(OPEN) Escaping the chaos

[Deleted]

The early autumn sunshine shone brightly down upon the Hogwarts grounds bathing the lush grass in its warming rays. Accompanied by a small breeze that tickled the leaves – and the bare skin on the back of her neck – the Scottish weather was for once amicable, though Sylvie knew it would draw chillier as the winter season slowly crept upon them. Her shoes crunched the dirt of the long path that led down from the castle, it was quiet and for once the silence was welcoming. It seemed every person in Slytherin common room fancied themselves as an amateur detective adding their own crazy conspiracy theory to the brimming cauldron of theories and rumours that had already filled the halls of Hogwarts. It was pathetic, a kid had died, you didn’t discuss things like that – it was positively gruesome – though she did have her own questions.

And she had thought of it was a tragedy and a terribly unsettling one. With the main worry being was the murderer still amongst them? She sighed and brushed a hand through the ends of one of her bunches, combing platinum blonde hair through thin little fingers. She was beginning to sound like her housemates, wonderful. That was the last thing she wanted. Settling down upon one of the long benches of the courtyard she stretched her legs out and pillowed her head under her arms her gaze direct in its stare of the white clouds that lazily littered the sky.

[Deleted]

James was feeling a lot better than he had initially felt when he had practically witnessed the murder of the first year. He was acting as if he had not been saddened or traumatized by the experience at all, when in reality he had spend the first couple of hours at Hogwarts in the hospital wing not being able to eat or sleep. It was the first dead person James had ever seen. He was obviously going to be a little shaken up. Well, he had decided he wasn't going to dwell over it all year so after being around his best friend for a while he was able to cheer himself up. As always.

James had just been down by the lake, which had recently become his place to go and get some alone time to keep his feelings and thoughts in line. He was now on his way back up to the castle, hoping he would be able to sneak down to the kitchen and grab a little snack because his apetite was finally back and he was starving. He hadn't eaten anything in about a day and he was starting to feel the effects as his stomach growled as he sprinted up the stone path toward the courtyard.

The courtyard was so deserted and quiet, James almost didn't notice the girl lying on a bench. He wouldn't have noticed her in his rush for food if it weren't for the color of her platinum blonde hair. He stopped to look at her and immediately noticed the green on her robes. A smirk appeared on his face as he crossed the courtyard over to her. Typically Slytherins would be seen in packs of others of their kind. James always made notice of the ones that were alone because there was just something about them that didn't make them seem like the others. Regardless, he opened his mouth to be cheeky anyway.

"Hisssss," James began quietly as he swiftly moved up to stand next to the bench she was lying on. "What's a little snake like you doing out of the snake pit all by yourself?" He smirked, awaiting her inevitable nasty reply, as most Slytherins usually were ticked at the mere presence of James Potter.

[Deleted]

One of the clouds kind of looked like a hot dog, with extra onions and tomato sauce – at that thought Sylvie felt her stomach grumble, reaching into her pocket she pulled out a tiny brown paper bag filled with sugar wands. Sticking one in her mouth she nibbled it greedily not moving from her lounging position. She’d have to schedule a Hogsmeade visit soon; she needed to frequent Honeydukes and while she had plenty of sugar wands to quell her sweet tooth Sylvie’s stock probably wouldn’t last the weekend. She shuddered, the thought of missing out on her daily sugary snack made her blood run cold.

Sylvie rolled her eyes as a familiar voice announced its presence. Not bothering to sit up completely she flicked her gaze to the tall Gryffindor boy.
“Oh you know, just pondering the complexities of life,” she said dryly before holding out the brown paper bag. “Sugar quill? They’re not poisoned I swear.”
She sat up and uncurled her legs.
“What brings a lion like you out today, I thought Gryffindor’s spent their time jumping off of buildings amongst over reckless things.” She teased cheekily. She liked James, he was a good laugh and she couldn’t count the times they’d attempted some daring scheme – and hopelessly failed she might add.

[Deleted]

James happily accepted one of the sugar quills that the Slytherin handed him. He stuck it in his mouth, instantly missing the store he had not been able to visit all summer. Honeydukes. His mind was then swimming with visions of chocolate frogs and every flavor beans until he directed his attention back to Sylvie, after she had cheekily responded to his teasing with some teasing of her own.

"Hey," he began, acting sarcastically offended. "For your information, Snakey, I just got done jumping off of West Tower," he said, with his nose stuck up in the air. He winked at her before taking a seat on the other side of the bench next to her. Sylvie Pucey was one of the first Slytherins that James had openly befriended. While many Slytherins were rude and cold, Sylvie was basically the female Slytherin version of James. When it came to pranks and schemes, Sylvie was one of his top go-to prank partners. The two of them weren't exactly great, but they always had fun.