"Well you said you wanted a favor!" Could he never read this woman correctly? First she says she can swim when, in reality, she cannot. And now when he is so sure what she wants is a kiss, she acts disgusted. How rude. "Now, I understand you're freaking out because you loved it so much but you don't have to be so hurtful about it." He got up fast as she started to back away from him. This wasn't settled yet. No way, Jose. They were not to leave this corridor until they made a deal and got all of this "you owe me" nonsense done with.

Pfft. Hunter disease. As if that even existed. And now she was really leaving. Not. Possible. Hunter stood there, a little speechless and shocked. Not that he went around kissing a bunch of girls but he had kissed his fair share of girls on not one ever reacted that way. Finally, coming back to earth, he ran after her and grabbed her arm just strong enough to make her stop but not to hurt her. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry!" How many times was he going to have to apologize to Aria? He had done more apologizing this term than he'd done in his entire life! "Just tell me what it is you want me to do. I won't make anymore assumptions. And then we'll go to the Great Hall and part ways." She was starting to make him nervous and that directed his attention back to his monster of a stomach that just would not shut up. Did kissing make a person hungrier?

Loved it? Now Aria wouldn't say loved. It was barely bearable. She didn't want to argue anymore so she was just going to get to the point so she can go on her merry way and eat some food. "Riiiiight. Anyways what I was going to ask you was to *deep breath* comehomewithmeforchristmassowecanpretendtobetogeth erandsothatmyparentswontsetmeupwithmymum'sboss'ski dfortherestofmylife! There. Now we can go eat." Hopefully he understood that. She just really wanted food right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius quickly gathered that she didn't want to cause him further pain, watching as she immediately stopped prodding his scar. It was obvious that Aspen was just curious, as he was gathering Ravenclaws were. As she apologized, he grinned, obviously not truly upset with her, knowing that she hadn't just been prodding his scar to hurt him, but rather out of curiosity. "It's okay," he immediately replied with a soft chuckle, seeming more amused with Aspen than anything else.

It was then that she seemed to wonder aloud if there was a cure, something he didn't quite understand as she was obviously referring to something else entirely. Before he could really open his mouth to guess at a response, she had focused back onto him and promised to stop prodding him.

At her weak smile, Cornelius let out a soft chuckle and a grin, nodding just slightly in agreement, "I don't mind you looking at it. I just had no idea what you were doing," he admitted, now obviously understanding that she was just curious about his scar.

"Tell me more about you," he decided in the next moment, his light brown eyes scanning her expression curiously. Cornelius glanced down at her hand, wondering absentmindedly if he should take it again. Normally he would've automatically, but...maybe she didn't want him to? Maybe he should wait until she took his hand?

.....

Merlin... This girl was making him second guess himself all over the place! Where was more or less smooth Cornelius?! Where had all of his courageousness gone? He supposed he must've left it somewhere before he found his way into the dungeons, because in the next moment when he looked back to Aspen herself, he still hadn't taken her hand in his own. "Tell me about your life when you're not in Hogwarts," he decided with a small smile.

It wasn't really okay. Aspen was going to HAVE to get a grip on all her abrupt decisions, on her rubbing his face for curiosity, or prodding his scars to see if they hurt. Ravenclaws were supposed to think and know things, but it was like her brain thought in a totally different way that most people. Even Cornelius didn't always follow her.

Maybe they needed to hold hands again? So she could lead this time and he'd follow? At least, hypothetically speaking? Well.... she'd think about it. This time, she'd THINK about it before DOING it.

She gave a quick and agreeable nod: the boy wanted out-of-Hogwarts Aspen information. Got it. "I live with my dad and little brother when I'm not here. He was a cursebreaker at Gringott's up until very, very recently and now I'm not real sure what he's doing." He'd owled, but Aspen hadn't been able to squeeze all the answers she wanted out of the note. "My little brother starts school next year... I worry about him." Incessantly. "I worry about Dad, too." Aspen worried about everyone all the time, always.

Instead of holding Cornelius's hand, she decided to pick it up and look at it. She took his closest one with both of hers and lifted it to her eyes. She looked at his nails, then each of his fingerprints. "I like goblins. Dad speaks gobbledygook, so I'm trying to learn it, too."

