The day had been long.

Not really.

Actually, it was really pretty short. Wake up, yaddah yaddah, eat, walk, and um, here I was! Look, I know you sense the impending enthusiasm that must be racking my innards (cough cough) but to tell you the truth, it was a pretty boring day as well. So far I uh...still didn't know anyone. It was quite unfortunate, really.

Speaking of unfortunate facts.

My music player ran out of charge and (unsurprisingly) there weren't any plugs in Hogwarts. I hadn't bumped into either of the two people I've met. I haven't met anyone knew. I lived in a stinky cellar. And was wearing green (ew). I was surrounded by Brits.

And, most importantly, someone stole my coffee supply.

So, overall, I was in a bit of tetchy mood. Tetchy or not tetchy, I plumped my bum down to a large and seemingly...aggressive tree, and started writing little sonnets about Cinderella, Ice-Men, Bunnies, and an aggressive tree named Jerry who wanted to be a cat.

Phoenix was taking a walk around the grounds trying to find a nice place to sit and read the book she had tucked under her arm when she noticed a student sitting on his own near the Whomping Willow.

Seeing as she had nothing better to do, Phoenix walked over and crouched down beside him.
'Mind if I join you?' she asked with a friendly smile.

Somehow she always ended up here.

The days at Hogwarts were long, depending on how you looked at them; wake up early, go to the Great Hall, don't get lost finding your classes, stay awake during class, and then wander aimlessly around the grounds or the castle until dark.

She had mostly kept to herself the past few days. It's not that she was shy, but over the years, she just hadn't made many friends and she hadn't seen any of the ones she had. It gave her more time for classwork and scribbling in her journal.

But no matter how her days went, the Whomping Willow was the one place she always found herself at this time of day. She tugged her bag on her shoulder, getting ready to toss it on the ground at her usual spot, when she looked up and saw...someone in her spot. Humph. This was not okay.

She tossed her curls over her shoulder and began walking over to the spot, ready to demand they move, until she noticed who it was. A grin appeared across her entire face and her eyes lit up. "Sylvester?!" It took everything in her not to throw her arms around him right then.

WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH.

This was like, epic. Right as I got to the part where Cinderella rescues the little bunny from Jerry the aggressive tree, Cinderella actually shows up. It was like, woah. I jumped up. Too quickly. Ouch. Rockitty...Rockitty...Rockitty....blink blink blink. Eventually I regain my balance. Wow. That was embarrassing.

"Cinderella!" I cry. "I mean...uh...Adelyn!" Note the sudden despair. Ug… “Er…do you mind if I call you Cinderella?” I stared down at my toes. “It’ll uh…make it easier? For me.”

I was really, really awkward.

So I changed the subject.

I went back to WOAH mode. “Anyway, how are you?” I started grinning from ear to ear. I don’t know if it showed, but I was seriously stoked about seeing her. It had been DAYS since I’d been this happy. Well, days…how long had it been since I was last with her?

The grin on her face was incredibly embarrassing. But she couldn't help it. As he jumped up, obviously too quickly, she was reminded of how absolutely adorable he is. Her grin grew wider.

She giggled at his awkwardness, because in all honesty, nothing was cuter. At least, nothing was cuter until he called her Cinderella. Had he been calling her that in his head? For how long? He looked down at his toes. Oh no. She didn't want that.

"Hey..." She said, tapping his chin, basically making him look at her with those eyes again. "You can call me whatever you'd like." Her cheeks burned pink. Shoot. She forgot how easily he did that to her.

It definitely wasn't possible for her to grin any wider, but somehow she managed it. "I've been good. Much better now." Seriously, though; she'd been looking for him, not outwardly of course, but every time she turned a corner or went to the Great Hall or to a class, she constantly caught herself searching for those eyes of his. She bounced slightly on her toes, wanting nothing more than to hug him, but she refrained. "How are you?"

And then she tilted my head back up.

Now, I know that doesn't sound incredibly romantic in any way, but I gotta say, it was a nice tilt. I'm not sure how to put that, actually. Nice tilting? The tilt was pleasant? Or maybe I just enjoyed the skin to skin contact.

Even if it was something small, like a head tilt, it sure did burn my cheeks red as a cherry on a summers day....Which would be kinda brown so cross that out. Like...like...like...the blush on her cheeks as well?

