under the sun[faith]

[Aria Sidle]

Aria had been sleeping well lately, despite not needing sleep, and so she hoped to watch some Quidditch since she rather enjoyed the game. Pulling on staff robes, Aria walked out of the tower, making sure she locked her room before making her way through the castle and into the grounds. There was another reason for her to come, mainly a selfish one, was she was hoping to run into Faith Lehane, a girl who Aria yearned to look out for. But since she didn't want to seem like she was interfering, she would wait until they ran into each other. Aria, known to most students, was a mother type and despite being teased, she rather enjoyed it. It was thanks to looking after her brother when they were younger.

She sighed, running her fingers through her shortish hair before looking around. The pitch didn't look like there were any fliers, which slightly saddened her. A hot breakfast sounded lovely and since the pitch was quiet, Aria turned to head back into the castle, stopping suddenly as she saw who was approaching. Now Aria, don't scare the girl. Thats not what we want. Aria longed to help Faith out and take her under her wing, but only if Faith wanted to.

[Faith Lehane]

OOC- I haven't RPed in ages! Let's see if I can get back into the swing of things xD

Faith woke up bright and early in a fairly neutral mood. She hopped out of her cozy bed, got dressed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, and pulled up her hair into a floppy pony tail. She walked down the hall, acknowledging her friends who waved or smiled at her, and headed toward the dining hall. People were everywhere grabbing food. Faith went to the Slytherin table, waved to some of her friends, and grabbed an apple.

Now began her daily spring routine. When she exited the massive doors she broke off into a light jog, down the stairs, and toward the Quidditch pitch. She threw away her half-eaten apple and then went inside. There weren't any fliers today so she ran around the field a few times and was barely winded at all when she finished. Faith stopped and rubbed out her hands, then looked around and played with her pony tail. The girl walked and breathed deeply to regain the little breath she lost, and then realized that she was walking right toward Professor Sidle, her astronomy. That was one of the classes she liked, and the teacher too. She put on her smile and stopped in front of Aria.

"Hey, Professor Sidle," she said and re-did her pony tail. Her dark brown eyes scoped the area once more.

[Aria Sidle]

Hearing Faith speak, Aria looked at her, smiling ever so softly at the girl, trying not to be too intimidating. "Hey Faith. How are you?" Aria asked, rubbing her neck which felt warm under her fingertips. She knew she could be a little intimidating and so she tried hard not to. Not knowing why was harder but she managed. She figured it was her personality, mother like and kind which some didn't like. It didn't matter though, there were others who didn't mind at all. Her arms went back to her sides after rubbing her neck, wondering if she should have worn something a little lighter than her robes. The sun was blazing and it was pretty hot, Aria longed for the cool shade of the castle.

The silent grounds were rather peaceful, but like anything, Aria knew that wouldn't last long. Students would be coming out soon when they had breakfast, so she enjoyed it while she could. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Aria asked kindly, not trying to be overbearing but worried. After all, she couldn't help it. There was just something about the 3rd year Slytherin that sparked something inside her. And since Faith was in her class, it made keeping an eye on her a little bit more easy, plus Faith seemed to enjoy the class so that was good. It was nice when students enjoyed their lessons and not grumbled much.

[Faith Lehane]

Faith's eyes caught sight of two fifth year Gryffindor girls that she'd had a nasty run in with and glared at them with her eyes narrowed. She brought up her chin and began to grind her teeth. The girls looked back at her and scowled also. As they passed, Faith's somewhat of a frown turned into a smirk and she looked back at Aria. Wait- was an adult asking her how she was? Asking in somewhat of a caring manner is she'd eaten breakfast? Faith was taking back slightly by this.

"Umm," she began, put her head down, and looked like she couldn't decide on an answer. She shook out her head and looked back up at the Professor. "I- I'm fine. And, yeah, actually- I did eat half of an apple. I usually," she paused again. ""I usually just don't eat, but... I started to get hungry today." She started to grind her teeth again and looked down again, her pony tail fell onto her shoulder. She noticed that Aria was wearing her robes and felt under dressed, but she didn't want to get her robes dirty.

[Aria Sidle]

Her eyes watched the scene play out, the two Gryffindor girls and Faith who seemed to scowl at one another, and she felt like she HAD to do something. Aria was a Gryffindor at school but she wasn't this mean, although she knew others were. "Thats enough you too." Aria told the two Gryffindor's who seemed annoyed that Aria sided with Faith. Turning back to Faith, Aria listened to what she said, her heart ached for the girl. Doesn't usually eat? Aria thought, worry etched within her eyes as she waited until the Gryffindor's were out of earshot before speaking herself. She didn't want anyone else listening in.

