Frank.

Frank stood alone, near the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. He loved the place, quite honestly, but he was constantly concious of all that lurked inside.
Even though he knew he was breaking the rules, he stepped in, seeking out a place where no one would see him in his dark cloak. He sat down with his quill and began scribbling madly on the paper, the dark poetry that filled his soul lately.

Can you even hear me?
I dragged myself across
The world
to please you.
But with one simple toss,
you threw me aside
like an old weathered key.

"Futari ijou" ni narezu ni kita yo
Dareka tomoreru koto sae toki nai
"Ano goro wa.." tte natsukashimu dake
Sonna hibi wa mou iranai

The music blared in his already abused eardrums. Diedrich intended to get full use out of the MP3 player before they took it away as a "stupid Muggle toy."
He was clad in simple Ravenclaw robes, a blue striped scarf swung lazily around his neck. In the shadows on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his white hair stuck out like a pin in a map. He stroed along the treeline, robes fluttering in wake of his footsteps, observing the landscape. In light of nearly being ratted out by Professor Sprout, he thought it might be best to walk inside the forest, instead of suspiciously skirting it.
He ducked beneath the cover of trees, resting against the trunk of a tall oak and drinking in the scene. The trees, the leaves, the boy sitting nearby... Wait..?
He yanked the headphones down to rest around his neck, watching this strange boy pen out words a hundred-fold by the minute. What was he doing here of all places when he could be writing at a lovely desk? Either way, he looked intent on his work, so he decided it would be best to leave him alone.
He took a couple steps back, inching around the tree, trying not to disturb the boy.

Frank looked up. Why, he did not know, but he did it.
When he did, he was startled half to death, shoving his parchment into his robes and himself against the tree. Seeing his mistake, he whiped out his wand, holding it infront of him.
All he could make out of this person was a white head. Unsually white hair. That's all he could see of the person, boy, he assumed, at the length of the hair.
"Lumos!" Frank nearly yelled. He was trying to make himself sound forceful and hide the fear in himself. He wasn't one to show his weaknesses, and if he ever did, he'd never forgive himself. "Oi, who's there?"
He listened and stared intently in the direction of the guy.
"Well?" Frank demanded.

With a yelp of shock, Diedrich leaped as much as the boy did. Stumbling back, his heels caught the knarled roots of a tree, which threw his feet right out from underneath him. He fell, his head making sharp contact with the ground. Stars danced briefly in his eyes.
"Gah!" He snarled in pain, clutching the back of his head. He quickly recovered and scrambled to his feet, fumbling in his pocket for his wand.
"Who's here? Who's over there wanting to know?" He shot back, lighting the tip of his own wand.

Frank held back his grin. He scared the boy almost as much as he had scared him.
"Wha's it to you?" He asked slyly, dropping his wand a little.
He stepped away from the cover of his own tree. He didn't trip over a root; he knew this part of the woods like the back of his own hand. It was the place he liked to enjoy going every few nights or so.
"Whacha doing in the forest, anyway?" He asked a bit more defensively. He didn't like when people stumbled upon his special hiding place.

Diedrich's heart still thumped in his throat, startled like a rabbit in a trap.
"To me? Absolutely nothing." He growled, putting on his serious face; a face that wasn't used too often. "I'd just like to know who just scared the crap out of me. It'd give me peace of mind." He said, half sarcastically.
"And I'm in the Forest because no where else in that castle is quiet enough for me." He folded his arms over his chest. Music could still be heard from the headphones, but he didn't care much anymore.

"Ah," Frank lowered his wand completely. "I guess we have that in common." He held his arm out, indicating the forest. "And it's Frank, by th' way. I don't get many visitors out here."
He walked back to his favorite tree and settled himself down, nodding at the other boy as if to say he could do as he wished. Frank leaned back, not quite in the mood for poetry anymore, and looked up at the other scarred trees.
"I's a nice place," He said quietly. He then looked back up at the boy, as if he expected something.

"Quite." He said, finally lowering his wand as well. He felt it was safe to sit now, so he took a seat at the base of a nearby tree.
"Name's Diedrich." He said, taking the headphones out from around his neck and looking at them in his hands. "So what were you doing out here anyway? I usually just walk."
He crossed his legs in front of him, watching the boy, Frank, closely.

