The Con ((Noalan))

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Elaine leaned her cheek further against her palm as she felt her eyes slowly begin to droop. Professor Binns was floating in the front of the room, his dreary voice already putting a couple of OWL students asleep, and the others starring off into space. This most definitely wasn’t Elaine’s favorite class. She enjoyed learning about wizardry history, but she just got bored with it most of the time. Normally she could stay awake, but today it was a fight to keep awake. The key was keeping our head up. If you lay your head down then it was ten times easier to fall into those drooping eyelids. Looking from her notes, Elaine glanced around the room, surveying the students. Everyone else had bored expressions glazing across their faces just as she had. Though, Elaine’s crystal clear eyes landed on one girl in particular who was sitting on the edge of her seat her hand scribbling at fast speeds as Professor Binns spoke. It was a girl from her year and house that was the social icon for Ravenclaws; book smart, intellectual, always striving to be the best and pushing everyone out of the way to get to the top. People like that made everyone label the Ravenclaw house, judging all the students. Some people were like the evaluations of other houses, but most weren’t. There were some lazy people in the house, but made up with quick wit. Elaine didn’t exactly fall under any of those categories. She was lazy at times, but she did have her days where she was homework mad. Actually, Elaine hated being judged. It was just wrong to make assumptions of a person without actually getting to know them. She was just as guilty as anyone who did just that. Elaine did judge people from what others say, which was exactly what she was doing with her brother’s best friend. It was just a simple fact; Elaine just flat out didn’t like Chris Crawford. Elaine just couldn’t put her finger on the reason why she disliked the seventh year, which was just odd. Noah knew that, but he really didn’t care. It was just after him always being at their house over Winter Break that really annoyed her. Seeing him once was alright with Elaine, but more than that in one day just irritated her.

Noticing everyone gathering their books together to leave, Elaine looked around the room. There was one boy that grabbed everything and ran out of the room. That’s how everyone felt after History of Magic. Collecting her own materials, Elaine set them inside of her back pack slinging the back over her shoulder leaving the classroom. She followed the rest of the students in the corridor as they left to find something to do for the rest of the day. It was the last class, which meant dinner would be in a couple of hours. Well…at least she had time to kill. Homework didn’t sound all to convincing to finish, so she decided to go outside. A cold winter chill rushed past her as she zipped up the front of her jacket. Loosening her gray and blue tie, Elaine walked down a long path which leads to the lake. There weren’t many people outside since of the weather. Usually, Elaine would try to avoid the cold, but she needed somewhere to think. Winter wasn’t exactly one of her favorite seasons. She didn’t mind it too much, but it just seemed to drag on forever, almost like spring. Finding a clear spot behind a log near the Lake Elaine sat down, setting her back pack close next to her. Unzipping the zipper, she dug inside for a few items. Pulling out her notebook and pen, she also took out a blue beanie and gloves. Pulling the beanie over her head, she tugged on the end until it covered over her ears. Yanking on the gloves, Elaine smiled as she wiggled her fingers under the white cotton. She always carried extra pieces of clothing around in her bag. Elaine was unpredictable, even to herself so she was always semi-prepared.

Zipping the bag closed, Elaine sighed as she grabbed her note book resting it on her lap. Opening it up to a clean fresh page, Elaine moved her hand over the white lined page. She hadn’t been able to write in a long time, but yet there were no words flowing through her. Elaine normally didn’t get writer’s block often. Feeling the wind gusting from behind her, Elaine pushed loose strands of hair from her face. Her cap wasn’t keeping her thick mane contained enough. Sighing, Elaine set her pen down on top of the paper. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes scooting further down to a point where she half lying on the ground. Silence. It was so disturbing to some, but peaceful to others. Elaine was torn between those feelings until she heard foot steps coming from behind her. Opening her eyes she looked up seeing a boy standing right in front of her. Elaine’s eyes widened as she sat up from the ground. “Um….Hi?”

