Hogwarts Grounds - Fifth year

It was raining again when he woke up that morning. Even from within the stone walls of the Slytherin dungeon, Olixander just knew from how damp and chilly it was. He’d always been rather sensitive to the rain, or any doom and gloom in the weather. He much preferred the sunshine in Spain when they visited abuela to the perpetual cloudiness of England— and now Scotland. Hogwarts was, for better or worse, on the side of a cliff overlooking a lake too. There was no escaping the drizzly weather patterns here. Quidditch practice was going to be terrible with the wind, and getting to classes across the grounds? Hah. He’d be better off just staying here, in bed, and sleeping until the sun came back up. But Olixander knew better than to try. Lestrange would sooner kick him out of bed for the fun of it than let him have any peace. So the tired, broody Slytherin peeled himself up and dressed for the day.

By later afternoon, the mud across the grounds was running almost in rivulets because of the rain. He picked his way carefully towards the Herbology greenhouses, glad to have no company with the awkward dance he was doing to avoid the worst of it. Suddenly, in a flurry of skirts and noise, someone tripped right into him going the other direction. Olixander didn’t have the presence of mind to catch her and so she landed in a heap at his feet. At first, irritation crawled across his skin at the inconvenience of it all. He didn’t even think to ask if the girl was alright, annoyed as he was that she’d sprayed him with dirt. But then she looked up.

Startled for a moment, any scathing accusation that might have been about to come out of his mouth died in formulation. He’d never seen someone so… beautiful in his life. “Blackwood,” he blurt out, rather stupidly. "Olixander Blackwood.” He stretched out his hand to help her up, shifting his school bag further up his shoulder. With the way things were shaping up, her skirts were bound to be a mess. Determined not to think about it, or her pretty face so close to his crotch, the Slytherin yanked her to her feet and turned to hide the blush blossoming across his cheeks.

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"Zinnia Potts" & muse song
from this <3

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   Zinnia Gallagher

It had rained earlier in the day, which had left the ground a giant, muddy sinkhole, but Zinnia was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures if she didn’t hurry; it was like her to get lost in her own head, especially while in the greenhouse, because well, who would willingly want to leave the place with all the beautiful plants, but the professor wasn’t going to be happy if Zinnia came rushing into the classroom in a flurry. It was a distraction and could startle the animals, which was the last thing that Zinnia wanted to do.

Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, the Ravenclaw scurried off toward her class in a hurry, hoping that maybe, just maybe she’d be on time for once. Others were there with her, trying to be on time lest they catch the one professor who would give them a detention for not being on time. But luck wasn’t on her side as her shoe caught in a rock that had been covered in mud as she tried to skirt around someone else coming straight at her, and she’d gasped as she tumbled forward, unable to completely stop herself.

Her hands reached to catch herself, so while luck wasn’t completely playing fair, at least Zinnia didn’t wind up with her face pressed into the mud. She pushed herself onto her knees, cheeks tinted red as she glanced up at him.

He outstretched his hand and she took without hesitation, hoisting herself to her feet; her skirts were a mess, covered in mud and sopping wet but that was something she was going to have to deal with later. “Olixander.” Zinnia repeated after he introduced himself, and she smiled sheepishly at him. “Er, thanks for the hand.” It was then she realized she was still holding it, and Zinnia’s face reddened as she dropped it and took a miniscule step away from him. Then she took a moment to try to brush her skirts, which did nothing except smear the mud; Merlin was mum going to be angry with her if she found out.

“I’m Zinnia Potts.” She said as glanced at Olixander. Her lips curled into a smile. “Are you heading toward Professor —’s class by chance? I’d… I’d like a hand so I don’t fall again, if you don’t mind.”

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Bee made this beauty<3

Regaining himself was not fully in Olixander’s capability at the moment. All he could be thankful of was these billowy robes that covered any part of him that might be too honest as he yanked his hand back like it was on fire. His face felt warm still and for one who was so pale, it was a relatively uncomfortable (and obvious) condition. “No problem,” he muttered dumbly under his breath. She said his name like she was tasting it for the first time and he pinkened worse at the sound of it on her tongue. Was her voice supposed to sound like that? It couldn’t possibly.

He didn’t recognize the name Potts as it came out of her mouth. A shame; she was probably the wrong sort to associate with then. But he couldn’t help the wide-eyed bug look he gave her at the subsequent question. “Er— no,” he replied. He’d been on his way to Herbology but, “I’d be happy to walk you though.” Then, appending something of his real personality on the end because he had to, for repetitional sake, he added: “Just so you don’t fall and embarrass yourself again.”

