* - - stop standng there (FRANBREY [img]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q83/kaptain_kassy/heart_bounce.gif[/img])

[AUBREY LYNN MCNEAL]

The school year was going by slowly in Aubrey’s eyes, but that was just fine with her she loved it at Hogwarts and it was her second to last year. She smiled softly to herself before dipping her quill into the ink bottle before jotting down some more notes about becoming an animagus. In her side pack she that was lying next to her on the bench, there were a couple of books about ancient runes, or at least that’s what everyone would think, but it seems that in this case it isn’t always what it seems. Aubrey had actually casted a spell on a couple of books that talk about animagus to look just like the normal Ancient Runes books that Aubrey took with her everywhere, after all that was Aubrey’s favorite class.

Now why would Aubrey disguise some books of her? Well it’s really quite simple actually; she doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s trying to become an animagus. Well other than James Potter that is, as he’s the one that is helping her along the way.

The young blond sighed softly as she placed her quill down on her parchment and looked up to the sky with her green orbs. She tried to go outside as often as possible when it came to this time of year, as she didn’t know how much longer she could enjoy the nice weather. Really, she wished she could fly out on her boom she got during th summer, but unfortunately she wasn’t very good at flying and thus wouldn’t do it alone. She was still waiting to go out to the field with Rose of course, to hopefully learn how to fly finally so that she didn’t feel like she was missing out on anything.

[FRANK ALGIE LONGBOTTOM]

There was nothing to do. It was kind of amazing, really. In his final year of schooling it seemed like the teachers had decided to slam the seventh years with work, preparing them for the real world that lay outside the magical enchantments of Hogwarts. Every week there was an essay, each day one or two assignments from various teachers, or the same teachers. There hadn't been a day since the very beginning of the year when Frank had just been able to say 'I've got nothing to do!' and relax.

Except for today.

The professors had been miraculously merciful. They had somehow each timed their 'easy day's perfectly so that Frank ended up with absolutely no homework, but a not from the transfiguration professor that he should review a spell or two as there might be a bit of a 'pop quiz' next class. Frank decided he'd review enchantments later, and spent a bit of time with friends in the Gryffindor commons room before he excused himself, ran up to his dorm room, grabbed his broom, and left through the portrait of the fat lady that had hung proudly on the wall since his first year at the school. The skys were calling him.

He wasn't a real Quidditch player. He lacked the coordination for that, as demonstrated at tryouts in his second, third, and fourth years at the school. Then he'd kind of gotten the picture. Playing Quidditch was not his thing; it was just as enjoyable to spectate and feel the thrill of the game while cheering in the stands with friends. But just because he wasn't a Quidditch player was no reason for him to not fly. Flying and Quidditch were two very different things. When flying you just had to avoid the ground, trees, buildings, and birds. You didn't have to dodge balls zooming out of nowhere or catch and throw one with your own hands. It required no coordination, and he actually loved it.

Carrying his broom along with him, hanging over his shoulder like a miner's pic, he wandered down the quiet halls, occasionally running into a group of familiar faces or passing a couple lounging in one of the crannies that lined the hallway for windows. He decided to cut through the courtyard as a shortcut to the Quidditch pitch, which he figured would be the logical place to go for a bit of fun, but took a detour to the benches as a familiar head of straight blonde hair caught his eye, as it always did.

"Hey, Aubrey!" he grinned, approaching the bench where she was sitting. He glanced to his left, and then his right, and then swept his gaze around the entire courtyard for good measure, just to make sure that there wasn't a certain blonde haired nuisance lurking about anywhere. Seeing no such person, he relaxed a bit, though still asking a question just to be certain: "You alone out here?" It was an innocent enough question, he hoped, to not have her figure out who specifically he was asking about.

If Frank were less blinded by his emotions for Aubrey, he might admit that the fact that he seemed to see Scorpius with Aubrey at every turn of a corner was probably just an exaggeration in his mind born out of jealousy, but he really didn't care. The fact was that whenever he saw her and wanted to speak to her, it always seemed like the slimy Slytherin was right there, rubbing their relationship in the seventh year's face. Since when had Aubrey even been attracted to Scorpius? That was what Frank wanted to know. And since when had Scorpius liked her? He probably didn't even care for her at all. No, the more likely explanation was that he was like most hormonal guys. He just wanted the thrill of having a beautiful girlfriend to parade around like a trophy and turn heads. And when that Malfoy boy broke Aubrey's heart and left her a mess, Frank wouldn't let himself be around to console her while she was blind to how he felt.

