look with your eyes -DIMITRI-

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

Lucy loved Hogsmeade days. Sure, the school was great, but she liked her break from the routine. Hogsmeade days were something special. She could go anywhere she pleased, relax, shop, and laugh with friends. Well, if her friends were around, she could. But for the first Hogsmeade day they'd all separated into their little groups, some of the girls straying off with their boyfriends, and the young Weasley girl was left all alone. It was fine with her, honest. She adored her friends, but she appreciated her alone time to do as she pleased just as much. Besides, it was nice to slow down and take her shopping and touring at her own pace instead of being dragged from store to store by her giggly girlfriends as they swooned over their latest crushed and giggled about the new staff filling the halls of the school this year. She liked her peace just as much as she liked her friends.

Knowing that she'd have no arranged company for the day, Lucy had been in no rush to join the masses of students heading to Hogsmeade in their little clumps. She'd dawdled in the Hufflepuff commons room, enjoying the calmness of the school in the absence of half its students, and headed out of the commons room about an hour after the rest of her friends had left. The halls were quiet without most of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years around. A few of the school ghosts drifted lazily through the halls to complete the eerie scene, but Lucy had been at the school for so long that nothing about it fazed her, even when it was quiet. Well... that was until she thought of Hugo, her poor cousin who had been attacked only a few weeks before. Her pace automatically quickened. Maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to be alone right now.

Her worries were all unneeded, though. She made it out of the school alive and without running into any sort of trouble whatsoever. The red head slowed her pace then, taking her time walking to Hogsmeade, enjoying the scenery around her as she walked along. Her wild curly hair had been tamed, or at least attempted to be tamed, into a pony tail this morning, but the hairdo had ended up looking more like a bun since her hair didn't like to act normal and fall down as it should. She could have probably straightened it back in her dorm room had she wanted to. A few quick sweeps of her wand over the wild hair would have done the trick, but she'd had her curly hair for so long that it just felt weird to have it under control. She was wearing black boots a slightly see through blue top with a blue tanktop underneath and her favorite pair of pants, but they were for the most part hidden under her Hogwarts robe, keeping her warm from the cool autumn air.

She spotted the bold red hair of her cousin, Lily, a ways ahead of her and ran to catch up to the gryffindor girl. The pair walked the rest of the way to Hogsmeade together, separating so that Lily could go meet up with a few friends by the Shrieking Shack. Lucy, however, headed in the direction of Zonko's joke shop, walking along the street. She always felt like a bit of a traitor when she went anywhere near the store, seeing as her uncle owned its Diagon Alley rival, but she felt bad always pestering her uncle to send her new gadgets to amuse her and her friends. Sometimes she had to pay for her jokes to ease her own mind.

She gazed into the windows of the stores lining the streets, many of which just quaint little shops that she'd never walked into before, and admired the things within. Little moving dolls, child airplanes bewitched to forever fly under the ceiling of a room, glass figurines that dances and spoke... magic could make anything possible. Lucy was staring so intently at a small glass unicorn figurine in a window she was passing that she completely forgot to look where she was going, and tripped over a large rock on the road, falling to her knees on the pavement in a very ungraceful manner. "Flobberworm," she muttered under her breath, trying to get to her feet.

(Outfit: Click)

[dimitri]

Those chilly October winds were sending goosebumps down Dimitri's neck and arms. It wasn't cold enough for a winter coat just yet but his long sleeved shirt wasn't doing the job either. He rubbed his rough hands up and down the dark grey sleeves of his shirt, trying to get a bit of heat going to warm him up. He was considering heading inside one of the pubs, may it be the Hog's Head or The Three Broomsticks, to grab a nice cup of hot cocoa. Dimitri wasn't a huge fan of sweets, he practically never had any, hot cocoa was the one thing he enjoyed that was sweet. It made him feel safe, as if he wouldn't be needed to protect anyone or be protected. He enjoyed that feeling because Dimitri's everyday life consisted of being trained to protect the world from the most dangerous criminals.

Luckily Dimitri had been given the day off, not that he really liked having a day off from training, he saw it as being lazy, but it was mandatory that all the trainees have at least one day off a week from their job. Dimitri was training to become a hit wizard, the one job that he thought he would be really good at. He never felt like he had a purpose growing up, just some kid learning magic. Dimitri had no real passion in his life until he learned about hit wizards. It was perfect for him. Dimitri loves to fight and get things done and thats exactly what a hit wizard does, although he already learned that he really shouldn't get into fights, as in physical or dueling, if one can't hit the target try again another way.

