Use Me Up (Cameron, open)

[Heather Louise White]

Heather was getting increasingly stressed out. She'd been avoiding Daphne, and Micah, and pretty much everyone else she knew. Ever since she had spilled her secret to Ruecain, she'd retreated back into herself. Yes, it had felt a lot better to talk about it with someone, but now it would be even harder to hide the truth from the people she cared about most. It felt like she was living a lie, and she didn't want to do that anymore. But she also wasn't ready to talk about it, either. It was too big, too scary, too hard.

So she had retreated into her studies, which was unusual for the outgoing, athletic Heather. But NEWTs were just around the corner, so it provided a convenient excuse.

Today was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, and even the average Ravenclaw was outside enjoying the weather. Normally this was the kind of day Heather wouldn't have been caught dead inside the stuffy old castle. But here she was, sitting in the common room, buried in books. She was seated near the window, however, and she kept stopping to look wistfully outside. Her feet were twitching, and she was sure she was going to go mad from the restlessness.

"Arrgh!" she shouted suddenly, shoving her books to the floor. She was completely unaware that she wasn't alone until she heard a voice from the other side of the room.

[Cameron Yates]

OWLs. It had become the bane of Cameron's existence over the last month, as he had an endless pile of books glued to the end of his nose in fear of failing his exams. Deciding to take a small break, Cameron put his 'Cheering Charms' practice essay down onto the small wooden table in front of him. He sat up straighter, shut his eyes, and stretched his arms upwards. Small little 'popping' noises came from his aching joints as he shook his hands out and sank back down into the armchair he had positioned himself in only four short hours ago.

It looked so lovely outside. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Usually, Cam would have been out there, relaxing under a tree and 'people-watching', but the study for his OWLs had gotten to the better of him.

He grimaces. What he wouldn't give to be one of the people outside. There was a loud crash and Cameron turned around in a start, searching for the source of the noise. He could see that he wasn't the only one stuck inside studying..

"Been studying, too?"

[/color] he called out to the girl on the other side of the room. He gestured down to his own stack of books, which was starting to rival the height of the chair he was sitting on. "It does look nice outside, doesn't it."[/color] It wasn't really a question, but more of a wishful statement.[/blockquote]

[Heather Louise White]

Heather looked up in surprise at the sound of a boy's voice from the other side of the room. Either she had been more wrapped up in her studying than she'd realized, or he had, because she hadn't heard a sound. Her first instinct was to gather up her things and leave the room in a hurry, but she stopped herself. She didn't know this boy, but she vaguely recognized him as a fifth year student. Which meant he was studying for OWLs. She could sympathize with him for that. And really, maybe it was better to talk with a stranger than someone she knew.

"Yeah," she replied, rubbing her head tiredly. "NEWTs. I think I've been studying so long that words just look like little squiggly lines anymore."

She bent down to gather up her scattered books and parchments. "I don't know about you, but I'm not used to staying inside with my head in a book."