We Were Light And Paper Thin [Open].

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

It was warm-ish. Maybe not as warm as one would expect but it was definitely warmer than usual. Not warm enough to prance around in shorts though, gosh no, maybe a pari of jeans and vest top? Surely that would be accepted within the fashion world? She could make it simple yet elegant, if you could even make a pair of jeans and a vest top look elegant. Surely you could, well, Steph could. The sixth year decided on a pair of denim skinny jeans with a simple white vest top and a pair of black flats shoes. Okay, maybe she couldn’t make it look exciting but it was her sort of style and she wasn’t particularly bothered by what people thought, only if she was comfortable of course, which she was. Steph tied back her blonde hair and had a little look around the common room, she was bored and that wasn’t always the best combination for her. An adventure was definitely needed right now, and she’d have an adventure!

Her feet seemed to direct her to the room of requirement and it didn’t take her long to enter the room and see all the junk scattered everywhere, mountains and mountains of stuff. Smiling o herself she walked around all the junk, exploring what there was in there. It was a dismal sight for her since she liked to keep things organized. If she tidied up in here it would literally take her days! There was a lot of interesting stuff though, old chairs, tables and little trinkets that intrigued Steph but she didn’t want to break anything. After looking around for a few minutes she spotted a fabulous little couch amongst the junk and pulled it out taking a seat. Wow, it was definitely comfortable. She bounced on it for a second before she decided to get comfortable and stick her legs up on it. Even though she was still bored, she was feeling a tad exhausted so chose to have a quick power nap, besides, no one would disturb her, would they? Unlikely.

[william]

Will had been wandering around the castle, just trying to stay out of everyone's way, wondering what he should be getting up to. He had left the common room, which was loud and crowded and all the things Will hated. He had thought at first maybe he'd go to the library, but Will was starting to spend an unhealthy amount of time there. He should shake things up! Do something exciting! Impulsive! Like... like wandering.

Looking mostly at the ground as he walked, Will ran his hand through his untidy hair. It was a habit of his, and the frequency of the hair ruffling increased the more nervous or awkward he felt. And Will felt nervous and awkward a lot, especially around people, and even more so around people he didn't know. But even if he never touched his hair, it was till messy, so he didn't feel like it was such a loss.

Some blonde hair ahead of him caught his eye, and Will looked up in time to see his friend, Stephanie McCarthy, go into the Room of Requirement. Will wandered slowly up to the door, trying to look casual and non-stalker like, in case there was anyone around watching (which there wasn't, but still). He dawdled outside for a minute or two, wondering if he should go inside after Steph. Maybe she just wanted to be by herself? Or maybe she wouldn't want to talk to him. But after a little while, Will decided to 'get over himself', and pushed the door open.

The room he entered was abysmally messy, and Will couldn't help but grin as he thought how much that would annoy his neat and tidy friend. He turned a corner (well, if a pile of junk can constitute a corner) and saw Steph, apparently bouncing on a sofa. But she didn't see him, and after a moment she lay down as though going to take a nap. Will wasn't sure what to say, and didn't want to disturb her if she was going to sleep. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment, looking down and running his hand, yet again, through his hair. Finally he made a sort of throat clearing sound, which came out a bit more strangled than he had intended.

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

There was always something quite intriguing about the room of requirement, how was it that a room could tell what you needed while walking past? Of course magic was involved, but it still interested her into what could appear behind the doors if you desperately needed something, like the need to go to the toilet or something like that. Maybe she could leave the room, pace for a quiet tidy place to relax for a while. That was actually a pretty good idea, she could try it but she had gotten herself incredibly comfortable on the small couch, it was like lying on a cloud, a nice cloud. Right now she would prefer a adventure though, something that would get her blood pumping but all she could find was the room of requirement to amuse herself, and she was hardly amusing herself right now. Well, maybe some time to just think about things was a good idea but then she’d over think and frustrate herself, so either way she wasn’t going to have a very exciting day.

A noise disturbed her trail of thoughts and she opened one eye to spot a very familiar face hovering by a large pile of junk, not literally hovering, although it could be possible for a person to hover. It seemed Mr William Byrne had somehow come across her in the room of requirements, more like followed her in but there was nothing wrong with that of course, it would give her something to do for the rest of the day, and he could be a fun person to be around, unless he was nervous for some bizarre reason. She didn’t quite understand how someone could be so nervous; it was probably just a way they had been brought up or personality. It was quite odd that they were friends; he was quiet and reserved while Steph was extremely loud and enjoyed having as much fun as possible, but somehow the pair had come together and she couldn’t ask for a better friend. Of course she did have other friends who were equally amazing, but not a guy friend that was amazing. Though the adored all of her friend equally and would sacrifice anything to make sure they were okay.