Except he would. He knew he would. That was probably the most pathetic part of this whole thing. The seventh year could seethe in jealousy all he wanted of the blonde haired Slytherin and the fact that he had gotten who Frank considered to be one of the most amazing girls in the world, but the eldest Longbottom had no one to blame but himself. Nearly three damned years, and not once had he been able to gather up the courage to be honest to his friend. Who knew what would have happened if he had. But even if nothing had come of his confession, he at least wouldn't have had as much of a reason to be jealous of Scorpius or furious at himself for not taking the chance to tell her how he felt. Yeah, it kinda sucked seeing Aubrey with Scorpius, but Frank had had plenty of chances to get his shot with her, and he'd always chickened out. He couldn't hold the fact that she couldn't see how he felt about her against her, and so he knew that he'd always be there if she needed him. Well, at least until next year when he would no longer be around...

But the thoughts of how much of a failure he was when it came to the girl before him weren't exactly the most appealing place to let his mind wander, and so he looked at her and the things around her to find a new thing to focus on. His gaze rested on the sidepack lying beside her. He could see a few books peeking out of it, and from half a title he could read off of one he guessed what she was doing. "Studying? On a day like today? I'm graduating this year and I'm not even that focused on my schoolwork! It's a beautiful day out; wouldn't you rather enjoy it instead of study?"

(1076 words. Wow... Frank's off to a good start. )

[AUBREY LYNN MCNEAL]

Ah yes, that’s right. Today the usual peppy Gryffindor girl was quite seriously focused on her work. Some say it’s very rare to see her that, others say she’s been that way lately. However, none of them could explain as to why. There were many opinions out there, but not of them knew the true reason, Aubrey just let them all think that she was preparing for her N.E.W.T.s even though she wouldn’t be taking them for over a year. After all, there isn’t such a thing as being too prepared.

In all honesty though, if Frank hadn’t said anything to her, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed that he was there. In fact, the sound of his voice caused her to jump slightly as she quickly rolled up her parchment. She didn’t want Frank to know what she was truly working on. “Oh hey Frank, I didn’t see you there,” she said with a warm smile as she finished rolling up her parchment and then placing it in her maroon plaid messenger bag with her disguised books.

She then closed up her messenger bag and swung around to face her close friend Frank. The two of them had been friends ever since she had started at Hogwarts, he was always so nice to her and the two of them hit off as good friends straight from the start, despite the fact that they were in different years and mainly only saw each other outside of class. “It’s more like extra credit, you should know how much I loved Ancient Runes,” she chuckled lightly.

Anyone that knew Aubrey well enough knew that Ancient runes was her favorite subject and that she wanted to be an archeologist when she was done at Hogwarts. She always thought that it would be awesome to visit pyramids and learn to break the curses that were on them.

[FRANK ALGIE LONGBOTTOM]

He knew of her love of Ancient Runes, of course, but couldn't say that he exactly shared it. He was in the class to fill up a space in his schedule, and maybe a little bit because Aubrey was in it too... but it served no practical purpose to him and the path that he wanted to take at the end of the year. Care of Magical Creatures was Frank's favorite class, as most people who were close to him probably knew. But that was more of a hands on class, not one that you could study and study for. Well, you could, but information was only so much use when you actually came face to face with the wondrous creatures that one encountered in COMC. Unfortunately you didn't ever encounter some of the really amazing creatures, though you did pretty much ever animal who inhabited the forbidden forest and lake, but Frank planned on making up for a lack of 'amazing' creatures after his fast approaching graduation. His intent was to be a dragon tamer, a little fact that he hadn't discussed with anyone but his father yet. It had been his goal for a few years, but in order to succeed he likely had to get an O on his N.E.W.T.s. After all, his boss wouldn't want him killing himself because he didn't understand enough about magical creatures. It would suck to get your dream job and die on the first day...

"Well, yeah, of course I know, but extra credit this early in the school year? Give yourself a few months of freedom before you dive into your books." Frank's own father was the Hogwart's deputy headmaster, and herbology professor. Of course he knew the value of his studies, especially this late into his school career, but he also knew the value of relaxing and just enjoying the school year. He'd heard from adults in his life and friends from previous years who were out in the 'real world' now that things didn't really get easier once you were out of school. You had to worry about your job, your house, your food and your livelihood in general. School was the most freedom that he would have for many years, at least if the horror stories he'd been told were true. He wanted to enjoy them, and couldn't see why Aubrey was focusing so much on school work before even her seventh year.

