Meeting On Ice (Belle)

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(Note to Staff: This thread takes place a tad but before the current IC period. The season is still winter.)

Quade enjoyed a number of outdoor activities. With all the reading and story writing people saw him do, they tended not to know this. But Quade was fond of playing sports, and in the winter he enjoyed going out to ice skate. He was no pro or anything, but he also wasn't constantly busting his bum on the ice. He even knew a trick here and there.

With winter coming to an end soon, Quade wanted to get some skating in on the frozen Black Lake before the ice melted. Now bundled up and skating, it gave him a chance to think over the next chapter of the story he was working on, along with other things that was going on in his life. But at the same time, he began to feel a bit alone and wondered if anyone else was going to come out that day.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

This was Belle's favorite time of year. She loved the snow and the cold and especially, the ice. It was true, she had an abandoned classroom which she had.converted into a year round ice rink, but nothing was better than skating out on real ice. Outside. Under the sky and smothered by fresh air. There was absoloutly no better feeling. So she walked, with her skates slung over her shoulder, out to the abandoned lake. As soon as she stepped outside she was able to tell that it was warming up and this would probably be the last time she'd be able to stake on the lake this season.

Once she got to the lake, Belle, dressed in a simple red skating dress and thick black leggings, slipped on her skates and laced them tightly. She left her snow boots on the bank and stepped onto the ice. That was when she saw the other body already skating on the lake. And while she had been expecting to be alone on the ice, a part of her liked the idea of company. So she began to skate, gaining speed at first, than once she was ready, she launched herself into the air, spinning 3 times before landing back on her left foot with her right in the air behind her. She smirked to herself: that was her favorite.

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Quade couldn't help but notice the girl on the ice. How could he not? For one, she was beautiful. For two, she skated with extreme ease and confidence, as if she had been doing it all her life. He of course recognized the girl to an extent- a Fifth Year from his own house. Despite only being a year above her, he had never really interacted with her, well aside from occasionally noting how lovely she was across the room... not that he was gawking of course.

When she did the trick, he smiled and applauded.

"That was amazing!" he said. "I know a few tricks myself, but nothing like that." He was hesitant for a moment to skate over due to a tad bit of social awkwardness he had inside him for some time, but finally did so. "Belle... isn't it? I'm Quade. I hope you don't mind me sharing the ice with you today."

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

Belle hadn't been expecting to be spoken to. She was fine with the young man skating along side her, but she was sure that the two of them would simply skate in awkward silence until one or the other decided they were done and left the ice. While the conversation was a surprise, it was a welcome surprise. She smiled and blushed by the fact that he knew her, and that he complimented her trick. "Well I've had a lot of practice." Belle admitted with a smile and skated over to the boy. She vaugly recgonized him from the common room. She knew he was a year older thann she was, and that he was often quiet, but until this moment, admittingly, she hadn't known his name. She spent to much time practicing to memorize the names of every Hufflepuff. "Yes, that's me." She smiled. "Quade? It's nice to meet you. I had no idea that you skated." She admitted. "Everytime that I see you, it looks like you're reading or something." She added, not that it was a bad thing.

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"It seems practice has served you well," said Quade to Belle. "My mum taught me. I wouldn't call myself a pro by any means, but I tend not to fall and I enjoy it." Quade was being humble. He was quite good at skating.

He smiled when Belle said it was nice to meet him, even blushing a bit. True, it was a standard thing to say when meeting someone, but coming from such a lovely lady, well... it just made him blush.

"Nice to meet you as well," he said. He then chuckled when she said she mostly saw him reading. "Well, I'm inside a lot reading or working on my story. But I figured it was best to get some skating in before the ice melts. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until the summer to go to the local rink." He then looked out at the ice and back to her.

"So... you want to make some Figure Eights together?" he asked with a chuckle.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

Belle's first reaction was to counter his statement bt saying that she was a professional athlete. She was Olympic bound after all. But she had done enough bragging lately. She didn't want to start anothet relationship with her stating her talents. She wanted to at least try to act normal. "Well, I've had a bit of practice." She admitted with a shrug. And couldn't help but smile when he began to blush. "You're a writer? I never would have known. That's really interesting." She was about to ask him what he was writing about when she realized this probably wasn't a conversation to have on the ice. "You want to skate with me?" She asked though she was a bit hesitant. But she bit her hip, admired how cute he was, then nodded. "Okay. Let's figure eight." She agreed with a blush.

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Quade nodded about the practice, but he didn't want to be weird and over-compliment her. He knew giving a girl too many compliments could backfire.

He smiled when she asked about his writing.

"Yeah... just a hobby I mean," he said, trying not to brag at first. "Well, I do hope I can get a book published after graduation." He didn't want to go on too long about his writing. Often when he mentioned his stories were more for Muggles then magical folk, he got odd looks and some avoided him after that. He found this girl enjoyable to be around and didn't want to risk it. Perhaps he would tell her later.

He smiled and nodded when she asked if he wanted to skate with her.

"Yeah... I mean... if that's cool with you?" he asked.

He sighed a bit of relief when she agreed to doing some Figure Eights with him. He could definitely do those.

As they skated, he turned to her.

"So are you thinking of skating professionally after you graduate?" he asked.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

Everyone had their hobbies, and nothing said that a hobby couldn't be job or helo you to make a living. Ballet had been a hobby. That lead to gymnastics, and that lead to skating. Two things that were going to keep her set financially for her entire life. A few rounds at the Olympics and Belle would never need to work a day in her life. "Well a hobby can alwaya be more than just a hobby. If it's something that you truly enjoy, then don't let it be just a hobby." Belle insisted. Belle knew first hand how important it was to follow your dreams. As the two of them began to skate and he asked her if she was going to skate professionaly, she gave a small nod. "I actually skate professionaly now. I have since i was young." She added and moved swiftly along the ice besides him, wondering if he thought that they were too close.