He stayed quiet the entire time. Not that it was more than ten minutes. Aria rushed through the whole thing so fast it took him a minute to process the whole thing. Once he had, though, he simply stood there and looked at her...and breathed, and inhaled, and exhaled. He could only imagine what must be going through her head, how hard it probably was for her to utter those words. After a whole five minutes, Hunter shrugged, stood up straighter, and said, "Alright, darling. If that's really what you want." Seemed easy enough. "Just as long as you don't make me starve while I'm there with you. I'll be missing family time." He loved his cousins, without a doubt, but he could do without being with his parents this time around.

His stomach growled rather loud this time and his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. He hated his stomach right now. "Shall we go up to the Great Hall, get some food, and try to figure out how we're going to act like we're going out without biting each other's head off?" As long as food was involved he didn't care where he went.

"Wait. You're agreeing to this? Well that was easy." She grinned and went to hug Hunter. But then she remember that this was Hunter and Aria did not hug Hunter. "Thank you. And yes I promise you won't starve! Oh hey maybe Mikey will stop by. Did you know his grandmother lives next door to mine?" Maybe she should be nice To Hunter from now on. Or at least a bit less...mean. "Yes yes let's go! I'm starving!"

Louisa gave him a confused look sideways. The usual? "Well, you didn't have to add the slave labor part. It threw off your genius work." Half-sarcasm. "What was this 'the usual' for, though?" Not that Louisa minded his submission about her work being always better, but it wasn't as if they were competing, was it?

Scoffing as loud as she could, the fifteen years old gazed up ahead as she answered, "She doesn't like me. I know she likes something thoughtful. I had an interview with her last term and got to know her better. That's it." As for Roslund being scared of Hadley.. that was ridiculous. Louisa rolled her eyes, "I bet all this detention thing was a cover for their romance in the library." Courtesy of Kurumi for pointing that out.

What was so bad about the slave labor part? It wasn't SERIOUS, but they did make them clean a grimy wall, so it seemed suitable enough. Plus, it started with 'S.' "And what would you suggest I had put in its place?" Instead of 'slave labor,' that is. He did, however, flash a smile and lift his eyebrows at that last bit. "Genius, huh?" He liked the sound of that! When she called him out on 'the usual,' he pushed his lips to the side and shrugged. The usual not being up to par, of course. .."I donno what I meant by that."

Yeah, he supposed that was true. Hadley may not have been totally fond of Louisa, but she sure sang her praises about her poster. Brilliant, it was. "What did you interview her for?" Maybe the school paper. Was Louisa involved in that? But wait... she had picked up on Hadley and Roslund's brewing romance as well?! "I knew it! I totally thought that too. They've definitely got something going on. Did you see them doing anything else..?" A kiss, maybe? Then Paulie could TOTALLY call out Hadley for being so hypocritical. Heck, a hand-holding sesh would do, even.

She shrugged one shoulder, "I don't know. Something less... blatant? It's not that big of a deal, though. Just a poster." And they had her poster to hang at the bookshelves so mission was accomplished. He didn't know what he meant by that? Well. Surprise. Heh. Louisa glanced at him as he answered that and decided that it was true. Not that she was a good liars detective like her boyfriend but the idea of Paulie saying something he without giving it much thought, didn't surprise her. "If you say so."

"For the yearbook," she said proudly. She'd been a writer there for two terms now. Fixing her shoulder bag again, she glared at a couple of ickle students wrinkling their noses at them. They smelled awful, SO WHAT? Hmph.

Paulie seemed to be quite enthusiastic about this whole Hadley/Roslun romance that she'd practically invented. Hehe. Louisa smirked, "Well. I was too busy retorting to you but what possibly would two professors be doing secretly between the bookshelves so quietly?" Her smirk turned to a big grin, "We didn't hear them walking up to us, did we? I bet we disturbed them." She faked an innocent look and averted her gaze away from him.

They could at least make the professors suffer the same punishment?

