…And for the first time since she’d returned, Marilyn smirked. Evie nicer? Ha! “Yea, you’ve bumped your head if you honestly believe that…” Evelyn was a devious woman and one of the precious few Marilyn held respect for. She had always been a great friend to the blonde…Even when she’d started dating a Gryffindor...Of course, she’d been the first and everyone had followed suit. It became the popular thing for a Slytherin girl to date a Gryffindor boy…

She’d even been nice enough to share her theory…but she’d also seen Evelyn rip lesser boys and girls to shreds. Nicer? Highly unlikely.

Pirates, pirates, pirates…

“Someone’s obviously been having a VINTAGE Pirates of the Caribbean marathon…” She laughed, remembering the muggle movies. They’d starred this actor named Johnny Deep…He definitely been the reason Marilyn had sat through them.

"Well I've honestly bumped my head a few times." Carter said rubbing his head as if it had happened again right then. "I've also had a few broken bones, broken a rib or two, and I've bruised them more times than I can count. And once I was completely knocked out. Marie was convinced I was dead." He stopped talking for a second. How was it that most of his stories still involved Marie? It wasn't like he hadn't done a thing the past two terms. He decided to blame it on the fact that Marie always happened to be around during the pivotal moments in his life.

He started walking again. "She's started talking to some of the younger students... and she's been on the Slytherin quidditch team for the past two terms." he said as if that proved that she was nicer now.

He chuckled. "The randomest things make it from the muggle world into the wizarding world." he said shaking his head slightly in surprise. But that would explain why a lot of the kids in the History of Magic brought up the movie.

Something became obvious to Marilyn...Marie was on Carter's mind a lot. Not that Marilyn didn't love her cousin...because deep down, she was almost positive that she did...but hearing Carter go on and on about her was...

Tough.

Marilyn looked away again and, instead, focused on the grass. She watched the blades sway with the breeze and the flowers dance. It was almost mesmerizing...Her blonde hair was getting tussled and she slowly ran her fingers through it to keep it from tangling. Tangles were the worst...

Awkwardness was setting in again, causing her to blush. "Yea, I remember reading somewhere that those movies were very popular and made a lot of money..."

Eino was nodding while he listened attentively to Sir Toby's woes. Apparently, the house elves had kicked him out of the kitchens, and since he wasn't allowed to dine in the Great Hall, he was a very hungry knight. But that was all interrupted when he heard his name. He looked up and he saw that same Slytherin girl. He had been running into her an awful lot lately, or maybe he had just noticed it lately, or ever since that History of Magic lesson. He didn't know how she knew his name, because they had never spoken to each other. He would know if they had... unless he had forgotten, which wouldn't be surprising.

He gulped as he continued to walk towards her. "Hello..." He said nervously and with his head down. He didn't know how to address her, of course, but seeing as she knew his name he thought it would be rude for him not to know hers so he didn't want to ask. He would just pretend he knew. "Uh, my friend..." He began as he slowly raised his head, but avoided looking at her face. "He's right here." He said gesturing to his left side, but there was no one standing there. He had the urge to nudge Sir Toby and make him leave, but before he could Sir Toby bowed and left. "Oh, he is gone now. He is going on a hunt." Since he could no longer obtain food from the kitchens, he would have to find his own food from now on.

Oh, Merlin. She was still talking to him. Why was she being so friendly to him!? Most people just ignored him. And how did she even know his name!? "Umm, I was just going for a walk... I think." He couldn't think straight, he couldn't even remember why he had come to the grounds. "W-why are you here?" He asked finally looking at her. Her eyes were so-- STOP LOOKING! He looked away. But yeah, why was she here?

Jory was walking along the Pathway observing the peacefulness and the other students when he spotted a young Ravenclaw with a piece of parchment in her hands who looked very familiar.
He suddenly remembered. It was Gwen whom he had met on his first weeks at Hogwarts. He made his way over to her.

"Hi, Gwen," Jory said. "What are you up to?"

Gwen stopped and looked around, thinking if it was worth drawing something from this place. Hmm, maybe… maybe not? She decided to stay around for a while somewhere where you could almost see a bit from the lake. Maybe this drawing will come out quite interesting. Or at least I hope so…

When she was ready to start drawing the sketch, she heard a voice somewhere close to where she was staying. She immediately turned her head in that direction and was surprised to see a first year student coming towards her. I know him!, Gwen thought. He’s J-J-J-something with J….eh…J… ‘Jory!’, she said a bit louder than she had expected, happy that she had remembered his name. Realizing that that may have sounded silly, she grinned and went on talking. What else could I do? ‘Hi! It’s great to see you!’. Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve seen you the last time, the girl finally realized. ‘How have you been?’

Hmm- And what am I up to? ‘Drawing, I think’, she answered quickly, actually willing to listen to him talk, rather than answering to his questions. Soo… ‘What about you?’, she asked.

And once again the conversation had turned to those ridiculous pirates. ...Not that they were ridiculous... he actually like pirates... but he thought that it was slightly ridiculous that that seemed to be the only safe topic.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Can I ask you something...?" he asked slowly. "And I don't need an explanation or anything." he added quickly. "but... how long... before I found out?" He didn't realize how difficult it would be to string those words together. But he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to know. It was a thought that had been nagging at the back of his mind for years.

After all, nobody wanted their first real relationship to be a lie.

Although, he realized in later years that he hadn't been completely surprised by what had happened. He really should have realized long before...

Marilyn was a very captivating person. The first time they met he had a certain almost hunger-like feeling to have her in his life. Perhaps that was why he was so willing to forgive her. Maybe feelings like that never completely go away.

Marilyn sighed...She'd wondered when this question would be asked. She'd actually been surprised that it hadn't been sooner. Her green eyes sought his and could tell this had been eating at his heart for a while.

