Carter nodded and looked down at his feet. He probably would have said the same thing that she had had this been a few months earlier.

But now... now he had no idea what he wanted of how he felt... about nearly everything.

...

He had no idea how to even respond to that. "I think... that you broke up with me, Caroline." And that really wasn't something he could forget so quickly. Especially since because of her reasoning. Who's to say that more people wouldn't come up and more arguments between her and who knows who came up...

Carter just wasn't willing to put that all on the line again. And it wasn't just with her. It was with everyone. He just wasn't in a state of mind to think about relationships at all.

The look he gave when he glanced her way seemed to be wanting to tell Kurumi something, but it wasn't something that the young lioness was able to translate in her head. She simply looked at Jonathan and wondered what was going on in that head of his.

Funny? Wait? What had been funny? Kurumi had been a little too focused on watching Jonathan that she had kind of forgotten what they had been talking about. Oh, right. Potions. "Let's just hope that there isn't a fire in the potions' storeroom again this term." Had they ever figured out who had done it last term? Kurumi was pretty sure that they hadn't.

"Don't let him hear you say that," she laughed. Praise went straight to the feline's fuzzy head and made him even more full of himself than he already was. Where Kurumi couldn't take a compliment, Walnut made up for by demanding them. "I just hope that he isn't getting himself into trouble. He isn't supposed to wander outside of the common room." Unless it was for kitty therapy.

"You really don't need to carry me, I am sure I am...heavy...." But Kurumi knew this was a lie. She was petite, there was no way to deny it. It was part of the reason Simon had made her a Seeker instead of Beater. Chances of her getting injured were multiplied by a billion when you added a Beater's bat into the equation. Kurumi's cheeks were a bit more pink now though, since he had whispered in her ear.

Jonathan looked at Kurumi and now she's looking at him too. Hmmm... Shouldn't this be about something else? What were they so silent about anyway? He had to get rid of the silence. "I know my hair is funny right?" he said jokingly while pointing his blonde hair. Why oh why was he so bored this summer that he even played with magic. See the result? He's should be getting used to this but no, he still can't. Blame the coloring charm.

No more awkward moods. It's just not right. Plus if he felt awkward, of course Kurumi might probably feel the same way, no?

Oh right. They did have that Potion incident last term. "No one knew who set the room on fire." Jonathan helped Lafay in restoring some of the potions but right now, he doesn't know if those potions are already used up. "You were there right? When the Potions room was on fire, I mean?" He knew Sierra was there and another person too. Jonathan can't figure out who were the students involved.

Pffft. Cats. "But cats loved it when people compliment them" he nudged her with his shoulder. "You should be more like your cat..." he teased. "...Accept a compliment" he laughed. Well, Kurumi usually blush a lot when Jonathan compliments her. And then he thought of something, "You're really pretty with your hair like that" he complimented her just to see how she'll react with this one. hehe.

Heavy? Jonathan cocked an eyebrow but still had his smile on his face. "Is that a challenge?" he grinned. Well, surely he knows she couldn't be THAT heavy. Jonathan hasn't lifted nor carried anyone but he can carry her if he wants too. "You expect me to believe that?" like he said, a promise is a promise. No matter how many excuses she will make at the end of the day Jonathan will still carry her up to the Gryffindor common room.

His hair? Kurumi peered a little closer to see what he was talking about. "Well, besides your usual habit of brushing your bangs to the side, I wouldn't say that anything is funny," she gigged. "Although, the blonde takes away from your eye color." Awkward? Perhaps, but she was just being honest.

Kurumi's shoulders hunched forward a bit and she squirmed in her seat. "I...kind of helped start it," she mumbled. "Erm, I, um, what I mean is...I was with Eino and we heard noises coming from the door and I opened it...that allowed oxygen into the room and caused a big explosion." Yeah, she had been there alright. RIIIIIIGHT in the middle of it all.

She should be more like Walnut? Why did she have a rather nasty image in her head involving her sneaking around the common room and doing things that no lady, or anyone for that matter, should be doing. But then, that train of thought changed course when he complimented her and said that she should learn how to accept praise. Not saying anything, she just continued to turn various shades of pink...including the tips of her hair.

"N-N-No challenge..." she said, waving her hands in front of her face. She was sure now that she wouldn't be getting out of this carrying business, but at least it was Jonathan. "Um...yes?" she said playfully, sticking her tongue out.