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Quade agreed that a hobby could be more, and he definitely wanted to go somewhere with his writing.

"Well, I'll see if I want to make a career of it after I find out how well my first book does," he chuckled. "But for now, it's a hobby."

Quade beamed when Belle said she was already skating professionally. He wasn't surprised, given how smoothly she was doing it now.

"Really? That's great," he said. "I always enjoyed watching the Olympics on the tele with my mum and dad, especially the winter sports. You see, I'm a... my parents are both Muggles." Quade knew he shouldn't be ashamed of that. He loved his parents and they were not ashamed of him being a wizard. It was just weird to say that in a school full of people who had at least one parent who was magical, if not two. He decided to change the subject.

"So... what are you up to after you're done here?" he asked. "I was going to head up to Hogsmeade before curfew and look around at the book shop... I mean... if you want to join me."

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

When he mentioned that he was writing a book, Belle had to admit, she was greatly impressed. She had never known anyone who had written a book, especially someone so young. It really made her realize that she wasn't the only one aiming highly so young. She had been skating and dancing and doing gymnastics since she could stand on her own. Her parents had instilled a love of structure and focus into her so young, so she had grown up knowing nothing else. "I think it's really cool that you're writing a book. You'll have to tell me about it sometime." She insisted. When he asked about Hogsmead, she wasn't sure at first. Belle was always relunctant to do anything counter productive. She used to have to be forced to take a break. But she knew some down time would be good for her. As would some human interaction. "Yeah. A trip to Hogsmead sounds great actually." She agreed.

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Quade gulped a bit when Belle told him he would have to tell her about the book some time. Again, he was a bit worried about doing that given some of the responses he had gotten from telling people he was writing stories Muggles liked. But maybe Belle was different though.

"Sure, I can do that... some time," he said.

If anything, Belle didn't seem to react oddly to him being a Muggle-Born. That was a plus. Even in this day and age when many were a good bit more open-minded, soem still frowned on Muggle-Borns, even in Hufflepuff.

Things really looked up when Belle agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him. he blushed a tad when she said yes to it.

"Um... great," he said, both nervous and enthusiastic. "It will be nice to go up there with someone else for once. Maybe... if you're hungry... we can grab some food there too? I mean, unless you'd rather eat at the school." Quade sighed. He wasn't very good at this and hoped he didn't sound silly to her.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

Belle cared very little about blood status. He parents always set her up with magical coaches and partners, but that was only because they didn't want Belle to slip up and expose herself to a muggle. Though, Belle was fairly certain that she would be the only wizard competing at the Olympics. That was fine with her, she wanted to win without magic. She was just as good at muggle sports as any muggle. And she was finally getting her chance to do so. "I would really like to hear about it." She insisted. Belle was genuinly interested in his writing. She had always heard that authors always showed bits of themselves in their writing. Whether or not they meant to. "Food sounds good. I had no plans so I guess I'm up for anything." She shrugged. It felt so free to not have a plan. Everyday of her entire life had been planned out. And whenever she toom her required one day a week off, she spent it doing Ballet for fun. "Should we go now?" She asked.

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Belle seemed as if she did want to hear about Quade's story, and who was he to argue with a lovely lady? So he conceded to himself that he would tell her.

"Alright then," he said, smiling. "Well, it's science fiction. I grew up watching a lot of sci-fi shows on the tele, and of course I went to the movies a lot as well. They really inspired me to write. I like to write about distant planets and their inhabitants, but I also like writing about dystopian societies. Kind of depressing I suppose, but I feel a writer is only complete when the write has both a light and dark side to the imagination." Quade chuckled. "Don't worry. That's the extent of my darkness. I have no plans to become the next... well you know his name."

Quade was happy she accepted the invite to join him for food and decided to offer his arm for her to hold like a gentleman. Why the heck not?

"Ready when you are, Ms. Belle," he said, sounding more goofy than suave.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY

[BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY]

Belle enjoyed hearing about his story. While she had little idea what he was really talking about, it sounded interesting regaurdless. Belle never watched television as a child and the only reason she read was for school. She always spent to much time skating, dancing and practicing Gymnastics to do anythi g that any sort of normal child dis. Belle never really knew what all she had given up to do what she did. But she knew what it meant to be going where she was going, and that was all that mattered to her. "It sounds really interesting. I think I would like to read it when you're finished." She insisted. She then took his arm and allowes him to escort her to the shore where she untied her skates and put her boots back on over her leggings. "Okay. I'm ready." She said.

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Quade smiled about Belle wanting to read the book. She didn't react oddly to his love for Muggle sci-fi. That was a good sign.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "I hope you like it."

He changed out of his skates as well, putting on his winter boots. As they were about to head to Hogsmeade, he offered his arm again. He almost wanted to offer his hand for her to hold, but it felt that might not be proper. The two had just met after all. And while she agreed to walk to the village with him and even get a meal with him, that didn't indicate that she fancied him as much as he did her. The last thing he wanted was to make Belle feel uncomfortable about him.

Later...

Stepping out of Tomes and Scrolls, Quade had bag of a couple of books he had been anxious to read. He did enjoy the magical world's version of fiction as well. It was especially interesting since much considered fiction in the Muggle world was real in this one. He turned and smiled to Belle.

"Find anything interesting?" he asked.

BELLE GENEVIEVE PURCEY