If one didn't know Lucas Norwood, one might believe him to be quite involved in whatever homework he appeared to be working on.  Rolls of parchment and open books covered much of the table space surrounding his furious scribbling in his notebook.  If one took a closer look, or knew him at all, they'd notice he'd long since abandoned his Charms essay in favor of personal inspiration.The timing could have been better what with O.W.L.s looming ever closer, but if he waited to get the layout down on paper, he'd loose the design all together.  Plus, broom design beat out wrting another foot and a half on the uses of Salvio hexia or whatever else he needed to work on tonight.

His sister come and gone by now.  With two days till their birthday, she wanted to do something over the Hogsmead weekend to celebrate.  Parties weren't really his thing to say the least and he'd only really been planning on having a couple butterbeers with his friends on Sunday and let that be that.  Alice had other ideas and deemed turning sixteen to be much too special to let go to waste.  He'd nodded and hummed, only been half paying attention to what she'd been saying about meeting up at the Three Broomsticks.  It didn't occur to him to be bothered and would later regret not remembering how over the top Alice could be.

When he hit a wall, he could feel the remainder of his idea slip away into nothingness.  Experience told him if he tried to tug on it, it shatter completely, but that didn't stop him from trying just the same.  After it became apparent he'd be making no more progress for the time being, he dropped the quill and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.  His muscles ached a bit, a side effect from having spent his afternoon hunched over a table.  Leaning back more to stretch out his spine, his hand brushed over something.  Fabric to be specific, fabric that happened to belong to someone searching the shelves behind him.

"Sorry," he immediately blurted, dropping his arms, but didn't bother to sit up, instead looking at the person upside down.

Erin did not go into the library often, not anymore. He'd never been real studious, and the fact that checking out a book involved doing so under his brother's weighty stare made it more or less the last thing in the world he wanted to do. Erin had done a lot over the years to avoid talking to Landis; schoolwork certainly wasn't going to ruin things for him. But sometimes he ran out of people to bribe into getting books for him, when he couldn't bluff his way through his homework without a certain text, and on those instances it was Erin's personal goal to get in and out of the library with a minimum of sneers directed in his direction.

It was bizarrely nerve-wracking, skulking through the shelves, worse than the times he was in there for mischief (which happened much more than his checking books out). He scanned the Potions shelf for the right book, the right title, couldn't find it but damned if he'd ask Landis for help, and then something brushed against his midsection and Erin nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Sorry," someone behind him blurted, and Erin slowly turned his head to meet the gaze of an upside-down student.

"No problem," he mumbled, and tried to calm his racing heartbeat.

Perhaps Luc should have been more aware of his surroundings before mindlessly stretching in any which direction.  Or where he'd been brushing for that matter... He could have been brushing up on anyone, although he wouldn't have been put out if it happened to be a cute girl either. As it were, the victim of wayward limbs happened to be a blond Slytherin boy he recognized from his year. Luc sat up then and turned in his seat to get a better (and right side up view). 

"Harper," Luc said, thinking aloud without really meaning to as the face connected to a name.  A vast memory could have him name the majority of the 5th years, though the boy's first name escaped him.  There were limits to it after all.  "Alright then?"

Maybe it was slightly perverted, but Luc couldn't help but feel an edge of disappointment it not been a cute girl.  That show him to pay attention from here on out, wouldn't it? To his credit, he rather forgot to notice much of anything around him when he got focused on something.  Projects had a way of eating up his attention, and he couldn't really be held accountable for such things when he was zoned in so deep.  Richard Norwood would often point out that if Lucas spent such time and effort on all his subjects he'd be a top student.

"What you doing there?"

"Eh? Yeah." Erin, calmer now, laced his arms over his chest and squinted back. "Norwood, right?" What was the guy doing waving his arms all about in the first place? One'd think he was trying to frighten people. Either that or cop a feel, although in this case he'd definitely be disappointed. The only bloke who tried to cop a feel off Erin these days was Razzy, and he was also the only bloke who didn't receive a punch to the face for it.

He scowled at the question, as innocent as it seemed. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm looking for a book." He was nearly twitchy with defensiveness, but he could hardly be blamed. Unless Lucas, like most people, didn't know that he and the librarian of snark and evil were related, in which case Erin just seemed all bug-eyed for nothing.

But in preparing to shoot back something inane and obviously like, "What are YOU doing?", Erin's eyes flicked over Lucas' shoulder to the broom designs on his desk. And just like that, all sulkiness evaporated.

