InsaneJournal

Who: Stephen Cornfoot and Rory Chambers
Where: The Ravenclaw Common Room.
When: Monday evening, April 5, 1999, after dinner. (Backdated.)
What: Rory avoids doing an essay by talking to Stephen about kelpies and crushes.
Rating: PG
Status: Log / Complete.


Rory had enjoyed the break. At the last minute, he'd decided to go home for the Easter holidays, and it had been great to see his sister, brother, and parents. However, he'd managed to get wrapped up in spending time with Orrin, who was much younger and enjoyed spending time with either of his older siblings whenever they were around, which sadly was not that often with Rory at school and Brigid now old enough to be out of the house and on her own. It was hard to say no to the little four year-old when he'd wanted to play, so Rory had neglected his schoolwork in favour of playing hide and seek or showing Orrin how to properly ride his new toy broom. These were the things a proper big brother should be doing!

However, it meant that Rory was behind on an essay for potions. Rory liked the science and meticulousness of potions, but he disliked that Professor Slughorn still required essays on ingredients. While Rory enjoyed research, he hated actually focusing all his energy into writing properly. Writing over the journals was fun, because he didn't have to worry about structure or neatness. Essays made his hand hurt!

He was shaking his hand in frustration when he noticed Stephen wander into the common room. Rory looked up and smiled. "Hullo," he said, almost glad for a reason to put his essay aside for a bit. "How was your holiday?"

Stephen had spent most of his morning in the library. As much as he'd loved going home and spending time with his family, by the time he got back to Hogwarts that morning, he'd had a mental list of things to look up in the library. He had intended to have a break from homework too but, as far as he was concerned, plans for essays didn't count and now he just needed to fill in the blanks so he could start writing them.

He returned to the common room with a book full of notes, feeling pleased with himself. Parchment may have been tradition but it was too expensive to use it for all his notes and research too. However, his plans to begin his Charms essay went out the window as he saw Rory and he waved in response to his greeting.

"Hi," he said happily, swinging into the seat beside him and dropping his things on the table. "It was pretty good. Nice to get away from school for a bit. I really haven't missed that bloody door and its riddles either, I have to say. How about you?"

Rory grinned. He actually liked the riddles, even though many of his housemates seemed to find it annoying. After all, the other Houses merely had a password. If they saw it as unfair or annoying, Rory thought it was stimulating. Ravenclaw was a House full of independent thinkers, and Rory was certainly proud to be amongst them. Sometimes, there could be more than one right answer, too! Yes, stimulating.

"Mine was great! I spent a lot of the time with my younger brother. He got his first toy broomstick, and he's convinced that he wants to play on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team when the time comes," Rory answered. When he'd first found out that Orrin was coming into the world, Rory had been horrified. He'd been the youngest for thirteen years. And then a baby was coming? That was wrong in itself. What was even more wrong was that his parents were... well, he still didn't like thinking about it. They just weren't acting like proper parents, who should good and well keep their hands to themselves after the last planned kid was born, shouldn't they?

Thankfully, Rory's opinion of Orrin had changed, though his opinion of intimate parents had not. Orrin was constantly entertaining, and he looked up to Rory. It was no surprise that Orrin wanted to be on the Quidditch team for Ravenclaw. Not everyone in the family had been in Ravenclaw, and only one had played on a House team. Rory was proud that it was him that inspired Orrin, though he figured Orrin would eventually figure out Rory wasn't half as awesome as he believed him to be right now. For the time being, however, the adoration was flattering.

Stephen laughed as he pulled his bag towards him and started digging around, pulling out three books, a pencil case (quill case really) and his Ravenclaw tie in his search.

"Cute. I seem to remember teaching most of my cousins to fly. It's fun, I actually can't wait until my sister's old enough to start. At the moment, we bond with Pat-a-Cake and Peek a Boo."

After a few minutes rummaging, he finally located the half empty bag of licorice wands and offered the bag to Rory before popping one in his mouth and biting it. As he started repacking his bag, he located a small stuffed hippogriff wearing a pink scarf and he smiled.

"Ah, but apparently she's old enough to smuggle her toys in so I'll owl them back," he said with a grin, holding up the little hippogriff before nudging it back into the front pocket of his bag.