Seeing as Dimitri had no choice in the matter whether he had the day off or not, he decided to make the best of it. When he woke up this morning he had an urge to go to Hogsmeade today. He wondered how it had changed since he last had been here. It had only been two years since he graduated Hogwarts but he was sure something had changed that would catch his attention. Dimitri had apparated to Hogsmeade not knowing that it was a Hogsmeade trip for Hogwarts students today so the area was more packed than usual. It brought back old memories of his time in Hogwarts.

Dimitri continued to walk down the path, heading for The Three Broomsticks in need of that hot cocoa when he was passing the joke shop as a red haired girl fell to her knees after tripping over a rock. Dimitri rushed over to her, though he was usually a reserved person he couldn't just ignore someone who might be hurt. "Thats your idea of a curse word?" Dimitri chuckled lightly as he held out his hand to help her up. It might of not been the proper thing to say for Dimitri didn't really hold conversations with people much so he was a bit socially awkward.

[/size][/justify]

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

Lucy felt plenty stupid, sprawled on the ground on a crowded street. She heard the giggle of a teenage girl nearby, and automatically assumed that she was the cause of it. It would be just like some of the students at Hogwarts, the more stuck up ones who didn't really care about anyone but themselves or their rare close friends, to laugh at someone else's mistake. No matter... not really. Lucy had known for many years how much of a klutz she was. Hell, that was how she'd discovered she was following the family wizarding line and not becoming a squib. Her mother had been boiling water on the stove, and an energetic little Lucy had ran by with her teddy bear dangling in her hand. She'd been making the little bear fly, holding it up above her head and making 'vroom vroom' noises, and had managed to knock the pot of boiling water off of the stove to the floor, right on top of her. Her mother had been nearby and ran when she heard the little girl screaming on the floor, but it turned out that the screams were not of pain but delight as Lucy sat on the floor, playing in a mound of snow that had been searing water a few minutes before.

Her klutz track record had only gotten worse from there, to the point that teachers no longer asked her to fetch the potions ingredients or cages filled with the day's magical creatures. There had been too many accidents in the past that had landed her, or another student, in the hospital wing. Still, though she was used to her klutzism, as she called it, it would be nice if the other students could help her out instead of laughing at her whenever it shone through... And then, speak of the devil, someone arrived. Decidedly older than her fellow Hogwarts students, but at least it was another caring soul.

He must be amused... he must think her pathetic. Lucy felt the heat of a very predictable blush spread across her lips, taking his hand to get herself back to her feet. She brushed off her clothes, not so much to get the dust off of them than as to avoid his gaze and compose herself. Falling down alone had been completely embarrassing, even when the guy who happened to notice and decide to help was someone she didn't know personally. Having that person note her strange habit of replacing swear words was even more humiliating. "Do all teenagers have to enjoy cursing every third word?" she asked, trying to sound as collected as she could. Lucy really didn't know where her odd hait of not swearing came from... it certainly didn't seem practical in an age when people her age and younger cursed on a regular basis. She just didn't see the point of containing all of your anger into one little offensive word, and her parents had tried to knock her out of the swearing habit since she was young, and she had adopted a rather odd way of speaking in frustration. She usually didn't mind when people found it odd, but those people usually knew her and were her friends, not complete strangers.

"Oh, and uh... thanks," she added almost like an afterthought, giving him a smile as she remembered to thank him for helping her out. Thank God that there were some people out there who wouldn't just keep on walking by a 'damsel in distress' as it were.

(Outfit: Click)

[dimitri]

Concern for the red haired girl's well being was racing through Dimitri. He didn't know the girl at all, she seemed rather young, obviously still attending Hogwarts but close to finishing. Dimitri figured it must be the training that he was going through that caused him to feel such a strong emotion for a complete strange. Or was she really a strange? They had both walked the same hall in Hogwarts together, not side by side, but had probably passed each other a few times. Although her face did not look familiar or perhaps it just hadn't made a lasting impression. Who was to say that they were complete strangers? It might be possible that he had helped the girl out in another down fall or spoke the simple words of a greeting once or twice before. Did he know her at all?

After Dimitri had lent a hand to the young girl, she seemed to do everything possible rather than look up at him. Was she that embarrassed? Everyone took a stumble now and again, even Dimitri sometimes had trouble walking with his own two feet. He waited patiently as the girl dusted herself off. He heard laughter not far away from them. It was a group of girls. Three of them were laughing at the fourth who had just spilled butter beer all over themselves. "They aren't laughing at you. I guess spilling something over yourself is a bit more humiliating than tripping." Dimitri offered hoping that would ease her pain.