Thinking back on everything that had happened, the tiny threads of guilt were settling in, once again.

"I told you the first time Rafe ever kissed me." This was tough..."And after he had, he and I had stayed away from each other for the longest time." That had been true...but of course Rafe had eventually caught up with her. "It wasn't no more than a couple of weeks. I told Rafe I wanted to tell you...I didn't like hurting you..."

She remembered vividly crying to Rafe about how hard it was going to be to tell such a sweet guy she'd cheated on him.

There was something else, but Marilyn didn't know if she should accuse at this point. She really didn't think it was her place to say anything...but she had to know. "To be completely honest, I felt like you were...falling out of love with me. I seen the way you and Ella looked at each other..." This was irrelevent, but the blonde needed to say it. "I've never been a jealous person, but being around you two at the same time really hurt my feelings. She was so in love with you..."

As if things weren't awkward enough...Heat was raising in her face and she knew that tell tale blush was back.

Carter rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure whether that news was good or bad... "So there was a time... when it was just us." he said finally. That should have been a relief to him, but it felt far from it. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked... he was fine in his optimistic ignorance. But it had also been his optimistic ignorance that caused him to blame Rafe.

"I've been told I have a problem with that..." he said slowly. Mina had told him that at the beginning of the year - how he had the uncanny ability to give his undivided attention to anyone near him. He'd always thought himself a nice person and able to relate to pretty much everyone. But it turned out that had been more of a curse than a gift. He let his mind wander back to the year that he so often blocked from his memory. Ella had broken up with Nate that year. Her father was also in and out of the hospital. He tried to be there in every possible way for her. "I guess that would explain why my friends hated you..." he said in a small voice. Of course, he'd never noticed at the time. He just thought it was some kind of house rivalry. Or even just the girl equivalent of the stare down that guys do to their girl friend's boyfriends.

He took a few steps forward as if that would help clear his thoughts. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way." he said watching some trees sway in the breeze. Maybe he hadn't been as innocent in this as he once thought he was.

Marilyn was starting to feel the tangible weirdness again. Having this talk with Carter was strange...and relieving all at once. She'd wanted to clear the air between them for so long that...Well, she dreamed about it. "Beyond whatever you may believe, it was just US for a long time."

Now that it was happening, it was leaving her with an almost...empty feeling.

"Ella was always weird around me...and I knew that it was because of her feelings for you. Girls have radar for that kind of thing." She was blushing again...but couldn't stop herself. This was quickly becoming uncomfortable. This was also why she was positive Caroline would never befriend her. She'd be able to tell that the blonde still had feelings for her man.

Needless to say, his new girlfriend was also Slytherin. She'd pick up on Marilyn's feelings immediately. How awkward would that be?

"I don't blame you, Carter. I really don't. Everything that's happened to me has been of my own doing...in some way, I'm sure." The emotions she was feeling were odd ones.

Carter kept nothing but the tree in the line of vision. He figured that would be the easiest way to keep his thoughts straight. He just knew looking over at Marilyn would cause a rush a emotions. He wasn't sure exactly what those emotions may be, but he wasn't willing to risk it.

Plus, he was sure that his brain was already near its exploding point.

"That must... er... come in handy." he said. He couldn't really tell that sort of thing. Maybe if he could it would have prevented...

But it was no use thinking those kinds of thoughts. He was fine. At least, he'd been sure that he was... until he heard how she had been feeling. Yet again his cluelessness when it came to how his girlfriends interpreted his friendships had become a huge problem. Okay, technically it the first time that had happened... but he was just now finding out about it.

At Marilyn's last comment he turned to face her. "At least now I know what happened." he said once again running a hand through his hair. "I guess I've never really made the distinction between a friend... and being too much of one."

And now that he thought about it... he knew he was once again making that same error with Caroline.

Marilyn noticed that now Carter was the one not looking at her...and she couldn't blame him. Things were feeling more strange by the second...

Carter suddenly seemed really down on himself...and Marilyn knew why. "Carter, you have always been friendly, caring, and a kind soul. It's not your fault that it's so...easy...to fall for you." A tell tale blush stained her cheeks, once more, as she said this. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say...

She floundered for a moment...and said the first thing that came to mind. "I broke up with Rafe..."

Well, maybe that wasn't much better...

As something - someone, probably - ran into him, Dallin stumbled a few steps forward. Regaining his balance, he turned around to see a head of blonde hair and hear a French accent.

"Aimée?" He asked when she had finished her apology. He took a few steps toward her. Yep, it was her. "Hey, stranger," he greeted, raising an eyebrow. It had been ages since he'd seen her, and she just said 'hello Dallin.' Eh.

Carter couldn't but turn a shade of bright red as Marilyn laid down the compliments. She had a way of making him feel like he could conquer the world. Even now.

"Thanks." he said finally finding his voice. He noticed she was blushing too. He quickly looked away.

"Oh." he said completely surprised. "I'm... I'm sorry to hear that."

Except he wasn't. At least, most of him wasn't.

Marilyn sighed, running fingers through her blonde locks, again. "Don't be sorry. There are times in our life when we need people to simply be there for us...He wasn't." That's all she'd was going to say on that matter. He'd hurt her...and she was done with it.

Things still seemed a tense between them, however...The air surrounding them was thick with it. And personally, Mariliyn was at a lose of what to say to him. She could see that he was just as uncomfortable as she was..."So.."

Carter nodded. "Yeah..." he said in a distinct tone. Did mean that she instead was turning to him? Or was she just commenting on a past event? Either way, he wasn't sure exactly what to thing. As the conversation went on he seemed to be getting two very different impressions.

Maybe they shouldn't have ended. And maybe she had gotten what she deserved.

He didn't know which thought he was having scared him the most.

"So." he said kicking a bit of dirt.

