Hehe.

Adi laughed at Alfie's reply. He liked how the boy always played along with his Batman jokes but now he said in a deeeeep, unamused voice. "You mean well, Alfred but Batman needs his Batmobile and cave to work.'' He put his hands on his waist and stood in his best Dark Knight pose. Gosh, where was his cape when you needed it? "I'll have to teach you the spell.'' He laughed again before breaking free from his character. "Why are you taking your shoe off? Your foot will freeze to popsicle before you know it.'' Was Alfie insaneee?

That was when he noticed the new comer. Kate! Er, was she going to sit ON Alfie? "Look ou-'' Oh goody! She seemed to have noticed the young Puff. And she was playing along with them (or so Adi thought) by calling him Wayne! "Hiiiii, Kate! Ravenclaw common room too toasty for you?" Is that why she was trekking out here today?

Bundled up in her coat and scarf, Lux made the trek to the courtyard. Yeah, she was not really a fan of the cold and snow - especially after the stupid Chorts.

Absentmindedly kicking at the snow, she spotted a familiar face from the corner of her eye. "ADI, HI!" And look there were two other people with him. She didn't know them, but it was always amazing to make new friends. Friends were amazing.

"Hello," she said as she approached them.

Kate had no idea what Wayne was getting at with all this Batman talk. Is this how boys interacted with one another? Weirdos. Not really, but Kate figured a little inner, inside joke wouldn't hurt a soul. At least Wayne started talking about spells, which was something Kate could relate to a little more. She'd ask what they were talking about, but technically, she was just a random person who happened to be sitting on the bench with these people. They didn't even know her.

"So you do remember me," Kate told Wayne with a smile. "I was only here for a year, and then I left and only recently came back. I thought I'd just be like an incoming firstie to everybody all over again." She shrugged. "Not too toasty, no. I'm just trying to get out more."

Then another girl came up, which Kate was thankful for, since it no longer meant she'd be dominated by boys. Wait...she called him Adi. ADI. That was it! Kate had called him Wayne. Awkwardddd. Oh, well. Maybe he didn't notice. "Hey," Kate replied. "I'm Kate."

Sixth years! Girls! Crazy Batman prefect who was capable of making Alfie's life miserable. And then there was Alfie, sitting there with his shoe off and the hole in his sock completely visible to everyone assembled.

"Errrr..." he squeaked and stuffed his shoe back on, "I dunno if the Batmobile is big enough for everyone, Adi..." he looked at the girls, and back at the prefect, then hopped up to his feet and gathered up his measly height to stand "tall" next to the sixth year boy, "But I'm game to learn some spells!"

Alright! Finally he could learn to do something besides turning matchsticks into needles.

Oh, oh manners, "I'm Alfie, by the way," he smiled shyly at Kate and the other sixth year Ravenclaw whom he knew was called Lux, "Alfred Milton, Hufflepuff first year."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Oh, so Mr. Tough Prefect was NOT tough? Perhaps that was something Evie had made up, but Caleb always seemed like the kind of guy who would take down bullies or someone that ticked him off. And maybe he was, but apparently not when it came to Lethifolds. Evie laughed. "Sorry, but I won't be the one protecting you. I'm running." She was good at magic, but when it came to fight-or-flight, she was probably going to lean more towards flight.

And she laughed again at his wink. "Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure everyone over thirteen knows you can't actually issue detention." But at least he had the first and second years fooled and scared.

"Sooooooooooooooooooo... You're friends with Cutty?" It was an assumption. A curious assumption. She was just wanting to know, purely out of curiosity.

"You wouldn't protect me?! After I've been such a good friend to you? Wow. That hurts!" Caleb said, grabbing his chest in feign surprise with a grin. Good thing for him his chances of encountering lethifolds were slim - unless he was in Dakest's class of course. But those weren't real. He just had to get himself to believe it now...

"Um, well, friends is a tricky word," he admitted with a shrug. "I mean, I guess so? He's usually doing weird things and trying to get me to go along with them and sometimes I do, but mostly I just try to talk him out of stuff," he explained. Was that friendship? For him and Cutty it was. It was odd. But he was ok with that...it worked for them.

Yeah sure, of course Ilia did not know what she meant. Leah was not sure why she wanted to hide the fact from her, she thought they were friends. It was not like it was worth the effort anyway, the whole school knew about the relationship between the two Fourth Years, thanks to the Aparecium. Surely the Slytherin knew this.

