Show Yourself

[Noah Orchard]

WE LIKE TO WATCH YOU LAUGHING
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TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED FROM IT.

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Tomatoes are a nice and normal plant. They do not try to eat you, you don't have to wear magical earmuffs to block out their screeching sound when you plant them because they don't make any noise, and when you bite into them, they do not cry or release a toxic gas in revenge. This is surely how food was intended to be - not the other way around. Of course with that kind of folly logic, Noah was saying that muggles were how humans were meant to be and there was something wrong with wizards. Or...maybe he was. Was he? He didn't mean that if he did, but you know that Noah isn't the most thought-out person and it didn't really matter anyway. He knew how he felt about magical plants, and he didn't like them trying to grab his arm as he walked past. He did like, however, the way sparks shot out of a stick when he waved it in the air. Keep on the positive and dispose of all the negative. Noah was in the vegetable garden today, the one that Professor Sprout had students attend to in order to get their green thumbs moving. Noah had an odd assortment of classes this semester because all of the classes he was in, was by default - in other words, these were the professors that were willing to allow Noah to be in their class despite that he never worked or pay attention. Except this year, because this year he was actually half trying. Repeating your last year of school was so not cool. It wasn't part of any class assignment to attend to the student-run vegetable garden but Noah thought he might be able to hone the skills he didn't have a little if he spent some time there. The garden had no one else in it but that did not make it silence. There were the noises of animals moving; yawning; stretching their limbs and burrowing in deeper into the nutrients of the soil. It was anything but quiet in the garden, and to add to the noise, there were the other sounds of the outside world – birds, rustling of the wind, and etc.

Noah pulled out a bucket and watered well at the base of the tomato plants, lined up in a row nicely packed into the soil. The magic of Hogwarts was not lost on the garden, and anything that would be only seasonal in the muggle world could grow here year-long if the students wanted it to. As much as the Gryffindor boy would like to spend all of his time on normal, edible plants, he also came here with the mission to name and identify many herbs. It was still basically a secret that when Noah graduated he wanted to be a healer. A secret the normally open guy was surprisingly quiet about because given his grades and his attention deficit, laughter was sure to come. Hell, he wouldn’t be annoyed by it, he’d laugh too if he was in their position. But, he wasn’t, and he wasn’t giving them the opportunity. Herbs and roots were really important in magical remedies, and some of the most commonly used plants were growing in the garden. He walked by a few of them and named them in his head, but more often than he would have liked, Noah stumbled upon a plant that should have looked familiar but didn’t, or looked familiar but he could not figure out why. Ah, well. A lot of that wasn’t actually homework and he was doing as extra. Extra? As in like extra credit for free? Don’t tell anyone. He has a reputation of being a slacker and while he has to pick up the pace this year, there’s no way he’d ever want to overdo it.

Noah stopped at the end of a row and looked at a curious plant that was a great distance from any of the others. It was the only of its kind, and it did not have eyes or moving leaves. For the life of him, he couldn’t recognize it. It wasn’t the brightest move, but then again, the plant didn’t look violent. Sometimes one forgets that when in doubt in the magical world, always assume something is going to try and kill you. He reached and placed the pad of his pointer finger on a dark purple leaf, running it over its strangely stubbled surface. Whatever the plant was called, it was a looker. Not that Noah was attracted to plants but if he was, this was certainly the plant he’d ask out on a date. It was multi-colored and glittered, as though it had recently rained and the water droplets were reflecting off its surface, but when you touched it you could see it was perfectly dry. Noah was stupidly examining its peculiarities, thinking that this might be the first time he didn’t mind learning, when the plant suddenly took a turn and transformed into the porcupine from hell. It remained its normal shape, but from every millimeter of its surface sprung up small, sharp needles in an instant. Luckily for Noah he was only touching the plant with the tip of his finger, but it gave him a jolt. He took a step back and grabbed his finger in his hand, pulling the needle out and creating a hole for the blood to flow from. “Shit,” he swore with malice, glaring at the plant with all the “glareness” that he could muster. Never one at a loss of words, and given his recent train of thought, he said to it with a great coolness: “I see we got off to a bad start.” And that’s when Noah heard someone very distinctly clear their throat.

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Kids - Mgmt
notes;;

[Alice Prewett]

To begin with, Alice would like to make it very clear that she hadn't meant to spy on anyone, and certainly not one of her housemates, neither was she a creepy stalker who followed - admittedly, handsome and sought-after and very stalkable - gentlemen around, and that she had come here purely for her own interests, because when she was with Coco over the winter break she had somehow gotten her hands on a muggle gardening book and had decided to try her hands at it and see if she had a green thumb. Apparently, she didn't because she'd forgotten to water them in the past few days, after having started off so well. You were supposed to water them once or twice daily until they grew, and then every few days after that. Naturally, it had taken a shorter period of time for her carrots since she'd used a bit of magic (not to mention the fact that this wasn't carrot season at all. Not that she knew when "carrot season" was, but wasn't Spring the time when all the plants came out or something or was that just flowers?). Well, she wasn't exactly a gardening expert yet, all right? And she probably would never be. Probably, she should stick to her future plans to become an Auror. And probably she should hand the responsibility of her carrots to someone else because, at the rate she was going, they would die before they even ripened (did they even ripen or was that fruits? She really ought to consult her book more carefully). What was worse, Olivia had been the one to remind her about the carrots; she hadn't even remembered them herself! Fifteen minutes ago, Olivia had tossed a pillow at her for fun (because she was kind-of a jerk like that except not really because Alice adored Livy to bits) and then asked her how her gardening experiment was going. Needless to say, Alice had smacked her forhead, simultaneously uttering a soft "oh bollocks!" under her breath and then left the dormitory as if her trousers were on fire, all the while reprimanding herself for her own irresponsibility.

Granted, it wasn't like Alice had planted that many carrots. Professor Sprout had only allowed her a tiny plot in the soil to do her own growing, so she supposed it wasn't that big of a deal, but she'd read in her book that plants breathed, too, so they were just as living as she was, and so, technically, she was killing them by not watering them. And what if plants had souls as well? Well, that one was a little hard to believe, though, because it wasn't like plants really had brains or anything. Although she had read that some plants were known to instinctively move their stems/leaves towards the sunlight. So they were sort of clever. In their, you know. Plant-like way. If that were even possible. But obviously it was, because they could do that....she really needed to read that book more seriously because she was starting to think her general knowledge about plants was severely lacking and had gaping holes in it. But then again, she wasn't going to be a Gardner. She obviously had a very normal pink thumb and not a green one. So as soon as the carrots ripened - or grew - or whatever the appropriate terminology that meant they were ready to be picked (er, pulled out of the Earth?) - she would give up this new hobby and try to find a new one. Or, you know, stick to what she did best, which was fangirl over Star Wars and collect comic books. Granted, she wasn't growing something, and she was sure there was some satisfaction derived from planting thing (or so she assumed because otherwise it kind-of wasn't worth it because you had to wait around for ages to get anything and that kind-of sucked. But, really, she'd decided she would leave the gardening up to the professionals who had natural-born green thumbs and who weren't trying to paint their thumbs green and try to play it off as a natural-born gift.

Okay, she really had to stop with the green thumb analogy.

So that was how she'd ended up at the vegetable garden, observing Noah Orchard in a completely non-stalkerish way. It was just strange to see someone like Noah Orchard here, in a vegetable garden, curiously observing plants as if he was actually interested in them, and not in a hm-can-I-use-you-to-prank-people way. Although, granted, he could very well be doing just that, but somehow she doubted that. She justified watching him by telling herself that it wasn't like she was hiding behind a tree and peeking around him, she was standing right there and it wasn't her fault he had her back to her and hadn't noticed her just yet. She was really just waiting to see if his motivation for coming here would somehow be made clear through his actions. But then he touched a leaf of a plant that looked harmless enough...that is, until it suddenly burst into spikes and pricked his finger and she was torn between rushing forward and making sure he wasn't seriously injured (what if the plant was poisonous?) and bursting out into laughter. Since neither option sounded too appeasing, she stuck to announcing her presence by pointedly clearing her throat (it was also a brilliant way to get rid of the urge to giggle) and waiting for him to turn around and acknowledge her presence. "Nasty little buggers, aren't they?"

she asked, although it was more like a matter-of-fact statement. "How's the finger? Think you'll make it?"[/color] It didn't look too bad; he'd survive. She moved closer then, glancing at the plant, which had returned to it's regular, deceptively innocent form, awaiting the next sucker who tried to touch it and it went all spikes-of-death on him or her. "Honestly, these things should come with a warning sign. 'CAUTION: Do not touch. I turn into a monstrous plant that can bite your entire hand off.' Or, in your case, turns into the hedgehog of legumes."[/color] If her smile was a little flirty, well, that was only because Noah was handsome and she was a natural flirt. "So what's Noah Orchard doing in his namesake?"[/color] she asked because she was really curious, and she could never pass up an opportunity to crack a lame joke. And then later chuckle at it, like she did that that moment, because she was totally the type of dork to laugh at her own stupid jokes.

