Heh. Sword-fighting skills. What sword fighting skills? Tori smirked at the thought of Paulie trying to wield a giant broadsword and just shook her head. "Yes, you do that. It's always better to fight with swords than wands."

Snoorrrrrrt.

"Up to you," she shrugged, tugging Paulie by the hand awaaaaaay from the croaking bush. Shudder. "I did the first half of the tour, see, so youuuu hafta do the rest." Hehe.

"I agree," Paulie said, seriously. "Swords are way cooler." It was like asking who was cooler, Lancelot or Merlin? And of course Lancelot was cooler. Duh.

The pull on his arm led him away from the bushes. Heh. Wonder why. "Oh, I see how it is." Now it was tourguide time for Paulie. Ahemhem. "Okay, so how about we do the second half of this thing tomorrow, after class? We could meet up at..." Uhmmmmm. "The courtyard?"

Tori just nodded a little, thinking of the comparison. It was like asking who was cooler, Lancelot or Merlin? And of course Merlin was cooler. Like duhhhhhh.

"Hmm, tomorrow after class... what time?" Tori wanted to know if she'd be able to change out of her uniform and into something cuter of course. "Courtyard sounds good."

What time? "Uhh.. how about five o'clock?" They could go exploring for a while and then hit up the Great Hall for some FOOD. 'Cause, he didn't know about Tori, but Paulie would no doubt be hungry by then.

"Okay, good deal!" He smiled. "So, I'll see ya then, yeah?"

5 pm would work great. "Okay!" Tori agreed, leaning forward to give HER BOYFRIEND a huggg. "See you tomorrow!"

MJ's tomatoes seemed to be doing ok, though the potion really hadn't helped them all that much. It wasn't really the right time for tomatoes anyway, but she'd spent so long faffing around trying to decide what to grow. Typical MJ! She pulled the vial out of her robes and re-read the label for the fiftieth time. It did say two drops, which is what she had added before... And it hadn't done very much at all. Thinking she might regret it in a week or so, MJ dumped the whole vialfull on to her seedlings. That should do it...

Without a particular destination in mind, Evelyn made her way onto the grounds, determined to get used to this cold air already. She would've stopped in the courtyard, however, her legs just kept taking her further and further away. Tugging her beret hat and matching scarf closer, she shoved her free hand in the pocket of her coat, not at all pleased that she had to wear her winter clothing. Though winter did remind her of Josh, and him always being warm. Just the thought had her tugging on the necklace she wore; never going a day without it since her Gryffindor Knight gave it to her.

Realizing that she was standing in the middle of the snow filled student garden, Evelyn blinked before taking a large breathe, and watching the air turn to almost smoke-like as she breathed out. That was probably the only amusing thing about winter besides shoving snow down someone's shirt.

Hehe...

Now. What....was she doing out here again...?

Adam had been there for a couple of minutes now, struggling with quite a bit of effort to get the doghouse up and situated. Perhaps this whole transporting the house thing hadn't been as easy as he originally thought that it was going to be. After a couple of mutterings under his breath, some forceful flickings of his wand, and a few kicks the doghouse was up and in business. Adam let out a happy little chuckle, before plopping down on the ground next to the tent. Now just to wait for Louisa and JB to show up.

JB was hopping around barking happily and occasionally bumping his little head into Louisa's legs as she walked closely by - it was as if he knew he was going back to his owner. The girl had her hands into her jumper's pockets and was grinning at the puppy, "I am really sad that I'm leaving you today, boy, but really...you're tiring." She chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she did so.

Once they were into the student garden, Louisa didn't have a hard time finding a doghouse built there, especially since it was the only one around here. "Hey Adam!" She said, eying the doghouse impressively, "Wow. That is a very nice doghouse you got, JB."

The puppy launched at his owner.

Before Adam had a chance to even say hello to Louisa JB was bounding at Adam, knocking into his chest with full force with his two front paws so that Adam pretty much couldn't help but fall flat on his back. "Woah there buddy!" Adam said between laughs and coughs as JB started to lick his face off rather enthusiastically. Once he had managed to get ahold of the enthusiastic pup, Adam sat up and smiled at Louisa.

"Hey Louisa!" He turned to look at the doghouse when Louisa complimented it, before giving her a smirk. "Come on, I'll take you inside!" Without really giving Louisa an option he took a hold of her elbow and pulled her into the doghouse, making sure Louisa ducked enough so that she could fit in.

