Who: Natalie Fairbourne and Geoffrey Hooper When: October 2nd, afternoon Where: Hogwarts classroom What: Working on potions and chatting/catching up Rating/Status: Low-ish, Closed
[OCC note: mostly a log because, well, the mun had a brain lapse and originally posted it in the wrong place^^]
Natalie didn't look up as someone walked into the classroom. It was Sunday and it was not uncommon for students to come and go. There was always potions homework to do as with any class. Natalie always saved her potions homework for last. It was her favorite subject and was rather enjoyable to her so she looked forward to doing it when compared to other subjects, like Charms.
"Oh..." She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as she looked up and saw a familiar face. "Hey Geoff." Natalie said lightly as she propped her book up against a stack of books next to her. This way she could read as she went and did not have to keep looking down. "Doing alright?" She asked him quietly as she pulled some basic potion supplies out of her bag and laid them out on the table before her. Geoff, she hadn't seen him in a while but she was sure he was busy. That or he had other things going on. Either way, Natalie wasn't one of those girls that cared. If he needed her he'd find her, if he wanted to talk he would find her too, or if she really needed him she knew how to find him as well. Their friendship was one of a very relaxed nature.
"I'm practicing my sleeping draughts. Though, I am not sure about the actually ingesting part." She joked lightly. "There are sweets in my bag..." Natalie motioned to the half open bag on the chair too her left. "If you want any. My mom keeps sending them too be. By the handful. It's sweet really." Natalie knew how hard it was for her mom to go into London and Diagon Alley in order to send her magical child a gift or even a letter. "Are you excited for Hogsmeade?" Natalie wasn't sure she was excited so to say. It would be nice to get out but she always ended up going alone.
Geoffrey had been wandering the corridors alone when he had spotted a familiar looking head of hair. It was one of his rare occasions away from the near constant company of either Alfie, Harm, Gavin, Stebbins, Eddie or any Gryffindors in his year. He supposed he'd been too caught up with catching up and getting back into school life. He felt bad though, when he entered the room and recognized Natalie, someone he hadn't really talked to or seen in about a month. It was weird, considering the amount of time they spent together near the end of the summer, to just disconnect.
And so Geoff entered the room, pulling up a chair towards her, straddling the backrest as he leaned forward on the seat. "I'm doing good." he answered her with a grin, "You?"
He took that moment to look into her cauldron, and there lied, what looked like a perfect potion so far. "Homework on the weekend eh?"
"Good as in I am truly good or in I'm doing so-so and I am just telling you good because it's easier?" Natalie asked lightly in an unassuming voice. She was just wondering because she knew people rarely said what they meant. Her hands expertly diced up some wormwood as she dropped it into her cauldron. It was something she had done so many times she did not need to weight it. She knew it simply by the feel. Some days she fancied she'd own her own potions shop.
"I'm doing alright." She said honestly. "Had so much bloody homework I am not sure I know what day it is, let alone sit long enough to ponder who I am." OWLs were more than six months away but that did not mean the professors were slacking. They had been piled under a plethora of work. "Some of us do, do our homework..." Natalie teased lightly and affectionately. "Even on the weekends." Then again, she figured she would be doing homework in her sleep if she could manage it.
"It'll be nice when Christmas comes and we can have a break." Even then she was not sure she would get a break.
"Good as in actually good." Geoffrey said, rolling his eyes. Things had been a lot better lately, he and Kat had fixed up the little patch they ran into - kind of - Vicky was no longer mad at him - to the best of his knowledge, and things were starting to make sense again. "A lot better than a few other people, that's for sure."
Geoffrey found himself wanting to spin around in the chair, but to his disappointment, none of the chairs in Hogwarts had wheels. Perhaps he could charm them...or ask Natalie to. "That sounds like owl year to me." He said absentmindedly, still examining his chair, wishing he could get it to swivel, just a little bit..."Newt year is a bitch but it's not as bad because you get to drop a few classes you know? Well, unless you're you and a complete bloody genius who isn't going to fail any of her exams"
He paused in the middle of the conversation for a second before saying "Do you think you could charm this thing to spin?" And then returned to the topic they had been discussing, "And I do my homework!" Or at the very least, he's trying to, still a vast improvement from his years before, "McGonagall would have my head otherwise"
Christmas sounded nice and all, but it was so far away, Geoff hardly ever thought about it. He was just looking forward to his birthday.
"Well, I'm glad things are working out." And she was. Natalie remembered how he had been the last time she had seen Geoff. She knew something had been bothering him even though he had not told her that. It made her think that maybe she should have pressed him into telling her but if she did that she wouldn't be Natalie. She always wanted people to tell her things because they wanted not because she forced them into it. Natalie could not complain. Her life was pretty uncomplicated. There weren't many people in her life so she never really had to worry about it. She was comfortable spending time herself. She had to be.
"I wish I could drop a few classes." If she had to choose, Natalie would drop Transfiguration and History of Magic and well probably Defense Against the Dark Arts. She wanted to keep studying it but she only ever pulled an E in the subject and Professor Snape would never allow her to continue with anything less than an O. It was out of the question as she had been trying so hard to up her grade in his class to no avail. "Some classes I don't even have a chance to get into NEWTs in."
"Hm..." Natalie pondered his question for a moment."I could put I don't think it would stop. You'd probably get dizzy and throw up. Then I would have to make you a potion to cure the upset stomach." Her charms were far from perfect. She had to work extremely hard to pull her E in that class. "I am sure McGonagall won't let you slack." Not that it was a bad thing.
"Does this look okay?" She asked Geoff as she dumped in some more of her potion ingredients. He was the one person she knew that was as talented in potions as she was.