Born and Raised in a Summer Haze // Closed [Chase]

[Juliet Delia]

The soft, pattering sound of fallen leaves hitting the window of her bedroom was intensely soothing. Juliet lay in bed, covered by a mountain of blankets and surrounded by a ridiculous number of pillows. She had been in this position for the better part of 24 hours now, and it suited her just fine. It was comfortable and warm and soft and didn't yell or cry or bleed on her. A bizarre change in her daily schedule as of late, but became more and more welcome the longer she lay in bed. Outside her window was a swirl of fall colours, and the red, oranges and yellows looked intensely inviting. Juliet felt that she should probably take advantage of the fall weather before the colder winter weather blew in off of the mountains and bathed the entire world in white and ice. She stretched and moaned, reveling in the feeling of the relaxation and the softness of the materials on the bed. With a sigh, she threw her feet over the edge of the bed and walked to her bathroom. It was time to stop being a hermit and get her sorry ass out into the world for once.

After a quick shower, some hair styling, and the careful application of makeup to her eyes, she padded to her closet, yawning softly on her way. Juliet thumbed through the various items of clothing that hung in her closet, occasionally stopping, cocking her head to look at it from a different angle, and then dismissing it with a sigh. "The problems associated with being a girl," she cooed to her new pug puppy, Rusty. He peered up at her with his big dark eyes, tongue lolling out of one side and panted. She grinned and bent down to pick him up. "Well maybe you can help me pick something appropriate," she said to him. She continued to pick through her clothes with Rusty under her arm, eventually settling on a tanktop, scoopneck sweater, and a pair of jeans. She put Rusty down and let him bound off into the house, the sound of his skittering paws getting softer and softer as he rampaged further into the depths of her house. From a floor below, she heard the disgruntled shout from one of her house elves, followed by the raucous laughter of another. Grinning, she threw the clothes on and made her way to the front door of the house. Tossing a coat, hat, and scarf on, she walked out into the cool air of the fall day.

Juliet walked and walked, enjoying the freedom of the day. It was nice to not have to do anything in particular that day, for once. The air was rather cool, more so than she was used to, but it was refreshing. It woke her up from the twenty-four hour coma she had just been in. Moreover, she was surrounded by people that she didn't have to staunch bleeding for or re-set limbs for. That in itself was a pleasant change of scenery. As she walked down a street, several young children were raking leaves into a pile with each other. As soon as they deemed it high enough, they would take turns running full-tilt into it, the leaves flying into the air as if there was an explosion int he pile. As the children ran to get their rakes again, Juliet pulled her wand out and gathered the leaves into the biggest pile yet. When the children turned around to start raking, they squealed in delight at the mountain of leaves before them. Their laughter followed her down the street and around the corner, leaving a smile on her face and a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest.

She eventually found herself at the entrance to the boardwalk at Ilfracombe. The smell of baked goods and herbs wafted to her nose on the wind, and she smiled. What a perfect way to spend her day: shopping and eating.

Juliet walked through the vendors' booths, asking questions and examining products, buying some and leaving others for another time. There were sweaters and hats and scarves and coats and jewelery and pies and all manner of nearly everything she could think of. She chatted with one of the vendors about his hats, discussing the llamas and sheep from whose wool the hats were made of. Juliet laughed warmly as the vendor described some of the antics of his animals, and bought herself a new hat in the process. She said goodbye and turned on her heel, continuing down the boardwalk. As she walked by the water, a face suddenly came into view that she recognized. But where did she recognize him from? Who was he? Juliet continued her walk forward and further examined him as she got closer. No, it couldn't be. No way. "Chase?" she asked, putting her hand on the man's shoulder, a smile on her face. "Chase Alderman?"