"Really? Orrin's just four, so he won't get a real broom for a few years. What he got were one of the ones that hover a foot or so off the ground. Nothing dangerous," Rory said quickly. Having a four year-old on a real broom would be nothing short of disastrous. "How old are your cousins? And your sister?" he asked, taking the offered licorice wand.

If Stephen's sister was just now old enough for peek-a-book and pat-a-cake, she was probably much younger than Orrin was, so Stephen may well have understood Rory's feelings about finding out he was getting a new sibling at the ripe, old age of thirteen. "You know, when I found out Orrin was coming, I didn't want him. I liked being the youngest, you know? But now, I'm so glad he's around. He's always happy to see me and tries to mimic what I do. I guess if I were still young, like four or five, that would be annoying, but because I'm older, it's so cute," he admitted.

"What's her name?" Rory asked, grinning at the hippogriff that Stephen was holding.

Stephen nodded, reaching for another licorice wand and nudging the bag back towards Rory. "I seem to remember those brooms seemed very exciting at the time though." He tapped the rest of his licorice against his lip as he thought. "Beth had her first birthday in January. New Years Day. It's been a while since I saw my cousins but I think they're five, seven, eight and ten. The oldest starts Hogwarts in September anyway."

He grinned at this. "Yeah, it's a bit of an upheaval when you've been an only child for so long. I'd always wanted a little brother or sister, just not when I was that old! Plus, I'd rather I could pretend my mum only ever had sex the once to have me. It's always a bit wrong when that little disillusion gets shattered and neither of my parents have been very good at pretending."

"I believe her name is Hippy. Or did you mean my sister? Bethany. Just Beth really. My mum refuses to shorten it though. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything by the way." Stephen nodded towards the bits and pieces in front of Rory.

Rory took another licorice wand and bit into it as he thought about getting on one of those toy brooms for the first time. He laughed at the memory. "You know, I was five when I got my first one. For Christmas. I remember my dad telling me to be careful, and not five minutes later, I'd smacked my sister in the back of the head with the broom. I think I thought I could go over her, but well, it didn't work out as I'd envisioned," he admitted.

"That's a lot of cousins," Rory said with a smile. Most of his were older or in Canada or Australia, so he didn't seem them as much. Well, aside from the fact he'd been in Brisbane for the year and a half that school was out. That was another matter entirely, and Rory still felt uncomfortable admitting it, as most of his friends had a rough go of it whilst staying in the country. Therefore, he didn't bring it up.

"Exactly!" Rory exclaimed. "Oy, I wanted to die. How shameful is it to admit to your mates that you're getting a sibling well past the proper age, yeah?" He laughed. It wasn't as bad now, but it was still pretty bad. "I don't know. I guess I'll be happy if I'm able to find someone I'm still attracted to late in life," he admitted. "But to think about Mum and Da in that light is bloody awful."

The idea of a sister named Hippy was funny, so Rory snorted. "Yeah, I meant your sister. Beth, aye? That's a good name," he answered with a smile. Rory brushed his curls out of his face. "Oh, this? This is my potions essay," he explained with a sigh. "I hate writing essays." He didn't have dysgraphia, but sometimes it felt like it. He would rather do anything rather than put his thoughts to paper in such a formal manner, mostly because it required him to write several drafts before he created one that was neat enough to turn in.

Stephen laughed at this as he leant back in his chair. "I'll bet your parents loved that! I seem to remember colliding with a tree my first time out but at least I was only hurting myself. I was picking leaves out of my clothes for weeks."

"Too many," he said with a nod. "I don't really see them all that much. Just, you know, Christmas, New Years, that sort of thing. How about you, big family?"

He nodded in agreement, tipping his chair back to balance on the two back legs, grateful that there were no professors around to have panic attacks over it. "Oh, I know what you mean. I actually went with my mum to her healer once and I think he thought I was her toy boy or something, it was wrong on so many levels. And no one just says 'Oh, wow, you're getting a half-sister' either - everyone I told said 'Wow, proof that your mum still gets some. Especially since I really don't think it was exactly planned."

