Sweet perfume of the mountains | Sav & Ashley

[Deleted]

November 23 2024

Sav had promised Ashley a tour, and even though months had passed since he made that promise and since they started school this term, he wanted to uphold his promise, and, he just wanted to spend more time with Ashley, who was becoming a good friend to him, despite their differences, they got along very well. He had asked her yesterday, as he passed her in the great hall during lunch, if she wanted to meet him today, Saturday, for a stroll around the grounds. It wasn’t quite a tour of the castle, but it was something. Sav liked the grounds better than the castle - he didn’t like to spend too much time inside. And besides, the grounds were pretty this time of year. It was very cold outside, and Sav knew, from his experience of being here for 6 years thus far, that snow would come within the next week or two, likely right before the upcoming thanksgiving feast, which the Gryffindor was looking forward too very much - Sav would never turn down a chance to feast.

The young man waited for his friend in the entrance hall, he didn’t want her getting lost, so he figured it was best to wait inside the door. He was fairly bundled up, at least, he was wearing long jeans and a t shirt with a hoodie over it - he rarely wore long pants if he wasn’t in class, however. Even during the cold weather, Sav tended to exist in athletic shorts.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Sav was looking forward to this afternoon. Sav approached her yesterday at lunch, asking her to meet him and she was excited. She didn't think he was actually going to call this a "tour", since according to him they were going on a walk on the grounds, but she didn't mind at all. She and Sav hadn't done much since they last met together for Halloween, so she was looking forward to some good conversation with him. Ashley was actually pretty surprised by how easily she could talk with Sav. Definitely something she was excited about for the day. 

She hurried to the entrance hall, hoping she wouldn't be too late, but as she approached she could see that Sav was already there. "Hey, Sav!" She called, approaching him with a wide smile. She was a little more bundled up than him, wearing a scarf and a cute coat. She couldn't help it. Ashley was not good with being cold. She couldn't handle it very well and she didn't hide that either. "You ready? Can't wait to finally understand the grounds here," she teased, nudging his shoulder with her own as she approached him. 

@sav

[Deleted]

“Well it’s a bit of a maze so you’re lucky you’re with someone so knowledgeable and good with direction.” Sav caught her teasing and teased her back. He knew that it was probably a little silly for them to still go along with the tour this far into the year, but it was mostly just an excuse for the two of them to get together. Not that they needed a reason, per say, but it gave them something to do. “You’re looking lovely as ever.” Sav said with a wink, turning on the charm for possibly the first time over their friendship. On their date over the summer, he hadn’t been so much charming as just playful. He liked to impress and that was what he tried to do. He wanted to prove that he wasn’t afraid of anything, so he got up and sang with her. Now that he had her attention, thought he knew that he didn’t have it romantically, he could play around with another side of his flirtatious nature, and he was curious to see how she’d respond. Though, he had high hopes in her. “I figured we’d walk down the edge of the forest, then by the lake, then circle the Quidditch pitch and eventually make our way back to the castle.” he suggested.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley laughed when Sav shot the teasing right back at her. She sighed dramatically, putting her hand on her forehead and looking away from him, "Oh, I'm soooo lucky!" She turned her head, squinting at him from under her hand and then dropped it, laughing. It was nice to be able to talk someone and just mess around. She loved talking to Eli and would honestly tell him anything, but sometimes Ash wondered if he would understand her teasing ways. He probably would, but she didn't want to do or say anything that would push him away again. Sav was a completely different story because he just played along with all of it.

He said she was looking lovely and Ash stopped, holding her hands out and spinning around in a circle, looking down, making it look almost as if she were inspecting herself. "Really? Well I guess it's a good thing or some people might get annoyed if they saw me walking around with someone as handsome as you," she quipped as she looked back to him, winking and giggling just a little. 

Sav continued to explain what his plan was for their walk and Ashley nodded thoughtfully, quirking an eyebrow at him, "Wow, sounds like I really am getting the full tour," she teased him. She couldn't help it! She was excited to be walking around with him and for the chance she was going to have to just have a bit of fun. It was going to be fun. Sav already proved he was a fun guy, after all.

