No Footsteps On The Ground (Nora)

[Deleted]

Jace was getting annoyed at his new school. More like, he was getting annoyed at the work load he was receiving from all his teachers. The thing was, how could they put him in a new castle with so many unique details hidden and then expect him to spend all night, every night studying. Sure Jace was a good student, but he didn't like spending all of his time in the library or common room with parchment and a book in front of his face. O.W.L.S. were important. Yes, he was fully aware of that, but at the same time he didn't care. Jace liked exploring. He liked to try out new things and meet new people and all of this work was killing him. 

So, one day he decided to abandon it all. Dropping his bag off in his dorm, he decided that he was in the mood to do some exploring. He didn't really know much about the castle, except for the fact that the stairs moved and that some of the portraits found it amusing to direct you the wrong way when you got lost. Really, the place was a fascinating mystery and he fully intended to learn something about it today. He took one of the staircases, getting off at what he thought was the third floor. Strangely, the place seemed abandoned. It was an odd thing, but not something that would deter Jace from his intentions to have fun. He glanced around before opening the door and stepping into a dark and dusty corridor. "Cool," he muttered, hearing his voice echo down the hallway. This was definitely the kind of thing he wanted to check out. 

@nora

[Deleted]

November

Nora had discovered the abandoned third floor last month, and had often used it as a place to gather her thoughts, or bring people that she thought it would be particularly fun to mess with. As far as why she was there right now... well, she had just had a lovely little encounter with a Ravenclaw seventh year called Clay, and now she was just catching her breath after he had run off in search of his common room, probably to calm himself down from the amazing experience that was Nora Kolstad.

Suddenly, from her little alcove in the wall, she heard a voice. She leaned her head out just enough to see a boy standing there, and she raised an eyebrow. "Do you often talk to yourself?" she answered back, her own voice echoing as well.

@jace

[Deleted]

Jace started walking down the hall slowly, grinning at all the dust and cobwebs. He didn't even realize he'd spoken out loud, but spun around when he heard a voice. It took him a few seconds to figure out where it was coming from and he shrugged, "Not normally. I thought I was alone though." He started walking forward, in the direction of the girl. "Do you normally hide in dark corridors, waiting for people to talk to themselves so you can point it out?" He looked around at the corridor again. "This place is legit," he added, though he was more talking to himself now. Oops. He couldn't wait to show it to Indie or Brooke!

@nora

[Deleted]

The boy found her with his eyes, responding that he did think he was alone. She giggled, and he asked if she normally hid in dark corners to point out people talking to themselves. She laughed, "dark corners, yes. But it's very rare I get to call someone out," she explained. he said the place was legit and she nodded, stepping out from her alcove. She straightened her shirt, then noticed her tie was very crooked and her buttons were... well, a little undone at parts. She casually buttoned them back up, taking her time. "It's a great place for secrets," she said, her voice it's normal soothing and warm tone. She raised an eyebrow at him and took a step toward him, "why are you here all by yourself? Wait... you're a Gryffindor too," she recalled.

@jace

[Deleted]

The girl was very cheerful and it only took Jace a second to figure out that she wasn't the type of girl who would be creeped out or scared of dark spaces. in fact, she seemed to be overly enjoying herself, which was interesting enough. "Ahhh, so you had to make sure you took advantage while you had the chance," he teased, looking around himself until she stepped more into the middle of the corridor. She was pretty, but Jace wasn't really paying attention to that. Once she started messing with her clothes, he started inspecting the walls and such, his curious nature taking hold. "Sure seems so," he agreed. "I wonder why no one comes down here ..." he turned to look at her when she asked why he was here alone and then shrugged. Because he could be? Was that an appropriate answer? He wasn't sure, but honestly he didn't really care. Jace liked exploring and today he was getting more out of it than usual. Then she realized he was a Gryffindor ... too? His attention snapped back to her and he started to smile, "I sure am. Sorry I didn't recognize that you are ... lots of new people, you know?" Really, Jace only knew the people in his year so far. There were so many other that they seemed to all blur together.

@nora

[Deleted]

He suggested that she had to take advantage while she had the chance to call someone out, and she nodded. "You get me," she said with a small chuckled. He was cute! Which made his finding her little hallway even more fun. Life was always fun with attractive people. Granted, Nora thought almost everyone was attractive. She wasn't that picky about looks. And, so far, his personality seemed fun enough for her.

