Standing and staring was happening.

Yep.

Rylee Prichard was indeed standing at the foot of her favorite path along the pathways staring blankly straight ahead at nothing. Or so it may have appeared so to anyone that didn't know this was where she had been last term during the Inferi attack. There was a deep internal battle happening inside her. Part of her wanted to suck up her own fear and head down the pathway as normal but another stronger part wasn't allowing it.

So there she remained for the time being willing herself to either move forward or turn around. Neither of these things happening.

Drew had only started appreciating the nature around him. However, he was still a bit angsty about the pathways and other certain places in Hogwarts. All summer, he had different kinds of nightmares on occasional nights. Whether they were about being choked by an inferius or drowning in the lake while being pulled down by grindylows, it still sent him sweating and shaking whenever he woke up.

Things felt incredibly new to him now with such experience. But, like Nessa said during the summer, he had to live with the fear. The thought was scary, it really was, but he also learned to move on. It was going to be a gradual process.

Passing by the pathways, Drew noticed Rylee simply standing there. Not moving. It was strange. Out of curiosity, he approached her and lightly nudged her arm. What....... was she staring at?

With the unexpected changes that were taking place so far this term, Lex was feeling stressed. She needed some time outdoors after her classes, and so she wandered to the pathways to clear her mind.

She sat down on a bench and took a deep breath, catching the scent of roses. The weather was nice - Not too hot, but not cold either. Lex loved this time of year, and was glad to be spending some time outside. She hoped that this would help ease some of her stress.

With a sigh, she took in the scene around her. Two third-years (Rylee and Drew) were also here. What was the Gryffindor staring at? Lex gave them a friendly (although very tired) smile as she continued to try and relax.

Rylee hadn't moved at all yet. Not even one step. Well okay, that wasn't entirely true. She had tried lifting her foot to move forward but ended up putting her foot back down as she let out a deep sigh. What was wrong with her?! Fear like this wasn't normal for her.

Deeply lost in her own thoughts, Rylee visibly flinched backward, yelping in surprise at the light nudge to her arm. Heart racing in her chest, light blue eyes shifting sideways to land on the cause. Drew. It was Drew. Not an Inferi or anything else dreadfully scary that wanted to cause her harm.

"Drew," she whispered smiling softly at him now. "Are you planning on walking along the path?" If he was she HAD to go with him. In case anything were to happen again. Safety in numbers and all that.

Slowly her attention moved back onto the pathway where a younger girl (Alexis) was now seated on one of the benches. When had she gotten there? Rylee couldn't remember seeing her pass by. Had she really zoned out that badly? The ginger haired third year returned the other girls smile with a small one of her own.

And just in case anyone was wondering... no she still had no intention on moving forward. At least not alone.

That was a little bit unexpected. Drew's eyes widened when Rylee flinched backwards. "I d-didn't mean to... I'm sssorry," he said almost immediately. Perhaps that, right there, was evidence that he wasn't the only one who had to deal with the past horrors of the inferi. He very much understood that. Rylee had been there to face the real reanimated dead. He, on the other hand, wasn't. He had been scurrying his way to his common room then.

Walking along the pathways? He was, for a while, confused by this question. However it didn't take too long for him to stitch the ideas together. The inferi were here. In this very place. It was still a bit terrifying to even think about it. "I... well... I c-can walk with you." He was only aimlessly walking outside anyway, no clear destination in mind. It was one of those rare days where he would actually leave his dormitory.

And then that was when Drew noticed another girl (Alexis) close to them. One he didn't know personally, but he had seen her around the castle at some point. He managed a tiny crooked smile at her though, just to be polite.

Sorry. Sorry. She hadn't meant to surprise him like that but in all truthfulness she had surprised herself as well. The fear ran deeper than she thought. The unexpected had always been something she enjoyed, the thrill of not knowing. Now, well... it was just going to take a little time.

"I-.. don't be. It wasn't your fault." There was noway Drew could have known that she would flinch at his touch like she had. That was something that had never happened before. There also had never been Inferi on this path before either.

