She couldn't eat candy? That was plain wrong. What kind of sicko didn't take thier kid to get healed if they had some disease that kept them from eating candy?

"Diabetes?" Presley questioned. "What's that?" Did it mean her best friend was going to die? It sounded like one of those things muggles got. The kind where they couldn't do anything about it. Like cancer. Presley knew all about cancer. She knew that St. Mungoes only admitted those of magical blood, and that muggles couldn't cure cancer.

But she took a deep breath. Luna didn't seem concerned about it, that probably meant it was going to be okay. At least, Pres hoped that's what it meant.

''Oh it's nothing to be worried about I had it treated it's when your sugar is too high it's best not to have any and there is other things aswell... Anyways it's not a big problem'' she whispered and took out her glasses ''I have to wear these though,'' She handed her the big brown glasses

''My grandad says he'll get me new ones hopfully,'' she sorta felt like throwing them on the ground and and stamp on them and let them turn to dust

After receiving the book she had asked for 4 days ago, Janice went up to the library for some reading, bringing Egg along in case it wants to roam around the floor. And that will not happen again. Period.

The book was called 'The Alchemist', the first book in the 'The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel' series by Michael Scott. Nicholas Flamel, she thought. I think I've heard of him. She opened the book and started reading.

She was on page 10 when Egg started to move around. Once again, she tried to ignore its vibrating and annoying usual movements. She took a deep breath, and put Egg on the table, just to see if it wants to move around in the library. Magically, it stopped moving, as if it realized in what place he was currently in. Janice rolled her eyes and continued reading.

He did not know if the library was still a dangerous place for himself. He hardly cared about it anymore anyway. Actually the silence inside the place felt a bit relaxing to him so the Gryffindor boy did not feel annoyed as he walked among the bookshelves this time. Plus, he had reasons to come here. Nothing he had made during the past few months helped him with taking the lingering bad mood away. Therefore, he thought, maybe it'd work if he had done something he had not done before...like trying to study, seriously, in the library. Or at least reading some text book stuff.

Once he felt determined enough, Josh stopped to check the books on the shelf to his right. No...he just simply picked up the first book his gaze landed on and eyed its cover. Hah! Hopefully it was something about DADA. This could not be too boring, could it?

Sniffing a bit, he was still sick even though Kurumi made him soup, the boy opened the book and prepared himself for his first attempt of studying. He knew he could do that.

She'd taken enough time wandering around the castle grounds and hanging out with friends this year. More than she had during her OWL's year, and since these upcoming NEWT's weren't much easier, she'd practically sleep in the library from now on if that's what it took to pass.

Picking down a few books she needed, the Slytherin girl started to make her way over to her rather favorite chair, enjoying the silence. The silence was obviously the best part. However...just as she walked by an aisle, the sniffling sound reached her ears and she couldn't help but stop where she was and stare straight ahead. No. No no no. For the love of Merlin, couldn't the sick just stay out of here? That sniffling would be quite distracting.

Scowling, Evelyn backtracked her steps and peaked into the aisle...only causing a quiet gasp of surprise to escape her as she tried to slide out of view again. Well done, Flores. Well done. Very discreet. If she could walk any faster in the library...she would have.

This...book...well, reading the first few sentences felt quite boring at first place, so Josh thought this was all going to be like it had always been in his mind however when he reached to half of the page things had actually started to get a bit insteresting. It was giving him information about some theories of why and how a witch or a wizard would find themselves practicing dark magic so...well...that could be pretty much useful to know.

He decided then, this was going to be the book he'd read today. Deciding to take it to the comfortable seats over there, Josh was about to read the last sentence on the page before he closed the book when he heard...something. And just when he looked up, he only saw some dark hair running out of sight.

Was someone...stalking or something?

''Who's there?'' he asked towards that direction, narrowing his eyes a bit.

Pausing momentarily after she took a step forward, Evelyn turned her head a little to the side as if that would help her hear anything that the Gryffindor may say or do better. Josh was in the library. He was in...here...the place in which she found solitude and no distractions. This was not solitude, and this was definitely a distraction.

Flinching a little, she didn't answer his question, yet she slowly put down her three books on the shelf she stood next to, deciding that she'll study another day. Besides, she had plenty of books in her dorm she could be re-reading in case there was any information in there she'd missed, and her notes definitely needed going over.

Only problem was, she had to walk past the aisle Josh was standing in to get to the exit. Gosh darnit!

Josh kept waiting for the person to answer his question or show themselves up still staring at the same spot but it seemed like there was going to be neither an answer nor any showing up so narrowing his eyes even more, he slammed the book he had close and started to walk towards there, the end of the shelves.