"Well, I'm blatant. If she wanted something that suited her personality, she should have made it herself." HMMPH. Paulie shoved his hands in his jeans pockets as they kept walking. Fortunately she just let that other part go, and so he moved on to their next topic without comment.

"Aah, the yearbook, huh?" He asked, giving his characteristic raise of the eyebrows. "Can't say I'm surprised, though. Total overachiever." He followed Louisa's glare over to the students who seemed to be wrinkling their noses at the smell emanating from the two of them. PFFFT. Could they be any more obvious? "Oi! You want a whiff of this, mates?!" Paulie called to them before they scurried off - either because of his threat, OR because of their stench. It was lucky that they looked to be around their second year because if they were older, they might not have taken so well to being yelled at. He laughed and strutted forward in his gawky gait. "This odor is bad, though. I think I might have to throw my shirt at Adam before I go in the shower.. just for a laugh." heheh. Poor bloke! Paulie really was fortunate that Adam was such a laid-back dude.

The boy's smirk grew when he noticed Louisa's expression mirroring his own. "How true," Paulie noted, thoroughly enjoying their gossip discussion. Perhaps a bit too much. "Well, seeing as they so kindly gave the whole school the false impression that we were caught in liplock, I think it's only fair that we submit the fine tale of their romance to the Aparecium."

Were all students in Hogwarts so stubborn? Louisa started to believe so. She didn't reply to this and just rolled her eyes. Being blatant wasn't something to admit so casually. Heh. His 'overachiever' comment, though, made her proud smile turn to a nervous one. Maybe it was the fact that nobody had called her that, maybe it was the zero attention she got from her family even when she was pretty good at school... or maybe the satisfaction of being noticed blossomed for a second within her. "Thanks...?" He could be sarcastic about it. Which if he was, she was going to try this new hex she read about recently.

The way he reacted to the glaring students, though, made her giggle. It was really funny how they literally ran away from him. Trying to contain her laugh, the fifteen years old spoke, "You're not that bad sometimes." As in now, when she wasn't the target of his teasing. Not many people made her laugh, it was only Dallin and Adam who managed to do that. So.. kudos to him.

"Poor guy. I bet he gets a lot of those antics from his best mate," she gave him a playful shifty look. "I won't be able to get into the girls dormitories before shower, though." Nope. She didn't want to hear any screeching at this hour.

Oooooh. Louisa's smirk returned at that suggestion of Aparecium. She didn't think of going that far with the gossip but.. oh well. It was his idea. "I think it's only fair that way, yeah." Hopefully her snicker was inaudible. "I do know that Roslund is into flirting anyways. Students talked about him being with Schirmer in the Express trip to Hogwarts." This was very true. She wasn't making this one up. "Someone told me that they were pretty close in the compartment." What with Althea playing healer? She healed his head, Louisa's source said.

Yes indeed, Louisa the overachiever. Better overachieving than underachieving, though, right? And Paulie was certainly an underachiever. This really didn't phase him, though. Schoolwork was just never his thing. "So, like, what do you do for the yearbook, then?" 'Cause there was a LOT that went in those things. "Interview teachers and.. write articles, I guess?"

He grinned when he saw that he had managed to get a laugh out of Louisa as well. Might as well make light of their stinkiness, he had supposed. And his grin smoothed into more of a pleased smile when she actually admitted that he wasn't so bad. "Yeah, well. I guess you're not so bad yourself, Helen." Now only if she'd dump that loser Brazil Nut!

True, true. Adam did have to put up with a lot with Paulie. "He certainly does. Gotta say - I'm lucky to have a best mate who's as grounded as Adam!" One of the reasons why the guy would make a good Auror. He nodded to her comment about the showers. "Right, can't let the other girls know you were stuck in the foul depths of the dungeons." That'd totally mark up her rep.

"It's settled, then! We'll submit it to the Aparecium." Payback's a witch, isn't it? Heh heh. Unless their theories really were true, and.. who knew, they definitely COULD be. Paulie wasn't ruling it out. He lifted a single eyebrow as Louisa dished some more dirt on Roslund. "Oh yeah? Well, we can keep that in mind if we ever need to make Hadley jealous." Or.. something like that. It was certainly a tool for their toolbox.

