Alone, for a change [open]

[Remus Lupin]

Remus had come out into the gardens to try and catch up on his reading. He found a nice spot and making himself comfortable under an old oak tree, he opened his book and started to read.

This would have been better done by the fire in the common room, but he found it so noisy in there at the moment, he'd shut his book and walked out. He pulled out a quill and a scrap of parchment to make a few notes from his Defence Against the Dark Arts book. He felt a soft breeze ruffle his hair and the hazy sun on his shoulders. It was reasonably nice weather for a change.

He looked up momentarily and saw someone crossing the ground on their way to the gardens. He couldn't tell who it was, so he went back to what he had been doing, writing feverishly, while flicking his eyes to the text in the book.

[simanus]

Sunlight was a wonderful thing. Simanus savored the warmth which came through in spite of the haze, pleased at the lack of glare. She saw a lovely old oak tree a ways off and headed for it, thinking she might climb up, transform and find an unshaded branch on which to sunbathe. As she reached the tree, though, she saw there was someone sitting under it and as she neared she saw it was a younger boy taking notes from a book.

Simanus altered her course so she would arrive at third of the way around the tree from the boy, there was a break in the leaf cover that enabled the sunlight to warm her legs. Since she had not made any effort to conceal her approach, she assumed the boy knew she was there and spoke up, "I agree."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus looked up as he heard her voice. "Oh! Hi." He smiled and looked around her to see who she had been talking to. When he saw no one else, he looked puzzled for a moment. "I'm sorry, were you just talking to me?" He didn't know the girl, but could see she was a Slytherin, so he was instinctively wary. "Umm Nice day isn't it." He said, while closing his book and setting it on the ground next to him.

[simanus]

Simanus would normally have stifled the giggle this produced but felt letting it go it might help dispel any notions the young man might have about her based on her house. She rolled sideways once to put herself within arms reach, this done she stuck out her right hand, "Simanus Flagg, and you needn't worry about my house, Mr. Gryffindor. If it helps, you may think of me as 'The American' instead of 'a Slytherin.'" This was a fortunate moment, she could sense this fellow was the right sort. There was something different about him, but she could not place what it was. Given the nature of the world she occupied, it could be any number of things and most of those were of the sort it wasn't polite to inquire about, so she chose a different route. "And may I congratulate you on picking up what I was agreeing to," she chuckled again, "It's amazing how many wizards have no concept of Occam's Razor, how nice to meet one who does."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiled and stodd up as she offered her hand, he took it in his and shook it. "Pleased to meet you Simanus. I'm Remus Lupin." He indicated to the ground, and spoke. "Would you like to join me? I was just doing some homework, but I can take a break." He smiled at her and nodded as she explained about being an American, and not to bother about her being in Slytherin.

He sat back under the tree and crossed his legs beneath him. "So how are you fitting in here? I suppose this place must be a bit of a culture shock for you?"

[simanus]

With vulpine grace, Simanus slid down the side of the tree to a sitting position. "So you're Lupin," she smiled, "I've heard more about those two boys that run around with you than I have of you, which leads me to assume that you're the cooler head." She gave her head a little shake, her hair wasn't in her eyes but she liked the cross breeze on her scalp.

"I'll confess that my first semester here was a bit of a wallop," she said somewhat distractedly, this boy reminded her of Klera but she couldn't place why, "But that was my third year, in the two since then Hogwarts has become my home away from home. I wouldn't mind having an estate with grounds like this, nothing this large of course." She pulled out a leather container somewhere between a flask and a canteen and drank from it before offering it to the younger boy, "May I interest you in some pumpkin juice? In any case, enough of me. What of you, young sai, any favorite subjects?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiles bashfully, as she admits to having heard of him, or as she put it. The two that he hangs around with. "Yes, I'm the cool headed one. Not that it does me any good." He chuckled. !I still get pulled into all sorts of mischief, but it's fun and I enjoy being with my friends."

He listened as she spoke about how she found it here and smiled when she offered him some pumpkin juice. He took the flask and smiled. "Thanks, that would be nice,." He took a sip and handed the flask back.

