T H U N D E R ;;open!

[tanith]

The weather had taken a turn for the worse. Over the montainous terrain of Hogwarts Castle the skies were grey and permeated with intermittent spells of thunder and lightning. Inside the Hogwarts' Great Hall on this particular Saturday morning the general mood was just as grey and dreary as the weather reflected on the high enchanted ceiling. Quidditch season was approaching, and that morning the Slytherin team had booked the Quidditch pitch for a practice which they had then been forced to abandon because of the bad weather. The team sat at the edge of the Slytherin House Table, murmuring together grumpily and shooting dark looks over to the Hufflepuff Table, who their upcoming first match of the season was against. Down from the Slytherin team, near the middle of the table, Tanith Malfoy was staring up at the grey ceiling as she munched on her morning toast. She was considering a rather different line of thought to the grumpy Slytherin team, and didn't feel as unhappy about the cancelled practice as it seemed her fellow Slytherins did. After all, if the practice was cancelled, that meant that the pitch was free and would probably be deserted, what with the Quidditch-Hangers-On probably staying up at the school to comfort the players.

A deserted Quidditch Pitch could seem rather dull or dreary to most people but actually it was one of Tanith's favourite places to sit whenever she could, and to be honest she didn't mind the rain - it was more the sun and hot weather that bothered her as her fair skin was rather susceptible to sunburn. In fact, Tanith had planned out a rather pleasant Saturday morning for herself. Tanith quickly slurped down the last dregs of her hot breakfast cup of tea and pushed herself clumsily up off the bench, slipping out the oak doors of the Great Hall whilst everyone was still finishing their food. Tanith was conveinently clad in her favourite hooded sweatshirt, which had probed itself to be quite impervious to the rain as she pulled up the hood and dashed quickly across the grounds, deftly avoiding the puddles that were dotted around the landscape. She sighed thankfully when she had finally reached the stands of the Quidditch pitch and greatfully settled herself into one of the empty seats undernath the Slytherin quarter of the pitch. Her house banner flopped uselessly in front of her, the rain and mud turning the splendid green and silver silk into a dark grubby brown. But at least, Tanith thought, it kept her nice and dry underneath.

The Quidditch Pitch was, as Tanith had expected, completely deserted and from where she sat under the House Flag it was even quite cosy and peaceful. It was nice to occasiobally get away from the loud hubbub of the school and get some peace and quiet, and the sound of the rain hitting the pitch was even rather soothing. Tanith rested her head on her hands, flicking her damp blonde hair out of her eyes irritatedly and looking up at the pitch. She was a bad flier, always had been. In fact she pretty much avoided brooms entirely after a disastrous first year of flying classes. It was one of the only classes she had failed miserably at. Tanith was actually quite envious of those students that were experienced fliers, and she was very impressed by their expertise at the House Quidditch Matches. This was usually what Tanith did whenever she disappeared down to the seldom empty Quidditch Pitch, become immersed in a day dream about becoming suddenly and inexplicably a Quidditch Goddess herself. Alas, this daydream never seemed to materialise itself once she had left the pitch, but it usually passed an hour or do.

Today, Tanith was feeling particularly adventurous. She wondered if she could even have a try hovering low off the ground on one of the school brooms now that the wind had died down a little. On a whim, Tanith pointed her wand towards the broom cupboard on the opposite end of the pitch and proclaimed 'Accio Broom!'. Immediately one of the (thankfully less-battered) school brooms wizzed across the pitch and into Tanith's small outstretched hands. She smiled thinly, and, feeling a little shaky, mounted the broom, shutting her eyes tightly. Tanith almost laughed out loud to see herself hovering precariously five feet off the ground. Instead she grinned at herself, remembering her last experince on a broom, on a sunny afternoon in third year, which had ended in an unpleasant sprained arm after becoming a little too adventurous for her own good. However, now Tanith felt more relaxed, perhaps because she was older, or perhaps because there was nobody watching, but she was even doing quite well. Well, it's not Quidditch quality but it will have to do, Tanith mused with a smile as she moved in a large circle around the pitch, still only about seven feet off the ground, but feeling accomplished none-the-less. Thank goodness for the rain She thought sarcastically, thinking of the grumpy team still indoors

[waldemar]

Word count: 556
Comments: He's not speaking (yet). Waldemar doesn't want to break her concentration xD

Waldemar glanced outside with longing written all over his face. He had studied like insanity all week and had finally managed to catch up on all the work he was behind. As a reward, he had promised himself he would spend the Saturday outside, but the weather wasn't looking too good.
Then again, when had he ever let a bit of water stop him from going outside, anyway? (Besides.. there was nothing better than having a long, hot, nice shower after having been in the rain (or, well, there was: a long, hot, nice bath, but as the dorm was equipped with showers only, he didn't have much of a choice there).) Not hesitating any longer, he finished his breakfast and dressed suitably for the weather outside before escaping to the school grounds.