"Don't usually eat? Why is that? Is everything okay?" Her mother side took full effect as she stood and waited on Faith's answer, before frowning herself. "I'm sorry if I overstepped boundaries or if I have offended you." Aria dipped her head, a simple sign of respect and she would stop asking or prying if Faith said so. From the corner of her eyes she could see the Gryffindor's looking back but unable to hear anything, their smirks on their faces suggested that they thought Faith was getting told off. "I just have a mother instinct from taking care of my brother. Sometimes, I just don't know when to stop that instinct." Aria looked back up at Faith, hoping the girl wasn't going to get angry or decide to take off.

[Faith Lehane]

Faith's eyes widened when Aria told the two Gryffindor's that was enough. Normally, teachers always assumed that Faith was the instigator and yelled at her instead. Well, a lot of the time it was Faith's doing, but usually Faith didn't start things. Her one big flaw though, was that if someone said something that was somewhat out of place or sounded offensive, she handled it in her own, not so great way. She didn't know any better though. Faith fell quiet again.

"You didn't- offend me," the girl said. "More so, you confused me." her dark brown eyes made contact with her teacher. "It just seems weird that you're showing actual care for someone like me and you're an adult." She put her head down again and tucked a loose strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear.

"And, everything's okay- I guess," she continued. "I've just been so trained and so used to not eating that I'm never really hungry anymore, and if I do try to eat when I'm not hungry I can get real sick," she explained to the teacher, still looking past Aria instead at her directly.

[Aria Sidle]

At least she didn't offend the girl, that was good. But confusing her was worse in her opinion, goodness knew Aria hated being confused. Her mouth opened in surprise at what the girl was saying, and she had to stop herself from hugging Faith. "Someone like you?" Aria asked, a little unsure on what Faith meant by that. "Even so, of course I care. I would be in the wrong profession if I didn't care, besides, caring is who I am." Even at school she was, and being sorted in Gryffindor when she thought Hufflepuff would suit her better, didn't stop her caring nature. Family had allot to do with that, and a pure pang of sadness traveled through her body. Her parents were dead now.

However, the sad emotion didn't last long, it was replaced with anger. "Trained? Not used to eating?" Aria asked, outraged as she went to the one solution that made sense. Her parents, or one of them, was the cause for this. Anger rose itself like a beast at Faith's words, yet Aria was careful not to let her see. "Your mother or your father is responsible, am I right?" Aria asked softly, not knowing the girls history but still wanting to know. Her hand reached out to touch Faith gently on the shoulder, to show her that Aria wouldn't leave or be judging.

Don't make a sudden movement Aria thought, trying to keep calm and stay still while Faith looked past her. It was hard to just stand there and not know while she wanted to help, but she couldn't do much without knowing. And that was the worst part. If she knew, she could help much better than being left in the dark. However, it was up to Faith to decide if she trusted Aria to say something, or stay silent about it. Aria didn't mind, it was Faith's choice, she couldn't force the girl.

[Faith Lehane]

Faith only nodded her head in reply to Aria's first few sentences. It was so strange to Faith that this adult actually was showing some concern for a student, especially her.

Then her parents suddenly became the topic of discussion, or at least that's what it seemed to her. Usually, the girl was open and always talking about her mother, but that was usually in a joking matter along with her other friends who really didn't understand the whole height of things. This conversation with the professor was making her a little uncomfortable, but she didn't know if she should tell the teacher if she was, or if she should just answer her.

"Yeah," was what she answered Aria with. My mom is a big contributor to the whole not eating thing. My dad worked all day, before he left us, and all day my mother would forget I existed. I was too little to be able to fix myself anything, so..." Faith looked at Aria finally with an ashamed look. It was embarrassing to be talking about her personal family issues. Were teachers supposed to know and care about this stuff?

[Aria Sidle]

She waited and waited until Faith spoke, which broke her heart. Wanting to comfort the girl and try and do something about the whole situation(yet she couldn't, not really, because Faith wasn't of age yet, despite wanting to), Aria looked deep within Faith's eyes, showing nothing but gentle kindness. "Thats going to change." Aria promised firmly. "I won't let that happen again alright?" Her voice was strong, trying to tell Faith that Aria was going to be there for her, all she needed to do was ask. She felt bad for Faith and wondered why no one had done something about it, surely they could have seen what was going on? Then again, people were blind.

"Look, I know this may seem weird." Aria lowered her voice as a group of young Ravenclaw's ran by, squeeling and giggling and paying no attention to them, "but I wish to help you. Look after you. Take you under my wing so to speak." Aria watched the Ravenclaw's heading towards the pitch and wondered what they were going to do. They didn't look like the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She knew one member of the team, Jessica Lupin, who was in her class. "You may feel uncomfortable with what I suggested, you don't have to say yes." Aria gave her the option, hoping Faith wouldn't dismiss the idea. If Aria could, she would adopt Faith as her own, get her away from her real mother. But that wasn't such a good idea right away, they barely knew each other and Aria didn't want to scare Faith anymore than she already was.