Here she was again. Back at the Gazebo. Where she met the cutest guy ever. Too bad he was older than her. Though he had caught her attention. That was good, right? Right? Lori continued into the Gazebo. Ahh. Now this was peaceful. In a weird kind of way? Maybe she'd meet another new person here. It was possible. A lot of people were already there but they were all conversing so none of them would talk to her. Or would they? Who cared? Lorelai certainly didn't. She just found the first seat that wasn't occupied and claimed it. Hmm. Maybe she could 'claim' that seat for the rest of the year. Or the rest of her time at Hogwarts. Yeah. That was a good idea. That was HER seat and NOONE could have it. But she'd have to do something to make sure they didn't take it. But what to do?

GAZEBO!!! This, is HOGWARTS! Why is there a GAZEBO??? I WANT A CENTAUR FARM!!! YEAH!!!

Inching his way through the Gazebo, he kind of liked it. This place is TOO ADORABLE. The boy started going through his repertoire of plants that would work well here. He took some random seeds out of his pockets and tossed them into a thing of soil. Heh, heh. Wonder what'll come out. Meanwhile, when he turned to keep on moving, he was staring down a cute girl. With a blank face, he just said. "Oh, hi."

Um-hm. Now there was a random boy. A VERY random boy. He was throwing seeds? Okay. Different. But then there were blank areas. Plenty of space for plants. Or whatever the seeds were for. Hmmm. She smiled. She couldn't help but smile. Randomness was her thang. Yeah. That was correct.

She looked directly at the b............. Ooooo................ Cute boy. "Hey" she replied. A blank face? Around her? Now that was something she'd never seen before. No one had a blank face around her. Until now, of course. Well, it was different.

And so, Jonathan looked at the girl for several moments. Perhaps THIS girl will join me on my adventures as well!!!!! Jonathan leaped atop a chair and struck a heroic pose.

"I am JONATHAN KIRK!!!! SLYTHERIN EXTRAORDINAIRE!!!"

This was different. While Damien favored the grounds above anything else and visited them often, he'd never even noticed this spot before. A Gazebo. Perhaps the Groundskeeper was getting bored with the same old layout of the area and wanted to make it more -- interesting? Exciting?

Whatever it was, the Hufflepuff wasn't going to let it go to waste. Ideas were already churning in his head about this place. Isobel had probably already been down here, but he could fancy it up a bit and make it the perfect spot for them to finally have their first date.

They hadn't really gotten too many opportunitites to see each other, and he felt bad about it. Felt lost without her. He still wanted to tell her everything. The things that would probably send her screaming in the other direction, but they seemed past all that now. Maybe now, for once, they could focus on them.

Maybe ...

Isobel walked dejectedly down to the grounds. She had gone to the stupid class that wasn't really a class. She had hoped Damien would be there. She knew he never went to classes, but it wasn't really a class. They had danced, that was all. And now they had homework...to dance of course. But she didn't have anyone to dance with because she had no idea where Damien was.

Isobel walked to the Gazebo because she didn't know where else to go. It was too cold to go swimming, and there was no way she was going to the Treehouse. She could swing, but she didn't feel like it. Plus, maybe she could find some boy at the gazebo that was really good at dancing. She would prefer Damien, but she needed to do the homework to earn points for Hufflepuff.

As she neared the gazebo she focused her attention on who was there, wondering if the trip had been worth her time. She spotted a familiar figure and her heart soared. It couldn't be, could it? That would be almost too ironic. But she didn't care; Isobel ran the rest of the way to the gazebo with a huge smile on her face. When she reached Damien she exclaimed, "Damien!" Moments later she gave him a biiig hug.

Gazing up, the boy tried to figure out how he could make the place as special as he could for the two of them. He figured Isobel wouldn't care about fancy-ness (not that it was a word he used often), but Damien definately wanted to make it special.

He continued making mental notes for plans when he heard a familiar voice exclaim his name. Moments later he was embraced by arms he new so well, and all at once everything seemed right with the world. He wrapped his own arms around Isobel and lifted her off the ground slightly, finding a smile from ear to ear on his face. "Well hello to you," he replied with a chuckle, Irish accent flowing through his words. He kept one arm around her waist and kissed her forehead once, then twice before looking down into her eyes with a smile.