The moment he stepped out he was glad he had. The air was pleasant and crisp and the rain was refreshing. Waldemar had spent his entire week in the dusty library and he (and his lungs) revelled in the open, fresh air.
He had not been around the grounds properly yet and, so he guessed, today would be a good day to do so. At least he wouldn't be disturbed. Not that he would've minded some company (not at all), but he was just finally glad his image as 'newbie' was wearing off, he didn't want to be seen 'touring' around the castle.
Walking around slowly, he could feel himself relax. Waldemar hadn't been aware he'd been stressed, but then again, so he guessed, it wasn't so strange, was it? He'd only just caught up with months worth of homework. Not that he wouldn't have done so in time - christmas holidays were coming up, after all (and apparently, christmas in Britain was rather a big deal). He had sent his parents a letter requesting that he could stay at Hogwarts during the holidays, in order to make friends and all that, but truth be told he just didn't want to leave the beautiful scenery behind. Besides, he didn't like christmas at his house, it was always packed with relatives, business relations, and other strange people he didn't know. Plus, his mother had taken up pointing out single girls to him, and he was certainly in no mood for that..

His feet brought him to the Quidditch Pitch. Ah, yes, Quidditch. He wasn't so much into it (as he wasn't a great flyer), but apparently, next to christmas and celebrating the death of some guy who had tried to blow up the parliament some hundred years back, it was kind of a big thing here. He had expected it would be empty. He knew Saturdays were usually practise days, but today the weather wasn't too good for practising formations and the like (Wal knew at least that much).
Hence why he was surprised to find someone flying there. Leaning against the open broom cupboard, he watched her for a while. She seemed to feel just as at ease as he did on a broom, as she was flying pretty low compared to more advanced flyers, but he thought she was doing pretty well, especially when taking into account that the wind was a little unpredictable today.

[tanith]

Given that Tanith had the poorest hand-eye co-ordination of basically anyone she knew, she thought that she was actually doing pretty well on the pitch today. Admittedly yes, she was only flying about five or six feet off the ground and admittedly yes, she still felt rather shaky. But she was beginning to understand the appeal of the sport. Up in the sky it was easy to feel at peace, with the wind in her hair and the smell of the dewy grass. Tanith was beginnig to feel like the stress of the school days were left behind her. In fact she'd even be having fun if she was a little more adept at flying and wasn't still clutching onto the battered regulation broom for dear life. She almost wished she had the easy arrogance of the school quidditch stars. Almost - it was the mob mentality and hero-worshipping at the school Quidditch Cup that really annoyed Tan. Clearly she didnt have much school spirit.

And clearly she wasn't quite yet the standard of the Quidditch stars. Letting her mind daydream away was clearly a mistake, as Tanith focused less on her broom. As result when it came the gust of wind took her by surprise and knocked her off course and into the side of the Hufflepuff stands. She made contact with the large yellow and black banner with a small 'Oof!' and grimaced, falling off the broom. Tanith was grateful that she hadn't got too ambitious and got too much height, or the fall could have seriously hurt her. As it was, the only thing that was hut was Tan's pride, and she had a small gash on her knee that was beginning to seep a dark red stain through her damp jeans. Tanith swore under her breath and threw the broom towards the direction of the broom cupboard in frustration, glad that she was alone (as far as she was aware anyway) and that nobody could see her embarrassing mistake. She decided to make her way towards the stands, limping a little on her injured knee, but it was hard to see where she was going through the rain especially with her long messy hair that kept slapping her in the face.