For a second, Olixander wondered if it was even worth keeping up such a shitty reputation if it meant he had to say rude things to pretty girls. But as quickly as the thought came it was gone; of course he had to be rude. He couldn’t get attached to this one, or any one for that matter, and he certainly couldn’t let her get attached to him. Being rude was the only way to prevent this. (Obviously.)

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muse song

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Zin tipped her head to the side, noticing the blush that had stained the Slytherin’s cheeks. She wondered why he was embarrassed, it was like he was the one who had fallen and was now caked in mud, although Zinnia supposed maybe it was secondhand embarrassment. He yanked his hand back so quickly that she wobbled, but luckily she didn’t fall, which honestly was a win in Zinnia’s book. Sometimes she wished that Hogwarts had a bubble around it so they wouldn’t have to deal with the weather. She did enjoy spring most of all.

Zinnia’s lips parted like she was surprised he wasn’t headed to Care of Magical Creatures, but then again he probably wasn’t in her year, so it made sense. “That’s very kind of you,” she said after a moment, choosing to focus on the offer rather than the sting of his tone. “Thank you, Olixander. Really.” Zinnia was skipping over the formalities of using last names, but then again that was the best part about Hogwarts, befriending people before debuting.

She looked down at herself with a tiny, rueful sigh. The entire side of her skirt was smeared with mud and she was pretty sure her shoe was filled with it too. Zin tried to brush some of the mud away, only managing to spread it thinner across the fabric. Her nose wrinkled, but she was smiling; embarrassed, yes, but also faintly amused by her own misfortune. It happened to her quite often.

Zinnia picked her books up before her gaze drifted up to Olixander again. She fell in line next to him. “You’re in Slytherin, right? I always thought your common room must be so quiet down there by the lake.” His robes were a dead giveaway but who knew. Maybe he was borrowing them from a friend.

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   Olixander Blackwood

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Bee made this beauty<3

There she went again, saying his name like that. Oil felt himself balk a bit; he wasn’t used to people being so nice to him but, well. He could stomach it. Just as an excuse to spend more time with— what was her name? Zinnia? Yeah. Her. He didn’t blush this time at least.

Olixander shifted to readjust his bag again. “Olvídalo,” he muttered under his breath. It wasn’t said rudely, more embarrassed as if he didn't know what to do with her thanks, and he bent to help with one of her books as she brushed herself off. The state of her skirt was pretty terrible, but he didn’t comment on it which was a blessing in and of itself. Instead, he kept hold of the book he’d lifted as she made to pick up the rest. Then she looked at him again with those big doe eyes and he found himself grumpily taking the rest from her. “So you don’t fall,” he sniffed.

They turned in the direction of her Care of Magical Creatures class and Oli held her books away from himself to keep from getting muddy. He gave them a small shake before letting them rest at his side with a nose wrinkle and moving in that direction. “Yeah,” he responded to her query. “Slytherin.” He’d never given it much thought though— the common room being quiet. He supposed it was deep underground in the dungeons. But there was usually enough commotion going on that he managed not to think about it. Olixander didn’t like the quiet or sitting with his own thoughts too long. That’s when the fog came and he lost… time. He gave her a small shrug. “I guess.”

Glancing at Zinnia, he noted her robes were Ravenclaw. He didn’t know if this was congruent or not with what he’d seen of her so far, but he’d only just met her. It wouldn’t be fair to judge just yet. “And… Ravenclaw then?” he asked, trying to make small talk and failing spectacularly. “It’s so… high up.” Oli turned away and pursed his lips. High up? How stupid was he?!

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muse song
*forget it

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Zinnia blinked at the armful of books was taking from her. “Gracias,” she echoed quietly, although her extent of Spanish ended there. Her lips tugged into a small when he sniffed about her falling; it was something she feared, and in fact, Zin knew she did an excellent impression of a baby deer on ice whenever the ground was wet or slippery. Winter was worse with the ice, but she wasn’t going to offer that information up to him.

Instead she fell into step half a pace from his shoulder, ensuring she kept her distance in case any mud decided to splash as she walked. When he admitted to Slytherin, she tipped her head, studying him as though the answer solved a tiny riddle in her brain. It made sense, and although she didn’t know Olixander personally, she could see why the hat put him in that house. They weren’t all rotten and evil, and in fact some of them could be quite sweet. Olixander was one of them, she knew it.

“Ravenclaw,” she confirmed, her gaze turning fully toward him. She giggled at him as she nodded in confirmation. “So high up. When it’s stormy out, the tower rattles, and sometimes it sounds like a ghost is sighing through the stairwell,” though honestly, Zinnia wouldn’t put it past some of the ghosts to do just that, “But the view, the view makes up for it. The lake shimmers in the moonlight and everything below the castle reminds me of floating lanterns.” If he’d ever taken astronomy he’d know exactly what she was talking about.

