Sweater Weather [OPEN]

There still seemed to be an atmosphere around Hogwarts and Ryan had a feeling that it would probably stay that way for a while but for the most part things seemed to be starting to settle down a bit and for that he was truly grateful. He knew that his dad, Kirsten and all of the other members of staff were doing everything they could in order to keep them safe and there were a lot of Guardians and Ministry workers tasked with protecting them and the surrounding villages so he knew that they were much safer at the school than they would be anywhere else. There were some students whose parents hadn’t wanted them to return that year but most had and he knew that he wouldn’t be surprised if more decided to return as the year went on as well. It wasn’t like when Voldemort was trying to take over, the Enlightened weren’t in control at Hogwarts and even though Ryan knew that the other students were all worried about their families back home, the truth was that they were safe at the school and it looked like some were starting to remember that. Ryan had a lot of family at Hogwarts as well, his dad and two of his uncles both worked there and he had both his siblings along with various cousins at the school. All of his friends were there too, their parents confident enough in what was being done to let their kids return at the start of the year, so for that at least he was glad.

Now his fifth year had started he knew that he needed to focus on his studies and he was doing his best to make that happen but the truth was that right now he needed a break. He had been studying with Dominic before he’d returned to the common room and he quickly realised that he wasn’t the only one who had thought to head there to hang out. It seemed like most of the students in his house were there and he found himself searching for his friends among the crowd. He had friends in all different houses and it was true that he didn’t often tend to spend too many nights in the dorms since he could go home whenever he wanted to and sleep in his own bed after spending time with his dad and siblings but he still liked to hang out in the common room when he had the chance. He had just spotted a few of his friends across the room when a familiar voice sounded saying that she was bored and a smile crossed his face as he turned to see Savannah not too far away. Their parents were best friends so they had pretty much grown up together and she was one of his best friends despite being a year older than he was. Needless to say he quickly headed in her direction rather than that of his other friends and he offered her a smile as he reached her. “I can see that. Do you feel like hanging out?” he asked, not sure if she had anything planned or not. “It’s a bit crowded in here, we could always get out of here and do something fun if you like.”

SAVANNAH MARIE FORRESTER

There was a part of Ryan that had hoped to have a somewhat uneventful year at Hogwarts now that his OWLs were over. He knew that the preparation for his NEWTs was going to be tough but he wouldn’t have to face those exams until the following year and he really was glad about that. Ryan had pretty much grown up around Hogwarts given that his dad worked there and he had always wanted to attend the school himself. Now he was there he was loving every minute of it and the truth was that he really wasn’t in a hurry for his time at the school to come to an end. He knew that sooner or later it would have to but for the time being he just wanted to enjoy it and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. He still made sure to see Alyssa and Christian as much as he could, one of the perks of living near the school was that he didn’t have to spend every night in the dorms and a lot of the time he preferred to sleep in his own bed at night. He had a room in one of the dorms for when he did want to stay at the school though so really he had the best of both worlds. He would be lying if he said that he hadn’t felt a little disappointed when his brother and sister were sorted into different houses since it meant that they wouldn’t be able to hang out together in the common room but he knew that they had all been sorted into the right house. It wasn’t really that bad though, he knew that his siblings had friends of their own and they always looked out for each other anyway so he knew that it could easily be much worse.

He hadn’t known what it would be like going to a school where some of his family members were in such high positions but the truth was that Ryan didn’t mind one bit. He wasn’t the only one who was in that position, he had grown up around Savannah and Samuel and he knew that now their mum was the Headmistress they were in the same position that he was. Ryan was proud of how far his dad and their mum had come, he knew that they had worked hard to get to where they were now and even though there were occasionally comments made about how easy he must have it given that his dad was the Headmaster, Ryan knew better than to let anything like that get to him. It had made it that much easier not being in the same house as Alyssa knowing that he was at least in the same house as Savannah and Samuel and the truth was that Ryan had grown closer to the two of them than ever. He had always felt a little closer to Savannah than Samuel but as far as he was concerned they were two of his best friends and he knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

That day Ryan had decided to hang out around the common room for a while and it hadn’t taken him long to spot Savannah. “Hey yourself,” he grinned. Spending time in the common room had seemed like a good idea at the time but it really was too crowded that day for his liking and he couldn’t think of anything better than getting some air and hanging out with his friend. Samuel didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight but as a twin himself Ryan knew that didn’t mean that they had to be joined at the hip all the time so he wouldn’t be surprised if Samuel was just off doing his own thing for a while. “I decided to stick around for a while but I didn’t realise it would be this crowded in here,” he admitted. “I guess the Enlightened have really done a number on everyone, huh?” Normally when he did decide to stick around the other students still tended to spend time in their favourite spots around the school during their free time but that day they all seemed to have congregated in the common room. As Savannah asked what he had in mind, Ryan’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “How about the lake?” he suggested. “It would be nice to go for a walk for a bit and we could always go ice skating like we used to when we were younger if we want to,” he added, knowing that it would be easy enough to freeze a section of the lake for a while if they decided they wanted to do that.

SAVANNAH MARIE FORRESTER