Meanwhile, he could still hear the quiet voices of someone being present there, so he quickened his steps and turned the corner or more like he was almost doing that when he found Evelyn before him all in a sudden. His dark brown eyes widened at the instant sight of her and he just froze where he stood not knowing what he was supposed to do.

Before he could decide what do to the coughing attack came again anyway.

*COUGH-COUGH-COUGH-COUGH*

Acting quick this time, he quickly covered his mouth with the sleeve of his free arm and when it was over, he sniffed more on it. Then he realised...it had been like he had coughed at her face.

''Ummm...eh...sorry.''

And no, he had not forgotten the fact that it was her who was being all sneaky at first place.

Taking a deep breath, she thought perhaps she could just make a quick leap past the aisle and then head towards the exit. Run if she had to. Yet that inner battle of taking the easy way out versus the better situation was starting to appear and Evelyn quite literally rolled her eyes at it. It could shut up for now while she got out of there.

Except...

That wouldn't happen any time soon. Perhaps.

"Oh!" Josh was suddenly there in front of her. Hazel eyes wide, they widened even more as she lowered her gaze and took a step away from him once that coughing attack started. Ohhh. Playing with the hair tie she had on her wrist, she looked back up to him, smiling a little at his apology. "No, it's fine. I erm..." Eh? "You should try drinking rose hip tea. Helps with coughs."

He did not mean to cough at her face!! Really!!! She just HAD TO believe it. Just like he never had meant Kurumi to watch him spurt the soup he was sipping out his mouth thanks to the coughing attacks. Hopefully, the lioness already knew he had been sick but with Evelyn the case was different. She might have thought that he did it on purpose. He had no idea why and how but...well...was it a possibility?

Hopefully seeing the little smile on her face with the words that it was fine for her helped him to relieve a great deal. And he felt like a huge burden left him when the stressing ideas were gone. So, he smiled a bit as well and looked down at the book he had...mostly because he felt like he might have blushed because of the embarassing moment.

Not to mention it felt...awkward.

And what she had just said...made him face her back immediately with surprised and wide eyes. Rose hip...tea? *cough* Helped with coughs? At that very moment, it did take a great deal of his self-control not to say 'I have no doubt it would' yet he succeeded. Sarcasm was pointless and he could be misunderstood. So, he just had to speak properly if he could. ''Well...i have been alive without it lately.''

Wait...

''Seriously?''

Well, it certainly looked like he was. Strictly speaking of course. Nodding somewhat, her smile grew just a tad before she glanced behind to see if there may have been...well she just needed to look elsewhere. Perhaps a distraction. Why was this library so bloody quiet? And empty...

Hmmm?

Looking back up to him, a little bit of a calm surprise on her face, she shrugged her shoulders somewhat and nodded again. "Yea. I mean...it's the only tea I really drink during the winter time. It helps." That was what he was talking about, right?

Rose hips...hip...

Okay...

Taking a deep breath, he blinked a bit as he tried to collect his mind and adjust the right thought within it. Herbal tea, okay? Of course, he knew about herbal teas, he had been a country boy after all and probably would remain that way. ''How...'' no, not that. The herbs. Fruit. ''...i mean, where can i get it now? It's yet to be the season to pick them, right?''

Yea, it was just the spring time yet during which they would probably started to form themselves. No time to pick up any yet. ''Umm...have you heard of linden? It's called lime too. Collected and cultivated from its tree. That was what my...''

Wait, again. What was he doing? She was not the one who had coughing attacks so him suggesting herbs was a quite pointless thing, was not it? Realising that fact, a little bit late, he stopped and looked at the Slytherin girl awkwardly.

''Errr...thank you for the suggestion.''

She couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped her. What? She couldn't help it! Gosh. Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath before speaking. "I umm, I'm not entirely sure. The tea I use...well I don't really ask where it comes from." Vico was just kind enough to send it. "I'm sure you'll be able to find some if you look in the right places."

And...that...

That was that.

Though she had no idea what he was talking about when he mention linden. Evelyn was vaguely aware of the plant's benefits, though it just seemed a little fuzzy in her brain at the moment. Instead, she just nodded slowly and tried not to look awkward. Oh! "Of course." Mmmhmm.

Soooooo...

Josh simply stared at her when she chuckled. Though it was pretty to look at, he had no idea what she chuckled at but...whatever. She possibly had her right point to do so. Maybe he just looked stupid as he stared at tried to talk to her.

