Roar Like a Lion

Payton was super busy with homework and quidditch, he barely had any time to himself. Osmund was a great captain, but practices were so long and constant that it was hard to have a life outside of school work and the sport. Not that he was complaining at all, he enjoyed the sport and was glad he was on the team. He wondered who would be captain after Osmund left, he hoped he had a chance to be the new captain. That would be great and he would be honored. But it would probably be handed to someone better than him.

He was ready to relaz and hang out with his friend, Adela. It had been a while since they had had some time to theirselves and Payton just wanted to talk and have fun. He decided to bring some candy with him to meet with Adela. The candy was supposed to change their voices according to the shape of it. If it was a lion, the person roared just like one. He had never tried them before so this was going to be a new experience.

Payton had always had a way of picking out interesting places to hang out, Adela thought as she made her way up the tower staircase. This time he had picked an empty classroom. At least they would be alone and no one would bother them. Adela didn't get to see Payton very often since they both had school work and he always had quidditch practice. The main time they got to see each other was during meals in the grand hall, where it was crowded and quite noisy. She treasured the moments they could spend together in peace and quiet, though they were few.

Payton seemed to always bring candy when they hung out, so Adela decided to surprise him and bring some of her own this time. She had gotten a kind that she hadn't tried before. It was supposed to change your voice to whatever the shape of the candy was, or something like that. She thought it would be fun to try out with him.

Adela entered the empty room, holding the candy behind her back so that Payton wouldn't see it. "Hey! Guess what I got?" she said pulling the candy out from behind her back and in front of Payton. Looking down at the desk, she saw that Payton had brought the same thing. "Check that out! Like they say, great minds think alike."

When Payton heard footsteps coming towards the room, he couldn't help but getting a bit more excited. He was glad that he finally had time off and was able to hang out with his friend. Quidditch was taking up a lot of his time so he was happy to have time off. Once Adela entered the room, Payton greeted her. "Hey!" When she pulled the candy from behind her back, he laughed. "Great minds do think alike and we have great minds."

"I've never tried the candy so I thought it would be cool to test them out." He grabbed a random piece, one shaped like a monkey. "I guess I'll go first." He cracked a smile and put the candy into his mouth. It tasted sweet but then turned into a horrid flavor that Payton couldn't figure out. He opened his mouth to talk, but instead he made monkey noises. He laughed again, still sounded like a monkey. The candy soon wore off and Payton was laughing normally now. He cleared his throat. "Bad after taste, your turn."

Adela couldn't stop laughing when Payton started talking and laughing like a monkey. The candy's effects didn't seem to last very long, which was good. She was afraid she would have to walk around for half of the day sounding like some animal. "Okay, I guess it's my turn," she said still laughing. Adela reached her hand in the bag, grabbing a random piece. The piece was shaped like a dog. She put it up to her mouth, "Thanks for the warning on the after taste by the way," and and popped it in. It didn't taste bad... at first. Payton was right. Adela opened her mouth to tell him this, but all that came out was barking. She started laughing, but instead of laughing she was howling. It was a good thing Payton chose to hang out where no one else was around. They would get some strange looks from people. Adela's howling slowly turned back into laughing. "This is so much fun! Okay, it's your turn now."

Payton laughed at the noises that were coming from Adela's mouth. It was too funny. "Nice. This candy is so weird." He had found the treats at the gag shop and he just had to try them out. "So, how is your year going so far?" He held a candy to his lip, he wanted to talk a bit before he put the candy into his mouth. They had hardly talked this year and he wanted to see how she was doing. "I hope things are going well."

He popped the candy into his mouth and began to croak like a frog. He laughed, but the croaking was worse when he did. "Wait, I have two things." He picked his book bag off the floor then searched through it. He pulled out two drinks, one for each of them, and a flower. "I found this flower near the quidditch pitch after practice and I thought that you might like to paint it or something." He handed the flower along with the drink to Adela then opened his own drink. He took a sip to get the horrid taste of the candy out of his mouth.

Adela laughed at Payton's croaking noises. This candy was amazing, other than the taste, that is. "My year is going pretty good, although I wish we had more time to hang out with each other like this." She cherished the times like this that they could just hang out and goof off together. They didn't happen often anymore. "So, how is your year going?"

Adela felt grateful when Payton pulled out the drinks. She need something to wash down the flavor of the candy. She then proceeded to watch as he pulled out the flower. "Oh Payton, this is beautiful!" It was such a nice gift. He had suggested that she paint it, but Adela had another idea. "I think there is something better to do than just to have me paint this. You have been saying you wanted me to teach you how to paint, how about we paint it together? It would be a lot of fun and give us an excuse to hang out again, not that we really need one." Adela thought the plan sounded pretty good.

She picked up another piece of candy. This one was shaped like a bird. Adela put it in her mouth and began chirping. She started whistling the tune to one of her favorite muggle songs. When the whistling turned back into her own she took a big gulp of her drink.

"My year," Payton paused, taking a sip of his drink. "Is going well. Lots of quidditch and studying, the usual." The usual always consisted of homework, quidditch, and studying. He used to hang out with Sawyer, but that didn't happen so much anymore. And he missed his brother and the way their relationship had been. "I'm glad your year is going well."

"Its not going to come out good, but I could try. I guess." He just knew that he wasn't going to do well and that he was going to mess up. Art wasn't Payton's best subject. "When I try to do anything that involves art, it turns into rubbish. And this painting will probably be rubbish, at least my part of the painting. But I do want to learn, maybe I could get better."

Payton laughed at Adela's chirping. "Oh, I know that song. I've heard it on the radio before." Payton popped a candy into his mouth, not paying attention the the shape. He began to make sheep noises, the noises were pretty loud. He laughed once his voice went back to normal. "I'm glad no one is around cause that was so loud."

"it's okay if the painting doesn't come out looking like a masterpiece, you are just a beginner after all. Plus, I will be right by your side helping you with it. Besides, I have seen people paint a few lines and dots on a canvas, call it 'art', and have it sell for loads of money. 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' -Margaret Wolfe Hungerford." Adela liked quoting people. She thought it made her sound smarter. "And like you said, you will get better. You just need to practice. After all, practice makes perfect. I'm sure I won't be very good at quidditch when you first start teaching me, but I will get better." She loved watching Payton play the sport, especially when he caught the snitch and won for his team. Maybe what she really loved was just seeing how happy he was while playing. Either way, Payton had promised her that he would teach her and she really wanted to learn.