Keep It Steady (Open)

[Ian McAllister]

It wasn't night, but Ian climbed up to the Astronomy Tower. No one was going to be up there, so it didn't really matter that he was there. He needed a few moments to be alone. Holding up like he was cool was tiresome, but it was just best he did.

The attack on Hogsmeade did shake him up a little bit, but Ian remained the calm appearance. A few of his friends were there, but lucky they weren't hurt badly. He got a letter from his mother saying that she was supposed to be going off with a man named Chuck for Christmas, since he invited her to go on some cruise. Of course, she would have went. Ian still had the letter in his pocket, and he opened it again and read over it. He shook his head. There was always something going on. He didn't really remember when they had a decent Christmas, or even one together. It looked like this year he was going to be staying at the school again. That didn't bother him since he felt more home at school than in his actual home.

Ian carefully folded the note again and put it in his pocket, then stared out into space as he rested his arms on his knees since he was sitting down.

[Roman Jetter]

Roman had been meaning to catch up on the Astronomy homework. Rehersals had gone onmore frequently, as they would for the upcoming performance. But all she had was school when she wasn't in Hogsmeade, and she didn't want to fall behind. She had shaken at the thought of the hall being torn down and the dead bodies still being carted off as she appeared to see the Hogsmeade attack. Roman hadn't heard about it, and there she was in the clean up. She hadn't gone to rehersal that night, and instead just walked aimlessly around the castle. Why would any one do that to those people? What were they proving? Of course she hadn't talked to anyone about it, because she didn't like starting conversations. But she had a lot of time to think.

Roman reached the top of the stairs, spreading the notes around her. It was only when she went to get her ink that she noticed a boy sitting there. She blinked a few times, not sure if she should leave or just sit there. He looked virtually emotionless, and Roman wasn't sure if he minded her trying to catch up on her charts.

[Ian McAllister]

Sitting in slience and alone, even for a few minutes, seemed to help him. Ian never talked about his family, and always avoided the subject. There was no reason to talk about his mother. Everytime they were around each other, they always got into some argument, so Ian attempted to stay away. However, during summer, that was hard, but his mother was gone half the time anyway.

Ian heard footsteps, but he wasn't going to turn around just yet, his mind was still elsewhere. Finally, he turned his head to look at who was up there. He noticed the look on her face. "You can stay," he said putting a light smirk on his face.

[Roman Jetter]

She had sat there a little worried for a few seconds. Maybe he hadn't heard her, and she could just go back. But Roman stayed stuck to the ground. When he finally addressed her, Roman let out a breathe she didn't know she had been holding. This boy was in her house, and even in her year, but she hadn't ever talked to him.

"Are you sure?" Roman asked softly. "I can finish them later." She gestured to the maps.

There, she had said something, although she wasn't quite sure if the conversation would continue. Roman had given him an option out, and she didn't know him well enough to decipher if he would take it or not.

[Ian McAllister]

"I'm sure," he said. "You're not interrupting anything." Ian continued to smile. He observed the girl for a moment. He had seen her before, that was a given. Of course, he usually observed people even if they weren't aware of it.

"I'm Ian." He felt that he should at least say his name, after all if they were both going to be at the astronomy tower. However, that didn't grant that they were going to really have a full on conversation, but Ian could try for one. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you working on."

[Roman Jetter]

"Thank you," Roman mumbled, before looking up and studying the stars again. She had no idea what she was doing. They all looked the same to her, and the little white dapples certainly looked pretty, but disecerning the difference wasn't the easiest thing she'd done.

Roman was surprised that Ian had continued talking to her, she thought she was incroaching on his time. But she gave him a small smile. "I'm Roman. I'm trying to make sense of the charts."

[Ian McAllister]

"Charts," Ian said standing up. He gave a stretch then took a few steps closer to her and sat down in front of the spread out charts. At the moment, he was completely relaxed. This girl wasn't asking questions as to why he was up there, so he didn't get tensed. If someone ever asked what he was doing while he was alone, Ian would get tensed and defensive.

"Astronomy? I took it last year," he said as if it was no big deal. "What exactly are you looking at?"

[Roman Jetter]

Ian had stretched out, and looked at her charts, asking Roman what she was she had been looking for. It hadn't even crossed Roman's mind to ask him why he was up here or what he was doing. She had just been happy to try and finish her homework. He looked nice enough, and she didn't mind telling him, although she wasn't sure of his reaction.

Roman said in her tiny voice, "well, I'm not exactly sure."

[Ian McAllister]

Both his eyebrows rose. "You're not exactly sure," he repeated. Ian reached out and picked up one of her charts. One of the reasons he didn't take Astronomy again was the getting up in the middle of the night and going to class. He glanced over the chart. "This one is you just making Orion's Belt, which is," Ian looked around in the sky and found it just over head. "There."

He looked on her other charts. "What you're looking for is not that hard to find. You just have to know where to look."

