Fingers Are Crossed

[Rori Logan]

Rori walked down the lake. The days started to seem a little more and more lonely as time went by. Why? It seemed that Landon disappeared. Rori waited for him to return when school started again, but she never did see him. Now, it was October. A month later, and still no Landon. She had to admit, it was nice having Lily, Kris, Natalie, and the others around, but Landon was her best friend out of all of them, and she started to worry. No letter, no nothing had been sent. She had to keep telling herself that he was just going to be late to school. He had a few matters to deal with his family, and he would get here....sometime. Thinking the worst was something she wasn't going to do, she couldn't.

The grass beneath her seemed to have a slight chill to it, and she zipped up her jacket to keep her body warm from the chilling October skies. Rori started to pick pieces of grass as she allowed her mind to wander.

[Leo Agathon]

Leo finished his homework in record time, as always. Honestly, the least the stupid professors could do was attempt to challenge him a little bit. It was starting to get boring. Maybe he should just take his OWLs now, and spare himself the annoyance of continuing to attend this school full of morons.

He found himself getting annoyed at all the other panicked Ravenclaws, desperately scrambling to finish their homework and check it over three times, as most Ravenclaws did. But Leo didn't. He never even checked it once. He didn't need to. He knew this stuff already.

So, while the rest of his house mates were knocking themselves out over their work, Leo decided to go out and get some air. He was in a good mood as he walked along the grounds and headed toward the lake. He had his hands in his pockets and was whistling slightly as he approached the big tree. Then he noticed there was a girl already sitting there.

He'd seen her before, of course. They were in the same house. She was a very popular girl, if he remembered correctly. And rightly so. She was pretty, for one thing. As he got closer, he smiled to himself. There weren't a lot of girls that he considered worthy of him, especially since Sabrina St. Clare was dead. But this one... she wasn't bad. He couldn't remember her name at the moment, but he was not concerned about that.

As he got closer, he could see that she was very deep in thought. He didn't want to scare her, but he definitely wanted to talk to her. So he deliberately stepped on a branch, hoping that the loud cracking noise would cause her to look in his direction.

[Rori Logan]

Rori's thoughts drifted to Isabella and Voltaire being back together. It seemed like the world evened things out. One bad thing would happen, then a good thing would happen and so on. It was strange, but then again things happen.

Next, her thoughts drifted over to school. Classes were going pretty well, as long as she followed directions and paid attention. If she could do those things, then she could do the homework no problem, except if it was an essay. Her mind tended to wonder off during those and it took forever to finish.

Rori's thoughts came to a halt once something cracked. She turned to glance to her left. Her eyes fell on the guy standing there. She had seen him before, after all, they were in the same house. Oh, and he was cute, actually he was cuter than cute, and probably completely out of her league. She liked Landon didn't she? But they were just friends, nothing more. He wouldn't care, after all, he never did say if he liked her like that anyway. She could still look, it wasn't a crime, because she was single. Rori smiled, at the boy and at her thoughts. Where did those thoughts come from anyway? "Hey," she said nicely.

[Leo Agathon]

As the girl turned to look at him, Leo smiled. She had a nice smile, he thought to himself. "Hey," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets casually. "Sorry if I interrupted your thoughts or anything. I was just out for a little walk. Do you mind having a little company?"

[Rori Logan]

"Oh, no. No reason to apologize. I wasn't thinking of anything important." Rori brought her knees to her chest. "And, as long as you don't plan to hex me or anything, then sure. I don't mind the company. By the way, you can come closer. I honestly don't bite. I broke myself of that a couple of weeks ago." She gave a grin.

[Leo Agathon]

Leo grinned and pushed a piece of hair out of his eyes. "I didn't think you did," he said. "Although, if you did, I don't think you'd hurt me too much. You're outside in the daylight, so obviously you're not a vampire." He walked over and sat down next to her.

"So.. you're beautiful and funny, and you're not a vampire." He looked at her, as if he was trying to analyze her. "You know, I've seen you around before. You're in my house... I think you're a grade or two below me. It's just a shame that I know all that about you, but I still don't know your name."

[Rori Logan]

Rori laughed. "Oh, well then. You know, I could still be a vampire. I could just have special powers to keep myself from going up in flames in the sunlight. You never know."

When he sat down beside her, Rori turned her head so that she could face him, being polite. His blue eyes were just something she felt like she could drown in, but she felt warmth run to her cheeks as he spoke. "I've seen you around too. Obviously. But, anyway. I'm a third year, and it's Rori. Your's is?"

[Leo Agathon]

Leo pretended to look worried, and moved away from her for a second. Then he laughed and moved back. "I think I'll take my chances," he said, winking at her. "It's nice to meet you, Rori. I'm Leo."

He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes as a cool breeze blew past them, messing up his hair. "It's a nice day, isn't it? Much too nice to be stuck inside doing homework."

[Rori Logan]

"It's nice to meet you to Leo," she said grinning. Rori tried to keep her hair behind her ears as the breeze blew so that it wouldn't get in her face and stab her eye like it done before. It was going to stay there, so she took her chances. "I can't agree more. I don't know why people freak out about having homework. I mean, it's school after all. It's what we're supposed to have, although, it would be much better if we didn't have it. I'm glad that I was able to do most of mine at lunch, and then finished the rest right before I came out here." Rori sighed as she glanced out at the lake as another cool breeze blew by. A few leaves zoomed by and the water started rippling. "So. Leo. Do you have any deep dark secrets that I should know about? For example, you being a boggart in disguise, or maybe you're actually a giant squid?"