Leaning against the nearest wall, now that the girl was standing on her own two feet and showed no signs of falling again, Dimitri chuckled lightly at her comment. He was well aware that his generation and lower did have a tendency to ignore all other words in the English language that did not count as a curse word. Dimitri had shied away from such speech not really liking the sound of it. But it wasn't as if he had never uttered a proper curse word in his life. "Perhaps not. But in certain situations you do not need to censor yourself." Dimitri stated.

It seemed that the girl was beginning to feel more secure about the whole incident which made Dimitri feel a bit better, but maybe he should of taken the more traveled route when speaking his first sentence to this maybe stranger. "So are you alright? No broken bones, scrapes, or scratches." He asked, more jokingly than serious. Of course the girl wouldn't have any serious injury from tripping over a rock, it would take a true klutz to achieve such greatness.

"You are welcome." He replied with a small smile.

[/size][/justify]

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

Allowing herself to look at her 'knight in shining armor' did not help Lucy's embarassment at all. The first thing she noticed about him... well, he was very good looking. She generally prefered to judge others by their personality and not appearances, but she couldn't help but automatically flush red noticing his looks. The freckly ginger felt she quite paled in comparison, and then she mentally scolded herself for even observing his looks. The guy had to be years older than she was, certainly no recent student of Hogwarts, well, at least not in the last year or two. Any student older less recent than that she was sure she'd have little memory for, seeing as she would have still been a second year or first year entranced with Hogwarts and all of the goings on. Still, she was a student, and it was wrong for her to think in any sort of a way about someone who wasn't a student. Her cousins would never let her hear the end of it.

She glanced over at the group of giggly girls when he spoke, letting herself relax a bit more now that she knew she didn't have the scrutenizing eyes of her peers on her. Lucy wasn't an outcast, persay, but she wasn't one of the bubbly girls with fifty friends hanging on her arms wherever she went. The fact that she was alone on a Hogsmeade day proclaimed that quite nicely, in her opinion. Sure, she could have arranged to spend this time with one of her friends, but a bit of alone time once in a while wasn't such a terrible thing. She didn't crave attention and company every second of the day, though she certainly wouldn't mind it...

Lucy would generally rather be her own person than fit in with the crowd. With the natural Weasley red hair she already stuck out enough, and she was perfectly happy being the oddity because of her 'swearing' habits than just another mindless zombie teenager, brainwashed by the influence of media and peers. Sure, eventually she'd probably let a swear or two drop. She had when she was young, and her habit of substituting words was a more recent thing. But for now when her life was still relatively stress free for a student's, she saw no reason to needlessly swear when it did no good anyways. "Old habits die hard. 'Sides, I'm happy with myself the way I am," she shrugged.

His easygoing, joking tone relaxed her, so the smile she offered him in reply to his banter was genuine and warm. "I may have broken a bone or something," she joked, "but I'll live." She'd had serious injuries in the past: broken bones, concussions... hell, she'd even managed to fall on top of a sharp knife when she was thirteen and stab herself in the side with the blade. Easy fixes by St. Mungo's, but even though her mother was generally calm and collected, Lucy had nearly given Audrey a heart attack. To trip over a rock and sustain serious injury was ridiculous, though. Unless the said rock was at the end of a 50 foot cliff, or something.

Moving a bit closer to Dimitri, since he'd moved away to lean against the wall, she held out her hand again, this time thankfully for him to shake and not to pull herself up to her feet. "I'm Lucy, Lucy Weasley. It's nice to meet you."

(Outfit: Click)

[dimitri]

Certainty. It was such a difficult emotion to feel especially in young adults. To be certain was something Dimitri never was while he attended Hogwarts. His interests always wavered without a fleeting glance backward at whatever had previously held his attention. His mind was ever changing and his professors grew to the point of aggravation since they could not place him in the right direction during his final two years. They simply decided to stick him with the left overs, pretty much placing him in whatever class they thought might prepare him the most. Certainty was not something he felt until Dimitri was introduced to the world according to a hit wizard. To be sure of something was such a fulfilling feeling that he finally felt complete.

