back at how confident she seemed. It only meant that he would have to be on his toes, ready for anything she may throw his way. A good start would be to get her flustered at the beginning by coming up with a great dare.

Many previous games of truth or dare that Jeremiah had been a part of flashed through his mind. He started recalling a few of the better dares that stood out. There was the typical dare in which you had somebody do some random act of stupidity in front of a crowd. And, there was the one where you dared somebody to show some sort of public display of affection toward somebody else, whether it be a kiss, a compliment, or something of the sort. And finally there were those dares that fit into the miscellaneous category, having no real connection to each other. Often times, these were the most creative and best choices for dares. Jeremiah thought hard to create one. He was having trouble though coming up with what he considered to be the perfect dare, so he resorted to one of his mediocre ideas.

"Alright," he began finally. "This first one is to test your general ability to be sneaky," he explained. "You have ten minutes to go down to the dungeons and sneak into the potions room. Then, you must take a few dried nettles from the supply cabinet. But, just to be sure we aren't 'stealing' from Snape," he said, pausing to rummage through his pocket, "here are a few knuts you can leave in return," he finished, handing Cathy three knuts. "Do this all without getting caught in order to complete your dare," he added with a grin. "Time begins now." He glanced at his watch, noting that Cathy had until 1:16 until her ten minutes were up.

[sammy]

"What?" Cathy gasped as he announced her doom. Enter Snape's office, STEAL something, and return within ten minutes time? She felt herself grow dizzy and the color left her face as she analyzed this horrible predicament she had landed herself in. Snape terrified her! With a revolted shiver, she was knocked out of her thoughts when he said the time was starting now. I'm not ready! Cathy wanted to stay back a few more minutes, but if she did that she would undoubtedly chicken out. To do this, she just had to do it. Don't think. Cathy stood up without looking at Jeremiah and walked past him, a dizzy feeling erupting in her mind and making her wobble a little. Once she was out of the Student Lounge, she began walking faster and faster to the dungeons until she was running pell-mell, each step reminding her of how many points she could lose from the small few Gryffindors had gathered.

The Potions classroom. She clutched the Knuts in her hand with such ferocity it hurt, while her other hand fumbled with the door. It wasn't locked, luckily, but who said that Snape wasn't inside? "Silencio!" She muttered quickly, quite out of breath. And it worked; as she swung the door open, it made no noise that would otherwise announce her arrival. And when she stepped in, she found it to be empty. Thankfully. Cathy felt exhausted already, but soon exhilaration shot through her and made her heart beat faster... only a few more steps to go... Footsteps echoed down the hall, approaching rapidly. Too rapidly. As quickly as the excitement had occurred, a sudden fear shot through her limbs, and something told her to get flat on the floor, so she did. It was a bad reaction and a terrible hiding place. Oh, why hadn't she shut the bloody door?

Cathy saw feet come into view (not very well since she had to look past all the chairs in the way) and they looked small. Too small to be Snape's shoes. All the while, she kept ducked down in her very unsafe spot. Breathing seemed impossible even though her lungs screamed for air. The pair of shoes paused in front of the door, but after what felt like five minutes, but for Cathy it could have been merely five seconds, went to the door and closed it with a snap that echoed through the deserted classroom. Cathy let her breath come back to her, and for a while she remained on the floor, focusing on what just happened. The dare! She shot up again, realizing how much time she had lost and jogged to the cabinet. Nettles... she grabbed a handful hurriedly and without professionalism, causing quite a few dropped to the floor. Shakily she left the knuts in the cabinet, and soon was on her way....

"I'm back!" Cathy collapsed in the armchair she had been sitting in before, the dried nettles clutched in her hand. It had been a long run back to the Student Lounge, but she had gotten here as fast as she possibly could, out of breath and looking very flustered. With a tired smile, she put the dried nettles on the table in between them, trying to ignore the fact that some of them had been crushed. "How long did I take?" She asked, remembering that dreadful time limit Jeremiah had put upon her as well as the difficult task. "And after you tell me, make sure you have an idea what you want to do. Truth or Dare?"