'Aw!' Rose grinned as she saw Alex write Rose in the grass. 'Thanks!' Rose grinned, running into the grass and rolling carefully so it said Alex. 'There, we're even!' Rose chuckled.

Alex smiled and stood up brushing grass of herself. " So did you pick a field for any specific reason." The she noticed in the corner the playground. "....And the playground." Alex laughed running over to the swing.

Rose giggled. 'Um. Yeah. It reminds me of home, this is what our park looked like. It's also where I suffered most of my torment. If this is the exact replica... AH HA! Here's where I was pushed around by a bunch of people, and ended up falling on the ground! You can see the blood!' Rose said excitedly. The exact replica. Nice one... Rose ran oer to another swing and swung happily.

"Koooooooooooooooool!" Alex just kicked her legs around a bit not realy swinging but it amused her.

'I know!' Rose laughed, swinging her legs so she went high up on the swing. Higher and higher. It took her mind off of things. The higher she went. These swings were enchanted to go as high as you wanted. She found it harder to breath as she got higher, but she didn't care.

Alex smiled at Rose going high into the air. She sat tapping a tune on the seat of the swing she was on.

After Caroline had gotten warmed up, cleaned up and all changed she walked up to the room of requirement.Hopefully she could do this, she had talked to Kurumi and she had been able to change the room into a kitchen. So it was at least possible to do.

She walked by the wall three times thinking about what she needed. A kitchen not too big not to little. Maybe one like the one that was in her house. A door slowly appeared and she stepped inside. It was just like the one at home. Good at least she would know where everything was at it her.

She quickly got to work. Getting all of the things she would need, bowls spoons, ingredients. Mixing, Mixing, Mixing Adding more things, mixing. Now that the cheesecake was baking. She could start Kita's speical cake. It really bothered her that Kita had gotten so down in the dumps over losing. And that just wasn't Kita. Caroline didn't like it at all she loved her bubbly crazy, best friend not miss Debbie Downer. She a chocolate cake was on order for her.

Now to get started on that.

"Oh, I see," Zhenya said, following Vashti to the only open space in the room. "What spell is it?" she asked, hoping not to be too nosy.

Her eyes scanned the room, it was quite large in her opinion. She saw a huge arrangement of objects she had never seen before. Wow!

Different timelines. :)
 

Ravenclaws shouldn't be underdogs to Slytherins. "I'm going," Erin said with difficulty. Even though she felt really scared right now, she still followed Sky toward the tunnel, wand lighted up. If something of a monster comes out from here, Sky would be the first one to be eaten. Haha.

Erin hated tunnels. She remembered when her sister Cristina locked the door at the basement while they were playing, she looked for a way out and she found a tunnel leading outside. When she reached the end, Zeke, their dog, merrily greeted her with a bark. She thought he was a monster.

She saw light but it seemed like, it was not the end yet.

"Nerida!" Erin called out. She missed her friend a lot. Yes, they were meeting in here but Erin wanted a different place to hang out. The Room of Requirement was more of a weird and boring place if you're avoiding adventures, just like Erin. But if Nerida wanted in here, then she must not object. All she wanted was some time with her. Anywhere would do, just not in here.

Sky smirked as she started down the tunnel. She knew Erin would follow her. Ravenclaws had a reputation for needing to know anything and everything. Even if it was where a slightly creepy tunnel went. As they got farther down the tunnel, Sky started to smell food. "Hey do you smell that? Smells like we're near the kitchens!" she said. And then her tummy rumbled. Hmm… did she forget to eat?

They're both having this kind of silent treatment wherein they're saying unpleasant things towards each other. Erin felt like, this is ther real relationship of a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw.

Kitchen?! Erin, still disgusted with the twigs her feet keep entangling, she heard Sky say something about food...and kitchen. Focusing on the smell, it was totally roasted beef. Yum! "Sky!" said Erin hugging her friend from the back. When she was with her fourth year friend, Cass, the kitchens was closed to students and now, there was a tunnel leading in that place? They were lucky! She just hoped, no detention for the both of them. "I feel so hungry."

" tou are welcome" William told Alex. " I agree with yay you" William laughed.
Do how do you like this place?" William asked Alex.

I will pussh you" William told Alex. " Now fly like a bird in the air" William said to Alex. William pushed Alex on her swing.

Rose eventually couldn't breath anymore, so slowed down, and rested next to Alex. 'So, how're you?' Rose grinned.

Alex smiled as she slowly went higher going a little bit faster with each push from William. "Thanks." she said just loud enough for William to hear while she was high in the air.

"Im good thanks your lovely self?" she said grinning.

Rose decided obviously this comment was referring to everything outside her Mum's condition and smiled. 'I'm alright, you know, usual, messing around, annoying people, looking after sisters...' Rose grinned sheepishly.

Carter had heard rumors. Oh yes he had.

Caroline was craving cheesecake!

And wherever there was cheesecake there was Carter. Just like right now. He headed to the Room of Requirement and pushed the door open. He knocked on it to let her know he was in the room.

"Need any help?" eating he offered.

Caroline was buslily working stirring away at Kita's cake. She hadn't made anything since christmas when she fixed Christmas dinner for her dad and brother.

She turned when she heard a knock on the door.

"Oh Hey." she smiled. "Mmm Yeah? Pour this in that pan. And no licking the spoon." Because she knew that would be the first thing he'd do After that. She handed over the bowl of batter.

What! No licking the spoon? Carter didn't think this was fair at all.

Not. One. Little. Bit.

What was the fun of cooking if you couldn't enjoy it before anyone else?

But, he didn't voice any of this. Instead he took the bowl and poured it into the pan as instructed.

He was still hopeful that he'd get some kind of food reward out of helping.

" You are welcome" William told Alex. " Are you enjoying yoruself?" William asked Alex.

She notice the disappointment in his face. While maybe she should let him have some.

She watched as he done what he w as told. She picked up a another spoon and used it to smooth out the top of the pan. "Your cheesecake is in the oven. It should almost be ready."

She licked the spoon that was in her hand "So how are you?"

Carter beamed. "Cheesecake?" he repeated instantly perking up. She made him one?!

Wait!

Why did she get to lick her spoon?

Ehh... he was getting a cheesecake. He'd let it slide.

He shrugged at her question. "Alright, I guess. Just... busy." Which was an understatement. He was incredibly busy. "What about you?"

Caroline finished off the last bit that was on her spoon with grin. Yeah she should probably tell him that he could lick the spoon now. So it wouldn't seem like she was teasing him about it licking her spoon.

He was still getting a cheesecake so it wasn't like he wasn't leaving with nothing.

Sighing "Go ahead." yeah she totally gave in. "The same keeping busy. I seem like I actually need to study for NEWTs now. So that and Quidditch practice is consuming my life. I barely have time for anything else. "

Ding!

She jumpped. Dang that timer was loud. "That would be your cheesecake." she nodded and skipped over to the oven and pulled out the cheesecake. Sitting it on the counter to cool. and replaced the newly pan filled cake pan of batter into the oven.

Carter happily started licking the spoon once Caroline gave him the go-ahead. "Are those coming up already?" he asked. He probably needed to get started studying as well. It was a good thing there was no N.E.W.T. requirements for quidditch... otherwise he'd be stressing about the upcoming exams.

"How was your holiday?" he asked. He'd just realized that they hadn't seen each other since getting back to school. In fact... they hadn't seen each other since Caroline's confession.

...which he wasn't about to bring up.

He took a peek at the newly done cheesecake. He was excited to devour that.

"So, who's the cake for?" he asked.

