Lost as usual (Lace)

A quiet place.

Trying to find one in this school was hard. It wasn't easy to find a place where she could hole up and do her work. Study. Or contemplate. Today, she just needed to get away. The common room was filled with people debating with their large intellects. The Great Room was filled with the Hufflepuffs goofing off. She just wanted to find herself a place to relax and some quiet time.

Black hair hung down all the way to her hips. Shimmering in it's silken length. She had some of the longest hair in the entire school. She liked it long like this. She wore her uniform. The Ravenclaw colors sitting proudly on her as she walked along the hallway. Her heels making soft noises on the stone floors. Her own personal perfume on, but it was not strong, it was very subtle and light.

There was a room out here, she knew it, she had been snooping once with James, her best friend and they had found it. They hadn't even gone inside, but she remembered it was there and that was where she was headed now.

Of course, not being anything other than a witch, she did not have any sort of extra senses. So she was totally unaware of the boy that stood on the other side of the door that she opened, prepped to step inside. Nearly running into the Gryfindor.

"OH." she blushed softly her lovely eyes widening in surprise. Then shifting, to see if he was alone or if he was just hanging out in here by himself. Biting her lower lip, she gives him a very shy smile. "Ummm, I was just.. coming in to.. hang out.. without the chaos of .. the more popular rooms."

Looking over at him again, through the dark curtain of the hair that had fallen into her face. "Ummm... you want to umm.. well.. do you mind if I join... you?"

She was terrified at first, he was about to leave. She supossed that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Just that, there were times she got lonely. James, her best friend, was outgoing and had a ton of friends. Even though Lace was Head Girl, she was still very shy and gentle. Which meant she had very few. On one hand that made it easier to help the professors and the school as Head Girl, but on the other it kept her lonely. So to have a little time with someone, even new, would be nice.

Yet, he decided to stay, and it was this that caused the warm smile to cross her face. A soft blush still coloring her cheeks.

Lace slowly stepped into the room and the door closed behind them, seeling them both in the room until one of them decided to leave. But, with it closed, it was less likely anyone was going to find them in here and want to join them.

Two was more than one, yet, not loud.. at least not yet.

Lace bit on the corner of her lip as she passed him. She filled out her uniform quite well, with a slender waist and nice curves. She was pale, and there were black swooping lines on her left hand from where she had been drawing during her charms class earlier that day. She would get rid of them later. She wasn't quite done with the design. Lace moved to one of the desks and slowly put her bag down.

"Well then, if you're here to study, don't let me stop you. I was going to study myself anyway. The library was much too loud today." she admitted to him a sad sigh. The library was one of her favorite places in the world.

She pulled the seat back with a loud scratch against the stone floor and lowered herself into the chair behind the desk and began to pull out various potion books and some parchment for note taking and her favorite purple quill.

"What are you studying?" she asked him curiously her eyes, a vibrant emerald green, peeked up from behind the swath of dark hair covering part of her face to look at him.

"Yes, what are you studying?"

She repeated the question. Softly though, she wasn't angry to have to do so. She actually thought he was really cute. Not just because he was male, and actually quite good looking but also because of his demeanor. It was rare that she met anyone as socially awkward as herself. She was still blushing as he answered that he was studying for multiple classes.

Her brow rose though, when he said mostly potions.

"Really?"

A finger pushed her hair back off her face and behind her ear. Some of it immediately fell back into her eye sight but it definatly offered more of her face. The only place she was truly confident was when she had to do with potions. She was good at it, better than good, it was her chosen study. This was what she would graduate to do. Potions making. And perfumes.

"Do you umm.. I mean.. I c-c-could help you out a little.. if you want.. umm.. I'm actually.. a little.. a little good at potions."

Okay, that was an understatement but she didn't want him to feel like she was a professor. She wasn't, she supposed one day, she could be. Still, she gave him a shy but slight smile. Sliding over a little bit, she pushed the chair next to her out with her foot. Her face flaming a bright red as she did so. This was so out of her comfort zone, but even still.. she was actually looking forward to having someone to talk to.

"Me? Oh.. uhh potions as well. Just ummm .. looking over next week's homework. Making notes and umm.. substitutions." Yeah... she didn't always follow the proper format, because sometimes, there was an ingrediant that worked a lot better than the author of the book thought. Sometimes, her teachers didn't appreciate her alterations, but most of the time, they didn't even know. Except that her potions always turned out the best.

Lace rose her brow at the change in mid sentence. Almost as if his excitement or acceptance of her offer would change her thoughts of him. He seemed to be just as shy as she was. But, even more so because this was her element. Being in class, working with someone to help them understand. Tutoring them. Doing anything she could to help. Lace bit her lower lip, while he blurted out his name causing a warm smile and a soft blush to cross her cheeks.

"Umm, hey, I .. I'm Lace. Lace Hunnington." she said warmly.

She was Head Girl. Some people knew the name, most of them did anyway. They knew that she was someone they could go to. She might be very shy but she would be able to help them as best as she could. Lace opened her own potions book. The margins were filled with notes and changes. Sometimes, whole lists were crossed out and beside them in her handwriting was another list.

She was big on toying with the potions. Bettering them. Potions was her element.

"So, what are you guys learning in class? Or did you just want to work on some potions in general?" she asked him.

Lace did not have a boyfriend. She had a bestfriend who was taken. She had a best friend who was popular which made her seem popular by default but she wasn't. She wasn't the least bit popular. She was shy, painfully so. Thankfully, Christian seemed to be just as shy as she was. Lace desperately wanted someone to care for, who would care about her, but she was too shy to make that kind of move.