"Whooaaa," he breathed, leaning over Lucas. "That's brilliant mate, that's really - look at that streamlining!"

"Yeah," Luc nodded, but the chilled, if not slightly awkward atmosphere wouldn't last long.  What started out as a passably friendly inquiry, something Luc wasn't entirely known for to begin with... Harper gotten all twisted in a knot.  Way to be a spaz, he couldn't help but think, negating his own defensive tendencies in one fell swoop of denial.  In his mind, the things he would get worked up on were much bigger then being asked about his book selection.  Maybe not much bigger, Odette or Alice would likely point out, but that was entirely besides the point as neither were here to remind him as such.

"Good on you," Luc muttered, sarcasm already starting to creep in unchecked.   All he'd meant to ask was what kind of book, but rather then clarify, he'd rather just be done with this whole thing.   "You have fun with that then."

Luc turned his attention back to his mound of parchment and books.  He had an option here, try to see if his design would come together, or go back to working on his homework.  Homework didn't seem nearly as exciting, but starting at a page for hours straight without a single drop of inspiration didn't sound all that appealing either.

"Hm?  Oh," Luc's previous annoyance slid back several notches.  "You think?  Firebolt's are super fast, but don't have the best handling, yeah?  Nimbus's are reliable but they're too light for me, it's more of a seeker's broom.  I figure you add weight and distribute it like this, you get more control and you can keep the speed without jerking all around."  Lucas shook his head, becoming aware he'd gone into a ramble.  "You know brooms?"

"You know brooms?"

"Slytherin Seeker,' Erin clarified, jerking a thumb at his own chest as if this explained everything. In a way, it did. "So obviously I like the lightness of a Nimbus, even if it can be a bit flighty with control. But I was a Chaser when I was younger."

Erin was Quidditch-mad. Flying-mad, really. It was the only thing he was wicked good at, followed by Care of Magical Creatures and eating lunch. After he got out of school he wanted to play professionally, if only because that was the closest he could get to being paid to fly. If that didn't work out - and why wouldn't it - he supposed he could always come back and try for Madam Hooch's spot. She was bound to retire sometime or another. Or maybe he could be a trainer for somebody, anybody else - Erin didn't much like other teenagers, and that likely to change once he'd grown up. Still, the only part of flying he wasn't going to try his hand at was designing. Erin was terrible at drawing, and even if he had a pretty good grasp of what made which broom better at turning or faster or more likely to buck, he didn't know the mechanics.

That made Norwood interesting. Norwood knew how and why and wasn't half bad at drawing the things.

"Obviously, you do too. Why aren't you on the Ravenclaw team?"

Harper certainly fit the Seeker mold and Luc took note to remember the detail.  No one would could ever accuse Luc of being small and light by any stretch of the imagination.  Puberty not been unkind, once the initial onslaught taken it's awkward toll.  After the cracked voice and spots, it left him close to six foot, if not at that point already and decently broad shouldered.  Besides all that, he'd much rather be in the thick of the game then flying after a small golden ball.  Seekers got the glory, but the rest of the team could make or break the game.  With enough points from an excellent set up, it wouldn't matter if the other team got the snitch or not.

Obviously he knew brooms, Harper said, and the comment made him shift a bit. 

"It's a bit of a mess right now, my alignment's off here, and I'm shite with perspective," most of this self deprecation was a means to not seem full of himself as he was quite proud of his work thus far.   In response to Harper's question on the other hand...  "I play Chaser, but I'm eyein' beater next year when a spot's open. I do more plays then anything."

Luc plucked out his leather bound journal and handed it to the other boy to see.  Luc loved Quidditch for the same reason he loved running or staying active as a whole, it gave him something to concentrate on.  At times his mind could betray him, and things end up warped and fuzzy, until finally he didn't know which way was up anymore.  Being physical kept him streamlined and focused for the rest of his life.  That and keeping a project on hand did wonders for his personal life.  This was his project for the moment, though with O.W.L.s on the rise, he should probably rethink this at some point.   

Except...

"Bloody homework," he muttered much more to himself then for Harper's benefit.  "Why's it got be such a huge percentage anyway?"  An O on his Care of Magical Creatures exam would do him little good without Herbology and Potions to back up his plan to be a Magical Veterinarian one day.  Or something in Quidditch, he wasn't terribly picky.  "What you looking for anyway, maybe I can help?"

