Ripples

Casey stood by the water, skipping rocks. She cheered as she got one five hops, then flopped down on an overhanging rock, dangling her feet in the water. She started chucking her remaining rocks as far as she could, watching the ripples in the water. She was fascinated at how far they could go. They spread almost to the edges of the lake. She had thrown one that went farther than any of the others, landing almost in the middle of the lake when she heard footsteps. She turned around to greet the newcomer.

She wasn't one for strolling, not usually. Yet there she was, strolling by the edge of the lake. She wasn't flinching, or skipping about making odd noises like a chimpanzee. If anything, she was walking, crving footprints in the gentle Hogwartian soil silently and slowly... like a normal person.

It was the normalcy that bothered Adele the most. Never had she been reduced to such sweet nothing. She looked at a younger Gryffindor throwing stones across the river, and immediately whimpered. Her lip quivered, trying to force words out of her mind that had never been fully formed.

"The rocks they... don't you care that they are hurting?" she asked, though the magnitude of her voice may have muffled her words.

Casey twisted in her seat to see an older Gryffindor girl standing behind her. Hey eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Uh, I didn't think rocks could feel actually. They're not animals or people. They're not even plants. They're not alive, so they can't feel me throwing them," she explained. "I'm sorry if it bothers you. I'll stop. What's your name, by the way? Mine's Casey."

(OOC: And why does your name above your picture say Jodie Bass? You know you can change that, right?)

Adele shook her head patronizingly at the younger Gryffindor. "That's what you think," muttered the fifth year, her tone as bitter as unsweetened coffee, "would you throw a dead person into the river? You say that dead things can't feel. Huh."

At the girl's name, the brunette began to laugh, "Casey! Caaaaaaseeeeeeey. Your name is a case - but you're tasty, so you're Casey!" Adele began to skip around, laughing at the girl's face.

(ooc: because jodie's her first name. confusing, i know, but that's the way i want her name to be shown.)

Casey shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying. There's a difference between being dead and never having been alive in the first place. Rocks aren't and never were alive." She shrugged. "So they really can't feel."

Casey raised an eyebrow as the girl began to skip in circles, shouting things about her name. Then she began laughing too. "I like you," she announced. "What's your name?"

"You can't say that!" Adele frowned, "Kaycee said that rocks were made out of fossils. Fossils are made up of the remains of dead things. Therefore, rocks were alive at some point!" She clapped her hands together, before forming a short wave out of her arms. "Oooooohhh...."

The elder Gryffindor blinked for a moment, "My name? Do you mean all of it?" Ignoring the girl's response, she took a deep breath, "Judith Jocasta Della Luciana Bass, at your service!"

Casey nodded. In a strange way, that actually made sense. "Ok, that's true, but I think these ones are granite, which isn't made of fossils, it's made of super compact sand and minerals and stuff I think. Or maybe compressed lava, I can't remember. But they weren't ever living. If it was limestone, you'd be right." She smiled. "I'll be sure never to throw any limestone."

Casey smiled. "That's a long name. I like it. But what do you want me to call you when I talk to you, Judith Jocasta Della Luciana Bass?"