The trees had gotten taller.

That was all she got from walking down the pathway, Felix a few steps infront of her taking in everything curiously. This wasn't one of his lazier moments when he wanted to be carried. It was times like this one here, that reminded her how playful he could be when he had a mind for it. At the moment he was being cute enough to have her forget he'd tried eating that one kid's rat earlier. Really though, who left pets that could easily classify as prey on a dining table? Might as well had stuck an 'EAT ME' sign to it's tail.

Then it happened. She took her eyes off him for just a second and he was already trying to get himself lost in the trees, chasing what looked like a horrendously coloured butterfly. Turning off at the next tree, she kept a leisurely pace. He was still within her sight, it wasn't that bad.

Was this the way? It had to be!

Coral rushed ahead of her sister excitedly and then right back to her. OOH! Magical Creatures! It had to be this way! Coral had overheard in the common room that there were pens for all of the creatures and a stable for winged horses and STUDENTS were allowed to go in and take care of things. HOW EXCITING.

EEEEEk.

"It think it's this way!" she tugged her sister's arm and took a turn down the path. Clearly feeling more like herself after the two had been reunited after the sorting hat disaster two of them were separated. Tragically.

MORE TUGGING.

Genevieve had been patrolling along the perimeter checking for security gaps, and when she reached the gate for the second time, she decided to head back toward the castle. All was well and secure and since her legs were tired, she was thirsty, and she rather fancied heading home for the day in another hour or so... rounds were done.

She spotted a familiar (if not larger than expected) figure ahead, and Genevieve hurried to catch up. "Didn't anyone tell you not to be out at night? Or during the day? Or at all? It's so dangerous out right now and no amount of super scary Aurors can keep you safe if you make such bad choices." Poke poke poke.

The afternoon was quiet enough for her to hear most things around her. From what she could hear, the trees were making most of the noise with their leaves rustling, then maybe Felix with his occasional hisses. It was kinda peaceful. You'd never know there was some all powerful coward out their threatening children. Lex continued after the kneazle but stopped after hearing approaching footsteps. Given she wasn't on the path, the person must have needed to have a word with her. In this case she started making a list of people she was hoping it wasn't.

Lex spun around when the steps got loud enough...............

.......

Blink.......

"Vivi?" jdbskdugfisd...jsvdbdiugfiwetf5cf785rt87w.....JGIU SFAETGIWRFGIEUTFWGIDSIFETUIRCTSTYSDTYHFG. At first she thought she might have been seeing things. Like maybe someone slipped something into the food and she was having the first signs (it wouldn't be the first) but then she remembered the theme this year was total bad guy bully and that Aurors were here to help. Right. "Vivi!!" She wrapped her arms around the girl she hadn't seen in ages.

"Can't be so dangerous if he sends threats by owls and targets children. I'd like to pop him one--whoever he is--for ruining Quidditch this year." Given the chance, Lex would have gladly shown the guy how dumb a Gryffindor could be.

"Coral, slow down!" Halyon said, calm but firm. Her sister was clearly back to her usual self. Hallie curled her hair behind her ear and allowed herself to be dragged, scrambling her feet beneath her to keep up with her twin. Coral was clearly excited about a lot of what the school had to offer, but Hallie was still displeased with being here. Of course, it wasn't a shock either way. It was becoming clearer every day that Coral had a better chance of being happy and being popular here than Hallie. Maybe if they'd been put in the same house they'd be on track with each other, but they weren't and Hallie was scared at being at a disadvantage. She was scared of not being needed by her sister and scared of not being able to win catch up to her socially.

The creatures at Hogwarts, of course, were something Hal was extremely relieved to know they would have access too. She was always best at hands-on learning, and if she wanted to work with magical creatures one day, then seeing them up close was a great way to do it. It would be a great stress reliever. And, of course, she was glad to be dragged taken out here to spend time with her sister.

For once, Hallie was clinging to Coral's arm too, and she picked up her pace, skipping a little. "C'mon!" She said, making herself seem a little bit more excited than she really was.

With a small bag full of chocolate frogs in one hand, and in the other a struggling snack trying to hop away into the bushes, Louis skateboarded his way down the pathway. Classes were done for the day and he decided to take his patrolling duties outdoors, as it gave him a chance to practice one of his favourite hobbies.

Mmmmmmm.
The Gryffindor had a content smile on his face as he moved at a leisurely pace, his dark hair moving away from his forehead as the wind blew against him. Skateboarding, chocolate frogs, good weather... Yeah, he had no complaints.

