"Up there, so I can really be the king of the world." she said, pointing up to the spot they were going to.

And they were finally to the top. Yay!

Now they were the highest on the playground! Ronnie grinned and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Alright. NOW I'm king." she said. "Or...Queen? I dunno." she said with a puzzled look.

Even though she hadn’t expected it, spending some time at the playground was quite relaxing. Gwen was enjoying the time she spent just hanging out there… until Beezus said something. The fourth year looked a bit puzzled at the younger Ravenclaw and raised an eyebrow. ‘Seriously?’ She would have liked the tone of her voice to be a bit more cold, but, truth be told, it sounded more like shocked. And puzzled. Was it even true? Impossible. She rarely was alone… Gwendolyn drew her attention towards the people jumping around, so that she would avoid frowning at Beezus. Always alone? Pffft. That was weird.

And suddenly, the conversation turned into an interrogatory. ‘Not much, really’, the girl replied simply. ‘She’s a third year Ravenclaw, was on the Quidditch team…’ Mhm. That sort of obvious things. She basically knew just who she was. But wasn’t that what Beezus asked? Eh. Anyway…

Oh. Right. Failing to remember that Beezus had been on the Quidditch team definitely made her feel even worse. ‘Right…’, the fourth year mumbled and started slowing down, until she finally stopped. Signing up? ‘I might’ Yeaaah. Right. That’s very unlikely to happen…, the girl told herself and gave another quick look around. I wonder if anything has changed from last year, she thought and then looked back at Beezus.

‘Do you know if anything has changed around here?’ Of course, beside the playground. Then again, if new things appeared, some of the old ones might have disappeared. Like the tree house. Gwen was seriously relieved when she came across the topiary garden again this year.

Seriously?

Unable to hide her curiosity, she turned to Gwen. "Uhmm..yeah, like seriously." she replied, putting emphasis on every word. "Well..it's not like I'm saying you don't have many friends. It's just that whenever I did see you, you're alone." Hmm. But come to think of it, she doesn't often see the girl so how in Merlin's underpants could she know if Gwen did have or didn't have friends? Pulling her swing to a stop, she continued, "Sorry about that. I become too observant sometimes. Or....naah," chuckle. "I'm just being weird." A few always told her that she was indeed weird.

Hmm? Not really what she had expected from Gwen to answer at that question pertaining to Indy. "Well..you should meet her. She's a bit childish and naive. But she's nice." Wasn't it a good idea? Her best friend and other friend would be friends too and their friendship circle would grow!

Beezus stomped her left foot on the ground, making a small cloud of dust and enveloping her legs. Cough. Cough. "Sorry 'bout that.." so she stopped.

"Well, there are quite a few new students," excluding the first years which of course, has new ickle ones every term. "And new teachers.." But there were also who stayed and she was glad that they did.

Damon looked around at the playground and sighed.

Taylor came to the playground dressed a little rockerish with her leggings, plaid skirt that was pink and black and a black tank top. Her hair was back to the blonde long curls again and she wore no make up. She wasnt in a good mood and it showed despite being the one who did the breaking.

Damon looked up at her as Taylor walked by him. She looked different, her hair was back to normal, and she didn't normally dress that way did she? "Hey you."

Tay looked up and saw Damon, "Hey..." She sighed and looked away.

"Taylor? You okay?" He looked at her puzzled, she seemed fine just a moment ago, and now she looked like she just wanted to get away. Great, I'm leaving this school next year... Minnie hates me, and Taylor can't even look at me... Just when I start to think things'll work out...

Tay looked at him, "I dont know...." She sighed and let a tear fall, "I mean i broke up with.... him...." Taylor couldnt say the name, not yet... "a week ago and i thought i wouldnt be this sad... I mean arent i not to be upset since i was the one who broke up with him and not him breaking up with me?" Tay sighed again, "I feel like a jerk and a brat.... did i do the right thing?"

Damon shook his head, "Everything you feel is exactly the same thing I feel right now... It's been a week since Min and I broke up and I still feel horrible." He looked at her, "And I honestly can't tell you if you did or not. That answers somewhere in you. If you felt like I did, like you couldn't try to force yourself to love him the way you wanted to, well..." He trailed off, "It's different for everyone I suppose."