Steph decided to open the other eye and turned her head letting her bright blue eyes rest on his tall figure, “Have I enquired myself a stalker Mr. Byrne?” A sophisticated tone escaped her lips, not the usual way she spoke but she did have a reputation to act slightly immature, not all the time of course, she did have a serious side that would emerge during serious conversations with a friend, but if it was a serious conversation with a guy about a relationship she’d side track, pretend she had something to do or talk about something else to avoid the serious conversation. It wasn’t necessarily her fault, but she had witnessed some things in the past with her parents that had made her wary and untrusting to guys. It would take a lot to convince her to have a relationship with a guy, obviously a guy. It would hardly be with a girl, well it could but she didn’t swing that way.

[william]

Will pulled a slight face as he heard the weird noise he had made. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Only he could mess up something as simple as clearing your throat. Well, clearing your throat for the sake of clearing your throat, that he could manage. Clearing your throat in that socially acceptable way of letting someone know you were there, that he was bound to be weird about.

But Steph knew that about him, and wasn't about to think he was weird (well, weirder then she already knew him to be). Will smiled as Steph spoke in a mock sophisticated voice, which was most definitely not her. Steph was anything but mature and serious. That was partly why Will liked her so much. When he was around people who took themselves too seriously, Will himself started to take himself seriously. And when he did that he became very concious of himself, and couldn't relax. And then he'd become even more awkward than he was normally, if that was possible.

So Will liked Steph a lot. She was fun, and she was smart, and he could relax around her. And, he could never help but notice, she was extremely pretty. Will turned slightly red as this thought passed through his mind, and he ran his hand through his hair, his eyes flitting automatically to the floor.

He decided to answer in the same mock-sophisticated tone that Steph had started off, and said "Well, Miss Stephanie, I saw you entering this here room, and thought I'd best enquire that you were all right: a lady can't be too careful, especially in a dangerous neighbourhood such as this," he prodded a pile of junk, which promptly proceeded to collapse. Will almost fell over himself trying to get out of the way, before straightening up, clearing his throat again, and running a hand through his hair. "Evidentially a gentleman should be more careful himself," he said, grinning sheepishly, his hand in his hair on the back of his head, as he shrugged, trying to look non-nonchalant.

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

Steph had a very intriguing friend in terms of personality. Growing up she had become custom to loud and arrogant individuals, the type of people who felt they were of impeccable standards and no one was equal to them. These were the type of people her father would bring home on strict business, what sort of business she hadn’t been too sure at the time but Steph had some idea her father was a death eater. That sort of information would never leave her perfectly pink lips, for obvious reasons, some would think she was a part of what happened which was incorrect. There was a time when she did trust her family, but that was a long time ago and she had grown use to the fact her parents were no longer seeing one another. Some people would never get use to this sort of life damaging effect but she had learned that not everything could work out and sometimes you just had to accept the path that your life had chosen and try and get over it. It was easier said than done though, and it was certainly easier for her to get over things than others.

There was definitely something about him that just made her happy, happier than usual. Not that she was complaining, he was the best company she could have and she generally acted really stupid around him and not have to behave, well she could but then it wasn’t any fun when you behaved properly, was it? They had a few things in common but Steph wasn’t as intelligent as he was. After all he was a Ravenclaw, and they were usually smart well she knew that he was smart. She did act a little bit stupid around everyone but she acted just a little bit more stupid when she was around Will, why? Because she could and he would sit there and judge her immature behaviour. Most Ravenclaw’s only saw her as a immature Gryffindor, Will however, saw her as more, hopefully he saw her as a friend because she viewed him as a friend!

The blonde couldn’t help but laugh slightly when he nearly fell over himself, “Same old Will,” She chuckled lightly and sat up moving her legs to allow more room on the couch she had occupied. Steph looked at him with her bright blue eyes and patted the seat next to her, indicating for him to come and sit next to her, that’s if he wanted to of course. “How have you been dear William?” She cocked her eyebrow and smiled lightly, hoping to make light conversation and then have a laugh. Around him she felt free, alive, which was different for her but she enjoyed it, she enjoyed being around him.

[william]

Will was more than happy to sit next to Stephanie, and was pleased when she indicated that he should. He always expected to have read the situation wrong and be told to get lost... but that was just social anxiety. Will wasn't exactly crippled by it, but there was definitely some social anxiety going on in... well, most social situations! Usually he could just laugh at himself, and often did. Although this gave him the strange appearance of laughing when no one else could see what was funny.

