Golden Skies [James B.]

Almost a week into the school year and Winter was already out of some common ingredients. Quidditch practice started almost as soon as school did, and that meant lots of kids had to come in to the Hospital Wing with rashes, cuts, broken bones and the likes. It was busier than Winter had expected, but it gave her a chance to drown herself in her work. The best of it all was, she would spend her days and even some nights working with the kids and the occasional professor, and later at night she would read River's letters and miss her family more than ever. She had attended a small birthday party for Charlie, and it had been the most amazing family reunion. Mostly everyone had attended, because his turning nineteen was a once-in-lifetime event. Every year, whenever someone became one year older, the celebrations were always big at the D'elia house. More food than the whole family could eat, a massive birthday cake, decorations and memories that went beyond what any of the D'elia kids could imagine. Winter sighed as she remembered her younger brother's last birthday.

With her hair down, straight and sleek, Winter walked down the greenhouses. She needed some lavender and dittany for some potions as she was running out of the two plants. She'd been having trouble sleeping, her mind often wandering around between her love for a guy who obviously wasn't good for her, and her love for her family. Winter had been sort of dating Travis Loyd, a guy she met a few months ago. He wasn't...well, the best. He was pretty much a jerk, but Winter was infatuated enough to let his mistakes slip - until just recently. Winter may be a sucker for romance, but she wasn't self-destructive. Travis could go down the drain. Except it was that break up that gave Winter trouble sleeping at night, and not even River's words of comfort made her feel better. That's why she needed the lavender. The Sleeping Draught was probably her best friend at the moment. That potion was more than magical.

As she arrived, she immediately headed for the dittany as it was that which she needed most for the students. Pulling up the sleeves of her hooded jacket, Winter began to cut some of the plants with her hand and carefully placed them inside a glass box, which she had carried diligently all the way from the Hospital Wing to the greenhouses. Taking out a small knife, she cut them into smaller pieces, accidentally making a small cut in her finger. It didn't even bleed, it just hurt the same way a papercut would. Damn, those things are painful. She thought to herself, putting the stinging pain aside. Out of all the things Winter could cry about, a small cut wasn't going to be it. The sky was turning yellow and orange, the sunset clearly coming up. In a moment of self-indulgence, Winter walked over to the edge of the greenhouse - where the lavender was - and in a matter of seconds she was enchanted by the many colors adorning the sky, every bit of its beauty enhanced by the glass.

But of course someone had to interrupt her moment of peace and beauty. Had it been a student or the Herbology professor she wouldn't have cared, but she recognized the voice as it belong to the one person she was to embarrassed to see again. Taking in the bits of the sky, the remaining ones at least, Winter decided it would be rude to ignore him. Though, she could definitely pull it off. "Yeah, well." Winter said, turning around to face him. Her eyes avoiding the space he was occupying. "Maybe I just need a permanent spell to protect me from myself or something." She gave him a smile. Was it even possible to do that? What if she was walking around one day and accidentally tripped and went into a coma? Was there a spell to prevent her from tripping in the first place?

Raising her hand from the table, Winter saw that it was still not a big deal. "Besides, it's just like a paper cut. Nothing to worry about. It doesn't even hurt." She shrugged, not sure if she was lying about the hurting because paper cuts were annoyingly painful. "Nah. I'll be alright." She commented, deciding to take care of it when she was as far away from him as she could be. Meaning, when she was in the Hospital Wing and he was whether it was he spent his days at. Looking from the palm of her hand and back to him, Winter realized, "So which ingredients do you need?"

"Don't worry, I could invent one of my own." She said, "Or maybe get the charms professor to do it." Winter wasn't even sure she knew who taught Charms at the school, as she barely knew any of the staff. There was James, of course, and Jake who taught Defense and Flying, and then there was the Headmaster who taught Arithmancy or Runes, one of those. Overall, Winter spent her days in the Hospital Wing, and attended the Quidditch games as medical support, and then went back to her room to sleep and write letters. Her life was pretty boring, she realized and a frown suddenly took away her friendly mood and a shadow of disbelief and sadness lingered over her.

Yes, she was the healer, Winter knew that. Her mood lightening once again, she said, "Well, stop trying to tell me what to do then." Of course, she was joking, but she was also partly serious. She wasn't very comfortable with James always being around when she was being clumsy, especially when he acted like he was the better wizard. For all she knew, James was only good at potions. Besides, she could be stupid all by herself. No need to add salt to the wound. Still, she gave him another smile.

Winter laughed when he explained his reasons, and then her eyes fell once again. "Yes, the ball." Winter would have loved to go, but she had too much to do and it was almost Charlie's birthday that it seemed impossible for her to make time for the ball. "I'm sure the girls will all look lovely." she commented, a small smile never leaving her face. "And I think it's nice you're letting them try it. I heard you were...quite strict with your younger years." Some of the younger students had walked in to the Hospital Wing arguing about their classes and some of them had commented on James' class.

She stayed in her spot as James moved to gather what he needed, suddenly realizing she still had some stuff to father herself. It was bad enough she always seemed to hurt herself whenever James was around, now she was forgetting stuff thanks to him as well. Looking down at the plants before her, Winter thought it best to pretend she had not forgotten what she was there for. Listening as he explained why he wouldn't attend, Winter felt a little better. She wouldn't be attending either, so knowing she wasn't the only to miss all the fun made her feel less upset. Not in a bad way, but it was nice to know that someone was going to somehow share the same luck.

"Yeah, unfortunately for them, right?" she grinned, knowing well enough that with that face he was bound to have some girls looking at him the way they looked at celebrities. "Unlike you, I wanted to go. Any excuse to wear a beautiful dress seems like a good event to me." she confessed, because Winter liked to dress up more than she liked to drink with friends. It was probably very naive, but Winter couldn't imagine herself getting drunk at a club, much like the parties her older brother was used to attending. She immediately thought of River, and how he would probably make an excuse to pass the Halloween Ball, and Charlie who would go only if Winter wanted to go. Summer would have gone anyway.

And he laughed, James did. Not a hearty one, but a laugh nonetheless, and Winter liked his laugh. She nodded when he asked if it had been the younger kids, no reason to lie to him. She didn't like how they had talked about the class, but she also didn't think James was the most laid-back professor around. "They're kids, James." She offered a very small smile. "They don't think about doing well, they want to live." She couldn't imagine a kid who was so set in the future that every class needed an Outstanding in order to succeed. There were the disciplined ones, but even they were kids themselves.