Rylee glanced over at him and blinked in surprise. "You-... you would do that?" They took walks together all the time but this, this was different. Maybe it's just wait she needed though. A really good friend to walk beside her and help chase some of those fears away.

She was right, though. The inferi wasn't his fault, or hers, or anyone's. And while that was an unfortunate event that nobody really wanted to talk about anymore, Drew liked to think that nobody alive today was responsible for it. He let himself drop the subject matter on what haunts them, careful not to let any of them remember how traumatizing that night was.

"I-I mean... yes, of course..." He said, reaching out to ruffle his hair a little bit again. It was just a walk, right? There was no harm in that. There were no longer inferi present to attack them. Aside from the daily S.O.R.E. activity, things at Hogwarts were relatively safer now. "We're friends, r-right?" And that's what friends do.

"Ssshall we?" He invited, but Drew wouldn't push if she didn't want to yet.

Rylee smiled softly. The offer was a simple one really. It was only a walk after all. However, it meant a great deal to her. "Of course we're friends." They've been friends since the day they met by the lake in their first year. She trusted him. If he thought they would be safe walking along the pathway than they would.

"Yeah... we can do this. I-I mean... I can do this." It was her that was being the chicken, not him. Letting out a slow breath, tucking a lock of long ginger hair behind her ear, Rylee stepped forward onto the path. Not to fast and not to slow. If Drew was paying attention he would be able to see that she was doing her best to remain at his side keeping in perfect pace with him.

The fear was still there but it wasn't as strong as before when she had been all alone. She could do this.

Anna had just finished one of her longer runs and was now strolling across the Pathways to both catch her breath and just... take some time to admire the autumn leaves. Autumn was one of her favourite seasons and the cool-but-not-freezing air was ideal for a post-run stroll.

She took a deeeeeeeeeep breath and stretched her arms up above her head as she looked around at the plants.

One would think this school had a world winning running team what with all the students jogging across the grounds each day. Vita wondered if perhaps it was the headmaster's way of preparing them for the next disaster to come to this school. Seemed inevitable, didn't it? What with the history and all. A flight versus fight mentality ideally meant less casualties for him to deal with (given the many magically inexperienced witches and wizards under his care) and promoting healthy living looked good to the outside world. It was all very interesting and all very suspicious. It also took the fun out of it for the fifth year, who used to find the solitude of solo morning runs comforting. Didn't feel that way anymore.

She'd stopped nearby the other girl and was stretching some when she noticed her out of the corner of her eye. She was one of those quidditch captains, yes? Not in the same house as Vita, but definitely familiar. Deciding to be brave for once, the older girl cleared her throat and offered a wave of her hand. "Hi."

Haraldur usually moved around the grounds on his broom but the cold of the changing seasons had caused his knee to act up again and for some reason, he thought putting some pressure and actually walking on it would do it some good. So, the groundskeeper was walking the pathways looking... A little troubled. Which he was.

He had a lot of thoughts but had never been great at putting his thoughts into words. He usually just acted on his thoughts and feelings and dealt with the consequences later. As it happened, he couldn't do that with these particular thoughts. But he knew he had to act sometime, the question was just what exactly he was supposed to do?

Yes, Haraldur had a lot of thoughts as he walked with a slight limp across the pathways.

The cold hat hit Hogwarts with a smack along with the changing season as they were now in November and winter was creeping upon them. It did not stop Joshua from taking strolls around the grounds to keep tabs on all the herbal vegetation from trees and flowers to herbs, fruit and vegetables. He wanted to see how the plants changed with the seasons and if he needed to give them some loving care and tending. Sick plants weren’t unusual after all.

Joshua was on this particular day though going for a stroll to clear his head and if possible find some solutions to how he felt about things, mainly the rules Scrimegour had enforced since the start of the year. He didn’t show it publicly when the headmaster was near by but he wasn’t exactly comfortable with some of the rules. He wanted happy and eager to learn students not students that were afraid to speak or sit.

Spotting Haraldur’s bulky and limping figure up ahead in the winding pathways Joshua raised his hand to wave as he called over "Good afternoon Haraldur!" Gesturing to the limp he asked "What has happened with your leg? Have you recently injured it?"