[[Not my best post, but it will work for the time being. ]]

[Chase Alderman]

He had been grading papers for what seemed like years. His lessons were going just fine as far as he could tell, everybody seemed to be taking to his teachings very well. The students that were attending class were doing well. He had managed to avoid all detention duties all year long. He had tried to be nice, since it was his first year and all and he didn't want to be the hard ass professor who was just out to make his students miserable. He could think of a professor or two who really held the title for that role, and Chase was more than happy to let them have it. He liked being liked. Even with the minimal essays and the assignments that were mandatory to verify learning he was swamped with paperwork. He loved teaching, but even he couldn't stand homework. He had crossed off yet another spelling error and circled one last misused fact whenever his eyes started to go cross. He needed a break, to get out and clear his head. He had nothing other than his office study session after dinner tonight, which meant that if he managed to put off his grading until later tonight and just stay up a wee bit later than he normally would, he could have the better part of the day to himself. By all accounts that sounded so much better than anything within the walls of the castle could offer him. It was just too nice of a day to be inside. The leaves were changing, it was that awkward stage between jacket and no jacket. The air just had that crisp smell to it, and it made him long for fresh butter beer something awful. The question was, where to go. He could head down to Somerset, but he was there often enough for his patrol duties. Something he detested as well, it made him feel like a prison guard and he was far from it. Alzubra held some appeal, but the added Auror's combined with the people crowding in and out of the shops turned him off of that idea. The only place left seemed perfect because it would allow him to take a nice long walk, and there were more than one street cart that would love to provide him with warm Butterbeer. Before he could sit here and talk himself out of it, he pulled his hooded sweatshirt over his head. It had the logo for the Chuddly Cannons on the back of it, which was his personal favorite whenever it came to Quidditch teams. Nothing fancy, but they had heart. Putting on a belt for good measure to keep his light denim pants from sagging any lower than his lips he silently cursed his long torso and narrow hips. He detested belts.

Grabbing his coin bag he was out of the castle, keeping his head low so that any passing students wouldn't stop him and barrage him with questions about their latest topic he was on the grounds in no time, walking at a fairly brisk pace until he was stopped by the Auror's guarding the path from Galaxia to Somerset. They just needed to know where to reach him in case anything happened. He informed them that he was heading down to the waterfront and was only a patronus or owl away. He wouldn't dream of deserting his students high and dry in the case of an emergency. He was in charge of all of Ravenclaw after all. He smiled to them, assuring them that he would be back in time for dinner and headed down the path a little. Stopping about halfway between the school and the village, and apparated away. The second that he appeared on the other side he was greeted with the faint smell of ea water. A mixture of salt and foam that was already starting to receded and give way to the smells of autumn. No doubt most of these vendors would have closed up shop over the course of the next month or so, so it was good that he arrived whenever he had. He made short work of getting himself what hes had come here for. He purchased a large mug of butter beer from the very first vendor that he spotted and then went about looking for somewhere that he could sit down and enjoy his treat. He was stopped along the way only by something that he wouldn't have thought possible.

The newspaper stand was normally occupied by images of Darren Morgan, and other Minsitry officials, it had been so long since he had seen anything else on the stands that he had just about stopped looking all together. If it hadn't been for the burnt orange that matched the color of his sweatshirt zooming across the periodical he wouldn't have looked this time. Looming closer to the pages he chuckled to himself, sliding a couple of sickles across the booth toward the man operating the stand. He picked up the magazine and flipped through a few pages. He wasn't even aware that the Quidditch teams had started playing again, had he really been that self involved in his own work not to notice one of his favorite past times was back in session? He thanked the man and moved away from the vendor into a open patch close to the water, standing to himself. He was so enveloped looking at the roster for this year that he was allowing his drink to become cold. He found the closest building and leaned up against the walling, and brought the cup to his lips, relishing in the light cinnamon and sugar flavors that were decorating the foam of the drink. ”Chase?” He heard somebody speaking to him, but he didn't know why. Pausing for only a moment he tore his eyes from the paper to look around, whenever he didn't spot the location of the caller he turned back to his article, then he felt the hand on his shoulder. Startled he turned quickly to look at the stunning woman in front of him. “Hello?” he inquired, not sure if he was supposed to recognize her. ”Chase Alderman?” He squinted, pushing off of the building and returning to his full height at the same time. “Juliet?” He beamed, bending slightly to envelop her body in a friendly embrace. “O-oh my, you have really grown up! How long has it been?” She certainly did look different from the last time that he had seen her. She had certainly grown into her skin, she looked happy which was wonderful. He knew that his stammering wasn't great but out of all of the people he had thought he could have run into, she wouldn't have been one of them. “What are you doing here?”