Kurumi slowly made her way towards the Room of Requirement, slowly dragging her feet as she did. She felt...silly wearing her school robes. Wasn't this day supposed to be one where you dressed to impress someone? Kurumi had found her hands trembling as she brushed her long hair. It really wasn't like this day was any different from any other day. After all, the meaning placed on the day was something that greeting card and chocolate companies invented to further their sales, right? Just...any old usual day...

Only, it wasn't. It hadn't been for a while, not since she had spent her first awkward Valentine's Day with Adam. The day that he hadn't even known was Valentine's Day and he had essentially brushed it off like it was no big deal. It had been a big deal to her and he had really let her down.

Tugging on her hair, her smile brightened slightly when she saw Jonathan standing outside where the door would appear looking very nice. Her heart began to race and she held her hands behind her back. She tried to kick up the pace in her step, but her nerves were getting the best of her. "H-Hey!" she squeaked, awkwardly waving at him.

Jonathan was still doing a lot of thinking as he stared blankly on the floor. He still doesn't have a gift. It wouldn't be fair if Kurumi gave him something special and then he would just stare at her and smile. Pretending that he might not know what day it is today would be an even worse idea. So he just have to be honest about it.

GULP.

Then he heard Kurumi's face. Of course, he gave out his smile "Hello." he greeted as he saw her walking near him. Although, Jonathan is a little bit dressed. He should have just wore his robes like she did. Jonathan does over think a lot of things. It's one of his OCD behaviors. Oh well...

He did have a question though. "Why in the Room of Requirement?'" that quite intrigued him.

Kurumi blushed and scooted a little closer to him. She ought to have dressed up. Now she felt so plain in her black robes and Gryffindor tie. Jonathan looked like he had come dressed as if this were a proper date. EEK! That is what it was, wasn't it? Merlin, she had screwed this up already, dressing like it was any other day because she felt more comfortable like this. Was that selfish of her?

"Um...it's the only way I know how to make a piano appear in Hogwarts," she replied with a small smile. She took a small step towards the wall and placed her hand on it.

OHHHHHH right. The piano. "So you weren't kidding when you said that huh?" he teased. He was going to play something for her today and he didn't even thought of practicing or maybe think of a suitable piece for this. Okay, was this day going against him or something. He did know a lot of pieces but right now he just feels like his mind went blank due to the stress and the sleeping late. Jonathan's brain doesn't function accordingly when he sleeps a little.

But this was valentines' day right? He needs to be more positive and optimistic. He put on a smile and stood next to her. Well, she's the one who's going to create the room for them. Jonathan will be surprised to how the Room of Requirement will design this room.

room...minus the windows I guess xD
 

"You did ask me to play for you sometime," she said with a shy smile. However terrible it might come out, but she was still going to play. Probably the piece of music that her mother had written after she was born, it was the only piano piece that she could play with her eyes closed really.

She looked up at him and noticed that he seemed really distracted and nervous. Maybe...it was his OWLs getting to him? Those were right around the corner now, weren't they? "Is, everything alright?" she asked, nervously reaching for his hand. Instead of taking it in her own, the wrapped her pinky finger around his. Hopefully the small gesture would mean something. That, and Kurumi thought that they needed to be touching in order to be able to create the same room. She still wasn't entirely sure how this room worked, but if you thought about it logically it made sense. Maybe.

She closed her eyes for a moment and heard the fibers in the wall shift. When she opened them, a great door stood before her. She glanced up at him before slowly pushing it open and stepping inside.

Merlin. Now she really felt under dressed.

Jonathan smiled. Finally he can hear her play the piano. It was something he has been looking forward to. "Can't wait." he said as he stared at the blank wall in front of them. Well, he's quite excited actually, he hasn't heard anyone play a piano for awhile and it has been quite a long time since he last touched those black and white keys. What was Kurumi going to play today?

He was startled when Kurumi took his hand. He looked at it and held her hand as well. "Nothing's wrong" he smiled as he looked at her. Yeah, everything is fine really. "I just over slept" he laughed softly. With his OWLs coming up and the History of Magic long finals. he's going to be staying up late in the study tables in a while. He should do his best, his father is expecting he'll pass it.

Jonathan has never been inside the Room of Requirement. He doesn't go up the castle on a normal basis. He likes it down at the dungeons. Of course he has heard about the infamous Room of Requirement, but he hasn't actually tried going inside. Looking at the wall creating a door really surprised him.

As they walked inside, Jonathan looked amazed. WHOAH! Better than he had expected actually. He just thought it would be bland walls with a piano but this was even better. "This is nice." his grin grew wider.

She could wait...but she didn't verbalize that. It was weird that she had played the piano for others at school before and never put much thought into it, but now she was over analyzing it all. Maybe it was because Jonathan held the piano in such high regard, seeing as it was a big part of his upbringing, so she felt that her playing would insult his ears. Yes, her technique was perfect - mother had made sure of that - but, well, he knew the rest already. She simply swallowed her pride and accepted the compliment.

"And you keep telling me that I need to take it easy?" she teased. So she was right, it was his OWL exams. If he was too busy with those, she would understand if he needed to spend time studying. She was probably going to be one giant ball of Gryffindor stress next term around this time. Which...is why she was thinking of leaving the Quidditch team, but she hadn't discussed this with Selina yet. She was afraid of what her lion sister would do.

Her jaw dropped, as did the hand that was holding his, and she walked into the room, spun around once slowly, and then turned to face him. Just like a picture she had seen in a magazine. It had come into her mind when she had been thinking about a room with a piano...but she hadn't guess that it would...actually appear. Just a room with a piano and some pillows would have been enough.

Then, her eyes laid themselves on the piano. She didn't really want to play after him, that would only make her feel more nervous. Slowly, she approached it and sat on the piano bench with her back facing the keys. "Almost too nice..." she replied with a sheepish grin. She had always been a plain girl. Not many embellishments and all that.

Wait.

Does Jonathan looked stressed right now? if he does, then that's not good. Not good at all. Jonathan did dress up accordingly and made sure his faced looked presentable. Kurumi should have seen him the moment he woke up, he looked like he just laid an egg or something.

He shook his head though "I started studying last night" or at least tried to. He really though he was going to finish reading half of the book but in the end he managed to read about 30 pages or so. He had to research more about Herbology. He doesn't exactly have clue half of the book was talking about. The plants were just complicated to memorize. He should have brought his first year herbology book with him as reference. It would have been so much helpful. "Don't worry though... If i get the hard subjects over with, the other ones will just pass." he grinned. He still had to focus on Arithmancy, Astonomy, and History of Magic.

Jonathan took a seat in an extra chair he found around the corner. It was a bit comfortable. He looked at Kurumi staring at those keys. "What will you be playing for me?" he smiled. It didn't matter to him if she had soul or not. All he just wanted to do was to listen to her play. Jonathan loved the piano but that doesn't make him much of an expert on it.

and sleepy time for me xD
 

Eek, did he really have to sit off in another chair like a real audience member? Kurumi suddenly felt more nervous, until he mentioned that he had begun studying for his exams. Good for him! Seemed like he just needed a gentle nudge in the right direction. "I'm glad to hear that," she smiled. "Let me know if you need any help. I have all my old textbooks with me." Tucked safely away in her trunk in the girl's dormitory in fact just in case she ever needed them for reference. She smiled at him reassuringly. "Getting the harder subjects out of the way is certainly a good way to look at it." Truth was, he probably didn't need any help with Potions. He could probably hardly study at all and pass.

She glanced back at the piano and sighed. "Oh...um...a piece that my mother wrote when I was born. It's...kind of the only song I can play without looking at any sheet music." Her mother used to play it for her to put her to sleep. Kurumi could practically play it the moment her small fingers had touched the ivories due to how many times she had heard it. Still, every time she played it, she felt...empty. "Don't...laugh, okay?"

Nice disclaimer Kurumi.

