[edna] the shades have been pulled shut

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

James sighed as he kicked at the shining marble floor as he walked through the entrance hall. Detention. He rolled his eyes in frustration and thought back to how it was he’d even landed himself in a room filled with obnoxious Slytherin’s. Truth be told, he couldn’t pin point the moment when he crossed the line and ended up writing lines about how he’ won’t’ misbehave for two hours straight. James didn’t see the point in writing lines, it didn’t teach him anything other than giving him the knowledge that writing for two hours on end had the ability of making his right hand ache to an extraordinary extent. Heading away from the Dungeons, James jogged up the stairs, his feet echoing loudly with each stride that he took.

Sometimes, James just couldn’t understand what went on around him, it wasn’t as though he was a bad student, he just wasn’t perfect. Quickening his pace James headed toward the Gryffindor common room, dodging his way through any students as his speed intensified with frustration. He couldn’t help but contemplate how things might have turned out had his parents survived, would he be in the same constant and detention riddled situation or would things have been easier. Of course, his family were ‘loving’. Love had never been missing from the extensive Weasley family, but that didn’t stop him craving more. A low growl lodged itself in his throat as he climbed through the portrait hole and made to collect his broom from his room.

He just needed some time to himself. Once he’d shouldered his way out of the castle through the main doors, James felt an eerie calm in the darkness surrounding the castle. Releasing a gentle sigh James mounted his broom and kicked off, his breath visible in the cool night air. It was strange how often relaxed the Gryffindor felt when he was on his broom, how petty his issues seemed.

After manoeuvring his way through the grounds, the breeze tugging at his hair James headed toward one of the quieter places of the castle – the roof. The roof – though out of bounds to students had always been somewhere that he felt safe. Touching down, James slowly unravelled himself from his broom before sitting – his knees pulled into his chest and his eyes cast out at the surreal grounds around him.

[addedna flysly]

"Up here again, Mr Potter?" The feminine voice appeared from thin air before Addedna made her entrance from behind a chimney stack. Every good student knew that apparation was impossible around the castle but Addedna still had a knack of turning up just as someone was doing something they shouldn't. Some suspected she was in fact a set of octoplets or was in possession of a timeturner but both statements have been refuted or discouraged by the headmistress on every occasion. And despite the terrible winds that blew about the place, the headmistress was dressed in an immaculate gown just as always. It swished in shades of yellow around her child-bared body as she stood, her fingers weaved together. Somehow, as if by magic, she had no problem standing on the incline in killer heels. With a thoughtful look out into the distance, she finally spoke again.

"Quite the weather we've been having recently, don't you think?" Her eyes scanned the horizon and noted several grey clouds hovering in their direction. Tutting with a wag of her finger, the direction of the wind changed and sent the clouds packing in the other direction. Without a care in world, she then began to pace her way across the top of the shingled roof to the young man's location before settling on her behind beside him.

"Having some troubles, young man?" She asked, her eyes still on the clouds.

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

James was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he wasn’t aware of any other presence on the roof, he was so enveloped in his own frustration that the familiar voice of the headmistress caused him to flinch visibly. Of course, Addedna Flysly wasn’t at all horrific, in fact she was really quite pleasant in terms of levels of compassion and respect that were mutually shown between the students and herself. He glanced up toward the Headmistress, offering an apologetic smile. “Yeah. Sorry” his words held no hint of an apology and he turned his head to stare absently toward the horizon once more.

“Yeah sure, it’s...pleasant!” James nodded, his eyes glanced around at the scenery. Admittedly, it didn’t matter how long James sat and stared for – the surreal feeling that he didn’t deserve to lay eyes on such a magnificent place never faded. James fought the urge to release a sigh as Professor Flysly seated herself beside him. Sometimes he appreciated the fact that the castle was full of surprises – people just seemed to spring up from nowhere, it kept him on his toes. However, it was times like this that he wished he could have some privacy. It was times like this that he wished people would stop appearing and that portraits would refrain from prying – but even the greatest of things had its downsides.

“Troubles?” James shrugged. Grateful for the lack of eye contact from the Headmistress. “Not really. I’m just contemplating...life, I guess.” he fell silent, a hand ran over his face and through his hair but still he couldn’t take his mind off his parents and the people that had taken his life and shattered it into thousands of pieces.

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[addedna flysly]

"Not to worry. I shant tell anyone that you were up here." She raised a hand of comfort to his half-arsed apology, with no sense of irony. Aside from the board of governers - there were was little authority above her that would have an interest in the activity of a student out of place on the roof.

