Practicing (Joey)

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

Currently, it was lunch hour, and instead of staying the Great Hall as her usual, Kennie had grabbed a few sandwiches and headed toward the empty classroom on the third floor, in order to practice some charms in peace. She slid into the room, closing the door behind herself, and flicked her wand at the windows, and instantly the blinds shut. With another quick spell, the room was lit up by two dozen floating candles. Kennie smiled a moment, pleased with her wand work. But there was still practicing to be done.

She sat atop a desk and crossed her legs, using her robes to cover herself. No need to be embarrassed if a boy were to walk in. It was Hogwarts uniform to wear a skirt after all. Thankfully this did not apply to Quidditch, or the weekends. Kennie rather liked muggle clothes, they were comfortable. She drew her wand once more after taking a bite of her sandwich. "Avis!" Kennie whispered. Two birds shot out from the end of her wand with a sound like someone disapparating, they faded quickly. Kennie sighed, then tried again.

[Josephine Raegan]

Joey had been avoiding Simon today. Why you ask? Because... she was developing strange feelings towards him. It wasn't right and she needed some girl talk. So, who better than her other best friend, Kennie? She remembered Kennie saying earlier that she was going to practice some spells. Maybe Joey could practice a little too. Spells came all too naturally to Joey, though. She heard a popping sound and opened the door slightly to see exactly who she was looking for. She jumped up onto the desk beside her quietly. "Hey Ken, whats up?" She said casually.

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

Kennie jumped as the door opened, she had not been expecting to be interrupted during her practice session. The three birds that she had managed to get to come from the tip of her wand vanished in little puffs of yellow feathers as she lost her concentration. At first she was annoyed and was about to hop off her desk and give that person a piece of her mind, when she saw that it was only her best friend, Joey. Kennie's pale face relaxed into a small smile, glad that it was Joey of all people who had come in. Her friend was extraordinarily intelligent, perhaps she could help her with the spell that she had been having trouble with for so long.

Kennie had never really noticed how much of an American accent Joey seemed to have until she had said "what's up?". Nobody around where Kennie lived spoke that way. She had a very "proper" accent, since she was raised by formal, stiff parents. She had never really gotten the point of slang, it never failed to make people sound thick and really undereducated. "I was just practicing some spells," Kennie said with a sigh. "My birds are hopeless." She tilted her head at the little remnants of feathers floating to the floor. It was pathetic how she could produce a full-bodied Patronus, but not birds. "Did you want a sandwich?" Kennie asked, gesturing to the other with her hand.

[Josephine Raegan]

"Sorry I startled you!" Joey said guiltily. She noticed that Kennie had given her an odd look when she said 'whats up?' Yet another way that her godmother had influenced her. She had a terrible habit of using slang which Kennie often teased her about. Kennie herself was raised in a thick and proper home. They were two fairly different girls, but maybe thats why they got along. Joey shook her head. "No thanks. I just ate sorta..." She said, recalling the poking at her treacle tart earlier, trying to make sense of Simon. "Your Avis spell is fine," She said with an encouraging smile. Kennie was extremely intellegent and she could be way too hard on herself at times. "Here." She said as she waved her wand and said the word herself. "Avis!"

A flock of birds came out of her wand and swirled around her. She didn't mean for so many to come out. "Oops..." It was ironic that Kennie often tried too hard on her work while Joey usually didn't try at all and seemed to pick up on things quickly. "Anyways...." She said as the birds disappeared eventually. "Have you noticed...anything different about Simon?" She asked, getting to the point of their discussion.

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

Kennie felt a bit disheartened when Joey had done a more than perfect Avis spell. Hers was terrible, she had never managed to get more than three at a time. And they never lingered for long. She had developed somewhat of a block about them. It was terribly annoying. Especially when Joey didn't seem to have any trouble with it whatsoever. But that was the way that it always was. Kennie had to try her absolute hardest for every spell, while it seemed to come natural to Joey. Sure, she was envious of the ability, but she had never let that on, not wanting to create a rift between their friendship. That would be horrible. Although she was well-known for being a "walking ghost" of sorts because of her palness, Kennie felt that she didn't have any real friends apart from Joey and Simon.

She raised her eyebrows at the mention of something different going on with Simon. Kennie was the observative one, she would have been the first to notice that something was different about him. So naturally, Kennie found herself being rather skeptical of Joey. She took a bite of her sandwich and held it loosely in her hand. She thought a moment, not recalling anything necessarily different her friend. She frowned a bit then placed her sandwich on the desk, beside her left knee. "Something different about Simon?" said Kennie. She sighed quietly, took a bite of her sandwich, then placed it back on the desk once more. "I haven't, but I think you have." Kennie added with a smirk. "I see the way you look at him."