The Quidditch pitch and the skies were still calling Frank's name, but their voices had been dulled by Aubrey's presence. He could more than happily spend time with her instead of his intended destination, with the broom slung over his shoulder. He more than liked spending time with her, and figured he should take advantage of the fact that her boyfriend wasn't around her to annoy the hell out of the seventh year. Rather than walking around the bench, which he was currently behind, to sit down beside the younger girl though, Frank just jumped up on top of the bench with two feet and jumped right back down, again on two feet, to sit down beside her. He set his broom down leaning against the bench. "And people call me a teacher's pet," he teased. "I don't do extra credit work for my dad. You must be Professor Rhodes' favorite student."

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[AUBREY LYNN MCNEAL]

“Well, yeah, of course I know, but extra credit this early in the school year? Give yourself a few months of freedom before you dive into your books. She was glad that he actually thought she was doing extra credit. But even so, Ancient Runes would pretty much be the only class that she would pretty much do extra credit in. She couldn’t wait to see her results for N.E.W.T.s even if they were about a year and a half away. She knew that she would see a nice shiny “O” for Ancient Runes and of course in a heartbeat she would set off to go work in Egypt at the pyramids. She hoped that Scorpius wouldn’t mind that she was far away, but lately it seemed like he was far away with how much time he was spending with Theresa Kelsey. She knew that they needed to prepare themselves for their first task, but at the same time she missed being with Scorpius. But at least today she would have Frank’s company, unless he got bored of her. She wondered if Frank ever got bored or annoyed of her, but that didn’t mean she would ask.

She then realized that Frank was carrying a broom over his shoulder. Aubrey wondered if perhaps she was keeping him from his original attentions. She knew Frank wasn’t on the Quidditch team, but she also knew that Frank loved to fly. She had seen him out there a couple of times when she would go off to the pitch to study their instead. Though no one ever seemed to notice when she is sitting in the stands watching, perhaps it was because she chose one of the spots that people were less likely to see her? That and the fact that she didn’t make a lot of noise when she was out there. She just used the time to relax and think as she watched the amazing fliers at Hogwarts fly.

“And people call me a teacher's pet. I don't do extra credit work for my dad. You must be Professor Rhodes' favorite student.” She was snapped back to reality by Frank’s teasing and she couldn’t help but blush. She could just feel her cheeks grown warmer by the second. “Well I don’t think I’m his absolute favorite. I’m sure either Raychel or Isabella is, after all they are the top students at Hogwarts,” she defended herself, though she wasn’t really sure why she was defending herself. It wasn’t like she had a crush on Professor Rhodes after all.

“Were you headed out to the pitch to do some flying?” she asked trying to change the subject, she didn’t feel like blushing anymore. She was sure he would comment something about her blushing, it seemed someone always did. But It wasn’t like she couldn’t help with the fact that she blushed quite easily. “I’d like to join you if you don’t mind. I love watching people fly,” so much for not blushing anymore. She just made herself keep right on blushing with that last comment she made. Oh when will the little blond Gryffindor girl learn? It didn’t help that she never understood why she blushed around Frank more than most people.

[FRANK ALGIE LONGBOTTOM]

Frank was not an 'extra-credit' sort of guy. Sure, he was a good student. With his father as the deputy headmaster of the school, he couldn't really afford to slack off unless he wanted some big consequences at home. But he wasn't an overachiever, or even an achiever. He got good grades in class; answered questions, did his homework, studied for exams, etc. but he didn't seek out work when there was none immediately available to be found. He wanted to enjoy his school years, not spend them panicking about getting the best grades. In his opinion, if he were meant to be a top student he would have been placed into Ravenclaw. Maybe it was unfair to stereotype the houses, but many of the best students in his year came from the house. Ravenclaws kept up their legacy of cunning smarts, whereas Gryffindor kept up their reputation as the brave house. As long as Frank got the best grades he could get without working himself into a stupor, he was more than happy with his grades whatever they were.

Isabella and Raychel... both girls in Frank's year, and both Ravenclaws. He thought it was rather unfair to compare the bubbly blonde before him with either of the studious, or at least seemingly studious, Ravenclaws. Teachers had to put into account the effort their students put into their classwork as well as their grades. He doubted there were many other students in the school at this time of year already looking for extra credit to boost up their grades. Now, to be honest, the guy was probably just incredibly biased towards the girl he'd had more than a little crush on for years, but there was no harm in being supportive of someone in comparison to other people, right? It wasn't like he was worshipping her as the top student at Hogwarts or anything.

