Disasterous. ((Wynd))

[Autumn Leeves S5]

It was a cold day, but it was undeniably bright. It was one of those days that forced you to wear sunglasses even though they make you look like a nut because it's the middle of January and no need for sunglasses. But if you bothered to take one look outside you would see that sunglasses were definitely needed. Autumn didn't wear them, though, she simply squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight as she stood on the bank of the lake. Her cloak was blowing gently in the breeze and her red hair was pinned back with a barrette, as always, so it wasn't being bothersome in the least. There wasn't any annoying chatter going on behind her, nor was there laughter that sounded too sweet to Autumn's ears. No, there was the tittering of birds in the dead trees' branches. There was the shudder of the whomping willow off in the distance. There was the fall of snow in piles below. And lastly, there was the tolling bell in the distance to signify class changes. Autumn had a free hour this hour, and she had skipped her last class – not really wanting to be talked to death by Professor Binns. She had decided to come outside, though, because it was the only place she could think of that would be as close to silent as she could get. Now, however, Autumn wasn't sure if she wanted to spend another hour in the biting cold. One look at her red, chapped, hands made her decide it wasn't worth it in the least.

She turned on her heel and started the walk back up to the castle, her feet leaving footsteps in the newly fallen snow. She closed her eyes to the wind that was now blowing in her face, lowering her head against it as she forced her way up the hill, over rocks, to the warm interior. When Autumn was safely standing in the entrance hall, she opened her eyes and brushed the snow out of her hair, heading down the corridors at a leisurely pace. Students were rushing to get to their class before the late bell rang, but Autumn was hardly paying any attention to the goings on around her. Her mind was elsewhere, which was dangerous during the school day –because she tended to forget where she was going, doing, or that she was in the corridor at all. She couldn't help it, though, her mind tended to wander with or without her consent. It just consumed her, her thoughts did, and she wasn't quite sure whether to embrace it or try to deny it. The thoughts that came to her now, though, weren't ones she wanted to deny. They were familiar thoughts, and they were thoughts she quite enjoyed thinking – except for when she needed to focus on other things. That's not to say that Autumn never had problems with focusing, because she was very good at focusing on the important things – but sometimes thoughts clouded her mind and made her confused on what she was doing or what she was supposed to be doing.

And as Autumn thought about the things that she loved to think about, she had finished combing her hair, tossed it over her shoulder, and was now walking aimlessly through the castle. Her feet carried her to an unknown destination. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Her black heeled patent leather mary janes clicked against the stone flooring, but Autumn hardly heard them. She would have continued going on and on with no set destination if heated voices didn't break her from her trance. She looked up, her gaze clearing from the haze it seemed to be in, before assessing the situation. Two students, one a Gryffindor and one a Ravenclaw were holding each other at wand point; foul names and words spewing from their mouths. Autumn looked at them, trying to figure out if it was worth interfering. After a moment, she came to the conclusion that if she had been in the situation she would have liked to be told to calm down before she did something drastic – and so with this thought, Autumn stepped up and put her hands on her hips, looking from one to the other, "And they say Slytherins are the ones who give Hogwarts a bad name."

The boys looked at her, the Gryffindor's nostrils were flaring – his eyes read murder. Autumn raised an eyebrow, "Now, look boys. You two can play nice and let me go back to my walking around, or you can curse each other with boils the size of a Quaffle. Either way, I'm off the hook. I suggest you take the first route…after all, boils are nasty, and girls tend to think they're hideous." The two boys stared at her and then looked at each other, and before she knew it, Autumn was the one who was being held at wand point- by both of them. She was backed against a wall, and her pulse had quickened. Perhaps it wasn't best to go about it that way, she thought to herself as her palms searched for something on the wall with no avail. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them again. She was about to open her mouth to say something menacing when Wynd, her fellow Prefect, rounded the corner. She sent him a pleading glance, and waited.

[Wynd Lehane]

"Write two feet on the effects of..." Wynd didn't hear the rest of Professor Flitwick's homework assignment. He didn't want to hear. His squeaky little voice was hard to pay attention to after a while and so Wynd tended to tune in and out. He randomly would focus in on the professor and his lecture but would soon tune out again. He depended heavily on Ruby for Charms. She excelled at Charms. So it was a good thing that they had made up about the whole Valmer thing. Wynd had realised that he was being petty and childish. He was not living up to the Lehane name. She was sitting next to him and he smiled to himself thinking that he would need to ask her what their homework actually was. He was not bad at Charms. He just didn't want to listen to Professor Flitwick drone on and on. He looked around and noticed that his fellow Slytherin fifth years were dutifully paying attention. Some of them. There was Dylan looking too interested, Samaal with a smirk on his face, and Valmer who Wynd couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with. Not yet. Then there was Olivia. Stupid Olivia. Thinking she was so much better because she smoked and... Wynd's eyes lingered on her form and he had to force them to move on. There was one person who seemed to be missing. Autumn. His fellow prefect. His blue eyes searched for her but could not spot her anywhere. She probably skipped class. She was known to do that from time to time.

The bell that signaled the end of class finally tolled and Wynd let out a sigh of relief. He and Ruby gathered their things and wondered out of the classroom. Wynd had the next period free so he asked Ruby if she wanted to go to the Great Hall for a snack or something. She declined nodding her head toward Valmer. Wynd watched as Valmer lead Ruby to some undisclosed location. He swallowed hard and realised that he would someday have to get used to that sight. Ruby leaving him. But she wasn't truly leaving him. They still had the twin connection. They could never leave each other. And who knows? Maybe one day Wynd would get used to Valmer dating his sister. It was just still very odd to think about. Wynd liked Valmer it was just a little jarring to see him with Ruby. Wynd turned away because he couldn't watch them anymore and walked the other way.

If they didn't want to go to the Great Hall, at least he would go. For some reason or another, Charms always made him hungry. As if it took all his energy to pay attention. Not like in History of Magic. Professor Binns could put a dragon to sleep. But Charms made him tired. In fact most lessons where there was not a lot of practical made him tired. That's why he liked Potions. Less lecture, more practical. Professor Snape told them what to do and they did it. Wynd was walking along the corridors when he rounded the corner and saw something odd. The first thing he saw was Autumn's red hair. And then he noticed that there were two boys standing in front of her. Two boys with their wands out and pointed at her. She caught his eye and he raised his index finger to his lips indicating for her to stay calm. Wynd then took out his own wand and pointed it at the backs of the two boys. "Petrificus Totalus!" he shouted. The two boys didn't even have time to turn before the unexpected spell hit them. Their bodies stiffened and they both fell to the floor. Wynd rushed over to Autumn and asked, "Are you all right?"