Originally Posted by Saraie

Caroline opened her notebook and started drawing flowers on the first page, She mit as well do something while she waited for her friend to come, even if her drawings looked like it came from a five year old to was something to past the time while she waited. She should be there soon.

At that moment she heard a soft voice squeak her name. She turned around to a pile of books, surely the books didn't say her name, or did they? Then Kurumi's head poked out from behind the stack of books. "Hello, Kurumi" How was that girl carrying all those book. They looked like they weighted half of her.

Now it seem like this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought it would be. Errr.... she pulled put her page of her hand drawn flowers and wadded it up. Yeah thinking about that more it was kind of embrarrassing that she drew like someone nearly ten years younger then her. She was just around take a few off the top"Let me get some off the....." The booked landed on the table with a slam, that Caroline figured came from the weight of them. "Nevermind." She grinned. "I suppose we should get started?"

Originally Posted by Destiny

Glaaaaaare.

Really, there was nothing funny about being yelled at by a Prefect. Especially if that Prefect just so happened to be your worst enemy and a raccoon. The girl ate out of trashcans! Who in their right mind would give her that badge? Destiny still needed to go talk to the Healer about that.

"Yes I was yelled at." she mumbled, wanting to reach over and slap that smile off the girl's face. It wasn't funny and she crossed her arms over her chest to show just that. "She said that I only have three days to take Sly to a Professor or she will go and tell on me. So, I guess I have to go to Lafay after all."

Who else knew how to fix her cat?

Originally Posted by Roselyn

Hehe...erm...

Hmm...

Quieting her chuckle once she saw Destiny's glare, Evelyn cleared her throat and slouched a little. C'mon! It was funny. Although, what the prefect apparently said wasn't funny at all. "You're bluffing." she muttered, slowly straightening her posture again as she eyed the girl. The prefect didn't say that. Destiny wouldn't go to Lafay.

Would she?

Originally Posted by Destiny

Huh?

Destiny gave a quick glance around the great hall before uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her cheeks. They didn't feel hot and there was no one around to make her blush, so she had no idea what Evelyn was talking about. "What does the color of my cheeks have to do with this!?" Really, her EX-best friend was just trying to delay this.

This whole going to Lafay thing.

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

"S-S-S-Sorry about the noise," she said as her cheeks flushed and she glanced around the table. It didn't seem like anyone had really noticed, thank Merlin.

Sighing loudly, Kurumi slammed her head gently on the nearest book and rested her arms flat on the table. This.Man.Was.Going.To.Drive.Her.Insane.

Picking her head up only after Caroline had spoken again, Kurumi nodded. "Yes, please..." she half wibbled as she picked up her quill. "What should we call this dictionary? How to Speak Viking?"

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Starving.

That's what she was.

Marie had skipped breakfast this morning and now her stomach was letting her know it wasn't happy about that. Not even looking for any of her friends she just sat in the first empty seat she found and started to load her plate with food. She didn't even go for the fruit this time, just straight for the meat and potatoes... and a large glass of milk.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

It had finally happened.

Mia was an adult. She thought this day would never come. But come it had and she had decided to just spend most of the day on her own, reading the letter she had received that morning over and over again. It had made her smile and it had made her cry but most of all it had made her fall in love with Nikolai even more.

She entered the great hall with the letter still clutched in her hand and her eyes automatically went to the Slytherin table that's where most of her friends were and to her delight she spotted Marie and she made a beeline for her friend.

"Have I told you I have the best boyfriend ever." she stated as she took a seat beside Marie.

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie had just swallowed a bite of chicken and had stuffed some potatoes in her mouth when Mia sat next to her. Good thing they were mashed potatoes, they didn't require chewing, just swallowing... which she quickly did so she could answer her friend.

"I think you may have mentioned it a time or two." She said with a grin. Truth was, Mia seemed to mention it all the time. "So what is your wonderful boyfriend up to these days?" Picking up her glass of milk she took a big drink. Her stomach was starting to feel a little better but it was still hungry so she continued to eat. "You gonna have some lunch or you just gonna sit there with that smile on your face?"