He wondered why no one came down there, looking around before turning back to her with a shrug. She shrugged too. "It's a big castle, I think people need to explore more of it. Why not? We only have a few years here, after all," that was especially true for transfers like him and her. Well, she guessed he was a transfer because of the accent.

He confirmed he was indeed a Gryffindor, apologizing for not recognizing her. She waved a hand, waving the comment away as unnecessary. "LOTS of new people. I transferred from a home school, expected to only have the new European kids to meet. Then your lot joined too," she nodded. "But that makes it more fun, no?"

@jace

[Deleted]

Jace was happy that he seemed to have found another kindred spirit. He smiled when she said that he understood her. "Always nice to run into a fellow mischief-maker," he said, assuming she would find that a compliment like he would if someone were to say it to him. 

Her explanation was pretty reasonable though and Jace found himself nodding at her words. "Yeah, that makes sense. I definitely want to explore this as much as I can, especially since I don't know how long I'll be here before they get Ilvermorny all figured out." He did hope they fixed his school quickly, but in the meantime he was more than happy to look around here. "Have you explored a bit of it?"

Yup, this girl was definitely more fun than lots of the people he'd met here. She waved her hand at his apology, pointing out that she was a new person too, but that she transferred here before he had. He nodded, "Yeah, I like having so many new people here. It does make it fun and you're almost bound to find someone you can get along well with." He nodded to her and then laughed. "I'm Jace Hunter, by the way. What's your name?"

@nora

[Deleted]

Nora grinned and gave a little bow when he called her a fellow mischief maker. Of course she would take that as a compliment! "Life is no fun without a little mischief," she said, sure that he would agree with that statement.

He said he definitely wanted to explore Hogwarts as much as he could, since he could eventually go back to Ilvermorny depending if they got things there figured out in time. "What year are you?" she asked. Obviously not a seventh year, since he made the comment about going back to his school. He asked if she'd explored a bit of the castle and she nodded, grinning. "Oh, plenty! There is still a lot more to go, though. Not to mention the grounds. And that forest. And the village," she wished they could visit Hogsmeade village more often.

He aid he agreed that it was good having so many new people to meet and find those you got along with. She nodded in agreement again. "Jace, a pleasure," she held a hand out to him, "I'm Nora Kolstad."

@jace

[Deleted]

Jace laughed at the other girl’s bow and nodded firmly when she said that life wasn’t fun without mischief. “I definitely can’t argue with that,” he agreed simply. Jace liked exploring and having fun far too much to think of it any other way.

“I’m a fifth year,” Jace answered her question easily enough. He was used to getting that by now. It seemed that his year was one of the first questions people asked. That along with, “what house are you in” and “how are you liking Hogwarts”. He didn’t mind the questions, but they did get a bit repetitive. “What about you?” Might as well find out a little bit more about her while he could. He nodded as she said she’d explored a lot, but that there was so much more. “Right?!” Jace answered, “I feel like I’m checking out new places every time I find a free second, but that there’s so much to see here I doubt I’ll be able to explore it all.” That wouldn’t stop him from trying. Jace wanted to see every bit of Hogwarts that he could. A part of him hoped he’d have more than one year to do so, though he wouldn’t be telling any of his fellow Ilvermorny students that. He had a feeling they would be annoyed at him for that.

He reached forward and took her hand. “Nice to meet you Nora,” he answered, then looked around the corridor. “So is there anything here worth checking out today?” Jace would probably come back another day even if she said there wasn’t, but he might as well find out what she thought.

@nora

[Deleted]

He answered that he was a fifth year, asking about herself. "Sixth. So we have some time left indeed," she chuckled. He agreed that there was so much to see at Hogwarts, and she nodded excitedly. "I think we'll be able to see everything, if we make sure to use every second we can do to so. You have more time than I do, but I'll get as much done in the next two years as I can," she suggested with a grin. She was determined to know the ins and outs of this castle before her seventh year even started, of course. That way seventh year could be spent wreaking havoc - in a good way.