[Noalan Bounds G7]

Winter had never been on Noalan’s favorite season list, to be perfectly honest it was his least favorite season of the four. He wasn’t very fond of the cold that was always there, the way the wind stung or the way the snow looked inviting but in reality was just wet. But today it didn’t matter. Today he wanted nothing more than to go outside and enjoy what was left of this season. You may be wondering why the change of heart. This is an understandable question. Class, this happens to be the answer. The thing that had him bored out of his mind. He sat there anxiously tapping his quill on his book as he waited for class to finish. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like muggle studies, he did, he really, truly liked it. But he was just restless. His mind had been elsewhere all day, this class being no exception. Ever since he had returned back to Hogwarts after break all he had done was jump back into school work. He had no time to visit the places he normally spent all his time at. Places like the lake, and the lawns. That had been on his mind lately, now all he wanted to do was just be there.

The professor dismissed class and Noalan was one of the first out of the classroom. He felt liberated. He could now go out to the lake like he’d been wanting to all day. As he walked towards his destination with unsuspected slowness he thought about why he loved the lake so much. Even though it was clichéd and everyone else used it to think, Nole couldn’t help but feel like it was his own special thinking place. Where he could go and read, or write. He could read anywhere, but writing. Writing was tricky. Nole loved writing. It was his passion. Nobody knew though. He kept that piece of information to himself. That is why he couldn’t just go to the Gryffindor common room and just write whenever he felt like it. His writing was a secret, a secret he felt like keeping. At the lake he could just be sitting there, no one would recognize him unless they where looking for him. They would figure he was just some guy. Someone working on a homework assignment. And that’s why Nole loved the lake. He just blended in with everyone. All the thinkers, the couples, and other random people. He became them, and they became him.

But as he walked towards the lake, Noalan knew he wouldn’t be doing any writing today. He had no inspiration lately. All he needed was … was … a muse. Yes, so he could escape this strange humdrum writer’s block. All he needed was to find so inspiration. But where at? It wasn’t like he was even searching for it. He would just let it come to him. That would be the smart thing to do. No chasing rainbows for this guy. Until then, he had been doing a lot of reading on different writing styles. He was excited to try some of them out. But today there would be no reading, no writing. Maybe some thinking. But probably just a lot of walking. He had a tendency to just walk around aimlessly not thinking, just walking around looking for pictures in the waves.

It was snowing lightly. Nole was only now noticing this. As he ran his fingers through his hair letting feeling the cold, wetness of the snow. He chuckled. How odd, he didn’t expect it to snow. And oddly it didn’t matter. He wasn’t minding the weather at all. In fact he wasn’t even thinking about snow or anything to do with weather. In fact something completely different had her attention. It looked like somebody was lying on the ground, in the snow. He was concerned for a moment. He walked over to the person and saw it was a younger girl. He had to laugh silently to himself. She looked rather peaceful. “Hello, may I ask why you’re lying on the ground, or would that be rude?” Noalan asked her. Only to laugh again as she sat up and said hello, only it sounded more like a question. “Hello to you too.” He said in return still laughing a bit.

[Elaine Bentley R6]

“Rude?” Elaine exclaimed as she tried collecting her scattered brained state. She wasn’t expecting anybody to approach her. Most people would just usually pass by, too absorbed in their own life to notice someone that lying in the snow covered grounds. Sitting up properly so her back was leaning against the back of the tree trunk, Elaine looked back over in the boy’s direction. “Maybe it’s a little rude,” she joked with a small smile staring at his laughing face as he continued to softly chuckle at her. What was so funny? Reaching up toward her cap, Elaine patted her head before pulling the cap further down onto her face. There appeared to be nothing wrong, from what Elaine could tell. A gust of cold wind blew from ahead causing her eyes to tear from the stinging sensation. Rubbing them slowly she shook her head barely before looking down at her opened notebook. The snow fell onto the blank pages, causing the ink lines to merge together from the damp moisture. “Well….I was trying to clear my head and stay awake after my last class,” Elaine finally answered as a short silence, the wind filling the empty space. “Somehow, History of Magic makes me very tired. I wonder why?” Laughing at her comment she dug her gloves fingers into the earth beside her. Grabbing a handful of snow that had started collecting from the ground, she let it slip from her fingers. Tilting her head to the side to look back at the older boy, Elaine offered him a small grin. “How about you? Why are you outside by yourself,” Elaine questioned her nosy self getting the best of her manners. Oh well. This boy didn’t seem to be one of those people who were appalled by her bluntness. Well, at least she hopefully thought he didn’t. “Normally everyone is inside, especially when it’s this cold and snowing outside.”