The red haired girl before him seemed so certain in who she was, Dimitri instantly admired her in a small way. She had a certain manner in which she talked, refusing to blend herself in with cussing as well as her clothing revealing no skin. The pants and the blouse actually meeting together unlike so many other students. Dimitri studied her for a moment, as he was leaning against the brick wall, this girl was eloquently beautiful. But she was, after all, just a student who was untouchable. Not that Dimitri wanted to be with anyone now. His work schedule was too hectic he only had time to have some one nighters and be on his way.

"Its a nice feeling being happy with yourself." Dimitri said after a few moments of silence. He finally knew what that meant. Dimitri was happy with working loads of hours with no real attachments to the world, other than his siblings, who were still attending school. He didn't need to be in a high paying job, a woman on his arms, a home listed under his name, and children on the way. He preferred the life style of being on the go. Maybe that had been his problem back in Hogwarts. It was the same thing day in and day out.

"That's good to hear." Dimitri said with a smile and felt a bit relieved he wouldn't have to rush this girl any where. Leaning up against the wall Dimitri pulled out a pack of smokes and began to tap them into his other hand. He started to pull one out and then looked toward the girl. "Do you mind?" He asked. Although he liked to smoke it didn't mean everyone around him did.

A Weasley, Dimitri should have guessed it from the hair. "Nice to meet you as well Lucy." He said. "I'm Dimitri Ivashkov."

[/size][/justify]

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

"It is, isn't it?" Lucy responded with a small smile. The red head held no delusions of being perfectly set in life. She was a far way off from knowing what she wanted, and how to get there. Her current goal was to be a healer someday, because that was where she felt she could do the most good in the world, but that was definitely not set in stone. She had nearly two years left of schooling to plan her future and get career plans sorted out. All she really knew was that when she became whatever she became, it would be because that was what she wanted to do, and she would be herself while doing it. She wouldn't be molded into a perfect little ministry worker by peers or family or teachers, or let society's views change her plans. She would be herself, plain and simple, and whether she crashed and burned because of individuality or whether she soared, she really didn't care.

"Good to hear that I might have broken a bone?" She couldn't help herself from teasing him, which was odd for her. Knowing him for all of five minutes, not even aware of the man's name yet, and she was already comfortable enough to do a bit of teasing. Was that out of character for her? Well, kind of. Sure, she teased her cousins all the time, and her friends as well, but it felt rather odd to be teasing a near stranger. Not completely weird, just... odd.

Lucy didn't smoke herself. Nor did she drink, though that probably wasn't surprising given that she was bit a sixth year. Sure, people claimed that drinking and smoking could relieve stress, but how much stress could a sixth year student honestly have? Not enough to warrant making fools of themselves by chugging down alcohol. She'd been raised to know the various poisons that existed in cigarettes, and just couldn't find the idea of blowing smoke out of her mouth appealing... still, she didn't condemn anyone who took part in the activity. As long as one didn't pressure her to join in, she was all too happy to let others do as they pleased with their own body. "Not at all," she smiled, lifting a hand to brush some hair away from her eyes.

Dimitri... a rather uncommon name, but she liked the near uniqueness of it. She didn't recognize his last name, but that didn't matter much to her. You didn't get to know a person because of their past, you got to know them because of their present. "What brings you to Hogsmeade, Dimitri? Do you work around here?"

(Outfit: Click)

[dimitri]

A small smile went across Dimitri's face at Lucy's fake misunderstanding of what he had meant when he said it was good to hear that she was fine. "Perhaps." He said with a small shrug, lightly teasing her back. It felt nice that a conversation was being held never the less how small it was. Growing up Dimitri had always distanced himself from most people finding hard for him to connect. He preferred to be alone, he was accustom to it. It was a pleasant change to talk to someone for more than a minute. "I mean if you have never broken a bone before then it might be about time that you did, just get it out of the way." Dimitri added. In Dimitri's life time he had had many broken bones from a broken toes to a broken nose. He had done it all it seemed.

It seemed that the red haired girl didn't mind the terrible habit he had of smoking which was good but he hoped that it wasn't due to the fact that she inhaled this toxic waste as well. "You don't smoke do you?" He asked. Dimitri's tone was quite contradictory, almost sounding disgusted by the idea of the girl smoking even though he did it himself. Dimitri turned his back to the girl so he could light his cigarette, taking a moment or two due to the wind stopping him from igniting his cigarette. "Damn wind." He muttered before it finally took and he spun back around to continue speaking with Lucy.

