Still Cold ((Leah))

[ariel]

Ariel scanned the page before her without much conviction as sunlight poured on to her table. It wasn't exactly the warm type of sunlight that convinced you to go outside but it was enough to distract Ariel. Hesitating on her reading of ingredients for Potions, she put her finger on the word she was on and chanced a look outside. A slight breeze ruffled the trees and grass but clouds loomed at the horizon and were slowly gathering around the sun, threatening a storm or rain. Although it was not the most comforting image it still made her want to venture outside. Anything was better then being stuck in here studying. Although, if she did go out... what about her final exams? They were slowly approaching and were always on the tip of Ariel's mind, bothering her to no extent. She had already over-viewed Charms today and surely that was enough for now? Her head already hurt and she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. With a sigh, she marked her page and dropped the text book into her carry-all bag.

Outside it was colder then she had expected yet she still found it extremely refreshing after being stuck inside the library for so long. The breeze was anything but warm - in fact it made her shiver a tad as she made her way toward the lake. It was practically barren outside next to the usual buzz of activity that took place on warm days. This day screamed rain in every way but Ariel wanted to be out here even if it meant getting a little wet. Sitting on a rock that was perched on the shoreline of the lake, Ariel leaned back and took a deep intake of air. It felt so good out here! To just feel the wind move her hair... ah, there was nothing like it. Smiling with content Ariel was suddenly struck by an idea. Reaching down she pulled off her high heels and socks, put them carefully on the rock, and dangled her feet. They came just inches from the water only because she was short and the rock was tall. Easing herself down, Ariel let both feet glide across the surface of the water before sticking them in up to the ankles. "Ooh!" She gasped, taking them back out quickly as the cold numbed her toes. It would still be a while until she would swim in the lake again, it seemed.

[janetkerkman]

Leah was in the Gryffindor common room and was in one of her cheery moods. She had a particularly annoying song stuck in her head. Her little sister had learned a muggle song and learned it from her aunt and sung it to Leah on a Hogsmeade visit. " I can't stand it! " Leah said while quickly grabbing her head. Quickly Leah looked around to see if anyone was in the common room. She crept up stairs and still no one was there. " Well since nobody is around... You put your right foot in,
you put your right foot out ,
you put your right in,
and you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey pokey,
and you turn it all around,
That's what it's all about!

Right as Leah stopped singing, two girls looked at her like she was an alien. " I'll be going..." Leah said with a quick smile and ran out into the corridor. Nice day outside! I think I should go out there. Leah jogged through the corridors and stair cases until she approached the Great Hall. Leah walked in there and went straight to the doors leading to the grounds. Finally she was out in the warm summer air. Leah twirled in the pleasant sun and rested beneath an oak tree. She caught sight of a girl on a rock dipping her feet in the lake. " That looks like a good idea." Leah said not noticing the girl quickly taking her feet out. Leah walked up to a rock next to the girl and took of her sneakers and socks. " Hi! I'm Leah! What's your name! " Leah asked with a welcoming smile. Leah through her feet in the lake and quickly took her now frozen feet out. The air was warm but the lake was freezing!

[ariel]

Ariel rubbed her bare feet together ruefully, carefully keeping them just out of reach of the lapping water. A few drizzles sprayed on her foot as the water splashed against the side of the rock. Otherwise she was relatively warm. She pushed back her high heels and socks a little farther away from the edge for reassurance that there wasn't a chance they would fall in. Smiling to herself, Ariel was just about to lift her feet up on to the rock when a girl she had never met before climbed up on to the rock and promptly took of her shoes and socks. Raising an eyebrow at this sudden move, Ariel refrained from saying anything, hoping the girl would introduce herself. And so she did. Leah. Didn't ring a bell. Ariel frowned in thought, trying to remember the girl at all. But she didn't even look relatively familiar. Sighing at how impulsive the younger kids were these days, Ariel gave the girl - Leah was her name - a smile. Leah had stuck her feet in the water only to have an identical reaction to Ariel's - taking them out with surprise/shock at how cold the water was.

