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 or the acorn throwing squirrels will come after you. Those boys have quite the arm, so mind your head.

Freya decided she needed to take a walk, it would help her to clear her mind. The leaves were a radiant gold, red and orange, the air was crisp and clean...simply wonderful. Her pale eyes seemed to reflect the colors around her. 'Hmm, almost like home I guess.' Freya told herself, 'Of course it's a lot more calm, *sigh* and pleasant.' She reached once more into her bag, took out a small red book and began to read as she strolled among the falling leaves.

A tall, dishwater blond boy passes Freya carrying a wooden box of rags and solvent cans. He touches the rim of his cone hat and silently nodds her good day.

Nico had intended to go to the courtyard...but the drama brewing there wasn't something he was up for at that moment and Seth was more than up to the task of making Cale use that angry Gryffindor face that he did so well. Possibly thats how he got chosen as prefect since the rest of them didn't quite have that same knack for the Gryffie mad face.

Nicholai ambled along the pathways lazily, enjoying the fair weather. He rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie slightly; probably the most in disarray anyone would ever see him.

He made a mental note to go find Maddox at some point too; see if he wanted a training buddy; reminded by the visual evidence of the scar Mads had left on Nico's arm in their...infamous duel.

Nico gradually halted his pace and looked up warily, his face breaking into a smile when he recognised Mari. As he came to a full halt right in front of her; he matched her slightly defensive stance, folding his arms and regarding her with interest.

"Hello." He responded in a completely different tone to hers, his voice low and almost musical.

"Going someplace?" He quirked a brow and cocked his head at her, aware that he had caught her off guard even if that hadn't been his intention.

Mari arched a brow and smiled a little as Nico spoke to her, his voice indicating some sort of interest. Again, it was very vague, but it was there, just as it had been on the train. She looked around for a moment and she tried to form a fairly vague sentence of her own, something that was a bit of a challenge because she felt a little bit fluttery around him. This was very, very unusual for her, she thought as she shifted on her feet a bit.

" You could say that. What about you?" She countered, and instantly felt like she had lost points in this little game. She was good at this, what in the name of Merlin was wrong with her? She looked at his loose tie and rolled up sleeves, and she smiled a little more. " I'd venture to say not the school, seeing as how you look so relaxed." She said, trying to regain her footing around him.

He shot her the same innocent smile that he tended to use on Anna. Relax. She was slightly jittery; like she'd had too much sugar or was stirring for a fight or...something else.

"More heading away from a place." Nicholai shrugged; the common room had been somewhat overrun with younger students, not to mention the fact that he'd been trying to read but hadn't made any headway.

"I'm always relaxed," Nicholai shrugged, "even if I do usually take a little more care of my appearance." He looked down at himself, still completely tucked in and tidy, without a speck of dirt or a crease to be seen. And his hair was immaculate of course. He was completely serious though; for him folded sleeves and a loosened tie was fairly lax.

He shot her an easy smile, "I just figured I'd get the lay of the land- figure out my running route."

Mari felt something in the air between her and Nico change and suddenly he seemed much more approachable, more easy to be around. She blamed all this on being completely alone in a new place; While she had made some acquaintances, none were what she considered real friends yet.

She smiled then as he emphasized his need to be away from wherever he had been earlier and she pushed her hair back. " I too felt the need to be out and alone, but as soon as I found a good spot, everyone else in the whole world seemed to want to be there too." She said, feeling more normal now.

Her green gaze swept over his appearance and she laughed a little. " Since I met you, you've always looked quite put together, more so than other boys I've known." She said, giving him an honest compliment. " I'm usually a bit...um, less odd myself, but I've felt out of place since I've come here." She admitted with a little shrug and half-smile. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like Nico might understand her inability to feel like she belonged at Hogwarts as he was also a former transfer student.

" You like to run? That's...well, it's healthy for you." She said as she looked around the wooded pathway again. " I just like being around the trees...and I had to get away from some over-confident third year. He was an irritant." She said, relaxing her arms and letting them settled against her sides.

Biff went for a walk and found pathways. Biff asked anyone there " Is this really a good place to reflect?"

"Of course." Nicholai agreed, understanding perfectly since people always wanted to be where he was. He nodded at her comment about him looking 'put together'. It was a control thing for him; along with keeping his emotions carefully schooled.

He gave her a careful measuring look, "I'd hardly call you odd, Mari." Nicholai ran his fingers through his hair and cocked his head at her, "Besides it isn't what you know, it's who you know. So you are pretty much covered." He gestured at himself and grinned rakishly.