"I take it you knew this place was here?" he asked gesturing to the gazebo with his free hand. "I know I'm not the most observant person in the world, but really. You'd think I'd notice an area like this on the grounds."

Isobel could not stop smiling, because she was so happy to see him. If it could have, her smile would have grown bigger when he hugged her back and kissed her forehead, but that was not possible. "Hi," she said breathlessly, because she had ran there, then the air had been sort of knocked out of her when she ran into Damien.

Isobel turned and studied the gazebo with her hazel eyes, while still fully aware of Damien's arm around her. She hoped he left it there. After a few moments, she turned back to look at him. "Yeah, I knew it was here. There was a class help here. Well it wasn't really a class, it was a dance class. It has the word class in the title, but I mean it wasn't an actually legit class where we learned something useful." She stopped and took a breath, because she hadn't taken one during that whole speech. "You weren't there," she said, making a pouty face. Of course she was faking it, and Damien probably knew that because she wasn't very good at it, but she was sad she hadn't gotten to dance with him.

She really was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Inside and out -- she was always so considerate of others, kind and caring. It made Damien wonder why she chose to stay with him, after everything they'd been through. Not to mention the fact that Damien was possibly screwed up to the point of it being un-fixable.

For the moment, though, she was here. And with his arm around her, he was at his happiest.

"A dance class?" he questioned. "Really? And what purpose could that possibly serve magically? What class was this for?" He raised an eyebrow at the pouting and simply dismissed it. Isobel knew Damien wasn't the studious type, and it made him feel even less worthy of her affections.

Isobel shrugged. "Last year Berty Borr announced that there needed to be dance classes held so people can learn how to dance. I think it goes with how last year he wanted us to be active and healthy and such." She thought it was pointless, but that was her opinion.

"It is its own seperate class, not part of anything. We learned different kinds of dances, then we had to actually dance them. AND, there's homework." In DANCE class. Isobel looked up at Damien slyly. "We have to dance with someone."

Ah.

Well when you mention Borr, there's bound to be something rediculous that followed. Granted Damien never interacted with the crazy man, and he didn't really intend on seeing him if it could be avoided. He wondered what Isobel looked like dancing around. Wondered if she even liked dancing.

He raised an eyebrow then. "Oh really?" he questioned. "Dance with someone you say? And have you erm -- decided on a dance partner yet? Can it be anyone?" Truth be told, if Damien's homework was to dance with Isobel VonHue -- then he'd definately join the class for that simple fact.

Isobel grinned at Damien. "If I had, would you be jealous?" A little jealousy was healthy, a lot...not so much. But Damien wasn't the jealous type. Well, she wouldn't know yet, but he didn't look like the jealous type. "I did dance with someone," she said. "But I danced with Sammy, because there were not enough boys for every girl to have a partner." And she kind of hadn't want to dance with anyone except Damien.

Isobel poked his side, she couldn't poke his arm because it was around her. "Would you like the honor of being my dance partner Damien?" She wanted to be his partner. "Please?" She added.

"Someone else with his arms around you?" he asked with two raised eyebrows. "I probably would be a little jealous, yes."

Damien had never really felt any jealous emotions -- well perhaps that was a slight lie. When he thought Isobel was seeing someone else, it could have been a jealous reaction. Even though it felt more like his heart being ripped out and stomped on until there was nothing left of it.

But he would prefer to not think of that.

He jumped at the poke of his side, and chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't want to dance with anyone else, Isobel," he said before kissing her forehead again.

Isobel couldn't help but giggle at that. "Well like I said, I didn't dance with a boy because there weren't enough. Maybe next time you should come to the class." She smiled at him, then leaned her head against his shoulder.

Isobel smiled again, she just could not stop smiling. Of course she couldn't because she was with Damien, and she hadn't seen him in a long time. "Do you know how to dance?" She asked him.

"Yes, I don't usually settle for people just watching the games, but y'know, I'll make an exception for you," Vashti replied with a teasing grin. She couldn't imagine actually forcing anyone to tryout - mainly because many were so willing anyway so it wasn't like Ravenclaw had a shortage of Quidditch players. So there was no need to force anyone to sign-up and tryout.