Relaxing in the shade of one of the trees alongside the pathways, Lux closed her eyes and settled herself down for a bit of a nap. There was a nice breeze blowing, and everything smelled like nature; a lovely mixture trees, grass, and flowers was in the air... It was heavenly.

Hearing something moving along the pathway in her direction, the girl opened her eyes again and got to her feet so that she could investigate. Walking over to the path, she was pleasantly surprised to see a certain Prefect on a skateboard.

"Well, what do we have here?" Moving so that she was in front of him, she laughed. "I never knew you could skateboard." She wondered if Bay did as well, though he had never told her about it if he had.

Louis was too distracted finishing off his chocolate frog and looking up at the trees as he rolled past them, to notice the little redhead that had suddenly stepped out in the middle of the pathway. Startled and caught off-guard, the boy made a sharp right on his skateboard, which caused him to lose his balance and fall face-first into the bushes lining the path.

Chocolate frogs flew into the air and hopped away when they hit the grass.

“Ow…” Slowly, the Gryffindor brought himself up, massaging his right side, where he’d landed. There was a nasty scrape on his right forearm but he ignored it. “Lady Lux! I’m sorry— I didn’t see you,” he said apologetically. “Are you alright?” With his left foot, the boy pulled the skateboard back toward him.

Oh, right, she had asked him something before he so very gracefully dove into the bushes head-first. There were still leaves and twigs sticking out of his hair, but he didn't notice.

"Yeah... I decided to bring my skateboard this term and practice after classes," he explained with a small grin.

By the time that Lux realized how dangerous what she had done was, Louis had already faceplanted into the bushes at the side of the path.

Wincing, she quickly made her way over to him, hoping that he was okay. "I'm really sorry, Louis! You are okay, right?" From the looks of it, he had a bad scrape, but surely nothing else was wrong? Sighing, she reached out and pulled some of the leaves and twigs from his hair. "It's my fault, and I'm fine. I wasn't the one who kissed the side of the path."

Feeling guilty, she looked towards her feet. She had caused one of her friends to get hurt, and she felt really bad about that. "I've never ridden a skateboard before," she admitted.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” Louis replied with a smile, even if his right side felt like he had just received a bludger to the ribs. At her following words, he shook his head, though her comment about his sloppy fall caused a laugh to escape his lips. “Hey, c’mon. I won’t have that. I should’ve been paying attention, you had nothing to do with it, alright?” He ruffled her red hair playfully, in an attempt to show her he wasn’t upset or anything.

But Lux’s following confession got Lou’s smile to fade slightly. Suddenly, he seemed oblivious to the pain from the fall.
“Really?” Well, that just won’t do! “Would you like me to teach you?” he asked with an eager grin.

Okay, Louis was saying he was fine, but Lux was still not sure about it. He seemed to have a sore right side, and that scrape was not tiny by any means. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better, Louis?" She was all too aware of the fact that a lot of people were protective of her.

Eyes widening, the prospect of learning how to skateboard almost made her forget about what had just happened. "I would love for you to teach me!" This was so exciting.

“Not at all, it’s the truth,” Lou assured her with an all-too eager nod that kind of gave away the fact that he was telling a big fat lie. He couldn’t help it, though; if he told Lux how bad the fall had really been, she’d probably feel guilty for the rest of the day. And worse - send him to the hospital wing. Ohh no no, he was definitely not going to let that happen. “I’m great, really. Quite wonderful. Actually, I think the fall even helped crack my back. It had been feeling a little stiff…”

After that horrendous fall, Louis was almost certain that Lux would be too scared to try skateboarding. However, she seemed surprisingly excited about the idea. This, in turn, brought the boy an excitement of his own. “Great.” He pushed the skateboard toward Lux with his right foot. “Now, are you left-handed or right-handed?”

It was nice to be wanted, y'know? Like Genevieve didn't always feel like the students were glad to see them, and she KNEW her brother wasn't, so it was very nice to have Lex reacting like this. It was sort of like coming home to Max, although different. Very different.

Lex squeezed the life out of her, and Genevieve returned the favor. Favoritest little Gryffindor of all time, and that included Biter. Not Selina, though, since Selina was a big Gryffindor and not little. "I still want you to be safe. It sucks about Quidditch, but if one of you gets hurt... well, I'd lose my job. You don't want me to lose my job, do you? DO YOU, LEX?" She didn't. Of course not.