Slowly, her fingers pressed on the keys and she began to play in an almost robotic fashion due to how precise her movements were.

Jonathan nodded. He used t study exams before but not to the point that he has to stress over it actually. Now he knows what other students feels like... An example would be Kurumi, herself. He usually tells her not to over study or to maybe over stress over studying. This is his OWLs. Not studying over it would just be a waste of 5 years of his life. He has to pass it not because his father pressures him but because he just has to. He needs to prove to himself about this. "Thank you." he smiled. Now that she has mention it, he will be borrowing her first year herbology and arithmancy books.

WAIT!

Did she just say she has all her old textbooks with her? WITH HER? "Do you bring all of your textbooks to Hogwarts?" or does Gryffindor have their own lockers that the Slytherins never had? Jonathan asked her with a confused look. Really, he is interested to know if she really does. Jonathan just leaves all of his old books behind.

So she'll be playing an original song. That's nice. Wish his mother also wrote him a song but no. She did play the piano and the violin but she never wrote Jonathan a song before. But really, Kurumi has to be more confident about it though. She seemed to belittling herself about this. "it's okay Kurumi... I'm not Mozart." he laughed softly.

Then Jonathan started to listen as she started playing the piano. The melody is really great. It felt really beautiful and at the same time pleasing. She plays it beautifully as well. Jonathan sat back and relax, listening to the lovely melody that Kurumi is playing.

When she was finally done, Jonathan looked at her with a smirk on his face "That was brilliant" he said clapping his hands. Honestly, it is. "Thumbs up to your mum as well." yeah, because she had written a beautiful song that Kurumi memorized.

"Of course," she nodded with a small smile. "Why wouldn't I?" Then again, she had a lot more to recover from since she grew up in a non-magical environment, so a lot of the basics that people knew about because of their pureblood or at least partial magical upbringing, so having those texts for a reference was something that she was relying on heavily. Each book was served as the foundation for the next.

Oh...erm...right... she had promised to play on the piano. Yeah, but probably Mozart compared to her. She kept that comment to herself.

She hunched her shoulders and removed her hands from the keys, setting them on her lap and glanced over her shoulder at him. A few strands of her black hair fell over her shoulder, and she quickly pushed them behind her ear. "I...guess..." she said, feeling a little numb from his compliments. She didn't really deserve them. "I don't feel anything when I play though...it's like a routine. Something that I have only memorized without thinking." Probably the complete opposite from how he played.

She scooted over on the piano bench a bit. "Could you...play for me?"

Caroline watched for a bit as Carter licked his spoon. One of these days that boy was going to eat himself to death or something. Or he would start eating himself She sighed " In a few months but I'm kind of worrying about them now because well I need to get at least all E's on the ones I am taking." or she would be the Bakery girl of Diagon Alley. Not that it was a bad thing. She'd always dreamed of being a healer and her NEWTs scores needed to great for that. So yes she was already studying for them.

Wow it had been a long time since they'd seen each other. "They were great, my first with Dad and Asher, we went to Italy, so I got the whole, Italian family christmas treatment." Seriously the size of the Romalottis' could compare well with the Malfoys cousins everywhere "And what about yours?"

Carter was eyeing the cheesecake now. Nope not yep it was still to hot to take out of the pan. She took her wand from the counter and cast a cooling charm on it. "It's for Kita, she's been a bit mmm down in the dumps. Chocolate alway pips her up."

Jonathan nodded. Books were important to some people and it's okay. His father has his own library that Jonathan doesn't even bother visiting to. Everyone has their own way of learning. A study plan, Kurumi's just thinking twice ahead than everyone else. See?! Since Jonathan doesn't bring his past books, he has to borrow books from her. It's definitely an advantage. On his seventh year when taking his NEWTs, he'll definitely remember to bring his old textbooks as well. It's pretty much helpful when you're trying to review over the basics. Jonathan understood that now.

Jonathan then smiled as he stood up and walked over to her. "you don't have to be so hard on yourself, Kurumi" he said as he started touching the piano keys. Lovely. "Kurumi's passion belonged to baking" and no one can ever get that from her, not even her mother. Baking is also like playing the piano. You need to have the heart and the passion for it. Maybe, that's why no matter how much Jonathan tries it, he can never bake something as good as Kurumi does.

0__________________0.

Was he really next??? He hasn't really prepared anything at this time. He looked at the keys and tried to think of what piece to play for her. "Last summer..." he looked at her "I tried composing a song" he pouted his lips. He is definitely nervous about this. "So probably I should be the one to say, don't laugh... okay?" he laughed. It's true, the composition is complete but it was not as hard compared to what her mother had composed for her.

Jonathan then tried stretching his fingers and looked at Kurumi "Happy Valentines' Day" he smiled as he started to play.

Carter stopped licking his spoon for a second. "Does that mean you've gotten a job offer than?" he asked. If she had grades she was shooting for... that meant she had something in mind... right?

He smiled before going back to 'cleaning' up the spoon. "That's good to hear." He was glad that things were going well with her family... especially because of how good things weren't going when she first introduced herself.

"Mine was too short. I had a lot of things to take care of with Puddlemere... so I only had a few days at home." He shrugged. "But I guess it's something to get used to. The price of fame, right?" he added with a little laugh.

Not that he was famous or anything... yet.

"Kita? In the dumps? I didn't know that was possible." he said looking at the chocolate cake. "Because of the match?" he wondered. Because she shouldn't feel bad about that. She did brilliantly.

"I did promise that I would stop doing that, didn't I?" she asked with a half hearted giggle. See, she had told him that it wouldn't be easy for her to get down on herself for such things. Fourteen, almost fifteen, years of being put down for not being good enough or different were hard to reverse. Still, things were vastly improving since she came to Hogwarts. "You are right about that, baking is one of my passions."

Kurumi smiled and shook her head, her black hair softly cascading over her shoulders. She wanted to say that she would never laugh at him, but Jonathan often said funny things that WOULD make her laugh, so she would be breaking that promise rather quickly. Instead of responding, she found herself silenced when Jonathan said three simple words to her.

Happy Valentines' Day.

It was the first time she had ever been told that and that was enough for her to render this the best Valentines' Day ever.

She closed her eyes and allowed the sound of his playing to wrap around her like a warm blanket. The melody was like nothing she had heard before. Her mother's playing was fierce and almost aggressive. Jonathan's was...gentle and made her heart race and left her breathless. She opened her eyes after a moment to watch him play and her cheeks grew warm. She was completely taken aback by what was going on and she scooted herself closer to him as he continued, closing her eyes once more to listen.

As Jonathan started to play the song all he could remember was writing about this during the summer. He did have a lot of ups and down over the end of last year's term. A lot happened and it wasn't something he could just sit back and not care about. So composing this song is probably his greatest achievement of the whole year. He wasn't sure though if this song was definitely something he could boast about. Jonathan was a Slytherin but he doesn't boast about stuffs as much.

Half way through the piece he realized that Kurumi is the first girl to ever listened to one of his compositions. Yeah, he plays the piano in front of everyone during parties or when visitors comes to their house, but he usually plays the famous pieces, never his compositions. Even his parents barely hears him play any of his own compositions.

After playing the piano, he looked at Kurumi "It's not that good. Needs a little bit of tweaking." he said as he randomly pressed some of the keys. This piece is recent so he's not really as confident to let someone hear it. Then Jonathan leaned down to kiss her, well, her eyes were still closed, right? It should be an advantage. Hahaha.

*watches PV and swoons*
 

It wasn't till near the ending of his playing that she realized that Jonathan had said that he had composed this himself. Was there something with her and musicians? Maybe there was a small undiscovered part of her that really did like the piano but was too afraid to admit it because it meant admitting that she liked something that her mother had been forcing her into? After all, she had been fighting against her mother's expectations all her life.

