Sunny ((OPEN))

[Felix Long]

It was a sunny day. Felix sat by himself on the lawns rolling down to the lake and Forbidden Forest, his legs crossed beneath him, a light breeze playing with his hair, blowing it across his face. His hand rose once more to push his hair out of his eyes, a futile gesture as a moment later it fell forward again.

He had abandoned his search of the school's archives two days before. After a solid week of reading through them, he was only half way through the massive files, and his futile search was depressing him. He hadn't thought that his father would have been so hard to find - he couldn't remember the death being in the papers, but Felix had never been one to read the Prophet avidly like the other students, and he would have thought there would have been something...

But he had so little to work from - just a name. Not even a face. Not even a date. For all he knew, his father could have died at any point during his school career - his grandparents admitted they had postponed telling him until he had got through all his exams... Until the thought him mature enough to handle his father's death.

Hell - Lucas could have even died just months after he abandoned Felix...

Groaning, Felix flopped onto his back, covering his eyes from the sun with his hand - he could have thousands of old papers to look through. Eighteen years' worth. There had to be an easier way to find Lucas Long.

[Riley Terran]

[Ack it's short. My apologies]

Riley absolutely loved being back at Hogwarts. The year long absence from the famous school had prompted the returning Gryffindor to attempt to rexplore the massive castle, including her favourite area of course - the Hogwarts' grounds. The picture perfect surroundings were exactly where she wanted to spend her free time, especially the lake.

While the sixth year wasn't overly fond of abnormaly large aquatic life, the lake itself was a crystal blue beauty that Riley found herself visiting atleast once a week - rain, or shine. In fact, that was where she was headed when a familar mop of curly black hair caught her attention.

"Felix? Riley asked quietly, moving, so that she was standing next to his sprawled out figure. To be perfectly honest, Riley was unsure if it was even really him. Being a fairly new student when Felix had left Hogwarts her memories of him were a little hazy, but what was the worst that could happen by just checking?

[Felix Long]

((XD - Cassie made your banner! *humps my cass* She made mine too lol and no worries))

Still with his hand over his eyes, Felix only knew there was someone standing over him when the light filtering through his fingers changed to a more hazy kind of brightness, and the girl - it was a girl, no boy spoke like that - said his name.

Uncovering his eyes, Felix squinted up against the sun. He could only make out the sillouhette of a girl who couldn't have been much more than sixteen or seventeen years old. He pushed himself up instead - he was intrigued now as to who this girl was - pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so. He could feel a headache forming.

Opening his eyes, he took in the girl. She was pretty. Very pretty. And he had been right - she was obviously still a Hogwarts student, probably in her sixth year. She would have only just started by the time came for Felix to leave... A first year. Who knew him...

"Riley?!" Felix stood, staring, stunned, at her. The last time he had seen her... Well, she'd barely been taller than his hip. Breaking out of his momentary inability to move or say anything, he whooped and engulfed her in a warm bear hug, kissing her cheek in greeting, "God you've no idea how good it is to see a familiar face."

She may have only been a little twelve year old when Felix knew her, but her still ingering innocence about everything had allowed him to trust her more so even than the boys in his own year who he had spent seven years living with.

"How've you been???"

[Riley Terran]

[Yep. She's absolutely fantastic!!]

"Riley?!"

Riley laughed as Felix sat up. He looked just like she'd remembered him from school, perhaps even becoming more handsome with age. Although she was a little puzzled as to why he was pinching his nose. She'd just showered, so she couldn't possibly smell that bad. "The one, and only." She replied with a coy smile returning his hug gently. A small tingle trickled down her spine as he gave her a small kiss on the cheek, but she brushed it off with a smile, even being bold enough to return it on Felix's cheek. Even if she did have to stand on tip toe to do, so.

While she was no longer a boy crazy first year, there was something about her first crush that had stayed with the teenager over the past few years. Seeing him brought back a flood of memories from her early Hogwarts education, some good, some not, so good. "I'm doing..alright under the circumstances." Riley replied with a small smile, her eyes darting towards the castle where her former Headmaster's body lay sealed in a pure white stone.