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[Noah Orchard]

YOU PICK THE INSECTS OFF THE PLANTS.
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NO TIME TO THINK OF CONSEQUENCES.

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Not to touch the plant at all when he was neither caring for it nor planning to would have been the “wise” decision, but that word was missing from Noah’s vocabulary. Maybe the plant wasn’t always so brutal; someone may have forgotten to feed it. Maybe it was having an off day. Or maybe it was a girl. Noah watched the blood drip from his finger – bigger than a blot because the needles had sharp, penetrating tips. He eventually wiped his hands off on his pants, a bit grossed out for taking care of the problem the “guy” way but having no other alternative. A streak of red smeared his new pants but that was why being a wizard came in handy. If you could remember the correct spell, it was the best stain remover in town. Someone distinctly cleared their throat. Noah turned his head to see Alice Prewitt standing before him. She was a seventh year like him, and one of the Gryffindor cheerleaders. They knew each other but not really all that well. In an ironic twist, Noah knew a lot less Gryffindors in his own year than in younger years or other houses. “Nasty little buggers, aren’t they?” “Yeah,” he answered casually, taking the opportunity to try and recover from what she saw. Had he jumped when it jabbed him? It was instinct, but he sincerely hoped Noah hadn’t given in to instinct and jumped sky high. With the return of a smile that was almost always on his face, he shook his head a little and shrugged it off. “It reminds me of my ex-girlfriend actually.” A joke was usually a nice way to recover from behaving like a sissy in any instance. He crossed his arms over his chest to keep himself from touching any of the other plants, but also to appear confidence. Noah’s ease of confidence wasn’t quite so natural anymore, and he had to go to lengths now to build himself up. A bit of a deflated balloon, he was.

He laughed at her joke without even trying. She was funny. You could usually count on a Gryffindor to be funny and that never grew old. Witty and funny topped the cake. “Then again, if they put a sign on everything that can kill you in Hogwarts everyone would hide underneath their beds. I almost wonder if Hogwarts is less focused on educating all of us than it is on putting us in a big tournament to see who will survive all seven years.” There was no shortage of terrors in the school, but most of the time Noah really liked this. It was an adventure and trouble always calling to him. Sometimes he lost, as was the case with his finger today, but now he knew one more thing he shouldn’t do at Hogwarts. It was a bit of a learning process, after all. Huh. Maybe he should be concerned that he was actually learning. “I guess that means the two of us are the cream of the crop,” he winked. Noah took a couple further steps in Alice’s direction and away from the plant. Who knew if it had something else going for it besides its beautiful lure and violent outbursts. Yeah, the plant was definitely a girl. He was able to catch a whiff of her perfume even in a garden filled with plants and flowers of all smells. It was a little like honeysuckle. Christmas break had made him miss all of the smells of Hogwarts, just like the school year made Noah miss the smells of the ocean and the sunshine of California. Each place was distinct, but even as an optimist, he found himself always missing somewhere else when he called two places his home. He gave her a precocious smile. He thoroughly enjoyed the way his name rang together, but it did set him up for some kind of punch lines. Noah wouldn’t tell her the real reason why he was in the garden watering the plants and observing their features, but he could give her one of several other answers. Noah put his arms out to the side, like he was measuring the length of the garden itself. “Because it’s a beautiful day outside!” Which was really a tease, because it was cold and all the leaves had fallen off the trees awhile ago. However, inside the garden it was warm and the plants were thriving, so this wasn’t entirely untrue. “It’s the only warm place in all of Hogwarts unless you camp yourself in front of the fireplace. Who wouldn’t want to have a showdown with a house plant?” He heard a noise then, and he could have sworn the plant behind him hissed at the word “houseplant.”

Noah closed the distance between them because he typically stood and talked to people much nearer than another would. “That’s a nice outfit you have on Alice.” He admired it kindly. It was suitable for a garden and for a winter setting at the same time, and Noah would be lying if he said he didn’t like the way it clung to her body. What he would lie about would be to say that he didn’t have to make any effort to think this. No, he would never miss when someone looked good, but he wasn’t as easily distracted by girls now. He didn’t like that. He liked being just the way he was, always. Unchangeable Noah. Change. Alice was Olivia’s roommate, wasn’t she? Olivia, who had stayed outside his room to make sure he wouldn’t go sneaking off in the middle of night and ruin his sobriety. The same Olivia who insisted on following him down the beaten path to Hogsmeade and monitor him when Noah proclaimed that he was going to drink anyway. The Olivia that saw Noah get wasted and nearly take his clothes off, and the Olivia who helped him back to the common room. All the same Olivia who never told anyone about it and was always willing to tell him exactly what she thought, and while that often involved chastisement, it also held encouragement. Noah smiled. Why did he stop spending time with friends like that? He wondered if Alice held the same adoration for Olivia that Noah did. “How’s Olivia doing these days?” While he waited for an answer, Noah reached up and plucked a green leaf that had fallen on Alice’s head out of her hair. He had half expected it to sprout legs and scurry away.

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Kids - Mgmt
notes;;

[Alice Prewett]

It reminds me of my ex-girlfriend, actually. Alice arched her eyebrows at that, inexplicably amused. The next words out of her mouth were completely unstoppable, which was strange because she didn't usually suffer from word vomit. Not sober, anyway. Then again, to be quite honest, Noah made her a little...nervous. He was very handsome. "Which one?"

It came out teasing, because it was supposed to be. Everyone in Gryffindor (well, maybe not everyone, but definitely everyone in their year, and maybe some of the lower years, too) knew that Noah was a notorious flirt, and that he'd had hundreds of girlfriends. Okay...maybe not hundreds. Dozens. Or maybe just one dozen. Who knows? Alice sure as hell hadn't made it her business to keep track, since that seemed a little too stalker-ish and she didn't roll that way. Besides. She'd never been that interested in the first place, and she wasn't exactly interested now. Although she did know he had a girlfriend. Sort of. Or whatever the heck he and Isabelle were calling their relationship. Because Isabelle was her friend (sort of, even though Isabelle was bad at showing it sometimes), and she hoped Noah and her weren't just messing about, because she knew as well as anyone that 'just messing around' often ended up being very messy. Hence the 'mess' in 'messing around'. Okay, so she didn't actually know if that were true or not - the part about mess having anything to do with the phrase, that is - but it didn't make her concerns any less true.

Laughing, Alice moved closer to the table, cautiously peering at a particularly beautiful specimen, who's flowers were a bright pink that slowly became a deep purple deeper into the bud, although fully knowing that it was the beautiful ones that were the most dangerous. Sure enough, when she came too near, the flower suddenly snapped closed and would have gotten her nose (and who knows what was on those petals, poison or something, probably) if she hadn't jerked back in time. "Blimey! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the flower bed,"[/color] she commented lightly before shifting her gaze to Noah again, cocking an eyebrow at his statement. "Oh come off it, Orchard. You know half the school -- well, okay, half the Gryffindor house -- would be the first to try out whatever "dangers" there are. Making the forest "forbidden" didn't exactly stop some students, did it? And hey, without all it's life-threatening perks, we wouldn't be having half as much fun here! All work and no danger makes Merlin a dull boy."[/color] She briefly wondered if it was blasphemous or something, using 'Merlin' in a phrase like that, but then again it wasn't like Merlin was a religious figure. Smiling to herself, Alice picked a spot to stand in that wasn't too close to any dangerous-looking plants and leaned her hip against the table, folding her arms and observing Noah from under her lashes as he informed her that it was a beautiful day outside, biting her lip to hold back her laughter, poorly concealing her amusement. She knew full-well how freezing it was outside, she'd made haste to rush into the vegetable garden as quickly as she could, where she knew it would be much warmer. She might have to start considering wearing tights under her jeans.

