To say Lucas Norwood woken up early would be an ugly stretching of the truth.  In reality, he'd spent much of the night waking up every hour, much to his frustration.  Finally at half past five, Lucas finally gave up and rolled out of bed.  Quietly, he traded his pajama bottoms for sweats and located his trainers from under his bed.  Controlled chaos would be a nice way of explaining Lucas's cleaning habits, but he found it was leagues and bounds better then what he'd seen of his cousin's dorm when Dean still been in school.  At least Luc could locate his essential items, unlike some others he knew. 

His blue hoodie was pulled on last, there'd been a small battle between him and his large tuxedo cat.  Apollo believed the garment to be his, and Luc didn't often argue, but he didn't want to waste anymore time by having to dig in his trunk for another.  The common room was mostly deserted, save a few early risers sneaking in some quiet reading time and the like.  Lucas offered a head nod, but didn't engage any in conversation as he was on a mission that morning.  The sounds of his shoes hitting stone stairs echoed around him as he quickly made his way down to the ground floor.  The crisp, early morning air hit his face almost right away as he pushed his way out to the courtyard.

Luc groaned some as he stretched, his body reminding him that he could stand for more sleep, but his mind was having none of that.  It become crowded in there and when left unchecked, Lucas started losing track of what was going on in simple conversations.  Pictures, worries, opinions, it all kind of mounted into this swarm and the only way he could describe it people was feeling fuzzy.  It wasn't hard to spot the times he'd gone fuzzy, ordinarily he'd start to get quiet, even around his friends.  Sleep would go next, and finally, the moodiness would set in.  The only antidote would be to get in several rounds of exercise, and the medicine for today was a good long run.

Climbing to his feet again, he gave one final tug on each of his legs before setting out.  He started slow, working his blood up to a proper pace before pushing himself.  The route he had in mind involved circling the grounds, and he planned to hit the pitch first.  It was simple, therapeutic, putting one foot in front of the other, concentrating on his body movements until finally his mind calmed itself.  There'd been words used before, when he was a child... an attention deficiency, but it never sat well with Lucas.  He didn't want to be medicated, he just wanted things to work correctly.  Thus he'd gotten hard and heavy into athletics at a very early age, finding it to be the easiest way to help and control the problem.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one taking advantage of the quiet and cool morning.  Someone was making their way to the pitch as he rounded back around to head to the next stop.  It piqued his interest just enough and he found himself approaching the person instead of following the route he had in mind.

Being up early, especially on a Saturday, wasn't unusual for Georgiana - though many might assume she'd sleep in as much as possible. She didn't, usually. Getting away from her dorm room as as soon as she could was, generally, more restful that sticking around. Besides, in good weather she could just sleep in the grass.

So it wasn't unusual for her to be up at this hour. The pitch, however, wasn't where she normally went. But the temporary solitude was welcoming, and Schlagenweit had apparently claimed the Astronomy Tower, which was one of her other options. And there was a good chance Erin would turn up, whenever he got his lazy arse out of bed.

And she could always grab a broom from the broom closets and fly. After the bloody Quidditch game of the previous day, she doubted too many people would be wanting to do the same.

Getting followed  - well, alright, jogged at - was also not exactly normal. She stole a glance over her shoulder, one wavy black pigtail falling forward over her chest as she did so. At first she'd almost thought the distant figure was her brother, but if he'd actually gone out drinking the night before, the Astronomy professor was either asleep - or throwing up and wishing for death. She didn't expect him to go jogging, either way.

Finally, she sighed and stopped, turning on a tennis shoe'd heel. She looked full on at the boy, searching for a name; finally, a gear turned and the name sprang to mind.

"What do you want, Norwood?" She asked as he came closer, cocking her hip and crossing her arms, ever the welcoming figure.

Lucas knew Trishna in the way he knew most people in his year.  Which is to say, he knew her name, some basic ideas from his gossiping sister and that was about it.  Most girls went through times of moodiness with varying degrees of being sullen or surly. Sometimes there were patterns, sometimes you just had to mind your step for invisible mines, but for the most part it came and went.  Trishna, on the other hand, went above and beyond, fully owning what was otherwise temporary for other girls.  It was with this bright attitude that greeted him that morning.  Perhaps he should have kept right on going after all. 

"Top of the morning to you too," he replied in his lilting Irish tone with a sarcastic smile.  It was still pretty early for polite pleasantries, and even then, Lucas never had suffered through rudeness for politeness sake.  That was always Alice's department, not his.  Maybe he should have considered who the dark haired girl might be before taking it upon himself to talk to her, but there was no going back now.  To his credit, there were a couple dark haired girls he wouldn't mind to run into, no matter the time of day.  "No, agenda," he shrugged some, "Needed air, you?"

He didn't leave. Georgiana decided, charitably, to reserve judgement on whether that was a good thing or not...

"Morning," she said, in response to his probably sarcastic comment. She shifted her weight, eyeing him thoughtfully. Had Norwood not been extremely cute, she'd probably have simply continued on her way. But cute boys were always easier to test her patience with. That was probably the only reason she didn't kick Erin in the fork every other day.

