"Oh my, I'm so
sorry!"
Nearly Headless Nick looked at the blonde-haired girl
standing where he had been floating only a second ago, delicate red
lips turning a shade of blue that reminded Nick of Moaning Myrtle as
they had carried away her lifeless body on a strecher. Clutching what
looked to be a pile of Transfiguration textbooks, her fingers turning
white as she tried to keep a grip on them. He watched the poor girl
shiver for a moment, then look up at his silver eyes. My, what pretty
blue eyes she had. They seemed to sparkle in the fading december
light, the dark blue of her Ravenclaw robes only making them stand
out even more.
"S'ok, I wasn't looking."
She had a
familiar accent, he mused to himself, it sounded almost like his.
Could she have come from Berkshire? He wondered as the girl loosened
the grip on her book and let the blood return to her elongated
fingers. She had such pale skin, almost like a porcelain doll he had
seen sitting in a castle he had passed through many a year ago. A
smile formed on her face, revealing sparkling, straight white teeth.
She must have had a good upbringing, her posture was perfect, her
teeth were straighter than a linear equation, everything about her
seemed to radiate wealth. Finding his voice, he decided to introduce
himself, a smile beginning to grow on his face.
"Sir Nicholas
de Mimsy Porpington, pleased to meet you."
He resisted the
urge to bow, modern people didn't bow. It was considered odd, he told
himself, for one to bow in front of a lady. He watched the ringlets
in her hair bounce as she nodded her head and replied.
"Rita Skeeter, nice
to meet you Sir Nick."
Just her saying 'Sir Nick' brought
back memories, ones he'd thought he'd lost centuries ago. Pictures of
elegant women curtsying, dancing (and none of this new rubbish,
proper dancing), and enormous feasts, almost rivalling the welcoming
feast at Hogwarts. He could feel wrinkles growing around his eyes as
he broke out into a grin, laughing slightly.
"Well Miss
Skeeter, would you care to go for a walk?"
She giggled, it
made her seem very adorable. It was a quiet giggle, sweet and serene,
reminding him of a woman in a candy shop handing small children free
sweets. Watching those golden blonde ringlets bounce again as she
nodded, her lips returning to the shade of red he had seen just
before she walked straight into him.
"I'd love to Sir Nick.
Miss Skeeter makes me sound much too old!"
"Alright,
Rita it is. But you must agree to never call me Sir Nick. I sound
like one of the suits of armour."
"Agreed."
And
so they went off, walking (or in Nicks case, floating) around the
castle, enjoying the last rays of light as the sun retreated to its
fortress in the west, letting the moon resume its reign of the winter
night.
"So, Rita, what do you want to do when you leave
Hogwarts?"