Grimacing a little as she limped and trying to shake her face free of white blonde hair, it was no wonder that Tanith bumped into someone. Plus it was just another clumsy mistake for the day. It was another collision too. Tanith squeaked in surprise, jumping back and looking up to see who she had banged right into outside the open broom cupboard. Tanith vaguely recognised Waldemar, who had introduced himself to her before as George and seemed nice. She had liked him, although she supposed that now she had scared the life out of him by running into him soaking wet and with a bleeding leg. "Sorry!" She squeaked on instinct and then grimaced - doubly - because she realised she sounded like a scared firsty and not a nearly-sixteen-year-old Slytherin, and because she realised Waldemar might have seen her fall. "I didn't know anyone was out here and I mean it's er... hard to see" Tanith exclaimed, yelling above her usual murmur to be heard over the wind and rain. Trying to avoid further embarrassment of being seen as a crazy person looking up at the Ravenclaw boy, Tanith collapsed on a bench under the shelter near the broom cupboard and began to examine her knee, wringing out her dripping sweater.

"Probably a stupid idea to try to fly in the rain right.. Although I suppose you're out here too?" She managed a small smirk at that, despite her embarrassment on the whole situation.

[waldemar]

Word count: 462

Waldemar looked at the flying girl in silence, half pondering about getting out a broom himself and giving it a try - why not, she was, after all? Then again.. maybe not. He might cause her to crash, or worse: crash into her. Or maybe he wasn't the only one watching and someone else would see. It wasn't so much that he was ashamed of his poor flying skills, but it appeared to be a bit of a status symbol here (at least for the guys).. Waldemar didn't even like flying when the weather was pleasant, let alone when it was as ghastly as this.
He was also quickly torn away from his thoughts as he could see the girl disappear from the edge of his vision. When he looked for her again, she was on the ground, having apparently fallen of the broom. Had she seen him? Or had it just been the wind? Waldemar had no idea, as he had missed the whole event, and was about to check if she was okay at the very moment she got up by herself. He hesitated whether to go to her and check if she was hurt badly, but she started walking in his direction before he had been able to make up his mind (how come he was suddenly such a slow thinker?). She was walking right towards him, rather fast (as fast as she could with her hurt knee, anyway) and for a moment, Waldemar wondered if she was going to yell at him for breaking her concentration, as she was walking so decidedly in his direction. Wait - she wasn't slowing down-

Before he knew it, Tanith bumped into him and he half caught her, half leaned into the broom cupboard himself, steadying himself and then her before letting go. "Sorry!" He half smiled. "No problem, you okay?" His voice was steady, or maybe it just seemed steady, the unsteadiness of it filtered out by the wind.
"I didn't know anyone was out here and I mean it's er... hard to see." She sat down on a bench and Waldemar joined her, also looking at her knee with interest, hoping it didn't look as serious as it was. He had no idea how large the cut was, with blood and bits of jeans obscuring his vision. She seemed okay, though..
"Probably a stupid idea to try to fly in the rain right.. Although I suppose you're out here too?" Waldemar laughed slightly. "Not so much stupid, more brave. I even hardly touch a broom when there's no wind at all," he assured her and nodded at her knee. "You sure that's going to be okay?"

[tanith]

Tanith breathed a sigh of relief at Waldemar's reaction. If it had been someone from her own house, or even perhaps one of the snootier Ravenclaws, she was sure there would have been some sort of snarky comment. She would have understood it though, after all it probably wasn't that pleasant to have a soaking wet random girl run smack into you on the Quidditch Pitch. She still felt slightly embarrassed about the whole situation, not least the squeaking apology, but Tan was glad that, at least as first impressions went, Waldemar was probably not the worst person she could have banged into. If it had been Bellatrix or someone she might have ended strung up by her ankles by the Slytherin stands.

"I'm fine!" Tanith nodded, still raising her voice over the wind. It was instinctive for her to brush off any statements of weakness. She'd fallen off her broom and cut her leg, but she was fine, obviously. Well, it wouldn't do to sniffle and limp off, she had to try to hold on to some dignity in the whole fiasco. She half-smiled, waving away his question of concern and in spite of herself did have to limp off to a nearby bench. She was glad to sit down after her brief attempt at a possible Quidditch career, and she ached all over from the cold and the rain, and the fall obviously. Tan leaned back against the wall and rolled up the leg of her jeans exposing the cut, tutting slightly as she realised she had torn them in another place. They were her favourite pair and she mentally berated herself for being so clumsy. She inhaled sharply seeing the gash just above her knee. It wasn't horrific, and she was sure some dittany and a bandage would heal it right up, but she didn't much like the sight of blood. Sure enough when Tanith caught sight of her reflection in a nearby puddle, she looked paler than usual and slightly sick. She leaned over the bench and began rumaging for the emergency first aid kit that the Flying Teacher kept for first years who didn't quite need to be rushed to the hospital wing.

