O_______________o

Bwahahaha!! Well she hadn't been expecting that reaction. The look on his face was just priceless. Merlin she wished she had a camera right then. That would have been one for the album.

The Slytherin raised an eyebrow as the beer mat flipped off somewhere under a distant table and she turned back to look at Oliver who was now scolding her or whatever.

"Woah Jeez" she rolled her eyes, holding her hands defensively and did as she was told, sitting down next to him and glancing around the pub. "No need to be so jumpy." Pfft wuss. "You were expecting me anyway, who else would you think it would be?" Oh come on, to her this place wasn't that creepy at all. Just a little...old.

Ok.. so the snapping was a little uncalled for but Oliver was nervoussssss, and kinda jumpy. He watched Trixie sit, giving her a accusing 'little boy hurt look'. “Um... sorry, Trix.” He mumbled. “This place just creeps me out.” Yeah.. for obvious reasons. “You hiding in the shadows and putting on a stupid voice doesn't help."

He frowned puzzled at her question. “Oh.. I dunno. How about creepy bar dudes with a fondness for the Imperius Curse?" His hands flailed a bit, eyes widening slightly and he reached out and grabbed the beer mat in front of Trixie to fidget with.

Fidget, fidget, fidget.

“You wanna drink?”

O_o

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay then.

Trixie just sat and watched an eyebrow raised slightly as Oliver sat there and fidgeted with the random mat. "It's fine" the Slytherin rolled her eyes and took a glance around the pub. Seriously where was everyone? The only thing that made it creepy was the silence that surrounded the place. Now that was rather worrying. ".....That was my normal voice" she faked a frown at him, joking of course, just trying to lighten the mood.

..............

Okay so she was just gonna ignore that comment seeing as she had NO idea what he was going on about. "I don't see any of them..." she explained but said no more on the matter. A change of subject round about here would be very nice and well appreciated. Hint Hint.

Which is thankfully what she received. "Well if YOUR buying" she smirked a little. He should know the procedure by now. Nothing that contains any animal products what so ever. And she wouldn't mind paying if he didn't have enough or whatever.

Urrh.. he hated it when Trixie looked at him like that... all vacant with an eyebrow raised as if he was mental. He wasn't the one with the brain injury and the memory like a sieve now was he? Bleh.

He smirked, however, when Trixie teased about that being her normal voice. “You're telling me the usual squeaky voice you speak in is all put on?” Smirky smirk.

Woah.. way to change the subject. Pffft.. He merely shrugged. “Why did you want to meet here of all places?” He looked around, squinting towards the bar.

He focused back on Trixie. Of course he was buying.. even though he was broke and she was, like, loooaded. But he was chivalrous and would never even think about mentioning how low he was in galleons. He glanced at the bar and back at Trix giving her an apologetic look. “You mind if we go somewhere else?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Somewhere like Puddifoots. I'm hungry.. plus I can't guarantee that your drink would be meat free. I hear they serve complimentary cockroaches with every glass of pumpkin juice in here.” As well as Unforgivables. Guh. Anyway, if that didn't put Trixie off this place, Oliver didn't know what would.

:O

Trixie fake gasped at his comment about her voice. "Not as squeaky as yours is" the Slytherin retaliated, a smirk plastered across her face. "I thought I was doing the perfect imitation of you" her lips settled back into a completely satisfied grin. HA! Take that. The sixteen year old couldn't help but stick her tongue out at her bestie.

With a shrug of her shoulders, Trix thought about the reason why she HAD wanted to be here. "There isn't one really. Just thought it would be less crowded then other places in Hogsmeade. Seemed I was correct" the girl answered. Well that was the best answer she could come up with anyhow.

Somewhere else? Pfft she was pretty comfortable here. Hang on...Cockcroaches!

EWWWWWWWWW!!! Trix squirmed a little at the mention of the creatures.

