April 23rd, 1890 - Castle Grounds
Edison Moony

Friends don't call you in the middle of the night
Couldn't even tell you why, they just felt like saying "hi"
Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys
Finding reasons not to leave, trying to hide the chemistry
Drive a little too slow, take the long way home
Get a little too close, we do, but friends don't, friends don't

Sloane was still very much avoiding the common room these days. Though things with Cameron had come to some vague sort of resolution, she still wasn't ready to admit she couldn't just go back to the way things were last year. It still didn't feel right and it nagged at the back of her head, though she tried her best to ignore it. Unfortunately Sloane had a terrible habit of either unfocusing or hyper-focusing which meant she had a hard time letting go of the small details in life that perplexed her. Merlin she hated that.

So she still tended to frequent the pitch on her own as well as the grounds when she wasn't in the mood to fly or work on her quidditch moves. It wasn't often as she was rarely still, but today, she was simply laying flat on her back by the Black Lake watching the late afternoon clouds roll by and trying not think about silly teenage woes that she had no intention of dealing with today.

There was a different kind of practice she was working on, but frankly without a mirror didn't have a very good chance at telling if she was actually making anything different about her appearance, except by looking at the ends of her braid to see if she was intentionally making her hair turn a different color or if she was just getting frustrated. Quidditch practice always made her better, but she still had zero control over her metamorphmagus abilities and it pained her to know she wasn't getting anywhere with it.

Contemplating giving up, a shadow crossed her vision and Sloane looked up to find her housemate looking down at her. "Moony please tell me that my eyebrows are purple." Honestly why was this so hard!

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Exams were very quickly approaching, and he had his hands full not only with his studies, but quidditch and dueling club respectably. When the common room started to drain his energy, Ned found himself taking off to the grounds on a walk, hoping to organize his thoughts. As he approached the Black Lake, he noticed a figure laying on the shore. He was about to take a detour to avoid them when he realized that the person in question was Sloane. What was she doing over there?

Now, that was an odd sight.

Ned drew closer, half wondering if he was going to find Sloane asleep, but his eyes met hers. Daydreaming, perhaps?

"Bixby," he stated in greeting, as if she were just one of the guys. His head cocked to the side and focused on her eyebrows. They seemed to be her standard brown, but he supposed something did look a bit different about them. He went with the tactful answer. "They have a slight purple tint to them, but I wouldn't say they're purple."

"Is that what you're doing laying out here alone?"

  

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No, it really wasn't why she was out here alone, but she supposed it was a good enough excuse to be. Sloane had only admitted to Sisse about some of her teenage drama problems, she highly doubted Ned wanted to hear about them. "Needed a break from the common room, though I'd work on the metamorphmagus things without anyone laughing at me." It wasn't exactly the truth, but it would work.

Sloane sat up and sighed. "Strange to be born with some innate ability and have zero control over it." Rufus had no problems with it at all! Maybe she needed lessons on this instead of quidditch when she saw him next. It wasn't like she knew anyone else with the ability so she could ask them. If she had any Ravenclaw in her, she could check the library, but that required effort and drive she did not have- at least in regards to research.

"What brings you out here then?" She eyed him, tossing her braid over her shoulder casually, now that she was done looking at the ends for any sense of change.

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"I understand that," he commented. He too had needed a break from the common room. Ned sometimes wondered if other houses were just as rowdy in their shared living spaces. He didn't dislike it, but, sometimes, it became too much. "The Davies brothers were starting up a round of Exploding Snap as I was leaving." Which never bode well for peace and productivity.

In lieu of staring down at Sloane, Ned plopped down next to her and stretched out his legs comfortably. He patiently listened to her metamorphmagus woes, not knowledgeable enough in the subject to offer up any truly informed advice. "It's not all that strange. I suppose it's similar to before you attend Hogwarts; you have no control then. The difference is there isn't a school for your abilities." Which seemed like a logical explanation as to why she hadn't yet mastered it.

"Oh, I just wanted a walk," Ned shrugged. He was often taking walks to clear his head.

  

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It seemed Sloane had chosen a good moment to escape the chaos of the common room for something a little more serene. Usually she'd be in on a game of Snap, but today it wouldn't have fit her mood. She wished she was in the mood for a loud card game, but just hadn't been completely herself lately, though more than she had been earlier int he year she supposed.

"Stop being so reasonable." The petite Gryffindor passed her housemate an exaggerated pout. "It makes my whining even less dignified." It was hard to argue with his logic after all. She was kind of on her own in this matter, though she supposed the Transfiguration professor would be her best bet if she were to ask for some help. Well, really Rufus was her best bet, as usual, considering he too shared her abilities, but he had his own life to deal with and she still wasn't completely happy with him either.