Trying to be casual about it, he walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Steph, grinning. She cocked her eyebrows in a light and cheery way, and he chuckled. "I've been very well, Stephanie," he said, using her full name, which he never did. "been in the library, getting on top of all this work. That way I won't be falling behind," he looked around for something wooden to knock on, and saw a desk behind their sofa. He reached over the back of the sofa, but couldn't quite make it, and after a moment of stretching he gave up and knocked on his head instead.

"My fellow Ravenclaws have been in high spirits," he said "the common room is, um, pretty loud. Pretty crowded. So I like to, you know, get out." He didn't need to explain to Steph why the crowds and the noise would make him want to get out of the common room. She knew that he didn't enjoy them one bit.

"And what about you, my dear Stephanie," he said, imitating her. "What have you been up to? What's been going on in that ol' noggin of yours?"

When he was speaking to Steph like this everything came much easier. He didn't falter as much, or start babbling like he often did. She was just easy to talk to, and being around her relaxed Will. He didn't worry so much about offending or annoying her, or saying the wrong thing.

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

There was quite a lot more to find out about Steph, not a lot of people knew about her home life which would sometimes cause people to question her personal life. Of course some people wouldn’t ask because they didn’t want to pry into her business, others just would keep poking her trying to get her to open up. One thing that was impossible when it came to her was expecting her to open up to you, even if you was close to her it didn’t necessarily mean she’d open up to you. In all honesty, she didn’t really have that sort of friend she could trust with her personal life. The last thing she wanted was people knowing about her life story! Sometimes she could be a bit vicious, that was only if people were trying to get into her life which was rare since people knew what she was like. Maybe in time she’d tell someone but for now her parents’ divorce and everything that occurred at home would stay her personal information and she wouldn’t be sharing anytime soon, unless someone gave her too much butter beer. But she tried not to drink since she could do a lot of silly things when she had too many butter beers!

Just because she didn’t open up didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep little secrets, if someone asked who she fancied she’d probably share a little gossip with them. Anything bigger than that though would remain a secret, no matter how much you tried to force it out of her! The couch was quite a small couch but could easily fit two people on, without a problem. Steph was quite a caring person and most of the time she liked to cosy up to people because it made her feel more relaxed. Once he sat down next to her she quickly laid her legs across his lap and went back into her earlier position. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind but if there was any sign that he was uncomfortable she’d quickly move her legs, she didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable around her. When he stated he’d been keeping up to date with his work she smiled, “I wouldn’t expect anything less, quite a intelligent lad aren’t you?” Obviously he was, he was a Ravenclaw, they were generally smart.

Not that she wasn’t smart! She just wasn’t as shy as a particular Ravenclaw student. The blonde definitely did suit Gryffindor, she was just way too confident and brave so that seemed to be like the only house she would suit quiet well. “Ravenclaw? Loud?” It wasn’t a shock, she knew some of them could get pretty excited when they were around their friends, after all Steph became ten times sillier than usual when she was around her closest friends, they were the only people she could really be her actual self around. “I understand,” Nodding she smiled before closing her eyes slightly. Steph loved being around Will, it was so easy to be around him and be herself without hiding her actual personality.

Sighing she opened her eyes and let her piercing blue eyes rest on him, “Well, just quidditch practice, got a few matches approaching and need to make sure that the Gryffindor team can beat Ravenclaw!” Biting down on her lip she laughed running a hand through her blonde hair, “Just been alone recently actually, seems everyone suddenly became busy so I haven’t had much of my good old adventures.” She did love having a good adventure, wherever that was on her own or with friends. It was much more fun with friends though.

[william]

William was surprised, but quite pleased, when Steph lay her legs across his lap, and settled back down onto the sofa. She seemed comfortable, and he was glad about that, because it meant that he could relax too. But there was the slight problem of what to do with his hands.

Will hated being made aware of his body language, because then he never knew what to do with himself. He was sure that most people would be able to relax perfectly well, but now he was starting to over think it. If he rested his hand on her knee or something, would that be too forward? Or generally considered pervy? Surely her knee would be ok? Or was he supposed to rest his arms on her like she was a table? He could always put his arms on the back of the sofa, but he had a mental picture of how he would look, and feared he might look as though he was trying to be cool. Which would be the opposite of actually looking cool.