But...none of that matter right now and she needed to remind herself that. What mattered was that Jonathan was sharing with her a piece of himself. Sharing something that he had composed himself was...really special and while she couldn't be selfish and assume that he had written it for her, it almost felt like that was the case. Like this was something he hadn't shared with anyone else.

A small smile crept across her face as she listened and she stayed that way even when he stopped as the melody lingered for several moments before...her senses exploded. Jonathan was kissing her again and she sat very still, unable to move her hands at all to reach for his or play with his hair. It wasn't that she was in shock or didn't want him to, it was a pleasant surprise, but more she didn't know what to do. It felt...right.

She pushed off the bench a bit to kiss him back.

LOL. It's actually a sad love song bt it's completely different in my/Jonathan's case
 

Jonathan didn't know why he did that in the first place. He just felt like he just wanted to. Valentines' Day, something Jonathan never really thought he would celebrate in the first place. At this time of the month, he usually just play with his friends or maybe enjoy some pumpkin juice with other Slytherins. But not this year. He's very much enjoying this despite the fact that he doesn't have any gift at all.

Jonathan smiled after kissing her. "You're the first person to hear that." he finally admitted. Well, because other than that he doesn't have much to say. Probably the kiss has again made him speechless. Technically, his mother heard it once when they came back home from Norway. The piece was already done and Jonathan just kept playing it until he memorize the whole song without looking at the notes. Since it is his own composition, it would be embarrassing if he didn't memorize it, right?

figured that out from the little English at the beginning xD it's preeeeeeeeetty
 

Kurumi kept her eyes closed even after Jonathan had pulled away, almost sad that it had ended. Still, they both had to come back up for air at some point, right? Her cheeks were like two roses in spring and she was rendered even more speechless when Jonathan confirmed what she had been suspecting. "I-I am?" she stammered, her eyes wide and doe-like. Her smile widened even more. "Thank you...it was a beautiful gift." Even if he didn't see it as one, it was to her. It was like he was sharing a piece of his soul with her.

Kurumi fumbled with the pockets of her robes a bit as she searched for her gift to him. "Um...I was afraid my piano abilities wouldn't be up to par and, um, well...Valentines' Day is about giving chocolates and sweets to the person you...like," she rambled as she pulled a small pink parcel out and handed it to him. Inside the parcel was a box divided into to sides. On one side were white chocolate roses painted in Slytherin and Gryffindor colors and the other side had more chocolates that she had decorated with various sugar based shapes. "Happy Valentines' Day, Jonathan."

Jonathan nodded. Jonathan blushed admitting to that. He never actually lets people see what he can do. First with the drawing and then with the piano. No matter how much confidence Jonathan has in every part of his bone, he always gets shy over his own talent. It may be un-Slytherin like but he can't help but feel that way. It's his personal space. It's something he does on his 'alone-time'. Plus, if his father and mother knew, they'd be expecting more than how much they're expecting right now. And when it comes down to talent, Jonathan doesn't liked being forced.

Kurumi shouldn't say that. She played beautifully today. There was nothing to be really embarrassed about. Jonathan was about to say something when suddenly out of the blue, Kurumi handed him a gift. He has seen this one coming. Now, that's why he was always dozing off half the time.

Jonathan took the gift, before opening it though he looked at her. "Chocolate day..." he smiled. He used to remember his mother's story about giving his father chocolates on Valentines' Day. Her mother was new to that custom but she did try it out. "Thank you." he added as he pinched her cheeks lightly.

Opening the gift his eyes widened. THIS LOOKS DELICIOUS. Well, Kurumi made it after all. "I should feel bad right now since I have nothing to give you." he said honestly as he kept looking at the chocolates. He will make it up to her somehow.

Now, he can't wait to eat them.

Kurumi sat waiting on pins and needles for Jonathan to open up the parcel. He had said that he liked chocolate and preferred its simple flavors as opposed to those filled with nuts and other fruity distractions. Then he was back to pinching her cheeks. Must be like how she was always nudging him with her shoulder, Jonathan was a cheek pincher.

Her smile widened when his eyes did, but faded just a little when he said he had nothing in return. Had she really expected him to? He had, sort of already done more than any other boy had ever done for her. "That's...alright," she said honestly, but with just the smallest hint of disappointment. "You've already done more than anyone else has ever done for me." And that was the truth.

She responded further by resting her head on his shoulder.

Jonathan grinned as he was still holding the unopened box on his lap. She was actually okay that he didn't have a gift for her. Not that he's complaining about it. Definitely not. He's just.... surprised. Like he said, this was his first Valentines' Day. He's a bit blurry on such events. But he is aware of the Chocolate Day event from where he came from.

"I-I'm... uhhh... hmmm" he tried to find his words. "That's really nice of you to say." he replied. After opening the gift, Jonathan looked at which one he would start to eat first. Everything looks yummy and he pretty much enjoys the cute designs. Taking one chocolate that has a heart shape, he tried it.

AND IT WAS GOOD.

He can't even explain how good it is. This is better than the chocolate shops he goes to. "This is the best chocolate i have ever tried" he smiled as he swung his hand around her. He took another bite and it tastes like heaven. YUM! YUM! YUM!

The slowly he fed Kurumi with the chocolate. Since she made it, she should taste it too.

Kurumi blushed and began running her fingers through the hair that was hanging over her left shoulder. She was just being honest after all. The previous Valentines' Days she had spent had been filled with empty promises or expectations that she simply could not fulfill. It had been an awkward first three years at Hogwarts to be sure.

"You're just saying that," she mumbled awkwardly, tugging on her hair a bit stronger now. She hadn't really done much with the chocolate besides melt the chocolate, add some milk and just the slightest hint of vanilla, and then put them into molds.

However, in the next instant he was pressing one of the chocolates against her lips and her eyes crossed as she looked at it. She couldn't resist her own chocolates, could she? That would be insulting herself, right? Slowly, she opened her mouth for him to pop it into her mouth.

Jonathan shook his head. "I'm saying it because it's true." he smiled. Jonathan looked at her this time, he wanted to pinch her cheeks again but decided resist the temptation "You should at least be confidence with this... Baking is your forte after all" he grinned. It's true. Jonathan has really high respect for people who can bake or cook. He can neither do both. Cooking and Baking is a very hard procedure. It's not just mixing stuff and putting it in a pan.

As Kurumi ate it Jonathan let her finish the other half of the chocolate "Delicious right?" he smiled. In fact, he doesn't want to finish everything in one seating. If he does that, then he'll be left with no chocolate to eat.

He then took her hand. Looking at the box, he thought what to eat next. Everything looked really good to eat. Then he picked the brown chocolate on the corner left. Jonathan always had a big appetite when it comes to chocolate, he can't seem to get enough of it.

"Well...I wouldn't exactly call this baking," she said with an airy giggle. "It's more of being able to melt chocolate properly. I once saw a display in a department store mother took me to once for some Christmas shopping. It was of Santa Village and everything was made entirely of chocolate. Chocolate sculptures...the most beautiful were the flowers. I'd love to be able to create something like that..."

Her mouth closed around her own chocolate creation that instantly began to melt. Chocolate, surprisingly, wasn't one of her favorite flavors. She much preferred vanilla, which is why she had added just a bit of it to the melted chocolate before pouring it into the molds. It was rather good. She smiled and nodded her head.

She blushed a bit when he took her hand and wiped a bit of chocolate that had caught on the corner of her lips. "You don't have to eat them all now," she laughed. He would probably get a stomach ache from all that chocolate.

Blink. Blink.

