Claus had been practising his magic that day. The only problem was he had been for a few hours, and it worn him out. On the grass he laid, his spell book over his face. Claus' hands rested on his stomach, and he sighed into the book.

Casey wandered along through the main grounds her nose buried in a book, she was not one to pay attention to where she was going whilst reading. Not always a good combination. Turning the page Casey glanced down and realized she about to trip over someone, she nearly fell as she stopped herself but gained her balance quickly. "I-I'm s-s-sorry" she stuttered her cheeks burning lightly, a crimson red against her pale skin

As if he hadn't had a care in the world, Claus slowly dragged the book away from his face. A small smile crept across his lips as he stared at the girl for a moment. "Nothing to worry about." He reassured her before looking up at the sky from where he was laying. "Though you should be more careful."

Casey flinched slightly when she saw that she had almost fallen over a boy. And though her encounters with guys at Hogwarts had always been friendly ones she still feared that he might hurt her. "I'll try" she said quietly her eyes cast downward

"You.." Claus began to say, "You seem familiar..." His tone was quiet and he made no eye contact with her. His gaze was fixed upon the clouds. Though thoughts were buzzing in his mind of where he might have seen her face before. Claus couln't quite put his finger on it.

Casey's brow furrowed as she strained to think of whether or not she had met him before. No such meeting came to her mind. "Really?" she asked, her voice soft and questioning and her eyes averted not quite daring to look him in the eye. Shne had to admit he seemed friendly enough, but she was still cautious as always

For once Claus sat up, and just let the book fall into his lap. He had a quizzical expression planted on his face; his index finger and thumb rested on his chin. After a few moments of thought, he smiled slightly and looked at the girl. "You wouldn't happen to be a Hufflepuff, would you?" That was probably Claus' best guess.

Casey, who had sat down next to the boy, had been trying to think of where he might know her from when her startled her out of her thoughts. She stared at the ground in front of her and nodded, "I am.. so you're a hufflepuff to?"

Claus smiled victoriously, but it was very hidden at the same time. He laughed to himself as well, and sighed. "Yes, I knew I'd seen you at the house table...I am a Hufflepuff as well." It was nice having a fellow Hufflepuff to talk to. He hardly spoke to anyone in his dorm room, let alone anyone at all. He felt more safe talking to a Hufflepuff anyway.

Casey smiled slightly, "I suppose your face is rather familiar" she noted, though she had kept a habit of staying out of the way of guys. While he felt safer around her she felt the exact opposite. She hated to say she was scared, but the truth was she was almost terrified... though she tried her best not to let it show. She bit her lip and twisted her hair around her fingers, nervous habits were hard to beat.

Of course now that they got that out of the way they were left silent. Claus' shy and timidness were flooding back, and he put his hand on the back of his neck. Around his cheek bone area was a small pink color. He was starting to feel a little awkward, but cleared his throat to talk. "I'm..Claus..Nice to meet you." He felt it was a little late for the greeting, but it was better late than never.

A little bit of color flooded to Casey's cheeks, standing out against her pale complexion. She was not one for talking.. and when it came to guys she had a tendancy to speak only when spoken too. She rubbed her arm where she had received a couple bruises over the break wincing slightly as she touched a particularly tender one. "I'm Casey... Pleased to meet you." She stated, her voice quiet and shy.

He eyed the arm she had been rubbing. Claus could always ask if she was alright, but what if it was a bad subject to bring up? He didn't want to do that to anyone, so he kept his ponderings to himself. "Nice day out, isn't it?" Claus looked up at the sky smiling weakly.

Casey followed his gaze up to the sky, a small smile formed on her lips brightening her face if only for a little while. "Yes, it is really" she agreed, her voice still quiet and small. Her hand still rubbed her arm tenderly and absentmindedly.

"Do you like the winter?" He asked her, trying to make small talk. Luckily it had sort of been working...somewhat. The fact that she also appeared to be shy didn't help him out much, but he didn't mind the way she seemed to be.

Casey nodded her smile widening on her small face. "Winter is my favorite time of year.. especially when it snows" she admitted her head bent downward staring at the ground before her. "What about you?" she found herself not quite so afraid anymore, but still nervous and cautious

He shrugged. He liked all the seasons. But winter was his favorite. "I like winter a lot too. It makes me feel at ease and peaceful." Claus explained. He smiled a bit at the thoguht of snow.

Casey nodded, "But all seasons are just as beautiful, spring for the flowers, summer for lucious grass and the scent of the rain, fall for its colorful leaves and winter for it's snow" she reasoned quietly

Claus had a smile on his face that was beginning to grow. He liked the way she thought. It was unique. Something he hadn't seen in a long time. "Yes. I fully agree with you." Claus said after a moment of silence. "Snow is so delicate. Yet at the same time it's harsh and unforgiving. I guess that's what interests me about it."

