Rendezvous

[bella]

Devilishly clever one might say – but those with keener minds would describe it as teenaged girl drama. As of yesterday, Gemma had suggested the pair of them get together to hang out; time shared between the two was plentiful when comparing it to the average different-House relationship, but compared to the average friendship, time was scarce. Deciding later in the afternoon would be a suitable meeting hour they had then contemplated on what exactly they planned to do. Being brilliant as most Gryffindor’s are, Gemma had suggested Bella bring Drew along – in return, Gemma would bring Drake along. It was standard procedure for all best friends to examine one another’s choice in boyfriends. Of course, Bella was still fixated that Gemma and Drake were “just friends” at the moment, mind churning on how best to push Drake in the right direction. That, it had been decided, was part of today’s plan: it was the girl’s wish that perhaps if Drew was around with Bella, as a couple, maybe Drake might at least ask Gemma to the Ball. Naturally the next step was boyfriend-girlfriend, but, after a fit of giggles, they’d decided that they shouldn’t overwhelmed the poor Ravenclaw too much.

As it was now, Bella was still in her final class for the day – Potions. On an ordinary day she might have found today’s lesson intriguing, but she was rather restless as she tried to successfully mix together something that supposedly granted the drinker vast knowledge for a day. The professor had tried to sell them that they could even surpass the Headmaster in smarts were they to drink it, but no one had believed it. Bella let out an irritated sigh as she dumped her onion roots into her cauldron, the steaming liquid turning a light shade of pink instead of the deep red she’d been aiming for. Running a finger down her instructions once more, she battled with herself over what she’d done wrong. Failing in finding a specific mistake, she waved her wand slowly in circles above the substance, watching it swirl in the base. Her uncompleted potion merely bubbled a few times and remained as pink as ever. Aggravated, Bella consulted her textbook once more – nothing. She huffed and ran a hand through her hair, glancing at the clock longingly – only ten more minutes. Bella still had a few steps to complete and if she kept pondering her deformed solution, she’d never finish. Hoping the damaged wasn’t immensely fatal, she continued forward with the instructions.

“Well it that wasn’t a complete waste of time,” Bella muttered darkly as she walked out of class ten minutes later. She was still sort of irked as she climbed the steps to the Entrance Hall, not able to fully forgive herself for her weak red potion. The image described was a much more vibrant blood red color, a shade hers didn’t even closely remote. Absentmindedly she adjusted her bag some, keeping it form falling off her shoulder as she headed for the doors. Bella had suggested the lake for their little rendezvous, oddly fond of the place lately. Now she just had to wait for everyone else. Bella settled herself off to the side of the pathway leading from the castle to the lake, arms folded over her chest in thought. Who knew what today would lead to?

[Reserved for Drew, Gemma, & Drake]

[drew]

ooc: oi, I'm a slow one lately


Learing, for Drew, was something done outside of the classroom. That is in fact, if it was bothered with at all. Right now, he mused, he could be in Muggle Studies. If the professor, who by the way grew up in the wizarding world, knew one thing about the muggle world that he didn't know, he'd give her his favorite car. He even stated this offer to her in the middle of class, but she wasn't keen on the idea. Why? Because she didn't know more than him that's why. Spending your days as a muggle made you quite the more knowledgable about their ways of living, thank you very much. Instead, she chose to fight with him about the intolerable behavior of students today. He merely conteracted with the truth: 'If you professors weren't so damn boring, we might actually pay attention.' She thereafter immediately removed him from the room. In other words, she sent him to the depty head to deal with him.

You know, Drew would have felt bad about starting something with his favorite professor, if she hadn't started it. What's done is done, and he wasn't liable for remorse. He had his legs spread out across the bench, with a book in his hand, when the bell rung for the end of class. His eyes rolled lazily up to look at the clock tower, before they met back with the words on the page. His head laid back against the seat of the bench as noise envoked the surrounding area of the school. It was quieter over here, mostly because it seemed as too much of a long walk for the lazier students of the school. The deputy did what they always did; slapped his wrist and gave him detention. With a small threat on his perfect duties, of course. Drew yawned unwillingly as he flipped the page, waiting for Bella to come across.