"Pleasent?" she asked, raising her brow to the bitter way he seemed to spit the lovely word. "Yes. I suppose it is." She raised her hand to her brow, allowing her to look up through the clouds to the shining sun. "I've always liked the sun. But I'm not really a fan of extremely warm weather as you youngens seem to enjoy so much. I'll take winter over summer any day." Not one to ramble much, Addedna cut that thought loose right then and there. She could sense that James wasn't all too interested in her opinions on temperature. But the keen mother inside of her knew that the lad wasn't feeling all too well and she felt a need to comfort him. And often, talking about nothing in particular was better than tackling the actual problem. Children never did like sharing secrets, Addedna had noted over her years as a professor. Especially when it came to speaking with ladies of an older persuasion.

"Ah," she nodded at his next statement, not at all convinced. "Quite a difficult journey isn't it?" She made eye contact for the first time, but only for a moment before she looked down on her gloved hand and began picking the lint from the fabric. She could never keep them clean in such a dusty old school as Hogwarts. "Especially if one forgets to pack their suitcase."

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

“Well that’s awfully good of you!” James glanced toward his Headmistress, his words leaving him in with an unintentional bitterness, really he just hadn’t expected anyone to accompany him. He didn’t like people to see the brooding him, he much preferred his image – the image of jokes and immature pranks. It was a part of him that he enjoyed, he liked the light humour that came with such a reputation – the lack of expectations and accepting eye-rolls when he ended up in detention.

“Winter? Hmm.” he nodded, his words sounding uninterested, though for a moment he appreciated the unnecessary chatter from the older woman. It was relaxing, in truth it reminded him of his mother. Talking without really requiring a response – it was almost soothing, like a quite background to his thoughts. However, as the two of them made eye contact James felt as though the Professor was able to see through his jovial image.

“Even more difficult if you forget your destination.” James offered a weak smile. Although initially he’d felt that the woman’s words were somewhat philosophically irrelevant he continued the travelling analogy of his thoughts – though in part truth. James couldn’t remember what his childhood plans had been before the murder of his parents – now, even despite the talk of ‘careers’ and his desire to be a professional Quidditch player, he knew that really all he wanted was vengeance. No, revenge for his parents and his family, but if he did one day achieve this where would that leave him? All were prospects that he couldn’t pin point, prospects that made his jester appearance much more difficult than he sometimes let on.

[[ooc – sorry it’s not too great and that it took me a while.]]

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[addedna flysly]

Addedna said nothing at his bitter outburst and merely held her gaze on the sky. The silence said it all really. He knew she didn't appreciate rudeness. But then Addedna was decent enough to know he was in a bad place and likely didn't mean to be mean. It was a natural defense mechanism when one was hurt - to lash out at those that actually cared. Even when they really wanted them to be there. Like refusing a cookie when you were dying to have one because of a diet you were pretending to stick to. Edna realized it must have been hard for him. She gandered that he might've felt at a loss. Feeling no real belonging to anywhere or anyone. The headmistress, however, was rather lucky in that respect. She had a huge family and shared connections with several connection by blood or by marriage. She was both Scottish, German and Austrian while having married a Welshman and taken his name - then birthing children that went on to marry Italian, English and Irish individuals. So patriotically, she was sound - however, it often made watching Quidditch difficult. You never knew which team to support. However, in the end, she hoped that James knew he always have a home at the school.

"Yes.." she replied at his flippant comment about the winter. He was being uninterested but again, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he really wanted her to leave - she felt it best not to leave him alone. Her motherly instincts made it difficult for her to leave well enough alone. When she knew that students were having a hard time - she kept an eye on them, one way or another. Whether it was her personal owl, Quigley, that flew the skies, the professors that reported back to her or the lone cow that wondered the grounds - she had her contacts. Besides, many wondered whether she spoke to the school itself but then she would refute these claims entirely... Didn't make them untrue, though...

"You can always get off at another stop.. or switch trains." She offered, before allowing a silence to linger for a moment. It lulled for only a second before she burst into a small flurry of laughter. "Oh, I never did learn when to end metaphors... I sounded rather intelligent up until then, didn't I?" She jested, hoping to get a rise out of him.

"But seriously, you need not concern yourself with a destination. Just... enjoy the ride." She shot him a wink before finally giving up on cleaning her gloves. They would only get dusty again.