@sav

[Deleted]

“Yes you really are.” sav said, unable to hold back a laugh. They had barely started and already he was having a great time just being around her. He was thankful to have met such a good, new friend over the summer and now into the school year. He had never really been friends with a girl like this. Not that he thought girls weren’t meant to be friends for boys, he just felt like he got on better with boys in a friend setting and he found that most girls that he met were turned off by his nature, at least when there wasn’t mutual, romantic interest. What he liked was to be challenged, and he just felt like he didn’t get that from a lot of people.

“Oh yes, I should have prepared you for all of the jealous looks you’re going to get by being seen with me. Try not to let it bother you too much.” he teased. In no way did he actually believe that anyone would give her weird looks for being with sav. He figured that by now most people weren’t surprised to see him with another girls out on the grounds. She gave him a little bit of a hard time about his plan for the ‘tour’ and he shrugged. “Honestly, i just thought it would be nice to get out of the castle for a while.” he admitted. He then offered her his arm, if she wanted it, and began walking, at a calmer pace.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Sav laughed at her dramatics, which was exactly what Ashley wanted. She chuckled as well, shaking her head at how ridiculous she was being. Granted, she would do it all over again if she could convince Sav to laugh again. She liked hearing his laugh and definitely enjoyed knowing that she was the cause of it. It was also nice knowing that he just wanted friendship with her. After their conversation at the Halloween Event thing, she was certain he wasn't looking for anything for her other than friendship. He knew about Eli, without knowing his name of course. 

He teased her as they started to walk around, telling her not to be bothered by all the jealous looks she got and Ashley laughed. "Oh? Well, what makes you think some of those jealous looked aren't because you're with me?" she shot right back, unable to help herself. That was one nice thing about being with someone like Sav. She was fairly certain that he wouldn't take offense to any of her teasing. Sav offered his arm, saying that he just wanted to get out of the castle and Ashley nodded, taking it without hesitation. "I don't mind. I like getting outside of the castle too. And besides, this way you can show me your favorite places outside too," she answered easily, really just enjoying herself.

@sav

[Deleted]

As they walked, and after his comment, Ashley asked why he thought that all of the looks would be at her being with him and not because he was walking with her. He smirked, “You’ve got me there.” he teased. “I’m sure you’ve got yourself as much of a fan club as I have.” while he was teasing, he meant it. She was a stunning girl and she had a personality that he loved, he couldn’t imagine that other people wouldn’t love it too. But then he remembered that she had a guy that she was after and probably didn’t care much about anyone else who was looking at her or making passes. She took his arm after he offered it to her and agreed that she liked being outside and then added that she was interested to see his favorite places. “This is normally the path that I take when I run.” he admitted. While last year he had gone running everyday, sometimes multiple times per day, this year, now that Quidditch was back, he hadn’t kept that up, but he still did on days where there wasn’t practice. “I like it because of all the nice views, and, besides the lake,” which was where they were currently walking towards, “There aren’t usually too many people out in these areas.” he explained. “Have you had a chance to explore much of the grounds?”

@ashley

[Deleted]

Sav admitted that Ashley probably had a fan club too and she couldn’t help but chuckle. “I like the sound of that. Fan club. Hmmm, wonder how I can find out if I actually do have one,” she answered, barely holding herself from coming outright and laughing. “I’m sure you know because your fan club likely show themselves at your Quidditch matches,” she said, tapping her chin with her free hand. It was something to think of, though Ashley was mostly just saying it in jest. She wasn’t under the impression that anyone liked her enough to start a fan club about her. She wasn’t the best in the class, didn’t normally participate in sports (unless Joe made her). The only thing that she did exceptionally well at was singing, and that wasn’t something she really showed off at school. Mostly because she didn’t want people to just see her as the girl who liked to sing. There was a lot more to her than that and she didn’t want others labeling her.

