Grass Blizzards

[Cara Lorenzo]

Quidditch Pitch; March of 1993 [PoA].
For Kael Rath.

There was always the common saying spoken in the hallways of Hogwarts that being a Prefect had its perks. It wasn't entirely untrue, that said. After all, the Prefects' Bathroom itself was a luxurious privilege to be pined for; and in all honesty, who would turn down the opportunity to dish out detentions and dock house points off the rest of the student population? Perhaps only those selected few who personally sported the polished badge with its intricate 'P' engraved upon would ever thoroughly recognize the efforts that were to be devoted to maintain this reputation. Late night patrols were never fun regardless of the alternating duty rosters, and then there were times such as these when precious free time had to be sacrificed for detention monitoring.

One would think there wasn't anything worse than that, but there actually was, and Cara had had firsthand experience of having to wait for a particularly irresponsible detention server for approximately half an hour before the blockheaded idiot eventually turned up. It was late afternoon and the spring breeze still was tinged with the lingering, ebbing edges of winter, and as Cara Lorenzo strolled unhurriedly closer to the Quidditch pitch from across the castle grounds, she peeled her eyes in the distance in hopes that the junior she was supposed to be monitoring today wasn't going to be one of those migraine-inducing troublemakers.

Granted, that was expensive. They always were. Had this one even arrived yet?

[Kael Rath]

Nope.

Despite past experience, Kael couldn't seem to manage getting to detention on time. It was sort of like how his friend Cris could never make it to Quidditch tryouts on time due to oversleeping every year. Nonetheless, Kael would get to detention eventually. Actually, maybe only moments after the Prefect that would be keeping an eye on him. As he walked towards the pitch, he could see an older Gryffindor girl - who he knew to be a Prefect - heading the same way.

Picking up his pace, Kael began wracking his mind to figure out how he might be the Prefect to the pitch. It certainly wouldn't hurt to be there on time. Unfortunately, there wasn't really any discreet way of tackling this feat. But who said he had to be sneaky? He just had to be there on time.

Suddenly, Kael smirked and set out in a light jog, eventually passing the Prefect, who he had confirmed as Cara Lorenzo, nodding at her and giving a cheerful, though undoubtedly somewhat sarcastically edged "Afternoon, ma'am." It was only a couple steps later before he reached the pitch, where he took a spot leaning against the wall, looking very casual - perhaps even bored - and giving off an air that made it seem like he'd been there waiting the for hours when he'd obviously only just showed up.

[Cara Lorenzo]

Cara's carefully-trimmed brow lifted immediately as the younger boy went jogging past her. Ma'am? Wasn't that the title one would use to address an old lady? Her footsteps slowed momentarily as she watched after him with a trace of wordless disbelief in her face. It took only a brief moment before she resumed normal speed of moving in the same direction as him, taking note of his rather cunning act right there, but not being particularly flustered by it. Experience said it all.

She slid her hands into the pockets of her checkered cardigan as she approached him, with a wry quirk of her lips offering an equally as wry greeting, "Why, someone's eager to start working. I'm almost enthusiastic now as well."

[Kael Rath]

"Enthusiastic isn't quite the word I'd use," Kael shrugged. Despite his happy-looking appearance and flawless smile, he was not at all looking forward to this detention.

Crossing his arms, Kael arched a brow as he posed the question of the day, "So, what am I going to be doing today? Don't tell me... I'm getting off easy and we're just going to practice for Quidditch all afternoon?" He crossed his fingers. They were at the Quidditch pitch, after all.

[Cara Lorenzo]

A brow lifted briefly again, followed by a twitch of the corner of her lips and a slight tilt to the shoulders in a bit of a shrug, "Eager, then." Most likely not a word that he'd favour in the current circumstance, but she did like teasing her detention charges for entertainment purposes. Perhaps a little sadistic of her, but what was a Prefect to do?

She couldn't restrain the chuckle as he posed the questions, her amusement vivid on the face, "Nice guess, but unfortunately for you not quite the case." She proceeded to move through the archway of the entrance to the pitch, not very much paying mind if he was following - after all, surely no person in their right mind would attempt to slink away from one session of detention and later earn thrice as many sessions as a consequence - as she elaborated simply, "Apparently Filch needs assistance keeping the maintenance of the pitch under check. I am told that you will be trimming the grass and cleaning the stands today."

[Kael Rath]

No, eager wasn't quite how Kael would describe how he felt either, but he could see that the girl was just teasing him. He wasn't happy with that, even though he couldn't deny that he'd do the exact same thing in her position. In fact, if he was ever made Prefect, he'd be bound to lose the job after a week due to abuse of power. Fortunately for the school and other students, they knew Kael well enough not to make such a stupid decision.

Kael sighed as they entered the pitch. Suspense was building as he awaited hearing his punishment.

"Trimming the grass?! he repeated, utterly shocked. "All of the grass? Wha-? How?" Even with a lawn mower that was a lot of grass, and Kael was pretty sure Hogwarts didn't have any of those laying around.