[Josephine Raegan]

Joey looked at Kennie's disappointed look. "Yours is good!" She said, reading her mind practically. She sighed and smiled at her beautiful friend. People thought she was weird and cold, but she was a good friend to Joey. Always there to give her advice or to put her in her place when she needed it. Kennie was always honest. Thats what she loved most about her. She looked at Kennie in shock when she said she hadn't noticed him but noticed how she 'looked' at Simon. "What? I look at him the same way I've always looked at him... I think..." She said as she rubbed her head. "I don't know whats going on with me...or us...or him..."

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

"Avis!" Kennie said aloud once more. True, she was supposed to be working on her non-verbal spells, but that made casting even more difficult, and she was not about to do that with a spell that she had a hard time with. That just didn't seem like it would be a logical thing to do. There was a loud noise, like a whip cracking (which reminded Kennie of the sound that her father made when he disapparated, the neighbours complained sometimes). That was a good sign, she supposed. There were a few twittering noises and Kennie looked up to see only two birds. But she had never had them chirp before. They weren't vanishing in puffs of feathers either. Granted there were only two, but Kennie was pleased.

She took a bite of her sandwich as Joey began to speak again, trying to defend herself. It was bluntly obvious that Joey was looking at Simon differently these days, that was, if you knew how to read people by their facial expressions as well as Kennie did. It was one of her strong suits to be able to figure out how people felt about others without very much effort. "Well, to be entirely honest," Kennie began, putting down her sandwich once more. "I don't have much an idea on what is going on between you two either." This was dreadfully complicated. Kennie would have preferred to stay out of it, but if Joey wanted to talk about it, she would.

[Josephine Raegan]

Joey smiled and clapped happily as Kennie's birds seemed to be getting better. "See? That's good!" She said. Joey sighed and swung her converses in the air from the desk and watching them for a bit. She was seeing Simon so much differently. Before, he was just Simon. The first friend she had. The boy who'd she would come running to when she had nightmares and he'd sing to her. Her best friend. But lately, it was so much deeper. She was seeing him as someone she could possibly care for as more than a best friend. At first she thought it was a big brother love until she noticed that she was slightly attracted to him. Okay....really attracted to him. Joey shook her head. "This is ridiculous. I guess its better than pining over a dead guy," She said with a shrug.

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

A small smile teased the corners of Kennie's lips, but it was only a flicker that died away quickly once Joey had stopped praising her. She's probably only trying to make me feel better about my pitiful wand-work, thought Kennie as one of her birds landed on her knee, looking up at her expectantly, as if wanting something. She sighed and broke off a bit of bread from her sandwich and placed it before the bird. It happily gobbled it up and rejoined its mate, fluttering about in circles over her head. Kennie would have been proud of her work, had Joey not completely out shined it, looking as if she had not even tried. She looked to Joey as she began to speak again, eating her sandwich while contemplating how to reply to what she had said. "True enough," Kennie said with a sigh. "But I think it is really sweet, you and him together, almost like a fairytale."

[Josephine Raegan]

Joey looked at her, surprised. "I can never get my birds to actually stay as long as those did. Or at least not be so animated," She said, feeling slightly jealous. She knew that Kennie was brilliant and beautiful. She always envied her friends eyes and her calmness. Joey was usually the reckless one. Kennie was the more calm and collected one and Simon....he was the perfect balance. She sighed and groaned a little. She hadn't been sleeping much at all. "You really think so?" She said, knowing that if it made Kennie uncomfortable in any way, she'd lay off of it. "You wanna sneak over to Hogsmeade or have a sleepover in the Room of Requirement?" She asked mischievously. "Junk food...old movies.... gossip..."

[Kennedy "Kennie" Bain]

This time a genuine smile spread across Kennie's face. Joey was speaking her language. She didn't mind breaking a rule or two, perhaps it was just her rebellious side after being raised in such a stiff and formal home her whole life. Now was the time to do things that were wild and fun. After all, they were young. They were supposed to do stupid things at this age. "That sounds like a lot of fun," said Kennie, then finished off what was left of her sandwich. She didn't know why she had bothered to bring two, since she wasn't really all that hungry anymore. She twirled her wand between her fingers. "It's been a while since we've done that sort of thing," Kennie added.