January, 2075

Dear Mia,

I really feel horrible for not being there with you on your birthday. It's not just any birthday either. Your seventeenth is special! Not only does it open many doors and opportunities for you, it brings you that much closer to me. I hope that, even though I am not there with you, you are still celebrating.

Now, I am not the best with giving presents as you should already know, but I just couldn't wait until I saw you to give you something. I thought of a million things that I could get you, but nothing I thought of was good enough for you. You deserve so much and as much as I would love to be able to give you the world, I can not. However, I can give you, in my opinion, the next best thing.

So, attached to this letter is a certificate giving you just that.

I know this isn't much and probably not the best gift to give you for a birthday, but you can't possibly believe that this is the only present, right? You'll just have to wait for the others until you are here with me.

Happy Birthday, Mia!

I hope you are enjoying yourself and I can't wait to see you again. Until then, though, I will have you above my house every night..in a sense.

Anyway. I love you. So much.

Nikolai.

P.S. Pepper says hello.

P.P.S. I'm not sure what your plans are for Spring Break. But I was hoping, maybe, if we are spending it together, we can spend it in Australia. I am actually missing the hot weather.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

Ooops. It looked as though she had interrupted her friends lunch but Marie was just going to have to forgive her because she was just so excited. With a very big smile on her face Mia pushed the letter over to Marie. "Read that and then you will know why he is so great."

And it just showed how much she valued Marie's friendship that she was allowing the girl to read her personal stuff from Nik. Ususally she kept this kind of stuff to herself. At the mention of lunch, Mia shook her head. "Just gonna sit here. Well until you have finished reading the letter."

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Putting her fork down, Marie picked up the parchment Mia slid in front of her. Giving it a quick once over and realizing it was a letter from Nik, she was a bit, no make that a LOT surprised that Mia was going to let her read it. "You sure you want me to read this?" She knew how private her friend was when it came to things with her and Nik.

Glancing over at Mia she grinned at her when she said she was just gonna sit there until Marie was finished reading the letter. Looks like Mia really did want her to read it. So, that's just what she did. Read the letter. That's when it hit her. She had forgotten about her friends birthday. Great, now she was officially the worst friend ever. She had been so wrapped up in her problems with Matty that she totally forgot Mia's seventeenth birthday. Some friend she was.

Handing the letter back to Mia she gave her friend a hug. "You do have the best boyfriend ever Mia. That is the sweetest gift he could ever give you." It seemed the two girls had that in common. Both their boyfriends gave gifts from the heart. Now if only Marie and Matty could get over this issue of telling each other how they really feel about each other then maybe she would be as happy as Mia was.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

Mia didn't bother responding to that. If she didn't want Marie to read the letter she wouldn't have given it to her in the first place. While her friend was reading she grabbed a bowl and started to ladle some soup into it. Vegetable of course.

As Marie gave her a hug, Mia couldn't help but smile again. "I know, right? I have a star named after me. That is pretty epic." She felt tears sting her eyes again. She very rarely cried but that was the best gift she had ever received. She was gonna have to go up to the Astronomy tower later so that she could go and check it out.

Picking up a napkin, Mia quickly wiped her eyes. "So how are things with you and Matthias?"

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie didn't miss the tears in Mia's eyes, only this time she wasn't going to go looking for the person that made her cry. No there would be no punching Nikolai in the nose for this one, even if he was here at school. She knew those were tears of joy in her friends eyes, not tears of saddness. "You deserve to have a star named after you Mia. This is a totally epic birthday gift for you." Now Marie needed to think of a gift for her friend and fast. Good thing it was only lunch time. Maybe she could figure something out before dinner. No, not maybe, she would figure something out. She couldn't let Mia's birthday go by and not do sometihng for her.

