From Great Heights (Corey)

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After a nice stroll around Hogwarts to kick-start her weekend, Sumire figured a nice way to enjoy the rest of it would be to curl up and watch the snow from a higher ground with some tea or hot chocolate. Now, Sumire was no great manipulator; she was a Hufflepuff with integrity after all. However, it was undeniable that being nice had it’s perks. Sometimes knitting socks and clothing a few House Elves in exchange for some loyalty only helped ease her Hogwarts life. As she made her way down to the kitchens to ask Marma for a hot chocolate with marshmallows she pulled her hair out of the ponytail and ripped the headband off, asking Marma to place them in her dorm. Marma agreed to do so with a nod and POOF.

Once she had her hot chocolate mug warming her hands, she made the slow and peaceful trek up to the Astronomy Tower. The winter air swirled her chestnut hair through open windows, giving her face a reddish tint from the frost that churned the Scottish air. She absolutely loved it. The air gave her a renewed feeling; she felt refreshed as she roamed the halls. She hummed a nice Christmas time song, something from A Christmas Carol, as she seated herself on a ledge. With her wand still tucked behind her ear she took a warming sip of her hot chocolate and let the wind tousle her hair in a tender, loving way, and enjoyed the view of the perfect, innocent white snow fall in sheets to the ground.

All too soon she heard the sound of footfall, which caused her to look over her shoulder with worry in her eyes.

“Hello?” She called out, biting her lower lip, “is anyone there?” She asked gently. She could duel if she had to but she truly did not want to ever volunteer to put herself in that position.

Guest

Once again, Corey was working his way up to the Astronomy Tower. He had gotten into a verbal argument with one of his (now-ex) friends over a joke he had made. Core did not associate himself with people who had no humour, and so, Keith was no longer his friend. In all honesty, Corey was not upset over this loss; friends came and go, and besides, someone who could not appreciate a joke was not someone he wanted to hang out with anyway.

Smirking to himself as he replayed the scene from earlier, Corey shook his head in amusement. Some people are just too touchy, he mused, pushing the door open. While the snow was still falling, he could make out the faintest traces of footprints heading out - but not in. Someone else was here.

Stepping forward, he made himself known with the crunch his steps made in the white powder, and the smirk only grew as he heard a voice calling out. Not saying anything just yet, Corey instead moved towards the direction of the sound, seeing a flash of black hair covered in tiny flakes. He held in a sigh. Younger years always seemed to be crashing his party - or at least, he assumed she was a younger year, since he had not seen her in any of his classes before.

But as his eyes travelled down to her face, the smirk turned to a genuine smile. The witch before him was gorgeous - very, very much so. "I believe so," he finally replied, glancing down at himself. "I'm pretty sure I count as someone."

Without stopping, he moved towards a space beside the witch, sitting himself next to her. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, although it was normally something that should have been asked before he had sat down.

Guest

Sumire felt at a loss for words. She hadn’t mingled much with others, instead keeping the letter consistency between her and Felix up as well as with others back in New York was such a big deal she’d forgotten how important it was to exist with the others at Hogwarts. Sure she had the occasional student that she conversed with in the hallways or during classes for help on assignment, but never was it something more than a casual hi or bye through the hall way or a quick explanation on how to cast a charm. She almost pouted at the idea that she wasn’t giving off a friendly enough vibe.

It probably wasn’t that, Felix had written when she explained it, it was probably that she was off in her own world too much. He admitted that sometimes when she got lost in her ‘planning zone’ and got this glazed look in her eyes even he got intimidated to talk to her. He was afraid he was taking her away from someone important. To that she argued he was saying the same thing she originally pointed out: she just didn’t give off a friendly enough vibe. He drew her an unsure emoji that had her frustrated enough to not reply for a two whole days. Then he sent her tickets in advance to an ice-skating show in California for when she returned over the holidays provided by her father and she forgave him immediately.

Felix was 15, but he was very much involved in Sumire. That much was obvious as he consistently wrote her, and when they were together loved sneaking hugs and curling himself around her. Not to mention it wasn’t too bad that Felix was rather attractive in a rugged sort of way. However that was neither here nor there.

What was here was a boy; a rather attractive one at that who walked with a smirk on his face.

Make a friend! Her mind shouted at her, so she smiled back warmly at him.