Cornelius listened to Aspen's words with interest growing in his light brown eyes, slowly realizing that he really didn't know too much about the girl who was currently examining his hand. He gave a brief smile at this hand examining, not really sure what she was looking for, or if she was even looking for something in the first place. It seemed more like Aspen was just looking at his hand to look at it.

"They sound nice," he noted softly, not really wanting to interrupt her but also not wanting her to think that he was ignoring her or something of the sort.

He evaluated her for a moment, allowing his eyes to scan over her expression for a moment before he asked the question he had been thinking of since she mentioned it. "You worry a lot about them?" he repeated softly, somehow able to see it in Aspen's face.

"They're the nicest," Aspen affirmed. She put his hand down and motioned for him to give her his other. She needed to see BOTH, see?

Cornelius's LOOKING at her had at first startled Aspen. Right from the start, she'd nearly fallen out of her chair from being so distracting by his potent viewing abilities. It still unnerved her, because like him, she had no idea what he was looking for (if he was even looking for anything). But now she kind of... well, she kind of didn't want him to stop.

Ah... that. Aspen brushed a hair out of her face before trying an answer, "I just like to know they're okay." Pause. "All the time. They don't make it easy for me and I think Dad might have sent me here specifically so I wouldn't worry so much." It worked in some ways and escalated her worrying issues in other ways.

Cornelius listened as Aspen explained that she just liked to know that they were okay, something that he understood. He sometimes worried about his family too when he was away at school. These first weeks especially, it was difficult to be apart right after the move and all. But it seemed like Aspen worried often, something he gathered as she mentioned that she worried all the time, that her family didn't make it easy for her and she thought her dad sent her to Hogwarts specifically so she wouldn't worry as much.

His eyebrows rose. The number one thing he gathered from this conversation?

"You could use more Cornelius in your Hogwarts experience," he decided seriously with a nod, placing his other hand in both of hers as she gestured for it. Normally, he wouldn't have said something like this. It sounded rather ridiculous. And, more hilariously, like a horrible pick up line. But he only said it this way because just days before he had mentioned that he liked having more Aspen in his Hogwarts experience. And now, he was finding out that Aspen could use more of him in her life as well.

Cornelius grinned. "It sounds to me like you've been worrying more than having fun," he decided, leaning towards her just slightly with an amused smile still happily on his expression. But as he listened to her tell him about her worrying, all he wanted to do was take her out for some kind of fun! "I can be very helpful in the area of fun," Cornelius confided in her with mock secrecy, his hand still settled with both of hers.

Nodding her head at his guess, she confirmed, "Yeah. Write articles mostly and sometimes I can get permission to interview staffers. It depends really on certain things." They had a boss, you know. It was one of the things she loved to do, writing and expressing her opinion subtly somewhere along the article.

Helen. Her smile faltered at this and she looked at him sideways neutrally, "You should drop that nickname, though. It doesn't fit anymore." Nobody was 'fighting over her' as he supposed. Adam had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend. Even for a Gryffindork, it was easy to process.

Not let the other girls know? Louisa scoffed. "I'm pretty sure they already know. My best friend is the Head Girl and she's definitely preparing a speech about not causing our house any more scandal or something." Vashti wasn't that obnoxious perhaps but playing the big sister to Louisa was not the wisest thing anybody should do.

"It is. We should be careful not to include our names." The Aparecium never included names, of course, but what if the professors mentioned were mad and used some 'sources' to pry the gossipers out? Paulie and herself would spend the rest of term wiping slime off walls, floors, and ceilings.

"Well, you should totally interview me," Paulie chided, matter-of-factly. It was cool, though, that she was into this yearbook stuff. Now he had TWO connections to the yearbook, 'cause Taryn was a photographer and now Louisa was a writer!

He lifted his chin a little and smirked when she claimed that her nickname no longer fit her. "Oh, I beg to differ." Heh heh. But she needed not to follow up on that at the moment, did she?