When Mia asked how things were with Matty, Marie's happy mood faded. "Things with us are... confusing right now." That was the best way she knew to explain what was going on with them in just one word. They weren't fighting or anything like that. They were just having a hard time telling each other how they really felt. Well she was anyway.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

The tears had finally subsided and Mia gave Marie another big old hug because out of all her friends besides James, she was almost always there when she needed someone to talk to or to just share things with. "I really need to introduce you two." She and Nikolai had been together for almost eighteen months now and he still hadn't met any of her friends. "Thank you Marie. You deserve lots of great things too."

Mia raised her eyebrows slightly and gave Marie a concerned look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Originally Posted by Roselyn

Blushing...

Taking a deep breath, Evelyn lightly placed her wrists on the edge of the table, not really knowing what to do with her hands. She was thinking of doing something? Maybe. Perhaps it was to reach over and smack the girl. Make it REALLY look like she was blushing. "It has everything to do with this."

Yes, everything. She just remembered how much Destiny annoyed her. There was no way she was getting through this lunch meeting alive. Or at least without a detention.

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie gave Mia a big hug back "Yeah, it would be nice to finally meet the man that makes you so happy." She had only been telling Mia for like forever that she wanted to meet him. "Thanks Mia, but I doubt I really deserve great things like you do." Marie was pretty sure she didn't deserve any great things like Mia did. With what she had done to Carter and the way she hurt Matty, and now forgetting Mia's birthday... some friend she was.

Pushing her plate away from her she let out a small sigh. "I did something really stupid Mia and because of my stupidity I hurt Matty really bad. Sure he told me what I did was okay but I seen the hurt in his eyes. I know it wasn't okay, no matter what he said to me." How could it ever be okay to almost tell your boyfriend that you love him and then say something else... especially when he catches the slip of the tongue. "Now things are all awkward and weird with us. I'm afraid to say anything around him for fear that I'll say something stupid again."

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

A small chuckle left her lips. She knew that Marie would say something like that, the girl had been asking her for ages about meeting Nikolai and she had been putting her friend off because she was far too selfish to share her boyfriend's attention at the moment. But it looked as though the time had finally come. She looked at her letter again and smiled. "Well it looks as though I am spending spring break in Australia. Would you like to come as well? Oh and Matty too." She gave Marie a small nudge with her shoulder. "Aww Marie, just because the last six months have been a little chaotic for you doesn't mean you don't deserve good things to happen to you."

Mia suppressed a small smile because she could see how upset Marie was. "It might help me understand a little better if I knew exactly what it was you did that you thought was stupid but Matty did not." Again Mia realised just how great a relationship she had with Nik.

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie's eyes about popped out of her head when Mia invited her and Matty to spend spring break with her... and Nik. "Are you sure about that? I mean you're finally willing to share Nik with your friends?" Well not really share him, but share his attention. "I have to see what Matty has planned but I know I don't have anything planned at that time yet." Hmm, would her birthday be during spring break again? If so this could be an interesting holiday... since everyone would finally be seventeen... Marie being the last of the four of them to become a legal adult.

A little chaotic. Mia thought Marie's life was just a little chaotic? Try a freaking train wreck at times. "Thanks Mia but with my track record I don't see much good happening for me anytime soon." No, just the opposite. It seems like whenever things start going good for Marie that's when everything turns for the worst for her.

Right, it would probably be a good idea if she let Mia know what she was going on about. "The other day Matty and I were talking about him meeting my parents. He was worried about if they would like him or not. I said they were going to love him just like..." she looked down and started to wring her hands together. "I almost said they were gonna love him just like I do, but I changed my mind and instead said just like his aunt and uncle love him." Biting her bottom lip she looked over at Mia. "I was hoping he wouldn't catch my little slip up... but he did." She'll never forget the look of disappointment she seen in his eyes that day. No matter how many times he said it was okay she knows it wasn't.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

The look on Marie's face was priceless and Mia wished that she had a camera on her so that she could capture that look. "Yes...well...let me tell you this is very hard for me. So I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I am making for you." She let out a little giggle and nudged Marie with her shoulder again. "I'm just kidding." Let's hope they can all get on.