"Same," she said, a smile tugging her thick lips. "Escaping describes me better, though." Her bright blue gaze shot to the lake - where the Slytherin common room was, deep below the wind-swept waves - and then back to Lucas. She quirked an eyebrow. "If I don't get out before they wake up I wind up in a bad mood," she said, with clear self-deprecating sarcasm. It wasn't like anyone could tell the difference, with Geogiana - well, the average person couldn't, anyhow.

Then she looked him up and down, cocking her head. One of her long pigtails swung sideways as she did so. "You're jogging?" She asked, skeptically. "I thought all you Ravenclaws'd be studying."

"Escaping from what," he asked, mildly interested.  At least he didn't have to wait long for the answer.  Trishna wanted to avoid people in her own house, that said a lot.  He didn't really keep track of Slytherin politics, but he did know there were a group of particularly mean girls that came to mind.  "Oh, so there's a difference then?  Between your it's Saturday mood and your bad mood?  See, here I always thought it was your days that end in 'y' mood," he smiled some.  It was meant to be a joke more then anything, but there was no guarantee how Trishna might take it.  If she took it wrong, he might feel a little bad, but probably not enough to do more then admit he didn't mean for it to be hurtful.   

"Now you sound like my Da," he gave a wry laugh.  Whoever made up the rumour that Ravenclaws were all bookworms had obviously never been a Ravenclaw.  Truth be told, Luc didn't always consider himself to be all that smart.  Sure, he could pull off decent grades, but most of the time he lacked the proper focus to be a stellar student.  "Should I ask who you're planning on stepping on today?  Slytherins are into that, right?"  Luc shook his head some.  "Running helps me think.  Can't study if I can't think.  Plus, it gives you endorphins... happy feelings?  Maybe you should try it some time?"

"Yeah," she said, eyes narrowing slightly - well, more than they always were. "When I'm in a bad mood I torture small animals, like the first years." She was joking - mostly. A bit of good old first-year torture always cheered her up. She smirked regardless, showing Lucas that she was, indeed, joking.

"It's not stepping on we do, it's being snotty self-important twats," she said, and smiled genuinely for a fraction of an instant. "Even the boys." A pause. "Especially the boys. Have you seen Callum Knight?"

She reached into her pocket and withdrew some Everlasting Gum, and after a moment held out a piece to Lucas as she tossed the other into her mouth, chewing absently.

"I know what endorphins are," she said, with a slight roll of the eyes. "Neurotransmitters and all that. I just get mine in other ways." Her smirk turned extremely suggestive for a moment, and suddenly the lean of her weight was accenting her wide hips, the cross of her arms her chest -

And then it was gone, like she'd flipped a switch on and off. "If you don't sweat studying you're pretty unusual for a Ravenclaw," she said, blowing a gum bubble. "All the ones I know can't wait to hit the books."

"So iLucas snapped his fingers, the universal gesture to indicate the 'aha moment'.  Of course, his was a bit on the mocking side, but it didn't change the meaning behind it.  "Yes, that, exactly.  You hit it on the nose."  Perhaps not all Slytherins were like that, but if they were playing in stereotypes, they might as well go there.  "Hey, twat or not, Knight's a good player."  What the boy did in his own time wasn't his business so long as it didn't cross his path directly.

"Thanks," Luc took the gum that was offered, popping it into his mouth. "Is that right?" His mouth started to curve into an unintentional smirk as the conversation wore on.  Trishna's stance changed some and the mood changed with it, as if what might or might not been going hadn't been there at all to begin with.  The suggestive nature of his own question lost it's power, and since he couldn't really take it back, he found a new direction for it to go in.  "Should I mind the ickles then?"

Luc shrugged then, "If you say so."  Reading and rereading something all day and night wasn't going to make him remember something any more.  It was either going to stick or not.  Plus some subjects need a little bit more incentive to even bother to crack open the book outside of class.  History of Magic sprang to mind, and his planned study date with Liviana Wiedman.  "I sweat marks and like books, studying and I don't really get on though.  Next year I need to get more involved with study groups or something, stay motivated the right way."

"Can't argue with that." You couldn't, really. Knight was good, self-important twat or not. In fact, that probably helped. One couldn't really argue with the effects of confidence...

She popped the bubble, revealing a slightly rueful smirk. "If you do get a study group, avoid Schlagendong's," she said. "Or Schlawkward or whatever you guys call him. That kid is something else. He studies like he'd drop dead if he didn't." Sasha's ability to hit the books mystified her, but her brother's apparent attachment to the kid was also a tad on the annoying side. Still, she couldn't be too grumpy at her brother right now; her birthday presents had been more than she'd asked for, by far.

"You could just be like Sellaphix or Harper. You don't need your OWLs to play Quidditch. You could just fail out." That seemed a popular option this year. "You've got that option, at least. Try having a family member as a professor..." She couldn't fail Astrononmy, really. Not just because her brother would be all hurt and depressed and so on; but because the osmosis of living with the dork had helped her study it.