So it's not baking? See, Jonathan should need to learn a thing or two about the culinary. He knows 0% about it. He doesn't even know what are the ingredients to make chocolates. He listened carefully to Kurumi as she explained and when she said about that Santa Village...

Jonathan's eyes widened. Now, he wants to go there. Just by listening to it, she perfectly described his paradise. A place filled with everything chocolate. "Wow" he whispered. He should tell his parents about that place. Probably they'll say yes.

After eating the second one, Kurumi did say he shouldn't eat everything at the same time. Good call, he was close enough to grabbing a third piece of chocolate. "I'll save some for later..." now he's just hoping when he goes back to the common room he won't be tempted to eat it.

"There are competitions too, for chocolate or sugar sculptures," she nodded, clearly on a kick talking about eatable art. "I've always wanted to go to one, but never had the chance. All the famous ones are in Europe and, well, mother doesn't really like me to travel all that much." Shame really, she could have found a potential career in pastries that would have kept her closer to home like her mother wanted. Now, her head was high in the clouds flying with dragons.

She giggled as Jonathan took on the appearance of a boy who had just got his hand caught in the cookie jar. Her eyes gazed back at the ivories in front of them. "Jonathan, do you think you could play another song for me?"

i got stuck on the piano pieces... XD!
 

Now that just sounds mouth-watering for some reasons. Jonathan should really go to this place!!! He's dying to know more about it and listening to Kurumi just officially made him a fan of the Santa Village..... AND it's in Europe too. Jonathan smiled. His parents loves to travel a lot. "Your mother is just worried about you" yeah, like every mother. It's always in their nature to worry about their little cubs.

GULP.

Another song? His mind suddenly went blank again. He always play the piano and doesn't seem to really stress which pieces to play. So why all of a sudden, it seems like he has nothing? THINK! He could play another composition for her... but which one? He looked at her for awhile and then he put the box beside him. Taking out his handkerchief, he wiped his finger. "Okay..." he said pouting his lips. His still thinking what to play.

"This would be a little bit faster than the first one i guess..." he laughed as he positioned his fingers on the white and black keys. Then he started playing. It's not as good as what he played earlier. This one is kind of sloppy probably.

*more pretty PVs to watch*
 

Kurumi nodded and rested her head on his shoulder again. "I suppose you're right." She offered him a weak smile. "She did let me travel a bit this summer, to America, and it was my first taste of being abroad and I want more." Her eyes lit up a bit now, thinking about how much of the world was still left out there to see. "I guess it means she is willing to let go a little?" Jonathan's parents were always traveling he had said, but they never seemed to take him with them. Which was too bad, Jonathan could have had so many life changing experiences by now.

She sat up a bit when he accepted her request and she watched him intently, following his fingers as they fell over the ivories. This song was different, yet it still felt somewhat the same. There was still a gentleness that wrapped around her and Kurumi felt like she could listen to him play all day. "Is that another one that you composed?" she asked looking at him. "Where do you...where do you draw inspiration from? Your music is...amazing..."

Oh yeah, he did remember her mentioning that she went to America last summer. She even met with a friend after that-- although, he already forgot the friend's name. Jonathan and his ability to forget names. He always finds it hard to memorize names and he doesn't even know why. He listens and he can fully remember the story, unfortunately, he will always forget the name.

"When I was younger, one of my uncles would usually take me around" and when he means around, he means whatever country he apparates to. "I usually cry when i was 5 or 6, thinking that my uncle and I will never get back home" more like scared. He was a kid back then, travelling and meeting different kinds of people is weird. "That's why I grew tired of traveling" and his uncles were never caught. If only his father knew. They would be in soooo much trouble.

After playing the song, Jonathan rested his fingers onto the piano keys like he always do every after playing. There was always something he liked about the piano. So where does he gets his inspiration from? "From a lot of things i guess." he started. "When I'm mad, I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm excited" he could go on about all the emotions but Kurumi gets the point. Jonathan doesn't usually go out the house, his father doesn't like him loitering around Diagon Alley. That's when he became more attached to the piano. "although this composition is not really that great." he forgot when he actually composed it.

Kurumi giggled softly when she thought about a six-year-old Jonathan clinging to his faceless uncle as they apparated around various locations around the world. Kurumi was a little jealous of Jonathan being able to do so and couldn't imagine ever being sick of traveling. "Well, I hope that you get over being tired of traveling," she laughed. "Or, maybe you just need to try a different way of traveling?" Kurumi had only ever traveled the non-magical way minus the one time she had flown in a Ministry limo and flooed into the Headmaster's office.

"So...it really is like you are putting a bit of yourself, your soul, into what you are playing," she mused, not really realizing that she had just said that out loud. "I thought it was fantastic, but, I think I like the one you played first better."

Get over being tired of traveling?

Jonathan doesn't think he will. His parents-- specifically, his mother did tell him to come over Norway when he comes back from Hogwarts but of course, he just had to pass that down. Going to Norway for the 4th time doesn't really excite him at all. He sure wished, he could go around by himself but his mother would never let him even with Nobi around.

try a different way of traveling???

Well, other than brooms and apparition, what are other means of traveling? Jonathan looked at her in a confused way. The same confused look he gives everytime Kurumi talks about fairytales... What was her name again--- Cindy? Railer? C-Ci... Nevermind! Pfft! "What do you mean?" he asked.

Jonathan nodded. Kinda like what she said. But Jonathan was not really an expert, he wants to be though. He wants to be like those great pianists. If only he composed something more unique and hard. "It's not my best one really." he spoke. "This piece was written on a boring day maybe that's why it's too sloppy." he added.

Kurumi giggled and playfully brushed his bangs away with one of her hands, allowing it to linger around his cheek for a moment. "Well, if you hate traveling so much then you won't be able to come and visit me. Which is really a shame since mother has said it's alright," she said with a small, but playful, pout. "I don't suppose you have ever traveled the non-magical way?"

Kurumi shook her head and pressed down on a random key, sending its crisp noise into the air. "I don't think it is sloppy at all," she said with a genuine smile on her face. "I think you are being too hard on yourself now. You really have a lot of talent." She would never admit this out loud, at least not yet, but she hoped that she could help inspire him with that piece of music he seemed to be hoping he would one day compose.

sleepy XD!
 

O___________O. WHAT?!

Jonathan took her hand and held it. Her mother approved already? "Of course I'll travel over to Japan to meet you" and your family. Jonathan should take that back. He hated traveling with his parents because it's usually just plain boring. He doesn't even get to do something fun. It's quite unfair. But he never said he didn't like traveling alone. Of course, he still needed to his own parents--- somehow bargain--- if they would agree to let him go.

Travel the non-magical way? "Nope" he shook his head. Now that he thinks about it, how do muggles travel since they don't actually have those floo systems or the apparition and most certainly broomstick or add a lying car to that. "How do they travel?" he asked. Muggles are smart, they may not have magic to rely on but they certainly have logical brains to rely. Which is amazing.

Jonathan smiled when Kurumi said those. Right now, it's the other way around. Jonathan was the one having his own agenda over his piano skills. "Thank you..." he said sincerely. He still think it's sloppy though. He should recreate it when he gets back. Make it more mellow perhaps?

me too! nighty night *snuggles*
 

Kurumi locked her fingers in his and looked at their hands for a moment. Was she allowed to feel this happy right now? It was...kind of frightening how comfortable and elated Jonathan was making her feel right now...and the prospect of him actually coming to visit her over the summer made everything even better. "Good," she chirped. That was really all that was needed to be said about that.

"Oh, um, well there are these things called airplanes. They are, sort of like flying Knight Buses," she explained. That probably pained a good enough picture for him to be able to understand the concept. "It is the mode of transportation I use every year to travel between Japan and London."