"Wasn't a very long walk," Sloane teased as she sat up, brushing grass from her robes.

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Ned smirked at Sloane's comment about him being too reasonable. Really, it was a wonder he hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw, but it seemed the hat had other plans for the Moony boy. "Is whining ever all that dignified?" He teased with a laugh, restraining himself from nudging his shoe with hers. Even though Sloane was 'one of the boys,' there still were boundaries.

He snickered again. "Well, it's not often that I see you laying about," he commented, eyeing her as if he didn't quite believe that she had only come out to practice her abilities. Even if that were a motivating factor, it still seemed off.

"Would you like to join me?" Maybe it would at least take her mind off of her supposedly failed metamorphmagus practice. She wasn't draining company.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3 <3

Sloane flattened herself out against the grass and tossed her head to the side dramatically. "Moooooooonyyyy." She added for effect and a long exaggerated whine. "Undignified enough?" Leave it to Ned to be able to pull her out of her moping without much effort.

Eyeing him with a hint of mischief now, she popped up from her position on the ground. "Who's lying about?" Sloane looked around to emphasize her point. Chuckling, she let the pretense drop. "Sure, you're right, I don't do idle very well for long." He wasn't wrong, she very rarely was still unless utterly exhausted or actually bothering to stop and think about things in her life.

"Where to?" She tossed her braid over her shoulder and looked around at the expanse of the grounds. She'd go watch the butcher slice meat, so she was up for anything really.

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"I'd say so," he commented, amused at Sloane's whining. Ned climbed back onto his feet and slid his hands into his pockets, seeing right through her mischief, but he played along by surveying the grounds for any other living souls. The closest people were a pair of first years who seemed to be having a grand old time pelting each other with rocks.

Ned smirked when Sloane agreed about her idleness, "And that's exactly why I needed to be sure I didn't have to cart you off to the Hospital Wing." Although he sounded like he was joking, there was a little bit of truth there. It was concerning to see her out of sorts.

"Maybe down the shore a little ways?" He suggested, starting to stroll in that direction, not in any hurry. "I heard a group of Hufflepuffs babbling about mermaids on my way down. Maybe we'll spot some." He doubted it, but he figured it might sound more like an adventure to Sloane than his original plan of bird watching.

  

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Sloane reciprocated Ned's smirk, "I'd like to see you try," She'd have to be dying or severely injured for anyone to try dragging her off to the hospital wing without permission. Her only problem there was that all of her male friends had several inches on her in height and probably wouldn't have any issues physically carrying her to the hospital wing if they needed to.

Following her housemate toward the edge of the lake, she mused over sighting mermaids. "I always wonder what else is down there? We know about the mermaids and the grindylows and the squid, but what else? There's got to be hundreds of creatures lurking down there." The mysteries of the Black Lake had been part of the reason she'd taken Care of Magical Creatures. The squid, though possibly a muggle creature, was by far the most fascinating. Why would a creature of that size lurk in a lake like this and not out in the ocean?

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"Let's hope I never need to," he retorted with a laugh. Ned was fairly sure Sloane would have to be unconscious for her to ever allow that, but he wasn't about to say as much. It was all too easy (and tempting) to tease her.

Ned gave the water a thoughtful look, "I imagine there's some freshwater versions of ocean creatures, possibly. I've also often wondered if there's at least one kelpie that lurks in there. I've heard stories about people disappearing on horseback, never to be seen again. Though, I'm unsure if that's true, or if it's meant to scare children." The tales of danger had been very explicit in first year, usually dissuading most students from exploring the forest or the lake too extensively. However, he had heard similar stories in Hogsmeade that shared a shore with Hogwarts.

"I'd also be curious about how deep it actual is. I'm not sure anybody knows."

  

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Pretties by Bee <3 <3

Smirking more to herself, Sloane was pleased to know her friends understood her. She didn't know Ned quite as well as everyone else, but he had yet to disappoint her in terms of their friendship. And he was blissfully drama-free, she really liked that about him.

"Oh kelpies," Sloane sighed wistfully, if only! "I've always wondered if we have a cousin in the Loch Ness monster or something. Mermaids are a given. I've seen a tentacle of the squid. I wish we'd do more Creatures lessons down here. There has to be so many interesting things to study." The logistics of an underwater class were beyond Sloane's planning capabilities, but she would thoroughly enjoy that.

She looked out over the choppy water, dark and ominous and full of mystery. "If I wasn't dead set on quidditch after school, I'd continue with creatures. Being a magizoologist full time would be fascinating." In another life perhaps!