[Faith Lehane]

Faith was beginning to think that this teacher actually did care, but it was still amazingly strange. Deep down she really did want someone to be there for her, like Professor Sidle. She had her neighbor sometimes, but not so much, and while she was here at Hogwarts, all she had was her friends who didn't know anything at all.

Faith was quiet again when Aria made this offer. A group of giggly Ravenclaw's passed by and Faith rolled her eyes and scoffed quietly. Yet again her head lowered and she thought about Aria's words. She thought out answers in her mind, but couldn't decide. At least Professor Sidle was giving her the chance to say no. Years of hurt crept up inside of her. A lump formed in her throat and she bit her lip. Did she actually think a 13 year old girl could make a decision this quickly? Or maybe it was the thought that third years are incapable of thinking through things fully and will jump to conclusions quick like a bunny.

"Umm," Faith said shakily. She was never this jumpy or nervous during a conversation before. Faith is always very straightforward with people and very outgoing. "I- I don'know," she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I haven't really had anyone look after me, ever." she paused. "Well, except for my father and neighbor, but he left and... my neighbor was rarely home. I ju-" the lump reappeared and she swallowed it again, letting her sentence hang. The loose strand of hair was back over her face, but she didn't fix it. Her eyes met Aria's again.

[Aria Sidle]

Faith seemed to like staying silent, yet Aria didn't mind, no she was patient. She didn't expect Faith to come up with an answer, she could mull over it for a while, she didn't have to choose on the spot. "Hey, its ok. You don't have to decide now." Aria quickly stated, but fell into silence when Faith began to speak. Aria felt another pang in her heart, reaching out to tuck the loose strands behind Faith's ear as she glanced into the young girls eyes. "It's a big choice, so you don't have to choose." Aria said softly.

Taking a deep breath, Aria stood up a bit and rubbed her neck with her free hand. "Know this, I'll always be there if you need someone, what ever you decide." Aria wasn't going to be mean just because Faith picked something other than what Aria wanted, it wasn't her life anyway. But she would still be there for the girl and do what she could to help. It was the least she could do. While her mind was buzzing with thoughts, her stomach rumbled softly, making Aria realize she hadn't eaten breakfast herself. Feeling a little foolish for not actually eating(and here she was getting all concerned about Faith not eating), Aria looked towards the sky.

"Going onto a different topic, no doubt you want to get off the previous subject, have you ever played Quidditch?" Aria asked, trying to lighten the mood. After all, she didn't want Faith thinking all Aria ever did was get into peoples personal business.

[Faith Lehane]

Wow, Aria did seem to understand. faith still wanted to think about the question, but didn't want to make the situation even more awkward by taking forever to think of a reply. Professor Sidle let the subject go and the girl nodded her head and smiled appreciatively, but wanted to make one thing clear first.

"I will think about it," she said to reassure the teacher. She wanted to make sure she believed her, and was honest. Usually, Faith was the kind of girl to get an offer and completely blow it off without a care, but she'd never been confronted with something that actually was serious like this.

So now Quidditch was the topic of choice. It was appropriate, being that they were at the Quidditch pitch. Professor Sidle asked if she'd ever played it before.

"Well, I learned to fly first year, of course, but I've never actually played the game before... Did you play it when you were a student, Professor Sidle?" she asked. She was becoming more talkative now that her personal life wasn't being discussed.

[Aria Sidle]

She nodded with a smile, allowing Faith to take the time she needed. It wouldn't be fair to expect an answer right away, so Aria wasn't going to push it. She listened to Faith talk, smiling more since flying and Quidditch were two of her favorite things in the whole wide world. Flying made you free, not bound to the ground like some clunky giant. In a way she felt sorry for the muggles who wouldn't be able to fly a broomstick and know the feeling of freedom. It was one thing to be shoved upon the ground, never to know the glorious wonder flight had to offer, but when you were a witch or wizard, that option was more easy to do.

"Flying is just so wonderful. You have never played?" Aria arched her eyes in disbelief. Everyone at Hogwarts should be allowed to try the game, they didn't know what they were missing. "As a matter of fact, I did. Only a few games though, I was a substitute." Aria admitted, the fact that when her parents died and she had to look after her brother left her no time to play much Quidditch. Aria grinned. "I played Seeker. A fast, insane position to say the least." Gryffindor had won with her being Seeker, as well as with the original Seeker on their team. If Aria remembered correctly, her name was Missy Arian. At least she hoped she remembered her old team mates name.