I don't know why, but that made me smile. More, that is, than I already was. I proceeded to try to create metaphors for her blush...but...inevitably failed. Your blush is like...uh... Yeah. That' right. I didn't even think of one eensy weensy metaphor. Not one.

Well there goes Sylvester the happy poet.

Speaking of that, was I gonna tell her my name?.....Nah. Sylvester was a good name for me. Eh? Well. Maybe I'd tell her. If she asked. Nicely. With those eyes. Like the churning bucket of chocolate cream at Hershey's Park in the states. The same creamy texture of chocolate...but always changing. Always moving. Always becoming.

What was it becoming? I don't know, exactly. Something better than it was before.

"Really?" I quivered with excitement. "Awesome." I barely refrained from prancing around on my tippie toesies shouting Cinderella in the air. I'm sure she wouldn't have quite enjoyed the experience.

"I'm...better." It was the truth. I was better. Now.

I grinned.

Her cheeks were burning scarlet. But when he looked up at her, she realized his were, too. This made things a little better; at least she wasn't the only one. There weren't even words to describe what this was between them, and she had a word for everything, she swore by words. There wasn't a word out there that she didn't know.

He just kept looking at her, with those eyes, blushing like crazy. That's when it hit her again; was he ever going to tell her his real name? She thought about asking, but a part of her liked thinking of him as Sylvester. That is, until they figure out where this is going, then she'd want a real name. She blinked her eyes at him, sparkling slightly in the sun, thinking of just asking him now.

"Yes, really." She grinned, "I like being Cinderella to you." The urge to wrapped her arms around him washed over her again, and she struggled to push it away.

"That's good!" Still bouncing on her toes. This was embarrassing; was she twelve? "Let's sit."

She tossed her bag behind her, leaving a space next to her for him to sit down. She looked up at him, grinning.

"You do?" She did! She did?

Was that supposed to mean something cryptic? Like, I'm secretly telling you to bugger off. Hm...no. I didn't think so. Well, I sure didn't hope so. And since (in my world) the two went hand in hand, "I no think, I yes hope, I is right." Yup. That is how the world worked.

Until I was proven wrong, that is.

And...she was bouncing. Which was good, since I liked bouncing. Or at least, I liked to bounce so I could respect when others were bouncing. Ug. My mind works in interesting and complicated ways. Actually, it really doesn't work in any way. Hmm....contemplate.

Meanwhile, she asked me to sit. Sit. What was sit, again? My brain was working worse than usual. For an unnoticable split second, I stared at her in dumbfounded awe. Like: Oh my god you're an angel. Whose really smart. And knows...a lot of stuff.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy.

But eventually I came to my senses. Sit. Right. Sit. I sat. And smiled. A lot. And thought. In really short sentences. Such as. "You're pretty..." and "I like your eyes..." and "Want some coffee?" Well. I don't know, but I wanted some coffee. As usual.

But I didn't say any of these things. Instead, I said, "Urg..."

It wasn't the best thing that had come out of my mouth. I had a particularly strong urge to put my arm around her, but of course, even in my numified state, I knew that would be incredibly stupid.

"Of course I do." She smiled, cheeks still pink. She wanted desperately to reach out and take his hand in hers, but she didn't. That was a bad idea.

He just kept staring at her with those gorgeous eyes. It made the bouncing worse. They were only standing about a foot apart, she could hug him right now, bridging the gap. But she forced her feet onto the ground.

Once she sat down and he was still standing, she stared up at him, in awe mostly. Her curls cascaded down her back as she looked up, the sun shining on her face. The Whomping Willow moved around in front of her, creating a slight breeze; she tried not to notice.

Finally he sat down. She turned herself towards him so she could face him, and stare at those eyes. The scarlet was back in her cheeks.

Urg? Did she do something wrong? She furrowed her brow.

"What's on your mind?"

Okay.

So I have a suspicion. Something...out there...was deliberately tormenting me. So I'm a fairly simple guy (achem. Yeah. Right). A simple guy with simple goals in life. You know, like, travel the world, act, become an academic, run a bookstore, excavate ancient sites, memorizing the history of mankind, becoming an expert in French wines (which I haven't tried yet, but I heard were pretty good), stuff like that. Simple enough.

Oh, and find a nice girl. I guess. I suppose. It wasn't number one on my priorities...actually, it was. Sigh. Well then.