Her best friend was the Head Girl? Yeah, Louisa TOTALLY wanted a prefect position. Friends in high places and all that. Paulie would consider himself a high friend, too, though not exactly in the same way as Vashti. "House scandal?" He laughed. "What is this a soap opera?"

He nodded when she mentioned that they best not mention their names. "Yeah," he agreed. "Although I think I've got to subtly hint to them that it was me at some point. Just for the satisfaction." Of course, he would say nothing about Louisa because she seemed to want total anonymity.

They pair soon came upon the point where they'd have to split paths. "Well, Helen of Hogwarts.." He gave a salute. "I'll see ya around."

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius listened as Aspen explained that she just liked to know that they were okay, something that he understood. He sometimes worried about his family too when he was away at school. These first weeks especially, it was difficult to be apart right after the move and all. But it seemed like Aspen worried often, something he gathered as she mentioned that she worried all the time, that her family didn't make it easy for her and she thought her dad sent her to Hogwarts specifically so she wouldn't worry as much.

His eyebrows rose. The number one thing he gathered from this conversation?

"You could use more Cornelius in your Hogwarts experience," he decided seriously with a nod, placing his other hand in both of hers as she gestured for it. Normally, he wouldn't have said something like this. It sounded rather ridiculous. And, more hilariously, like a horrible pick up line. But he only said it this way because just days before he had mentioned that he liked having more Aspen in his Hogwarts experience. And now, he was finding out that Aspen could use more of him in her life as well.

Cornelius grinned. "It sounds to me like you've been worrying more than having fun," he decided, leaning towards her just slightly with an amused smile still happily on his expression. But as he listened to her tell him about her worrying, all he wanted to do was take her out for some kind of fun! "I can be very helpful in the area of fun," Cornelius confided in her with mock secrecy, his hand still settled with both of hers.

Aspen actually laughed at Cornelius's decision and nodded right along. "The thing about having more Cornelius in my Hogwarts experience is that lines right up with our plan to add more Aspen to your Hogwarts experience." She leaned right in too when he did, like she was already realigning herself to give as much as he did, for every Cornelius there would be an Aspen, for every Aspen - a Cornelius. He leaned, she'd lean, too.

Her grin dimmed a little when he spoke a bit of truth, about her worrying more than having fun, but still nodded along. That would make her dad happy, too. So win, win.

"And I can be....," Aspen thought, scrunched up her face trying to come up with something. If Cornelius was going to add fun, what would Aspen add?

???

".... I can... help you learn Hogwarts?" It didn't sound very good and she clearly wasn't happy with her answer and the fact that she struggled to match his fun. Aspen lowered her eyes back to the new hand she hadn't had a chance to inspect, looking for a better answer on his fingertips.

Cornelius's smile widened as Aspen leaned in just like he had done, seeming to mirror his actions as she agreed that she needed more Cornelius in her Hogwarts experience, like he needed more Aspen. He watched, amusement in his expression that was only a few inches from her own, as she tried to think of something she could help him with, finally deciding that helping with Hogwarts was what she could bring to the table.

"Yeah, help me learn Hogwarts," he agreed, seeming to be much more approving of this idea than Aspen herself was. He watched as she allowed her gaze to fall to to his hand, seeming to examine it just like she had done with his other one. "...and you'll bring the bat, and the Aspen-ness," he added to the list. Cornelius grinned at her once more.

He thought for a moment, examining her expression with slight curiosity in his gaze, "Maybe we should...test this new...Aspen-Cornelius experience..." Cornelius suggested, eyebrows raising just slightly.

"Like...a study.." he almost followed that with 'date', but quickly switched words. "...engagement."

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius's smile widened as Aspen leaned in just like he had done, seeming to mirror his actions as she agreed that she needed more Cornelius in her Hogwarts experience, like he needed more Aspen. He watched, amusement in his expression that was only a few inches from her own, as she tried to think of something she could help him with, finally deciding that helping with Hogwarts was what she could bring to the table.

"Yeah, help me learn Hogwarts," he agreed, seeming to be much more approving of this idea than Aspen herself was. He watched as she allowed her gaze to fall to to his hand, seeming to examine it just like she had done with his other one. "...and you'll bring the bat, and the Aspen-ness," he added to the list. Cornelius grinned at her once more.

