Time Has No Patienece [Lily]

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

Matt had spent quite a bit of time over the past few months with only a handful of people. Kyle, Aaron, Leyshell, and Melfina were just about all he had talked to, with Leyshell being the one he was around the most. He had also talked to Leyshell's friend Finley once or twice, but that was about it. If anything though, he figured he should strike out on his own a bit rather than just hover around a small, select group of people. He needed to branch out as Aaron had once commented, though he had a feeling about why Aaron had said that. Matt would swear that Aaron felt that he was spending too much time around Leyshell, and was maybe being too protective of Melfina as well. That alone made Matt want to just roll his eyes and punch Aaron or something. Why was Aaron trying to keep him away from both Leyshell and his sister? It only made Matt suspicious of Aaron, as if Aaron was up to something. It was so frustrating, but what could he do other than just get clear of Aaron and maybe the others for at least one day. If nothing else it would be a breath of fresh air, and who knew what might happen? Worst case scenario he was on his own all day, best case scenario he got to talk to someone new or someone he hadn't talked to in Merlin only knew how long. He just hoped that if it was a girl that Leyshell wouldn't get jealous and think something was up. That would be a huge problem, and Matt was not in the mood for any kind of problems any time soon. Would be way too annoying and way too much of a headache for him.

Getting up that morning, he got dressed quietly in his dorm room, pocketing his wand and making sure he put the watch that his dad had sent to him in his other pocket. His owl had pecked at him incessantly until he had finally gotten the package off Barnaby's leg. It was annoying, but the watch was pretty cool, being able to glow in the dark. It was also a pocket watch, and that was something that he had wanted for quite some time. Now he had one, so there wasn't much else he could ask for on that front. Sighing and shaking his head, he headed out of the dorm room, out of the common room, and to the Great Hall for breakfast. He didn't really eat much, though it wasn't like he was having to eat a lot as it was a day where he had no class. The good thing about that was he was able to kick back and relax, especially if he ended up not bumping into anyone today. Chuckling at that hopeful thought, he headed outside, hoping to just relax for a bit. Heading to the lawns, he sat down on the snow covered grass before laying down with his hands behind his head, watching the clouds go by. He spent quite some time watching the clouds, chuckling at each shape he saw. Granted, it was somewhat chilly still due to it being February, but he was fine with that. If anything, the small amount of sun he was seeing was good enough, and he was able to enjoy the clouds in peace for the most part. After about a quarter of an hour or so though, he heard the footsteps of someone approaching. Looking up, it took him maybe five seconds to recognize who it was.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Light Up The Sky" by The Afters
OCC :: @lily
Word Count :: 603 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR

[Deleted]

I can't tell where the journey will end

BUT I KNOW WHERE TO START

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She could hear her heart beat in her head. She used it as a metronome to keep running. She loved her family; she did. They knew her extremely well. Her wPod was attached to her arm. It connected to her headphones and let her heard a lovely rendition of some techno song that managed to set her on a perfect rhythm for running. She didn’t remember what time it had been when she had first set out. All she remembered was that she had been out here for a while. She had had the House Elves of Hogwarts make her a quick breakfast and a lunch. Lily had thanked them over and over again, beaming brightly at them before moving on. She absolutely adored being able to run. The chill air that tinged her cheeks; it was the reason that she loved running in January or February more than she did in the summer. In the summer, it was hot. It was almost too hot to run comfortably without having to wear too-short shorts that made her dad give her a glare and a talk and her mom a weird giggle that made Lily extremely uncomfortable.

In all honesty, she didn’t think that her mother was supposed to be giggling like that, or that her father should be giving her mother knowing looks. She understood…a lot of things about them. Knew and realized that they had known a lot, especially since she was there. And running. And all. But, Lily liked to think that none of that ever happened, and that her parents were weird and gross for thinking otherwise. So, she was thankful that it was still, technically, winter. She was also thankful that this wPod worked on Hogwarts ground. She would have died of boredom if she had had to run with no music around. She would have died of boredom if all she knew was the count of her breaths and the beat of her heart. She preferred it when things were like this; they were much simpler. She loved the way it sounded, and appreciated greatly the tune that kept her going.

She paused briefly, slowing down from her sprint to a job, and then down to a walk. She paused only long enough to check her wPod to see the time. When she saw that it was about time for a break, the redhead stretched her arms upward, feeling a light breeze on her palms that left her giggling to herself. If she timed herself correctly, she would have just missed breakfast. If she had to be perfectly honest with herself, she meant that she needed to sit down and begin to eat whatever little breakfast the House Elves had prepared for her. She looked around for a relatively comfortable place; somewhere she could rest and be comfortable while she snacked on her not too big, but probably really outrageous for a girl her size styled breakfast. Lily had had to charm it so that it would all fit, safe and sound, in a little pouch she wore around her neck.