With a quick raise of her eyebrows, Elaine cocked her head to the side as the boy chuckled again. “May I ask what’s so funny? It’s not very polite to laugh at someone.” Smiling, she shook her head staring at him with the kind of stare that said, ‘just joking.’ Glancing back down towards the ground, Elaine moved her fingers over the powdery white ice. The only think she really liked about winter was the fact that rain iced turning into snow. It was so pretty to watch the first few flakes of snow falling down the sky. It was almost like poetry. “I’m Elaine by the way,” she introduced herself with a slight nod gazing back up at the older boy. “Elaine Bentley. I’m in Ravenclaw. I don’t quite know who you are though. I’m awful with names.” Eyeing the boy up and down, Elaine could recognize him from the hallways, or maybe even a few classes? He looked liked a seventh year, so maybe he knew her brother? Most the older students remembered Elaine by her brother’s last name. He wasn’t the most social person, but he did have quite a few friends unlike his sister. Frowning at the thought, Elaine shrugged it to the back of her mind as she closed up her notebook, trying to save it from getting any more soaked. She wouldn’t visit Hogsmeade in a while, so she needed it to last for that time being. Elaine hoped she would find some source of inspiration by then. Standing up from the ground snow fell from the bottom of her skirt, but she wore long, black thermal tights under which weren’t too cold.

Stretching, Elaine looked back over at the boy, crossing her arms across her chest comfortably. Well, his face did look familiar, and cute. Maybe this was one of those seventh years boys that the she keeps hearing girls swoon over. Blushing slightly at her thoughts, Elaine uncrossed her arms, bringing her hand up to her hair and twirling it around between her white mittens. It was a nervous habit of hers. “Do you want to take a walk, or where you just passing by?”

[Noalan Bounds G7]

“Rude?” the girl exclaimed as she continued getting up of the snow covered ground. He watched knowing she most likely had more to say on the matter after she was a woman. He just stood there smirking. By now she was leaning up against a tree, she finally looked back over at him. “Maybe it’s a little rude.” She said smiling a little, his own smile grew, he loved being right. He laughed softly again. He knew it, this was much better than Muggle Studies. But she reacted to his laughing negatively. She messed with her hat, as if that was the problem. It only caused him to smile wider. “Yeah, just a little.” Nole told her as he too leaned against a tree. A gust of wind blew causing him to shiver. He crossed his arms across his chest. He looked over at the girl. Their trees where parallel to each other so they where facing each other.

She then began to explain why she was lying on the cold ground, since it was puzzling even him. And Noalan Bounds had done some pretty bizarre things before. “Well….I was trying to clear my head and stay awake after my last class,” She told him. He shook his head, beaconing for her to continue. “Somehow, History of Magic makes me very tired. I wonder why?” She was saying with a laugh, he laughed too; he had to admit that was rather funny. “What? You don’t find Professor Binns monotone voice exciting?” Nole asked her with mock shock. “I myself find it intriguing.” He was saying comically. “I sit there, and I get sucked into this strange trance almost like sleep, or something like it, until some one snores behind me and I jump slightly, those snores, they sure can ruin a great lecture don’t you agree.” He asked her, laughing some more. He had a feeling that it was a very good he decided to go outside today.