She smiled and winked at him. Both of them perfectionist in their own way. This could be a very dangerous thing but also a very amusing thing.

Ryan walked into the RoM and sat down on a comfy chair and waited for Chelsea to come.He laid back and closed his eyes,it was good to have a break.

As she was walking around the seventh floor, she remembered she had to meet Ryan in the RoR. Finding that familiar door she opened it and walked inside. Scanning the room for him she saw him lying in a chair, trying to be sneaky she walked up behind him and put her hands over his eyes "Guess who?" she said giggling. Chelsea was in a great mood today after receiving that letter from her mother, who she really missed.

Ryan looked up and saw Chelsea,''Hey,how was the letter.''He said hugging her.

"It made me happy, I haven't had contact with my mum in two years" she smiled. Although she knew this contact wouldn't last long, it was nice to hear from her. "Would you like to read it?" she asked passing him the letter.

Dear Chelsea,
Your aunt had told me all about your accomplishments in the two years I've been gone. I'm very proud of you, most of all for making your own decisions. I'm upset I can't be there for you, but I wasn't going to leave your father either. Just because I believe strongly in what marriage stands for, one day you'll understand.
As your aunt made it sound you found someone you really care about, I hope he is treating you well and that he truly cares for you as well. I want you to know I'm happy for you, even if he is not pureblood, I just want you to be happy.
As for your classes I just knew you would be a natural in magic, especially potions. I will try to write back, but if I don't I just want you to know I love you. Just remember keep making your own decisions Chelsea, I don't care if you don't have the same views as your father and I.
~Love, Kendra Charm

Ryan read through it and looked at Chelsea,''Thats nice of your mum saying that.''His mother would have never said that.

"My mother was the one who cared about me, my father on the other hand was a cruel person" she stated. She had so much hatred toward her father.
Trying to get off that subject, before she got too emotional about her mother "So what was that important letter you had to go send?" she asked curiously.

*Walking in with Marie the familiar room with a couch, books, and large fireplace came up. Hanging up their wet cold as ice coats up Matty soon lead Marie over to the couch.*
"Mind if we warm up a little? Before I make some hot chocolate or tea I have to warm up."
*What he really wanted was to sit next to Marie. Sitting down he patted the spot next to him as the fire roared to life.*

Marie didn't realize just how cold she was until they walked into the room of requirement and Matty took her coat from her. "Warming up in front of the fire sounds like a really good idea to me." Sitting next to him Mari kicked off her boots then pulled her legs up under her as she wrapped her arms around Matty and snuggled close for warmth.

Problem was his body was just as cold as hers was. Not much warmth there right now.

*Grabbing a blanket from behind the couch Matty pointed his wand and charmed it. Wrapping it around them he smiled. The wizards version of an electric blanket.*
"That's better... how do you feel now?"

Feeling the warmth of the blanket as Matty wrapped it around them Marie started to relax a little. "Much better. Thanks." Putting her head on his shoulder she sat there staring at the fire.


Thinking back to that little dance lesson they just had... if you can call the Destiny Chicken Dance a dance, she sat there smiling.

Hmm, what other crazy things could she get him to do?

*Smiling he looked down and that smile was quickly washed away. He knew that smile.*
"Oh no you don't... I know that smile and the answer is no."

"What?"

Looking up she frowned a little. "No? You're telling me no? But... I didn't even ask for anything." Like she would take no for an answer anyway if she really want something.

''It was to my Granny and Grandfather,It was about the holidays.''He said.''Were you excited when you got your acceptance letter?''

Airplanes????????????????????????????????????

Okay, so Jonathan had to act like he knows about it or at least heard about it but his faced looked so confused, even his owl would know he doesn't know anything about these so-called airplanes. He traveled a lot, he should have at least know a thing or two about it. It's not like he has lived under a rock or something. "I've heard of it." truthfully, he has heard of it but he has never seen one in actual. he doesn't even know what these airplanes look like. Do they look like broomsticks? or flying cars?

"Sooooo.... I have to ride one of these if I go to Japan?" or should he go their by broomstick since he doesn't know how to apparate yet. But then again a broomstick in a muggle village would just be odd and weird. People will talk about it right, no?

Kurumi giggled and placed her index finger in the gap between his eyebrows. "You don't have to pretend like you know exactly what I am talking about," she smiled. You know, just in case he was doing it to try and impress her or something. He already had and was still doing small things to continue doing so. "Depending on when you think you can come, we might be able to ride on an airplane together." She blushed a bit. "Father might be spending some time in Diagon Alley, so I could stay with him for a bit and then ride with you." That way he wouldn't be so nervous. That, and she hated flying alone on airplanes. It could be scary at times.

"It's either that or take a boat..." she laughed. "There are wizarding modes of transportation to get there, but you won't be able to get to my home. No magic allowed and all that."

"Oh thats nice that you speak with them, I don't speak at all with my grandparents" she admitted. They had the same views as her father...she hated coming from a long line of pure-bloods. "Yeah I was really excited but at first my aunt wasn't going to let me come here" she explained.

''Yeah their lovely,They were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.''I was extremely happy when I got my letter.''

"Well I'd like to meet them one day" she said smiling. She was nervous to eventually meet Ryan's father, but she did want to meet his family eventually. "At first my aunt was going to make me to go Beauxbatons, she's still trying to get me to switch schools"

''They'll be happy to meet you one day as well.''Well put it this way if you move schools I would be devestated.''

Jonathan looked at Kurumi's hand pointing. GUILTY! He got caught trying to act like he knows about airplanes. He just thought he could get away with it. Kurumi must be annoyed he barely knows about muggle stuffs. It sometimes depresses him to. To actually not have any ideas of their world. "Okay... so maybe i'm clueless about it" he said grabbing her finger. He's pretty much new to these stuffs. WAIT! "you'e father's not coming with you to Japan?" does he work around Diagon Alley or maybe in the Ministry? If so, then he probably has met his father.

It'll be his first time riding this so-called airplane. How does it fly without the levitation spell anyway? Just when he was about to ask Kurumi on that she suddenly mentioned something that made his jaw dropped...

NO MAGIC???

Jonathan lived his whole life depending on magic. "S-sso uhmmm... does this mean magic prohibited?" or it could be that magic is blocked in that area? Jonathan just wants to make sure so that he could be ready. He should also bring muggle paper money right?

Jez marched into the Room of Requirement with her whole being filled with anger. She had requested the same thing as the last time she'd visited this place - I need a place to vent my emotions without hurting anyone. She pointed her wand at one of the same Death Eater-like dummies she'd destroyed before. "Confringo!" The dummy sprang to life as the spell hit it, and advanced towards Jez, one arm outstretched like it was accusing her of something terrible. "I didn't do it!" Jez found herself screaming. "Keegan did! Keegan killed her!" Her older brother ... her idolised, adored older brother had murdered his girlfriend Jaime in cold blood, and then disappeared off the face of the Earth. Jez didn't know where he was, what he was doing, or even if he was still alive ...
She screamed again, shooting spells at the dummy. "Everte Statum! Confringo! Bombarda!" The spells missed the first dummy and hit others. They all stood and advanced on Jez, all pointing accusingly. Jez stumbled backwards, wand still pointing at the dummy army. "Go on!" she screamed like a mad person. "Fight me! I dare you!" I dare you ... a game she and Keegan had played that usually resulted in nasty accidents. Thinking of Keegan only made Jez angrier. "Argh!" she screamed, and started duelling with the enchanted dummies.

"Don't worry, I'm not switching schools" she smiled. She couldn't she had made too many friends here, and Ryan was too important to her.