"While you make a good point, I still think you're not telling me the whole truth. That's okay, though. I'll wiggle it out of you eventually,"[/color] she told him confidently, although she was joking. Kind-of. She was really curious now that she thought he wasn't being straight with her. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Noah), she was distracted by Noah's compliment and she beamed, looking down briefly to straighten out her olive green sweater. It was one of her favourites because the colour looked so good against her skin, and the fact that he'd noticed how nice her outfit looked on her was flattering. "I know,"[/color] she said, the epitome of modest. She was genuinely startled when he asked about Olivia, only because it seemed to come out of no where. "She's doing pretty well. Getting the hang of Potions, I think, finally. No idea why she's still taking it, but she's stubborn as hell, so that's probably why."[/color] She eyed him suspiciously, then. "You don't, like, like her or something, right? Because I thought you and Isabelle were like...you know. Plus, Olivia is happily taken. Well. Happily ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent is when she and Pierre are arguing. But they're getting better."[/color] She smirked. Soon enough, they'd figure out the perks of making up after a big fight. Then again, they were the biggest prudes in Hogwarts, so probably they wouldn't. And probably if she suggested it to one of them, they'd get flustered and stammer that 'they weren't like that' or 'that they weren't ready for that step in their relationship' or something.

Bouncing on her heels, Alice suddenly remembered her real reason for coming to the vegetable gardens and she gasped out a dramatic "my carrots!" and rushed over to the spot where she'd planted them, half-expecting to see shriveled up...well, something. She didn't exactly know what carrots looked like when they were growing. Only, instead of dead plants, she saw green leaves sprouting from the Earth and she clapped her hands in delight and then whirled around, beckoning her fellow Gryffindor over. "Look! Look, Noah, my carrots are blooming!"[/color] Did vegetables bloom? Oh, hell, who cared, her carrots weren't dead! Life was goood.

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[Noah Orchard]

LIKE LOOKING THROUGH A FOGGED MIRROR.
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DECISIONS ARE MADE AND NOT BOUGHT.

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He couldn’t stop to count his ex-girlfriends. There were those few who had officially declared them dating, then there were the on and off’s, the flings, the stranger hookups, the on the verge of hooking up, and everything in-between. It became too complicated, as you can see. The number of real girlfriends he’d had was in the ballpark of seven. It wasn’t so strange if you considered Noah was usually against committed relationships, and so the women who did manage to rope Noah into it were either obstinately stubborn or unbelievably desirable. At first glance seven appeared a small number, but he had hooked up with way more than that, and he was…eighteen. Noah was eighteen and he’d already been in around seven relationships. I could point out more than a few people who would find that unhealthy. Noah smiled at Alice when she asked who exactly he was comparing to a killer plant. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I told you? She wasn’t a Gryffindor, I can give you that.” He hadn’t narrowed it down for her at all. None of Noah’s girlfriends were Gryffindors, as attractive as he found them to be. The only explanation for that is that maybe dating a Gryffindor would be seeing a little too much of your girlfriend. Standing so close to Alice however was making him realize his folly. A seventh year Gryffindor girl, cheerleader, and a fox? And he’d never even attempted to flirt with Alice before? …….No, there was one time two years ago in Transfiguration but Olivia had definitely intercepted it. There was nothing really stopping him now – he was as single as he ever was. Weird how it didn’t really feel that way. As Alice leaned ever closer to a purple budded monster, Noah was about to warn her when it launched with an open mouth. “It almost took off your pretty little nose” he said, stifling laughter. “Stand over here by me away from the plants. I don’t bite. When I do, I at least warn the lady.” Noah did bite when things got a little frisky, but I can assure you the biting was always welcome.

“Of course not but they’re going about it the wrong way. Using words like “forbidden” and “danger” only succeed in getting me excited.” He smiled knowingly. Words could be sexy if you used them just right. “How about a sign that reads: ‘Warning, flesh-eating flower. Will permanently scar face.’ Anything less violent than that we can figure out ourselves. Just a minute ago if you had lost your face, it would have ruined the day of all the males in Hogwarts, and that’s to say nothing yet about what it would have done to your day.” No he wasn’t afraid of a little danger. He was Noah! He got into all sorts of trouble throughout his Hogwarts career. Getting into trouble is what had him sent to Hogwarts in the first place. But, Gryffindor or not, the kind of trouble he liked was different than others’ definition. Dangerous trouble wasn’t his thing. Dangerous trouble was what Justin had always gotten him into because he was too much of a coward to do it himself. Noah looked at his surroundings and found a normal, non-magical plant. He pulled the top of a rose off of the stem and spun it around in his fingers, making sure it was in fact a normal plant. Then he held it out toward Alice in offering. “See? It’s a beautiful but harmless flower. You don’t have to worry an instant about it wanting to eat you. But accepting it from me may still be dangerous.” He was teasing of course, in the flirtatious way that he always did. He was in a little bit of renewed sprits since the Christmas holidays where he spent his time in California and dealt with all of that, which he wasn’t going to get into. Some of it was memorable for all the wrong reasons and other parts of it were memorable because it was….nice. He couldn’t forget how warm in was in California in comparison to Hogwarts, or how natural it was to leave some of his problems behind, Or, alas, how strange it was to be bringing some of it home with him. Noah wanted to talk to someone like Alice who wasn’t in the thick of it or even on drama’s edge. The biggest troubles the two of them had to talk about was murderous foliage.

You couldn’t wiggle something out of Noah if he didn’t want it to be wiggled. He was really tight-lipped about his dreams because they were one of the few serious things about him. And, seeing as how ridiculous they actually were to even Noah, he didn’t want to open the can of worms for everyone else. “It’s part of my charm” he said to her conceitedly, but of course, as far as not telling the truth went, he allowed her that. Noah wasn’t much of a truth-speaker. Being in the garden wasn’t that effective, since most of the plants in here one would never use for healing properties. For example, the flower that tried to get a taste of Alice? No, not unless you were a werewolf. He had a few herbs of his own that he was growing and he glanced over at them, in the right corner of the garden. They were modest little plants but they were used a lot in the Infirmary and so he tried his hand at them. He wasn’t too bad at keeping them alive, and of course he always enjoyed the look on the nurse’s face whenever he brought some in to her. He would joke that it was for later use on his injuries, since he was such a frequent visitor. He raised his eyebrows when Alice questioned his motives. Noah chuckled good naturedly and held up one hand while shaking his head. “While I probably should, as any guy with two eyes would, it’s not like that with me and Olivia. If I ever want to pick a fight with Pierre I’ll just ask him how his knitting is going.” Completely an inside joke. Pierre and Noah bumped heads, although they used to be pretty good friends. It seemed Noah knew just the right way to ruffle Pierre, who was always too willing to take the bait. Nothing too strange, guys did that and Noah had a lot of respect for him. Kind of. “Are you really surprised? Olivia always takes the high road.” At least to him, she was the perfect example of studious. She was so dedicated to what she did and her and Pierre kind of do make a good pair.

“Because I thought you and Isabelle were like…you know.” Eh. He’d forgotten Isabelle and Alice were friends. Did that complicate things? Noah revealed a sly smile, trying not to look as embarrassed as he was at the moment. “Isa-belle would be the first to tell you that we’re not.” He’d paused at “Isa” but continued on. Calling her “Isa” felt too much like they were together, like a pet name or something. It had been Isabelle’s decision the first time, and the second time, and gee, the third time that they wouldn’t date each other. They were something but that something didn’t mean Noah couldn’t at least make the attempt to consider other options. Even when considering other options was unappealing. Alice got a little manic out of the blue shouting “my carrots!” and running toward the vegetable section of the garden. He crossed the distance in a couple moments and stared down at the green tops that had sprouted out of the dirt. Alice was obviously thrilled about this development. “You did it Alice, you grew some carrots.” Noah began to laugh but he held up a hand for her to high five. Then again, he knew it could be a little exciting to make something live when you totally didn’t think you could. Noah put his hands in his pockets and looked at the carrots like one who was studying a work of art on display. “Wow – they’re so green. How did you get them so green?” Noah bit his tongue, because if he didn’t, he was going to laugh again.

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Kids - Mgmt
notes;;

[Alice Prewett]

"It's so pretty, though,"

Alice sighed unhappily, giving the flower one last, longing look and then moving away from it as Noah had instructed. "Between you and the plant-that-thinks-it's-a-dog? I think I'll take the plant. 'Least it won't break my heart into a million pieces,"[/color] she teased, heaving a dramatic sigh while holding a hand to her chest, as if trying to shield her heart from him. From a realistic point of view, it would be very easy to fall for someone like Noah. There had to be a reason why he was so popular among the girls, and it wasn't just because he had a pretty face - although, she was sad to say, that was probably a large factor for some of the more shallow, younger ones. But she knew several boys with pretty faces who enticed you to kick rather than kiss them. Now Noah, while she supposed he might have his moments (but who didn't?), was incredibly sweet and charming. He wasn't a genius, but he wasn't as slow as a troll, either. He was hilarious (although she'd find a rock amusing if it was shaped strangely, so perhaps she wasn't one to judge) and he was fun. And, also, he has really nice eyes, she thought with an inward grin. She'd always been impressed by vibrant blue eyes, and Noah's weren't exactly lacking in that category. By the end of her rather critical analysis of Noah's personality and his ability to get girls to fall for him, Alice was wondering how come she'd never looked at him that way. Whatever the reason, she was glad. She could flirt like the best of them with guys...just as long as she didn't have feelings for them. But when you involve the heart (or hormones, whatever, at this age those two kind-of went hand-in-hand), she was an absolute stuttering mess, a shadow of the awkward chubby girl she had been as an adolescent.