Apparently they were all getting together for something. Hang out, or whatever they called it. Bella, Drake, and Gemma. He knew Drake well, and he'd managed to pass a note with Gemma during one dull class. Drew wore a warm black jacket, every day already getting colder with each passing minute. He could very nearly see his breath, and took to entertaining himself with that, when he glanced over to the side to see Bella standing there. "Alright." Drew smirked a little smugly, setting his book down on his lap, but not moving a fraction of an inch otherwise. "Who ruffled your feathers Bells." It was obvious Isabella was teed off, but by who it was hard to say. Surely not a professor. Maybe. She looked beautiful today, but he didn't say anything about it, just continued staring at her. He wanted to laugh, and couldn't help but let a chuckle escape, seeing Bella look, in a word, pissed, was an interesting thing.

[gemma0avery]

“Jusqu'à un autre jour!!” Gemma called enthusiastically as she left her Ancient Runes classroom, earning a grin from her professor. Gemma smiled, something that seemed to slightly frighten a few of her classmates that were used to the scowl she always had while working, and headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room to drop off her bag before heading for where everyone else would be at.

Gemma was actually in a pretty good mood, and it wasn’t just because she might get the guts to ask her long term crush and best guy friend ever to go to the Winter Ball with her either. It just seemed that everything was going great! The night before she’d done a charm she’d tried a new charm that made her hair even more vibrant and fiery, she hadn’t been reprimanded for have a bit of fun with her uniform, and she’d aced her last exam!

Actually the fact that everything had been going so well slightly made Gemma paranoid, she was just waiting for something totally and completely horrible to happen to neutralize everything good that happened. At that thought Gemma paused in front of the entry to the common room.

That was it! Gemma knew what was going to happen to neutralize all the good things that had happened that day! She was going to go and meet up with everyone and was going to find out Drake had started dating some absolutely gorgeous girl all of a sudden or that Bella had gotten fed up with her randomness and didn’t want to be friends anymore or something horrid like that.

“Aww damn…” Gemma found herself whining as she pushed open the door to her dormitory “Damn, damn, damn…. DAMN!” she growled as she irritatedly threw her bag onto her bed “Just damn!!”

But even though all Gemma wanted to do was avoid the rendezvous with all she could so she wouldn’t have to face the horrid thing that would balance out her day at that moment, she soon found herself heading out of the common room and towards where the others were. She just couldn’t resist the idea that this could be her big chance with Drake, otherwise she’d probably hole up in her dorm eating the rest of the chocolate cauldrons she’d purchased at Honeydukes as to avoid the horrid thing she was sure would occur to balance out her day.

Gemma continued on, still freaking out slightly, until she spotted Drew and Bella at where they were all meeting. Bella looked kind of, well, pissed… And it seemed that Drew was trying to figure out was going on and calming her down.

“What’s up?” she greeted as she neared them, hoping the reason Bella was pissed had nothing to do with her.


[[OOC: Wow... My post seems so... Ramblish!

[enigma]

Everybody's going to the party have a real good time...

This being his free period, Drake found himself smothered in the learning of dragons and lesser magical beings. He lay on his four-poster in a slight daze, occasionally glancing out of the tower window. The day seemed to be warm and mild, and it rubbed off a little on his indifferent mood. He was having on of those days were nothing was really phasing him much. He flipped the page absentmindedly as he thought about his poor sister. Word was flying around again with her and that horrid Skeeter. Worse yet, they were a part of his house. Exhausting the thought, he closed the book and got out of his bed. Whats the point in worrying over something that wouldn’t be fixed. The same old story, just with different faces.

He heard the footsteps, before the laughter. Knowing that classes must be over, he brushed back his smooth straight hair with the tips of his fingers. Looking into the mirror beside his buddy’s bed, he seemed more drab today than usual. His eyes were a little heavy and his dull ebony hair fell in unwanted places all over. He sighed looking away, and grabbed his black jacket, with a raven and skull on the front and on the back reading ‘Intoxication’ in some creepy font. He made his way down the steps passing chattering younger years. He didn’t stop to smile and ask how their day went, but it wasn’t uncommon. Only this time, he had more movement in his step. He needed to get out of that muggy room and get some clean air. Bella had asked him to come over to the lake. For what he didn’t know, but he thought it was better than skulking around in the room like an idiot.

