the waiting g a m e [open]

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex tied her hair up in front of the mirror and stared hard at herself. It had been a long year thus far, and it wasn't getting any better. Her only consolation was that she would be attending Hogwarts soon, but even that seemed dreadfully far away. She breathed deeply and stepped away from the mirror.

It was crazy to be going outside, but that Saturday, Alex didn't care. Her skin was growing paler form the number of days spent inside due to the record high temperatures. So that day, Alex had put on her lightest clothes, tied up her long red hair, packed on the sunscreen, and was prepared to head outside. She knew she couldn't possibly be out for long. But a walk would be nice. Alex had always loved the sunshine.

Alex pulled open the front door with ease. She figured she had to be insane. No one went out in this weather, and no one went alone at this point. Perhaps she wouldn't travel too far. Godric's Hollow was fairly safe, so Alex would just be sure not to venture outside the general area of her house. She began to walk around the general area, glancing at the houses ever so often. But for the most part, Alex was lost in thought.

Though she breathed heavily, Alex felt as though she were holding her breath. So was everyone else. Sure, Isabelle had struck many times, but the vampire was so unpredictable, that no one knew when she would strike again. And everyone was frightened to death that she would go for something big next time. Like the ministry. Or Hogwarts. But all anyone could really do was wait and see. Alex figured she was just like everyone else in that respect. She too, had to wait. It infuriated her.

After a short circular walk, Alex was exhausted. The temperature was well above the normal, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky to provide any sort of relief. Still, Alex did not yet want to head back inside. She settled in front of her house, under the shade of a tree. The grass was cooler there and Alex's breathing began to ease. She started picking at the grass, not noticing that anyone was approaching.

((OOC: Make what you will of this. I feel like Alex has changed...))

[mrpotter]

James had, in typical behaviour of him, slept well into the early afternoon, woken up groggily to shuffle downstairs and eat a plate of the cold leftovers for breakfast. Today's meal was cold pepperoni pizza. Angel hadn't been over to cook supper in a long time, and everyone knew Harry wasn't any good at cooking, so they ordered food in a lot. After eating, James went back to his room to pull on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The house felt unusually quiet, perhaps it was the heat.

As James made his way back downstairs to watch television, he caught a glimpse of his sister under the tree out front. Deciding on a whim to join her, he stepped outside and immediately felt as if he were trying to walk underwater. "Hey Alex," James said quietly once he had joined her in the shade, already feeling sweat forming on his pale forehead.

((OOC: Can't blame her, really. She's lost her mother and is a human Horcrux, after all.))

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex looked up as James took a seat next to her. She smiled slightly at her older brother, she hadn't expected him to come outside and join her. "Hey James," Alex replied, still picking at the grass for a moment. She noted that James already appeared to be sweating, though he must've just walked from the front door to the tree. Alex couldn't remember it ever being this hot outside before.

"Did you just wake up?" Alex asked after another moment, letting the grass alone as she faced her brother. Though she didn't know the exact time, it was certainly after noon, as Alex had eaten lunch already. She wasn't surprised that James had slept in so late, though Alex had yet to start doing that herself. Alex still woke up in the morning, usually before everyone but her father.

[mrpotter]

"Yeah," James replied, plopping down in the wilting, yellowed grass beside his sister. Sometimes it felt awkward, being the only boy, sometimes he wondered what it might have been like to have had a brother, though he seldom complained. Although he usually spent most of his time to himself, James was very rarely annoyed by his sisters. Come to think of it, James didn't really spend time with boys his age, his only two friends outside of family were girls.

James' eyes flickered toward the rose bushes in the front of the house. They were completely dried and shriveled, nothing would save them now. Except perhaps magic, but they had muggle neighbours that would be bound to notice. "Why are you out here on a day like this?" James asked, more curious than anything else.

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex nodded, she had figured James would sleep until noon or later. It was certainly not unusual for him, especially in the summer. Alex wasn't sure what he was like at school, but she figured her brother woke up as late as he could manage when he had class, and slept in on weekends.

Alex shrugged slightly as James asked her what she was doing out on such a hot day. "I was tired of staying inside, I suppose," Alex replied. The house rather depressed Alex. Being ten, though, she really had no where else to go. So she figured outside was better than inside. "It's much better in the shade, though," she commented as an afterthought. Truthfully, Alex had been a bit surprised that James had come out to join her. She had half expected someone inside to tell her to come in.

[mrpotter]

James nodded, that certainly seemed to be the case. Sometimes the house seemed like a black hole of quiet sadness. There was certainly a lot less going on with Angel out of the house, Ginny dead, and Harry working almost all the time. This had come with a lot more responsibility to James, as he was the oldest one home from when their father went to work and when he came back. But he had yet to complain.

