It seemed to Gwen that although she liked Charms in the past two years… and she still did… anyhow- her skills hadn’t quite improved yet. As for this, the young Ravenclaw found herself walking along the third floor corridor, walking towards the Charms Annexe. In her right hand, Gwendolyn was holding a large book, which she came across while searching for something else in the library. As the book proved rather interesting, the third year decided to start practicing a few spells which they had learned so far, and which she also found in the book.

Slowly opening the door, Gwen remained a bit puzzled. Erm. There was… no one there. Absolutely no one… Pffft. At first, she decided to give up this plan and come back some other time. But actually- wait- why wouldn’t piece and quiet be good? There you go- the perfect place to study…

After opening the book, the third year started flipping the pages until she came across the Substantive Chains. Ah, here it is!, she thought and then started reading. After letting the information sink in, Gwen looked around to find and object on which she should try using the charm. She soon noticed the chest, which she thought would be containing various objects meant for practice. Aha! And it was true.

As soon as she managed to unlock it, the girl selected a random object and returned to the place where she was standing before. Let’s see… Wingardium Leviosa… this shouldn’t be hard.

It may be May outside, but in Kurumi's mind she was back in April. Which had her very confused as she walked the warm corridors to the Charms Annexe. Weren't things cooler in April with more rain than sunshine? The prefect became even more confused as she sat down on the window sill and curled her legs up underneath herself as she set her book bag down in front of her and rummaged through it for her Charms textbook. She would feel a whole lot more confident if she had mastered producing a non-corporeal patronus before her OWLs.

Her calendar fell out of her bag and onto the floor and opened to today's date, which just so happened to be her birthday. Not paying attention, Kurumi picked it up and set it on the window sill before returning her attention back to her book to read more about the theory behind the spell before giving the actual charm a go again.

There wasn't a day that went by it seems, that Arya wasn't studying. Though her methods of studying weren't all orthodox, so the prefect was perfectly happy to prepare for her NEWTS. After her usual day out on the grounds and in the great hall for a lunch, she decided it was time for some indoor studying. And since she'd already had a duel, charms was her only other option.

She still needed to put her letter into Schirmer's mailbox, and was about to do just that when she heard one of her favorite charms being cast. Stuffing the letter back to her pocket, she strolled over to the door of the annex and glanced around.

First for a patronus, then it's caster.

"Kurumi." She grinned and started for the younger prefect. "How is the practice going?"

Nothing.

Kurumi suspected as much. She had to think happy things to produce a patronus but she didn't feel like she had very much to be happy about right now. Her mother was...well... that. Jonathan wasn't at Hogwarts and she wasn't receiving any sort of communication from him. To top everything up? Now there was this whole...situation with Lewis. Actually, he might be one of the only happy things the Gryffindor had going for her right now, but that glimpse of happiness came with layer upon layer of confusion as well. Trying the spell once more and producing no results again, Kurumi sighed and looked up just in time to see Arya standing over her.

"Not...too well," she sighed. This charm was rather advanced magic, but it still was disheartening that so many of the younger students had been able to produce a non-corporeal patronus so quickly during last year's lesson and now here she was, a fifth year, and she was still struggling. It was embarrassing.

"You'll get it," The prefect was only mildly surprised. It was advanced magic after all. But the lioness was one of the brightest in her class, so something had to be up for her to have not gotten at least the non-corporeal in Arya's opinion. But it wasn't her place to pry either. "Have you tried switching around your happy memory? My first memory wasn't as strong as I thought it was, not until I picked another." That was how she realized she had more than one memory capable of producing a corporeal.

She slung her bag off on the floor, glancing down when it hit the fallen calender. Hm. "Sixteen?" Arya picked up the calender and examined the number marking today, "Is there something special about this number, or do you just like writing numbers on your calender?"

Furmgoat's wonky wings carried him across the ground with no luck of spotting the girl person he was delivering his letter to, and so through an open window and into the corridors of Hogwarts he went. It was difficult not to stop when offered treats, but he had a job to do. Furmy would just go back the way he came after this delivery.

And treat.

The charms corridor was the most confusing to him, and so reaching the right door had been difficult, but reach it he did. "Hooo." He flew over to the younger of the girls and perched himself on the sill; holding out his leg with the small package attached he staaaaared at her.

Take the package small person.

Kurumi tried to smile back at Arya, but everything was just...a blurr. A right mess it what it was really. Switching around her happy memory? She could, only the problem was that she had very little happy things to hold on to right now. The memory she had used last term to produce a non-corporeal made her sad now. "Thanks, Arya," she nodded. "I'll...give that a try..."

Maybe she should work on some other charms right now? Something to take her mind off everything.

Kurumi's eyes widened as Arya picked up her calendar. Wait...it was MAY? When did that happen? Kurumi scratched her head, cocking it to the side as she searched her memory. There were a lot of...black spots. Moments in time that had seemed to have been taken from her. Why hadn't she noticed that it was May? Not only that...but the date. "Oh...I...um...well...um..." she stammered, checking on the inside of her cheek as she attempted to snatch back the calendar - not because she was embarrassed about the date, but to confirm that it really was in fact May 12th.