"Ah, good old Potions. I'm so glad I dropped it. In that case, feel free to thank me for interrupting. I'm actually supposed to be writing my Charms essay." He gestured to his notebook. "Well, that was the plan an hour ago anyway. I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Yes," Rory agreed, "but I think they expected a disaster. I was one of those kids, you know? The sort who if they can find a way to get into trouble, they will." His eyes danced with mischief. Rory still was one of those kids, but not on a malicious level. He also didn't go looking for the trouble. It always just.... found him. His mum had called him "hyper" when he was little. He supposed he still was.

"Sort of," he answered vaguely. "They're mostly out of the country, but they sometimes come to visit." Well, it was a true statement, so it wasn't as if he were being dishonest, right? "My grandparents and great-grandparents are still in Ireland, though, so I see them a good deal."

"Toy boy?" he answered, blinking. That was certainly something that would have made Rory very uncomfortable, so he felt sympathy for Stephen's experience. "Orrin wasn't planned, either. My mum wasn't exactly keen on being what she calls an 'old parent.' I think she was glad to have been over and done with the diapers and bottles, but then got a bit of a shock," Rory explained with a grin. In a way, he had thought it was comeuppance at the time for behaving like a horny teenager.

"I thought about it, but I actually enjoy making the potions. I don't enjoy the essays, though, at all," Rory admitted, wrinkling his nose. Charms required a lot of essays, too. "I hate them, actually, for any class."

"Ah, one of those troublemakers," Stephen said with a laugh. "I tended to be the apparently innocent friend to people like you. It did mean I never got in trouble though so it worked."

"Mm, I know about that. Still, I figure its a case of quality over quantity as far as family goes." Stephen did believe what he was saying but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. Knowing that he was the reason behind half of it didn't help.

He grinned awkwardly. "Or something like that. She was pretty young when she had me and she looks younger than she is so I think people see a seventeen year old and a pregnant woman and can't work out what the relationship is. Why they went there instead of something more simple..." Stephen shook his head. People always seemed to make things much more dramatic than necessary. "She's my stepdad's first kid so he was even more excited about it than my mum was though."

"I actually don't mind essays but the potions themselves were too fiddly. And to be honest, I didn't want Snape as a teacher for any longer if I didn't have to. Screwed that one up though."

Rory laughed. It wasn't like he tried to be a problem child. In fact, he was trying very hard to be anything but, which was one of the reasons he was selected as the prefect for his year. However, it seemed somewhat unavoidable with him that he'd cause some sort of accident or walk head first into a disaster without meaning to do it.

"How many cousins do you have?" Rory asked curiously. He wished he had more accessible cousins. Like Luag. He had two cousins at the school with him, and one of them was even a Ravenclaw.

"Oh," Rory answered, making a face. "I think I'm glad my parents are older." He wasn't sure what else to say about it, really. It would be bloody awkward for someone to think Rory was shagging his mum. The thought made his stomach turn. "You set them straight, right?" he asked, just to make sure.

When the topic returned to Beth, Rory's face brightened. He liked babies. Well, he had since Orrin, anyway. Before that, not so much, but he was a boy then, and what boy wanted to be bothered with a baby? "You know what's so brilliant? They change so much so fast," he said thoughtfully. "Even now, if I'm gone a month or two, I can see how Orrin's grown and changed." That seemed to slow later in life. Rory didn't suppose he looked all that much different than he did in December.

"Yeah," Rory agreed. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I finished school, so mum and da suggested I take the classes needed to be a healer. Even if I don't go into training, I'll still have a solid amount of N.E.W.T.s to do something else. You know, if my grades are good," he explained. Really, Rory had no clue what he planned to do with himself in a year and a half.

Stephen shifted in his seat again and, seeing a few of the squishiest seats by the window were free, he gestured towards them. "Want to move over to some more comfy seats? These chairs and I are not friends."

"Mm, four that I know of," he said, rearranging his things just so. "At least one on my dad's side who starts Hogwarts in September. Not sure about any others."

He grinned at the look on Rory's face. "Nah, it's more fun not to correct them and see them try and be polite. Older woman, younger man, you know how it is. Oddly enough my mum was kind of flattered but, yes, the record was settled."