"But I haven't seen you in ages Felix! What have you been up to?" Riley asked, returning her gaze to Felix after a pause, trying to get the image of Dumbledore out of her head. "I remember being told that you were working your way up in the ministry, before..well you know what I mean." Riley added lamely.

[Felix Long]

Felix grinned broadly, nodding with a sobered look as she mentioned recent events. Things really were looking bad for 'their side'... and it was even worse they couldn't all unite to fight against one common cause. He didn't agree with the sentinels, far from it, but they were still ultimately fighting for the same thing, and it would get fought a damn sight quicker if they could just ignore the pettiness.

He pulled back, catching her quick look up to the castle. Gently taking her hand, Felix squeezed it lightly, smiling softly, "It must have been terrible to have been here when it happened - you are alright, aren't you?" his voice held an air of genuine concern. He didn't know how much she had seen of that night, and how much she hadn't. He himself hadn't been there - he was still in auror training, and despite a whole group of his classmates demanding to be allowed to help, no one had been permitted to leave.

“I’ve…been okay. I did have plans to work my way up, yeah – maybe even become head auror one day, who knows? Doesn’t look like that’ll happen anytime soon, though, does it,” he shrugged, sitting back down on the grass, pulling her with him, “I’ve been spending the last few weeks looking for something about my dad in the Prophet. Haven’t had much luck, though, other than getting a splitting headache for my efforts.”

He rolled his eyes at Riley, wincing slightly as his head twinged, “So how’ve you been?” his eyes looked over her quickly. She had grown up so nicely – at eleven, she had been just his little surrogate sister, but now… He could really appreciate what a beautiful woman she was becoming.

[Riley Terran]

Riley nodded slowly. "Yeah I'm alright. It's just hard to picture Hogwarts without him you know?" She replied with a weak attempt at a smile. To Riley the school year officaly kicked off when Dumbledoore stood up in front of the students, his long beard trailing to the ground as he repeated the usual start of school announcements, and the thought that he'd never, ever do it again just seemed wrong.

"I think you would've made a fantastic head auror." Riley remarked as Felix pulled her to the ground. "In fact I would've loved working for you." Riley added, gently curling her legs underneath her body. "But, oh I don't think I ever told you, I wanted to be an Auror myself." She admitted, her cheeks turning a pale shade of pink as soon as the words left her mouth. Not that it mattered all that much now, no more Ministry meant no more aurors.

"Did you try the Hogwarts Archives?" Riley asked with a sympathetic smile as Felix mentioned his father. "If he was a student here, chances are he's in there, but I'm sorry you didn't find anything in the Prophet. Just reading the modern one gives me a headache, so I can't imagine what the old ones must've been like." She added absently mindedly brushing her free hand against the grass beside her. It felt, so good to be back at Hogwarts even if not all of the memories were good.

"I've been alright. I spent a lot of time with my Aunt, and Uncles getting a 'proper' education according to them. Liam's really been getting on my nerves lately, so it's nice to get away for a while." Riley replied simply, refering to her stepfather, Liam who's ignorance about the wizarding world sometimes caused some tense moments with the recent going ons.

"Are you alright?" The teenager asked quickly as she saw Felix out of the corner of her eye. "A little too much research for one day maybe?"

[Felix Long]

Felix grinned boyishly when she spoke about becoming an auror, "I don't know if I'll ever have made it, but if I had, I'd've been really glad to have you on the auror team. You'd've made a great one, and I'm not just saying that," he smiled warmly, sighing as his thoughts returned to Dumbledore, "It's not the same without him, is it. I don't think anyone expected to have to get through this without him, you know?"

The loss of Dumbledore had come to underline and represent all that everyone had lost during the two wars - dreams had been shattered, put aside for the moment to make way for the obligations and duties and repsonsibilities of war. Everyone had to work together for the greater good now, whatever the price - selfishness was never permitted in wars of this kind. Sometimes, Felix just wanted to up and leave - run and keep on running for all his forced upon duties. It wasn't living, when everything you had to hope for was dictated by some higher power.

