Oooops, had he gone and freaked Cam out?

“Uhhh. Yeah, yeah, m’fine…..” He totally was because the brain freeze was mostly starting to wear off, thank goodness. “It happens every time but I still never learn my lesson…. brain freeze.” Would there ever be a time when he wasn’t completely embarrassing himself? Probably not.

He rubbed at his forehead a bit more, just for good measure and sent a apologetic smile across the table.

“What’s up?”

That was Max talk for ‘How’s it going? Are you having a good summer?’

Uhm, a little, yes, Maxton.

Once he explained, however, Cameron relaxed though, leaning back in his seat again and picking up his spoon. "Oh." He even let out a soft chuckle because now that he knew that Max was in fact alright, it was actually kind of funny. That must have been a REALLY big brain freeze.

Nomming on his ice cream - yes, the three scoops had been a great idea, thank you for sitting out here, Max - Cam gave a sort of one-sided shrug. "Quidditch mostly." He gave the other boy a small smile before focusing on the deliciousness in front of him again. "You?" He hadn't seen him at any of his matches. But Max was...Max. He knew that the other boy wasn't really all that interested in Quidditch.

Ohhhh. Quidditch.

"Cool. That's .... awesome." He didn't really think Quidditch was awesome but knew he should probably at least make an effort. "I hope you've been ... doing well. Y'know, winning and all that good stuff."

Yeah, his Quidditch talk was all kinds of awful. Sorry, Cam.

It was his turn to shrug when Cam returned the question. "I've been stuck kidsitting most of the time." The face he pulled as he said that was proof of how much he'd been enjoying that particular activity. Not. At. All.

Drew had not minded sitting alone. In fact, he had preferred it that way especially when he made spontaneous trips to the Alley alone. It always gave him time to think, to observe and to take notice of what was around him. He dipped his spoon inside his sprinkled dump of ice cream and took a scoop. Yup, he had put a bit too much. But come to think of it, he sort of paid for the toppings too and, because he cared for every coin he had just spent for this dessert, he didn't want all of them to go to waste.

He had taken a spoonful of his heavily sprinkled ice cream when he sensed someone approach him. Drew looked at her, spoon still inside his mouth and he noted the use of French, before biting into the sprinkles and nodding. He was far too awkward to say no, anyway. She did, however, look a bit familiar to him, just like everyone else who lived in the Ravenclaw tower. He may have been hiding behind a book, but he did recognise the usual faces he'd see passing by.

"G-go ahead..." he finally responded after swallowing his ice cream. Drew promptly wiped his mouth with a piece of tissue. He was working on the not-being-awkward aspect. "...D-do you have sssomething in your eye?" Because he had noticed the batting there, and that had to mean something, right?

Yes, Quidditch.

Cameron smiled at the other boy, genuinely appreciating his efforts in engaging with him here. While at the same time clearly not really interested in what they were talking about. "It's been going well, yeah." Thanks for asking, Maxton.

Oh. "Kidsitting? Who?" Had he gotten a new sibling or something? To be honest, Cam didn't know ALL that much about the rest of Max's family, aside from who his parents and sister were.

Max nodded and scooped some more lemondrop ice cream into his gob. He was glad to hear it was going well. Even if Quidditch wasn't entirely his thing or his idea of fun, he still wanted his pals to do well. So that was good. Yep.

He unceremoniously wiped at his mouth, just in case of ice cream dribble, and tilted his head at Cam. "My little brother and sister. Except they're not really that little anymore so it's dumb that I have to look after them. And they're annoying." Understatement of the year. "And they've been even more annoying since...." He trailed off and felt the tips of his ears burn red. Ummmmmm.

Should he tell Cam now? He was gonna find out soon anyway...

Breaking off part of the cake bowl, Cam dunked it into his ice cream before putting it into his mouth. Seriously, such a good choice. He was going to have to remember this combination of bowl and flavors. It was absolutely delicious. Maybe him and Liam could come here some time.

He made a mental note of that.