"Oh, I know what you mean. It's a bit sad really, how much I'm missing. I go home every holidays and she's changed so much, I wish I wasn't missing it." He smiled a bit sadly. He really did miss his little sister, even more so when he'd just seen her for some reason. It wasn't really the type of thing you could discuss with friends since most of them were glad to get away from their siblings. "You like kids then?"

"Yeah, it's good to have a decent group of NEWTs," he said with a nod. "My dad's a Healer and I think he really wanted me to go into it too but it's really not my thing. Trouble is my NEWTs don't really amount to an actual career choice or anything, it's just the subjects I liked. I mean, I don't know what an Astronomy one will give me, but I like the subject and I've always done well in it, so..." He trailed off and shrugged.

"Sure!" Rory agreed, gathering his essay, book, quill, and ink before bouncing along behind Stephen as they moved to the comfortable chairs. Rory's normal movement looked a bit more like a bounce than a step, due mainly to his abundance of energy. He flopped in the chair in a totally graceless manner, then swept a hand across his forehead to lift away the hair that was covering his eyes.

Stephen was right, these chairs were much better! "That's quite a few," he answered, grinning. It must be nice to have a large family around at all times. Rory figured it would rarely be boring, if nothing else. "But you'll be gone, so you won't get to be here with them."

Rory shuttered. It was uncomfortable enough for him to think about being with a woman (though he was well aware that was "normal"), but if it were his mum, that was... well, he'd rather not think about it. It made his stomach turn. Nonetheless, he smiled politely. "I'm sure they're properly embarrassed once corrected."

"I don't think I cared one way or the other until Orrin," Rory answered. "But yes, I like them now." Perhaps it wasn't weird that Rory liked kids so much that it was weird that he always felt like he needed to qualify it by saying he didn't care before Orrin came along. "Do you?" he asked. He supposed anyone with a much younger sibling must, unless they were horrible people... or horribly spoilt.

Ah, much better. Stephen was busy making himself comfortable in his favourite seat and was only half heartedly listening to Rory.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a shame, especially since I don't see them much anyway. They'll be here and I'll be off... doing whatever I'm doing after we finish."

He grinned at this, putting his feet up and looking like the picture of comfort. "Oh, they were very embarrassed. It's a nice change from people thinking I'm gay though. Kind of ridiculous since I'm seriously starting to feel like one of the few straight guys here. And yet one of the only ones without a girlfriend, even though you'd think there'd be plenty of available girls."

"Yeah, I do," Stephen admitted sheepishly. "I've always liked kids and they seem to like me so we get along. Not sure what that says about my maturity level!"

Rory smiled. Though only a sixth year, he was beginning to feel the anxiousness of N.E.W.T.s already. He supposed it was because all of the seventh years were beginning to panic, and it was rubbing off on everyone else. He was glad he wasn't going to be sitting for the tests until next year, but he also, in a way, wished that he was starting a new chapter in his life like all the students above him would come June.

"There's a part of me that wonders if I could play Quidditch for a living," he admitted. He wasn't the best chaser in the school, but he wasn't nearly the worst, either. However, it seemed difficult to make it through try-outs. Still, he might as well give it a shot, yeah? He wouldn't know unless he tried. And, well, he'd have (hopefully) his N.E.W.T. scores to fall back on if it didn't work.

When Stephen mentioned people thought he was gay, Rory blinked. He'd never gotten that impression. "Really?" he asked, obviously surprised. Of course, Rory wasn't sure what to make of the other comments, so he didn't say anything. To him, it wasn't a choice. It was just how he was. However, he seemed to come up with a lot of straight blokes off the top of his head. Of course, as gay, perhaps he saw the other side of the fence. But did it matter, really?

"I think there are plenty of available girls, Stephen," Rory said thoughtfully. Or, at least, his observations of late had pointed to the fact that there were plenty of girls who seemed unattached. "If you're looking for a girlfriend, I'll bet you can find one." With minimal effort, too, Rory supposed. Stephen was attractive enough.

Rory didn't want to press the topic to much, though, because inevitably, it would turn back on him. Instead, he grinned. "Same here, yeah? I sometimes wonder if I'm a kid trapped in a teenager's body." Well, yeah, sometimes, but not all the time. Rory supposed he was immature, but it didn't bother him too much.

