AN: So yeah, I posted this earlier, and I forgot to put in my author's note so I'm redoing it. D This story is part of my roleplaying plot for two of my characters. It doesn't really have anything to do with canon characters. They're mostly all OCs. This does take place during the Marauder generation though.
Disclaimer: Hogwarts and this whole little world and characters you recognize belong to the marvelous JK Rowling. Some characters belong to my roleplaying friends who have so willingly let me use them. The only ones mentioned in this chapter are Alex who is created by my dear friend Penny, and Risi who belongs to the marvelous MyLa!
Morning Runs and Run-Ins
Danielle Dawson was out running early that Monday morning in mid-November. She was dressed in a t-shirt and wind pants. It was beginning to get cold, but since she was out running she didn't bother to bring a sweatshirt. Her blonde hair was thrown up in a pony tail. Danielle, or Dani as her friends and family usually called her, ran on an almost daily basis. This however was her first time running around this particular lake in four years. Just over four years ago, only two weeks into her first year the Dawson family had moved homes, schools, and countries. Robert Dawson was an Auror, and the Auror department had unexpectedly transferred him to the states. Danielle and her older brothers had moved schools. Dani, the youngest, had been at Hogwarts for only a few weeks. She wasn't terribly upset about leaving. When she got to the American Academy for Witches and Wizards the blonde had made plenty of friends. She was a happy, outgoing, incredibly sweet girl. She had a core group of three friends.
Lauren was her boy-crazy, and crazy in every other way, friend. Minnie was her over emotional gossipy friend. Risi however was her absolute best friend. The two were practically like sisters. In fact, they referred to themselves as such on a regular basis. The two were as different as night and day in so many ways. Yet they were incredibly similar as well. Risi was the single reason she had been so devastated about leaving the academy. Sure, she'd miss her other friends, and the school that was so familiar to her. She could get over that though. It was missing Risi that was going to be so hard on her.
She had been planning on skipping her morning run until she got used to the school. However, that morning she had needed her run. A time to get away from all the people she didn't know and just think about the move. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going as all the thoughts ran through her head, and she suddenly collided with someone else and fell back on to the hard ground. Her first day certainly wasn't looking up.
The blonde was rubbing her forehead. Yep, there is definitely going to be a knot, she thought to herself when she heard the voice of the person she had clumsily ran into speak up. "I'm really sorry!" a voice said. The voice was that of a guy who had managed to stand back up after her clumsy move.
She laughed lightly. "Oh it's alright. Really," she told him. "It's all my fault anyways, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was just… distracted."
It was after she spoke when she finally saw the guy. She had to admit, he was most definitely attractive. And clearly a gentleman she thought as he apologized yet again. She didn't notice his momentary lapse of silence as he too looked at her shocked for a moment. "I was distracted too," he confessed sheepishly. "Need some help up?" the dark headed stranger asked her. She nodded and took his hand flashing her usual friendly smile. When she was standing up she thanked him just before he spoke again. "I haven't seen you around here before, and seeing as I've already knocked you over, I guess I owe you an introduction. I'm Alex Thomas," he paused for a moment, before adding, "Seventh year Slytherin. It's nice to meet you, circumstances aside," he grinned.
She grinned back. "I'm Danielle Dawson, though my friends usually just call me Dani," she told him. "I'm a fifth year Hufflepuff. Though if I had been born only three weeks earlier I'd be a sixth year. We just moved her. Well moved back really. We being myself and my older brothers. We moved to the states about four years ago and moved back about four days ago," she told him. "My dad's an Auror and they transferred him to America and then transferred him back with everything that's going on here and all," she told him sharing more information than was probably necessary. She was a friendly girl, and she could talk to just about anybody. Plus the fact that he was a Slytherin did make her a bit weary. Sure, she knew that Slytherins had a reputation. A very bad one. However she was hardly going to judge based on house. She knew that she ought to be cautious of them though. Just in case. Her older brother was a Slytherin, and he would have neither apologized nor helped someone up if they ran into each other. So obviously there was something good in this Slytherin.
"Nice to meet you then Dani," Alex said with a grin. "America? That's quite a move. So you used to go to Hogwarts?" he added.
"Yep," she said nodding. "Only for a few weeks though. So I hardly remember it," she told him.
"Wow, your Dad's an Auror," he said impressed. "Do you miss your friends?" he asked her sincerely curious.
She grinned, "Yep. A fifth generation Auror actually." Her smile lessened for a bit as the blonde thought back to her friends still back in the states. "Yeah. I'll miss my three best friends the most. Especially Risi," she said smiling when she thought about her friend. "We are as different as night and day, but then again so similar. We're practically sisters," she said a bit sadly. "I'll miss her a lot. Other than her though, I think I'll be fine. I've never had any problems making friends," she told him truthfully. Her friendly nature made it obvious she indeed didn't have problems.
This impressed him even more. "Five generations? Wow. You're not planning on following the family tradition are you?" he asked her curiously his head tilted slightly to the side. He could tell the thought of missing her friends made her a bit sad so he didn't inquire more into her friends. "Well I can see how you'd make friends so easily. You're really easy to talk to," he confessed.
She shrugged. "It's been five generations of male Aurors. I don't think anyone is expecting me to become one. My dad and grandfather expect Cooper to be an Auror though. Braiden slacks off a lot. He doesn't have the grades or the will to be one. Cooper's a Ravenclaw though. He could easily do it, and they all assume that's what he wants to and is going to do." She paused biting her lip. Should she tell him she wanted to be an Auror though? It wasn't something some of the people closest to her knew let alone something complete strangers knew. Alex was just so easy to talk to though. She wanted to tell him. So she did. "I actually do want to be an Auror though. Far more than Cooper does. I don't think my mum would want me to though. She just thinks of me as her baby girl who likes to go shopping with her and get her hair fixed and nails done with her. Definitely not as an Auror. Nor my dad or grandfather for that matter. Cooper really is only following that path so far to please them. Neither one of us has told them how we really feel," she confessed. She didn't know what it was about this Slytherin that made him so easy to talk to. She always told new people the ordinary stuff about her. The happy go-lucky side. She didn't usually share this part of her though.
She grinned at his second comment. "Yeah, I get that a lot. You must be the same way though. You're a lot easier to talk to then some of the people I knew for four years back at my old school."
"Well maybe it's time for a break in the tradition," he said giving her a comforting grin that made her smile return. "Ah, so Cooper gets all the pressure," he said nodding in an understanding way. "I know how that feels," he told her. He paused seeming to think for a moment before coming back to their conversation. "Well I don't see why you couldn't be. Aurors can still go shopping with their mums right?" he asked her. She smiled and laughed softly nodding.
AN: Okay, so I know I kind of cut off in the middle of their conversation. I wanted to get this up and posted asap. I'm at my cousin's house, so I won't have a lot of posting time, but I'll get the next part up when I can!
Question, do you want the next part of Morning Runs and Run-Ins or do you want part of Accidental Flirts which is going on about the same time with Dani's older brother? Please Read and Review guys and let me know!!
33 SammyJo