[Roman Jetter]

Roman followed his gaze, but didn't see anything that struck her as a constellation. She kept looking, even when he turned to look at the charts below her. It all looked as if some one just dippsed a paintbrush in white, and smattered it against dark paper. Artistic, but undefined.

"I'm not quite sure what to look for," was her response, pulling her jacket close to her as an act of discomfort. She was still a little unesay with talking to people, and Ian had been the motst talkitive she'd been with a person in her entire life. She'd just have to keep progressing. At least he was nice, she smiled. Not some guy who ignored her and pretended that her existance was miniscule.

[Ian McAllister]

Ian messed with the collar on his jacket for a moment, then looked at Roman. She still had no idea what she was looking for? He didn't understand it, but Ian swallowed the comment he had thought of. "Alright, well, do you see the three stars in a row," he asked pointing up in the sky, with a slight smirk on his face. "That's Orion's Belt. Now, the four stars that are above and below the belt is Orion."

He looked back to Roman, with the same slight smirk on his face. "See it now?"

[Roman Jetter]

Roman looked up, and saw a faint line through the masses. She gave a slightly bigger smile, before nodding happily and recording that down. There, she'd get one right, which was more then she had expected. Roman looked up to check and see if it was still there.

"Thank you," Roman mumbled, looking up. After giving a little more thought to what she was saying, she continued on with, "now at least I know one constellation." She almost said it humourously, but she knew it was true.

[Ian McAllister]

He gave a laugh. "One constellation is better than none." Ian gave her a smirk then looked back down at her charts. So far, Ian had done his good deed for the day. "And no problem. I don't think that you would like to be sitting around and being clueless." He looked back up to the stars and then back to Roman.

"So, do you need to know any others?"

[Roman Jetter]

Roman started to notice how much he smirked, and she didn't know what to make of it. He must have been really confident, she thought to herself. But he was nice, and that was what mattered. And he had offered to help her again, which no person in their right mind should do.

"A few more," she sighed, circling the names of a few others with her finger. There were a couple such as the big dipper, which she had a clue about. And ones with long names that didn't mean anything. She mumbled softly,"I know where Sirius is... That's the North star, right?"

[Ian McAllister]

"Those will be easy enough to find, especially at this time of year," he said. Ian spent enough time at the Astronomy Tower to have already known the constellations before he really took Astronomy. "Sirius is actually in the Southern sky, which is that way," said Ian pointing. "Sirius is the brightest star visible from this plant. It is part of the constellation Canis Major, also know as the Dog Star. The North Star is in the Northern sky, which is the direction we're facing, and its the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper."

Ian of course pointed out the stars as he spoke to her coolly. "As for the Big Dipper, it is a little to the right and up a little from the Little Dipper."

[Roman Jetter]

"Oh," Roman said softly. "I'm sorry."

She felt somewhat like an idiot. Roman had never actually said something to someone that she wasn't absolutley positive about, to avoid situations exactly such as this. A thousand bad thoughts ran through her mind before she decided to and remedy the situation.

"You don't have to help me," she looked at her paper, tracing the pictures with her finger again. "I don't want to keep you from anything.

[Ian McAllister]

He gave her a carefree look. "Don't apologize. There's nothing to be sorry about." Ian never really understood why people apologized all the time. "And I don't have anything else to be doing, so its alright. I came up here just to waste time." Of course, that was pretty much a lie, but Roman didn't have to really know that.

"And the only thing you're keeping me from doing is finishing pointing out the constellations you need to finish."

[Roman Jetter]

Roman wasn't quite sure how to respond. She would have apologized for apologizing if he hadn't told her not to. Instead she just nodded and gulped. She had never met anyone like him, and she wasn't quite sure how to proceed. Maybe talking less was a good trait, and she should keep it. Roman decided to keep to herself again. Her small experiment was over.

"Thanks," she whispered, moving back to give him better access to the paper. She looked for Sirius, in the sky, and recorded it down on her paper. The Canus Major constellation was over with, which made two.

[Ian McAllister]

Taking the papers from her, Ian hid the smirk that wanted to place itself on his face. He couldn't really believe that he was actually helping somebody, but he did need to finish his good deed for the day.

"There is the small dipper, right there at the North Star," he said pointing ahead of them. Ian handed her the paper to draw it. "Then the big dipper is just above it and to the right." He handed her the other paper. As for the other constellations, he did the same. "I think that's all of them," Ian said at last. "Anything else for Astronomy?"

[Roman Jetter]

"No, thank you, though," Roman clutched her papers, barely containing the smile over the small fact that they were finished. She even started to see the weird shapes in the sky, and it made her feel like she might actually pass astronomy. She wasn't quite sure what she should say, or if Ian even wanted to continue the conversation, so she started to stand up ad brush off her clothes, getting ready to go back to the common room. It seemed a little weird to leave on that note, so she added quietly, "You saved me."