Picture Perfect... Almost ((Oz))

[sammy]

It was absolutely stunning weather today. Wherever Hogwarts was - Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, wherever - today was just beautiful. Not exactly what you could call warm but the sun was out and beaming down at the stone castle. A slight breeze played with the lush grass and made ripples in the lake that slowly retreated to lap against the shore. It was no day to be sulking inside as the large amount of people gathering about proved. White puffy clouds could be seen in the sky, moving and taking on different shapes. It was picture perfect.

Cathy had taken position by the lake under a large oak tree that gave her some shade. A piece of grass was dangling out of her mouth and she chewed on it every now and then. She wore comfortable jean shorts and a tank top. It wasn't much and that breeze was enough to make Cathy shiver. In her hands was a canvas and beside her were paints of all colors and many different paint brushes. This day was too good to let it slip by. She planned to try to capture it in her portrait though doing it proved harder than she had thought. She had already used up three papers in an attempt to paint the lake. She couldn't get the correct mix of blue and green. The movement was also difficult to put in the painting. After another attempt Cathy gave up abruptly.

"This is impossible," she muttered, throwing the canvas down in frustration. She had half a mind to shred it with her wand but that would truly be a waste. After all, she did have something of a talent when it came to painting and to get angry over something that ridiculous really wasn't called for. Taking three deep breaths, Cathy leaned back against the trunk of the tree, looking up to see the leaves rustle. One fell down and landed in her lap. It had a unique pattern with all those veins. Intrigued, Cathy opened up the red paint and lavished the leaf with it. Once covered in red she carefully placed the leaf on the canvas and held it there, waiting for it to dry. After a few moments, Cathy carefully lifted the leaf off but accidentally smeared it, causing the outline of the veins to disappear into the red.

"Great," she whispered. "Just great!" She tore off the piece of paper with the attempted leaf outline and crumpled it up in her fist to release some of her frustration. Throwing it at the ground, Cathy stood and left her area, confident that no one would steal her things in her absence. She walked around the lake until she reached the rock that could be considered a cliff over the lake. Stepping on to it, she took off her sandals and let her toes dangle over the edge. It seemed an awful long drop... Indecision tore her apart until she hastily sat down on the very edge, letting her legs swing. Maybe she would get the courage to jump soon, maybe not. But for now this was good enough.

((Will you look at that? Is this your type of short?))

[oznelson]

(( Nope. Short is two paragraphs. That's long to my standards, just not a novel.))

"You have the essay done already, Oz?" Slowly, Oz Nelson opened his eyes and stared up at the person asking him about his essay. He had fallen asleep on the sofa in the common room, drifting away from the noise. If he had known he would be interrupted he wouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place. Oz sighed and sat up, deciding that the boy wasn't going to leave him alone if he didn't answer. Oz couldn't remember his name, nor did he try to, he just wasn't a people person. He rubbed the sleep from his blue eyes and then leaned forward to the table to pick up his roll of parchment. He quickly read it over and nodded before rolling it up and placing it back on the table, leaning back and looking up at the person next to him.

"Yep." Was his simple, monosyllabic answer. That was Oz though, not really putting the effort into talking with more words in his sentence. The guy nodded and went to reach for it, but Oz grabbed his arm, "Obviously, you didn't. So why don't you go do that?" The guy glared lightly at Oz and then stomped off. No matter what everyone thought, even Gryffindors were bullies. He couldn't keep track of how many people wanted to copy his homework. Many have asked why he wasn't placed in Ravenclaw, in fact, it was something Oz often thought about as well. Why wasn't he placed in Ravenclaw? No matter. What is done is done, and you can't change it; no matter how much you wish you could. Yes. Oz was a fatalist. Or at least, he was pretty sure he was a fatalist.

Oz stood up from his place on the couch and picked up his essay, placing it in his rucksack before putting it in his dorm. Then he left the common room and all the students who were struggling with their essays, to take a walk around the grounds. Oz liked the outside, it soothed him. Maybe because Nature never asked questions, never pryed. He certainly didn't like small talk, well, he didn't like much talk actually. Oz was in blue jeans and a yellow and orange checkered shirt was over a maroon t-shirt, yeah, he didn't exactly match but oh well. He was comfortable. The breeze sent his shirt flying back a little, and ran through his red hair. It was a very nice day. Oz was suddenly glad that guy had woken him up, otherwise he wouldn't have been outside at the moment.