Never one to pass up an opportunity for a good debate, Alice grinned at how losing her face would've been a disappointment to the majority of the Hogwarts population - and yes, to her as well, because she did like her face the way it was, thank you very much - and then added, "While a blatant sign like the one you suggested might work on some people, I still insist that some will be reckless and - ahem, excuse the bluntness - stupid enough to prove they're bravery by defying said flesh-eating flower and getting away with their skin on. Of course, there's also the fact that boys think girls find scars sexy."[/color] She paused dramatically and then raised her eyebrows rather suggestively. "Which, you know. They kinda do."[/color] Naturally, it depended on where the scar was. And how big it was. And the reasons behind the scar because no one wanted to drool over some tragically acquired battle scar that ran deeper than skin. She was distracted when a pretty - and very normal-looking - rose was offered to her by the charming Noah Orchard and she smiled shyly, picking it up by the step after making sure there weren't any evil thorns sprouting out to prick her fingers. Snorting at his flirtatious teasing, she scrutinized the plant for a few moments and then cautiously brought it to her nose for a long whiff once she was sure that it wasn't suddenly going to grow a mouth that snapped out and tried to grab her face. She was pleasantly surprised when nothing of the sort happened. Apparently there were normal things in Hogwarts. Although there was a distinct scent to the rose that she'd never encountered before in similar flowers of it's kind, so she supposed there had to be some sort of magical imprint on it or something. Still smiling at Noah, she lowered her hand and carefully placed the flower on the table away from the more vicious species for safe-keeping, making a mental note to pick it up on her way out.

Knitting? Alice scrunched up her face and tried to imagine someone like Pierre, who would more likely throw the needles to the floor and stop on them after the first slip-ups with the thread, knitting and suddenly burst out laughing, having the clutch on the surface behind her to keep herself up-right. "Pierre...knitting!"[/color] she wheezed, unable to remove the hilarious mental image of straight-edge Pierre bending over with a pair of needles in his hand, making a scarf. "Oh, Merlin,"[/color] she breathed out once her laughter had settled down into quiet giggles, wiping a tear with the back of her hand. "I can just imagine him getting all pissy at you for teasing him about that. Oh, Merlin, I'm totally bringing that up to him. Or, maybe Olivia, actually, I don't like irritated!Pierre much, he's not very nice."[/color] "Not very nice" was an understatement, too. How Olivia put up with him when he displayed all the colours of the mood spectrum was beyond her; but then again, sometimes Livy wasn't such a picnic either. But, at the end of the day, there were both sweethearts and deserved each other, and Alice meant that in the best way possible. "Yeah, Liv's awesome,"[/color] she agreed with a nod. "And that's a shame about Isabelle, but I'm sure the majority of the girls in our year - and lower - will be happy to hear that,"[/color] she told him, winking flirtatiously as if to imply that she was one of those girls. She wasn't being too serious, though. At least, she didn't think she was. Isabelle was one of her good friends, after all, and Isabelle had this way of not being able to properly express her emotions, so it was entirely possible that she wanted her and Noah to be official, she just didn't know how to say it. Besides. Noah wasn't an exclusive kind-of bloke, and Alice was definitely an exclusive kind-of gal, so that doomed them from the start, didn't it? How tragic.

It was the last thing on her mind now that she had remembered her precious carrots, though. She was practically bouncing on the spot with excitement as she stared down at the fluffy green sprouts that were the proof of her success. Taking notice of his tone, Alice turned to look at her companion, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Yes, I did,"[/color] she said, rather proudly. Her eyes widened at his next comment and she let out an offended "hey!", lightly smacking his arm. "Don't tease. Growing carrots is very hard, okay."[/color] Actually, it wasn't hard at all, since she hadn't done much and had pretty much forgotten about them, but whatever he was making fun of her! "Don't take the mickey, it's not very nice,"[/color] she grumbled as she picked up a watering can, pointed her wand into it so that she could magically fill it up with water before she went about dousing the soil until she was sure it was saturated enough without drowning it. She'd read you shouldn't make the soil too wet, otherwise...okay, so she couldn't remember what would happen, but it was bad and that was all that mattered. "But they are very green, aren't they?"[/color] she said suddenly, with the airs of a proud mother. "I mean, I'm sure they're normal and orange like below the ground. The sprout-y stuff is supposed to be green."[/color] Sprout-y stuff. She really did sound like a regular gardener, didn't she? No wonder he was taking the mickey.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Noah Orchard]

So I deleted this post on mistake because I was copying the format to use in my next post and pasted my write-up from word into it, but instead of hitting "back" and making a new post, I accidentally hit "modify", so.....yeah basically this is GONE haha.

[Alice Prewett]

Alice wasn't sure whether she was meant to see Noah's suddenly somber state following her comment or not. Probably not, but she was pretty observant most of the time, so it was no surprise that she noticed. He was quick to recover, though, but that didn't make her any less concerned. If anything, quite the opposite. Noah needing to cover up the fact that he'd been offended (she inwardly flinched at the thought that she'd actually hurt him with her teasing) just made it all the more worrisome. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it,"

she said quietly, frowning a little and stepping closer to touch his sleeve, biting her bottom lip rather guiltily. Not wanting to make him feel too awkward or uncomfortable, though, because she doubted he wanted her to get all mushy and comforting on him when he obviously hadn't meant to appear vulnerable, she stepped back again and shrugged her shoulders, flashing him another mega-watt smile. It didn't make her feel any less guilty, though. But who could have known that beneath all that bravado and flirtiness, Noah was kind-of sensitive about his so-called reputation? She certainly hadn't known! 'Course, calling him sensitive probably wouldn't go over very well, so Alice decided that it was probably best to move on from the subject. No use ruining a perfectly good day by being a downer. Besides, he'd given her a flower and everything! So now she definitely didn't want to ruin their good mood by being pushy and insensitive.

"I doubt Slytherins would really go for a sign that read "DANGER", either because they're cowards, or because they won't fall for something like that. They don't have the constant need to prove something to other people, or to themselves. That's what makes us Gryffindors so much more brilliant,"[/color] she said with a wink. Or stupider, depends on how you look at it. Alice liked to be optimistic in this case, so we'll go with "brilliant" in this case. His compliment automatically brought another smile to her face which, she supposed, was kind of the point. She did love to smile, and she didn't believe in those tight-lipped smiles, either. It was full-on, mouthful of teeth or nothing at all. Which, admittedly, had come back to bite her in the butt several times, since there had been instances when she'd given such a grin and one of her friends would inform her that she had green stuff in her teeth. Very attractive. Of course, in typical Alice fashion, she's simply laughed it off and then forgotten all about it, which was why it kept happening. But hey, what the hell, right? If you couldn't be at your worst around friends, then when could you be your worst? And besides, she was positive she rocked the spinach-in-teeth look better than anyone else. "Oh, totally. Nothing like a good, scraped elbow to get me going,"[/color] she joked with a low giggle.