Casey looked ahead of her, her eyes scanning the grounds and the students. She was beginning to feel a bit more at ease, but still held some fear and caution. He didn't seem all that mean and harsh, but still she was cautious of her words and actions. "Snow is quite similar to a thunderstorm in a way. Thunderstorms have a some soothing energy, but at the same time they can be fearsome and their aftereffects devasting." She said contemplatively.

He didn't need to say anything more to prove he felt the same. Claus picked at the pages of his book, his small smile going away slowly. At least she seemed easy to talk to. That made him feel a little better. Though Claus was at a loss of words.

"What book are you reading?" Casey inquired. Maybe if it was a good one she'd have to read it sometime, she needed a new book to read anyways. She realized she'd forgotten her nervousness, if only for a little while. But upon that realization she felt the dreaded nervousness and fear ebb back into her mind. She cast her eyes down at her lap, where her hands twisted about eachother.

Claus sort of laughed to himself. The book he was reading wasn't exactly the most interesting. Not many people would read it, unless they were interested in the subject like he was. More like how he was forced to like it. "It's a muggle book all about famous dead composers." Claus responded shrugging. Maybe she would know what a composer was, maybe she wouldn't..

Casey nodded she knew enough about music, the book might interest her. "And who is your favorite composer? I would have to say Vivaldi and Tchaicovsky are my favorites." She explained shly

"I have none." He said with no further information. Claus, for some reason, felt it unimportant to feel such emotions for such things like music. As much as he did play it, it never ocurred to him to love music. Or have a favorite composer.

Casey shrugged, as girl she had adored music, and she still held some talent for the violin and piano. "What brings you to read that kind of book?" she asked curiously, it seemed to her that he bore no interest in music, so why would he bother with such details?

Claus didn't feel obligated to tell her that. But he didn't want to be rude. He had to make up a reason that had some truth in it. "I want to learn more about certain pieces. It helps with the playing of the piece, I suppose." At least it wasn't a lie. Though Claus didn't exactly say the whole reason.

Casey quickly realized that she'd gone past her boundaries, had she been at home she would've been beaten for that. "sometimes learning about the pieces can be more interesting than playing them" she noted

"For some people, at least." He added to what she said. Claus moved his leg slightly, as something had been bothering it. When he did move it he found another book was under his leg; that annoying spell book he had been practising earlier with. Sighing, he picked it up, and sort ot tossed it to the side of him with the music one so they wouldn't be in the way.

Casey watched as he found another book and put it with his music one. She was slightly intrigued by him, he didn't seem like most people. "I see you must read a lot"

His smile started to come back, but only a little. "Yes, I do. It's almost like...an escape for me." Hopefully he was mking sense. It didn't happen too often, but sometimes Claus could confuse people with his words. But then again, he wasn't one who spoke in impossible to figure out metaphors, so it wasn't hard to understand him.

A smile grew on Casey's lips, so she wasn't the only one then. "And I thought I was the only one who felt that way. I fear that without my books I would not of made it passed five. They were the only escape to happiness..."

Claus sensed something must have been up with her. By what she said it seemed as though she might have a rough life...There was Claus again, making those stupid assumptions. He looked down at the grass, not saying much for a few minutes. What wer-...nevermind." He was feeling brave, but knew it was none of his business.

Casey sat there her fingers playing with the grass before. She knew what she had said had been reckless, and she now regretted her words. Surely he would question her and she'd have to come up with some excuse yet again. When he spoke she lifted her head, eyebrows raised almost ready for any question that would be fired at her. But he stopped himself, something she hadn't quite been expecting. "What?"

He shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Forget I said anything." Claus turned his head to look at her, and gave a reassuring smile. That was probably one of his biggest smiles in a while. Almost to a point that he felt a little embarassed. He blushed, and looked away.

Casey shrugged and turned back to the grass that had fingers had been playing with. "Okay.." She noted his smile, and then his blush. "So what type of books do you like to read?" she asked trying to ease things up a bit

"I'm into non-fiction." Claus replied. He tried to think of others he liked to read. With him it was a wide variety. "I like some novels too. I guess it all depends. I'm not too picky on genre, but I like a book that makes me think." Quietly he laughed a little. "Sometimes I choose certain books because of the titles."

Casey smiled, sometimes it was nice to converse with someone who shared a passion for reading, she found few people around thse days who liked to read as much as she did. "Well I'm not so much into those types of books unless it goes into the Greek and Roman time periods, especially their mythology. Titles have a way making a reader curious, I know I often look for catchy titles"

At a younger age Claus learned about some mythology. It did interest him, actually. Quite a lot. But he stopped learning about it when he went to Hogwarts. He hadn't bothered to pick up another book about it. "I also enjoy French literature. It's fascinating." Claus looked up finally, but more up towards the sky than at her.

Casey's mind wandered back to the book she had checked out of the library a few days ago on Greek Mythology. It had been an interesting book, but most of it she had already known. "French literature is quite good, but I'm afraid my french has slipped has slipped away from and I know not how to read it anymore. I taught myself a little french before I came here"