Inwardly, Lily snorted to herself. She had no problems with Charms. She was a wiz at it; that and DADA. It was everything else that she had a little trouble with. She knew that she had to sit down and study; she was just waiting until the perfect time to do so. The perfect time being whenever Hugo and Louis sat down to do it, too. Because, though she loved her cousins dearly, she wasn’t going to be the only one suffering. “Matthew?” The redhead blinked, glancing down at the brunette who was sprawled out on the grounds. It wasn’t too cold out. Not exactly, but it wasn’t exactly warm, either. “What are you doing on the ground out now, you silly boy?” It had been… a long time since she had last spoken to him. Too long, almost. She smiled brightly at him before plopping down on the ground. “What’ve you been up to?”

WORDS COUNT 674
STATUS finished
OUTFIT here!
NOTES sorry it took so long
MUSIC none, unfortunately.
CREDIT MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

"Hm? Lily! Hey, long time no see!" he replied, sitting up. It had been quite some time since he had seen Lily, though that was easily explained with it being her fifth year. She had probably been busy with O.W.L.s and the like. It was the same with Leyshell, though she was probably finding reasons to not study most days. Today though she was unavailable, so he had been left to his own devices sadly. Well there wasn't much he could do about that, so he was best left to just relax and chill. That had fortunately gotten him into a chance to talk to Lily again, and the last time he had seen her, he was still in his shell. Would she be surprised that he was a lot more easy going now and more willing to talk to people? Would the fact that he was dating a Slytherin surprise her or would she wave it off due to her family members that were Slytherins? Well, she might be surprised due to the fact that he had never seemed like the kind of guy to even want to consider dating up until a couple months ago. That change would probably surprise her, but he wasn't going to know for sure until he told her that he was dating someone.

"Simple, I was watching the clouds. Was way too bored to stay inside, so I figured I'd look around the sky and see what I could see," he replied with a shrug and a grin. He was definitely in the kind of mood to just joke around, but then again, it was probably going to be a bit of a shock to Lily. That alone made him stop to think and wonder what exactly to expect from her reaction-wise to how he was now that he was out of the shell, not to mention just who he was and what kind of person he was now. He had undergone quite a bit of change to where he was no longer the shy, quiet, and reserved fourth year he had been. Now he was more willing to talk to people, and that was going to cause her to be surprised, probably. If nothing else it was going to be interesting to see her reaction to how he was now. Time was one thing that changed people, but for Matt it was all about finding someone to trust, and Leyshell had managed that. His question was just how would Lily react to that?

"Not much. Stopped being shy and I've actually started dating someone recently, but that's about it," he replied in quite the off-handed manner. It was probably the most annoying and irritating thing he could do if the person he was talking to was Aaron or Kyle and they were wanting a serious answer rather than a humorous one. Well, he was definitely not going to care about how either of those two would react when he wasn't even talking to them. He was talking to Lily Potter, so he was going to have to see her reaction and not the reaction of any of his other friends. He wasn't going to be correct if he assumed he got a reaction that Kyle, Aaron, Melfina, or even Leyshell would give, so he had to just be patient. Besides, it's not like she'd get upset for any reason that he was different. She might actually be glad that he was willing to talk a lot more than he used to, especially since she seemed to like talking to people. That wasn't too much of a problem to him now anyways. He was rather hoping to have bumped into her again at some point now that the shell was gone.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Light Up The Sky" by The Afters
OCC :: @lily
Word Count :: 631 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR

[Deleted]

I can't tell where the journey will end

BUT I KNOW WHERE TO START

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The only reason she ever, really, studied was because Hugo or Louis would talk her into it. Not that either of her two cousins were incredibly studious, but because they were more so than she was. After all, she had her darling older brother Albus to look to as an example. He hadn't ever really cared about his grades, and Lily was starting to find that she was much the same in that aspect. She much preferred to work on running – she'd even settle down and play Quidditch if she had to. Anything to be outside and totally forget about doing homework...but she did do it. Usually last minute, and most of the time she was just copying down what her cousins wrote sheepishly. Eventually, she'd get her crap together and do it all herself. Eventually...but probably not today because she was outside and, even though it was a little chilly, it wasn't freezing and the day was nice and Lily loved it. She loved it out here. She wrapped her arms around her knees and beamed at him, pleased to see him outside and in the open rather than indoors and hiding from what few friends he had. She had heard plenty of interesting things about him, but she hadn't ever had the time to really check in on him and make sure he was fine. Hopefully, he had taken to befriending other people rather than simply messing with them. “I know! It's been so long, sorry. Hugo and Louis keep me busy most of the time.”

And, clubs. She had to admit ad remind herself that she had also joined a couple of clubs in an effort to avoid school work and still make herself look attractive to whatever job she might want in the future. She cocked a smile at him and nodded her head, completely understanding where he was coming from. She had loved it outside when she had been younger too, although she wasn't quite sure about laying down in the middle of the lawns where people might trip over them. Then again, the hoodlum inside of her would have cracked up at the thought of knocking someone down and having them curse them out when there were clearly people there. It wasn't as if her vibrant red hair didn't stick out. “I'd much rather enjoy all the green around us instead, but I could see why you'd go outside. It hasn't been this lovely in ages.” She would have extended her hands outwards if it weren't for the fact that she would a) hit Matt on the shoulder and topple over from the lack of having proper balance to make sure she didn't fall all over the place. “Shouldn't you be doing your schoolwork, Matt? Or, letting Aaron annoy you? Either seems probable.”