"I could... err... show you the pirate boat if you'd like." he offered. "We wouldn't have to go know if you're tired of something..." he added quickly feeling nervous all of a sudden.

What was with him today?

Carter was trying to ease the tension...and Marilyn was immediately grateful. Not really knowing what was getting into her, she agreed to go see this...Pirate ship.

On one condition, of course...

"If I start running around, speaking like Jack Sparrow...I will hurt you."

A part of her hoped this was a good idea. She did NOT want to step on anyone's toes, especially Caroline's...The other part? Well, the jury was still out on that one.

Charms HW (P1)
 

Janice went to the pathways, and decided to do her Charms Homework. Maybe, she could Glisseo things like, the, the wood path so anyone won't get splinters in their feet when walking barefooted? She doesn't know.

Just then, she found an un-smooth railing. She took out her wand from her bag and.....
"Glisseo!"
It became smooth.

Jory grinned at Gwen. He wondered why she took so long to acknowledge him. He guessed she didn't remember his name but wad glad she eventually did.

"Yup," he said reaching her side "i haven't seen you for a long time. Well maybe sometimes around classes. I'm great. You? Enjoying your first year?"

Jory looked at the parchment in her hand. "You're an artist!" he exclaimed. He had never met someone who could actually draw and he couldn't draw to save his life.

"I'm just wondering around," he replied.

My first year here? A subject I could be talking about for days without stopping. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ask me that. Anyway… ‘I love it. The castle is great. I started exploring it ever since I got here’, she started saying. And I almost got lost, but why should I tell you that? Hmm? ‘But I don’t think I’ll get to see all of it. Maybe after I finish my… fifth year here?’ And enough with that…

‘Classes are great too. My favorite subject is Potio…’, Gwen started saying, but thought she should shut up, since a lot of students hated it. And most of them feared Lafay. Meh, anyway… ‘… and also History of Magic’, she continued talking. Now, what other important thing could I mention? Hmm- that I love how many people I met here?, she grinned while thinking about that. Neh, I’m really not sociable… And if that would be the biggest problem. Who in the right mind charms someone to float around?, Gwen thought, remembering the time she used spells on William, just because he was annoying and wouldn't stop talking. Yeah, better not mention that. ‘How about you?’, the ravvie finally said, thinking that what she said was enough.

‘Thank you!’, Gwen replied grinning. Artist?!?! Hmm-feels good being told that, the girl thought. ‘Do you draw too?’, she asked. What? I’m just curious…

"Did you get lost?" Jory asked. He had also started exploring. With Ari. But he hadn't seen her in a while. "And I'm sure you'll get to see it all. Or maybe most," he added.

It sounded as if Gwen had started to say Potions. Jory wondered why she stopped suddenly.

"I enjoy it here," Jory said replying to Gwen's question. "I like Charms and Herbology. "And nope. I don't draw. Even if my life depended on it."

He looked around. "Are you planning to draw anything from here?"

‘Lost?’, Gwen puffed. ‘Nooo…’, she started saying as if it was obvious she couldn’t possibly get lost. Finally, she started grinning. ‘Yeah, I did… third floor’, she announced. There, I said it- happy now? Then she listened to him talk. How come I don’t have more Hufflepuff friends? I think you are actually the only huffie I know. Odd…

She grinned when listening to the ‘ even if my life depended on it’ part. ‘Um… I guess. I could draw anything- but I usually get bored of just drawing trees’, the ravvie said. They are just not so interesting. ‘I could draw that part’, she added, showing him the end of this pathway, from where the lake could be seen. ‘But I’m not sure yet’

Viola walked slowly, her bag slung over her shoulder. She'd a pretty good day although she was still lagging behind on her homework. Sigh. And, she still hadn't sent a letter to her parents. They'd probably be really worried about her. She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and continued walking slowly down the pathways.

Breanne walked down the pathways, taking in everything around her. She was new here, but fourteen years old, her magic had only just shown up, to the delight of her parents. Breanne had started showing signs of magic by making all the glass in the house disappear. Her Mum was taking a shower...oh she was not pleased.

She looked around a little more, not knowing what to look for, as her first lessons were tomorrow, she needed to know her way around.

Then she bumped into a girl, a little younger than herself.

"Oh, sorry." Viola mumbled to the girl although it wasn't really her fault. She looked at the girl and smiled. "Are you new here?" Viola had never seen her before. "Oh. I'm Viola, by the way." She introduced herself.

Bree looked up at the girl in front of her "Oh, no, I'm sorry" she said, why was Bree so clumsy, she smile at...Viola. "Yeah, I am. I'm starting lessons tomorrow," she said. "I'm Breanne Rose" She said dreamily. "But you can call me Bree or Rose" She smiled again at the girl.

" Has anyone seen my owl flying around here?" William asked at the Pathways.

Bree looked up as a boy ran down the path asking about his owl. 'Erm, no. Sorry.' She said and after a minute smiled.

" Thanks for telling me" Willaim told the girl. " My name is Willaim Montcenaggio aka William Starr" he introduced himself to her. "Actually, I was looking for someone to talk to me" Willaim explained to her. 'Sorry, did not mean to trick you" Wiliam said to the girl. " Not many boys or girls really talk to me" Willaim sighed. "All because of my ex-girlfriend telling lies about me" Willaim did a little more explaining to the girl.

'It's okay' Bree said. "I'm Breanne Rose Campbell, but you can call me Bree or Rose.' She was a bit suspicious of him, and she was right. "Haha that's funny" She laughed at his tricking, she loved pulling pranks on people. "What did she say?" Bree asked curiously.

"Yes, zat's me," Aimée said, smiling a little guiltily. "Zo.. sorry about zat." Of course she meant the bumping into incident, and she realised she should have expressed more enthusiasm at seeing him after so long. It wasn't that she wasn't glad to see here friend - of course she was, especially since she'd been pretty much AWOL this year - it was just the fact that she was shocked to see him, and felt guilty that she'd nearly knocked him over.

