Distraction...((Scott))

[stellalocura]

Stella had fallen asleep the night before with her book light in hand and her journal open. She had watched the day turn from rain to huge flakes of snow that painted a light frost on the green grass. She had fallen asleep watching the flakes fall from her window. This morning she woke feeling more tired than normal. She skipped doing her hair and just tied it back carelessly.

Now she stood in the courtyard, looking at the patches of snow that had stuck to the ground. She wondered when all the green would be taken over with white. She thought back to winters in Ireland when her and her brother were younger, they didn't have much, but they felt like they owned the world when they played outside. She wondered what this winter would have in store. Her daydreaming came to an abrupt end when she realized that two of her classmates were having an argument in front of her. Annoyed, she moved and sat down at a bench and pulled out her journal. She wanted a distraction, but she didn't know where to find one.

[Scott Ryder G7]

Snow. Scott welcomed it with a smile as he stepped out of the castle and into the courtyard. He was ready for a break from the nice cool weather that fall had to offer. If it was going to be cold, it might as well be cold. And, if it was going to rain, it might as well snow. Something about the white layers around the grounds of Hogwarts helped to make winter holiday seem closer than what it really was. Scott liked getting to spend holidays at home. He and Flick got to see Evelyn and spend time with the whole family. They had many traditions that made the holidays special, and come that time of year Scott was ready for a break from Hogwarts. It wasn't that he didn't like it at the castle, but he could only take it in spurts. Christmas made for a good break from the monotony that school brought.

Crunching through the sporadic patches of snow, he visualized the entire landscape before him and what it would be like with a layer of white. He never liked the cold for a long period of time, but it was good to get some fresh air. The courtyard was practically empty, which he preferred as well. Not exactly a social butterfly like Flick, Scott tended to stay where there were less people if at all possible.

When he glanced toward the fountain to see if the water had become completely frozen yet, he noticed a girl sitting on a bench, presumably the only other person out on such a cold day during autumn's end. Recognizing her from his own house, Scott approached with his hands in his pocket to shield from the biting wind. "Hi," he said kindly. Conversations were always easier without a crowd, when Scott felt less intimidated to start one. Usually, he wasn't apt to talk to those he didn't know, but this girl was slightly familiar, and she was younger, which meant he likely wouldn't have to worry about her passing judgment on him. It tended to be those close in age or older that were known to be judgmental. Scott hated judgmental people, which was why he normally avoided unnecessary conversation. "I see I'm not the only one appreciative of the light snowfall." He smiled, taking a seat opposite her on the bench.

"I'm Scott... perhaps you recognize me from Gryffindor?" He didn't know her name, and felt quite bad about it, but he was pretty sure that she wasn't in the same year as Flick. If she were a fourth year, he would probably know it. Likely, she was in third year then, and Scott didn't know a lot of the younger students very well. At least he had recognized her face. "Sorry I don't know your name," he added, biting his lip as he thought. Nothing came to him though, and so he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and looking at the scenery around them again. "I don't mean to interrupt you." He noticed that she had been writing, and hoped she didn't feel obligated to talk. "I can leave if you preferred being alone." He knew the feeling all to well... wanting to be alone when someone didn't get the hint. He didn't want that to be the case, which was why he wanted to make sure she didn't mind his company.

[stellalocura]

Stella was sitting on the bench, rereading what she'd written last night. The snow had focused her thoughts on home, and she'd been rather melancholy about it. She usually had a rather positive outlook, but when it came to being homesick, she grew sad quickly. She remembered her time in the Dominican Republic, when she seemingly lived a different life, and then to Ireland, when times were more than difficult. In either place, one thing remained the same. Her family never changed. Her journal pages reflected this in written paragraphs of memories that filled them. Since she and her brother started attending Hogwarts, their relationship had somewhat faded. She had written that this winter coming she would try harder to get closer to Rene.

And finally her thoughts were distracted, Stella looked up from her notebook as she was greeted by a fellow Gryffindor. She had known his name, Scott Ryder, before he introduced himself. He was a pretty handsome guy, a few of the girls in the house had talked about him before, and she'd seen him around Hogwarts some. As she expected, he hadn't known her name. She knew it was uncommon for the older boys to talk to the younger girls much, unless they were interested in them, so it didn't mean much to her.

