Do You Believe In Luck? PV Finished

Instead of sleeping in like he normally would, Nick was up and getting ready to explore the castle. At this point, he rarely had a nice snooze-in morning for himself while at Hogwarts from all the different interruptions. Whether it be another one of those awful recurring dreams he keeps having, Chance waking him up, or his dorm mates deciding to go to bed at a reasonable hour and be rowdy in the morning, instead of being rowdy all night, there was always something acting as an alarm clock.

Today, however, Nick was up and awake on his own terms. His rowdy roommates had tired themselves out hours ago, Chance was fast asleep in his little pen, and he had a pleasant dreamless sleep for once. No, Nick was up because he wanted to be reminded of home. It had only been a week since he had returned to Hogwarts, but he wanted to feel comfortable.

Walking into the grounds, he was immediately greeted by the cool August wind that already gave him a feeling of home. Nick was used to this kind of weather later into the year, being a Lowlander, but the Highland breeze made him feel more connected to his ancestors who resided here many years ago. After an entire year with beautiful Highland weather and landscape, Nick had been considering moving to the Highlands when he was older this summer.

The main reason he was on the grounds was to find a nice tree to sit in. Not just any tree, though, the tree that most closely resembled the one he would always sit in when he was back home and wanted to disconnect from everything. After packing a lunch, he would go slightly out of town to the brink of a nearby forest. From there, he would climb up a special tree he had marked by carving his initials into it and then write there the entire day. It was a calming place where he somehow never got writer's block.

After searching all around the perimeter of the main Hogwarts grounds, he had finally found a good replacement tree last April. He had marked it with the letters "N.S." as he did with his tree back home. As he made his way there, he saw a blonde girl at the trunk of the tree. Unless she was planning on climbing the tree, he didn't mind. He would simply ask if they could share the tree, and they would both peacefully enjoy that tree's glory. He had done it before; sometimes he wouldn't even alert someone if he was in the tree.

That mindset changed when another girl appeared, this time a brunette, who popped out of tree cheerfully. Jumping to conclusions, Nick assumed that the two had planned to hang out in his special tree, which meant that he couldn't use the tree. One person was fine because they were quiet. Two meant talking, and talking meant distractions.

Disheartened, Nick was about to turn around and go back to his dorm, but the fall breeze caught onto one of the many loose papers in his notebook. It started to fly away from Nick, which caused him to run after it in a panic. This particular piece was some sheet music, and while he didn't mind people knowing about his writing, he wanted to keep the fact he wrote songs a secret.

As fate would have it, the sheet music fell at the feet of the blonde girl. Nick ran over to the two girls and snatched the paper off the ground. He didn't realize what he was doing until he was already crouching on the ground, looking up at the two girls. Standing up he quickly said, "Sorry ladies, didn't mean tae interrupt yer little congregation." He was trying his best to play off his rather awkward and frantic entrance into their conversation.

@Miranda Everest & @Alina Rosier

Miranda, seeing no one in the nearby area just yet, had been about to sit down when a loud voice had proclaimed "good morning" from...right above her? Surprised, she looked up to see a green-eyed girl peering down at her from the branches overhead. "Er, good morning to you, too," Miranda replied right before the girl apologized for startling her. "No, it's fine. I've had my fair share of scares before. Doesn't hurt to add to it." She smiled wryly. "Although I think you're the first who's ever startled me in that way. Normally I'm a bit better at noticing when people are around." It was probably just the cold getting to her that dulled her sensitivity toward others.

The girl began to climb down the tree, revealing that her robes were the ones worn by Hufflepuff students. Miranda felt a bit of surprise. Normally the people who tended to climb trees were either Gryffindors, or otherwise they were looking for a quiet place to read, like she did on occasion.

"I wouldn't know about perfect," Miranda replied dubiously when the girl spoke again. "It's a bit too cold for me tastes. I much prefer Summer or late Spring weather. And my name's Miranda Everest."

To her surprise (there was no end of those around here), Alina's next words were an apology. Miranda looked confused. "No, no, you weren't interrupting. I can still think and talk, can't I? And besides, all I was thinking about was the weather. Plus some really strange metaphors," she added, a smile tugging at her lips as she remembered.

Miranda often found herself marvelling at even the most common things. Once her younger brother had even caught her staring as she drew a pencil across a piece of paper, watching as lines seemed to appear from nothing. In her defence, she'd been seven at the time, but even her six-year-old brother had found it hilarious. And besides, Miranda had grown up in a world of magic, yet she was only ever fascinated by the muggle items. Weird.

For the third time that morning, she found herself getting surprised yet again, this time as a small piece of paper landed before her feet. Miranda stared for a moment, debating whether to take it, when a boy suddenly dashed over and grabbed it. He then stood up, the paper still held tightly in his hands, and apologized for interrupting.

"Don't worry about it," Miranda replied instinctively. She'd always tried her best to alleviate tense or awkward situation, mostly because she couldn't really stand them. "I haven't had anything planned for the morning, so this is-" She almost said fascinating, but decided against it last minute. People tended to get creeped out if they felt like she was studying their reactions and interactions. "-a welcome break."