Raising her eyebrows, Alice nudged him playfully at his slight jab towards Pierre. "Hey, happy!Pierre is perfectly fine. Definitely better than broody!Pierre, and definitely quite a step up from angry-slash-irritated!Pierre. How are you guys even friends? You're so easy-going and he's so....not. Unless you're not friends and just like to tease each other all the time, in which case, if there's ever a conversation between you two, I want to be there so that I can watch. With popcorn. Caramel popcorn. And maybe a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. Mmm, and some chocolate frogs. And chocoballs. A couple of liquorice wands and some sugar quills. Mmmmm."[/color] She suddenly snapped out of her sugar-induced haze with a quick shake of her head. "Whoops, got side-tracked there. What were we talking about, again?"[/color] She really wanted to go to Honeydukes now. The next Hogsmeade trip was still in a week or two, though, and she'd run out of her stock of sweets. She'd have to ask Livy about that. While the girl was very particular about her sugar, she could still be pretty generous. Plus, she kept a piece of candy pretty much everywhere. Alice wouldn't be surprised if she found a bag stuffed in her panties drawer or something. As a matter of fact, that sounded like a very Livy-like hiding place. "Pretty brunette with a knack for carrot growing, huh?"[/color] she repeated, pretending to think very hard about his "preference". "I don't know, Noah, those are a pretty rare type. Can't just pluck them from any meadow, gotta work hard to find them first. If I see such an amazing individual, though, I'll be sure to send her your way."[/color]

Up until the comment about eating the carrots, Alice had been beaming. Soon as there was a mention of consuming her precious legumes, though, her smile dropped and a look of complete horror overtook her features. "I'm not going to eat them!"[/color] she exclaimed, mortified at the thought, as if he'd suggested she eat her children. "They're my babies! I can't eat them! No, I'm going to store them for ever and ever when they're fully grown. And don't you dare think about eating them yourself!"[/color] she accused suddenly, prodding his chest with her finger and shifting so that she was standing in front of them, as if to protect them from this carrot-eating-monster. In the back of her mind, she realised she was probably being extremely dramatic, but still. She certainly didn't want to eat the carrots!

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Noah Orchard]

I'M GONNA SOAK UP THE SUN.
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TELL EVERYONE TO LIGHTEN UP.

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“Hey I didn’t mean anything by it.” “Of course not,” he responded with an encouraging smile, cautious to make the meaning void of any possible interpretation as sarcasm. Alice was a nice girl, not one to intentionally take jabs at another person. She hadn’t really taken a jab at him and Noah wasn’t concerned about it; it was more of what her words had dug up inside of him. Noah had had a lot to think about lately and while he still held to the aphorism of living wild while you’re still young, it was not able to rid him of his plight: being in love at eighteen. He was in love, wasn’t he? Noah was puzzled. Romance alleged to being everything you could ever want, and since he had spent the only times he ever read reading Shakespeare, it should come as little surprise that Noah was almost unimpressed with himself. He wasn’t pining away every moment to be with Isabelle. He knew he liked Isabelle, knew he liked her enough to go into a flaming building (quite literally!) but did he love her? Noah had said so, and, when Noah had said it, it had felt like the truest words to ever come from his lips. Love was meant to be hard he understood that much, but it wasn’t supposed to be…impossible. People were expected to get over their obstacles to be together. Now he was sounding like a mush, but then again, he kind of was one. Noah was in love with her, or at least a part of her. He was in love with her laugh, with the way she brushed her hair from her face, and of course with an attitude that could send a person running. Isabelle had a way of rambling which was amusing, and for the very same reason that he loved her, which was because she was strong and stubborn, was also the reason that he almost wasn’t in love with her. Almost wasn’t, but wasn’t quite. He was quite in love with her. The hell? Is this what happens when you fall in love? You start to think like Dr. Seuss? He had to get a hold of himself for his own sanity’s sake.

“I wish you would explain that to the professor when I’m headed to detention. I think it would mean more if it came from you. Just tell him that I’m actually brilliant, and that’s why I’m acting out.” He chortled but then looked almost immediately paused in thought. “Actually, that might work the first time or two. Good thinking Alice, maybe Gryffindors really are brilliant.” Of course, any professor with half a brain who has seen Noah’s test scores and answers to questions when he was called upon in class over the past seven years would know differently. Hence, it had to be reserved from a new professor, were they to get one before the end of the year. The end of the year. He was graduating this year – wow. Well, perhaps. Probably not. When she quizzed him on his friendship-ness with Pierre, Noah wasn’t completely sure how to answer, so he went for the go-to reply of, “It’s a guy thing.” you could rag on each other all the time but might still call the other a friend because well, guys hassled each other. With eyebrows raised, he watched Alice rattle off all the foods she would have with her if she could see a show between Noah and Pierre. He watched her like one might watch an elephant in a side show. “I can’t decide if Olivia has rubbed off on you or you rubbed off on Olivia, but between the pair of you, you could give someone diabetes just by talking about all the sugar you eat.” He was of course joking but really! Those girls loved sugar. He remembered an incident where he made the mistake of giving Olivia a pixie stick. No actually, that was not a mistake, it was the greatest moment ever. She seemed wired like a caffeinated squirrel.

“What were we talking about again? “ With a big grin, Noah replied, “I don’t even remember, but you’re more interesting anyway. Are you sure you won’t reconsider me over that plant? He was far better in comparison to a killer plant, or a Slytherin, or Pierre (well, maybe), or anything else they had covered so far. “Thanks, be sure you do that. Because as you pointed out, I am single. If she’s a Gryffindor, that would help. I can’t remember the last time I went out with a Gryffindor, which is a shame.” No, he really couldn’t remember the last time he went out with a Gryffindor. Why was that? Maybe it was true, perhaps Gryffindor girls were a little wise on Noah’s behavior. Alice had the a flair of the dramatics, all true Gryffindors did. She poked and prodded him in the chest, and thoroughly intimidating gesture (hah). No one was going to touch her carrots. “Now wait just a minute,” he said with a mocking, defensive tone in his voice, but the smile gave him away as he grasped her finger in his hand and changed its course. “I didn’t say I was going to eat your carrots. Why would I ever want to eat a vegetable? I assumed you’d want to eat them but I can see I was mistaken. Now I’m just curious to know how you’re going to preserve them forever and ever, a phrase which makes me think of mummification.” Noah was laughing not so subtly, looking positively amused with himself. He didn’t know why, but whenever a girl got really passionate about something he found it very funny. I guess that isn’t the right reaction, but in this case – it works. “Are you going to move on to other types of vegetables too, such as…squash?” There could be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Noah was teasing her.

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow
notes;;

[Alice Prewett]

Following Noah's suggestion, Alice pretended to seriously contemplate it, putting a finger against her chin to further her act. "Hmm. Convince your professors that you're actually brilliant and that's why you're acting out,"

she repeated slowly, thoughtfully. "I dunno, Noah, that's a pretty big lie. I'm not sure how convincing I can be,"[/color] she told him, in all seriousness. And then her facade broke and she burst out into chuckles, patting his arm lightly. "I'm joking. Of course you're brilliant. Just maybe not so much on the educational side of things. Remember I sat next to you last year during Transfiguration class? You didn't do so hot on most of your essays, so Professor McGonogall definitely wouldn't believe me. Not to mention I'm convinced she has a built-in "bullshit radar". Pretty intimidating stuff."[/color] It probably wasn't too far from the truth, too. Sometimes, she had to wonder if Professor McGonogall actually knew leglimens, because it sure seemed like it. Either way, she was not the type of professor who would fall for something like that. Now someone like Slughorn, on the other hand, might fall prey to that more easily. The fact that she was a pureblood and fairly good at Potions probably helped with that, though. "It's a guy thing,"[/color] she repeated dryly, wrinkling her nose. "Males are such strange species. Attractive, sure. But strange,"[/color] she thought aloud, although she mostly meant the comment for herself rather than for Noah's benefit. "Olivia has definitely rubbed off on me,"[/color] she told him with a grin. "We've been roommates for six and a half years now, she was bound to eventually. When you're around so many sweets, it's hard to resist getting a sweet tooth. But, in all fairness...she's a lot worse. I swear, sometimes I think that girl stuffs sweets in her bra. But you didn't hear it from me."[/color]

Would she reconsider him over a plant? Alice raised her eyebrows and nudged his shoulder with hers gently. "Please. Like you're any competition to the plant,"[/color] she joked. As if she'd really choose a plant that could probably kill her in her sleep over someone who's more likely to cuddle her in her sleep. Or maybe not. She wasn't sure if Noah was the cuddling type. He looked cuddly enough, but then again so did a lion but you didn't go around snuggling up to the King of the Jungle. Not that she thought Noah would bite her arm off, but still. "Do you cuddle?"[/color] she suddenly asked out loud, because now she was really curious about the answer. Besides, they were friends, and friends shared stuff like that with each other all the time, right? Yep. Totally. And it wasn't like she would go and actually cuddle with him. She would probably scare the living daylights out of him if she was to actually crawl into his bed in the middle of the night just to cuddle -- and that was officially going on the 'list of possible pranks to pull', she decided with a small, sly grin. Maybe she'd convince May to join in the fun with a camera. Probably wouldn't be too difficult; May was always up for a good prank.