He raised an eyebrow slightly at the boy.
"I, myself, like to get away from everyone. Write a bit. Do homework. Anything that keeps me out of everyone's way. Truth is, I scare people in my house." Frank shrugged. He did scare most of the Ravenclaws he was near away. He had a gloomy state about him, and it didn't help that he had a permanent glare plastered on in the corridors. This place was his escape.

"I scare people too." Diedrich said with a smile. "Everyone thinks I'm a ghost anyway, so it doesn't bother me." He pulled at his scarf, playing with the scruffy ends, staring at the stripes. His eyes were bright and blue, a disturbing blue. They were the main reason he creeped out everyone he met.
"You don't scare me." He assured the boy happily.

"Y'don't scare me, either," Frank said. "'Cept when you showed up randomly. That frightened me a bit."
He laughed a little, then looked down at his hands.
"Everyone thinks I should be in Slytherin," He shrugged lightly. "But alas, Ravenclaw." He grabbed his tie and held it up, even though the color was barely visible in the dark. "Following the stupid family tradition."
It was true. His entire family had been in Ravenclaw on both sides of the family. His father, though, he was different. He had somehow managed to make his way into Slytherin, befuddling his entire family. He wasn't a cruel boy, really.
"Ah, well," Frank said, looking up. "I's not my choice where the sorting hat puts me, y'know?"

"Yeah." He said, shrugging a little. "Most'a my relatives are Hufflepuffs, actually. They couldn't believe it when I became a Ravenclaw. I can't really either, I mean, I don't act like one."
He looked down at his headphones, still blasting out music, he could hear it a little. He fumbled in his pocket for the player and switched it off.
Looking back at the boy, he muttered, "Personally, if I'm 'supposed' to be in Ravenclaw, I think the Hat's gone senile..." He looked away again and immediately changed the subject,
"So, your name's Frank? Must be nice. People must not spell your name wrong a lot, huh? Everyone spells my name wrong all the time." He laughed to himself a little.

"I's kind of... well, boring, eh? I mean, i's normal. I guess i's okay." He shrugged, and then became silent for a moment. It was a pretty normal name. For a normal person. But he wasn't exactly, well, normal.
"A lot of people got into the habbit of calling me, 'Frankie', though," He shuddered. It was a nickname he was trying to abandon for a while. The only person he never went off on was his sister, but she knew better. "'Ow you spell it, anyway? It seems... complicated, huh? What is it anyway, like... the orgin, or whate'er i's called."

"D-i-e-d-r-i-c-h." He said each of the letters individually. "It's German for 'Ruler of the People.' Kinda like that myself." He raised his chin proudly. "'Course, I'm no ruler. Go figure." He shrugged nonchelantly.
"Frankie, huh?" He mumbled, nodding slightly. "I could go for a name like that. I'm more of a Frankie than a Diedrich." He smiled, speaking the truth, and yet trying to cheer the boy up.
"I don't really have any nicknames that'd work for me. I mean, they'd all sound stupid. I'm sure you could just call me D., or something, 'cause if you added an 'ie' to the end of my name..." He trailed off.
"... Drichie?" He suddenly burst out in laughter at the awkward sounding name. "Anyway, what were we talking about..?"

Frank couldn't stop laughing. It was probably the most he had ever laughed in a long time. "Drichie. Oh, man..." He couldn't even finish his sentance, and he had no idea why this was so funny, but it was.
"Well, at least you don't haf ta deal with everyone always calling you a name like that. I mean, Frankie, to me sounds a li'l bit... kiddish, maybe? But it might not to other people."
He shrugged, leaning back even further against the tree. It was probably the first time since he started going here that he actually connected with someone so easily. Sure, when he was a first year, it was easy to do that... but he was eleven.
"Just random stuff," Frank answered the second question. "I 'unno. Anything, I guess. I's not that bad talking once you start, y'know?"