"Maybe he would, people handle stress differently right," he offered up diplomatically. One couldn't argue that Sasha been through a lot. So much that Luc kind of lost track of the whole story.  Luc rolled his eyes at the mention of Figaro though.  The guy had a lot working against him, and Luc never bothered to get to know him past being Sophie's boyfriend.  After the way it ended, well, Luc wouldn't be seeking out his attention any time soon. 

"There's that," he gave an understanding nod.  "My Da teaches History back home," so he knew full an well the pains of having a teacher for a family member.  Granted, Richard Norwood was back in Dublin and nowhere near Luc, but that was besides the point. Luc couldn't entirely suppress the image of having to suffer through his father's class.  It wasn't a pretty picture to say the least.  "Failing out s'not and option.  I'll get to Quidditch... after NEWTs.  Plenty of time after that."

Luc shifted from foot to foot, chewing his gum silently for a moment. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or stunted run, but his mouth wanted to dribble out on it's own philosophical way. "You shouldn't let them put you in a bad mood, you know?  It gives them power over you."

She had to give him that, too. Sasha not studying? What would he do all day? Make out with Fergie - no, not that, Sasha was far too much of a stick in the mud for that.

"Hmph. At least you're not being pressured to go to college on top of that, too," she said, half jokingly. Tapendra hadn't asked her about it, recently; she suspected he'd finally given up hope.

Lucas's last comment earned him a tilted head and blue eyes narrowed to thoughtful slits. "They don't have power over me,' she said, darkly, "And the day they do I'll throw myself in the lake. They put me in a bad mood because they're stuck up twats who expect life on a silver platter and expect everyone to bow and scrape and the worst part is that people do, Norwood. That's why I get in a bad mood. A grenade tossed into that dorm room would make society better by a factor of 3." She snorted. "They're not even friends. They just fake it, like everything else. The moment Li or Whitman falls they'll rip each other apart like wolves." Her nasty, grim smile suggested she was very much looking forward to that.

"Wanna place a bet? Five Galleons on Wiedman?"

Lucas couldn't really imagine taking classes AFTER he finally left Hogwarts.  His father liked to tell him that university was so much different but Lucas not reached the point where he could agree with his father again.  Such were the ways of teens and their parents.  Before he could ask just what she wanted to do after school, she'd picked up on his philosophical musings.

According to the dark haired girl, the school could do without the lot of them and for the most part, Lucas agreed.  While Lucas didn't have many run ins with the Slytherin group, his sister had.  That been enough to keep him from engaging most of them in conversation for some time.  Wiedman was a bit of an exception at the moment, but not one he'd planned on talking about with Trishna.

"Okay, okay, I take it back," he held up his hands, palms out in a show of defeat.  They dropped back down again as she continued.  Just ignore them obviously wasn't the greatest advice as it was the part about girls he didn't really understand all that well.  Why fake being friends?  It made him respect Georgina a bit more for being aware of it.  It would be a shame for her to throw herself in the lake though. 

"I'd buy Wiedman if she's anything like her brother, but I don't know the others.  Can't make a call if I don't know the score, yeah?"

Georgiana smirked again, slightly. Personally, she had her money on Dimbleby, if it came down to it; but she was putting bets on the survivor, not the winner. To her eye, at least, Dimbleby was the most sensible and the most likely to succeed without having to cling to her her social standing. As if your social standing determined your success in life by its virtue alone! Oh, well. It wasn't like any of those idiots were going to get jobs. The moment they had to work and take orders they'd run sobbing to Daddy and demand they be given the company.

It occurred to her that she was, in far too many ways, her brother's sister. Bugger.

Her hip re-cocked in the opposite direction and her weight shifted, flicking a long black braid over her shoulder.

"Li's your horse if you want the one who'd take the 'wade through an ocean of blood and climb a mountain of skulls' method to win," she said. "That creature is vicious. Don't talk to her and don't take anything she says seriously," she added, quickly, and her tone was one of genuine warning. "And never ever fall prey to her trying to seduce you. She's doing it to prove something to some other girl." She grinned nastily. "Besides, if you try to date some chick after you make out with her, she tries to rip your panhandle off."

"But I thought you were waiting on Li and Whitman to fall?" 

That was the bet, right?  Who'd win after the leader or whatever toppled over?  There was a lot involved with all this, and he was having a hard time keeping up.  Either way Li sounded like bad news all the way around.  It was one thing to stake territory, he maybe knew a thing about that, but he didn't go through such great length to secure that territory.  Some bloke started chatting up his girl?  Nothing a quick punch in the face wouldn't solve.  He made a note to figure out some way to ask Wiedman later on in the week.  It wasn't that he wanted in on this weird girl battle so much as he wanted to understand.  It was the Ravenclaw curse.

"I will avoid all broom closet visits with Li," Luc nodded as if it were all very serious business.  He didn't have any intention at all seeking out the girl's company, now or ever.  "It sounds like a bunch of power games to me, and I don't get anything out of those."