"It does seem as if everyone has that thought at some point during their last few years," Stephen said with a grin and a nod. "Except me apparently. Worth a shot though. I mean everyone starts somewhere."

Shrugging, he shifted in his seat again. "Yeah, but no one here. Just, you know, family. Because apparently straight boys don't read or something, we're supposed to be busy wrestling or something which, frankly, seems much more gay to me. And anyway, I'm a Ravenclaw for crying out loud. Of course I read! Although I think half of them were only saying that because of my dad. Because, you know, I was going to turn gay just by living with him." He rolled his eyes and tried to make it all into a joke but it would never stop getting to him, their stupid beliefs and the things his so called family said about his dad.

Stephen made a noise of non-committal but looked hopeful. "Well, maybe. I haven't really been going out of my way to find one, I suppose. I just think it'd be nice if a cute girl could just turn up right in front of me and ask me out, you know? Until then, I'm good being a bachelor. You're welcome to join me, unless you're one of the Happily Coupled ones."

"Eh, kids are fun," he said. "I need a break from the real world stuff sometimes and a game of hide and seek always does that."

Rory nodded. He knew everyone thought about it, but not everyone went through with it. If he ran the extra mile in the morning with Rhona and Morag, if he tried the extra drills with Eliot, and if he could sodding well keep his focus, maybe he could make a reserve team his first year out of Hogwarts and work up from there. Obviously, he wasn't going to be like Rhona, who made seeker on the actual team during the year away from school. No, nothing came to Rory that easily.

As Stephen explained what he meant, Rory snorted. He wasn't much of a fighter or a wrestler. He, however, was the kid who was pegged as gay early on in life, probably for those reasons. Then, it turned out to be true. "I think people are scared when boys - or girls - don't fit into a certain mold, you know?" he said thoughtfully. Then he shrugged. "You don't really choose whether you're one way or the other. At least I didn't. It's just how it was as soon as I was old enough to know. So, I guess what I'm saying is that it's silly for anyone to be afraid you'll turn into something you're not just by associating with people who are. Parents included," he continued.

"Don't most girls expect to be the ones asked?" Rory pointed out. It was what he'd observed with his older sister, and even girls in his year, like Lili and Maisie. "I dunno, mate, I think it's programed into them from an early age that being asked validates their self-worth." It was unfortunate, perhaps, but true. Rory decided to skip the comment about being Happily Coupled because he really didn't know what he was these days. Instead, he decided to stay on the topic that seemed to interest Stephen.

"You know, if I were straight, I'd have a huge crush on Lisa Turpin," he admitted, thoughtfully. Lisa was offbeat, which Rory liked because she wasn't super girly, and she was really nice. Her biggest worry seemed to be having the house elves make vegetarian dishes to accommodate her diet, which, from the looks of the dinner selections recently, seemed to be going well for her.

Stephen nodded, annoyed with himself for dredging this up again since it never failed to make him angry.

"Yeah, you're right. It really pisses me off when people are that ignorant and actually seem to be proud of being so close minded. It's insane. It's one thing when my dad's family abandoned him because of it but what on earth gives my aunt any sort of right to make comments about someone she doesn't even know?" Rubbing his face with his hands, he shook his head, as if trying to get rid of all the negative thoughts. "Sorry, rant over. There's a reason I try not to think about that." He grinned at Rory apologetically.

"Mm, probably. And to be honest, I'd feel really pathetic if I made a girl do all the work anyway. I just wish there was an easier way."

He smiled at Rory's comment and thought about this for a second. "Yeah, she's cool. I actually think Morag's cute as anything but, um, don't tell anyone that. Especially her."

Rory smiled back at Stephen when he gave Rory the apologetic smile. Unlike Stephen's dad, Rory didn't have a horror story. His parents hadn't exactly been thrilled, but their love for their son was enough to overcome any disappointment. For that reason, Rory didn't understand parents (or other family members, honestly) who turned their backs on children over their orientation. "It's okay," he told Stephen with a nod. Rory knew he was one of the luckier ones.

"Well, if you were Sebastian, you could write a poem instead of asking," Rory said with a grin. "Or, you know, commission Sebastian to write the poem for you." It wasn't a half-bad idea, really.