Talking about the professor made him think back to a lesson last week. He was indeed falling asleep when someone started having a coughing fit, well not a real one, but it was still fun as the professor droned on, completely ignoring the person, who ever it was. The coughing had died down eventually when the professor continued to pay them no attention. But he pulled himself back to reality. And somehow he felt reality was going to be a lot more interesting then his memories. He seemed to have perfect timing because that was exactly when she came in with her own question. “How about you? Why are you outside by yourself?” She asked him. He smiled, so this was getting somewhere. More interesting then homework at least. Oh, well … I wasn’t trying to wake up from my last class if that’s what you’re asking.” He told her with a devilish grin. “But seriously my class couldn’t capture my attention today. It’s just something about the way they talk about work, as if that’s a familiar concept to me. Silly teachers.” He told her. Yep, that pretty much summoned up his day.

“Normally everyone is inside, especially when it’s this cold and snowing outside.” She told him. “Well, I’d just like to say you’re here too, I guess the norm doesn’t apply to us.” He told her with a raised eyebrow. The wind was blowing a bit harder, but dying down as quick as it was coming. How odd, the weather was always strange. He laughed again, this time at the weather, and how it was so peculiar. She once again took his laughter differently then he intended her to. She asked him jokily why he was laughing. “Well, if you must know, I’m laughing at the weather. It’s so strange.” He told her sending one his own smiles in her direction. She introduced her self as Elaine Bentley, she was a Ravenclaw. “Well Elaine it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Noalan Bounds, Gryffindor.” He introduced himself. She then proceeded to tell him she didn’t know who he was and that she was good with names. He laughed again; he didn’t expect her to know who he was. He placed his hand over his heart, “You don’t know who I am? My, that hurts Elaine, are you trying to cause me pain intentionally?” He asked her in a mock pained voice.

There was another silence, now introduced they shared it instead of keeping there silences to themselves. He was watching her, and caught her blushing. She then began to twirl her hair in the way some girls did. He wondered what in the world she was thinking about that caused her to turn pink, and act nervous. She didn’t offer him any information. “Do you want to take a walk, or where you just passing by?” She asked him. “Well … I was just passing by … but since you offered a walk sounds nice.” He told her in response leaning away from his tree casually.

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Elaine watched Noalan from the corner of her eye as he spoke. It was a simple fact really. History of Magic was just a boring class. Almost anything that involved lecturing the whole bell and copying down notes was uneventful. History was interesting at times, but only a few topics attracted Elaine like the Goblin Wars. Most people thought that was strange that she liked learning about that topic, but Elaine really couldn’t care less. It was interesting to her. “Exciting? Professor Binns?” she asked disbelief dripping across every word she spoke. Elaine knew that Noalan was only kidding, but she felt the overpowering feeling of ranting about how mind-numbing History of Magic was. “That’s not a word I would describe him.” Shaking her head, Elaine chuckled softly, scratching her head through the fleece cap. Fleece always made her itch and yet she still wore it in the winter. “Are you still taking History of Magic?” she questioned adverting her attention toward the falling snow. Even though Elaine hated winter, she just loved how the snow fell to the ground. It was like nature’s poetry without words. If that made sense. “I already know I’m going to drop it after this year. That’s why I can’t wait until I’m a sixth year.” With a quick nod, Elaine grinned lopsidedly over at Noalan. Her grin turned into a slight frown at Noalan’s next words about her almost falling asleep in Professor Binn’s classroom. Normally Elaine could stay awake in his classroom, but she did have her days where she was close to taking a nap during a lecture. The only two classes she wouldn’t dare fall asleep in were Potions and Transfiguration. Actually, it was hard to fall asleep in potions since it was a hand on kind of class. Elaine was horrible at that subject, but she wasn’t failing it. That was another class she couldn’t wait to drop. “True. The professors always think how wonderful it is to pile homework on us every night. I have at least three essays to write, plus reading tons of pages on top of that.” Huffing, Elaine sighed as she shook her head looking into Noalan’s grinning face. “Homework is never fun.”

