A nice winding path leads you throw a slightly wooded area. Nice and quiet, except for the occasional chirping sound, the pathway is a great place to go for a walk. Go for a nice stroll to release some stress or to have a nice conversation with your friend. Make sure you stick to the path, watch your footing, and don’t litter!

For such a huge and magnificent castle, Hogwarts can seem extremely small sometimes. After being in the castle for a short time, Arabelle was feeling slightly claustrophobic. Walking around the hallways wasn't clearing Arabelle's head as well as she would have liked. Outside seemed like the only place to go. Wandering around the grounds, she found a nice little pathway into some woods.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Arabelle smiled a bit. This was much better. She slowly turned around, examining the trees and sky. After making sure she was alone, she plopped down on her back right in the middle of the path.

Fuming after that conversation with Shana, he needed to take a walk and clear his head. Did she honestly think that what she had to say would help him? That he didn't need her sprouting off anything that entered her head? Him and Sylvia? Ha!

He was so distracted that he didn't even notice a girl lying right in the middle of the path. Instead he just walked past her like no one was there.

26...27...28...

Okay, counting leaves has to be one of the most boring ways to occupy ones time. Laying here was obviously not helping her, it was just making her even more annoyed. But she couldn't go back in the castle yet. She wanted to stay outside.

Just as she was about to get up and find something else to do, a boy breezed past her like she didn't exist. ...Seriously, why did this keep happening to her? Was she wearing an invisibility cloak or something?

A little frustrated, Arabelle sprung from her position and followed the boy a bit. When she got close enough she called out, "You late for something?"

He was just thinking of ways to get revenge using Jake Upstead when suddenly he heard a voice calling out to him. Turning around, he saw that it was a girl that he didn't think he had ever seen before. And he was confused as to why she was asking him that when he didn't even know her. But he needed to be friendly. It wasn't her fault that he was in a bad mood after all.

"I'm just frustrated." He nodded at her after giving that simple reply.

Finally. A response from someone. Arabelle knew she wasn't invisible. And now it has just been proved. Dusting herself off -laying down on a dirt pathway was probably not the best idea- she listened to the boy tell her that he was frustrated.

"No kidding? Well, I am, too. Care to share?" Maybe he would tell her something, maybe not. But hopefully he would distract her from her feelings of annoyance.

So he had found someone that had problems too. That was good. Might help lessen his anger a bit. cause right now he wanted to punch a tree that he imagined having Shana's face.

"Well, first of all I accidentally gave love potion to my best friend and she's now 'in love' with me. She told her boyfriend and now he hates me. Then there was the fact that 2 of my good friends are mad at me 'cause I have a big mouth. And Shana is driving me crazy 'cause of the girl that I'm dating. She hates her 'cause she was rude to her one time."

Oh.

Well, this boy certainly had some problems didn't he? It certainly put Arabelle's 'problems' to shame. Arabelle felt her eyes grow a bit wide at his explanation. And he was only frustrated?! Arabelle would probably be either in a flying rage, or sobbing somewhere.

She turned her head to the side, regarding him. "Okay. Well, I see your point. Frustrated, got it. First off, how in Merlin's name did you manage to accidentally give someone a love potion?"

It seemed a little weird to her. Why did he even have a love potion in his possession in the first place? Especially if he had a girlfriend. "Can't you give her an antidote or something? I bet that would make things a lot easier. She can explain everything to her boyfriend."

"Well, friends are friends. I'm sure they won't be mad at you for long." Arabelle had to smile a bit at the big mouth comment. That was something she and problem-boy had in common. It does tend to get her in trouble sometimes.

"And Shana is...?" She didn't really know. Was she friends with this boy? Arabelle guessed that he was, or her opinion shouldn't matter to him.

And of course she had to ask him that didn't she? Everyone did. "Because I made it for someone else last June and then I forgot that I put it in that bottle. So I accidentally added it to the Birthday cake. And I made it before I met Brody." which he was glad that she had believed. He was so scared that he was going to get dumped. But she had forgiven him so all was well. YAY.

But he wasn't sure about the antidote. "Well, Peyton offered to make me one. And I might let her. 'cause the thought of going to Kazi doesn't appeal to me." He shuddered. That guy gave him the creeps. "And I want to explain it to her boyfriend but I can't find him anywhere."

He nodded at that comment about Xander and Sylvia. It was true. And the cakes he would bake them would help too. "Shana Miller. She's this spazzy 12 year old. Or at least I think she's 12."

He shrugged. "So why are you frustrated?"

His explanation sounded good enough. Arabelle was curious as to who he made it for, but she probably wouldn't know them anyway. Plus, she wasn't that nosy. Just a little. She guessed Brody was the girlfriend, so she didn't ask about that.

