noah - it's not uncommon

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper sat in the corner of the common room, in an armchair, not too far from the fireplace that burned with green flames. She was unknowingly drawing some attention. It happened when you had long legs, often folded the waistband of your skirt so that it was shorter, and were sitting incorrectly. When Juniper pulled up her skirt, she wasn't trying to be slutty. It was just that the uniforms were so baggy on her, that she looked completely dreary if she didn't show any skin. But now, she was almost sideways in the armchair, her back against one arm, and her legs draped over the other.The effect was very leggy. Especially since gravity was pushing the hem of her skirt higher up her thighs.

Juniper didn't notice, and Juniper wouldn't even remember how she got into the position. She was trying to do some reading for Divination, but it was very, very boring. It took her ten minutes to read one page because she would get distracted midway through thinking about dropping the class. And then she forgot what she read and had to start over ...

She was biting her lip, staring down at the page in question with palpable intensity.

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

OUTFIT

If Noah could do anything, it was wear a sweater like a champ. He rolled into the common room like a big shot, sleeves cuffed, top buttons undone, tie loosened, and sweater done up. He caught the eyes of a few, but it seemed many had their sights set on someone different. Noah couldn't help but smile. Juniper looked so cute when confused. She had that adorable furrow between the eyebrows and was biting her lip. He too, of course, was enjoying the leggy view, but as he grood friend, perhaps even best friend, he figured it was his duty to inform her that everyone was looking at her.

"Hey Lady J, just thought I'd tell you that the whole room is waiting for you to unintentionally flash them." Noah said raising his eyebrows and dropping into the chair beside her. He had a big potions paper due the next day. He hadn't been procrastinating, the new professor just had it out for him and it had been just been assigned that afternoon.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Lady J was the only other nickname that Juniper tolerated apart from June. Mostly because only Noah used. And Noah was her only real good friend, and Juniper, who valued the little she had, valued him immensely. He could've called her anything and she'd find a way to be ok with it. It took her a moment to make sense of what he was saying. She stared at him blinking, and then caught the eyes of some boys across the room, and then looked at her legs.

She pulled down her skirt a bit and pulled her legs under her. "Yeah, well, tell them it's not the stars because Mercury and Venus aren't getting along." Juniper glanced down at her book. "Or was it Pluto?" Juniper slammed her book shut and tossed to the ground by her armchair. No way she was going to concentrate now - best friends had a habit of being entertaining.

"At least we put on a good show." Juniper said conversationally. "Half the time girls are waiting for you rip your clothes off with your strong manly arms." It was probably because he was an athlete. And captain no less. Juniper had so few good friends she often wondered how she was able to score really awesome ones. Her first ever best friend was the son of Harry Potter. Her best friend now was captain of the House team, and all around stud.

At least Juniper could say she got quality over quantity.

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

OUTFIT

Noah laughed as she tried to decide which planets would have to be aligned for her to flash her housemates. "Probably its Uranus that has to be in line with Venus." He said with a chuckle and a wink. Too easy to pass up really. He hated divination, mostly because he was terrible at it, and he wasn't sure it made a whole lot of sense. Sure the world was physically connected through atoms and such-- he studied muggle sciences too because he thought they had good things to say. But he just couldn't believe that planets really had that much individual sway. There was always chance in life.

At her comment about girls wanting him to rip off his clothes he started to so some sort of dance which mostly was wiggling his hips in his chair as he slowly undid another button on his shirt, causing a little first year to almost fall off her chair. Noah laughed and started doing back up the most recently undone button, but he did remove his tie.

"So divination huh Lady J?" He said eyeing her book. Noah pulled out his Potions book and made some room on the table for his things. Lady J had always been his nickname for her, though he couldn't quite remember how it had started. He was pretty sure it had to do with some boring History of Magic class they had their first year and they talked about how informal people were now compared to back when, so he combined both now and then in "Lady J".

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper punched his arm at the Uranus joke. Not because she actually cared, but it seemed like part of their roles at friends - she (being the one to less often use dirty jokes and therefore having slightly higher ethical standards) got to reprimand him when his mind was in the gutter. It wouldn't hurt him anyway as he was probably 90% muscle. Or at least it felt that way, because anywhere that June punched him, it felt like punching a wall - except for probably his face and manly areas, but she had never punched his face and the latter seemed rather cruel.

June raised her brows and looked away, almost blushing. There was just no way that she could just look at his seductive dance - it was silly and embarrassing. And while Noah may have no shame, she could feel exposed on his part. The first year falling broke the tension, and Juniper laughed.

"So divination huh Lady J?"