Kurumi laughed a light pixie laugh when Jonathan admitted to knowing nothing about the world she came from. "That's nothing to be ashamed of," she smiled, playing with his hair a little. She really was glad that he changed it back. The color suited him much better and brought out the chocolate color of his eyes. She paused for a moment, blushing when she realized how close they were again, but it was comfortable. They were sharing an interesting conversation and making plans for the summer. What wasn't to like? "Father will just be spending a small amount of time here in the summer. He went back to work for the Japanese Ministry, but they send him to London on ambassador assignments every now and again."

She nodded. "I-I-If that makes you not want to come, I understand. I know you feel awkward in the world I came from, I wouldn't want to make you do something you don't want to..." Although she would really love to show him that it really isn't that scary a place.

True but sometimes he just can't seem to get it. The muggle world fascinates him on so many levels. He has been there once in France. His mother needed to shop for his father's birthday and it seems that she can't find what she's looking for in the Wizarding world. It was fun actually. Roaming around their streets; acting like you're one of them; using paper money. It was different. VERY different.

So her father is back to serve the Japanese Ministry. His father should do the same. Although, his father preferred a more different ambiance? "Ohhh. Okay." Jonathan nodded. London and Japan seemed to be Kurumi's home. at least she has someone to stay in when she's in London.

Jonathan shook his head. "I'm just asking that's all... Curious" he smiled. But that doesn't mean he'll have to cancel it. Besides, Jonathan likes to try out new things. Maybe this will be his first summer without magic. "Just another thought..." he thought of something. "...Okay, this will be the worst case scenario... I'm just crossing my fingers that it won't come true but..." the idea just came up to mind "What if my father tells me to bring Nobi?" he cracked a smile. It was too amusing but of course at the same time alarming. What if it did happen? He can't bring his silly house elf now. It will freak out everyone and it's definitely disturbing.

Kurumi smiled and returned her hand to her lap. Jonathan seemed to have gotten over her playing with his hair and didn't seem to mind, just like she didn't mind when he played with her hair. But, that was getting a bit beside the point right now. "Father is from London, so it is kind of his first home. He can't stay away from it for too long," she nodded. It was starting to become one for her as well, it was more of a home than Japan had been to her at least.

The tension in her body eased a bit when he said that it didn't bother him. "Oh, good," she chirped. "I know some people who have been afraid to come visit because they wouldn't be able to use magic." So it really meant a lot to her that he was stilling willing to come. The smile on his face was...an interesting one. It was the sort of smug smile he got when he was about to reveal something or when he had something that he wanted to tease her about. Her ears perked a bit and her gaze locked on his. "Nobi? Who is Nobi?"

Nate had snuck into the room behind Jez, and it was a firefight within seconds. "Jez!" he yelled as he sprang to her side, careful to stay out of her firing line. "There are too many of them for just you!" he said, pulling his wand and circling around, wondering why he hadn't bothered to learn many dueling spells. "Bombarda!" he said, aiming for the dummy closest Jez. It splintered violently, but Nate couldn't worry about that, there were spells being shot. "Expelliarmus! Flippendo! Petrificus Totalus!" Nate knew that the full body bind was a long shot, and he was right. The dummies had no real body to bind. Then Nate thought of transfiguration. "Incarcerous!" he said, waving his wand over three of the dummies in front of him, binding them together helplessly. "Is this what you do in your spare time?!" he asked incredulously to Jez.

Maybe they should migrate to London then? Nah, perhaps that idea will just make her mother furious after all it's true what they say 'there's no place like home'. Jonathan may sometimes feels suffocated when he's back from Hogwarts but there's always that spark that whatever he does, he'll always be never sick of home. Probably one of the reasons why he never really got to stay comfortable when he was staying at the Takahashis for the summer break. The house was the best but Jonathan misses his bed and other stuffs. "Does your father have a house around London then?" or maybe he stays in an inn.

So it's official, he won't be able to use magic. This should definitely be a first to him. Jonathan had mental image of himself helping around without a flick of a wand. That will be hard since he doesn't do chores. Jonathan just smiled. Oh, it will be a joy. Kurumi will definitely laugh at him if he tried helping out around the house.

Blink.

Hasn't Jonathan ever mentioned to her that Nobi is the Kim's house elf? Jonathan couldn't seem to remember or probably he just thought he told her when he never did. Jonathan smiled as he looked at her "Nobi?" he repeated. "She's my other girlfriend" he teased. He wanted to look serious but he couldn't. It was too amusing. "Nobi is our house elf." he started to laugh.

"He used to have a flat when he was working for the Daily Prophet, but he sold that when the Japanese Ministry asked him to come back," she explained. "It was a nice place, right across from Ollivanders actually, so I got to watch all the incoming students flood in and out of the shop from the window." She missed those days already. Spending a full 24 hours of her summer in the magical world. It had been an entirely new experience for her, feeling free when she was away from school. Something she was really going to miss this summer. "If he stays, it will be at the Leaky Cauldron I think."

Her heart stopped and all color left her face. Yep, even her hair flashed a momentary white when Jonathan's joke hit and if it hadn't been for the slight appearance of a dimple on his left cheek, Kurumi might have believed him. Her breath was stuck in her throat and her mouth hung open like a fish. She was about to hit his arm, playfully mind you, but all anger and shock was gone when he mentioned the magic word. "YOU HAVE A HOUSE ELF?!" Her hands reached for his now and she held them up to her chest, bouncing in her seat with a smile a mile wide on her face.

"No!" growled Jez, shooting down another dummy. "But a girl's gotta vent her feelings somehow, and I've never been one to keep a diary, okay?" She was still angry, but it somehow felt good to fight. It was better than sitting around wondering. She pointed her wand at the dummies Nate had bound together. "Bombarda Maxima!" The dummies simultaneously combusted like firecrackers, showering Jez and Nate in sparks. Jez whirled around and attacked another dummy, but tripped and found herself on her back in front of it. It reached out its hand, and Jez knew what was coming. She screamed before the red sparks flew from its fingers and burnt her left arm. Exactly the same place as last time, although this one was bigger. Jez winced in pain, pointing her wand at the dummy. "Bombarda!" she shouted, and it exploded. Bombarda would become her signature move if she wasn't careful.

Leaky Cauldron. Right. They're quite famous for their inn. Although Jonathan doesn't know anyone who lives up there but he did see the memo about it during one time he came to eat. It's not too expensive too, which is great if you're working in the ministry. It's an easy access to the muggle world too. Ohhh, thinking about Leaky Cauldron just made Jonathan hungry. Their fish chips are the best and the salad as well, with the pumpkin juice. It's to die for. "I've guessed that he is staying there" which a lot of wizards and witches does. It's a nice place to be staying in.

Whoah!

Did Jonathan just scared Kurumi? Looking at her right now, she seemed like she just saw a ghost or something. He was kidding and she should be aware that Jonathan's favorite thing to do is to tease around. Or maybe that was too much? Jonathan was about to further explain it when she suddenly acted surprise about having a house elf. Plus, she grabbed his arm and he felt her heartbeat. Jonathan looked worried but at the same time he can't get rid the smirk on his face. It was for pure fun only. He didn't mean to.

Jonathan nodded "yeah a house elf." it was normal to have a house elf right? Most of the Slytherins have house elves. "why?" he asked.

"The Leaky Cauldron is alright," she nodded. "The current owner kind of scares me though. He is always wrinkling his nose whenever he sees me." Or any young person for that matter. He just seemed to hate anyone who was young. It was weird.

The smirk on Jonathan's face drove her up the wall and now she wanted to pinch his cheeks, but thoughts about house elves were swimming around now and she was easily distracted. "I would love to meet them!" she chirped as she continued to bounce. She probably would either bounce onto him, or fall off the bench at this rate. Granted, she didn't entirely understand the purpose of OWNING a house elf. They were not things to own now were they? "What is Nobi like? Does she have a favorite thing? How long have you had her?" Kurumi had about a billion questions she wanted to ask Jonathan, but her bouncing was leaving her somewhat short of breath.