Well if he really was that scared of this place or whatever then she would have to oblige. "I you really want to" the Slytherin followed his glance at the bar and then turned back. "But not Puddifoots. I promised someone I'd meet them there for lunch later" she replied. Didn't want to spoil it for herself then did she? "Anywhere else is fine though....Unless you didn't want to" she sighed.

Scarlett walked into the Hog's Head and walked over to get two butterbeers for her and Freya.She took off her scarf and cloack,the walk was long but fun.Scarlett showed Freya all the shops before heading into the Hog's Head.Scarlett payed and walked over and put the bottles down for them and looked out the window.it had started snowing again.
"so what do you think of Hogsmeade so far?" she asked Freya sipping her butterbeer.yumm!

Freya followed Scarlett all the way to Hogsmeade. She showed her all the shops there. She was very thankful that Scarlett wanted to accompany her to Hogsmeade. She walked behind Scarlett when they entered Hog's Head, she took off her coat and scarf before she took a seat. "Thank you for accompany me today, Scarlett" she said smiling and took a sip of her butterbeer. "It's really beautiful..!!!Snow everywhere. It's really magnificent." she said dreamily.

"oh don't worry about it." she said waving her thanks away smiling. "I love meeting new people and going on whacky adventures so combine the two makes Scarlett a happy girl." she nodded.
"to tell you the truth this is..." she sighed counting the number of times she had sat in here. "I think this is my fourth time in here.everybody loves the Three Broomsticks.but it ain't anything special." Scarlett forgot how good butterbeer smelled!damn she loved Hogsmeade and the festiv-y feel it gave her.Scarlett watched outside as the students passed while the snow hit the window.
"I know right!it's so wicked.is there anywhere else you want to see?after LOADS of butterbeers." she giggled. "I love him warm it is."
"I dint want to go back home." she pouted slightly. "do you miss your family?or sister?" she gave Freya a cheeky wink.

Freya smiled widely. "Oooohhh..adventures. I love adventuring too." she said laughing. "Wow..Forth time?!" she said in awe. Well. Scarlett was a third year so it was obvious. "I hoped they allowed us to visit Hogsmead more often" she said taking a gulp of her butterbeer. "Hmm..I dunno. Honeydukes?" she asked. She didn't really like sweet but she heard they have a cool interior and who knows maybe they sell something beside sweet. "Yeah me too. I loved Hogwarts." she said smiling. "Not really. My parents were rarely at home and my sister was so busy with herself and her work. So basically I'm always alone with the house elf at home" she said. "How about you?Do you miss your family?" she asked.

"awesome!we should go on one soon." she said. "have you been to the room of requirement yet?on the seventh floor.its so much fun."
"yeh,I've only been here a couple of times.but I love it so much usually I'm in the libary at school.but you can come here anytime." Scarlett took another sip of her butterbeer.
"Honeydukes is awesome!they have everything and I mean everything.do you like any sweets in paticular?" Scarlett asked her tummy rumbiling at the thought.
"I love the sugary pinapple sweets." she said giggiling.
"aw that's a shame.what do you parents do?my mum and dad both work for the ministry.I hardly see my dad which sucks since were so close..." she trailed off thinking of them.she begun to feel kind of homesick.but snapped back to the presant.
"sorry..." Scarlett murmered. "I've been missing my family all weekend.I don't know why usually I try and stay in Hogwarts on the last day!" she laughed."the teachers always find me." she pouted.
Scarlett's blue eyes widened."you have a house elf?my mums always talking about getting one.what are they like?I've read up on them and they seen...alright." she said unsurly. "I'd be so scared we wouldn't be treating them right."

Sapphinelle entered the cold, dark mysterious place with a shudder. She didn't like it in here, it gave off bad vibes. She felt a twinge of hope as she spotted- SCARLETT! Omfggggg. Her bestie westiekins that she hasn't seen in forevs! Her old self came springing back to life inside of her.
"SCARLYYYYYYY!" she yelled happily as she ran over and toppled her bestie down with a ginormous hug.