"Care of Magical Creature actually." Juniper responded her best attempt at a normal and serious tone of voice. "You know because hippogriffs can only be fed when the planets are aligned." She scoffed as though that should've been obvious. "Honestly Noah, get with the program, no wonder you're failing everything." Juniper looked away and shook her head as if she honestly couldn't believe Noah could make such a blunder. "Jocks." she muttered, under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

Juniper playfully punched his arm and he had to laugh, it was nothing compared to a bludger, or even a good whack into a wall, and glanced off him like bullets did in muggle movies. It was all those hours on a broom. He noticed her look away during his dance, but she snapped out of it when a first year took a tumble from her chair and he laughed too. Juniper needed a little lightening up sometimes and that was always his job.

Noah laughed and shook her head as she went on about the planets and feeding of animals, which he was pretty sure was a joke given most animals didn't feed according to planets as far as he knew. He was taking care of magical creatures this year and he couldn't remember if Juniper was even in that class with him.

"Psh, you wish you were as hunky as me," he joked. Of course, she didn't want to be a hunk, but he meant toned, the words just hadn't surfaced in time. June would know what he meant."And I am not failing everything , only maybe potions." He said, flipping to a page on on magical plants that cause illness.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper chuckled. She almost started to say how if she were 'hunky', as he put it, her legs would be massive and people would more likely be freaked out than intrigued. And that would just be a loss to the community. But however, she considered that he may actually be experiencing trouble in potions, and she looked over at the page in question, concerned for her friend.

While she was good at potions, he was a year older than her, and probably covering different material. Still, that didn't stop her from asking, "Anything I can do to help?" She was more or less caught up on homework, except for one Charms paper due in a couple of days and the stupid Divination reading.

She leaned over a bit closer to see the page, surveying the different diagrams and list of plant qualities. Her hair spilled over around her, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek as her eyes took in the information. She tried to connect it to anything she already knew.

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

Noah had been about to say that it was very sweet that she was offering and that he would figure it out or classically fail like the jock he was, using her own comments. Of course, he was a jock, but he hated the stereotype that implied he wasn't also smart. But then he had to keep his mouth shut because Juniper was leaning over his book. Her hair fell in waves over the paper, her scent blowing gently into his face... She looked so cute when she bit her lip like that.... Noah was fairly certain she was either a sadist or had no idea how beautiful she really was.

"No that's okay. She just assigned us a paper on how dangerous certain magical plants can be that in certain doses heal and in others kill. 4 rolls by tomorrow." he complained, moaning lightly and leaning back in his chair--mostly to avoid being so close to his friends cleavage.

"I'll get it done but its really ridiculous." Noah didn't even like potions, he was just fairly good at it, genetics really. His father loved him and since he got high enough OWLS, he had to take them according to his father's wishes.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper looked up, her brows furrowed. "That's sounds more like Herbology than Potions." she noted - what kind of pointless assignment was this? And four rolls? Even the hardcore teachers only assigned three, and that was with at least a week's worth of time.

She sat back, contemplating a way to help Noah. In a moment's time she came up with the solution. "Right well, I've also got a killer essay-" that was a lie. Her Charms essay was going to be a piece of cake, but she wanted to make Noah feel a little better. "- so how about we do this: we sit here and work until we're both done. And then I'll nick some wine from the kitchens and we'll unwind." She smiled encouragingly.

"But firstly, you aren't going to get four scrolls out of this book as there is only ..." Juniper, once more leaned over and flipped through the pages. "... one chapter on the subject. So you'll need reference material." Juniper was entering hardcore academic mode. She got up, straightening her skirt. "I'll get it for you while you get started." And off she went towards the library.

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

"I know right?" Noah said. It did sound like Herbology. They were learning about medicinal potions and how careful one needed to be when measuring. So it did fit, and there was overlap, but why so many pages? Noah planned to write big.

Wine? By a fire? With her in that skirt? Noah figured he might die but it sounded fantastic. "This is why you are my best friend." he said, which indicated yes to the win, writing and possible more references. Noah wondered if maybe his Herbology book would help at all and got up to get it from his room.

However, he did have to wait until she left the room, as he fully enjoyed watching her walk away. A few repressed third years threw him impressed looks, marveling at his being with her and he just nodded. "Oh yeah, I'm awesome." He was a bit of an idol to some of the younger boys in the house, good grades, Quidditch Captain and all. Noah ducked into his room and started rooting around and finally found a Herbology book from the pervious year, as he wasn't taking it currently. He checked the index and decided it might be handy to have around on principle. Noah decided to leave his tie behind.

With that, he returned to his seat in the common room, watching the green flames flicker up from the grate for a moment before inking his name into the upper corner of a piece of parchment.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

The librarian watched with obvious concern as Juniper checked out of the library with half a dozen thick books. Titles such as Magical Flora: Friend or Foe?, The Abridged Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs and Fungi, Greenery Studies, and others. Even though Juniper was stronger than she looked, it was still a strain on her thin arms to carry all of them, piled one on top of the other. But she walked, at a quicker pace to get back all the way to the dungeons faster, with a determined expression on her face.