Upon entering the doghouse you instantly saw that it was really more like a cottage than a doghouse. The little room had a small fireplace at the back of it, which was really more for decoration than function, while had a huge footrest in front of it that was strewed with some books and some of JB's toys. To the left was a small couch and the right two chairs that had Gryffindor themed blankets thrown over them. In the back right corner, next to the fireplace, was a bookshelf that was completely stacked full of books except for the bottom shelf, which was basically a lane of all of JB's toys. On the right wall as you walked in was a little wooden stove that Adam frequently used to make hot chocolate and the like, and right next to that was JB's bed, and a folded up cot that Adam sometimes used to sleep on himself.

"So, what do you think?" Adam asked, looking at Louisa as JB jumped onto the couch.

Louisa giggled at JB's reaction and then she was quickly dragged into the doghouse. She was about to protest and tell him that it was impossible for both of them to be crammed in such a small place... well, it wasn't impossible but she was sure that only couples crammed into small places. Yep.

Her assumption was all wrong, though. As she stepped in, a small cottage-like laid out before her. She stared, wide-eyed at the place, unable to talk. "Wow. That is...magical." Duuuh. She looked up at him, grinning, "Did you do this? Or does it come like that from some magical store? That is just awesome! You could live in here." Louisa moved forward to the bookshelf near the fireplace and touched a book with her finger. Nope, it wasn't plastic it was reaal!

"I'll make sure to move in here with you too if I don't want to sleep in my dorm." Louisa laughed, half joking half wondering if that was possible.

Adam's smile widened as he looked at Louisa's impressed face. He was impressed with it, but it was always nice to get an extra opinion, especially since his own was a bit biased since he had decorated/designed the place. "I did it," Adam said with a thoughtful nod of the head. "I was only able to find a magical doghouse, but that was it really...a house. It had a rug and the dog toys came with it, but it wasn't really big enough for me to come in here with JB if he wanted to play or something. So I went to the library and found some books on magically enlarging things so I could make it bigger on the inside while keeping it small on the outside." Adam plopped down on the sofa while Louisa examined the books. "It took some trial and error, but eventually I got it right. I was able to find the furniture and stuff cheap from a muggle store, which was good since I have some muggle money that I hadn't yet exchanged for wizarding money, and I found the wooden stove at antique shop for pretty cheap so I can make hot chocolate and stuff," Adam said with a little smile.

Adam chuckled when Louisa mentioned sleeping in here when she didn't want to be in the dorms. "Really we could camp out here one night if we wanted. We're allowed to do that, right?" Adam asked. Maybe on the weekend or something...

Lilly skipped into the garden with her tools. She adored gardening, but had missed the first herbology lesson while in the hospital wing. Lilly had brought a pack of lilly and violet seeds. Rose seeds were also an option, but, well, no. She found a free patch of soil and took out her tools. Lilly dug a hole and put the seeds in, then watered them. She would come every day to look after the flowers.

"Oh Merlin!" MJ cried aloud. The tomato plants were growing waaaay too fast!! Dumping a whole vial of potion on them instead of being patient and waiting for the recommended dose to work, had obviously been a truly terrible idea. Gulping, she trimmed down the foliage a little and hacked the top of the plants off. MJ felt terrible for doing so, but it had to be done - they were giants! Hopefully they would pass for normal now. The fruits hadn't actually come up yet, but she'd be terrified of anybody eating them because of the potion!! MJ took one last, desperate look at her plants; and fled, her cheeks bright red.

Louisa flipped through the not plastic book admiringly as she listened to Adam's description. When she heard him sit on the couch, she returned the book and joined him, resting her right elbow on the couch's back and turning to face him. "That is a lot of work. You put a lot of thought into this." As if he didn't know already. She glanced at the excited puppy jumping nearby, "He knows." She wanted to think so.

At the camping idea, Louisa's face beamed at him. "That'd be great!" She nodded vigorously. "We can do homework for the week. I can help you study for your OWLs, too!" Then Rubiey & Joao's names popped into her head but with a quick slap from her mind, they were zapped away. "D-did you show it to Rubiey yet?" Or was it not that important since she was still, y'know, not a long-time kinda friend like Louisa? ^______^

What was he wanting her advice for? That was a very good question that he had no idea how to answer since he had not really properly planned anything in mind yet. It was just an idea for now. ''I don't know. But...i fear upsetting her. What if she does not want? Then i would...'' *sigh* ''...lose her?'' which was his greatest fear and, of course, his boggart.

And he knew that she loved him, so he silently nodded at the Hufflepuff's words. Yet what if she did not love him that much to accept that? What if...? Okay he needed to stop thinking that was but...''Mia...'' taking a deep breath, he looked into her eyes ''...in this world i cannot think of a risk that i would not take. But...i can NEVER take the risk of upsetting her.''

Doing the things muggles way was satisfying to him too. Yes. But what if Evelyn would not like that either? Would not she be unhappy to be living into.....okaaaaaaaaaaay. He seriously needed to stop that but he could not help it.