"Cold, huh?" She nodded and gestured to her socks and shoes strewn over the rock, now accompanied by Leah's assortment of articles. "As you probably already noticed, I tried as well. Probably with the same amount of success as you." She sighed. "I was hoping it would warm up soon so I could spend some time in the lake before school let's out. There's probably only about a month left, you know? And then I can go home and relax." Ariel put her feet on the rock just as she was planning to do before the arrival of Leah but put them over the other edge so they wouldn't be anywhere near Leah. She didn't know about her but Ariel would not be pleased if someone put their bare feet beside her. Swinging her feet about absent mindedly, Ariel realized she had forgotten to introduce herself, a rude gesture if there ever was one. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Ariel Dahl. I'm... a fifth year in Ravenclaw."

[janetkerkman]

The girl gave Leah a smile before Leah stuck her feet in the numbing water. " Oh, yeah it's not cold... it's freezing! " Leah said the said while grinning. “I can't wait until school's over! But, I'm not going home. I'm, staying with a friend the whole summer." Leah said. Leah took another look at the girl. Nope, Leah never saw her. Leah was really shocked that the girl hadn't introduced herself. Doesn't she have any manners? " I can't believe it's already June! Oh, I don't mean to be weird but I'm assuming you've had relationships with boys right? Well this boy likes me and I like him, so what should we do together that's romantic, but not to romantic?" Leah asked. Finally, the girl introduced herself. The girl said her name was Ariel Dahl, Ravenclaw fifth year. “That’s why we don't know each other, I'm third year Gryffindor." Leah said.

. Leaf felt drizzling rain falling on her. Leah looked up. Then it all the sudden down poured. " Ugh, rain." Leah said while looking at the rumbling storms rolling over Hogwarts. The wind blew Leah's black hair back and golden eyes water. Leah blinked continuously until they weren’t as watery. Leah saw as a bolt of Lighting crackled through the sky. Leah looked at the lake and all the rings slowly faded and then came back. Leah looked at the sky and saw her pure white owl flying with Derrick's pitch black owl, Starburst. Yes Derrick was the boy that she mentioned to Ariel. Leah followed the white and black rip across the sky and landed in a tree.

[ariel]

Ariel nodded giving her a small smile. Honestly Ariel considered cold and freezing quite the same thing except freezing had more emphasis on it then cold. Both were chilly though... yet now that she thought about it chilly seemed the same as cold. Basically the English language could be quite confusing but she decided not to worry about it any more. She was getting too wrapped up in her love for knowledge and was over-analyzing things. Again. She was rather surprised when Leah mentioned how she wouldn't be returning home for the summer but instead going to visit a friend. "The whole summer?" She repeated, not keeping her surprise out. She couldn't imagine not seeing Mort for over a year. I mean, being at Hogwarts and then being away for the whole summer? She glanced at Leah with curiosity. Maybe she didn't share the same relationship with her parents as Ariel did but still, they were family and far more important then friends. Or so Ariel thought.

She nodded quickly as Leah asked if she had relationships with boys. Well, she had one going on right now... though she wasn't sure about having the "s" at the end. Now that she had decided to leave her past behind and let herself live a life, Ariel wasn't about to admit she had refused before to have any sort of relationship with a boy. She had thought it "bad" to do anything like that because if she did, well, it would be like what Summer did. And she didn't want to ever be like Summer. Ever. "Oh?" She asked, pretending to think. Leah was asking her for advice? Ariel really wasn't good in this field of expertise. "Erm... maybe the movies?" She suggested, hardly believing she was actually talking about this with a person she had just met. Trying to shrug it off, Ariel gave her a smile. Leah seemed to have realized she didn't know her either by her next comment. "Right. That makes sense," Ariel agreed with a smile.

"Ugh, rain," she heard Leah say beside her. Ariel looked up just in time to feel drops splatter against her face. Biting her lip she looked back down at the lake where the amount of rain falling was more visible. Many ripples were being made because of the drops falling into the water. It was pouring. Not that the lake was her only source of information. Her hair was also soaking wet and so was her clothes. Scooting back, Ariel snatched her shoes and socks and slid off the rock. "We better be going in." She shouted to Leah. It was raining hard and when that happened it was often hard to hear things that you normally could. Or so Ariel found. She hoped Leah wouldn't take it the wrong way - some people thought she yelled at them because she thought of them as deaf. Wrinkling her nose, Ariel glanced back up at the sky. A large black patch covered the sun and was the obvious source of rain. It didn't look like it was about to pass any time soon. Gesturing for Leah to join her, she added, "It's not going to pass. Let's get going."

