Walking Across the Grass

[Dante]

Dante and Ashlyn reached the front gates of Hogwarts and sat down on the grass. They sat in silence for a few moments, and Dante had no idea how to start off a conversation. This girl was like a maze... he just could't figure her out. But, he was having fun trying. "So..." he began akwardly.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn smiled at his akwardness. "So...," she mimicked with a grin. She began to take her shoes off, then her socks. "You wanna climb that tree?" she asked, pointing at a haggard old thing on the edge of the school grounds.

[Dante]

Dante raised an eyebrow. Ashlyn was already walking towards it, so he kicked off is doc martins and headed her way. "Alright... race to the top?" he challenged.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn laughed. "You're on," she said. "On the count of three." Ashlyn put one foot on the tree and searched with her eyes for the quickest route up. "One..."

[Dante]

Dante saw Ashlyn's look of determination and smiled, putting his own foot up on the tree and trying to decide whether or not the old branches would support his weight. "Two..." he added.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn grinned. "THREE!" she yelled, and began her ascent into the great tree, clutching at every notch she could find.

[Dante]

Dante climbed as swiftly as he could manage, but he placed his foot on a weak branch and slipped. Oh, great, he thought with a sigh, pulling himself back onto the boughs of the tree.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn looked down to see Dante slipping. She gave a laugh and shoved her foot onto the trees surface, pushing herself higher. However, climbing in the rather unnecessary Hogwarts uniform was proving harder as her skirt caught the edge of a small branch. She briefly panicked. Oh, just don't rip it, she thought desperately. I do not want to have to mend this because of a stupid tree!

[Dante]

Dante laughed when he saw Ashlyn begin a struggle with her skirt. The distraction proved affective though when he placed his weight on a weak branch. With a loud SNAP, the branch cracked in two and sent Dante to the ground. He lay on his back, laughing and coughing, trying to regain his breath.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn looked down at the ground and gasped. She quickly hopped out of the tree and onto the ground, kneeling beside Dante, who was on his back and breathing in hard, wheezing coughs. "Oh god, are you alright?" she asked him.

[Dante]

Dante smiled at her... the empathy was enough to make him almost feel like blushing. Except that would've been odd. He pulled himself off the ground, drawing up his knees and resting his arms on them. "I'm good," he said, laughing slightly. "Uncoordinated, but good."

[Agoraphobia]

A sudden feeling of slight embarassment washed over Ash... something she didn't quite recognize. Like one of those rumbling butterfly eruptions. Oh, this is convenient, she thought with sarcasm. "Alright," she said with a smile, getting up off the ground. "Let's go back to the castle." She held out her hands to pull him up, ignoring the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach.

[Dante]

He took her hands with a smile, trying to memorize the warm feeling. "To the common room?" he asked.

[Agoraphobia]

Ashlyn grinned, tugging him to his feet. "Sure. To the common room," she said.

((ooc: meet in the common room...))