"It's okay, Ilia, you can tell me about it." Leah said with a grin that did not feel like hers. "I read the article a couple of days ago, can you tell me the full story about what happened at the Black Lake?" She knew Ilia would not reject her request, which was good too, because to be honest? She did not want to know about it at all.

Adi had just finished up addressing Kate when he heard another voice calling his name. He need not even turn to see whom it was. He could recognise that voice ANYWHERE. "Hi, Lux!'' It was much more polite to turn around and ackowledge the person calling for you, right? He started to motion her over but she was already making her way over.

Back to Kate! Adi tilited his head. "Of course I remember you. You were in one of the groups I was in for the Cartographer's meeting last term and I rememeber you laughing at me when I was chasing those spiders in Charms class.'' Good times, good times. "I was wondering where you went!'' Her absence had not gone unnoticed b him. "I thought that maybe you had transferred to another school. Nothing too serious happened, right?'' Nope, Adi wasn't going to pry into Kate's business. She could tell him if everything was okay if she wanted.

"Aflie, you've got a hole in your sock in case you hadn't notices,'' whispered the sixth year. He grinned when the little Puff stood up. Gosh, he was short. Kate had been too but she had gotten a tad taller. "That's not a problem either. I'll teach you the right spells for enlarging the interior of the Mobile but still be able to keep the outside looking just as it always does.'' Alfie would be the master of all spells when Adi was through teaching him. LOL!

"Alfie is my also my trusty Butler,'' he added to Kate and Lux after Alfie had introduced himself. While this was being done, the older Puff had bent down quickly muttered a spell to levitate a small amount of snow from the ground towards the first year.

SMACK!

The snow crashed into Alfie's clothing. SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Toby couldn't help but smile a little at that, however wryly. "I've already taken my Calming Draught for the day," he replied, until suddenly the meaning behind Professor Tanner's words became clearer. His brain seemed to stall suddenly, and he scrambled for something to say, very clearly back-pedalling. "I mean... uh... I mean... what I meant to say is... I'm relaxed. I'm good." He shoved both hands in his pockets and tried that extra bit harder to stay still. To show how totally relaxed he was. Although, Tobias had never quite mastered the art of staying still, so when he tried it he always, without fail, looked anything but relaxed.

He nodded along as the professor spoke, though. Perhaps a little too fervently, as it became his new output. When Tanner placed a hand on his shoulder, Toby looked at her again. He was puzzled at first, but then his expression changed. Aside from realising, again, how obviously... whatever... he was being, it suddenly became clear to him that he might have been giving off some other kind of vibe, of not wanting to talk. The guilt, at that point, was suddenly very strong.

"It's not... not that, Professor," he insisted. "You're not making me anxious. I'm just, ahh... a little distracted. That's all." Part of Toby wanted to very firmly and stubbornly insist that he didn't get anxious, on account of how he was always happy. But recently, whenever he tried that with certain people, he just ended up with a sympathetic look and a smile that told him, for some reason, that they didn't believe him. So, uh... he left that part out.

She looked at him, head tilted slightly to the side, brows raised. She wasn't exactly sure what that comment was supposed to mean, but apparently he was joking. He seemed like he wanted to drop this issue and move on, but she was simply not buying it. So instead, she said flatly, "I don't believe you." Normally she would hesitate to be so blunt with a student, but Tobias could take it.

Tiara cleared her throat, perhaps a little too noisily in the stillness of the gently falling snow. "Is there something going on that you would like to talk about, Tobias?" Clearly there was something going on, that wasn't the question. "You know I'm here to listen if you need me." He had confided in her several times over the course of his education, but she hadn't seen as much of him since Quidditch was out of the picture. Actually, the same could be said for a lot of students. Pushing aside a pang of frustration and pain, she focused solely on the object of her current concern.

Her head swiveled upwards, her eyes taking in the purity of the falling flakes. "The thing I have always admired most about you, Tobias, is your joyful spirit." It was a mindset, an intentional choice to view life positively and have a good attitude. "But you are a human being with more than one feeling. You aren't letting anyone down by showing that." It was okay to be down, even if he wouldn't let himself agree.

The Great Adi, Hufflepuff Prefect and Super Cool Guy (capitalisation was necessary for Adi, in Alfie's mind), was being suuuuper nice and chummy with him, it made the firstie feel special and also, dare he think it... a bit cool.

He was just puffing his chest and looking proud at being referred to as the trusty Butler to Adi's Bruce Wayne, when suddenly, out of nowhere -

"ARRGHHHH!" he yelped and started jumping around, trying to shake the snow off his clothes, "Treachery!" he yelled and dropped to his knees on the snow to frantically form a snowball, which he promptly hauled in Adi's direction, "You'll pay for that!"