She hadn't said it to be rude or imply anything, in particular. It was just something that tended to happen. The last time she had spoken to Aaron, he had been mentioned that the Ravenclaw was constantly after him to do this thing or another. She was glad that he had finally gotten to the Gryffindor and was bringing him out of his shell. Matt was a darling, but he could be a bit awkward to be around. Particularly when he left it up to her to try to come up with some sort of conversation starter. That he was actually carrying a conversation on his own without her having to prompt him this time was a bit surprising. “Nuh-huh!”  Lily squealed, her eyes widening in shock as she tried to force her jaw to stay up rather than fall to the ground. There was no way that he had gotten a girlfriend! How had that fallen through the cracks of her gossip ring? That was incredible! Talk about breaking out of his shell. “Matt! That's amazing! Who is she? Someone I know?” She poked and prodded at him easily, eyes shining in curiosity and amusement. Lily wasn't one to judge about who people dated or not, but she hoped that the girl was nice. That she was easy going and friendly and wasn't the type that got all in her case because she was friends with her boyfriend. That happened all the time with her brothers and her cousins, and even her best friend Colton.

WORDS COUNT 732
STATUS finished
OUTFIT here!
NOTES i know. you're a doll
MUSIC none, unfortunately.
CREDIT MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

"No yeah, I understand that. Been talking to my sister quite a bit lately, along with studying," he replied, grimacing a bit a the thought. School work wasn't fun, as all school work amounted to was busy work. As for spending time with family, he rarely passed up on the chance to be around his sister, or his friends Aaron and Kyle. Leyshell was also someone he talked to quite a bit, well for obvious reasons with that one. He did find that he had missed talking to Lily, well a tiny bit anyways. That may have been because he did see her as a friend, though he did once have a small crush on her. That was before Leyshell though, so the odds that the crush was fueling anything was easily dismissed. He wasn't going to assume anything from his past in terms of his behavior and personality were still tied to who he was now and how he acted and reacted. Time changed people, and Matt was one of them who got changed. Then again, his drastic change had came from finding someone he felt he could trust. Heck, he had actually opened up to Leyshell, and that had ended the wall he had put up between himself and the rest of the world. The only problem though was that Aaron was at times thinking that Matt being that open with Leyshell was only going to get him hurt. That troubled Matt, as Aaron was a good friend, and was even getting along well with Melfina, even though that bothered him some.

"No, and no. School work is just there to keep us busy and from getting into trouble. Aaron bothering me meanwhile is way too annoying. That and he can't seem to be anywhere but talking to my sister, so yeah," he replied with a shrug. Aaron talking to his sister was just about as troubling as anyone could imagine. That was his twin sister for crying out loud! That was the most frustrating part about it as now Matt had to worry about whether or not Aaron was actually interested in Melfina that way, or if she was even interested in something like that! It was frustrating on more levels than one, and it was more than enough to make him want to pull his hair out. Well, hopefully he didn't get driven that bonkers, but there was really only one way to find out there, right? That was an even more troubling thought, and not one he wanted to entertain any further. Of course, the only other thing Lily had asked about was school work, and that was just as bad if not even worse! School work was even more his enemy than the confusion and uncertainty he felt in regards to Aaron and Melfina. It was boring, frustrating, and all together a pain in the arse. He wanted nothing more than to just not have to do any school work. That wasn't his luck though, as school work was unfortunately going to be part of school until after he graduated and became an Auror, or a teacher if he couldn't become an Auror.

"Leyshell Connor, a fifth year Slytherin. You might know her from classes, but I dunno because I don't really know who all you talk to," he replied with a laugh. It was true, as he really didn't pay much attention to who all of his friends talked to, so long as there wasn't any sort of negative talk about him. Then again, he trusted the friends he had to not talk down about him behind his back. If they had a problem with him, most knew to bring it up to him directly. That was the relief of having friends he could trust around him so much. Then again, he had to just hope that they didn't get so mad at him that they broke that trust. He didn't want to think about what might happen if someone broke his trust. That was going to be more than a migraine, and he didn't want to even deal with a headache version of that! It was a possibility though, and the chills he got at the thought of what all might happen were very unpleasant. That was neither here nor now though, so he just had to let those thoughts leave his mind. He had other things going on at the moment.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Light Up The Sky" by The Afters
OCC ::
Word Count :: 738 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR

[Deleted]

I can't tell where the journey will end

BUT I KNOW WHERE TO START

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ah, the infamous Melfina. She had spoken to her before, actually. It had kind of been an awkward conversation with her, partly because of the dirty looks Slytherin had been giving James at the time, but Lily had never had a one-on-one conversation with her. She wondered if the girl would be as…bold and as…offstandish if she knew that she was friends with her brother. Probably so because, if she was anything like Albus, none of that mattered. He didn’t care who was related to who. If he didn’t like the person, then he wasn’t going to like the person regardless of who they were sisters with, or brothers to, or any sort of kin with. She admired that about her brother, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was a trait that all Slytherin shared. She would have to ask Kyle…Ricky…the next time that she saw him because it was a genuine question that she wanted answered. “I remember Fourth year like it was only last year.” She sighed dramatically, clearly joiking and teasing. It was…nice being able to have an open conversation like this with Matt. It was almost like she was talking to one of her cousins.