"Vegetables are good for you,"[[/color] she told him, much more relaxed now that she knew he wasn't going to eat her carrots. "And I'm sure there's a spell to preserve vegetables forever. I mean, there's a spell to tie shoelaces together, surely there'll be a spell to do something as important as preserve food. Also...what's mummification?"[/color] It sounded like a muggle thing, and while Alice did like muggle comic books, she was still a pureblood with limited knowledge of all things muggle. "Now you're definitely taking the mickey,"[/color] she huffed, folding her arms and squinting as evilly as she could muster at him. Sadly, she wasn't very good at the pretend "death glare", and it looked more like she had something in her eye, which wasn't very intimidating at all. Huffing, she flounced to the table workbench that contained the gardening tools and placed the watering can lovingly on the table before returning to him. "So, are you growing anything? Some Devil's Snare, maybe?"[/color] she said teasingly. She paused for a moment and then squinted at him suspiciously. "No but seriously, whyyy are you here? I won't tell anyone, I promise."[/color] And she held out her pinky; there was nothing more sacred than a pinky promise, after all.

[/blockquote]
ooc: here's to the worst post in the history of posts.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Noah Orchard]

I DON'T HAVE DIDDLY SQUAT.
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IT'S NOT HAVING WHAT YOU WANT, IT'S WANTING WHAT YOU GOT.

[/color][/center]

Professor McGonogall was pretty rad as far as professors went. Sure, she didn’t seem to like him, merely tolerated him most of the time, but she was that way with most of her students and who didn’t like consistency and fairness and all those other rainbow qualities in their teacher? It wasn’t uncommon for Noah to catch her occasionally looking at him with almost a sense of pride after he had broken a rule, if it was for a valiant cause. Don’t misunderstand – she still gave him so many detentions over the years he might as well have a life sentence in Azkaban, but sometimes it was almost as if she wished she didn’t have to, but woe the professor who must obey the law. He often broke rules for no valiant cause whatsoever, and it was at these moments when he felt himself sinking further and further into the floor and her eyes, filled with accusation, cussed him out with what her mouth couldn’t do lest it pass the line of what was professional. He also liked Professor Flitwick, because charms was much less difficult for Noah than his other classes and Flitwick was such a bumbly little short man you couldn’t help but like him. These professors, he would never be able to fool. Others who didn’t know and didn’t want to know a lot about him, however…well, it probably wouldn’t work with Alice’s help. No offense meant, but she wasn’t coming across as a very persuasive character. Noah didn’t say anything when Alice mentioned his Transfiguration essays, because he couldn’t say anything about them except things he didn’t want to share, like the fact that he did better on his Transfiguration essays than in most of his classes so if she thought that was bad, oh boy. “I’d never be so mean as to ask you to lie to Professor McGonogall. It’d be like sending you to the gallows,” he replied, only half joking about the matter. “I remember. Why do you think I did so terrible on my essays? You were distracting, Alice.” He almost purred out his words, leaning in seductively with an intentional, over the top display of dramatics. Unfortunately, leaning in only reminded him that he hadn’t kissed a girl in…oh what, you think we’re going to tell you? It’s a ridiculous amount of time and that’s all we’re saying. Even when she wasn’t around, just thinking about Isabelle - she was still cock blocking him.

“She has sweets in her bra? Aw man, I owe Marcus twenty bolts….” He trailed off, the comment clearly meant for his own realization and nothing to do with his discussion with Alice. Noah told Marcus there was no way that Olivia stuffs and that she was obviously all-natural, of course he hadn’t expected candy to come into the equation either. He didn’t get womens’ obsession with sugar but he was fine with not understanding, it succeeded in assuring him that he was clearly a guy in every aspect. He had cravings for foods like salty chips and grease, not little chocolate bon bons in heart shaped candies. Wait, go back. Did he have twenty bolts? Maybe in his orange sock…Noah needed to go to Gringotts. Course’ his parents and aunt would be none too happy to find out how much of their money he had already spent, but they would really pop a fuse if they knew he had spent it on alcohol and other “useless” stuff, which was all incredibly useful to him. Noah always laughed when someone asked him if money grew on trees. Uh yeah, money does grow on trees. It’s paper. Duuuuuuh. “Do you cuddle?” With a grin, he reached out an open arm and pulled Alice close to his side, putting his other arm the front of her arm and encompassing her in them. Then, he scrunched his shoulders and made an effort to huge Alice with gentle pressure. “I don’t know, am I cuddly?” Oh, he cuddled! Girls loved to cuddle, they were all over that stuff. It was hard to get knooky if you didn’t cuddle. Then there were friend cuddles, and family cuddles. Cuddles really had so many different styles. So yes, he cuddled. Did he like it? ….Well yeah okay, he liked it. He was a selfish creature, he didn’t do things he didn’t like himself.

With a scrunched up nose like he had smelt something foul, Noah replied airily, “And they taste gross” with a flick of his hand. Give him a bottle of whiskey and he was good to go. Actually carrots weren’t all that bad. The greener the vegetable was, the more bitter and unbearable it became. “Which you know, never gets old” he said about the shoelace tying spell. That spell was just great. “Yeah mummification.” He looked almost uncomfortable. That was really nasty and all, he probably shouldn’t go into detail. She might wonder why he was so into a medical process. Kind of fascinating though really, what ancient muggles believed in. “An insanely long time ago, some muggles used to believe in an afterlife where you could take your body with you, called a Ka something or other, and since you wanted it in tip top shape, they tried to find a way to preserve the dead body for as long and as well as possible.” He became busy feeling real good about himself for remembering the body was called a Ka. Or Spirit? Yeah well whatever, he remembered the word and that’s what really mattered. How many people could say they knew that? That’s right, genius. He puffed himself up, which was a regular Noah routine of course. He portrayed a deceivingly innocent smile as Alice accused him of joking. “Only a little. I’m growing these,” Noah said with a point to a small patch of green herbs in front of him. They didn’t bite, consume, spit at, poison, or otherwise incapacitate anyone and hence their natural appeal. Also, they were often used by healers to draw out poisons from magical creatures. There was really no purpose for growing them, as he wasn’t in a shady black market for selling magical creatures, but he liked the look of them. Noah only shrugged when Alice held out her pinky. “Didn’t Olivia tell you? You have to get me drunk first.”

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow
notes;; oh no no, it was good

[Alice Prewett]

"Aw, Noah, you do care. I'm touched, truly,"

she said dramatically, placing a hand over her heart and acting the part of a truly touched girl, even going as far as to fan a hand over her face as if she was fighting tears of joy. Of course, she soon completely ruined the (otherwise flawless, of course) pretense by giggling out loud. His next claim had her giving him a flirtatious smile, and when he leaned in she did the same, fluttering her eyelashes at him teasingly when they were within inches of each other and then she raised a hand, placed it gently on his chest and suddenly pushed him away, pulling back at the same time. "Careful with that charm, Orchard, it'll get you in trouble sometime,"[/color] she informed him with a coy grin and a playful wink. Okay so maybe her heart had done a little rabbit's skip for a second there when he got all close, but she couldn't be blamed for something like that, could she? We've already established that Noah is a very attractive individual, and sometimes Alice got a little flustered around attractive individuals. Add to that the fact that she'd had a crush on him when she realised that boys weren't cootie-ridden and were actually quite nice to look at and, well, she had every right to act the way she was acting now, all right? Besides, it wasn't like her heart was fluttering madly in her chest or anything. A little bit of attraction never hurt anyone. Right? She was attracted to plenty of friends. It was natural. Most of her friends were very attractive. Hell, she was even a little attracted to Lucy most days, but that's because Lucy is one hot momma, so.