[Cara Lorenzo]

In all honesty, Cara may savour the teasing here and there, but the notion of Rath's punishment wasn't one that she particularly looked forward to dishing out. He was right. There was a great lot of grass. She'd always wondered how the house elves at home did it, but they had their methods, it seemed, and she'd never actually seen them trimming the grass in the gardens. It was like, well, magic. Except that Rath wasn't permitted to use his wand. Made things a little complicated, didn't it?

"I believe there're pairs of magical shears in the shed," she gestured towards the shed in the far distance, inwardly wondering what was that to help. The shears moved by their own, of course, but they had to be controlled by a wizard or a house elf. It was still hard work for Kael.

[Kael Rath]

Kael looked at the shed. Just walking all the way over there was punishment enough for him! But no! He had to walk all the way over there and trim all the grass with magical shears. He wondered what exactly the magical aspect was, though he doubted it would really make things any easy for him.

Sighing, Kael headed for the shed. After the long walk across the lawn, he stepped inside, finding the place muggy and hot. There were some old brooms laying around, amongst other things, like some gardening supplies and what seemed to be either a old wagon wheel or the steering wheel to a ship from the 1800s or something. Kael wondered what that things use could possibly be. He wasn't there for that though, he was there for the shears.

The shears had been easy enough to find, and they looked normal enough except that they were rather large and old-looking. Holding them in his hands, Kael made his way back to Cara, still wondering how he was going to do this.

[Cara Lorenzo]

If Kael Rath was hoping that the Seventh Year Prefect knew all the answers, he'd be gravely mistaken. On the contrary, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to claim that Cara Lorenzo had never actually lifted a finger to do any household chores. She never had to. There were house elves for that sort of thing. There was nothing left for her to do. Clothes were always washed, ironed, folded neatly and placed back in her closet. Her room was always spotlessly clean, and her bed was magicked to make itself the moment she left it in the morning. Perhaps that made her a little spoiled than others, but that wasn't the point right now.

"Looking a little rusty," she observed the pair of shears in Rath's hands before glancing back up at him, "but I'm sure they'll do. Good luck." She offered an almost beguiling smile.

Was this a little like throwing the poor boy to the wolves?

[Kael Rath]

"Ugh." Kael wanted to protest, but what could he say? There didn't seem to be any way of getting out of this, but how was he supposed to operate these shears?

Kael dropped to his knees and held the shears out in front of him, waiting for them to do something. Nothing happened until he motioned to use the shears in the normal, muggle fashion, after which the bladed part of the shears began opening and closing on its own, while the handles did not. It looked very odd, but it made things a little easier.

Looking over at Cara, Kael gave a look that asked, "is this how I do it?" But what did she know? Probably not much. Not about sheers anyway.

Without noticing at first, the shears began to pull themselves forward, eventually starting to drag Kael along.

[Cara Lorenzo]

The sight of the Fifth Year on his knees trying to work a pair of magical shears was actually highly entertaining to Cara. She linked her hands together in front of her jeans-cladded thighs, watching with veiled amusement as he fidgeted with the instrument. As he glanced towards her, she met his gaze with a rather cheerful look that said that she didn't know a thing and wasn't about to offer any answers. So much for Gryffindor chivalry.

"I'd look forward and start getting my feet under myself if I were you," she supplied helpfully as she watched the shears beginning to move. This was going to be one amusing session of detention. She settled back to lean against the stand as she watched him. She called out to the boy, "Watch out, don't go smashing yourself into the stands now."

[Kael Rath]

"Of course. You're not the type to know a thing about shears, are you?" Nope.

Kael quickly repositioned himself as the shears picked up speed, now moving at a respectable pace as the boy steered them around. This wasn't so bad, Kael thought, but looking up at the entirety of the pitch that he had to cut made it seem horrible. Plus, he still had to clean up the stands!

"This is some sort of power play for you, isn't it? You Prefects have a good time watching others suffer, yeah?"

[Cara Lorenzo]

Cara lifted a brow slightly, not quite expecting the question, though she confessed quite simply, "Not very much, I'm afraid." Trimming grass in lawns wasn't really on her to-do list.

She straightened herself a little at the question directed towards her, words laced with sarcasm, if not a tinge of animosity. It reminded her of the book of Prefects That Rose To Power, which wasn't always a compliment, not that she was too fazed.

"I wouldn't say 'have a good time'. On the contrary, I was actually quite looking forward to meet up with another friend for coffee break, but duty call so happens," honesty was a virtue, wasn't it? She wasn't about to trump over a younger boy just to exploit her Prefectorial privileges. That wasn't how Cara functioned. She was just like any of them. When you've got a job, you do it, even if it meant other, more enjoyable activities had to be sacrificed.

[Kael Rath]

"Maybe so, but I think you'd be lying if you said you weren't getting at least a slight chuckle out of this," Kael pointed out. He turned his attention back to shearing for a moment before getting an idea and looking back at Lorenzo. "You know, this could get done a lot faster if you helped... or if you just let me use magic. Then you could hurry off to your coffee break."