Although, she had to be perfectly frank with herself and admit that it was like a conversation with her cousins, but not quite the same. If it were, then a different scenario would be playing entirely. Instead of walking up to Matt, she might have tackled him as she would have done with Hugo or Louis. Or, if he said something that upset her or simply for a laugh, she might lick them on the cheek or sit on them. It depended on the punishment, and it wasn’t as if her cousins couldn’t take her weight. She knew that they could. She was the lightest one among them. Luckily for Matthew, he wasn’t related to her like that. Besides, Lily enjoyed having a conversation with him because she knew she could say stuff to him that wouldn’t cause an entire family to have to pick sides if something went wrong. “You say that, but I would like to point out that James gets himself in all sorts of situations, and he still manages to do his homework…sometimes.” It really depended on the subject because her brother was a bit of an idiot. “And, what do you mean? “Talking” to your sister? Something going on there?” She might not have looked it, frankly because she could keep a secret, but Lily did like to hear what was going on around the castle. Not necessarily gossip, though, because that was rarely ever good.


But, if Matt was going to try to become one of those siblings that needed to make sure at all times that their sister didn’t get to go out and enjoy themselves, than Lily found herself with the perfect opportunity to set him straight. She might not have had many conversations with Melfina – if any outside of that one that she could remember – but no sibling deserved to go through that. She knew that for a fact, and it was one she was going to be very adamant on. “Wait, did you say Connor?” She blinked multiple times before her already pale face became fainter. The two girls hadn’t gotten along well enough when they first met. So, they had resorted to outright avoiding each other over the years. The less they had to do with each other, the better. But, if Matt had started dating her, then it would explain the glares and the angry mutters directed her way recently. And, well, Lily liked Matt. He was an alright person, and he was a fun conversation, if not at least an interesting one. She didn’t particularly want their friendship to fall apart or something silly like that simply because his girlfriend disliked her. “Uh – well, not her. We don’t really talk. You have a thing for attracting Slytherin, don’t you?” She tried to force a teasing tone back into her voice, and colors to her cheeks.

She swallowed when something hit her. The night that it had happened was flooding back into her memory, and she perked up a bit at the chance of changing the topic. “Right? Because, you’re friends with Kyle Baxter, aren’t you?” Lily smiled a little knowingly and fiddled with her ponytail. She made sure to tighten it before turning her attention back to the younger brunette. “Can you tell me anything about him? Something he wouldn’t normally tell me himself? We went on a blind date before, but I’d like to be friends.” Because, even if they didn’t end up going on that second date, and that second date never became a third date, Lily was a relatively friendly girl. She liked keeping friends, even if the circumstances in which they met never worked out for either of them.

WORDS COUNT 816
STATUS finished
OUTFIT here!
NOTES ---
MUSIC none, unfortunately.
CREDIT MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

"Well that's because for you it was last year," he replied, laughing. Lily had a great way of joking admittedly, as that was pretty funny. It was also fairly obvious that fourth year was just the year before for her, so stating that was weird, but that might have just been him. It was good to laugh though, and it was something he was glad to be able to do since getting out of his shell. Having had to battle out from a nightmarish time where he was devoid of humor and being able to smile, he really understood now what it was like to be happy. That was just something he wouldn't trade for anything, and if anything he was glad he had met people who were tenacious enough to push past his attempts to shrug them off and get through to him, though it had been Leyshell and not Aaron as some may have thought initially. Thing was, quite a few people seemed to not like Leyshell, and that bugged Matt. Did he make the wrong choice about who to open up to? Maybe, or maybe not, but he knew he couldn't really dwell on it, as that would only give him a headache, and he hated having headaches. Regardless of that though, the shell to him now just represented a time where he was on his own, and he couldn't really fathom that possibility anymore. He had quite a few friends now, and to him, why be in a shell again?

"If I'm not mistaken, I'd bet ten sickles that Aaron's interested in my sister. She's my twin, so it's not like age is a concern, but I dunno. She really only got into Hogwarts this year after spending her first three years at Beauxbatons. I'd rather she not be dealing with guys flirting with her and what not so soon after dad got her away from the bloke that had kidnapped her in the first place," he replied before remembering that he had never really gotten the chance to tell Lily about that anyways. He had been pulled away from the conversation right before he could, having gotten an Owl from his dad that Melfina was going to be arriving at Hogwarts, and that he needed to meet them at Hogsmeade. That had been exciting for him, as he had missed Melfina big time. The problem though, was that it meant that he never finished his conversation with Lily, which had been his attempt to open up to someone, anyone really. Well, it was no point trying to cling to something like that at this point. Maybe now he'd get to tell her, but it this time it was more confirming that he saw her as a friend rather than because of a crush, as his last attempt had been. Well, he hoped he'd be able to tell her this time anyways. It was a bummer that he couldn't last time, but there was nothing that could be done about that.