"So modest." Erin grinned. And then, "Yeah? Sorry, mate. Guess I just wasn't paying attention." As long as Lucas couldn't magic himself up one of his killer-looking designs to use in a game, Erin wasn't too worried for Slytherin team. It might be overconfidence, but he wouldn't fret about the sturdy-looking nature of his opponents until he got on the field. They still had miles to go before the next Ravenclaw/Slytherin. It wasn't even until next year. "Beater does look a right bit of fun, doesn't it? Wish I had the muscles. So would you think of going into the professionals after school, or would you want to stick to the broom side of things? Seems a shame to waste all these designs."

He took the journal from Lucas easily, hooking a foot around the chair leg next to the other boy and sliding it out. He plopped down and began to flip through the book with a great amount of interest, taking in Lucas' homework grumbles with half an ear. This time of year everyone was complaining about the schoolwork; not that it was ever light, but near exams each student entered their own personal academic hell. Erin had only been doing a little studying, less because he was one of those students who didn't have to and more because the longer he waited the longer he could pretend it wouldn't be so bad. He dreaded the day when he had to actually crack open his History of Magic or Transfiguration textbook. He'd just been after Potions because - let's face it - a figure like Juliette's at the front of a classroom inspired a bloke to actually get his homework done on time. Not that Erin had as much to worry about as his classmates in that regard; Vaillancourt was a little strict sometimes, yeah, but she seemed bizarrely sweet on him. Erin didn't question it, although some part of his brain remembered her showing up to his family reunion and sitting next to Landis - and then put two and two together.

"A Thorough Glossary of Potions and Poisons," he answered, breaking his gaze from the broomstick designs in front of him to glance briefly up at the shelves around. "It sounds boring but according to one of the guys in my dorm it's pretty helpful for summing things up. Couldn't see it anywhere off hand, though, and hell if I'm going to ask for help from the librarian." Clearly now that a rapport over Quidditch had been established, Erin felt somewhat called upon to defend his earlier jumpy behavior. "I thought he was you," he explained to Lucas. "About to throw me out."

Lucas's shoulders rose up and down in a shrug, "You'll remember when I smacking a bludger your way," the grin crept up on his features.  It was a joke much then a threat, even if he would be doing just that in a few months time.  "Pro would be ace," he admitted. 

What Quidditch enthusiast didn't dream about potentially going pro?  Taking their talents up against the best the world had to offer, it was a challenge Luc would definitely not refuse.  His father often urged him for a more practical dream and Luc sometimes told him he'd go be a dragon tamer then.  After all, his cousin Dean ended up making it, even if it only been second string up until recently.  Behind the hero worship though, a small, but sharp opinion been blooming.  If Dean focused more on the game and less on the perks, he'd be a sensation.  Not that Lucas could really speak about distraction with two legs still standing, but that was besides the point. 

"I hadn't thought about doing this full time," the thought struck a cord in him.  Maybe he'd look into building one this summer.  He had to find someway to keep himself busy for the next two months, right?  It did remind him of his earlier ventures into it.  "You know billywigs, yeah?"  It wasn't an uncommon ingredient for potions so he didn't feel the need to explain the insects background, "When I was seven, I came up with this wicked plan to attach a billywig to the dust broom.  So here I am, seven years old, convinced my cousin to figure out how to floo ourselves from her house to Australia." 

He laughed at the image, temporarily forgetting to stress over his unfinished homework.  Whether or not he procrastinated on purpose, or simply became distracted much too easily was a hot debate over the years.  At the moment, it might be a bit of both.  Talking with Harper delayed the inevitable, but it wasn't a horrible way to do so either.  "Yeah?  Why'd he throw you out?"  Luc didn't much keep track of things that didn't directly involve him or his circle of select loved ones.  "You deface some books then, got caught sneaking in?"

Erin's lips curled into an answering smirk. "Nice of you to send me a little breeze," he said carelessly. "You know how hot it gets in all that leather. Make sure you hit it hard, mind, bludgers can be so easy to miss."

They had several real enthusiasts in this school, a couple of really good Quidditch players with whom Erin shared classes. He'd have to keep an eye on Norwood to see if he was one of those that might actually make it. Whatta funny world it'd be to fly against someone you went to school with and saw back when they were all spotty and green. Even with the international players, the wizarding world was so small it was almost guaranteed. Weird thought. Future things. Not meant to be thought about yet, or so Erin had assumed, until his own dorm mate had gotten drafted for a team.

"Not a bad idea for a seven-year-old mite," he allowed, smiling in a faint, good-natured way as Lucas relayed the story of his billywig idea. The his attention caught on Lucas' choice of word: convinced. "So - wait - you made it to Australia? ...did you get a billywig?"

