Escaping the Cold

[Alexis Hartley]

Lexi rubbed her arms pulling her jacket closer to her, trying to warm herself. It was cold outside, and she obviously hadn’t worn enough layers for the weather. She wore simple muggle clothes, which she preferred over robes. So, when she was outside of the castle or not having classes she usually wore muggle clothes. Today she wore a pair of jeans with a light pink sweater and her jacket.

She instantly felt a bit warmer when she walked into the Three Broomsticks because the harsh wind was unable to reach her in here.

Her eyes instantly began scanning the room, hoping to find at least one person she was friends with here. The friends she had arrived with had all run off to the shrieking shack, hoping to be able to hear the screams. Lexi, had no interest in seeing it at the moment, and just wanted to get out of the cold, so she told her friends she would catch up with them later.

There were a few people she had seen at school, but no one that she was really friends with. Lexi headed over to the counter ordering herself a butterbeer. She sat down at one of the stools as she waited for her drink, resting her elbows on the countertop in front of her.

[Nemesis Nyx]

"Ugh!" the cry from the corner had startled many of the people sitting near the table it had come from. Most of them had even forgotten she had been sitting there, mostly because she was quiet, but also partially because they hadn't even noticed she was there to begin with. "I...hate...potions." It had been quite possibly the fifteenth scrap of parchment Nemesis had scribbled out and crumpled up into a ball. The other fourteen or so lay on the table in front of her, next to her forgotten vanilla-flavoured drink, the cherry that had come with it floating somewhere near the top.

She had been sitting there for at least an hour trying to write the essay on the Wolfsbane Potion for her Potions class. She was actually considerably good with Potions, hence taking the advanced class even though it was unnecessary for her career path--though she was still uncertain she was going to follow through with that; she still had doubts she was going to live past twenty--but now, she was just having the worst time. She also usually wrote rather well, but still... There had been a lot of things on her mind lately, so it was no wonder she was having a bit of trouble. Usually she could shrug things off easily, but she had been unable to focus on much of anything.

Like Lexi, she often wore Muggle clothing when she wasn't in class. Unsurprisingly, as usual, her outfit was mostly black: a pair of tight-fitting black jeans and a tank top. Her long trench coat lay discarded on the seat next to her with her school-issue scarf. And, as usual, her hair was pulled up into a ponytail high on her head.

She lifted her eyes, hearing the door open and looked toward the counter, where Lexi stood. She watched with some interest for awhile, before turning to the new piece of parchment in front of her, trying to write her paper.

[Alexis Hartley]

The lady behind the counter handed Lexi her butterbeer. Lexi quickly took a sip of it, letting the warmth overcome her.

Turning around she scanned the room once again, trying to find someone she could talk to. Lexi wasn't the type of person that liked being alone. She would rather be talking to someone, anyone.

Nearly everyone in the room seemed to be adults, and she only noticed a couple other students from Hogwarts. There was a table full of Ravenclaws, who were a year below her. She had seen them around before, but never really talked to them. However, talking to them seemed out of the question because they were in a group of five people, which seemed rather intimidating.

She noticed a couple first year Gryffindors, but really didn't feel like spending any time with them. Then, she noticed a slytherin, who she believed was named Nemesis. Her and Nemesis didn't really know each other. Lexi didn't remember ever really talking to her, just seeing her around school occasionally.

Thinking about it for a second, Lexi decided to go talk to the girl. All slytherins couldn't be bad, right? Lexi tended to look for the positive in people, so that's what she was going to do right now.

Stepping down from the stool she headed over toward Nemesis' table, her butterbeer in her hand. Avoiding a few pieces of crumpled paper which had ended up on the floor, she slid into the booth, feeling a bit awkward the entire time, but she was going to try to be friendly. "Um... hi." She said with a small smile, her eyes showing how strange she felt coming to sit by this girl. "I just saw you by yourself, so I thought I could come say hi. You go to Hogwarts don't you?"

[Nemesis Nyx]

Once again looking up from her essay, Nemesis looked at Lexi. At first, she wore a mixed expression, but it quickly changed to a more neutral one, dare-she-say-it, even a bit pleasant. It took a fair bit of bravery to approach her like this, especially uninvited.

She felt a twitch at the spot where her lips met, and almost smiled, but not quite. Lexi looked nervous, but Nemesis didn't blame her. She probably looked a little frightening anyway, dark makeup, dark clothing, and a lovely shade of china-white. "Unfortunately, yes," she answered in a sarcastic, but light tone, "I do spend more than half of my day slaving away at good old Hogwarts."

She paused and bit her lip, looking down at the parchment before her. One word was scrawled, WOLFSBANE, and it seemed to be mocking her with its strangely flourished W. She wrote out the rest of the title, muttered something to herself, and wrote a sentence. Then, she looked back up at Lexi. "Sorry. A bit of Potions homework I forgot to do," she said sheepishly. "Mad cold out there, isn't it?"

[Alexis Hartley]

Lexi relaxed a bit when she realized that Nemesis wasn't going to snap at her and tell her to leave. Maybe the Slytherin stereotype wasn't completely true after all. People were still people, despite the house they were in. However, if it were a person like Narcissa, then Lexi would have felt much to intimidated to go over and talk.

She took another sip of her drink before saying, "Aw, it's not that bad. I actually tend to like Hogwarts." She said with a cheerful smile, feeling more comfortable now that Nemesis seemed to be trying to keep a conversation going. "Of course, not the homework." She said glancing at the many papers.

"Hm, I would help you with that, but truth is I'm not too great at potions." She said. "But, if you ever need help with something like charms, then feel free to ask." She thought about it for a second, and then added, "Oh, and don't ask me anything about flying. Terrified of heights." She pointed to herself with a slight laugh.

At the comment Lexi pulled her jacket, which she hadn't taken off yet, closer to her. "It's freezing! I couldn't stand it, so I had to come in here. Though, I suppose that could be because I failed to dress for the weather."

[Nemesis Nyx]

"Oh, according to Slughorn, I'm," she changed her voice, making it sound deep and nasally, close to the Potions master's voice, "'exceptionally sufficient in the art of potion-making,'" here, her voice resumed its normal tone, "but I've been a bit distracted lately... to say the least." She shrugged.

"As for the flying thing, don't worry about it," Nemesis smiled a little. "I'm good with flying. I've been playing Quidditch since I could ride a broom." Then, she paused. "There are a lot of things I won't do... I can swim, but I'm terrified of water. So I don't. I usually don't even go near the lake if I can help it."

She watched Lexi as she pulled her jacket closer. "I usually don't either, but I've gotten used to it by now... I don't generally care about the weather as long as I'm not in it for awhile." She played with her forgotten drink and took a sip, amazed that it was still cold. "Which might explain why I, the idiot I am, ordered a cold drink while everyone else has a warm one." She grinned.

"Hogwarts isn't... too bad. It's just the people, mainly. I guess it's a fair bit easier when you're not me... as Sirius puts it, I'm not hated, I'm just misunderstood. Which I guess he's right about... but he could be a little biased." She smiled. "I'm glad I have him, though. And I hope I have a friend in you, at least. You haven't done anything to piss me off, and I don't expect you to either."