"Oh I see... Seems like few people actually have anything positive to say about Leyshell..." he observed, a bit bummed. He sighed to clear his head a bit before speaking again. "Honestly though, I can't be upset over peoples' opinions. If I did that, I'd still be in my shell rather than being so chatty like I am nowadays," he said before looking over at Lily and smiling slightly, more to show that he wasn't upset. He then heard her tease him about attracting Slytherins and he promptly laughed. "The funny thing is that I don't really mind it as for the most part, they don't seem to be that bad around me. Then again, it's when they're around everyone else that I'll start to hear some stuff going on about them," he replied with a nod. He was starting to hear about a girl from Slytherin, yet who was two years older than him, seemingly spying on him. It was weird, but what was he gonna be able to do about it? If nothing else it showed that he was seen as worth ignoring house rivalries over concerning girls. What did bug him was that it was girls even just a year older than him that were showing interest, and not a fellow fourth year. What was up with that? He should in theory have focused on girls in his year, or maybe even third year, though fifth wasn't bad at any stretch. Sixth year though was definitely the strange part about that.

"Kyle? He's quite the open book really. He doesn't hide much, even if people think that he's hiding something behind his flirting. If he really starts to heavily flirt with a girl, that means she caught his interest enough for him to focus on her and solely her. He literally stops flirting with other girls in that situation. So if you notice that he's only ever flirting with you, that means you caught the guy," he replied with a laugh. He let the laugh fade before deciding to add more. "He's a loyal guy that tends to put himself in the line of fire just to keep his friends from getting hurt. He's not exactly tough as nails, but he never pretended to be anything but who he is. He's a leader kind of guy in that people want to follow him if he takes charge of something, and he rarely actually does that. He's too humble, when you get him out of flirting anyways," he said in a serious tone, despite the subtle joke at the end. It was just who Kyle was though, and that was an accurate assessment from someone who hung out with him quite a bit. There was no lying in what Matt said. Just plain and honest truth about a guy who was among those to fight to get Matt out of his shell. Kyle's tenacity got him a pretty good assessment from Matt towards Lily, and he should be grateful for that.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Light Up The Sky" by The Afters
OCC :: I don't know why, but you always manage to get the longest posts out of me XD
Word Count :: 1008 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR

[Deleted]

I can't tell where the journey will end

BUT I KNOW WHERE TO START

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So? What did it matter that the girl had someone paying attention to her, especially if she ended up liking him as well? She had certainly never gotten that chance, which is why she and Colton had decided to stay best friends rather than dating each other. The attraction between the two was obvious – had always been obvious to anyone who was watching, but the overprotective siblings both of them shared had had them mutually agreeing that it was better for the two of them to set each other up with people rather than deal with the heartache. Luckily for Colton – or, for her, depending on how you looked at it – she had stumbled upon a pretty little Hufflepuff. “You have to understand that she’s probably really independent. I don’t think she’d like it if you told her who she could and couldn’t date. You’re her brother, not your dad.” Not that Lily would have listened to her dad if he told her she wasn’t allowed to date anyone. She was pretty sure she would laugh it off and do it anyway. It was Albus and James she had to look out for, which is why she felt the need to defend his sister. “Wait, wait, what?” She couldn’t have heard him right. His sister had been…kidnapped? That certainly explained a lot of things about his character, but the redhead couldn’t really wrap her mind around it. Was this common knowledge, or was she really only hearing this for the first time? It seemed like something that he should have told her beforehand.

When he said stuff like that, it made her feel kind of bad. Like, bad that she didn’t like her friend’s girlfriend, not bad because she didn’t like the girl. Lily had no qualms about not getting along with Leyshell Connor. Once upon a time, she might have tried to get along with the brunette for the sake of Matt, but that had been before all the dirty looks and such. She didn’t mind that people didn’t like her because of who she was, but she hated it whenever people were jealous of her. Lily was pretty, it was true, but so was Leyshell. And, the youngest Potter had been…acutely aware of the fact that Matthew had had a crush on her. She wasn’t stupid enough to not realize it, but she hadn’t ever been sure how to handle it. So she did the best that she could and treated him as if he were a good friend, which he was! “I wouldn’t necessarily say that.” She said slowly, thoughtfully. “I mean, I don’t really get along with Connor myself – I’m apparently a priss who thinks to highly of herself, and not highly enough about cats – but I guess…if you like her…there has to be something about her I don’t hate…” She shrugged her shoulders. And, even though that hadn’t been exactly what she had been intending to say, she wasn’t about to retract her statement. She believed in what she believed, and no one was going to take that from her. It was her motto. “It’s okay that people upset you, Matt. People upset me all the time, and I’m still a poster child for an open book.”

