A New Outlook (Astronomy Tower)

[Jory Addison]

Jory was in a better mood than he had been in for weeks after meeting Ocean. He didn't really have any notion of being with the guy, but he had somehow managed to make him feel like less of a worthless piece of crap and more like he used to feel. When was the last time he had come up here to the Astronomy Tower? Well, away from class, anyway.

It felt like months, which amazed him since he had loved his old school's Astronomy tower so much. However little he had visited it over the past months, he was there now, and for once he wasn't brooding and down. No, he had his personal Wizard's Wireless on, going through his favorite playlist. Right now, Jason Mraz was starting from the little box propped up on the windowsill.

Jory sang softly with Jason's happy, upbeat music and smooth voice as he peered through the huge telescope pointed out the window. "Well, you dawned on me and you can bet I felt it, I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted, I fell right through the cracks....now I'm tryin' to get back." He might have even found himself shifting a little to the bright beat.

Every so often he would move away from the telescope to add to a large piece of parchment spread out by the telescope's stand. It had a faint horizon line and over the scribbled label of The Forbidden Forest stars were dotting the parchment. Some had faint lines between them, marking constellations. He hadn't done anything like this in so long. Sure, he could see things like this in books, but this was different, he drew this himself. He wasn't an artist, but it didn't take an artist to be able to put stars in the sky.

"Well, open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and, damn, you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, love
Listen to the music of the moment, maybe sing with me
All a peaceful melody
It's your God-forsaken right to be love, love, love, loved, love, loved"

[jamie]

Jamie was nowhere near the Slytherin Common Room, or the Great Hall, or anywhere he was supposed to be, really. He had promised to help some guys practice for Quidditch but blew them off at the last minute. He mention that he must have had some bad Pumpkin Juice early and hurried out of the room. Jamie wasn't really thinking about where he was going, but he knew it was somewhere where he wouldn't run into many people.

The sound of music played in the distance and curiosity got the best of Jamie. He followed the melody up a few flights of stairs where one of the towers was. Jamie couldn't tell which tower he was in until he actually got inside of the tower. The telescopes were a sure sign that it was the Astronomy Tower, but what had caught his eye was who was in the Astronomy Tower. A grin automatically spread across his face when he recognized Jory, but slowly faded as he remembered their last meeting. Jamie watched Jory for a few moments. He looked so happy, swaying to the music and moving back and forth around the telescope. "Jory?" Jamie said stepping into the tower more. He would try to make things better, apologize for how strange he had acted before. "Hey! What are you doing?" He asked curiously, hoping that Jory wasn't still made about their latest encounter.

[Jory Addison]

I guess what I'm a-saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue

Jory didn't notice footsteps that would have announced someone else coming up, and so he continued singing softly as he knelt down to put in the last star of Draco. He pulled a heavy pencil from behind his ear and laid out a ruler to connect it to the last one, and went to label it when he heard his name. He looked up and his light smile faltered for barely half a second before he said, "Hey."

I'm doing a diagram of the sky tonight," he said, focusing on labeling the constellation before he stood. He had all but written off Jamie as a lost cause, at least...that was what he told himself, anyway. It was easier to do that than to hope. Jamie still dominated more than a few of his late-night thoughts. He tucked his pencil back behind his ear and watched Jamie.

[jamie]

Jamie walked over to where Jory was to see for himself. The only diagrams he had seen like that were in his textbooks. "Wow." Jamie whispered. "That's incredible." He said observing the paper. Something like that must take lots of focus and determination...something Jamie often lacked. When Jamie looked at the night sky, all he saw where tiny lights illuminating the sky. He was never good at telling which start was which or what constellation was out or where to find it. Jamie stood up straight and slipped his hands into his pockets. "You look like you've been doing this for a while." Jamie observed how precisely the stars were drawn on the diagram.

[Jory Addison]

"I have," Jory said, looking down at the diagram. "I always loved Divination stuff, ever since I was little, so when I got to school I latched on to Astronomy. It all kind of ties in. I got an O on my Astronomy O.W.L." He was proud of that, too. He went over to the windowsill where his wizard's wireless was playing the last overlays of the song and looked out. It was one of the few windows that didn't have a telescope shooting out of it.

[jamie]

"Impressive." Jamie said smiling. Jamie had received his only 'O' in Potions. It was his favorite subject, mainly because it came so easily to him. Jamie followed Jory with his eyes as he made his was to the windowsill. Jamie bit his lower lip, unsure of how to get the conversation going again. He really did miss Jory. He still constantly thought about their last meeting, their first meeting, and what Jory said about telling his parents. "How have you been?" Jamie asked. It was a genuine question, one that Jamie wondered about many nights. He took a couple of steps towards the windowsill, but made sure to give Jory room. He didn't want Jory to feel cramped, but he also didn't want to yell across the room to have a conversation.

