Clouds in the Sky (Indigo)

[keri]

Keri, walked out onto the grounds. It was a bright day, around noon and the sun was beating down on the grass. It was good to be back, and she couldn’t wait for lessons to start. Not that she wanted to learn to badly, just so she could get back into the swing of things. She had a bag on her shoulder but it didn’t have much in it. Just a few books and some quills. She met some first years, who looked rather lost, but they didn’t ask for help so they didn’t get any. Sitting down by the lake in the shade of some trees she took out one of the books from her bag. She read for a while, not really taking much of it in, but they had to read it for the holidays, and she hadn’t. So now she was trying to catch up.

After a while she looked up, she had read 25 pages and hadn’t taken a thing of it in. Sighing Keri fumbled around with her bag, trying to get the strap open. She really needed a new bag, but she managed it. Stuffing the book inside and bending one of the pages, “Darn” She mumbled, pulling it back out and straightening the page back. Then placing it back in carefully so it didn’t get bent again. She sighed and lent back on the grass, now bored. She smirked, looking up at the sky, a cloud looked like a muggle car, she laughed slightly at her ways of keeping boredom at bay. Shaking her head and sitting back up, now she was going mad, looking at clouds.

She got up slowly, picking up her bag and turning round in a full circle. Deciding where to go next. There weren’t many people about, so she decided to go for a walk round the grounds. She was coming up to the whomping willow, which she was staying well back from. Then she saw Indigo, they were quite good friends, and often chatted. So she headed over to her, and anyway it was someone to talk to after all. “Hey.” Keri said, pleasant and friendly as she walked up to her.

[Indigo Grace]

Why was it always so damn sunny? Not that Indi was particulary into the dark and gothic scene, but sun was hot she knew that much to be sure. when there was a fair shade of clouds it seemed much more pleasant to be taking a stroll. That was exactly what Indigo was doing. Not one for talking long and boring walks on her own, she had nothing else to do. She'd read half the books she'd brought from home already to Hogwarts, and she didn't want to finish them all or she'd have nothing left to work with. Indi kicked a rock that crossed her path into the bushes, then glancing at the small twiggy branch she had just broken she looked apologetic. Indigo was a tree hugger after all.

Classes hadn't started up, the ball seemed ages away, and her friends were no where to be found. If it wasn't for such an unpleasant home experience she would rather be there then here. Her hair was up in a messy bun today, and though they were normally supposed to be wearing school robes she ignored it and wore casual summertime clothes. It was much too hot for that. Pausing at the whomping willow she kept her distance but looked up at it. She had great respect for the bewitched wonder. It had lived through it all and may have had an attitude, but who didn't these days.

Her head turned when she heard a familiar "Hey." Usually she didn't acknowledge a greeting and continued on her way but she knew the voice. Turning around to face her friend she smiled. "Hey Keri." They hadn't seen one another since last year, and despite the fact they were in different houses it didn't matter. After all, Indi conversed with almost any house but her own. Imagine that. "Long time and no see." That was obvious, but she knew of no other way to continue the conversation. She sat down where she was, in the grass, with her legs folded up underneath her. She was wearing pink shorts for the day, and mostly she'd been observing passerbys.

[keri]

Keri smiled, happy to have found someone to talk to. And she was glad it was Indi, they had always got along, even though they were in different houses. That had never much bothered her, the only house she wasn’t to keen on was slytherin, but could you blame her? If they were nice to her then she was nice to them, but she often made snap decisions about people. Well more than often. But she was good at judging personalities so it wasn’t like it was all bad. But it wasn’t a good idea to get on the wrong side of her, she knew how to stick up for herself, and after all, she was a prefect.

She smiled at her ‘hey’, sitting down on the grass as well. Kneeling first then moving so she was sat with her legs out in front of her folded one on top of the other slightly, and her hands behind back supporting herself. She loved the warm weather, and tended to wear skirts and shorts a lot. Today was no exception, she was in half school uniform, with a black pleated skirt on, probably to short for school dress, but it wasn’t lessons yet. And a white blouse, with the buttons not fastened all the way to the top. Not that suitable, but she thought she looked nice.

