taking a beating - OPEN

[Walden Conall Macnair]

Walden Macnair had broken six school rules so far, which he judged as pretty impressive. It was June, and when most people were stressing over exams Walden, along with Mulciber had come up with a new competition to end the year with a bang. Which was (not very exciting or admittedly original) to break as many of the Hogwarts rules as possible before class ended for Summer. Five points were awarded for each rule, with more points for the more high profile misdemeanors. Anything that could get you suspended got ten, expelled if caught was worth twenty points. They hadn't properly hashed out what the winner received, apart from glory, but Walden never minded much. The thrill of breaking the rules and beating Mulci was almost a prize enough. Needless to say, he was winning too. Today he was on 35 points already and it was only half past twelve. Since waking up -1. late, missing the first class and so getting the first five points of the day, Walden Macnair had:

2. Smoked a cigarette in the boys toilets on the third floor (illegal substances - 5 points)
3. Received a handjob from a fifth year Hufflepuff in the same toilets after lunch (sexual activity - 10 points)
4. Beaten up a fourth year on the way to COMC for taking the piss out of him (violence - 5 points)

And now, Walden was on a double whammy of rules five and six. Firstly, he had removed the beater's bat the Slytherin Quidditch team used to practice from the Quidditch pitch, and was swinging it nonchalantly by his side, whistling, as he made his way towards the boundaries of the Forbidden Forest for some personal practice time. It was forbidden both to take team equipment from the grounds, and, obviously, to enter the Forbidden Forest. But Walden had long since discovered that both these rules had to be broken to necissitate his personal practice. Really the team should allow him to break the rules in the first place; these sessions had honed his skill as a beater to a 'T'. Firstly, Walden found his 'practice tree' - a very battered looking old oak near an especially secluded part of the forest. Here, he used his beaters bat to - in layman's terms, beat the shit out of the tree.

It's notoriously difficult to find types of timber harder than the Beater's Bat - this is why the bat is so effective in Quidditch. But then again, Walden had always had considered himself above the so-called Quidditch experts. He had a wonderful find in this tree, hardened by years of magic and also the freezing cold winters of Hogwarts, which had almost petrified the wood. Walden found he could beat the bat against the trunk and gnarled roots of the tree for hours if he wanted, which helped beef up his arms considerably, and also surprisingly did wonders for the bat. Although the wood of the tree appeared harder than that of his beater's bat, parts of the splintered, sharp tree-bark had over time become inbedded in the wood of the beater's bat - giving Walden a painful advantage over the other team when he 'accidentally' bashes their players over the head and sends them bloodied up and splintered, off the pitch.

Getting into his practice of the day, Walden checked his watch (another half hour before shower and a late lunch) and pulled his t-shirt off before returning to bashing the tree trunk. He was beginning to sweat, and it was June after all. It was getting hotter but most of the Hogwarts students (the girls were Walden's only concern really) were seemingly very reluctant to take their clothes off and frolick by the lake. It was such a shame, Walden mused, flexing for a moment between swings. Well, if he happened to get caught rule breaking he may as well look good doing it.

[andromeda]

Listen to the sound from deep within
It's only beginning to find release.
The time has come for my dreams to be heard
They will not be pushed aside and turned
Into your own all 'cause you won't listen

---

At 5 in the morning an alarm clock started shrilling in the Slytherin girl's dormitory, its sound muffled by the pillow resting on top of it. Andromeda Black lifted her head groggily and reached under the pillow, fumbling to switch the clock off. When she succeeded, Meda pushed the covers off of her and tried slipping out of bed as quietly as possible. Her four poster bed creaked and groaned under her weight as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She moved quickly to the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes tiredly before pulling her hair into a loose bun.

Andromeda jumped to her feet and padded towards her trunk. Since she didn't have any lessons that morning, she pulled out more casual clothes rather than the stifling summer robes. Less than fifteen minutes later, Meda was dressed in a pair of jeans shorts, a baggy red flannel shirt and her favourite outdoor sneakers. Her brown waves were no longer constrained by the hair band but cascading around her shoulder and framing her pale face. A small smile appeared on her face, as she thought what her mother would say if she saw her mugglish clothes.

Shrugging her shoulders Meda placed her DADA textbooks in her bag along with her short notes, some quills and parchment. She hauled the bag over her shoulders and tip toed out of the dormitory and downstairs towards the common room. Despite the June heat, the common room was quite chilly. Therefore she decided to light up a fire. Once done, Andromeda pulled an emerald armchair closer to the fireplace and perched herself on it. Within minutes, she was completely engrossed in her revision. Andromeda enjoyed studying. It gave her something to do and enabled her not to think about her family or Teddy.

Meda was deeply in love with Theodore Tonks but their relationship had to be kept a secret. The hours passed quickly and before she knew it, Slytherins were hurrying out of the common room and heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. Her stomach started rumbling and Andromeda gave it a small pat. She sighed to herself and packed her belongings, opting for a short break. Leaving her bag on the armchair, Andromeda walked quickly towards the Great Hall. She sat down at the Slytherin's table and filled her plate with some pancakes. After eating the whole lot, she gulped down a glass of pumpkin juice before heading back to the common room.

