After Hours [open]

Kimberly skipped along the ice - covered walk. Her face lit up with a bright, friendly smile, she wandered about the Quidditch Pitch. It was a bit uncommon for the young Hufflepuff to be out so late in the evening, but Kimmy felt the urge to walk about. She glanced up at the sparkling stars, a smile still on her bright pink lips.

Brushing her flaming hair aside, she saw the light of a wand. Kimmy smiled and ran over to the area of brightness, her boots leaving lazy footprints in the snow. "Hello!" she greeted, seeing the face of another wizard. Recognizing her as Isabelle, she waved, being a few feet in front of the girl. "I'm Kimberly, but call me whatever you like! You're Izzy, right?" she asked eagerly. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors had Astronomy together, and she could've sworn that she had seen the girl in her class.

Isabelle May Reble paused a moment. She was surprised to see someone out so late—Hufflepuffs weren't known for breaking the rules. It was Kim. Kim was in her Astronomy class and a couple of the other classes that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took together.

Izzy replied quickly, "Hi Kim. I've seen you in Astronomy and Herbology. Yeah, I'm Izzy."

Izzy Reble put her wand away and hopped down to where Kim was standing. She smiled kindly, a rarity for Isabelle Reble. She looked up at the stars, reminding her of Astronomy, which was about the only class that she actually did homework everyday. It wasn't like she could catch up on gazing at the stars every night, was it? Suddenly, Izzy, still looking at the stars, asked, "What brings you here after hours?"

Kimberly gave the Gryffindor a wide grin, still happy to see someone out at this hour. Sure, it was breaking curfew, but Kimberly was curious. After their last Astronomy lesson, she had wanted to see the stars and planets at night for herself. She knew which astronomical figures would be out in the wintertime, and wanted to see if she could actually see them at the Hogwarts grounds.
Grateful that Izzy didn't see her as a threat, and was putting away her wand, Kimmy shrugged mindlessly. "I wanted to see if the stars really formed those constellations, like um..." the witch began, her eyes narrowing up at the sky. "That one!" she said giddily, letting a large smile form across her face. Her pink nail polished hands pointed at the Big and Little Dipper in the sky as she laughed. "I just love Astronomy, it's my best class," she said a - matter - o - factly. Lowering her hand, Kimmy gave Izzy another small smile.
"So, what are you doing out at this time of day?" she inquired.

Isabelle looked at Kim like she was crazy. There was actually someone who didn't know about her knack for breaking the rules? This came as a shock to the young rebel, but she didn't voice her feelings. Instead, she said, "Oh, I just like being in the night air. Plus, the Quidditch Pitch just feels like home to me, you know? I can't really explain it."

Isabelle smiled at the Quidditch Pitch which now had hedges of a pretty good height covering them. She wondered why the hedges were being grown there. Was it for the Triwizard Tournament? If so, was it going to be the second task or the third task? Isabelle couldn't find the answers to either of her questions. She then said, to no one in particular, "I wonder what these hedges will be for ..."

Isabelle sat down on the ground and stared at the hedges for awhile. For some reason, she felt as though something was going to jump out at her.

Kimmy smiled at the girl's face, knowing what she was probably thinking. Most people knew Izzy as a Rebel, most likely because of her last name. However, the girl wasn't going to judge her, she wasn't the type of person to do that. Kimmy liked to have people act before she figured out what kind of person they were. The witch smiled and looked out at the pitch, a smile still glowing on her face. "You play?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Turning her attention to the well - developed shrubs, the Hufflepuff shrugged. "The tournament, probably," she suggested, poking one of the bushes with the tip of her wand. The shrub didn't seem affected, but she had this odd feeling just by looking at the strange bushes. Kimmy felt as though they were looking directly into her mind and studying it. "Strange, really," she said aloud.

Taking a seat next to Izzy, she gave out a long - drawn out sigh. " You're a fourth year right?" Kim asked, not waiting for a reply before continuing. "So you gotta date for the ball thing?" she continued nonchalantly.

Isabelle didn't say anything at first. Sure, she did play Quidditch, but for fun. She had never in her entire life been on an actual Quidditch team. She wasn't that good at the sport, though she wished she was. Finally, she quietly replied to the Hufflepuff, Kimmy, "Not a team or anything, but I guess you could say that I do play the sport."

The Hufflepuff asked Isabelle if she had a date to the Yule Ball. Isabelle nearly vomited every time the dance was mentioned. The thought of dancing, especially with another boy, revolted her. Isabelle thought of what she was going to say. She couldn't screw this up, she was actually having a normal conversation with someone who wasn't in her house. Plus, most of the people weren't even in her year. She replied to Kimmy, "Yeah, I'm a fourth year. You?" Isabelle paused a moment before finishing what she was going to say, "Im not one for dancing, but I suppose of a boy I like asks me, I'll go."

Isabelle imagined herself with a teenage boy at the Yule Ball. She couldn't tell if she wanted to stand up and dance, or throw up from the thought of having to dance with someone. She asked the Hufflepuff something, "Who're you going to go with?"