-hope that's alright

[Juliet Delia]

The look of pure confusion on Chase's face made Juliet's stomach drop. Had she mistaken him for someone else, thereby making herself look like a complete asshole in front of a stranger? So far, all signs pointed to yes. He squinted at her and pushed himself up to full height. He's tall... Really tall... she thought to herself. Was Chase ever this tall? Juliet wracked through the shelves of her mind, trying to recall anything she could remember about Chase that she could. The sound of someone saying her name broke through her wall of concentration brought her back to the real world. It was the man in front of her. It was Chase after all! A grin spread across her lips at the look of his surprise. His shock was sincere, but then again, no one ever thought they were going to see someone from their distant past on any given day without some serious Divination skills.

“O-oh my, you have really grown up! How long has it been?” Merlin, how long had it been? "All grown up!" she said, shrugging her shoulders and gesturing to herself. "It's been essentially forever, I think." She laughed aloud, reveling in how good that simple action felt. She'd have to remember to do it more often. It really had been forever since they'd seen each other. At least since he'd been in school, and he was a year or two older than her. That made it almost half a decade, if not more.

Juliet took a moment to look him over. The years had been very kind to him. He had grown up a lot since she'd last seen him, and the vision she had of him in school was quickly being replaced with the image of the man before her. He was handsome and tall, and his shoulders were broad and strong. His hair was different, but she couldn't quite recall what it had looked like when she had known him all those years ago. And had his smile always been that gorgeous? Merlin, Delia, pull your shit together, she thought to herself, blinking as she tried to clear the sudden fog from her eyes. She was suddenly the picture of a starstruck teenaged witch, and it was a little embarrassing. She pulled herself up straight and smiled, letting her shoulders drop back. Look like a proper lady, not a drooling teenager, for shitssake, she scolded herself.

"How are you??" she asked with a grin, pushing her hair back over her shoulders. What were the odds that she would run into someone she had known so long ago while she was out? There were how many billions of the people in the world, and somehow they had run into each other. "What have you been up to all these years?" She was rather curious about what he had ended up doing with his life. They had been friends, but never close enough that she could speculate exactly what type of profession he would have chosen for himself.

Juliet was really quite pleased that she had run into him. Seeing people from her past always made her happy, especially when they were happy. Even more than that, she was happy to see that even after all of the war and violence that had plagued the Magical world these last few years, another one of her friends were safe and seemingly happy. That in itself was a small comfort about this crazy and dangerous world they were living in. There was still space for happiness and wonderful coincidences.

[Chase Alderman]

If he had known that he would be running into somebody instead of just clearing his head, he might have chosen a little bit less flashy attire. He didn't exactly blend in well, being that he was so tall and wearing a bright color. “All grown up!” he nodded, this was just a wonderful surprise indeed. ”It's been essentially forever, I think.” “Years” In such a dark time Juliet was like a bright white light. “Merlin, Juliet how is your family?” he shook his head, that was so not the question that he was wanting to be asking right about now “I mean, how are you?” She seemed to be having some sort of internal battle, which was fine his brain was still playing catch up with the sight of her as well. She didn't look like the little girl that he had known all those years ago. Certainly, they had never been that close to begin with but now she was something else, a real lady with stories to tell. No doubt secrets of her own, maybe she even had a family. “How are you??” Folding the paper and tucking it into the space between his hand and his body so that his hands could stay free, he started to fish around in his pockets, looking for a sickle to pay the person with. He couldn't just take it and leave, even if he was distracted enough right now to try. Picking out a coin he slapped it down on the surface of the booth and moved closer to her, his shoulders instinctively hunching so that he wasn't towering over her quiet so much.