"No I haven't. I always get loss when I was exploring the castle" Freya said laughing. "Umm..Well, actually I'm not a big fans of sweet. But I'd love to she the shop. I heard it was awesome." she said smiling. "It's normal to miss your family though. Ohhh..too bad they found you if they didn't you could get all the castle to your self." she imagined all the castle for herself..Ohh that would be epic. "Yeah we have a few. My father said that they already live in my house before my family moving there." she said. "Ohhh..They're really nice but sometime they're bit annoying especially when I asked them to take a day off." she laughed.

Fee walked into the Hog's Head.
Exploring Hogsmeade was fun. But all alone it wasnt too cool.
But at least she had gotten most of the presents she wanted.
Happy sighing she sad down at one of the tables after she had ordered a butterbeer.

"oh well we must go there for sure!it's so much fun.you can get anything as long as you want it." she said.maybe she could wish for her dad and he would turn up...he'd be so angry especially if it was him.hehe!
"aw that sucks.it smells so good!we can defo go in there." she said both smiling and shrugging.
"yeh,I suppose.I know!I would love to run around Hogwarts with no one there,it would be so fun!plus no rules." she said a spark flashing in her ice blue eyes.
"really?I might get my mum to get one.but I'll make sure they are well looked after.I think I'd cry if something happened to them!"she said a little worried.
"I live kinda near Kings Cross where we get the train." she said

"Yeah I know. It's too bad I never had sweet tooth." Freya laughed. "Yup. There's no one who would took a point from us because of running at the corridor." she giggled. "Yeah you should they're very nice creature." she said encouraging. "Ohhh..so you just walked from King Cross to your house?" she asked. "I have to take a floo or side-along apparation with my parents." she said.

Noel had found it. Finally, found it.

Though he was a little hesitant to go inside. Rhea wanted to meet here? But, it looked gross and dirty. Disgusting. A place for thieves and crooks. Someplace Noel would never find himself, but here he was, standing in front of the building and staring at it as if it had a prancing bunny on the sign instead of a pig's head. It just didn't make sense!

Glancing around, he sighed and walked inside, trying not to really touch anything. Where was Rhea? Was he early perhaps?

Or he could wait outside. He'd be more then willing to wait outside for her.

Was she late? She couldn't possibly. Hopefully not, she hated keeping people waiting, unless it was Lauren because she always kept Rhea waiting. Meh. She hurried towards the pub surprized actually at the amount of people going out and coming in. It wasn't as much as the broomsticks but still, for the hogshead. It was a lot.

It wasn't the nicest of places either but it wasn't crowded and filled with first years, not that she had a problem with them but they were quite noisy at that age and she was in the mood for a much more relaxed environment. Hmm she wondered if Noel was there yet.

In any case she pushed open the door of the dingy pub and stepped in. It was definitely not as charming as broomsticks or puddifoots. She spotted Noel immediately and tapped his shoulder.

" didn't keep you waiting did I?" she asked pulling off her coat.

He had only taken a few steps inside when he felt something on his shoulder.

EEK!

Jumping almost a mile, he spun around and stared at whoever or whatever it was. Oh. Rhea. Right. That, did not just happen. Composing himself, his ears burning in embarrassment, Noel smiled and shook his head politely, a nervous chuckle escaping him. "Non, I just arrived myself."

Glancing to the left, he spotted a nice empty and slightly clean table they could sit at. It was away from the others in the place, so it gave them a bit more privacy. "Shall we?" Gesturing to the table with his hand, the seventh year walked over and pulled out a seat for Rhea to sit in.

Did this chair always look like this before? Was it even sturdy enough!? They needed some upgrading in this place.

Rhea was startled herself when Noel jumped as she touched his shoulder. She let out a small squeak of surprize. She chuckled along with him, her hand resting over her heart. Yeah he almost gave her a heart attack jumping like that. Especially in a place like this. She couldn't blame him though, the place was slightly eerie but at least it was quiet.

She smiled at him and followed him to the table. At least it was a lot cleaner than most of the tables she had glanced at. He pulled out her chair for her and she couldn't help her cheeks warming a bit. He was quite the gentleman." thank you," she said sitting tentatively on the seat. She wasn't sure if it would give way or not. That would be embarrassing.