Slow down Kurumi. One question at a time.

Jonathan hasn't seen someone go crazy over house elves but he knew someone that shared her opinions about house elves and Slytherins. Not that it really mattered to Jonathan but it's completely stereotyping them. Okay, not the point...

Anyways, "Nobi is a HE. I just said 'she' because it fits the sentence." if he would have said 'he' in the first place, then Kurumi wouldn't have gone pale and looked like she saw a ghost. Now that he thinks about it he should have used that pronoun earlier. And now onto the questions:

What is Nobi like? Jonathan thought deep and hard "Like any house elf i suppose" he said. Well, they are all the same right? "loyal, helpful, accommodating" Kurumi knows a lot about house elves. How long have you had her? Jonathan shrugged her shoulders "We've had him since... forever" Jonathan smiled. Well, he's not too keen on details about Nobi but he knows that he has served the Kim's family for a long time. And who knows how long is it, Jonathan doesn't really know.

"Although, Nobi is always with mother. Father goes to work a lot." he added. Nobi always helped his mother shopped, maybe cook around the house. "And of course, Nobi is mine when i go back" he grinned. Nobi was more of a friend to him rather than a slave or whatever it is some people call them. When Jonathan had no friends, he usually played with him.

A HE? Now Kurumi was really arching an eyebrow. Had he kept it that way she would have been even more confused. "That was mean, to the elf I mean," she teased, playfully shoving his arm. All was forgiven, not that she was even mad to begin with, but just in case he was worried. She would just have to stay on her toes a bit more, be ready for Jonathan to spring an attack on her at any moment. Maybe someday she would be able to play back, but for now she was just an innocent victim. He probably liked it better that way anyway. Tehe.

Kurumi's heart raced a bit when he talked about his house elf. Oh, Jonathan was a friend of house elves too! She started to like him even more now and her bouncing showed that. In fact, she was now so excited that she DID bounce right onto his lap and give him a hug. Really, a discussion about any magical creature would have produced the same results, but she was especially sensitive to house elves this term. "So, pretty much all your life then?" she asked, sitting on Jonathan's lap, and looking very pleased with her newest discovery about Jonathan.

Nate helped Jez up. "You ought to watch how much you use Bombarda. You'll get predictable," he said, twirling around and ending up back to back with Jez. "Incendio!" he said, and the dummy in front of him burst into flames. "Flippendo!" he added, knocking the flaming dummy backwards into the swarm, more to inevitably catch fire. The adrenaline was incredible: Nate had never felt anything like it. "Reducto!" he shouted, a smile creeping along his face as the victimized dummy slowly crumbled to dust before his eyes. "Thisnis great, can we do this more often?!" Nate called over his shoulder excitedly to Jez.

Tending to Mischievous - Post 9
 

William wandered into the Room of Requirement. To his surprise, there were a lot of people in here, many more than he had expected to find. The room was getting really warm from all the body heat.

Instinctively he reached into the pocket of his robe and brought out his egg Mischievous. He was not surprised to find that Mischievous was hot. In fact the egg was sweaty, so warm that it was actually making his hand sweat to touch it. His hand was so sweaty that Mischievous was beginning to stick to it, and he knew that this was not a good thing. He was going to have to cool the egg off quickly or there would be a problem.

William reached for his wand and then pointed it at the egg, which he had set down on the floor at this point. "Argentum Frigidus" he said, swishing his wand and tapping it lightly against the egg at the same time as he uttered the incantation as he had been taught in Charms class.

William saw that the egg had cooled down and he reached to put it back into his pocket. Mischievous gave a little skip but then allowed William to pick it up and return it to its home, the pocket of his robe. William wasn't going to come here again, at least not while he was taking care of this egg. He didn't want to risk Mischievous overheating like that again.

''Thankyou.''He said hugging her.''[COLOR="Red"]My parents always wanted me at Hogwarts.''[/COLOR]They didn't really care where he went as long as he was away.

"Well since my uncle works on the board of governors for Hogwarts, he wanted me to come here. But my aunt seems to think Beauxbatons is a better school. I always wanted to come here though" she explained. Truthfully she loved it here. There had been a few bad times here, but there have been some great times also to make up for the few bad ones.

"Yeah, whenever you want to fight, let me know," said Jez dryly. It really did feel like a real fight, and for some reason, that felt good. Productive. Big adrenaline rush. Whatever you want to call it. "You're right, though," Jez called over her shoulder to Nate. "I am getting predictable. We can't have that!" She pointed her wand at the advancing dummy before her. "Levicorpus! Incendio!" The dummy was hoisted into the air by one foot, and burst into flame until it fell to the floor as a pile of ash. "Avifors," said Jez, smiling slightly as the ash turned into a bird which flew to the top of a bookshelf and sat glaring at her and Nate. Out of the corner of her eye she saw sparks fly from a dummy near Nate. She knew better than anyone that getting burned by those sparks wasn't a tickle. "Protego!" she shouted. "Don't let those sparks burn you, okay? They really hurt." Understatement. Jez turned her wand on another dummy. "Incendio!"

Caroline's mind started to wonder a bit. She had started thinking about what icing she was going to make fo r Kita's cake, of course it had to be chocolate. The cake was already chocolate but chocolate was great but it could always use a little twist. Chocolate peanut butter? Chocolate mint? White chocolate? The ideas were endless, and forming in her mind until she heard Carters voice.

"huh?" She glanced over at him "Oh, yeah! I did. I guess the summer working with the Sunrays paid off. Tutshill is looking for a healer. And I guess they want me." She was suprised that she had gotten a letter from them, or anyone really. She had even taken her NEWTs yet or even done with school and they were sending her a letter. "Yeah, it was a surprise when it came."

She smiled "Yeah I'm glad that everything worked itself out with dad." It was hard to believe that this time last year she was in Italy looking for him.

There it should be cooled down enough to eat now..... maybe.

Well look at Carter being all grown up and almost famous. She laughed. Maybe it was just the cost of growing up she was going to add to that but she didn't. "How's Anya?" And when she asked about her, she also meant was she talking to him again after him being a jerk to her over the summer

"Asher told me that you're sending him tickets for his birthdy." He was so excited, Kita had gotten him an owl, and Caroline had gotten him some books. So yeah did wasn't going to let her live that down.

"Either did I." And she didn't like it at all. Kita was the opticmistic one. She never seen the bad in anything. She had been what had kept her coming through the whole mess this term. So she thought it was her turn to be the one doing the cheering up. "Yeah. I don't know why she was great." She frowned slightly. A sad down in the dumps Kita was not the Kita she liked.

She smiled. "I think that its ready now." As she popped the cheesecake out of the pan.

"That's right I am telling you no. I know that evil grin of yours and before those thoughts can even be finished I say no."
*Tickling her sides a little he laughed. It hit him then that he was the only person Marie would listen to when the word no came into play.*
"It feels like it's been ages since I last said it but I love you..."
*He whispered in her ear.*

Marie crossed her arms and sat there like she was pouting. "But.. how can you say no if you don't even know what I was thinking?" Heck, she didn't even know what she was thinking. Well she knew but that didn't mean she knew what exact silly thing she was going to try to get him to do.

Okay... tickling meant she couldn't sit there and pout anymore, no matter how hard she tried. "No fair... I wasn't done pouting yet." No, she wanted to see if she could pout enough to make him change his mind and tell her yes.

Putting her arms back around him she put her head back on his shoulder. "I love you too... even if you are telling me no for something I haven't even asked yet." How could she not love him. He was the best thing that has ever happened to her.