Diedrich felt accomplished, getting the boy with such a sad aura to laugh. He'd gotten his two comedic cents in for the day.
"Frankie isn't that childish," He protested. "I know I'd like to have the name Frankie. It sounds spiffy." He smiled happily. "Spiffy" was one word in his vocabulary that would never die.
He began twiddling his wand inbetween his fingers. "Wonder what time it is..." He said, more to himself than to Frank. He wasn't neccesarily tired, he was just curious. "Because I--"
A shower of red sparks shot from the wand, followed by the loudest swear most probably ever recorded in history. Dozing birds above them were startled awake, cawing and chirping and taking flight every which way; and Fang could be heard barking far away in Hagrid's hut. The bolt had caught him straight in the chest, scorching his robes and scarf. It was completely harmless, apart from a little stinging, but it was more from shock than pain that he had cried.
His heart pounded, his eyes were wide, the wand had catapulted itself out of his hands and into some bushes nearby. "Dammit!" He growled. "I hate it when that happens!!" He slid down the tree trunk, allowing his breathing to slow a little. "Are you okay?" He hurriedly asked the boy sitting beside him.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Frank tried to keep a straight face, but only ended up laughing. "Wait, wait, wait... that happens more than once?"
He leaned back against the tree, not bothering to answer his last question. If he wasn't okay, he wouldn't be laughing, and he knew Diedrich would know it.
"I guess i's happened to me before," Frank grinned. "But it doesn't happen a lot." Frank then looked at the bushes and smiled, "You gonna get that?"
He got up instead, not waiting for an answer, and pulled the wand out of the bushes. "Here you are, mate," He said while tossing it back to Diedrich. "Try not to hurt yourself."

"Thanks." Diedrich sighed heavily, catching the wand blindly in the dark. "And yeah, it happens all the time. I don't know why." He looked down at the acursed twig in his hands.
"I think the wand chose the wrong wizard." He mumbled. "Just like the hat chose the wrong house..." For the first time, his eyes looked dull, sad even. "Everything's just flip-flopped with me, I guess." He laughed, eyes immediately bright again.

"The hat had a reason to put us where we were," Frank shrugged. "I think I belong in Slytherin, but I'm in Ravenclaw."
He grinned. "Maybe it wanted me to torment everyone, eh?" He stopped grinning and nodded. "At least you're no' the only 'oo has it flip-flopped."
It was nice, actually. A really nice thought that he wasn't the only one in this world who had everything mixed up. His sister, sure, she belonged in Ravenclaw. And maybe Frank was smart, but what about all his other traits? He had a dark personality, a dark sense of humor, and a love for dark places. And there was the stupid snake thing... they liked him.

"Well, it's nice to know I'm in good company." He smirked, resting his head in his hands. "Aren't you tired? It must be... like, tomorrow by now." He asked, glancing surupticiously at Frank.
He suddenly yawned, a great wave of exaustion crashing down on him when he realized he'd been up since four AM the previous day. "I think I'll head up soon, get a few hours a' sleep..." Dragging himself to his feet, he replaced the headphones over his ears and scrolled through the long list of songs on his MP3 player. He was tall. Very tall for a boy of his age. Another oddity to add to his collective weirdness.
"Sorry for leaving so suddenly, I got so damn tired just now... Perhaps I'll see you around, Frankie?" He smiled slightly as he used the pet name. He just couldn't help himself. 'Frankie' was so... so... spiffy... It sounded much more alive than just plain old 'Frank.' Even if it bothered the boy, he'd use the nickname to no end.

"Watch yourself," Frank shot Diedrich a glare, but then relaxed a little bit. He didn't want to lash out on the guy, especially when he had finally bonded with someone other than an owl or his sibling.
"G'night, mate," He nodded. "I'll probably 'ead back in a bit."
In fact, Frank was feeling a bit sleepy. This was unusual for him. Normally, he was up for all hours on end, surviving off of an hour, two at tops, of sleep for a few days. He eventually caught up, sleeping through a class or two. Luckily, he was good at the acting bit, and always had an excuse to get out of it.
"See you around," Were his parting words, before he got up and loped off in the other direction. He still had to go visit Jade, his owl, before heading off to a comfortable bed.