| Details for Study Date |
| Summary: | Ophelia decides to teach Kaiden some study habits, with a somewhat unusual method. |
| Date: | September 24, 1937 |
| Location: | Gardens, Hogwarts |
| Related: | None |
| Characters |
  |
Just at the end of today's classes, Ophelia's tiny little Owl found his way to Kaiden and dropped off a note asking him to meet the Ravenclaw in the entry couryard. She waits there, having gained permission to leave her own last class a little early, sitting on a blanket which has been folded over two large picnic baskets. In general, she's dressed as usual, her shoes left somewhere around her room. But there is one thing different today. She wrangled a classmate into helping her curl her hair and pin it up with a pair of green jade combs. She keeps trying to reach up and mess with a stray lock nervously, only to remember at the last second that she can't do that without messing the whole thing up.
Kaiden wanders out into the courtyard, hands slid into his pockets and hair bobbing as he walks. He's looking a great deal more put together than usual, despite the fact that he's still not wearing his robe. He's got on a pair of black slacks and a yellow sweater with a white button-up underneath it. He smiles at Ophelia as he spots her and says, "Well, hello there, Ophelia."
Ophelia looks up, jerking her hand down from where it had been worrying at a bit of loose hair near the nape of her neck, smiling. "Hello. I almost thought you wouldn't come." The nervousness in her movements is mirrored in her tone, especially when she mumbles, "You, ah, you look very nice in yellow, you know." She stands up hurriedly to hide her embarassment, picking up one basket in each hand.
Kaiden moves over to offer to carry the baskets, holding his hands out, "And pass up a chance to spend time with THE Ophelia Summerbee? Not a chance." He smiles and looks down at his sweater, "Oh, thank you. I think that's what the Sorting Hat though." He smiles at her and says, "You look quite lovely today, Ophe."
Ophelia hands over one of the baskets, which is either empty or has been placed under a weightless charm, and snorts. "The only 'THE' Summerbee in my house is a he, and he's long dead. But thank you." Her gratitude is expressed softly, with a tiny smile and a glance up at the Hufflepuff. Then she turns and starts walking down the path toward the lakeshore. She veers off after going only a little ways though, heading toward a mostly flat little spot where a blanket has already been laid out.
Kaiden walks along beside the girl, smiling the big, dumb smile of a boy treading the waters of infatuation. "So, I doubt you called me down to simply compliment me on my sweater. What do you have planned?" He does piece the puzzle together himself, though as the two of them approach the blanket. He leans down and sets the basket on it before taking a seat.
Ophelia giggles, setting down her basket. "Well. I wanted to talk to you about some things." She looks up quickly from opening the basket to clarify, "/Not/ like last time, I promise." Settling down next to him, she lifts the lid of the basket to reveal a full tea set and assortment of snacks and goodies. "Also, I wanted to ask for your help with something, if its possible. And you seem to like to be outside better, so… " She gestures to their surroundings.
Kaiden smiles at her and tilts his head, "Oh, no? I thought we made rather good progress on our last encounter. It's good to air things out every once and a while. Speaking of which, I have a question for you when we're done with this." His eyes widen at the promise of delicious snacky things and those big green orbs turn to Ophelia, "What kind of help? Did you bring too many biscuits?"
Ophelia rolls her eyes, grinning. "Open the other basket." She starts setting out the tea things while she waits for him to do so. Inside, he will find a whole assortment of one of her favorite things. Books. Also parchment and quills and a few other bits and bobs. But mostly books. "Actually. Though I suspect you'll tell me you didn't pay much attention, I'd like you'r help in studying for my OWLs."
Kaiden will do as commanded and flip the top of the basket open. He tilts his head and plucks a few of the things out, quite confused until she clears things up for him, "Oh…well, you're quite right. I didn't really study for them all that much, but I'll help out where I can."
Ophelia beams. "Excellent!" She reaches for one of the books, offering him a cup of tea in exchange. "I also wanted to do one more thing. I know… " Her voice quiets again, uncertainty returning, "Well I know I'm just a fifth year. But I thought that I'd like to help you study for your NEWTs as well."
Kaiden happily accepts the trade and smiles at her, saying, "You would do that, Ophe? You don't have to go around muddling that brain of yours just to help me out. I'm sure I'll make it out alright. But, y'know, if you really want to…that'd be great."
If anything, Ophelia seems encouraged by Kaiden's reaction. "Oh, no, I don't mind at all. I think it might be a good way to get an early start, since I already know where I want to end up. Have you decided which NEWTS you want to take yet?" She sets out snacks, which are mostly cookies, small cakes, and a few unopened tins that turn out to be full of home-made sweets of various sorts.