He thought for a moment, examining her expression with slight curiosity in his gaze, "Maybe we should...test this new...Aspen-Cornelius experience..." Cornelius suggested, eyebrows raising just slightly.

"Like...a study.." he almost followed that with 'date', but quickly switched words. "...engagement."

Aspen brushed that one strand of hair that kept falling back off her face once more, before flickering a glance from his fingertips to him. He was smiling again, and once more wearing that look that made Aspen feel like a puzzle piece. Not a corner puzzle piece, but the weird one for the middle that was impossible to place. That was her. That was how Cornelius looked at her.

Maybe he liked puzzles, too.

"Okay," she agreed without hesitation. "A study engagement to test Aspen-Cornelius experiences. Our goals being to have more fun, worry less, and acclimate you to your new environment." Nod. Very clear and decisive goals - she'd write them down later! And get them a new notebook JUST for their experiments.

But also.... "I've never had a friend like you." She dropped her gaze back to his fingerprint and studied intently. Her eyes traveled a dashed line all the way to his palm, where Aspen pulled his hand her way to follow his palm lines. Hmmmm.

Cornelius grinned once more as Aspen agreed to a study engagement, re-listing their goals in a very clear, decisive manner. He was just gonna show up and have a good time, but okay, a list of goals worked too. "Good. A study engagement." He allowed himself to keep his eyes on her for a moment longer, watching as a strand of her hair once more fell away from her expression and attempted to cover up her eyes.

Without thinking about it too much, he reached forward and used his free hand to place it back with the rest, his smile widening once more. He returned his hand to his side, his other still being held by Aspen herself, and listened as she very suddenly mentioned that she'd never had a friend like him.

He smiled.

But he didn't know what to say. Maybe that was because...they were holding hands and planning study dates engagements? Because he was really starting to like her and potentially wanted to take her on a real date if she wanted to? He kind of hoped she didn't have any other guy friends that held her hand or anything... His brows furrowed at the thought.

"So...does that mean you don't have any other...guy friends that..." he tried to think of a way to ask without it sounding obvious that he was asking if any other guys were interested in her at the moment. "...you have study engagements with?" He wouldn't have been surprised if other guys liked Aspen too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius grinned once more as Aspen agreed to a study engagement, re-listing their goals in a very clear, decisive manner. He was just gonna show up and have a good time, but okay, a list of goals worked too. "Good. A study engagement." He allowed himself to keep his eyes on her for a moment longer, watching as a strand of her hair once more fell away from her expression and attempted to cover up her eyes.

Without thinking about it too much, he reached forward and used his free hand to place it back with the rest, his smile widening once more. He returned his hand to his side, his other still being held by Aspen herself, and listened as she very suddenly mentioned that she'd never had a friend like him.

He smiled.

But he didn't know what to say. Maybe that was because...they were holding hands and planning study dates engagements? Because he was really starting to like her and potentially wanted to take her on a real date if she wanted to? He kind of hoped she didn't have any other guy friends that held her hand or anything... His brows furrowed at the thought.

"So...does that mean you don't have any other...guy friends that..." he tried to think of a way to ask without it sounding obvious that he was asking if any other guys were interested in her at the moment. "...you have study engagements with?" He wouldn't have been surprised if other guys liked Aspen too.

Aspen looked up abruptly when he tucked her hair back. She wasn't bothered by it, but... See? That. That was new. Why did he do that? No one else did that. And how was her hair connected to her tummy? Her tummy gave a FLIP. Hmm. Aspen-Cornelius experiences were interesting.

"Guy friends...?" Aspen kind of laughed. He was... what he was really asking? He seemed to be editing himself. "There are a few people I study with," guys, girls, Hufflepuffs, people. She hadn't ever thought of her friends as "guy friends" though. They were classmates more than actual friends. Cornelius DID remember that she was weird, right? Did he have short term memory loss?

"That's not what I mean," she decided. "I mean I've never had a friend like you. You're sitting on the floor of the dungeons with me, making study engagements and curbing my worry. You're different." She paused and passed his hand back to him, seemingly finished with studying his lines, "We are friends, right?"