Forget being cool. This was WAR.

A glance downward told Kate that the still unknown boy, the one that looked about her age, had a hole in his sock. Awkward thing to happen on a person's first meet, but at least it was a boy. Girls were probably a lot more fussy about things like that. ... Maybe not, though, because he pushed his show back on, and the conversation continued.

Kate wasn't following the whole Batmobile conversation. That sounded like something the boys were totally interested in, but the girls? Nah. Not so much. "Oh, Adi's teaching spells?" she asked, looking from unknown boy to Adi. "And who has a batmobile?" Because that seemed equally important to the conversation. Unknown boy, who was actually Alfie, then introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Alfie," she said. "I'm a second year Ravenclaw. What year are you?" Because he still looked to be close to her age.

"Oh, yeah," Kate said, nodding her head as she turned to Adi. "What ever came of that club? Anything new during the months of school I missed?" There seemed to be waaay too many new things going on since Kate returned. She didn't even know where to start. She was actually wondering if Adi noticed her absence, when he clarified just that very thing. "Actually, yes. My dad contacted this thought-to-be fatal illness, and my mom brought me home to be with him. She homeschooled me, but dad's fine now, and he's fully recovered, so here I am." She actually smiled at the end of that story, because by now, she was sure things were okay with her dad.

"He's your...butler?" Kate asked. Okay, this was getting weird. "What are you guys talking about? Batmobiles and butlers?" Hmm? Then to further confuse her, Adi smacked Alfie with a snowball, and Kate wiggled a little when some sprinkled on to her.

...and then--SNOWBALL FIGHT. "AHHHH!" Kate shrieked, trying to dodge the flying snow. BOYS WERE CRAZY.

Ilia felt like there was a joke that she was missing somehow. What was Leah going on about? Tell her about what? Article? The black lake? What on this little blue marble called earth was she talking about??? " Article?" She asked , her complete confusion as to what the girl was talking about was blatantly apparent both in her voice and expression. "Leah.......what are you talking about? There is an article about the black lake somewhere?" It was a nice enough lake with Mr Bartholomew in it and all..........but what would an article about the lake have to do with her? Especially anything to do with Leah's earlier assumption of her and Henric dating. Today was so odd.....

This conversation going on around her was odd...

Lux stared at the boys, blinking. They made no sense at all. At least she was meeting new people. "I'm Lux," she said with a smile to the boy and girl she wasn't familiar with even though she had seen them around the school. It was always amazing to meet new people.

"Yeah, I have no idea what you guys are talking about," she added in agreement of what Kate had said. How was the First Year a butler?? O_o Trying to work it out in her head, Lux missed the snowball until some of it splattered on her face and her jacket. "Hey, that's not cool." Frown. She was cold and not in the mood to be in a snowball fight even if Alfie had been the target.

"I CAN teach spells to you guys sometime if you want,'' Adi told Alfie and Kate. But right now he was in no mood for that. He kicked gently at some snow around his feet. He wanted to build a fort, man! Kate knew what a Batmobile was! But apparently she and Lux did not know about Alfred Pennyworth. "I've got the Batmobile,'' he told Kate. To Lux too, "Alfred is the name of Batman's Butler,'' he explained. "Since Batman is my favourite Superhero, it's very fitting that Alfie here is my butler.'' BATMAN AND ALFIE TAKING OVER THE WORLD, YO! Couldn't everyone see it with him still standing with his hand on his waist and Alfie now standing beside him? Hehe.

"It's still around. There was one at the Willow recently but I don't know when the next one will be. Well, there's been weird cobwebs popping up around the Castle.'' It didn't sound like much but these webs were different. "I mean, one minute there are none there and then the next, there's a whole lot.'' Had Kate or the other two encountered any of that? Anyway, Adi was really pleased to hear Kate's father was feeling better. He told her this and added, "I like that they decided to send you back to Hogwarts. Studying is more fun with friends.'' Friends were the BEST!
...................

HEHEHE.

Alfie was FUNNY! Of course he was! Firsties were fun in general. Adi laughed and gathered another round of snow, this time using his wand to scoop and direct it at Alfie before he could recover too much. But too late!

SMACK!

Alfie's aim was spot on, covering Adi's face and glasses. DAMN! IT WAS COLD! HE LOVEEEED IT! And right now he was the Snow Monster. He put out his arms in front of him like a zombie. "ARRRRGH! Run for your lives, I'm the SNOW MONSTER!'' LOL! The playful Puffer was enjoying himself as he tried to grab one of his three friends.