"Yeah, you should let Peyton make you one." Like he said, it was better then the alternative. "The sooner you find an antidote, the better." Arabelle couldn't imagine being under the influence of a love potion. She shuddered a bit. "Well, you'll find him somewhere. The castle isn't that big."

Hmm. "Do you care what Shana thinks about your girlfriend? Or is it that she's just bugging you?"

Arabelle sighed. He had to ask why she was frustrated. After his spiel, she was going to sound ridiculous. "Well, it's nothing like your troubles." She sighed again and started talking. "It's just that I've been looking forward to going to Hogwarts since I was born, and now that I'm here...I don't know. I think I might have built it up too much. I was expecting to be put into Ravenclaw, but that didn't happen, so I'm a little thrown off. And everyone keeps acting like I'm invisible. I almost thought someone put a charm on me or something."

She knew she was going to sound ridiculous. Ugh. She had to be the stupid firstie stereotype, didn't she? "It's not that big of a deal, really. Just...nevermind."

He nodded slowly, relieved that she at least didn't ask who it had been for. That only a few people knew. And seeing as it was a Professor, that was very very good.

"Yep, I'm going to ask Peyton to start on it soon." What a great friend she was. And he had to snort at her next comment. Really? This place isn't that big? Is she joking? Not that he would ever say that aloud.

"Hopefully. But I don't really know where he likes to hang out. I don't know him that well." All he really knew was that he was a wimp and played Quidditch. Yep.

"And I'm annoyed with Shana 'cause she calls me an idiot and says my girlfriend is mean and evil. He also called her the Wicked Witch of the West. She's annoying and says that Brody is trying to steal me." Silly possessive friends.

He went on to listen to her frustrations. It was all rather frustrating. "Okay, I get that. I think that everyone pretty well felt that way. Well, I didn't 'cause I was a transfer and all but.. I can see why you are frustrated."

Was he...laughing at her? Okay, maybe he was right to laugh. Hogwarts was huge. But, it seemed small to her sometimes. Like the walls were getting smaller and closing in as she stood there. Obviously, it didn't seem like that to other people, so her statement might have sounded a little weird. "I just meant that you'll be able to find him. With classes and meals and stuff, you're bound to run into him. Especially if you're looking."

"If she's bugging you so much, just tell her to leave you alone. If she doesn't take the hint, just walk away when you see her coming." Simple as that really. If you can't make someone see sense, why would you stick around to listen to them?

She laughed a little. Right. "Yeah, it's stupid, really. I'll get over it."

Aaah, that made more sense. She had a point there. And hopefully it would be that easy. Unless he was skipping classes and meals and what not now. Who knew with Jack? "Well, I guess I will just need to cross my fingers and hope for the best."

Okay, now he was really laughing. This girl didn't know Shana at all. "It's not that simple. She has a way of showing up and clinging to me. Sometimes literally. She's held my legs before. I've had to drag her along." That had certainly been a fun trip to the Quidditch store.

"Well, I'm glad you will get over it, but it's not stupid." He shook his head.

"I'm sure everything would work out." Hopefully. Arabelle had no clue if things would work out, but she needed to say something. Problem-boy seemed nice enough, so she didn't think his friends could stay mad at him for long.

Annnnd he was laughing again. She was wondering why that was, until he told her about Shana.

Blink. Blink. No way. "She...held...your...legs?" Interesting girl. After everything Arabelle's seen at Hogwarts so far, she really shouldn't be surprised. So straaange things happened here.

Arabelle wrinkled her nose a little. "I suppose not, but I don't like feeling this way."

He nodded and hoped that she was right about that. It wasn't like he generally had the best luck with stuff like this. It was the very reason why he was in this predicament in the first place.

"Yes, my legs. She wouldn't let me walk. I had to drag her across the store. She also kept jumping on my legs and sitting on me when we were going on the train home last Term." He also remembered the incident she told him about where she had glues Miles' pants to the bench so that he wouldn't be able to go home. That made him snort.

"Well, hang out with me and you won't even think about your problem anymore." It was sad but true.

Oh wow. Arabelle giggled a bit. "Shana sounds like a very...interesting person. I really don't know what to tell you to do about her. Except maybe good luck," she smiled as she finished her sentence. Ah well, can't fix 'em all.

"Maybe. But, like I said, I'm being silly. The year's barely started." Arabelle turned in a circle, once more taking in the scenery. When she finished, she turned back to Problem-Boy.

...Whose name she should probably know by now. Unless he didn't mind being called Problem-Boy, which Arabelle wasn't sure was the case. "What's your name, anyway?"