Alex wasn't exactly sure HOW he was going to get this present to Sierra...after all, he couldn't go into the Slytherin common room, and he really didn't have time to wait around for a Slytherin to walk by and deliver it for him. The pile of homework awaiting him in his dorm was WAY too large at the moment for that. His best bet was just going to have to be setting it down near the door and hoping someone brought it in to her.

He placed the box next to the entrance of the Slytherin common room and adjusted the big red bow he'd tied on top of it. He smiled and wondered what her reaction would be when she opened the present to see his completed Transfiguration homework, and she saw what picture he'd decided to use of the two of them for the assignment.

He pulled a small piece of parchment out of his pocket and quickly scribbled a note on it before sticking the parchment magically to the package.

Quote:

To: Sierra
From: Your Brother

Dear Slytherin house: Please be sure that this package makes it to Sierra Greingoth, 4th year Slytherin. Thanks!

Once he made sure the package was out of the walkway and therefore not in danger of being smashed, he smiled and then turned on his heel and headed back to his dorm.

Cornelius listened as she explained that she studied with a lot of people, and he quickly realized that Aspen didn't quite interpret his question in the way he meant it, but then again...he himself didn't quite know what he meant. What did he want to know? He was just...was curious to see if.. Aspen had any other potential...potential...what? What did he want to know? His brows furrowed.

...was he trying to ask her if she had any other potential...boyfriends? His eyes widened at the thought. He wasn't a potential boyfriend, why was he wondering out loud if she had any 'study engagements' a.k.a. dates?! She surely didn't look at him as a potential...that a.k.a. boyfriend...and he didn't want to be that!

...Wait. That was a lie. That was a huge lie. Very suddenly Cornelius realized that he sort of did want to maybe kind of possibly, be that a possible boyfriend-ish person in her life maybe...never...what?...for Aspen. Maybe. Sometime. Later. Soon. Not soon. He didn't know! This girl was making him question things he never had to question before. With other girls, he knew immediately if he wanted to date them. And that same thing was true with Aspen. He knew that he wanted to potentially date her. But with Aspen... He couldn't pin point it, but she just... She made him second guess things, she made him a little nervous. Most of the time, he could tell if a girl liked him in return, and wanted to date him as well. With Aspen, she kept him guessing. For the first time, Cornelius Rune was unsure about a girl.

Could this be any freakier?!

Realizing all of this within a few seconds, Cornelius returned his gaze to Aspen, his light brown eyes still widened in slight alarm. He listened as she explained further what she had meant, that he was unusual because they were sitting on a dungeon floor, making study engagements, and...curbing her worry. With these words, Cornelius smiled for the first time in the past minute of his confused-ness, his gaze lightening up with her words.

He watched as she returned his hand, though his eyes immediately returned to her own as she asked if they were friends. "Yeah," he agreed, his smile widening. "Yeah, Aspen, we're friends." With that, he decided not to over analyze things. They were friends. He was happy being Aspen's friend. But he couldn't quite deny that Aspen was excitingly unknown territory to him, and that he liked her. Well, maybe he could deny that one for a while.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius listened as she explained that she studied with a lot of people, and he quickly realized that Aspen didn't quite interpret his question in the way he meant it, but then again...he himself didn't quite know what he meant. What did he want to know? He was just...was curious to see if.. Aspen had any other potential...potential...what? What did he want to know? His brows furrowed.

...was he trying to ask her if she had any other potential...boyfriends? His eyes widened at the thought. He wasn't a potential boyfriend, why was he wondering out loud if she had any 'study engagements' a.k.a. dates?! She surely didn't look at him as a potential...that a.k.a. boyfriend...and he didn't want to be that!