To her annoyance, there were other students in the common room and they were making too much noise. With a sigh, Meda grabbed her bag and went to the library. She settled herself behind her favourite desk and continued with her studying. She had barely been there for half an hour when a large muddy blob fell on her book. Andromeda jumped back and turned around to face the culprit. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Bellatrix. Meda stood up and with a wave of her wand cleaned the pages. She started collecting her books, avoiding Bella's eyes and muttered "I don't have time for this nonsense." And before Bella could reply, Andromeda was gone.

The sixth year stopped just around the corner and leaned against the wall. The common room was too noisey... Bellatrix was in the library with her followers... and occupying an empty classroom was out of the question. Andromeda sighed and wondered where she could go for some peace and quiet. Of course, the room of requirement. That idea was discarded ten minutes later, after Meda walked on to Gryffindors doing the dirty. Feeling mortified she hurried outside. Her orbs scanned the area, lingering on the forbidden forest. Against her best judgement, Meda walked in its direction heading straight towards the Slytherins' haven.

To her relief, it was completely deserted. Andromeda conjured a small table in front of the benches and set to work. A couple of hours later, the noises started. At first she ignored them. But then curiousity took over. Leaving her belongings, except for her wand, in the Slytherin haven Andromeda started venturing through the trees. The sound was growing nearer and louder until her eyes rested on a toned bare back. Andromeda stopped short in her tracks and glanced on either side of her. She recognised Walden and narrowed her eyes. Meda pocketed her wand and started retreating slowly backwards, until she thread on a twig.

---

TAGGED: Open // WORD COUNT: 740 // OUTFIT: Second Paragraph // NOTES: None

The above post and all it's content belong to T!NA.
Character name, history && personality © to J.K Rowling

Photomanipulation credited to T!NA
Song Lyrics Listen by Beyonce Knowles

[Walden Conall Macnair]

At first Walden counted the blows he gave to the battered tree bark with his beater's bat, but after a while he stopped counting. He had been at it for a while now, and numbers had never been his forte. Besides, after a whie, Walden usually stopped thinking about the actual act of 'practicing his beater skills' and let the repetitive action take hold before he drifted off into his own thoughts. Or thought, it was never plural. Walden had never been one of those super-studious teenagers, nor had he been the angsty type who agonised over every action that occurred in their life. He took great offence to both these types of people. Life was there to be enjoyed, and his simple thoughts reflected this. As he beat the shit out of the tree, in short, Walden thought about things he enjoyed. These were usually Quidditch strategy, the weekend plans with his mates and sex, not nessescarily in that order and never at the same time, because that was just too confusing. At this particular moment, he was thinking about weekend plans, namely the hunt that he and Mulciber were planning in Hogsmeade, as it was a Hogsmeade weekends. They had decided that girls there were obviously more sophisticated, and thus hotter than Hogwarts girls. Hogwarts girls were boring Walden. He barely had to try to obtain the handjob in the boys' toilets this morning (although then again,it was from a Hufflepuff, they were always easily persuaded. Underestimated, those Hufflepuffs).

Walden was out of breath now. He estimated he had been at it for a half-hour by now - he didn't wear a watch, thought they were for sissies, but could tell from the thin film of sweat that had coated his broad shoulders and back already. Taking a break for just a second, Walden chucked his beater's bat against the tree and leaned against the bark catching his breath. He was engrossed in himself, as usual, in thoughts of his training. As far as Walden was concerned, nobody ever came to this part of the Forbidden forest. More to the pity really. There were no mirrors nearby but he reckoned that he looked pretty appetising all bare-chested and sweaty - he was admittedly slightly egotistical. And also slightly deaf, which was a lesser known fact about Walden Macnair. It was to be expected really, from all the blows to the head he had taken, both in Quidditch matches and the fights he took pleasure in starting. He had a faint ringing sensation in them most of the time. If he had've been a keener listener, or indeed less self-centered, perhaps Walden would have noticed Andromeda Black approaching earlier. But he was, despite his egotism and deafness, still a Slytherin, and was always watching his back. He heard the twig snap, in short, and immediately spun around to find the culprit.

He had expected perhaps a rival Quidditch player, or some lost first-years, or perhaps an animal. None of these, he thought posed a great threat, and so made no attempt to grab for his wand. Walden was however, pleasantly surprised to see one Andromeda Black standing in front of him instead. Andromeda was in Walden's year. He'd never shagged her, he mused resentfully as she stood before him, but she was very pretty. Not as sexy as Bellatrix (although she was also terrifying), nor as beautiful as Narcissa, but still, good-looking. He'd heard whispers that she was a bit of a weirdo, muggle-lover type, but that wouldn't stop a bit of harmless flirting, as far as he saw it. Walden grinned at Andromeda, in no rush to put on his shirt and cover up what he thought was a fine specimen of the male form. "My, Meda! Out in the Forbidden Forest all on your own?" Walden teased playfully, tutting for good measure. "How rebellious. Well I suppose the apple never falls far from the tree, has Bella been showing you her best secret-shagging spots?" He certainly hoped that jibe wouldn't get back to Bellatrix herself. She was older than Walden, and he wasn't sure she would take it as the harmless joke it was intended to be. He hoped the rumours about her frosty relationship with Andromeda were true, then there would be no way Andromeda could tell her.

[sorry, he's a bit sexist and egotistical and uses nicknames insufferably for everyone XD]