Kaiden shrugs and looks over at her, "I know it sounds dumb but, I've always kinda done well in Defence Against the Dark Arts." He shrugs again, looking a bit embarassed about his chosen field. "Nah, that's…stupid."
Ophelia looks up from one of the tins, eyebrows raised, "Really? Why is that stupid?" Baffled, she sits up and carefully leans past him to reach into the book trunk and pull out some parchment and a quill. "Defence against the Dark Arts is fascinating. It covers so many of the other subjects. And you can do so much with it."
Kaiden smirks and looks at her, saying, "I always…kinda wanted to be an Auror or something. I want to protect people, y'know? It's what I'm good at, I guess." He plays with a bit of the blanket that's bunched up, looking away from Ophelia.
When Ophelia pulls back, parchment and quill in hand, she's smiling brightly. "Well, I don't know what sort of crazy books /you've/ been reading. But I think that's a brilliant idea." Her smile fades slightly as a thought occurs to her, "Only I don't know as much about the requirements for being an Auror. Do you? I can find out, if not."
Kaiden sighs a bit and murmurs, "Five E's." He grumbles a bit and looks up at Ophelia with a bit of a defeated look on his face, "I don't know if I have that in me, Ophe. N.E.W.T.s are pretty damn tough and I've let my schoolwork slide since I got here."
Rather suddenly, Ophelia gives Kaiden a fierce smile. "Don't worry. You do. I'll make certain of it. And we'll start with this." She hands him one of the parchment sheets, which has ten questions, the subjects of which vary wildly. "I took these from some sample OWL tests to uses as a sort of… assesment." She offers him the quill as well, her eyes watching his.
Kaiden takes the parchment a quill and inhales sharply, biting his lip as he looks down at the paper. He raises an eyebrow and smirks at Ophelia, "You're really great, y'know that?" He doesn't expound on that at the moment, but instead goes about doing his best to scribble down the answers.
Ophelia beams, a giggle escaping in her happiness. While he writes she is careful to keep quiet, munching on the snacks and idly making a few notes on a blank sheet of parchment. At one point she pauses, turning to look out at the view and biting her lip in thought. Then she smiles to herself and returns to her notes.
Llewellyn pages: Hey can you send me that pic again now that I'm on a real computer?
Kaiden switches between furiously scribbling down the answers to the ones he knows, and sitting there, staring out into the distance with a remarkably stupid look on his face. His eyes turn to Ophelia and she gets a smile before he exhales slowly, saying, "I think that's it, then."
Ophelia looks up, blinking as though she's just resurfaced from a very good book. "Excellent. May I see it?" She holds out her hand, reaching for her wand with the other as she does so. "I, ah. Sort of made myself a promise. Since, you know, the whole not touching thing? Well I figure I'll let you break it a little. For each right answer." She looks at the parchment, glancing up worriedly to measure his reaction.
If there ever was a way to get Kaiden to do schoolwork, Ophelia's found it. Kaiden glances down at the paper a bit more nervously this time and then hands it off to her, watching her as she examines it.
Rather than going through and correcting each answer, Opheliaafter a shy smilesimply taps the parchment with her wand and watches as red ink blossoms, circling some answers and commenting on others. "Wow. " She murmurs, "I shall have to get this spell from the Professor one of these days." Patiently, she waits until the spell is complete. "Alright, that's… five.. and a half? I'm not sure if this one is correct or not. I suppose… we can count it, say its six?"
Kaiden sits nervously watching Ophelia look over the paper. He groans, "Only six!?" He sighs, "I can barely get six on an O.W.L. and I'm supposed to get five E's?" He lays back on the blanket, obviously very disappointed with himself. Wait…Kaiden's disappointed with himself for not doing something right? This is new!
Ophelia watches with a crooked, sympathetic grin. Very slowly she reaches down, taking one of his hands and winding her fingers through his. "Don't worry." She encourages softly, "We have plenty of time to raise that. You're with a Ravenclaw, after all. We have the best studying habits in all of England." Her boast is delivered with a grin.
Kaiden looks over at her, looking a bit reassured and says, "Thanks, Ophe." He looks around and says, "Speaking of being with a Ravenclaw…I was wondering if maybe you wanted…y'know, it's completely up to you. If you wanted to be my girlfriend. Like…official-wise."
Ophelia goes very still. Her face doesn't even move for a few seconds. "Y-you mean… really?" Her eyes slowly widen and a smile starts, fades, then spreads widely across her face. "I… I'd like that very much. Yes."
