Getting to Know Each Other(Isaac Maniaci)

[emmawinters]

Emma was strolling along the lakeshore, her pullover dress blowing softly in the wind. The sun was shining down warmly on her bare shoulders and she lifted her head to the sky, enjoying the moment of peace and calm.

Glancing around, she looked for anyone familiar, but not seeing anyone, she continued walking.

[isaac]

It was surprisingly nice outside, considering the season. Isaac had his hoodie unzipped and his hands buried deep inside his jean pockets while he skipped down the stone steps and onto the pathway. It would be his... first visit outside? Probably, considering he'd only managed to talk to another Ravenclaw and sign up for classes. Pathetic, kinda...

A cool breeze greeted Isaac after he lost himself within the random trees that scattered the lake side. He hadn't really been paying attention to where he was going, but the sound of footsteps brought him back to Earth. Glancing sideways, he took notice of a girl striding along side him a few feet away. It looked like they were headed in the same general direction. Might as well be friendly, right?

"Hey."

[emmawinters]

Emma stopped in surprise as she heard a male voice behind her. Turning, she saw that it was a boy that was in her year.

"Hey," she replied, smiling. "Care to walk?" she asked, and then continued at her own pace. "I'm Emma Winters, a friend of your cousin, Logan, am I right? I saw you too together in one of my classes I think." She kicked a stone that had come across her path. The wind picked up and she shivered, rubbing her hands on her bare shoulders. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

[isaac]

"Nice to meet you, Emma Winters." Isaac repeated her name, falling into step beside the first year. "Yeah, I'm Logan's cousin slash adoptive brother, Isaac." Well, it looked like Hogwarts was going to be just like it was back home. Guess that's what he gets for arriving to school later than Logan had. Ah well. He'd be known for other things eventually. Just had to give it some time, right? Right. Of course. Yep. Definitely.

"Hogwarts is alright," he said, shrugging the hoodie off of his shoulders after catching Emma's shiver. "Here

[/color]," Isaac offered her the zip-up sweatshirt. "Wear this before you catch a cold or something."[/font][/blockquote]

[emmawinters]

She smiled at the offer of the sweatshirt. "Thanks, that's so sweet of you" she said, her teeth chattering. Slipping the sweatshirt on, she quickly zipped it up. Flipping the hood over her head, she turned to Isaac. "I take it you just got here, is that right?" she asked.

[isaac]

At her gratitude for the sweatshirt, Isaac shrugged his right shoulder. She was cold, he wasn't. That was about it. "Yeah," he answered her question, glancing up at her. "Almost twenty-four hours ago, actually. I got sorted, unpacked, signed up for classes, and that was about it." Obviously, he was having an uneventful first round of Hogwarts. It was better than getting yelled at by a Prefect or egged by a Slytherin, though, so he probably shouldn't complain too loudly. At least he was meeting people. Like Emma, for example. She was nice so far. Tolerable. That was good.

Isaac's shoes scuffed the path they'd wandered onto, sending a few pebbles scurrying in front of them. By now, the trees had started to grow a little thicker, but nothing close to how dense the forest was that splayed out half a mile away. His icy eyes stared after another rock as he kicked it out of his way. "How about you? How long have you been around Hogwarts?"

[emmawinters]

"Just a few days," she answered. "I actually arrived during the term change so it took awhile for me to be sorted, but I eventually was so what does it matter? I signed up for my classes, tried out for Quidditch, and have just been trying to get to know what this world is like. I mean," she paused. "I'm Muggle born and had thought that magic was all a fable until an owl arrived at my house with a letter. That kind of freaked me out, but once I found out about Hogwarts, it was all cool. How 'bout you? Were you waiting for your letter are was it a complete surprise?"

[isaac]

For a considerable amount of the next few minutes, Isaac was silent, simply listening to Emma talk. She had a strangely pleasant voice. He'd never say that out loud, of course. That would be a little weird. Couldn't you just picture it? 'Hey Emma, you have a pleasant voice.' Yeah, not going to happen. Hmph. Stop judging him. It wasn't his fault he noticed strange things. It just came along with his observant behavior. Ha.

