Curled Up by the Fire (Open)

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Finley's answer seemed reasonable enough, so Naomi shrugged and accepted that it was probably true. "Probably. It makes the most sense. Still, no windows..." She shuddered, the thought making her feel uncomfortably trapped.

Nodding, Naomi hummed an agreement. "Probably. You'd have to do a lot of exercise to work your way up to a big sword like the warriors used to use. Some of them probably weigh more than me!" She giggled. When Finley mention making fireworks out of bespelled arrows, her eyes lit up in response. "That would be so pretty! Maybe you could make them do other things, like fly in patterns or transfigure in midair." There was no way she'd be able to accomplish any of this any time soon, but she'd study hard and hopefully she'd figure it out before she graduated. And if Finley helped... "Would- would you like to help me research some of the possibilities sometime?" she asked tentatively, unsure if her shy housemate would want to take her up on the offer.

"Burren Forrest," Naomi confirmed. "It's a little bit of a walk from our house, but it's nice there. There aren't usually very many people around, which I like. Most of the days when the weather's nice enough, I take some books and food out there, climb a tree, and stay out all day. My Da stopped worrying about it a long time ago, although sometimes my Nana gets upset if I'm out too long. Do you like the woods?" She knew some people thought woods and forests were scary, but she just thought being surrounded by nature was soothing.

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Finley kept nodding throughout the idea of needing to work out to gain muscle. Such things had never been his idea of fun, but if he wanted to be like The Three Musketeers then he knew he was going to have to try at some point. Hmm... That would be fun, difficult, but fun. But his attention was taken away from such things when he was offered the idea of transfiguration.

What he wasn't expecting was for the witch to ask him to help her.

"I... I w-would love t-to!" Finley responded happily, his smile showing just how much it meant to him for someone to actually want to spend time with him. Even if it was studying something way beyond their years. It would be great fun! "W-when do we s-start?" He added, showing he was genuinely enthusiastic about doing this.

The news of the woods made Finley nod along once more, smiling at the notion of going off to read. "There's an arboretum c-close to where I live. Well, y-you have to take the car f-for about half an h-hour, but I like it t-there." He explained with a warm smile. "B-but I don't t-think I'd like it w-when it got d-dark." He added a little more nervously, because that thought did make him want to shudder. "Or on m-my own."

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The obvious enthusiasm Naomi had managed to coax out of Finley made her smile. They'd have a hard time of it and she hoped she wouldn't get upset too easily if they couldn't find an answer. "We can start whenever!" she declared enthusiastically. "Maybe even tomorrow. All we need is some time in the library to get started. I guess we better get some bows and arrows too, and learn about them, because I don't really know how to shoot one." That could be problematic, since neither one of them knew how to shoot. They'd either have to learn on their own or find someone who could teach them. Still, the possibilities made it worth the trouble.

"Ooh, I've never been to an arboretum before. Is it very beautiful?" Naomi was interested. Other than in Herbology, she pretty much just saw whatever grew around her house. "I don't usually stay out past dark. If I want to go look at the stars, I have to take Da or one of my older cousins with me, if they're there. But in the daytime, it's peaceful and nice."

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With the information that they could start tomorrow, Finley couldn't help but grin a little more in that moment. "T-that sounds great!" Finley told the witch with a grin, before going serious when she said they would have to get hold of a bow and arrow as well as learning how to shoot them. "P-perhaps we could m-make one?" Finley suggested, though he was a little uncertain. "T-there's probably a book on h-how to!" He continued enthusiastically, because he did not want to give this idea up.

The question of whether the arboretum was beautiful made Finley nod. "I h-have pictures. I can s-show you sometime, if y-you like?" He suggested, making a note to find them out to show Naomi - perhaps tomorrow when they met up to do some more studying.

The notion of not going in to the forest when it was dark was one that Finley understood and he nodded a couple of times to show his understanding before his eyes fell back to the cat in his lap that he was still petting gently. It looked, from this angle, as if she'd fallen asleep, but Finley wasn't entirely sure about that. This was nice though, and probably the most he'd ever spoken at Hogwarts. Finally, there was someone who wanted to spend time with him. Someone that possibly liked him despite his stupid stutter.

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Naomi was glad that Finley seemed as enthusiastic as she did. It might be embarrassing if she got excited while he thought it was stupid. She returned his grin. "Oh. Duh, of course." Naomi blushed, feeling stupid. "Even though I've grown up around it, sometimes I forget what magic can do," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm sure someone somewhere has made a bow and arrows with magic, although we'll probably have to look in really old books. I bet no one's done it for a while."

Naomi's eyes lit up. "Oh, would you? I'd love to see them." Her eyes gazed off into the middle distance, imagining what kinds of trees there would be. It would be lovely to see them in person, but pictures would be great too. "Plants are so interesting, aren't they?"

Following Finley's gaze to his lap, Naomi giggled. Lucy did that to her all the time, yowling a protest whenever she tried to get up. "She likes you. I don't think she's moving for a while, so you seem to be stuck. You're lucky; Lucy is very picky. She doesn't choose to sit on just anybody." While Lucy accepted scratches and endured patting from her cousins, Naomi was the only one the cat condescended to sit with and fall asleep on.