She waited for him to sit before fixing him with another sheepish smile. She had wanted to see the Hogshead for a while now but she didn't want to come alone and her friend would probably not be up to it. Either." I didn't expect it to be this ...bad.." She glanced around again." in anyways, how are you feeling? And congrats on moving on." she would be there cheering him on like she did for the first task.

"You are quite welcome." Pushing in her seat just a bit as she sat down, Noel walked around and slowly sat in the one across from Rhea, making sure it wasn’t going to break on him.

Wiggle Wiggle Thud!

Hmm, seemed good enough to him surprisingly. It held up!

Taking off the blue and black striped scarf from around his neck, he thought about putting it on the chair next to him but, no. The chair was dusty and disgusting. Best just keep it in his lap. "It iz, not all zat bad." Once you got over everything, it was just another place! It was the ‘getting over everything’ that he could not miss.

"Merci." Smiling, quite ecstatic that he was moving on to the next task, he almost raised his arms for some sort of cheer but decided against it. This place was not crowded, and yelling would surely bring attention to himself. He couldn’t help though, having his hand raise up and touch the slight scar on his right brow. Some sort of habit he had since the task.

"I am doing much better. Just needed some rest." Like he had thought before. "How about you? How are you doing?"

Rhea watched as Noel sit across from her. He seemed to be having a much harder time adjusting to the place than she was. Meh, he was just not used to it, neither was she but it had a sort of quaint rustic charm about it that could grow on you if you let it. She supposed that's why the old bar faithfuls kept coming back.

She probably wouldn't order anything though. She wasn't that fond of the place yet. Meh.

Her eyes followed Noel's scarf. She had one just like that a few days ago but she gave it to Jermaine to get him warm when he had emerged from the caves. She wondered how he was doing now.
" no it really isn't. It's a bit...err..charming." and slightly creepy. She settled unto the chair comfortably now, and ran her fingers through her dark hair.

She nodded as he thanked her. She was so proud of him. Of course she knew he would go on. He was very dedicated. A virtuous trait to have. She couldn't help but chuckle at the excited look on his face. He seemed very excited about moving on and why not? He deserved it. He had been amazing in his challenge obviously, since he was tied in first place. Her brown eyes followed his finger to the spot where his scar was. She was tempted to touch it but she kept her hands in her lap and tore her eyes away from his face.

" well you most certainly look better" She returned her eyes to his face briefly. He did look much better. His face was back to being bright and cheerful like she remembered it before the task, despite the scar there. Gah, how was she doing? Exhausted, confused, very confused and slightly sad. She was not going to tell him that though, because she couldn't explain to him why." I'm fine. I'm just really excited for the second task and a bit nervous for you. You will be more careful next time won't you?" yes that would do for an answer, it was normal and very Rheaish, she hoped.

Oliver smirked wryly. Good call there Trixie. “If that was an imitation of me how come you lowered your voice then?” To imitate his deep manly tones? heh. Thought so. He gave her a self satisfied smug look. Answer that, swottie Pixie! Hah! He let out a small snicker when the lassy poked out her tongue at him. His immaturity must rub off on her because he'd never witnessed her act like this around anyone else. Personally, he thought that was a good thing.

Less crowded? “Yeah.. I wonder why.” He mumbled averting his gaze from the blonde to take in his surroundings once again. “You reckon they serve muggle drinks in here? I really fancy a coke.” Nope.. no Butterbeer... but Oliver had a craving for something sweet. He had been good ALL YEAR so far: no sugar whatsoever (except for those chocolates in Arithmancy). He looked back at Trix and pulled a stupid face at her. “Seems I was right.” He copied annoyingly in a silly voice. She wasn't the only one around here who could do impersonations. Hehe!

He giggled gleefully when Trixie visibly squirmed when he suggested there might be cockroaches in the drinks. “Don't worry. I'll make sure to ask for them without.” Wink.