She nodded, “I know, it’s been way to long. But the holidays just seem to fly by.” She smiled again, in a really good mood today. She was so excited to be back and see all her friends again, Hogwarts was like a second home. “So, did you do anything interesting in the holidays?” She asked, wondering if she had asked the right thing, after all the trouble she had with her dad and everything. But still, they had talked about it before, and she might have been alright this summer.

[Indigo Grace]

She ran a hand over her smooth legs, staring up at the sun for a moment her hand went to her face to shade her eyes. It was pestering her but soon she forgot all about it. She smiled back at Keri, a smile that Indi didn't hand out all the time. She wasn't a mean girl, just careful about who she trusted and who she'd hand her friendship to. She noted Keri's choice of clothing as well, neither one was alone. It was too hot to wear anything else, and she wasn't the least bit shy.

The holidays never flew by for her, especially right now. She traced her fingers across her own skin with a blank expression. To her she could still relate to the comment. The holidays for her was school, while everyone's elses was away from school. "Nothing too fascinating. I met a few boys when I took a vacation......that took up a lot of my time" She raised her eyebrows suggestively and grinned. "But besides that it was a lot like other summers. I basically just avoided the wicked step mother and planted trees."

As boring as it was to most she was a nature freak. Indigo couldn't think of a better way to spend her time except if it was with boys. Boys helping her plant trees....now that would top it. "What about you? Anything of interest?" A butterfly flitted past Indigo's face and it seemed to sureal. The whomping willow was dangerously close to them, but seeing as the tree and her had an understanding, it'd be ok. ... Most likely.

[keri]

Keri smirked, Indi and her boys, even though she couldn’t really complain. She spent a lot of time with them, but then there was Indi and her trees. She never completely understood what it was about her and trees. But she never questioned it, they were mates, and that was who Indi was, if she didn’t have her ‘way’ with trees, then it wouldn’t be Indi. The sun was bothering Keri as much as it was Indigo, and although she liked warm weather, this was putting it to the extreme.

She smiled and laughed slightly, “She still bugging you huh?” She asked, referring to the ‘wicked step mother.’ Although from what Indi had said she was pretty wicked, although the vacation sounded nice. She hadn’t been on a holiday in ages, she should really have a talk to her parents about one. She was sure her brother would enjoy it as well. She smiled again at her question, “Met some boys.” She said, giggling slightly. “But not what you think, my brothers little gang. Ten year olds who think there good at Quidditch, but I must say there not bad.” She admitted, although she would never tell them this, they would be good if they kept it up.

“There were some boys though.” She said, “A new family moved not far from us, cute guy, has some hot cousins as well.” She said, now grinning. Girls just weren’t girls if they didn’t talk about girly stuff. The whomping willow was swaying slightly more than it should be in the non existent wind. Although she chose to ignore it, they weren’t that close. Although the heat was really starting to get to her now, “You want to go find some shade, or go inside or something.” She asked, happy to carry on the conversation, it was just to damn hot. It was like they were in a heat wave, and she could swear it was getting hotter by the second.

[Indigo Grace]

"There will never be a day when she's not bothering me." The woman made Indi crawl in her skin, much like the way Slytherins did to typical Gryffindors. Though, Indigo couldn't care if a person was in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, it made no difference. Indigo laughed lightly "No, not exactly the type of boys I was hanging out with but just as well, I'm glad you had fun." Indigo liked Quidditch, and in fact, she loved Quidditch. She never played unless with a few close friends, and she wouldn't dream of trying out. Indigo had only been properly introduced to the game in her fourth year, she didn't have near enough experience.

"New neighbors you say. Well, you'll have to invite me over to the house sometime" A small smile crawled up her face. You say the word boy and Indi would melt; they were definitely her weakness. "I thought you'd never ask" She sighed, the sun was something Indigo could do without in life. Her favorite season was the winter, not like it's needed to say why. She stood up and dusted off her clothes, freeing herself from any clinging remains of grass. Walking across the path she cut across the lawn. She was actually getting closer to the Whomping willow.