Tanith smirked lightheartedly as she pressed a bandage over her leg, glad to see the gash disappear momentarily. "Brave, me? That's a laugh" She was about to add 'obviously you don't know me very well' but Tanith simultaeneously realised (she had missed it in all the commotion) that she actually didn't know the Ravenclaw boy in front of her, although from what she could gather he was friendly enough, and had a slight foreign accent that indicated that perhaps he hadn't learned the snooty social hierarchy of Hogwarts just yet. Tanith stuck out her free hand awkwardly, now that the commotion had subsided she felt the usual tension creep back into her chest that she felt in social situations. "I don't think we've met, I'm Tanith Malfoy. But I mean, you can call me Tan if you like, or you know.. crazy flying girl" She grinned sheepishly and cleared her throat to try to stop her ramblings. "Are you er - new?" She reasoned that he could be, he could have moved here recently judging by the accent, but Tanith blushed as soon as she said it, fearing being rude and assuming so just because he had a different accent. Besides, it wasn't as if she was up to date on every student in the school anyway, he could have been here for years for all she knew.

[waldemar]

Waldemar saw no reason to laugh at her. For one, he was a far worse flyer than she was; secondly, he was in no position to laugh at her, as he was still regarded as 'the new boy' by half the students, and that meant no laughing-at-other-people's-expense-privilege. Thirdly, and most importantly, Waldemar thought there was nothing funny about other people's misery.
"I'm fine!" Waldemar nodded a bit. "Good!" He glanced at her knee, after sitting down next to her, and watched her as she put a bandage over the shallow cut.

"Brave, me? That's a laugh." Waldemar grinned slightly, eyes sparkling with amusement. Not at her, just at the situation. Plus, the rain cheered him up, somehow, it was a silly thing. "I haven't sat on a broom since the first time I did - I was eight and fell off at once, never gave it another try," he confessed. "Riding a broom in this weather-" he nodded and shrugged at the same time ('shrodded' xD) "-I'd say that's pretty courageous."
He looked surprises for a split-second when she extended her hand, but then the question that followed made him feel like a bit of an idiot. A rude idiot, for not introducing himself. "I'm George Järvinen," he answered, shaking her hand and chuckling a little at her introduction. "I think I'll just stick to Tanith. It's a nice name." He really did think so. Then again, had he told her his real name she might've thought that was mighty exotic too..
"Are you er - new?" Waldemar didn't think she was rude at all. He was used to the question by now and didn't mind answering it so much. "Transferred from Finland," he answered, looking up at the sky with a hint of a smile and shrugging.

[tanith]

Tanith was grateful that Waldemar hadn't laughed at her. She was even more grateful to find that he was (at least he claimed to be) just as useless on a broom as she was. She even grinned slightly at his story, but then quickly clipped the smile, worried that he might think she was being horrible. It wasn't that different from her own story - Tan had detested the compulsory flying lessons they had in first year, and had given up and skipped the class due to 'sickness' after being thrown off the broom three times in her first week. So it was admittedly slightly stupid to try again in this weather, but it was a strangely nice feeling to be called courageous instead of stupid. That was usually reserved for the Gryffies wasn't it? "Well er thanks. All the same I think it'll be my one brave deed for the year. I have to accept I'm just as useless as you on a broom I guess"

She smirked slightly at the joke, because she knew it sounded slightly lame and she was slightly worried that her lacking sense of humour would sound like an insult. Thankfully Waldemar/George introduced himself shortly afterward, which meant Tan didn't have to cringe uncertainly over her joke for much longer. She smiled drawing back her soaking pale hand. "Nice name" She observed. Tan chose not to mention that his first name didn't sound particularly Finnish. She wasn't an expert on the country after all, she'd never been - but the Malfoys had relatives almost everywhere, and Finland was no exception. None of those distant relatives were called George, but then again, her family didn't have the most conventional names in the first place. Like her own blasted first name. Tanith mirrored his 'shrod' [XD] making a small disparging noise. "Thanks, I think it's kind of ugly. I'm named after my grandmother though so I can't really change it or anything" Tan was rambling now, so she cut herself off with a small smirk and a slight wrinkling of her nose. She was named after her grandmother, who was a matriarch exceedingly well thought of in their family. But she was a pinched, snobbish woman - Tan didn't like her particularly.