She smiled again as he called her 'stranger', and shook her blonde curls a little. "Long time, no see, huh?" Like, nearly a year. o__O

Sierra tilted her head to the side, trying to get a better look at Eino's face. He was holding it down, for whatever reason, which left Sierra wrinkling her eyebrows in wonder. "Your friend," she said, looking directly to Eino's side. Mmhmm. She saw nobody now, and she'd seen nobody when he'd been talking earlier. "Well, I think he left to hunt before you even realized he was gone. There wasn't even anybody standing next to you when you were talking a few minutes ago." Weirdo friend. Who hunted anyway? "What's he hunting for?" It seemed like an odd thing to do at Hogwarts.

Maybe he was friends with a house elf or something. I mean, somebody had to go and collect the food before it was cooked and served in the Great Hall. She guessed the house elves were the ones who got it all together before it reached the house tables. "Is he a house elf?" she asked. She shrugged it off. Whatever. So as long as she didn't have to waste her time gathering food for the Great Hall, she could care less about hunting and who did it.

"I'm here..." Uhh. Stupid Borr. Stupid assignment. "...for Borr's homework. The first one, I mean." She hadn't even started on the second one. Was Eino going to stick around and watch or something? She hoped not. She'd hoped to touch her toes in the privacy of the pathways. If there was such a thing as having privacy on the grounds of Hogwarts. "Am I keeping you?" she asked. She moved to the side so as to let Eino move along and continue his walk.

" Hello Breanne Rose Campbell or Bree or Rose" William told her. " Would you prefer Bree as Rose had been my girlfreind's name that I broke up with here at HogWarts" Wiliam explained to Bree. " There is so many, I can't remember" William said to Bree.

Bree laughed as he repeated her name. "That would be great thanks" She said smiling at him. "What would you like me to call you?" She asked.

" I like your name Bree" William told her. " You can call me Will or William" he said to Bree. "Have you been to classes?" Willaim asked Bree.

Eino watched as the girl unsuccessfully searched for Sir Toby. At the girl's next remark he shook his head. Sir Toby would never leave a conversation so suddenly and without notice. He was very courteous and always excused himself with a bow, so that wasn't possible. No one other than Eino could see Sir Toby anyway, so he wasn't surprised the Slytherin girl couldn't see him still in the background, walking away.

"I can't be sure," Eino began addressing her next question, "but I do believe he likes boars and doxy eggs." He didn't really know if he would find any boars in the area though, maybe he would have to go as deep as the forbidden forest to find something equally succulent. He liked horse meat too, so hopefully he wouldn't run into any centaurs. Eino turned around, looking a bit worried, but could no longer see Sir Toby. Oh well. "He is not a house-elf, he is a knight." He explained. He didn't even know house-elves hunted, but maybe she knew some who did. But no, Sir Toby was a world renowned, powerful, chivalrous, and courageous knight. Well, at least he was trying to be, but it didn't always seem to work is way.

Borr's homework? Oh, right. Eino had completely forgotten about that, since, you know, it didn't even sound like real homework. "Oh my buttons, haven't completed that yet!" He exclaimed looking more worried than at the thought of Sir Toby slaying centaurs. Hopefully it wasn't due any time soon, because he still had the majority of it to do. "I don't know, d-do you want to keep me?" What an odd thing to ask someone. Was it a finders-keepers type of thing? If that was the case then he wanted to keep someone, too. When she moved aside, he mimicked her and moved to. Was this a game? Did he win?

"So, ummm, which part of the homework are you doing...?" He asked nervously and noticed that for the first time ever he didn't sweat and tremble in her presence, which of course, made him sweat and tremble.

False promises? The boy couldn't have been more embarrassed - a sheepish grin crossed his lips, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I'll try anyway" he mumbled, watching their steps moving forward. They were synced. He liked it.

He smiled softly, watching her pose with a flower in her hair. "You look lovely as ever, Miss Bott" he said, honestly - bowing his head lightly.

Charming? Orlando wanted to snort but he did not want to disagree when he was trying so hard to win forgiveness of the girl, who he had caused distress to. "You are too kind, Miss Bott" he simply said, walking forward. "I am glad to have talked to you, Miss Bott, before you leave"

Ariella walked quickly down the pathways with her evergreen seedling in hand. It was about time she had gotten started on her DADA homework. She wasn't really sure where to plant it, so she decided to choose the pathways.

The fresh spring air filled her nose as she skipped along. The flowers were blooming, the trees were beautiful, and the sky was a beautiful blue. Ariella's eyes scanned the side of the pathway, trying to find an empty spot to plant her tree.

She had to admit that she wasn't too excited about planting a tree. She loved to tend for flowers and bushes, but evergreen trees were so boring and in her opinion - a little bit ugly.

Once she found an empty spot, she bent down onto her knees. Oh great. How was she going to dig a hole?! No way had she forgotten a shovel to garden. She frantically searched through her black bag, but found nothing. But she did find a muggle pencil. Close enough to a shovel, right? Pointing her wand to the strange muggle contraption, she successfully transfigured it into a nice-looking shovel.

Finally, Ariella could begin planting. She dug a large enough hole for her seedling. She stuck the seedling into the dirt and loosened up the soil. Then, she covered it up with leftover dirt. Perfect! She took out her wand. "Aguamenti!" she shouted. A spring of water suddenly appeared. Watering the baby tree, Ariella gazed up at the sky. Yes, it was a beautiful day. The weather was warm, the clouds were puffy, and the birds were singing in the trees.

Once the tree had a nice drink, Ariella packed up her belongings, gazing at the tree once again. She supposed she had better place a tag on her tree so she would be able to identify it. Using a spare piece of parchment and a shoe string, she wrote Ariella's Evergreen on the label and tied it to the tree stump.