A small smile curled from the corners of Elaine’s lip at Noalan’s words. “Being normal is way too overrated,” she answered back closing her eyes as another gust of wind blew by. Her face was already falling numb from the bitter chill. Hot chocolate sounded quite enticing at that moment. Hearing Noalan chuckle again, Elaine tilted her head over at the seventh year again, her eyebrow’s rising curiously. She leaned further back into the tree, her legs stretched out in front of her. When he explained about the weather change being funny, Elaine looked off into the distance as the wind was silent. He was right. The weather had been quite odd lately. Just a few days ago it was sunny, but yet somewhat cold outside. The cold was more tolerable in the snow. Laughing breathily, she shook her head at her crazy thoughts. “And you had me believing that you were laughing at me because something was wrong with me,” Elaine told him leaning up straighter against the tree. Her knees were beginning to strain in that position after a while. Watching Noalan with questioning eyes as he brought his hand to his heart, she rolled her eyes playfully at his remark. “Maybe…” she spoke stopping as she looked at the boy squarely in the face. “...what are you going to do about it?” Elaine sent him a dangerous glare before her face softened up slightly. “It’s nice to meet you too, even though you think I’m trying to because you heart ache.” Laughing at her words she sent him a look that meant she was only joking. Elaine wasn’t the kind of person, but she was surprising herself with this simple flirting with Noalan. Elaine didn’t flirt that often, or maybe she was just being friendly? Oh she didn’t know.

As Noalan agreed to take a walk with her, Elaine dropped occupied hands to her sides. “Good,” she answered back leaning away from the tree and proceeding in the opposite direction toward the frozen lake. She didn’t look behind her, but could hear the sound of Noalan’s footsteps crunching against the freshly fallen snow. He was still trying to catch up with her fast pace. Stopping, Elaine turned around waiting as Noalan finally caught up with her. “Sorry…I tend to power walk everywhere I go. Especially in the hallways.” Sending him an apologetic smile she slowed her pace down walking down the untouched snow path that lead closer to the lake. There was silence dancing around the two, as Elaine looked around the grounds. She really didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t the best at socializing with new people. It was just odd enough for her to be flirty toward Noalan. Sighing, she twirled her hair nervously. She really had to try to break that habit, but at least it wasn’t nail biting. Elaine liked having her nails be long. “So…Noalan,” she finally spoke breaking the silence as she dug her hands into her warm coat pockets. “What are your hobbies? I don’t think you’re a Quidditch player…unless I looked over who was on the Gryffindor team.” Elaine stared down at the ground as she brought up the topic of Quidditch. She was those kind of girls who were obsessed with the wizarding sport, but she was on her house team. “Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff a while back. It was a really close game, but Scott caught the snitch before Charles.” Ravenclaw would be playing Slytherin at the end of the month, which made Elaine nervous. She wasn’t afraid of Slytherins, she just wasn’t on good terms with some of the members of that particular house.

[Noalan Bounds G7]

True, History of Magic could be dull on some days. Who am I kidding, it was dull everyday. But Noalan loved the class. Maybe you are wondering why in the world a guy like Noalan Bounds would like a class like that. After all he is popular, very good-looking, funny guy. And History of Magic is just … uninteresting. Well there is the obvious, he likes history. He likes to know more about who he is. How we all got to be. Then there was the not so obvious. History was a great way to get facts for his writing. He liked throwing little unknown tidbits in when he felt like it. But again, no one ever read the tidbits. How could they? He kept them in his bewitched journal. No one knew about his writing. He kept it very quiet. Not even AJ knew, and Nole trusted him with everything. He knew one day he would have to tell someone. But until then he would be collecting his facts in secret. And Professor Binns wasn’t that bad. “Are you still taking History of Magic?” She asked him questionably. He chuckle again. It was an understandable question. “Yeah, I enjoy history. I guess it’s not a normal thing to like, or enjoy, but I do.” He told he still thinking about history which was making him think of writing, and the fact he couldn’t because he had no inspiration. “I already know I’m going to drop it after this year. That’s why I can’t wait until I’m a sixth year.” She was telling him. He frowned playfully at first. “That’s sad, just sad indeed. I guess History of Magic isn’t for everyone. “He told her. He was just joking around of course. He did a lot of that.