Anyway, back to Max. "Oh, how old are they?" He could relate to kidsitting but was usually more excited about it than Max seemed to be. As for the unfinished sentence, Cam just looked at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. "Since what?" Had something happened? He wasn't the best at picking up on nonverbal cues but even HE could tell that Max had something on his mind.

Maeve nodded when Emmalyn agreed for Rylee to join them. "Oh it's fine..." The blond gave a small smile. "Well, I guess my dad is alive some place. I have no idea. Honestly, I never met him? It was just me and my mum ... until she had this accident that landed her in St Mungos." She bit her lip. "That was a few years ago now... She's still. Alive. But she needs long-term care. And so I've been living in the Stemp House since ... its this place... i guess an orphanage? And it's good there. But I also ... i guess, this part of me has always known my aunt would come back. I'm just ... terrified about it?" It kind of made her feel different from some of the other kids at the Stemp House.

Of course what she didn't know was that even if she didn't meet her before the train arrived, she'd be seeing her at Hogwarts. So there was really no escaping her aunt.

Which answered Rylee's question about her summer. She sighed. "Enough about me. What about the two of you?"

Uhhhhhhh.

Good question. He had to think about that for a moment. "Alex is eleven and Evie is..... I dunno. Older than six but younger than eleven. I think." Somewhere in that range anyway. Honestly, it wasn't his fault. He had too many siblings, it was tricky keeping track sometimes. No wonder he never remembered birthdays.

"This is probably gonna sound crazy and you have to promise not to laugh, okay?" He didn't give Cam any time to make the promise though, figuring that he wouldn't laugh because Cam was COOL. "...... but I got this letter last week, right? Saying that I was gonna be a prefect."

Okay, you can laugh a little if you want, Cam.

Valencia grinned. "There's things like snakes and monkeys and spiders and scorpions." she said excitedly. "I actually made BINGO cards for my cousins and I to play."

She need to figure out what the prizes where for their little "Spot the Creature" game.

"There's all sorts of flowers there. I could maybe bring some back? I think I could buy seeds or maybe a potted plant at the marker or something." Obviously planned on bringing back more than that as a souvenir, but that would be a nice bonus.

For whoever would like to meet him!
 

Reese looked up as he heard a girl's voice. He regarded her somewhat cooly as he looked her over. Finally gesturing to an empty seat.. " By all means.. Sit.."


He wasn't at all in the mood to socialize, but he wasn't going to make the blonde girl stand awkwardly while there were three perfectly good chairs set around the table he happened to be sitting at. He wasn't a jerk. He just wasn't your typical happy go lucky, looking to make friends, sort of Badger..

" I'm Callum.. call me Cal.. ", he replied before going back to licking his cone.

It hadn't been very long since deciding to start going by his middle name. He wanted to be separate from his sisters.. He didn't want to match and be part of a set.. He was his own person and he had decided this would be the first step in his transformation in becoming an individual.

Reese
 

Dizzy
 

Maeve & Emmalyn! (Noticing Reese & Dizzy!)
 

Rylee had been very quietly enjoying her little bowl of ice cream while listening to Maeve talk. It was a strange feeling to her realizing just now that while she was housemates with Maeve she really didn't know all that much about her. Not anything personal anyhow, not like what she was learning right now. The mention of Stemp House really caught her attention. Had she know that? She knew what it was, Drew lived there. That place was wonderful, such strong caring people opening their hearts and homes to kids and teens that needed them. It actually made her smile a little knowing that her friend sitting across from her was staying there... not for the reasons which landed her there because that was horrible but that she was getting support and love while being there.

Not wanting to keep the mood sad as she could tell how much it was hurting her feel Gryffindor she offered a soft smile. "Like Emmalyn already said... I'll be happy to go with you too if you like. When you meet your aunt and all that." Friends always stuck together especially in troubling times and Rylee never let a friend down.

"My summers going okay. Doing the same things I always do." Trying to prepare herself for hopefully keeping a spot on the Quidditch team, practicing violin, dance, tending to her flowers and working on her flower crowns, lots and lots of time with her family and pets. Typical Rylee stuff.