"Oh there's not much to tell, that you probably don't already know." He grinned. "I'm a Gryffindor, I hang out with James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. My favourite subject is Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms." He smiled and leaned back against the tree, putting his hands behind his head. Remus squinted up at the sun, as he continued. "I suppose I'm a bit of a bookworm. I enjoy spending time in the library." He looks at Simanus and grins. "I'm the least exciting one of the three I'm afraid."

[simanus]

"Pettigrew!" Simanus exclaimed, striking her forehead with her palm, "that was the little fellow's name. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd watch that one, as we say in my country, 'he smells of a rat.'" Wanting not to offend this young man, as they seemed on their way to becoming friends, she changed tack. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, lovely subject," she giggled, "and Charms is probably the most useful subject they teach here. I tend toward more...esoteric ends of the spectrum, myself."

The sun shone brighter then and Simanus raised her head, eyes closed, tilting it slightly this way and that to warm her neck evenly. After a moment she realized she'd yet again allowed herself to loose the sense of place and lowered her head again. "There's a nifty little bit of crossover magic between those two subjects, you know. It's name escapes me at the moment," this was a small lie, but one with innocent reasons, "but perhaps I might look it up show it to you sometime." She reached into the sleeve of her robe and pulled out an electrum disk an inch in diameter and an eight of an inch thick. "Here," she said, "take this," flipping the coin up high so he would have plenty of time to react and place his hand out to catch it. "It's on of a few little trinkets my mother makes for me. If you should like to visit sometime, tap the coin thrice with your wand and then check the edge for my response."

She wasn't through talking to the boy, for her part anyway, and wasn't planning to leave, but wanted to see if he would respond to the gesture, and how.

[Remus Lupin]

He looked at her, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Peter...a rat?" He grinned, well a pain in the backside sometimes, but he's harmless enough." He nodded his head as she commented about his favourite subjects. "I just seem to have a natural flair for those subjects." He grinned. "As my mum would say, I'm playing to my strengths."

Remus instinctively reached out his hand, as the coin flew through the air. It landed flat on his open palm. He looked at the coin like object closely, turning it over in his fingers. He listened to her instructions and nodded, not taking his eyes off the coin. "OK...I will, thanks Simanus."

[simanus]

Simanus liked this boy and as he had yet to misinterpret her intentions, she went for her favorite method of establishing acquaintance. "May I see you wand?" she pulled out her own, ready to offer it in exchange should that be necessary, "Wandlore is something of an obsession of mine." While she waited for his response, she examined the wood of the wand in her hand, the "bleeding" was almost finish, a relief as she had grown tired of the pinkish hue that was the middle stage.

The breeze picked up and Simanus drew her legs closer to herself; this exposed their lower reaches and as the sun was still warm, she left them so, she was absolutely going to sunbathe later on. You have work to do she reminded herself you've got to make your point clear to that Kaine boy, and you'll need to practice. She could almost feel her wand growing cold under the effect of casting her family's trademark and realized too late that Lupin had responded to her. "I am so sorry," she said with a grin, "I was wool-gathering, could you repeat that?"

[Remus Lupin]

Reums shrugs at her request and hands over his wand. He looks at her curiously. "Why do you want to see my wand?" He asked slowly, before accepting hers. He looked over the wand. It seemed to hum like it had it's own force field around it. It was nothing like his 10 inch Holly wand with a dragon heart string core. Still he liked his wand, it had chosen him and they worked well together.

He looked up and handed her, her wand back, waiting for her to hand him his. "Oh I just said, that I would do as you requested with the coin." He said with a smile.

[simanus]

Simanus gave his wand a looking over and felt a smile spread over her face absent any effort of her part. "'Tis a thing of beauty," she said, handing it back to him. "I'm pleased to see mine doesn't alarm you," she continued, "many wizards consider Alder wands to be right up their with those made of Elder. It's the 'bleeding effect' that's considered to be an ill omen. The wood is very pale when it's first cut and then slowly turns this lovely red color."