He made his way with long steps in his usual casual manner. Muscles rippling lightly underneath the cotton of his jacket. His hard brown eyes scanned along his path, as he neared the turn. He caught the radiance of some bright red and yellow hair before anything else. Instantly he knew who it was, and a small grin was put on his grim lips. As he neared, he saw Bella and then Drew. It caught him off guard for such a crowd, she didn’t exactly saw there was going to anyone else. But she also didn’t clarify what they were doing. He shrugged it off, since right now, he could go for a good conversation. He didn’t have time for him use some of his transforming skills for a gift to his dearly beloved friends. But it also might irritate Drew if he though Drake was trying to swoon Bella.

So instead he walked up, and stopped making almost a perfect triangle of people. He glanced at Bella, then smiled at Gemma and nodded, ”Hey Gemma…” he was at a little of a loss for words, so to cover up his blemish he turned to Bella and Drew whom was sitting carefully on a bench. ”Bella, Drew. So, what do we have planned?” His voice gave way a little bit of spunk and energy. He was ready for a good pick-me-up. Of course, seeing his beautiful friend Gemma, was a pleasant surprise.




OOC | Sorry for the delay

[bella]

It was the obsessive need to be perfect in her work that drove Bella into her textbook again, pulling it out from her bag and smoothing it’s binding on her lap. Flipping to the appropriate page, she ran a finger down the list of instructions for the umpteenth, careful to read and reread every sentence at least three times. Okay, I did that…! She was just frustrating herself by reviewing the orders. What had she done wrong? She’d added everything to perfect proportions and the required texture and everything, and still her potion would be lucky to get her an Acceptable. Frowning, she started back up at the top, reading the steps over again. It wasn’t until she reached number six that Bella realized what she had done. She actually stared in full shock of how she could have been so stupid to overlook such an obvious procedure. Out of complete anger she snapped her book shut and glowered at it menacingly. Stupid pigs liver, she thought irritability – never cut, always mash. Much more effect results that way…no wonder her potion had been such an off color.

Bella had a firm grip on her textbook, ready to hurl it as far away from her as possible, but instead she jumped, blinking back into reality. “Alright, who ruffled your feathers Bells?” Immediately her face lit up in a smile despite her moment of negativity. “Hey Drew,” she beamed, and then glanced at her book. “Um…nothing,” she added, slightly embarrassed as she shoved her book bag into the very bottom of her bag. It could stay there the rest of eternity for all she cared. It was hopeless to try and hide her obvious anger at the thing though, so in the end she sighed in defeat: “It was just our assignment today, for Potions. Knowledgeable Tonic I think it was called…anyways, mine turned out awful. It was like the weird, pale pink…thing…” She trailed off, frowning slightly. Giving up completely she sighed and decided it was about time she started acting happy. “Oh well, forget it. It’s not that important. How was your day? Anything amazing happen?”

Just about that time Gemma finally made her appearance, a look of apprehension nearly disguised on her face. “What’s up?” Bella smiled lightly, hoping to just ignore the fact that she’d nearly beaten up her textbook. “Nothing much. Just waiting for you, slow poke,” she joked, but then added “Although you beat Drake, so I guess I can’t pick on you that much…” And well, speak of the devil – Drake was slowly making his way towards them, not fully able to hide his shock. Bella bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling too big: she’d asked Drake to meet up with her, but failed to mention she’d be flanked by Drew and Gemma. He seemed perfectly at ease with the arrangement however, and my he looked good. Drake had always been able to get away with the rebel sort of atmosphere about him. She couldn’t lie to herself and claim she didn’t have feelings for him, but after a quick glance at Drew she remembered all the reasons she was his date and not Drake’s. Besides, Bella was able to pick up on his greeting towards Gemma first. That was a good sign. At the sound of her own name, she answered “I really just wanted to get out for a bit to be honest and figured I might as well do it with friends. I mean, what fun is it to go stroll around the grounds and be alone?” Pulling herself up, she draped her bag strap over her shoulder, “Any destinations in mind?” Of course, she favored the lake, but might as well give the option. And then added, slightly teasing, “Are you going to just sit there all day?” glancing pointedly at Drew.