She then was talking about homework. How teachers always gave their students tons of it, and thought they where brilliant. She was also saying she had a lot of homework. He smiled at her. “Am I distracting you from your homework?” He asked her his tone implying that he hoped he was. In reality he had his own load of homework. He wasn’t even sure how much. He barely paid attention today; he would have to ask AJ if they had homework. Not that he thought AJ would know. He wasn’t one to pay much attention either. Maybe he got lucky and there wouldn’t be any homework. But then again, that was like wishing for hell to freeze over. There was homework for sure. That was what he disliked most about school, the homework. As if he had nothing better to do with his time. And it wasn’t even just the homework. It was the amount of it. If it was as much he probably mind.

But disliking homework was a normal teenager thing. It was contradicting what she said next. “Being normal is way too overrated,” She told him with a smile. He smiled in return. He shook his head in response. There was no need for words. A gust of cold wind blew and she closed her eyes. He smiled to himself. She looked very sweet as she did. His chuckle raised her curiosity. And as he explained about the weather, and how funny it was. She laughed. Maybe at herself, maybe at him. He wasn’t sure. “And you had me believing that you were laughing at me because something was wrong with me,” She told him. So he was right about that too. She did think he was laughing at her. “And what ….” He asked looking into her eyes as he was saying all this. “Is it you think is wrong with you? I haven’t seen anything, is there something your hiding? Like a forked tongue or, webbed feet?” He asked her teasingly and seriously all at once.

She didn’t know him. That wasn’t a first. It was true he was rather popular. But that was more for the people in his house. It was his best friend most people knew. And because he hung out with him people tended to think he was same type of person. And he was … in some ways. He was a smooth talker, and a flirt. But he didn’t date around as much. So it was no surprise she didn’t know him. In fact he was kind of glad she didn’t. This was she didn’t make assumptions about who he was before she even got to know him. And she was going to get to know him better. As she spoke to him she had this dangerous gleam in her eye that he found awfully attractive. It was hard to pay attention to what she was saying for he was mesmerized. Instead he just smirked as if he knew some big secret that she couldn’t possibly know. It was a trick he learned from his father. But as fast as the dangerous look in her eyes appeared, it disappeared as quick. Her expression was softer now. He was sure his was too, after all, the smirk melted into a smile. “It’s nice to meet you too, even though you think I’m trying to because you heart ache.” She told him and he laughed.

They had taken to walking now. He watched as she walked extremely fast. He laughed again. This girl was very interesting. “Slow down, I thought we were walking, not racing.” He told her as he too walked a little faster so he could catch up with her. Instead she stopped until he caught up. “Sorry…I tend to power walk everywhere I go. Especially in the hallways.” She told him letting her smile be her apology. She slowed her pace and they were now walking side by side. Nole listened to the silence, and to their footsteps crunching in the snow. He felt the snow falling softly landing in his hair. Out of the corner of his eye he saw it was falling on her too. It was leaving a thin coat. He was sure the same was going on with his hair. In the distance he heard a faint stream of music playing softly. As they walked it grew louder, but only barely. He was concentrating on the music up until he heard her sigh. He looked in her direction and she was doing the hair twirling thing. He laughed wondering what was on her mind again. “So…Noalan,” She said breaking the silence. “So Elaine.” He replied though his tone was a lot more playful. “What are your hobbies? I don’t think you’re a Quidditch player…unless I looked over who was on the Gryffindor team.” She asked him finally. “No, not a Quidditch type of guy I’m afraid.” He told her smiling. “Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff a while back. It was a really close game, but Scott caught the snitch before Charles.” She was telling him as he thought back. He was there of course. “Yeah, I was at the game, it is my house after all.” He told her still laughing. The music was louder now.