[Leo Agathon]

Leo pretended to think for a minute. "Hmmm, well, I'm definitely not a giant squid, unless my parents neglected to tell me something. But I do have these strange scales on my arms..." He laughed. "Just kidding. I'm afraid I'm really very boring. What you see is what you get. I hope I'm not disappointing you..."

[Rori Logan]

"Honestly, I'm you're not disappointing at all." Rori meant that in two ways. For one, his looks of course, and secondly, well, he looked like he wasn't going to be boring at all. "I don't think you're boring. You just need to open your imagination more! If everyone used a bit of their imagination, I don't really think anyone would be boring. And, I know you're not boring because you went along with my joking around. If you were actually boring, you would have looked at me like I was an idiot." She grinned. "And about the scales on your arm, I'm sure Herbert would know if you were actually a giant squid. Herbert is the giant squid in the lake, in case you haven't figured that out yet."

[Leo Agathon]

"Herbert?" Leo said with a laugh. "Did you give him that name?" He glanced over at the lake and saw the giant squid reach a tentacle out of the water, as if on cue. "I have to say, it actually suits him. Although, I never did know for sure whether the giant squid was a he or a she. I'm not sure anyone knows, really."

[Rori Logan]

"Yes, Herbert, and I did give him the name," said Rori. "See, he even knows his name." She laughed. "That's true. No one knows if the giant squid is a he or she. However, if we ever find out it is a girl, just add an 'a' to the end of Herbert, and there you go! It sort of sounds like a girls name, but it just appears he knows his name." Rori quieted for a moment. "Since we're just sitting here, tell me a little bit about you, if you don't mind that is."

[Leo Agathon]

"Me?" Leo replied, smiling. "Well, let's see... My parents are both former Aurors and current high-powered ministry officials, and I'm their only child. I grew up just outside London, but I spent more time with my grandparents than with my parents, because they were always too busy for me. My grandmother still lives with us, but my grandfather died just before I got my Hogwarts letter. Um... let's see... I like muggle music and dancing... I even play the guitar a little." He tilted his head at her. "So, what do you think, do I pass?"

[Rori Logan]

Rori pretended to be analyzing the information in her head for a moment. "Well," she said dragging the word out a little, "I'm sorry to say, you failed." She started to smile. "I'm just kidding. You pass with flying colors! That's pretty neat that you can play the guitar. I don't really have any musical talents, but I have to agree with you, I like muggle music too, and listen to it whenever I get a chance. But, you seem like a pretty cool guy, in my opinion anyways. I'm not sure how much my opinion counts, but oh well."

[Leo Agathon]

Leo pretended to look wounded when she said that he had failed, but he laughed as she admitted that she was teasing. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," he said. "I'd love to play for you sometime."

He winked at her and inched a little closer. "So, now, I think it's your turn," he said. "Tell me about yourself. I want to know all about you."

[Rori Logan]

"All about me? Wow. Hm. Where to start? For starters, my father died a while back and my mom died about a year and a half ago. Voltaire and Isabella, or you know them better as the defense against the dark arts and dueling professors, decided to adopt me and my cousin Anna. She's also a Ravenclaw. Voltaire is actually my cousin, but he adopted me all the same. I actually started Hogwarts in my second year. As for talents, I don't really have any, except flying. I can do that, and I'm decent when it comes to defense. I don't really dance, unless I'm joking around with Voltaire or Anna. That's a completely different story when it comes to that." Rori gave a grin. "Other than that, nothing special." She decided to leave out the part about Sabrina's death. That really wasn't information that she was wanting to ever talk about. "Generally, I'm not a hard person to get along with and I like to have fun and joke around. So, your turn for opinion. Do I pass?"

[Leo Agathon]

Leo pretended to think for a minute. "I don't know... you don't dance. That's a definite minus, I'm sorry to say." He shook his head very seriously. "But on the plus side, you have a great sense of humor. And a smile that could stop traffic, as the muggles would say. So I think I can give you a passing grade." He smiled at her, enjoying the way the sunlight seemed to dance in her eyes. "You didn't tell me one thing, though. Which lucky guy has snapped you up already? Cause I know you couldn't possibly be single."

[Rori Logan]

"Well, at least I did pass. That's a great relief!" Rori smiled. "Although, I have to say I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your thoughts are just the opposite. There is no lucky guy, and I'm single. And I could say the same for you. You never did tell me that part about you either. Who's the lucky girl for you?" Leo seemed to be the kind that would have a girlfriend no matter what. Heck, he was too good looking not to have one.

[Leo Agathon]

Leo smiled at hearing that she didn't have a boyfriend. Not only was she pretty, but she was also funny and interesting. He liked talking to her, which wasn't the case with a lot of other girls. In his experience, most of them were silly and immature. But Rori was playful, yet intelligent. "Seriously? No boyfriend? I can't believe no guy is interested in you." He leaned in closer and said, "I know... you're the picky type, aren't you? You won't just go out with any guy who asks, right?"

He shook his head. "Well, I must confess... I'm single, too."