He wouldn't mind moving past the pleasantries sooner rather than later. He had always found them to be a little awkward, and since they had been apart for so long they had a lot to catch up on. “Me? I'm good. Teaching now” he laughed awkwardly “Who would have thought right?” certainly not him, he wasn't exactly Mr. Popularity whenever he was in school. .They had been in different houses, but it wasn't hard to tell that Chase was on the lower end of the pecking order in his year. He spent far too much time in the library or with a quill in his hand to make any real friends. That was also before his growth spurt. He was a bit of a late bloomer of sorts, nerdy. Not the good type, the type with acne and was just very awkward. He was still strange, but at least he got his skin under control. While Juliet was years younger than him, she had always had a better go of it, made things look so easy and made all the right kinds of friends. She would have been a real catch for any man. “What brings you down here?”

ooc:-sorry this is so short. and horrible

[Juliet Delia]

Juliet's face bore a large grin, a feeling that as of late was quite foreign to her, but altogether welcome. It was pleasant to run into someone from her past in a regular place on a regular day while both of the parties were doing regular things. It was so...normal. So normal, in fact, that it seemed out of place with the world they were living in. She would usually run into someone she knew on her way to make a deal for her potion stocks, or carrying an item of particularly large monetary value that would make her seem very suspicious if she was found to have it found on her person. Juliet made a mental note to Apparate more often after a trip to shadier locations. The mild nausea was more than worth the awkward and potentially hazardous run-ins she seemed to keep having with people as of late.

“Merlin, Juliet how is your family? ... I mean, how are you?” Juliet laughed out loud as Chase caught and quickly corrected himself. Generally speaking, family was simply not a subject you brought up these days, unless you were sure all was well. More and more, it was all too common that witches and wizards of all ages were disappearing, being question, tortured, even killed. It had happened on more than one occasion to several witches and wizards that their question, filled with good intent, brought on tears from the other person. During her time as a doctor at St. Everdines, she'd had the unfortunate and sad task of informing the family of a witch or wizard who had not survived. Juliet was one of the lucky ones, and she waved her hand in the air to dismiss his discomfort.

"They're all wonderful," she said. "All home, safe and sound. We haven't had any trouble so far, keeping a low profile and such. I've been quite busy, personally. I travelled abroad for a few years, spent a few months at St. Everdines working, and I just got hired on at Galaxia to teach Transfiguration. I'm so incredibly pleased about it. I could hardly believed when they sent the owl to my house to notify me that they wanted me to fill the position. I always loved teaching and learning. It's practically all I've been able to talk about lately." She stopped suddenly, and then Juliet laughed, shaking her head. "I still get a little carried away with the talking when I get overly excited, a trait I have not outgrown." Juliet cocked her head to the side, pressing her lips together as her heart fluttered nervously. "Do you mind if I ask how your family is doing?"

She watched and waited patiently as Chase paid for whatever it was that he wanted from the vendor, looking around silently. As they continued on the boardwalk, she asked him what he was doing with his life now. “Me? I'm good. Teaching now.” An excited squeak of pleasure escaped her lips, and her smile grew even wider. "That's so exciting! We'll see each other all the time then! What a small, small world it really is!"

As they continued to walk, she stopped along the way to look at a few scarves and mittens, picking through the colours to see if there was anything she liked in particular. Chase's voice broke the silence, "What brings you down here?" The real answer, the fact that she needed to drag her sorry ass out of her misery and into the real world again, probably would create some awkwardness and present some questions she really didn't want to answer. So, she went with the next most truthful answer she could think of: "Just having a me day. Shopping and eating. Nice and relaxing before I have to go home and grade papers." She chucked and shrugged her shoulders, "Such is the life of a Professor, I suppose! How about you?"


[Not my best, not my worst.]