"I actually have off today. Its a policy to have at least one day off a week unless something major is going on. They always have to force me to leave." Dimitri stated. "I'm a hit wizard in training by the way." Dimitri added so that the first part might make a bit of sense. "I take it you are on a Hogsmeade trip from Hogwarts?" He asked though sort of already knowing the answer due to the many students that could be seen.

[/size][/justify]

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

"Perhaps." Lucy had never expected that she would have a meeting like this today. It just didn’t happen. Not to her. She’d never really had a good conversation with an unrelated boy of her own age lately, let alone a perfectly pleasant conversation with a charming man at least two years older than her, seeing as he wasn’t a student at the school. And charming he certainly was, as well as very good looking… she couldn’t help but blush a little bit as she realized that. She shouldn’t be thinking in such a way… this was a random encounter, and she’d never see him again. Enjoy the conversation, don’t get attached. That was what she needed to keep in mind… right?

"I mean if you have never broken a bone before then it might be about time that you did, just get it out of the way." She let out a small laugh, shaking her head back and forth and sending her red hair swaying back and forth. ”I was long ago initiated into the broken bone society,” she told him lightly. ”In fact, I’m probably one of their most prominent members. In case you didn’t quite catch it by my face planting, I’m not exactly the most well coordinated person.” Well, on land she wasn’t. In the air was a completely other story, as though the klutz Lucy Weasley didn’t exist. She felt completely free in the sky on her broom… coordinated, accurate, fast and with excellent reflexes… it not only surprised her cousins who knew of her klutzism, but it surprised the red head each time she took to the air. Maybe it had something to do with the lack of foot to ground contact, or the lack of obstacles in the air… whatever it was, Lucy didn’t complain. In the air she could catch a snitch with as much grace as a ballroom dancer. She tried to enjoy the thrill of that and not look too deeply into the reasons.

"You don't smoke do you?" The girl shook her head, almost finding herself sorry that she wasn’t into the habit because it was one less thing for the two of them to discuss, which was rather ridiculous. ”I don’t think it’s for me.” Her tone was light, she hoped. She didn’t want to sound like she was condemning him for smoking, because she didn’t. Everyone had the rights to do or not do whatever they wanted to do, including smoking and drinking or anything else, really. As long as it didn’t drastically affect another, everyone should have the freedom to do as they pleased. She smiled, watching him try, fail, try, and succeed to light his cigarette before turning back to her.

"I actually have off today. Its a policy to have at least one day off a week unless something major is going on. They always have to force me to leave. I'm a hit wizard in training by the way." A hit wizard… that sounded like an action packed job. Lucy’s mind was running over what had been mentioned of hit wizards in her last year, when the teachers had been informing all fifth years about different careers so that they could try and choose their paths in life. From what she knew hit wizards were very similar to aurors, but it was the latter profession that seemed to get all of the hype and kids her age flocking towards it. Still, they were both incredibly dangerous, weren’t they? She remembered a teacher mentioning something about hit wizards having beds reserved to St. Mungo’s… Lucy could never do a job like that herself. She wasn’t a very confrontational girl, even to criminals… no, she was happy with the career path she hoped to follow, though she knew her mind could easily change in the next two years. She wanted to be a healer. She’d much rather be the one healing hit wizards than the hit wizard lying in a hospital bed.

“A hit wizard… that sounds exciting,” she said truthfully. Just because it wasn’t the career for her didn’t mean it didn’t intrigue her. “But I can see why you’re supposed to take time off… it can’t be a particularly easy, relaxing job, can it?” She could only imagine the stresses that might come with such a seemingly high risk career… more reason why she could never consider such a thing herself.

"I take it you are on a Hogsmeade trip from Hogwarts?" Lucy nodded, brushing some hair away from her face. Every month there was a schedule Hogwarts trip, but it was easy to sneak out of the school for a bit of relaxation on any other day, too. “Today’s an official Hogsmeade day, but I come out here a lot without the huge group, too. I’m a sixth year, so it’s easy to get permission from a teacher when there’s no classes.” Why had she added in that last little bit? It was useless information. Was she maybe hoping he’d tell her his own age in turn? But why would she want or need to know his age? Her head was going to start hurting if she questioned her motives.


(Outfit: Click)

[dimitri]

Dimitri pulled on his cigarette letting his lungs fill up with the toxic smoke that seemed to relax his nerves better than anything else in the world. He could see the cherry on the tip of the cigarette grow brighter with each in take of breath. When it came time to release the smoke from his body, Dimitri politely turned his head away from the young Weasley girl. He preferred not to be the cause of someone else's bad health even if he was damaging his own. When he glanced back at Lucy he noticed her cheeks were fading to their normal pale color as if the girl had just been blushing. He smiled lightly as he wondered if he was making her that nervous.