"They're in seventh year," he shrugged, as though that were enough of an explanation. "And once we're gone next year, I'm sure you'll be one of the top students at Hogwarts so, if Professor Rhodes is as fond of them as you think, you'll be able to steal their spot. I doubt even the head girl is looking for extra credit already."

The tint of redness on her pale cheeks delighted him. Seriously, could she get any cuter? He knew how prone she was to blushing, having known her since they were relatively new students at the school, but the charm of it never failed to wear off in his eyes. He couldn't resist making a comment about it, teasing her a little bit more. "You're blushing... hiding something, Aubrey?" he grinned. "I don't think your boyfriend would like the fact that you've got a crush on a teacher too much. You're such a gold digger." 'Your boyfriend', he wouldn't even say the guy's name first. It was too annoying, and the urge to punch something was too great. He was careful not to show that on his face, though, grinning as usual.

"No, Aubrey. I don't want you anywhere near me," he joked with an eyeroll, certainly not serious. It was hard to keep a straight face when he was really rather happy that she wasn't telling him to go away and let her be to study. It always amused him how friends asked other friends if they would mind their company. If two people were friends, they obviously didn't mind being around the other. No permission should ever be necessary among friends to hang out. It should just happen. "I'll do one up on that," he told her, hoping that he didn't sound too much like an eager little kid. "Why don't you come flying with me? I won't let you fall; I promise." He knew that she was terrified of flying, of course. Having a broom related accident at a young age had scared many young students away from the skies, but those fears usually passed within a few weeks or months. Her terror had held on for years, though her love of Quidditch had only grown. Frank had heard that Rose was trying to help Aubrey get over her fear this year, but why leave all of the work to the young Weasley girl? It'd be kind of boring just flying around alone with her sitting in the bleachers watching him if she were to come along. He could help her out a bit and have fun doing it, too.

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[AUBREY LYNN MCNEAL]

“They're in seventh year, And once we're gone next year, I'm sure you'll be one of the top students at Hogwarts so, if Professor Rhodes is as fond of them as you think, you'll be able to steal their spot. I doubt even the head girl is looking for extra credit already.” she wanted to say that she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be one of the top students, there were so many Ravenclaws that were better than her. She was mainly only excelled at Ancient Runes and a couple of other classes, not every single class like most Ravenclaws did. Sure Aubrey wished she was one of the top students in her grade, but she didn’t try as hard like her best friend Rose did. Of course Aubrey doesn’t procrastinate with her homework, most of the time, but Aubrey also didn’t always try and put extra effort in it like Rose did.

“You're blushing... hiding something, Aubrey? I don't think your boyfriend would like the fact that you've got a crush on a teacher too much. You're such a gold digger.” She couldn’t help but glare at Frank. Did he honestly think that Aubrey would have a crush on her Professor? And even if she did, she wasn’t sure if Scorpius would even notice it. She didn’t want to tell Frank, or anyone for that matter, but Aubrey was beginning to feel that Scorpius was drifting away from her. Perhaps it was just the fact that him and Theresa were both champions for Slytherin that they were hanging out more, but Aubrey still felt that Scorpius wasn’t around as often as he usually was. Or perhaps Aubrey was just over exaggerating; after all, she did have a tendency to do that.

“No, Aubrey. I don't want you anywhere near me.” Frank’s voice had brought her back to reality, as she realized that she was still in the courtyard. It didn’t help that her mind often wandered off from time to time. It wasn’t that Frank was boring her; it was just something that she easily did. She was about to open her mouth and say something when Frank had started to speak again. “Why don't you come flying with me? I won't let you fall; I promise.” She closed her mouth and felt a bit frozen for a moment. Did he really want her to fly of there with him? Did he forget about the fact that she wasn’t that good at flying? Yes, she was getting lessons from Rose, but Aubrey wasn’t sure if she was ready to fly up into the air on her own without Rose. Well technically she wouldn’t be on her own as she would be with Frank. She did trust Frank as well, so perhaps it would be just fine. “Umm… Well my brooms back up in the common room,” she said softly as she stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder. She then laid her hand upon her wand that was in the pocket of her robes. She debated whether or not to just summon her broom or to just use one of the school ones. Though she was always iffy with the school brooms as she knew how old they were and it was one of the older brooms that she had been on when her accident in her first year had happened. Perhaps her broom would be much better than the school brooms.