A voice broke through the silence of the pathways and Haraldur looked up and spotted the new Herbology professor. He was still unsure about this one. Honestly, he was unsure about several members of staff at the moment. But he was open to change his mind. He wanted to change his mind. So he gave the young man a small salute as they approached each other.

"Afternoon, Joshua." He greeted and glanced down at his right knee. "Nah, an old injury. Recently took a Bludger to it though so it's acting up again." Same old, same old. Still, not sure if he should have told him or not. The limp was something he usually covered up when any of the new professors were around. "How are you settling in?" He continued instead. "Are the kids being nice to you?" Merlin knew sometimes, they tended to push boundries with new professors just to know how much they could get away with.

At first Joshua wondered if Haraldur was going to return his greeting. He was still getting better acquainted with his colleagues and the groundskeeper was one of them. Even though they lived practically next to each other on the grounds they barely spoke or had their paths cross on a daily basis if you didn’t count meals so he was to be quite honest not sure about the older mans character or views.

Coming to a stop next to Haraldur his eyes dropped to the knee once more as the elder man explained the reason for the limping. Raising his gaze again Joshua offered quietly with a gesture to the knee again. "I can fix you up a healing ointment of herbs if you want for that? I know how old injuries can be right pains. I have a shoulder that tends to act up when it get’s too stiff. I got it smacked by an overly playful tentacula some years ago." Around all plants,but especially the more dangerous you needed to keep vigilant.

Giving off a little sigh as he brushed through his dark hair Joshua responded ponderingly. "The students have given me a nice welcome, but they weren’t slow to starting testing bounderies and my patience too that’s for sure, but that’s to be expected I guess. I’ve understood that my predeccessor professor Myers was well liked and respected so it will take some time for the kids to warm up to me. How long have you been teaching here? Did it take long for the kids to start respecting and liking you too?" The rules that kept getting added probably weren’t helping but Haraldur taught every kids favourite subject and Joshua knew not everyone said that about herbology.

As she stretched, Anna noticed someone else who had stopped nearby and was also stretching. The Gryffindor couldn't decide whether she knew the girl or not, which probably meant she didn't or hopefully she didn't, because it'd be awkward if she did and just didn't remember her.

The fourth year was about to smile and wave herself when the other girl did it first. Ahh, good! A friendly one! Anna was always up for making friends with friendly people. "Hey!" She greeted back with a wave of her own, giving the girl a friendly smile. "Nice time to be outside, isn't it?" She said as she bent over to stretch her back and the back of her legs just in time to brush her hand on a few dry leaves that decided to go flying. "Do you run too?" Anna asked, standing back up and looking at the girl. "I mean, not SORE-running." Because everyone kind of did that now and that wasn't exactly where Anna was trying to get at.

Foster took a casual stroll along the pathways, keeping an eye out for any mischievous behavior, but mostly enjoying the early spring air. The stress level inside the castle had been continuing to mount and he needed to get away to clear his mind.

He glanced to his left and his right, eyeing a few students meandering here and there, but nothing out of sorts appeared to be going on. He kept his steps slow and easy, and a pleasant look on his face in hopes of encouraging someone to tag along.

Gaston meandered aimlessly down the pathways. He took a deep breath, taking in the fresh spring air and the warmth of the sun. It was nice to be outside after so much time spent isolated in his office!

The past month had brought about a change in him. The dark shadows under his eyes and the deathly pallor to his cheeks were even more pronounced than ever, but his eyes no longer held the look of a cornered animal. The sadness and fear he felt had been overshadowed by a dull sense of resignation. His fears had already come to pass, so there was no point in being frightened anymore.

He stopped, standing to one side of the path as he gazed at the castle in the distance. Thoughts of his time spent at Hogwarts flooded his mind, and he almost laughed to himself. If someone had warned him seven years ago that this would happen, he would've laughed in their face! But now... this wasn't the same school and he wasn't the same person as when he started, and an impossible choice lay before him. His graying black hair fell into his face as he shook his head, momentarily distracting him. Merlin's beard! How did we wind up here? he thought to himself.