Melanie was stationed up in the Astronomy tower. She hadn't dare turn the light on. A small oil lamp was next to her. It lit up the cover of the book Melanie was reading.
'Dark Arts Betrayel'
Melanie, engrossed in her book, didn't realise that someone was standing in the doorway. That was until she took a box of matches out of her pocket to re-light the candle. She shreiked and knocked over the glass containor with her foot. The candle fell out of the smashed glass and scorched the stone floor. Melanie remained frozen.

Shane drew his wand from his robes as he reached the top of the stairs to the Astronomy tower, nonverbally casting a muffling spell on the top of the stairs out of habit. More often than not, he would stumble into someone already in the tower this late at night. Reaching the doorway in absolute silence, he spots a girl reading a book. He squints, reading the cover by the flickering lamplight. It was at that time the blonde shrieked and broke her lamp, casting the tower back into almost total darkness.

".....Lumos Duo.." he mutters, the wand at his side lighting the tower but bright enough to make identifying him difficult. "Pretty morbid reading for a youngblood like yourself.."

Melanie tried in vane to see the other boy but couldn't. Melanie snatched the book up clutching it to her chest.
"Well I'll have you know that I always read this stuff," she said stiffly. Outraged that he thought it to morbid for her.
"I've been a Dark Arts bookworm most of my life and so far it hasn't turned me into a frog or any other animal of similar description." The best part of the boy she could see was his arm which held hi wand.
"Who are you anyway?"

Shane smirked, although it was probably hard to see. "Yeah well, I've yet to find any book that turns someone into a frog, but I've seen a few that can give people bad ideas," he replies, stepping closer to Mel before leaning against against the wall. He nonverbally extinguishes his wand before casting reparo on the lamp and another nonverbal spell to rekindle the flame. Now visible with the soft light of the lamp brightening the tower, he looked down at her. "Shane Cross..you are?"

Lamplight flooded the room. She could now see him properly. His brown hair and his eyes. He stepped closer to her. She laughed when he said that he was he had yet to find a book that would turn you into a frog. She silently agreed.
"People say it can damage your conscience to good or bad. But I would never use and of these curses on anyone," she protested.
"I'm Melanie Carter, Slytherin 2nd year and as you've probably already figured out a Dark Arts bookworm."
Melanie was wondering what to say next and suddenly something occured to her.
"Do you play quidditch?" She asked.

Shane watched her as she spoke, a smirk crossing his features. "Yeah well most people don't think they'd ever use them, until their back's against a wall," he replies a little more softly, as if speaking from experience he would rather not have. "Gryffindor, seventh year." The thing about summer break was that hardly anyone wore their school uniforms around, and it was almost impossible to tell what house a stranger was in without asking. It was usually drafty in the astronomy tower however, so Shane had opted for his robes. He perked a brow at her question. "..I used to..why do you ask?"

"I guess," she said softly.
"Oh," she said laughing, "Its just since your here I might as well ask if you had any advice for buying your first broom. It's just I'm getting better at quidditch and I was thinking of trying out for the team, now I'm a second year. I need a broom though. I'm good at tackling and bad at shooting. What would you suggest?" She smiled.

Shane simply nodded in response, looking out at the starry sky for a moment. "First broom? Well..guess it depends on a lot of things..first of which being how much you're willing to spend. Nimbus' aren't too pricey anymore...I bought a Nimbus 2001 my second year and I've had it ever since. Comets aren't a bad choice either if you can't afford a Nimbus," he says, twirling his wand nonchalantly between his fingers.

ooc: Gotta go, cuttin it short! Sorry

"Thanks," she said gratefully, "I'll remember that." Her eyes travelled up and down his body, only remembering seeing him in the corridors once or twice. Melanie gave up trying to reconise him from somewhere else. After all she was only a second year, while he looked like a sixth!
"Well what brings you up here at this time of night anyway?" She asked, trying in vane to make a decent conversation that would last mre than two minutes. She awaited his reply in the akward silence that had fallen like a sheet over them.