[drew]

ooc: sorry I feel bad mine is so short compared to all of yours

"Anything amazing? Nothing really that fascinating to go on about." He shrugged, the day had been rather uneventful, just like all the others for him. "I had a professor admit that I was right." He looked smug, glad someone finally saw it. Drew always spoke up when a professor slipped or said something more of an opinion than of fact, he felt it was his duty. Well, his actual duty to be a pain in the ass, but his duty all the same. Ah, she'd get over it. He'd even bring her an apple or something tomorrow, if he felt like it. What else had happened? Hmm, well besides Indigo giving him the death look as he passed through the halls, which was humerous, nothing. What's up? He looked over at Gemma and smiled, nodding his head in gretting. "Bella here is just having a hard day." He smirked, knowing something had definitely got her worked up, not nothing like she had stated.

Drew nudged her with his shoulder. "Ah potions. The best class ever" He said very enthusiastically, if you didn't notice the sarcasm dripping from his words. "Don't beat yourself up about it" He yawned and stretched his arms, expanding them so they reached the backrest of the opposite sides of the bench, stretching out his feet as well. He'd been sitting there for a loong time. "So you messed up. Bella." He tried to look at her seriously. "It was gonna happen eventually" He added with an overly solemn nod of his head. He didn't know how well Bella knew the other people, but well enough to invite them to do....whatever it was they were doing. Drew wasn't really into the whole group kind of thing, but it wasn't going to kill him either. No slytherins, no problem.

Drew saw Drake off in the distance, and he held his hand up in greeting carelessly, glad another guy was coming along. Surrounded by too much estrogen for too long was not a good thing, no matter how you looked at it. Any destinations in mind? Drew had his eyes closed and his head laid against the seat when she asked it. "Meh." He was letting Bells lead the way, because he knew in the end, she'd go where she wanted, and he'd follow. Are you going to just sit there all day? Drew smiled, eyes still shut, as he shrugged his shoulders. "Yeh, I was just testing it out. It's pretty comfortable, if not a little chilly in the evenings. I think I'll move in." He sighed and shook his head, finally opening his eyes, he looked at all of them with an easy-going expression. "Just waiting for you."

[gemma0avery]

Gemma glanced about at their surroundings, just ever so slightly miffed at the fact that all she’d gotten was a ‘Hey…’. It didn’t bother her to much though because her mind was starting to get occupied with other things, slightly random other things in fact…

You see, a few nights ago Gemma’s fat cat creature Fiend had disappeared. This wasn’t uncommon, the cat did have a tendency to wander off for a night or so, but usually he’d come home after a night or so for food and stuff.

Gemma sighed as she brushed some loose hair behind her ear, deciding now was not the time to worry over her lost creature companion but rather enjoy an afternoon with some friends. She brightened up, a slightly false grin coming over her features and her slightly slumped posture straightening just a bit.

“Hey Drake, how’s you’re day going?” she greeted, though not with her usual spunk or anything, and then turned to Bella and Drew “Let’s just wander around, Bells… It gives more room for randomness and fun than if we decide where to go.” She pointed out before scanning their surrounding area again, her grin starting to become more real now that her mood was gradually lightening in the company of her friends.

Gemma realized she hadn’t really said anything to Drew yet, but she really didn’t know what to say… She didn’t really know anything about him, other than he made Bella happy which was pretty good, and the only time she’d really chatted with him was over a note in a class they shared were she teased him about not paying attention, not really the kind of stuff you can base a conversation on…. So Gemma continued on with not really addressing Drew, at least until she thought of something she could say.

[enigma]

Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand. We're off to never never land.