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Finley smiled as the witch 'duh'ed at herself, for him, books normally had the answer in some form or another, so it was always where he looked first. Of course, Finley wasn't sure that it was normal for someone his age to be like that, but it worked for him, so he didn't knock it. "P-Possibly, though I don't k-know if the librarian will let us." Finley explained, because it would be classed as an offensive weapon. "W-we could do it in s-secret though." He added a moment later, before realising what he'd suggested and going more than a little wide eyed.

"I... I m-mean..." But he didn't know what he'd really meant in that moment.

When Naomi said she'd love to see the pictures, Finley grinned back at her. "I p-prefer Muggle plants." He admitted softly. "M-magical ones try to h-hurt you." The boy explained, subconsciously rubbing his wrist at the memory of the small sprig of Devil's Snare that had taken hold of his arm in the first Herbology class. That really hadn't been a very pleasant experience.

The fact that Lucy liked him made Finley look up at Naomi with a look that mixed complete happiness with complete confusion. He wasn't used to people liking him, if he was being completely honest, and yes this was a cat, but it meant a lot to Finley. "I like Lucy too." He managed, though it would probably be quite obvious there was something of a lump of emotion in his voice as he looked back at the cat in his lap.

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Finley's point was valid and Naomi grew thoughtful. "I suppose we might have to," she said, barely even noticing Finley's embarrassment over his phrasing. It didn't seem at all odd to her. "If she asks, maybe we can say it's research for a project? That's not a lie, the project is just personal, not for school." She didn't want to lie if they could avoid it, but she also really wanted to explore the possibilities thoroughly. After all, it wasn't like they were planning to do anything particularly dangerous with their bows and arrows.

Naomi watched Finley rubbing his wrist, figuring something must have happened with a plant. "I've always kind of had a knack with both kinds, I guess. It must be hard trying to learn about magical plants with no background experience though." She couldn't imagine only learning at 11 that sometimes, plants moved or made noise or exploded if you touched them wrong. A lot of it was second nature by now, as she'd had her own garden at home.

Finley seemed really moved by Lucy's affection. Naomi could understand. Getting an animal to like you could be at once a lot easier and a lot harder than getting a human to like you. It was always a thrill when they showed you they trusted you. However, all she said was, "I'm glad, otherwise this might be a bit awkward." She gave the boy a gentle smile.

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When Naomi explained as to what they could say to the librarian, the boy couldn't help but grin up at the witch. "T-there's a reason y-you're in Ravenclaw!" Finley exclaimed a moment later, smiling up at the witch. "That'll work perfectly!" He added, showing that he really did like the idea she had given him.

With the comment on it being hard to learn everything now, Finley looked up at the witch wondering how much she knew about the track record he'd created for himself. "W-well, I find everything d-difficult. B-but it was hard c-coming here. Learning all t-this." Finley shook his head, because it was still vastly overwhelming to say the least, but he was slowly getting the hang of it, slowly.

The comment about being awkward made Finley laugh softly, honestly it would be him who made anything awkward. "It's n-not awkward. H-honestly." The boy managed a moment later, truly meaning it.

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Naomi blushed and looked down at her lap at the compliment. "Thanks," she said quietly, smiling. "I think it'll work, I can keep a pretty good straight face." She had practice not-quite-lying about what she was to her Muggle relatives who didn't know about magic.

Nodding, Naomi thought that what Finley said made sense, even if she couldn't relate. "I can always help you if you need it," she offered. "My dad and my Uncle Liam taught me about a lot of things and we had magic in the house all the time. Besides, that's what friends are for, right?" She surprised herself at her use of the word 'friends,' but it was true. Despite the short time they had been together, she did consider Finley her friend.

"Good." Naomi smiled in return, but the smile quickly turned into a yawn. She glanced at the watch her grandmother had given her, blink in surprise at the time. "Wow, it's really getting late. I'm going to go to bed." She stood up, stretching, then nudged Lucy with her toe. "Bed, cat. Coming or staying?" Lucy stepped daintily off Finley's lap, stretching and yawning like her mistress before trotting up the stairs. Naomi turned to offer the wizard a smile. "Goodnight Finley, see you in class." She followed her cat upstairs, still smiling, happy to have met Finley.

Guest

Finley simply smiled at the words the witch spoke of being friends. Honestly, Finley couldn't remember ever having a friend that wasn't either imaginary, a rock, or an animal. Humans simply didn't seem to like him that much. Apart from maybe Brooke, but the Gryffindor had been very quiet since the time they'd met at the wand shop in Diagn Alley.

When the witch yawned, Finley's eyes moved to the clock on the opposite wall. It had gotten late due to their excited talking. Finley couldn't deny that he felt a little bad for keeping the witch up later than she might have been, but she didn't seem upset with him.

As both the witch and her cat moved to get ready, Finley smiled up at Naomi. "G-good night, N-Naomi." He replied, watching her leave with a small smile on his lips. A friend... After a year of being in the castle, Finley had a friend that he could talk to in his dorm. This was possibly the most excited he'd ever been.

Only when the witch had disappeared did Finley get up, heading to his own dorm, feeling a little better in himself.

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