...Wait. That was a lie. That was a huge lie. Very suddenly Cornelius realized that he sort of did want to maybe kind of possibly, be that a possible boyfriend-ish person in her life maybe...never...what?...for Aspen. Maybe. Sometime. Later. Soon. Not soon. He didn't know! This girl was making him question things he never had to question before. With other girls, he knew immediately if he wanted to date them. And that same thing was true with Aspen. He knew that he wanted to potentially date her. But with Aspen... He couldn't pin point it, but she just... She made him second guess things, she made him a little nervous. Most of the time, he could tell if a girl liked him in return, and wanted to date him as well. With Aspen, she kept him guessing. For the first time, Cornelius Rune was unsure about a girl.

Could this be any freakier?!

Realizing all of this within a few seconds, Cornelius returned his gaze to Aspen, his light brown eyes still widened in slight alarm. He listened as she explained further what she had meant, that he was unusual because they were sitting on a dungeon floor, making study engagements, and...curbing her worry. With these words, Cornelius smiled for the first time in the past minute of his confused-ness, his gaze lightening up with her words.

He watched as she returned his hand, though his eyes immediately returned to her own as she asked if they were friends. "Yeah," he agreed, his smile widening. "Yeah, Aspen, we're friends." With that, he decided not to over analyze things. They were friends. He was happy being Aspen's friend. But he couldn't quite deny that Aspen was excitingly unknown territory to him, and that he liked her. Well, maybe he could deny that one for a while.

Aspen rearranged herself so she was sitting more comfortably, legs folded. She scooted around to sit RIGHT in front of Cornelius, so they were knee to knee or close to it. He was thinking and she watched with unbridled interest and curiosity.

"You know how... like... dogs can hear things we can't? Like really high pitched whistles?" Aspen paused and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. It was sort of her pre-move - the thing she did before she said something that was probably going to get the raised eyebrow reaction. "You think really loud. I'm sure most people can't hear it, but it's roaring in my ears." Aspen raised her hand with her index finger pointed out, then she flew it around his head. It was how they used to get her little brother to eat? Spoon!Broom flying around his head, to make a landing in his mouth. Aspen didn't try to put her finger in Cornelius's mouth, no that was weird even to her - but she DID land her fingertip to the MIDDLE of his forehead. Bop.

She lowered her voice and whispered, "You think loudly."

She didn't ask what he was thinking because it didn't matter. The important part, in her opinion, was that she could hear him loud and clear and IF he wanted to share his thoughts, she'd hear that too. Aspen Odessa was also a loud thinker if one was inclined, or adept enough, to hear it and she didn't like or need everyone asking her all the time what she was thinking. She pulled her finger back from his forehead, a little embarrassed that once again she was touching his face, and clasped her hands in her lap.

Cornelius refocused his attention to Aspen as she spoke to him, mentioning the way dogs could hear things people couldn't, and that his thinking was roaring in her ears, though she was sure most others couldn't hear it. He watched her for a moment, soaking in the information, but before he could really speak, he found her finger placed on his forehead. His light brown eyes glanced up to his own forehead before returning to Aspen's own gaze, and in the next moment his expression had broken into a warm smile.

"You can hear that I'm thinking?" he repeated with amusement in his expression. That seemed to be what she was saying. She couldn't necessarily hear his thoughts, she sounded like she was just saying that she could hear...that he was thinking.

Cornelius thought for a moment, scanning over her expression as she removed her finger from his forehead, returning her hands to her lap as though sheepish of her own actions. She seemed honestly curious to know what he was thinking about, but at the same time managed to seem as though she wasn't pressuring him to speak. In the moment, he felt like he could talk to her if he chose, or remain quiet, and she wouldn't push him one way or the other. It was a surprisingly nice choice to have.

Gently, he took one of her hands in both of his own and pulled just slightly at her finger, so she was pointing as she had been just moments before. An amused smile still playing on his lips, he touched her fingertip back to his forehead as she had done before, and returned his gaze to her own. As though her finger being on his head was the only way she could truly hear what he was thinking, Cornelius spoke just a second later, his hand still holding hers up.

"You confuse me, Aspen Odessa," he admitted softly, his gaze stuck to her own. It was obvious that his words weren't meant in a bad way, as a soft smile still played on his mouth, but he was being completely honest with her. He had no idea how to proceed with Aspen, she threw any smooth instincts he may have had straight out the window with her bat snacks the day he met her.