"Wow,

[/color]" Isaac said after she stopped to ask him a question. He'd opted not to answer it just yet. "Pretty brave to try out for Quidditch. I wouldn't know how to play if my life depended on it, which it probably would if I miraculously made the team.[/color]" His laughter at himself ended after a few heartbeats. Heh. Isaac play Quidditch. That'd be the day. All the more reason to try out, right? Hm... I wonder if there are any openings...

"Ah, well, about my letter, Logan got his before I did. He's a few months older than me, so his came first. The Headmistress must've known I was living with my aunt and uncle somehow.[/color]" He paused, kicking another stone and watching it skip along the path. "I guess my invitation wasn't as much of a surprise as yours was, though. How did your parents take the news? Hopefully better than my aunt did. Even though Logan was already here, she still flipped out when the owl arrived.[/color]"[/font][/blockquote]

[emmawinters]

Emma grinned, the smile reaching her shining eyes, when Isaac mentioned his aunt's reaction when the owl came in the house. "I can just picture that," she said, chuckling a little. "My mom was totally cool with it, she knew I needed something to get me up and moving again since..." her voice faded away, not ending the sentence.

She glanced up at Isaac and realized that she trusted him. Sighing heavily, she continued on, her voice tone slightly sad, "Well...my dad died a couple of weeks ago. We don't know why or what happened, it just did. One day he went to go to work and then he didn't come home." She shook her head, fighting back tears, refusing to let him see her cry.

"After that all the strange things began happening. I suddenly had strange powers that were unexplainable. I could predict what people would say before they actual said them, move things with my mind, and see wings on people. I became really depressed so when the letter came, my mom was sort of relieved. I don't blame her..."

[isaac]

[Wooooh. I finally posted. ^^]

Isaac was immediately caught off guard by the sudden change of mood. He looked up from the gravel pathway, fixing Emma with concerned blue eyes. Absent mindedly, his pace slowed, faltering a little while he listened to her speak. Her voice was broken. He could hear the strain in it. Was she fighting back tears? He wouldn't blame her. Not at all. Isaac knew all about death and suffering, but there was no way he was going to say anything. This was all new to Emma. She needed to have someone to talk to, not someone to listen to.

When her voice trailed away, Isaac's pace dwindled to a stop. He reached out and grabbed her arm at the elbow, stopping her as well. "Hey," his voice was quiet as he released her elbow. He stepped forward, showing no sign of hesitation, and hugged her around her shoulders. He was taller than her - his chin rested comfortingly on the top of her head. "I'm really sorry about your dad.

[/color]"[/font][/blockquote]

[emmawinters]

She had noticed that Isaac's pace was slowing down, but she didn't want to stop walking, knowing that if she did she'd probably crumple and look like a pathetic loser.

So she was surprised when she felt his hand at her elbow, forcing her to stop as well. She turned, and was swallowed in a giant bear hug. Her arms automatically went around his shoulders, and pretty soon she was crying into his shoulder, feeling absolutely horrible.

Her arms clung to his shoulders, she didn't want to let go. She had always been the oldest child in her family, always the one who everyone came to. Her little brother, and then her mom when her dad had died. Her friends came to her for advice, laying all their pains on her, while she tried to hold them up and comfort them.

All she had ever wanted in return was to be comforted herself, just to have someone to hold onto and talk to. But that had never happened, she never talked to anyone about her pain and suffering, she kept it all inside and put on a mask, fooling everyone into thinking that she was okay, when she wasn't...

"Thank you," she managed to get out through all of her tears, and painful memory flashbacks.

[isaac]

He didn't at all mind the spreading dampness that splayed along his shoulder. He was too busy feeling guilty about having brought up the entire subject of home. He hadn't done it intentionally or anything. All he had wanted to know was how long she'd been attending Hogwarts. It had been a harmless question at the time. But it lead to him holding a dissolving girl that had herself buried in his shoulder. He was really wishing for that Rewind button right about now.