Anyway, my point is that I was being tormented. Her wonderful curls sweeping down her back, the light shining through her, and on her, her chocolate eyes, her cute nose. I swear. TORMENT. It was pretty bad.

Meanwhile, the time and place were perfect. Early fall, my favorite time of year. A gentile breeze that lifted your chest to sigh with the flow of the wind. The sky was adorned with a few clouds, but they were happy clouds. Big and puffy. Bunnie-esque.

Her cheeks were scarlet, perfectly matching her hair. So was mine, but they happen to NOT match my hair.

"My mind?" Er. Well, the answer was Her. Obviously. But I couldn't say that. "Er...nothing." I gotta do something better than that. "Well, my mouth really isn't cooperating with me today." I shrugged an apology and stared angrily down at my mouth, which must have been a sight to see.

She couldn't help but stare at him.

It wasn't her fault. Sure, her life wasn't simple, it was anything but at times; however, she always considered herself as a person fairly simple. It didn't take much to make her happy, and really, she didn't ask for much. She liked flowers and music and the idea of traveling the world and books. Really, not complicated at all.

And of course, like any other girl, she wanted to find that one boy. The one her dad promised would find her, when she was a kid, but then again, at that time, he promised her a prince. Obviously, she wasn't looking for that anymore, but she'd like a boy. Maybe.

She looked away briefly, to stare up at the sky. It was early fall, her favorite time of year. The breeze was gentle, the clouds were lovely, everything about it was perfect. Except that he was sitting simply too far away.

Nothing? He had to be lying. His mouth never seemed to cooperate with him. She watched him closely, as he shrugged and glared at himself. She giggled.

"That's all? Come on, just tell me what you're thinking." Adelyn said, smiling and batting her eyes at him. "Please?"

It was a perfect day.

All the reasons have been previously said, but even without the reasons, it was a perfect day. I don't know why that makes sense. It wasn't a perfect day before I saw Cinderella again. It was a pretty drab day. But now, the whole day seemed perfect.

I remember waking up this morning to a cheerful dorm. Leaving the dorm, I noticed a dazzling sunrise. Why hadn't I been astounded by the sunrise then? I had a mightily fulfilling breakfast filled with multiple American treats that I could nosh on. Why didn't I appreciate that? I skipped classes and had a pristine walk on the grounds. I walked in peace but didn't notice that it was peaceful. And now I was here. With Cinderella.

It was a perfect day.

She asked me what I was thinking. Which was an interesting question. I was thinking about the sky, the tree, the breeze, the breakfast, the day. I was thinking about her, too. Should I lie? I was fairly good at lying. But...I didn't want to lie to her. Especially not here. Not now.

Maybe I could tell the truth. Maybe she wouldn't get upset.

"I'm thinking about you." I said, as I cocked my head to the side. I didn't think it would ruin the moment; like it did last time. Rather, I thought, maybe it would make it better.

She kissed William, losing herself. She paused and softly spoke not wanting to have ruined the moment, but insisted..."We should visit Louise and see how she is, don't you think?"

Nothing could make this day better.

The sun was shining, there were birds in the sky, a breeze that wasn't too cool, and there was him. If everything else in the world was perfect, there wasn't a word on this planet that could describe him. Words rushed through her head, but none of them fit him. None of them were good enough, meant enough, said enough. They would have to make a new word for him, and even then, it wouldn't be enough.

It was perfect.

She tilted her head to the side, letting her curls fall, waiting for him to answer. Part of her wanted to know what he was thinking, right now and all the time, but another part of her was only asking to see if he'd tell her the truth. It needed to be the truth.

Finally he spoke.

"Really?" She whispered, giving him a soft smile. At this moment, nothing could be more perfect, except filling this gap between them.

"Yeah." I said. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Really."

I don't know what made me say it, but I'm glad I did. I'm glad that she was glad I did. Because apparently, she was glad I did. According to her smile, anyway. And I meant it too, which was usually a first. I tended to be more honest when I was around Cinderella. Maybe she was charmed somehow?

I don't think she was charmed, but she sure was charming.

And by the way, don't the TET (The eternal tormentor) had given up. She still had those curls. She still had those eyes. She had that...her. I blinked several times to make sure. No, King Tet was still doing his job.