Issy oughtn't be here, she knew, but curiosity often got the better of her, though she tried very hard not to be remotely interested in the note. Because it was not signed, really, the note could have been sent to her by anyone who knew her name, really, but she knew better. Despite the anonymity of the letter, she knew the handwriting and she knew who could be the only person to miss her and be so curt and vague about it.

Arranging her face to indifference was very hard and try as she could, Issy found herself failing. Curiosity, anguish, distraught, and a bit of anger had wedged themselves onto Issy's face, though she struggled to try and keep it calm and blank. Hmph. This was hard.

Smoothing any wrinkles out of the pleats of her skirt, Issy found herself fidgeting. The air was nice and warm and she'd thus left her cloak behind in the Girls' Domitory, where she'd been spending her time when avoiding the Common Room. Any chance of running into Samson had swiftly been averted. Ignoring him was hard, so it was far easier to try to avoid him where she could. Plus, she had the feeling that Samson would not actually go off in search of her.

In fact, this was exactly the sort of passive aggressive act she'd expected of him, but, to be fair, she hadn't actually expected him to do anything at all. When fighting, Samson was the one to push away and Issy was the one to go after him. Always. After so many years, she had grown weary of chasing. Hadn't it been enough when she had stood in the rain and bore her heart to him, pouring out everything she'd kept locked up for so long? From that point, everything was supposed to have been good! They had made progress! And at her house... the l-word had been uttered by him, with her name in the line.

Instantly, her stomach clenched in upon itself. Thinking of such things was kind of painstaking, when she missed him so much and was so upset with him. Only a few days had passed, but those days had felt awful and excruciating. When fighting with Samson, a day lasted a lifetime and when her heart was broken by Samson, a day never ended.

Ansty, Issy twirled the stem of the rose between her thumb and two fingers, eyes focusing on the petals and trying to stray from the fight.

Anything but the fight, please.

Samson had been waiting for a few hours already, and sitting on a rock that long had his bum sore and he was bored to death, and even hungry. But he had sent the note, and he promised himself he'd wait for days on end if that was what it took for Issy to respond to the letter. Yes, he would be that committed. So many times had he messed things up for them, it was high time he did something to actually fix things.

He was always on the alert for anyone small and pretty coming down the path, but for hours there was no sign of Issy. Until... he perked up as soon as he heard the steps. Even he himself didn't know that he knew how distinct her footsteps were. And she stopped just a little ways from him, her back to him. Of course she would not see him immediately, because he was sitting on a rock juuust behind a tree. Suddenly, his heart started beating double-time. Was he really going to do this? Was he cut out for it? Would he be able to pull it off? What if something went wrong? What if she misunderstood? What if she didn't accept him? What if--?

Good grief, he was worse than a girl. Decided, he stood up and walked slowly and quietly towards her, before stopping behind her, staring. She was so lovely, even with her back turned. And she was holding the rose in her hand! He knew it was a good idea. Oh, he wondered so much if she was expecting him. But, there was only one way to find out.

"Hullo, Issy," he greeted quietly.

Standing here was growing increasingly more and more awkward and Issy found herself feeling very lame. She probably looked really lame, too, she noted, standing here, holding a rose in the middle of the pathway. But this was where she was told to meet him. So. Where was he? Surely he wasn't going to try to pull a Terry and sneak up on her, was he? Because that was Terry's job. Hmph. Right now, as long as she kept herself angry with him and disappointed in him, she found it somewhat easy to prevent herself from getting her hopes up.

Because, at least if he didn't show up, she'd know once and for all and she'd be able to have Willow help her get over him or something.

Willow would like that.

Hardly a moment or two had passed, though, she was was suddenly very aware of someone behind her (plus, the shadow that loomed further down the length of hers helped) and she turned rigid. His voice was enough to try to melt her guard, though, and she had to take a deep breath and attempt to clear her face before she turned around to face him.

Ag!

He looked... he looked... she wanted to reach up and touch his face again, but she forced her hands into obedience by locking them behind her back, gingerly holding the rose and letter behind her.

"Samson," she greeted, while her heart thawed and her stomach churned and her body ached.

Being so emotional was draining, really.

"You have no idea," he replied with a snort. She could be a real pain in the butt. But still.. He loved the girl in a way. She was his friend even though he was mad at her. "Thanks. I'll need all the luck that I can get."

"Yes, I think you're being silly. Trust me, this is an eventful place. Last Term Mermen flooded the school and tried to take over. We had to save the school and free a captured Mermaid Princess." He had a feeling that that would go right over her head but oh well. She would see soon enough.

And he forgot to tell her his name. Really smooth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Torin."