Why couldn't she even remember May 1st?
All of a sudden there was an owl in the annexe and Kurumi jumped back a bit to allow the bird to fly in front of her and land on the window sill. A package, for her? Was this one from Evelyn as well? Timidly, Kurumi reached out and took the package and letter from around the owl's foot and opened it up.

Her eyes immediately watered up when she saw who it was from. "Jonathan," she whispered, an obvious tone of joy in her voice. He had written her. He hadn't forgotten her. She suddenly felt foolish for ever doubting him and she bit down on her bottom lip as she forced herself to actually read the letter instead of staring at his signature and her name written in his handwriting. That was almost enough for her. Just those two things. Still, she read the rest of it, her eyes lingering on each word and her heart pounding in her chest.

I wished I was there to take snatch your time and keep you company.

Kurumi giggled and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her robes. He never needed to snatch her time. She always gave it to him willingly. Tears trickled down her face and the hand not holding the letter gripped her chest where the heart shaped pendant rested. Setting the letter down, she opened up the box, her hands trembling so much that she had a hard time doing so, and whimpered when she saw the keychain. Honestly, a letter was all that she needed for her birthday - which she thought was still a month away. She removed the key chain and held it in her hands.

This moment, right now, was the happiest she had felt since the holidays.

Yeah... something was up. Even Arya could see that. And even though she and Kurumi were friends, she still wasn't sure that she could pry but so much. Nothing like what she did with Treyen, or Ivy. That definitely wouldn't help out this situation. A faint smile graced her lips as she nodded her head in response, eyes going back to the calender in her hand.

She wasn't getting much a response out of Kurumi on this one, but that was to be expected she supposed. The girl seemed distracted. Miss Puff prefect looked at the calender again, and tried to figure the significance of such a number on such a day. Hmmmm. "Your not.... celebrating anything, are you?" Not in here alone surely. The seventh year refused to believe the happy little baking lioness would spend a day, like a birthday or something, alone in the charms annex no matter how nice it was.

Or at least she wasn't alone anymore, 'cause Arya wasn't leaving
now.

And now they were even less alone.

She looked at the small owl, and pulled out a cracker for rewards, then turned her attention back to Kurumi. Oh. Well at least she was happy crying, had the prefect a little more relaxed as she quietly picked up the owl and took it's place on the sill beside Kurumi. Giving him little belly strokes.

She'd just... let her have this moment. Seemed to need it.

Kurumi's hand traced the key chain and the smile on her face continued to grow, but so did the feeling of dread that also had her stomach in knots. Swallowing, Kurumi tried not to linger on that, she wanted to savor this moment and not ruin it. Jonathan was out there. Thinking about her and wanting to be with her and she knew that she felt the same. She wanted to be with him right now. A few more tears trickled down her face and she clutched his gift and letter to her chest, whispering his name again.

She had literally forgotten that Arya was sitting down with her on the window sill and she blinked away a few tears before rolling her shoulders and relaxing her entire body that had been tense with surprise.

"H-H-He remembered...my birthday..." she whimpered, obviously moved and overwhelmed by all this.

This was already the best birthday ever and she actually felt like celebrating it now.

Not soon after she'd picked up the little owl and given him a treat, it'd flown off to do whatever it was owls did. At least he didn't try to bite her like Altair. That bird needed to learn some stuff from the school owls.

Oh. OH.

That explained so much now, and had the prefect grinning brightly. "That's really sweet of him." Her boyfriend, right? Kurumi was sometimes still a little first year who kept trying to feed everyone then strange cookies to Arya, so it was hard for her to remember that she was in fact... sixteen now. Wow. "Happy Birthday!"

Conjuring up a handkerchief, she passed it to the younger girl and then... well she wasn't really PREPARED for a birthday, so she just aimed her wand at a random spot above them, and conjured up rainbow colored confetti.

Kurumi didn't even notice that the little owl had left and she sort of forgot that he had been there at all. Not that it really mattered seeing as her vision was blurred by warm tears. Blinking them away, or down her cheek as the case was, she turned to look at Arya with a goofy smile tickling her lips.

"I-I-It's the first time h-h-he has written me," she whimpered as she read over the letter again. "I...I thought that..." But she didn't finish her thought. Everyone expected her to be confident and not doubt things, yet here she had been doubting something so important to her. It had been hard to, considering what had happened before and what was happening now. But now, she didn't need to doubt anymore. She could keep on hoping and looking forward to next term. It was nice, having that feeling back.

She came out of her daydreamy trance when the shower of rainbow confetti fell all over her dark hair and robes. "T-Thank you," she replied, bowing her head. "I-I don't usually celebrate my birthday." This would probably be the first and closest thing she had done to celebrating really.

Actually, she felt like she might be able to conjure a patronus now.

"You should celebrate it more often." She only got one a year! The older prefect couldn't imagine not celebrating a birthday, which shouldn't be surprising to Kurumi considering the party they had for Treyen last year. "We can still celebrate it now actually." Pause. "Your birthday and you letter." Grinning happily, she twirled her wand. After all it was the first letter in... she wasn't sure how long, but she guess a LONG TIME.

Days without a letter didn't warrant tears, not in her opinion at least.

"How would you like to celebrate?" Did the lioness still wanna finish practicing or did she wanna do something more fun?