Perfect! She looked once more at her newly-planted tree before scampering back off towards the castle.

Bree laughed lightly, 'Thanks, William' She said. 'No, not yet, I've only just started at Hogwarts today.' she admitted. 'I've practically only just discovered my magic, and I'm ready to use it for good and the funny' She laughed, Bree loved pulling pranks, even if first impressions didn't tell you that.

Sorry about running into him? Dallin shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He could handle someone bumping into him; he was a big boy. Plus, people seemed to like to run into him a lot. So he could get over it quickly.

He laughed a bit, still sort of surprised by the fact that he hadn't seen her in ages and suddenly she's here. "Yeah," he agreed with a nod. "Wha - uh, how've you been?" He was going to ask her what she had been doing, but for some reason changed his mind halfway through the question.

For Marilyn <3
 

Samira Spinks moved through the pathways clad in her Slytherin colors, enjoying the nice day. Thank Merlin the cold started to relent, she was starting to become a hermit from lack of being outdoors. Luckily it was starting to warm up, so the Slytherin could go back to experimenting with new styles and and clothes. Her skirt didn't have any pockets, so she settled for shoving her thumbs in her belt so her arms wouldn't just be dangling like dead weight. She continued her walk with her head tilted up, looking at the sun.

Marilyn was coming from the Lake, guitar in case slung over her shoulder. With everything that had happened and what was still to come, the stress was really starting to get to her. Playing her instruments had always helped to ease the Slytherin's mind. Not that many of her housemates knew this about her. In fact, as she was learning quite fast, they hardly knew anything about her.

She continued to make her trek back to the school when she spotted a girl, donning all Slytherin colors. She had brown hair and looked much younger than Marilyn herself.

Underclassmen.

In passing..."I like your shoes."

Shredded Boomsland Skin is found in Polyjuice Potion...Shriveling Skin is found in Shrinking Potion.... Samira's mind was starting to drift off as she listed potions and ingredients in her mind. That was when she heard a feminine voice from beside her.

Samira's head whipped around to the older looking blonde beside her. Hmm...upperclassmen. Samira very much liked talking to those older than her because she found it a good way to enhance her knowledge. Older students obviously knew much more, so she found that by speaking to them it gave her more information for the years to come.

She looked the girl up and down, calculatingly. "Thanks," she said with a cool nod and small smile. "I like your, um, guitar case."

Kristinella <3
 

Marilyn regarded her coolly. A true Slytherin then...There weren't many around anymore...but the blonde decided she could still play this game. The younger ones were always the ones, if from pureblooded families, that were still programmed from years of Pureblood supremacy .

"Thank you. What year are you in?"

"I'm in my second year," Samira answered. "And you?" Samira couldn't remember seeing the older girl around anywhere. Although she was older, Samira wondered why they've never met before.

hmm, should we say this is before other incidents?
 

Renée had never really thought she'd miss finding students around every corner, but at least their distraction from the latest prefect event meant she knew she could take Bowie out for some exercise without much worry about anyone finding them and noticing things. She still hadn't caved and done more than shore up the Disillusionment charm on her pet's tail, and probably never would. It meant she had to constantly be careful, but at least none of the student visitors in her office had apparently noticed anything odd. Plus, she hadn't really spent as much time out in the grounds as she liked this term.

Therefore, she was currently wandering along the pathways, the crup nosing around in the low-lying bushes and other plants when he wasn't sniffing for anything that was intriguing to his little cruppy-mind, and just thinking. She had in fact done a lot of that this term, but there was a lot to think about. Until she heard Bowie dart off again and around a corner, and she brought her attention back with a start. "Not again," she muttered, still not truly concerned. There wasn't a lot of trouble the creature could get into where they currently were, and as she turned the corner she couldn't help but grin as she saw Jared with, now, two animals running around underfoot. "Imagine meeting you here," she said facetiously, moving toward him as she made sure to not disturb the romping pets. At least they could see that in fact Bowie wasn't about to eat anyone, although she never thought that had truly been a question.

Cove was walking around again, bored out of her mind. She had left her camera in the dorm. She actually had her glasses on for once. Her eyes didn't like her contacts today. She sat down a big rock and looked around. This place was so wonderful, like every inch of it was magical, maybe it was. She wasn't really sure, but she would go with it for now.

" You are very welcoe" Willaim told Bree. " Wow, you just started Hogwarts today" William said to Bree surprised. " I am sure you will gt yoru magic down" William explained to Bree. " Have you been to the lake?" Wiliam asked Bree.

William sees Cove." So how did you like Professor Hecates class ?" William asked Cove, It is a wild fianl" William said to Cove. " I did not know yo uwore glases" Willaim told Cove.

Cove looked up as she heard Will's voice. "Oh yeah. It was intersting. Yeah, wild, I guess." She said. Wild was the sport she did, not a final.....but whatever. "Heheh, yeah. I usually wear my contacts, but my eyes didn't like them today." Cove pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She liked it when they slid down a bit. She poked the bridge of her nose when she had her contacts in for no reason. "I've worn them most of my life."

" Ok interesting" William agreed with Cove. "Sorry, your contacts are bothering you today" William said to Cove. " You look nice in your glasses" William smiled. "So have you been swimming at the lake?" Willaim asked Cove.

Marilyn figured she was young. Her attitude screamed young!Slytherin. "I'm a sixth year. Although, I haven't had all of my schooling here." She wouldn't go into too much detail...After all, she didn't really know this girl.

...But she was determined to put her best foot forward.

"So, what's your best class?"

Samira nodded. It was pretty clear the blonde was near her final years of Hogwarts. "That's cool. Did you transfer?" she asked curiously. There were many transfers from Beauxbatons, and some from Durmstrang. Or maybe she was home schooled? Samira shook her head and stopped her inner musings, tuning back into the conversation.