Stopping at a dangerously close distance, the tree started to sway, noting her presence. Indigo looked up at it, no fear in her eyes, just hesitance. "Can we borrow your shade beautiful willow?" She smiled, you had to suck up sometimes. The tree made a moaning sound and creeked. Indigo stepped so close she was right underneath it's furthest branches, but it did nothing. Glancing back at Keri she smirked. "Alright, it's safe." Well, in all probablity. Indigo stepped lightly at sat down so the branches were covering all the sky above her. You have no idea how cool it is under there.

[Andromeda Black]

[[mind if Annie joins??]]

Annie groaned under the heat of the sun. God it was hot. Annie sat down under a small bit of shade cast by an overhang and ran her hands down her smooth legs. Ahhh..The shade felt so good. She grinned to herself, realizing how weird she would look, sitting in the shade all alone. Oh well. Annie rolled her eyes. It didn't really matter. She had been up re-reading a good book in the Ravenclaw Common Room when she looked out the window and saw how nice it looked. Oh the irony. It always looked so nice and sunny outside when in fact it was dreadfully hot. Oh well, at least she was outdoors, getting some fresh air. That had to count for something right?

She glanced around her at the mingling sutdents. Not really anyone here that I really know... Annie bit her lip then rolled her eyes. She needed to stop acting to stupid. Even if none of her best friends were here she could still hang with someone else. Narrowing her eyes agaisnt the sun's glare, Annie spotted Indigo and someone else- Keri?- by the Whomping Willow. She grinned. Annie got up slowly and dusted off her black skirt. She walked over to Indigo and Keri, smiling. "Hey Indigo! How was your summer?" Annie smiled. Oh god. The dreaded summer question. Her answer was always the same, "horrible." She smirked. This summer hadn't actually been that bad. For one thing, Bella had seemed to have other things on her mind then driving her younger sister off-the-walls-insane.

Annie grinned at the other girl. "Keri, right?" She was pretty good with names and was pretty sure she had seen this girl before. After all, she knew a lot of people here at Hogwarts- even if she didn't know them all that well. The only hing she really knew about Keri-if that was even her name- was that the girl was in Hufflepuff and in her year. Indigo on the other hand, she knew pretty well. The girl was in the same year as her, in Gryffindor and generally tended not to care about which house someone was in- a quality Annie admired in the girl.

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[keri]

She smirked at Indigo, she really did hate that step mother of hers, although she couldn’t blame Indi for hating her. “Yeah, I know what type of boys you were hanging out with.” She said, still smirking. “Ah but then what would I tell you about when we came back.” She said smiling, pushing her hair out of her face, and standing just after Indi did. Brushing her skirt down and squinting slightly through the sunlight. It seemed really bright, although that was probably because it was. Keri liked sun but not this much, and she was glad when Indi started to move off towards shade.

She stopped and watched as she headed ever nearer to the whomping willow, slightly nervous for Indi’s safety, and her own. She stood rooted to the spot and watched in slight amazement as she spoke to the tree. Watching as it swayed dangerously but before staying still. Blinking a few times before starting to walk cautiously over when Indigo said it was safe. She still couldn’t believe what Indi had just done, she knew she had a way with plants. But this was slightly unnerving. Still, she didn’t say anything, they appeared to be safe. And she walked over and sat down next to her.

The shade instantly cooling her down she sighed in relief to be getting out of the sun. “Still don’t know how you do that.” She said, smiling but glancing back at the tree. Looking up as the other girl approached, she smiled back. “Yeah.” She replied to her question. Thinking for a moment recalling the girls name, she was in Gryffindor. “Annie?” She said, hoping she was right. She thought it was, and if so then she had seen the girl around. She seemed pleasant enough, and seemed to know Indi pretty well.