"You pick what we work on. I'll help you with whatever.. I mean.. I'm pretty good at potions.. sort of.. so.." she shrugged.

Lace chuckled. She couldn't help it. Afterall, he used his full name, and there was a 'third' in there at the end. Which made her smile. She thought it was cute, having such a distinguished name. She was from a good family though, a really good one, she was probably only really best friend with James because they had been next door to one another almost their entire lives. Lace wished to expand her friendships with people around her, but it was hard. Often, she was in the shadow of James.

"I like it, very distinguished. Though, a cigar and glass of brandy is in order." she laughed again, a smile lighting up her face. Before she decided that she was totally being silly and decided that it was probably best if she was serious.

Refocusing herself, she used her wand, pulling it out of her book case and then whispered accio, potion supplies. That way she could really help him. It wouldn't hurt to really get some practice in especially if he really had problems. There was nothing wrong with using a book as referrence but sometimes, to make a good potion there was a quick time limit to get it just right making memorizing some of it, key.

As she waited for her things to arrive, she looked over at him when he asked her how old she was. A bright pink blush covered her cheeks. She couldn't help it. It was almost like he was interested in her, but, she doubted that. There were far more beautiful and confident girls in this school she doubted that she had what he wanted.

"Ummm... seventeen." she admitted to him, brushing her dark locks behind her pierced ears. The left was pierced six times, the right only twice. The drawings on her left hand and wrist, the swirls and dots creating a almost lace like design, were dark against her pale skin.

"What about you? I haven't seen you before. But then, I'm not really.. out there.. you know." she bit her lower lip. "I mean, I am with James, he's my best friend, but he's usually busy with other girls and stuff." she shrugged. Sometimes it was hard to see him so happy while she remained the same. While she faded into the background. The door opened, and her potions supplies came in, cauldron and a small wooden box that held a lot of different ingrediants she had purchased here and there.

Lace stood and moved her case to make room for the supplies on the table and then looked over at him.

"Want to have some fun?" she smiled. The excitement that lit up her green eyes showed a true passion for something amazing. For her, potions.

Lace couldn't help but smile.

"So maybe I'll take to calling you CJ then" she smiled. "I could extend it for you when I'm angry." she grinned.

Then blushed. Assuming that he would want her to be that familiar with him was just probably a little overboard. She wasn't that confident in herself. Much less that anyone would want to spend time enough with her that she could actually use some sort of nickname for them. So she was totally getting ahead of herself.

"Sorry, I mean, that's only if you would want to be called CJ." she bit her lower lip so that she could shut herself up.

Her eyes widened when he mentioned that he had thought James was her boyfriend. Her face turned bright red. And for a moment, she just stared at him. James had never been like that for her. Oh sure, she had gone through her crush stage, and she did love him. But, he made it clear a long time ago there was and would never be anything between them. Slowly, Lace had moved on. However, that someone saw them together and thought that, was.. almost flattering.

"Umm.. no... not boyfriend. Just best friend. Next door neighbor.. and kinda like.. a brother, but one you could tell anything to I guess." She gave a shy smile as he mentioned they were always together. She nodded. "Yeah, we grew up together. Our parents are good friends.. so.. and he's like.. my only friend... "

Wow.. now she sounded like an utter loser.

"You don't umm.. go out.. much? Umm... but surely.. you go out with like.. your girl or whatever?" Yeah.. she was totally searching.

The conversation switched to how old he was and in what year. She was at the nearly 18 year mark, but she was still 17 even though she was a 7th year already. Her eyes looked over at him as she flicked her wand at the book and it opened to the page that she wanted to try. She already knew it, but she slid it over in front of him. So that he would be able to see her notes and the like since she had the whole thing memorized.

"I'm a 7th year, but only seventeen." she said honestly. No reason to lie, besides she was the Head Girl. Though, she wasn't very 'out' about it. Standing up she walked around to the other side of the table and flicked her wand at the cauldron and a fire leapt underneath it to begin heating the metal.

"All right, so. We're going to do something fun. It's an invisible ink. For maps, notes, the like. But if it's not made right, it will be quite bad, but when made properly, can be a lot of fun." she smiled at him and pointed to the book. "What's first?"

He.. didn't have a girl.

Lace nearly sighed with relief. Afterall, she had figured that someone as handsome as he, would have someone attatched to his arms. He was no more or less handsome than James was, in her mind. He was cute, and she liked that he wasn't overly confident but instead a lot like her. He was cute, in a way that she didn't come on often.

"Oh well. You will."

She nodded decively. Not that she was offering. Nor would she turn him down. Just that she knew it wouldn't be long that he remianed single. Especially, if he talked to more girls like her. She could see a girl just like her snapping him up pretty quick.

"Yeah.. I'm gonna teach you invisible ink. I use it on some of my notes. Because, then when people steal them, they can't read them anyway." she shrugged.

She might be Head Girl but she was picked on a lot especially because she was so quiet and shy. Chewing on her lower lip she looked over at him and gave him a small smile. She really enjoyed teaching and helping out. As much as she wanted to be a potions master when she finished school she also wouldn't mind coming back here to be the Potions professor at some point.

Lace pushed her hair out of her face and it fell back in, cascading back down into her eyes. So she reached into her bag and pulled out a hair tie. Tying her very long hair up in a messy little bun, tendrils falling down with the silken nature of her hair but mostly remained up. And her eyes shimmered softly as she began to walk Christian through the process of making. Pointing out her notes to him getting close so that their faces were close together time and time again.

"Okay. Now, we're going to work on the second part. The important part. What you have now is ink, we have to do what it takes to make it invisible now. So... I want you to work on this part.. and if you have any questions, at all... just ask, I'm right here, I won't let you make a mistake I promise."