[Chase Alderman]

He could get used to normal interactions like this. Of course, he was still adjusting to just about any interaction if he was being truthful, his years on this earth hadn't exactly been kind to him in the way of social graces. He was still learning how to be outgoing. Granted, his looks tended to help him as he was so tall and it was an easy ice breaker. He just had focused his life on his hobbies rather than being social. Perhaps his outfit was some proof of that. Yet, it was always nice to see a familiar face that didn't automatically dislike him. Juliet had always been kind to a fault. He was undeserving. Most of all considering that he kept almost insulting her, he had no idea how she was faring with all of the drama going on in their lives, and the lives of those around him. While a large part of him was curious as to what she had been doing in response to the war waging, he didn't think it was acceptable to ask. It seemed like as time went on, more of the topics that he was capable of talking about were becoming unacceptable. He shouldn't have been surprised. The longer he stood here, the more he wished that he was wearing something a little less strange. He knew that orange wasn't his color, but whenever he had left the castle he hadn't cared, he didn't think that he would have been running into somebody that he knew, much less a pretty somebody. His eyes averted to the ground as he listened to her response. She was so good at making people feel more at ease. ”They're all wonderful, All home, safe and sound.” “Good, good” he beamed, turning his eyes back up to look at her, she was so animated.

“We haven't had any trouble so far, keeping a low profile and such. I've been quite busy, personally. I traveled abroad for a few years, spent a few months at St. Everdines working, and I just got hired on at Galaxia to teach Transfiguration.” Man, her life sounded so entertaining. What had he done with himself? Not too much to brag about. Sure, after graduation he had traveled for a little wile, continued his education as far as he possibly could, and then had gone around begging for jobs for far longer than he would have cared to admit. Whenever he had landed the job at Galaxia, he had been over the moon. Of course, to most people it was a job, but it was a place that he was comfortable with, that he enjoyed. That really was the dream as far as he was concerned, doing a job that he loved and getting paid for it. “I'm so incredibly pleased about it. I could hardly believed when they sent the owl to my house to notify me that they wanted me to fill the position. I always loved teaching and learning. It's practically all I've been able to talk about lately.” The surprise at her statement must have been evident on his face, they had asked her to fill the position? That was impressive indeed. He was fairly certain that the only reason that he had gotten the job was because he was overqualified, and he just had kept on asking. Le Grand was a kind lady, but she had her limits. He had just wanted it too bad he supposed. If they had asked him to work there, well, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. ”I still get a little carried away with the talking when I get overly excited, a trait I have not outgrown.” He didn't mind, her talking make things easier on him, he had always been better at listening anyway.

”Do you mind if I ask how your family is doing?” He shook his head, they were just about as droll as it came, well, all apart from his father anyway. But he tended to avoid him at all costs anyway, so whenever he answered his question his answer would exclude his father, but she didn't need to know that. “Not at all, they are all the same as they were years ago. We don't change much” he laughed nervously, it was true. Only his height and size had really changed over the years. The news that they were going to be working together, was very promising indeed. ”That's so exciting! We'll see each other all the time then! What a small, small world it really is!” He stopped at all the vendors that she did, waiting for her more so than shopping himself. Not much that they were selling interested him. ”Just having a me day. Shopping and eating. Nice and relaxing before I have to go home and grade papers.” He almost felt guilty, but she had been the one to stop him so she must not have minded having the company on her day, he was sure enjoying himself. He could related “I know what you mean, I've got a stack as high as my desk in my office” He sighed, he had always just assumed the amount of students that avoided their homework would outweigh those that actually did it. He had been very wrong on that account. ”Such is the life of a Professor, I suppose! How about you?” “Day off” he stated simply, when in fact he was just wanting to stretch his legs, the castle had many paths to wander around on, but nothing was quite as nice as the salty sea air in the breeze. “Wanted somewhere a little more quiet I think, truthfully I wasn't sure where I was heading until I got here” Grinning he picked up a pair of gloves at one of the stands, only to replace them on the counter because they were far too small for him. “However, I think my subconscious mind has rather good taste in location.”