[Andromeda Black]

Annie's eyes widened as Indigo approached the Whomping Willow and talked to it- getting it to stop moving. She quickly resumed an air of nonchalantless and took a step closer into the inviting shade. Her eyes flickered back to the other girl. Keri, as she had confirmed. Keri seemed nice enough, she seemed to know Indigo pretty well. she too, had looked a bit surprised when Indi went over to the Willow. Annie suppresed a grin. She turned her head back to Keri and gave a small nod. "Yeah, Annie Black, Ravenclaw. You're Hufflepuff right? Not that it really matters," she flashed a wide smile. She wouldn't ever dislike someone just because of their house- though she did have a bit of a grudge about Slytherin, but so did most people.

Then again, most people also looked startled to hear her lat name and Annie wasn't quite sure why she had given it out but hey, it wasn't her fault was it. "And yes, in case you're wondering I'm Bella and Cissy's sister. I mean, Bellatrix and Narcissa." She bit her lip. She never called Bella and Cisy by her nicknames for them in public. So what, she had had a slip of the tongue. Like anyone would care. Well, they might think she was closer with them then she was but oh well. The worst part was that no one called Bella, well Bella. Everyone just called her Trix.

Annie sat down. The heat was getting to her head and her thoughts were just rambling on. She gulped. She had been so close with Bella once. They had shared all their secrets, trusted each other with their lives. And now because of some stupid hat theitr friendship was ruined. She sighed. "Sorry, I thiink the heat's getting to my head. I just felt a little dizzy and spazzed," she said, referring to her just standing there saying nothing like a fool."

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[Indigo Grace]

A thin smile appeared on Indi's face, it was one of complete forcefulness. Not because Annie arrived, but because of the question she'd just been presented with. She wasn't one to lie, but she'd rather not answer it again. Her summer was always the same, if not increasingly worse. "Oh, it had it's moments." Indi said instead, leaving it that was so as not to crush the smile on Andromeda's face. She really was, a very nice girl. She did a favor of not asking in return, oh Indigo could only imagine how her's was. Stuck between those two wenches for sisters, really a pity.

Indigo giggled at Keri's last comment toward her and pulled a face of terribly portrayed innocence. "Very good boys. Proper, well respected, kept their hands completely to themselves." She smirked, an evil little grin was on her face. Sometimes, she did lie. But it was only for effect. Or, when she wanted to get back at that increasingly frustrating boy, Cartier. Smoothing her already smooth hair out by running her hands over it, she smiled. Odd, as that was beginning to happen a lot.

"You don't know how I did it?" To Indi, it seemed perfectly natural. "Oh, well really all you have to do is be friends with them. Treat them as equals. Put yourself in their place in a way." Looking at the pair's faces she shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself. "Well, it doesn't sound nearly as crazy in Herbology." Bella and Cissy? She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Andromeda. It was a slip obviously, and she felt sort of bad. Like the girl feared being even more punished for using childhood nicknames. "Andromeda, why don't you come and sit down, it's cooler under here." She diverted the subject, Indigo read Annie's lie too well. She continued to call her by her full name throughout the years, that's just something Indi did.

[Andromeda Black]

Annie smiled at Indigo as the girl responded. At least she wasnt the only one who hadn't had the best summer. Annie pulled a face. "If it's an help my summer wasn't a dream either. You can imagine..." she let the sentence trail off. Annie glanced up at the sky. Strange how they were back already. She had waited to be back for so long and now that she was it felt diferrent. Not right.

Annie pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She could bring it out later but for now she should just enjoy herself. She grinned and sat down under the shade, glancing apprehensively up at the willow. "Oh thank god! It is soo hot." She glanced back up at the willow. "Wow, Indi. I mean I knew you were into trees but...that's impressive." She grinned.

Annie glanced down at her feet. "My summer wasn't actually that bad." She forced a smile. "All in all, one of the better ones." It was true. But still, since it had been better she had had tiem to nourish the foolish thought that her and Bella might becoem close again, this year. But it didn't look like that was going to happen...ever. Annie smoother her head back behind her ears. She had been foolish to get her hopes up.

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