Suddenly I noticed we were both half leaning on the ground, tilting our heads. It was like we both saw the world the same way, but a different way from everyone else. I don't know why the metaphor was significant, but it was.

I leaned in a little. Not to kiss her, I said to myself. Not yet. No, I just wanted to breathe her. To be with her. Hell, I know its cheesy, but actors usually are.

Her smile got bigger, brighter.

She didn't know what to say, though, now that she knew he was telling her the truth. No one made him tell her that, he could have easily lied, but he didn't. She just smiled at him, like a charmed idiot.

Yes, he was charming. Of course he was.

She still couldn't escape those eyes of his. They were taunting; she just wanted him to stare at her like that all day.

Glancing at him, taking note of everything he did; the way he leaned towards her, the way they both tilted their heads, the way they saw the world the same way. He leaned closer towards her. She shifted her body weight, moving herself closer to him in the least subtle manner possible.

Adelyn had never been good at subtlety.

" Great idea. let's see Louise" Willaim rold Witsy. " This is why I love you, you care about more than just me, but a lot of students and people" Willaim said to Witsy. " Do you think I care about a lot of stundents and people?" William asked Witsy." Jason hopes you come back to the wedding plus my mom and dad would love to see you again" Willaim explained to Witsy.

"Okay then," Jordan said. "I'll ask her when I see her next."

Josephine got to the whomping willow and saw Maxwell "Max! Danielle is sick so she couldn't come with us" she sneezed "I think I will be sick myself, she didn't warned me when she hugged me!"

Maxwell dodged the sneeze, and had a very concerned look on his face. "Well, then we can plan later. Let's go back to the common room maybe one of Helios' tears will make you better, and if not it won't be bad to be curled up near the fire." Maxwell grabbed Josie's hand and started walking to the castle.

He only watched the Quidditch games?

"I'll take that as a no," Nora said, grinning. Of course, she wasn't the right one to judge (not that she wanted to), since she was afraid to even touch a broomstick. She was so terrified at the idea of flying lessons, but she also wanted to attend. And, you know, if she'd have pretty wings like a hippogriff or a butterfly, that was something completely different. But on a broomstick...

... better not.

And... was it nice, being a second year? Hmmm.

"I don't really like it. Being..." Being what? "... tiny." That's right. She wanted to know more and be more advanced than she was for her age.

"The world was created so that everyone could live together, although as history has shown, some people grew power-hungry and perverted that idea. If the world was centered around me we would all be in big trouble," she said slightly giggling at the thought. "You do care about a lot of people, especially me," she said winking. "You were there for Louise at the hospital comforting her, she must have really appreciated that. Hmm, where do you suppose she could be?"

She pulled out an item from her pocket, "...and speaking of caring. I have something for you." and teased him with a smile.

Yay! She remembered her nickname, apparently the students really do call their friends with nicknames, Joanna thought that all the people in the UK are snobs, but she's probably wrong, unless Ness isn't from the UK. "Really!?" the Ravenclaw answered, giving the tree a glimpse and looked back at her friend with a 'your so lucky' expression on her face. "Lucky... I guess it's funny to see someone get knocked down, right?" JoJo smiled chuckling from the thought of someone getting knocked down.

Well, she was actually sight-seeing Hogwarts so she could use someone to give a tour around the grounds. "So... if you aren't doing anything right now, maybe you could give me a tour around the school grounds," she said biting her tongue hoping she'll say yes. It would be a lot better touring with someone rather than with no one, right?

Ness nodded. "Yip" she didn't think it was such an amazing thing to see. She rather remembered it pretty scary and violent. She looked at Jo with a raised eye brow. Funny? Was this girl crazy..getting hit by a tree was never supposed to be funny. "No not at all..its actually pretty horiffic" she told Jo.

"Yeah sure...um where should we start?" she asked hoping Jo at least knew the places that she wanted to go and see. If Ness would choose she would have chosen the lake first. It was her favourite place to go in the summer..but it was starting to become winter now.

" I really doubt that we would all be in big trouble if the world centered around you" Willaim told Witsy." Thanks, I try to care about a lot of people" Willaim said to Witsy." Louise did appreciate it a lot" Willaim smiled. She can be anywhere, she is elusive" William laughed. What do you have for me dear?' Wiliam asked Witsy. He kissed her on the cheek.