And...she did not ask where the tea came from. Okaaaaaay. That could be understood so the Gryffindor nodded a bit at her words. ''Yeah, the right places, yeah. Right. That's reasonable. Of course. I...i will try that out.''

There was just this one little problem that he had no idea where the right places to look for rose hip tea could be in this season, the kitchens being closed and stuff. He was not going keep asking about it and annoy the girl though so giving her a quick smile, he pretended to be interested in the book he had in hand but the next moment he realised something else:

He was probably standing in her way.

Whoops.

So, he quicky stepped aside. ''You were probably on your way to some books, right? Umm, by way to books, i mean you were going to go to read some there...'' he indicated the comfortable seats ''...right? Sorry for being on your way and keeping you busy and...stuff.''

Hmmm...

Nodding again, she fiddled with the end of her sleeves, not really knowing what to do now. She didn't think talking to him would have been this awkward. What was making it awkward though? They've talked plenty of times before.

Seeing him step to the side snapped her back to reality. Oh? "Oh, no." she said, shaking her head somewhat yet taking a step around him anyhow. "I was actually...leaving." Well, NOW she was leaving that is. Smiling up at him, not a large enough smile to reach her eyes though, she stood there for a split moment before taking another step towards the way to the exit.

Alright yea. Time to leave.

She was leaving not going to read. So, he was about to say sorry for being on her way when she was about to leave but upon realising how stupid it'd sound, he restrained himself from doing so. ''Ah? All right then.'' He tried to take another step back to give her move space to walk past which was impossible because he had a huge bookshelf right behind. Yet he only realised it when he practically hit his back to the bookself.

Awesome, Joshua Carter. Way to make yourself look stupid.

Smiling up at her to cover the mistake, he said a quiet ''Bye'' when she stepped towards the exit. Well...to be honest that was pretty much disappointing because inwardly he was hoping that she'd be there while he was trying to read this book in his hand. The Gryffindor boy sighed a bit and turned to walk to the seats when something hit his mind all in a sudden. So, he turned back to the head girl quickly. ''Hey! Um...wait!...'' then he suffered an inside debate about whether he should go and get her. Just eh? No, he should not. He did not want to look like he was forcing her not to leave. ''Please.''

What? He did not care if that sounded like he was begging. He was just concentrated on the fact that perhaps this was the only right moment to ask her. ''I need to... No. I want to... No. I mean... .May i ask you something?''

Turning towards the exit, Evelyn let out a long breath, feeling a bit more relieved yet Josh's attempts to get her to stop had her tensing just a bit. Why? Whyyyy, she was so close to the exit. Even if she didn't want to, the Slytherin turned around, about to ask what was up, but...he started stuttering. It wasn't anything new for him, but, well that usually meant he had something serious to say. Frowning in concern, she shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head to the side somewhat curiously. "Sure. What's up?"

Josh could not tell if the girl was unhappy about being stopped by him or not but no matter what he knew he wanted and needed to ask that so he could get the real reason behind things and know what he was supposed to do next. At least he was going to have an idea if he seriously needed to leave her alone and let things go.

Taking a silent breath, the lion boy took a few steps closer to her but stopped at an appropriate distance for a private conversation. ''Please, don't get angry and don't misunderstand me. I know you might not want to hear anything related to it, if that is the case i am sorry for making you to do so. But i...i want you to understand that i need to ask you that. Please...i have been having difficult days...so far.''

Very difficult indeed. He just could not stop thinking about her and the night. The things related to those were busying his mind too much that he almost stopped living his life accordingly and even got himself sick. And he was aware of the fact that he needed to get over this. His friends and Lafay made him realise that.

''I...i remember what you said that night...to me. I won't try to change your idea, i promise i won't. I just want to know...the exact reason why you refused. Is it...'' well how did Lafay say it? ''...that you don't want me like that in your life or is it that...you think it is too early for it?''

There it went. He did it.

Back to fiddling with her sleeve again...

The whole talk about him hoping she wouldn't get angry was making her more and more concerned. What in the world did he want to talk about?!! Was it about...that night? Because that was the only thing she could think of that could make him be all...like this. Unless it was about that party effect she and the other prefects and captains created. Yea, she already knew her outfit was awful. There was no need to tell her not to be angry about it though...

Yet, she supposed this WAS about that night.

Sighing quietly, she let her arms drop to her sides. "I told you Josh." she said softly, unable to meet his gaze. "I'm not ready for marriage. I didn't say anything about not wanting you in my life."

With widened large brown eyes Josh waited for the answer to his question trying to be all patient or at least look patient while he was VERY impatient inside. His eyes widened a bit more when she apparently sighed wondering the reason behind it.