That wasn’t really true, actually. Even though Lily had inherited both the Weasley looks and the Weasley tempers, she also had a knack for closing off her emotions. She wasn’t very skilled at it as something generally gave her away, but she had been around her family long enough to realize and pick up that, sometimes, people just wanted to hide who they were and what they were feeling. Eventually, they would find someone that they wanted to open up to. That’s how it had been for Albus, and how it might have been for her if she hadn’t had Hugo and Louis. As it was, she loved her siblings and her cousins. It was yet another reason that Connor hated her – she talked about her family freely and openly. It sometimes got to the point where Lily could be considered bragging about how amazingly great they were. “I wouldn’t know what you mean. The only Slytherin I gravitate to –” Now, anyways “– would be Albus and Alietta, and that’s only because they’re cousins. I’m too good…too happy for most people to like me.” She shrugged innocently, not at all bothered by the opinions of other people. Things just tended to happen, and they usually happened for a reason, so she didn’t really care.

She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, letting all the information process and storing it so that she could figure out what she was going to do later. In all honesty, Kyle did like a nice and cool guy. He was flirty, and he was funny. He hadn’t even been overly awkward around her because of who her siblings were. Admittedly, that was the most refreshing thing about him at all. So, Lily found herself smiling and nodding her head with what she was saying. She might not have spent forever around him, but she had picked up on enough of Kyle’s behaviors that she found herself agreeing with the statements that Matt was saying. “See? I’m a poster child, but apparently he is, too.” She found that it was easy to tease the older 7th year now that he wasn’t around.What she couldn’t understand, though, was how on earth he managed to get into Slytherin if he was that kind of person. It didn’t really make any sense to her, unless he had asked the Sorting Hat to put them there. And, that made even less sense to Lily than her previous assessment. The Gryffindor inside of her wanted to dispute that no one willingly wanted to go to Slytherin, but then she had to remember Albus, and her inner Gryffindor shut up real fast. “Well, I don’t want to get him in any trouble, you know? He’s nice and he’s sweet, and he might be the first guy who’s called me pretty this year.”

WORDS COUNT 1023
STATUS finished
OUTFIT here!
NOTES sorry it took so long
MUSIC none, unfortunately.
CREDIT MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

"Yeah, that's true," he replied with a nod. She was right there, he wasn't her dad. However, with how hard their dad was trying to track down the guy that had kidnapped her after he had gotten away, Matt had taken on the responsibility of keeping an eye on Mel. That was why he acted the way he did, but it was probably fairly annoying to Mel that he was acting pretty much like their dad would, though only because their dad was not around at the moment. Not because their dad was a neglectful father, but because vengeance was on his mind, or if nothing else than justice. He was going to let his mind continue with that train of thought until he heard Lily's reaction to his mentioning of his sister having been kidnapped. "Yeah, it was what I was going to tell you back on that day where I had to leave randomly mid conversation. It was just over ten years ago now," he replied with a sigh, rubbing at an eye with one of his hands. He was surprised that it took until now for him to try again to tell Lily about it, but then again, they hadn't actually bumped into each other since the last time he had tried. Well, there was only so much he could do about that, and unfortunately there just wasn't anything he saw he could do.

"Yeah, I just... I wish that if any of the negative stuff about her really is true, then people had told me before I opened up to her," he admitted with a sigh, shaking his head. He still didn't believe what people were saying. He didn't believe any of it, and why should he? She had given him no reason to think that any of the stuff was true, so why believe otherwise when there was no proof that he could see? The problem was that there was even a couple of people he trusted pointing out that it wasn't smart for him to be with Leyshell, that being Aaron and Kyle, as apparently they had seen what others were talking about, and that made Matt really uncertain. It was frustrating, and he had no idea what to do about it at all. If anything he knew he would have to get clear of all of this stuff, but how exactly was he supposed to? It was maddening in more ways than one, and he did not want to be driven mad by all of this. Stress was still not something he could really handle all too well, and this was one area that highlighted that. He just didn't know what to do though, and it was getting past the point where he could stay sane without something happening one way or the other. It was coming down to where Leyshell either proved people right or she proved them wrong, and that might very well be the most dangerous thing about it all.

Matt laughed when Lily said that she wouldn't know what he meant. He then looked a bit confused when she mentioned that her being too happy and too good made her unlikable. "That's the weirdest thing of all there. People not liking someone because they are too happy. The too good part, well that depends on who you ask, but you just gotta wonder if people are just jealous of people who are able to be happy all day every day," he mused, wondering if that was why people didn't really like Lily all that much. Jealousy was a dangerous feeling to have, as green usually wasn't a color anyone wanted showing in their eyes if green wasn't the color of their eyes. That was the easiest way to get yourself into a hole when it came to the person you were jealous of. Matt just couldn't see why anyone would be jealous of Lily though. Yeah, she had a great life, but it wasn't hard to be just as happy as she was if you didn't do anything stupid. He had never met her brothers, though James was in their house, and yet he knew that it was probably better that he didn't meet her brothers. That may very well be a disaster waiting to happen, and Matt wasn't too eager to incur that. He did note though that maybe it was more people not liking that she was such a good person more than the fact that she was able to be so happy all the time. That was a sad thing to take note of, as it was a crippling thing to dislike someone for being a good person. You might as well just hang a sign that says bad guy around your neck if you're like that.