Samira smiled softly when the older girl started making conversation. "My best class would have to be between Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions," she tilted her head thoughtfully. "I'm alright at Charms too. I'm absolute rubbish at Arithmancy, though." She gave a quite laugh, thinking about her abysmal attempts at the class. "Are you any good at Arithmancy?"

Marilyn regarded her closely, her expression closed off. It was somewhat awkward..."My father pulled me out of school for educational purposes." Well, that wasn't a lie, really.

There were some occasions when you were just ashamed to be a part of your family. Unfortunately for Marilyn, it was more often than not.

Arithmancy..."I'm above average, I suppose. My best class has always been Transfiguration. As a secondary, Potions...but that's mainly because I'm not afraid to experiment...As far as worst classes go...Astronomy. I'm awful at reading stars apparently. And I definitely can't predict the future. So, Divination is out as well."

Educational purposes? Samira pondered what this mean for a moment and, not coming up with an answer, decided to drop the topic. If the older girl wasn't going to go into detail, she had no right to pry.

Hm, so she was above average in Arithmancy. Samira kept that in mind, in case she could possibly help Samira in the future. "I'm pretty good at Potions because it's mostly just following directions. If you do what you're told, then the potion should come out okay." It was logic, really. "Oh, yeah, Divination," Samira nodded vigorously, forgetting about her other worst subject. "I suck at Divination. It's an interesting class and all, but I just can't do it.

There was a pause, and suddenly Samira realized something. "I'm sorry," she shook her head in a 'duh' sort of way. "I've been incredibly rude. I don't even know your name."

"I always associate Potions with cooking, which I actually love to do. If you're familiar enough with ingredients and know the ways they can work together, you'd be able to make anything you wanted. The possibilities are endless, really..."

Yes, she got a little maniacal when talking about Potions. Marilyn loved everything about the Potion-making process. It was, in a way, therapeutic for her.

...And then she laughed, reaching out her left hand. "I do apologize. My name is Marilyn Force."

Samira grinned and shook Marilyn's hand. She made sure her handshake was firm, but not too firm. Her father always told her the best way to assess a person is by their handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, Marilyn Force. I'm Samira Spinks."

Samira eyed Marilyn's guitar case with interest. "You play?" It was kind of an obvious answer, since the girl did have the guitar case with her, but it was a good conversation starter, at least.

Charms assignment, post #2
 

Helena wandered around the grounds, wondering where - or on what - she could practice the Glisseo charm. And here she was, walking around the nice pathways. She'd always loved this place, since the sometimes annoying sun was blocked by the trees and...

Trees.

She'll practice the charm on a tree. It wouldn't hurt it, right?

The girl made her way towards the nearest one, and ran her fingers on it, just to have that before and after effect, but she... got a scratch. Ouch. Anyway, she'll survive... eventually. She held her wand towards the tree and said "Glisseo," then touched that part of the tree again.

It was way better now. But she had to turn it back, so she added "Finite Incantatem." Done.

As she walks through the pathways with Rufus, her pygmy puff, Aiden notices Helena does the Charms assignment. Poor tree. She chuckles.

Aiden holds the pygmy puff in one hand as she draws out her wand. The poor little creature looks at her helplessly. "Sorry, Rufus. I promise I'll return you to your original state as soon as possible," she tells the the adorable creature with her normal cold voice.

"Glisseo," mutters Aiden as she points her wand towards the scared little thing. Now it looks like some kind of a stress ball. Aiden knows she should keep her promise and points her wand towards Rufus once again. "Finite Incantatem," mutters Aiden as Rufus returns as a furball state.

Once Verre had pawed at his shoe for several minutes, and come to the conclusion that it could not be squished, chewed or otherwise destroyed, the kitten decided to roll on to its back, paws in the air, in the hopes of being petted. Jared was used to that trick by now, however - it usually ended up with Verre attempting to chew, and refusing to let go, of one of his gloves - which meant he knew better than to be affected by it. "Go and do whatever happy kittens are supposed to do," he said. Which was when Verre seemed to sense Bowie, and vice versa, because the kitten took off at a run and, within seconds, there were two little critters running about and being... little critters in general.

"Do you think I should be worried about the possibility of my kitten being eaten for lunch?" Jared grinned, leaning down to kiss Renée before letting go of her and surveying the two animals, neither of which seemed to be considering the other as a foe or dinner.. yet.

Marilyn shook back appropriately, making sure not to crush the Second year's hand. Samira, as she'd introduced herself, was a spunky girl...and the blonde already liked her.

Adjusting her guitar case, she sat it on the ground carefully. "Yes, I've been playing since I was five years old." She grinned stupidly, thinking back on her rebellious time in learning the instrument. A muggle instrument, at that. "Would you like to see it?"

"Eh, it happens every once in awhile." Cove liked her glasses. "Thanks." she pushed them up again. "Not yet. I will soon though, I need too though." Cove felt horrible not being able to swim.

" WEll, I am sure your cintacts will be good for you in the next couple of days" Willaim told Cove. " You welcome" William smiled. " I will be seimming an a day or two" Willaim said to Cove. " You can always enjoy me if that is your pleasure" William explained to Cove.

"Yeah, by tomorrow it should be okay." Cove said smiling. "It's still a bit cold for me. I'm used to warm weather all the time. I still need to get used to it." She said giggling a bit. Her legs were getting there, but the upper half of her body needed to get there.

Samira smiled and nodded in interest. "That's really cool," commented Samira. "I can play the piano, and the violin, but I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar." Unfortunately, Samira's parents said that a guitar wasn't as "elegant" or "sophisticated" as a "real instrument". Samira scowled at the memory, but then focused her attention back to Marilyn.

Samira's eyes lit up with joy and excitement when the blonde offered to let her see. She grinned broadly. "Yes, please. That would be great!"