He mentioned that he was taking her where he normally ran and Ashley’s eyes widened. She turned to face him more fully as they walked. “You run? I didn’t know that!” Her excitement was probably a little too obvious, but she was definitely paying more attention to the route now. One thing Ashley had struggled with lately was figuring out where to run here at Hogwarts. The grounds at Ilvermorny and around her house were well-known to her, so coming up with good places to run were easy. Here, Ashley was always a little concerned that she would be in someone’s way. Apparently this area was one of the less-popular areas at the school, which was definitely a good thing to know. Sav was helping her out, probably far more than he realized. She smirked, “Well maybe we’ll run into one another out here sometime.” That would be a fun thing. Ashley could almost see herself or Sav challenging the other to a race if it did actually happen. That would be fun. Ashley shook her head, “No. I’ve had a lot going on with classes.” She scrunched up her nose. “The few times I have come outside, I’ve ended up running into people, so I haven’t really had the chance to explore much.” She looked up to him with an expectant smile, “Is there anything interesting where we’re going? Other than the nice views?”

@sav

[Deleted]

“Yes, all the ones with my number painted on them, you’ll see.” he promised with a smirk. Honestly, if there were girls who painted his number on their faces, he hadn’t noticed. But, he had a suspicion that there weren’t. If there were and he hadn’t noticed, then he was an entirely awful person, and he didn’t think of himself as an awful person, so obviously he wasn’t. That’s how it worked, right? If he thought he wasn’t a bad person then there was no way that he could be. He was pretty sure that was how it worked.

She commented that she didn’t know that he ran and he nodded, “Yeah I work out everyday. Last year I got up early every morning and ran for a good 30 minutes or more, depending on how early I could get myself out of the dorm.” he explained, he didn’t want to see like he was trying to brag, rather, he wanted to seem sure of himself and just explain his hobby to her. “Do you?” he asked in reply. By the way that she was speaking, he could almost assume that she did, especially when she mentioned maybe running into one another. She then basically confirmed it, saying that everytime she was out, she ran into people. “Uh, no not really.” he said with a shrug. “Honestly, not every bit of Hogwarts is exciting of magic or enchanted.” he explained. “Some trees are just trees.” he said. “Oh, but we do have an enchanted tree - stay away from that one.” he winked.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley laughed when Sav said she'd see all his fans, because they'd have his numbers painted on them. "Oh, so you just wanted me to join the gaggle of girls that adore you?" she teased, unable to help herself. She honestly wasn't sure if there were girls that actually painted his number or if he was just kidding. She'd have to pay more attention at the Quidditch matches, but she was looking forward to that. She wanted to see these Brits play Quidditch and was interested to see how well the Americans would be able to blend into their teams.

Sav started to explain about how he liked to exercise and how last year he ran for at least thirty minutes every day. Ashley smirked when he asked if she ran and then nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been running as long. I started a bit last year, but really got into it over the summer. I think it's a good release for me, you know? I just need to find a better place to run." That was the problem here. There were so many people on the grounds that getting a good run in was difficult. At least it sounded like Sav could probably help with that. He said that there wasn't anything particularly interesting on their way, that not everything was enchanted, except they did have one tree that way. Ash's eyes widened. "Oooh, are you going to show it to me?" She batted her eyelashes at him before giggling. "You know, I can't avoid it if I don't know which one it is." Ashley felt pretty certain that he would show her, but she wanted to make sure. She was curious now!

@sav

[Deleted]

Sav shrugged to her comment. “It’s a hard job but someone has to do it.” he added with a wink. He was sure they were on the same page with the joke being played out, and they didn’t need to take it much further, he thought. She explained that she did run a little every day and had been doing it since last year but only just got into it over the summer. “Yeah, then maybe we can run together sometimes.” he smirked. He liked running with friends, though, if she was still new at running, it was likely that he would have to slow down for her, which, he would be willing to do, he thought. She seemed interested in the tree and Sav rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I feel like I should never have even told you.” he laughed, looking down at the blonde on his arm. “Fine, we can walk by it, but, it’s called the Whomping Willow for a reason.” he teased, letting her in on the little Hogwarts fact. “You sure you want to see it?” he asked her. It wouldn’t be too hard to take a detour.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt with Sav. He was easy to talk to and tease and he seemed to understand her humor almost instinctively. Other than Joe, there weren’t many people she could say that about. There was Eli, but she held back a little when it came to teasing him. She didn’t want to upset him or offend him when she was meaning to tease him. He mentioned maybe them running together sometimes and she nodded. “That would be fun! Just … promise me you won’t be upset if I end up being faster than you,” Ash smirked. She highly doubted that she would be faster that Sav … but she did beat Joe in a race a bit ago. Maybe she was. Only time would tell. She laughed when Sav commented that he shouldn’t have told her about the tree, but shook her head. “No, what if you didn’t tell me and I got myself injured or something because I didn’t know?” It was an unlikely scenario, but also another way to tease him. She grinned when he looked down at her, agreeing to go past it. “Whomping Willow … are you saying it hits people?” Ash quirked an eyebrow at him, squeezing his arm playfully. “Yes! We don’t have to get close enough to be targets, but now I’m all curious.” She couldn’t tell if Sav was debating whether or not they should go because he didn’t want to or because he was trying to tease her. Either way, this walk was definitely turning out to be fun.