He made his way to the lake and stopped when he saw painting supplies. Oz wasn't an artist but he knew enough about art to know the materials. There were the supplies, now where was the artist? Oz looked around, his hands in his pockets, and then he spotted a girl on the cliff that overlooked the lake. He recognized her - even from this far away- as Catherine Dumas, a girl in his house and year. He hadn't spoken to her, big surprise there. But he knew her name which was more than he could say for most people. He figured the art supplies were hers, and he wondered if she was about to jump. He waited, watching, wondering.

((I wasn't going to have Oz start the conversation, seeing as it's not very an Ozlike thing to do. But I hope it's fine .))

[sammy]

((It's perfectly fine. If that's how Oz is then I'll let Oz be Oz. If that made sense. But I managed to get Cathy over there to him.))

The water seemed so far down yet so very enticing. The urge to jump became almost unbearable. Cathy's legs continued to swing around in the some momentum, gathering up speed as she thought about perhaps gathering the courage to jump. She was sure it would feel great and would probably ease her throbbing temples from the distressing paint project. With a sigh she looked up at the sky as if for guidance. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and stood up, not allowing herself to look down in case she chickened out. Cathy knew how to swim, of course - that wasn't the problem. The problem was: What if it was too shallow? What if she hit her head? It was a feeble excuse not to jump considering she had gone swimming many a time and knew from experience just how deep it was. Licking her chapped lips, Cathy put her arms over her head and leaned forward at her waist before pushing off with her feet and diving in.

It was scary at first to feel the wind rushing by her and the fact that her head was going first and her feet following made her nearly flip. Instead she maintained an almost perfect dive form and tucked her chin in. The water was rushing forward so fast; she clamped her eyes and mouth shut just as she slid into the water almost gracefully. Her legs had tucked in out of habit and had made solid impact with the water, causing it to sting. Besides that, it felt just wonderful. The cool water all around her... she swam around a bit before surfacing, taking in the air with glee. This was so much fun! She pedaled forward toward the shore but was surprised when she saw someone by her stuff. Oh no! She didn't know who it was or why he was there. Just the fact that he was standing by her things caused her to panic. Swimming forward as fast as possible, Cathy jumped on to shore and ran pell-mell toward her things, soaking wet and all.

"Hey!" she called as she skidded to a halt beside him. Only then did she see his features and realize who it was. "Oz," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed. She leaned over to catch her breath. "I'm sorry, really. I didn't know who you were and... when I saw you by my stuff... I freaked out," she managed to say in between breaths. Straightening up, she tried to smile but was still humiliated by her display of panic. Getting her hair together she squeezed the water out of it, along with the end of her tank top and an attempt with her shorts. It didn't make her dry off any quicker though, but it did stop the water from dripping everywhere. She looked at the ground and then back at Oz, wondering what he thought of her now. Some weirdo surely but hey - she didn't want her stuff stolen! Even if it was useless junk...

[oznelson]

She jumped. Oz thought it looked like fun for a brief moment and then he realized it might be a bit cold. Then she seemed to notice someone was by her things and ran up to him. Oz's face didn't change, and when she was finished telling her tale he grinned; "Don't worry about it. Hey, I would be just as upset, or more so if I saw a strange red-headed man standing by my things....idly...." Actually, he was pretty sure he would do more than be upset. Especially if it was by his bass. That was something no one could touch except him. Maybe he was a bit pushy with his music, but he didn't like anyone touching anything that he considered...well, his. Oz's hands were still in his pockets, and he took the moment to look around. It was actually one of those days many took for granted. Even Oz was guilty of doing so every once in awhile.

He turned his attention back to Cathy and then nodded toward her supplies, "I take it your drawing, or you just like to carry around paints and such for fun. I do it too, actually. Carry random objects around. Grabs peoples attention. Like..." he thought a moment, "like someone throwing a water balloon at them would." He was quiet a second and then looked back at her, "Yeah, people wonder too much about other people." He was aware he was being hypocritical. After all, here he was, inquiring about her paints and supplies. Was that wondering too much about her? If wondering too much is what I am doing, then people who have plain curiosity would be wondering too much as well. Then the whole world would be wondering too much. Hmm. Maybe I think too much. Oz shook his head, getting rid of his thoughts and sat down, his back against a tree.

She was trying to dry off, but having some difficulty with it. Oz grinned and took out his wand, holding it up; "May I? I promise I won't take an eye out, which I won't - I'm pretty handy with a wand. It's my promises you have to watch out for." While he was saying this, he had flicked his wand and she had become compeltely dry, "See? Pretty handy, and you look like you still have both your eyes."

((Would ya look at that? He's talking to Cathy. Yey!))