Nick happily took the other papers that flew from his hands from the brunette girl, hopefully ending any thought about that awkward display. He felt like this was the only way he met people at this point. He didn't feel like meeting new people himself, but the universe was always like, "Fine, I'll do it myself" The universe happened to be a good judge of character, though, since he had pleasant experiences with most everyone this way. He hoped these girls would be the same way.

The two girls seemed to contrast one another in demeanor quite a lot. The blonde one appeared pretty calm and down to earth, not really reserved since she did have a lot to say. The brunette, on the other hand, was very bubbly and happy. She looked to be bored, and her apparent solution to this was hanging out with a couple of perfect strangers, which Nick didn't mind.

"Heh, those papers certainly did fly quite a bit, didn' thay?" Nick said, chuckling at Alina's joke. He supposed he could just end the conversation and walk off, but Nick stayed. Maybe it was because the tree was still calling to him, or maybe it was the fact that he was pretty lonely this summer. Either way, why not spend this free time with these two fellow students?

"Well, ye'r certainly eager tae hangout, aren't ye?" Nick said in response to Alina's planning, "Well, I think ye should know my name before we go aff on this 'welcome break'. I'm Caelan Stewart, but I normally just go by Nick." He quite liked the term, 'welcome break'. Sure, it had only been a week since school started, so it wasn't much of a needed break from school, but it was nice to get a break from his constant loneliness.

@Miranda Everest & @Alina Rosier

"Even us Ravenclaws don't get used to the sudden influx of homework quickly," Miranda replied with a shrug, her smile still playing across her lips. "I'd be lying if I said the sheer amount didn't surprise me. And I thought our first year had plenty..." she trailed off, then laughed. "So yes, any break is quite welcome."

In fact, Miranda couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed that she'd been taken so off guard by the large workload. In their first year, it had been perhaps reminiscent, but more expected - after all, they'd had so much to learn, since most didn't even know the basics, or barely did at all. Even the purebloods like Miranda had had to work overtime to keep up with the curriculum. It wasn't exactly the best advantage.

When Alina asked what they were planning to do together, Miranda looked even more surprised than she'd been before. The boy, who introduced himself as Caelan, or Nick, seemed to agree that it was sudden. However, he didn't necessarily seem opposed to the idea. Neither was Miranda, now that she thought about it. It was just...sudden. Like she'd thought before.

"Any of those sounds good," she replied with a noncommittal shrug. Best to let either Alina or Caelan decide, since Miranda had never been what one would call picky about what she did, even if it broke a rule or ten. As long as there were no dangerous creatures involved, anyways...

Nick nodded along to Miranda's homework complaints. "Heh, I can' even imagine how much homework we'll git by the end o' the year at this rate." Nick said, hopefully exaggerating a bit. It was true, the amount of homework given to them in the first week of school was a bit extreme. He hoped that was just to get everyone's gears turning after summer break -even though they did have summer work- but who's to say how merciful the teachers are.

He didn't say anything about what he wanted to do with these two girls. If it were up to him, they would all be sitting in silence on the tree, but that would probably be a mood killer. So, he was glad Alina decided they would go to the lake. As long as they didn't go in it, Nick would be fine. They didn't seem like the kind of people to throw someone into a lake, but he's seen some strange characters at this school, so who knows?

"Oh man don' even git me started on imps. Ye know my dad thought it would be a good idea tae prank me wit an imp in a cake for my fifth birthday?" Nick said, chuckling a bit. He laughs at the experience now, but it kind of ruined that entire birthday for him. That event forever gave him an irrational fear of imps he still has today. He wondered what his dad would think would be a funny prank now that he's twelve, but he's glad he doesn't know.

"Ooh ye have some sweets? Can I have one?" Nick exclaimed seeing Alina pull out a bag of lemon drops. It didn't matter what kind of goodie it was; Nick adored candy. Sure, it wasn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination to eat as much as he does, but who cares about dieting when it tastes so good? Happily, popping the lemon drop Alina offered into his mouth, he smiled. "I love me some good lemon drops. Thanks, Alina!" Nick said, still savoring the delectable candy.

Miranda gave a small nod. "The lake it is," she agreed. It had been a while since she'd gone near the place. And although she'd never admit it aloud, it was really her fear of water that kept her away. Miranda had always felt queasy when surrounded by liquid - she didn't understand why other people reveled in the feeling. The very idea was completely alien to her.

At the mention of imps, Miranda immediately perked up. There was nothing she liked more than magical beasts, even if they were no more than annoying nuisances. When Caelan mentioned his incident with the creatures, she smiled, her expression one of amusement. Imps on a birthday did not sound like fun, but it was bound to be a funny story to tell at a later date...right? Miranda hoped so, because otherwise she couldn't help but pity him. Hopefully, the fact that he was laughing was a good sign.

She thought about that for a bit longer, then turned her attention to their surroundings, taking the time to bask in the feeling of the sun on her face. Who knew how much longer that would last, what with winter on its way and all.

"Thank you," Miranda said in response to when Alina's offer brought her back from her reverie. She waited for Caelan to take one, then did the same, quickly popping it into her mouth and closing her eyes for a brief moment as she enjoyed the sweet taste.

@Caelan Stewart @Alina Rosier