For the first three years of his time at Hogwarts, Darach Wood was asked the same question time and time and time again... when was he going to play Quidditch like his father? No one wanted to know if he was any good at it or even interested in it. And the fact was that he had never been interested in Quidditch. He was incredibly bored with it when his father took him to games, or had him come to his father's own games, and his heart was not into it when he and his siblings were allowed to play around on the Pitch in the off-season.

Finally, by the end of his third year, people stopped bothering him about it, including his own father, who respected his decision to choose his own path in life. Darach had actually become closer to his father because of this. And all in all, it made Darach a far happier person to be able to engage in activities he loved without being questions.

That day, he was engaging in two activities he loved. One was reading and the other one was wand dueling. Well, in actuality he wasn't actually dueling. More he was reading up on various positions used in wand dueling, from simple, straight forward ones to stylish, artistic ones. He had learned that when one was in action against an opponent, one could look quite good performing it.

He was studying a particularly interesting dueling pose at the moment. As he read the book, he stepped over to a mirror. Once he felt he had the pose down, he placed down the book and took his wand out of his pocket. He faced the mirror and formed the pose. He looked a bit like a scorpion with one arm straight out with the palm sticking out, while the arm and hand holding his wand was raised over his head.

"What's this, oh darkest of wizards?" he asked, his light Scottish accent showing through. "A battle with me? I'll curse the lot of ya and send you off to Azkaban!"

It was obvious to anyone who had known Ally longer than five minutes that she liked to catch people’s attention. The consequences mattered very little usually, so long as no one got really and truly hurt. So, when she came downstairs into the common room during her free period to discover its sole occupant was posing in front of a mirror and talking to imaginary dark wizards? It was, put simply, too good to pass up. She padded down the stairs as quietly as possible and crept up behind him, knowing he’d see her in the mirror if he was paying attention. “You tell those dark wizards, Dar!” She grinned at him into the mirror.

Though he was a year below her, Ally enjoyed teasing Darach Wood the way she enjoyed getting a rise out of everyone else, by whatever means necessary. Bending deliberately over to steal the book, she studied him for a moment before she grinned at him over the top. “Oh my, this does look complicated…” said in teasingly flirtatious voice as she stepped back from the mirror and out of his reach in case he made a grab for it. “I can see why you need to practice.” She gave him a mischievous look. “There are so many things more fun than studying, you know.” She gave him a challenging look, book still open to his page, daring him to do something.

Words: 239
Lyrics: Boom Clap - Charli XCX
Outfit: here
Notes: You Were Warned!
Tags: @darach

Darach's imagination was now well into the stage where he was taking down the non-existent Dark Wizards when Ally popped up behind him. It startled him to the point where he yelped a little. He quickly tried to save face by calming himself and smirking. He turned to the girl and crossed his arms, the wand and book still in his hands at the moment.

"Merely practicing my dueling exercises, my dear Ally," he said. "I thought adding a bit of theatrics to it would make it all the more enthralling." Yes, Darach Wood did not speak like he was a fourteen year old.

Most would be angry when someone snatched a book out of their hands, but Darach merely put away his wand and folded his arms behind his back, watching as Ally tried to ensure that he couldn't grab the book. Darach was a gentleman and not one to discredit a female no matter how much she might tease him.

"You're welcomed to read the book further if you wish," he said. "And yes, it can seem quite complicated at first. It took me some time to perfect some of those forms. I'd be happy to teach you some time."

Darach had heard it before, the whole deal about how there was more to life than studying. Some times he wondered how he didn't wind up in Ravenclaw. Others wondered that too.

"Perhaps," he said. "And in actuality, I do have a few other hobbies here and there, and my reading is not limited to textbooks. I rather enjoy a good fiction novel now and again."

He then smirked at Ally again.

"You're not going to return that book to me, are you?" he said. "Well, if that is the case, I would at least suggest you return it to the one I borrowed it from. Professor Grimp is not one who enjoys having his books stolen."

ALLEANA LEI MOON