At One With Nature (Open)

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Lochlan has been a natural in the outdoors since an early age. He could hunt, fish, climb, whatever one thought of outside. He made it clear to anyone who wondered that he didn't hunt and fish for sport. When his family moved to the English countryside, hunting and fishing put food on the table along with his mother's garden of course.

With hunting, Lochlan became a natural tracker. He obviously couldn't hunt at Hogwarts, and wouldn't if he could as he didn't need to due to the food served in the Great Hall. But what he could do was go out into the woods, the permitted woods, and track down various animals. With his father gone, it was his hunting skills that not only helped his mum out when he was home, but would help him become an Auror one day as well.

Now Lochlan stood there and eyed a deer he had found. It was beautiful, peaceful, and such things kept Lochlan's mind at ease, making him forget about any of the negativity in his life.

[ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY]

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Ellen walked the grounds freely on that cool afternoon, a leather-bound journal held by her hand against her thigh as she moved closer toward the woods. She hadn't had much of anything going on lately, spare the upcoming Valentine's Day ball and other random events going on. Mainly, Ellen was trying to focus on herself, but in an unselfish way if that was any bit of understandable. She wanted to make sure she wasn't giving up who she was because of her clinical depression. She wanted to be happy, and a normal witch and do things normal teenagers do. It was a daily struggle to keep herself happy, unlike everyone else it seemed. But Ellen was doing her best considering, and that was all she could do.

As she walked into the woods, she looked about. The sun was shining through the branches above and Ellen closed her eyes as the warmth touched her cheeks. She smiled and kept moving, opening her eyes to make sure she didn't run into anything or anyone. She noticed the color of a shirt through the trees ahead and wondered who'd also be out here; after all, it wasn't the most pleasant place to venture. "Hey are you -" she started, but when she reached the boy, the deer he'd been watching ran off from her startling it. "Oh I'm sorry," she said and frowned, looking up at the boy before her. She had just ruined his day...now it was highly unlikely he wanted her company. She tried to remain optomistic but, of course, she couldn't help but realize he'd probably hush her away.

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Lochlan heard the voice, but had his eyes locked on the deer as it made a run for it. Lochlan was a bit upset at first, but he never got particularly angry over minor things. Whatever anger he had drifted when he turned to see the girl who spoke. She was absolutely beautiful. Lochlan smiled a bit at her, then shrugged.

"It's alright," he said, his Irish accent showing a bit. "Deer are easily startled. If you hadn't ran it off, someone or something would have eventually, most likely myself. Besides, I think I prefer the company of a beautiful lady anyway." Lochlan wasn't a playboy or smoothie, but he had no qualms about telling a girl she was pretty. Getting a closer look, he felt he recognized her as another Sixth Year, not one from Gryffindor, but Hufflepuff. "I'm Lochlan. I believe you are in some of my classes this term. Um... Helen... right?"

ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY

[ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY]

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Ellen was comforted by the fact that the boy seemed so collected about the situation. In fact, Ellen herself might have got her own feathers ruffled if she was intrigued by something and then it was disturbed. Still, she couldn't help but find comfort in his kindness. "Well, you're very kind," she said, feeling her cheeks warm despite the cold temperature around them. "Ha - close, but not quite. It's Ellen," she said with a defining nod. Ellen wasn't offended in the slightest; for someone to have guessed so closely at a name belonging to a girl who recently peered out from her quiet shell, it was impressive. "But it's nice to meet you Lochlan - formally, anyway. I really do think we've had classes before," Ellen chuckled. "So what are you doing out here anyway? Just browsing nature?"

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Lochlan smiled and nodded when Ellen said he was kind for his compliment. He was just being honest. He thought she was very beautiful. He wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. Perhaps because despite having classes, they had never been this close together before.

He chuckled a little and blushed a tad when he got the wrong name.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I've always liked Ellen though. It's actually the name of a favorite character in a story my mum used to read me when I was a kid. Ever heard of Danny Doblin the Leprechaun? He befriended a clever young witch named Ellen in the story." Lochlan stopped, afraid he was beginning to ramble.

"I'm just thinking about things really," he said when she asked about what he was doing there. "And sort of trying to get some things off my mind too. Would you like to take a walk with me and distract me?" He gave her a warm smile, hoping she would do so.

ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY

[ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY]

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Ellen chuckled at his slight embarrassment. "It's okay, I promise - not a big deal at all," she answered. She listened to him ramble about a story and giggled, shaking her head. "I have never heard of it, actually - maybe we can look it over some day," Elle said with a smile. When he invited her to take a walk with him, she grinned a little wider. "Sure, I'd love to walk with you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and moving a bit closer. "I like to come here to block out some of my own thoughts," she mused, the smile still dancing on her features. She met his gaze, ready to follow him when he started their walk, wondering how she could ever have not been aware of those lovely eyes of his.

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Lochlan smiled about looking into the old story of Danny Doblin and his witch friend Ellen.

"I actually keep one of the books here at school," he said. "I don't read it anymore, but it's kind of like a piece of home, you know?" He hoped that didn't sound too goofy, a sixteen year old keeping a book meant for ages three through seven at school with him.

He was of course happy when Ellen agreed to walk with him, though he gave her a curious frown when she said she had thoughts we wanted to block out. He wasn't sure if she wanted to keep such thoughts private, but he was intrigued by this girl and decided to offer to help.

"Maybe it would be better if you and I shared some of these thoughts instead," he said as they walked. "I always believe that when two people both had issues they are dealing with, it's healthy to do that. I mean, if you want to and all."

ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY

[ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY]

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Ellen chuckled as he mentioned he kept it at school. "No it's not silly at all - I wish I had something that reminded me of home," she said, nodding. Ellen wasn't very sentimental because she had little that made her happy in the first place. She continued walking, fiddling with the tips of her hair. "Yea, I guess we could do that," she said hesitantly. She knew it'd be good for the both of them to share their thoughts. Keeping them shut up inside their brains only meant more torture - she knew that firsthand. "Well, I guess I can start....I kinda suffer from depression," she admitted. She watched as the tips of her hair turned blue and sighed. "Damn," she muttered. Ellen looked at Lochlan and chuckled at herself. "I'm a Metamorphmagus," she explained.

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Lochlan was relieved to find Ellen was cool with his possessions of the children's book.

"Wish I could help you there," he said when she said she wished she had something to remind her of home. "But you have memories I guess. I know I have a lot of those." Especially ones of his time with his late father.

Lochlan showed no negative look when Ellen said she suffered from depression. There was no judgment in his eyes, no sign of thinking less of her. Only genuine understanding. He more than knew how it felt to be in a dark place.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but in a way I'm right there with you," he said. "For what it's worth, I've only known you for a few minutes and I really enjoy being around you."

He then chuckled when she said she was a Metamorphagus.

"That's really cool," he said. "I bet that ability gets to be fun now and then."

He then sighed.

"Okay, my turn I suppose," he said. "I lost my father a few years ago. He was murdered for being a Muggle married to a witch. My uncle was the murderer." She then sighed again. "Guess that was a bit much for a first turn, huh?"

ELLEN MARIBEL ACKERLEY