But he would stay, as he always did - cowardice was not a good quality in anyone, and no matter how much he hated his duties, duties they were, and he wouldn't be able to bear backing down from such things.

Playing with the grass beneath his finger tips, Felix looked up and shook his head, "I can't find him in the student records - Lucas was a muggle. So was my mum. But Lucas was killed by Death Eaters - one of those random muggle attacks that started happening a few years ago - and I want to know why. He didn't even know all this existed, Riley," he gestured towards the castle, sighing, "It can't have been so random that his son, who he hadn't seen in twelve years, is a wizard. It doesn't make any sense - why him?"

"But I haven't found any record of the murder in any old Prophet at all, yet - it could have happened from any age between when I was six and eighteen. My grandparents admitted to keeping it from me - they never did give me a date..."

[Riley Terran]

[Sorry for the delay]

Riley blushed as Felix mentioned becoming an auror. "Thank you, I think it would've been fantastic, would've been being the key phrase." Riley muttered bitterly. No matter how hard the Gryffindor tried everything seemed to be unhappy, unpleasent, and downright depressing. "It's just, so hard to believe that the Ministry is gone, I mean I thought things were bad before, but I never thought they'd get this far." Riley added, returning her attention to the daisy that sat beside her.

You Know Who had been terrorizing the wizarding world for years before she was born, and yet Riley still felt herself feeling the effects of his tyrany. As stupid as the Ministry could be at times they still managed to offer a sense of security, and with the Minister of Magic brutally murdered it seemed that there wasn't much to put faith in anymore.

Shaking her head in response to Felix's next question, Riley already felt the tears welling up inside her, but she brushed them aside. It had been a year, plenty of time for her to get over her silly emotions. "As stupid as it sounds I always thought he'd just be there you know? I mean, he is..was Albus Dumbledoore the most powerful wizard in the world, how can there be a Hogwarts without him?" Riley replied her voice cracking as she uttered the last few words. A few silent tears began to cascade down her cheeks, but she brushed them away with her hand. She was not about to break down in front of Felix.

"I'm sorry about your dad Felix." Riley added once she'd taken a few deep breaths. "If I can help, just let me know. You know what they say, two brains, or in this case four eyes are better than two, er one. Well you get my point."

[Felix Long]

((No worries))

With a light laugh at her words, Felix put an arm around her waist, pulling her in towards him, hugging her tightly, "My Dad doesn't matter, Riley - he was a far lesser man than Dumbledore ever was," he tenderly brushed the salty dampness from her cheeks, giving her another friendly squeeze. She really had grown up into a pretty young woman, "It doesn't matter if it's a year or ten, does it? Whatever happens, the world's going to miss him forever."

Felix coughed lightly into his hand, trying to loosen the lump of grief suddenly caught in his throat - he hadn't cried in years, and wasn't about to start doing so in front of Riley. He hadn't even felt grief for the father he'd never known when he found out he was dead... Crying, to Felix, was a waste of energy, but in the case of Dumbledore... He swallowed resolutely and gave a weak smile, "Hogwarts won't be the same, of course it won't... But life does carry on, Riley - it's just...Just going to be different I suppose," he shrugged lightly and sighed, rubbing his forehead, pushing the dark curls back off of his face.

He didn't want to keep on talking to Dumbledore - it was just upsetting them both - and so somewhat unwillingly turned the topic back to his father, for want of something else to talk about, "It's definitely the date, thing, though that's keeping me from narrowing the search. I mean, six to eighteen... That's hundreds and hundreds of prophets, really - even two pairs of eyes wouldn't have a realistic chance," Felix sighed, flopping back onto the ground again as if being kncoked over by the sheer weight of his search.

"And you just know someone's going to end up getting pissed off with me in the Order if I carry on concentrating just on my dad - there's a war on, and all I can concentrate on is solving this mystery," he grinned almost roguishly up at Riley, "And if I keep on dragging you away from school I'll be completely up to my neck in it, won't I."