[janetkerkman]

Leah listened to Ariel respond about her question, and guessed that it wasn't the right timing because she had only just met her. “Sorry if I made you feel weird but I'm so nervous you know? But I guess I'll wait until we know each other better for that question." Leah said with a quick smile. Ariel started to yell over the pouring rain to get inside. Right, I don't want to get sick." Why are you yelling?" Leah asked. Leah quickly slipped her feet in her sneakers and put her socks in her pocket and followed Ariel to the doors while waiting for an answer. Leah listened to the rumbling thunder and looked at the lightning bolts cross the sky. “This storm is worse than I've seen in years." Leah said as they finally got under cover. “Why don't we go to the student lounge and warm up in front of the fire place?" Leah suggested.

Leah was dripping wet and was cold when she got inside. “We should change our...our clothes too." Leah said while shivering. Leah didn't know if Ariel was cold or not but Leah always was cold after coming inside and being soaked. Leah had the goose bumps and it felt as if she were in ice. "I'll meet you in the student lounge ok?” Leah asked for Ariel’s approval. Leah heard the wind howling and blew the rain on the windows. Leah remembered when she was little that she always thought it was a monster. Leah looked to see if Ariel had put her shoes on but she didn't. “You must be cold, standing on the tile." Leah said while afterwards shivering again. As people came inside the rain blew in with them and got Leah even more wet. “Do you want to change into dry clothes?" Leah asked again and was hoping she would agree.

Leah went to a window and looked out of it. The sky was now pretty much black and she could barely see because of the down pouring rain. The window was fogging up from Leah’s breath. Leah wiped the window with her sleeve and remembered when she was little she would purposely fog up the window and draw where the fog was. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and this time it looked a little pink. Then she heard the rumbling thunder again. Leah sighed. Was it raining in Ireland? Ireland is where she lived and her family lived and she wished she could go there in the summer. “The reason I’m not going home is because my mom is low on money and she has two little ones to take care of so she doesn’t have enough money to take care of me, so this summer I’m staying with my friend.” Leah said because Ariel was probably wondering why.

[ariel]

"I'm just yelling because... the rain!" She said in a much lower voice. Apparently Leah didn't understand why she felt the need to speak up over the rain. Or maybe she just liked to hear herself; Ariel wouldn't be surprised. Lately she felt a need to show herself more and be more outspoken. Ariel glanced at the sky with a worrisome frown. "Yes, it is rather bad. We should get out of it right away." She crossed the Grounds with Leah to the door, opening it without gusto. She smiled and waited for Leah to walk in before she let the door close behind her. Once inside Leah began to shiver. Ariel was too, especially her feet which were sopping wet, considering she hadn't put her heels back on. But honestly, how could she run with high heels on? She crossed her arms - a habit she had formed when cold - and gave Leah a knowing smile.

She wanted to go warm up in the Student Lounge? Ariel shook her head, taking out her wand. "No, we don't need to change. We have magic, remember?" Ariel said with a smile. She performed a simple charm that dried off both Leah's hair and clothes before doing the same to herself. It felt so good. She did her feet twice as long as everything else before stashing her wand away in her pocket. Grinning from ear to ear, Ariel tried not to glow with pride. She liked being the smartest around, it made her feel good. But she shouldn't rub it in Leah's face, especially since the girl was only in her third year. Ariel followed her to the window and looked out. It was storming really bad - the thunder made her tremble a bit. As a little girl Ariel would be afraid of thunder. She remembered dreading the silence that came after lightening, knowing that in a few moments thunder would follow. She had grown out of the stage but every once in a while it came back to her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ariel said quickly, finding herself taken aback by how honest Leah was. Not enough money... now that was something Ariel could never relate to. She practically lived in a mansion and had Mort, who would give her anything she ever asked for. "If it makes you feel any better - I don't have a mother at all." Ariel said suddenly, surprising even herself. She hardly ever talked about her mom, not even with Jake. So why was she suddenly confessing with a person she had met just a few minutes ago?