She took ahold of her willow wand and pulled it out of her pocket before swishing softly in the air “Accio Nimbus Four Thousand,” she said softly in hopes that her broom wouldn’t take too long to get them, or that someone else’s broom would come instead. She would’t be surprised if that happened, as she was sure she wasn’t the only students to have a Nimbus 4000. However, it wasn’t long until she heard the Zoom of her broom flying towards her and it landed softly in her hands. “Well that made it easier, just promise me you’ll catch me if I fall while we’re out flying,” she giggled lightly before placing her broom over her shoulder and she waited for Frank to lead the way.

[FRANK ALGIE LONGBOTTOM]

Ravenclaws were the stereotypical brains at Hogwarts, but there were plenty of exceptions to the rule. Sure, this year both head students had ended up coming from Ravenclaw, which was pretty impressive, and sure, some of the smartest kids in Frank's grade were from that house, but that didn't mean that you were deemed to mediocrity if you weren't in Ravenclaw. Look at the infamous Hermione Granger. One of the smartest students to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts with her presence. She was a brilliant student, and yet belonged to Frank and Aubrey's own house. There were plenty of smart Gryffindors and Slytherins and yes, even smart Hufflepuffs out there. It really wasn't fair to lump all of the supposedly brainy students in one house and neglect to mention to wisdom of students in other houses, though Frank knew he was guilty of that now and then. Ravenclaw students were sent there because their wit and cunning were among their most obvious traits, but it was perfectly possibly for a smart student to be much braver than smart, and end up in Gryffindor. Or hard-working to gain their smarts, and end up in Hufflepuff. Aubrey had the dedication to her studies, apparently, to be a top student though she was in Gryffindor. Mind you, Frank was probably just very biased towards the girl.

The glare, though it came with no response, shut Frank up quickly. He realized he must have crossed a line, though his comments had been intended as harmless teasing. The last thing he wanted to do was push the issue further and make the blonde storm off in anger. Friendships were fragile, and though he'd been close with Aubrey for ages, he didn't want something to make their relationship snap and push her father away from him. It was fairly early in the year, but if anything pushed them into a fight that lasted to the end of the year, with Frank leaving the school for good, it could be tricky to get close with her again. That was a risk he was not willing to take, so any argument that arose he was pretty sure he'd back off quickly.

"Well, I might let you scream and fall, but I'll catch you a metre above the ground or so. Promise." He was joking, again, of course. He didn't want to reinforce her fear of flying by giving her another traumatizing experience on a broom to justify it. Besides, on instinct if he so much as thought she was about to fall from her broom he knew he'd be there, waiting to catch her, in a second. Instinct wouldn't even let him think about letting her fall a few extra metres before catching her.

Picking his broom back up and hitching it over his shoulder once more, he set off to the Quidditch pitch. He made sure not to get too far ahead of Aubrey, glancing back every few seconds to make sure he was no more than a few steps in front of her. He didn't want to leave the poor girl in the dust. Being quiet on the journey to the pitch would make a very quiet and dull journey, though, so he decided to talk to liven up the atmosphere. "So, how's the year been treating you so far?"

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[AUBREY LYNN MCNEAL]

“Well, I might let you scream and fall, but I'll catch you a metre above the ground or so. Promise.” Aubrey rolled her eyes knowing that he was of course joking and then quickly placed her broom over her shoulder so that he could follow him on out to the Quidditch Pitch. “As if you’d do that to me. Do you not want me to try and fly again?

[/color]” she teased back lightly. She knew that many of her friends wanted her to get over her fear of flying especially since many of them flew around on their brooms a lot. Most of Aubrey’s time at Hogwarts was spent sitting in the Quidditch stands watching the others fly as she worked on homework or read a book. Not this year, she was determined to be out there flying with them.

“So, how's the year been treating you so far? the sound of his voice brought her back to reality and she quickly made sure to catch up to Frank so that she was walking alongside of him instead of behind him. “It’s been alright. Though I kind of wish I had gotten into the tournament. Not that I’m mad that James and Alaya got in, I still wish I had. I wanted to prove that I do belong in Gryffindor and show everyone I’m brave, despite the fact that I would refuse to try flying ever since my first year,[/color]” she said lightly to him. With Frank, it had always been easy to talk to him. It was like he made sure to listen closely to her and always say the right thing back. She was glad to have a friend like Frank and hoped that she would never lose him. Even after they both finished Hogwarts, she knew they had different paths ahead of them when it came to their careers, but she still wanted to stay in contact with him. “How about you? How’s your year going so far?[/color]” she asked him curiously.
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