He stopped. “As for my hobbies. Well I have many. Including this one.” He said as he took her hand and placed on his shoulder. Then he took her other hand in his. Before they began dancing he was going to let her hear the faint country tune he heard. “My father is an American who came from the south. I’ve always known how to two-step, now it’s my turn to teach you. That is if you don’t know how.” He told her the little back ground story first. “Now, I’m going to take to my right, and you take two steps to your left. Then I take one step to my left as you take one step to your right. Just felt the music.” He told her as he began to move to the music. He was a good dancer; he had a lot of practice.

[Elaine Bentley R6]

Elaine stared at Noalan intriguingly as he spoke about enjoying History of Magic. It wasn’t all that unusual to find a person who actually loved the course. Well, there were only a few handfuls of people, but not many. “It’s alright….at times,” Elaine began trying to find the right words to explain how she felt. “There are only a few instances in History that I find interesting.” Watching as his smile turned into a mischievous frown calling her sad, she glared right back at him. “Not all of us can stay awake in Professor Binn’s class,” she retorted crossing her arms across her chest to block out the wind. Her eyes still lay upon Noalan’s face, waiting for some kind of a reply from him. When he asked about keeping her away from her schoolwork, Elaine grinned, nodding her head. It sounded almost as if her were trying too. Well, he was, but Elaine chose to be here. “Yes you are,” Elaine answered looking off into the distance where the castle stood high. Of course after this meeting with Noalan she would go into the dorm room to work on her homework. That was just her nature. Once she was given something to complete, there was no stopping her from finishing it. Though, she got quite lazy at times. “It’s alright though. If I don’t turn anything in on time, at least I can put all the blame on Noalan Bounds.” With a simple nod, Elaine gazed back down at the ground, a thick layer of snow covering the grass. There was a playful grin dancing across her face as she kicked lightly at the snow. It flew into the wind before residing back on the frost bitten earth.

There was that soft chuckle of his again. Adverting her attention from the ground on Noalan, she stared into his green eyes as he spoke teasingly to her. His eyes were a gorgeous emerald that seized Elaine’s thoughts momentarily. Shaking her head, she glared at him once again. Rolling her eyes, Elaine leaned the back of her neck against the bark of the tree behind her. “Oh yes, I have many certain things wrong with me,” Elaine joked back wiggling her numb fingers from under her arms. Her mitten gloves weren’t any good at keeping her hands warm. “So what if I said I had six toes? One extra stuck between my first and second one. How would you react?” Elaine was quite curious to hear what Noalan would say. He didn’t seem to be on of those superficial guys that only talked to girls if they were pretty and had no other outer tragedy to them. No. That was quite shallow. “Because if you would avoid me because of a stupid deformity, then I would have to call you shallow. Just like those other guys who only care about a girl’s outer appearance.” Nodding once quickly, Elaine tilted her head, her eyes staring right back into his. “But you don’t strike me as that type.”

They were now walking side by side, Elaine finding the right pace to stick to Noalan’s side. She watched the snow fall around her as her shoes crunched into the snow covered ground. Looking over her shoulder as Noalan explained about not being a Quidditch type of guy, a small smile curled onto her bright pink lips. “I guess not everybody is suited to play Quidditch,” she clarified looking back at the path in front of her, a grin still plastered on her face. Just as Noalan began to answer the first part of her question, Elaine gasped as she felt her heart leap from her chest. Noalan had taken her hands, pulling her closer to him in a dancing stance. She watched him place her hands in the correct spots, giving her instructions on what to do. There was silence between them for a moment, Elaine gazing into his face. Her heart was still racing, but she could hair the faint sound of music from the distance. Though, she wasn’t paying to much attention to the music, since her eyes were still fixed on Noalan’s snow covered hair. “I really don’t…” she began but stopped as he took one step to his right. Moving her feet twice to the left, Elaine bit her bottom lip as she tried to follow his lead. Looking down at their feet, she kept her head down making sure she was doing everything right. “I’m really not much of a dancer,” Elaine explained to him finally getting the confidence to look up at his face. It was amazing how she went from confident too self conscious over something so little as dancing. Elaine hadn’t ever danced with a guy before. Ok, she did, but her family members didn’t count.