Oooh, Rory quite liked Morag, too. Well, perhaps not in quite the same way that Stephen seemed to fancy her a bit . Rory grinned. "She's great," he admitted. Again, Morag wasn't a girly girl, which Rory appreciated. Plus, as she was one of the other chasers on the Quidditch team, Rory spent a great deal of time talking with her, and she was brilliant in his opinion.

But, well, if Stephen didn't want to pursue it, Rory wouldn't say anything. "I won't," he promised. He still hoped that Stephen might work up the nerve to pursue it.

Stephen thought about this for a second. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea. How much does Sebastian charge for poems guaranteed to win a girl's heart? I think it may be worth it. I couldn't write a poem to save my life."

"Yeah, she's cool," he said shyly. "I mean she's not, you know, the kind of girl guys go crazy over but that's partly why I like her. I even went along to one of her study sessions. It's probably a good thing there's no opening on the quidditch team or I'd be tempted to do something stupid like try out and that could end badly. Also, I don't think my quidditch playing would impress anyone." He felt himself blushing slightly and coughed, hoping it would go away.

"So, uh, how about you?" he asked, happy to get the focus off of him since he could still feel his cheeks were a bit pink. "Anyone you fancy?"

Rory thought about it. He didn't remember Sebastian having a price for writing poems. In fact, he could almost imagine Sebastian being offended that anyone could put a price on art. The thought made him laugh, and he shook his head. "I dunno. You should ask him," Rory said. After all, it was only his imaginary version of Sebastian who got offended. The real one might respond quite differently.

"Now, how bad could it be, really?" he asked disbelievingly. Rory, of course, had a natural talent on a broom, but he also had to work very hard to be a good chaser. Because of that, he was under the impression that anyone could do it if they wanted to, as long as he or she put in the necessary effort. "What subject?" he asked, switching to the matter of the study group.

When Stephen asked about Rory, he shrugged. Rory had found over the last few months that as long as his mates had something going on in their lives, they were all too happy to leave him alone about what was going on in his - unless they needed something. At first, Rory had been a little hurt by it, but after a while, he got used to not really talking about anything of importance. Oh, he still talked, just not about deeply personal things. It was suddenly strange to have someone asking him who he fancied, and even stranger that it was hard for him to talk about it.

Rory opened his mouth and then closed it. What did he say, anyway? There's this boy, he's a little older, I met him in Brisbane, he was the first bloke to ever notice me, I let things happen a little too fast but don't regret it, and even though he and I write back and forth a lot, I don't know where we really stand right now. It sounded stupid. So, Rory didn't offer everything. "Yeah," he said thoughtfully. "Just someone I met in the off year. No one at Hogwarts." There. That wasn't so hard to say, was it?

"Mm, maybe," he said, deciding to store that idea in the part of his mind reserved for 'Desperate Attempts'. If he could actually write or appreciate poetry, maybe, but he had a feeling it'd make him look pathetic.

Stephen just shook his head at Rory's question. "I'm fine with flying and I'm okay with the basics of Quidditch but when I try to do both at the same time, and fast, I end up a mess. Like, I try and turn my broom one way and throw the other and I end up doing neither but concussing a teammate. Probably."

He knew it was a bit pathetic that he was more comfortable talking about homework than quidditch or girls but, sadly, that was where his experience and knowledge lay. "It was sort of a general study group. So, exactly what I could have done on my own or in the common room but she organised it so..." He coughed, feeling his cheeks flush again.

"Oh, really?" Stephen wriggled in his chair to face Rory, flinging his legs over the arm and making himself very comfortable. "Do you still write? That'd suck, meeting someone and then coming back here away from them."

Rory smiled. "I could help you! We could use a new beater, after all," he pointed out. Not that he was going to call anyone out, but the beater who was not Luag was not terribly good. Okay, perhaps that was calling a person out, but Rory hadn't said it out loud. Well, mostly. "It would help me, too, honestly," Rory continued. He had gotten into the extra runs and drills recently as he had started to consider the idea of playing after school more seriously.