"Are you well?"

The way that Louis had answered was way too enthusiastic, so of course Lux was not totally buying into it. Shaking her head in amusement at his insistence that he was fine, she decided to let it go. "Good for you, because otherwise I would send you to the Healer." So if he winced even once, off he went to the hospital ward; he would not be able to refuse a Lady's order.

Wow, he was actually going to teach her how to ride a skateboard. Bouncing up and down on her feet, Lux tried her hardest not to think of how badly she could hurt herself while doing this. If she messed up, it could be her going off to see the Healer instead of Louis. "I'm right handed. Why?" What did that have to do with skateboarding? Curious, she waited for him to explain things more.

Louis tried not to cringe at the word healer. ..Shudder. “Nope. No visits to the Healer for me any time soon,” he decided, shaking his head with a smile. Relief flooded through him as Lux didn’t push the subject.

“Because that determines which side of your body you’ll have better balance with,” the boy explained, positioning the skateboard in front of Lux with his foot. “Go on, place your right foot on the board and leave your left on the floor.”

It never occured to her just how much she missed Vivi's hugs until she was giving her one again. It kinda made it hard to let go but after another moment or three she did. There was a small glance around just to make sure her kneazle was still close enough before turning her attention completely to Vivi again. The kneazle, she saw everyday, Vivi was a rarity.

"That's nonesense. We get hurt every year, it wouldn't be fair to have you lose your job over the inevitable." Seriously. She couldn't remember a term when things didn't go wrong...except maybe the election term but that one was dead boring. "Does that mean you'll be checking in all term???? I mean don't get me wrong, Mo's done a good job of keeping me alive but you've got top shot training." And she was Vivi. Lex's face lit up at the possibility of having a run in with Vivi often during the term, like it used to be when the girl was still here--of course it wouldn't be the same because of her having duties but it was close enough!

She flopped down among the fallen leaves and waited for Vivi to do the same. There was no rush, yeah? "I've been okay. Haven't royally screwed up as Prefect so there's something--Oh and I've gotten to teaching myself silent casting for hexes and curses. Figure I'll work my way up with them." Speaking of...and because after the trip to Peru she felt she was an avid explorer. "When's the last time you saw Vickers? Does he remember he owes me an adventure?"

The Grounds had quickly became Ezra's favorite part of Hogwarts so far--at least now when it was still warm out.

The first year decided that he'd go look at the area that was all wooded up and had pathways in it today and see where they led. Not really anywhere cool actually. The shade was nice though. There were little squirrels and stuff too to chase. After a few minutes of aimless walking and trying to see if there were any big spiders or anything he could look at, the Gryffindor decided to climb one of the trees.

He took his flip-flops off and hid them under some leaves at the tree's trunk and then scampered up the low-limbs and finally after a few minutes sat hidden up in the leaves--bare feet swinging below him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01

The Grounds had quickly became Ezra's favorite part of Hogwarts so far--at least now when it was still warm out.

The first year decided that he'd go look at the area that was all wooded up and had pathways in it today and see where they led. Not really anywhere cool actually. The shade was nice though. There were little squirrels and stuff too to chase. After a few minutes of aimless walking and trying to see if there were any big spiders or anything he could look at, the Gryffindor decided to climb one of the trees.

He took his flip-flops off and hid them under some leaves at the tree's trunk and then scampered up the low-limbs and finally after a few minutes sat hidden up in the leaves--bare feet swinging below him.

Caleb enjoyed the outdoors a lot - he hated winter because he couldn't go outside without freezing to death. Plus it was a good workout, taking walks around the grounds and doing a few cartwheels in the grass if he was feeling particularly whimsical that day. But today he was just taking a stroll, admiring the castle grounds. He had never noticed how beautiful everything was before! Dying of old age tended to make you miss out on that kind of stuff. Plus he wasn't some punk firstie anymore who was just focused on proving he was cool.

He already knew he was cool, he didn't have to prove ANYTHING to anyone!

As he was walking, however, he stumbled upon a pair of...flip flops? Interesting. And they looked like dude flip flops too, not girly ones. Didn't find many guys wearing flip flops around here...he looked around to see who had dropped them, and nearly walked into some feet that were dangling out of a nearby tree. He blinked and took a few steps back before the run in and looked up.

Oh, hello child. What are you doing up there?