Caught up in her thoughts, Elaine stepped hard on Noalan’s foot. “Sorry,” she muttered, suppressing a blush that was beginning to form on her pale face. Trying to get back into step, Elaine tried hard to get back in step with the music. Her gaze was still upon the ground, but she just wanted to get this right. Stepping hard on the tips of Noalan’s toes, Elaine sighed defeated. Stopping, she dropped her hand from his shoulder, tearing her other away from his grasp. Running her fingers through her hair, she grinned lopsidedly at Noalan. “I warned you I wasn’t much of a dancer.”

[Noalan Bounds G7]

She really was intresting. In just a matter of seconds from a smile he was being to really enjoy seeing, to a frown he hoped was in mockery, and then back to a smile. He smirked in satasfaction as she told him that he indeed was keeping her from her work. "Good." He stated simply. Her response was only to say she would put the blame on him. He chuckled softly. "Who do you think will believe you madam? Teachers, well the all love me." He told her a bit on the cocky side, with another soft chuckle. Only she loked and down at the ground. He again was puzzled by what she was doing. He wasn't even sure. Only that she was kicking snow, and watching it catch in the wind and fly as if it too had wings. He smiled secertly to himself. She really was intresting.

Another laugh he found himself producing, but once more it caught her attention. He was hoping she didn't think he was laughing at her. He just found a need to laugh. He was going to say something, the thoughts were forming in his mind, but he couldn't speak. It was the way she was looking at him. As if he had captured her attention, and erased her thoughts. He knew she had, as he looked into her blue eyes, mesmerized. It was a short moment in time, but a stolen one. And time hide in the shadows and waited to pounce, and pounce it did. It was over as quick as it came. He still wasn't sure what had happened. He leaned against his trees, watching her again. He watched as she shook her head as if trying to shake a thought out, or try to convince herself of something, then she glared at him. What had he done? They where both leaning against their trees once more. She was now telling there wher things wrong with her. He couldn't believe it. he saw nothing, but it sparked his curiosity. "What?" He asked her softly, he honestly didn't think there was anything wrong with her what so ever. "Is it ... talking to jerks such as myself?" He asked, only now he was teasing her again. She asked him what he would do if she had six toes. That was a question he had never been asked before. "I don't know, i think it depends." He was saying a smile spreading across his face. "Depends on if its on both feet? Or jus one, do you have twelve toes all together, or just eleven. If only eleven i would say i would embrace it, and tell you i'm not the least bit suprised, you struck me as intresting." he was telling her, still smiling, his smile couldn't fade but for a second. "I'm also glad that i don't strike you as that type of guy, because i'm not, well ... unless you have tweleve toes." He told her in a teasing manner.

As soon as the dance began, it ended. This made him sad, it had been forever since he had danced. He was also disappointed, he had been enjoying himself a great deal. But he was sorry he had her feel uncomfortable, nervous, or self conscious, not that he see how he did. 'I guess i was to bold.' He thought to himself as her hand disappered of his shoulder and the from his other hand. "Your not as bad as you think you are, its just nerves, thats it, a few more rounds and you'll be comfortable." he told her smiling. But thought it was much better if they returned to walking, so he set out again. His footsteps crunching, and hers as well as they fell into step with each other. The silence returned, he was getting used to it. It was somewhat comfortable. But he broke it after awhile. "And you? What are your intrests, likes and dislikes?" He asked her, suprised at home much he seemed to care though.


[[ Sorry, i know its short :] forgive me?]]