"Morag's very smart," Rory pointed out, "and she likes to have the best marks, which can be a little tough against the likes of Granger." That certainly didn't mean anything against Morag's abilities. Granger was sort of a freak of nature, though Rory found it admirable. He'd never be like her, but it was fascinating to see a genius in action. "But I think you should keep going, yeah? I mean, you never know, there might eventually be one that's just the two of you..." Rory continued, wiggling his eyebrows as he let his voice trail off.

When Stephen asked if Rory still wrote to Callum, his cheeks tinged pink as he nodded. Rory was perhaps a little girly about the entire situation, but he waited with the excitement of a first year for the mail, and when a letter from the bloke in question arrived, he'd read it and reread it until he had it committed to memory, and then - in a burst of complete ridiculousness - he'd tuck the letter into his pillow. It made him feel better, he rationalised, even though he was aware on some level of how silly it was.

"Yeah, it's not ideal," he agreed, then frowned. Suddenly, his stomach did that plummeting thing it had done when he first talked to Luag about Callum. Well, sort of. Luag had been more interested in the mechanics of certain relationship aspects than he had been about Rory's feelings, but that was Luag. Rory went quiet for a moment. "I miss him," he admitted finally in a quiet voice that wasn't normal for Rory. It only lasted a moment, though, and he was back to being his boisterous self. "Do you know, we went looking for a sea serpent one day while I was over there? It was brilliant flying over the ocean!" he said, a wide grin forming on his lips. No, they didn't find one, but it had been a great adventure.

"Really?" Stephen asked, thinking over what Rory had said. "I've never tried beating. Uh, being a beater, that is." He imagined thwacking the bludger with his bat and wondered how he'd go. He had to admit, it'd be pretty exciting to be on the team, although he didn't imagine he could be better than their current beater. "It's a bit late in the year though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, she is. It's really not fair attempting to compete with Granger though. As if the whole Ravenclaw house wasn't enough!" He had to laugh at Rory's suggestion. If only. "Yeah, you know how romantic Ancient Runes is. I'm sure there's a rune for 'Want to come to Hogsmeade with me?' after all. I'll just need to sneak it into her textbook."

He smiled sadly as he watched Rory, evidently thinking about the boy in question. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, not sure exactly what he was apologising for but it seemed like the thing to say. "Sea serpents, huh? That sounds like fun. Are there many sea serpents there? I seem to remember going to Loch Ness when I was little and being so disappointed when I didn't see the kelpie. My mum did buy me a stuffed one though. The way Muggles go on about it, it's kind of amazing."

"Maybe," Rory admitted, as he scratched his neck. Perhaps replacing that beater would have to wait until next year, then. It was worth a shot, though, and Rory wasn't sorry he'd tried. "I'm not sure how good of a practice beater I'd have been," he admitted. Rory wasn't small, but he wasn't terribly big, either. He was quick on a broom, but obviously not built to be a seeker. He didn't have the bulk that Luag had, which made a good beater. Therefore, the obvious position for him had been a chaser, and really, it was what Stephen would have naturally fit into as well, had he pursued Quidditch at at younger age.

When Stephen made the comment about the rune for Hogsmeade, Rory chuckled. "No, maybe not. It would be great if there were," he concluded. "You still never know, though, right? I mean, something could happen, still. Not through a rune, though." It occurred to Rory that Stephen might be a bit on the shy side when it came to girls, though he wasn't really saying that.

Stephen's apology caught Rory off guard, but he smiled and waved his hand dismissively. It wasn't something he could fix. Even Rory couldn't seem to fix it, and it was his problem. He felt silly for talking about it, and perhaps a little embarrassed as well. He'd rather talk about sea serpents anyway. "Yeah, some of the largest in the world live in the Pacific Ocean!" Rory answered cheerfully, grateful for Stephen's willingness to change the subject. "I've never been to Loch Ness, but I have seen the kelpie in the lake here," he admitted. Rory wasn't around too many muggles, so he wasn't aware of all the hoopla that surrounded Nessie. "Is she quite a big deal to them?" It surprised Rory that muggles would know about her at all!

Stephen shrugged, mentally adding Quidditch to the list of things he wished he'd have got done before now. "I think it's a bit late for me. I tried out in third year but I wasn't very good."