"I'm Stella" she said half smiling, thinking it was quite funny how he'd just sat next to her, not evening knowing her name. She closed her journal when she realized that he might want to stay and talk. "No, don't leave, I've been writing for awhile, it's about time I take a break and talk to something that talks back, I assume you do that, right?" she said with a light chuckle.

[Scott Ryder G7]

"Stella... that's not a common name," Scott said with a look of interest. He liked unique names, unlike his own. It wasn't that he hated his name, but it just seemed that names like Scott were common and he would often think that people were calling out to him in public places when they used the name to refer to someone else. With a name like Stella, you wouldn't have to worry about that as much. "It's nice though," he added quickly, not wanting her to think he was criticizing the name.

When she resorted to humor in telling him he could stay, Scott smiled back and laughed at her comment. "Actually, I'm not much of a talker. Perhaps you know my sister, Flick? She's a fourth year in Gryffindor. If you haven't heard of her... or simply heard her, for that matter, then I'd be shocked. We are totally opposite, she being more outgoing while I am somewhat quiet for the most part." As he spoke, Scott hoped that Stella didn't have anything against Flick. It wasn't that his sister was known to make enemies, but with a personality like hers, she was destined to at least turn a few heads in a way that might not have been so positive.

"You writing a story?" he asked, glancing at the notebook that she had closed. "Or is it just homework?" The thought reminded Scott of the work he had yet to get done for tomorrow. Normally, he was pretty good at keeping up with things, and he still had some Potions homework to get done so that he wouldn't have to suffer the wrath of Snape. After asking the question, he figured that it wasn't homework that Stella was working on because she didn't have any other books around her. That was the problem with taking your homework elsewhere; all of the textbooks seemed so heavy and large. Getting more than three of them to fit in one's bag could sometimes require shrinking charms. Scott had used them quite frequently until one time he shrunk his Herbology book so small that he ended up dropping it on the ground, unable to find it in the bustling greenhouse number three.

[stellalocura]

Stella looked at him strange as he talked about her name. Stella was common in the Dominican Republic where she was born and lived for a few years, she never really thought of it as different, even in Ireland. Maybe because she didn't know enough people to know that the name wasn't normal. Regardless, he did complement her on it, which was kind of nice she supposed.

When Scott added that his little sister was Flick, she made the connection. Before he said it, she hadn't realized that they were related, because the two just seemed so different. "Oh, wow" she said to Scott, "I would have never put that together. Yeah, I know who she is, of course I do, everyone does. She's a pretty popular girl." Flick was someone Stella admired and at the same time was highly annoyed by. Stella wished she could be as outgoing as Scott's sister, but, at the same time was happy just keeping it low key. Not being loud and bubbly all the time attracted a different type of crowd, one that Stella would much rather find herself among. Scott seemed like her in that way. At least from what she could tell, he appeared to be pretty relaxed and easy going.

Stella was surprised when he asked about the contents of her notebook. "Oh, no, it's not homework" she replied to his question. "I just write sometimes, occasionally it comes out as stories or even a poem or two, but it's mostly just me rambling about different things." She glanced down at the book, questioning whether she should continue telling Scott about it's contents. "It's nothing really important or anything, I just like to write down what's going on in my head, it clears space up there, otherwise, there'd be no room to remember all this business we're learning here at school." Scott seemed pretty witty, even though it was obvious he had a shyness about him. "What about you? Do you ever write? I mean, I know it's not the coolest thing for guys to journal, but it's ok, if you do, the secret is safe with me."

She hoped that Scott didn't think she was prying too much, but for some reason she had a feeling that he was a writer. Growing up, all she'd ever wanted to be was a writer. Her mother would give her trouble about this, with well enough reason, because writing is a hard profession. Something in her mothers criticism had made her feel like she wasn't good enough to write. She would be so encouraged if Scott had even once picked up a pen and attempted to write as much as a poem or a short story. She sat on the bench, her thoughts returning to her mother's words, as she awaited Scott's reply.

[Scott Ryder G7]

"You're not the only one who has found it surprising that we are siblings. In fact, most people think that we are just trying to trick them." He laughed and remembered the one time that a friend of Flick's had insisted that Scott could in no way be related to her. It took a family picture for them to prove the relation. "The longer you would spend with us together though, you'd be able to see it easier," he explained with a nod. "Wait... don't you have an older brother as well?" Scott questioned, recalling that he might have seen Stella a few times with an older boy that he remembered as Rene. "Or... maybe I am thinking of someone else."

