They were supposed to be doing something. She knew it.

...Right?

Looking around, having been zoning out for the past few minutes since she couldn't understand a word the professor was saying, she pretty much figured that people were being paired off for some...thing. Huh. Well, she saw Sierra walk into class didn't she- No. No, she was paired with Cookie Girl. o_O

Hmm. Well... "Hey Simon." she grinned, sitting only...well right next to him. Need a partner? Yes? Too late. He was partners with her now.

Oh, ask a question? That wasn't too bad...except, yeah, she didn't really want to ask something really personal or anything. Surely they didn't have to be though? "We can probably just ask something general, like..." Like what? "Like something to do with Quidditch." It was the first thing that popped into her head. But still, what about Quidditch - or whatever else - should they ask?

"Most likely." Was his response, accompanied with a shrug. They were all growing though, so that didn't mean much. He could already see it, a "T" in his Ancient Runes OWLs. Oh well.

Eino looked at the professor, then back at Helena. "I think he said we were only supposed to interpret one Rune. I suppose we have to wait for further instructions now..." Maybe he was going to have them change partners again? It was likely that Eino had completely understood his instructions to begin with, but at this point it seemed like as long as they were doing something they would be okay.

Marie was so not paying attention to this lesson at all. She had no clue what was going on. All she knew was that they needed a partner for whatever it was they were doing.

Looking around she seen Evelyn already had a partner but Carter was still sitting next to her... without one... but now for long.

"Hey, you're my partner now." She said leaning over and whispering to him. That's right, she wasn't asking him, she was telling him. She wasn't giving him the chance to tell her no. She also wasn't giving Caroline a chance to snatch him up either. She could just go find another partner.

Now hopefully the boy knew what was going on in the class.

Hmm... a one rune reading... (That is what he said right?) That shouldn't be too hard right? Carter was about to turn around and ask Caroline to partner with him... but someone got to him first. He mouthed a 'sorry' to her before turning to Marie.

"Did you really have to whisper that to me?" he asked with a slight glare. She sure had a strange sense of humor.

He shook his bag of runes a little before holding out the bag toward her. "So what's your question?" he asked.

Hopefully she'd been paying attention. If not, Carter planned on explaining it in the teacher's accent. Now that would be funny.

Letting his gaze pass over the classroom to look for an available partner, Simon was looking in the opposite direction when Evelyn said hello causing him to turn around. "Uh hey Evelyn," he greeted back with a polite smile, watching her grin and wondering why it seemed as if she was staring at him for some reason as she remained quiet.

"You wouldn't happen to need a partner would you?" he asked figuring it was worth a shot. It wasn't like they hadn't worked together before...the earlier potions lesson coming to mind and there wouldn't be body parts endangered in class today.

"So...you want to make a wish, erm, question together then?" Kurumi asked blinking in surprise. This certainly was a turn of events! Not that Kurumi minded really. "I rather like that idea." Problem would be them both coming up with something that they could both agree on. Perhaps asking if they would ever be able to understand what this man was saying? Or if Shaw was going to run rampant through the castle with his chainsaw and ruin all the tapestries?

Kurumi looked around at everyone else for a moment.

"Seems like they are doing individual readings," she mused nodding her head to various pairs. "We could...dare to be different though." Or something like that.

Marie rolled her eyes at Carter as he said sorry to Caroline. Pfft... Sorry for what, that they were both too slow to snag each other as a partner before she snagged him.

Did she have to whisper? "Of course I did, I didn't want to disrupt the class now." Okay, so she didn't have to whisper but this was more fun than just blurting out that he was going to be her partner. "And stop glaring at me like that. You could have refused for me to be your partner you know." Yeah right, like she would take no for an answer.

"What's my question for what?" She asked looking at the bag in his hands. "Oh, I get it, you want me to ask why you have a bag of runes in your hands?"

Yeah, she really should have been paying attention instead of daydreaming here.

Uhh...what?!

No, she didn't want to wish, dream, hope, question, etc., etc. anything. She just wanted to get this assignment over and done with as quickly as possible and then get back to her own common room.

"Uhh, I don't know," she answered, looking around the room. "I just want to get it done...whatever it is we have to do."Sierra shrugged. They could do individual readings or whatever type of reading Kurumi was going on about--again, she just wanted to get it done. Whatever it was. "Okay, so, it looks like we start by shaking the bag of runes," she said, gesturing toward the bag Kurumi held. That part she knew.

Oh good, so he did need a partner. Or at least the way he asked that question, she could only assume he needed one. Thank Merlin too. She was afraid she'd have to scare off another student in front of the Professor. Merlin only knew how she would be able to understand him if he decided to yell at her for doing such a thing. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Besides, she already mentally claimed him as being her partner anyhow. "So, you'll be my partner." Just...throwing that out there. So he knew.