"Mm, maybe I could just go back to passing notes in class," he said, grinning. Paper aeroplanes maybe. Even better, paper owls. It seemed very juvenile and he knew he should be at the stage where he could just talk to a girl and all that but it still seemed unexplainably difficult. He could talk to most girls alright, but when it came to a girl he liked and found attractive, he basically became a dribbling mess trying too hard to be charming. It didn't help that he was pretty sure girls looked at him and saw 'Friend' only.

"Yeah, it's weird. They don't seem to know if she's real or not - I guess the obliviators worked overtime on that - but it's weird, there's whole shops that sell nothing but things about her and statues everywhere. It's bizarre." He shook his head, laughing at the thought of it. He remembered going on a boat tour on the lake and being surrounded by Muggles, desperate to see her. They were probably the reason she didn't appear to him.

Rory decided to let the subject of Quidditch lie. Hopefully, they'd find a new beater next year at tryouts, and with Harry Potter gone, Ravenclaw would finally have a shot at winning the Cup. It was annoying, really. The bloke seemed to be good at everything. It was almost as if he and Hermione Granger, who also came across as a little too perfect, were besties.

When Stephen suggested passing notes in class, Rory grinned. He'd never been especially talented at origami, but he enjoyed it when other people sent flying origami notes across the room behind the teacher's back. "I like that idea," he encouraged. Of course, Rory mostly liked the idea of the origami, with the actual content of the note placing a distant second in importance. "Or, you know, maybe just ask her?" he suggested. Stephen seemed as though he was purposefully avoiding that possibility, so Rory supposed it was time to suggest it.

Of course, Rory had it easy on this front. Except for his sad crush on Nate Summerby during fifth year, Rory had unfortunately crushed on straight boys at school, and there was no point in pursuing those. And Callum had noticed him first, which was... really inexplicable when he thought about it. However, it had saved him from asking blokes out for the past couple of years, so he wasn't sure how well he'd do at it.

"That's brilliant!" Rory said with a bright grin. It was funny to him that there was a magical creature out there almost daring muggles to notice her. It was so different from the way most behaved - the ones that had an interest in keeping themselves hidden. Rory could sympathize a little with Nessie, but at the same time, he realised how dangerous it was for non-magical beings to have even a little knowledge of the magical world. "Maybe I can visit Loch Ness this summer," he said, more to himself than to Stephen. It sounded like something he needed to experience, at least once anyway.

Stephen was interested in this idea of notes now. Clearly he'd have to get working on the origami. And what on earth he was even supposed to write. And having the nerve to do it. When Rory offered his suggestion, he was caught up in the idea of how to fold parchment but had to smile. "Yeah, that's plan B, I think," he admitted wryly. "Although I may come across as slightly less insane if I did that first, I suppose."

"Yeah, it's pretty funny," he agreed. "I think she's pretty shy but she got caught in a photo. Luckily Mugges are pretty sceptical. You should visit though. It's a cool place."

Rory considered it for a moment. "Yeah, probably," he agreed, "but that would be a lot less fun." He certainly hoped Stephen would go through asking Morag out - in whatever means he could, even if it meant using paper origami. As for Nessie, Rory was set on seeing the monster now. At the very least, it might remind him a bit of a special memory, a day shared with someone he missed very much, but the thought of whom could still make him smile.

"Well, I'm not sure I can be too much help when it comes to the origami," Rory admitted. "And I'd probably better get back to my essay." He disliked the fact that it was still hanging over his head, and though talking with Stephen was far more fun than writing, Rory didn't have much of a choice but to get on with it.

"Maybe talking about something other than homework and then notes would help," Stephen mused. "That has potential."

He blinked and nodded, suddenly remembering the original reason he'd come back to the common room. "Right, sorry, I've gone and distracted you with my talk of kelpies and my pathetic love life," he said, grinning as he rose to his feet and grabbed his bag. "Good luck with the essay. It was good talking to you."

Stephen had intended to get started on his own essay in the comfort of the common room but now he found himself drifting up to his dorm room, thoughts entirely focused on a particular girl. Maybe sharing those thoughts hadn't been the best idea (especially since he'd never actually checked to make sure neither she nor any of her friends were around while he was babbling away...) but it was a much more pleasant thing to think about than Charms, he had to say.