[Cara Lorenzo]

"That's why I didn't," she retaliated with a curl to her pinkened lips. Cara, despite her general good-girl reputation, could be quite devious at times. She tilted her head slightly at Rath when he offered the suggestions, "I have time." Unsympathetically, it seemed. She shook her head and offered the apologetic elaboration, "I'm hardly the only person in supervision. You don't think they'd actually trust us that much?"

[Kael Rath]

"You make it sound like they're watching us right now." He looked up and around. There was no way. "Who would ask any questions if Filch came to have a look and the grass was clean cut, the stands cleaned? No one would know... no one would know. Come on."

[Cara Lorenzo]

Lorenzo wasn't genius at household charms, but it'd honestly only take a few flicks of her wand to get all his work done. Question was, did she want to help Rath get off the hook so easily? Whilst she wasn't always the model prefect in certain situations, she still had a sense of duty with her position.

Curiously, she lifted a brow at the boy, "What precisely landed you here anyway?"

[Kael Rath]

No answer. That was a maybe in Kael's book. And maybe meant yes. Sometimes.

"We put some dungbombs in Filch's shoes is all," he answered with a shrug. "Harmless fun, is all. I'm sure even you've pulled a prank on Filch before. You're not a true Gryffindor if you haven't. You're not even a true attendee of this school!"

Of course, who was he to be calling the shots on what made who what? Especially when he was the younger of the two.

[Cara Lorenzo]

Brow lifted, lowered, and a laugh of amusement illicited from the witch as she folded her arms over her chest. Cara had had her fair share of handling pranksters and troublemakers. After all, not only had she served as a Prefect for two consecutive years prior to this, her own little cousin, Tristan, was just as much of a mischief maker. Clearly, Rath still needed to sharpen his skills if he was aiming to convince her to act in his favour.

"I have to say, you have rather unique methods at attempting to convince me to help you out," she pointed out in a tone that was brimming with mirth, if not just a tinge of glee, the sort that was associated with one having the upper hand.

[Kael Rath]

"Yes," Kael agreed, "and that should be enough to convince you to let me off easy, yeah?" He certainly thought so. In the mean time, however, he simply continued steering the magical shears while they cut at the grass below. So far he had made a very small difference in the grand scheme of things.

[Cara Lorenzo]

Impeccably trimmed and polished nails tapped lightly against chiselled chin as the older girl plastered on a thoughtful expression, even though she wasn't exactly thinking into the matter that deeply at all. It wouldn't have been the first time that a student attempted to weasel out of his or her detention, and frankly, if she'd opted to be nice to Rath, he wouldn't be the first detention-server that she'd been nice to.

"Should be," she nodded slightly, although promptly added, "If I really want to have you around with free hands for the next hour, that is." In spite of Rath's wishes, even Cara's powers were limited. Prefects did not, despite their general reputation around the block, find themselves equipped with so much power beyond the structured framework. She explained reasonably, with a quirked brow, "I do still need concrete evidence to report forth to Professor McGonagall by five thirty. You don't think they'd believe that you actually accomplished your tasks within fifteen minutes?"

[Kael Rath]

"Yes, yes," Kael nodded, waving his hand dismissively like he already had everything figured out, and Cara just needed to let him explain. "What evidence beyond a clean-cut Quidditch pitch and sparkling clean stands do you need? There's no way you can prove that I did it with these shears, whether I actually do or not! So all we need to do is wave our wands a few times, get the job done, and then steer clear of anyone who knows what we're supposed to be doing. Could be fun."

[Cara Lorenzo]

Perhaps she should be aggravated by the nearly disrespectful attitude which the younger boy was displaying, but in all honesty, it merely served to amuse the dark-haired witch. She illicited a light laugh at his clearly sardonic remark of 'fun', "A tempting proposition in all, I agree." Surprise, surprise.

"Sadly, you must be quite the recurrent detentioneer as I've been specifically told that a Professor will be dropping by in the duration of your punishment," she curled a corner of her lips slightly in what would appear to be a rather dry smile. Honestly, she was hoping it wouldn't be Snape, nor Harris, for the matter..

[Kael Rath]

"Uggghh!" Just as he'd been getting his hopes up, she dropped the ball on everything! darn it all!

Sighing as he looked back at the Prefect, he replied in annoyance, "You know, you could have told me that before I spent fifteen minutes trying to convince you to let me go."

[Cara Lorenzo]

Cara merely laughed, "Five minutes, rather. For five minutes, you appeared enthusiastic for once." And then there was the matter that the entire ordeal was rather amusing in general. She wasn't entirely unsympathetic, however. Her pale green orbs flickered momentarily to survey the pitch, "But if it is any comfort, you're doing a wonderful job."

She pulled her wand out from the pocket of her fitting jeans, twirling the sleek polished instrument between her lithe fingers briefly before waving it at the stands to the right side, instantly clearing it of litter.