[Jory Addison]

Jory didn't answer immediately, but leaned on the wide windowsill and looked out at the millions of brightly twinkling spots hanging in the black sky. The music changed to a song he had found one day, where someone had taken a popular song's melody and put entirely new, meaningful words to it. It was sad, but by the end he always felt better. He listened to the first few lyrics before he finally spoke.

"I was pretty bad until a couple of days ago. I tried to go see Lyric at rehab, and I wasn't allowed in because I got in a fight with this girl that went with me. Went to the counselor...then I met this new guy, Ocean, and talked to him, and he put me in a good mood." Jamie probably hadn't wanted a summary of his life over the past week and a half. He dropped his eyes. "Sorry. What about you?"

((OOC::Song, if anyone wants to hear/watch the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IrHee0ih_4&feature=PlayList&p=2A52875D84F71F14&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1))

[jamie]

Jamie shoved his hands into his pockets and his eyes dropped focus to the floor. The music playing was just background noise to him; he wasn’t really paying any attention to it. It had a familiar melody, but Jamie was more focused on Jory. He lifted his eyes when a few moments had passed and Jory still hadn’t said anything. They way the moonlight hit him made him look magical.

I was pretty bad until a couple of days ago… Jamie felt a pang of guilt. If he hadn’t freaked out that one day then he would’ve been there for Jory. The next few things didn’t make much since to him. Rehab? A fight? And what was Lyric? It had obviously been something that really affected Jory if he went to the counselor about it. Then I met this new guy, Ocean, Jamie’s head shot up for that one. Something strange came over him. Was that… jealousy? … nd talked to him, and he put me in a good mood. Jamie’s fists subconsciously clenched and his jaw tightened it. He didn’t realize it until he answered Jory. “Not much.” He said shrugging. “I helped this girl fix up the Three Broomsticks. I think she plans on reopening it soon.” He should’ve probably felt bad that he didn’t mention anything else about Verity, but he was still tense about this Ocean guy Jory had mentioned.

[Jory Addison]

"Cool," Jory said, having no reason to think of something happening with the girl. "I've never been there. I don't go many places, though." He turned and leaned back against the windowsill to look at Jamie. "I'm going to be meeting up with Ocean again, though. He's cool, so not my type, though." He was running off at the mouth again. His teeth caught his bottom lip and he dropped his eyes for a second.

[jamie]

Jamie's shoulders and clenched muscles relaxed and he breathed out. He held his gaze and when Jory looked up, it was if their eyes locked. Then when Jory dropped his eyes, the moment was gone. Jamie would have given anything to have it back. Just like he would have given anything to go back and change out he acted. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had over-reacted. "I missed you." Jamie blurted out finally. He missed how carefree and relaxed he felt with Jory. His hands slipped out of his pockets and while one fell to his side, he brought the other up to the back of his neck. It sounded like Jory had enough to think about to keep his thoughts away from Jamie. Unlike Jamie, who had copious amount of time to think about Jory and had done just that.

[Jory Addison]

Jory looked up again, surprised at that. "You did?" He hadn't expected that at all. There was a feeling that washed over him, hope tightening his chest, though he refused to give it more than a moment's thought. "So...did you figure some stuff out?" he asked. So maybe he hadn't expected to start talking like this so soon, but it just happened, and it would be nice to go ahead and know.

[jamie]

"I haven't told my family anything." Jamie said, sighing at the same time. "...yet." He thought about it frequently, tried to figure out what to say, and even went as far as to write it down in a letter. Each time he wrote it, he didn't like the way it sounded and ended up throwing it away. "I meant to. I've started to write to them a few times, but every time I did, I ended up throwing the letter away." It was his father that was holding him back. His father was very old-fashioned and admired by many of his friends. He would see Jamie as a flaw in his perfect life and either try to fix it the only way he knew how or to give up entirely and ignore Jamie's existence forever. Both options were equally as frightening as the other.

[Jory Addison]

"I'll go with you to owl it or something if you want," Jory said. "If you can figure out what to say. I'd help but I don't think I'd do much good." Maybe he could sit with him while he wrote it, would that help? It would be nice to be able to help Jamie, since he seemed like he wanted to tell his family. "What have you tried saying?" He didn't know Jamie's family well enough to truly help, but maybe he could give advice.

[jamie]

"Well, I originally thought it would be best to tell them in person. So I wrote them to tell them I was coming home for a weekend. Then, the more I thought about it, it didn't seem like a good idea to be stuck at home after I tell them. So my next idea was to just come out and tell them. I tried explaining what was happening, that it wasn't a bad thing, but when I did that all I could picture was my mum in tears and my dad packing up my things." Jamie let out a frustrated sigh. There was no good answer. It helped to have someone to talk about it to, though. Someone who understood.

[Jory Addison]

Jory put his hands back on the windowsill and shifted to rest most of his weight on one leg, causing his hip to tilt up on that side. "You could go and tell them like, right at the end of the trip. That way, if it did turn out bad, you'd be leaving immediately." He didn't know how well that would go, but he thought it would be better to tell face-to-face. "Do you really think they'd act like that?"