But then she spoke and...as he heard the words, first a little smile appeared on his face then it grew. So, Professor Lafay was right. It was not that she did not want him. She was only not really for marriage. To be honest he did not remember her telling him that. Maybe he was...too heated to understand her words back at that time. But it was not important now because after so many days this was the first time he had ever felt a tiny bit of happiness.

''I...'' first he did not know what to say then the little bit of happiness helped him to slowly become the Josh Carter he used to be; confident and full of love. Moving forward he took her hands and looked into her eyes with the smile remaining on his face.

''I promise, Rose. I can and will wait for the time that you feel like ready. I know i probably caused lots of...difficult times for you too. But whatever i did, i did only because i love you...very much. I thought i was...expressing my love. Never meant harm. You know i only i want you to be happy. So whatever you are happy with, i'll take it.''

Finally braving eye contact, she looked up to his hopeful face, yet instead of smiling back, she just felt lost. True, she was not ready for marriage and she wanted him in her life, but...

With him taking her hands, her thoughts were put on pause as she listened to him, not even able to smile now. Perhaps she shouldn't have come to the library today. Then again, how was she supposed to know that he'd actually be here? And that this conversation would turn down this road? Turning her gaze elsewhere, she slowly took her hands back, and held them awkwardly behind her back. She'd thought about it before...if this moment would have ever happened...

It wasn't a happily ever after. "I'm sorry..." Her words were quiet and filled with guilt as she looked up at him with saddened hazel eyes. "I...can't. You deserve better Josh."

Yes, maybe he was feeling this bit of happiness after what had felt like a thousand years...however it was until the very moment that he felt her hands leaving his slowly. Eyes widening with...half and surprise and utter disappointment, the Gryffindor looked up at her face. The expression told him...lots of things that he did not want to know. Lots of things that he feared most.

Then he looked down at their hands and hers were not there anymore. 'What's wrong?' he was about to ask yet she spoke before he could and it was like the words had brought darkness to his life. ''What...'' yes, his mind was refusing to understand what she meant by that. ''What do you mean i deserve better? Is there any better than you? Is there? I don't think so and...if there's anyway i don't want her. You know i love you and only you.''

She had to hold back words, especially the part about there being no one better than her, but at least she succeeded in that. She'd tried very hard to be careful around him, and she supposed that guard seemed to have still been up. What he spoke of was very much enough to make her change her mind, and if she didn't already have a small warning bell in her mind, she would have.

Yet, having her mind changed again would just...cause more problems. For her that is, which in turn would cause problems for both of them. Shaking her head slightly, the Slytherin girl took a step away from him, not even trying to keep eye contact anymore. "You'll just have to try."

As every single moment passed, and every move she made like that expression she had, the way she shoke her head and how she stepped back away from him; the fact that the girl had ever loved was...leaving him started to brand itself into his mind and heart and it did hurt even more than the day he was literally branded by that dark wizard.

Automatically and totally out of instinct, his right hand went to his wand and held where her name was engraved. Then he looked down at the floor, trying to accept and swallow in the painful fact. He wanted to be able to hug her again, kiss her again and tell her how much he loved her again. But...those just seemed to be impossible to him right now.

''You know i cannot try that.'' he said with a voice that threatened to tremble. ''But...i already promised that i'd take whatever you'd be happy with. If...if that's what you want and what will make you happy...then...'' he looked down even more trying to hide the tears that showed up. ''...then...i have nothing to do. But...why? Can you please tell me why? What did i do wrong?''

Taking a deep breath, in just a few short moments, she promised herself that she would not show so much emotion. It would in fact, make this harder than it was if she did so. Forcing away what would have been unshed tears, Evelyn stared up at him with what she hoped to be a neutral expression. She knew that wasn't entirely the case though, and perhaps a bit of overwhelmed sadness had snuck it's way up to show in her eyes, but there wasn't anything she could do about that.

Crossing her arms in a rather awkward manner, seeing as she didn't know what else to do with them, there may have been a slip of a smile appear on her lips as she shook her head at his question. "You didn't do anything wrong." she muttered, having to tear her gaze away so she could talk. No. No she HAD to look at him. "You know, I bet any other girl would have said yes." A larger smile appeared, but not by much from what was already there. It was gone as quick as it came anyhow.

Opening her mouth to say something else, Evelyn hesitated and shut it again, deciding what was said was enough. He really hadn't done anything wrong. The whole break up cliché of 'It's not you, it's me' seemed to fit, but that would just sounded awful out loud.