Mia gave Marie a somewhat stern look. "Stop being pessimistic. If you keep thinking bad things are going to happen to you then they will." She picked up a goblet and poured some juice into to it and took a small sip. "There are a lot more people in this world who are a lot more worse off than you. Try and remember that and you're problems won't seem so bad." Her friend had the world at her feet. She just didn't know it yet.

She sat quietly and listened while Marie explained her dilemma and she waited for her friend to finish before turning to face the girl fully and give her full attention. "Answer me this. Why are you so afraid to tell Matthias how you feel?"

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie laughed at Mia saying it was a sacrifice for her to let her friends meet Nik. "Oh trust me, I appreciate it. More than you know." Truth was, if Marie was in the same situation as Mia, she wouldn't want to share her time with her boyfriend either. "And don't worry, we won't take up all of your important alone time with him." Heck, Marie and Matty would want their own alone time too.

"I know you're right Mia, sometimes it's just hard for me to think positive when I've had so much negative in my life." But now that she had Matty, he was a definite positive for her. He was always the first thing on her mind when she woke up and the last thing on her mind before going to sleep.

Why was she afraid to tell Matty how she felt? There were lots of reasons but only one that was really stopping her. "Because, what if what I'm feeling isn't really love? I made that mistake once already when I told Finn that I loved him. I don't want to make the same mistake with Matty. I don't want to hurt him even more by telling him I love him only to realize later that I don't. I want to be one hundred percent sure that it is love I'm feeling then next time I tell a guy that I love them." The truth was, she was scared to ever tell any guy she loved them now for fear of it not being true.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

"It's okay. I think we need the practice on how to behave around other people." she joked as she reached for a bread roll and scanned the rest of the table for something to eat. Truth was she and Nik had spent most of their time alone it would probably be good for them to socialise with others.

Mia heaved a small sigh and shook her head slightly. "Oh Marie, you are overthinking this way too much. It's what you feel in here..." she said placing her hand where her heart is..."that counts. I know that sometimes we can caught up in the moment of romance and say things without really meaning them. And there is this fight between your head and your heart because they are each telling you something different." She gave her friend a smile and wrapped her arm around the girl. "But if your heart is the one winning the fight then that is a good indication that you're in love. My advice is to listen to it."

She gave Marie's arm a gentle squeeze before pulling back. "Nothing warms my heart more than telling Nik that I love him. Every chance I get."

Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Now that Marie thought about it, her and Matty really never spent time with other people either. It seems as if they are always doing things on their own. "Well it looks like we'll all get the practice we need then."

Marie, overthink something? Never... well maybe... sometimes. Okay, most of the time. But was her heart the one winning the fight here? After listening to everything Mia was saying she was pretty sure it was her heart that was winning this internal battle she had going on. "You're right Mia, I should just tell him how I feel. I can't let one bad experience ruin what I have now." Not that Finn was a bad experience... just not the one she was in love with.

Looking over at Mia she grinned. "Sorry to dump all this on you on your birthday. Got anything planned for later? We can go cause some trouble if you want." Not that Mia ever caused any trouble. Marie was sure she could somehow corrupt the girl just a little... maybe.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

A small smile spread across her lips when Marie spoke. It seemed that she was right quite a lot. She just hoped that if anything happened between her and Nik and touch wood that it doesn't, that she is able to take her own advice. "Yes you should." Mia's smile broadened even more because she was currently thinking about Nikolai. "Because once you do, your relationship will take on a whole other level and then you'll know what true happiness is like."

Mia waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Its not a problem. That's what friends are for." She took a bite out of her bread roll and thought about Marie's offer. "I would like that actually. It's about time I did something a little...out there." Apparently running away from home wasn't out there enough.

Originally Posted by Destiny

Deeeep breath.

Considering this meeting was Evelyn's idea, she was not making it very easy. Destiny didn't know why she had to go and mention the antlers she put on Poof. It was almost as if her E-best friend knew what was going on between her and Arya and she just wanted to get a reaction from her. Evelyn was working with Raccoon Girl!

Too bad she just found about about this NOW.

Taking another deep breath, she slowly slid her hands off her cheeks and folded her arms across her chest once more. "What is your problem?"

Maybe she needed a drink.