Isaac had his arms wrapped around her back, holding her firmly against him in a comforting embrace. His chin was still resting atop her head while he listened to her emotions spill out and stain his shirt. He never liked to see people cry, especially girls. It just made him feel sad inside. Like a part of his heart was breaking right along side theirs. It was a weird experience, but he couldn't help it.

"It's okay..." he managed to whisper pathetically. His grip around Emma tightened slightly, his fingers curling into the fabric of his own black hoodie. He didn't know what else to say. All he was good for right now was to hold her. Hopefully that helped.

[emmawinters]

Emma suddenly felt pathetic. Here was a guy that she had just gotten to know and she was ruining his clothes. Great way to start a friendship, huh? She couldn't believe how stupid she was. He probably felt like a jerk right now 'cause she had to bring up all of her life's little details that he didn't need. She groaned, her arms loosening around his neck from the death hold they had been in.

She wiped her eyes, and nose for that matter, with the back of her shirt, realizing only too late that it was his sweatshirt. She grimaced, but held onto his shoulders. Although she felt like a loser at this point she didn't think that if she let go she could hold herself up.

She wanted to say so much, tell him that she was a horrible person and while had he even bothered. She didn't think she could manage so many words though, so she just whispered, "I'm sorry."

[isaac]

He could hear Emma's sniffling become less muffled. His chin lifted from the top of her head to gaze down at her. She shifted a little, seeming to want to ease away. Immediately - mostly not to look like some clingy freak - his own arms loosened enough to give her easy escape if she wanted it. He didn't at all mind her clingy behavior. She was in pain and all that crummy stuff. He understood. Sure, he sucked at expressing it, but at least he was trying. Brownie points?

When Emma's head tilted upward and she grimaced at him, Isaac smiled. It was one of those encouragingly calming smiles that he used so often on his sisters. Well, cousins. But he considered them sisters. "Nah, don't worry about it." His voice was quiet; gentled by the display of her pain. His grip around her tightened just a little, trying vainly to emphasize his point.

"It's hard to lose a loved one, Emma. There's nothing for you to be sorry for."

[emmawinters]

Emma melted under Isaac's smile, her pain gone. Well, not really, but it helped. She had only talked to one other person about this and they had just blown it off like it happened every day. Isaac was different though, he didn't have to say much, but she knew that he cared. And if he didn't understand, at least he comforted her.

She looked up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you for understanding."

[isaac]

Her lips were soft, sort of like rose petals. It was a silly comparison, but he couldn't help but think it as she pulled away from his cheek to thank him. Immediately, as if someone had just hit the On button, he blushed violently. He hated blushing! It was always a dead give away to whatever emotion he was feeling. Right now it was a mixture between embarrassment, guilt, and a slight twinge of pleasure. No, you perverts, not like that. I'm sure you've been kissed by someone, right? So you should know what I'm talking about: that little jolting tingle that makes you feel momentarilly giddy inside.

Mmhmm. Like that. Now get your head out of the gutter.

"Oh... eh, well..." Isaac freed one arm from behind her back to scratch the back of his head, slightly embarrassed and... well, it's already been explained. If you're confused, go back up and read it again. ^_^; Anyway... "Understanding isn't really anything to thank me for. I've just been there and done that. Like I said, losing someone hurts." The hand behind his head dropped and twisted around her again, hugging her one more time. "I hope you and your mom will be okay. It'll be hard for a bit, but soon it won't be so bad." He released her with an encouraging smile.

[/font]

[emmawinters]

She smiled lightly as a blush began to slowly creep up his cheeks. Knowing that she had partly embarassed him, she felt bad, but it was still a little comical. His arm loosened around her waist and she watched, still slightly amused, as he scratched the back of his head.

"I know," she said in response. "But it's more than what anyone else has done for me." He hugged her once more and then smiled one of those smiles where you just can't help but grinning back.

She took his hand and pulled him down onto the sandy beach, so that they were both sitting down. She hugged her knees, looking out at the lake. "You're my brother Isaac, not like blood related or anything, but you're exactly what I'd want my older brother to be like." She knew it was a little random, but she had to get it out.