While Will had been thinking all of this, his hands had been hovering in an uncertain and, frankly, weird way. Finally he decided to put one arm on the back of the sofa, while the other one rested lightly on Steph's leg. He cleared his throat, and wanted to run a hand through his hair, but as he'd only just sorted out the hand situation he didn't really want to move. He smiled at Steph, hoping that his awkwardness hadn't gone a step too far. Will would never be the kind of guy who was effortlessly cool when it came to girls.

He smiled benignly as Steph made her usual 'Ravenclaw' comments. In truth, Will was quite proud of being in Ravenclaw, and proud of being smart, but if he talked about that he would sound smug, so he kept his mouth shut and listened instead.

"Well, you've um, got to beat Slytherin, before you can start focusing on Ravenclaw," Will said, smiling. He wasn't on the Quidditch team, but he enjoyed flying; it was just that when you threw a ball or a bat into the mix, Will became something similar to a bag of flailing limbs on a broomstick. He wasn't overly enthusiastic when it came to following the Quidditch Cup, but he liked to watch sometimes and attended matches. He attended most of the Gryffindor matches, because he liked to watch Steph play... but she didn't know that.

He frowned slightly as Steph said she had been alone a lot lately. That wasn't really like her. He looked away, thinking, and ran a hand through his hair before stopping to think about it. Now his hand was hovering awkwardly again, but he decided quickly to just let it go back to resting on Steph's leg; he had other things to think about. "Are you, erm," he cleared his throat again "enjoying it? The time to yourself, I mean? It can be nice, you know, peaceful, good thinking time..." he tried to say all this in a non-nonchalant way, as though he wasn't trying to ask Steph if everything was alright. Steph wasn't a very open person, and Will didn't like to push her. Well, he didn't like to push anyone, but he knew Steph, so it was different. He was sure Steph would see through his attempt at being casual, but it was the thought that counted, right?

OOC; sorry this took so long, been busy

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

It was painful watching her parents fight over the children. Their mother wanted custody of both her daughters and wasn’t letting either of them go without a fight but Stephanie was perplexed when she discovered that her father was also fighting for custardy of his daughters. Why on earth did he want both of his daughters living with him? Well, it was simple, he wanted to corrupt them and he was doing a good job of corrupting Harriet. It seemed effortless for him to convince her that being part of the very little Death Eaters was an honour. Everything had clicked really, he wanted to build numbers but if he made it so obvious by trying to recruit his daughters he’d most likely end up in Azkaban, or even worse dead. Of course the blonde could easily tell someone of her father’s plans but then she’d risk tearing the family apart and she didn’t want that. So what could she possibly do, apart from allowing her little sister to be a part of what her father wanted? It was upsetting. Harriet was only fourteen, soon to be fifteen and she was being recruited as a Death Eater. Although, she wasn’t the likeliest Death Eater since she was a quiet Hufflepuff. It was a difficult thing that Stephanie was a part of and she didn’t know how to approach the situation or what to do.

The most obvious thing would be for her to talk to someone but the last thing that Stephanie would do was open up to someone, that wasn’t like her and she didn’t really like people knowing about her personal life. Although she did have some idea that if her little sister let her big mouth go then people would know about the families problems, so it wouldn’t be too long until the entire castle knew about their parents’ divorce and she really wanted to keep that under wraps until she left. She really didn’t want people to feel sorry for her, honestly she was fine and if people went on and on about everything she’d probably lose her temper and do something stupid. And if people did start poking their nose into her business it would be plastered all over The Underground and the last thing she needed was a load of rubbish printed in a pathetic newspaper! When she did lose her temper she’d pretty much upset everyone, she’d shout and scream until she got her point across and then she’d just disappear without a trace. It happened a few times during her time here but not that much and she did try to avoid falling out with people that meant a lot to her, like Will.

It would probably be really difficult to lose her temper with him since he was such a sweet guy, even when he did annoy her a little bit she couldn’t stay mad at him for long before she was smiling, which was rare. Normally when she got angry she’d stay mad for a while but around Will it seemed so much easier to stay calm and what not. Feeling a soft touch on her leg she had a quick look to see Will’s had on her leg and smiled before resting her head on the end of the couch. Stephanie hummed slightly, “That shan’t be a problem,” She commented in a sing song voice before smiling. Actually she was looking forward to the Gryffindor and Slytherin match, it would be really interesting and hopefully they’d do okay and she score a few point for the team but hopefully the seeker on the team catch the snitch before Slytherin, others they’d continue to walk around with that smug look planted on their faces. Like per usual.

