Early Riser [ Matthias ]

[Rose Amick//Valerie Jade]

Ever had one of those mornings? Where you wake up and everything seems so out of place...sort of deserted? Well, that's what it was like regularly on an early Sunday morning her at Hogwarts. Ninety percent of the student population was so incredibly lazy that Rose was almost sure if was unhealthy. She didn't know it was possible to just sit still, stare mindlessly at nothing and somehow manage to appear as if you weren't even breathing for so long....and somehow, half of the students in the school managed it well enough. Not Rose. Even after she'd matured and calmed down, she was always an active person.

She was always an early riser. She loved being awake early, and she loved getting ready nice and early so all her things were in order and by the time the other kids were scampering around in fear of being late, she was lounging in her dorm, idly twirling a piece of her wavy brown hair as some other Slytherin girl threw clothes about and screeched in a terribly loud way about accessories or some mindless junk like that. Although, most of the older Slytherin girls had sense not to act like such fools....however, the younger Slytherins...Merlin, she'd rather spend three days alone with Stacey Ryan [ who was immensely happy and hufflepuff-like. too much so for her taste. ] than room with those air-headed mongrels.

Sauntering out onto the lawns, she sucked in a breath of fresh, cold winter air, her arms wrapped around her own shoulders. Besides, it was so stuffy inside the walls of the school. The air was so crisp outside, especially at this time of year. Grinning, she hugged herself a little closer as a cold breeze whipped her dark chocolate locks around her face gently. She was dressed for the weather in a long, thick black sweater that was unimaginably soft and a pair of snow-washed jeans that were tucked into knee-high black high-heel boots that laced up in the front. It was a classy look, and it was definitely warm, so it worked well for her. She had black gloves of the same soft material on, and there was a scarf of the same material wrapped around her neck, blowing with the wind.

There was snow on the ground, a rather thick amount, too. She smiled as it crunched under her feet, walking further into the lawns. There was no one out yet, and the snow was beautiful. Fresh. It was sure to be ruined within the next hour or so. The wind picked up again, but it didn't bother Rose, for obvious reasons - It was nice, for one; and two...she did happen to be an air elemental. A cold breeze was like somebody blowing on her finger and expecting her to be thrown thirty feet across the earth. It was almost laughable. Still smiling, she walked further and further into the expanse of the formerly bright green lawns, leaving a path of footsteps in the white blanket of snow.

[thecapn]

Matthias had also risen early. Slightly earlier than usual, though that was still much earlier than anyone else he knew. He preferred it a great deal when there were fewer people around. He had so much more freedom, no annoying first years running around getting in the way of everything, making stupid loud noises in the common room and the like. He decided that today he'd go for a walk, it was the first clear day in a while and he thought it might do him good to get out in the sun for a while. He was wearing just enough to keep him comfortably warm, shunning a hat and scarf as he always did, keeping to his usual gloves and coat. That was all he needed. Otherwise he got too warm, and his view that was worse than being too cold.

He didn't particularly like the crunch of the snow under his feet, but he could put up with it, he'd probably forget about it soon. He watched the steam coming out of his mouth with each breath remembering the days when he and his friends would put their hands to their mouths and pretend they were smoking by using the steam. He smiled slightly, knowing that he would call anyone he saw doing that stupid. and immiature, though he did it just as much as anyone else when he was younger.

He looked up and saw a black figure walking through the snow. He thought it was a bit odd seeing anyone else up this early, and decided for the time being not to approach them. They must want to be alone to be out now by themselves, at least for a while. he walked in the person's general direction, he began to catch up with them, and realied it was a girl.

[Rose Amick//Valerie Jade]

Hearing footsteps approach, Rose whirled around, ready to yell at someone and threaten someone. Something like that. Instead, she was greeted by the familiar face of Matthias, and she relaxed considerably, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry...You scared me." He had. It was terribly early and she hadn't really expected anyone to be out right now, down near the lawns no less. And now she looked like an idiot. Mentally berating herself, she smiled brightly at the boy in front of her.

"Anyways. Why're you up so early, Matthias?" She turned around and continued walking, a silent invite for him to follow her. Matthias was nice to be around. He wasn't too arrogant, and he wasn't cheery and peppy like some others she knew. Biting her lip, she continued walking, her thoughts wandering back to a few nights ago, in the common room. Early, she had come down and she had ended up talking to Fin for the duration of the early morning, babbling nonsensically about completely random and pointless things.

Somewhere during that morning she realized that she had sort of neglected some of her friendships for Evelin. She spent every waking moment with the girl, and almost forgot about Fin, and Chris, and Matthias. Did that make her a horrible person? Ah, well. Another thing to add on the list. A faraway look in her eyes, Rose blinked away her own thoughts and awaited an answer from the ever-silent Matthias.

[thecapn]

Matthias was pleasantly surprised to see her as well, quickly recovering with a smile, not recognising her very well from behind. She looked as good as ever, and he had no idea how she could achieve that so early in the morning, but hid his thoughts behind his unreadable face. He felt slightly embarassed at how he had failed to do this. He was glad that it was her, he felt much better knowing who it was without having to go through the awkward and tedious process of introducing himself and talk about himself - something he wasn't especially keen on. And on top of that it almost always involved having to hear the life story of someone else.

He took her silent invitation and walked alongside her, his hands as deep in his pockets as he could get them without it actually looking like he was trying to keep his hands warm. That was one thing about him, he didn't like to have reason to moan in front of girls, or looking as though he was in any way uncomfortable. He didn't understand himself for not feeling able to be like this with Rose. They had been friends for a while now.

"I like to avoid the crowds." he said simply. "i'm always up earlier than everyone else anyway. Avoid the hustle and bustle. Do things that need to get done, when there's no distraction. today there was nothing to do so i thought I'd take a walk. I can safely say I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here."