''A career that I want?'' still not moving his gaze away from the girl, he blinked a few times ''But i don't know what i want...'' but that was until he had heard footsteps that made him look away and... ''...so my priority is...'' spot Evelyn approaching. He trailed off of course upon seeing the she-snake.



Guess...they had to change the topic now which was bad since he needed that...advice.

*sigh*

Whatever...he could always ask Mia some other time and it was always nice and a feast to his eyes to see that beauty. What was she doing here though? He had no idea. She seemed to be alone too. Hmmm...

''Hey!'' so he called and waved at the she-snake with a big smile.

As Louisa flipped through the book Adam admired the bookshelf warmly, proud of the collection of books he had managed to get a hold of. He could only imagine how much bigger it would be by the end of the year. Eventually he was going to have to expand his shelves a bit. When Louisa mentioned him putting a lot of work into and JB noticing it Adam smiled somewhat sheepishly. "He seems to be incredibly happy in it. There are times when I have to come in here to get him to come out," Adam said with a little chuckle.

Adam chuckled when Louisa mentioned that they could study. Ahh of course...studying. At that point in time Adam felt like he might be studied out since he had been studying so much, but who knew, maybe studying with someone else would make it more interesting. "That sounds good to me! I usually study by myself so it'll be nice to have some company," Adam said with a little smirk. Then Louisa asked if he had shown the doghouse to Rubiey yet. "No, not yet. You're the only person I've shown actually...since you helped me pick JB out and everything, I feel like you care about him as much as I do, you know? I mean...Rubiey cares about JB too, but I figured you'd be more interested in this kind of this and JB's well being than others might be." Adam had to admit he was having a hard time figuring out how Louisa really felt about Rubiey, and in some respects he was slightly nervous to find out. Since Louisa was being nice to Rubiey, or at least making an effort to be, Adam figured he should do the same. "So, how are things with you and Joao? I haven't seen him around much...did he go somewhere?" Adam asked, in a politely curious kind of way.

Yaaay! Louisa's mind was happily dancing in her head as Adam admitted that Louisa was the first to see it. She grinned beaming at that. "That is really comforting, Adam." Her eyes went to look at JB as she continued, "I thought you'd put our friendship to a lower level after dating Rubiey." Which was her own main concern. "Rubiey seemed really nice when we bumped into each other but when she knew that we were friends, best friends, she just.." Louisa sighed, "..I don't know. She didn't seem approval." Would Adam wait for his new girlfriend permission to hangout with Louisa from now on? O=

Joao was brought up but not in the way Adam used to talk about the boy, he was being polite. It was obvious. "He's good." She smiled and searched for an explanation of her boyfriend's absence because he didn't say a thing to her. "H-h-he was busy studying and attending classes..I guess." Louisa was not going to voice out the argument they had about Adam and his girlfriend that day. Those things were secrets between a couple, right?

Adam smiled warmly at Louisa, but Adam's face got more serious as Louisa expressed her concerns that maybe Rubiey wouldn't want the two of them hanging out. "Just because I am dating Rubiey doesn't mean that we aren't still going to be friends and aren't going to hang out anymore," Adam said, turning himself on the couch slightly so he was facing Louisa more. "Rubiey really is a sweet person, and you were seeming a bit protective of our friendship," Adam said with a chuckle. "I think she was just being protective of me as well. But really, Rubiey isn't the kind of girl that would tell me who I can't and can hang out with." Adam gave Louisa a reassuring smile at the end.

Adam gave a little nod, a small smile on his face when Louisa said that Joao was good. However, Adam could tell from Louisa's response as to where Joao had been all this time that she herself didn't know. Deciding that it wasn't really his place or his business to point out that that was a bit strange Adam didn't comment on it. "All this studying is going to be the end of us," Adam said with a little chuckle. "You're never really sure whether or not you're studying enough or studying too much, you know? Would you like some tea?" Adam offered, getting off the couch and heading over to the little stove. He himself was quite thirsty and could go for a hot drink.

Lilly walked threw the gates to the garden with her watering can in her hand. She waltzed over to the patch of land, where a few days ago, she had planted some seeds. Lilly was pleased to see that a tiny sprout had sprung up overnight. When she came yesterday, there was nothing there. She put some fertilizer on, and sprinkled some water from the watering can.

She was sweet. That was very typical from a boyfriend to say so about his girlfriend. Louisa nodded politely anyway. "Yeah, we'll see about that." She smiled at him and made a mental note to say 'I told you so' the very exact moment when Rubiey didn't turn out to be that 'sweet'.