When he complained about losing a bet, Alice scrunched her face up at him, and then widened her eyes in shock and realisation. "Noah Orchard! Tell me you were not discussing the contents of Livy's bra with another bloke!"[/color] she exclaimed, more scandalised than if he'd bet on whether she stuffed her bra because, let's face it, Livy was so adorable and wholesome that anyone talking about her that way made Alice feel extremely protective of her. She poked his chest with her pointer finger and narrowed her eyes. "I was mostly joking about the stuffs-her-bra-with-sweets thing, so you won't have to lose your bet. Just don't talk like that about Olivia, kay? Or I'll tell Pierre and he'll...glare at you. In a very threatening manner."[/color] Her lips twitched slightly; she couldn't imagine Pierre doing anything to physically defend anyone, even if it was in his girlfriend's honor. Then again, maybe she ought to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was a pretty awesome guy. And pretty possessive over his friends. So maybe not. "Or I'll sock you myself, which would be a shame because I'd have to bruise that very handsome face of yours and no one wants that,"[/color] she said, smiling to let him know that she wasn't very peeved at him. When he asked if he was cuddly, Alice assessed him with a critical eye, looking him from head to toe and back and contemplating his question very seriously. After a pregnant pause, she finally affirmed, with a grin and wink, "you are very cuddly indeed, Noah."[/color]

"Huh. That sounds really fascinating,"[/color] Alice mused when he described mummification. "Do you think I could find anything about it in the school library? I know sometimes they talk about muggles, for muggle studies and stuff, right? Maybe I'll find better luck in a muggle library, though,"[/color] she added, a far-away look in her eyes indicating that she was mostly just thinking out loud instead of addressing Noah specifically. She brought herself back to planet Earth when he spoke again, following the direction he was pointing in, honestly surprised to find that they were regular herbs and not something that looked like it was going to jump out and bite your entire hand off. "These look really good, Noah,"[/color] she commented in an impressed tone, as if she really knew how to tell whether they looked good or not. "What're they for? Are they medicinal?"[/color] She looked up at him again, genuinely curious. She felt like she was touching on a side of Noah that she'd never seen before and, quite frankly, she wanted to explore it further before he completely shut down and went back to being just that carefree bloke who could charm girls' pants off with a seductive smile and a few, well-placed words. "No, Olivia didn't tell me. What, pray tell, was she supposed to tell me?"[/color] she asked, her eyebrows shooting upwards. Just what had Noah and Olivia been up to and why hadn't Alice been privy to it?

ooc: this took a ridiculous amount of time to get to you fdklgjdf i am sorryy.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Noah Orchard]

I'M LOOKING UP YOU'RE LOOKING DOWN.
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GONNA TELL EVERYONE TO LIGHTEN UP.

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“Greatly. Your well being is always on my mind. But please – don’t tell any of the other girls, they might get jealous. You know how it is.” Noah sighed deeply as Alice pushed him away, as if they were both a part of a play in which they would win the worst, over-the-top acting award simultaneously. If there was an award for “most cheese”, then that, they would also get. He shook off her word of warning with a happy-go-lucky smile and a gentle shrug. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do at my age?” Or maybe that was what he was supposed to be growing out of, now that he was of age. Being seventeen was a lot less fun than being sixteen in the wizarding world, which made him oh so very sad momentarily for not being a muggle whose adulthood didn’t begin until eighteen in the United States. Times like this made Noah think he was being robbed a year of his childhood. Better yet – wait until he’s eighteen to be legal because having more time to get away with things is always good. Trouble. That was Noah’s problem – he wasn’t getting into enough good old fashioned trouble anymore. The very fact he used the description “good old fashioned” is a testament to that – who says that? Our grandmas? Everything was old fashioned, in ten years he’d be old fashioned and everyone would look at all the “bad” things he did and laugh that anyone thought there was harm in it compared to what went on now a days. It was a bit of a downer that Alice was such good friends with Olivia, who had eyes in the back of her head. Noah would probably like to take Alice out, but then he’d have to be really good because…..well…because why? Olivia wasn’t his mother, Olivia wasn’t Alice’s mother (we hope). Although Alice was a goodish kind of girl, or at least she seemed so and he really ought not to go there. Ought not, but probably will. Who are we really kidding – look at her.

Noah had to admit that as far as innocent poking went, Alice had quite the strong finger. It wasn’t enough to encourage him to take a step back but it did her justice. “Marcus brought it up. I had to do something to….salvage the situation. I was on her team, you know.” He stared innocently, looking somewhat like a person who had been accused of a horrible misdeed and now they were feeling rather offended by their character getting put on trial. Of course, what he just said could have and very likely was untrue but there was really no way for Alice to prove that unless she went straight to Marcus no-last-name herself. Her constant trail to Pierre gave him the idea that Alice may have had a crush on the little time bomb without even knowing it. It didn’t matter anyway, but girls weren’t as complicated as everyone tried to make them out to be. “But you’ll have to clone him, stack one on top of the other like Russian stacking dolls and THEN you’ll get a Pierre that’s taller than me. I might be scared at that point.” He felt a bit victorious in this, although regardless that Noah was very tall, even he believed Pierre was physically stronger than him. Hey, he could admit it…..silently. Noah winced, moving his head to the left and pretending to dodge a potentially devastating blow dealt by Alice Prewett. “My nose is already crooked enough, so all I ask is you go for the jaw…no wait, the ears. No, no wait, maybe my lips…” Repeatedly changing his mind in an anxious matter, he behaved exasperated when he said, “Who am I kidding, my face is perfect. Please don’t break that.”

He didn’t move his arm from around her shoulder, just to see how long he could get away with it. “Even more cuddly because of this un-bruised face, I bet. And did you know you look just like a doll? Porcelain skin and all.” Feeling daring as usual, he reached out a finger to lift up her chin and examine her face. Should could technically bite it off, but from Noah’s experience only the truly crazy ones did that. He moved away quickly enough in case she decided to blow up his theory. “Probably. It’s only a little part of history in the muggle world but they still talk about it all the time, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t here with muggle studies.” You could just tell by the look on Noah’s face that he wasn’t remotely interested in history, and the only reason he knew about mummification at all is because of Halloween, toilet paper parties, and tv comedies. Noah didn’t find it fascinating at all like Alice did, he just thought it was disgusting but, he wasn’t exactly cultured or open and you needed that to understand past civilizations. He was more concerned with how big the next wave was going to be out on the surf. He got kind of quiet when Alice asked him what they were for. She might even be able to tell that Noah looked the slightest bit uncomfortable with the change of topic. “They’re supposed to draw out poison from a wound” he said more quietly than usual, trying to deflect the compliment she had given him about the medicinal herbs. “The difficult part is that they don’t like sunlight so you have to keep them shaded by larger foliage like these,” Noah said while gesturing to a large, dark leaved plant which hung over the much smaller herbs. He touched one of the herbs to test its moistness, afterwards shooting a small stream of water from the end of his wand to wet the plant. There were sort of soggy plants, the kind you would find in a swamp and they needed a lot of water. If you let them go too long without it there was nothing you could do to bring them back. “That you have to get me drunk first,” Noah smirked, putting his wand back into his pocket.

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow
notes;; NEW ALICE FACE!

[Alice Prewett]

It was difficult to keep a straight face for longer than five seconds around Noah Orchard, it seemed, because Alice found herself succumbing into another, short fit of laughter, accompanying it with a playful roll of her eyes. "Yes, of course, mustn't tell anyone else lest the scores of girls who cling onto your every word become jealous in thinking they're not the only ladies in your life,"

she said sarcastically. It figures that Noah would try to play this off as nothing, as a joke. She figured he'd probably run away at the mention of something "serious", even if it was a passing comment. Out of morbid curiosity, Alice wondered if he'd ever a girl that he'd loved her and meant it as anything beyond the platonic meaning of the phrase. She was tempted to ask, but then decided against it, because he'd probably crack another joke, she'd laugh and then realise later that she actually hadn't gotten an honest response out of him, but he was such a sneaky thing that she hadn't even noticed until it was too late and she was left to curse herself for not catching on to his plan of avoidance earlier. So it was really better not to ask at all. "Touche," she agreed with a little laugh. "Although I don't think it has anything to do with age. Depends on how you feel in here,"[/color] she tapped the left side of his chest, "people like you and I, Noah, will forever remain young at heart,"[/color] she informed him with a grin, throwing in a sage nod for fun. While she was, perhaps, a lot better at appearing mature when the situation demanded it. But she enjoyed acting like a teenager (and sometimes a child) as much as Noah obviously did.

"Yes, well, you tell this Marcus bloke that if he ever discusses Olivia's habits of stuffing or not stuffing her bra, or anything on or about Olivia's person that doesn't seem appropriate, I'll go ahead and stuff him,"[/color] she huffed. Her threat made no sense, but no one had ever said that Alice Prewett was good at threatening people, because she wasn't. She meant every word, though, and maybe she wasn't as strong as the Incredible Hulk, but sources stated that she had a pretty mean right hook, and when you grew up around cousins like Fabian Prewett you kind of had to learn how to hold your own. At his jab towards Pierre's height, Alice's mouth dropped open slightly and then she found herself succumbing to another fit of laughter, a hand rising to cover her mouth and muffle her chortles. When she'd caught her breath long enough to feel guilty for laughing, she reached out to smack his arm lightly, her eyes still dancing with mirth. "Oh, Merlin, I shouldn't have laughed, that was really mean. Pierre isn't short. You're the one who's tall,"[/color] she said, as if it was the most practical and logical point she'd ever made. It was true, anyway. She guessed Noah to be a little above six-foot-one, maybe six-foot-two, which was taller than more than ninety percent of the people in the world. So if anything, he was the abnormal one. Although, a more-than-average height was generally seen as something attractive. She let out a dramatic sigh, shaking her head. "But sadly you're right, you really are too pretty to bruise. All right, fair enough, your gorgeous face has saved you this one time. But I've got my eye on you, Orchard,"[/color] she told him, wagging a finger in front of his eyes to show him how incredibly serious she was being with her threats and all. Because it was important that he listen to her and take her seriously!

