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Tweak says, "It's meat and then you flip it"

Lucy Elkins is not your mother. (lucyelkins) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-04-06 21:51:00

Entry tags:

!1998: 04, !incomplete, lucy elkins, nikolas vaisey, sam capper, seamus finnigan

Who: Lucy Elkins, Nikolas Vaisey, Sam Capper, Seamus Finnigan and any other trainees who wanna pop in!
What: Animagus practice
When: Tuesday evening, following dinner
Where: Quidditch Pitch
Rating/Warning: PGish, I'm sure.

Following dinner, Lucy managed a moment back to the Ravenclaw tower to get herself ready for the night ahead. Although she had been spending many nights previously studying on her own, she hadn't really made much head way. It had taken the many hours with McGonagall to really snap it all into focus for the girl. But now, she was well on her way to becoming- well, she didn't know exactly where her transformations were going but at least they were going somewhere.

She was actually quite excited to practice with the rest of the trainees. It had been quite some time since she and Nikolas saw each other outside of class or training and it would be nice to spend some time with him, even if it was with other people. And those other people would surely make it an interesting evening.

Just as Lucy descended the staircase, she spotted Nikolas and grinned widely.

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besserwisser
2010-04-07 02:41 am UTC (link)

This had not been a good few weeks for Nikolas. Possibly month. On the one hand, he was grateful for the chance to be able to do this. But it was still hard work, excruciatingly so, lately. And add that to classes, and Quidditch, and other things, and Nikolas found himself uncharacteristically touchy lately. Though normally quite unflappable, his temper had been short, he'd been more ready to snipe at others. He didn't like feeling this way.

Still, catching sight of Lucy descending the stairs brightened his mood. They hadn't seen each other properly in a while, no doubt for good reason. The purpose of tonight's meeting might not be something he particularly looked forward to - the prospect of painful, partial transformation was hardly inviting anymore. At the very least, Lucy would be there, and the two Gryffindor trainees.

"Hey," he nodded, raising a hand in greeting and realizing that probably wasn't as friendly as it could have been. Trying to lighten the mood, Nikolas grinned and added, "Where do you think you're going, Elkins?"

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lucyelkins
2010-04-07 03:07 am UTC (link)

Lucy took the last two steps at once, the curls at the nape of her neck bouncing just slightly as she did so. She walked toward him as she tucked her wand in the back of her trousers and stopped just in front of him. It had been so long since she'd been alone with him that she couldn't help it as she leaned up on her toes and kissed him lightly.

"Oh, you know, just off doing some illegal Transfiguration work," she said, waving her hand about as if she was just going to skip some stones. "Hardly anything to worry about."

A small giggle escaped from her throat as she realized just how silly it was that she was sneaking around and doing anything even remotely off the rule book. Then she looked at him again.

"How are you?"

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besserwisser
2010-04-07 03:24 am UTC (link)

Nikolas shrugged, smirking at her off-handed tone, and glad that she hadn't been put off by his less-than-warm greeting. Giving some thought to telling her that he actually felt pretty terrible, he decided against being so forthcoming. It wasn't her fault, after all.

"I'm OK, mostly," he said, taking a middle ground. "Barely finished my essay for Herbology in time. I think Professor Sprout probably hates me this year."

He'd done well enough in the class over the past few years to qualify for the N.E.W.T. level course, but this year had been a different story, especially after the holidays had ended.

"But anyway," Nikolas said as he reigned in his tone and tried to sound more cheerful. He leaned forward and returned Lucy's kiss, taking hold of her hand. "Shall we go participate in some illicit activities on the Quidditch pitch?"

That probably sounded much more mischievous than he'd intended. "Of course I want to know how you've been doing, but I figure we shouldn't leave the others hanging."

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lucyelkins
2010-04-07 04:07 am UTC (link)

Lucy raised her eyebrows just slightly at his comment. Considering the distinct lack of such activities between them, she couldn't help but bite down on her lower lip. She could already feel the slight flush creeping into her neck as an image popped into her head. She smiled then, shaking her head of the decidedly not-so-bad thought as she nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it'd be a good idea not to waste too much time," she told him, squeezing his hand softly as the pair of them went to exit the castle. "Seamus said he would bring along some potions for us, for the pain, from Madame Pomfrey. I wonder if she's starting to get suspicious."

Even as she spoke, she looked at her from the corner of her eye, wondering just how OK he was. But then she realized those sorts of conversations would bode better for when they had some real alone time.

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besserwisser
2010-04-07 04:24 am UTC (link)

"He did?"

Finnegan seemed all right, as far as Nikolas could tell. He wasn't so sure about Capper. By now he'd formed preliminary ideas of who in this group he thought would be easiest to get on with - he already knew that Macmillan, while pompous, was a decent bloke, and it went without saying that he liked Millicent. Wadcock seemed determined but was always too quiet for him to really make much of, and Cornfoot was all right. It was just difficult to get to know anyone when most of the time you spent with them ended with the lot exhausted and in a great deal of pain.

The more intimate grouping tonight might help to remedy that, he supposed. That, and he expected Gryffindors would be the most difficult for him to get friendly with, house rivalries being what they were. Good thing he'd have Lucy along.

"That's smart of him. We'll definitely need it," Nikolas said. He was all too aware of how true it was. "I dunno. There's a lot of reasons someone might need it. He could always say he's been...I dunno, trying some kind of new fitness regimen or something."

Glancing at Lucy, Nikolas felt a bit jealous of the progress she'd been making. He knew it was perfectly sensible that she'd be farther along, but he wished he had more results to show by now. "This was a good idea you had, to meet."

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lucyelkins
2010-04-07 04:42 am UTC (link)

It should come as no surprise to learn that Lucy hadn't had many friends before this year came about. Although she was friendly with most of the girls in her dorm and a scattered few throughout her classes and year, she had only been able to call Roger and Branwen her close friends. Now, she had Nikolas and even she and Millicent had gotten along well enough. When she had been introduced to the rest asked to be apart of McGonagall's group, she had hoped this would help her make a few more friends.

Although they all got on well enough, she hadn't yet made the friends she thought she would. She was glad that both Sam and Seamus had decided to come along. It would give them all an opportunity to get to know each other a bit better.

"Yeah?" she asked, smiling slightly. "I'd been planning on going out tonight alone until I realized that it might be nice to have a little company."

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besserwisser
2010-04-08 01:16 am UTC (link)

"At this point company can only help," he replied.

Practicing this stuff alone had been even worse than in groups. At least during the formal lessons with McGonagall, they could all take some comfort in the fact that there were seven others just as miserable as they were. When it came to trying out a transformation alone, in an empty classroom or otherwise private space, you were forced to focus on the pain and the difficulty of the task, and the fact that you were experiencing it. Much less encouraging.

Nikolas caught sight of the nearest exit from the building - not the main one through the Great Hall, but another one that students tended to take on free afternoons after class. It was nearer to the pitch than the main entrance was, which helped tonight in particular.

"Here," Nikolas said, nudging Lucy toward it and hoping it was unlocked. He pushed the door open and was greeted by the brisk evening air. As they stepped out, he saw the pitch not far ahead. "I hope they're up there already. I want to get started."

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	Out on the pitch later! besserwisser 2010-04-08 01:11 am UTC (link)
	(Just starting up a thread for when they're all on the pitch, so Seamus and Sam can jump in! Have at it!) (Reply to this)