"Yes, please." To his tea offer. It was still weird and strange that she was actually sitting and about to drink some tea in Hogwarts Grounds, it was more like his new tiny apartment. "Did you tell her about you being independent now? And that you'll look for an apartment in London next summer?" Her voice, this time, didn't hold any kind of bitterness toward the girl. Louisa just wanted to know how much the couple had talked and revealed in a few days. to compare his relationship to hers with Joao.

Adam could tell that there was something behind Louisa's smile that he wasn't so sure that he liked. He had a feeling that perhaps Louisa was going to try and do her best to find something wrong with Rubiey. Perhaps he was over analyzing her polite smile, but he could just tell that there was something off. Although in all honesty Adam didn't suppose he could hold Louisa to too much fault for clearly not trusting that Rubiey is as great a person as Adam kept telling her she is, since he himself felt the same way about her boyfriend Joao. Although the situation was slightly different since Adam did in fact know that Joao had sleezeball like tendencies, and the guy had lied straight to Louisa's face about Adam's intentions during their conversation. But, that was in the past, so it was time for Adam to move on. He was with Rubiey now, and he was happy with her and he had a feeling that if not now but maybe in the near future he could even say that he loved her.

As Adam fumbled with getting the teapot on the stove he answered Louisa's question. "Yeah, I told her about it," Adam said with a little nod, turning around to face her while he leaned against the small counter space next to the stove. "Her family life is just as crappy as mine so she understands where I'm coming from. Honestly, I really need to start looking at places over winter break...well...once I figure out where I'm staying winter break," Adam said with a little sigh. "Maybe I'll just stay here for the holidays. Students can do that, right?" Or maybe Adam would ask Rubiey if he could stay with her. Her mom probably would not be very understanding about that at all. "I thought about asking Rubiey but her mom is just about as understanding about her being a witch as my parents are, so she probably wouldn't be too keen about me going there."

Oh? Rubiey had a family that didn't understand her being a witch? Weeeeell who knew the three of them had one thing in common. "Oh. That's a good thing in one aspect." She said casually, "Having someone who'd understand your situation and know the feeling is very encouraging." Yep and it led into a successful relationship but Louisa wasn't going to say that one bit out loud. Not yet.

Louisa lifted her feet on to the couch and crossed them under her, "You can stay in here in Christmas. I usually do that. It's not very exciting, I warn you, but if we both were here, I'm sure we'd find something fun to do." Her smile was big and her mind raced for ideas, seeing Thestrals again, jogging in the snowy Ground, or... speaking of snow, "By the way, I need my hat back from your friend, Polly boy." His girly name was stuck until her light pink hat was back.

Adam nodded at Louisa's words. "It is encouraging. I'm honestly not sure whose parents are worse; her mother for sending her away to some muggle boarding school so her mom's boyfriend wouldn't know she was different, or my parents for kicking me out before I'm even legally considered an adult," Adam said, shaking his head slightly in disbelief as he did so. He was silent for a moment before he continued. "But you know I'm glad that they decided to abandon me, because knowing them they've probably already moved, and if I was still with them, then I would have had to move, and I would have had to left Hogwarts. I'm glad that I can stay here with all the great people I've met. I swear you guys are more of a family to me than they ever were!"

Almost to emphasize the seriousness of what Adam had just said the tea pot started whistling to signify that the water was hot enough. Taking out two cups from the small cupboard above him Adam poured water into each before dropping in a tea bag into each one of them. He carefully carried the two cups over to the sitting area, handing Louisa hers before sitting down next to her on the couch.

"You stay here too?" Adam said, slightly surprised, but he wasn't really entirely sure why. "I thought you'd stay with Marina for the holidays. Not that I'm saying I want you to, because if you're here than it will save me from what I am sure will be days of utter boredom," Adam said with a little chuckle. Adam had picked up the string connected to his tea bag, bobbing the bag thoughtfully in the water when Louisa mentioned Paulie and her hat. "He took your hat?" Adam said, his mouth falling open slightly. "Well...no worries. I'll get it back for you...although Paulie is a stealth little bugger when he wants to be so it might take me a bit to find it," Adam said with a bemused shake of the head.

Louisa listened to Rubiey's story and she was moved by it quite easily. "Poor girl. Does she get back to her house, though? In the summer I mean." If yes, then Louisa couldn't have Adam all for herself during the summer either...

...what? She was still on the same page with Rubiey even if she had a sad family story because really who had a perfect family? Mm?

The girl took her cup and started blowing gently, she didn't like hot things burning her tongue. When she had to answer, however, she stopped the childish act, "Marina works. She also has a boyfriend and a really sick father, I don't think she'll have time for me." Another blow to the tea then she went on, "My mom asked me to come home, though, but I don't want to go. I'd rather stay alone at Hogwarts." And by alone she meant with no family. "But again, you guys are my family here, too." She repeated Adam's phrase with a big smile.