His posture tensed a little, when the group finally collected, as he assumed that was all that was going to be coming on their little ‘group adventure’. It wasn’t that he was irritated or skeptical, but it wasn’t like him to just open up in mid-conversation. At least not today. The first to answer his inquiry was of course, Bella. She always seemed to find a way to keep herself happy, or at least looking happy - which was sometimes a hard task for others. And for that, he found her attractive, not just for looks, but also intelligence. Of course, the situation being, they simply couldn’t be more than good friends. His eyes dropped to the ground, as Gemma responded, though he heard it in her voice, the dismay. His greetings obviously set her back, or she just wasn’t in her normal spirits. Whatever the cause, he noted it cautiously, and continued on with the group.

Drake returned the gesture towards Drew, and felt even more tension. It wasn’t that he had a problem with Drew, though he could sometimes be a little too cocky. It was knowing he and Bella were going to the Yule Ball together, and Drake was being set up with Gemma, whom seemed to be losing interest. Everything was getting a little too complicated for his tastes, so he decided to shut down his mind into the ‘relaxed, don’t give a damn’ mode. Then his thoughts wouldn’t wonder so wildly, and he could feel no conflictions. Though the problem in that, is being numb. He had to be careful not to overstep the boundary, and still be the typical deviant, Drake.

So he picked up his head, looked up at Bella, and smiled, then turned to respond to Gemma, hoping to bring the spirit back into the lovely girl. ”My day...” he paused, while sighing, then chuckled. ”Is hopefully going to get better with you lot. Yours?” He pushed his hands in his pockets, saving the unneeded blood flow, that could risk his energy. Far fetched, but at these times in the year, snow was the first stage of many ugly months to come. He looked back over at Bella, the with a large inhale, responded to her. ”I’m game for anything, but you should know, we can’t just go around and be well-behaved students. Not with a group this big.” His eyes flashed with growing interest in doing something that would be expected of him. Though he never gave a damn about other’s opinions, and for that, his reputation simply grew.

With a last ditch attempt at brightening Gemma, he stepped over towards her, and extended his arm. He placed his now warm hand on her far side, and pulled her towards him. Kind of like a half-hug, where you’ll see couples walking down the street, each with their arm around the other’s waist. Though he didn’t go so far as to the waist, in case she felt like punching him instead. He then looked down at her a smiled, still unsure of her reaction, then proceeded to break the silence. ”Shall we go?”




OOC | Sorry for the delay....again.

[bella]

“My, I never thought I’d see the day where you’d come from class after rightly correcting a professor and me with a whack-out potion. Hmm,” she mused, deciding it would be better to play if off instead of mulling over it for weeks. “Bound to happen sometime,” she agreed with a weak smile, privately thinking that she’d go back and do it right later if for no better reason then to say she could finish it properly. Forgetting about the whole matter entirely, she focused on the group surrounding her now; and figuring out what was bugging them.

Alright – so she’d managed to actually successfully set up the foursome, but Bella saw that as no reason to be a sourpuss. She knew Gemma well enough to realize it might not exactly be hr fault for her offset, and Drake… He was a bit more difficult. Though he was trying to hide it, Bella swore she could hear the gages clicking in his mind of what to and not to say, what to and not to do. His discomfort she’d take credit for – she smiled apologetically in his direction briefly, hoping her silent encouragement might be enough to keep him in good spirits for the afternoon. At the very least, keep in him good behavior with the three of them. She only needed to glance half heartedly at Drew to know he was the most at ease out of all of them, still smirking as he eased on the bench. Smirking at what? Well, it was hard to tell.

“…we can’t just go around and be well-behaved students. Not with a group this big…” Yeah, she could always count on him for thinking up the craziest thing they could do to kill a few hours. Already, almost involuntarily, her mind flicked to a couple weeks previous, and how they’d promised to follow through with not only stealing students objects but making something else return to them when summoned by Accio. Well, she wasn’t going to mention anything unless he did. Bella wasn’t know for being daring or outgoing, but upon another suggestion she was always likely to follow through with bizarre plans. Bella actually laughed quietly as she glanced at Drake again, new light shinning in his eyes – having a nice little walk around the lake was unquestionably the farther thing from his mind. But if it made him ease up, doing whatever he was thinking about, she might as well go along with it.