She could've just enchanted the books, but a) no magic out in the halls, b) there were still students around, and c) as a prefect, she had to set an example. She did get a few weird looks and she literally power walked through crowds. Someone wolf-whistled and she wasn't sure why.

The exertion was making her warm, so she was thankful when she entered the cold dungeons. At that point her arms felt as though they were on fire and get back protested, but there was only a little left. When she approached the wall that served as the common room entrance she yelled out, "Hold the door!" The startled second years recognized her and jumped out of her way. June sped into common room, got to Noah, and dropped the books next to his chair with a very loud THUMP.

Juniper straightened up, her arms feeling abnormally light, breathing heavily. She pushed back her hair which was sticking to the light sweat on her face and tried to catch her breath. She could feel people's eyes on her - there was just no way of not drawing attention today, was there?

"Right." she said, taking a breath and sinking into her armchair, sideways like before. "That's my exercise for the week."

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

Truthfully, he should have known better to think that she would come back with a little book on an unrelated subject. She teetered toward him like a cartoon and with a thud, the books fell to the floor next to him, mostly staying in a pile, but it looked dangerously unstable now. "I should say so..." He said with a laugh. But really he had no idea how she had gotten all of them up here. "Thanks," he added with a genuine smile. "I owe you one." Noah really should have gone with her, given the fact that he totally could have carried those books without too much of a problem.

From behind him he pulled out a bottle of wine he had previously gotten from the kitchen. "Found it in my room, so now we can just relax." he said setting it down on the table between them. of course, he had no glasses but they could transfigure something probably... or share the bottle. They'd been best friends for 6 years anyway, they already had each others cooties by now.

Noah had about a page done when she arrived, mostly with basics and introductory stuff, but still, only 3 more to go... well... 3 and a half was more accurate.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper returned his smile - it was nice being appreciated - and nodded to the comment about owing her one. Of course that just added to the tally existed but that none of them really cared to keep track off. What were favors between friends?

"Sweet." Juniper said, in response to the bottle. That saved her a trip. She took it off the table and put it under instead. "I am a prefect, so try not to blatantly advertise the fact that we're breaking rules." she chided him lightly. She had to look respectable.

And then it was time to start on business. "Right now. Time to concentrate, so we can drink later." she pulled a serious expression and took out some rolls of parchment, some ink, and her quill. She lay the Charms book against her lap, for reference, and the parchment against one of the pages. She was a quick writer, and she figured it she could be done before Noah was even halfway finished.

ooc- if you want, we could have them work in relative silence and sortof fast forward until they're done, probably late at night

[NOAH ADOLF MACNAIR]

Noah laughed at her and shook her head. Silly prefect. She was right though really, and he was glad she took her job seriously, but who was going to rat them out? It was just silly to worry about that. Besides, it was already late and soon people would start winding down their homework and doing anything more fun, including sleeping.

They worked quietly for several hours. They had books open everywhere-- or at least he did, and the scratching of quills was only occasionally interrupted by loud chatter of students coming back or getting punchy from the late hour. As careful as she wanted to be, Noah took sips of wine right from the bottle as they worked.

The green flames burned low at one point and he stretched and yawned. He was almost done really, but this assignment was a cruel joke. "Almost...." he moaned. His hair was unruly by now from him running his fingers through it and his shoes were off, his feet folded up under him.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper finished her Charms essay three hours ago. She finished her Divination reading two hours ago, and took the most detailed notes she ever wrote for that class. For any class maybe. Then, at a loss, she did all her reading for next weeks class, too, which wasn't much because next week was mostly composed of practicing spells. For a good half hour somewhere in all that time, she stared at a single page in her History of Magic textbook, wondering what sadistic parents would name their child Prufrock (an obscure wizard who made achievements in the composition of dark spell detectors.) Sometimes she looked along, checking on Noah's work. She'd stand behind, rest her chin on his shoulder and point out small spelling errors.

Now she was sitting in her chair, pretending to work (although at this point she was just doodling planets, equations, and plants - all the images that were swimming around her too-full brain.) Her eyes were glazing over, but she was mostly just mentally exhausted and bored, not necessarily sleepy. She looked over at Noah, who had just declared he was nearly done, and tried to smile encouragingly, though she clearly looked fatigued. "Good job buddy." she said, stretching her arms over her head, momentarily exposing a bit of belly. She didn't want to contribute the fact that she was done for the next week. No need to rub in the fact that her life was being reasonable whereas his was unfair.