Simanus thought for a moment and then decided that Remus seemed interested and that if he wasn't, he was the time to do her the favor of saying so before she ran off at the mouth. "This one isn't as well-made as the first one I got," she explained, "but there is a certain deepth of connection between a witch and a wand she made herself. Funnily enough, the core is Chimera scale; I say 'funnily' because both the wood and the core of my wand come from highly misunderstood sources and I am the sort of person whose directness and reverence for simplicity make me next to impossible to misunderstand." She giggled shortly at this, "One would almost expect my wand to have a flare for the melodramatic." Simanus began to laugh in earnest now and hand to put her hand over her mouth for a moment or two while she regained her composure.

Draining the last of the pumpkin juice from her flask and thinking that she could do with a sandwich, Simanus stretched languidly and searched for a new topic of conversation, preferably one that would keep her loose lips in check. "Tell me about your friends," she settled on asking, "I hear plenty of negative things from my house-mates, Severus in particular, but even the teachers who stick them in detention seem to have nothing but praise for their capabilities. They sound to me like the right sort of friends for a person to have."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded when she complimented him on his wand, as he took it back, he smiled."Yes It is. I think every wand has its own character and is unique to the wizard who owns it. It is kind of an extension of the witch or wizard, like a hidden part of them, that exudes their personality, once a spell has been cast."

He listened with interest as she explained about her own wand, and he didn't interrupt her once. He only spoke when she'd finished and asked him about his friends.He plucked a blade of grass that he twirled between his fingers and spoke."They...we are rather mischievous, but it's mainly just to alleviate boredom." He explained light heartedly.

He frowned as she mentioned Severus. "He deserves it. I mean I'm not a nasty person, but he just makes you want to hit him with a patrificus totallus." He chuckled about the teachers. "Oh they moan about us, but they love us really." He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Well James and Sirius are like brothers. Both to each other and to me. They are loyal and will do anything for any of us, no questions asked." He smiled about Peter. "Peter is more like our groupie. He follows us around and will do anything for James."

[simanus]

Simanus did not miss the parallel between this moment and earlier in their conversation. "Severus isn't a bad kid. He lives in fear of his father, who's what you might call a hard case. He's rather close with Lily Evans, a Gryffindor in your year as I understand it, who is muggle-born. Clearly the anti-muggle prejudice of most of my house hasn't sunk in completely yet, the sooner it gets curbed the better." she worked very hard not to sound angry, which she wasn't.

"It's unfortunate, because it puts other people in the position of having to extend the olive branch even if slapped, but with a little friendly input, he'd be as right as rain," she continued, her voice mellowing, "If there were, say, a group of well-liked students from another house who would make an effort to befriend him, it wouldn't take long for him to choose them over that toe-rag Lucius Malfoy and his lot. I say 'well-liked' because these would need to be the sort of fellows, boys his own age ideally, who could stand up for their friendship with him and be listened to. People with the courage to say, 'Yes he's been an ass before, but given where he came from...and what's more important is he's trying to be a better person.'"

Simanus stood while giving her words a moment to sink in. "Lily Evans is brave enough at heart for that kind of compassion," she said and then sighed, "but I suppose people like her are getting rarer by the day. In any case, it was absolutely delightful to meet you Remus. I hope we have a chance to visit again soon; I'm afraid I have to give a potential troublemaker reason to shiver latter on this evening and must go and make some arrangements." She extended her hand once again.

[Remus Lupin]

((OOC I don't think it was common knowledge that Severus was a half blood. He kept that to himself.))

Remus listened to her and scowled a little. "Well maybe he shouldn't be so quick to judge others, if he doesn't want the same thing happen to him." He had been on the receiving end of Snivellus's acid tongue since his first year, and in his opinion Snape could not and would not change, no matter who tried to befriend him.

"I'm sure Lily will end up being treated the same as the rest of us at some point. And when that does happen, she will have real friends to help her." He to stood and took her hand to shake it. "Sounds to me, like you're a potential marauder." He smiled good-naturedly and let go of her hand. "I'll see you soon, no doubt. Bye Simanus."

Remus sat back down and picked up his book again. He was soon writing notes and pouring over the pages.