"Yeah?  Why'd he throw you out?"

Well, if that wasn't the million galleon question.

"Lots of reasons," Erin said slowly, with the careful deliberation of a boy with too many things from which to choose. "I did enchant the gargoyle over the door to curse at anyone who came in. And one time I glued all the books in the Reference section together. And I might've made some copies of a book I found tucked inside another one. It had some pretty funny woodcuts. But the thing is, Norwood, he totally deserves it. He's just a wanker."

"Nah, Aunt Marissa caught us before we got a hold of the powder.  Turns out there's a whole bunch of regulations on getting a floo connected down there and the house was only rigged to get her to work."  There was an air of disappointment to the story's end.  He never had any problem coming up with the brilliant ideas, it was always the execution that ended up shattering them.  One day, he'd make it to Australia.  One day he'd get his chance to see what a billywig could really do. 

Of course that day wouldn't be anywhere close to this day.  And today... there were other ideas to work on... other stories to hear about.  Like... just why Harper got down right trollish over the librarian.  Or why the librarian would be horrible to Harper, for that matter.  For his part, Harper done quite a bit to get the librarian riled.  Not to say that Luc hadn't done some pranks over the last five years, but none directed at Mr. Morgan. 

"Well, he is a wanker," Luc couldn't argue with that, plus he was impressed with the gargoyle.  "But what's he done to you?"

"Oh. Bummer." Erin wouldn't mind going to Australia. Lots of dangerous beasties there, and Erin did so love animals. Even the stinging, lethal sort.

"Well, he is a wanker. But what's he done to you?"

"Oh." Erin stared at him, fidgeted a bit. "Er." Usually people just agreed with him. No one ever asked. As such, Erin was in an interesting position. He and Landis had an unspoken pact not to talk about their family relation, born out of mutual dislike. Sure, some of the Slytherins knew - and anyone who was smart enough to figure out that if Erin and Hannah were siblings, and Hannah and Landis were siblings (she wasn't so close-mouthed), then obviously Erin and Landis must be kin....but generally it wasn't something he advertised.

'Course, someone straight out asking him... hmm. Erin wondered how petty it would make him seem if he explained, "Not anything specific, just because he's a *bastard.*" Luc wasn't that bad of a bloke, though. He probably wouldn't give Erin a hard time. If he was like most students, he'd probably be sympathetic.

"Um," he said slowly. "Well. He's my brother. So sort of... he exists?"

The information was fed to him slowly, and it washed over his brain in much the same fashion.  It wasn't that he was dumb, far from it.  Sometimes information needed to be linked to the right file and processing could take a minute while Luc went through his data base like brain to get to the right file.  What he knew about Harper just tripled and the pokiness couldn't very well be held against him.  Lucas didn't have any brothers, just an older cousin he got along well enough with.  Most of the time anyway.  Well, Dean could be a bastard himself, but in the sort that went through women like hankies, not domineering librarian types.  One could only hope someone never put Dean in a position of power.

"That's bloody awful," Lucas finally decided after a moment's contemplation.  No wonder Erin was so skittish.  "You ever want help, let me know, yeah?"   Boredom could lead to rule breaking, why not have a focused plan of action to use it with.  But that, was talk for next term what with O.W.L.s on the horizon, Lucas was already splitting his attention between studying, doodling, and reliving his fight with Livi.  Maybe it was time for a bit of lighthearted talk?  "Hey, are you planning on going to that Quidditch camp?"

Erin nodded glumly, or what would have been glumly if he was not pleased by Lucas' understanding. Sometimes other students didn't get it. Woolfolk, for instance, just kept pestering him to grow out his hair, which was not the warm-hearted gesture of sympathy the possession of such a brother deserved.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll take you up on that sometime." Collaborators were nice to have, and a dying breed. Trent was graduating, Tawse was always busy, and after Knight had pulled that change of morals mid-year Erin hadn't had any partners-in-crime. Not that he'd really gotten along with two of those three when their attention wasn't fixed on a common goal, but it did mean he'd been pulling his pranks alone. While that would usually be preferable, sometimes one just needed more than one pair of hands.

"Hey, are you planning on going to that Quidditch camp?"

Resting one elbow on the table, cupping his chin in hand, Erin brightened - rocking forward a little, he smiled and curled his fingers under his chin. "I'd love to - but their advertising hasn't been so good this year, you know?  They had posters all over the place last year, and a recruiter, but I haven't seen anything this year. I don't know when it is, or who to go to ta sign up. You're going, yeah? That'd be wicked, we could play against each other some more."