Alfie let out a cackle when he saw his snowball smash into Adi's face. As the older boy was going around trying to catch them, Alfie jumped behind Lux, thinking that perhaps Adi wouldn't dare attack a girl. As he stooped behind the stuffy sixth year girl, he considered a plan of attack... a fort would be best.

"Psst," he waved at Kate, "C'mere!" He was going to need an ally to take out the older boy. Also, Kate looked like she'd be up for it.

The older Hufflepuff, the only other girl in the mix, seemed to want nothing to do with the snowball fight that was quickly escalating into a war. Kate paused in her attempts to dodge the flying snow long enough to hear that the girl's name was Lux. That was a name Kate had never heard before. It was different but pretty cool. "Nice to meet you, Lux," she said.

Then Adi cut into the conversation to talk about teaching spells, but Kate didn't want to learn any new spells right. She had class time for that. "Ohh," Kate said, finally figuring out what was going on with the Batmobile. Or...so she thought. "So you guys are playing make-believe?" she asked. She kind of thought they were a little too old for that, especially the prefect, but to each his own.

"Weird cobwebs?" she commented. "That's...well, weird." Kate found herself glancing down at her feet and in the corner of the castle thinking she might see some weird, unexpected cobweb. She didn't, though. "That kind of makes me nervous." Kate didn't like spiders. Especially LOADS of them. She smiled when he mentioned that studying was better with friends. She was glad she was back, too, but there was no time to reflect on that.

...because Alfie was gesturing for her to come closer and Adi was starting to take this snowball war really seriously! "Yeees?" she asked Alfie. YOU HAVE A PLAN?

Toby remained quiet, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve again. He couldn't say he expected for Professor Tanner to flat out say she didn't believe him. He thought about commenting that nobody else ever did either, which was true. It was just that most people always dropped the subject, either because they were scared of breaking him, or because they knew how stubborn he could be. But Toby always knew. He said nothing and let Tanner keep speaking.

He was having a silent debate with himself about talking vs. denying anything was wrong, the latter having always been his automatic course of action, when something else the professor said made him look up again. His joyful spirit? She admired it? That alone made his eyes light up again; he'd started to believe that everyone might soon think he wasn't actually like that, and once the doubt had crept in, the anxiety about the matter soon followed. But someone, at least, knew. That gave him hope, even though the rest of what she said didn't quite match up with his own views of himself.

"I'm the happy one, though, Professor. That's me, y'know? It's always been me," he kept his voice lowered, because the atmosphere of the snowy courtyard called for it, but also because they were breaching territory about feelings and stuff that Tobias very rarely said out loud to anyone. But Tanner had been around since... forever. Second year, right? And for some reason, the connection to Quidditch just meant he trusted her with this... stuff. Not that he didn't trust everyone. It was simply different with emotions, because he was incredibly private. But now, he was being honest... up to a point. "I'm not allowed to get sad or whatever. I'm not supposed to. I'm meant to be able to do the whole smiling thing all the time, and I used to be able to, and that was who I was. Always happy, always making people happy." Toby brushed away a snowflake that had caught on his eyelashes, before going on, quieter still. "But something in my head didn't get the memo. I just... I get-..." He bit his lip for a moment, then changed tack, though still being quite honest. "I'm just stressed. NEWTs and stuff going on, all that. I really try to be happier and stuff, and smile. And it just makes me feel worse when I can't. But... I know it's temporary. It's just hard." By this point, his voice was so quiet, that if it weren't so empty out here right now, Toby doubted he'd have been heard. "Usually I'm fine with stress. But... I'm no good at not dealing with it, y'know?" He'd always been ON that. So... it was especially difficult when it threatened to overwhelm him. "That's all it is, Professor. Just... just stress, I think."

Toby finally shut up, looking down at the snowy ground. Now he'd said it out loud, and admitted to someone else that - shocker - he wasn't always happy all the time (really, like it would be much of a surprise to anyone), he couldn't take it all back. It made him feel vulnerable, to say the least, no matter how much he trusted Tanner, and he began chewing at his fingernails again. But it was a big step, even if he didn't see it just yet.

Tiara really wasn't sure that calling him out had been the best move. In fact, soon after she had said it, she was beginning to wish that she hadn't. What with his fiddling with his clothing and his long silence she didn't know how to break.. Usually she was sure of herself, but his attitude was making her unsure. Finally, he broke his silent pondering, and she was relieved by what she heard.