Stella answered his question about the writing, and Scott listened with interest. Though he wasn't much for reading, he did think that it was neat whenever other people close to his age wrote stories. He figured it was a fun way of expressing creativity, if one was fortunate enough to have that sort of creativity. Scott's strenghts were in physical feats, mostly athletics, though he was quiz a whiz when it came to muggle technology. Many of the guys in his dormitory were fascinated by the laptop that he had received as a Christmas gift. Though there wasn't much use for it as far as his academics were concerned at Hogwarts, it kept him entertained, and it was a good reminder of his family. "That's cool that you like to write for fun. I've never really gotten in to that, but mainly because I just don't have that sort of talent, not because I don't think it's cool for guys or anything." He smiled and reached into his pocket. Pulling out a pack of Drooble's, he held out a piece for Stella. "Bubble gum?" he asked, popping a peice into his own mouth.

Seeing that Stella had shared a bit about her interest in writing, Scott thought he might do the same in return. Though, he didn't want to talk too much about himself, for fear of sounding like one of those people who could go on for hours just telling others about themselves. Those people could get rather annoying. "Instead of writing, I spend a lot of my time flying. I love Quidditch, and other muggle sports. My parents are both muggles," he explained. "I have another sister, besides Flick. Her name is Evelyn. She isn't magical though like Flick and I are."

[stellalocura]

She was still surprised that Flick and Scott were related. But, she believed him. "Yeah, Rene is my older brother. We don't have any other siblings. People think we look alike, sometimes I see it, but most of the time I just smile when they tell us that we could be twins." She thought of the time that their great grandmother picked out at least 20 physical features that the two were identical in, as they both just stood there and laughed. "We act alot alike. After we moved the first time, we didn't have many other friends, so, we spend a lot of time together. After he went to Hogwarts, we haven't been so close. But, I suppose it's getting better since I started coming too."

"Sure, yeah, I'll take a piece," Stella replied to the offer for some bubble gum. She wasn't much for candy, but thought it would be rude to say no to his offer. So she chewed away while Scott told her that he didn't write much. That idea sort of surprised her, but it was ok. He said that he liked sports, which also surprised her. He didn't seem like the type, maybe that's because most of the talented athletes she had met at Hogwarts hadn't been the nicest people.

"Ever since I came to Hogwarts I've wanted to try to play Quidditch. It just seems like so much pressure to be out there and play. It'll just be something that I think about, but never really do." She said half laughing, because there's so much like that in her life. "Another sister, Evelyn." she changed the subject, "Is it wrong for me to say sometimes I'm a little jealous of people who aren't magical. It just seems like life is easier that way. Have you ever felt like that? Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for what I have, but, just for a day, I'd like to forget about magic."

[Scott Ryder G7]

"Twins? Perhaps I'm thinking of the wrong person," Scott said with a laugh. He thought that Rene and Stella could easily pass as siblings, but twins was pushing it. Perhaps it was simply because they were opposite genders though. Scott had always thought that paternal twins never really shared that many traits. In fact, he had seen some twins that didn't even look like twins. As for he and Flick, they had their similarities, but nobody had ever said that they were that similar. And, perhaps their personalities were enough to make a definite distinction between the two, aside from their lack of similar physical features. "I guess you guys have some similarities," he added, thinking of what Rene looked like. Truth was, Scott wasn't as good with remembering faces as he was with names. It was an odd trait, but words and names always seemed to come easier than visual imagery did in his memory.

As Stella took the gum, Scott listened to her talk about Quidditch. "You should try out," he encouraged with a smile. "Though, I have yet to try out myself, you should go for it." He figured it was slightly hypocritical of him to tell Stella she should, when he hadn't even tried out for himself. Yet, where she was wary of the pressure, he was wary about the team interaction. Scott was way too independent to work well on a team. Though, likely he could do it if he needed to or wanted to bad enough, but for now, he had refrained. Flying alone was satisfactory enough for him at the moment.

He laughed at Stella's question about sometimes not wanting to be magical. "I think I know where you're coming from," he said with a reassuring smile. "Being that I grew up in a muggle home, never knowing magic, I do sometimes wonder if things were more simple back then. Though, at the same time, magic makes so many things more convenient. I guess it's a matter of balancing the simplicity with the convenience." Scott shrugged, feeling as though he had said something very profound without even realizing it or even comprehending the complexity of his statement. "But yeah... you're not alone in that feeling," he finished.