"These yours?" he asked, holding up the shoes for the kid to see. "You know you could kill someone, leaving shoes around like that," he scolded him. Someone like HIMSELF. If he had been having a clumsy day, there could have been a serious disaster around here!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Caleb enjoyed the outdoors a lot - he hated winter because he couldn't go outside without freezing to death. Plus it was a good workout, taking walks around the grounds and doing a few cartwheels in the grass if he was feeling particularly whimsical that day. But today he was just taking a stroll, admiring the castle grounds. He had never noticed how beautiful everything was before! Dying of old age tended to make you miss out on that kind of stuff. Plus he wasn't some punk firstie anymore who was just focused on proving he was cool.

He already knew he was cool, he didn't have to prove ANYTHING to anyone!

As he was walking, however, he stumbled upon a pair of...flip flops? Interesting. And they looked like dude flip flops too, not girly ones. Didn't find many guys wearing flip flops around here...he looked around to see who had dropped them, and nearly walked into some feet that were dangling out of a nearby tree. He blinked and took a few steps back before the run in and looked up.

Oh, hello child. What are you doing up there?

"These yours?" he asked, holding up the shoes for the kid to see. "You know you could kill someone, leaving shoes around like that," he scolded him. Someone like HIMSELF. If he had been having a clumsy day, there could have been a serious disaster around here!

HMM? Someone was talking to him?

The little Gryffindor peered down and tried to see who it was but wasn't able to see through the branches very well. It wasn't a Professor that was for sure but the boy sounded young. Instead of getting out of the tree Ezra locked his ankles together and then swung forward and dangled from the tree with the back of his knees.

"Those ARE mine. They're shoes though and wouldn't kill anybody. If I'd wanted to kill someone I'd drop a piano on their head from up here." Or at least pelt them with acorns. DARN he should have done that!

Swing, blink, swing, blink, dangle.

"I mean someone could TRIP over them. I almost did," Caleb informed him. Little monkey man. Was he a Ravenclaw? He TOTALLY screamed Ravenclaw to Caleb. What with the sassy comment about a piano and stuff.

"Are you a first year?" he asked him. Definitely looked like a first year to him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

"I mean someone could TRIP over them. I almost did," Caleb informed him. Little monkey man. Was he a Ravenclaw? He TOTALLY screamed Ravenclaw to Caleb. What with the sassy comment about a piano and stuff.

"Are you a first year?" he asked him. Definitely looked like a first year to him.

Ezra thought that the kid was just trying to be difficult with him. He'd run all over these pathways before getting in the tree and he hadn't TRIPPED and died. He should have been looking where it was he was walking. "I tripped the other day down by the kitchens. I got a bloody lip but didn't die." And he'd even been running.

"Yep, are you?" He didn't think he was because he was bigger and trying to boss him around but he thought it was better than asking WHAT he was.

Mmmm. Lux pointedly watched Louis. "Good, because if I saw you wince even once, that is where you would end up." Smiling sweetly, she was all too aware of how serious he would take her words. Because he would know them to be true.

"Oh, I understand now." Lifting her right foot, she carefully placed it on the board while her left foot remained on the ground. This was going to be so much fun. "If I get good at this, I want to show Bay." Otherwise he would not be allowed to watch; she did not need him to see her getting hurt or embarrassing herself.

Wooooaaaaah there little ones!

Caterina had never been one to walk while reading a book, but she'd gotten so interested that she couldn't seem to stop reading it for a silly thing as walking. Though luckily her ears were working quite fine and the two were rather loud and excitable as they were running off to... well, wherever they were going. She managed to remove herself from their path and not get knocked over in the process, then she snapped her book shut and grinned. "Someone is in a big hurry, hmm? Did you dump tea into Truebridge's lap?" Were they now outlaws? They were rather cute ones if that, she'd smuggle them food for sure.

“No wincing from this Gryffindor. Promise.” ‘Cause Lions were supposed to be all brave and stuff, right? So wincing wasn’t allowed. Especially if it guaranteed a trip to his least favourite place in the entire castle.

Louis watched as Lux carefully placed her foot on the skateboard, which rolled the tiniest bit, ready to continue on riding down the pathway. “I think he’d like that, actually,” he said with a smile as he walked to Lux’s other side and took the girl’s hand. “Hold on tight. Now, push forward with your left foot. But not too hard.” He didn’t want her rolling off too quickly just yet or she’d lose her balance and fall. “I’ve got you, don’t worry.”