Vashti nodded as Alfie promised to be at the games then paused for a moment when the fifth year asked when the first game was. "I'm not sure," she said. "Probably in a few weeks though, once tryouts are all done and the rosters have been posted." Which would be soon hopefully. She was anxious for the Quidditch season to really begin.

She tucked her knees to her chest and placed a cheek on her knees. There was a long pause before she said anything back to him.

"So That's it then, its really over?" She asked calmly but inside it was killing her. Well she really didn't mean for that to sound like a question but it did. Since was kinda dating someone else now, well that made a big difference. She knew that she hurt him, and telling him and telling him that she was with the other guy as a rebound problably wouldn't make this whole situation any easier.

---

She didn't know if she could take being that close to him at that moment. It just felt wrong in someway. She was about it burst into tears. But she wasn't about to let him see her upset. Espeically after she'd promised herself that she wouldn't be upset over the out come of this talk (not that he knew of the promise she made herself. She grabbed her bag. She needed to do what she done best..... leave. She acted like she was looking for something in her bag. "Well I'm glad that w..we sorted this out. But I've got to go and work on that Herbology homework." She stood up and walked away from the gazebo, going the other way around so she wouldn't have to past by him as she left.

Blink.

Jonathan looked at Kurumi. No one has ever manage to notice that habit of his but she did. "You noticed?" he asked. He's surprised by her observation. He has to admit, yes, he loves touching those bangs maybe that's why his mother always loved to cut it. She called it silly that everytime his mother sees him doing that. WHAT?! He's used to doing that. Mannerisms.

"Typical color---brown" most Asians does have brown eyes, but Kurumi doesn't have those brown eyes, right? Good eye. He should learn from her. He looked at her and saw "Violet eyes." he mumbled. pretty. Jonathan hasn't met anyone yet with those eye color. She would be the first.

Oh yeah. Jonathan can't seem to remember the whole scenario, now that they are recapping it. And all he heard were just rumors. It was pretty big last term. "Well, at least you're all safe." he said.

Jonathan laughed. He knew that would be her reaction. He patted her head like a little school girl. See? "that wasn't so bad right?" he grinned. Well, she did have to see that one coming. "I should start complimenting you every now and then" one, so that she'll learn to accept those compliments and two, it's true.

>.<

Of course it wasn't a challenge. Jonathan thinks he can handle her. Weight is never a problem anyway since he promised. Jonathan just laughed softly for awhile. He is very amused by that and as Kurumi stuck her tongue out, Jonathan pinched her. YES. He couldn't help it at all. But he didn't pinched her cheeks too much. No, of course not. "Of course I would never believe that" he smiled.

Lori smiled. Yep, most definitely cute. She watched as he sat down? She couldn't help but smile more.

Then he began speaking. If you could call it that. But, despite the random exciting outburst, he seemed like someone she could get to like.

"Nice to meet you, Jonathan" she replied not so excitedly. But she was likely to get random around this boy.

"And I'm Lorelai Vanderwalker. QUEEEN of randomness" she replied now getting kind of random.

Lorelai VANDERWALKER??? "That's an AWESOME NAME!!!!" Jonathan Kirk. Not as awesome.

Jonathan dropped from his chair back onto the ground and looked at his new friend, Lorelai. " I like you." He simply said with a smirk. And it's saying something. Jonathan Kirk doesn't just like any old person. S'pecially when it comes to girls.

"Are you in Slytherin?" Bonus points to her if she was.

Homework Meh...Nessie really didn't feel like doing her homework. She was having such an awsome day and then....homework had to ruin her whole day. Ness walked to the Gazebo and spotted a comfy seat she sat down and tried to do homework, but her mind wasn't letting her. It was just too excited and it was thinking about how Nessie had made the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and also she had become the youngest Hufflepuf Herald Editor in the common room. If only she didn't have stupid silly homework.

Ness shook her head trying to focus back onto her homework...not that it helped her mind kept on thinking about other things.

Lorelai smiled at how much Jonathan appeared to like her name. "Well, thank you" she replied. And now she had to say was thinking. WHY did I chose such a LAME nickname for myself?" she asked aloud. Well it was right. If her name was so AWESOME, why chose Lori from it.

"OF COURSE I'm in Slytherin. Its the best house EVER!!!" she answered. It most certainly was. No other house, or school for that matter beat it.