“Did you have something in mind Drake?” she giggled, directly questioning him. Her amusement over his widely ranged personality never ceased to bring a smile to her face. Prime example: him closing the distance between him and Gemma. Now would she have thought he’d do that only a minute or so ago with his somber expression? Well no. Now that he saw a slightly good – or at least enjoyable – outcome to the day? Well maybe. So focused on the pair of them, she’d scarcely managed to glance at Drew occasionally through his silence. With a very knowing expression and a hand on her hip, she commented “I’m sorry to interrupt your house shopping, but I’d rather not stand here all day.” She grinned at him and offered a hand, “Need help getting up?” she teased.

[drew]

ooc: I often wonder why I can't make a decent size post with Drew, no matter what setting I'm in...oh wellll


Drew looked around at the group and shook his head, rolling his eyes a bit. Nobody knew how to relax anymore. He wanted to laugh, but at the moment, they probably wouldn't think Dumbeldore wearing a polka dot dress was funny. It was awfully solemn, everyone's nerves were up. Drew on the other hand was perfectly comfortable, and he didn't seem at all alarmed or worried. That's because he really didn't care. He and Bella were already dating, and he met Gemma, sort of, and Drake. "Well behaved students, are we ever?" He smirked, and then glanced at Isabella, changing is mind. "Well except Bella of course" He nodded his head. The awkwardness between Gemma and Drake would be understandable to any of the three except Drew. He kept glancing between the two until he decided they didn't know one another that well, and they were at the stage of not knowing what to say.

"Are you kidding, I always correct them." He brushed off his clothes, little random flurries of snow were landing on him. "They just never tell me I'm right." Oh well now, that was a very different thing, according to him. Hopefully now that they were all here, they'd do something and his boredom would cease to exist. He liked the idea of doing something out-of-the-ordinary, anything but was just a waste of time. He looked at the group and then sighed, as if he were about to give them a lecture. Instead, he just simply said what everyone was feeling. "Come on, lighten up. We're not going to a funeral...at least I wasn't aware of it....we aren't, are we?" He cast Bells another look of mild concern and then grinned.

He was quiet again, shrugging as he still sat on the bench. No, he didn't say much. Only Bells seemed to pull it all out of him, everything she said made him want to respond, or more like have to. He always had a witty one ready for her. "Well, aren't we in a hurry? You can't rush these things you know. You've got to take time, percision, you wouldn't want to make a wrong choice." He patted the bench like he was testing for softness-well it failed that one. "But I think I'll pass, it just...isn't me" He replied with a somber expression, as if it wasn't quite right. He looked at her hand and was tempted to pull her down with him, but thought otherwise, Drew yawned, stretched, and practically shot up, all on his own. He took her hand anyways and smiled. You can't rush these things you know. "But for you I will." He looked back at the other two now, wondering how this day would go.

[gemma0avery]

Gemma’s breathe caught for a moment and she could feel her cheeks heat up with a blush that probably matched her fiery hair. What just happened couldn’t have really happened, could it? …But then again it might’ve, right?

Gemma could almost imagine the little versions of her in her head running around in circles screaming at trying to figure what just happened, the mental image almost made her bust out laughing in fact… But luckily she was able to resist the urge and instead take a deep breath, which she hoped would make her blush fade before anyone, especially Drake, noticed it.

“So has anything interesting happened to anyone lately?” Gemma asked with a grin “You know… Explosions, near-death experiences, anything like that?” she added, elaborating the fact it had to be the kind of interesting that didn’t occur everyday… Except for the explosion thing, that did happen almost every day…

Gemma smiled at the group, watching them to see would answer her first. It was kind of fun to think of who would answer and what they would have to say, the answers had a wide range of possibility after all. Who knows who could’ve been involved in a duel or suddenly inheirited large sums of gold or something of the like…

[bella]

OOC: Plotting ideas are in the making – we could drop this one in favor of the Yule Ball thread? Do you wanna?

[Siobhan Saavik]

I'm in favor of that =]

[Indigo Grace]

ooc: Certainly, it'll make things easier