The small blonde finished patching up her cut and pulled down her ripped jeans again over it, glad to see the rather sickening blood disappear. "Do you like England?" She asked politely,pulling her legs to her chest and watching the rain from the shelter of the bench. "I think I would miss home" Tanith added thoughtfully.

[waldemar]

Waldemar half grinned at her. "We should start a club for people who can't fly, so we can occasionally try and laugh at each other," he suggested, half in jest.
He half shrugged through the short discussion about names, nodding along a little. He barely knew his grandparents; they lived in Russia somewhere and were, according to his parents, not very good people. He had no idea and didn't really miss them, either. He'd rather have good friends (not that he had many of those.. but he was working on that, wasn't he?).

Wal smiled at her question; he'd only have to answer it a dozen times before. People always asked him what he thought of this country. "Well.. I sort of like England.. I've only been there for a short time, as my parents settled in Wales." Waldemar gestured to their current surroundings. "I like Scotland better, though - makes me think of home." He wasn't so sure if he should confess he'd been rather homesick the first few weeks and eventually decided not to. He wasn't that homesick anymore now, anyway, so why should he tell? He felt he was doing rather well making a new friend, better not ruin it by being a bit of an idiot.
"You get used to it," he eventually said. "And I can always go back there later, when I'm done with school." He couldn't help but make his voice sound a little hopeful. Done with school.. he'd be done with school this year. His parents wouldn't appreciate it if he just took off, even though that was the thing he wanted to do most. He was still a little in dubio; even though he wasn't that close with his family, he knew they were close enough so that he would miss them, probably.
"What would you miss about here?" he asked, in stead, trying to keep the conversation going.

[tanith]

Tanith paused at first as Waldemar joked about the bad flying club. She wasn't quite sure whether or not he was joking or making fun of her. But quickly, she decided, after a fleeting searching glance across the Ravenclaw boy, he was just being lighthearted and friendly, and she chuckled, cursing her own defensiveness. "Now that's a club I'd fit in, maybe they'd make me the chairperson." She snorted. "Have you joined any clubs since you've been here?" Tanith inquired curiously, cocking her head to the side before being unable to add with a smirk and her usual contempt of the majority of activities and people at Hogwarts; "Most of them are bloody awful of course, I think last term some Hufflepuff girls actually tried to set up a Sirius Black appreciation society" Tanith rolled her eyes at the thought and smirked. Perhaps Waldemar wouldn't know the popularity scale yet, where Sirius Black and his Marauder cronies often reigned supreme. She knew it of course, although she still thought the stratified society of their school was rather ridiculous.

She smiled sympathetically as Waldemar expressed affection for Scotland because it 'reminded him of home'. How scary it must have been not just to leave your home country, but your family and friends, and come to a school as big as Hogwarts on your own. Tanith mentally berated herself for being so empathetic. Weren't Slytherins supposed to be aloof and concerned with themselves alone? Well, she supposed, she did behave cold and aloof to the majority of the school. That was enough, and she was glad she hadn't expressed any soppy mentality when Waldemar summed up 'You get used to it'. Tanith smirked lightheartedly "You sound British already with that stiff-upper-lip attitude" That was what she'd been brought up with, the slightly pompous assumption that with strength and self-control everything would be okay - something that now nearing adulthood she disliked about the upperclass English wizarding community. She blinked in surprise as he asked her what she would miss.

"I've never really thought about it before" Tanith mused aloud. She ticked mentally through the boxes of what the normal teenager should answer - my friends, my family, my boyfriend. "The rain" She said abruptly, and then shrugged jerkily, surprised by her own answer. She had been thinking off watching the heavy showers from the long windows of their Cambridge estate, and the smell of the dewy grass afterwards. "I'd miss the rain. It's peaceful. Um, I like the English weather.. It's weird, I know."