" By tomorrow is a good time" Willaim told Cove.You are used to warm weather all the time?" William asked Cove. " I thought California is not warm all the time" William said to Cove." I am used to all weather" Willaim explained to Cove.

Renée couldn't help but laugh a little as the crup and the kitten took off to go play and do whatever it was was in their little heads. They were actually pretty adorable, even though she had a feeling they'd get into mischief if left to their own devices for too long. At least, she knew that was definitely a possibility with Bowie, and she couldn't really say she knew if Jared would be entirely pleased if her crup influenced Verre too much. of course, he was being way too distracting for her to worry too much about it all. It was kind of hard making sure the animals didn't run off when she was being kissed after all. Not to mention it brought back the concern that there would be gossip.

Even so, his question brought a grin to her face. "Does it really look like you need to worry?," she replied once there was the chance. Glancing over, she saw both animals crawling around and jumping through bushes, and another laugh bubbled up. "I'd be more concerned about getting them back to the castle, eventually." Hopefully they'd tire out, which would make things easier.

Marilyn just couldn't help herself. Her guitar was one of the few things in life that made her blissfully happy. She knelt down, undoing the two latches and opening the lid carefully. Inside, held in place by black velvet, was her beautiful instrument.

It'd been a gag gift from her brother when she'd been sorted into Slytherin. Jasper thought it would be amusing if she owned a truly SLYTHERIN guitar. Marilyn had thought he was nuts, but valued the uniqueness of it. No one else in the world owned anything like it.

"It definitely shows off my Slytherin pride, don't you think?" The sarcasm was laced tightly in her voice.

Fee just smiled and nodded at William he was such a reasonable young boy. "I am sure Emma will have some time for you soon",the girl said.Just a few days ago she had met her at the practice pitch.Seemed like Quidditch really took a lot of time. "Ohh why did he send an owl to them?",the blonde asked,"did something happen?"Oh duuude,seriously?Rose didnt seem to be so too mature.Well she was a first year after all.But still spreading rumours was the worst thing you could do."Dont pay any attention to her",the girl patted her friend's shoulder,"she will get over the break up soon."Non the less the third year needed to talk to that girl,there was no way syhe made Willy lose friends.

" I hope so, Emma seems very nice" William told Fee. " Yes, rex sens an owl to them" William said to Fee. " He said everything is goog good with him and August" William smiled." I do not even talk to her anymore, no listen to Rose anymore" Willaim explained to Fee. "Did I tell you that she put spells on me?" William asked Fee. How are you and Hugo doing?" William asked Fee.

Ariella strolled down the pathways with some gardening supplies in hand. She scanned the sides for her tree. Once she spotted it, she got down to business.

She hated this DADA Homework. They really needed a teacher who actually showed up at class and who gave them actual homework. What did tree tending have to do with defending yourself?!

Her seedling was growing a pretty good speed, but the branches were drooping a little bit. With a quick Aguamenti, she watered her tree and added a little more wet soil. Perfect!

"Depends on where you live. I live pretty far south near LA and Beverly Hills. Only like a two hour drive from Sunset." Cove said smiling.

"No," Jared said, as both pets disappeared from sight, at least for a moment - the two had reappeared a second later, chasing what he hoped was just a rolling stone. "But aren't animals supposed to pounce when dinner least expects it?" He couldn't say he was actually concerned about, or even considering, the possibility of Bowie deciding Verre might make a good meal. The little crup's life seemed to revolve around having fun and, considering that the same could be said of Verre, it seemed unlikely that either might think of the other as anything but a playmate.

Renée next remark caused him to grin. "That doesn't sound like much of a problem, considering all I'd have to do to distract that little thing over there -" Verre, of course - "Would be to head back to the castle." He'd accepted that several months ago, however - along with the fact that anything and everything he owned was now in perpetual need of protective magic - which meant the whole being-followed-by-a-kitten thing did not exasperate him any-more, at least not most of the time. His gaze returned from the energetic little pets to Renée, his voice a tad teasing when he spoke again.

"So, are mere Charms professors expected to know what books followed by a question mark, means?"

" Good thing to know if I ever visit California" Willaim told Cove. " So you are really close to hot weather, right?" Willaim asked Cove. " I read about this city SanFrancisco and I bet you it is warm there, too" William said to Cove.

"Well, warm weather mostly." Cove said smiling. "Oh no. San Francisco is not warm. Its freezing during the winter. And even during the summer it's pretty cold. My mom is from there so we go visit her parents a lot."

Samira stood in an excited sort of anticipation as she watched Marilyn take out her guitar. She's never actually seen one up close before. It was more of a Muggle kind of instrument, something her parents didn't approve of. All the more reason to get excited about it, right?

She gasped at what she saw. "Oh my God," Samira stifled her giggles behind her palm. She wasn't laughing at the guitar. It was one of the coolest things she's ever seen. "Marilyn!" She let out another giggle. Why was she so giggly? She hardly ever giggled. Oh, well. She was happy and excited. "This is great! It's...it's perfect for Slytherin," of course she really didn't need to point that out. It was kind of the obvious. Eh, whatever. "Definitely great for Slytherin pride," she said approvingly. "Can you...um...can you play something? Please?"

" Good, waem weather sounds great" William told Cove. " San Francisco is cold and then freezing, wow" William said to Cove. No surfing in San Francisco, right?" Willaim asked Cove.

The Vid I used is closest to my sound. Lol, I didn't have time to record my own...
 

Marilyn smirked, secretly happy that someone was interested in hearing her play. It was always a private passion for her...Not something she generally shared with others.

Motioning her over to a nearby bench, Marilyn sat, carefully pulling out her shiny guitar. She played a few chords before to check the sound...Once the Slytherin was sure, she began to play.

She sang it with ease...even though the lyrics weren't true to her. It was whatever, though...This girl didn't know that.