Speaking of family... was that Reese?! There was no missing that head of bright curly ginger hair that was her brothers sitting at a table off to one corner with a girl she didn't recognize. Part of her wanted to get up and go over and say hello but another much louder part of her told her to stay where she was and enjoy time with her friends. Which was what she was going to do. She could always say hi to them after she was finished with her ice cream... which was now melting. Oops.

Ooh, eleven?

Cam perked up at that a little. "Oh, so Alex is coming to Hogwarts this term then?" Presumably. Unless he...or was Alex a she? was going to be homeschooled. It WAS a possibility what with all the craziness piling up at Hogwarts. "It will be my sister's first year in September, too." He added, smiling a little at the thought. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he'd have handled Holly coming to Hogwarts last year but sixth year wouldn't be THAT busy. Hopefully.

Max knew how to build up suspense, did he know? Cam had even stopped eating his ice cream, spoon still in his mouth. Just...WHAT was going on? He nodded when Max asked him not to laugh (what?) but didn't say anything. Until his friend FINALLY told him the news, that is. That's when Cameron pulled the spoon from his mouth and grinned at him. "That's awesome, Max. Congratulations!" He reached over to tap the back of his spoon against Max's hand.

Prefect, wow.

"Chocolate is special. Even when it's not magical." Which is why it was often so magical when it was magical! "Chocolate's inherently magical! They'd probably use it to make wands out of if it didn't melt."

Bad stomach? "Oh. Sorry, Solstice. You can't have any. No...don't give me that face. Not for kittens." With a dramatic sigh, Dizzy turned back to Callum.

He was going to be a second year too! "So...what is Hogwarts like? I've been asking everyone I've met that goes there that." And yet, she really hadn't gotten an actual answer yet.

Holy crups!.. She had more to say to a stranger than he had to say to his family all summer! She just kept on talking and talking.. Inward sigh..


" I know that chocolate is inherently magical.. Everyone knows that in the Magical World.." he replied flatly.


Cal ate nearly the rest of his ice cream cone while she argued with her kitten about her ice cream. But she regained his attention by starting to talk and inquire about Hogwarts.. Oh joy.. A transfer.


" It's the best school for witchcraft and wizardry.. It's a huge enchanted castle.. It's really the best place on Earth..", he said. It was his honest opinion.. There were loads of places to hide yourself away there.

Dizzy narrowed her eyes at the boy. There wasn't reason to be so rude. "Someone stepped of bed with the wrong leg," she muttered to Solstice. Her voice was quieter, but in no way so quiet that Cal couldn't hear, and she seemed perfectly aware of that fact.

Sigh. That's it? That's all she gets? "Why is everyone so absurdly vague about the school?" Because really that didn't tell her at all what it was really like and sounded more like a newspaper ad to get students to enroll. "Guess, I'll just have to see for myself." And then write her friends at Beauxbatons all about it, so whatever secret thing about Hogwarts that made all the students only give the most unhelpful vague answers, would be out and spread acrossing the schools. She returned to eating her ice cream.

Cal heard her loud and clear. His ears were acutely tuned to low volume noises... He'd spent enough time in the woods with his fox, Radar, listening to the sounds of nature. He didn't respond to her comment. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of it bothering him.

" It's hard to describe what Hogwarts is like.. It's full of history and mystery. But it is also the scariest place I've ever been. Strange things happen there and sometimes ya end up havin' to fight for yur life..", he said plainly. It was true.. Just last term he and his sister and other students were injured by grindylows in the Black Lake and there had been an Inferi attack just before the Masquerade Ball and the Prom.. Why was it they were all heading back there again?

Valencia nodded. "Yeah. Of course. I can even make some for us for when we get to school." She could research which animals they would likely run in to. It would be great fun.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Of course I'll take pictures. Lots. You'll see them and it'll be just like you were there." she said happily. It was her goal not to miss anything. She had to take loads of pictures to share with her bestie.