Hide & Seek

Chapter 5 - Uitwaaien

Chapter 5
UITWAAIEN

uitwaaien
(v.) to take a break to clear one's head; lit. to 'walk in the wind'

IT wasn't very often that Gemma went somewhere without one of her friends tagging along.

If she was studying, Hermione or Ginny would usually join, the three of them pooling over pots of ink and rolls of parchment. If she was heading out for a Quidditch scrimmage, Harry wouldn't take no for an answer even if she'd said so.

And if she was hanging out in the common room, Ron or some of her other fellow Gryffindors were almost always milling about.

But there were the occasional solitary moments in which Gemma managed to escape from the crowded halls and hallowed classrooms, stealing away a few hours to bask in a blissful complete and utter silence.

She always found it easier to think in the quiet.

On a particularly sunny Wednesday, Gemma couldn't quite seem to settle her mind. Her entire Potions lesson had been spent trying to focus on the boiling cauldron in front of her, but Professor Snape's monotonous voice reminded her too closely of the one she was dreading having to hear later on.

Her sleep had been pitiful, as she'd began to dread the sunrise of the new day before her head even hit her pillow.

It was her first day of detention with Draco.

Just the thought of having to be near the wretched boy made her skin crawl and her fists clench. She was still itching to land a square one right on his irritatingly perfect-sloped nose, picturing the way the bruise would clash brilliantly with his nearly-white hair.

She smiled to herself just thinking about the satisfying crunch.

The wind kicked up, ruffling at the hem of her robes that were hanging off the sides of the bench she was sprawled on. Gemma had successfully managed to duck out of lunch, providing her friends with the excuse that she wasn't feeling very well and was going to see Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

Hermione had insisted on accompanying her, but Gemma assured her she'd be fine and see them all later in class. It wasn't a complete and total lie, thinking about her impending punishment did make her feel a bit sick to her stomach.

She'd wandered leisurely in the direction of her favorite courtyard, one on the edge of the castle, just below the clock tower. Centered in the middle was a decently sized fountain, although in all the time that Gemma visited she'd never once seen the aged stone produce even the tiniest drop of water.

Still, the green moss that wound around its base and covered the floor provided a plush accent of nature, and its sweet scent soothed her senses slightly.

Delicately, she turned the page of the book that was laying in her lap, eyes skimming the dark letters. It was an edition she'd picked up in the library on her way outside, not too keen on trying to focus on anything related to her classes.

Instead, she'd grabbed a copy of Quidditch Through The Ages, and had happily been engrossed in it for at least an hour. Gemma smiled as an illustration of a golden snitch darted its way across the paper, zipping in between the sentences as it went.

She placed her thumb over it as it hit the edge of the paragraph she was reading, successfully trapping it underneath her finger.

Over her years of schooling, prior her coming to Hogwarts, Gemma had been a Seeker. Her old school had drafted her on only a few months before she found out she'd be transferring, but the few games she'd had the pleasure of playing had been some of the happiest moments of her life.