AN: Yes, I did update. Sorry about the laziness, I'll try to be good, I swear!
The day started as many others had before it. The sun rose, casting brilliant rays of light over the Hogwarts grounds. Birds chirped, the giant squid swam, and the Whomping Willow, well, it whomped. Michael rose at his regular time of half past six, a good hour before he really needed to be awake. He cherished his time alone, a time in which his housemates wouldn't pester him. Slowly but surely he got out of bed and stretched a bit, appreciating that he could take all the time he wanted and still not be late.
After a few minutes meditation(1) he padded quietly to the shower, careful not to awaken any of his sleeping roommates. He stood in the stall for quite some time, just letting the hot water run over his sore body. There had been a Quidditch practice the night before and Wernis had been working them even harder than normal. Their game against Gryffindor was swiftly approaching and their captain wanted them in tiptop shape. The sad thing was, Wernis wasn't actually their captain. In fact the exuberant boy wasn't even on their team. He was just their die-hard fan. The worst thing was that he was a Hufflepuff.
When the chubby boy had first started showing up in his first year, the entire team was concerned over his presence. Everyone figured he was just a spy sent by Hufflepuff to figure out the team's strategies. Instead of hexing him on his merry way they had decided to show the boy their strategies. Their very fake strategies. They weren't in Ravenclaw for nothing after all. However the entire team was rather puzzled during their match against Hufflepuff. Not only did the opposing team not try to counter any of the strategies that they had shown Wernis, but the first-year had shown up in Ravenclaw colors and was indeed their loudest supporter. Of course, he was only present for half of the match, as numerous housemates hexed him after he sent up fireworks of a burning badger.
Of course, you may be wondering why the Ravenclaw team actually listened to him. Well, at the moment, their current captain, Kelsey Gurney, was in the hospital wing. She had gotten into a fight with the captain of the Gryffindor team, Paul Green, who also happened to be her boyfriend, previously ex, and it turned ugly. Of course, they had gotten back together in the hospital wing due to the unfortunate fact that their beds were next to each other. Kelsey was enjoying her vacation very much.
In her leave of absence she had left Wernis in charge, mostly because he had the spirit and the moves to lead the team to victory. His father had been the former captain of the Ravenclaw team, which explained his avid support, and had taught him everything he knew. While the younger boy wasn't very good on a broomstick, he knew his moves. He also worked the players until they were perfect. Which brings us back to Michael's sore muscles.
After a comforting ten minutes in the shower Michael finally came out. He slowly dressed and exited the common room, his messenger bag in tow. After stopping in the kitchen to grab a cup of tea he made his way outside to his favorite place in all of Hogwarts. There was a small hill past the lake that allowed you to view the Scottish countryside surrounding the school. The view was always breathtaking, especially in the morning. It was all so quiet, and the silence seemed to extend to the rolling hills and valleys that could be seen from Michael's perch. He felt as if he was the only person in the world and the only thing in it that really mattered anyways. It was a nice feeling.
The brown-haired boy had always wanted to draw his view. However, having little to none artistic talent made it rather difficult to accomplish this feat(2). One day, Michael swore, he would find someone who could really do this place justice, and he would have them draw it for him and the entire world. While he loved the feeling that the area belonged to him, and him alone, he felt that the entire world should be able to see this beauty.
As Michael tracked the sun's progress across the sky it came to his attention that it was rather late in the morning. He quickly gathered up his things and retreated to the Ravenclaw common room. He sat on one of the many couches in the area and pulled out a book from his bag. Michael didn't like the idea of his friends finding out that he went out to the hill early in the morning. It was a private thing he did and he felt like he would be uncovering a piece of his soul if he were to reveal this fact about himself. So, instead he came back every morning before most of the house awakened and read for a few minutes before his roommates came down. That way they just believed that he read for a while in the morning. They may have been Ravenclaws, but they felt no reason to suspect Michael of anything, so they never really pried.
After a few minutes of reading about a rare variety of dragon found in the mountains of Canada one of Michael's roommates, Tim, came down the stairs from their dorm.
"Hey, Tim" he greeted quietly from his place on the couch. The taller blond approached him and plopped onto the couch near his friends folded legs.
"Hey, Kale(3)" he responded calling the brunette by his nickname. "Listen, could you go wake Ruben, none of us can wake him and you're usually the only one who can." Michael nodded his assent and climbed up the stairs where a distinctive snoring was heard from the only bed still occupied. He shoved the form a few times to no avail and eventually ended up walking to his chest. From the inside he pulled out a can of tuna he kept for these occasions. Michael pulled out an old sock and soaked it in some of the liquid left in the empty can. He slowly walked over to his friend and pulled up the other boy's shirt. He smeared the juice onto his chest and quickly covered the boy in his shirt and duvet.
Michael then walked over to the foot of his bed where his cat was sleeping. He lifted Ari up and placed her on top of Ruben waiting for her to awaken. It didn't take long for the cat to smell the tuna and soon she was furiously scratching at the boy in search of the nonexistent fish. Ruben jumped up with a yelp and shoved the cat off. However, Ari was not to be deterred and continued her attack on the boy's chest. Ruben took one sniff of himself and quickly ran into the bathroom to wash the stench of fish from his body. Michael just sat in the background laughing like a madman.
After about five minutes Ruben reemerged from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Michael blushed slightly, but couldn't help but stare at the chest so blatantly displayed before him. Ruben noticed the stare, but misinterpreted it for being questioning.
Shrugging slightly he answered Michael's unspoken question. "I was so distracted by escaping from your demon cat that I forgot to take clothing with me." And with those words Ruben shrugged out of his towel leaving him completely nude. Michael's eyes widened and he blushed furiously. He knew that Ruben had no shame but still… this! He watched as his roommate began slowly dressing, bending down to pull up his boxers. Michael felt blood rushing to southern regions and quickly left the room muttering about breakfast and not wanting to miss the bacon. It wasn't that he was attracted to his friend; it was just that he was a fifteen year-old boy. Damn hormones, he thought as he walked to the Great Hall his messenger bag conveniently positioned over certain appendages.(4)
I usually need a few minutes to kind of just sit and meditate in the early morning before I can wake up. I thought maybe he would too. I can definitely sympathize with the early morning wake up.
Just like me. I can't draw for my life, though I always wished I could.
I wanted to give him an interesting nickname since I really dislike Mike. I came up with Kale because when I was younger I always pronounced Michael like Mikale, so I wouldn't misspell it. It's supposed to be pronounced like the plant.
I got this from my friend who says he does the same thing when certain things just randomly pop up during school.
AN: I know this is kind of a funny chapter, but this will be a sad story. It's under tragedy for a reason. Review now or I shall pull out my voodoo dolls and make certain things pop up on you too!