"You are all doink vell." He said walking through the tables. "If you are finished, please take ze runes wiz you. Use for homework. You vill do a sree (3) rune readink for yourself and owl to me. Ten points. Due one veek. Sank you."

ooc: HOMEWORK: Do a three rune reading for yourself, the same way as Tristan did in class. First rune is Past, Second is Present and Third is Future. Tell me the runes you drew and interpret them. This homework assignment is due a week from this post and is worth ten points. I will keep this class open for 24 more hours for you to post and then it will close.

Carter stifled a chuckle. He couldn't give Marie the pleasure of knowing he actually thought that was a little funny. "Right. Because I had a choice." he said. He knew as well as she did that it was a statement not a question. And he wasn't really in the mood to have a fight erupt in Mr. Viking's class. He wasn't even in the mood to be in Mr. Viking's class.

"Were you not listening?" he asked. It wasn't very Marie to not pay attention in class. "He said," he began. Then he cleared his throat. "'ze Odin rune, and interpret ze meanink for one anozer, answerink zat question.'" He said doing his best imitation. "So. Ask a question and draw a rune and I'll tell you what it means."

Thank Merlin this class was over. Caroline quickly wrote down the homework assignment. She was ready to get out of here. Between not understanding even half of what the Professor said, and being way passed her breaking point with Marie. Gathering her things she stood up glared at Marie one more time. Ready to get out of here?" She held out her hand to Carter.

Simon nodded as Evelyn admitted she needed a partner and tried to subtly ask if they could work together. "Sounds like a plan," he answered retrieving the bag of runes he had grabbed while looking for a partner in the first place. "So we're to each ask a question of the runes and try to interpret the meaning of the answer that was given," the Gryffindor said figuring that was roughly what the professor was saying.

Between pirate and Norwegian, its getting confusing around school.

About to say something more, he stopped as the professor dismissed class if they were done with the readings. He probably could have gotten away with leaving too but looked at Evelyn as if to ask if she wanted to keep going. "How about you go first?" Simon asked instead handing her the bag.

Kurumi nodded. Yes, shaking the bag was good. Shuffle up the contents and increase the chances of pulling a rune that was not already on top - which had happened to be Fehu at the time she had taken a peek into the bag.

"Alright, so I suppose I draw first then?" she asked not really expecting Sierra to answer her since the she-snake was holding onto the bag. Kurumi thought for a moment, not really sure what to ask other than for the runes to tell her about herself. That was fair game, right?

Closing her eyes, Kurumi stuck her hand in the bag and pulled out a rune. "I think, we are supposed to do the Three Norns Spread," she mused as she looked at her notes, still keeping the rune held tight in her hand. "Which means that the first rune I have drawn should represent...Uror, or Urd, and represents the past..." She slowly revealed the rune in her hand. Oh, well, the shuffling hadn't done much seeing as she had a reversed Fehu in her hands.

Sierra shrugged in a 'that's fine by me' kind of way when Kurumi mentioned drawing first. That just meant that Sierra had to interpret first, but hey, she had to do it anyway so she may as well just get it over with. As Kurumi reached deep into the bag, Sierra reached into her bookbag and pulled out her book. Yeahhh. She'd need that. She wasn't the greatest at interpreting and would probably just have to read right from the book.

Then she paused. "Wait," she said, eying the bag, "I thought you were supposed to ask a question first..." Sierra was terrible at this, but she thought she understood that you were supposed to ask a question and then draw the runes to get your answer.

"I-I did...sort of," she blushed as she reached into the bag again. "Not really a specific question though. More of a request for a general reading about my position in life right now." She smiled at Sierra as she removed the next rune and set it on the table beside the reversed Fehu. "Gebo for the present..." she whispered as she reached in again. "And finally Sowelu for the future."

She set all the runes in a line in front of Sierra and made sure that they were as parallel to each other as could possibly be.

She eyed then runes. Then she eyed Kurumi. Then she eyed the runes again. Oh, Merlin. She flipped open her textbook then eyed the runes as she eyed the textbook. "Alright," she said... Then a few moments passed and that was all she'd said. "Okay, so your past." Sierra was really no good at this. "...was full of greed and burnout, and you lost all your money. Property, too."

She looked at the next rune. "...and right now," she said, looking at the Gebo rune, "you're giving yourself...to yourself...then you're going to share that with your partner." Oh, dear Merlin! This wasn't trying to say Hollingberry was attempting to befriend her, was it?! "For the future, you're going to really powerful, energetic, and...find a career in a shop."

Kurumi blinked several times as Sierra interpreted her runes. The second year seemed a bit frazzled about the task and Kurumi swore that her hair was becoming more frizzy as she buried her nose in her Ancient Runes' textbook.