She nodded to indicate she could hear him, because honestly, it was getting hard. "And you still are the happy one, and you can continue to be. Just because you are going through a hard spot in your life certainly does not mean that your entire identity has changed." Though it was natural that some of that would occur at this stage of his life. "I would focus more on your personal wellbeing, Tobias. Labels and roles that others put on you are not always helpful or accurate." She would know: she had always been the tomboy, the gym rat, and similar. But look at her now! A professor! "Besides that, it is severely unhealthy to never have changes in emotions. The highs are meaningless without the lows."

She paused as he talked about stress and examinations. "Know that you're not alone. This pressure you are feeling is a sort of rite of passage in a way." All Hogwarts students went through it, including herself. She brushed a snowflake out of her eyelashes. "And speaking of not alone, have you shared these concerns with anyone else? You do not do yourself any favors by keeping it bottled up inside. Your friends would want to know; they would want to help."

"And chewing your fingers down to stubs will not help either," she joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Smiling, Lux was about to say something to Kate when things suddenly escalated.

More snowballs were being thrown, and there was a First Year hiding behind her. Awww. That was so cute. "Oooh, Batman! That's funny, Adi." Laughing, she bent down and grabbed some snow of her own. Yep, she had changed her mind and decided to participate. "Take that!" she said as she threw it at Adi.

"I've seen the cobwebs too. I wonder what's up with that...the house elves are usually on top of the cleaning." Hopefully nothing was wrong with them. She loved the little house elves.

Kate thought he was playing make believe. Hehe. OKAY, Adi was. "Maybe. But how do you know I haven't got a Batmobile stashed somewhere? Alfie here knows where the Cave is.'' He winked. The Batcave, that is.Yesh, he was such a child but he didn't care. Who wanted to grow up to be a serious person, always carrying the weight of the world on their shoulder? Not him. He'd carry the weight, sure, but that didn't mean he couldn't be carefree and enjoy life.

The sixth year nodded at Lux. "Yep, they are. I don't know what happened. Maybe it's just a spider infestation.'' Or maybe something gigantic was moving about in the Castle but he didn't add that bit. There was no need to scare his friends.
..................

Gosh, the snow was cold, cold, cold! It was making the Puffer's face numb. For good measure he swiped away at most of the powdery substance but left the one covering his spec. MUUUUUCH BETTER! Now to get back into the game! He could hear Alfie murmuring something but he couldn't tell what it was. Adi used this as his guide to turn in Lux's direction.

"I've got you guys now!" Hehe. Where WERE those guys? Cue his hands moving randomly about! How close was he to grabbing one of his friends?

After walking around the castle feeling uninspired by everything, Zeke found himself outdoors in the courtyard. Ahhhhhhhh fresh air, it did wonders for him. Ignoring everyone else in the area, Zeke made a bee-line to a spa bench and lay himself along its length. This was nice.

He lay here for a short moment just looking up and staring at the sky... the dark clouds that rolled overhead. Slipping his hands into his pocket, he felt his piece of parchment and pulled it out to examine it.

It was almost complete - his Charms homework - he only had one more item to go.

It was as he slipped he parchment back into his pocket that he decided now was as good a time as any to get it done. Swinging his legs off the bench, he righted himself to a sitting position and took out his wand. The bench. He was claiming this bench.

Rising from his spot and turning, Zeke aimed at the stone bench and confidently recalled the incantation. "Colovaria." The bench changed to the familiar red he liked so much. Well... that was that done. He placed his wand back in its holster and completed his list.

Laying back down, Zeke continued to gaze at the clouds, until he started to feel the cold, then it was time to head back. He had a hankering for pumpkin pie.

Kate was still huddled next to Alfie waiting for his plan of action, when Lux suddenly picked up a snowball and joined in on the fight. Wait a minute. That meant that Kate was the only one not armed with a snowball and ready for war. Well, Alfie wasn't either, but Alfie also had a plan. Kate had no snowball and no plan. At least Lux hurled her first snowball at Adi, so Kate had time to come up with a few ideas.

Kate heard Lux and Adi talking to her, but it was more important to get a snowball in her hand first. She reached down and scooped up a bit of snow and balled it up. "There were a few cobwebs in class the other day. I can't remember which one," she said. "They should really put out some repellent or something..." There had to be a potion for that sort of thing somewhere.