She nodded and sighed, "Yeah i couldnt force myself to love him anymore." Tay crossed her arms protectively, "He told me to give you the ring and celtic love knot to you when i go running to you." Taylor couldnt stop the tears from falling. "I didnt even break up with him to go date you. I dont want to date right now." Tay sighed and tried to wipe the tears away. She was hurt by Maxwell thinking she was a tramp like that.

Damon's jaw dropped at that, The... Don't even think it Damon... You know better, you were raised better than him apparently. He looked at her, "I can't believe him..." He walked towards her but stopped himself short of hugging her. She didn't need him to get her more upset, "Even if that was why you broke up with him, I couldn't date right now... Knowing what I've done to Minerva... I can't do it again until I at least get the chance to make things right with her. I screwed up... and I need to fix it."

Tay took a step back as he walked toward her. She didnt want a hug or a kiss on the cheek. "I need to fix things with Maxwell as well." Taylor sighed, "And i dont want to date for a long time, especially someone who i will be forced to see frequently....." Tay sighed.

He looked at her then down, "And you think I do? Sorry, not in the mood to jump back in right now." He sighed and turned away from her, "I'll let you be..."

Before she could even think to stop herself, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Tay looked at him, "Please dont go....."

"Why shouldn't I? You make it quite clear you want nothing to do with me." He tried to pull away, but for once he cringed when he tried to pull away. he looked at her, "What did I do, Taylor? Please, that's what I want to know. Is this all just because of me doing one stupid, idiotic motion to tell you the truth? If so, I'm sorry... but I couldn't hide it from you anymore."

Tay let go of his arm and let the tears fall, "Fine then go if you really want to." She turned and felt the last of her strength give out as she fall to her knees crying.

Not more crying... He sighed, kneeling next to him. He didn't know what to do, she made it clear she didn't want him to touch her. He just sat there, "I don't want to leave, but you make me feel like I'm not wanted..." He sighed looking down, "This is why I'm better off as a loner..." He muttered to himself.

Tay looked at him, "Damon, you are my best friend... my cousin.... my brother, of course i want you." Tears keep coming.

He had to stop himself from reaching for her again. He looked at her, "I..." He sighed, he didn't know how to say it... He wasn't good with voicing his thoughts.

She looked at Damon, "If you cant say it then sing it, Damon. It always seemed to help you...." Tay looked up at him then away, sighing.

Damon looked at her, "I'm trying to but there isn't anything I can really think of that can describe it Taylor." He sighed, looking down.

Aurora STILL hadn't explored the grounds properly this term... and there was usually something new. She had spent ages looking for her cloak... she hadn't really needed it yet but it had suddenly got a bit colder. It had been at the bottom of her trunk and she nearly just wore Milton's over-sized Ravenclaw robe on top of her Slytherin ones but she got the feeling it was probably not a good thing to broadcast that to the whole school yet...

OH MERLIN'S FIREY PANTS!!! A PLAYGROUND! This was just way too awesome. However mature she liked to act sometimes, Aurora was still just a big kid. Hehehe. She broke into a small run as she neared the climbing frame and jumped up to the monkey bars, swinging back and forth until her arms got tired and she swung her legs up to hang upside down. She LOVED playgrounds!

Kimalia had only heard rumours of such a place at Hogwarts. Somewhere that attracted all ages, and brought out one's inner pride.. what, another Quidditch Pitch? Nope, it was.. a Playground! And you know what that meant... the monkey bars! Yes! She did not hesitant to start climbing above the monkey bars, it was the best spot after all to sit on. To her surprise, she could see that she wasn't the only one there, as her fiery red-headed bestie, Aurora was hanging upside down from it.

"Hey, how's it hanging, Aurora?" She asked. She was sitting on the side allowing her feet to kick in the air lightly above the skies.

Aurora looked up as she heard her name, "Oh, hello! It's hanging... good I guess." she said, pulling herself up into a sitting position. She hadn't seen Kimalia in a while, since the tryouts actually. Aurora was going to bed early and pretending she was asleep lately... it avoided any explanations of recent events to her friends in the dormitory. But she was feeling a lot better about this stuff again.

"How're you?" she asked as the blood rushed from her head back into the rest of her body and she pushed her hair back into place.