Post by Lorne Dawson on Aug 12, 2004 10:29:35 GMT
The silence of the early evening was broken by the light, rythmic thud-thud of someone's feet as they ascended the winding stone stairs that led up to the Astronomy Tower. It was a fair climb; it was a couple minutes before the walker, a sandy-haired boy of about thirteen ducked through the doorway and into the circular, window-adorned room that was the Astronomy Tower.
Eyes of cobalt blue, hardly visible under the unruly strands of hair that had fallen across the boy's forehead, swept the room. He'd only been here once before, and then he hadn't really spent much time inside... At the memory, his gaze drifted over to the doors leading out to the balcony, where he'd met the Ravenclaw girl on his last trip up here. He shivered slightly at the recollection. She'd been in the grip of some sort of hallucination, and at one point Lorne had been honestly afraid she would simply walk right off the balcony and plummet to the ground many, many stories below.
He stood staring at the door that led out to the balcony for a few moments longer, then shook his head, coming abruptly out of his reverie. He took a few steps forward, though not towards the doors that had been the focus of his attention until now. Instead, he moved up to stand right in front of one of the huge windows, pressing his face against the pane, enjoying the feel of cool, smooth glass under his skin.
The lofty vantage point afforded a wonderful view of the grounds, and, of course, the stars. Tonight was a particularly good night to go star-gazing; there were hardly any clouds, and those few were wispy things that looked as if they might drift away at a breath. The stars glimmered from within the net of their dark-velvet blanket, winking down on the Astronomy Tower and its lone occupant in an almost playful manner.
An argent line streaked across his peripheral vision, causing him to turn his head. Something that looked like a small star plummeted in a shallow arc across the sky, trailing white behind it for what looked like a few feet, though who knew what the distance really was. Then it disappeared as abruptly as it had come.
Lorne smiled. A shooting star. He wasn't sure if he believed the tale about wishing upon a shooting star, but then again, trying surely couldn't do any harm, could it? He leaned forward, letting his eyes slide shut and forming his wish in his mind. That done, he seated himself comfortably on the stone floor of the Tower, his gaze riveted on the mosaic of the night sky above him. Underneath that endless expanse of sky, dotted with the silver shimmer of countless spatial bodies, he felt very small indeed... but he found, to his own surprise, that he didn't mind the feeling one bit.
Eyes of cobalt blue, hardly visible under the unruly strands of hair that had fallen across the boy's forehead, swept the room. He'd only been here once before, and then he hadn't really spent much time inside... At the memory, his gaze drifted over to the doors leading out to the balcony, where he'd met the Ravenclaw girl on his last trip up here. He shivered slightly at the recollection. She'd been in the grip of some sort of hallucination, and at one point Lorne had been honestly afraid she would simply walk right off the balcony and plummet to the ground many, many stories below.
He stood staring at the door that led out to the balcony for a few moments longer, then shook his head, coming abruptly out of his reverie. He took a few steps forward, though not towards the doors that had been the focus of his attention until now. Instead, he moved up to stand right in front of one of the huge windows, pressing his face against the pane, enjoying the feel of cool, smooth glass under his skin.
The lofty vantage point afforded a wonderful view of the grounds, and, of course, the stars. Tonight was a particularly good night to go star-gazing; there were hardly any clouds, and those few were wispy things that looked as if they might drift away at a breath. The stars glimmered from within the net of their dark-velvet blanket, winking down on the Astronomy Tower and its lone occupant in an almost playful manner.
An argent line streaked across his peripheral vision, causing him to turn his head. Something that looked like a small star plummeted in a shallow arc across the sky, trailing white behind it for what looked like a few feet, though who knew what the distance really was. Then it disappeared as abruptly as it had come.
Lorne smiled. A shooting star. He wasn't sure if he believed the tale about wishing upon a shooting star, but then again, trying surely couldn't do any harm, could it? He leaned forward, letting his eyes slide shut and forming his wish in his mind. That done, he seated himself comfortably on the stone floor of the Tower, his gaze riveted on the mosaic of the night sky above him. Underneath that endless expanse of sky, dotted with the silver shimmer of countless spatial bodies, he felt very small indeed... but he found, to his own surprise, that he didn't mind the feeling one bit.