Her past...green and burnout? Kurumi didn't remember a time where she was greedy, well, minus whenever her mother had made her special brew of cherry blossom tea. Kurumi always had to have the first sip. The had often lost her money on the way to cram school due to bullies stealing it from her. Oh my! Was that it? Were the runes reminding her that her childhood had been full of bullies and people judging her? Glaring at her and making the back of her head burn because of it?

Where had she felt that recently...

Her eyes widened a bit more as Sierra continued. OF COURSE! She had run away from bullies in the past, or never stood up to them. Never attempted to let them get to know her. These runes were telling her it was time to step up and be the better witch. It was time to extend her hand to the person who probably disliked her the most at this point in time. And that person was sitting right across from her.

Kurumi erased the shocked expression from her face and turned it to a pleasant one. She would need to bake cookies for Sierra and have someone deliver them to her in the common room. Perhaps Connor. He had her seemed to get along alright.

"Well, it looks like I should seriously consider looking into a baking career then," she smiled. "Maybe even open up my own shop in Diagon Alley if I can manage. I will need someone to help me taste my creations though." She batted her eyelashes innocently at Sierra for a brief moment before adding the runes back into the bag and shaking it again.

"Your turn."

"Baking career?" Sierra remarked, turning back to Kurumi. "Oh. Right." She'd gotten herself distracted. "The others are only drawing one rune each. I think the homework is to do the three rune spread." ...and here she'd partnered up with Hollingberry to take the easy way out!

Class was being dismissed soon, and neither of them had really gotten a start on their reading. "I tell you what," she said, handing the bag to Kurumi, "let's just do a one rune reading for me, and then I'll start over on you--with a one rune reading." She looked at the bag and asked, "What will the second half of my school year be like?" Simple enough. She reached into the bag and pulled out Ansuz. She placed it on the desktop for Kurumi to see.

"Oh..." Kurumi squeaked checking her notes. She REALLY need to get on that dictionary she had been thinking about making of this man's speech. She was lucky to have figured out that they were even talking about runes in Ancient Runes class to be honest. "Sorry Sierra...I...I have a hard time understanding the professor in this class..."

So much for being on the track of cookie buddies with the Slytherin.

"Ansuz..Ansuz..." Kurumi said as she flipped through her textbook. Did the fact that they were supposed to be drawing for Odin's rune...or something like that...and the fact that Sierra had ACTUALLY drawn his rune mean anything? "You are...seeking information on something or a way to communicate with a person. If it is a person, and you are seeking their attention, you should just talk to this person and be open. Also..." she checked back with her book for a moment. "...you should seek counsel from your elders, remember wisdom can come through through learning from the experience of others." She looked up again from her book and a nervous smile appear on her lips. "So...you need to learn to communicate more with people..."

Maybe? Possibly?

Sierra would roll her eyes at Kurumi, but this time, she hadn't really understood either. Not until she'd looked around and seen what all the others had done. So she just shrugged it off and looked toward her rune. Communicate with someone? She thought about all the people she knew, and then she tried to pinpoint which one of them she'd want to talk to so badly that she'd drawn a rune about them. Well, she was sort of missing her father. Summer break seemed so far away.

Then she heard the rest of the reading. Oh, well...maybe it wasn't her father the rune was directed to. This person was apparently someone she had a hard time talking to. "Learn to communicate more with people," she repeated, saying that as if all the puzzle pieces suddenly fit together. "Well that's one I've heard a time or two..." She looked toward the bag of runes. "So, you wanna draw another one now?"

"Zat iz not funny." Tristan said deadpan.

One... what part of ONE rune was not clear? He was saving the three rune reading for homework.

"I am not hard to understand!" He said in his thick accent. Merlin... no more teaching.

Feeling relieved that Sierra at least seemed to be satisfied with the reading, Kurumi nodded and reached into the bag again. She jostled around the contents as she began thinking about something to ask. Her conversation with Treyen popping into her head. "Should I discuss my research with my father?" she asked before pulling out a rune and setting it on the table.
Then Kurumi felt something hot breathing down her neck. Merlin! Who let a dragon into the room?

Slowly swiveling her head around, Kurumi saw Mr. Viking glaring at her...again.

She swallowed hard as he spoke and she watched his lips veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery carefully hoping to be able to at least make out the shape of the words he was trying to say. She heard something about 'understand' ... at least that is what she thought she had heard. She wasn't sure seeing as she couldn't get through his accent.

Bowing her head nervously, Kurumi cast her gaze down at his shoes half expecting there to be a pegged leg there. She then looked up at him and smiled before turning back to her rune that lay on the table.

She really needed a dictionary...

Hmmm that was it? Goodness, that sounded like a divination move.

She didn't like divination.

However...it was easy, and they could get it done fast. Especially since class was practically over. Eh! "Alright." Taking the bag, she thought about it for a moment before saying her question. "What...will my summer be like?" Random yet useful question. To her at least. Reaching into the bag, she took out a rune and placed it on the table. Meep!

The Laguz rune.