He pouted a little, gazing at the bar and back at Trixie. “Fine.” He replied agreeing to stay, albeit grudgingly. Well.. he was meeting Cam for lunch so maybe it wasn't wise going to Puddifoots. Although he had no doubt he could manage two meals thanks to the growth spurt he was currently going through. “So what you having?” He asked again. SHE could decide on her OWN drink! Like, whatever HE decided on would no doubt be wrong. heh.

Charming was giving it too much praise in his opinion. Smiling anyhow, he nodded and settled himself a bit more before clasping his hands together in front of him, and leaning against the table slightly, his elbows hanging off the edge a tad.

His excited attitude was short lived however, when it seemed…Rhea would not look at him? Brief glances of course, but nothing like when they spoke before. Did he do something wrong? "I hope so." He chuckled, his eyes twinkling to match his laughter. "I don’t zink anyone would want to go zrough life looking like zat." He even missed his poofy hair! But it was back now, and he was hating it again.

"Of course! I suppose ze fact zat I just wanted my wand back got ze better of me. I’ll be extra careful zis time." With a few chances taken here and there obviously. Chance is what got him through the first task, why not the second as well? Then again, he’d have his wand this time, so he didn’t need to rely on chance.

Staring at the lovely young lady, he could not help but wonder and doubt what she had said. "Are you sure you are alright?"

Well see now, Noel was starting to settle in too. She supposed that after the initial shock of the place, people adjusted fine. Good. Her fingers interlocked on her lap as she took in his slight movements. She was a bit more observant today than she normally was. Then again, she had been so busy lately she hardly had time to stroll the lake, which in previous years she always found time for.

Her face brightened up a bit when Noel chuckled and she saw the familiar twinkle in his blue eyes. She couldn't help but smile at her and shake her head a little. Sure she was all about looking nice and dressing up and stuff but her french friends had her beat in that. She remembered when Noel didn't want to go in the lake because he didn't want to ruin his clothes. The memory caused her to chuckle. It might have been a bit random since she had already reacted to his comment. Oh well, he knew she wasn't crazy right? After all they had random conversations about talking books before.

She nodded at him and her hand moved up to rake through her hair again. With all the cold air she was scared it would go flat or something." good, even though I think you pulled off the 'just survived a life threatening ordeal' look very well. I prefer if you're safe and not as beaten up." because then she wouldn't worry as much.

She smiled at him and shook her head. Did she feel bad about lying to him? Yep. Was she going to tell? Err no way, even though half truth wasn't bad right?" I'm fine, just a bit tired." which was true, she stayed up some nights thinking, often having to sit in the common room as she didn't want to wake her room mates. Lori and Brielle would probably want their beauty sleep and she didn't want Sarah to worry.

Noel hadn’t really noticed the delay in her laugh from her original reaction, but he did notice that she seemed a bit brighter now. Not to mention she looked twice as beautiful when smiling, and even a laugh was the cherry on top. Hmm, wait what was the laugh for? He probably had some hair in his face or something. Reaching up, he quickly swatted at his hair, though he had a feeling it’d just fall back in the same place it was. Probably best to not just worry about it.

Watching Rhea play with her own hair, he half smirked, half smiled. "I zink I prefer the ‘not beaten up look’ too actually." It was a lot less painful, and he didn’t have to throw away torn and ripped clothes afterward. "But zank you. At least now I know the next time I am hurt, I’ll still look good." Hehe, of course, he was just joking. Really, he didn’t want to worry Rhea about him being hurt. Just trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

This dingy place was not helping though. Nodding, he smiled contently towards the girl across from him, his eyes suddenly focusing on the bar like place more towards the back over Rhea’s shoulder. "If you’re sure zen." He said, his gaze flickering back into focus on her. "Would you like anyzing to drink?"

From here, no. Anywhere else, oui. "Because I can go get somezing from the Three Broomsticks if you want something." He broke out into a grin and chuckle as he gestured to the door over his shoulder. Really, he would.