Samira sat on the bench and leaned in eagerly as she watched Marilyn start to play...

Wow.

That was...

Wow.

Samira Spinks was impressed. And she was not impressed easily. But this, this was something special. Samira envied the way the older girl could play and sing with such ease. Samira herself was talented with music, but she couldn't sing for her life. It always ended up coming out too low or too high or too off tune or key. But Marilyn got the melody perfectly, in Samira's opinion.

When the song was over Samira promptly started clapping. "Well done!"

Renée continued keeping an eye on Bowie and Verre out of the corner of her eye, but even then didn't particularly worry when they'd vanished for a moment. Considering she was fairly certain Jared was vigilant about protecting his kitten at least, and he'd continued speaking to her instead of saying anything about the issue. Plus, they'd returned after not too much time, so she was able to grin at Jared's question as if there hadn't been any pause. "If I wasn't mistaken, it sounds like you're starting to worry, Monsieur Descoteaux," she teased, before pointing out, "Usually animals also can sense when they're about to be dinner." Obviously nothing of the kind was happening with the two currently scampering around their feet.

She laughed at his disregard of her only half-serious concern about getting their pets back to the castle eventually. "Maybe I should be jealous," she drawled mischievously, before sending him a curious smile as he'd continued speaking. Besides, she was getting rather attached to the kitten as well. "That would depend on how familiar they were with the various forms of Divination," she answered cryptically, before grinning again. "Should I be concerned that you're keeping track of my lessons now?" Of course, it seemed they'd never really gotten around to her offer last term of helping him learn more about her subject, but then, there were several distractions.

Marilyn stood, bowing exaggeratedly. "Thank you, thank you." Music was one of the few real joys in her life and it translated instantly in her mood and spirit. "I'm glad you liked it. That's one of my favorite songs to date."

Samira chuckled in amusement. "So do you write your own music? I compose." Or, she liked to in her free time. It was increasingly hard when her parents kept on packing up and shipping themselves to the next most exotic place they could find.

"I have in the past...but stopped. My songs kept getting darker and darker." Marilyn grimaced, thinking about her family once more. "My brother, Jasper, actually plays, as well...We use to have little jam sessions...but not anymore."

Marilyn didn't even know if he was alive...

"Oh." Samira blinked, a little disappointed. Usually songs got darker when someone was going through a tough time. That's what happened with her and her art. "That's too bad." She tried to find something reassuring to say. "But...sometimes playing and composing is a great way to get out your feelings. Like if your feeling...dark...try and write or listen to a bright song. It helps sometimes." Ugh. Congratulations, Samira Spinks. You've just successfully made yourself sound like a total bag of sappiness. Way to go.

Gwen walked along the pathway, hoping she could see something that she could use the spell on. On what could I use Glisseo? On other students, perhaps? That would look awesome! But…nah… maybe I’ll end up loosing points. So…again- on what could I use this charm? Trees? Leaves? Grass? Hmm…

Finally deciding what she should do, the young Ravenclaw pointed her wand at a patch of grass: ‘Glisseo’ Why didn’t it work?!?!? ‘Gliss-SAY-oh!’, she said once again, loud and clear. Then, Gwen started grinning, realizing that the patch looked smooth and slippery. Ha! The charm worked!

Polyjuiced as Jordan Kobe
 

Rose, polyjuiced as Jordan, walked into the Pathways and walked around randomly. Well, this is boring! Rose thought then she realised she'd left her wand at the Treehouse. Oh, bum! Rose thought running off to fetch it.

Bree walked down the path slowly, thinking. She wondered how many friends she's make here. Both Viola and William seemed to have gone now.

Bree was now lonely AND bored.

" Hi, how are you?" William asked Bree. " I have not seen you in a long time" William said to Bree. " Want to go meet t" The Giant Squid" in the lake?" William asked Bree.

"Oh" Bree said as someone came to, hey William" Bree said grinning. "Sure I'd love to" She replied.

Polyjuiced as Sarah- Post 11
 

" My name is Sarah" she introduced herself to the girl. " William told me he would be back in awhile" Sarah said to the girl. " You know young boys, they can be impetous fools" Sarah told the girl. " I can go with you to the lake" Sarah explained to Bree..

OCC: Eh? So it's William polyjuiced as Sarah?? I'll just act like, I know this stuff :P

"Hey Sarah" Bree said, suspiciously, this girl...Sarah, was smirking. Why was she smirking?!? "Okay, haha, got that right. Sure you can." She smiled and sighed, still a little suspicious.

" I am back now" William told Bree. " Sarah told me she thinks you are really nice "Willaim said to Bree. "Sarah needed to get something at the girls dorm" William explained to Bree. " Would you like me to show you a magic trick?" William asked Bree.

Now Bree was getting really confused and suspicious. When William went, Sarah came, when Sarah went, William. Hmm...Bree thinks she knows what's going on. "So William, tell her thank you from me. I guess I could find her myself, wanna come with me?" Bree said smirking. "Ooh, yes please" Bree said, distracted from her other thoughts.

Card Magic Trick- Post 1
 

"Do not worry, I had been polyjuiced for a Potions final" Willaim explaned to Bree. " I will thank Sarah" Willaim said to Bree. " I have these box of cards" William smiled. Take one out of the box, look at it, memorize it, but do not tell me what the caard is at all" William told Bree.

"Aah..I knew that" She laughed shyly. "Okay then..." She picked out a card, looked at it and memorised it. "Now what?" She said smiling at William.

Magic Card Trick- Post 1 Continued
 

" Very funny" William laughed with Bree. " I put it back in the box" William told Bree. "William then pushed up the card and then told Bree, here is your card" William said to her.

"I know, I just soo funny" Bree winked at William and collapsed into laughter.

"Okay, do I tell you whether you picked right or not?" She asked curiously.