Alice would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying his arms around her. He was cuddly, and she was the type of person who liked to be cuddled and she was afraid that if she said something about it he'd think she wanted him to let go and it was the last thing she wanted. "I look like a doll?"[/color] she repeated questioningly, obediently raising her face so that she could look at him. "Well, thanks, I guess,"[/color] she stated, pouting a little when he pulled away and wondering how he would react if she wrapped her arms around him and cuddled him back. It would probably be awkward, but she decided she wanted to anyway so she slung her arms around his waist and snuggled up to his side. "I've decided you're very cuddly. So now you've been upgraded from friend to my personal teddy bear. Deal with it."[/color] She smiled and listened closely as he spoke more about the muggles, glad he was humoring her even though it was blatantly obvious that he didn't care one bit about muggle history. "I'll read up on it, then,"[/color] she said, nodding, her currently position causing her chin to collide with his chest rather painfully, and she almost bit her tongue. "Um. Ow,"[/color] she mumbled, this time pulling back herself and raising a hand to rub the offended bone. Merlin, she was just the smoothest of the smooth, wasn't she?

Feeling as if she'd touched upon some sort of personal part that Noah had kept hidden for ages now, Alice shifted from one foot to the other and wondered over the best way to approach this. She could try to pry a little more, see his reasoning for want to plant medicinal herbs in the first place, or she could just let it slide. She figured he'd probably want the latter, but she wanted so badly to explore this new side of Noah that she found herself to be quite torn. Deciding to keep her curiosity at bay - for now - Alice simply nodded and glanced at his plants again. "Well, you seem to know a lot about them, at any rate. Colour me impressed. Bet you'll pass your Herbology NEWT with flying colours."[/color] She watched him water the plants, her heart melting a little at the sight for some odd reason. It was the same thing as seeing an attractive male with a baby, she supposed. Only the latter would probably wreak even more havoc on her senses. "Is that an invitation, Mr. Orchard?"[/color] she asked with her best smirk. "Because it sounded like one to me."[/color]

ooc;; yes she does have a new face indeed!!! :3

[/blockquote][/color][/blockquote]

[Noah Orchard]

YOU CHANGE YOUR POSITION AND YOU'RE CHANGING ME.
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CASTING THESE SHADOWS WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.

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It felt somehow repetitive now. What, you question? The talk about his supposed charm, all the girls who were interested in him, his luck and suave demeanor. It had never been true – he was really a goofball at heart. When he “charmed” girls he was unceasingly cheesy but the girls, more often than not, found it endearing. He was ten kilometers off from being even remotely suave, and if he was lucky he’d hate to see what it was like being a normal person. No, Noah just made people forget that he wasn’t any of these things by always getting them to talk about how he is; he radiates confidence and when you do, everyone simply forgets that you’re a goof who gets the girl because of the right timing, location, and lack of other available options. It’s true, and don’t think that Noah really cares because he doesn’t – it completely works for him. The cute, California guy was supposed to be goofy and as unserious and unmotivated as they came. But it was repetitive. He didn’t feel that much like the pretend charmer that he used to be. I know I know, he’s only eighteen! Even still, a lot of people around school knew that Noah Really liked Isabelle and Isabelle liked Noah and didn’t he seem kind of different to you now? He’d look back on this years later and laugh it all off but when you’re a teenager everything is magnified ten fold. Noah just needed to….move on. As much as he liked the romance and even the drama, life really wasn’t a fairytale. He enjoyed the stories but he couldn’t exactly live them. Alice’s words reminded him of the person he had always been – young. Free of worrying all night about just the kind of girl you should worry about, hardly ever paying for his mistakes – just free. “And when everyone is sharpening their Wizard’s chess skills in their rocking chairs we’ll be racing down the banisters – with a nurse on standby, of course.” It may be shocking to learn that getting old was something he eventually looked forward to, in due time. He didn’t want to, after years of being on their “best” behavior, go back to being allowed to say and pretty much do whatever they wanted to? The way Alice laughed and her outlook on life pretty much made her and Isa…er, Isabelle exact opposites.

“I don’t think I’ll do that, but sometime I’ll point Marcus out to you and give you the honors. After all, threatening that I will have a girl beat him up if he doesn’t piss off is, a bit, well, unmanly.” You couldn’t argue with him there even if you wanted to. Sexism or not, guys just didn’t have girls fight their battles or another girl’s battle. Hey, Noah was sure Alice could hold her own she looked grounded but he still wasn’t going there. “It’s a matter of perspective. Maybe everyone in the world is short and I’m the only normal person here.” He made a gesture of ponder before conceding, “But I’m guessing the odds are against me on this one. Noah was still growing a little, although it had mostly come to a stop last year. Girls were for the most part, stuck with what they got in terms of height by the time they were sixteen but it wasn’t the same for males. When he was sixteen he was about 6’ 1” but now he had probably made it to 6’ 3”. Let’s just hope it stops, right there. “I hope you’ve got your eye on me all the time. I know I have eyes for you.” His then-smile was a mixture between charm and cheekiness, because it was no secret Alice was smart enough to role her eyes at lines like that. “In all seriousness, you did get some good genes.” There were a lot of girls who would kill, and sometimes did kill themselves, to look the way Alice Prewett did. He felt bad for them, especially because he was a boy who unintentionally but nevertheless encouraged them to go to all lengths to reach it. Why? Because, being a clueless guy, Noah always went out with beautiful girls and, although nice to them, had never dated one who was unattractive to most. Teenage boys didn’t even have a glimmer of what it was girls did to make themselves desirable. Lucky for him. And then, there were girls like Alice who probably never had to try.

“Dolls – perfection. Without blemish?” He suggested, for comparison. Usually girls wanted to look like a doll because hardly anyone did. ”Okay,” Noah replied happily, feeling like he probably needed a hug and Alice was the perfect person for the job. “A doll and a teddy bear, aren’t we cute?” From the implication in his tone it was evident Noah jested. He put his arms around Alice in return, and being the type of person he was, he didn’t care a flying flip whether or not someone would come into the garden and question his, or her, motives. To be honest, it was always appropriate to question Noah’s motives anyway, even though he was sincere as much as he could manage. He didn’t know how it happened but out of some incredible skill, Alice hurt her jaw on his collarbone and stepped back, returning to her own personal space. Noah didn’t really believe in the concept of minding another’s personal space, and he was glad she didn’t either. “Now that I know you’re a good hugger, the next time I’m going to kiss you and find out about that. The best way to satisfy your curiosity, someone told me once, is to do something about it.” Let’s see if we can get Alice to blush. He knew her roommate blushed, but Alice was less fragile than Olivia but on the hand, a little more clueless with that sort of thing too.

Noah never really talked about wanting to be a healer to anyone. Well that wasn’t true, he’d told Justin when they were younger but he didn’t want his friend-ish knowing that he still, now and again, dreamed of it. Come on, you know he’d get mocked for it. The seventh year failing most of his classes. Noah had a strong feeling that he was going to be here next year because as outlined at the beginning of this year, he had to show a certain amount of improvement to graduate and even Noah knew he hadn’t done it. Noah had wanted to be a healer ever since he’d hit his head at the beach. His parents had taken him to a wizarding hospital where they could actually help them and when he woke up (a week later) there was a healer at his side telling him everything he’d wanted to know. It was just like….well, Noah had always been a person torn between selfishly wanting to help himself and help others, and he guessed the dream of being a healer had always been the helping side of him trying to get out. “Yes! Do you think that’ll make up for all my other classes? Really, who needs to know how to defend themselves against Dark magic anyway.” That wasn’t the class he did the most poorly in, but it was a good example to show that he was obviously not serious. If he only knew how Alice felt about guys holding babies, he’d remember never to let her around Justin. “I do know the best place in town.” A.k.a the only place in town other than the Hog’s Head, which he still shuddered thinking about after having to take his drinks there while his ex-girlfriend worked at The Three Broomsticks for awhile. Of course, there were some pretty good places to have a drink inside of Hogwarts too, if you knew where to look. Okay, so any hole would really do. “I don’t know, Alice. Are you up for being a little wild?”

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tags;; Alice Prewett
music;; Ellie Goulding - The Writer
notes;; The Secret Circle, right?