“I love watching the sunrise from the tower. Everything turns gold for a few minutes, and the lake looks like it’s been set on fire. And sometimes when it’s foggy out, the whole castle looks like it’s floating.” Realizing how silly that might have sounded, Zinnia pressed her lips together as a soft blush spread across her cheeks.

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Bee made this beauty<3

Olixander was completely and utterly taken aback when Zinnia responded to him in Spanish. He hadn’t expected anything from her so far, but he really hadn’t expected that. Her accent tickled some small something that fluttered in his chest and he looked away quickly, shrugging as if it was nothing. (It was most certainly something more than nothing.)

Her giggle re-drew his attention however, and Oli felt himself pulled into her response as she went off with it. He hadn’t thought he’d given her much, and certainly nothing as inspired as the mental images she drew, but he found himself interested anyway. She made it seem serene and quiet but not… uncomfortably so. He’d always imagined the Ravenclaw common room and tower to be unnaturally cold and silent, like a library. Full of stuffy, grumpy academic kids. He didn’t have many friends in Ravenclaw though.

“It sounds… nice,” he agreed, to his own surprise. He didn’t smile, but he wanted to. “Do you watch the sunrise often?” It seemed like a silly waste of sleep to him; Olixander wouldn’t be caught dead waking up before he absolutely had to, but somehow— he felt like Zinnia made him want to. In another life, in another version of himself of course. Sleep first. He knew his priorities.

Her blush was endearing as it peeked across her cheeks and Oli felt himself relax a bit at the sight. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who was worried about making a dumb first impression. Though why he cared, he wasn’t exactly sure.

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muse song

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Zinnia hummed in agreement. The tower was nice, and she wondered sometimes if the tower was part of the reason the Sorting Hat put her in Ravenclaw; she might have withered away underground if she’d been placed in Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Gryffindor had been the other option because their tower was similar to Ravenclaw, although she supposed she wasn’t quite sure she had any of the qualities to be one of those. Either way, she believed the hat knew she needed sunshine to thrive so it didn’t put her somewhere she would be away from it.

“Oh.” Zin said, as if she hadn’t expected Olixander to ask that specific question. “Well, sometimes I get wrapped up in my own thoughts, or reading a book that I didn’t realize what time it is. I’ve seen more sunrises than I suppose I should have.” Zinnia smiled faintly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her. She saw his shoulders loosen, which in turn made hers.

“Do you ever stay up that late? Or get up that early, I suppose.” A small laugh escaped her. “Sometimes it’s nice being the only one awake and having some time to yourself.” She loved her family, but Zinnia did have a lot of sisters. It was nothing in comparison to sharing a room with a bunch of other girls and a common room with a bunch of other Ravenclaws.

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Bee made this beauty<3

Her surprise at being asked that question in turn surprised Olixander. It had seemed natural enough to him— there were morning people and then there were normal people. But her answer explained enough that he couldn’t help but snort. Thank Merlin, she was a normal people. (Again, not that he cared.)

Surprising himself further by being truthful, Olixander nodded. “Not reading but… yeah. I’ve had those nights too,” he confessed, maybe more quietly than he should. His usually consisted of being high or drunk on something when he was home and just… miserable when he was here. The monster that sometimes sat on his chest and made him lose track of days, sometimes even weeks at a time did not care that he had classes. “I guess I just don’t see the sunrise from my gloomy dungeon,” he added. It was definitely meant as a tease, but it wasn’t sharp nor was it accompanied by a smile. It just… was.

“I can’t imagine ever getting up that early though,” he continued with another more derisive snort. “I’d rather sleep in so late that everyone’s gone, personally.” But he didn’t have much luck of that. As for the bit about having time to himself, he debated how to answer. “I don’t really like being alone,” he shrugged in the end. She didn’t have to know why.

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muse song

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“That sounds nice, actually. Watching the sunrise from under the lake.”Zinnia tipped her head slightly at that, wondering if perhaps she could paint what she imagined what an underwater sunrise would look like. Her fingers twitched but she had class to attend, and it wasn’t like her sketchbook was on her, anyway. The image would have to wait. She sighed at that. “I imagine it would look like stained glass, with the light bending through the water as it tries to find a way to brush against the darkness of the bottom of the lake.”

It was more philosophical than Olixander probably wanted to get, so Zinnia just giggled as she turned toward him. “You’re lucky. I’m sure the dungeons are the only place you get to witness a sunrise like that.” She shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then “Besides, if you’re always sleeping until everyone’s gone, then you’d have to spend the morning alone anyway. Sounds like your plan is flawed.”

They got to a particularly muddy patch of grass, and without thinking about it, Zin scooted closer to Olixander, her arm looping through his, carefully as to not jostle the books he held. For stability, of course.

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Bee made this beauty<3