@sav

[Deleted]

Ashley seemed to be interested in the idea of them running together, but she teased him, saying that he would have to promise to not be mad if she was faster than he was. He smirked, he wasn’t too worried about that. Honestly, he wasn’t at all worried about that, but he would humor her. “Oh yeah, sure. I promise I won’t be upset.” he said with a snicker. She still seemed pleased that her told her about the whomping willow and said that it was better that she knew so that she didn’t get hurt. “If you did get hurt, it wouldn’t be my fault if I hadn’t told you. Now that I told you, if you get hurt it’s all my fault.” he teased again. He wasn’t sure his logic was entirely sound, but he didn’t care. “Yes it hits people, well… it tries, if you get close enough.” he said. Why exactly there was a dangerous tree placed on the Hogwarts grounds, Sav had no idea. He was sure that there had been a reason when it was planted, but now it seemed like a liability if nothing else. “Fine.” he said, changing their direction to walk towards the tree, which was kind of near the Quidditch pitch. “If that’ll make you happy.” he teased.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley loved this. Sav was teasing her back, obviously understanding that she wasn’t entirely serious. Still, when he promised he wouldn’t be upset, she laughed. “Good. Then yeah, I think it’d be fun to go running together sometime.” Really, she was pretty sure that she’d have just as much fun running with Sav as she did walking and talking with him. He seemed to be the kind of person that really just knew how to have fun, which was something Ash definitely wanted. She was in a new school, with an entirely new culture, but she wanted to enjoy it.

She rolled her eyes when Sav mentioned that it would be his fault if she got hurt now. “Except that now I know I need to be careful around that tree, so if I do get hurt then it’s my fault for not being careful,” she argued back. Granted, Ashley had no intention of letting the tree get the better of her, so it was basically a moot point. She nodded when he explained a little more about the tree. “Well see then? All I need to do is stay out of reach, and once you show me which tree it is, I’ll know that I need to keep my distance,” she told him, trying to be reassuring, but at the same time not entirely sure whether or not he was just teasing her. He turned, leading her in a different direction and Ashley smiled over at him, batting her eyelashes teasingly, “It will! You’re so sweet,” she answered. Then her eyebrows wrinkled a little as a thought occurred to her. “Do lots of people normally get hurt by the tree?” she asked, wondering if maybe that was why he was making a big deal out of it.

@sav

[Deleted]

“Anytime.” Sav agreed easily. As much as he liked to go running by himself, because he liked to be able to think and be in his own head, he missed having a running partner. He hadn’t in a while, not since early last spring at least. He tried to get his brother to run with him over the summer holidays, but it hadn’t worked out in his favor. His brother wasn’t as athletic as Sav was. Ashley continued to argue about who’s fault it would be if she got hurt by the tree and whether or not Sav should have even brought it up, but the fact of the matter was that he had brought it up and there was no way to take it back now. He gave in already, he was already taking her to the tree so there was no reason to continue to argue, even if she was only doing so to tease him and press his buttons. She insisted that she would be happy if he took her to see the tree and he rolled his eyes. While they walked over, she asked if people often got hurt by the tree and he shrugged. “No, people know about it so everyone avoids it, it’s fairly out of the way, it’s not something you’ll just pass by on your way to class anyway.” he explained. If people wanted to go to the tree, they had to be purposeful in doing so.

@ashley