Samson found himself swallowing thickly as Issy turned on her spot to face him. His imagination and many thoughts of her over the two days that had transpired when they hadn't talked did this small girl before him no justice. She was so beautiful. And she was only that, because there was no other way to describe her that was more appropriate. If he could make up a word that exceeded beautiful and amazing and perfect and wonderful and stunning all at the same time, by a million times, that was the word he would use with Issy, right here, right now.

And he wanted so badly to take her in his arms and snog her silly.

But, eh, he had to maintain composure for now. He kept in mind that there was a task at hand: to patch things up with her and make sure that, once and for all, they stayed patched up and would never, ever fight ever, ever again. This was, as he sensed, the last straw, and if any of them ever messed up again, the hope of getting back together was dim.

The way her voice sounded after (what seemed like) days and days of not being able to hear it was like heaven's single missing angel. He almost sighed, but kept it in. Straight to business now. He cleared his throat, and attempted a small smile. "Hi there." Was that all? At the moment, all Samson could feel in his throat were those two words, forming in his mouth and spilling out with the voice that was stuck up in his throat, reserved only for Issy's ears. The small, nearly inaudible squeak that came after that was not for Issy to hear, though. Guh. "Ahem. So, I guess you received my note," he started again, a bit on the casual, awkward side. "And - and the rose." He swallowed again. "Hope you liked it," he mumbled hopelessly.

Aw, c'mon Samson Carswell! BE A MAN!

He cleared his throat again. If he was going to be this stupid at making things right with a girl, then he would never go far in his life. Okay, here goes. "Uh, Issy, I'll cut straight to the point. I'm sorry about the little fight we had on the train. I didn't mean to oppose you like that. I had no idea you felt so strongly about that... issue. If I had known, I would never have said anything about it, or at least I wouldn't have made a big deal of it. I'm sorry I raised my voice at you. If I had known myself that I felt strongly about it, I would never have given you that poster, I would never have even bothered that boy. I'm sorry if it looked like I was pushing you away. Issy, trust me, I would never do that to you. Not anymore. Not after..." he paused and swallowed. "Not after telling you that, with all my heart, I love you. And I still do. Now I know I'd never push you away, and that I'd always want you by my side. I kinda realized that over the time we weren't talking.

"You're amazing, Issy. And admittedly, I'd be the stupidest person on earth to ever let you go. After all you've done for me, the least I can do is love you back. I'm sorry I hurt you." Tentatively, he stepped closer to her, his eyes searching hers, imploring, looking for any sign of forgiveness. Somewhere in that short speech of his, Samson found the will to prepare himself for a) being accepted, or b) being rejected. There was only so much he could do, and he'd decided to respect Issy with whatever decision she would make. It was his fault after all, why they were like this, and painful as it would be, he would face the consequences of them.

But whatever happened, he'd love Isabella Cortella - the only girl he'd ever love.

She nodded while he talked. "No problem," she told him.

Blink. Bliiiink. Mermen? Flood? He must be joking with her. Making the firstie believe anything. But he seemed serious. "Uh, okaaaay. Does this kind of thing happen...often?" Arabelle imagined sleeping in the dungeons only to have a wave of water swamp over her. It was not a pretty picture. And with mermen involved? Uh huh, right.

Aha! So Problem-Boy did have a name. Torin. Not bad, better than hers anyway. "It's okay, I never told you mine, either. It's Arabelle by the way," she told him.

Her reaction wasn't all that surprising really. He would have looked the same way if someone had told him all that. "Well... apparently so. Last Term was my first here but I've heard that crazy things happen here all the time." And that had certainly been crazy! He remembered how Lynny had almost died. He had to admit that he missed that girl now. He had taken care of her when she lost her memory and had become rather attached to her.

"Oh, that's a nice name. It's good to meet you then, Arabelle."

"Oh, last term was your first?" He certainly didn't look twelve. She looked him over a bit closer this time. Nope. He was definitely older than second year. "So are you a transfer or something?" she asked. It seemed the only way that could be possible.

Crazy things happen here all the time? Arabelle wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, school would most likely never be boring. But on the other...the flooding image popped into her head once more. Oh Merlin.

Nice name? Hah! He had to have been being nice to her. "Are you kidding? I hate my name. Too fancy." She scrunched up her face as she remembered her mother telling her the elegance of her so called 'name.' Bah. "Oh, but it's nice to meet you, too."

Nice.

Lucille walked along, sort of mesmorised by her surroundings. Her father had said it was beautiful, but not THIS beautiful. The path was ideal. A serean looking element in which she could get lost and fantasise over her writing and quidditch. Insperation struck here too. She could see faces and shapes in the bushes around her, which swam into focus for bits to add into her writing. It was a fairy land.

Lucille knew that this was by far her faveourite place in hogwarts.