Dimitri couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's statement. It had seemed quite obvious that she had no coordination at all just from that one fall but Dimitri didn't want to go assuming things. "I thought it was just a fluke, everyone takes a spill at some point or another." Dimitri said. "So I guess you are one of those people who can't walk with their own two feet? Maybe I should give you a bit of space just in case you try to risk a step." Dimitri said, poking fun at Lucy a bit. There was a genuine smile on his face to show her that he really meant no harm and she was more than welcomed to take a jab at him at anytime, his feelings wouldn't get in the way.

Dreading the answer to the smoking question Dimitri was glad to hear that she wasn't entirely fond of the habit. "Good for you, stay away from it as long as you can." Dimitri informed her though by the looks of things she seemed like a fairly smart girl who would know to stay away from such things. 'I would quit if I could but it helps my nerves." He said hating that he gave himself an excuse to continue such a habit.

Dimitri was ready for the excitement that overcame Lucy once he spoke his job title. Many students were always fascinated when coming across someone in his line of work. Usually it was Aurors most inspired to be, the ones who received most of the glory and fame, but a hit wizard was rare. Not many wanted to do such hard work without any praise. "It is an interesting job, the only one I've really liked so far." Dimitri said. "Yes it is extremely stressful and I'm only in training, I can't imagine what it'll be like once I've made it past that." Dimitri paused to take another drag of his cigarette. "Perhaps thats the reason for the smoking." He said after blowing out the smoke from his lungs once again.

"I remember doing just the same when I attended Hogwarts, which wasn't that long ago. I would always try and get permission to leave school instead of staying in doors, plus I wasn't that great at the class work, sort of made it by the skin of my teeth." Dimitri admitted not really sure why he was giving such information away about himself.

[/size][/justify]

[LUCY SARAH WEASLEY]

"I thought it was just a fluke, everyone takes a spill at some point or another." Lucy smiled, though was it really 'smiling again' if she hadn't stopped smiling to begin with? "One time... another time... ten or twenty more times... what's the difference, really?" Klutzy Lucy... that was definitely her. She was at peace with it, of course. Sixteen years of living with the 'disease of klutzism' had enabled her to look past her balance's faults and shortcomings, the only times she really got embarrassed these days where when an attack hit her while she was around complete strangers or happened to injure someone. "So I guess you are one of those people who can't walk with their own two feet? Maybe I should give you a bit of space just in case you try to risk a step." "Or you could stick around to catch me if I nearly faceplant." It was one of those sentences that instantly made Lucy want to clap her hands over her mouth in horror. That couldn't have been her just flirting like that, right? She'd... she'd been possessed. Imperiused by some trickster from the school.

"Good for you, stay away from it as long as you can." "Another eighty years or so and I'll be happy." Lucy, personally, didn't like 'as long as you can'. It made something sound inevitable when it certainly was not. 'I would quit if I could but it helps my nerves." Okay, she could understand that... needless to say his profession would be incredibly stressful, and on top of that he might have some personal life factors that he needed to relax from... she still didn't really approve of smoking, but she could understand his reasonings. "Maybe you just need to find someon-thing else that makes you happy and helps you relax? A hobby? Like, for me, I know that I can always draw to relax. Whenever school or people or anything, really, stresses me out I just pull out a sketchbook. It's amazing how easily and quickly it works."

"It is an interesting job, the only one I've really liked so far. Yes it is extremely stressful and I'm only in training, I can't imagine what it'll be like once I've made it past that." But, of course, he must know that it would be worth all of the hard work and stress in the end or he would not have chosen this career path for himself. Just like Lucy would know not to follow her dream if she hated the sight of blood or couldn't stand hospitals. Everything would be worth the downsides in the end. "Perhaps thats the reason for the smoking."

"I remember doing just the same when I attended Hogwarts, which wasn't that long ago. I would always try and get permission to leave school instead of staying in doors, plus I wasn't that great at the class work, sort of made it by the skin of my teeth." Lucy herself wasn't the top of her class in terms of grades, but she wasn't the bottom, either. She was comfortable enough in her marks that she could afford to sneak away to Hogsmeade in her free time instead of holing herself up in the library to 'scrape by' in marks. "How long is not 'that long ago'?"

(Lucy is a pain in the butt. Seriously.
Outfit: Click)