"Yeah, it was always a wonder how he managed to get sorted into Slytherin, but at this point, there's no real arguing about it. At seventh year, it's kinda way too late to change your House if you could at all. He's always been glad that he was a pureblood rather than a half-blood or a muggleborn, but that doesn't stop him from wanting people to just get along rather than bicker about their bloodlines and if their pure or muggleborn. He prefers the live and let live kind of motto," he replied with a nod. Mentioning the contrasting thoughts that went through Kyle's mind was something he just hoped that the older Slytherin wasn't going to have any kind of problem with. If nothing else it was something that would show Lily the reason why Kyle was a Slytherin, yet also show another reason why Kyle should not have been in Slytherin. The guy just had a huge heart for people who were bullied or shunned because they weren't purebloods. Matt fully agreed with Kyle, and yet he knew there were people that really didn't agree with that mindset, including his biggest enemy right now, Thomas Regal. If anyone was an arse about that sort of thing, it was Regal.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Light Up The Sky" by The Afters
OCC :: S'all good.
Word Count :: 1012 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR

[Deleted]

I can't tell where the journey will end

BUT I KNOW WHERE TO START

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She felt a small window of pride begin to swell up into her. It was this little sort of relief that swelled up in her when she realized that she was was helping someone else out that was in the same situation as she was. As much as Lily loved her family, she couldn't help but feel suffocated by everyone. Everywhere she went, she had people comparing her to someone. And, it wasn't like she wasn't like them because she was, but sometimes all she wanted to be was her own person. Now, she hadn't met Matt's sister, but she couldn't help but feel as if the girl felt the same as she did. It was nice that they had family and that they had someone to take care of them and look after them, but it was annoying not to be able to venture out and have fun and make mistakes to learn from if someone was always pulling you after them, expecting them to follow around like they were a lost puppy. “Oh. Is that why you looked so nervous back then?” That made a little more sense. She tapped on her knee with her fingers, tilting her head up and trying to think of something else to say. “You looked so stricken back then, and then you just left. I had no idea where you went. And, when I never saw you again, I couldn't help but worry a bit.” But, seeing that he was fine and dating Connor was sort of a relief.

To be fair, the redhead could have warned him. She could have told him all about the Slytherin girl and how cruel she could be if only he had told her about it. But, Matthew hadn't, and it hadn't really been either of their faults. Lily hardly spent any time with him. It was unfortunate, but she was busy. She liked to run, and she liked to shop. She was a social butterfly who tried to befriend everyone she interacted with. The younger fourth year hadn't been like that when she first spoke to him. He was too reserved and he refused to speak to people. He stayed to himself, even when she and others would try to pull them away. But, he wasn't like that. Or, at least, it seemed that he wasn't like that anymore. She couldn't help but feel like it was because of Connor that he was that way, and she wanted to be thankful. She really, really wanted to be thankful, but she was too frustrated by the fact that the one person she hated and fought with was the one who had gotten the guy she had been working with so carefully to open up. “Like I said, you're a pretty good judge of character, Johanson. If you opened up to her, that means she's either super, incredibly good at being manipulative, or it means that she's honestly a good enough person.” It was kind of plainly obvious which one it was that Lily believed, but she would never say that out loud. It was a good thing that Matt was learning to be open and speak freely to people.

She shrugged her shoulders, humming a little. She understood that she had a pretty good life. In fact, she had a great life. She had siblings who loved her, cousins who loved her, aunts and uncles who loved her, and, best of all, she had parents. It was unfortunately that she could hardly do something really fun without people taking pictures and putting it in the Daily Prophet, but her parents were famous, and Lily couldn't really help that. “There's something about us, personally. We're too happy, to pleasing, too eager to make friends. It's fine if people don't like me, though. I'm happy to make up for Albus being broody, and James being...well, James.” She laughed. Her eldest brother was a prankster and charming. It had a lot of people liking him, but it also, unfortunately, made him quite a bit of enemies. Not very many of them hated Lily because of it, but they did treat her warily. She shrugged her shoulders at his comment, wondering if there wasn't something about it. People were jealous for the oddest of reasons; she couldn't begin to understand why it was. She had stopped a long time ago, after nights of crying because people didn't like her. But, the redhead had long since quit caring about people and only ended up flushing red with anger when people insulted her. She was pretty good at her mum's old favorite hex, and had adapted it to become one of hers. “It's not all day every day, Matt. It's just most of the time.” Because it was silly to believe and to think that people could be happy at all points of the day. Sure, there was the cheering charm that one could cast, but it wasn't like that was real happiness. Well, there was the effect of laughing hysterically, but that was all in people's heads.

That was actually a very good question, and so she smiled at him. There were plenty of people who would have done well enough in another House. She was pretty sure Matt would have been better off as a Hufflepuff, but then a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff dating might have given people something to gossip about for months when they should really be focusing on other things. “Magic, Matt. It's always magic!” She giggled, enjoying the feeling of teasing the younger kid. Of course it had been magic that sorted people, but she knew that that's how muggles jokingly explained things sometimes. “Isn't that what most people believe nowadays? Sure, you have those who are still pretty biased -” Like Roque Zabini, despite how much he kept to himself. She wrapped her hands in her jacket and hummed. “I mean, I'm a half-blood. And, there are more and more half-bloods. The people who hold on to the believe that the purebloods are the best are a dying race. Moving forward with equality!” Lily smiled. They were no where nearly as opened up as the ones in America, which is why the redhead really wanted to head that way and stay there a while, where she might be able to live in peace without people annoying her.