"I try." Nicholai managed a credibly modest tone and he shrugged at her comment about running being healthy, "Over confident?" Nicholai raised an eyebrow, "Over confident and clearly under achieving." He had never had any problems in his third year after all.

"I promise to attempt to avoid irritating you." He added with another easy smile.

"Biff saw a boy he could get along with because he seemed very nice. "Sorry about interferring with you and your girlfriend, but you have a lot of class" Biff Harrington the Third told him. " I am Biff Harrington the Third of the Harringtons and you would be?" Biff asked the boy.

Mari kept her gaze on Nico's when he spoke at length next, his words ringing perfectly true to her. That was it; She just needed to know the people who were the equivalents to her friends back home. It only made sense, she thought.

Nico was definitely a candidate, and that was solidified by his next comment and the grin he gave her. " I pretty much figured that the day I met you." She said, laughing more easily now. When he mentioned the boy she had spoke of, she nodded and giggled a little. " It was by far one of the more entertaining things I've seen," She admitted. " He wasn't the least bit discerning; He simply flirted with anyone he happened upon. Well, except me. I wasn't so willing," She said, and then as if by some curse, that...boy was there again.

She arched a brow and pointedly ignored the boy, giving her undivided attention to Nico. " Only an attempt?" She said, smiling at him and tossing her hair back a little. " I don't think you really could irritate me anyhow." She teased, hoping the little would be Romeo would get the hint and leave.

"Well, sorry, I was actually talking to your friend, he seems to be a very nice boy" Biff smiled at her. " I was not trying to irritate you but I seem to think the pathways are a good place to meditate" Biff told the girl.

Nicholai frowned and turned to the younger boy. Interferring with he and his grilfriend? Well...he couldn't deny the class thing but this boy really needed to learn a lesson or two.

"Firstly? You'd do well not to assume that every pretty girl I spend time with is my girlfriend, or you will get fairly confused. Secondly, class is something you either have or you don't; identifying it in others isn't the way to show you have any," Nico frowned down at the younger boy, "Thirdly, only the third of the Harringtons? Such a long line of decendents you come from! And fancy needing a number to help people tell the difference!"

Nicholai narrowed his eyes at the other boy.

"I am Nicholai Toussaint; remember that because next time you attempt to interrupt me when I am clearly busy, I expect you to begin with an 'excuse me Nicholai,' and wait until I am ready to speak to you."

He examined his nails airily.

"Of course I forgive you this time, since I'm nice like that. Perhaps later in the common room since I see you were lucky enough to be sorted into Slytherin, I will have a moment I can spare."

He turned back to Mari and took her arm, steering her away from the other boy.

"Unwilling? I haven't found you to be." Nicholai smirked, his previous demeanor and tone when speaking to the boy, nowhere to be found.

Letting go of her arm as they managed to move a little away from this Biff character, Nicholai shot her a charming smile; watching as she tossed her hair.

"So tell me something about you, Mari;" Nico recycled one of his often used questions, "Something no one would know just to look at you."

Nico looked over his shoulder.

"Good thing too, since you have a fair amount to 'meditate' about."

Nicholai looked away, he would talk to the boy later...when he wasn't busy...maybe.

Mariska sighed as the boy spoke again and she was going to tell him that he really ought to not barge in on conversations, but Nico took care of it oh so much more efficiently than she would have. Even she wasn't that good and putting someone in their place, she thought with a stifled giggle. She didn't like to hurt peoples feelings, but this one just keep barging in where he wasn't wanted.

She looked up at Nico with a slightly surprised look as he gently steered her away from the younger Slytherin and she was quite impressed with how easily he shifted roles. Now he was back to being the open, amiable and still slightly mysterious Nico, no longer the cool and strict boy he had been just moments before. " I was unwilling with someone who announces himself to all the girls in a surrounding area in the hopes of anyone chatting him up; I would much rather be singled out for that." She said with a little smirk." It shows you mean, at the very least, a little something to the boy doing the approaching." She added.

" Something about me that no one could know...just by looking at me," She repeated. She thought for a moment while Nico again spoke to the boy, bringing a finger to her lips and tapping thoughtfully for a moment. She smiled and she decided to be a bit obtuse. " No one would know my favorite color is pink. I just don't wear it because half the time, pale colors don't suit me." She said, laughing. " Well, really I would suppose that no one would know that I'm very proficient at Charms, almost any kind. It's very...natural for me." She said. " What about you, Nico? What's something about you no one would know by just looking at you?"