[Juliet Delia]

The breeze that was coming off of the water whipped strands of her hair this way and that, more often than naught straight into her face. Juliet ran a hand through her dark, currently unruly locks, trying to comb the knots out of them and keep it our of her face. It obviously wasn't working, and the wind was obviously not going to be having it. As she chatted away to Chase, she pulled a hairtie off of her wrist and pulled her wand out of the pocket it was always waiting in. Pausing only for a moment to concentrate, she tapped the tie with her wand. It immediately snapped in half, lengthened and rounded itself, and then hardened into a black satin-covered hairband. She slipped it onto her head, catching the particularly unruly strands of hair in the teeth and pinning them back and out of her face. Now she could concentrate properly. Juliet tucked her wand back into her pocket, smiling as if she had not done anything while they walked. Not that it had been a special transfiguration by any means, or at least to her. Just a simple change in form whilst maintaining the functionality of the object. Basic, once you understood the properties and concepts behind it. Mind, it was also a lot easier for her, likely because Transfiguration was and always had been her subject of choice. It was something that just came naturally to her, from understanding to actually performing. Very unlike Potions for her, which she'd had to study all throughout school and then for years afterwards to get to where she was. Not so straightforward. Luckily, she was rather stubborn, and a quick-study when she liked a subject, or at least held some sort of interest in it. Otherwise she'd still probably be sitting over a cauldron over a fire in the bloody Outback trying to make heads or tails of a horned slug.

Juliet couldn't help but smile as more warmth took over Chase's face. "“Good, good,” he said, his face bright. Chase had never really been the type to broadcast his emotions for the world to see. He was more introverted than that. She'd known a lot of people in school who'd described him as very shy, and not too much of a people person. Juliet had to disagree. Just because you didn't light up around everyone didn't mean that you didn't like people or interacting with them; it just meant that that particular person was a little more picky with whom they decided to open up to. It was a scary thing, when you thought about it, opening up to someone. You leave yourself vulnerable to the other party, whatever you're feeling on display. That person can take what they see an interpret it as they see fit, which in some cases doesn't end fantastically well. For some people, opening up isn't all so difficult; they build up a tough skin and take the bad with the good rather well. But for others, they are more careful with themselves, more selective with whom they let in and see who they were. Juliet believed that the latter was Chase. Just because someone wasn't as much of a chatter box as she was didn't mean that she wasn't willing to try to be friends with them. In school, she'd found a great friend in Chase, someone she knew she could rely on regardless of the situation, and that was something that she could deeply appreciate, especially in these uncertain and dark times. Chase was the kind of person that you wanted on your side, when it came down to the nitty gritty.

She bit down on her tongue, giggling as she realized just how much she had been talking in the last few minutes. On and on, how silly of her. "I'm sorry I'm so chatty!" she laughed, shaking her head. "I absolutely don't know what's going on with me today!" There was a look of mild surprise on Chase's face, though Juliet was not sure if it was because of something she'd said, or because she couldn't stop talking today. “Not at all, they are all the same as they were years ago. We don't change much,” he said with a shrug. Juliet smiled and sighed, biting her lower lip. "You know, sometimes, these days, I don't think that's such a bad thing." There were, of course, exceptions to every rule, but, as of recently, things that were the same as they had always been earned extra points in Juliet's books. Too often lately things had changed for the worse; someone was missing, someone had died, someone was dabbling in the Dark Arts... None of these things were things Juliet wanted to hear anymore. They made her soul weary, and it was hard to be around so many students and not be completely depressing when she felt that way. Juliet chuckled as he mentioned the stack of papers waiting for him on his desk upon his return, nodding in agreement. "Oh those papers, they never seem to end. I need to start giving less assignments, I think," she chuckled. "If not for my own sanity, then for my poor students."

"Wanted somewhere a little more quiet I think, truthfully I wasn't sure where I was heading until I got here." Juliet nodded, smiling. "Can't say that I don't think that kind of day isn't a good one," she said wistfully. The days that you just let your feet take you places... Those rarely ended poorly, in her experience. There was always something interesting on those days. “However, I think my subconscious mind has rather good taste in location.” Juliet raised her eyebrows, gesturing around them. "I can't say I disagree. The Boardwalk is always lovely, regardless of the time of year, wouldn't you say?"