Jace shook her hand and she held onto his grip, not releasing when he asked if there was anything there worth checking out that day. "Aside from you, I don't see much," she suggested with a wink. She tugged on his hand in an attempt to pull him a little closer. She leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper, "but I haven't gotten to the far end of this hall yet -- who knows what may lie ahead? Shall we?"

@jace

[Deleted]

Jace nodded when the girl said they had time. They definitely did, well ... she definitely did. Jace wasn't entirely sure how much time he had left. It all depended on how long it took them to repair Ilvermorny, or rebuild it. He wasn't entirely sure how bad the damage to the place was. He shrugged, "I hope I have more time than you. Who knows when we'll have to go back to Ilvermorny?" It wasn't that he didn't like his school, but Hogwarts was so much bigger and he wanted to explore the place. "I intend to take full advantage of this year for sure. And if I get to stay past that, even better." He smiled, excited at the prospect of the year. It was going to be fun testing out this place!

She didn't let his hand go when he shook hers, and he grinned when she said nothing was worth checking out other than him. Oooh this girl cold definitely be fun to hang out with. He let her pull him closer, smiling and then shrugging. "Let's check it out," he agreed easily. He was excited to get to know the castle better ... and to spend some more time with Nora. He started walking, not letting go of her hand now as he pulled her along. "It's dark over here," he commented as they walked. 

@nora

[Deleted]

He said he had more time than her, hopefully, aside from maybe having to go back to his school. "Well, honestly that's a good point. They could repair it anytime... but i think they want to neutralize the threat first - which could take years!" she said, her voice chipper. What, he seemed like he WANTED to have more time. He had even said so! Then he added that if he got to stay longer than the year than that was better. "Exactly. I bet it'll take them some time to find the  bad guys," she said again.

He agreed that they should explore the hallway and then HE pulled her forward, which was usually the opposite of what she dealt with. She was generally doing the pulling. This was... new. He mentioned that it was dark and she smiled wickedly, turning toward him, "you scared, Jace?"

@jace

[Deleted]

She agreed with Jace when he said that they could fix the school anytime, but then Nora added that they might want to neutralize the threat first. Did she mean that they wanted to catch the people that attacked the school first? Huh. That actually seemed like a very good point. "I hadn't thought of that," Jace answered, a smile creeping onto his face. It widened when she agreed that it would probably take a while before they could catch the culprits. "I want them to find them ... but maybe it should happen just after I graduate," he suggested, warming up to the idea. If that was indeed something they waited for before opening up the American school again. 

Jace glanced over at Nora when she turned to look at her, smiling almost wildly. He chuckled, "No. I love exploring new places. Normally I do it alone, so this is cool." Even if he was scared, Jace would likely never admit it. He liked looking brave to others, especially when he was with pretty girls like Nora. "You scared?" he teased, pretty sure her answer would be no. 

@nora

[Deleted]

He said that he hadn't thought of that and she shrugged. "That's what I would do," she admitted. He said he didn't want it to happen until after he graduated and she laughed, "I bet there are very few of your classmates who agree. A lot of them seem... melancholy," she chuckled. Poor kiddos. Not able to adapt to change. They wouldn't make good vampires.

He said he wasn't scared, that he loved new places, but normally did it alone. "Alone is sometimes safer" she challenged, bringing on the extra creepy. He asked if SHE was scared and she switched gears, pouting a little, "Maaaaaaaybe. What can you do about it?"

@jace

[Deleted]

Jace definitely felt a little relieved when Nora explained that she would wait to open the school until the threat was gone. It made sense and Jace liked that idea far more than he probably should. It wasn't that he didn't like Ilvermorny, he loved his school! The thing was, Hogwarts was new and ancient and exciting and he couldn't wait to know the castle better. He nodded, "Yeah, a lot of them weren't too happy about coming here," he rolled his eyes. "Dunno why, this place rocks!" 

He cocked his head to the side curiously when she said that it was safer to be alone. "Really? Haven't you heard of "safety in numbers"? Or do you not agree with that?" Jace was mostly teasing, but she was interesting and he was curious to hear what she would say. He didn't really understand the way she seemed to think. He shrugged, "I mean, I could hold your hand if you want me to?" he chuckled, not really thinking that she was scared. She seemed far too brave to really be scared by darkness.

@nora