“It would appear you do count as a someone,” she replied, “although not someone I’m acquainted with. I’m Sumire.” She informed him a nod keeping her smile plastered on her face in a soft way, she kept her eyes on him sort of enjoying the bright blue hue of his eyes. It was a stark contrast than her own green and than Felix’s chocolate ones.

“Not at all, make yourself at home,” she told him as she took a sip, “may I ask who you are?” She added as she twisted her body to be half-facing him and half-facing the outer world.

Guest

“It would appear you do count as a someone,” she replied, “although not someone I’m acquainted with. I’m Sumire.”

His smile widened at her words; she wasn't getting offended by the way in which he spoke, which was a good thing. "Nice to meet you, Sumire," he replied, reaching out a hand towards her. He normally didn't shake, but he thought it was best in this situation. Corey did not, however, offer his name in return. Where was the fun in that?

Names were not anything particularly that he cared about; what did they ever say about a person? 'Melodys' were not always good singers or talented in areas relating to their names; 'Hunters' were not normally people who even knew how to hunt; 'Hopes' were not always hopeful. A name was about as revealing of a person as a grain of sand was; there were usually no connections whatsoever.

Still, he couldn't deny that Sumire was a nice name, and now he had something to call her other than the Hufflepuff, even if it was only in his mind. "You have a very beautiful name," he said after a moment's pause. If he was flirting or not was up to the witch to decide. He himself had meant it to be ambiguous; if he began to flirt with her or if he kept the conversation casual all depended on her reaction to his words.

Corey did not need his time wasted, that much was sure.

He did not need to say anything to her first statement. He was already seated, and while he never liked that phrase (because, really, if this was home, he would not have a shirt on, and he would have kicked her out for being in his house in the first place) Corey decided not to dwell on it. The last time he had brought up this point, the person with whom he was talking with did not take it all too well - honestly, Corey had not meant to 'insult the hospitality offered' - and he just did not need to deal with that at this time.

Instead, he focused his attention on her question. Here was where he could have the most fun. So, with a casual shrug and a smile, he said, "I believe you just did. What if my answer had been no? What would you have done, retracted the question?" He kept his tone conversational, holding no underlying tones but actual curiosity.

Turning to look fully at the witch, he held in a smirk, and waited for her reply.

Guest

Sumire believed in kindness above all else. She wasn’t a volatile person, rather she liked to think she was a rational person and could keep her wits to her when necessary. Her kindness was one of her strong suits according to Felix. She didn’t feel it was likely that the boy standing before her would be anything but unkind to her however. He was proving to be a decent enough conversationalist and pleasant company to have. Well, she hadn’t had much company so any company really was decent enough. That was a bit of a sad thought, she realized as she took another sip from her liquid. As she sat there she wondered what to do.

In New York her best friends and closest friends and her were all avid theater students; bright eyed and devoted to acting. Some of her best friends were enemies in a way. They were all competing for a lead role even if Sumire normally got them for no other reason than her skill. She twisted her mouth to the side as she remembered Amber Sculley’s sneer and disgusted face as Sumire got cast for the role as Wendy for their rendition of the famous Peter Pan play. Regardless, Amber Sculley and her were good friends who talked on a regular basis. Now that she considered all the variables perhaps it was one of those “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” things. She felt her heart pang as she realized that the main reason Amber was getting more and more well-known was because Sumire couldn’t do theater in America while in Hogwarts. She let out a soft sigh as she realized that was probably why Amber was so nice in her letters.

“Oh,” she let out a sound of surprise at the flirty comment, she couldn’t help but interpret it as so; she’d done enough plays where that type of line was used and she smiled a bit, “I’m sure your name is just as sweet to the ears if you’d share it with me.” That was flirty for her, but no doubt lame for him. She gave a wan smile to combat it in hopes that it would avert the attention from the crap-like flirt. God she really was not used to that.

“How could I retract a question once already put into existence?” She asked, her voice soft as she let a single eyebrow rise, “if you had said no then I would have told you to just tell me your name, should you continue to deny my your name I’ll just call you Boy,” she smiled a little then, her voice was light and everything she’d said was a gentle tease; no hostility. “Unless you’d like to be called Little Boy for the duration of our conversation.” Her face flushed after a moment, not in just a small measure but in a bright blooming red.

"Oh my!" She let out a small gasp, "was that too rude? That was uncouth of me, I'm so sorry if I've offended you." Way to make a new friend, Sumire, her mind chided at her angrily. She looked away from him then to look down at the ground below, willing herself to slink into the ground.