Did she really enjoy the time she spent alone, no. Stephanie McCarthy was a people person and she didn’t really like being left alone. When she was alone, well, she felt alone like no one needed her, as if people had forgotten about her and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Sometimes it was fine being alone for around an hour just to think about her messy home life but any longer than that and she felt out of place and uncomfortable. “It’s alright,” Shrugging her shoulders she looked at will with her pale blue eyes before continuing her sentence, “I don’t really like being alone that much, doesn’t feel right and I don’t like thinking things through too, it just puts a downer on my mood.” Usually she was a happy person but give her two hours alone to think about her practically pathetic life and she’d be in a dark place, unable to produce the usual happy conversations she could have with people. Stephanie watched him for a few seconds before cracking a smile and playfully slapping his shoulder, “Relax, you’re around me, just be your usual nerdy self,” It was all light hearted really, Will wasn’t that much of a nerd, not in her eyes anyway and she didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable around her.

[william]

Will chuckled when Steph said that he could be his usual nerdy self. If only it were that simple! Well, being 'nerdy', that was simple enough. He supposed he was sort of 'nerdy', although it wasn't really a term he liked to apply to himself. 'Nerdy' didn't really go hand-in-hand with 'manly' or 'tough'... or anything that girls (maybe girls such as Steph...) found attractive. But just relaxing and being nerdy wasn't as easy as it should be. When Will became aware of himself, or how he acted, he got really self-conscious.

He knew what Steph meant, and if he could relax around anyone it was her. When he tried to relax he did anything but. Really it was best if he just got distracted, and took his mind off trying to do anything. That was when Will was at his most comfortable, and looked so much less awkward.

William frowned slightly as Steph said that she didn't like being alone. Well, that wasn't good. He understood totally why she didn't like thinking things over too much; Will was the same. He often got stuck in his own head, and over thought everything. It was best if he kept busy, but he wasn't the most sociable person. Steph however was. She was what Will would call a 'social-butterfly' (another reason why she was an odd friend for him, but somehow they just clicked).

"Well," he said, after a pause, running a hand through his hair "that's easy enough to fix. When there's no one else around you can, um, well you can just spend time with me," he smiled sheepishly, looking at Steph. "Of course, only if you want to," he added, hurriedly "you might have better things to do. I'm just erm, saying, you know, the offer is there, if you want it..." he made himself stop rambling.

He would definitely like to spend more time with Steph, but he didn't know if she'd want to spend time with him also. And either way, he didn't want to seem too eager, and freak her out.

[STEPHANIE BROOK MCCARTHY]

Now thinking about it, Stephanie wasn’t exactly sure how they had become friends in the first place. Normally if she couldn’t remember how she met someone she’d just assume that they had met at a party, but because Will was, well Will, she couldn’t assume that she had met him at a party. There was the option they met in the library but Stephanie was rarely in there, and when she was she was too busy catching up on work to socialize with anyone. They definitely met a few years about but she generally couldn’t remember how. They probably met in class or something. Yeah, that must be it right? Sounded about right. There was definitely no other way she could meet him. But whichever way she was glad she had actually met him. Will was definitely a great friend, even if they were opposites. If Stephanie didn’t have Will she’d probably have a hole in her life, he was after all a lovely guy and she was happy that they were friends. Will was the type of guy that would probably get friend-zoned a lot, but Stephanie wasn’t sure what was going on in her life right now, but he definitely wasn’t friend-zoned.

Something she noticed about him was the fact he would run his hand through his hair a lot. Without thinking about it she reached up and ran her delicate small fingers through his thick messy brown hair before she smiled and returned her hands to her stomach and tilted her head back. Stephanie was a pretty affectionate person, she loved laying across people, touching peoples hair and all sorts. It was generally her personality and it was her way of showing someone that she cared enough about them and to show that she was comfortable around them too. And Stephanie was definitely comfortable around Will, obviously.

When he offered that she could spend time with him Stephanie smiled slightly and brush a strand of lose blonde hair behind her ear. “Actually, I’d quite like to spend some more time with you, haven’t actually seen you in a while and it would be nice to catch up more.” If Stephanie ever had any free time she’d probably send him an owl or something to see if he was free. That way she wouldn’t have to wonder around the castle trying to find him, because that gave her more time to think and she hated over thinking things sometimes, especially about her family. Either way from now on she was going to spend more time with him, that way they could catch up and hopefully have a right laugh, “If I’m free I’ll owl you at any time, and if your ever free you should owl me too!” Stephanie smiled before she closed her eyes for a few seconds.