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Ned lifted his shoulders. "It's entirely possible." It would be interesting to see a kelpie as large as the Loch Ness. Well, while on the shore. The last thing they needed was to be dragged under by it, especially since it was unclear how deep the lake actually was. "I think we don't because it would be very hard to explain to parents that all of their children were eaten or drowned." He snorted at that, just imagining an ill-planned COMC class in which they went in search of the squid and just ended up its dinner.

"You could do both," he suggested. After all, quidditch wasn't always a lifelong profession, and it wasn't a guarantee that she'd permanently land a spot on a team, no matter how excellent she was at it. It wouldn't hurt for Sloane to have a back-up plan. However, he knew such thoughts wouldn't go over well with her, so Ned kept them to himself. "Perhaps the zoo takes volunteers or part-time workers."

  

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Pretties by Bee <3 <3

"You make too many good points, stop being so logical." Sloane was rather more of a wonderer, not so much a thinking. Moony was far too practical for his own good sometimes. He needed to lighten up. "Let the imagination flow." She teased, pausing their walk to skip a rock down across the surface of the water. She was no chaser, but she didn't have a bad arm either.

Sloane sighed a little. Having a second job wasn't a bad idea, when the league wasn't in session, she could theoretically do a little time at the zoo, which was nice, but how realistic was it? Would they allow her to only work for part of the year? Again, Ned was being logical, she couldn't play quidditch forever and by the time she did retire, she'd likely be a spinster, so marriage was probably off the table at that point too. Not that she was super into that anyway. "Maybe, would be something to look into, Merlin forbid I don't make it professionally or for something when I retire." If she was sharp, she'd keep up studying creatures just to keep herself sharp on the subject should the need arise.

"You must have an occupation picked out by now?" Sloane gathered that Ned was a planner, he certainly must have something in mind for his post-graduate life.

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Ned snorted at Sloane's teasing. She wasn't wrong, of course. He could be too practical. "I think Anne will take a liking to you. That's much more her territory than mine."

It wasn't that Ned couldn't be imaginative. He had "let it flow" during his first few years of Hogwarts. Now, he just tended to keep those sorts of thoughts to himself, only engaging with them when he was off decompressing alone. For some reason, conversations threw him right into problem solving mode, especially now that he was trying to fill the void that his father had left in his family's life. Without hesitation, Ned had readily stepped up to the plate. After all, someone needed to counter-balance Anne's more brash and quick-to-anger spirit.

"I'm sure Professor O'Connell would be able to tell you what sort of options there are for the future." He commented with a grin, glad that she was at least considering looking into it. "Though, with a family like yours and your skill, I'm sure the Harpies would readily accept you onto their team." There was no doubt in his mind that Sloane was a rather good seeker.

"I do. I wish to be an auror." He neglected to add 'like my father.' He wished to be better than him. "If that doesn't pan out, I hope to work for the ministry in some capacity." Maybe he could be an unspeakable like his mother; he was very capable at being discreet.

"I wonder what the others wish to do," he mused. It wasn't a conversation they had particularly gravitated toward in the past. "I imagine Gillenwater also has quidditch aspirations, at least?"

  

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Sloane always wondered what it was like to have younger siblings. She was the youngest, though technically a twin and Sawyer had been younger by a few minutes, it didn't seem quite the same. Not to mention Sawyer hadn't made it more than few months. She rather thought she would like Anne quite a bit though. From the way Ned spoke of her, the pair were similar.

"Very true," Though only a third year, Sloane supposed she had more time. It was after OWLs that the career discussion became serious. Of course, Sloane only had one goal in mind. The Harpies were her first choice, but any professional team would be fine, the only exemption being the one her father coached.

Surprised by Ned's answer, Sloane considered him carefully out of the corner of her eye. "I can see it," She decided. Ned was quiet and unassuming, but incredibly bright and dedicated. It certainly wasn't what she expected, but it also fit him. "I think you'll do really well with it." Accentuating her point with a sharp nod, she followed it up with a chuckle. "Oh I'm pretty sure Cam will make a professional team as well." Wouldn't that be funny; playing against one another after playing together for so many years?

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Ned smiled, seeming almost satisfied that at least one of his friends could one day imagine him as an auror. If he could manage the grades and make it through the internship, that is. Despite his tense relationship with his father, he still wished to follow in his footsteps, to ensure that everyone he loved stayed safe. If one thing was certain, Ned wouldn't be the cocky sort of auror. "I do hope so."

When Sloane seemed to decide that Cam would also make a professional team, he laughed. "Now that's a rivalry I would pay to see." His tone was a teasing one. If they remained friends past graduating Hogwarts, he'd likely attend both of their games and cheer just as loudly at each.

  

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