WORDS COUNT 1065
STATUS finished
OUTFIT here!
NOTES -roll-
MUSIC none, unfortunately.
CREDIT MADE BY CC! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON]

"Yeah, it was a rough span there for me, from the time where my mum was killed and my sister was kidnapped till the day my sister came back. Was just the curse of my family after my dad had left being a death eater after being forced to be one for a few months. That's not something you leave without repercussions apparently. The repercussions for my dad was the death of my mum and my sister being kidnapped," he replied, noting that he probably hadn't said the part about his mum being murdered that day yet. Then again, Lily now knew his whole story, and that wasn't terrible, was it? She knew exactly why he was the kid everyone picked on, and why he always needed someone to stand up for him. You lose your mum and your twin sister, albeit in different ways, on the same day, and it's easy to see why a person might just retreat into a shell to limit dealings with others. He had no reason to trust anyone back then, so his shell was just his way of showing that. Now though, he didn't even know if he had any more reason to trust the first person he did trust enough to break out of his shell, and that was causing him some serious problems in the form of an inner conflict. What was he going to do about that situation? He needed to come up with something quick, but this was maddening.

"Yeah, the manipulation line there did little to help my uncertainty over the whole thing, Lily..." Matt replied in a slightly depressed tone. This just wasn't easy for him at all. It was always painful for illusions to be shattered, but the possibility that he was in that situation himself was really painful and really confusing. What was he going to do at this point? He had no idea, and it was driving him bonkers. If nothing else he needed to just relax and let his mind clear, but that was something he didn't seem able to do right now. Why was this driving him mad so easily? It was getting him really wound up, and he was bound to explode at any moment. He just didn't want to explode on any of his friends, like Kyle, Aaron, or his sister Melfina. He was less sure that he wouldn't want to explode towards Leyshell, but he knew that if he did, and it was all unfounded, then he would do nothing but make a huge and tremendous arse of himself. An arse was something he was not, and that was not something he wanted to ever be known as either. This just wasn't a good situation for him to be in at all, and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck dealing with it for Merlin knew how long. What sucked as that he seemed in line to reach the point where he'd be driven mad without even wanting to. Why was he going through something like this after only about a month and a half out of his shell? This was frustrating, and Matt had no earthly idea on how to escape this situation. It was as sticky as glue, and it had no chance of letting him go.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying there, but it's still just a confusing situation. Because unless the people in question were anti-social maniacs, why be anti-happy, friendly people? It just doesn't make sense at all, even if the person isn't happy all day every day," he replied with a sigh and a shrug. He just wasn't feeling like he was in a too good a mood now. He was seemingly all happy cheery today himself, but now he was just losing that cheerfulness he was feeling as confusion and sadness and an untrusting mindset began to set back in. He had been free of that when his shell broke, yet now it seemed to all just be flooding back in on him, and he was being put into a serious hole there. How was he going to get away from the fact that his shell was coming back? And that the cause of his shell returning was the one who had gotten him out of it to begin with? This just was not something he ever wanted to deal with, and a part of him was whispering to him that he should have never trusted anyone, thus keeping him safe from something like this. This was just way too confusing for him and way beyond anything he could have ever anticipated. What in Merlin's name was he going to do now? He was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place, and he definitely did not like how this felt. The thing was, he had no earthly idea how he was going to change it, and that was the biggest issue for him. He had never faced this before, and thus was completely unaware on how to handle it, having been caught completely off guard by everything he's seen.

Matt let out a bit of a chuckle, but by this point his mind was elsewhere. What was he going to do about this whole thing? Talking to Lily about Kyle just didn't seem like it was going to help. This was just a time where he had to get away, rather than just stick around and probably weight Lily down with his depression. He was going to be better off just going back to the boys dorm and sleeping or something, or maybe heading to the Forest, or to the Room of Requirement. Any of those options were infinitely more appealing than forcing Lily to have to put up with his depressing mood and attitude at the moment. If it meant that he showed signs of going back to his shell, well so be it. Was going to be better than driving people off because he was being moody and possibly short tempered. Sighing, he stood up, looking off towards the lake momentarily. "I'm gonna bounce. Starting to just get a bit too depressed and I'd much rather not pile it all on you," he said, fighting off a few unexpected tears before he started to head back towards the castle.

Notes:
"MATT JOHANSON's SPEECH"
MATT JOHANSON's THOUGHT
NPC'S SPEECH

Mood :: Quiet
Eye color :: Brown
Outfit :: Gray hoodie, maroon t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and gray sneakers.
Song playing :: "Eye On It" by TobyMac
OCC :: S'all good.
Word Count :: 1054 words without coding

Simple template created by Paige Yin @ WATR