Kaiden sits up on an elbow, smiling brightly at her, "You mean it?" His own face seems to be replaced with a smile, aswell as he says, "I guess that means I do have to meet your parents, doesn't it?"
Ophelia nods quickly, laughing. "Yes, yes it does. Does your family live in London? Maybe you could come during the winter holiday." She squeezes the hand in hers, adding, "Don't worry though. They'll like you. Just be prepared for lots of books. And… probably to be asked about little else." She smiles wryly.
Kaiden nods and says, "Yeah." That's all he says about the Sykes for the moment, deciding instead to concentrate on Ophelia's family, which are probably a lot nicer to be around. "Lots of books? Am I going to have to study before I meet your parents?" He grins wrly, his eyes sparkling playfully as he looks at her.
"It might help to read a few things between now and then. Odds are whater you pick, they'll have read it." Grinning, Ophelia leans in closer and quickly kisses Kaiden on the cheek, "For correct answers." She explains. "May I ask which is your least favorite subject?"
Kaiden smiles and says, "Oh…good." He chuckles a bit nervously, but that's cut short by the peck on the cheek. He lays back down flat and says, "Hrmmm. Least favorite subject? Probably Astronomy, if I'm honest. Yours?"
Ophelia slowly sighs. "Herbology." She replies miserably. "Sometimes I think I have a negative effect on a plant's ability to grow. But Hephaesta made a good point, I'm hoping that if we can get a wandwood sapling then I'll do better this year."
Kaiden nods to her, crossing his legs at the feet and saying, "Oh, yeah? Never was much good in that one either." He quirks his lip to the side and says, "My dad has to be paying them to keep me around or something." He smirks, looking up at her.
Ophelia gives Kaiden a grin and shakes her head at him. "Then for Herbology I shall find you a tutor. At least for the hands on-portion. The only reason I've kept my own grades up is through doing well on the written." Quickly, she leans over, bracing herself on her hands while giving him another kiss, just as short, though on the lips rather than the cheek this time.
Kaiden smiles and says, "You're just determined to make me an Auror, aren't you?" He leans up on his elbows as she lowers for the kiss, and smiles a bit into it. He grins afterwards and says, "I wonder what you'll give me if I get those five E's." Teehee, dirty Kaiden.
And here it comes, the blushing. Ophelia pulls back to hide it, but its too late, she's already quite red. "I don't, er, well, I'll, um… I'll think about that." She swallows. "B-but first we have to work on this!" She picks up and waves the assessment, "i'd like to meet once a week if we can and we'll keep coming here until it gets to cold alright?" Running out of breath, she looks down at her lap.
Kaiden chuckles and sits up, nudging Ophelia softly in the side, "Calm down, Ophe. I was only kidding." BAM! Charming smile, activate! His eyes twinkle a bit as he looks at her and says, tilting her head up a bit so he can look into her eyes, "Hey, Ophe? Thank you. So much."
Ophelia smiles up at Kaiden as though she'd melt into his arms, were it physically possible. Charming smile, success! Slowly, she nods, "O-of course. I'm happy to help. Do you want some more tea? Or, um… there were four other correct answers… "
Kaiden keeps the smile on and says, "Tea sounds good, thanks." He does ponder for a second, leaning in a bit. "I think I'll just use one for now." With that he presses his lips to hers. He draws the kiss out a bit longer than the one Ophelia supplied, but makes sure to not get too physical, his hands resting safely on the ground away from trouble.
Ophelia has a more difficult time with her own rules, by the time the kiss is over one of her hands is resting on Kaiden's chest. Smiling, beyond befuddled, she pulls back slowly and nods, "Yes, alright. Tea." Refreshing their cups, she tries to get back to business. "I'll have a schedule for you by next week, if that's alright."
Kaiden chuckles at the idea of a schedule and says, "Oh, yes. But make sure four o' clock is free next Thursday. I have to be available for tea with the Prime Minister." He grins cheekily and leans back on his hands.
At first, Ophelia looks as though she actually believe this. "You really- oh." As she catches on she swats at his arm, "Yes. Yes of course, can't have you missing that. And then there's my garden party with the Queen next month, you know, because she wants to get an insider's perspective on cheering charms."
Kaiden smirks at Ophelia and nudges her gently, "I've heard that Churchill's a right ol' codger when someone misses an appointment with him. Especially one as influential as myself." He bites his lip and leans up to take a sip of his tea.
Unable to help it anymore, Ophelia descends into giggles. She falls back onto the blanket, hopelessly mussing her hair, and when the giggling is under control sighs happily. Mondays, it seems, have the possibility to be the best day of the week.