They all had to pull their own weight, James was just thankful that at fourteen and almost eleven, Evangeline and Alexandria could pretty much take care of themselves. "Yeah, but it's still bloody miserable," said James, crinkling his nose, "I can't remember it ever being this hot before."

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex nodded in agreement. It was certainly much warmer than she remembered it ever being before. She just hoped the hot weather wouldn't last too long. Alex would like to go back to the moderately warm summer days, so she could be outside for longer periods of time. She found it boring to stay inside too long.

"Nor can I," Alex replied. "Apparently the temperatures are breaking records." Alex had been watching the muggle news occasionally, mostly just out of boredom. There wasn't a whole lot for the ten year-old to do inside during the summer. She supposed she could read more, but Alex tended to get tired of that after an hour or so.

[mrpotter]

"Yeah, people are always talking about it," said James as he shifted to a position lying on his stomach in the grass. The dry blades scratched at his abdomen, even through his shirt, but he paid no notice to them. James was just glad that his father hadn't made him mow the lawn since the heatwave started. Homes all over Godric's Hollow seemed to stop caring about their lawns.

But of course, they had been barred from watering the grass because of the drought. "What I wouldn't give for a rainy afternoon," James sighed, directing his gaze toward the sky expectantly, only to find there wasn't a single cloud in the blue. Not even a fluffy white one.

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex nodded in agreement, with almost nothing else going on, the weather seemed to be the greatest topic for conversation at the current point in time. The burnt grass tickled her legs for a moment, but Alex didn't mind too much. At least it wasn't short, then it would be more uncomfortable. And in the shade, the grass wasn't quite so burnt as out in the sun.

"Yeah, no kidding," Alex said in reply. She couldn't remember the last time it had rained, probably because it had seemed insignificant then, being before the drought and all. Now she wished for rain, if just to help things cool off for a bit. Plus, Alex had always been somewhat refreshed by the showers.

[mrpotter]

James was quiet a moment, thinking back on all the rainy afternoons he had spent on the Hogwarts grounds during the spring. Most of the time had been spent in the garden near the roses, his favoured haunt, but a couple of times he had ventured down to the lake to stand in the shallows. James would have already been soaked by the time he got there, so standing knee-deep in the water hardly made a difference.

"Were you planning on doing anything today?" asked James, stretching out a bit more in the parched grass. He was still slightly groggy, having only been awake maybe half an hour or so. For not the first time that summer James wished they had a pool, though with the drought he figured even if they did have one they wouldn't be able to fill it.

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex looked up at the sky for a moment, upset by the lack of clouds. It seemed it would never rain, though Alex knew at some point it would have to. Or, at least she hoped so. It couldn't stay dry like this for ever. It made things far too difficult.

Alex turned back to her brother in time to hear his question. "I don't know, there isn't much to do when it's so hot," she replied with a shrug. Alex would have liked to spend more time outside, but even in the shade, she was beginning to sweat. It wasn't like she could really go anywhere either, not without Harry or Angel to take her.

[mrpotter]

"We could head down to the community pool," suggested James with a yawn. Of course, it would be packed because of the heat, practically defeating the purpose of going- at least in James' mind. He had never been terribly fond of crowds. Being in the middle of a bunch of people made him feel nervous. At any rate, James rather liked breathing his own air and having a fair-sized buffer of personal space.

"Though of course we'd have to walk," James added as an afterthought, "and most likely half the neighbourhood will be there." He wished they could somehow get onto the Hogwarts grounds, the Black Lake would surely be cold even with the heat wave.

[skyeisthelimit]

Alex nodded slowly. She wasn't too big a fan of swimming anyway, and didn't want to brave the crowd of people from the neighborhood. Besides, even if the water was cool, the air would still be hot and the sun bright. It would probably still be uncomfortable anyway.

"Yeah, that wouldn't work too well, I don't think," Alex replied. She wished that James was old enough to drive, then they could go somewhere else. Alex would be fine with anywhere, even just driving, so long as it was out of the heat and out of the house. "I wish we could drive," she commented.

[mrpotter]

James thought on the idea of driving a bit, it would certainly be a bit more convenient to just be able to go whenever he pleased (so long as he had access to a car). But he was still freshly fifteen, still a little bit too young. And he figured once he were an adult he wouldn't have much use for a muggle vehicle anyway- Harry very rarely drove the one parked in their driveway.

"Yeah," said James, falling into silence once more. But after a moment of quiet he came up with another idea. "There's still some Floo powder," James said in a low voice, in case their muggle neighbours were close by, "we could go to Diagon Alley."