won't get much better *

A young woman laid out on the lawns of Hogwarts that particular afternoon, soaking up the sun’s rays and also soaking in a bit of water from the ground underneath. It had rained recently, as that seemed to be the weather of choice that Merlin liked to have them all play with, and the ground still held a bit of that dampness if too much pressure was applied here, or too much pressure was applied there, that part of your body was going to get wet. As it was, it was only Ivory’s rear and shoulders that felt even the slightest bit of wetness touch them, though she had long ago given up awareness to just about everything around her. An old baseball cap rested over her face to keep the sun off of it, and she certainly wasn’t awake underneath it. The girl’s breathing was deep and even, and an occasional noise that you would never get her to admit was a snore escaped every now and again.

The sun had simply been too warm and she had been too comfortable not to doze off for that ever-famous ‘five minutes’. It had probably been a quarter of an hour by now and she hadn’t stirred once. Perhaps she ought to have slept a bit more at night, rather than gallivanting about because she wanted to, or just because she could. Granted, Prefects and whatnot were often out, and she had gotten herself a detention more than a time or two, but detention wasn’t the end of the world. It was sort of like an initiation rite, almost, with the students; if you never got a detention, you didn’t know what you were missing. Well, aside from being free of oozing, pus filled things, or cleaning up an entire room in a night without magic. But after that, she supposed it was all gravy. After all, there was nothing extreme required of you in detention and it was usually only for one night, depending on the defense.

The girl let out another noise and turned a bit, her hat sliding off her face and exposing it to the sunlight. Blearily, Ive blinked and squinted, feeling just a smidge disoriented. Wasn’t she in her bed back in Sournis Dorms? That was a very stupid question, for it was clear she was not; the air smelled outdoorsy, and a brief look around once her eyes didn’t hurt at the sudden burst of light showed that she was, as a matter of fact, outside. Having propped herself up on her elbows, she took a look around, spotting a few stray students here and there intermingled with their group of friends, or perhaps with just one other student for a bit of chitchat time. Rubbing her eyes with a hand, Ive flopped back on her back and looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. She liked her vision just fine, thanks, and burnt retinas weren’t exactly something she wanted. Chances were good that a brief glance wouldn’t do much damage, but why should one want to look at the sun anyhow? It wasn’t that nice to look at, even when clouds covered it and you could see a great ball in the sky.

Ivory shook her head at herself and let out a yawn, stretching her limbs until she felt her back crack. She snagged her hat from its place on the ground and brushed stray bits of grass from it – apparently, the lawns had been recently mowed, which meant she would have a green carpet attached to the back of her clothing when she decided to leave – and placed it back on her head. Her hair was down and quite a sight to see, though only for the reason that she’d been wearing a hat, had been sleeping, and had now decided to shove that hat back on her head. Knots, anyone? But she didn’t much mind it, at least not right now. After all, she wasn’t going to some extravagant gala and didn’t have to worry over appearances unless she really felt the need. And she didn’t really feel that need to worry. ‘Sides, she was still quite content to lay out in the sunshine for a little while longer, but only for a little while. She could only stay somewhere for so long without feeling the need to talk to someone. Perhaps someone she knew, or even someone she didn’t, would stroll along on their little outdoorsy trip?

She pondered this to herself and gave of a shrug, feeling the dampness in the shoulder of her shirt as she did so. The shrug probably gave her a bit of a grass stain on her shirt as well, but that’s why her whole outfit screamed ‘junk’. Jeans that had seen better days paired with a shirt that had seen better days. Didn’t really get much better than this.