She glanced toward Adi, and before she even realized what she was doing, she'd hurled the snowball right toward him. "I don't know that you haven't got one somewhere," she said, referring to the Batmobile. "I just assumed you wouldn't have one here at school." Never mind that, though. Adi's hands were thrashing wildly about, and Kate laughed and let out a little girlish scream.

Toby still was the happy one. Yes. Yes he was. And now he heard that said out loud, validated for him, he felt his mood lift up a little bit and was actually quite content to leave it at that. But Tanner kept talking, and Toby kept listening, giving a little nod from time to time as he watched the snowflakes, to show that he was still paying attention and everything.

It was all very bolstering stuff to hear. Though... Toby very privately disagreed about it being unhealthy to not have changes in emotions. He thought it was tooooooooooooootally fine to be happy all the time. He'd lived like that 'til he was about... thirteen, fourteen? And he turned out fine. Aside from the horrific phobia of negative emotions and inability to cope with them when they did appear, and a few other things. Toooootally fine. Totally.

Oop. At that last part, Toby seemed to realise what he was doing and very abruptly stopped. He shoved his hand in his pocket to keep it restrained and then finally grinned at Tanner. It was slightly sheepish, but it was there. "I never even realise I'm doing it," he explained. It was true, though. It was usually a dead giveaway that something was up, and Toby liked to avoid that.

He was still smiling slightly as he went on. "I don't really talk about this stuff to many people, 'cause... y'know." He preferred they thought he was a-okay, like he'd mentioned. "But maybe I will. Can't hurt, right?" Honestly, Toby didn't know if he actually would talk about stuff to anyone else, but it was the right thing to say right now. "And thanks, Professor. For listening and still knowing I'm happy and talking and saying good things." Mostly good things. It helped. He felt... a little better. "I think I'll be back to normal, y'know, after the exams." Just in time to graduate, heh. That was still a happy thought to Toby, but it now occurred to him what he'd be leaving behind. Still... he focused on the bright side, because he could totally do that.

"And... and there's something I've been meaning to say to you." Awkward guilty feelings, hello there.

She was pleased at the upswing his mood seemed to be taking. Whether it was from her words she could not say, but all that mattered was that he was cheering up. "You could try bandages on the tips of your fingers, you would notice biting those. Or perhaps dipping your fingers in something bitter?" That had certainly worked for her when she was young. Her mother had detested the habit.

A slight wind had now begun to swirl around the courtyard, and she pulled the collar of her robes up higher around her neck. "I do know," she replied. "Opening up to Jason was very difficult at first, but much easier after we got a few months of marriage under our belts. Rest assured that no, it cannot hurt." She thought a moment. "Might I suggest either Miss Brown or Mister Adair? They would make excellent confidantes." And being of the right age, they would surely understand his particular pressures. "Personally, I cannot wait to have the old Tobias back!" Her enthusiasm was no doubt palpable and her smile was warm.

What was this? "Then out with it, let's hear it!"

Unable to keep still (of course) Toby took his hand back out of his pocket and inspected his nails while he thought about it. "I could do that," he replied, genuinely considering it, though no doubt he'd forget the situation in about five minutes, only to remember it again a few months down the line. It was how his memory tended to work. Toby vaguely thought about those bandages they made for little muggle kids, with cartoon characters on them. It was probably a stretch to hope that there was a wizarding equivalent with Quidditch designs; magic usually meant that sticking plasters weren't necessary. Such a shame.

... Jason. Did... did Toby knew who that was? He looked up again, blinking in Tanner's general direction. Was that another professor or- OH. Oh, right. Her husband. She had one of those, he remembered now, and his name was Jason. Got it. Toby nodded again, looking thoughtful. "Mhmm. Soph usually knows something's up without me even needing to tell her... so that could work." Soph was also the one who'd always been so upset that Toby wouldn't talk to her about stuff. They'd come pretty far... and then Toby had gone back to not talking about things that bothered him, without even realising he'd done it. It just felt... safer. But maybe he'd try.

Right. Yes. Ahem. Toby turned a little where he stood, all the better to see Professor Tanner, and cleared his throat. He didn't want to say this in hushed tones; it felt almost impolite to do so. "I just wanted to say... I'm real sorry I didn't come see you as much... after you started teaching Arithmancy, I mean. I just missed it so much - flying, I mean - and... yeah..." He'd always associated Tanner with flying and Quidditch (and always would), but thinking about it made him sad, and Toby always always always avoided things that made him sad, but he'd started to realise just how rude that made him. "I'm sorry. I always enjoy chatting with you though, y'know?" So like... nothing personal. Basically. He felt guilty, for sure for sure.